Author's Note

Didn't feel like a poll this time, but feel free to discuss in the comments who you think will be next or who did it.

5. Rooms Without a View

Tuesday, 6/28/2078
POV: Shadow

Shadow liked Devil and loved his daughter, even if only because she was his daughter, but didn't enjoy working with them together. Devil flirted with Smokey and enjoyed her father's reaction to it. Once she got riled up, she'd flirt with Shadow too; he didn't know if she was joking or if he should add 'incest' to her list of weird fetishes.

He knew Devil bucked her regularly, as did at least a dozen other stallions, and none of them hid it. Of course, even though she was a rabid slut, Shadow felt protective of her. He wondered if that was due to the loyalty programming he'd gotten during the Ministry of Magitech's experiments, because other than being family, Smokey disgusted him to the core.

Though as they walked into the residential section, Shadow realized that Devil hadn't flirted with Smokey at all on the way or even grabbed her plot. Smokey herself was awkwardly quiet, which was unlike her. That was good if the stress of the game got to them that much, because if they avoided their antics, Shadow could avoid arousing suspicion by not be unnecessarily defensive of Smokey as usual.

“I wonder,” Devil said as they entered the residential section, slowly as if thinking about every word. “If others realize that you two are pegasi, will they think you're the traitor?”

“I don’t wonder, I know,” answered Shadow gruffly. “I'm sure most don't realize, though. Other than you, only the Overmare, since she okayed having the nubs sanded off Smokey's back, and I don't think the nurses told anyone.”

“They were really freaked out when I asked them to use the belt sander, but it was fun,” Smokey said towards Shadow, rather pointedly as if trying to make it obvious her words weren’t pointed at Devil. “It left some really obvious scars though, so the ones that have fucked me may have seen. I don’t always wear my shirt during sex.”

“I should have realized,” Shadow growled. “Who all here has mounted you?”

“Um, well,” Smokey chuckled nervously, starting to count on her fingers, but soon putting her hand down as if realizing it didn’t matter. “Winter... Night... huh... everyone in this group with a cock has came in me at least once. Except you Dad, you should join the cool crowd!”

She sounded disgustingly hopeful. Must she say it like that?

“This really isn’t the place for this discussion,” Devil laughed. “How many cocks have you had?”

“Uh,” Smokey pulled up her pipbuck and accessed a text file; no surprise she kept a list. “91 new names in the list since I arrived at the stable, muddy. That doesn't count the ones I'd already had before I came in.”

“We've been here eight months!” Shadow stared at Smokey. “You're telling me you've averaged a new dick every three days since we got here? And... wait, Thunder too? I've heard Thunder say he won't touch a pony, something about hooves creeping him out.”

“I don't know if this counts as him wanting to buck a pony,” said Smokey. “It was a kind of punishment for trespassing in one of the restricted sections. I mean it was like my dozenth offense, but he finally caved.”

“He... raped you,” Shadow stared. Every part of him twitching, like his protective routines were fighting his self-preservation routines. “... fine then. Good for him.”

“He tried his best,” said Smokey, still not shutting up. “Even had his slave ride my dick in case I'd hate pussy. I didn't like as much, but it wasn’t like it felt bad either. He had a lot of the guards buck me too; that incident alone accounts for about a third of the names I’ve added to the list.”

“He had several dozen guards rape you…” Shadow cleared his throat, then nodded. “Fine, I suppose. He makes the laws after all.”

“The Overmare approved it,” Smokey said, as if that and her inability to be successfully raped made it okay. “Her wife was furious, at least until she remembered I had a dick. It was kinda funny, but sometimes I think she might have a problem with dicks.”

“You don’t say,” grunted Shadow.

“That doesn't bother you?” Devil peered at Shadow. “I mean, it bothers me.”

“No,” Shadow said, even though it bothered him a great deal. No matter how he tried to calm himself, he shivered visibly in anger. “He's a griffon; those things are even more infamous than mercenaries for raping everything that moves.”

“I don't know, our group was pretty damned infamous for it,” smirked Devil.

“No we weren't,” Shadow arched an eyebrow. “I’ve only raped six mares and one stallion in the two years I've been on the team. Only one of them told, and nopony cared because she was a bat pony soldier on her way to be gassed with the rest of the mangos we captured that day.”

“Really?” Smokey's eyes lit up. “Wow Dad, that is so hot! Can you tell me about them? Did you murder any yourself? During rape? Before rape? Were any of them Canterlot civilians? The despair of being violated by your protectors... wow...”

“No,” Shadow answered, wishing this conversation would end. “To all of those, so stop getting hard at your own assumptions. Anyway, I think we've found something.”

It took a while to find where the actual sleeping quarters were, which was a little embarrassing since they were right next to the dining hall; they'd just walked through the section in the wrong entrance and looped all the way around. Finally, they found eight rooms with four on either side of a large hall.

Cautiously opening one, Shadow found quarters much like the ones they normally stayed in. It had a bed, drawers, a book shelf, and a lot of unpacked boxes. Was there any room in this section not used for storage? Each room also had its own adjacent bathroom, which included a shower.

“What shitty rooms,” Devil said, though he'd never complained about rooms like these before. “Maybe we should have all the males room with Smokey.”

“Really?” Smokey's eyes lit up. “Daddy too?... that's a good suggestion coming from a hoof holder.”

“He's joking,” Shadow glared at her, then blinked. It was weird to hear her throw slurs at Devil since she loved that guy, or at least his dick. He figured it was a rule from the beginning, but annoyingly she seemed to be slowly getting into it, so it wasn’t likely to put a cap on her sluttiness.

“What?” Devil seemed to tire of it himself. “If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get me riled up enough to kick your pansy ass.”

“M-maybe,” Smokey huffed. “You um... tree bucker... that would be hot though yeah... you think you might? I can use more slurs if it helps, just give me a bit to think of a few more.”

“It'd surprise me if I got out of here without murdering you, slut,” Devil snapped.

Shadow clenched his claws, his instincts wanting to throttle Devil for saying that. He also wanted to tell her to stop being such a damn masochist, but even that might count as breaking his rule. Devil, fully realizing what he said in front of Shadow, paused as if expecting to be pummeled or worse.

It was interesting though. Even though he was programmed to be fiercely protective of compatriots and family, being forced not to was frankly a relief. He felt 'honest' when he left her to her own fate. Maybe it was a good time to be honest since he could blame it on his rule if they survived.

“Expecting me to hurt you?” Shadow shook his head.

“Nah,” said Devil, but didn't sound convincing.

“Well I'm not,” Shadow grunted. “I’ll check out the rest of the rooms. You can come with me or do what you want in here.” It wasn’t like Devil would actually kill her. .

“I'd rather Devil check the rooms while you fucked me, Daddy,” Smokey blushed, batting her eyes at him.

Shadow took a deep breath and held his claw to his forehead for a few moments. A second later, he grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and tossed her into the first room they had looked into. Devil yelped as Shadow grabbed him around the neck too and flung him in after her.

“Holy Nightmare's cum-filled moon pie,” said Paper Cut's voice from the nearby monitor. “You three have no idea how hot you're being right now.” She poked the '16' in the scrolling text showing the number of living participants. “You should snuff her, you know she wants it. PLEASE tell me this six is about to be a five. I'm bored of being bored of being bored!”

“You, shut up,” snapped Shadow, then slammed the door to shut them in.

“Everyone orders me around,” sighed Paper. “I swear, what’s an insane AI gotta do to get some respect around here?”

Shadow moved to the next room to search it, ignoring both them and the AI. Honestly, he’d be surprised if no one accused Smokey. Given what would likely happen to the traitor in the likely event that they eventually lost, it wasn’t a stretch to assume they were as much a masochist as Smokey was.

If anyone figured out that Shadow’s rule was not to protect her or anyone, they’d probably suspect her more, because stopping him from protecting her catered to her kinks in a way. Granted, they’d have to believe that she’d make a killing game with her own father in it, but he knew having a family member in the game didn’t rule anyone out.

POV: Smokey Quartz

As her father closed them in, Smokey lay where she'd landed on her back. She sprawled out her hind legs and moved her tail out of the way, uncovering her excited shaft and cum-sponge of an ass. Devil looked awkward, but locked the door and turned to trot over.

She could see his meat throbbing beneath him. It’d been in her several times a week since she got here, but now it seemed sexier than usual. Sort of like when he fucked her right before they entered the stable; a dangerous situation always made this hotter.

“Be really rough, okay?” Smokey asked. “They promised me a gangbang so I pre-lubed more than I needed for just one dick... use those filthy earth pony bucking hips!”

The racism rule hadn't take long to get used to; she was actually getting into it. She'd decided it was a pretty awesome rule since it was bound to get her ass kicked a few times. If her luck held up, she'd get to die screaming while she was still hot and young.

“I think I'll be gentle today,” Devil growled

Despite what he said, he stomped her in the stomach as soon as he got close to where she lay. As she gasped, he slammed a hoof down on her sack, twisting it back and forth to smash them painfully on the floor. Smokey moaned, arching her back and shivering as she wrapped her hind legs around him, even if she felt the need to vomit from the sudden stabbing agony. He was especially stressed because not even he was usually that violent.

"Why do you keep this thing anyway?" Devil asked. He wasn’t wrong; she’d refused an easy magical procedure to switch her fully. “If you were more of a masochist, I’d say it was so you can get them smashed."

He couldn't have been more right, but answering wasn't easy. She clenched her teeth at the sharp pain shooting up through her, and Devil twisted her legs as he jerked them wider. He kicked her in the crotch several more times, leaving her dizzy with delicious agony before pushing his fudge packer against her well-used asshole and ramming it. She squeezed her ring as it slid down the familiar shape of his shaft, his balls smacking her bottom as he lifted her rump off the floor.

Tears streamed down her face, even if they were more tears of joy, as Devil lifted her rump higher and drove himself into her, pile-driving her against the hard floor. He grasped her balls with his hooves, squeezing and twisting until she felt the need to vomit again from the pain.

“Oh, Break yes, hurt me,” moaned Smokey, shaft already splurting excited precum even as he crushed her balls. “Kill me! Do it!”

“Told you she wanted it!” Paper Cut gave her two caps, as if anyone wanted them.

Begging to be murdered wasn't an uncommon thing for Smokey to do during sex, and it’d became more sincere over time, much more than her partners assumed. Devil normally told her to can it when she said that, but this time he growled instead.

“W-wait,” Smokey panted. “Are you really gonna? Are you going to kill me? Oh, please say I get to be the first death!”

Devil's growl grew in frustration as he packed her ass harder as if just trying to blow his wad as fast as he could. She clenched her tail hole to encourage him and moved her hips with practiced motions.

“Does no answer mean you are?” Smokey's hope rose.

“Yes, okay?” Devil blurted out. “I'm about to murder you in cold blood! Are you happy now?”

"Yes, oh yes!" Smokey's whole body convulsed with waves of excitement. "Fuck my corpse too, okay?"

“Holy bucking horse apples you are... not fucked in the head at all,” Devil seemed disturbed, but kept ramming that hot ass.He wouldn’t be the first to find her ass worth pounding even while hating her.

But she couldn't believe it was finally happening! She'd been so worried that she wouldn't die screaming while she was still young and hot. Now a strong sexy stallion would butcher her, probably setting off a chain reaction of murder!

“Rip off my head and buck it!” Smokey was excited to the point she may have ceased making sense. “Gouge out my eye and fuck the socket! Oh! But crush my balls and feed them to me first, and then when Daddy comes in and sees my body you can murder him too!”

Devil looked freaked out, but was beyond stopping as close as he was, clenching his teeth and grasping her harder. She hoped he didn't spare her cause she freaked him out. Or maybe...

“Wait,” panted Smokey as she clenched her ass harder, feeling each curve and vein slide in and out past her anal ring. “You should keep me alive long enough to see you murder Daddy! This will be so bucking hot!”

“What the Tartarus?” Devil moaned, but seemed to be growing closer. “Do you hate your dad that much? I thought you did.”

“Of course not,” Smokey shivered. “I love him! It'd be torment to watch him die... mmm, such despair.”

Devil didn't look like he was enjoying himself as much as it seemed he should be. All the same, her talented ass drove him over the edge. Soon he blew his wad over her insides, and she shivered at the warmth pushing up through her. Yes! This was it! He was going to... huh?

He pulled free, withdrawing with a lewd slurp as his junk flopped beneath him. He panted as if sated, and left her lying there as he staggered towards the door. Did he lose his nerve? Damn it! Stallions always chickened out!

“I thought you were gonna kill me?” Smokey sighed.

“I am,” Devil said as he opened the door and departed.

The buck was up with this?

“So no killing yet?” sighed Paper. “Bucking cunt-teases, all of you.”

POV: Danger

Danger's team had half of the magitech labs to search, but she felt like she'd be the least helpful. The main reason she preferred this team was that the ones that rescued her probably wouldn't suspect or kill her. Also, Night Light would be respectful in the situation, and she was sure Sunburst was gay and possibly crushing on Night, so the chance of either requesting something lewd was slim.

She spent most of her way in wondering what she was looking at. There were large vats of chemicals, large control panels that she didn't know what did, and shelves full of potions or research notes. It seemed like there were experiments here before it opened. They'd only stopped a few weeks before the refugees entered because the top ranking Stable-Tec employees slated to come here kept dying mysteriously or outright being murdered. It was a good thing Crimson was available to step up as Overmare, because no others in line for the position made it in.

“I'm not exactly a magitech engineer,” commented Night as they entered what looked like a computer lab, rows of terminals lined up. “Where do you think we should look? We can't search all these files.”

“I don't know,” shrugged Sunburst, trying not to look at anything as if afraid of being interested.

“Well if it's a lab,” suggested Danger. “Maybe there's a main database terminal? Could at least tell you what experiments were happening when it shut down.”

“Maybe,” Night sighed. “Feel free to pitch in at any time, Sunburst.”

Danger and Night Light went from terminal to terminal, but they were all password protected. So instead, they checked the area around the desks. In any office, there was the one moron that wrote down their password at their desk, so they just had to find it. Sunburst sighed and sat in a corner while the other two searched.

“Got it!” Danger smiled and waved them over. The desk she was at had a post-it note that read 'Password: KingLordHighCommanderDarkflameSteelwingsTheMagnificent’; that was... an interesting password.

“Good,” Night Light trotted over, then blinked at the password as Danger typed it in. He turned to Sunburst. “You going to come over? Come on, stallion, I know this is depressing but we can't give up now with what we’ve already been through.”

“It's not like anything useful will be there,” said Sunburst, but shivered with curiosity at what they were finding.

“Anything would be good,” said Night. “Maybe something that will clear me from suspicion.”

Danger placed the tip of her hoof against the terminal's pointer pad, the arrow moving across the screen as she touched it. She flipped through the files, but there were so many. 'Current experiments' looked important, so she opened that first.

“Most of these are normal,” said Danger. “Experiments on better fertilizer for hydroponics, medical stuff... wait mutations? They had experiments running on how to make combat-ready cybercorns or controlling things like hydras and chimeras... or turning ponies into hydras and chimeras. And here is ‘procedures for acquiring citizens of lesser importance for experiments’. What the buck?”

“Well, they did fund themselves selling crazy ideas to the government,” said Night. “Definitely don't touch or drink anything down here.” He looked over her shoulder. “Break's sake... there are even pods designed to contain an experiment subject as they mutate.”

“Even though Stable-Tec wasn't part of the government, they...” started Sunburst, but then trailed off. “Um, never mind.”

“Oh, come on, don't give us half-info,” Night sighed. “But you're right, the Ministry of Magitech worked with Stable-Tec, since Moondancer worked for them after leaving the Ministry and going to work there. Starlight didn't even allow us to tell Cele... Daybreaker what we were working on sometimes. In hindsight, that was a huge red flag.”

“This is unlike you,” Danger mentioned to Sunburst. “Is something wrong?”

“Of course not,” Sunburst chuckled awkwardly. “Just um... stressed. Can't think.”

Well that conversation seemed to go nowhere, so Danger tried to come up with more as she continued scrolling through files for relevant data.

“So um, Night Light,” said Danger. “I don't blame you for anything Midnight Sparkle did, but I've always wanted to ask you how she turned out like that way?"

“That way?” asked Night Light, sighing. “I don't think she turned out so bad.”

That was odd. He never defended his daughter like that, yet here was doing it several times in a day.

“Regardless,” said Danger. “How'd she end up doing what she did?”

“Well,” sighed Night. “It all started when we enrolled her in magic school. They gave her a task to hatch a dragon egg with magic, and she failed the test.”

“I always thought that seemed like too difficult a test,” commented Sunburst. “I got in without casting a single spell.”

“My understanding is that that was the point of the test,” said Night. “The Princess received a premonition that her successor would be able to pass that test. So any new entries that fit what she was looking for were given it, but if they didn't pass, they could still take the regular test.”

“So did she not pass the regular test?” asked Danger.

“She never took it,” Night shook his head. “Instead her aunt, my late wife's sister, Star Sparkle, used the disillusionment to convince Twilight that she should train her instead. Twilight never made below an A, so failing even an impossible test upset her. Anyway, Star ended up teaching her illegal dark magic, which I didn't know until it'd been done.”

“Illegal at the time,” said Sunburst. “Almost everything became legal once they got good and desperate.

“Anyway,” said Night. “She joined Nightmare Moon as her protégé instead. Then a bit into the war, Twilight acquired the Alicorn Amulet, which gives a power boost, but makes one mentally unstable in the process. She held her own pretty well considering how powerful the thing is.”

“I wouldn't say 'held her own',” said Sunburst. “She killed her brother and your wife.”

“Sunburst!” Danger glared.

There was unhelpfulness and then there was heartlessness. What was up with him? Even Night Light had to pause a moment to grit his teeth before continuing.

“She didn't do that until something else,” said Night Light. “She found an ancient ruin called Ponehenge and went there alone. For some reason she thought Starswirl the Bearded would be there. Nopony knows what she actually found, but when she returned, she had strange shadow powers and called herself 'The Pony of Shadows' after some old mare's tale.”

“Yeah, I remember her calling herself that over broadcasts,” said Danger. “Then she upgraded the title to 'Her Divine Shadow'. Talk about a goddess complex.”

“She didn't have a goddess complex,” Night defended her again. “She was just... confused.”

“Then she murdered her brother and mother at her brother's wedding,” Sunburst added again unhelpfully.

“Sunburst!” Danger raised her voice. “I swear if you don't shut up I will kick those words through the back of your skull!”

“I'd... like to see you try,” Sunburst sighed and rubbed at his temples with both hooves. That was the least enthusiastic refusal she'd ever heard.

“Yeah, that was hilarious,” Paper snickered from the view screen; Danger wished it’d stop watching them so obviously. “Then his son’s fiancee got a rape-baby from Sombra instead. Classy!”

“Whatever,” Danger was sorry for bringing it up. The stress was getting to them all, and she didn’t want to excite that AI further.

Both stallions were being weird though. Night Light had said he considered his real daughter to be dead plenty before, but here he was defending the actions he should hate the most. And Sunburst was being an uncharacteristic dick.

Maybe it was rule-related, not that any of them was allowed to indicate they suspected as much. At least they hadn't tried to fuck her, so that was good.

Surviving Participants: 16