The Bewitching Hour

The moment a friend asked for support, Ebony Ivory didn’t hesitate to agree. The tall, well-built zebra huntress followed Beatrix through the shimmery oval portal, dressed in nothing but a small loincloth and top tied over her large breasts. Gold jewelry dangled from the warrior, a dense mane with curls trailing after her, half of it cropped to her skull on one side of her head.

Her eyes drank in the new land they arrived in. She had never traveled to another universe, after all. “Never would I consider this a possibility! Perhaps, next time, I’ll keep an open mind,” Ebony marveled. Sandals tentatively tapped the dusty streets. She surveyed the shantytown and asked, “Tell me, is this whole world so…barren?”

“Only the smaller settlements inhabited by the poor,” replied Beatrix who vented the sunlight with a hand over her eyes.

Ebony shook her head. “Surely there is more than enough for everyone? Didn’t you say your friends are royalty?”

“It’s…complicated. But trust me, where they come from, it’s a much nicer place. Follow me!” She put on a cheery face and took her hand.

Decrepit buildings lined the area, some ready to collapse at any moment and filled with squatters. A variety of creatures from different races watched them from the shadows, and Ebony clutched her spear when she stared back.

Soon the pair arrived at the marketplace where Bellatrix had sensed their magic signature. Ahead were Cerise, Midnight, Moonlight, and a stallion Beatrix didn't recognize. They tried to push past the mobs, through the stalls that lined the way.

“Welcome, my friends,” waved the stallion in colorful silks and scarves. “You must be the famed Beatrix Belladonna! I've heard so much about you! And who is this exotic flower? Oh, forgive my rudeness!” He pressed a palm to his partially bared chest. “I haven't introduced myself! I'm-”

“Ashen Dunes,” finished Beatrix for him and laughed when he tenderly kissed her hand. “I've heard a lot about you, too!”

“And I am Ebony Ivory. I owe Beatrix much after she helped me deal with an...old flame,” the zebra said.

“Nah! It’s Ebony here that saved my cute butt!” Beatrix snickered, thrusting her plush posterior out for emphasis, hand on a wide hip. “Nice to see you all again.” She took a moment to hug them all. “Actually, Bellatrix and I had a favor to ask of you. I'll explain while we walk.”

“Sure! I’ve still got business to attend here,” replied Ashen while they wandered further in.

Cerise did her best to summarize their recent adventures with the scorpion nest. Ebony and Beatrix listened in fascination while Midnight, Moonlight, and Ashen would cut in on occasion.

“A shame I was not present,” said Ebony who nodded. “I have dealt with all sorts of wild beasts on the plains. I might have been able to save a few lives. Perhaps next season?”

“I'm sure Penumbra would welcome the help,” said Moonlight, unable to draw her eyes away from the zebra's toned physique.

“I'd love to do that again,” admitted Midnight who grinned. “Honestly, I worried it would be boring around here, but it looks like we can finally put all those skills we learned to real use. Right, Moonie?” His fellow cadet nodded back.

Ebony studied the youthful pair. “Yes, Beatrix has told me you two were soldiers. That your world survived a terrible invasion, too.”

“Uh-huh.” Moonlight frowned at the memories. “We were peacekeepers there.”

“Maybe you can show us a few moves? You look like quite the formidable warrior,” said Midnight, offering a smile that showed his teeth.

“Hehe. So some have said,” Ebony bashfully stated while bowing her head. “I rescued mares captured by a former lover, Natural Selection. He-” She paused when they reached the outskirts of the dusty black market, where the seedier elements hatched out into the open.

Crowds gathered around a large stage where creatures of different races assembled. Some were male, but most of them were female, chained and collared. Each stood fully naked, brazenly on display and slathered in oil, where they were auctioned off by the richly dressed merchants who owned them. Their physiques glistened under the harsh sunlight, each one forced to keep themselves in perfect shape.

Whips cracked to keep the unruly in order. Coins clinked from passed pouches, slaves bartered for and traded or bought outright, bids made by the richer attendees who swarmed the section, each protected by personal guards and mercenaries.

“Such scum! I can't believe something like this has been happening under my nose,” murmured Cerise with open disdain.

Ashen whispered back, “This is an independent territory, where the rules are far laxer. I've tried to bring parts of these lands into our fold, but those who preside over it are resistant, since they prefer this disorderly lifestyle. Anything can be sold and bought here, people included. It’s why most avoid wandering to this place, lest they end up as fresh meat on the market...”

“Deplorable,” Ebony scowled, clutching her spear. “There must be a way to free them!”

But Ashen shook his head and laid a hand on her spear. “As do I, but it’s too risky. Anything we do might spark an international rebellion. No matter how many I try to set free, more are kidnapped and trafficked. We can't save everyone. In places like these, it's best to pick your battles.”

Ebony's muscles remained tense, her fists balled up so hard the spear threatened to snap, but she curtly nodded. It wasn't like her to walk away from injustice. But it was true she couldn't hope to fight the whole world, either. She noted Midnight and Moonlight, in particular, bristled at this reality, perhaps reminded of how the changelings had captured and abused their kind.

Rough hands explored the bodies of the slaves, potential buyers allowed to molest the products to test the wares. Slippery muscles and curves gave way. Ebony turned her back, uncertain if she would hate herself more for her inaction.

“We better get a move on,” said Cerise sympathetically and took the zebra's arm.

“Yes,” Ebony replied reluctantly before asking, “If this is the best course of action, why come here?”

“There are some things that can only be purchased here,” explained Ashen. “That includes the miracle balm we needed to save Lily's life. An arms dealer here also sold me the grenades we used to dwindle the scorpion infestation.”

“I see. All part of a food chain to maintain balance in these regions. Disgusting, but understandable,” Ebony muttered. "My lands also have warlords."

“I’m afraid every world we travel to has its downs,” noted Beatrix. “Where are we headed?”

“I've prepared a hotel for you all,” explained Ashen, who handed Cerise the documents in a scroll. “I ask that you wait there until my business is complete. And don’t worry, I have my own crew to shadow me if any scoundrels are looking to attack. I’ll be fine! I've survived so far!”

“Okay,” said Cerise, who gripped the rolled-up parchment. “Just be careful, brother!”

“I always am,” he assured her with a wink.

Pretty soon, they broke from him entirely and followed a crude map to the marked hotel. Compared to most of the dreary scenery, it appeared splendid, replete with pillars and architecture that reminded one of the Crystal Empire, albeit on a much smaller scale. Sparkling water flowed and pooled in a fountain around a nude statue of a voluptuous plumed mare.

Guards were stationed around it to make certain no one vandalized the property. Carefully the party approached. Cerise unfurled the documents, which the stallions read and then nodded, parted to allow the travelers inside.

They headed to their rooms, Cerise and her herd mates in one, Beatrix and Ebony in another. They settled in for the day; Beatrix seated on the wide bed, while the huntress lingered near an open window and stared down at the streets below.

“There isn't much we can do, Ebony,” reminded Beatrix, who waved a hand to magically strip down for her shower. “It’s best we let it go.”

“I know,” the zebra sighed. “But it still troubles me.” Unable to relax, Ebony polished her spear tip while a shower started to run in the background. Beatrix left the door open while she lathered herself up, both to talk with the zebra and in an attempt to get her to join in. And, with a knowing sigh, Ebony took the invitation, smiling slightly once she stripped her scant clothes.

As was often custom in her tribe, Ebony had pierced herself, studs in her nipples and a ring through her clitoris to emphasize her femininity.

Steam rose around their naked, sud-soaked bodies, happy squeals from Beatrix when she bathed her. In contrast to her own athletic figure, Beatrix proved soft all over, thighs, breasts, and buttocks smoothed over by Ebony's touch.

Giggles came from the witch who pressed against her, Ebony finally able to let loose a little, despite her reservations. Her posture relaxed.

“Mmm, your lover is a lucky woman. I can’t wait for the day we meet! She sounds wonderful,” said Ebony, while their slippery breasts mashed together in the steamy shower stall.

“Mmnh~! Please, I’m the lucky one here,” Beatrix' moaned, her own soapy palms left to trail over the zebra’s stripey curvature. “I probably wouldn’t have gotten to where I am without Oona to guide me. And I think you’d enjoy her brother’s company as well. Dion’s a fine hunk of meat~.”

“Intriguing. I would like a man who won’t easily break~,” Ebony giggled, cupping the unicorn’s violet tits and squeezing them between her fingers, making Beatrix whimper needily. “In my tribe, no doubt she would be revered as a witch doctor, a wise woman to heal the sick. But, I must admit some...culture shock here.”

“Can't blame you there,” replied Beatrix, who slid a hand down to trace the zebra's slick slit. “Felt the same way when Oona and I explored that strange world full of technology and cybernetics! I was a total fish-out-of-water!” She snickered.

“Maybe you just need to swim a little further downstream,” teased Ebony, who returned the gesture to Beatrix's tight entrance with a finger. She leaned back her head on the wall when the witch suddenly sank to her knees, opened the zebra's pink flower, and ate her out.

She rested her hands on Beatrix's scalp, shuddered, and bit her lower lip while her clitoris was teased from its hood and swelled, her inner walls pried apart and explored by the slick, warm muscle pushed into her puffy folds. For a moment, she almost forget the injustices outside, raised one hand, and started to fondle one of her heavy, slicked-up breasts under the drizzle.

From where Ebony came from, 'free love' was commonplace unless one chose a mate. Her would-be betrothed, Natural Selection, had betrayed the tribe, and she had been forced to forsake it and become a pariah to stop him. With help from Beatrix, she had been welcomed back in, and while she had saved Beatrix from enslavement, she felt a debt of honor to her.

But aside from that, she was her friend. Not to mention a surprisingly adept, attentive lover.

Her fingers ran through Belladonna's drenched platinum mane tinged in violet. A warm tongue traced her inner walls, licked out her feminine excretions, rapidly darted in-and-out while the invaded twat closed around it. “A-ahhh! Yes, right there~!” She murmured in a low wheeze.

Beatrix used one hand to rub the zebra's heart-shaped clitoris while her other hand reached around, clutched a striped buttock, and sunk a finger into her puckered pink asshole, which clenched and made Ebony's throaty moan louder.

Faster, the witch licked and fingered her, her aura wrapped around the zebra's nipples, pinched, and pulled on them. Finally, Ebony hissed between her gritted teeth and filled Belladonna's mouth in her messy, runny cunt discharge.

“Delicious,” mewled Beatrix through the mouthful of squirts she slurped up and washed over her bare tits, the spurts drank down.

Shuddering, Ebony's striped breasts heaved, the studded nipples dotted in water that oozed down the slopes of her striped bosom. Beatrix carefully took the clitoris ring between her teeth, gave it a few tugs, and small squirts washed over her face. The witch rubbed her thighs together and snaked a hand between them, fingering herself with a small moan in order to reach her own release.

“You're insatiable,” said Ebony, who chuckled softly.

“Tee-hee.” Beatrix grinned coyly and licked her slathered lips and clenched her lower holes. “Anytime you need a pick-me-up, just ask~!”

After they finished, Beatrix turned off the shower, lifted over a pair of towels with her aura, and wiped them both down. Then the witch plopped down nude on the bed with a bounce. Ebony sat next to her, attention turned back to her spear.

Various herbs and potions were placed on a shelf, some of her creations unknown to this world. Perhaps not precisely what Ashen would need, but the less time they spent in this hellhole, the better, so far as she was concerned.

When darkness started to fall, the pair of them drifted off into an uneasy sleep...

*****

Well-trained instincts caused Ebony Ivory to shoot wide awake, the nude zebra immediately on her feet. She dove, tumbled past the rows of ropes thrown her way, and seized the spear until she landed in a squat, weapon leveled toward the intruders. Shadows rushed across the interior, Beatrix's scream muffled when the ropes that shot around her naked body covered her mouth.

Yanked out the window, Beatrix wiggled and tried to flare her horn, only for her eyes to widen as small darts shot into her. Pulled out the open window, curtains fluttered in the night breeze, the walls scaled by masked and cloaked invaders.

Her first instinct was that Natural Selection had somehow tracked them here, but the chances of that were slim. She evaded or knocked aside darts fired in her direction, stabbed a kidnapper, who went slack with a muted cry and fell.

“Gaaagh! Slay her,” demanded one of them, curved knives drawn from their belts. He swiped with deadly precision, only for her to twist, seize his arm, and break it. He winced as bone snapped, kicked off the side to wrench himself free while Ebony evaded another hateful swipe.

“Leave her be,” reminded another of the attackers. “We’ve got what we came for.”

A third assailant asked while they made their retreat, “And if she follows?”

“Then we send her back to King Sombra in pieces,” noted the former with a malicious chuckle behind his mask.

“Cowards,” spat Ebony, who leaped out the window, seized the rope from the kidnapper she'd slain, and scaled up after them. One paused and started to saw at the rope until she leaped up, took his ankle, and hurled him to the ground with a strangled yell. The moonlight framed the shadowy figures who clambered towards the roof, Ebony moments behind.

“Fuck! Can't shake this bitch,” shouted the attacker near the top, Beatrix's limp body tossed over his shoulder, a hand groping her bare ass.

“Damn it,” cried the one with a broken arm which struggled to keep up, also seized by the zebra and tossed by the ankle to his doom.

They finally climbed onto the roof, and Ebony hopped up behind them in a crouch. Down to three, one of them rushed at her with his curved knife raised while the others broke into a mad dash, Beatrix left to bounce on one's shoulder.

She dodged his wild strike, ran him through. He gurgled and crumpled, splashed her in hot blood, her foot planted on his belly to kick him off.

Unfortunately, his two shrouded companions used the distraction to leap across the moonlit rooftops. She ran and jumped after them, but realized they had too much of a lead. In desperation, she took aim, hurled her spear like a javelin at the one with Beatrix on his shoulder.

Her aim proved true; the kidnapped impaled through the midsection in a red splash. He stumbled forward, his unconscious prey seized up by his partner mid-run, and he quickly leaped from a lower slanted roof into a dark alley below.

By the time she caught up, there was no sight of him. Ebony silently touched down. She had captured his distinctive scent and sniffed the air, only to be frustrated by the stench of putrid filth left in the alley, surrounded by the buzz of flies.

“Curse it all.” Naked and soaked in sweat, she carefully made her way back home amidst the darkness, noting the corpses of the assailants she'd slain had mysteriously vanished.

She climbed back into her window, headed next door, only to discover Cerise and her herd mates were missing, too. Had Ashen set them up? No, she decided it too soon to jump to conclusions.

Gathering her meager possessions, she redressed and set out to track down her friends.

*****

By the time dawn broke, Ebony had scoured a sizable portion of the settlement with barely a wink of sleep. But she was used to such long hunts, aware that every second wasted lessened the chance her allies were still alive.

Moreover, one of them had mentioned a ransom. That meant that whatever else they did, Cerise at least would be spared a fatal end if they realized who the poor princess was, but the rest...?

She watched from the corner of her eye, wandered from one place to the next, and flared her nostrils when she sniffed the air, determined to find some trace of their trail.

Finally, she caught the faded scent, following it back to the loathsome black market.

“Of course,” she murmured, appalled by how arrogant the kidnappers were.

The crowd that surged into the morning dwarfed the last one several times over. Somehow word of the fresh slaves had rapidly spread, displayed on the stage and oiled up, fresh meat ready to be sold to the highest bidder who clambered about.

Rings used to neutralize magic were banned in all civilized nations, yet one adorned Beatrix's horn. She, Cerise, Midnight, and Moonlight was collared and chained, hands cuffed behind them and chests thrust out on display at the barked command of a paunchy slaver. “You'll never get away with this,” warned Cerise with a snarl. “Once my mother and father learn about this-”

A sharp backhand made her whimper. “Shut it, whore! You might be a princess, but in these parts you’re little more than an expensive piece of ass!” To demonstrate, he landed a hard smack on her bare charcoal rump that made her yelp, causing her herd mates to growl in response.

“You lay another hand on her; I’ll kill you!” Midnight threatened, chains straining as his muscles swelled and veins popped up all over.

“This one's a hyper-stallion,” the chunky merchant shouted. “Sure to please any mare, or stallion, if you prefer!” The crowd laughed and hooted when a potential buyer stepped forward, removing her dress as the debonair mare thoroughly fondled Midnight’s exposed cock.

“Want to try him out? A hundred bits,” the stallion merchant said, and with a sly smile the masked mare passed a coin pouch to his open palm.

Within moments the masked mare sank to her knees on stage, seized the hyper-stud's partially erect shaft, and took it into her posh lips. Her head bobbed along his shaft while the onlookers cheered, his precum mixing with her saliva, dripping down her chin to splash on her bared, sizable cleavage. Cerise and Moonlight positively fumed while Beatrix tried to slip from her cuffs.

“S-sorry,” wheezed Midnight, his muscles slackening under the surge of raw pleasure. She worked him over, made him throb in her mouth, and his chained-up plume twitched. “I-I can't-!” The mare yanked off his spit-soaked cock when the first hotshot filled her mouth, more left to splash her face and tits while the masses roared with laughter and jubilation. She wiped her painted lips and smiled, her masked face on fire.

“Fucking skank! I'll rip your heart out and feed it to you,” cried Moonlight, who bared her fangs.

“Wait your turn,” the mare answered with a subdued giggle when she rose and slapped the bat mare across her shiny breasts.

“Now, now.” The merchant guffawed. “I paid a small fortune to obtain these three, so let’s start the bidding, shall we?” He allowed a few more buyers to proceed forward, muscles traced and breasts and buttocks roughly squeezed, while more coins clinked into his soon overfilled pot.

Beatrix meekly pretended to accept the treatment while she sneakily slipped from her cuffs, trained by her mother to make impossible escapes on stage. It was a skill that, until recently, she had never taken very seriously to try and master. Now, their future depended on it!

Ebony hovered from the back of the mass, aware that Beatrix couldn't hope to escape alone without her magic. Likewise, if Midnight were adequately riled up, he might be able to break his chains, but would be quickly overwhelmed by sheer numbers that filled the dust-ridden area.

She kept to the corners, crept closer, aware that the moment she struck all hell would break loose.

“W-wait,” called Cerise, who blushed and bowed her head. “W-would you like to see me dance?”

The merchant leered back and raised a hand to still the crowd, the weapons of guards trained on her at his command. “No tricks.”

“Of course not! Like you said, I'm just a spoiled, pampered princess worth nothing more than my looks!” Cerise giggled nervously as one of the stallions undid her cuffs. Carefully, she stretched. “Just give me some space, and maybe some music?” She shook a nubile body in preparation.

A variety of instruments were played by entertainers in attendance. A slew of slave dancers were pushed onto the stage. Those who weren't already naked started to strip under the blazing sun; Beatrix and Moonlight prodded in the butt by spear tips to join them. Thankfully no one noticed Beatrix had already undone her cuffs as the mares jiggled their naked, oiled-up flesh.

“Oh, hell yeah,” someone shouted. A number of the mob drank or tossed more coins at them.

"Princess ass is best ass," another yelled. "Check out those sweet tits, too!" He wolf-whistled.

Cerise closed her eyes, posed framed by the sun, her arms raised. She moved with the practiced precision of a lifetime, made them drool and howl while she showed off her contortionist levels of nubile flexibility. The shapely nymph beamed back at the baying crowd, spreading her legs while she slowly lowered her mound to the stage, while she did the side splits to lusty roars.

“Very nice,” observed the paunchy merchant who circled behind the princess to admire the hot pink asshole on display. He bent down and spat on the puckered ring, watched drool settle in the cleft to drip between her spread open ass cheeks.

Repeatedly Cerise tried to call on her powers, yet found that somehow her innate magic was muted too, uncertain if it was because they had been drugged before, or whether it was a property of the oils smeared all over them. She stood back up, lifted a leg up high, and held it in place, met with leers and cheers as the pretty pink of her pussy was displayed to the onlookers.

Midnight growled louder and strained against his bonds, while a stone-faced Moonlight clumsily danced alongside the other slaves; as did an awkward Beatrix, who waited for a chance to enact some sort of half-baked plan, aware that once they were sold, they would be separated.

By this point, Ebony hovered just outside the mob closest to the stage, spear in hand. Could she take all the guards here by her lonesome? She hoped so, given her considerable skills. But someone had to try. So she steadied her breaths, paused with muscles drawn and tensed to strike.

Her hand closed around a guard's mouth, the spear slid through his bowels until his eyes lost their light. He sunk ar her bare feet.

She managed to slay a few more before someone finally noticed her, pointed, and shouted. Quickly she raised her blowgun and fired a dart into a guard who rushed her way. He toppled, but plenty more kicked up dust behind him.

“Don’t just stand there! Kill her!!” Demanded the merchant. He yelped as Cerise snarled and landed a brutal roundhouse to his fat belly.

Moonlight slammed her hip into a guard and bowled him over. Beatrix swiped a keyring off a distracted guard, ran to Midnight, and speedily unlatched him. “Thanks,” he said, threw the rattling chains off his wings, and punched one of the guards in a crunch of bone and rush of red.

Mass panic beset the attendees. Some were trampled in the bedlam, while more guards rushed onto the scene, since this section of the city was bought out by slavers who banded together to support their illicit interests.

Ebony tossed a curved knife she'd collected to Moonlight, while the small party struggled to defend themselves against impossible odds from all sides, swarmed over and battered.

“Ugh! Of all the times to have my magic nullified,” lamented Beatrix, who scooped up stray stones and tossed them.

“Don’t worry! We'll protect you, sister,” Midnight swore, another blow shattering the jaw of an attacker, who yelped and fell in a heap.

“Take that, you filthy creep!” Yelped Moonlight, whose knife sunk into the breastbone of a would-be rapist who tackled her. Hot blood gushed over her denuded form, but she tossed the dying stallion off, some of the crowd also trying to claim a piece of them. She spotted the masked mare who had taken advantage of her childhood friend, chased her down in a beat of wings, and stabbed her heart. The masked mare sputtered.

Midnight was similarly blinded by rage that made his eyes turn white, struck down guards and bystanders alike in a whirlwind of violence, the hyper-stallion reduced to a bulk of raw muscle, fluffy fur splattered in the blood that ran down his knuckles each time he rained down blows.

Gunshots made the crowd scatter. A new squad of soldiers arrived, armed with rifles, a weapon unknown to most parts in this world.

“Stand down, or I'll shoot you where you stand,” warned one of them, an instrument trained on Ebony's chest. She clutched her weapon and considered the odds, uncertain if they wouldn't unload on her anyway if she dropped her spear.

Again the huntress tensed, hopeful she could strike down a few before she was downed and allow her friends to make their escape.

Blood and bodies lined the black market. For a tense, brief moment that drew out, no one acted.

Suddenly a shadow started to cross over the black market. Dust storms were kicked up under the whir of thrusters and the roar of engines. A familiar painted airship lowered into view, its cannons trained on the riflemen and crowds.

“How about you stand down,” shouted Ashen Dunes by megaphone, situated at the wheel. Rope ladders were tossed aside. “Hurry aboard, friends! And no sudden movements,” he warned. “I won't hesitate to level this whole town!”

“This is an act of war!” Declared one of the slave handlers.

“Hey, you kidnapped the princess! Count yourself lucky if our father doesn't send in an army to raze this entire place and salts the earth! Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he led it himself! Have you heard the rumors about what a tyrant he used to be?” Ashen stated without humor.

Once everyone climbed aboard, the airship instantly shot heavenwards. The settlement grew smaller below by the second, until the craft climbed towards the clouds. The captain took a moment to make certain all of them were okay.

“And where were you during all this?” Ebony questioned when she marched towards Ashen, her expression and voice cold.

“Admittedly, I am to blame for this,” Ashen said while avoiding her eyes. “Believe me, I didn't intend for any of this to happen! I wouldn't betray my family, I swear!” He crossed his heart.

Cerise frowned and quietly asked, “So then what happened, brother?”

“I bit off more than I could chew. Made some bad deals that almost got you all killed.” He slammed a fist on the wheel. “No way we can return here, not with all the people who are after my blood! But at least I didn't leave here empty-handed.”

“There better be some supplies,” scoffed Moonlight, who sat with a towel wrapped around her, and accepted the offered cup of tea.

“Yes, things that will surely save many lives.” Ashen blinked watery eyes, shaken as sweaty hands clung to the steering wheel. “I'm sorry, everyone, I truly am. Assassins almost commandeered my airship. I barely escaped without the loss of all my crew members.”

“Well, at least we all dodged a bullet,” Midnight sighed, bundled up in a cloak.

Ebony studied the prince but sensed he spoke true. “Well, hopefully, you’ve learned a valuable lesson about dalliances with criminals.”

“Pretty sure he has,” noted Beatrix, who frowned in sympathy. The crew repeatedly cleansed the oils with a particular solution. A pair of heavy pliers were used to snap the ring that nullified Beatrix's magic, and she waved her costume back in place. “Not the adventure I intended for our 'first date', Ebony, but crazy stuff like this somehow always seems to follow me around!”

“It’s fine, Beatrix. I’m simply relieved to see you all safe,” said Ebony, who cleaned the blood from her spear before it rusted.

Moonlight bundled up and stared down at her trembling hands, spotted some dried blood matted in her grayish-purple fur. Clarity from the chaos of recent events dawned as she settled in. “I...I'd never killed a person before! Sure, there were a few animals on the hunt, but all I could see was red hot anger when I stabbed that masked mare! S-she was helpless, couldn’t fight back at all, and I murdered her in cold blood...”

“She was also a slaver,” reminded Ebony, who gripped her shoulder and held it. “What's done is done. So don’t beat yourself up.”

“Yeah,” said Midnight when he, Cerise, and Beatrix came to support her. His expansive plumage closed around them. His feather tips brushed the tears from her eyes, the young soldier hugged tight between them all when fresh sobs spilled out and wracked her entirety.

“First blood is always hard,” said Ebony. “Unfortunately, some acquire a taste for it.”

“We won't let that happen,” assured Beatrix, who crinkled up her snout. isn't that right, brother?” She conspiratorially winked at him.

“Right!” Midnight smiled and patted their backs. “I don't know about your guys, but I feel kind of filthy, between all that sweat and blood.”

Ashen broke in. “Already taken care of.” A portion of the deck shifted in a turn of gears that loudly churned, and a hot tub surfaced. Fresh waters started to fill it, bubbled and steamed, the aroma of oils and shampoos in the air. “Head on in!”

Cerise grinned and walked around the tub. “This ship has everything!” She shucked her towel and slid naked into the waters. Pretty soon, her friends joined in, scrubbed their bodies, and soaked muscles that stung. “Roomy, too!” She mewled under the firm hands of her husband, who brushed her fur, massaged her tender skin, her eyes closed when she relaxed into his touch.

“Allow me,” said Ebony, who undid the knots in Moonlight's toned form. She worked her over with expert hands, made the bat mare happily squirm under her touch, well-versed in the art. “Know that these troubles will fade, in time.”

“Sure,” whispered Moonlight, who started to drift off under the zebra's tender massage.

“Take the wheel,” said Ashen to a crewmate. He also disrobed and slipped in. More drinks were brought at his command, something a little stronger this time. “It's the little indulgences in life, don't you agree my friends? Stay here as long as you like. Think I'll head back home for now, visit mother and father. Oh, and sister...I'll find you land to call your own. That, I promise.”

“Thanks! Just don't land yourself in any more trouble,” requested Cerise, who continued to moan low under her sensual rubdown .

“And if he does, I'll come to bail him out,” assured Beatrix, who rubbed her wrists, still sore after she slipped out of those handcuffs. “You should visit the mansion sometime too, Ashen! You'll totally love it! I can't wait to show Ebony around!”

“Another adventure to display on the paintings,” chuckled Midnight, the manor adorned by depictions of worlds Beatrix visited. Quite a few included this scarred planet, one of the favorite places she'd visited, despite her troubles here.

They relaxed over the hours, headed to the capital. Ebony offered the princess a massage too, traced over her glistening flanks, and observed her cutie mark; a broken in half heart, one half bright pink, the other black with a pink outline, like it had been eclipsed. She'd been told of the dancer's unusual conception, and speculated it had altered Cerise's cutie mark.

“That tickles,” murmured Cerise, who giggled as her buttocks were kneaded. Pliable flesh turned in circles, putty in the zebra's gentle yet firm grip, and the princess cheerily fluttered her leather wings, wiggling her plush butt into warm palms.

Ebony smiled and exhaled sharply, thankful she could do a little to help ease their burdens.

Despite their lineage, none of King Sombra's offspring had fallen into darkness. Likewise, even after how little time she'd had with Beatrix's ragtag collection of friends, Ebony had a sense they were trustworthy and dependable.

Indebted to Beatrix after the Natural Selection incident, she silently swore a blood oath to them, to protect and support them, whatever lied ahead. She too would soon have recurrent troubled dreams when she arrived at the mansion, portents of an imminent disaster...