An Apocalyptic Arrangement
Always keep your eyes to the sky.
Always keep to the well marked paths.
Hold your breath when they get close.
Never go out at night.
Four simple rules were what was left of the countless lists of checks and balances that had kept pony society going. Everything else was superfluous and forfeit to the new law of survival above all else.
Shades of brown and grey had become Rarity's world since the end. There were no more pops of bright color to tie an ensemble together, no more shimmery fabrics to draw the eye. Those were a death wish, to draw attention to one's self was a death wish.
The pale furred unicorn had taken to wearing a more neutral and efficient vest and leggings combo that bore a number of useful pockets. Her satchel was a matching dusty brown and it was empty.
She could not afford it to be empty.
But things were turning up for Rarity, she hadn't seen an unearthly hide or claw of the shadowy creatures called wispflickers by the ponies unfortunate enough to have seen them. And she had found a veritable treasure trove of supplies hidden away in the basement of an old convenience store. Why, she hadn't even known convenience stores had basements!
The only issue was that the cache did not look abandoned.
There was dust, yes, but everything in this dreadful town was dusty. But there were prints in the dust, and areas where it was swept away entirely. It was almost clean, sort of. But it was quite obviously not abandoned. This wonderful discovery had quickly devolved into a moral conundrum.
The old Rarity would not have even considered taking what was not hers, nevermind looting. But times had changed, she had changed, however unwillingly. Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy were back at the boutique waiting for her to return with something, anything.
She couldn't bear to see them go hungry again, not when she could do something about it. Surely whoever had amassed the collection of tins and bottles wouldn't miss just one or two? Enough to feed her hungry companions.
"Hey now, pony. You wouldn't believe how long it took to get all of that in one place."
Rarity flinched, her horn flaring with a diamond blue aura to better illuminate the basement. Hidden within one of her pockets, the magical sheen also encased an altered pair of scissors.
"I'm sorry for trespassing, I was just looking for...for food, is this yours?" Still nothing. Was there a unicorn here using an invisibility spell? It was a rather complex cast, but it wasn't out of the question that there was someone in town capable of it.
"It's been awful lonely anyhow, nice to have a visitor." The deep voice had a rumbling, almost gritty quality to it. Like each word was spoken through a purr. In any other situation it might have been alluring, but here in the unknown it felt like she was being hunted by some great beast. "As for that hoard, yes it's mine. You seem pretty taken with it."
Rarity heard a creak nearby and took an instinctive step back, each moment she was in this situation longer was just that much confidence chipped away. But, food was right there within her grasp. Back home she could see her little sister's ribs starting to show through her coat, she and Fluttershy weren't faring any better.
Something had to be done.
"There's quite a bit here, would you be interested in a trade, perhaps?" She asked the seemingly empty room, "I can make you some protective clothing, or a sturdy pack..."
Flakes of ceiling paint fell down over the violet maned unicorn's head, causing her to look up and finally see who she had been speaking to.
A gryphon was on the ceiling.
He was gripping a pipe that ran across the length of it, staring down at her with pale eyes ringed in eerie red. From around each eye and down to his beak was a streak of black that bled down into a tuft of fur at the bottom of his beak, standing out against the pale cream of the rest of his face and making his gaze even more unsettling.
The small basement windows only let in so much light, but she could make out the sandy tone of his body. It softened down into a similar creamy shade like that of his face along his underside. Behind him, she could see his tail wave lazily back and forth as he considered her words.
The movement reminded her of how Opal used to stalk those icky bugs that would sometimes get into her boutique. In this case, she was the bug, however nasty the analogy was.
"I've got no use for clothing, these feathers blend right in." With a thud, the gryphon dropped to the floor in front of her. He cocked his head at the mare, swiveling it in an avian fashion that she'd seen Fluttershy's own animals do. "I might be persuaded to share some of this wealth, but you're going to have to make this interesting for me."
Drat. She didn't have a lot she could offer, not even weapons. Rarity's eyes ran from the sharp talons just inches from her hooves to the dangerous curve of the gryphon's beak. He certainly had weaponry covered.
"I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement, what would you accept as a trade? Oh!" She reached out a hoof, pushing down a thrill of anxiety, "And my name is Rarity, pleased to meet you darling."
Those razor-sharp talons grasped her hoof, the faint suggestion of their power pricked through the thin fur as the stranger held her hoof but did not shake it.
"Grisha. As for what what I want..." Tighter the claws gripped her wrist, sending sparks of alarm shooting up Rarity's throat. "How about this, a pound of flesh for a pound of oats?"
"I..." Rarity sputtered, pulling back against the grip. "I'm sorry but I don't think I can give you that. It-I...I cannot afford a wound-"
Grisha spat a sharp laugh and shook his head, letting the startled mare go and watching as she fell back onto her rump. "Not that kind of flesh, Miss Rarity." He took a step closer, towering over her with his front talons at either side of her thighs. "As I said earlier, it's been awfully lonely holed up here on my own. You, little pony, can offer me a trade as old as time."
Rarity's stomach clenched as she watched Grisha's strange gaze roam her body, sliding like cold oil from her face to her chest and down to the swell of her teats. Then lower. She flicked her tail up between her legs to preserve at least some modest. "I'm flattered, I really am-"
"If you want to go, then go." Grisha stepped aside, offering her a clear view of the stairway that would lead to her freedom. "You will leave empty hooved, however. And if I ever catch you snooping again, I will take the other kind of flesh."
It could be a trap, he could wait until her back was turned then attack her. The entire situation felt too raw and dangerous to properly traverse, but she had to. There was no guarantee that he would keep his word either way. Whatever she decided, Rarity knew that she had to settle it quickly before Grisha's mind changed.
She didn't enjoy the idea of giving her body over to the gryphon, it was vulgar and uncouth. A proper lady wouldn't dare. But was she a proper lady any more? All that mattered was that she survived and that her sister and Fluttershy survived. To do that, they needed food. Her pride was not more important than their wellbeing.
"I...if I let you have your way with me." She grimaced at her own wording of it, "You will allow me to take some of the food?"
Grisha did a half bow, keeping his red rimmed eyes on her the whole time. "You have my word. Besides...half of this stuff I don't even particularly like."
Oh, you bastard. This was why she was the element of Generosity and he was not, she supposed. But the words stung even so.
"If you'll keep your word, I'll do what I must." The words left her mildly dizzy as they left her mouth, like each syllable drove further in just what she was agreeing to. This was for Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy, if she could keep that mantra going then she could make it through.
"Excellent, now..." Grisha was standing over her once again, pushing her onto her back with a talin to her chest. Right here? On the cold, hard floor!? "Just follow my lead, and I'll make sure we both get out of this in one piece."
A blush warmed Rarity's cheeks as she watched the gryphon dip his head between her legs, his warm breath puffing over her nipples as he traced the edge of one with a claw before running his tongue over it.
She inhaled sharply, unprepared for the rough texture rasping across her teat. It was strange, almost uncomfortable but not entirely unpleasant. She closed her eyes as he moved to her other nipple, grazing his beak lightly across the hardening tip and giving its twin a squeeze between his talons that made her yelp. "G-Gently, please."
If Grisha heard her or not, he didn't respond, only continuing to massage and pluck at her breasts with his tongue and claws.
The feeling of her protective leg coverings being pulled down made her eyes flicker open again to fix Grisha with a confused stare. They hadn't been in the way, but he pulled them off and tossed them to the side. When he moved to remove her backpack, Rarity shooed the talons away and slipped out of it herself, standing and making sure to levitate it out of reach of her…gracious host.
"You ponies always have such interesting cutie marks," Grisha purred from behind her, grabbing a fistful of her flank and kneading it, sending a bizarre feeling of roving pinpricks through Rarity's flesh. She was about to comment when a feather-light lick to her slit tangled her tongue within her mouth.
Grisha wasted no time sinking his own tongue further into her restricting canal, curling it and purring into her quickly slickening sex. He pulled back and began to lap at her winking clit, rasping his tongue over it with each peek beyond her protective folds while the pale mare gasped.
"Now, Miss Rarity, remember this is an exchange."
A talon curled into her violet locks, twisting her back around to face Grisha. Then, she was pushed lower until her muzzle brushed the rigid flesh of the gryphon's cock.
Rarity hadn't ever bedded a gryphon before, so she was taken by surprise when faced with Grisha's equipment. Instead of the blunt head, medial ring and overall straight shape that equines had, this was something that looked more like a weapon.
It was pinkish red, with a lighter pink head. Thick but tightly corkscrewed to a tapered end, with ridges that were covered in small barbs that made Rarity's blood run cold. At the end, a sizable knot swelled from the gryphon's sheath.
Oh dear Celestia, he was going to skewer her.
"Well?"
Gulping, Rarity opened her mouth and took in the tip of Grisha's cock. She couldn't help but play a bit with the twisting head, chasing it around in her mouth with her tongue before sliding further down. Above her, the gryphon sighed and pushed himself another few inches in, his grip on her mane tightening as he did so.
She tapped on his muscled thigh in alarm, choking around the sudden intrusion. When he pulled himself from her throat, Rarity sputtered a gasp at both the sudden supply of air and the feeling of barbs scraping her esophagus.
She didn't have long to enjoy her freedom before Grisha's spiny cock slammed back home, rattling her jaw and forcing out a strained whine as the barbs returned to prick at the delicate flesh on the inside of Rarity's cheeks.
He began building a rhythm, wings flaring and flapping occasionally as he fucked the mare's throat with increasing fervor. Each thrust slapped his balls against her chin and felt like it was shearing another layer of flesh from her throat. Tears were streaming down Rarity's cheeks but she did not falter, even as the iron taste of blood spread across her tongue.
Worse still, her clit throbbed with each increasingly painful stroke. Months of frustration, fear and stress had built up inside of her. Grief and death, all while being the strong one. For the first time in a long time, Rarity wasn't in peril by outside and indeterminate forces. This was danger of her own creation, the first real choice that had been a choice since those damned wispflickers had escaped Tartarus.
With a strained growl, Grisha ripped himself free from Rarity, her twitching mouth drooling a small pool of saliva and blood onto the stone floor. She coughed, flecking her lips with more slimy blood.
"There's a good girl, now, turn around and lift your tail." The gryphon twirled a talon in front of her face, his dark tongue running along the edge of his beak as he watched Rarity shakily do so.
Her forelegs folded below her, the hard floor uncomfortable against her joints, and kept her flagged tail raised high.
Grisha was quick to mount her, resting a back leg on her hip to steady himself as he rubbed the tip of his cock against her swollen pussy lips. The slick of Rarity's arousal spread over the textured shaft easily as he ground against her before spreading her lips and sinking in.
"My my, Miss Rarity..." He purred into her ear as the top of his knot pressed to her spasming clit. "You've done a remarkable job so far." The gryphon groaned and ground against her, one foreleg supporting himself and the other wrapped around her chest to hold her steady. "For both our sakes, I hope you're not a screamer."
A breathy whimper was his reply as he began to rock back and forth, those barbs that had torn up her throat were now in her pussy. They titillated her walls in ways that she hadn't experienced before, and the ridges were heavenly as her inner muscles rippled across them. She even found herself gasping and leaning back into Grisha's thrust. "Just...ah, please angle it a little-oh, Oh!"
She clamped her mouth shut to avoid crying out as Grisha adjusted his stroke as well as sped up his pace, each time he slammed home and his knot pressed her clit she shuddered. Her sex and inner thighs were dripping freely with a mix of arousal, blood and what she could have sworn was a surprise orgasm of her own. The various fluids were all commingling into a rosy froth that dripped down from the cock churning viciously in her cunt.
Without warning, Grisha's beak clamped down on her crest. Each smack of his hips against her ass was coming heavier now, promising days of bruising afterwards. Then pressure, hot and painful as he held their bodies together. Her lower lips were spread wider than ever, strained and stained red as they swallowed Grisha's knot with difficulty.
Rarity wanted to scream, to fight and get him out of her! But his talons gripped her muzzle to hold it shut as he rutted his thick knot into her, swearing under his breath and growling in pleasure while ravishing the poor mare.
Another muffled scream. Grisha has ceased his movement, only holding himself firmly against her plot as he came. The thick spurts of his seed were quickly filling her pussy, the excess leaking out around his cock and joining Rarity's blood on the floor.
With her insides scraped raw, the salty sting of Grisha's release felt like concentrated lemon juice over a raw wound. There was a ringing in Rarity's ears as her body went limp, her throat vibrating with a scream that she couldn't hear. The only evidence to her hazy mind that she had even made a noise was Grisha's claws clamping tighter around her muzzle.
This was for Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy.
This was for Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy.
Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy.
And then her world flickered to darkness.
When Rarity woke, she was belly to belly with Grisha. His knot was still buried inside of her and he was licking something red from his claws.
Her blood.
She jolted away, or tried to. Pain flared in her nethers as their tie was tested and held true. Grisha also seemed not too pleased, hissing at her and clutching the pony to his chest.
"I wouldn't suggest pulling the knot early, neither of us will like that." He growled, staring into her bloodshot eyes. "Just wait a bit, then you can leave with your supplies."
That's right, she did it. She'd completed her end of the deal. And it looked like Grisha was going to keep his. Tears pricked anew in her eyes, fueled by a litany of emotions, all of which canceled each other out to leave her numb but relieved. Just a little bit longer and she could be home, resting and forgetting about this.
"Thank you."
Her words were muffled as she spoke into Grisha's cream colored chest fur. With the only other option being the floor, she was forced to lay her head on the gryphon. Luckily he didn't seem to mind, humming in reply as they lay on the floor.
It didn't feel like a victory, but it wasn't defeat either.
She'd done what she had to do.
Author's Note
Fun fact: Grisha is based of a bearded vulture and caracal!
Thank you for getting this far! Every view, rating and comment is appreciated greatly!
Also, just for the record, please do not use blood as lube. Trust me.
— Saline Spritz