The Bewitching Hour

A staff whooshed in Midnight Blitzer's direction. He ducked, thrust back his stick, met his opponent blow-for-blow. Sweat slicked his bare chest, the wiry muscles decorated in fluffy fur. He kept his massive wingspan pinned behind him, fought back the instinct to use them to his advantage, aware that the whole point of this test was how he performed when disadvantaged.

It was the same for his partner Moonlight River, dressed in a sports bra and compression shorts. Usually, the pair of them would make a game out of this, a chance for him to laugh and her to flirt with her childhood friend, but under Shining Armor's watchful eye, both of them had no choice but to take this duel deadly seriously. She hissed, deflected his wild attacks.

Shining Armor stood at the side in the barracks, arms crossed and face stoic. He settled on his bad leg and twitched, unblinking eyes focused on the cadets. "Faster," he barked. "Hesitation could mean your lives in a real fight!"

"We're trying," cried Moonlight, who had started to lose patience.

"You might as well admit you plan to fail with that attitude," answered Shining Armor.

"Hey," said Midnight between the strikes that rattled in their ears. "Maybe what we need is a field test! But, unfortunately, we haven't seen any real action since we were recruited! The closest we've had is a few training exercises out in the Everfree Forest!"

"We might do better in a fresh setting," admitted Moonlight, who panted alongside Midnight. They had been at this for hours, short breaks taken between sessions, offered a private session by their commander to take them to the next level.

Shining Armor stroked his chin for a moment. "Granted. Hit the showers, then meet me back here at 1500 hours. Dismissed." He turned and hobbled out. The moment he vanished, the troops-in-training relaxed their posture.

"Man, he was hard on us today!" Midnight wiped his sweaty brow with a towel.

"Tough love," noted Moonlight, who stretched wide and yawned. She took his arm, and they walked hand-in-hand to the showers, left all to their lonesome. The moment they reached the stalls, both of them started to strip down.

The soldiers chucked sweat-soaked clothes into a washing bin, showers hissed to life, and steam filled the interior. Bare feet padded on the tiles, and water washed over their naked bodies.

They lathered up sore muscles, Moonlight pressing close to his back and rubbing down his muscles. He beamed, closed his bright emerald eyes, and fluffed his blue feathers.

He relaxed into her touch, oblivious like always at her attempts to woo him. No, his thoughts like always drifted to the changelings...and all they had taken from this world. A nightmare that usually haunted him when he drifted off to sleep.

Turning to face her once she finished his back and plume, Midnight rubbed the suds off her coat and skin. She quietly moaned at his innocent touch, wishing that he would surrender to lust for once. Instead, he admired her physique and tended to the toned muscles that lined her feminine physique. His package didn't so much as stir, despite her playful touch and body heat.

Her cheeks coloured under his tender strokes. She directed his palms over her slippery breasts, which squashed and bounced under his caresses, down her midsection, over her hips and buttocks, which he kneaded.

Finally, she dared further than usual, guided his hand over her mound to trace over its feminine cleft. "You're warm," he simply stated with that boyish smile.

"It could get warmer," she hesitantly teased and started to reach for his junk.

Midnight turned his back like he hadn't heard, missed how her face fell. "Oh, it will. Once we find the changeling nest, we'll hit it with everything we have!" He swung at the air. "And if we run into Queen Chrysalis...boom!" He chortled to himself.

"If she's still alive," mumbled Moonlight, whose leathery wings drooped. She turned off the faucets, followed him dripping wet across the slick tiles, where she helped him towel off.

She pressed her athletic form to his within a shared towel, rested her head on his shoulder, her wings linked with his. He hugged her back, felt her breasts heave against his pectorals.

"She has to be. Chrysalis is responsible for all this mess." His snout curled into a snarl. He needed to punish her himself, to pay that monster back for the death of his parents and twin sister.

Until then, he could never truly rest.

The cadets dressed in fresh clothes, caught a quick snack, then headed to the Everfree Forest. Shining Armor was already there, garbed in a full suit of white armor, minus the helmet. The metal shined under the sunlight, a rune-lined sword sheathed at his hip, a shield situated on his muscular back. His expression momentarily softened at the sight of their approach.

Dressed in their plain uniforms, Midnight and Moonlight landed then marched to meet their commander. Both fell into step when he strode ahead, each armed with their chosen weapons. Grass and leaves crunched under their boots while they followed a trail cut into the wilds.

None of them spoke as they hiked out much farther than usual. Evening started to creep in over time, cast the travelers in its shade.

Finally, their commander came to a stop in the middle of a clearing. Dense greenery enshrouded the area and blocked out the sky. Leaves rustled. Gnarled branches hung suspended. Shining Armor unsheathed his white broadsword, waited.

Midnight quirked an eyebrow, spear in hand. "So, what are we supposed to do?"

"Wait. You'll see," simply stated Shining, whose eyes scanned the air and his ears perked.

His rune-lined white blade shimmered to life, hummed and illuminated the perimeter like a beacon, almost blinded the cadets in its radiance.

Moonlight shivered and strapped on bracers lined in claws, thankful for the darts hidden in her bat wings. She shuffled close to Midnight, who tensed up on high alert, wingspan extended and muscles drawn taut, ready to spring into action.

Moments later, they heard a faint rustle. "I knew they'd come," muttered Shining.

"Who's-" Began Moonlight, but a harsh look from the commander silenced her.

Midnight's snout curled, the rage clear on his face, not something that Moonlight had seen since they were young. His wings beat, he shot into the air, and both arms thrust a spear towards something that studied them.

A strangled cry came from the changeling, who crumbled, gushed discolored blood, and toppled from its hiding spot. The androgynous creature twitched and curled up, garbed in nothing more than skins and furs made from wild beasts.

A swarm of changelings that also stalked them exploded from the treetops. "You wanted some hands-on training," barked Shining, who cut down the one closest to him in a white arc. "Well, here's your chance! It's do-or-die!"

"This is crazy," cried Moonlight, who paled, lifted herself skyward, and launched dozens of tiny darts. A few of them struck home, and the changelings fell, sedated by the drugs. She hissed, "Midnight, be careful!"

But to her shock, he had already stabbed another through the heart. She had never slain another 'person,' tried to tell herself that these creatures were just monsters, that they couldn't be reasoned with, like their commander claimed.

She had seen what they could do. The hives where mares were reduced to living wombs and stallions turned to disposable feed.

"Die, all of you!" Midnight shrieked, flew at the next changeling, barely felt the knife that grazed his chest when he twisted. The blade cut the skin and deflected off his ribcage, his spear impaling the monster who fell slack on him. "Who's next?"

Sticky discharge splattered all over Shining Armor's shield and Armor, another head lopped from the body of his assailant. Upon realizing they were losing, the swarm panicked and attempted to free itself, just to be cut down by his brilliant blade, which whistled under each stroke.

"We're winning! They're scattering! But we can't let any escape," yelled Midnight, who gave chase.

"Wait," called Moonlight, who huffed and swiped at the closest one. "Don't-" Her warning was lost in a shrill cry when a stinger punctured her side. She wavered in the air clumsily, bloodstream flooded by a toxin while a few swarmed her.

"What? No!" Midnight snapped his attention back to her, only to watch his fellow cadet be captured in a quickly spun cocoon. The changelings flew away with their latest prize in tow. Shining slashed his nearest opponent and tried to rush in. Midnight cursed as more changelings barred his way, dodged and stabbed at them, determined to save her no matter what it cost.

He knew the unthinkable fate that awaited a mare taken to a hive. The faces of his mother and twin sister flashed in his mind. A future was stolen from him when he was still a youth.

Desperately he tried to breach the mass that closed in around him amidst a buzz...

*****

Moonlight's consciousness came and went. The Threstal curled up in a fetal position inside the cocoon, swayed when carried by a small cluster of changelings, buzzing sounding in her pinned ears. She had always known it could come to this. That death would be preferable to the horrific tortures that awaited a tortured mare who would help birth the spawn of their enemies.

It was why most females were discouraged from military service. A successfully captured one could replenish the changeling numbers many times over until the mind broken mare expired. She recalled what her commander told her...that she should bite off her tongue to end it.

There was still time. Yet, Moonlight hesitated. Perhaps the rumors about their commander were true? That he was a mad stallion, obsessed with revenge on the monsters that had claimed his wife? Were cadets mere pawns in his scheme?

Her addled mind wearily drifted to games of chess Midnight sometimes played with her. At first, she had no interest. "I'm bad at this sort of stuff," she had told the pegasus. Yet at his insistence, she sighed and agreed to his offer.

"It's easy," he'd told her in his chipper tone. He'd placed the board and pieces, told her the rules, and they would play between workouts sometimes. At first, she had sucked, like expected, but he soon brought her up to speed. "It's like an abstract depiction of war," he explained excitedly. "Except imagine that Chrysalis is the king piece!" He lifted the carved, painted wood, almost crushed it in his hold.

What she realized now was that even then, Midnight had been thinking up more ways to deal with the changelings. That he probably hoped to rise and become a commander himself so he could storm the hidden hives were still out there.

She had never beaten him once. And unlike her, he had slain his foes without hesitation in the heat of battle. While at best, she had wounded a couple and knocked out the rest. Maybe she had never been cut out for this, to begin with...?

Glazed eyes turned to the pale moon. Dreams of her joining the Lunar Guard to protect the people died a painful, teary death.

She had always intended to become a covert operative, not someone who took directly to the battlefield unless necessary. Nausea crept into her belly, anxious that her womb would soon be pumped full of countless changeling eggs.

She sniffled and started to thrash in panic. No! She refused to become another brain-dead breeder to these irredeemable monsters!

Despite her struggling, her muscles were still slack, too enclosed in the sticky prison to effectively use her claws or teeth, let alone her wings. So naturally, the changelings had taken her weapons. Chattering bouts of laughter came from her captors who poked at their prey.

Moonlight sleepily muttered, "Think this is funny, you twisted drones? Can't wait to rape me?"

One of their chortles was cut off when a dart shot into it. The changeling toppled from the sky, and its allies struggled to carry the sudden imbalance of weight. "Midnight," she cried when the fluffy stallion hurled at the kidnappers, plume spread.

Clear that they couldn't shake their pursuer, the changelings dropped the cocoon-like a sack of old potatoes. She landed with a thud onto the earth, grateful the prison had somewhat padded her fall and only knocked the wind from her. The swarm drew their weapons, and angry buzzes resounded when they zipped to meet her fellow cadet, who heedlessly rushed in with a war cry.

A blitz attack, he had once told her over a game of chess. A risky move that hoped to throw off the enemy made them panic, caught unaware. It looked more like he had a death wish to her. Yet one by one, his enemies fell to his swift stabs.

Despite his reckless behaviour, it was clear to her Midnight calculated his moves. That he swooped about to confuse them, blindsided a small swarm thrown into disarray by his erratic movements, their formation broken since the drones tried and failed to match his speediness which blurred.

Soon the last one expired on his spear. He kicked the corpse off, landed by the cocoon.

"I'll have you out in a moment," he promised and used a knife to separate the sticky strands.

Moonlight sniffled when the threads were cut and threw herself onto him, hugged him close and openly sobbed. "I knew you wouldn't abandon me! You're hurt, Middy." She rubbed the hastily bandaged wound on his chest, his stained uniform torn and bloodied in places.

"Just surface wounds," he assured her and brushed her short mane. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah." She wiped her eyes. "Sorry, I must look so pathetic! What about the commander...?"

"Don't know. I left Shining Armor behind to find you. If they took you to the nest, it might have been too late! Say..." He clasped onto her; his mind also filled with thoughts of their chess games with a frown. "You don't think Shining Armor used us to try and locate their nest...?"

"H-he wouldn't...would he...?" Moonlight shook her head, unable to imagine he would go that far for revenge. But if this was indeed another war with the changelings, sacrifices would have to be made, and they were mere expendable pawns on the board. "Guess we'll worry about that later. We survived. I think that means we pass, don't we?"

"Yep! I'm sure we'll be full-time peacekeepers soon," assured Midnight, who beamed. He appeared unphased by the lives he'd taken. To him, the changelings were mere monsters, easily dispatched without so much as a second thought.

Again she swallowed hard, his handsome features framed by the moon. She decided the time for subtlety had passed.

"M-Midnight..." She took one of his palms, placed it over her heart. "I-I love you. I want to-"

The heavy stomp of a boot sounded. They turned to Shining Armor, whose awkward gait on his lousy leg practically caused him to drag it behind him. He stumbled to catch up, soaked in the gore of slain changelings that ran down his armor.

"Thank goodness you two are still alive," he called and sighed. "Moonlight, I'm sorry to pry, but you're certain none of the changelings...?"

"Nope. Not a single egg implanted in me, sir," she answered with a dark blush.

"Good." He shook his blade, wiped it on the grass, then sheathed it. "There have been reports about changeling attacks on that trail. I figured if we made ourselves a target, some of them would show themselves. You both pass, by the way."

"Yes," cried Midnight, who rose and swept Moonlight into his arms. He planted an innocent kiss on her snout, and her blush deepened. "I knew our hard work would pay off eventually! I can't wait to head home and tell the cadets!"

"Yeah," said Moonlight, troubled and ambivalent at their victory. Again, a chance to cement their relationship in a romantic way slipped by.

"Let's head back," said Shining Armor, who patted the pair of them on the shoulder.

After a long march home, thankfully without another changeling in sight, they arrived back at the barracks. Shining Armor retired for the night, the cadets took another quick shower, then had dinner while playing another round of chess.

Despite her sincerest efforts, Midnight won like always. And like before, Moonlight still couldn't tell him the truth behind his parentage...

*****

Midnight stirred awake back in the manor. He rested naked in bed surrounded by Cerise and Moonlight, who cuddled up to his fluffiness. His wife was still fast asleep and murmured happily, but his childhood friend met his gaze. "You felt it too," she whispered into a drawn ear. "Didn't you? Bellatrix said the mansion would affect our dreams, but I didn't think they could be-"

"Shared," he finished for her and nodded once. "Wild, isn't it? To think about what almost happened to you." He poked her belly.

"But it didn't." She rubbed circles around his chest. "You were kind of scrawny back then, at least compared to now. But, of course, we didn't know you were a hyper-stallion back then, since you hadn't awakened. I so wanted you to make love to me back then. Guess we'll have to make up for the lost time." She pushed sweaty sheets off them, straddled him with a creak of the bed.

"We'll have to be quiet," he said when she sank him into her. "Don't want to wake our sweetheart. Wonder what a princess dreams about?" Low murmurs came from the pair when he fell to the hilt inside her warm, wet confines.

"We'll ask her later," assured the bat mare who touched his lips. Gradually she started to move atop him, the squelch her slit made muted.

She mewled when he landed an audible slap on her ass that split the silence. In answer, Cerise stirred some more, murmured and squirmed, cuddled closer to his side. Moonlight's hips rolled and leaned forward, tits suspended over his face.

He relaxed and played with one of her breasts. He mashed his snout to hers. Rested a palm on Cerise's plush ass when she snuggled against him. They both worried so much about him, but the stud considered himself a lucky stallion.

"I should teach Cerise how to play chess too," he said. "I think Beatrix already knows?"

"Mmm," replied Moonlight, whose cheeks burned. "Glad she let us crash here." She tried to pick up her pace without making more noise, frustrated they were forced to hold back.

Their shared lover had given them the okay for her to sate his needs whenever they liked. But they knew the princess had been through a lot in her short life and didn't want to disturb her.

He sensed her troubles and rubbed the heart-shaped clitoris that peeked out of her hood. She pressed into his touch, the air-filled by the muted slap of raw flesh and the squelches of his cock, which punched into her pretty pink pussy.

"I-I'm close," she whispered in evident frustration. "But I can't-" A finger playfully slipped up her asshole and finally sent her over the edge.

Cerise giggled and blinked her neon pink eyes awake, played with her fellow bat mare's ass while she pushed another digit up her puckered exit hole. Moonlight whined and soaked Midnight's groin when the princess initiated a three-way kiss, breasts mashed to her love.

Midnight groaned as the cunt milked him and started to blow his load. In the middle of it, Moonlight popped free of him, and Cerise leaned in to take some of his viscous spurts all over her face. Grunts came when he marked his beloved.

The princess closed her eyes and opened her mouth, felt the warm, thick splashes soak her skin and fur. Moonlight crawled into position beside her, took a few blasts of her own, the hyper-stallion's release far more voluminous than a typical stud's who served as breeders.

More of his bursts soaked their tits which they squashed together. Both pressed their titties around his shaft, rubbed it between them to nurse out the last smaller spurts until they squeezed out the last runny drops.

"It's tasty," said Cerise, who smacked her lips. She and Moonlight rubbed his slimy seed between their melons, licked it off each other, and after a few swishes shared it in a messy cum-kiss.

"You're both wonderful," he told them and rested his palms on their soft, bare butts. "Were you awake the whole time, honeybuns?"

"Nah," said Cerise between licks, spunk teased off her fellow bat mare's perky nipple. "Woke up in the middle and realized you two needed some help! Remember what Beatrix and Bellatrix said? We need to help them out however we can!"

"I'm okay with that," assured Moonlight, who audibly gulped down a mouthful's worth of his baby batter. Cerise also took a moment to savour his potent hyper-stallion seed, swished the virile semen in her mouth, his herd addicted to its taste, smell, and arousal it stirred in them.

The mares shared another passionate kiss, locked lips, and playfully wrestled tongues that helped puss his slimy seed down their throats, where it warmly settled into their bellies. Then, finally, he affectionately wrapped his wings around them with a pat on their lovely butts.

It was still hard for Midnight to believe two mares loved him. Or that Beatrix had turned out to be his half-sister. He and his lovers had promised to help Beatrix whenever she needed them, a relief to the young soldier who grew restless when things were too peaceful. But no, he felt most alive when he was in the thick of a struggle, pushed to the limit by a rush of adrenaline.

Bright green eyes watched his mates clean each other off, matted fur licked and supple flesh kneaded. Already he felt another stir in his loins, and from the heat that radiated from their leaky pussies it was clear they were ready for another round. Both bent over the bed and presented to him with sways of their round, heart-shaped asses, blatantly thrust up on full display.

He took a moment to smack his cock between their buttocks and groped the fleshy ass cheeks with a wide grin. They cooed and spread their wings, lost themselves in mind-numbing bliss, while he took them over and over again...