Author's Note

Hello fellow weirdos! Figured I'd update the author's notes of this first installment now that the second is available. The Royal Brat's Reality Check series was written as a no-expense-spared clopfic, meaning it's very long. I wrote it this way because I feel many quality clopfics are too short, so one of my goals was to remedy this by writing the spicy bits to such an extensive length that they felt sufficiently long according to my standards. Only about 20% of this chapter collectively qualifies as plot progression/character development, the other 80% is... well, not.

Don't forget to give the sequel a looksy if there's anything in here that you even slightly liked. Not to toot my own horn, but I've gotten a fair bit better at writing since this first installment was published, so the second installment should be—at the very least—as good (if not much better) overall as this first installment and any of its 'high-points', if you catch my drift.

I thank you in advance for any feedback you have to offer, positive or negative. Be it constructive with improving my writing techniques or just stemming from your own personal tastes/reactions!

Smut contents of this series have been written with human sexual anatomy in mind for all female characters, meaning while body shape is show-accurate and feral, there will be no equine-specific sexual anatomy references of any kind, such as crotch breasts or 'winking'. Sexual anatomy of male characters are given no such alignment to humans.
Also keep in mind, this series has an automatic implication that all characters depicted have their sense of morality/inhibitions overwritten by base hormonal urges at one point or another, exclusively for the sake of maintaining a consistent ~~excuse for~~ source of spiciness without sacrificing character believability too much.
~~Translation: Everybody in this story belongs in horny jail by the end.~~

You may post this work to any off-site source without my permission if you think that site would benefit from having this piece posted there. Go ahead. All I ask is that you credit my fimfiction name, and/or provide a link to the original published story here... and obviously don't claim it as your own work.

Disclaimer!

Remember! Pornography-induced dopamine rushes are dangerously addictive, especially for younger individuals! Porn is not, and never will be an accurate reflection/depiction of any healthy and successful real-life relationships, period. Over-consumption/reliance on porn can wreak devastating havoc on ones mind, body, and personal relationships in their private life. All pornography is intentionally crafted to be an unrealistic fantasy, and that's where it should always remain. Please pace yourself and consume all forms of degenerate online filth responsibly.
Thank you and enjoy!

Only the Finest of Hues, Pt. 1

The road had long since dissipated from sleek cobblestone to a well-worn mix of gravel and dirt. Rolling along it was an unmistakably unique carriage, donning bright blue and white ribbons along its upper rim. Hundreds of sparkling crystalline stones dotted the carriage’s shining exterior in breathtaking patterns; a beautiful hybrid of vivid artistry and talented jewel smithery. It was an over-the-top display, to say the least. Not to mention, a stark contrast to it’s current surroundings of empty forest. This carriage was a mobile status symbol of the highest regard, owned and used expressly by royal elites of the Crystal Empire.

“Your Highness, forgive me for speaking freely, but I cannot stress enough how long this outing has already taken. We’ve gone quite far,” said the Earth Pony stallion pulling the carriage, turning his head over his shoulder as he addressed the sole passenger on board behind him. “Furthermore, if I am to return you home before nightfall, we should head back now.”

“Quit your bellyaching, Cotton. I picked you for your legs, not your whining. It’s barely past mid-day,” spat a snide Flurry Heart, silencing him from behind the pink silken drape of the carriage’s front window as she lay comfortably on the cushy, leather upholstery of the interior, feather-filled pillows resting beside her. The seating within was remarkably spacious to the point of doubling as a small single bed, should a long-enough journey call for sleep in transit.

The stallion took her animosity in stride, and silently turned his head back toward the path as he tugged her carriage along it. He’d worked at the Crystal Palace long enough to know better than to press a matter after such a snippy response... especially with her.

His name was Cotton Cream. He was one of many servants at the Crystal Palace. The coffee-brown, blonde-maned stallion typically busied himself with manual labor and other chores that mare maids didn’t necessarily have the muscle to pull off on a day-to-day basis. He had always had a dumb boy’s crush on the Crystal Princess. Then again, virtually every stallion did, both in the Crystal Palace and down in the streets of the commoner’s. This was the royal daughter, Princess Flurry Heart, after all!

Flurry Heart would only ever let herself be seen in the most exquisite of garbs, a fair portion of her wardrobe even having been custom-made by the Element of Generosity herself! Flurry made it her business to turn her form into as much a work of art as she could, taking after her mother when it came to doing her face each morning.

Despite his hidden fondness, Cotton Cream wouldn’t lie to himself; she was a spoiled, condescending, pretentious brat surrounded by hundreds of thousands of bits worth of luxury she had never worked a day in her life to earn.

It was all because she was born so special. It caused the riches and gifts and praise to flow in even more-so than your average royal birth. Though, everyone who had actually interacted with her on even a semi-regular basis knew of her insane ego, Cotton Cream included.

And yet... he still adored her in secret just as much as when he was a stupid colt living in the outer districts of the Crystal Empire.

Growing up, he had dreamed of the palace so many times. Seeing it every night from his bedroom window, lit up so brilliantly in a dazzling light show of soft and shifting colors. It was like a personal nightlight glowing just for him, and it had filled him with wonder when he was young. Watching it gleam in the moonlight in such a mystical manner. The magnificent aurora of lights it would regularly cast in the night skies above. The seemingly endless hustle and bustle of all the surrounding market shops and businesses that remained active all throughout the night. And at the top of it all?

Her.

Princess Flurry Heart. The pinnacle of regality, living in the highest room of the palace that looked out on all the empire.

As a colt, he would always stare out to the inner district and think:
What a life to lead, living so close to the palace that you routinely walk directly under it on your way to a fancy restaurant... and right past the Crystal Heart, too! I bet you could even spot the Princess on her balcony from any one of those shops!

The majority of his birthday’s were spent visiting the empire’s innermost district. ”The place you wanna be, there’s just so much to see!” as the slogan on the advertisement fliers went. One such birthday, his parents even scraped enough money together for him to take the Crystal Palace tour. It had only showcased the first two floors of the palace, but even that was enough to have him enamored. Though he never got to see her, the simple fact that it had put him closer to the Crystal Princess than ever before was the real icing on the cake that day.

Come his twenty-first birthday, he could think of nothing more exciting than to actually work in the palace. Now that he met the minimum age requirement, he applied for royal staff...

...again, and again, and again.

The rejection letters hadn’t discouraged him much. It was a long shot after all, and he knew it, but that only made him all the more elated when at long last, he received an acceptance letter. He was going to be a real-life, full-fledged, genuine royal servant!

Granted, the position was as low on the board as it comes, but never-the-less he would get to be a real part of that palace that had filled his dreams for so many years. More importantly, he would actually get to see—maybe even meet—the Crystal Princess!

But that was almost two years ago, now. Boyish fantasies of drawing a hot bath for Her Majesty Princess Flurry Heart the Flawless, or being asked to come stand on her balcony with her and enjoy the view had all been replaced by monotonous lifting tasks, shining and rearranging shields and spears for the royal guard, and carrying prepared meals from the kitchen all the way up countless flights of stairs to Flurry’s chambers because she wasn’t in the mood to come out that day.

Usually, when he would wish her a good morning or ask how she was, he would be met with cold silence as she walked by, not even acknowledging his presence, let alone that he had said anything at all. That was one reason why Cotton Cream had been quietly ecstatic when Flurry Heart approached him this morning concerning a “private outing” of which she required a “strong stallion”. That was the first time that she had struck up conversation with him, as opposed to the other way around.

Admittedly, her wording enticed Cotton in a heartbeat, but looking back on it, he was beginning to think he’d been manipulated into agreeing.

It had been hours by now. He had been pulling her carriage far out beyond even the sight and massive stature of the Crystal Palace, through dense woods and over winding hills. They were well off the beaten path of any common roads. She had asked him to take her to a flower field. A flower field of all things!

Flurry Heart had taken up painting in the last year, and insisted only certain flora would do for the colors she wanted in her next piece, which just so happened to be yet another self-portrait.

She had gotten increasingly picky about what she was given to use for her works. She’d even gone as far as shouting the local florist out of the palace for being an “inept peasant” whose flowers produced “shades weaker than your bloodline”.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty, but...” Cotton piped up for a second time, pausing as he ran through scenarios of worry in his head. Flurry gave an audible, agitated exhale. “It’s quite dangerous for a member of the royal family such as yourself to be traveling this far from the palace with no protection. As I recall, protocol is a minimum of five soldiers of the royal guard to escort you farther than-”

“That’s why you’re here,” Flurry interrupted, her head popping out from behind the pink curtain to face Cotton. “Your very strong for such a young stallion. That’s why I wanted you! You’re my protection. You can keep me safe, can’t you?” Flurry Heart cocked her head down and to the side, blinking a couple more times than necessary and sporting a subtle smile.

This was entirely uncharacteristic from her normal, cynical, dismissive attitude, and Cotton knew it... but boy, was she beautiful up close. The soft, pink lace hue of her coat. Her piercing, light blue eyes. Long, silky mane. Pronounced black eyeliner complimenting her gaze. A royal headdress of polished silver bands with braided threads that dangled tiny precious gems behind her ears. She was gorgeous in more ways than one. Cotton’s words were caught in his throat as he looked back and locked eyes with her.

“Well... I mean, yes, your Highness. But I-”

“Great, keep going. We’re nearly there,” Flurry cut him off once more, retreating back into the luxurious confines of the carriage.

Cotton was certain he was being manipulated now.

She probably had just wanted to leave immediately, rather than go through the proper process of rallying a few available guards and waiting for them to gear up... or maybe she was having him take her somewhere the royal guard wouldn’t actually allow, and he was the only one new enough—and gullible enough—to say yes. They were pretty far out, after all. He didn’t like this one bit, but just like everything else with the Crystal Princess, he went along with it anyway. Cotton Cream had a serious problem with saying no to her.

“Your Highness, why not just send someone out to fetch the flowers you need?” Inquired Cotton Cream, still hoping to slowly bargain his way into turning the carriage around sooner rather than later.

“None of those idiots know what a Centaurea Maculosa looks like when it’s at its most vibrant,” Flurry exclaimed in her signature annoyed tone of voice from behind the pink curtain. “My painting requires only the finest of hues. I need to see each one for myself before we bring it back. I’m sick and tired of trivial delays getting in the way of my art!” she huffed.

Cotton was about to ask why she couldn’t just fly here herself, then fly back. She was an alicorn, after all. An alicorn with the most impressive set of wings Equestria had ever seen. He instead bit his tongue, because he knew full-well what the answer was: she didn’t want to.

She would rarely leave the palace if she didn’t have to, and used her wings for show far more than anything else. Flying out here on her own would be tiring, so instead she opted to have Cotton Cream get tired for her, even if that meant taking several hours longer than necessary. Though, Cotton knew that making her admit this out loud would assuredly put her in a sour mood, so he carried on in quiet.

Cotton Cream pulled her carriage up one final incline, then trailed down and out of the section of dense woods they had been in for the past hour. It lead into a wide open clearing of grassy slopes with patches upon patches of colorful flowers all around, and surely even more yet to be seen just beyond the initial hills of the terrain.

Flurry parted the curtain of her carriage’s window with her magic, glancing around nonchalantly at their new surroundings. “Stop here,” she ordered.

Cotton slowed his pace to a crawl until coming to a gentle halt, as his servant training had taught him. He unhitched himself from the carriage tongues’ breeching and sauntered over to the coach’s side, preparing to help Flurry Heart out of the carriage.

Upon opening the door, he was immediately reminded of exactly why he had willfully allowed the princess to practically hustle him into taking her all the way out here with little to no information: She really was stunning, and he just couldn’t get his dumb boy crush under control.

Flurry Heart laid placidly on the cushioned seating inside. Cotton was suddenly given the best possible view of the extravagant pink gown that she was wearing. It had strips of purple and teal that matched her mane, and small jeweled beads all along the expensive satin fabric that went from between her wings, along her lower back, and all the way to the bottom rim of the dress that draped down her rump, concealing all but the hooves of her hindlegs that were poking out beneath it’s hem.

Flurry craned her neck over to stoically lock eyes with Cotton, who—for a faint moment—almost shut the door on her out of instinct.

He felt like he had violated her privacy somehow, given that her hindquarters were facing him as she had been gazing out the opposite window in her prone and poised pose. “Well?” she chided impatiently, raising an eyebrow at Cotton. “Go to the boot and open the trunk!”

“Oh, uhh... right,” Cotton was taken a bit off guard, given that proper etiquette was to first help your passenger out of the carriage as soon as it had come to a halt.

He walked around to the rear boot where Flurry had told him to place her trunk of unknown contents before their departure. Popping the latches on the chest, it opened to reveal a folded double-bag harvesting saddle, a spyglass, and a book of horticulture.

Cotton apparently took a little too long looking at the items in the trunk.

“Bring me the book,” Flurry said curtly in a frustrated tone, as though she was telling him something he should already know.

Cotton scooped it up and hurriedly walked back over to the open carriage door, offering it to her.

Flurry Heart’s horn glowed, and she magically snatched it from his hoof, floating it over to her eyes as she rapidly flipped through dozens upon dozens of pages in a matter of seconds, stopping at one in particular.

“Here,” she turned the open book around, floating it back to Cotton Cream. She dropped it towards him before his hoof had even reached out, causing him to briefly fumble forwards in order to catch it. Her head turned back towards her window, completely disinterested in him.

The page she had opened the book to showed a picture of a bright purple flower. He glanced at it, thinking perhaps she wanted him to read it to her.

“What’s this?” Cotton asked.

“What you’re looking for,” she replied without bothering to turn her head back to him.

Oh. Of course. How very Flurry Heart of her, he thought to himself.

She wasn’t even going to get out of the carriage and pick any of the flowers herself. She expected him to go find them, bring them back to the carriage, and have her yay-or-nay each and every one before they could start back home.

“Ah. Yes, thank you, Your Highness,” said Cotton in as honest of a tone as he could muster, despite his internal aggravation at yet another classic example of the sheer audacity of this royal brat. “And what of the spyglass? Do you need it?”

“No dummy, you do,” Flurry condescended him without a care in the world. “The field is large, so go up a hill and use the spyglass. Anything that looks like what a peasant would call ’purple’ you go towards and see if it matches the picture,” she turned her head just enough to glare back at him through the corner of her eye. “Do you understand, now?” she said to Cotton in an insufferably belittling way, like she was talking to a special needs filly.

Cotton Cream had gotten used to Flurry Heart testing his patience like this. Everyone at the Crystal Palace but her own parents had, as well. Yet, this time was definitely up there in the top ten... or maybe top twenty. There were a lot of instances to pick from.

“Yes, Your Highness... but wouldn’t it be far better an idea if you came with me?” Cotton began, before suddenly realizing that almost sounded like he was telling her she should get off her royal heinie and actually help. “I mean, for your safety! I... can’t exactly... protect you, as you said, if you’re left alone here at the carriage without-”

“Cotton,” Flurry cut him off as she turned her head to face him, her expression one of feign friendliness.

Cotton waited for her to continue speaking, but she didn’t. Instead, she just stared at him, blinking twice expectantly.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“What did I pick you for?” she raised her eyebrows, looking for a very specific answer.

“My legs?” Cotton sighed.

“Then go use them,” she blurted out rudely before he could finish speaking, gesturing with a head tilt toward the field, then turning back to the window again. She rested her chin on a forehoof casually, disengaging from the interaction in the most apathetic way.

Cotton’s eyes drifted downward in defeat, taking another look at the book’s purple flower.

A small part of him just wanted to slam the book shut, toss it into the carriage, hitch back up and take her home immediately, whether she liked it or not.

...But then his eyes rose up and made several seconds of direct contact with that royal rear end of hers, draped in bejeweled satin cloth and pointed straight at him.

He’d never dare steal such a bold gaze when she was looking. He silently berated himself for deliberately checking her out like that at all, but given what he was putting up with, he justified it in the moment as well deserved.

I’m a chump, aren’t I? Cotton grumbled in his head, carefully closing the carriage door so as to not show that he had let her get to him... again.

He walked back over to the rear boot of the carriage, and grudgingly put on the harvester’s saddle. Two empty bags now resting on either side of him.

“There’s a good boy,” he heard Flurry Heart mutter to him from within the carriage.

He noted the page number for the purple flower she wanted so he could reference it again as he closed the book and placed it into one of the harvesting pouches, along with the spyglass.

She just walks all over me and I go along with it, he thought to himself. Why do I go along with it!? Is it that she’s royalty and I have to? Do I secretly like it? Is it because I want to grab that ass and just-

Cotton shook the perverse fantasy from his head before it began. There was no time for that now anyway. He was going to be in this damned flower field for at least two hours—if not more—wandering around like an idiot holding a book and looking for a very specific purple flower among what were likely a dozen different purple flowers, just because she said so.

He set off into the field, a cloud of quiet anger looming over him while he worked his way up the first hill, pulling out the spyglass, and searching for a ‘peasant’s purple’, as she called it.

After the first thirty minutes, though, he gradually discovered it wasn’t quite as grating on him as he thought it would be. In fact, it turned out that getting some distance from that sarcastic, gorgeous brat was exactly what he needed.

He actually found himself getting a bit lost in the process. He’d scan his surroundings through the spyglass for anything purple among several other vibrant colors, as though he was sailing the high seas searching for islands over the horizon. He’d spot the color, trot over, check the book to ensure it was the right species, pluck and stow. Rinse and repeat.

The only trouble was... the vast majority of them weren’t the right species of flower, just as he had worried.

Before long, he’d found himself doing this again and again for almost a whole hour, and what did he have to show for it? A whopping nine of these stupid ‘Centrifuge Medusas’, or whatever she had called them. This was going to take a long while if he didn’t pick up the pace.

As time passed back at the carriage, Flurry Heart was lost in her own thoughts, as was the norm for her when she was alone. Staring off into the sky and watching the rolling clouds drift along far out in the distance, she passed tiny judgements on things—but usually people—as she daydreamed. Judgements from her mind that were no kinder than those from her mouth.

Flurry Heart knew full-well what a stallion looked like when they were under her spell. Though, not just any suck-up would do. If she wanted to get this done today and no later, she had to pick someone that put her above any stupid, over-reaching regulations that would otherwise get in her way.

Cotton Cream was perfect for that. The youngest stallion servant employed at the palace. She had heard of how he’d practically flooded the mail room with his applications to serve there. Each one rejected was met with another application, mouth-written himself, and having small differences or meaningless little additions to his skill-set in a desperate attempt to look just a little bit more valuable than before.

Flurry grinned to herself. She had to admit, it was kind of cute how badly he had wanted it. It also made him a prime target to be her new errand boy.

Most other stallions that came to work at the palace—either as a servant, butler, or rookie guard—had all fallen prey to her routine of fluttering her eyelashes and using a soft, sweet voice that was exclusive to her manipulation tactics. Eventually though, they caught on and started giving her canned responses straight from their code of conduct booklet, just to be able to tell her no without telling her no. She grew so annoyed with the ones that did that.

Cotton Cream, though, was still in the early stages of palace servitude... and he adored her in secret, she could tell. Flurry gambled she could keep him putty in her hooves for perhaps twice as long as other newcomer stallions from the past before he’d finally catch on too, beginning to live and breathe protocol as an avoidance strategy against her like all the others eventually had.

A knock on the carriage’s opposite door pulled her out of her musings.

It’s only been an hour! Flurry thought to herself. No way this idiot filled both bags that fast.

“Open it,” she sighed, preparing for more annoyances from her new lackey.

The carriage door swung open, but to Flurry’s surprise, she was not met with the face of a fatigued Cotton Cream, but the mug of a bipedal dragon staring back at her.

She paused, eyeing the drake over. He was male for sure. His face a stern and somewhat grim-looking visage. His figure was clearly one of someone who did physical labors on the regular. He was fit, and covered in night-black scales with two horns that curved back and down protruding out from the top of his head.

He was dressed exactly like a bounty hunter. He wore a masterfully stitched sleeveless cargo vest that exposed the size and toned muscle of his arms, a leather strap across his chest with little pouches and vials, a noticeably large leather sheath housing a dagger belted onto his right hip, gloves on his hands that had metal bracings on the top; the whole nine yards.

“Who are you?” she demanded, her expression completely unmoved.

“I am Shade, a humble adventurer, Your Majesty,” he spoke in a deep, masculine voice that she couldn’t help but silently note was extremely commanding, yet slightly gruff. “Is everything alright? Why is your carriage abandoned all the way out here?” he asked her, sounding concerned.

Flurry was unphased by him, however. Telling people off of all shapes and sizes was an art form for her, and she was in no mood to sign anything from a wanderer that thought he’d be owed her attention just for checking on her well-being.

Yet, in the back of her head, she couldn’t shake a quiet worry that perhaps this wasn’t just some draconic vagabond.

“My carriage is not abandoned if I’m in it, commoner. I’m here on royal business, which is none of your concern. Shut the door and be on your way!” she snapped, using her typical, dismissive demeanor, far too antsy to get back to her peace and quiet to bother with even basic manners.

Yet, the black-scaled dragon just stood there. His eyes wandered from hers, down to her folded wings, then across her magnificent, sparkling dress, and lower still down to her rump. A subtle smirk slowly crept onto his face as his gaze came to rest on her clothed flank.

Flurry was appalled as she watched where his eyes went, her expression immediately turning to one of furious disbelief.

This degenerate was staring right at her ass! Right in her own carriage!

In a not-so-thought-out reflex, she whipped her tail directly at him. She wasn’t close enough to make contact, but it was certainly enough to make him flinch, his eyes darting back up to hers.

Shade’s smirk turned into a toothy grin, and he bellowed out in a deep and rowdy laugh.

Alright, that’s IT!

An indignant Flurry Heart raised herself up off the seating of the interior, and faced the chortling dragon. He backed away from the carriage a few steps as she jumped out of it in a huff. “Listen here, buck-o!” she shouted, her calm, collected, nonchalant attitude vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Upon exiting the carriage, however, she realized he wasn’t alone. There were two others as well. A dark red, and a yellow dragon that were dressed much the same as Shade, and equally as imposing. She gave them both a quick glance, but it didn’t deter her concentrated rage on the ebony-scaled one before her.

“I don’t know what trashy lowlife standards your kind has, but a scum-puddle like you does NOT let his eyes roam over royalty!” she absolutely went off on him. “Furthermore, you don’t get to ignore a royal command you stupid lesser! Shut the door means shut the door! You will not touch my carriage ever again, you got that!? I am Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire, and my being out here trumps your being out here, so hit the road you cretinous, overgrown cragadile, or you’re looking at a one way ticket to a dungeon cell for the rest of your useless days!” Flurry Heart craned her neck forward and raised her eyebrows menacingly. “Try me, and I’ll have your hide turned into cheap farmer’s boots!” she spat through gritted teeth as she finished.

It was quite a sight in and of itself. A prim and proper-looking princess covered in vibrant, dazzling attire with perfect mane, manicured hooves, and done up face was chewing out this bulky, jet-black dragon that looked like he could bench press her for fun. He stood a solid two to three feet taller than her. Granted, she was on all fours, and he was not, but she still had to look up at him as she barked out her threat.

For a moment, everyone was silent.

“Damn, sweetheart, you’re vicious!” the yellow one nearby exclaimed in hearty laughter. The dark red by his side had an amused smile on his face, clearly having enjoyed her outburst, their chipper and unbothered reactions doing nothing to quell her fuming outrage.

“Now gentledrakes, don’t be rude. She has a point!” the ebony dragon maintaining direct eye contact with Flurry Heart as he spoke, his eerily stoic expression betraying the calm and sincere tone of his voice. “She is royalty. We should be more formal and give her the respect she deserves,” he said in heavy sarcasm. “Please, Your Majesty, forgive me. Allow us to introduce ourselves proper.”

“I don’t care who you are, you will leave at once. Get outta here! Last warning!” Flurry’s anger was boiling over. She had never felt so disrespected in her whole life. To Tartarus with what was ‘becoming’ of a princess, the last of her self-control about to snap like a twig.

“My name is Shade, and I do... contracting work,” he said calmly, completely ignoring her warning. “These are my... business partners, Krim,” he pointed to the dark red dragon, “and Dandy,” then to the yellow dragon, who waved casually at Flurry with clawed fingers twiddling in the air.

Once she heard all their names together, it suddenly clicked.

‘Shade’, with the pitch-black scales. ‘Krim’, with the crimson scales. Dandy, with the yellow scales. ‘Dandy’ no-doubt short for dandelion, the yellow herb. These weren’t even their real names! These were simple aliases to loosely describe them.

She was well read, and she knew what this meant. It was common practice for members of illegal or shady guilds to use placeholder names, both as a mark of reputation in their guild, and also so their true identity wouldn’t be printed on wanted posters.

How they were geared up like they were going hunting for an Ursa Major. The way the black one had disregarded her authority. How he was so brash as to undress her in his head while she was looking right at him! Calling her sweetheart!? These weren’t simply cocky travelers hailing from the outskirts of Ember’s dragon lands, clueless of how to behave around royalty... they were coordinated, and most definitely had wicked intent.

Flurry Heart wasn’t just being disrespected, she was in a situation.

That was fine, though. She was Flurry Heart. Glittering and glorious! Wings unlike any seen before or since. Raw magic power practically on par with Twilight Sparkle herself! Why, Flurry was accidentally blasting out beams of pure energy when she was just an infant! Now, she was an adult... and very, very pissed. These ruffians picked the wrong target.

Without hesitating for another moment, she reared up on her hindlegs, her wings swiftly unfolding to show their intimidating size. “Stupid peasants,” she growled, before stomping her forehooves down to the ground, pointing her horn directly at Shade and...

...

...

Nothing?

Why did nothing happen? That wasn’t right. He should have been blasted clean out of his boots, a small crater where he used to be standing, but instead... not even a magic fizzle?

Flurry concentrated her mind, and thrust her horn down and forward a second time, grunting in effort to will the violent spell forth, but still nothing happened.

Her eyes opened in a panic, and she looked up at Shade who was standing in front of her with a relaxed posture, that same smirk still on his scaled face. She hadn’t noticed until just now, but he had piercing blue eyes that peered right into hers. She felt a pang of terror, but kept it hidden from her expression.

“Yeah, you were right. She is a bit of a mean bitch, isn’t she?” Krim chided, as though nothing of significance was going on.

Flurry’s eyes darted over to him as he made the comment, and that’s when she noticed it beside him: a piece of finely cut, circular metal laying flat on the ground, with large prongs embedding it into the earth. A small, dark purple crystal was levitating inside a glass dome at the center, sparking with violent little jolts of activity.

A proximity magic inhibitor.

Krim must have deployed it while she was shouting her outrage at Shade.

How could they possibly have something like that? Those weren’t just ludicrously expensive, they were very, very illegal. You could be locked up for a decade just for owning one, let alone being caught selling it. The artificial gem inside looked to be exactly the kind she’d read about. Forged by vile wizards seeking power rather than knowledge, and crafted in an attempt to replicate the magic of Tirek and other demons of eras past. She’d figured all of them had been sought out and destroyed by now after The War on Dark Magic concluded years ago, leaving nothing but heavily-regulated magic-blocking horn rings... but apparently not, because there it was.

Her next immediate instinct was to fly away. They had wings too, but tucked neatly back behind all the mercenary garments they were wearing. Plus, her wings were bigger. She didn’t even need a head start, she could outfly them easy!

...If she hadn’t decided to get so close to Shade during her temper tantrum.

Flurry Heart backed up slowly, trying to create some distance so she could have the time to twirl around and take to the skies, but Shade knew precisely the only move she had left to make, and he was ready for it.

He lunged at her the exact moment she spun away and raised her wings. "Woaaah there!" said Shade amusedly, grabbing her by her wing and neck from behind. "Where do you think you're going, sweet cheeks?" he chuckled villainously. Krim and Dandy bolted over to help him, the three of them dragging her down into the grass, easily overpowering her.

Flurry had only ever practiced self-defense in magic. Now, she was as helpless as an Earth Pony... but far weaker. She was an absolute pillow princess being wrestled to the ground by a trio of tough-as-nails lizard men. She stood no chance at all to resist them.

“Get off! Get your filthy paws off me! No!” Flurry Heart screamed, her voice full of fury as a scaled hand came down on her muzzle, gripping it closed firmly and silencing her into muffled screeching.

“You’re sure you were thorough?” Shade spoke over her struggling form.

“Me and Dan triple-checked every last tree along the whole ridge. There’s not a soul in the forest, no clouds for any fliers to hide in, and that huge meadow leads nowhere but the Badlands,” Krim replied, a hint of anticipation in his voice. “She’s definitely out here alone.”

Shade grinned wickedly, looking back down at the writhing princess beneath him. “Good... then we have plenty of time.”

Flurry's stomach dropped as she heard him say those words, looking up at him with panic and hatred in her eyes, noting the way he spoke with that awful hunger in his voice. She thrashed desperately for her freedom.

Shade rose up from the restrained Flurry Heart, leaving her struggling under Krim and Dandy’s hold. He glanced at the back of her carriage, and walked over. Seeing the trunk resting on the rear boot, he stepped forward, popped the latches and opened it. “Perfect,” he whispered to himself, finding nothing inside. He shut the lid and lifted the heavy chest off of the carriage’s rear boot with ease, walking it over to a soft patch of grass nearby.

“Bring her over here,” Shade commanded as he set the trunk down in the greens.

Dandy released her muzzle, and with the help of Krim, effortlessly lifted the squirming princess up off the ground, carrying her over to the makeshift hot seat Shade had placed.

The moment Flurry’s muzzle was released, she immediately began screaming again. “Bastards! Disgusting, reprobate degenerates! Release me right fucking now, or you’ll die alone in a cell UNDER MY HOOVES!”

Flurry Heart had never used such profane, vulgar language in front of anyone before, but she was beyond enraged. Awash with humiliation in how they lackadaisically rough-handled her like she was a prize toy at a carnival.

The two draconic brutes sat her down on the trunk, her haunches resting on the top of it, and her hind hooves dangling just above the grass below. Krim and Dandy were at her sides, each holding a foreleg tightly to keep her still. Krim put a hand back over her muzzle to quiet her onslaught of shouting, demands, and threats.

Shade lowered himself down on one knee, kneeling before her in a show of mock-respect for her royal status. His conniving eyes met her fiery ones.

“Now then,” he cooed, taking her right forehoof into his gentle grip and raising it up to his face. “I believe we got off on the wrong—” he pressed his lips to the top of her forehoof, kissing it politely “—hoof, as it were. I’d like if we could be friends,” Shade spoke playfully, clearly trying to upset and abase her as much as possible.

He stood up and leaned forward, his gaze going up and down her body, from the flaming hatred of her eyes, down to the finely sewn hem of her dress, and back up again. “I must say, Your Majesty... you are absolutely beautiful!” Shade placed a gloved forefinger and thumb under her chin, like he was inspecting her worth.

In truth, he was. He was drinking her in. Beholding the soft elegance of her facial features. His gaze dancing with hers. Everything about her from her dolled up face to the brilliant shine of jewelry from her headdress screamed 'royalty' to an exuberant degree. A mischievous smile grew on Shade's face as he looked upon the Crystal Princess, basking in how unbelievably attractive the young mare was up close. He knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he planned on taking his sweet time.

Shade signaled with a finger-flick for Krim to release her muzzle, and the moment Krim did, Flurry immediately spat like a viper directly at Shade’s face, the dollop of saliva landing on his left cheek.

“Fuck you! You’ll have the entire might of the Crystal Empire’s military coming after you for this. Do you hear me!? There is no where you’ll be able to hide once-” Shade shot his hand around to the back of Flurry’s head, roughly grabbing a handful of her mane, which was enough to startle her into gasped silence.

Only now did she realize just how frail she really was compared to this towering, muscly dragon. But her foolhardy pride was stronger still, and she scowled up at him.

“...o-once they hear of-” Flurry stammered, continuing her threat before Shade’s stern tonal shift interrupted her.

“Seems you don’t want to play nice... but that’s okay,” he spoke with a calm but threatening aura, wiping her saliva off his cheek. A sly curl formed at the corner of his mouth. He leaned in closer to her, meeting her eyes face to face, causing Flurry’s breathing to deepen in fear, her rigid look of defiance still present and unwavering.

“To tell you the truth—” Shade raised his gloved right hand to Flurry Heart’s face, pressing his thumb into her mouth and forcing her jaw open from the intrusion. Her breathing hastened as the gloved digit wedged itself between the back right row of her teeth. “—neither do I,” he whispered, his face an inch from hers.

Shade forced his lips to hers in an aggressive, full-mouth kiss. It wasn’t slow or romantic, it was harsh and thieving.

Flurry squinted her eyes shut and immediately screamed into the unwanted oral assault, squirming violently in the clutches of the three dragons, trying to break free. Krim and Dandy held her tighter to keep her from moving left or right. All she could do was lean back as far as possible to try and pull her mouth out away from Shade's, but he leaned further and further forward at the same time, following her down until they were both completely horizontal. He laid overtop her, continuing his attack on her lips completely unabated. His hips rested squarely between her hindlegs, weighing down on her and ensuring she had nowhere to wriggle but deeper into the violating kiss. She kicked her lower legs out from the bottom of her dress again and again, swiping them at nothing as they flailed wildly on either side of him. As soon as she realized she couldn't move in any direction anymore, she promptly registered the current posture of her predicament, and it made her go utterly berserk. It was a sex pose! He'd locked the Crystal Princess into a missionary position underneath him, his large, clawed hand clamping down on the back of her head to keep her face pointed up toward his, her hair dangling down behind her ears inches above the grass. The clicking and clacking of little jewels knocking into each other as they hung from her headdress filled the gaps between the sounds of her anguished, choking wails.

Her eyes shot open, zipping around in search of relief that was nowhere to be found. All she could see was the deep, shadowy black hue of his scalie face obscuring all but the far edges of her peripheral vision. His eyes were closed and a subtle snarl resided on the top of his snout as he repeatedly pressed his mouth into hers with a passionate intensity that made her sick to her stomach. He was so domineering, his lips crashing over her own, suckling firmly, pulling back, letting go with a messy-sounding, saliva-drenched 'tlup', then going right back in for more. Again and again and again. He kissed her dirty, sloppy, needy. It wasn't just kissing for kissing's sake. He macked on her maw with wet, ravenous, arrogant force behind each pushing closure of his lips that captured her own, like he was going out of his way to make sure she felt as romantically degraded as possible.

Flurry felt a dizzy mixture of disgust, outrage, humiliation, and total shock at what was being done to her. She had no way out. Couldn't speak, couldn't break free, couldn't wriggle, couldn't move, couldn't even turn her head away. They were all so viciously strong in their coordinated restraint of her slender, regal figure. She felt like she was being traumatized by the sheer lack of any control as something so invasively intimate was forced upon her. How did it go from an outing for flowers to a burly dragon thug not just stealing her first kiss, but practically devouring it for his own satisfaction?

Just when Flurry Heart thought she couldn’t stand anymore, she felt him slip his tongue into her mouth, and her muffled screaming into the kiss was instantly reinvigorated.

He pushed forward, sealing his lips right on to hers and holding them there while his tongue danced around inside her mouth, sliding up along the inner walls of her maw and pushing against them, causing brief protrusions on her outer cheeks as his tongue wormed around inside her chops with hurried, explorative movements.

Her first instinct was to bite his tongue as hard as she could, but she was quickly reminded of his thumb that was lodged into the back of her jaw. The small metal bracings on the top of his armored glove served as a bite block between her teeth. She was also reminded of exactly how prehensile a dragon’s tongue was as Shade managed to coil his completely around hers, ensnaring her tongue while simultaneously bathing it in a layer of his own saliva, making sure she couldn’t possibly evade the feel of it’s slick, twirling ministrations.

Flurry was panting heavily through her nostrils, her eyes wide with rage and fear, darting left and right saccadically. She desperately tried to break free from the iron grip of the two dragons at her sides, fruitlessly attempting to pull her head away from Shade’s hold to no avail. She could barely move an inch with all their hands holding her. She really did just have to lay there and take what he was doing to her. Held down as her delicate lips were given a vicious once-over from a ferocious pervert, feeling as though her pride and perfection were being stolen from her with every passing second that this black-scaled brute forced his twisting, tendril-esque tongue around the interior of her maw, wrapping itself luridly around her own tongue and tugging on it, fondling it, seizing all its mobility and marinating it with his own spittle from back to front. It was by far the filthiest and most spine-tinglingly alien sensation Flurry could have ever imagined feeling inside her own mouth. He was gratuitously frenching her against her will and then some! She couldn’t imagine any princess being treated worse than this. Her blood boiled and her shame broke the scales. She screamed into his maw sealing itself tight over hers, shrieking in furious indignation as loud as she possibly could.

Then, his tongue uncoiled itself from hers and began sliding further into the back of her mouth. Then further. Then even further, and a new wave of struggles erupted from Flurry when she caught on to what he was doing.

Dragons were lizards. Their tongues weren’t just flexible... they were long! Shade had only been using half the length of his the entire time that it’d been wrestling with hers.

His tongue slithered along the top of her own and trailed past it, gradually slipping deeper in. Flurry couldn’t figure out why he was suddenly going so slow and gentle, almost like he was hesitant all of a sudden... but as his tongue started to creep too far back, Flurry gave an involuntary ’glhk’, to which the slick length immediately retreated... then rapidly slid forward again, then back, then forward. Before she knew it, Shade was perversely thrusting his tongue in and out of the depths of her mouth repeatedly.

She realized he was testing where her gag reflex was triggered so he could get his tongue as far in as possible without having to break the kiss. It relieved her to know he wasn’t going to try and force it all the way down her throat, but her relief was replaced by more fuming outrage as Shade moaned into her mouth while his tongue continued its pumping motions back and forth within the confines of their sealed lips.

There was something positively horrendous to Flurry about hearing him moan like that. Knowing he was deriving pleasure from doing such a lascivious thing to her, and that she was helpless to stop even one little bit of it as it went on and on.

She tried to scream again in her renewed protest, but the sound she made came out in interrupted spurts, as every time his tongue went right up against where her throat began, it would cause another involuntary ’glhk!’, ’glhk!’, ’glhk!’, ’glhk!’, from her, over and over again.

Krim and Dandy looked up at each other, grinning in unison. They could tell from the sound of her gagging screams exactly what Shade was doing to her.

Dandy pulled at her foreleg as he held it, pressing her front hoof firmly over his groin where a bulge had formed. Not that she had any idea, though. Her eyes were tightly shut as she endured the deep, intrusive assault.

Krim massaged her other foreleg that he was holding, enjoying the feel of her soft fur between his clawed fingers while she was getting the inside of her mouth literally tongue-fucked by Shade, who was now audibly, continuously moaning into the forced lip lock with his captive princess.

Well, twenty-seven is way better than nine! Cotton Cream thought to himself as he worked his way up another of many hills, having one of his harvester pouches more than half-full of identical purple flowers.

He pulled out the spyglass once more, and with the aid of the elevated terrain, scanned his surroundings for what felt like the hundredth time.

Wait... I’ve already been on this hill, haven’t I? Cotton grumbled to himself, lowering the spyglass. Yeah, I’m sure of it! There’s blue over there, orange right there, he did a full turnaround, gathering his bearings on his location. Aaaaand there’s the carriage way over there! Cotton kicked himself, trying to figure out at what point he’d gotten so turned around.

Then, he noticed something odd, giving a second glance back at the direction of the carriage. The door was left open, and it looked like there were multiple figures in the distance next to it. What were those? Maybe logs, or rocks he hadn’t noticed when he set out into the field in a quiet huff?

Oh no... are those wild animals? That close to the carriage!? he thought in worry.

Cotton raised the spyglass, pointing it over to the figures.

They weren’t animals, but never-the-less, a rush of anxiety washed over him.

He was looking at what were definitely three dark-clothed figures of some species or another, standing upright. A red, a yellow, and a darker one that was... laying down? It looked as though it was draping itself over a boulder or... something.

Cotton adjusted the spyglass magnification, setting it to it’s maximum view distance and frantically gazing back through it.

He gave a shaky exhale at what he saw, his worry immediately morphing into horrified panic.

Three bipedal dragons all close together. A crimson red on the left, and a soft yellow on the right. The dark one in the middle was leaning far forward overtop of something, the back of his head subtly shifting up and down. There were two slender, light-pink equine legs sticking out on either side of his hips, kicking desperately at nothing. The rumples of an all-too-familiar dress were scrunched up between the bucking pony legs and the dragon’s body.

”Flurry Heart!” he burst out loud.

Who were they? What were they doing to her? What should he do? It was just supposed to be the two of them out here. There was no one to go to for help! Help was several hours trot away back at the empire!

A slew of fears rushed through Cotton Cream’s head. She was in danger! Was he looking at a struggle for her headdress? Were they thieves trying to steal it? Why were the other two at her sides so immobile then? Cotton couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t obliterating them with her powerful magic.

Oh shit... was he biting her jugular? Was he killing her!?

This worst-case-scenario hit Cotton Cream like a train, a fight-or-flight response kicking in as adrenaline rushed into his body. He had to get down there! It'd take him half a minute to sprint through that huge field separating him and the carriage, but he had to try and stop it. Maybe he could scare them away? They looked massive compared to him, but if Flurry Heart was being killed, he had to do something!

Mere milliseconds before he was about to lower the spyglass and bolt down the hill to her rescue, the black-scaled one in the middle leaned back up and off of her, standing himself upright. The two other dragons at either side raised her up by her forelegs into a sitting position on what Cotton could now see was the trunk from the carriage boot.

Cotton let out a small sigh of relief as he got a good look at her. She looked unharmed. No blood, no scratches, no nothing. Her headdress was still on, and even her make-up seemed intact.

But then... what had they been doing to her?

Flurry Heart was panting heavily, her threats and screams of before now replaced with labored, trembling breaths as she began to recover from the violating ordeal. The two dragons at her sides sat her upright on the trunk as she shook like a leaf, looking like she'd just been dunked into ice-cold water but still perfectly dry.

Shade looked her over, placing a gloved hand on her cheek. She looked up at him with gritted teeth, still having stern defiance in her glare as her breathing slowed to normal.

“My deepest apologies, Your Majesty... but you looked so—” he gave a wide, toothy grin “—ravishing!”

She heard Krim and Dandy chuckling together at either side of her, their clawed hands squeezing down excitedly on her forelegs and shoulders.

Flurry could tell by now, Shade was clearly the leader of their little party. The other two had been readily complicit and patient in helping him restrain her for that... session of cruel pervertion. If she had any hope of talking her way out of this, it was with him.

She looked down to the grass beneath her, thinking of what to say, the greens at her hind hooves reminding her of why she was out at the edge of these massive, hilly plains in the first place.

Maybe everything would be fine, if she could perhaps just stall them—or, stars forbid, sate them—until he came back. He was her only chance for salvation now. She just needed to hold out until her errand boy returned to change the situation, maybe give her a chance to fly off.

“Y-You’ve had your fun... now flee,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice from quivering as she spoke, the shuttering in her chest less from fear and more from the brutal shock that such a foul, crass, salacious thing had just happened to her of all ponies! “I have a platoon of guards on their way back right now. Enough is enough,” she lied through her teeth, hoping to scare them into taking the bait.

Shade stepped closer to her, lifting her chin up to his eyes. “You’re a bad liar, Your Majesty,” he said in a deep, soothing voice before pushing his lips against hers one more time for a greedy, wet, full-lip kiss.

Cotton Cream watched through the spyglass, trying to figure out what his next move should be.

He saw her mouth moving and figured a conversation was happening. The black-scaled dragon placed his hand under her chin, lifting her gaze up to meet his, and the posture of it all set off some very specific alarms in Cotton’s head.

Then, he saw the drake push his mouth over Flurry’s. She yanked her head to the side in disgust, her assailant smirking his enjoyment of her rebellious spirit.

He had stolen a kiss from her!

Suddenly, it all fell into place for Cotton. What that dragon had been doing on top of her before; he had been making out with her! The other two had been holding her in place so she couldn’t escape his mouth.

Cotton felt a pang of rage, knowing that this group of bandits was ganging up on her to take advantage of her beauty for their own sick fun. The idea of dropping his saddlebags and running down there suddenly seemed worth considering for entirely different reasons.

He had no experience in real combat, but had spent some time chatting with numerous members of the royal guard, who’d detailed their experiences in fighting. What worked, what didn’t, mistakes they made. It was a gamble, but maybe if those dragons were just a bunch of all-bark-no-bite morons, he could threaten them away, or at least word himself into a position of bargaining somehow.

Flurry would love me for it... if it worked, he weighed his options. The thought caught in his head for a moment; being seen as uniquely valuable by the princess he’d idolized and crushed on since adolescence...

Fantasies of being Flurry’s savior were quickly dashed, though, as his gaze through the spyglass caught sight of the black-scaled dragon’s weapon belt. A huge, nasty looking dagger rested on his hip in a sheath that appeared expertly tailored for that exact blade.

And just below him, a strange metal object was planted on the ground, with little purple lights coming from it, leading Cotton to believe it was some sort of advanced mechanism that was keeping Flurry from using her horn to protect herself.

If they had gear like that... then perhaps these goons were a bit more dangerous than he thought. What was the next best idea to running down alone and getting stabbed by what might be three violent, experienced outlaws?

Cotton’s thought process was interrupted as he watched the black-scaled dragon say something with a hand gesture, the other two drakes at Flurry’s sides then lifting her up, spinning her around, and bending her down over the trunk. Her head was facing away, and her rump now pointed right toward his spyglass’ view—the very same rump covered by gem-set satin fabric that he had stared at just before leaving the carriage.

Cotton Cream was suddenly transfixed on the scene before him. He had never seen the Crystal Princess bent over like that. The position was downright raunchy. A strange concoction of paradoxical feelings began brewing in Cotton’s mind as he watched the red and yellow drakes press a scalie hand down on each of her wings, forcing them to stay folded closed, and using their other hands to reach over and grip each hindleg securely so she couldn’t buck. It worried Cotton something fierce that they seemed to know wordlessly how to coordinate where their hands needed to be to restrain a mare in that particular position, as though they'd done it before.

The black-scaled dragon knelt down in front of her dress-covered rump, clearly eyeing it with dirty intent as he took one of his gloves off. He raised the bare hand up to Flurry Heart’s now pronounced rear end, and then patted it through her dress.

“You motherfucker, leave her alone!” Cotton said under his breath.

He was furious at seeing someone touch his princess like that, but in the back of his head, he couldn’t help but also note the odd coincidence that it was exactly what he’d fantasized doing to her not even two hours ago when she'd belittled him and sent him on his way.

Flurry’s heart pounded in her chest as she lay face down over the trunk, unable to see anything going on behind her as Krim and Dandy held her immobile in that humiliating pose.

Just that position alone had her rife with embarrassment. Bent over her own luggage trunk as though being displayed like a piece of meat at a market. “Stop this! Stop it!” she howled, her head flailing as she tried in vain to use a spell—any spell at all—to get herself out of this, but still to no avail.

“Now then,” Shade bent down on one knee, lowering himself down directly in front of her hindquarters. She felt him pat an ungloved hand down on her flanks, treating her presented bottom like a trophy. “Where were we, back in that carriage?” he gave a throaty chuckle.

“Don’t you dare, you wretched fuck!” Flurry yelled from the other end of the trunk.

“Let’s see,” Shade took off his other metal-braced glove, laying it aside in the grass with the first. He brought an open hand right up to the left cheek of Flurry Heart’s dress-covered posterior, eliciting a loud shriek of humiliation from her. “Was it something like this?” he said, palming her ass firmly, grabbing as much of the cheek as he could with a single hand and pawing at it through the fabric.

“Fucking heathen! Bastard! Licentious, cave-dwelling filth!” Flurry hurled a colorful series of long-worded insults at him as she endured having her pert haunches felt up by grabby dragon claws.

He pulled his hand off her ass, causing Flurry to calm herself for just a brief moment. “Ah, wait. I remember, now!” he said facetiously.

“No!” Flurry shouted.

“I was staring at this beautiful ass, and thinking how much better it’d look if...” he paused.

“No! Get off!” her nostrils flaring and heartrate skyrocketing.

“...this silly thing was out of the way!” Shade grabbed the hem of her expensive dress, and threw it straight up, exposing the pink lace fur of her plump buttocks to the open air.

“Noooooo! Fuck you! Get off of me! I’ll kill you!” Flurry screamed at the top of her lungs. All her years living as the most prestigious and sought-after girl in Equestria had resulted in her being wholly unprepared to handle the mental anguish of being treated in such a horribly wanton way.

He bunched up the fabric of the dress, tossing it onto her lower back, her tail going up with it. Dandy and Krim grabbed hold of the gown’s rumples, pinning them under their grip on her wings to keep them out of the way, her panty-clad ass and cutiemarks now in full view.