The Band of Loyalty

The next week and a half went exactly as Rainbow had intended. She was the star of nine Wonderbolt shows in almost as many days, on top of being a bit player in lesser shows. If she hadn't been an expert, this might have been an issue, but she'd been practicing the moves long before she even signed up for the Wonderbolts, so all she had to do was learn the order of events for each show. Even though she wasn't often around for the practice sessions, She did have somepony filling in for her. It wasn't necessary for Soarin to perform anymore, so he was relegated to helping all of the others train for when she did come in during the shows. She also made sure to give pep talks before each show, to make sure her team respected and admired her initiative. That would keep King off their backs for a bit, anyway.

Finally, it was time for a scheduled break, which meant returning to Ponyville for a large orgy involving most of the town. The worship King was receiving had given him a massive amount of strength. Some of the ponies didn't even need to perform sexual fovours for him, just bowing in front of him and kissing his feet as he walked by was enough to power him up.

Sir had been keeping everypony reined in, a task that wasn't particularly difficult. His bond to Scootaloo was stronger than King's bond to Rainbow, making him much more difficult to drive away, merely an added redundancy at this point, as King was already insanely powerful, and his grip on Rainbow was exceptionally strong. As a result, he didn't have to try very hard at all, and spent most of his days lounging around, letting Scootaloo do whatever she wanted, so long as she stayed in town. As a result, she'd asked several questions, probing him for information.

"Are you capable of reproducing, Sir?"

"What an odd question," he answered. "Of course I am, just not in the way you think. I'd have to send a pony to Tartauros and then be the one to claim it. A bit of rape torture later, it will turn into either a succubus or an incubus, depending on what kind of genitalia it has."

"Is that the only way?"

"Of course. If we could reproduce with succubi, we'd be so numerous that there would be no way to keep us in Tartauros."

Scootaloo leaned back in her chair. "I hadn't considered that."

That was how most of their conversations ended. Scootaloo would ask questions, and Sir would answer them. He didn't seem to be lying to her, at least, as far as she could tell. She'd spent a fair amount of time at the library, looking into any information she could find, and often Sir would corroborate her findings, often long before she found them.

"Sir, how do you benefit from your relationship with King?"

"He keeps me fed. I am allowed to take samplings from his slaves, which is good for me. In return, I keep you from causing him any trouble, because he's not allowed to enslave you."

Scootaloo chuckled. "Yeah, Rainbow has him by the balls."

"More akin to 'it's easier to keep your host complacent than it is to completely destroy them.' He could have easily taken over your body, but it would be more trouble than it was worth."

Scootaloo looked up at the ceiling and scratched her chin. "I hadn't considered that."

By the time Rainbow had arrived, Scootaloo had read everything Ponyville had to offer about succubi and incubi. She knew how to summon and banish them despite the fact that she could do neither of those things, she knew how to keep them strong and healthy, and most importantly, she knew exactly what she needed to do in order to be rid of them. It was a very big risk, and she and Rainbow could be captured by something far more dangerous to them, even deadly, but if it worked, it would undoubtedly cause King and Sir such detriment that they could break loose from their bonds. Worst case scenario, they were back where they started, second worst case, Scootaloo and Rainbow were lifeless husks while everypony else in Ponyville went back to normal. She hadn't woken Sir from his nap to clarify this information, nor had he cared when she'd sent out a guard to bring back information, so long as that guard kept his mouth shut about the situation in Ponyville. He'd returned with very good news.

Scootaloo walked up to Rainbow. "Which one of you is in charge right now?" she asked. "I need to tell King about something important."

"What did you need?" asked King, quickly taking over.

Scootaloo waved him over to a table at an outdoor café and unrolled a map across a table. "We are here," she said, pointing to Ponyville. "I sent out a few guards to make sure there weren't any whispers in the neighboring towns about your little operation here, and while they returned no results, they did find out that something big is headed in our general direction." She pointed to an area that was very distant from Ponyville, outside of Equestria's borders, which were thankfully not listed on this map.

"Did you find out what it was?"

Scootaloo nodded and waved over the guard she'd sent to Canterlot. "Tell him what you told me."

"Yes, Sir. The changelings were here last week." He pointed to a section on the map. "The week before, they were here." He pointed to another section on the map, slightly further away. "And I'm told that their movement is recent. It's entirely possible that they're sending an invasion force towards us immediately."

King scowled. Changelings were one of the greatest threats to incubi and succubi. Since they all fed on love and adoration, growing in power as they consumed more and more of it, there was hardly enough for both of them. Even if King were to try starving them out, they could still do an excessive amount of damage to his livestock. A changeling invasion was a very bad thing for him, and he needed to take them down now, long before they became a real threat to his health.

"Sir?"

"Yes, my King?"

"I want you fully rested tomorrow morning. We have some bugs that need exterminating."