The next five days were a near endless cycle of practise and preparation for Flurry Heart.

She began training both her body and magic for the trials ahead, spending more time with Flash Sentry practicing swordplay than enhancing her already potent magic. By the time these five days had passed, Flash deemed her more than worthy enough to hold her own in combat, and gifted her a pure crystal sword he had made just for her. She also had a set of crystal armour made that gave her another layer of defence over her magic. The armour consisted of a breast plate, curved shoulder pauldrons, and an armoured skirt along with wrist guards and grieves.

Meanwhile, Starlight had helped her organize a volunteer program for anypony that wished to join her on this journey. On Starlight and Flash’s advice, the young princess decided that a smaller party would be better at infiltrating Equestria, and with her already committing to bringing along her aunt, it was decided only one other pony would be joining them.

So it was, on the sixth day, a small crowd had gathered to see of Flurry Heart, Starlight Glimmer and their third, Sweetie Belle. A surprise choice to many. However, given they would be entering Equestria by train, her knowledge of the Ponyville area would be a vital asset and her magical skills, while not comparable to those of Flurry or Starlight, were nothing to sneeze at. The three were all garbed in a combination of blue fabrics of the Empire and crystalline armour. Starlight had strapped to her back a crystal staff that split into two blunt prongs on one end, and wore long robes with an armoured chest plate and shoulder pauldrons. Sweetie Belle, not as proficient with combat, was equipped with a crystal buckler shield, and wore a dress uniform of blue and violet hues. The ruffled, knee-length skirt and uniform jacket were unadorned save for three light blue diamonds sown onto the breast pocket; a personal touch Sweetie had sown into the outfit herself. Each weapon had been refined to be as pure as possible, ensuring it would do the utmost damage against the hordes that lay ahead. The last gift they had received were spells to protect themselves from being impregnated, represented by a light blue glyph tattoo over their wombs. However, it would only do so once, meaning they couldn’t rely on this forever.

Groups of ponies came forward to bid them farewell. First was the brown earth pony stallion Button Mash, embracing and giving a chaste kiss to his marefriend. He had also been a volunteer, and made no secret of wanting to swap with her special somepony, but Sweetie Belle had convinced him she needed to do this. Next came the muscularly scaled form of Spike. The baby dragon had truly grown into the title the crystal ponies had given him so many years ago, as he was often the last line of defence against the hordes that raided periodically. He shared a sad look with Starlight before embracing her tightly.

“Be careful out there,” he said to his unicorn friend as he pulled back. “I don’t want to lose you like...” He looked away, but a light purple hand brought his green eyes back to Starlight’s violet.

“I’ll be fine,” She reassured him. “Just keep the Empire safe until we get back, okay?” The dragon nodded and, giving Flurry a smile and a thumbs up, took flight back to his patrol at the border of the city.

Next came Sunburst and Trixie, the latter not only showing the first signs of a baby bump, but also holding the hands of Starlight and Sunbursts’ daughter Luster Dawn. The skilled unicorn knelt down and opened her arms, which Luster immediately ran into and hugged her mother.

“Mommy, don’t go.” The unicorn filly pleaded, already on the verge of tears, but Starlight pulled back and brushed strands of her golden locks out of her pink-coated face.

“I’m sorry, Luster, but I have to do this. But don’t you worry, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She finished by lightly tapping her finger on Luster’s nose, prompting a tiny giggle.

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” This finally brought a smile, though small, back to Luster’s face, and she then turned and gave her cousin Flurry a hug as well before returning to Sunburst’s side. He and Trixie approached Starlight, and the polyamorous lovers embraced, peppering their departing partner with soft kisses.

“I love you two.” She spoke softly, a hand resting on each of their cheeks.

“We know,” Trixie replied, her usual bravado absent as she then brought Starlight’s hand down to her foal-filled belly. “I’m sure this little magic-maker’s gonna miss you too.” This brought a smile to Starlight’s face as she turned to see the bearded stallion pulling a bag out of his cloak.

“I’ve got a few more things for the three of you before you go.” He began, waving Flurry and Sweetie over as well. From the satchel he pulled out two small objects. One was hexagonal crystal of a similar light blue to their armour and weapons, with finely cut edges. The other was a smooth, oval-shaped gem, nearly flawless and sparkling with multiple colours from within its dull glow.

“The blue crystals are charged with a teleportation spell,” Sunburst explained. “Should you find somepony that needs saving, or if something goes wrong, channel a portion of magic into the crystal, leave it in contact with the intended traveller and they’ll be teleported back here to the Empire. These oval ones are called Reformation Gems. They’re an ancient stone that are difficult to create. We’ve been creating as many as we could over the past few years, but even then, we only have a limited amount.”

“Sunburst, you’re rambling.” Trixie said with a smirk, watching the father of her unborn foal grow flustered and the harmless smiles of the other mares.

“Ah, right. Sorry.” He scratched the back of his head, a nervous tick of his. “Anyway, these gems will react to any form of bodily corruption; physical or mental. Simply touch the gem against the target and they should reform back to their original state.” With the explanations over, he handed out three identical satchels. Flurry looked in hers, as did Sweetie Belle, to find three of both the teleportation crystals and the reformation gems.

“Thanks a lot, Uncle Sunburst.” Flurry said, stepping forward and giving the bespectacled pony a hug he swiftly reciprocated. She then broke off the hug and gave one to Trixie. “I’ll see you later, Aunt Trixie.”

“Be careful, Flurry,” Trixie whispered in the alicorn’s ear. “And please, look after Starlight. She’ll need your help as much as you’ll need hers.”

“I will.” With that, the last two ponies stepped forward; Pound and Pumpkin Cake. Her closest friends. For a few moments, the three stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say, or who should break the silence.

Eventually, it was Pound who took the initiative. “Gotta say… you look pretty cool in that armour, Flurry.” He laughed, but it was small, and soon his expression turned sombre. “Are you sure you don’t want us to come along?”

“This has to be a stealth mission,” Flurry said delicately. “No offence Pound, but you and the word stealth don’t exactly fit in the same sentence.” This brought a smile back to his face, but when she turned to his sister, Flurry saw Pumpkin Cake look away. “Pump?” The unicorn said nothing, bringing a small lump of anxiety into being in Flurry’s core. “Pump, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong?” Pumpkin repeated, a hint of steel filtering into her slowly tearing-up eyes as she met the alicorns’ gaze. “My best friend is about to charge headlong into the most dangerous place in the world, and she doesn’t want my help. What do you think is wrong?”

Flurry was stunned silent. “…Pumpkin?”

“I wanted to help, Flurry. I still do, and yet you’re telling me you don’t want it? You think I’m not strong enough, not good enough to help you? Is that it?!”

“Pumpkin!”

The shout took the two mares by surprise as they looked to Pound Cake, his frustrated expression and slowly watering eyes matching Pumpkins’.

“Pound?” She asked, surprised and a little hurt by the outburst. “What? You're agreeing with her? You think I can’t do it either?!”

“Of course not!” He raised his voice again, tightly gripping Pumpkin’s shoulders. “Out of the two of us, you're the better pony, Pump. Both of us know it, and so does Flurry. But it’s her choice. She’s choosing to keep you safe here, and not because you’re weak. It's because she couldn’t bare for anything to happen to you. I’d be doing the same thing. Wouldn’t you, Sis?” As her brother spoke, Pumpkin’s tears finally began the descent down her cheeks. She just stood and listened to Pound spout what was most likely the most noble and heartfelt statement he’d ever uttered. Once he was done, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and flung herself into a hug with him; one he tightly returned. The two crying twins were embraced by wide white wings, as their alicorn friend joined in on the tearful hugs.

“Pumpkin,” she sniffled. “He’s right. You’re my best friend, both of you are, and that’s exactly why I don’t want to see you in danger.”

“And you’re not being forgotten either.” The three friends looked back to see the other four unicorns smiling at them, Starlight and Sweetie Belle stepping forward. “If something goes wrong and either Sweetie Belle or I need to come back, there’s every chance you’ll get to join Flurry Heart on this quest, if you still want to.”

“And Pump?” Flurry asked, regaining the ginger-haired pony’s attention. “I promise I’ll find your parents. It’s not fair I’m the only one who gets a family reunion out of this. And hey; if neither of us are here, who’s to stop Pound from tearing the Empire up?”

“That’s right,” Pound agreed, a short pause followed before his outburst of “Wait, what?” This finally managed to wring a laugh out of Pumpkin and, her teary eyes looking back and finding nothing but sincerity in Flurry’s, finally relented.

“Okay, I’ll stay. But you are going to come back, you hear me?”

The princess smiled brightly. “I promise, Pumpkin.”

Tension wound itself within Flurry Heart with each passing moment.

It had been hours since the train had rolled out of the station and beyond the protective walls of the Crystal Empire, marking the first time the young princess had left her home since she was an infant. Thanks to a pre-emptive assault on the closest raider camp led by Spike and Flash Sentry, their departure drew little to no interest at all, and the train was now rounding the tracks to the south of Galloping Gorge. Behind the engine, the train consisted of three open-top cars, to allow for a better resistance to boarding attempts and guarded by shielding spells for long range protection, along with a car containing supplies and the caboose, inside of which were two guards watching their rear. There were another eight guards accompanying the three mares. Starlight wanted less, but Flash had insisted that they be escorted by at least some amount of trained military personnel. All were armed and armoured in a similar matter to Flurry; crystalline weapons and breastplates shone in the sunlight. A light that was starting to grow dim.

The wind whipped at Flurry’s mane as she looked up at the ominous pink clouds that were beginning to dominate the sky the further they advanced. Not wishing to trigger any childhood anxiety from staring up at them any longer, she stepped away from the edge to re-join Starlight, Sweetie Belle and one of the guards in the middle of the central car. A tingling sensation passed over her as she stepped into the area of a sound-dampening spell, decreasing the roar of the wind and the engine to a murmur.

“So,” she asked. “What’s our plan once we get to… Ponyville?”

“Yes, Ponyville.” Said Garnet Gauntlet; the lieutenant in charge of the soldiers that had accompanied them. The maroon crystal pony mare pointed down to a map of pre-lust Equestria Starlight was holding onto a crate with her magic. “However, we’re not going there directly. This train line turns away before the town and leads directly to Canterlot, but there will no doubt be far too many defences to breach the capital with the few soldiers we have.”

“Instead,” Starlight carried on. “We’ll stop halfway between Galloping Gorge and Mount Canter, then proceed on foot south to Ponyville through Sweet Apple Acres.”

“I spent so much time at the farm with my friends,” Sweetie Belle added. “Once we find a familiar landmark, I should be able to guide us to the front of the farm, and from there it should be a straight shot to the town.”

“Once we reach Ponyville,” Starlight concluded, “we head for Princess Twilight’s old castle and fortify it into our temporary headquarters, where we can plan our next move. Any questions?” None spoke, with the alicorn emphasising her understanding with a small shake of the head.

“No. I trust you three. This plan sounds great.” Despite saying this and believing in her companions, something ate away at Flurry as she looked back out at the scenery whizzing by. The entire group had kept a constant vigil throughout their journey thus far, yet it’d been hours and there was no sign of any monsters to impede them.

Something felt wrong.

“Flurry? Is everything okay?”

The princess was shaken out of her nervous thoughts by Sweetie Belle, and Starlight shot her a look of concern as well.

“Sorry,” Flurry sighed, shooting them both a reassuring smile. “I’m fin-AGH!”

The train rocked with a massive explosion of magical energy against the barriers around the coaches, very nearly tipping over but righting itself and pressing on. At once, the guards drew their weapons and took up defensive positions. The pegasi soldiers amongst them took flight and flanked the train as their gaze swept over the rushing landscape. Flurry took flight as well, just managing to keep pace with the train, when she saw them.

A horde of monsters of all various shapes, sizes and appearances were leaping onto the train as it shot by, while others flew in to attack the open-air carriages. The blast must have compromised the barrier spell as, though projectiles and spells flung at the train were deflected, the enemy were engaging in boarding actions. Some of those leaping on from the ground simply bounced off the train painfully, but those that held on soon clambered in and drew their weapons.

Without any need to co-ordinate, Flurry, Starlight and Sweetie Belle all drew their weapons and joined the fray, defending the central open car. Sweetie held one monster in place with her magic just long enough to smack it off the train with a hit from her shield. Starlight caught two charging fiends at once with her magic, slamming them together before throwing them into an airborne threat. Flurry Heart drew her sword and charged at one monster; a grotesque-looking bat beast. Before it could sink its jaws into her, she teleported behind it and swung; her sword catching one of its wings and sending him hurtling to the ground off the train where he crash-landed and rolled with a sickening crunch. Even Garnet Gauntlet, wielding her namesake weapon made of the jewel, fought like a mare possessed; her punches breaking faces and clearing the car of beasts.

From her airborne position, Flurry noticed a fair number of monsters making for the engine and charged ahead, slicing up a few more monsters before landing in the cramped engine cab. Inside, she saw a fair bit of blood, the freshest of which was dripping from the lacerated corpse of what had once been the train’s conductor. With the lifeless body tossed out the side, the two monsters inside the cab turned to face her. One looked quite pony like, if it wasn’t for the ram horns curling back over his head and the goat legs covered in coarse-looking brown fur. His red body was muscular, his dark eyes roaming over her and drawing a fanged grin. His comrade was far more bestial, resembling a boar with long tusks and a rounded belly, but powerful-looking arms and wielding a blood-soaked axe.

Not wasting any time, Flurry charged them. She swung her sword, causing the devilish-looking monster to duck and the boar to block the blade with the shaft of his axe. Seeing movement out the corner of her eye, Flurry rolled backwards; dodging the devil’s claws and pushing forward for another strike. Again, the red fiend avoided her attack, and she was forced onto the defensive when the boar swung his axe, Flurry barely able to block its downward swing. He shoved her back, and she pivoted on the spot to barely avoid being skewered by the devil’s claws. The attack, however, did catch the edge of her armour and pulled it clean off as well as shredding her clothing beneath, baring her alabaster C-cup breasts for all to see. Flurry, shocked and angered, teleported behind the devil and went for a swing, only to have a cloven hoof kick her square in the stomach and be rolled forward onto her back. In the instant that she was stalled by the pain, the boar moved over and held her wrists down, while the devil straddled her stomach.

“Hold still, you feisty bitch.” He grunted as a dark aura enveloped his horns. A similar light surrounded Flurry’s horn, and when she tried to blast him with her magic, a pain erupted in her skull instead. “Uh, uh, uh.” the devil waved a finger at her condescendingly. “Let’s not ruin this moment, shall we?”

It was only now, as he sat atop her, that Flurry Heart noticed the now very hard horse cock that hung over her like an executioners’ blade. Not wasting any time, the devil pushed his pole down and sandwiched it between her white bosom. The breasts failed to fully surround the warm member, but he held them pressed against it as he began thrusting his hips. The head bobbed just inches from Flurry’s face, even tapping her nose on one particular push. The contact smothered the alicorn’s nose in a small layer of precum, and the disgusting smell was having an effect on her body, as was the friction-based heat of her boobs rubbing against this monster’s cock. As she fought against these sensations, her magic restricted, Flurry felt her panties begin to moisten. A grunt from the boar reminded Flurry he was still there holding her arms down, as in her peripheral vision she could see his more swine-lick penis hardening.

“Wait your turn, huff, you fat pig.” The devil panted as his thrusts began speeding up. His thin demonic tail moved unseen behind him, Flurry discovering its intention once the spade-shaped tip began rubbing against her now soaked panties. “I want to experience this one fully first.”

With this declaration, his magic now encompassed Flurry’s whole head, bringing it forward and opening her mouth to welcome to tip of his dick. It barely fit inside her maw, but she couldn’t focus on the strain as the fiend’s fucking accelerated. His tail teased her lower lips with greater zeal, sliding beneath her panties and caressing her unspoiled petals directly. Her breasts felt hot; squeezed around the red shaft as it pounded away, the tip banging against the back of her throat. Finding it hard to breathe, Flurry was also feeling a sense of something building up within her; a feeling she rarely experienced even in her most private moments.

Pleasure.

The thin tail of the devil wrapping around her clitoris was the final straw as Flurry climaxed. A moan of ecstasy sounded out as her pussy soaked her panties and the cabin floor in femcum. But more pressingly, rope after rope of demonic seed shot into her mouth. So voluminous was the blast that her cheeks were swelling, and she had no choice but to swallow the salty discharge. After at least three gulps, the flow finally slowed and the devil pulled his cock from her mouth, the organ spurting out one last dollop of sperm onto her face. The smell and taste of this monstrous foal batter was dizzying to Flurry, whose head was released from the magical grip of the devil, though her horn remained nullified.

“Ah,” the devil sighed dreamily. “That was quite the appetizer. Now let’s move on to the main course.” He lifted himself off of her stomach and crawled backwards, coming to a stop kneeling between her legs. His piercing yellow eyes were fixed exclusively on the moist underwear hiding the real prize.

And that’s when Flurry struck.

Taking advantage of her assailant’s distraction, she brought her legs up and planted both boots right into his crimson face. Putting as much earth pony strength into it as she could following her orgasm, the devil flew back against the back wall of the cabin. The impact broke his concentration, freeing her horn. Feeling the resurgent magic flow through her body once more, Flurry engulfed the devil in a golden aura before sending him flying into his boar comrade, the two falling onto the controls of the train. As they slowly picked themselves back up, they saw a livid Flurry Heart waiting for them; her horn shining within three halos of magical light.

“Get off my train.”

With this statement, she fired a blinding ray of magic. The force of the blast shot the two monsters clean out and off of the train, their fate uncertain but undoubtedly painful. As the light from the blast faded, however, Flurry nearly stumbled when the train shuddered and began speeding up. Whistling noises and alarms rang out in the cabin. Flurry looked around and saw that the controls were partially destroyed by her attack. Sparing a glance out the front window, she saw the bend turning east rapidly approaching. With no way to properly stop it, the train was sure to derail.

“Uh oh.” Flurry Heart uttered as the realization hit her like she was standing in-front of this very train. Moving quickly, she reclaimed her sword and strapped her surprisingly undamaged armour back on. The coolness of the crystal against her bare chest felt uncomfortable but she ignored it and took flight back down the train, hoping Starlight and Sweetie Belle had better luck in this battle than her.

As Flurry Heart flew off to the front of the train, Sweetie Belle moved towards the rear alongside a crystal pony stallion of the guard. Upon the rear open carriage were four monsters, and the ponies got to work. The alabaster unicorn's horn lit up and the four were held in place by an aura of pale green magic. The soldier accompanying her wasted no time and struck down two of them with his sword. As they approached, the third beast, resembling a tusked armadillo, broke free of her magical grip, as did the fourth; a grotesque insectoid monster with the head of a fly. The armadillo went to slash at the soldier, but Sweetie Belle rushed in and raised her shield, absorbing the blow. She ducked, allowing the stallion to lunge in and embed his crystal blade deep in the soft neck of the beast.

Before she could get back to her feet, however, the bug swooped in and shoved both his fallen comrade and the brave guard off of the train, Sweetie not seeing how they landed. Shocked at the apparent murder of the brave pony, and angry that she had been unable to stop it, Sweetie Belle rose to her feet and fired a blast of magic at the insect. It bobbed and weaved out of the way of her attacks before zipping into the enclosed space of the caboose. The rage and adrenaline still coursing through her system, Sweetie Belle charged in after it.

The interior of the caboose was empty; an immediate red flag. The second were the broken windows and blood stains near the broken back door, signs the ponies on guard in here had tragically already met their fate. Before Sweetie Belle could back out of the car, the door was slammed shut behind her and something came crashing down on top of her, pinning the mare to the floor.

“Pretty pony,” the insect panted in a buzzing voice. “Must have. Must lay.”

As he held the unicorn down with one pair of thin, chitinous arms, a second pair reached down and began stroking the struggling mare. A rough grope of her breasts and buttocks broke any concentration she had, making her average spellcasting abilities difficult to utilize. From groping, the bug swiftly moved onto tearing off her skirt and panties, leaving her heart-shaped backside and the tri-coloured shield cutie mark bare for all to see. Looking back, her eyes widened and her tail instinctually pressed down to cover herself as she saw a pale fleshy tube growing long and hard out of the end of the insectoid’s tail.

“N-No…” she whimpered, her struggling intensifying but to no avail as her fears began to take hold. “No, please don’t!”

“Pony talk too much.” With that, a long tendril the same colour and thickness of the ovipositor extended out of the bugs’ face and dangled before Sweetie Belles’. She firmly closed her lips and tossed and turned her head, trying to deny the length its prize. But this left her attention diverted, and she was unprepared for the bug pulling her tail out of the way and squeezing its breeding tube slowly but surely into her back door. The pain elicited a sharp scream from Sweetie Belle, which was immediately silenced by the tentacle pushing inside her mouth.

The bug began to fuck her ass at a slow pace, timing its thrusts with those of its tongue-like tentacle in her mouth. One in, the other out. As she was spit-roasted, the crying Sweetie Belle could only moan in both pain and, to her horror, growing pleasure. She and Button Mash had had sex before, but never had they experimented with anal. Nor had he been so rough in rutting her as this insect was becoming. She could barely breathe as the tendril kept pushing at the back of her throat, the only distraction from the length painfully invading her rectum. She fought as hard as she could as the pain soon morphed into pleasure, but her struggles intensified as the caboose lurched suddenly; the bug taking this as a sign to pick up the pace. The wet sounds of her butt cheeks clapping as he sped up echoed out in the car, as did her muffled moans of terror and ecstasy.

With one last, forceful thrust, the insect came in both ends. Sweetie Belles’ eyes widened in horror as she was forced to swallow the torrent of bug jizz spurting down her throat. But that shock was nothing compared to the release inside her anus, as not only sperm, but then small oval forms flooded the wrong way up the unicorns’ digestive tract. For a few moments, the bug remained hilted in both holes, the muffled moans from Sweetie Belle and audible noises of ejaculation breaking the silence between them before the beast finally pulled out of her.

“More…” it buzzed again once the face tendril was retracted, turning Sweetie Belle onto her back. “Take more eggs…”

It spread her legs, looking over the shamefully sopping pussy even as some of the insectoid sperm escaped her abused ass. Sweetie, a heavy blush of shame painted her face red against the white of her coat and the semen that escaped from the tentacle, looked away. Her eyes caught sight of something shining close by her face. As the bug leaned forward, lining its' tail ovipositor up with her lower lips, Sweetie swiftly grabbed the object and leaned forward, stabbing the bug in one of its large compound eyes with a shard of glass from the windows. The monster roared and staggered back, clutching its bleeding compound eyes with all four hands as sweetie Belle slowly worked herself up to a sitting position. She shuffled over and managed to retrieve her shield, which had been knocked away in the scuffle, before looking back to see the bug now glaring at her, its claws appearing all the sharper as they twitched in anticipation of skewering her.

But it would never get the chance, as a blast of teal magic from outside the cabin sent the monster tumbling out the broken back door in a scorched mess. Grateful for what could have only been Starlight’s intervention, Sweetie Belle got back to her feet as quickly as her assaulted body could allow; her tail strategically covering her invaded ass and leaking sex with her tail as she bore witness to the carnage outside.

The three open-top carriages are littered with unmoving bodies, most of them monstrous in nature. Three of those corpses were unfortunately members of the guard that had accompanied them, all stallions. Of the four other soldiers, including Garnet Gauntlet, they were nowhere to be seen; perhaps they were knocked off the train, or worse. The only pony left standing was Starlight Glimmer, who was deftly ducking attacks from the seemingly endless tide of monsters boarding the train while casting spell after offensive spell and striking the brutes with her staff. Sweetie Belle was in awe of the apparently flawless technique of the elder unicorn; despite the numbers surrounding and attacking her, Starlight appeared unharmed, as she fooled another beast with an illusion before throwing them into another airborne monster with her levitation.

As Flurry Heart returned to aid her adoptive aunt, a worried expression marring her features, and Sweetie saw a flash of green and red to her right. The right side of the train was now storming past a large plantation of tall trees; each with their branches seemingly overburdened with familiar fruit. Realizing what this meant, she waved the two of them over to her.

“Sweetie Belle, what happened?” Flurry asked, horrified at the unicorn’s lack of skirt. Starlight was about to ask as well, but turned and summoned a barrier to block an axe from another monster, flinging it back into the encroaching horde.

“Th-There’s no time,” Sweetie explained, pointing to the trees whizzing past. “Those are, huff, apple trees. We must be close to Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Which means this is our stop.” Starlight finished, ushering the younger mares behind her and falling back into the caboose, all the while keeping the barrier up. “You two get ready.”

“Ready for what?” Sweetie Belle asked, but Flurry was on the same page as her aunt, and held the unicorn close.

Looking back at the monsters trying to break through her barrier, Starlight forced it back, gaining some much-needed space before focusing her magic around the two ponies with her. Visualizing a space within the trees that rapidly rushed by was tricky, but by taking herself out of the equation, it made it easier for her to perform the spell. With a flash of teal magic, Flurry Heart and Sweetie Belle vanished in a teleport. Starlight then turned and rushed out to the back of the caboose and was ready to levitate herself off the train when something shot out from behind her and constricted around the wrist holding her staff. She looked back to find a feminine monster holding her in place with a tentacle; one of many that split from her arms below the elbow, along with her legs below the knees and her mane and tail also being a swirling mass of tendrils.

“You’re not going anywhere,” the monstress stated with an insane look in her eyes.

Starlight’s response was raising the two-pronged tip of her staff in the monster’s direction and channelling a large portion of her magic into it, a growing sphere of humming power gathering and immediately changing the look on the tentacle mare’s face from sadistic glee to abject horror.

“Yes, I am.”

Starlight smirked, unleashing the magic. The resulting beam destroyed the front of the caboose; blinding everything beyond in destructive teal light as walls splintered and the car was forcibly disconnected from the train. The roar of the blast drowned out even the wind and high-speed chug of the train going faster and faster. Once the spell finally died down, there was nothing left of the beast, or all those behind it on the train as it started pulling away. Said train had itself taken damage and, seeing no further reason to stay on this soon-to-be wreck, Starlight teleported off the train and into the woods.

“I… I’m sorry,” Sweetie Belle whimpered.

She and Flurry Heart had appeared in-between thick-trunked apple trees some fifty meters or so into the orchard. There were no signs of any monsters approaching thus far, but Flurry was keeping a vigilant watch. But Sweetie Belle… she collapsed to a kneeling position, her tail still hiding her sex as she began crying into the hands covering her face.

“Hey,” the young alicorn soothed, quickly kneeling beside Sweetie and placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”

“But… B-But I… I was useless back there.” Sweetie sobbed, looking back up at the younger mare. “I wasn’t able to save anypony, and… and…” She looked down at herself and began bawling once more. Flurry, hurt by seeing her companion like this, pulled her into a hug and stretched her wings out around the crying unicorn.

“I’m sorry for what happened, Sweetie,” Flurry spoke softly, brushing a hand through the mane of the older unicorn. “I got caught too. I wasn’t strong enough either; to protect you, or anypony else. But you’re not giving yourself enough credit.” The princess pulled out of the hug and lifting Sweetie Belle’s face so she could look her in the eye. “You managed to fight off the monsters down the back, and you may’ve lost your clothes, but otherwise you came out of this whole mess unscathed. You’ve done better than you think, so don’t beat yourself up, okay? Otherwise, the monsters have already won.” Sweetie Belle just looked at Flurry, not trusting herself to fully explain what happened, so she silently nodded and pulled Flurry into another hug, one the princess reciprocated.

A rustling of the bushes put the alicorn on alert, one hand leaving Sweetie and quickly coiling around the grip of her sword. But her fears alleviated when Starlight stepped through into their hiding spot.

“Thank Celestia you two are alright.” Starlight sighed in relief, joining the mares in their hug.

“Starlight, what happened?” Flurry worriedly blurted out. “You weren’t with us when we landed here.”

“I got caught up, but all of those monsters are gone.” Starlight explained, standing up and scanning their surroundings. “We should be safe for now, but I’d suggest we get a move on and quickly.” She then turned to Sweetie Belle. “Are you okay, Sweetie?” A silent nod from the crusader was her only response. Starlight looked at the white unicorn a fraction longer before returning to watching their perimeter, her guard beginning to visibly relaxing for now. “We should try to find somewhere to rest, and figure out how to change our plans with just the three of us.”

“We’re still heading for Ponyville, right?” Flurry asked, helping Sweetie to her feet before joining her aunt.

“Yes, but we need to leave now. There’s no doubt those guys sent word we were out here before attacking. When they don’t return, their allies will come hunting us, and there’ll be more of them. Lots more. We need to get to Ponyville as soon as possible.”

“Now?” Sweetie asked, concern painting her features. She was about to say something else, but a loud grumble made itself known, the source being Sweetie Belle’s stomach. “Can’t we at least find somewhere to rest?”

“Those monsters will be searching this entire area,” Starlight countered. “And all our supplies were destroyed on the train. We can scavenge for food in Ponyville.”

“Um…” Sweetie retorted with a flat look, pointing up at the foliage above. Foliage that was interspersed with bright red apples.

“Okay, enough.” Flurry spoke up, stopping the argument before it could spark into something worse. “Alright, here’s what we do…”

Author's Note

Flurry Heart Stats:
Purity: 3/3*
Will: +3
Strength: +4*
Defense: +4*
Speed: +5
Magic: +4
Items:
Crystal Sword: +1 to Strength
Crystal Armor: +1 to Defense
Chastity Glyph: Sacrifice this instead of a Purity point upon losing it in vaginal sex
Reformation Gems x3
Teleportation Crystals x3
Corruptions:
None

Starlight Glimmer Stats:
Purity: 3/3*
Will: +2
Strength: +2
Defense: +3*
Speed: +2
Magic: +5*
Items:
Spellcasting Staff: +1 to Magic
Crystal Armored Robes: +1 to Defense
Contraception Glyph: Sacrifice this instead of a Purity point upon losing it in vaginal sex
Reformation Gems x3
Teleportation Crystals x3
Corruptions:
None

Sweetie Belle Stats:
Purity: 3/3*
Will: +3
Strength: +1
Defense: +3*
Speed: +2
Magic: +3*
Items:
Light Crystal Armor: +1 to Defense
Crystal Buckler Shield: Advantage on Strength rolls
Crystal Horn Ring: +1 to Magic
Contraception Glyph: Sacrifice this instead of a Purity point upon losing it in vaginal sex
Reformation Gems x3
Teleportation Crystals x3
Corruptions:
Incubated Asshole (Will trigger in two chapters)

So, I'll admit this right off the bat; I was convinced that a week was too long for the voting period, and had planned to cut it down to 3/4 days. Then, a swarm of late votes come in and completely changed the complexion of the story. That said, I still think I'll cut back the voting period to 5 days. Another change to the schedule is, while I'll still be allowing myself a week to write each chapter, I won't wait til the end of the week once the chapter's finished.
In summary; Voting period; 5 days after the chapter is posted. Writing period; up to a week after the polls close.

And speaking of the polls, boy they were interesting. Like I said, a large group of late votes swung the story in the completely different direction from before, and changed a few other details as well. Even after that surge, we were looking at a three-way tie for who was joining Flurry and Starlight before another late vote put Sweetie Belle just in front.
Action:
Crystal Train: 14
Sky Chariot: 10
Teleportation: 4
Companions:
Starlight Glimmer: 18
Flash Sentry: 5
Sweetie Belle: 8
Bonbon: 3
Vinyl Scratch: 7
Pound Cake: 4
Pumpkin Cake: 6
Sparkler: 0
Button Mash: 1
Rumble: 1
Items:
Crystal Armor: 18
Crystal Sword: 14
Crystal Horn Ring: 12
Enchanted Boots: 7

Before we get onto the new poll, I'd like to take this time to explain the points modifiers in each character's stats a little. Basically, I'm rolling a D20 every time the characters engage in significant actions, as well as resisting sexual assault, and adding that modifier to it. It's essentially like D&D, where you guys are directing where they go and what/who they bring along.
Now, onto the options for chapter two.
Action:
Press on towards Ponyville
Find somewhere to rest
Items:
Take some apples
Leave the apples alone

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and happy voting!