King Aspen sat in his throne, mind plagued with anxiousness. It had been weeks since he had last seen his son, and he unfortunately knew what had happened to him. A search of Bramble’s room had revealed the prince had created a powerful plant growth potion, clearly to confront the minotaur with it, while not knowing the hazards of using such strong alchemical substances. Since no reports of a sentient foliage overgrowth throughout the forest had sprung up, it could only be assumed that the plan was prevented before he could enact it.

Aspen wished that Bramble hadn’t been so impetuous, that he himself had kept a closer eye on him after the prince voiced his objections, and that his son would just show up at the city gate unharmed, but he knew that wouldn’t happen. The deer king knew that Bramble was now in the invading minotaur's clutches, as it was the only thing that could have explained his disappearance. Ever since, the state of the kingdom had deteriorated rapidly, with the king partially to blame for it all.

His first major lapse in judgement was when he sent out a search party the following day in hopes that the prince hadn’t been captured by the raiders yet. It was a well-meant attempt to prevent Bramble from doing something stupid, telling those he sent out not to get anywhere close to the minotaurs’ established territory, but the restriction did little to prevent more than half of them from going missing. Infuriated, Aspen finally sent a majority of his remaining guard forces to rid the forest of the minotaur menace, but this ended with none returning from the rescue attempt.

With all these failures, Aspen could only reflect on the poor decisions he had made throughout this incident. Maybe he should have went himself, as he did have some magic beyond that of a normal deer that could have been of help when fighting the minotaur, but his concern for the common citizens of his kingdom was exactly why he chose to stay, in case the minotaur tried to attack the city while it was without his protection. He had no reason to think they might, as up to this point they stayed far away from the city limits, but the king couldn’t shake an intense feeling of paranoia. A normal band of barbaric raiders shouldn’t have been this effective or efficient, and with each newly captured deer came an ever-increasing notion that they knew far more than they should have.

At wit’s end, and wanting the safety of his son above everything else, Aspen finally decided it was time to attempt negotiations with these intruders. As it was, the minotaur had already captured a large portion of their small community, and while winter supplies were no longer a problem with the decreased population, Thicket was little more than helpless should these creatures decide to attack. It was not a favored decision to make a deal with the bovine brutes, but with Thicket having no allies beyond Everfree, they would have to deal with matters that came to them on their own, as they always had.

This put the king in the position he was in now, waiting on the edge of his throne for word from the two ambassadors he sent to make contact with the minotaur, partially understanding that he might have sent them to their doom. The thought of sending two more of his kind to some terrible fate weighed heavily on Aspen, but he was slightly relieved when, at about midday, the door to his throne room opened.

Birch entered the room, having recovered enough from her attack to resume her duties, and respectfully bowed before her lord. “King Aspen, we have received word from the minotaur.”

“Our ambassadors have returned, then?” Aspen questioned.

“One has returned,” answered Birch, “The male ambassador has come back, unharmed, but none of his escort party returned with him.”

Aspen sunk in his seat, “I suppose that mean the minotaur don’t wish to discuss terms, and he had to flee from capture…”

“Actually…” Birch replied, “He returned with a different escort party, three males, two of which being minotaur, the last being identified as Antlertean. They have… expressed a desire to speak with you.”

“Of course…” Aspen acknowledged, “But it’s only the three of them?”

“As far as we are aware. They are stationed at the city gates.” said Birch, finishing her report.

“Then allow them, and only them, into Thicket.” Aspen commanded.

Birch hesitated to follow her orders. “King Aspen, are you certain this is the best move? These creatures have expressed time and again that they wish only to harm us, and even if they agree to some sort of deal, we can’t believe for a minute that they will uphold it.”

“I don’t believe at all that this is a good move,” answered Aspen, “But then neither is trying to wait it out at this point. The minotaur struck us at the absolute worst moment, and overpowered us at a time when our magic was weak. We are hardly past the first week of winter, and our defenses are next to non-existent. Either we make some form of arrangement with these creatures, or we pray that they don’t finish what they started.”

Birch was audibly disheartened by the king’s bleak viewpoint, but couldn’t disagree with him. The guard force was reduced to a meager handful, and any civilians capable and willing of fighting had long been lost.

“I’ll let them in and escort them to the conference room.” Birch said, finally ready to obey the order given to her.

“Thank you, Birch.” With that, both the king and his female guard left the throne room, one to guide their hostile guest to the palace, and the other to await their arrival.

Aspen sat in a small room, seated at a round table, as he awaited the arrival of the minotaur. His remaining citizens must have been in a panic, seeing members of the invading race entering the city, but even his remaining forces should have been able to deal with a mere two minotaur. He was more worried about what the minotaur were after, as the king had yet to learn enough about them to know their true intentions for his people.

It was not long before the two bulls arrived, accompanied by one Antlertean stag, the returning ambassador, and the ten remaining guardsmen that Aspen had at his disposal, consisting of four does and six bucks. The guards had their weapons of steel wood drawn, aimed at the minotaur every step of the way from the city gate, though the minotaur didn’t appear the least bit concerned.

“King Aspen,” said the ambassador, “These minotaur are here to speak on behalf of their tribe, and said they are willing to discuss the matter of recent events and work out an arrangement.”

The room fell silent, as King Aspen looked at two of the creatures who had abducted so many of his people. Thicket was not a large kingdom, but it was an ancient and powerful civilization that could contend with the surrounding pony kingdom if need be. Yet all it took was a small band of muscle-bound bovines to near topple them in their own territory. Looking over to the Antlertean, he was reminded that the bulls had ways to learn of Thicket’s weaknesses, but it was absurd how much they managed to accomplish in just under a month.

“Well…” Aspen said, breaking the quiet, “Have a seat.”

The bulls looked at the small seating arrangements around the table, and the larger one among them said, “You expect creatures as big as us to sit in chairs made for deer?”

“Could someone please get these two proper seating arrangements?” said Aspen, trying to be polite, but already irritated by the mere presence of the bulls.

Two of the guards left the room, while the others took places along the wall, sheathing their weapons, but never removing their hands from their grips. The only exception was Birch, who went to the table and placed a sizable carrying bag in the center of it.

“Before you begin, my lord,” she stated, as the ambassador took a seat next to Aspen, “The stag accompanying these two had this on him. We already went over the contents, and inside where a lot of disturbing items. Slave collars, restraints, syringes, and several vials of unknown potions, to name a few things.”

“What is the meaning of this?” Aspen asked, temper flaring slightly.

“They’re all important items we’ll need once our negotiations are over,” explained the large minotaur, “But if you want to hold onto the bag until we have made our arrangements, then feel free.”

“You do realize that you are not entirely safe before me,” Aspen said, creating a heart of green fire between his antlers, “My magic is more than enough to eliminate a couple of minotaur, even in the dead of winter.”

“I have no doubt,” said the large minotaur, “But if we don’t return to our encampment by tonight, then our tribe will in turn dispose of some of our hostages, starting with your general and your boy.”

Aspen’s felt his heart leap in his chest, and quickly dispelled his attack. Like it or not, he had to remember that he was not in the dominant position in this matter, and that the minotaur held all the cards.

“By the way, King Aspen, I am Titanius, and this is one of my subordinates, Brutus.”

“Of course…” Aspen said, just as the door opened.

The two absent guards brought in two larger chairs, placing them at the table opposite of Aspen before taking up spots along the wall with the other guards. The two minotaur sat down, with the Antlertean kneeling on the floor next to Titanius, and thus the negotiations could begin properly.

“Okay, let’s start off by asking the most important question,” Aspen said, wishing to get to the heart of the whole matter without beating around the bush, “What is it your kind wants from us? You can’t just be here for slaves. If that were the case, you’ve already claimed enough of us to take back to wherever you are from. Do you want gold and gems?”

“King Aspen, you wound me,” Titanius replied, “What we want is far more precious and valuable than money. I know that minotaur who live in Equestria have become solely concerned with money, but my clan have a much more important focus.”

“Then are you after our alchemy?” Aspen proposed next, “Are you kidnapping us for our plant potions? If you are, we could just make it for you.”

“We don’t need your potions,” Titanius replied dismissively, “As much as having extra wood is useful, we have no need for what amounts to quick growing fertilizer.”

Aspen let loose a low growl, believing that the minotaur was purposefully making this difficult. That was when the stag next to him decided to intervene. “Perhaps it would be better to explain what you’re after,” said the ambassador, “If we know what you want, then we might be able to help you in exchange for the release of those you are holding against their will.”

Titanius partially ignored the less than regal stag, but accepted that he was going to have to spell out the minotaur’s purpose here. “King Aspen, are you familiar with the mating rituals of the minotaur?”

“I… have been told how it works, yes.” answered Aspen, having some knowledge of all civilized species in and around Equestria, as it was important for the ruler of a kingdom to at least know their potential threats, “From my understanding, you don’t have your own females, and you have to seek out females of other races to be your mates. I believe I understand what this is about, and I have to say I find it disgusting.”

The other deer in the room silently concurred with the king, especially the does, now in full realization as to what all the other does were intended for in the minotaur’s scheme.

“We don’t pretend that this is some altruistic act, but it is one that has become vital from my kind.” said Titanius sternly.

“I heard that your kind would actually attempt to persuade females to be bred by you,” King Aspen asserted, “Not kidnap and rape them.”

“That was custom, but many of us have found that willing participants have become scarce. The hippogryphs have vanished, the ponies are unwilling, yaks are too difficult to please, and you deer are too reclusive… Our only reliable means to continue our species is to do it by force, and unfortunately for you, your xenophobia makes you excellent targets.”

Aspen and the ambassador looked to one another, and then to the other deer present in the room. The minotaur’s motives were laid bare before them, and it was perhaps the worst thing the minotaur could have been after, short of hunting them for sport. No one here was truly on board with allowing these crude creatures to breed deer, validating the claim the bovines made about it being difficult to convince others to mate with them.

“Have you… already had your way with the does you have taken?” asked the deer ambassador.

“Yes, all of them, and many times,” Titanius said with no hesitation, “Many of my men came here looking for females of breeding age to make their wives and add to their harems, and most have already claimed ones they intend to take back with them to our homelands. I wouldn’t even be surprised if that doe we kept in our camp for these negotiations was knocked up by now. She was fairly attractive.”

“You monsters!” Aspen yelled, outraged, slamming his hands on the table.

“My king, please… remember they have your son.”

Aspen didn’t need to be reminded. It was part of the reason he was so furious.

“To further elaborate,” Titanius continued, “Those who have been claimed have already been impregnated, as my kind are very virile and females who receive our seed are all but guaranteed to be pregnant after just one time. However, those who haven’t been made the brood wife of one of my men have been given potions made by our Antlertean slaves to prevent conception, so they can be taken back to our homelands and sold to other minotaur.”

“I’ve heard enough,” said Aspen, “You are making it clear that you have no intention of returning our females. At this point, it just seems like you’re here to mock us.”

“No, we are here to make a deal,” Titanius replied.

“I beg your pardon, but what deal can be made here?” asked the ambassador, just as bewildered as the king.

“Well…” said Brutus, speaking up for the first time, eyes sliding across the room to look directly at Birch. “You do still have some bitches behind your walls.”

Birch gasped, both at the audacity of what the bovine was proposing, and at the realization that this was the bull that blindsided her and White Rose. “How dare you even imply that we give ourselves to you!”

“Then I suppose you don’t care about the safety of your men?” Titanius said, “We have quite a few, but we honestly don’t need any of them. They are entirely disposable, but if you were willing to comply with us, we might be willing to reunite you with them. This includes the prince we have in our possession, of course.”

Understanding that this was the only way he could get his son back, Aspen at least wanted to hear what the minotaur had to say, “What exactly are your terms?”

“King Aspen, our goal above all else is the continuation of our species. Therefore, if every female of your kingdom within breeding age were to submit to us, and offer their bodies to the creation of minotaur, we would happily cooperate with your species.”

“Would the does have to leave Thicket?” asked Aspen, trying to see if he could somehow push this clearly one sided deal slightly in the deer’s favor.

“Your majesty?!” Every other deer present said in near unison.

“I know this is not a good option, but we have to accept that these bulls have the upper hand here.” Aspen said aloud, “If arrangements aren’t made, we might all be put in chains anyways, as hard as that is to admit. If we are able to get the does here to act as mothers to your spawn though, I don’t see why they would need to be taken from our lands.”

“Go on,” Titanius said, intrigued.

“I propose that we allow the start of your breeding program,” Aspen said, a bad taste forming on his tongue by his mere words, “But you will allow all deer to stay in Thicket and return to their lives, including those you already took from us. When the mothers start giving birth, you can return to Thicket to retrieve the minotaurs they produce, but no deer are to be removed from this city.”

“And are we to assume this arrangement isn’t a one-time event?” asked Titanius, “We want to ensure that our species will never die out, which requires generations of mothers.”

“How about we allow a test run first, then we can adjust the arrangement from there.” Aspen insisted.

“Very well,” Titanius replied, “But then I want something from you, your majesty.”

“What’s that?” Aspen inquired.

“Well as you might have noticed, I do have a particular persuasion towards the males of your race,” said the bull, petting his Antlertean slave stag on the head, who in turn rubbed his face pleasantly on the hand stroking him, “And I feel it would be unfair for your females to have to endure this while their leader didn’t suffer the same.”

“Are you insinuating that the king… allow himself to have sex with you?! Another male?!” said the deer ambassador, “I’ll have you know that we do not practice such things in-”

“It’s fine,” Aspen said, cutting the other stag short, “If you want me to pleasure you, I’ll do it so long as every deer is returned.”

“Your majesty…” said the ambassador, in total shock of the kings willingness to comply with what was simply taboo in their culture.

“But you do realize that we are going to want an act of good faith from you. We expect you to bring the deer you captured back to Thicket before we will allow any of this to happen.”

“We can bring them back here, though we will keep the prince and your captured guardsmen held outside the city until we feel your end of the bargain has been upheld. We might be willing to work with your species, but we won’t be putting ourselves in a position where you could attempt to stab us in the back.”

“Fine, but you’ll have to give us some time to prepare. It’s unlikely I’ll be able to get our remaining females to agree immediately, if at all.”

“We will give you three days to ready your females for the minotaurs,” Titanius said, “At dawn, four days from now, we will come and your females will willingly offer their bodies to whichever of us wishes to use them.”

The vulgarness of Titanius’ statement, as well as the tiny time frame given, gave Aspen pause, “You can’t expect us to be ready in that short of time.”

Titanius smiled, for some reason in a knowingly manner, “I have no doubt that you’ll be able to make the arrangements. In the meantime, we have our own preparations to make, so me and my associate will take our leave. It will be an immense pleasure working with you, King Aspen.” The minotaur went to grab his bag of things from the center of the table, but then changed his mind. “Actually, why don’t you keep it? It will give you an idea of what you’re in for.”

“Men, escort our guests to the gate, but not beyond that.” Aspen commanded, the minotaur’s prior actions telling the deer king that it was not wise to send his people to the bovines’ encampment.

The stags among the guard did as they were instructed, leading the two bulls and their deer companion out of the kingdom, leaving the king, the ambassador, and the female guards behind.

“Your majesty,” Birch started once she believed the minotaur were out of ear shot, “With all due respect, I don’t want to birth a minotaur.” The other does agreed, finding the very concept of a minotaur child being grown in their wombs sickening.

“Fortunately, that is not what I intend to let happen,” said Aspen, “Though we are all going to have to do some things that we’ll find revolting.”

“You have a plan?” asked the ambassador.

“Yes…” Aspen replied, “We will use the barbarians’ lust to stall for now. It does mean that we will have to comply with them for the time being, as repulsive as that is, but then, they should return all the deer to Thicket, as they agreed. We will have every doe use contraceptives for this false act of submission, and then terminate the pregnancy of any who have been impregnated by the beasts after. By the time they can figure out that they’ve been duped, it will be spring and our magic will be at full power, and we will be able to eliminate them without issue.”

This plan, much like this whole process of negotiation, was not met well by those there to hear it. No one had any better ideas though, and could agree that as soon as their alchemical magic was at full power, the minotaur wouldn’t stand a chance. Of course, they could attempt to request the aid of the ponies, beseech the help from Princess Celestia, but with the deer as steeped in their own paranoia of races outside of their own, the thought never even crossed their minds that they might have had an easy out to this whole situation.

Thus, as distasteful as it was, they decided to accept Aspen’s idea, the plan not completely without merit. Plus, if they didn’t attempt it the deer’s other choices were to surrender to the minotaur for real, or refuse and wait for the minotaur to come and take them all anyways. What King Aspen proposed was an uncomfortable compromise, and if it went the way he described, then none of Thicket’s females would have to suffer the burden of birthing a bovine. They’d just endure the affections, if it could be called that, of the creatures for a solitary night.

Three days passed, and Aspen managed to get everything in order for the arrival of the minotaur. It wasn’t easy to convince everyone to go along with Aspen’s charade, but eventually most understood that this was the only way that they’d see their family or friends again without likewise being put in chains.

Perhaps as a side effect of their acceptance, many of the does who would have to participate allowed some of the remaining stags to have sex with them the night before; virgin females wanting their first times to be with a stag, or some simply wishing to have something more pleasant to think of as the minotaur took pleasure from their not so willing forms. After that night of carnal fulfillment, the does all gathers in the snow-covered streets in front of the city gate, each wearing the plainest, yet warmest, garments they owned, and filled with a heavy dose of alchemical birth control. They waited in nervous anticipation for the minotaur’s arrival, none looking forward to the duty they would have to perform for their kingdom, as while the last laugh would eventually belong to Thicket, this day would be remembered as one of great shame in Everfree’s long history.

While the does prepared themselves to give everything to save their home, the stags of Thicket took every last fawn to a remote building, far away from the city gate, to wait out this horrid event. They had no intention of letting the young ones know what was about to happen, nor did they want the minotaur to see one and try to act on their established vile nature. In the deer’s eyes, the minotaur were little more than monsters who would willingly commit any atrocity to satisfy their lust. Demonizing the minotaur to be capable of doing any sinful act was no hard feat for the residents of Thicket.

With these arrangements made, the only male who would be present would be the king himself, his presence demanded by Titanius. He would share the burden of becoming the sexual plaything for a minotaur, but he was certain this disgrace would lead to the liberation of his people from this menace that threatened his kingdom, as well as his son, which was in ways more important to the king. Once they were all safe, Aspen would do everything in his power to eliminate these minotaur raiders for forcing his people down this path, and he would take great pleasure in the task when he did.

The king and the does of Thicket waited for any signs of the minotaur, and as the sun was rising over the horizon, movement was spotted in the Everfree. Seven large masculine figures, one being Titanius, leading six other bovine who were unitedly carrying a sizable black crystalline rock. King Aspen rushed to the gate quickly, to both greet the minotaur and see exactly what they were doing.

“Titanius,” he said from behind the still closed gates of the city borders, “What are you trying to drag into my kingdom?”

Titanius looked at the stag from the other size of the wood crafted bars. “This? It’s just something we need for our little gathering today. It won’t do anything harmful to you or your people, I promise.”

“This was not part of our deal, and this gate will stay shut tight until that thing is far out of sight.” Aspen replied, knowing quite well that evil artifacts were very often black in hue.

“Look, it’s not that big a deal,” Titanius said, “If you insist on not letting it into your city, then we’ll just set it up out here. This doesn’t look very good on you though.”

Aspen didn’t care what the minotaur thought of his resistance towards the stone, as he was adamant about not letting the minotaur bring the dark, foreboding piece of slate into his kingdom. He wouldn’t have even let the thing be placed at his doorstep, but to prevent the minotaur from doing so would have meant opening the gate, and if that happened, the minotaur could simply barge in with the object. So instead, he stared intensely at the other minotaur as they stood the crystal rock up ten feet from the boundary of Thicket.

“Where are the rest of your men?” Aspen asked as the bovines got their stone int place, “And my citizens. I was expecting a lot more than just you seven.”

“They will all be here shortly,” Titanius explained, making sure his fellow bovine were doing their job correctly, “Believe me, they wouldn’t miss this day for all the gold in Equestria.”

As the minotaur positioned their rock, the does became curious and came closer to the gate. Together, all the deer present observed what the minotaurs were doing, with Aspen at the front, ready to deal with any problems firsthand if the bulls attempted something. Together, they watched as the polished crystal wall was stood up, and then watched in bewilderment for the few seconds that passed before something unbelievable happened right before their eyes.

The black rock’s surface suddenly began to ripple like it was made of water, and immediately after, a hoof came out of the crystal and touched down on the snow-covered dirt in front of it. The body connected to the hoof quickly followed, and it was that of a minotaur, a rather sizable dark brown bovine who stood taller than even Titanius by a full foot. This new bovine was dressed in leather armor that covered most of his massive form, though unlike the kind that his kindred wore, his was adorned with gemstones near the neckline, as well as his bracers, and had a small cape off the back of it that came down to the midpoint of his back. This outfit, along with a golden circlet that rested atop this new bull’s brow, gave him a mock appearance of regality to Aspen, as if the bull was trying to display himself as something he most clearly was not.

The dark brown minotaur took a few steps towards Titanius, saying to his fellow minotaur, “So this is the deer’s city of twigs,” loudly enough that the contempt he held for the deer kingdom was noticeable to those on the other side of the gate.

As the two minotaur spoke to one another, another creature passed through the crystal portal. Not a minotaur this time, but a deer like themselves. A yellow-furred doe, with green hair and matching eyes, wearing a miniature cloak made of a red material with white fluff used as trim that nearly went down past her breasts, but hid nothing with its open front, the ends of its neckline tied together with ribbon in the shape of a bow, and nothing else. Every deer of Thicket found their gaze draw to this female, whose physical features made her out to be a woman just having reached adulthood, perhaps the same age as Prince Bramble, yet her stomach was plumped out in indication that she was bearing a child within her.

The doe, despite looking like she should be weighed down by the life growing in her womb, moved lightly on her hooves, practically prancing her way over to the dark brown minotaur. “See Master, we arrived just in time, exactly as I said we would,” said the yellow doe in a manner that could only be called ‘cheerful’ as she took hold of the dark brown minotaur’s arm in her own.

The two minotaur ceased their conversation both looking down at the reindeer with some disdain for her brashness. The doe released her owner’s arm, playfully feigning shock and fear at their attitudes towards her.

“Forgive me, Master, I was just trying to get some praise for my accurate predictions.”

The dark brown minotaur rolled his eyes and gave a snort, before grabbing the yellow doe by her hair, using his hand hold to wrench her whole body to his side by her follicles, telling the doe “I’ll punish you later, Alice”. The way he pulled her by the scalp looked painful, but the doe kept pleasantly grinning through the abusive action, happily standing in silence as her owner continued conversing with Titanius, and even more happily accepted his attention when his grip released and he started to pet her like a common house cat.

Not too long after this, the stone's surface rippled again, and out of it came another minotaur, then another, then another, followed by two Thicket deer lead through the portal in chains leading to collars around their throats, followed by a few Antlertean deer, followed by more minotaur. This continued like this before the eyes of the does behind the city gate, with hordes of bovine and cervids entering the Everfree through this way stone. It was now fairly obvious how the minotaur were able to get through Equestria in order to enact their raid on Thicket, as smuggling such an object through pony lands would be a fairly easy task. How they managed to acquire and use such a thing was still a mystery, but one could guess that it was because of Antlertean magic that the minotaur had access to such a useful object.

Eventually, the oncoming flood of creatures stopped, with there now being more bodies than any of the deer wished to count present. Masses of mountainous beef creatures and their slaves obscured the scenery normally viable just outside the kingdom, separated from by a meager wooden gate that no longer felt like a sturdy means of protection in the face of the minotaur. Upon noticing that no more were coming through, the dark brown minotaur finally excused himself from Titanius, moved his hand from the yellow does’ hair down to her neck, and walked both her and himself to confront Aspen.

“You are the king of these females?” said the brown minotaur.

“Yes…” replied the deer king, his attention split between this minotaur and his yellow doe, now looking much paler than he did before she appeared. “I am King Aspen.”

“I am the leader of this minotaur tribe, and the conqueror of the Antlerteans,” the brown minotaur, proudly declaring his domination of the enslaved deer race, “You make call me by the title those under my rule address me by; Master.”

Aspen didn’t like the idea of calling the minotaur by this title, but his concerns were more focused at the young doe at Master’s side. While Master was an imposing figure, the smiling yellow doe was much more terrifying to the king. With her standing right in front of Aspen, he could not deny what she was; a reindeer. Not just any reindeer either, but judging by the color of the clothing she was wearing, a Gift Giver of the Grove, the very kind of deer he assumed could not be captured and enslaved. Yet she was not only a slave of the minotaur, but appeared to be completely tamed. Was she the kind of Gift Giver reindeer who could see into the future? If so, then her abilities made her incredibly dangerous in the hands of these barbarians.

“As you can see, Aspen, we have upheld our end of the arrangement,” Master continued, “And brought along the citizens of yours that we had enslaved. Now are you going to let us in, or should we assume the deal is off and break your gate down.”

Aspen could see that the minotaur’s leader was not going to show any patience, and with the sheer amount of minotaur here, he could tell that any conflict would end in Thicket’s downfall. At this point, the deer of Everfree were utterly at the mercy of the bovine.

“Don’t worry, Master,” said the yellow doe, “He’ll open it. He knows he has no choice.”

A couldn’t tell if that comment was an observation of the current situation, or if the reindeer was announcing her abilities to him, but she was right. He had no options now, save for surrender. “Give me a moment… Master...” he said dejectedly, now seeing little hope for his people if his assumptions about the yellow doe were true.

Aspen opened Thicket’s gate via his magic, and allowed the tyrannical bovines entrance into his kingdom. The, as of yet, still free does stepped back several feet to allow them room in the town’s main entrance area, but even then the combination of minotaur, Antlerteans, and enslaved Everfree deer spilled outside of the city’s borders.

“Attention, females of Thicket!” Master bellowed, standing at the forefront of his horde, his voice powerful enough to cover the streets of the small kingdom without any aid, “Today marks a great day in the history of your meager settlement! From this day forward, your race will have the privilege of serving the minotaur, your females having the honor of conceiving and birthing our sons, and ensuring that the minotaur race continues for generations to come!”

The minotaur gave a triumphant yell of victory as their tamed deer slaves gave a round of applause, the yellow one adding a few small hops in a show of her excitement. As enthused as the invading force was, those now under their oppression could only display despair for what they assumed was about to happen to them, those who had already suffered at the hands of the minotaur could only send those now in wait for their turn knowing looks of what was to come.

“Now, as a courtesy to you all, before we pair you off with the fathers of your future children, our Antlertean slaves shall prepare your bodies to accept us into them! Know that without these precautions, what you are about to endure would be excruciating and potentially harmful, so it is in your best interests to accept it! A specialist in minotaur breeding will now explain exactly what all you mothers in waiting will have to do, and once finished we shall all move onto the creation of the next line of minotaur!”

Master stepped aside, ending his precise introduction to a swift close. As he moved out of the way, a grey Antlertean female in a lab coat, her every curve on display from behind its open front, took his place.

“Hello, fellow does!” she called out in a loud, but pleasant tone, “My name is Xenia, and I’m here to welcome you to the minotaur breeding program! I’m sure many of you are nervous or afraid, but my associates and I are going to make this as painless as possible! For the next hour or so, we’ll be giving you all injections to make you’re inexperienced holes capable of taking a minotaur’s dick with relative ease, as well as making the experience feel much better than it would otherwise! Now if you all would, please remove your clothing and form ten organized lines over there!”

Murmurs formed in the crowd of Thicket does when told what was about to happen, noticing that a few minotaur were setting up several tables and beds in the middle of the deer city’s streets, things brought to their city through the bovine’s crystal portals. None of them had thought far enough into this to assume that they would need alchemical assistance to have sex with a minotaur, and were now beginning to worry about being drugged by these creatures.

“Do what they ask of you!” Aspen commanded. He too was worried about what these minotaur were planning on injecting into his people, but this was far beyond the point that such worry mattered. Compliance was the only means to avoid enslavement, their only hope being to stick to the plan and get retribution on the minotaur at a later date. “Remember, Thicket’s future depends on your obedience!”

The does hesitated, even at Aspen’s order, but eventually Birch stepped forward, stripping herself down as she made her way to the tables. “All of you, trust in the king!” she prompted the other females, who reluctantly followed by her example.

Aspen watched in silent horror as the does exposed themselves to the world, removing all forms of coverings and tossing them into a pile. Even though he had ordered this, this was a bit much. When he originally made this facade of a deal, he had expected the minotaur to have a bit more tact. What he didn’t expect was for his people to have to flaunt their bodies in public, and to be lined up like cattle to await needles full of some unknown substance. The minotaur were giving the does of Thicket no form of respect, loudly jeering and sending crude comments at the females, turning this already terrible situation into a spectacle for their amusement. The does’ humiliation was evident, as they did their best to cover themselves from the glaring eyes of their soon to be violators, trembling under the weight of their glares, their bodies blushing a deep color of red under their fur.

“Not bad,” said Titanius, making his way to Aspen, his slave stag walking along with him, “But I trusted that you would get these doe in line. Everything is happening as it’s supposed to.”

“Tell me,” Aspen said bluntly, believing that Titanius’ words had more meaning than they were intended to let on, “Master’s slave doe. Did she tell you all of this? Can she see into the future?”

“See into the future?” Titanius laughed, “What would ever make you think that? Do you know something about her that we don’t?”

“No…” Aspen replied. Perhaps he was mistaken of the yellow does’ status as a Gift Giver, or she might have not been one with the power of foresight. She might even have the power, and didn’t share it with the minotaur, but whatever it was, Aspen certainly didn’t want to reveal that power to the bulls if they didn’t know about it.

Instead, he resigned himself to watching the females of Thicket approach the tables to hand themselves over to the Antlerteans. Several of the tattooed deer, both stags and does, helped the helpless does into position, some allowed to lay down on the tables, while others sat upon them, and even more were made to bend over them, as they received a series of needles into their erogenous areas. Not a single one of them went through this without making a sound, letting out small squeaks of pain, or sucking in air through their teeth as the thin, cylindrical spikes pierced sensitive flesh. Before long, the sounds of discomfort were replaced with soft moans, the does gradually succumbing to the doses of fluids shot into them that made their bodies more sensitive, and altered their bodies perception of the now amplified sensations they felt into only arousal.

By the end of her treatment, the guard doe, Birch, was finding herself at odds with her own body. The Antlerteans had pumped her so full of their drugs that even the needles delving deep into her mammaries through the center of her hardened, erect nipples were excruciatingly arousing. Her thoughts tried to maintain the notion that none of this should be turning her on, but it was as if the more she resisted, the more her body sparked to a new, refreshing form of life that she never felt before.

“Feeling good yet?” Xenia asked Birch as she was passing by, acting as an observer as other Antlerteans tended to the injections. “Head spinning in that delightful way it does when one reaches levels of awareness they didn’t think were possible?”

Birch, nearly dazed, put her hands to her face in an attempt to regain control of her senses. “W-What have you done to me?” said the guardswoman, barely keeping control of her tongue as it threatened to slip from her muzzle due to pure, burning desire overcoming her very being. She could practically feel her body going into overdrive to produce a vast amount of female hormones, so plentiful that it was forcing the normally chaste soldier over the edge, and right into an estrus filled state of lust.

“Nothing more than we said we would,” Xenia promised, “The masters want this to be a day to remember for you, and so we’ve made sure that you’ll enjoy yourselves, no matter how rough they are.”

Without warning, the Antlertean doe took hold of Birch’s recently penetrated nipple, giving it a good twist between her fingers before the other female deer could react. This harsh treatment of the tender tit tip caused the vulnerable deer guard a great deal of pain, but at the same time ignited in her a powerful urge. Her heart beat fast, pumping blood through her body, making it incredibly warm in the chilling climate around her.

“Is she ready?”

Both Birch and Xenia turned their heads towards the voice, and saw that Brutus was standing aside the table the deer guard was laying upon.

“Oh, she’s ready.” Xenia said as she gave the nipple a final tug, releasing it in mid pull.

“Noooo…” Birch said, knowing why Brutus was there, and strongly disapproving of what he was trying to do, “Not with you...”

“That’s not up to you,” Brutus said, pressing his hand on Birch’s slender throat with one hand, while placing his other at her crotch as he bent over her prone body.

Without bothering to ask for permission, or so much as giving the deer the courtesy of a warning, Brutus stuffed his thick finger right into Birch’s pussy. The doe wanted to object, but the only noise she could produce as her pussy lips spread apart and a thick object filled her nethers was a deep, lustful moan.

“Wet and wanting,” said Brutus, “Just like a female should be.”

Brutus was about to let loose a laugh at the doe’s expense, but before he could do so much as a chuckle, Birch sent a fist down onto his face as hard as she could. Brutus was unharmed by this, but surprised that she had enough will to resist him in the state she was in.

“You’re feisty, I give ya that.” the minotaur conceded, “But I’m still gonna fuck ya.” Brutus slid the hand at Brich’s throat a bit, pushing her face upwards by the chin. “Get her collar on, I want to start using her now.”

“Right away, sir.” said an Antlertean stag, already holding in his hands a small choker with a metal D-ring on its front. With Birch held down as she was, it was an easy matter for the stag to get the two ends of its clip buckle together.

“There we go,” Brutus said, happy to see Birch wearing the only proper attire a female should have, “Looks good on ya.”

“Fuck… You…” Birch replies, finding it more difficult to concentrate as the chemicals inside her took hold of her body. The mere act of forming words was a difficult task when her mind was flooded with sensations.

“That’s the idea,” Brutus happily replied. Quickly removing his finger from her slit and gripping her waist, he hoisted Birch face down over his shoulder, “So why don’t we find a nice place to settle down and get that womb of yours filled with my cum.”

Birch struggled the best she could, but the only thing that she got for her trouble was a swift slap on the rear, which in her drug-induced state sent a lightning bolt of arousal up her spine. The last thing she did as the minotaur carried her away was let out a loud groan in mixed lust and dismay, a steady stream of fluids starting to flow down her legs as her physical form gave into it’s primal urges.

Aspen watched helplessly as what happened to Birch was repeated with slight variation to each of the does present, with minotaur taking those done with their injections aside to begin breeding. The deer king could only take solace in the knowledge that all their efforts would be for nothing, with the does incapable of conception for roughly a day due to the deer’s own preparations for this event. Still, there was much about this he didn’t like.

“Why are you putting collars on my people?” he asked Titanius, “Our agreement-”

“Has nothing to do with this,” Titanius said, anticipating the complaint, “The neckwear is simply there to separate those who’ve gotten their injections from those who have not. They can be easily taken off by the wearer whenever they want.”

“I suppose… that makes sense.” Aspen replied, noticing that these chokers were just clipped together and made of a material that could be easily cut if need be, unlike the collars that the Antlerteans were wearing.

“As you can see, we are only doing what we have to in order to make this as easy as possible. Even the aphrodisiacs are simply implemented to get the girls in the mood, as I’m sure they were scared about this whole ordeal. There is nothing easy about birthing a minotaur, from the moment we copulate, to the time the child is pushed out, the mother will be, at best, in discomfort.”

“Your slaves don’t seem to mind,” Aspen said, keeping the still smiling and currently pregnant yellow doe following Master in sight around as he decided upon which doe he would be using.

“They have adapted to it,” Titanius answered, “And some are particularly strange when it comes to their breeding, but I must enforce the idea that none of this is pleasant for a female. Some of your females will get lucky, and instead of getting a minotaur, they’ll have a female of your species, but that is why we insist that we continue beyond this singular event.”

“You say that, but you’re not exactly painting this as something we should want to do.” Aspen said frankly, “To ask us to continue this is like asking us to periodically hurt ourselves for no benefit for our people.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Titanius conceded, “But would you rather have me lie to you and say that it eventually becomes a purely pleasurable experience? That somehow being fucked by a dick thicker than your arm won’t come with some degree of pain? While we might resort to dastardly means continue our race, we have decided that the very least you lesser races deserve is honesty when it comes to this.”

Aspen could tell that the minotaur was attempting to display his race with some kind of honor in their actions, but he wasn’t buying it. If they had any honor, they wouldn’t be forcing themselves on the females of other races, and instead would allow their monstrous species to die out before even thinking of that as an option. Aspen would feel no remorse when ridding the world of their vile ilk, and would be doing every other species a favor by doing so, especially in the case of the Antlerteans. Come spring, these minotaur would rue the day they decided to make Thicket a target of their revolting lust.

“Now then, I think it’s time that you upheld your personal part in this agreement.” Titanius said, putting a hand on Aspen’s shoulder. “You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

“No, I remember,” Aspen said, waiting for this moment to come. He was not the type of king to have his civilians and subordinates do something he would not, and since the does were doing their part, he would do his. “Shall I get in line?”

“No need,” Titanius replied, “Sergius here is skilled at giving injections, and we already have all the supplies we need.”

“Where?” Aspen asked, not seeing the minotaur or his slave stag carrying anything needed for the injections.

“Why, back at your palace, of course.” Titanius answered, “If you recall, we left a bag of items behind, and inside it is everything we need. Besides, a royal stag like yourself requires more privacy than these commoners. We’ll do everything in your room, from the preparations to the deed itself.”

“Very well,” Aspen said, honestly not wishing to see any more of the does’ violation, some minotaur already beginning to grope and molest their selected females as their impatience got the better of them, “Let's go and get this over with.”

The three males made their way to Thicket’s palace, Aspen ready to make what he felt was a penultimate sacrifice for his son’s return. Though, he was reminded that this sacrifice was not purely his own, as the cry of the first doe being penetrated on a minotaur’s shaft reached his ears. In some way, all of Thicket was going to suffer for the prince’s folly, but Aspen had accepted that. He just didn’t know to what extent that suffering would be.

Author's Note

Hey everyone. One more chapter until this is all wrapped up. While this was meant to be a story for December, (because christmas and all that) I have seemed to have overextend myself just a bit. I intend to finish this before getting back to other projects though, and will probably be done in a week or so. Until then, I hope you all like this update, and I'll see you all soon.