Of Humans & Demons

Chapters

Prologue: Escaping The Purge
Interlude 1: The Lost Nightmares
Chapter 1: A Late-Night Encounter
Chapter 2: Working Days

Prologue: Escaping The Purge

13 June 1019, Equestria

The time had come for Demonkind to finally reveal themselves to the world of Terra, in hopes that its people would be amazed to learn that Demons, dark, ethereal beings hailing from another dimension, had come to live peacefully among them, to offer their knowledge, their ways of science, technology, and culture. In doing so, they believed that the humans would embrace this new, otherworldly race and form one of the most vital unions the Universe had ever known.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Humanity thought the complete opposite.

Their revelation, which they had waited for so long to do, was met with nothing short of fear, rage and panic. The humans were instead convinced that the Demons were a coming force of evil and that they were fools for trusting them in the first place. Brandishing their weapons, they quickly began driving the Demons, even those who desired only peace between the 2 races, straight from their cities to the villages where they lived. Thus, The Great Demon Purge had begun.

Human soldiers tried their hardest to slaughter as many Demons as possible. Yet, the Demons’ souls remained intact, flying back to the Blood Pits in the Underworld to respawn in new bodies so they could continue to live.

When the humans tried to capture their souls after cutting their bodies down, they would simply blast their way out of the unenchanted vessels built to contain them. With Humanity’s growing desperation to purge the Demons from their realm, their methods only worsened as The Purge progressed.

They began capturing Demons alive, torturing them for information on how their souls functioned, before cutting their souls from their bodies and placing them in magically shielded capsules they developed from the new information they forced from their captives. They pried as many details as they could from their victims, and none went unaccounted for.

When storing Demon souls soon became a hassle with the limited space they had, the humans tried to devise a way to destroy them permanently. Their answer: “Demon Slayers”, which were shortswords that were incredibly complex and expensive to make, but they believed the effort involved was worth the cause. The warriors chosen to wield the 5000 Slayers they managed to make were christened “Demon Hunters”, who would serve at the frontlines to drive the Demons off the face of Terra once and for all.

Men, women, children, and anyone who shaped like a Demon perished at the hands of those barbaric Hunters, who cheered as they brutally cut them down. One thing was evident in the Hunters’ mission to end The Purge: No prisoners, no trophies.

Lovers, spouses, parents and children of the Demons who died in The Purge cried out in grief and rage as they fled the Hunters. Others madly charged at those who slew their family and friends, deciding that they’d rather die with their loved ones than face an eternal life without them, in either a suicidal act of revenge against the Hunters or holding the lines just to buy a few more minutes for the remaining Demons to escape to safety.

With their lives now at stake, the surviving Demons from several small settlements across Terra took refuge in the still-standing Demon villages in Equestria. Every last household then went on high alert for invading Human forces, reporting back anything suspicious they may have seen during their time outside.

Shortly after, the Demons agreed that they would need to travel in pairs, with at least one adult accompanying the children at all times outside their homes, and not go out after nightfall unless necessary.

One fateful night, the Demon scouts returned to warn the Demon populace that the Hunters were coming for their last remaining villages, fully prepared to chase them off the face of their precious nation for good. With nowhere left to hide, they had to choose between 2 options: Flee to either remote, uncharted lands where humans have little to no chance of finding them or back to The Underworld, far beyond their dimensional reach.

4 June 1021, 2015hrs, Drake Household, Demon Village, Western Equestria

Spike Drake hurriedly gathered whatever valuables he could carry and stuffed them into his bag. A pair of purple wings folded flat against his back, and his tail swished erratically behind him as he rushed back and forth in his room. The boy had rummaged through every last drawer as fast as his scaly purple hands could move. He took clothes, stationery, money, and anything he might need to survive after he and his family escaped the Demon Hunters.

He was, after all, a young Half-Dragon, Half-Incubus Demon who had lived for a few years undercover alongside his family and fellow Demons across the planet Terra, mostly in Equestria, its largest country. As far as he knew, none of them had done anything malicious enough to earn the ire of humans from the neighbouring civilisations. If anything, they genuinely enjoyed interacting with humans. They shared stories, laughed, feasted, drank, explored, played games together, and were even on the verge of falling in love.

So where did it all go so wrong?

Spike had grown increasingly paranoid over the past few months as The Purged continued to claim more lives every day. Over the few times he left the house during such madness, he had been terrified that a Hunter could jump him at any moment, even with the company of at least one of his parents. He would peek around corners and keep his back glued to the wall while darting his eyes back and forth so that he didn’t leave his blind spots open for too long. It was taxing, yes, but at least it was safe.

The recent news from the scouts of the invasion continued to ring in Spike’s head as he finished packing. He had to prop himself against his bed with his arm to stop himself from collapsing from shock and grief as his head spun from how the reputation of his people had gone south in just under 2 years.

While Demonkind did have several monstrous individuals, was that fact alone enough to warrant prejudice from them? Were they monsters for wielding Dark Magic? Were they monsters simply for looking the part? The young Demon was so busy struggling to fathom the reason for Humanity’s sudden turn against them that he failed to notice that someone had entered his room.

“Spike?”

Spike jumped and yelped as he spun around towards the one who called his name. Panting heavily from being startled, he looked up to see that the one who had just walked in on him was his father, Spurn Drake.

At 195cm, he was a lean, muscular Dragon Demon who towered high over his son, with spiky, dark purple hair that swept back over his head and a pair of long, wavy horns that ended in a point. His large, scaly wings were a slightly lighter shade of purple than his hair, with reddish-orange membranes lining them.

His forearms and hands were covered with the same purple scales as his wing digits, while his fingers ended in sharp claws that could gash flesh if desired. Though covered by a simple pair of long pants and shoes, his legs and feet were scaly and clawed, just like his arms.

To complete his draconic appearance, Spurn had a long, muscular tail that trailed out over the back of his pants, with purple scales and reddish-orange spines that ran over the top along its length before ending in a matching spaded tip, which resembled a flame.

Spurn raised his hands apologetically as he looked down into his son’s emerald green eyes with his reddish-orange pair. “Whoa, easy there, son! I’m not a Hunter!” he assured. “I just wanted to check if you were ready to go. Everyone else is waiting. I tried calling you from downstairs, but you didn’t answer.”

Spike looked down at the floor, slightly ashamed that he got distracted. “S-Sorry, Dad,” he replied. “I was just...thinking, that’s all.”

Given their current situation, Spurn knew what Spike was talking about. He knelt and pulled his 9-year-old son into a hug, assuring him that even in these dark times, he would be there for him. After breaking the hug, Spurn looked at Spike again with a small smile. “Don’t worry, kid. We can talk about it downstairs,” he said, ruffling his emerald green hair.

Spike nodded as he returned to his bag and slung it behind him. Afterwards, he gave his old bedroom one last sad look before stepping out for good.

Both father and son quickly made their way downstairs, where Spike’s mother and stepmother were waiting with their valuables packed in their bags.

His mother, Barbara Drake, was 10cm shorter than Spurn. As a Half-Dragon, Half-Succubus, she was a stunning beauty to behold. Like her son, she had emerald-green eyes to complement her oval face. Her flowing, waist-length, dark forest green hair appeared to glimmer in the light. 2 horns on each side of her head bowed diagonally upwards and back over her finned ears.

Her wings, which had dark green scales, were folded against her back, complete with bright green membranes between the digits. Her legs and tail were covered in matching scales, though her hands appeared utterly human. Her slender fingers ended in nails that could extend for attacking. Attached to the end of her tail was a flame-shaped spade tip like her husband.

The tan-coloured tunic she was wearing wrapped snugly around her enormous, round 170cm breasts and hourglass waist. Barbara’s dark brown skirt, which had a hole in the back for her tail to protrude, fanned out around her sensually wide hips and reached the top of her ankles. She wore brown shoes to match her skirt.

To her right stood Spike’s stepmother and Spurn’s 2nd wife, Pyra Drake, a Plasma Dragon. As tall as Barbara, she had yellowish-orange eyes, round 170cm breasts, and an equally sexy figure like her fellow wife, albeit with slightly more muscle. Her dark azure hair was much shorter, reaching the middle of her neck, and curled with yellowish-orange highlights.

Pyra’s 2 horns were shaped like long, swept-back lightning bolts and sat just above her ears. In addition, her wings, arms, legs and tail all had dark azure scales to match her hair. The membranes on her wings and the spines on her tail were both bright orange, with her tail ending in a lightning-shaped spade.

She wore the same outfit as Barbara, except her tunic was light blue, and her skirt and shoes were a darker shade of blue.

They immediately became concerned for their son when they saw Spike’s forlorn expression. “Spike, are you alright?” Barbara asked.

Spike looked up at his mother, tears welling up in his eyes. “I-I’m fine. It’s j-just...why?” he asked. “Why are the humans attacking us like this? Why are we monsters now? We haven’t done anything to deserve their wrath!”

Barbara ran over to embrace her son as he wept over the unrelenting violence that the Demon Hunters had so wrongly wrought upon them. Pyra joined in a second later to help comfort their son. None of them knew why Humanity so readily turned on them at the sight of their actual forms. To their best understanding, it was customary for anyone to fear the unnatural, but more importantly, they must learn to understand it, embrace it, control it, and even use it to benefit their people.

However, much of Humanity chose not to take such steps. In this age, it was a terrifying time to be anything but human. Paranoia, superstition, xenophobia, and prejudice ruled the mentality of Humanity as they knew it, all while Demonkind suffered for it.

“We don’t know, sweetie,” Barbara replied as she held Spike closer, her sweet, motherly voice calming him down. “But I can say that even now, humans don’t fully understand us. Dark Magic is in our blood, and we are capable of both great and terrible things when we wield it. If handled properly, we could do so much to help us all move forward towards a bright future.” Her face fell as she spoke further. “I just wish they had given us a chance.”

“She’s right,” Pyra added as she looked down lovingly at her stepson. “As much as I hate that it happened, they chose fear over reason and have stuck with it ever since.” she snarled silently at the last part. As a pure-blooded Dragon, she had a fiery temper that even the Demons who knew her feared. In addition, she had grown a burning hatred against the Hunters who mercilessly slaughtered her fellow Demons.

She couldn’t express how badly she wanted to cut them into bloody ribbons to avenge those who died by their hand, but at the same time, she knew that Demon spells, at least at their current level, were ineffective against their weapons and armour. Ultimately, she reluctantly agreed they had a better chance of escaping the Hunters.

Pyra turned to the growing commotion outside to see their neighbours rapidly exiting their houses. “We’re running out of time,” she told her family. “Come, we need to meet up with the Dazzles.”

Exchanging nods, the Drakes picked up their bags and ran out the door towards the courtyard.

2020hrs, Demon Village Courtyard

The streets surrounding the courtyard were dimly lit by oil lamps lining the sides of the walkways, the light from the flames flickering gently as the lamps swayed in the breeze. The last houses surrounding the courtyard emptied as the residents began escaping from the coming forces.

In the centre of the courtyard stood the Dazzles, a family of 5, waiting for the Drakes to arrive.

Casanova Dazzle, the family's patriarch, stood at 190cm, slightly shorter than his long-time friend Spurn. His short, unkempt dark purple hair had turquoise green highlights across his head and above his medium purple eyes.

On the sides of his head stood a pair of horns that pointed diagonally forward and up. Behind him were a pair of leathery wings and a tail with a heart-shaped spade tip to match the purple in his hair. His fingers ended in short nails, which could grow into talons as long as his forearms did when needed. His figure was lean like Spurn’s but more slender.

To his left side was his beautiful wife, the Siren, Allegro Dazzle. Her long, wavy, 2-toned hair, which changed between light blue and orange and had yellow and dark blue stripes running the entire length, cascaded around her bright strawberry eyes and finned ears down over her shapely rear. She wore an ocean blue dress that hugged her 174cm breasts and child-bearing hips before ending above her ankles. She stood as tall as Barbara and Pyra as she leaned against her husband’s shoulder as they waited for the Drakes’ arrival.

In front of the couple were their three daughters, Adagio, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk Dazzle.

Adagio Dazzle, aged 11, was the eldest of the sisters. She had her mother’s eyes and curly, waist-length orange hair with yellow highlights, which she wore in a low ponytail behind her. She wore a violet silk dress over herself to contrast her hair.

Aria Blaze Dazzle, aged 10, was the middle sister and the spitting image of her father. Her hair was dark purple with turquoise green highlights like Casanova's, albeit more like stripes that ran the length of her hair, which ended behind her upper back. She wore the same turquoise-green silk dress as her sisters.

Finally, rounding out the sisters’ trio was Sonata Dusk Dazzle, aged 9, the youngest sister in the family. Like Adagio, she also shared her mother’s eyes and waist-length light blue hair, which had the same dark blue highlights and ended in 2 braids that hung down her sides. Her dress was magenta in colour.

While Adagio paced rapidly on the spot as the wait continued, Sonata clung to her mother’s side, her eyes wandering frantically to catch any sign of the Drakes. The Hunters were bound to arrive soon, but the family ran out of time. If the Drakes arrived late, the attack would commence before they could escape, or the Dazzles would have to flee without them. Casanova didn’t know which was worse.

“Mom?” Sonata asked as she looked up at her mother. “Where are Aunt and Uncle Drake? They’re coming to meet us before we leave, right? Will Spike be with them?” She was clearly growing more concerned for the Drakes with each second that passed, most of all her friend, Spike. She and her sisters had always looked forward to playing with Spike whenever his parents were out working or when they invited the Drake family to dinner.

They all had a pleasing high time chasing each other around the house during a game of Tag (As long as they promised not to break or burn anything in the process) or when they were trying to search for him when it was his turn to hide during Hide-and-Seek. Aria hated to admit it, but he became exceptionally good at that game. He would constantly change hiding places when the sisters weren’t looking in his direction or when he was seeking, sniffing out their hiding spots thanks to his keen sense of smell.

Allegro smiled reassuringly at her youngest daughter. “Of course, we’re meeting them, sweetie. And yes, Spike is coming as well.”

Just after she finished, Casanova’s ears twitched at the sound of footsteps coming their way. He turned and smiled in relief at the sight of the Drakes running to the meeting point. “Spurn! You sure took your time to arrive!” he said as they shared a brotherly embrace.

“Sorry about that,” Spurn replied. “My son had a brief breakdown over our situation. We had to take a moment to console him.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Spike said as he wiped the last tears away. “I’ll get over it, eventually.”

“We’ll discuss that later,” said Casanova. “Right now, if everyone’s ready, we’ll make for the canyon. We can shake the Hunters off there.”

Just as the 2 families nodded, a Demon from further down the street yelled, “LOOK OUT! THEY’RE COMING!” as he pointed to the east end of the village.

Once they turned their heads, the next thing they saw made their blood run cold. A massive sea of blazing torches swept like a tsunami over the crest in the distance. Within it, hundreds of Hunters ran alongside the torchbearers, backed by archers and catapults, as they charged, brandishing their treasured “Demon Slayers” while sounding their battle cries for the death of the Demons.

“Go, go, GO!!!” yelled Casanova, and both families promptly began to run. Seconds later, the humans launched their first volley. The archers and catapults fired flaming projectiles, raining them down in a deadly hailstorm on the village and destroying the houses before the remnants went ablaze. Screams of terror from the evacuating Demons rang throughout the village as they scrambled westwards to safety. The catapults’ volley crushed several Demons, their souls fortunately escaping and speeding back to the nearest gate to The Underworld.

As the group approached the West border of the village, Spurn looked back briefly to see a massive fireball coming down on top of them. Before he could raise his arm to shield them, another Dragon Demon flew in from the side and punched it off-course. The flaming sphere crashed into the ground about 15m away from both families.

“Thanks!” he spoke to the Demon who saved them.

“Don’t mention it, now go! We’ll slow them down as much as we can!” the Dragon yelled back before he joined a few more Demons to fight off the Hunters.

The Drakes and Dazzles quickly crossed the village’s western border, not wanting to waste any more time. For the next several minutes, the few Demons who stayed to defend against the Hunters fought back as hard as they could but were soon overwhelmed by the Hunters’ protection against their Dark Magic, their sheer numbers, and their crazed determination as their souls were unceremoniously shattered to oblivion by their Demon Slayers.

2030hrs, Near Canyon Entrance

“Why can’t we just fly to a safer place?” asked Spike as they ran. “We can outrun the humans faster that way!”

“We can’t, Spike!” Spurn answered firmly. “For 2 reasons: First, 4 of us can’t fly,” he nodded towards Allegro, Adagio, Aria and Sonata. “And second, they have arrows and catapults! Even if we could carry the others, we’d be easy targets in the air! Yes, flying would be faster, but we’ll have nothing to cover us, and they have the means to take us down from the ground!”

Spike immediately kicked himself for not thinking they could have been shot down by the humans since there was no cover in the air. His father was right; they needed better cover against projectiles so the Hunters couldn’t swarm them all at once, especially with the bulky enchanted armour they wore for protection against Demon magic.

“Look! Up ahead!” Pyra called out, pointing toward a massive rocky cliff, in the centre of which was a crevice that parted the 2 adjacent rock faces. “We can shake the humans off further in that canyon!”

Without hesitation, they entered the canyon and began weaving their way through the narrow path. The parallel walls of solid rock loomed over them as they ventured deeper. At some points, the path twisted and turned, sometimes narrowing so far that the families had to run in single file through those tight sections while both pairs of parents made sure to keep their children between them throughout.

2039hrs, Canyon Fork

Minutes later, the space between the walls began to open up further as the families reached a fork in the canyon. The left path descended deeper into the ground, while the right appeared to ascend higher.

If the Drakes and Dazzles were being honest, this was uncharted land, yet it never occurred to anyone to explore this part of Equestria’s landscape, mainly because they did not have any reason to. One could guess there was too much to do in Equestria’s cities before The Purge to explore the continent’s western edge.

“If there’s any chance of finding an exit from this canyon, I’d say going right is our best bet,” Casanova remarked. “Once we lose the humans and get out, we’ll find a safe area to camp where they are unlikely to look for us.”

“Even so,” Spurn countered. “We don’t know how far ahead we are. For all we know, more human forces could be looking for us from other directions- GET DOWN!!!” he shouted in the last part. The rest of the group did as told while he raised his hands just in time to conjure a magic shield to block an incoming volley of arrows. When they looked up to whence the volley came from, they saw five archers standing over them from the top of the canyon walls. One of them turned around to call his fellow soldiers.

“LADS, WE’VE FOUND MORE DEMONS! 9 OF THEM, DOWN IN THE CANYON!”

It was just as Spurn feared. They may have been ahead of the Hunters who invaded their village, but more Human forces had found them. They were most likely units who had come from invading the neighbouring Demon villages and were now searching for stragglers.

The families then heard roars of delight from the nearby Hunters, who quickly began closing in on their position. Just as the archers turned back to fire another volley, Pyra raised her hands in their direction, her face riddled with fury, and fired massive arcs of lightning from her fingers, brutally electrocuting the archers and shattering their bows in the process. Once the intense crackling had ceased, their charred corpses reeled over and fell to the canyon floor.

A few seconds later, several ropes were thrown down the walls, and the Hunters quickly began rappeling their way into the canyon. “Children, get behind us!” Barbara ordered. As the children scrambled into position, all four parents took defensive stances as the wave of Hunters bore down on them.

“PURGE THE DEMONS!” the first Hunter cried as he leapt into the air. His Slayer was held high over his head, determined to cleave Spurn in twain.

Unfazed, Spurn channelled his magic into his right fist and punched the Hunter square in the chest once he was close enough. If not for his armour enchantments, the Hunter would have died instantly, but it couldn’t absorb the resulting force as the impact sent him flying several metres back and slamming him into a rock, cracking it and knocking him out.

2 more hunters jumped Casanova at once. He blocked a strike from one of them, swiftly twisting his sword out of his grip as he kicked the second one who came from his side in the gut. In 2 swift motions, he sliced both of their heads clean off, blood spraying from the stumps of their necks as their now headless bodies collapsed. Picking up the other Demon Slayer, he tossed it to Spurn, who then proceeded to dodge another hunter’s attacks before slicing his throat as soon as he left himself open and flinging his corpse away.

Allegro used a sonic scream to stun another group of Hunters, who fell to their knees, hands clasped over their ears as they tried to block the noise. Immediately after, she, Barbara and Pyra charged in to finish them off. Allegro grabbed one by the head and twisted it hard, snapping his neck with a loud “Crack!” before picking up his sword and stabbing another square in the throat.

Barbara knocked 3 Hunters together against the rock face and pinned them against it with a concentrated column of fire. The Hunters screamed as they were cooked to death inside their armour within seconds. When their screams stopped, Barbara released them, letting their bodies slump to the ground, white smoke rising from the gaps in their armour plating. She turned around and extended her talons before brutally slashing the throats of 8 more Hunters who lunged at her in quick succession. They all collapsed in a heap as fresh blood sprayed from their wounds.

Pyra blocked an incoming strike from the Hunter in front of her, holding his wrist firmly in place as she delivered a heavy punch to his elbow, breaking his arm at the joint. As he screamed in agony, Pyra then kneed him as hard as she could in the balls through his crotch plate, his scream reducing to a wheeze as she did so. She then grabbed him by the waist with her tail, spinning around and flinging him at breakneck speed into the approaching Hunters, bowling several of them over.

Despite their efforts to hold them off, more Hunters kept taking the place of every individual they subdued. As more and more descended into the canyon and charged the families, they were soon forced back against the wall separating the fork, erecting a shield to block their attempts to hack through it. As Allegro strained to hold up her end of the shield, she glanced up at the surrounding rock faces. Seeing no other way out, she took a deep breath and unleashed another sonic scream, more potent than the last.

The Hunters, swarming them, immediately covered their ears to block out the din Allegro produced. Even the Dazzles and Drakes had to cover theirs as well. As Allegro’s scream rang through the canyon, the walls surrounding the fork cracked until they began to collapse above the families and the Hunters when she finally stopped.

“EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAY!!!” Allegro yelled as she grabbed Sonata and Adagio, while Casanova grabbed Aria, and both of the Dazzle parents proceeded to dash clear of the falling rocks. Barbara grabbed Spike as she, Spurn and Pyra dashed out of the way in another direction. Unfortunately, several Hunters, still dazed from Allegro’s scream, couldn’t react in time and were crushed under the rocks tumbling down from above. The other Hunters, who weren’t within range, scrambled back to evade the rockslide.

Amid the chaos, both the Drakes and the Dazzles became separated from each other.

2044hrs, Canyon Fork, Drakes’ Side

As the dust settled, the Drakes saw the aftermath of Allegro’s last attack: A massive heap of rocks that had broken off from the walls, from which there were now large chunks missing, with a few of the Hunters’ limbs sticking out from between them, blood dripping out and pooling at the foot of the pile.

The entire family was stunned by the resulting death that Allegro had brought to the Hunters, but it didn’t last long. They were soon broken out of their shock when the bloodthirsty cries from the Hunters resumed a few seconds later. The remaining Hunters from the initial wave began climbing over the rubble, determined to avenge their fallen comrades as more ropes descended around the Demon family.

“Keep moving!” Spurn yelled as he saw one of the Hunters fire a flare, the small, flaming orb turning the night sky red. “They just called for reinforcements!”

“But what about the others!? We can’t leave them behind! They need us!!!” Spike protested.

“We can’t help them if we’re all dead, son!” Pyra argued back as they continued running, dragging Spike along.

Spike continued to run with them reluctantly but not without regretfully looking back at where they and the Dazzles were separated. At that moment, he could only pray that they would all get out alive.

After 2 more minutes of trying to outrun the Hunters through the narrow chasm, they arrived at a rock arch that hung over the path ahead. The archway was roughly 3 metres high, with enough room for Spurn, Barbara and Pyra to run underneath without bumping their heads. Above the archway was about 10 metres of solid rock that had yet to crumble with time. While Spurn could smash through thick layers of rock with his enhanced strength, he couldn’t do the same now without the risk of bringing the arch down on top of them.

Unfortunately for the Drakes, this arch made the perfect trap for the Human reinforcements to exploit. The arriving archers showered the far side of the arch with arrows, forcing the Drakes to stop under the arch and allowing more Hunters to rappel to the canyon floor ahead of them while the Hunters who pursued them from behind drew closer.

With nowhere to run and no room to fly over the humans, Spurn raised his hands to form an energy shield around himself and his family to hold the Hunters at bay for as long as possible. The hunters’ enchanted blades rang like bells as they hacked away at the shield from both sides with everything they had. The Drake family could see their faces contorting with rage and lust to spill Demon blood, their voices crying out in determination to end their existence on Terra.

“Come on! We’re almost through! Just a little more, and those Demon scum will be DEAD!”

“You all can take the big one! Leave his whores to me!”

“No, kill the little rat first! I want to see the looks on their faces before they join him!”

Barbara pushed a now terrified Spike behind her at that last remark, her eyes blazing with righteous fury. An equally livid Pyra stood by her side, ready to defend their son with their lives if necessary. If they couldn’t survive the Purge, they could at least make sure Spike got his chance to live out his life.

Before either of them could do anything, Spurn called out, “Barbara! Pyra!”

Both wives turned to face Spurn. He was visibly straining to hold the shield up as cracks slowly began to form from the Hunters’ persistent hacking. He shakily held out his left hand, his right still holding the shield. “Take my ring,” he said, his wedding ring glowing with his aura as he telekinetically shoved it into Barbara’s hand.

Barbara was confused about why her husband would hand her his wedding ring seemingly out of nowhere, let alone when their lives were at stake. “Goodbye, my loves,” Spurn followed up. “Take care of our son, and know that I love you both.” The cracks in the shield widened as the Hunters were breaking through. “And Spike?” he turned to his son, who answered, “Y-Yes, Dad?” His voice trembled, clearly dreading the next few moments. Spurn smiled, shedding a single tear as he spoke his final words:

“Make me proud.”

“Spurn, WAIT-!!!” Barbara pleaded. Before she could finish, Spurn aimed his left hand at the ground beneath his wives and son and conjured a magic circle that caused the 3 of them to disappear in a bright orange flash. A split second later, his shield finally gave way, shattering like glass as the Hunters rushed him like rabid dogs, hacking and slashing away at his body, but Spurn didn’t care. He had teleported his family to a distant, random location, far away from these savages. Now that they were safe, he could die in peace.

Finally, one of the Hunters stabbed him straight through the heart, black lightning crackling through the wound, followed by a bright flash of energy that burst from his eyes and mouth as the Demon Slayer shattered his soul, ending him permanently.

2049hrs, Mountainside, Unknown Location

As soon as the flash subsided, Barbara, Pyra and Spike stiffened when a sudden cold wind brushed over their skin. Thankfully, as Dragons, they had enough natural body heat to shield them against the winter. Their heads darted around to find Spurn had teleported them all to the side of a mountain in the North, overlooking the burning remains of their village and the canyon they traversed.

Seconds later, as the shock from being teleported began to die down, Barbara and Pyra’s eyes widened in horror as they felt the side of their necks turn cold. Once Spike turned around to face his mothers, he froze when he saw their necks. “Moms...y-your marks!”

The mate marks were visible on their necks, a Dragon’s head and wing surrounded by a simple magic circle. Both of these were given to them by Spurn. This mark signified their bond to their husband and the love they shared, lowered their sexual inhibitions, increased their sensitivity and formed a neural connection between husband, wife and sister-wife. These attributes increased pleasure significantly during lovemaking sessions, allowing all lovers to feel closer than ever before.

While fellow Demons could sense each other’s aurae within close range, a mate mark allowed those who bear it to feel their lovers’ aurae from anywhere at any time, regardless of distance. As long as the one who marked them continued to live, the mate marks would always remain aglow with their aura.

Now, the marks that Barbara and Pyra wore, which usually glowed a faint reddish-orange with Spurn’s aura, had turned black and cold, a surefire sign of their husband’s death.

“Dad...h-he’s not…” Spike tried to ask, unable to bring himself to finish the question. While Barbara tried to choke back her sobs, Pyra slowly turned to her stepson, tears welling up in her eyes, and managed a single nod, confirming his fear.

It felt like an eternity had passed around them as Spike processed that answer. “No…” he shook his head in disbelief, angry tears pouring from his eyes. “...NO!!!” he turned to fly back to the canyon, determined to burn those Hunters to ash, only for both of his mothers to tackle him and hold him down with all of their might.

“LET ME GO!” he screamed, thrashing furiously within his mothers’ arms as he tried to wrench himself free, to no avail. “I’LL KILL THEM FOR WHAT THEY DID TO DAD!”

“You can’t! They’ll slaughter you!” Barbara argued through her tears.

“BUT THEY KILLED HIM!!!” Spike fired back, still thrashing against his mothers.

“WE KNOW!!!” Pyra countered, tears still streaming down her face. “Their armour and weapons are resistant to Demon magic! There’s nothing left we can do!”

Spike struggled against his mothers for the next several minutes, who did their best to stop him from doing something foolish. He kicked and screamed out for his father, cursing the Hunters with all his might, over and over again for several more minutes before finally collapsing from exhaustion and crying his heart out. As they grieved in the snow, the Moon slowly rose over the mountains, illuminating the surrounding land with dim light.

After what felt like hours, the Drakes slowly regained their composure as they looked again toward their ruined village; the last of the fires continued to burn into the night as hundreds of torches inched slowly across the land below. Undoubtedly, the Hunters had ended their chase for Demons and were returning home to celebrate yet another victory.

“Come, Spike,” Barbara said softly, her eyes still streaked with tear marks. “It’s not safe here anymore. We’ll need to find a new home as soon as possible.”

“B-But...Dad..” Spike tried to protest, worn out from his grief-stricken fit.

“He’s gone, kid,” Pyra replied, pulling him into a hug. “There’s nothing we can do for him anymore.” She looked him dead in the eyes with all the love she could muster. “What’s important now is that we get as far away from those wretched Hunters as possible, lest they spot us on this mountain if we stay any longer.”

Spike could only nod weakly at his stepmother’s words. As much as it broke his heart that they couldn’t avenge his father now, she was right. Spike took one last look at the remains of his former home before they all began their despondent trek through the mountains, uncertain of their future without Spurn.

2044hrs, Canyon Fork, Dazzles’Side

The Dazzles had also seen the flare go up as the Hunters who survived the collapse began climbing over the pile of rubble, more ropes cascading down the canyon walls as more Hunters prepared to join their allies.

“They’ll just keep coming!” Allegro yelled over the Hunters’ battle cries. “Run!” She grabbed Adagio and Sonata’s hands while Casanova strapped the sword he pulled from one of the Hunters to his back and grabbed Aria’s, and they began running further into the canyon.

“We can’t just leave the others!” Aria protested. “They’ll die!”

“Your aunts and uncle are stronger than you believe,” Casanova replied. “They’ll make it through, and so will Spike! Have faith in them!”

They continued to run and stay ahead of the Hunters as much as possible. As they did, the canyon around them grew ever more profound by the minute. 6 minutes later, their path led to what initially appeared to be a dead-end. They reached the top of the crest in front of the wall when they saw a large, gaping hole at the foot.

“A cave!” Adagio cried, hope slowly rising in her chest. “Maybe we can lose them in there!”

It was indeed a possibility. It didn’t appear to be a shallow pocket eroded into the rock but opened up much deeper into the ground below the cliff. If there was any hope of finding a ne2rk of caves beyond and, by extension, an exit, the Dazzles could use any potential narrow sections to outmanoeuvre the pack of Hunters now hot on their trail.

Without hesitation, the Dazzles raced straight through the cave entrance. All family members’ eyes glowed faintly in the pitch darkness as their vision illuminated the tunnel ahead of them. The floor gradually became more uneven from the rock formations the further they ran, their footsteps echoing throughout the cave. Sonata stumbled when she tripped on a stray rock she had failed to notice, but her mother caught her before she could fall on her face.

As they rounded the 3rd bend into the cave, they stopped as the tunnel ahead appeared to curve downwards into a large pool of water. The cave continued to extend deeper as they looked down into the pool. If anything, the cave didn’t end at that point. Unfortunately, for all they knew, the cave beyond was completely flooded.

The Dazzles turned briefly to see the light from the Hunters’ torches closing in fast from around the corner, their cries ringing through the cave. Allegro frantically raised her hands to her chest, open palms facing inward before a glowing light blue orb began to manifest between her hands as she prepared to cast a water-breathing spell on her husband.

However, before she could continue, Casanova stopped her as he removed his forearm bracelets and wedding ring, shoving them into her hands. “They’re too close!” he explained. “That water-breathing spell will take too long to complete! The rest of you, go!!! I’ll hold them off!”

“What!?” Allegro’s eyes widened in horror at Casanova’s last words, as did their daughters. “NO, YOU CAN’T!” she tried to argue. It was bad enough that they lost their home to the violence wrought by the humans. She wasn’t ready to lose her beloved husband as well.

Casanova ignored his wife’s plea, taking one last look at his family and saying, “Allegro, Adagio, Aria, Sonata...I love you all.”

With that, just after the Hunters rounded the corner and were within sight of them, Casanova fired an energy blast that knocked his wife and children into the water below and fired a second blast at the ceiling, which instantly shattered and collapsed to the floor. He ended up separated from his family, but they were also separated from the Hunters, deeper down in the flooded cave section where they couldn’t reach them.

After bracing themselves for the collapse, the Hunters looked around in the cloud of dust that now engulfed them for the Demons they were chasing. They saw only Casanova standing there when the dust settled before a completely barricaded tunnel.

One of the Hunters snorted. “You’d kill your whore and bastards just to keep them from us?” he sneered, pointing his blade accusingly at the Demon before them.

Casanova simply smirked at that question. “No,” he answered. “I’m just making sure you can’t reach them. If you want to kill another Demon that badly, here I am. In fact...” he reached behind his back, dropped his bag and drew the Demon Slayer he stole earlier.

“I’ll take a few more of you with me.”

The Hunters charged him at once. One Hunter swiped at his neck, ready to behead him, but Casanova blocked his sword. He then followed up by slashing the Hunter’s throat, letting him fall to the ground as he choked on his own blood.

Another Hunter tried to land a strike, but Casanova caught his wrist with his free hand, swung him around and flung him back into his comrades, knocking a few of them over. He then turned to face 3 more Hunters as they all jumped him simultaneously. He slid under the middle one’s legs and over their back before spinning over and slicing all of their heads off in one swift motion.

One of the bigger Hunters caught Casanova in a blade lock just as he landed and shoved him against the wall. Seizing their chance, the rest of the Hunters swarmed over him and began to perform what they did best. One of them proceeded to disarm Casanova by slicing off his sword hand, letting it and the sword fall to the floor, while 2 more proceeded to carve his wings off.

Casanova screamed in agony as the Hunters hacked away at his limbs and body. Although Demons could very well regenerate lost body parts when given time, he had none left to spare as the Hunter who pinned him earlier finished the job by ramming his blade through his heart; his eyes and mouth flashed brightly with energy as his soul shattered, the shards fading away into thin air.

Allegro, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata had to change to their Siren tails to evade the collapsing rocks. They swam deeper into the flooded cave section as the rocks and dust rapidly blotted out the light from the Hunters’ torches until there was only complete darkness.

Allegro removed her bag and opened it, rummaging around until she felt a chain. She pulled out what appeared to be a simple necklace with a single colourless crystal attached to the front. Slipping it around her neck, she cupped the crystal and concentrated. Seconds later, the crystal began to emit bright, white light to illuminate the cave around them further.

As helpful as their night vision was, Demons could only maintain it for a limited time before their eyes began to strain, so to light their way around dark places for hours, or even days, they would rely on external sources of light, mainly in the form of tiny enchanted crystals that could emit light for several metres, as well as function underwater.

Looking at the pile of rocks that barricaded the tunnel behind them, Allegro saw Aria trying to break through the rubble to reach Casanova. She furiously punched and clawed away at the stones, her Demon strength cracking them like eggs. When Adagio saw more rocks about to fall on Aria from the force of her pounding, she immediately swam in and tackled her away before the rocks could crush her.

“Let me go!” Aria yelled, thrashing in her sister’s arms. “Dad’s still up there! We need to help him!!!”

“The cave will only collapse further if we try to dig through!” Adagio argued back. “Even if we succeed, there are still hundreds of Hunters against 5 of us!”

“But Dad’s trapped on the other side with them! He can’t fight them all by himself!”

“We’re still outnumbered either way!”

Sonata could only watch as her 2 big sisters argued over their father’s situation. He had started the collapse and barricaded the tunnel, saving his whole family but himself. When Sonata turned to ask her mother what they should do next, her eyes widened, and her heart sank as she saw the glowing turquoise green mate mark on her mother’s neck turn black. Allegro had taught her daughters about the significance of such a mark, that she was Casanova’s wife and his alone, and how it would glow for as long as he lived.

When Allegro felt the sudden cold on her neck, her eyes widened in horror as she felt her mark, for she knew that Casanova, her husband and the first man she ever fell in love with, had been slain by cowards over the mere superstition that Demons were evil.

Adagio and Aria were broken out of their argument when they heard their mother choking back sobs. When they turned to her, she had collapsed on her tail and was crying her heart out, her dam finally breaking under the weight of her grief.

“M-Mom...?” Aria asked, and upon seeing her mother’s now blackened mark, dreaded her following words.

“Y-Your father,” Allegro managed to answer between sobs. “He’s...d...d-dead..”

Aria’s eyes went wide at the last word. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. As she slowly bowed her head, fighting back tears, her memories of her father flashed through her mind: All the games they played together, the bedtime stories he shared with them, the comfort he gave for the nightmares they had, all of which were the most vivid memories of Casanova.

Her hopes of her father watching her grow up, which was so close to becoming a reality, were completely and utterly shattered. Still locked in Adagio’s arms, unable to take anymore, Aria did the only thing she could think of:

She screamed.

Her heart-wrenching scream was so deafeningly loud that it shook the walls of the cave and echoed throughout the tunnels. Her father had died at the hands of those zealous humans, and for what? For the past few years, Demons had lived peacefully undercover beside humans, and now that they revealed themselves, they were unworthy of their love and respect. The pain was just too much to bear, and Adagio soon found herself crying with Aria.

Allegro swam over and embraced her daughters as tightly as she could, Sonata joining in. One could only imagine the tears streaming down their faces at the fact that they were underwater. Sobs rang out through the cave as the remaining Dazzle family grieved together for several minutes over Casanova’s loss, eventually crying themselves to sleep.

5 June, 0751hrs, Flooded Cave, Near Equestria’s West Coast

Sonata slowly stirred in her mother’s arms as she cracked open an eye. She woke up with a start, looking around at the cave's darkness. Allegro’s necklace still glowed with its pale light, illuminating her, Adagio’s and Aria’s faces as they slept. As Sonata looked back at the rock barricade, last night’s events began to replay: The Hunters were chasing them when they got separated from the Drakes, the cave collapsed, and the Hunters killed Casanova. It wasn’t long before she collapsed against her mother’s side and began to cry once again.

Having been roused by Sonata’s quiet sobs, they, too, began to wake up. It took a second for Allegro to register what was happening before she held her youngest daughter to her chest.

“I can’t believe he’s...gone,” Sonata said. “W-Why did he have to leave us??”

“Shhhh…” Allegro cooed as she ran her hand through Sonata’s blue locks. Casanova’s demise hurt her just as much as it hurt her daughters, but as their mother, she needed to be there for them, now more than ever. She had clarified that her children’s welfare must always come first, no matter the circumstances.

“I...I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “All I can say right now is that good and bad things can happen to anyone, no matter how much or how little they deserve it.” She looked at each of her daughters as she continued to speak. “Fate can be both merciful and cruel at the same time, for it gives many things to people and takes just as much away from them. As for us…” she looked back to the rock pile. “...we were just unfortunate enough to have your father taken away.”

“But why us?” Aria demanded. “What have we done to deserve losing Dad!?”

“That’s the point, sweetie,” Allegro replied sadly. “As I said, fate is cruel. Anyone can fall victim to it; it’s just a matter of who and when.” There was a pregnant pause before she reached for her bag and slung it over her back. “Come,” she said. “We can’t stay here forever. If there’s any hope of finding a way out, it’s that way.” She gestured further down the dark tunnel before she pulled her daughters towards her. “Stay close and let me know if you see any routes that may lead out of this cave. Do not wander off on your own.”

All 3 sisters nodded at their mother’s instructions. After looking at where they lost Casanova one last time, they began their journey through the flooded caves in search of an exit.

0900hrs, Flooded Caves

It had been over an hour since the Dazzles had begun searching for an exit through the winding tunnels that made up the cave ne2rk. As they swam slowly through the caves, with only Allegro’s enchanted necklace for light, the family had only found dead ends throughout the maze-like tunnels, their chances of escaping the caves growing slimmer by the minute.

Allegro would swim ahead whenever they approached a corner to peek around in case dangerous creatures lurked in the darkness. Thus far, all the family had heard throughout the journey was dead silence, and they had not seen any sign whatsoever of anyone or anything living in the caves. Even then, they couldn’t take any chances for their safety.

Eventually, they began feeling the water around them become cooler the further they swam, followed by a current and the faint smell of salt. “It smells like the ocean,” Adagio remarked. “We must be getting close!”

They were relieved when they saw that their tunnel was ascending to a large opening where the morning sunlight spilt through. Without hesitation, the Dazzles made a break for the exit, swimming upwards and breaking the water's surface in seconds. Ahead of them lay a vast, open ocean over the horizon, utterly untouched by Human activity. Turning around, they saw the cliff from which they emerged: A massive wall of rock about 120 metres high stretched along Equestria's West coast for kilometres on either end.

High above that was the harrowing sight of thick plumes of smoke billowing in the wind from inland westwards over the ocean, no doubt from the still-burning remains of the now-razed Demon villages that blotted the landscape. Then, the Dazzles all shared a moment of silence for the loss of their home, wishing that the humans had never been so quick to brand them as monsters upon their revelation.

Just as they had finished, Adagio felt something poke her twice in the side. Panicking, she looked around at the water, hoping it wasn’t a shark, when a light grey, beaked head poked out. Much to her relief, it just turned out to be a dolphin, as it looked on curiously at the 4 Sirens in front of it. “Hi there, friend,” Adagio greeted.

The dolphin then proceeded to lean forward and repeatedly peck her cheek to return the greeting. “H-Hey, stop that! It tickles!” Adagio giggled. Despite their grief, her sisters couldn’t help giggling quietly at the sight, their moods lifting ever so slightly. Even Allegro cracked a small smile at this display of affection.

Adagio managed to break away long enough to ask her next question. “We need to look for a beach to land on. Do you know where we can find one?”

Squeaking enthusiastically, the dolphin nodded before turning and swimming North alongside the cliff, the Dazzles following close behind. A few minutes of paddling later, the cliff beside them began to lower, smoothly descending into a large, sandy beach. The waves washed gently over the soft, light yellow sand, causing it to sparkle under the sunlight.

After pausing to thank their dolphin friend for helping them, they quickly changed their tails back to legs and walked ashore. As they emerged from the water, they felt their now-soaked dresses weighing them down. “Alright, girls. Hold still,” Allegro said as her hands began to glow pale blue. Slowly, she waved her hands up and down over her daughters’ dresses, drying them each completely in under a minute before performing the same spell on herself.

Once all of them were dry, Allegro continued to speak. “We’ll need to seek out another area to settle in, preferably somewhere unknown in Equestria, where the Hunters won’t find us, hopefully for a very long time.”

“But what about the Drakes?” Sonata asked. “What about Spike? Shouldn’t we look for them?” It was clear that she was still worried for the other family—they all were.

Allegro knelt at her daughter’s level. “We don’t know where they might have gone since we got separated or if they’re even alive anymore,” she replied sadly. “Even if we did try to search for them, the humans would be lying in wait to kill us. For all we know, we could lead the Hunters to our friends. The only thing we can do for them now is to pray that they have also evaded the Hunters.” She pulled Sonata into another hug. “Your father would want you to do the same.”

Sonata’s heart ached at the mention of her father, and so did her sisters’, but her mother was right. Casanova had told Aria the same thing in the canyon: that the Drakes were more formidable than they looked and could fight out of difficult situations when the circumstances called for it. It would take a lot to kill a Dragon, let alone 4 of them.

Returning the hug, Sonata then held on to her mother’s hand as they began their long trek back inland in search of a safer, more remote plot of land in Equestria to build their new home in the hopes of hiding from Human civilisation for as long as they could.

For now, they hoped that Humanity’s zealotry and xenophobia would wither with time so that they and their fellow Demons would be welcome back among them once more.

Interlude 1: The Lost Nightmares

10 April 1975, 2132hrs, Canterlot Gardens

Night had fallen over Canterlot. Over the past few centuries, the capital city of Equestria has only seen its population and infrastructure continue to grow since The Purge. From a sizeable medieval settlement to a now thriving community bustling with business, wealth and glamour, Canterlot’s streets teemed with life as people went on with their daily lives, doing their jobs, raising profits, managing their economy and enjoying the perks that came with a life of luxury.

As things began to wind down for the night, the populace had shut their workplaces down after yet another long day of work, eager to return home to spend some well-deserved quality time with their loved ones. Others, especially the bachelors of this big city, set out for Canterlot’s most prominent nightclubs with their friends as they feasted, drank, laughed and played the night away.

In some of the more scandalous cases, they would pay heavy sums of money to behold the hottest, most voluptuous women ever to grace Equestrian soil as they sang, danced and stripped in the most erotic manners conceivable by the Human body and mind. It was one of their deepest sexual fantasies brought to life for the average man to cheer for and gawk at real women who were willing to bare their naked bodies before hundreds to thousands of guests in the name of entertainment.

However, not all places within Canterlot were busy, noisy or rowdy at this time. One of those places, far away from the iridescent street lights and the drunken cries of joy from within the city’s nighttime establishments, was none other than the Canterlot Gardens.

During the day, it was a bright, lush, green park filled with a vast collection of Equestria’s most exotic plants for visitors to gaze upon as they walked up and down the footpaths that wound through the massive park. At night, those footpaths remain lit by the lamp posts lining either side, so visitors wouldn’t get lost whenever they wished to stroll at night to escape the din of the clubs that lined the capital's roads.

It was difficult for anyone to fully appreciate the beauty of the flowers that bloomed within the gardens when it was much too dark for their colours to show their full splendour. Only the lamp posts illuminated the bushes next to the footpaths. Despite this, the darkness of the night was far from tainting the scenery of the gardens in any way.

The park’s main attraction, between evening and night, was the lake that marked the centre of the entire complex. The water was dead calm, save for the occasional fish or bird that would disturb it, and benches were arranged neatly along the edge of the lake facing west for families and couples to witness the beautiful sunset as the evening sunlight glossed over the surface.

When night fell, that same beauty would be witnessed by the public yet again when the reflection from the moonlight sparkled across the lake’s surface or when, on moonless nights, the starlight from the constellations that stood proudly in the night sky over Canterlot staring down and watching as people set into their nightly routines.

This grand, silent darkness that shrouded the Canterlot Gardens every night made it an excellent hiding spot for 2 lost Demon souls as they staked out in a bush beside the lake. One glowed yellow at the core with a faint orange halo, while the other glowed turquoise with a dark blue halo. Both orbs glowed dim light as they hovered on the spot, pondering their most recent discussion.

“Are you sure we can do this, Solaris?” the turquoise soul spoke. “I mean, impregnating ourselves within the womb of a human woman?” Although the soul no longer had a face to show it, her voice carried hints of doubt and concern. Her emotions could be felt by fellow Demons, her companion, Solaris, being no exception. “Even if your theory that we could grow ourselves new bodies in such a manner turns out to be correct, it’s never been done before since we’ve only ever needed Blood Pits to do the job. In addition, is it even the right thing to do? We’re using an innocent woman’s children to carry our souls so that we can have physical bodies again!”

Solaris would have been lying if she didn’t feel the same way about impregnating a woman with their souls. She shifted nervously as she hovered between a couple of leaves. “We don’t have any other choice, Nocturna,” she answered. “We have gone without bodies for far too long, ever since the gates home were closed before we could make it through. Furthermore, we can only afford to hide from humans for so long, especially as stray, bodiless souls.”

Nocturna could only sigh inwardly in frustration. Solaris was right, as much as she hated the selfish, if not cruel, implications of such an act. Yes, it would mean inhabiting the body of a baby without their knowledge or consent for the years to come. Still, neither of them could see any other alternative solutions, and they definitely would not possess and regenerate a dead body, for it would defile the deceased. Should they remain souls, they would only scare away anyone who spotted them, or worse if anyone remembered them from The Purge, they would hunt them to the ends of Terra if it meant killing them permanently. If Solaris’s theory of using a Human foetus to gain new flesh was true, even if they had to be physically born again, then that was their best bet.

“I still don’t like this idea,” Nocturna replied. “Obtaining bodies so we can walk, run, jump, and fly again should never come at the expense of others.”

Solaris stared for a few seconds before she floated closer to her companion. “Nocturna, trust me when I say I don’t like this more than you do. We may not have the same bodies we were born with after being reborn to a Human mother, and more importantly, using her as a means to that end, but it’s better than nothing. Besides, we could never abandon the one who bore our new bodies. We are not that cruel.”

There was a long pause as Nocturna digested her partner’s words. Solaris was not one to abandon family and friends for personal gain, nor was she. They could live out their lives in their new family, hidden among the Human population once more, and, if fate allowed it, eventually break the news to their Human parents of who and what they were when they believed the time was right and pray in the name of The Underworld that they would understand.

Nocturna took a deep breath. “Alright, we’ll do it. We’ll find ourselves a woman to bear us so we can finally have our bodies back, but we must at least find someone suitable first. Someone we can trust, someone who will love us unconditionally and never stray from her morals as a parent.”

She had seen and heard stories of mothers and fathers alike who would get dangerously drunk, neglecting their children, the very people they were supposed to love and cherish, if not outright threatening, beating or holding them captive if they did so much as speak the wrong way. Worse still were the parents who lusted after and, in some unfortunate cases, raped their children, leaving them traumatised at best and dead at worst. The fact that such atrocities were practised among humans, even today, disgusted Nocturna to no end.

Solaris knew what her partner was talking about when she wanted to find a woman to bear their future bodies and the right woman. “I understand that you’re afraid of having a monster for a surrogate mother, but know that there are just as many women out there, if not more, who will love and care for us, no matter what happens, sister,” she assured Nocturna.

While they were not biological sisters, Solaris and Nocturna were just as close to each other in that sense, more so than they were to fellow members of The Nightmares. Despite being an organisation consisting of some of the deadliest and most potent Demoness warriors in The Underworld, they were a family in themselves, striving to help one another better their skills in Dark Magic and combat or protect their communities in any way possible.

Now that they were separated from The Underworld with no means of travel or communication, they were sure that the remaining Nightmares would believe them dead after not having seen them since The Purge ended. For now, Solaris and Nocturna would have to regain their bodies before finding a way to return and finally reunite with their family and friends.

Solaris then perked up as she sensed the presence of a human couple approaching the lake they were hiding by. She smiled internally and felt the warmth of positive energy that radiated from them. “And it seems we won’t have that far to look.”

A lone couple strolled along the illuminated path down to the lake, enjoying the cool night air as it blew gently over their heads. Usually, a handful of people would walk through the Canterlot Gardens to enjoy the scenery that graced the park every night. Still, as of now, they were alone together, only needing each other’s company on their evening stroll.

Few people truly appreciate the beauty of the night, for most of them are either busy sleeping or burning their spare cash to waste the night away, laughing away their worries in the process and relishing their carefree ways. This couple, who now made their way down to the lake, was one of those few people.

The first of the couple was a handsome young man who stood tall at around 190cm, with short, wavy, Shakespeare blue hair and Madang green stripes running down its length. To complement his hair, he had bright, light orchid eyes and a slender face that held a sense of pride, passion, and nobility that could make any woman fall at his feet, whether he wanted them to or not.

Over his lean figure, he wore a sleek, jet-black tuxedo and matching loafers that almost blended into the night sky's darkness, but it made it no less glamorous as he wore it. He wore an elaborately crafted gold-plated quartz watch on his left wrist that glittered under the moonlight to complete his outfit.

It seemed that whatever colour he wore or was forced to wear, he made it look good, much to the surprise and envy of his fellow men. Tonight, however, he simply wanted to look his best for the occasion, but even then, his eveningwear still paled compared to what his wife decided to put on for their little outing.

She was about 10cm shorter than her husband, sporting thick, wavy, flowing yellow-blonde locks complemented by natural dark blue highlights. Her face had light makeup, consisting of glittery eyeshadow that matched her highlights, which made her turquoise eyes sparkle even more as if they didn’t already do so on their own. In addition, she wore pale pink lipstick to accentuate her soft, smooth lips. She never liked bright colours in lipstick, for she believed that they would look gaudy on her, though she acknowledged that other women managed to pull it off successfully.

She wore gold hooped earrings with tiny sapphires embedded in the free ends, which sparkled under the street lights as the earrings swung with her movement.

Her dress was the main attraction of her evening outfit. It was a low-cut, strapless satin dress that was dark blue like her highlights and eyeshadow before it. The dress hugged every curve of her hourglass figure, especially around the bust and hip areas. The front went just high enough to cover her nipples and areola while generously showing off the entire top half of her 175cm breasts, pushing them up against her chest. Running down the centre of the front were 3 slit-shaped windows that showed the bottom half of the deep valley that was her cleavage, which got smaller towards the bottom of her dress.

The skirt ended halfway down her thighs as the back wrapped snugly around her large, firm butt, both of which would bounce together as she walked. A single slit on the right side of the skirt ran up to her hip that would open up to reveal her curvy thigh if she posed the right way.

The dark blue high heels on her feet rounded out her outfit, along with the 7 thin gold bracelets dangled from her left wrist. Since she didn’t have any pockets to carry her makeup, pocket vanity, and pocket watch, she carried them in a shiny black leather purse that was slung over her shoulder and hung at her side.

The man had been eyeing his wife’s figure since their evening began. Given how stunning she looked that night, it would be hard to blame him. Seeing her show off her every curve, her firm, impossibly round breasts bouncing with her every step, the seductive sway in her walk, and her mesmerising bedroom gaze made it all the more difficult for him to contain his excitement around her. He had to frequently remind himself that he was a gentleman, first and foremost, and that he would confine all of his indecency and lust to their house.

His wife took notice of his eyes as they wandered up and down her body and giggled softly at his antics. “Are you sure you’re not done with gawking at my outfit?” she asked playfully, causing her husband to turn away in embarrassment. “I planned to wear this dress for you, but I didn’t think it would work that well. Maybe next time I’ll wear something more modest.”

The man’s head snapped back to his wife in shock at the suggestion. “W-What!? No, please! You’re perfect the way you are!” he replied hastily.

The blonde woman laughed. “I’m just kidding, honey! I know you love my dress, and I’m happy you do. I could tell from the look on your face when you first saw me the first time in this baby.”

The man turned even redder at the memory. Earlier in the evening, he waited patiently for his wife to prepare for their first dinner date as newlyweds. When she finally emerged from the bathroom in all of her sexy glory, she saw her husband’s red-faced, bug-eyed, slack-jawed expression as he beheld his wife’s sexiest form yet. She found it hilarious, so much that she had to prop herself against the door frame to keep herself from collapsing to the floor from sheer laughter. “And I even saw your tongue hanging out! That was priceless!” she added.

The man facepalmed at her remark. Not only did he gawk at her dress with the most ridiculous face she had ever seen, but he made himself look like a panting dog in heat. “Great. Now I feel like an even bigger pervert,” he groaned.

Even if it didn't make him feel better, he wasn’t the only man to have that reaction. They had both lost count of how many heads from several men (and a few women) they had turned as they walked through the streets of Canterlot for their date. However, in some cases, they couldn’t help exchanging worried looks when the men with girlfriends or wives found themselves getting slapped, yelled at or dumped on the spot for daring to look at another woman in their presence.

The woman stopped her husband and turned him to face her before pulling him into her arms while pressing her huge breasts against his chest. “Oh, stop that, dear! I’m just teasing you!” she laughed still before she began grinding her bombshell figure against her husband, giggling like a schoolgirl all the while.

Once her laughter died down, she sighed as she tightened her embrace, pushing her breasts further up towards the man’s face as if daring him to reach up and grope them. “My dear, sweet, innocent Pax,” she cooed. “Always such a gentleman at home and in public no matter who you cross, yet you still become flustered when I wear something sexy for you.” For emphasis, she began to slowly grind her body against his, rubbing her massive, pale melons round in circles against his toned chest, causing Pax to blush once more.

Pax chuckled sheepishly. “Well, to be fair, I am married to Divina, one of the hottest women in Equestria,” he remarked.

Divina’s smile widened at the compliment. She then snaked her hands up over his shoulders, then around his neck to the back of his head before yanking him into a deep, passionate kiss. Their tongues wrestled for dominance as she continued grinding her body against her husband’s. Her capacity for lust still amazed Pax to no end. The way she would slither, slide and rub her pale, creamy flesh over and around him as if she were a pole dancer drove him wild as he struggled to retain his composure, as well as the excitement in his pants. She had told him that this erotic dance routine of hers was something she had never done before and would now perform only for the man she loved.

Divina moaned in ecstasy at the sensation of grinding her breasts against Pax’s lean chest as they continued to kiss. It was one of her favourite ways of teasing her husband during their time together, and she never tired of doing as much as she pleased. As Divina learned from her observations, huge, jiggly racks were what men loved to see on any woman. However superficial that may be, she couldn’t deny that it was indeed a fact. Once they reluctantly broke apart, she stared lovingly into his adoring eyes.

“And don’t you forget it,” she said lustily as she batted her eyelashes.

With their brief makeout session over, they resumed their walk down the path, eventually reaching the lake in the park's centre. As they approached the water's edge, they looked up to see the Moon in all its pale glory as it shone its light onto the lake’s surface, causing the calm water to sparkle dimly with its reflection.

Divina sighed at the breathtaking view as she leaned on Pax’s shoulder. “It’s such a beautiful night, isn’t it, dear?” she asked as she gazed at the scene before them.

“It sure is,” came Pax’s reply. “I never thought that nighttime could look this beautiful. That is until you showed me.”

Indeed, Divina was one of the few who truly appreciated the night. Everyone else would be far too busy tucking into bed or burning their cash on drinks, gambling, or women, all without caring to take a step back and a good, long look at what they miss every single night. Pax used to be one of those people, too preoccupied with late-night shifts and chatting with colleagues and clients at the bar to notice such scenery.

After he and Divina began dating, she took him to the Canterlot Gardens for his first honest look at the night sky. Only then did he truly understand why his love admired it so much, as he stood admiring the stars as they twinkled gently against the blackness of the sky. Ever since that night, once his workload had lightened and he managed to find more time to spend with Divina, he began joining her in retreating to the quieter regions of Canterlot, away from the hubbub of the nightlife, to watch the night as it passed gracefully by.

Pax turned to his wife. “But even now, the night could never be as beautiful as you.”

Divina blushed as she smiled sweetly at Pax’s flattery. He could never lie about something so true. As beautiful as the night was, it could not, at least to him, rival the unwavering beauty that radiated from the stunning woman who stood before him. Instead, the moonlit sky only highlighted her silky, pale skin and large, gleaming eyes, causing them to glow faintly in the darkness. Indeed, she was the epitome of feminine beauty.

Wrapping her arms around Pax’s shoulders, she again gazed into his purple orbs. “Oh, Pax, you’re such a sweet-talker,” she giggled. “What have I done to deserve you?”

Pax smiled back at his wife. “I could ask myself the same question about you, my love.”

With that, he leaned in to kiss his wife for another time, which she happily accepted. Though it was not as passionate as their previous makeout session, it was no less romantic, for both spouses simply decided to take it nice and slow, savouring every second as if it would be their last. They poured as much of their love as they could into the kiss, their lips locked tightly together, reluctant to break apart. Pax and Divina both moaned softly as they made out, revelling in the sensation of their tongues wrestling for dominance over the other.

It felt like an eternity before the newlyweds finally broke their kiss, not that they would have minded. Divina gazed at her husband with lusty, half-lidded eyes, enough to tell Pax it would be another long night since their wedding. Even now, it still amazed him that a beautiful, graceful, refined woman like Divina could be such a wild animal in bed. The way her giant mammaries would wildly bounce as she rode his rod like there was no tomorrow, the way she would shamelessly scream out her euphoria, both of which combined stirred him more than any ballroom melody he had heard in his life.

After a moment of gazing into each other’s eyes, the couple slowly turned back to the beautiful scenery of the lake. Sighing softly, Divina leaned against Pax’s shoulder as she savoured the night view over the Canterlot Gardens, which she had done since childhood. A few seconds later, she noticed something glowing from within a bush on the far side of the lake.

“Pax, look!” she said, pointing toward the bush. When Pax turned his head, he saw the same eerie glow in the bush.

As the couple looked on in curiosity, they saw the cause of the strange glow in the form of 2 small, floating orbs that glowed yellow and turquoise, respectively. They appeared to float gracefully from their hiding place and over the lake's surface.

Divina immediately smiled at the sight, for she believed their night had just gotten better. “Fireflies, dear!” she exclaimed. “Isn’t that great?”

Pax, however, looked slightly confused at the image before him. “They don’t look like fireflies,” he replied. “They usually live in swarms, yet there are only 2 here. And they’re not glowing yellowish-green.”

After taking a second look, Divina realised that he had a point as her smile faded: Their bioluminescence was unnaturally coloured, and they were the only ones present in the gardens. It also didn’t help that the strange floating orbs now floated toward the couple. Pax then stepped ahead of his wife, his arms raised slightly, ready to cast a protective spell in case the orbs tried to attack in any way.

The next few moments grew tense as the orbs drew nearer to the newlyweds. While they didn’t appear to show any hint of hostility, both Pax and Divina couldn’t take any chances. Divina, too, readied her magic to repel the orbs as they now floated within arms reach of the couple, hovering lazily over the water.

Stranger still was that both balls of light were not attached to any insect or living creature, which only confirmed Pax’s suspicion that they were not fireflies. The bigger question was whether these strange, ethereal glowing orbs were even living creatures. They certainly didn’t look like any magic spell or anomaly that Pax or Divina had seen throughout their years of experience with magic. In addition, the aura they emitted felt otherworldly. Neither spouse could identify the nature of the orbs’ magic, nor could they make out what could have caused their manifestation.

It almost felt like an eternity as the mysterious orbs hovered close to the now-nervous couple. As much as they wanted to back away and run as fast as possible, Pax and Divina could not risk making the first move. For all they knew, this could have been a trick performed by some unseen enemy, for whatever reason, wanting them to break their composure and leave themselves open to attack.

Suddenly, the orbs flashed brighter, lighting up the surrounding area within a 10m radius. Before the couple could react, both orbs bolted at lightning speed towards Divina. They quickly phased through the front of her belly as if they were utterly intangible before settling within her womb.

The blonde bombshell gasped loudly at the sudden warmth the orbs brought as they barged into her unguarded body. As the heat within her belly began to build up, her legs began to buckle as she stumbled under the sensation.

Immediately fearing for his wife, Pax held her up as best as he could and carried her to a nearby bench. “Divina! Speak to me! Are you alright!?” he asked frantically.

“I-I’m fine, honey,” Divina answered, slightly shaken from the initial shock of the sudden event. “Just feeling a little warm.” She placed a hand over her belly and her forehead

Pax looked down at her belly and noticed that it glowed an eerie mix of yellow and turquoise, traces of the same colours the orbs were before they entered Divina’s body before the glow faded away completely. Without hesitation, Pax channelled some of his magic into his hands and pressed them over Divina’s belly to extract whatever those magic orbs were. The next thing that happened was that his wife’s stomach glowed yellow, and he felt a painful zap surge through his hands a second later. Crying out, he recoiled and landed on the pavement on his rear in front of the bench. Divina, on the other hand, didn’t feel a thing.

“Oh my goodness! Pax!” Divina cried. She knelt to check on her husband’s state as she fought through the heat, which was now spreading through her body, particularly her loins.

“It’s alright,” Pax grunted. “I’ve had worse spell backfires than this.”

He looked down at his hands, which still burned slightly from the electrical shock that he could infer came from the orbs that now resided in his wife’s body and then back to his wife’s belly, where they had entered. Just what were those things?

Pax tried to digest everything that had just happened as he lifted himself and Divina to their feet, with Divina leaning against him for support. “Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked his wife again. “Does anything hurt? Do you feel dizzy? Nauseous? Numb? Anything??” As paranoid as he sounded, his questions weren’t without good reason. He was deeply concerned for Divina, especially after their date night had seemingly taken a dramatic turn when a magic anomaly in the form of 2 disembodied glowing spheres entered his wife’s body out of the blue and barricaded themselves in with some form of barrier.

“I told you, I’m fine,” Divina argued. Despite her words, the heat continued to build up in her body. She didn’t feel it as a burning fever for some strange reason. Instead, she found it surprisingly pleasant. It seemed ridiculous that a pair of unidentified magic objects was making her feel good. She could feel her nipples hardening under her scanty dress, poking through the fabric as if they wanted to be free of their prison, her crotch growing moist as she continued to hold on to her husband for support.

That was when the realisation hit her. This heat she now felt coursing through her body wasn’t a fever. Instead, it was sexual arousal.

Within the next few seconds, Divina grabbed Pax’s head’s sides before turning him to face her. “Divina, what are y--?” Pax tried to ask about her sudden action but was cut off when she smashed her mouth against his and rammed her tongue down his throat.

Several seconds passed as Pax was caught in another makeout session before Divina finally broke away, panting like a dog in heat. Pax could see her reddening face under the lampposts' light as she struggled to lift her head to face him again. “P-Pax…” she stuttered through her arousal, her crotch now wet from her juices. “Take me home now! Please!” she practically begged.

Upon seeing the signs, Pax’s eyes widened as the realisation hit him. Not wanting to waste more time, he nodded and teleported them back to the car.

10 April 1975, 2210hrs, Aetheris Household

The next few minutes felt like agony to Divina as Pax drove back to their home as fast as he could. The unrelenting arousal caused her to toss and turn in her seat as she tried futilely to fight it down until they arrived.

The fact that her seat belt was continuously rubbing against her front did not help in the slightest. The way it would rub against her flat belly through the fabric of her dress, the way it would get caught between her breasts as it slid up and down her chest, the way it pulled tautly against her soft flesh, all of which was driving her crazy.

Divina instinctively reached up to grope and fondle her huge breasts in an attempt to relieve some of the sexual frustration she felt in her body as a result of being impregnated with those strange magic anomalies back in the Canterlot Gardens. Simultaneously, she clamped her thighs together and rubbed them furiously against her folds to add to her efforts, as well as to keep herself from staining her dress and the car seat.

She moaned as she continued to grope her breasts, rolling the large orbs of flesh around in her hands as she thrashed still, barely able to endure the burning lust that now stirred in her body.

Pax couldn’t help blushing at his wife’s lusty moans as he kept his eyes on the road, yet his concerned expression never left his face. 2 strange magical orbs had just burst into his wife’s body, and now she had gone into heat from the ordeal. What would happen to her next? He didn’t know for sure; honestly, he was afraid to find out. For now, all he cared about was getting Divina home as soon as possible and helping her to settle down until they could see a doctor within the next few days.

The newlyweds couldn’t have arrived sooner as Pax pulled into their driveway. Once Pax had turned off the engine, he immediately got out and ran over to the passenger door to help Divina to her feet and guide her through their front door, kicking their shoes off to the side as they entered.

Divina staggered the entire time as she leaned on her husband’s shoulder during their hasty trip up the stairs to the main bedroom, her ever-growing aura of lust now so thick, you couldn’t cut it with a saw.

As soon as both of them were in the bedroom, with Pax closing the door, Divina somehow found enough strength to throw her husband onto the side of the bed and pounce on top of him before locking her lips with his and ramming her tongue into his mouth as she rubbed her tits vigorously across his chest.

Pax seized the chance to speak once they broke the kiss. “Divina...a-are you sure you want to do this right now?” he asked, despite his now reddened face. “Faust knows what those...things in your body will do to you if we don’t do something about them!”

Divina stared back at Pax, her ample chest heaving with each breath she took. “I know,” she replied. “The clinic won’t be open until tomorrow, but I don’t care right now. Whatever these things are, they’re now in my body give me a burning itch! And you’re going to help me scratch it!”

With that, she reached behind her and swiftly unzipped the back of her dress, after which she grabbed the front and yanked it straight down, her huge melons bouncing free from their silky restraints. Like her face, they were pale and creamy in colour, with no visible flaws anywhere, topped with hard, perky nipples, ready to be touched. Divina practically smashed them over Pax’s face, shoving both of her nipples into his mouth.

“Oh, yes, honey! Just like that!” she moaned as she felt his tongue reflexively flick over her nipples as she aggressively smothered him like there was no tomorrow. “Suck them! Suck my tits!” She shook her chest wildly, rubbing against her husband’s face as she reached under her breasts and proceeded to pull his tie and jacket off and toss them aside before she began to unbutton his shirt, never once pulling herself away from Pax’s face.

Pax, meanwhile, could only let out a muffled moan as he felt the silky smooth skin of Divina’s bare tits brush against his face as her smothering continued. He had no idea how those magic orbs could have riled his wife, but her body felt so good to the touch that he didn’t have time to care. Once he thought the last button on his shirt came undone by Divina’s hand, he pulled away from her breasts, sat up and shrugged his shirt off, tossing it aside to join his jacket and tie on the floor.

To return the favour, he reached out to Divina’s dress, which hung at her waist after she pulled the front down, and proceeded to tug it further down to her hips. Divina stood up to help him undress her, frantically hooking her thumbs under the fabric and shoving her dress down to her feet. She then stepped away to take off her now-soaked dark blue panties and kick them aside, leaving her hourglass body utterly naked before her husband.

With her burning lust still unsated, she dove between Pax’s legs, clawing at his belt buckle and the tent that now poked out from his crotch. Pax undid his belt and yanked it off as fast as he could to prevent his now lust-ridden wife from ripping it in half. As soon as his belt was off, Divina quickly unzipped his pants and pulled both it and his underwear down to his ankles, allowing his erection to spring free and stand at full attention.

Divina’s eyes widened as she stared hungrily at the now steel-hard meat rod for 5 seconds as its veins bulged and pulsated from Pax’s heartbeat. Licking her lips, she seized his cock in 1 hand and shoved it into her mouth while she sucked as hard as she could.

“Holy shit!!!” Pax managed to grunt between his teeth. His wife had never sucked him off this hard before. As far as he remembered, she always took her time to savour his rod, consistently teasing him and keeping him on the edge, adding to the thrill of their lovemaking sessions. However, this time was completely different. Divina didn’t just want to make love; she wanted him to pound her senseless, maybe even knock her up, if necessary.

Divina bobbed her head up and down rapidly as she continued to suck her husband’s cock, moaning in ecstasy as she savoured his taste and his growing musk. Her tongue wrestled with his soft, sensitive tip, poking at the slit at the end and lapping up the precum that leaked from it. The blowjob lasted for a few minutes before she pulled away with an audible “Pop!”. She stared up with half-lidded eyes as she vigorously stroked his member, her lips still connected to the tip by a thin string of saliva.

“Mmm, such a big cock,” she said before she gave his shaft a long, sensual lick. “And it tastes so good, but I know what you really want.” She lifted her melon-sized breasts up and playfully jiggled them with her dirtiest smile yet. Realising what she was offering, Pax smiled back. “Of course, honey,” he answered as he roughly grabbed his wife’s tits and pulled them around his shaft. Divina moaned again as his long, stiff shaft disappeared into the deep valley of her cleavage, the head poking out and aimed at her face.

Pax relished the feeling of Divina’s firm flesh pressing and sliding against his cock as he began thrusting rapidly into her cleavage, his hands still clinging to her massive, round tits, groping them firmly and tweaking her nipples. Divina moaned at the combined pleasure wrought by her husband’s rough groping and his shaft thrusting vigorously through her cleavage. She clasped her hands over his to give him some extra leverage to press her vast melons harder against his throbbing cock.

“Oh, shit! I still can’t believe titfucking could feel this good, Divina!” Pax groaned as he continued his thrusts. “I could do this forever!”

“Mmmm, I hope you can, my noble stud,” Divina responded, a lusty smile on her flushed face before she threw her head back and let out yet another moan as she felt his grip tighten. “Oh, yes, baby! Keep going! Fuck my big tits! Give me your cum!”

The busty blonde bombshell then whipped her head down and effortlessly caught the tip of Pax’s cock in her mouth, sucking it hungrily and lashing her tongue over the sensitive knob of flesh. Simultaneously, she began bobbing and flailing her head around, grinding her supple lips against the forward end of his shaft as the titfuck continued.

The combined stimulation slowly began to overwhelm Pax as he felt his rod twitching between his wife’s breasts and in her mouth. “Ugh...D-Divina! I’m c-close!” he managed through gritted teeth. He hastened his thrusts, eager to release his load as soon as possible. Divina pulled away from his tip briefly to acknowledge his words. “Oh, that’s it, Pax! Give it all to me! Cum in my mouth!” Without another word, she clamped down on his tip again in preparation to receive his load. After a few more seconds, Pax gave one last thrust through Divina’s breasts and into her waiting mouth as he blew his first load of the night.

Divina instantly felt the thick ropes of seed that his member fired into her mouth. She swirled her tongue around, savouring its taste as she gulped it down like water. The blonde bombshell expertly drank down Pax’s entire load, not spilling a single drop in the process. As much as she loved having her face and tits covered in his cum and licking it off, she often enjoyed tasting it too much to want to pull back. In addition, she didn’t like getting the house dirty in the process, so she preferred getting her facials in the bathroom, where it was easier to clean up.

The newlyweds remained in their position for a few moments as Divina finished drinking the last of the load, and Pax’s orgasm died down. He slumped slightly, panting from the release as he saw his wife pull away from his cock, her eyes still burning with passionate lust. It was clear that she was far from sated, that she wanted more. Without warning, Divina thrust her hands out and shoved Pax back onto the bed before she climbed over, turned around and positioned her snatch over his face, which now glistened with her juices in the moonlight.

“Divina-MMPH!” Pax tried to speak, but Divina cut him off by slamming her thick, well-rounded ass down on his face, pressing her full, puffy lower lips against his mouth. “Oh, just shut up and eat me out, dear!” she exclaimed as she shook her hips wildly and smothered her beloved husband. Not wanting to keep her waiting, Pax grabbed her enormous ass, kneading the firm cheeks in his hands as he proceeded to stick his tongue between her folds.

Divina’s relentless grinding continued as she moaned to the heavens, revelling in the sensation of having Pax’s tongue penetrate her pussy and lash at her inner walls. “Oh, yes! Mmm, that’s right, honey! You like tasting my wet pussy, don’t you?” She started bucking her hips back and forth as she grabbed his cock and began stroking it, beckoning him to continue as Pax prodded deeper into her canal. “Oh, FUCK YES! Right there! Right there! I want that magic tongue of yours deep in my tight pussy!” she cried before she glanced down once again at his still-hard cock as she jerked him off. Without a moment’s hesitation, she leaned over and took his length within her mouth and began sucking on it again.

It quickly became a race as to who could make the other climax first as Divina kept Pax pinned under her in the “69” position as they both went to town on each other. Pax alternated between licking his wife’s inner walls, lapping up the sweet fluids that leaked out and licking and nibbling her clit. Divina decided to use her tits on Pax’s cock again as she brought the vast, fleshy orbs up and around his shaft, enveloping it completely. As she continued sucking on his tip, she rubbed her tits up and down aggressively, determined to make her husband cum first.

Muffled moans sounded from the couple as they quickened their pace. While Divina rubbed Pax’s length harder between her tits and rapidly bobbed her head up and down over the tip, Pax went at her pussy with growing hunger, lapping and sucking away at the puffy slit like a thirsty dog. His hips began moving on their own, furiously bucking as he pounded his cock between Divina’s breasts and into her mouth.

After a few more moments of their ravenous oral session, both husband and wife finally came together. Pax eagerly drank down as much of Divina’s sweet nectar as he could as it squirted from her lower lips, all while Divina herself gulped down her second load as it cascaded from his tip.

Pax collapsed on the bed as he caught his breath from both being smothered by Divina’s ass and blowing another load. Divina, on the other hand, who was still driven by the after-effects of getting infused with 2 magical anomalies, spun around and straddled her husband’s crotch, grabbing his cock and grinding her now-soaked snatch against it, her vigour seemingly without end.

“D-Divina,” Pax grunted as her grinding caused his erection to spring back to life. “I’ll ask you again. Are you sure you want to do this after what happened earlier?”

“Yes!” she answered bluntly. “I know what happened down in the gardens, but I’m just too damn horny to care right now! Just let me have your cock until this fucking itch goes away!”

Without hesitation, Divina aimed his tip at her entrance and slammed her hips down hard, burying his rod to the hilt in a single move, causing her to whip her head back and cry, “OH, FUUUCK!” as she felt him prod her cervix. More throaty moans escaped from her mouth as she gyrated her hips, twisting his cock against her inner walls. Soon enough, she began aggressively bouncing up and down on Pax’s cock, her pale melons flailing with her movements as she moaned shamelessly throughout the ride.

“Oh, Faust! Oh, fuck yes! Give it to me, Pax! I want it! I need it! GIVE ME YOUR COCK!” she screamed the last part as she rode his cock with reckless abandon.

Pax had never seen his wife act out like this across all of the times they had sex together. Oddly enough, it was turning him on even further. Seeing no other way out, he decided to roll with it as he reached out and grabbed her breasts. Divina looked down as she felt his hands roughly holding her mounds and saw the grin forming on his face. He then yanked her down by her breasts, causing her to yelp in surprise before taking one nipple in his mouth while massaging and squeezing the other.

“Ohhh, honey!” Divina looked down as Pax alternated between sucking her nipples and nibbling at the flesh of her milk jugs. “You love these tits, don’t you? Come on, keep sucking them! Yes!” she cried as she wrapped her arms around his head and held him tightly in place while she still bounced atop his dick. “Just like that! Show me how much you love me and my body!”

Pax pulled away and stared into her eyes, burning with love and passion as he answered, “Gladly!”

That was all Divina needed to hear from the love of her life. Pax obliged by seizing her by her shoulders and flipping her over onto her back with him on top. Now in control of their steamy love session, he began to thrust into her folds as hard as he could while viciously groping and sucking on her breasts. “Yes! That’s it! Fuck me! Fuck my pussy while you suck on my big, juicy tits! OH, YES!!!”

The loud, clapping sounds of naked flesh slapping as Pax and Divina made love rang throughout the room. Divina continued screaming out her euphoria as she was slowly pounded senseless by her husband’s pulsating cock. Thank Faust that Pax remembered to cast the soundproofing spell over the room. They had quite an awkward conversation with their neighbours when they confronted them the week before about the “ruckus” they were making in the middle of the night, and neither lover wanted to answer for that again.

Divina grabbed the sides of Pax’s head and locked lips with him once again, their tongues dancing in erotic unison, lashing and wrestling as Divina moaned into her husband’s mouth. After a few minutes into their makeout session, Pax could feel his balls and cock twitching, a clear sign that he was close to his release. Pulling away from the kiss, he quickly gave Divina a heads-up. “Divina...I-I’m close!”

“It’s alright! Please, don’t stop! Cum inside me! Fill me up with your seed! GIVE ME A CHILD!!!” Divina’s voice grew louder with each sentence as Pax wrapped his lean arms tightly around her waist for leverage as he rapidly hastened his thrust, slamming his shaft deep into her pussy and hitting her G-spot over and over again, determined to spill every last drop of his next load into her waiting womb.

“AHHHH! OH, FUCK YES! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES! OH, FAUST, MAKE ME CUM! I’M CUMMING! I’M CUMMING!!!”

At long last, Pax, gritting his teeth, gave a mighty thrust and held himself in place as he fired his load into Divina’s womb, the first few ropes of the thick, gooey mass coating the walls while Divina threw her head back and screamed out her orgasm. Her juices squirted from her petals and coated her husband’s shaft as he delivered more hard thrusts to squeeze out the rest of his seed.

They stayed in place for what felt like several moments before Pax collapsed on top of his wife, slamming his mouth against hers as they shared their usual passionate kiss, basking in the afterglow of their shared climax. Once the newlyweds parted, they gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes, still panting from their romping, admiring the beauty that each of them held. Suddenly, Divina found enough strength to catch Pax off-guard and shove him over onto his back as she rolled on top before fervently making out with Pax again, roughly grinding her shapely body against his front, his rod still planted deep inside her.

“Divina…?” Pax asked as soon as his wife broke the kiss, still recovering from the afterglow.

Divina simply stared back at him, lust returning to her dark blue eyes. “I didn’t say I was finished, honey,” she replied, her lusty smile spreading like fire.

Pax couldn’t help but sigh despite enjoying sex with his beautiful wife. “This is going to be a long night,” he thought to himself as he planted his hands on her firm ass as she resumed bouncing wildly on his cock.

2330hrs

“OHHH, YES! OH, PAX, THAT FEELS SO FUCKING GOOD!” Divina continued to scream. She and Pax now lay on their side in the Spooning position as Pax thrust into her from behind, his arm hooked under her leg and lifting it high into the air while he roughly groped her flailing breast.

Pax then attacked Divina’s neck, nibbling and kissing the silky smooth skin, his pace never wavering as he made love to his wife as best as he could. “You sure like it rough tonight, huh?” he panted through his pounding of her tight folds.

“Mmmm, yes, honey! OH, YES! GIVE IT TO ME ROUGH! AHHH, FUCK! THAT’S THE SPOT!” Divina cried as Pax struck her G-spot like a bell. “OH, FUCK YES! OOOH, I’M CUMMING! I’M CUMMIIIING!!!”

11 April 1975, 0014hrs

Divina was on her knees and bent over the edge of the bed; her massive tits squashed against the footboard, and her arms pulled back by the wrists by Pax as he pounded her from behind. Their flesh collided with loud smacks, causing Divina’s plump ass to jiggle violently in the process.

“OH, PLEASE, DON’T YOU DARE FUCKING STOP, BABY!” she vigorously swirled her hips round and round, rubbing his shaft within her inner walls. “KEEP FUCKING ME! FUCK ME LIKE IT’S THE LAST TIME YOU’RE EVER GOING TO FUCK ME GOOD! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!”

Pax let out a loud groan as he gave one more good thrust and fired another load straight into Divina’s womb. The blonde bombshell screamed out her climax once more as she felt his hot cum coat her insides. Shot after shot squirted from Pax’s tip with every hard thrust of his pelvis to fill Divina as much as humanly possible.

0103hrs

It had been nearly 3 hours of non-stop, dirty, hot sex between the newlyweds by the time they moved to the shower to wash up. Divina’s heat had finally begun to die down from the ordeal, but her body wanted to go one last round before she was fully satiated.

Now, as the cool water of their shower cascaded down their naked bodies, Pax had Divina pinned against the wall of the cubicle, her tits rubbing noisily over the cold glass as Pax pistoned his length in and out of her lower lips, hands firmly gripping her hips.

“Divina...I-I’m gonna cum...again!” Pax managed to utter as he gritted his teeth in preparation to blow his 5th and final load into his wife.

“Do it! Cum inside me one more time, you stud!” Divina cried as Pax pressed her harder against the glass wall, and her husband began thrusting harder and faster. “OH, YES, YES, YES, YES! LIKE THAT! OH, THIS IS IT! I’M GONNA CUM! AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AHHHH~!!!!”

Divina screamed as she rode out their final climax together for the night. Meanwhile, Pax’s floodgates opened and unleashed his last torrent of cum into Divina’s womb. Having finally reached their limits, the newlyweds collapsed to the shower floor, entirely spent from their intense lovemaking.

"Faust, that was intense," Pax remarked. He looked down at his panting wife and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Y-Yes... I'm fine, darling…" she answered between gasps for air. "I feel better now. That was... amazing."

Pax smiled warmly at the compliment. "I'm just glad I could help you scratch that 'itch' of yours."

Divina giggled softly and turned around as best as she could before cupping his face and pulling him in for a kiss. They nibbled and sucked on each other's lips, their tongues caressing, lashing and wrestling as the couple engaged in their post-coital makeout session. The lovebirds revelled in the sensation of the cold water from the showerhead splashing onto and over their bare skin as they both melted further into their kiss.

A new question came into Pax's head moments after they pulled apart. "But what about those anomalies that are inside you? They've conjured some kind of barricade that I can't seem to break, but we can't let you live with something that could very well kill you, for all we know."

"We don't know that yet," came Divina's response. "But as of now, they have not once caused my body any harm, nor have they possessed me." She wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him closer. "Don't worry. If it will make you feel any better, we can book an appointment with the hospital and talk to the doctors about this. In the meantime…" She glanced at the bathroom clock and read the time to be 0108hrs. Though it was a known fact between them, Divina couldn’t help but blush at how carried away they got with their lovemaking. "We need to get to bed, honey. It's late now."

Pax nodded in silent agreement. Soon enough, both spouses dried themselves off, brushed their teeth, and went to bed, with Pax leading the way. They had snuggled under the blanket in no time as Pax held Divina tightly, their faces still holding smiles of pure bliss.

“Mmm, I love this,” Divina sighed as she nuzzled her husband. “But not as much as I love you, dear.”

Pax chuckled briefly at the compliment. “Yeah. I love you, too.”

Within the next few moments, the couple slowly drifted off to sleep in the warmth of each other’s bodies, accompanied by nothing but the gentle clock ticking in their bedroom's dead silence.

When the time came to visit the hospital, the doctors managed to detect the anomalies straight away, yet were unable to extract them from Divina's womb. Oddly enough, their diagnosis was that they didn't appear to pose any harm to her body, so all they could do was wait to see how it would turn out.

Unbeknownst to the married couple, one of the anomalies had decided to enter the fertilised egg within Divina's womb, which then divided in 2 before attaching to either wall of her womb to begin their impending growth...

23 Years Later...

13 June 1998, 2319hrs, Somewhere in the Canterlot Suburbs

Night again fell upon the gleaming capital of Equestria, which was Canterlot.

The streets of the suburban region, which were usually busy with residents driving to and from work by day, were now empty, save for the occasional car or person passing through. On the other hand, the residents had either settled in for the night or decided to head down to the nearest bar or club to pass the night away with family and friends.

A single car passed lazily by a trash bin on the walkway as it headed down the road to an unknown destination. After it rounded the next corner, a small, glowing purple orb emerged from behind the bin. It appeared to float in place as it peered around the corners of 2 adjacent houses, searching warily for any signs of human presence within the area.

The wandering Demon soul, having wandered the lands of Terra for centuries, repeatedly ran the memories of the events that led up to her current predicament through her mind as she wondered what she could do next to regain her body once more.

“Come on, Glitter Glamour, think!” she told herself. “You’ve already hidden away from human sight for 977 years now. You can’t keep going like this forever! A new body is your best way out!”

4 June 1021, Demon Village, Somewhere in Eastern Equestria

Chaos.

Cruelty.

Those were the only ways Glitter Glamour could describe the climax of The Great Demon Purge.

Humanity had marched ruthlessly upon village after village to flush out the Demons that populated them. Even as one of the elite members of The Nightmares, an organisation of female warriors revered in The Underworld for their skills and talent in magical and physical combat, she could only watch in horrified silence as human forces charged at the Demons’ homes, brandishing torches and setting houses ablaze. At the same time, catapults rained fiery, rocky hell down upon the Demons as they fled, or tried to escape, back to their home realm.

However, that wasn’t the worst of The Purge. Those raging, bloodthirsty brutes, who called themselves “Hunters”, came in full force, donned with the best-enchanted armour they had at their disposal against Demon magic and their swords, which they called “Demon Slayers”, from the intel that Demon scouts had obtained, weapons that could destroy a Demon’s soul, much to the horror of all Demons and Demonesses alike. Glitter could still hear their cries of sadistic glee, their shameless cheers for every demon they cut down, their zealous chants of “Purge the Demons! For the glory of Equestria!” echo inside her head, over and over again as she joined a few other Demons in holding the human hordes off to buy as much time as they could for the others to escape.

She could see no trace of mercy for her kind in their eyes as they proceeded to do the very job they were assigned: Driving as many Demons as they could off the face of Terra and slaughtering the rest. The dying screams of her brethren and the callous laughter that they elicited from their murderers it was all too much for Glitter to bear as she conjured a shield to block an incoming volley of arrows, which instantly splintered on impact and fell harmlessly to the earth below.

That was when she heard distressed wails from a nearby street. Turning in the direction of the voice, Glitter saw what turned out to be a young vampiress, who looked no older than 7, running frantically through the burning village. Amid the chaos of the invading human forces and the rushed evacuation, she had become separated from her parents by the resulting stampede, which now left her crying out for her parents as she ran past the burning rubble, tears streaming down her cheeks. At the same time, she darted her head in all directions, desperate to catch any possible sign of her parents.

As soon as the young demon girl turned in the direction the invaders were coming from, Glitter saw her freeze, eyes widening in silent terror as something horrific caught her eye. Quickly turning in the same direction, Glitter immediately saw a massive, flaming ball, launched from one of the humans’ catapults, hurtling towards the poor girl at terrifying speed.

Time seemed to slow down around her as she did the first thing that came into her head. In a split-second decision, she flew as fast as her wings could carry her as she bolted towards the little vampire girl, who was still frozen in place as she could only watch the deadly projectile fly closer and closer…

Glitter Glamour shoved the girls out of harm’s way just before the flaming boulder hit with a thunderous crash. For the briefest of moments, all she saw was black. She could no longer feel her body, yet she could somehow still move. As her soul emerged from underneath the still-flaming boulder that crushed her, she saw, to her relief, the little vampiress she had barely saved, panting heavily and stunned from the near-death experience but otherwise unharmed. Glitter figured that she had also seen the gruesome puddle of blood that was her body, or what was left of it, that had splashed out from underneath the boulder. Her turning around to see the damage only confirmed it.

A lone couple rounded the corner of a nearby house. Upon seeing the young child, they rushed over at breakneck speed and embraced her tightly, tears of joy and relief streaming from their eyes. As much as she didn’t want to break up a tender moment between the girl and the couple who turned out to be her parents, she had to remind them of the situation.

“Celebrate later, Darlings!” she had told them. “Get out of here as fast as you can!”

“But what about you?” the mother asked.

“I’ll be fine!” Glitter replied. “Now GO!”

The family nodded and ran off through the village's far side and into the distance without another word. After giving a silent prayer for their safety, she turned to attract the attention of the hunters who had begun rushing through the street she was in, hoping to distract them long enough for the last Demons to escape to The Underworld.

She cast a few bolts of lightning on the Hunters, not enough to cause any harm, but still zapped them sufficiently to get them to turn in her direction. As they roared angrily and charged, Glitter’s soul immediately turned and bolted southwest into the night, with the zealous Hunters in hot pursuit...

Glitter Glamour could only sigh inwardly at those memories. She had lost her magic-augmenting necklace at that fateful moment. Still, she at least managed to stall the Hunters as long as she could, disappearing into the night once the Demoness felt she had led them far enough for the surviving Demons to escape.

However, she wasn’t as fortunate to make it back to The Underworld. By the time she had found the nearest gate back, she had seen the area wholly deserted and the gate sealed off from Terra. Her fears grew as she darted from gate to gate across the continent, only to find none open. It was at that moment that she knew that she was trapped on Terra, with hundreds to thousands of xenophobic humans with no means of communication.

Over the next few centuries, the only thing Glitter knew to do was wander the land, hiding well away from human sight as she watched human civilisation continue to grow around her. Demons faded into myth and legend as monsters who sought to plunge humanity into chaos and destruction.

Glitter had seen her fair share of the propaganda that so shamelessly decried her race as savages to the populace of Terra as she snuck around the streets her disembodied soul dared to venture through. She hated every second of it, for the contrary couldn’t be more accurate. All she and the rest of Demonkind wanted was to live in peace and harmony alongside the humans, to share their knowledge and power, only for them to cast the Demons from their realm, and for what? The assumption that they tried to deceive them?

As badly as she wanted to wreak havoc upon the very people who slaughtered her kind like pigs, she was only a soul without a body to inhabit since Glitter lost her last one in The Purge, thus she had little to no power to do anything about it. That was a fact that she had reluctantly come to accept. Even if she eventually gained a new body, revenge would do no good for her or humanity. The Hunters and the soldiers who participated in The Purge were now long dead, and it made absolutely no sense to take her anger out on their descendants. After all, why should children bear the sins of their parents?

The anger Glitter had initially harboured against the humans for their actions had faded over the centuries she had spent in Equestria. Her biggest priority now was to seek a way to gain a new body in the human realm without using a blood pit.

She had heard of humanity’s belief in reincarnation, where human souls never die. Instead, they would find their way into new bodies, however long it took, mainly into newly conceived babies, who would retain their looks, personalities, or, in rare cases, even a few of their memories. Glitter didn’t know what kind of risks would be involved if she were to plant her soul into a stranger’s womb to obtain a body, but she understood that doing so was the only way to find out.

Hesitantly, she floated into a nearby house, hoping to find a solution to regaining her physical form and properly continuing her life.

Glitter looked around in the darkness of the room through her enhanced vision. It was a decently sized, 2-storey detached house, enough for a small family to live comfortably in with plenty of room to spare.

Having phased through a closed window, Glitter entered the living room. To her left was a soft, black leather sofa wide enough for three people to sit side by side. On its right side was a matching black reclining armchair angled towards the low-profile birch coffee table in the centre of the room, which stood over a royal blue, fleur-de-lis-patterned carpet.

Towards the wall ahead of the furniture stood a cathode ray tube TV atop a cabinet with a small collection of movie cassette tapes on the centre shelf, flanked by a few neat stacks of books on either side. The entire floor was lined with polished red oak floorboards to complement the coffee table and the beige-coloured walls that parted the rooms throughout the house, which had a few framed paintings and pictures hanging from them.

Floating through the living room, she noted the single flight of stairs leading up to the 2nd floor to her left and the front doorways to her right. They were, too, red oak to match the floorboards. Framed in their centre was a large, gilded window with brass trimmings that curled elegantly across the frosted glass. Finishing off the look was a simple, round brass doorknob at the side of the door.

She crossed the living room to find a reasonably sized open-walled kitchen, with enough room to walk comfortably between the counter and the dining table in the centre. The counter was well-equipped, with a small, stainless steel stovetop and overhead vent. Beneath was a single matching oven with a dishwasher off to the side. A small microwave oven sat flush with the overhead cupboards above the countertop. The kitchen area seemed incredibly tidy, with most of the utensils, pots, and pans stowed away from view, save for the wooden box in the corner where the knives were.

Glitter couldn’t help but admire the overall decor for the next few minutes. As plain as the interior was, she appreciated the stylistically minimalist nature of this house, though the owners could have picked out a carpet with fewer clashing colours. Then again, she couldn’t judge the owners’ taste too much.

She was ultimately pulled from her thoughts when she heard a loud “Bump!” above her. Not wanting to give herself away by phasing straight through the ceiling into the upper level and scaring the residents away, Glitter hovered her way up the single staircase towards the room from whence the noise had come.

Cautiously, Glitter floated up the stairs to investigate the noise source, peering around the corner as soon as she reached the top landing, lest she ran into an unsuspecting human emerging from the other end and blowing her cover. Fortunately, the corridor was empty, with the doors to the rooms wide open and no lights on except one. A dim ray of light emerged from under the gap of the closed door to the left side of the corridor. With it, she swore she could hear muffled moans from inside the room.

Glitter sensed that there were only 2 residents of this house, and they were currently occupying the same room. Dimming the light from her soul as much as she could, she lowered herself to the floor and slipped under the door gap into the main bedroom, where she stumbled upon a surprising and somewhat arousing sight.

Next to the king-sized bed stood a married couple who appeared to be in their early to mid-20s, propped against the wall, with their mouths smashed together, heads thrashing as they made out like wild animals. The woman pinned to the wall had wavy, dark purple hair that reached the point just above her shoulders. Her skin was fair, with a slight hint of tanning, and appeared to be as smooth as silk, with no visible flaws. She wrapped her arms tightly around the back of her husband’s neck, clearly wanting to be as close as humanly possible to him, refusing to pull away by even a centimetre as they kissed furiously. Dotting the ends of her fingers and toes was a soft, light pink nail polish that glimmered under the light of the bedside lamp. Even by Glitter’s silent admission, the nail polish perfectly suited her skin tone.

On the other hand, the woman’s husband, who had her firmly pinned to the wall during the makeout session, stood a good half-head taller. The brown-haired man was heavily built, with beefy arms and a large, barreled chest that kept his wife sandwiched between him and the wall. Despite being slightly top-heavy, his legs did not lack muscle either, as they effortlessly held his stance as he poured out his love to his wife. From what information Glitter could gather briefly from glancing at the shelves opposite the bed and at the man’s physique, it was apparent that he was, or was, a football athlete. Lining the shelves were a few football trophies he must have earned over the years of competitively playing the sport. However, given the circumstances she was in right now, Glitter could not get a closer look at the surrounding room to learn more about the couple for fear of being discovered.

What surprised Glitter the most as she saw the couple make out was that they were both completely naked, their clothes all strewn across the floor. Both spouses had been desperate to strip their clothes off as fast as they could and make love right there and then. The woman sported a generous 160cm bust, the large, fleshy pillows crushed against her husband’s chest in their embrace. She also had a slim, 55cm hourglass waist that spanned into an impressive pair of 84cm hips, complete with large, well-rounded asscheeks. The woman had one leg wrapped around her husband’s hips as she clung to his body like a vice.

Glitter quickly flew inside the wardrobe for cover when she saw the couple about to pull apart. Thankfully, neither spouse noticed her as they gasped for air, their lips connected by a string of saliva as they gazed longingly at each other, eyes burning with lust.

The wife was the first to speak up. “Mmmmm, it’s great to have a night all to ourselves,” she moaned as she ran a hand through her husband’s hair. “Just the 2 of us, here...together...alone in the dark...naked as the day we were born…” her speech slowed with every phrase as she proceeded to entice the burly man before her, leaning closer and closer until their foreheads touched. “...fucking. Like. Rabbits,” she finished as she proceeded to grind her massive mammaries against his hardened chest. “Don’t you agree, my dear, sweet Hondo?”

Glitter heard the man “Hondo” chuckle lightly at his wife’s question as he nuzzled her back. “Yeah,” he replied. “With all those nights training with my teammates and drinking after our last match, I thought we’d never get time alone, even though I brought you along for the ride.” He leaned in to steal another kiss from his wife. “Rest assured, Cookie, that this won’t be the last night we’ll spend together,” he said as a sly grin spread across his face.

Cookie also flashed a smile to match her husband’s. “And thank Faust for that,” came her response before she slammed her mouth against his to resume their making out. Simultaneously, she tackled Hondo to the bed, keeping her body glued to his as she continued her assault on his tongue. Cookie couldn’t contain the moans that escaped her throat into her husband’s mouth as she ground her chest and hips against his muscular front. Their heads thrashed wildly as their mouths and tongues engaged in a relentless, lust-fuelled battle for dominance. The married couple rolled haphazardly across the bed, with either Hondo or Cookie coming out on top every few seconds as they wrestled with vigour.

Glitter watched the raw, unfiltered mix of love and lust that unfolded itself into all of its naked glory. If she could blush now, she would have been redder than the lava in The Underworld. Although sex was commonplace in her home dimension, and she was no stranger to any form of sex herself, she was somewhat fascinated that such unbridled, passionate lust could be expressed by a pair of humans, especially when in private and in a world where sexual inhibitions were standard etiquette. The resulting aura filling the room was so thick that she couldn’t cut it with an enchanted blade.

It was embarrassing for Glitter to be in this predicament, for as open as Demons were with sex in public or in private, it was rude for anyone to spy on others while they were in the middle of a romp session. The 2 best options anyone in Demon society could take during such events were to join or leave, which was as simple as possible. Regardless, Glitter looked on in curiosity as the married couple in front of her pulled apart once again, panting for air as they gazed lustily into each other’s eyes.

Cookie had come out on top at the end of their little wrestling session as she sat up and straddled Hondo’s pelvis. His erect manhood, which was concealed by the flesh of their abdomens pressing together in their unyielding embrace, finally sprang free and stood at full attention. Glitter barely managed to stifle a gasp as she saw the thick, muscular rod in all of its glory.

Cookie’s eyes widened in anticipation as she stared hungrily at her husband’s cock as she slid backwards to lie down before it. “Mmmmm, now this is what I’m talking about,” she moaned as she seized Hondo’s meat and started stroking it without a moment’s hesitation, causing him to groan in ecstasy. “Oh, it’s so big, hard and thick,” she added before taking a good whiff. “Such a manly scent, too.” Cookie brought his cock to her lips and began peppering it with light kisses.

“Mmm, thanks, dear,” Hondo replied through his groans. “It’s not as long as you might have liked it to be, though.” Truth be told, while he measured at a reasonable 20cm at full mast and was extremely girthy, he still wished he had the proper length to match, despite Cookie’s reasoning that he had a remarkably sized cock regardless.

“Oh, nonsense, Hondo!” Cookie assured as she glanced up at Hondo, continuing to jerk him off enthusiastically. “Proportion doesn’t matter when you know how to use it.” Her eyes wandered back to his hardened rod. “And a cock this thick...is all I need to get me going.” Without another word, she opened her mouth wide and effortlessly took his entire rod in one swift motion, tightening her supple lips around his shaft and sucking hard as she began bobbing her head furiously up and down. Cookie snaked one hand around the base of her husband’s phallus and resumed her fervent stroking while fondling his heavy balls with the other, not once slowing her intense blowjob down.

Hondo could only throw his head back and groan louder through his gritted teeth at his wife’s unrelenting assault on his entire package. He felt some of his pre-cum dribble out of his tip through the intoxicating pleasure into Cookie’s mouth, which she gladly drank down. She moaned with ecstasy as she savoured the taste of the warm liquid passing down her throat.

“Whoah, fuck!” Hondo managed to utter through the overwhelming sensation of Cookie sucking him off like a vacuum. “I swear to Faust, you suck harder every time! You might end up pulling my dick off!” He let out another groan of pleasure as his wife began to twist her head violently, further rubbing her lips harder against his steel-hard shaft. “But it’d be worth the pain!”

Cookie giggled briefly at her husband’s remark, taking it as a compliment to her growing skills in bed. However, before she could continue, Hondo grabbed the sides of her head and pulled her away from his cock, a few strings of saliva still connecting her lips to his tip.

“Hondo?” she asked, slightly confused by his actions. “What’s wrong-AHH!” she yelped as Hondo seized her and flipped her onto her back, pinning her to the bed as he straddled her waist, his cock aimed straight between her huge breasts.

“I can’t wait anymore,” he panted, seizing her firm melons and squeezing them hard. Cookie moaned as he began to knead her tits, rolling them around in his palms and pinching her nipples, sending jolts of pleasure surging through her body as he played with the sensitive nubs. “I want to use these. Now.” he practically growled with lust as he held on to Cookie’s breasts for dear life.

While he could always see just how shapely his wife was under all of her clothes since they met and later began dating, it wasn’t until the first time they made love that he got his first good look at her bountiful assets, fully bared for him to see. He had become enamoured with them ever since, considering them his favourite part of their late-night sessions.

Cookie smiled at her husband’s growing hunger for her body. After all, she had shown him just how enticingly beautiful the female body could be, mainly when it belonged to the woman he loved: Soft, tender lips to kiss and suck him off until he was ready to burst, giant, firm, bouncy tits he could grope, suck and pound at his leisure, wide, child-bearing hips, an equally massive, rounded ass to match her bountiful rack and a supple, yet oh so tight pussy that beckoned him to stuff it to the brim and pack full of his rich seed for her to bear his children. Their children.

Could she honestly blame him for wanting to strip her bare, pin her to the bed and pound her senseless?

She stared at him with half-lidded eyes, her lusty smile never wavering. “Go ahead, honey,” she cooed in her best seductive tone. “My body’s all yours.”

That was the only permission Hondo needed. After nestling his cock in the deep valley of her cleavage, he then slammed her huge mounds together, the firm flesh squeezing his length under the force of his hands. Cookie threw her head back and moaned loudly at the sensation of her husband’s hot shaft grinding against the flesh of her ample chest. Simultaneously, Hondo also let out a groan as he proceeded to thrust his cock between her breasts rapidly. Wet slaps sounded from the thick meat rod driving through the dense valley of flesh that was Cookie’s melons and Hondo’s pelvis slamming repeatedly against the bottom parts of her firm flesh.

“Ohhh, mmmm, yes! That’s it!” she encouraged. “Fuck my big tits! Show me what you can do to them with that huge, fat cock! Mmm, fuck!” The feeling of her husband’s cock radiating heat throughout her cleavage as he continued to pound her vast mammaries was driving her wild. Cookie looked down at the top of her chest to see the tip of Hondo’s dick playing a high-speed game of Peekaboo with her as it continuously poked out from between her tits from the assault. Without a second thought, she expertly caught the sensitive knob of flesh in her mouth the next time it poked out and began sucking with everything she had at the moment. She also raised her hands to grab Hondo’s as they still held on tightly to her fleshy mounds and kept them pressed firmly in place, not wanting him to let go.

“Holy shit!” Hondo grunted as he continued thrusting his cock into his wife’s cleavage. “Cookie, your tits feel so fucking good!” Indeed, her mounds felt like firm water balloons as he maintained his grip on them, pressing them hard against his throbbing shaft. He decided to take his titfucking up a notch by roughly sliding each tit back and forth along his cock, which, at this point, had become slick once again with his pre-cum. The sensation of his slippery cock pistoning in and out of Cookie’s cleavage was electrifying. “How’d you like this, honey? You love how I fuck these big, juicy tits of yours as you suck my cock?” he began his dirty talk, his voice heavy with lust.

“Oh, yes, baby!” came Cookie’s reply after she briefly pulled away from the head of his cock to speak. “I love it! I love it when you ravage my tits with that big, beautiful cock! I love it so much!”

Glitter was astonished by the loving, passionate, intoxicating lust these 2 humans had for each other. Stranger still, she could feel herself heating up just by watching them make love like wild animals, even without a body. If she was getting aroused by such a sight, she hardly cared at this point. The only thought now in Glitter’s mind was to watch the happy couple demonstrate their unyielding love in all of its erotic splendour.

A few minutes later, Hondo’s thrusts began to go faster. He was inching closer and closer to the edge of his climax as his grunts hastened, and he crushed Cookie’s breasts against his twitching cock. “Nngh, C-Cookie!” he called out. “Get r-ready! I-I’m close!”

Cookie moaned in acknowledgement before she began sucking harder on his tip to prepare for his first shot of the night. Hondo groaned louder as his wife’s thrashing tongue lashed his most sensitive area.

“Ohhh, fuck, Cookie! This is it! Ooooh, I’m cumming!!!”

With one last thrust, he rammed his cock through Cookie’s tits, into her waiting mouth, and fired his load of sperm. Cookie moaned in delight as she tasted the sweet, musky fluid as it sprayed into her mouth and sloshed over her tongue. Rope after rope of his thick seed shot into her mouth and down her throat as Cookie hungrily drank down every last drop.

Hondo remained in his position for a moment while his wife sucked the last bead of cum from his tip and licked him clean before slumping over, panting heavily from the euphoria of his orgasm.

“Faust, I’ll never get...tired...of using these,” he said between gasps. He fondled Cookie’s melons a little more. “Thanks for this.”

“I’m glad you love it, honey,” Cookie smiled before moaning at her husband’s touch. “Mmmm, now that you’ve fucked my mouth and my tits...” she reached for his now slightly softened cock and stroked it again, albeit more gently, this time to get it rock-hard again. She then finished her question in her best lusty voice manageable. “Why don’t you round it off and fuck my pussy?”

Hondo grinned as he heard her question. After getting a taste of her body for the first, he couldn’t remember ever wanting to decline another opportunity to rut his wife senseless. If anything, it had become an offer he couldn’t refuse, maybe even a happy addiction. Cupping a hand to the side of Cookie’s head, he stared down at her sparkling blue eyes.

“Anything for you, dear,” he answered huskily.

After dismounting Cookie’s waist, he took his position in front of her pussy, which was now soaking wet from arousal, and took a moment to admire its beauty. Like the rest of her body, her labia were a healthy light pink and curved gracefully around her entrance, topped by the small, hard nub that was her clit to complement its appearance.

Hondo held his cock and aimed it between her folds. Slowly and sensually, he began to rub his tip up, down and around, gradually working his way past her lower lips, stimulating the edges of her inner walls. His rubbing of her pussy only served to drive his wife crazy.

“Oh, Faust, stop teasing me!” Cookie begged her husband. “Hurry up and shove that damn cock in my pussy! Fuck me till I can’t move! I want your babies!!!” She cried out the last sentence as she squirmed from the sensation. She grabbed her huge tits in a desperate attempt to get off faster, groping the mounds and violently rolling them around in the palms of her hands while she pinched and tweaked her nipples as much as she could.

“As my lady wishes!” came Hondo’s reply. He propped himself on his arms, hovering over Cookie’s writhing form, and with one mighty thrust, he buried his cock to the hilt inside her waiting canal, charging its way up to her cervix and slamming against the tight opening to her womb.

Cookie let out a loud cry of pleasure as the force of that one thrust sent her careening over the edge into the abyss of ecstasy. Her juices squirted all over his shaft as her walls constricted around it from the orgasm. Her voice was muffled by Hondo slamming his mouth down onto hers for another makeout session. Their tongues danced furiously in unison as their kiss continued. Moans reverberated in their mouths, their lips smashed against each other, and their heads thrashed as they switched angles rapidly.

Glitter had frozen in realisation at the earlier mention of babies by Cookie. When she became engrossed in watching the married couple, she almost forgot why she was there in the first place. She had just recently considered using a human womb as a place to grow herself a new body, and she had stumbled upon a man and a woman in the middle of their babymaking session. If she was going to get her body back, it had to be now.

Shaking herself back to reality, she zipped below the bed as they were making out and phased up through the bed frame and mattress straight into Cookie’s womb. Neither spouse noticed the brief purple glow emanating from Cookie’s belly as Glitter sealed herself in.

Cookie pulled away from the passionate kiss and gasped as she felt a sudden hot sensation in her belly, which, for some reason, was beginning to arouse her even further. She could feel her heart pounding faster, her loins twitching, and her pussy starting to soak again. Never before had she wanted to be pounded by her husband this badly, not just to have him make love to her, but to seed her, over and over again, until she was stuffed to the brim, ready to bear their children.

Hondo looked down at his panting wife, mildly confused by her shock. “What is it, Cookie?” he asked.

Without answering, Cookie suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders and flipped him over, so she was now on top. It was as if she somehow found enough strength to do so. Immediately after that, she seized his head and yanked him into an even harder kiss, sticking her tongue down his throat amidst his muffled yelps of surprise. Hondo was caught completely off-guard by this sudden act of dominance as Cookie continued to assault his mouth with her own.

“Cookie!” Hondo exclaimed as soon as he managed to pull away. “What’s gotten into you? You’re not usually this feisty!” He sounded more amused and impressed than shocked at this abrupt switch in behaviour.

As she looked back at her husband, Cookie’s eyes had grown hazy with a newfound lust. “Fuck now, questions later,” she answered bluntly. Pinning him to the bed with her weight, she raised her hips high into the air until only the tip of Hondo’s cock remained inside her moist folds before she slammed it back down as hard as she could. Loud smacks rang out through the bedroom as she rode Hondo like a wild horse, wildly bucking her lower lips against his pelvis.

“Mmmm, FUCK! Oh, yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!! Oh, Faust, your cock feels so fucking good! This is exactly what I need tonight!” she moaned as she rode Hondo’s cock with reckless abandon.

“Ohhh, shit! Ohhh, fuck!” Hondo grunted as he felt his wife’s pussy constrict his shaft. “C-Cookie...slow d-down! I-I can’t-mmph!” Cookie wasn’t listening. Instead, she grabbed his head again and shoved his face into her heaving breasts, smothering his voice completely.

“Come on, babe! You love these big tits, don’t you?” she shook her chest hard, crushing her fleshy melons against his face. “Go on! Bite them! Suck on them! They’re all yours!”

Not wanting to be outdone by his wife, Hondo resigned to his position and grasped both of her breasts with his hands, yanking her stiff nipples up to his mouth and sucking on them like there was no tomorrow. “Ohhh, fuck yes!” Cookie cried out. “That’s more like it! Suck them! Suck on my nipples! Ravage my tits! Show me how much you love me, you big, hunky stud! OH, YES!!!”

Keeping her nipples clamped firmly in his mouth, Hondo moved his hands down to her plump, round ass to get a firm grip on the bountiful lower cheeks before proceeding to deliver fast, powerful thrusts to match her lust-crazed bucking, which elicited yet another loud moan from Cookie as she felt her husband’s strong hands on her ass and his rapid thrusting. “MMMM, THAT’S RIGHT! PLAY WITH MY ASS, BABY! FUCK MY HORNY, WET PUSSY LIKE THE NAUGHTY BOY YOU ARE! YES, YES, YES, YES!!!” She kept her arms wrapped tightly around his head, anchoring him to her flailing tits.

“Mmmph...Cookie!” Hondo groaned upon pulling away from her hardened nipples. He could feel himself getting close, his cock twitching within the hot confines of Cookie’s ever-constricting walls. “I’m gonna c-cum...!”

“DO IT! CUM INSIDE ME! GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR THICK, HOT CUM! PUMP ME FULL OF BABIES!!!” Cookie screamed. Her mind was clouded with so much lust that all she could think of at the moment was the imminent climax that they so passionately shared every time they made love. Hondo wrapped his burly arms around her waist for leverage before he hastened his thrusts, ramming deep into her waiting pussy and bashing against her cervix, prepping himself to unleash his load into her womb.

“YES! MMM, THIS IS IT! OH, FUCK! AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, AH, YES, YES, YES, YES!!! OH, HONDO, BABY! MAKE ME FUCKING CUM! OHHH, FUCK! I’M CUMMING!!!”

Gritting his teeth, Hondo thrust one more time, piercing right through her cervix and firing his load of seed full force into her womb. The rich, white, viscous fluid sprayed like a fire hose, coating the walls thoroughly. The combined force of his final penetration and cumshot pushed Cookie over the edge, and she rode out her climax, shamelessly screaming out her euphoria to the heavens above before she collapsed on top of her husband, her head resting against his shoulder as both spouses caught their breath.

No sooner after the afterglow had died down, Cookie pulled Hondo in for another deep, passionate kiss while grinding her naked flesh against his heavily muscled front. As soon as she pulled away, Hondo could see the same intense lust in her eyes as when they started. She was clearly still far from satisfied, even after just one intense rutting.

“Please, Hondo,” she begged, her breathing heavy, though more from sheer lust than exhaustion. “Retake me for another round.”

Although recovering from the ordeal, Hondo smiled as he stroked her hair. “Of course, honey,” he replied. “This time, I’ll be the one on top.”

Cookie giggled as he rolled her onto her back, his cock still buried in her pussy, before he resumed his vigorous thrusting. Soon enough, Cookie’s moans sounded out through the room as their lust raged into the night.

14 June 1998, 0211hrs

Hondo and Cookie collapsed on their bed as they sloppily made out with each other. After nearly 3 hours of dirty, hot sex between husband and wife, both of them were spent from their lovemaking, especially in Hondo’s case. He had to deal with his wife, who had suddenly grown ridiculously horny to the point that each time he came inside her, she kept begging for more. By this point, he had lost count of how many rounds they went together, but he at least knew he had finally managed to satisfy his wife’s exceptional craving for sex.

Cookie broke the kiss, a thin strand of saliva connecting their lips briefly before breaking away as she shifted to snuggle into his shoulder. “Mmmm, that was amazing, Hondo,” she cooed, running her hand in circles over his barrelled chest. “I’ve never needed such a good, hard fuck this much.”

“I’m glad...I could please…you,” Hondo answered between pants. He looked down at Cookie as she clung to his side, her pillowy breasts pressed against him and her chest rising and falling with each breath she took. “You think...we could go like...this again? Maybe even...longer?” As exhausting as it was, Hondo strangely found himself curious whether they could break their record again the next time they made love.

Cookie looked up to meet his gaze and smiled sweetly. “We’ll see,” she answered with a titter and a brief kiss. Holding each other tightly, Hondo and Cookie drifted off to sleep in their loving embrace, looking forward to their future as a couple and, eventually, with their new family.

Meanwhile, Glitter’s disembodied soul had merged within Cookie's womb, with the single fertilised egg swimming in all the sperm Hondo had pumped inside. A few seconds later, the gently glowing egg began to divide in 2, with both halves starting to grow.

Chapter 1: A Late-Night Encounter

21 May 2021, 2309hrs, Drake Security Inc. HQ, Canterlot, Equestria

The light of the Moon shone eerily through the skylight of one of the many massive factory halls of the Drake Security complex. A lone figure strolled along an elevated walkway overlooking the vast space, taking in the impressive view of the now dormant production lines below.

He had long appreciated the haunting yet enchanting beauty that nighttime brought to his building, which was part of why he would stay back in his HQ, even after those who stayed themselves to finish any extra work before they left.

Over the past few centuries since The Purge, Spike Drake had grown into a strong, healthy, and devilishly handsome young man. Despite now being 1009 years old, he still appeared to be in his late 20s, wearing his short green hair in what could only be a formal, spiky hairstyle, his smooth locks combed to one side. At full height, he stood a solid 188cm tall, combined with a lean yet muscular figure - a trait he earned from years of combat training in his learning to survive and fight back against the hostile side of Terran society.

Over his figure, he wore a simple, light grey business suit, a plain white shirt underneath, and a satin black tie tucked neatly under his jacket. Wrapped around his waist was a matching black leather belt fitted with a stainless steel buckle that held his pants firmly in place. Rounding off his attire were long, white socks that covered his ankles, over which he wore his polished black shoes. His left wrist bore a silver-plated smartwatch with a single, bright green magic crystal embedded below the face, acting as a control button.

While the green-haired businessman couldn’t help but enjoy the spectacle of the night within his complex, he had remained here for a much more important matter, far from the public's prying eyes. Footsteps echoed across the vast open space as Spike crossed the walkway towards the door and out into a long corridor that interconnected the production halls before turning right and walking straight down to another more enormous doorway, which led into the expansive lobby of the main building.

The lobby floor consisted of polished black marble tiles, and in the large lounging area between the front door and the reception counter, a khaki-coloured carpet lay. Over the carpet stood five glass coffee tables, each surrounded by four light tan 2-seater sofas and a water dispenser. A row of recycling bins was at the corner of the carpet.

Spike walked briskly past the empty reception counter and headed straight towards the lift lobby, located squarely within the core of the building. The area consisted of 16 large lifts, 8 lining each side of the hall, all of which were fit for passengers and cargo. However, Spike’s destination lay behind only one of them, as hinted at when he approached Lift 13 of all places. It was an ordinary human belief that 13 was an unlucky number in contrast to 7 and, by extension, widely avoided for varying reasons. As a result, Lift 13 had become the least used one in the building, as employees and clients alike were worried about getting trapped if they did so much as step inside.

For the above reason, Spike hid one of his biggest secrets underneath that lift. He even decided to play it up further by secretly programming it to stall, shake or drop at random times as it moved to further deter people from using it. Spike admitted to himself that adding such a seemingly dangerous function was extreme. Still, it was necessary to prevent suspicion among users should they discover a hidden, out-of-place control panel right next to the floor buttons.

Lift 13 opened up straight after Spike pressed the call button. After entering, he waited for the doors to finish closing before he could begin the next step. He placed his palm flat against the wall to the right of the button panel, which started to glow green as he channelled some of his magic into it. Light green Demon markings began to spread across his hand as his magic aura seeped into the shiny metal surface. A few seconds later, a hidden panel above his hand flipped over to reveal a secret button. A single Demon rune glowed dimly with green light engraved in its centre. Upon pressing the button, the doors slid shut, the shaft floor beneath opened up, and Lift 13, with its “Faulty Lift” charade now fully disabled, began its steady descent into the depths of the rock underneath Drake Security HQ.

It had been a nightmare for Spike to install that function and extend the shaft deeper into the ground without anyone noticing the additional, seemingly unscheduled construction within the lobby, even with some of the advanced construction technology he had brought from The Underworld to speed the process up. The fact that the installation went completely undetected by the humans was an incredibly close call.

After more than half a minute of descending, Lift 13 finally slowed to a stop. Once the doors slid open, Spike stepped out into a small corridor. Its floor had been carved and smoothed out from the very rock from which it was conceived, its dark, polished surface reflecting the ceiling lights. The walls were thick metal panels enchanted with Demon magic, which rendered the entire place nigh resistant to explosions and invisible to ground detection.

As Spike began to walk further, Lift 13 closed behind him and returned to its spot on the ground floor of the Drake Security main building. The corridor continued in a short, straight line to another door made of the same exotic metal as the walls on the far end. Spike stopped just before that door when a tiny red light flashed briefly from the camera above the door frame, having detected the businessman’s presence within the room. A small black panel with a glowing white outline of a hand in its centre popped out beside the door, after which a computerised voice spoke, “Please present handprint.”

Spike pressed an open palm to the panel. A thin line of light ran across the screen from top down as the device scanned his handprint. The hand outline on the panel flashed green, triggering the next step in the biometric scanning process: A camera popped out of the wall just above the handprint scanner, and the voice spoke again. “Please perform a facial and retinal scan.” Spike turned towards the camera before a bright light swept across his face and eyes, scanning them.

The final step triggered as he blinked a few times to regain his vision. A small microphone extended to the right of the handprint scanner, and the computer spoke its final instruction: “Please present voice print.” Leaning towards the microphone, Spike opened his mouth and said his full name.

“Spike Drake.”

“Access Granted. Welcome back, Spike Drake.”

Both scanners and the microphone slipped back into the wall before the door in front opened. This allowed Spike to finally step through into his secret underground base, the door closing and locking securely behind him.

Beyond the door was a stairway landing wide enough for 5 people to stand side by side comfortably with room to spare, overlooking a massive cave system into which Spike had built his entire base. Down below, hundreds of Demons of various kinds went about their jobs throughout the facility: Construction, combat training, surveillance, weapon testing and upgrading, transporting and storing supplies, all things that kept the base running around the clock.

By sheer luck, Spike found a big enough cave that lay several stories beneath his company complex, which humans hadn’t discovered yet. Combined with reopening the interdimensional gates from The Underworld to Terra 3 years ago, it was far too good an opportunity for him to refuse. One by one, Spike began to hire as many Demons in complete favour of reintegrating with human society as possible to help him build his base and join him in defending Equestria and, ultimately, the entirety of Terra. Now, this grand base of operations and the militia he had striven to build have become his most outstanding achievement yet: The base, which he simply named “The Dragon’s Den”, home to his private, personal militia, “The Demons of Vigilance”.

It had been his father’s last wish for Spike to make him proud, and over the past few centuries following his death, he had proceeded to do just that in the best ways he could imagine. His militia was no exception. Spike couldn’t help but stand there for a minute and smile at the latest fruits of his hard work.

He began to make his way down the flight of stairs to the floor of The Den, his shoes clopping against the steps, the sound drowned out by the activity's noise throughout the base's open floor. As he walked down the centre of the main hall, all Demons within proximity stopped what they were doing, stood at full attention and saluted the arrival of their commander.

“Good evening, Sir!!!” they all yelled in unison.

“At ease, soldiers,” Spike replied. “Carry on.”

Without wasting a second, the militia personnel quickly resumed their tasks as Spike continued down the hall, weaving through stacks of crates, pallets and people who walked back and forth between their workplaces to do their next job. He stopped briefly at a junction to let a golf cart with passengers pass through. Eventually, Spike made it to an expansive wall on the far end of the main cave section, where the central command centre and his base office stood.

The command centre occupied an entire 4 levels. Computers and personnel filled each level to communicate with any deployed team across Equestria and monitor every street and alleyway where human surveillance did not reach. In front of the building was a set of three lift shafts that connected the cave floor to all floors of the command centre and Spike’s office.

The office had a wide overhanging section with a curtain wall window that overlooked the entire base from atop the command centre. All 3 lift shafts entered the floor from beneath, covered with bright green Tron lines that ran their entire height, glowing with the energy that powered The Den nonstop.

Spike called a lift, and as soon as it arrived, he entered and pressed the button for Level 5, where his underground office stood. Once the glass doors closed, they swiftly ascended through the floor and into the centre of a white reception room. It was a stark contrast to the primarily black colour scheme that covered the rest of The Den, fitting for a place where administrative work would take place in an otherwise military organisation. Spike admittedly liked his workplaces to stand out from the rest of the facilities they stood in, partly because it made them easy to spot but more because he liked the aesthetic it brought to the environment.

He strode up to the desk beside his office door, where a young woman was seated, typing away at her laptop. Her neon orange eyes shifted left and right as she followed her typing across the screen, and a stoic expression adorned her otherwise beautiful face.

“Hello, Aphrodisia,” Spike greeted with a smile.

Aphrodisia looked up from her screen to see her boss, handsome as ever, standing before her. A comprehensive, seductive smile instantly replaced her frown as she stood up from her chair and stepped to the side of her desk into full view, propping herself up with one hand on the desktop. She stuck her hip out to the side, posing briefly for him as she returned his greeting. “Hello, Mr Drake.”

Standing around 10cm shorter than Spike, Aphrodisia was a Succubus and, like all others of her race, a sight for sore eyes. Like her eyes, her hair was neon orange, which glowed against the room's bright light. Both features sharply contrasted with her milk chocolate skin, smoother than silk and flawless. To complement her face, she had a pair of horns that curved around her forehead before curling upwards and in on themselves to look like a faux tiara.

However, the most stunning thing about her that night was the clothes she had decided to wear to work. It was an office outfit that was common to see on human women in most businesses, except that it hugged and showed off her jaw-dropping bombshell of a figure: the snow-white blouse underneath her charcoal grey jacket had an extremely low V-cut in the front that fully showed off the cleavage of her vast 179cm breasts. There was no sign of a bra underneath, not that she wanted to wear one.

The black leather belt she wore around her narrow hourglass waist held up her skirt, which matched her jacket and was so short that it barely covered her well-rounded derriere and her lacy black thong when she stood upright. To complete the attire, she wore transparent black pantyhose wrapped snugly around her legs, from her shapely thighs down to her covered black high heels. Her bright orange wings were folded flat against her back, while her matching tail stuck out over the back of her belt and hung freely.

Aphrodisia sauntered over to Spike, her hips swaying with each step and her tail gently swishing behind her. As soon as she stepped within reach, she wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders and pulled herself in, rubbing her still-clad breasts into his chest, softly moaning as she worked her body over his. She snuggled into his shoulder at the base of his neck, inhaling as much of his scent as she could, her smile never wavering.

“Mmmm…” Aphrodisia sighed as she felt Spike return the hug. “You’ve been out stargazing again, haven’t you?”

“Perhaps,” came Spike’s reply. “Starry nights are beautiful, so can you blame me for going out so often?”

“Surely they can’t be any more beautiful than little ol’ me, can they?” the orange-haired succubus playfully pouted as she stared at him with puppy-dog eyes and shook her massive tits against his chest. The meaty pillows seemed to poke out through the opening in her blouse the harder she squished them. “I can show you just how much more exciting a woman’s company can be,” she spoke in the most seductive tone she could manage as she hooked her finger under the side of her blouse collar and pulled it open, giving Spike a generous view of the top half of her breasts.

Spike cracked an amused smile at her adorably childish expression. “Don’t make me choose, Aphrodisia. As much as I love your attention, we have work tonight.”

The buxom secretary leaned in until their noses touched. “Awwwww,” she continued to pout. “Can I at least steal a kiss from my green-haired hunk?” she wrapped a leg around his waist and pulled herself closer. “Pretty please?”

“Alright, go ahead,” Spike sighed.

The Succubus was about to lean in to do the deed when she remembered something. Looking Spike up and down for a second, she spoke up again. “Oh, by the way, you can drop your disguise while you’re down here. There’s no one here but Demons.”

“Wha-oh, right,” Spike reacted sheepishly. Having had to pose as a human for centuries on end whenever he had to run errands within human civilisation, it had become a habit for him to spend most of his time hiding his Demonic features, even now in the presence of his fellow Demons. It had grown to a point where he would forget that he could drop his human facade around his family.

As Spike closed his eyes, his Demon markings appeared across his skin as he channelled his magic to resume his proper form. His purple Dragon scales slowly returned to his hands, and his fingernails morphed into claws. His long, muscular tail sprouted out behind him, cascading over the back of his belt and out into the open, the purple scales and green spines glistening under the room's light. His leathery wings poked through the back of his jacket and unfurled gracefully, stretching the pale green membrane that spanned between each wing digit. Thank goodness he remembered to enchant his clothes to adapt to his form, or he would have ripped clean through them. His now longer horns grew out of the sides of his head and swept back at a steep angle while the pupils of his eyes turned to slits, appearing more reptilian in the process. His Demon markings faded once his transformation was complete, leaving Spike in all his demonic glory.

“Mmm, much better,” Aphrodisia responded with a mischievous grin before she locked her mouth tightly against Spike’s, determined to savour every last second of their kiss. She shuddered and moaned in pleasure as she felt his forked tongue slither its way into her mouth and tickle her tongue and inner cheeks. Their warm, fleshy appendages danced and wrestled in erotic unison as the 2 Demons made out in ways unachievable by humans. Spike decided to up the antic by firmly groping her firm, round asscheeks and rolling them around in his hands.

After half a minute had passed, Spike gently pulled away, albeit reluctantly, with Aphrodisia doing the same. She wore a satisfied grin on her face as she spoke again. “Your suit’s waiting in your office as usual. I’ve added a few upgrades to it while you were gone.”

“Really?” Spike asked, his face lighting up slightly.

“See for yourself, Boss,” Aphrodisia gestured to his office door. Wasting no more time, Spike opened the door and entered, his secretary following close behind.

Near the window of his underground office was a large, curved ebony desk that appeared to wrap around the black leather swivel chair. On top was an emerald green tabletop lamp next to his 60cm desktop monitor, set to the side.

On the far wall, a floor-to-ceiling cabinet held mostly hardcopy folders and a few disc drives on its shelves. However, the one aspect that stood out the most in this seemingly ordinary office lay in the centre of the cabinet. Spike's combat suit was locked securely inside a bomb-proof, human-sized capsule, ready to be worn.

Spike placed his hand over the circular pad on the front of the capsule before a thin band of light ran under his palm, scanning his handprint. Immediately after, the pad flashed green, indicating a successful authentication, and the hatch to the capsule opened to reveal the suit in all of its glory.

It was a state-of-the-art, high-tech military combat suit that was jet black at the base, the gloves and the boots, except for the armour plating on the chest, shoulders, elbows, gauntlets and knees, all of which were dark charcoal grey. Printed over the surface was pixelated camouflage comprised of light green, bright green, light grey and dark grey pixels that peppered the suit. The helmet was primarily a glass faceplate that acted as a tactical visor, set in an exotic alloy frame covered with a luminous green honeycomb film, which would fully conceal Spike’s face when he put it on. Creating this suit had been a team effort between Spike and Aphrodisia, the latter too happy to help him put it all together.

Spike shifted to his office’s window and pressed a button next to it. The glass instantly went from transparent to opaque to give him some privacy to change into his combat suit. With that, he began pulling off his business suit piece by piece while Aphrodisia watched with a sly smirk.

“I’ve installed new dampening pads on the soles of your boots, complete with a powerful silentium enchantment,” she explained as Spike removed his shirt and hung it on the clothes rack, showing his bare, well-toned back to her. “You’ll be able to run, jump and land in dead silence during your missions.” Her eyes travelled down to his underwear-clad butt as soon as Spike pulled his pants down.

“Nice,” Spike remarked with a smile. “What else did you add?”

As Spike put it on, Aphrodisia continued her brief on the suit’s upgrades. “The armour plating has been reconfigured to absorb the force of every hit you take. Punches and kicks will feel no worse than being hit with a pillow, wherever they may land.” She giggled briefly. “Then again, even without protection, it’s near impossible for humans to inflict pain on Demons with bare fists, feet and blunt weapons. I guess I love redundancy too much.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that,” Spike replied gently, slipping on the top of his suit and then the pants. “Adding a few extra layers of protection here and there won't kill. Tell me more instead.”

“If you say so,” the Succubus secretary answered. “I’ve added an app to your gauntlet interface so you can now control your car hands-free. No more using that hand-held remote you so easily lose!” She winked mischievously.

Spike blushed in embarrassment at the mention of his car remote. “Don’t remind me,” he sighed as he picked his helmet up.

He would lie if he claimed he hadn’t lost it multiple times during his missions. Spike had initially kept it in his pocket, only to fly out under the force of his manoeuvres during a fight. It worked when he tried clipping it to his utility belt. However, during another brawl, when he narrowly dodged a thug who wanted to take a swing at his gut with a crowbar, the thug hit the remote instead, and it flew to the far end of the room and lodged itself in the side of a cabinet.

Thankfully, in most incidents, the remote didn’t go too far, and even if it did, it was easily trackable through his helmet. However, it still didn’t make the situation any less annoying.

Spike pushed a button on either side of his helmet, which caused the entire visor to collapse and fold up and over to make it easier for him to strap it over his head and under his jaw. Clicking the last of the helmet clips into place, he pulled his gloves over his hands and straightened his entire suit out.

“Lastly, I’ve altered the enchantment seals on your back armour plates to work in conjunction with the seat of your car,” Aphrodisia concluded. “They will now reflect a repulsion blast generated by the seat. Now, you can instantly launch high into the air and fly away in an emergency, or if you want to recce the area from the sky.”

Spike peered over his shoulder into the mirror behind him. Running a hand over the back of his suit, he confirmed that the seals his magic revealed for a second were notably different than before. Turning down to his boots, the Dragon Demon stomped a few times to test their silencing enchantments. True to her word, his feet made no noise, no matter how hard he stamped them. These new additions would be a game-changer on the field the next time he fought.

With an impressed smile, Spike turned back to face his secretary and asked, “And you did all this yourself in under 1 day?”

“Yup!” Aphrodisia answered cheerfully, popping the “P”.

Spike shook his head in amusement and chuckled. “A Succubus who’s an expert at both administration and gadgets. You are a great woman.”

“You know it. After all, that’s why you hired me for this job,” Aphrodisia stepped closer once again, wrapping an arm behind his back and tracing circles over his chest armour with her finger as she lowered her voice to a sultry tone. “And I’m pretty sure those aren’t the only reasons I’m here,” she giggled.

Spike rolled his eyes at her continued flirting. “Aph, stop that,” he told her gently. “I love talking to you, but remember, we must still get to work. Besides, hiring you as my secretary just because you look hot would be extremely superficial and bad for my image.”

“Well, at least you can consider my beauty a bonus, babe,” Aphrodisia cooed before kissing Spike’s cheek, which he quietly accepted with a small smile.

“Come on. Let’s head down to the Main Control Room. I want to see who’s creeping around Canterlot this time.”

Aphrodisia wrapped her arms around Spike’s left bicep and pulled it into her cleavage, enveloping it entirely between her love pillows. “Right beside you, boss,” she replied.

21 May 2021, 2320hrs, Canterlot Zoological Gardens, Carpark

A bright light shone from the lampposts across the carpark just outside the main entrance to the Canterlot Zoo. The entire area was empty, except for a lone light blue sedan parked near the gate. 2 young women had just passed the entry point from the Veterinary Block and were heading towards the car.

The first woman stood at 149cm and had long, wavy, light pink hair that cascaded halfway down her thighs. Her large eyes shone a deep Persian green, highlighting her adorable complexion. Her fair skin glowed from the light of the lamppost she and her friend passed under.

The khaki safari uniform she wore for work was custom-tailored to fit her head-turning bombshell of a figure. Even then, the top would strain slightly against her 176cm breasts, which were an impressive size for her age, whenever she tried to stretch. Her shorts were no different: The top part was just wide enough to snugly fit her 85cm hips and butt while still allowing her to secure it to her slim waist with a belt. She wore matching boots over earth-brown knee-high socks to complete the uniform.

The second woman, who was the same height, had wavy, 2-toned, cornflower blue hair tied back in a low ponytail and hanging past her upper back. She also had clay brown eyes paired with skin that was a slightly darker hue than that of the pink-haired woman.

Her work uniform consisted of a khaki-coloured polo T-shirt that hugged her breasts, notably smaller at 165cm. It carried the Canterlot Zoo’s logo on the left side of the chest area. Pinned above the logo was a rectangular brass badge with her name etched in its centre. Over her 80cm hips and slender legs were a black belt and long brown pants that hung to her ankles. Finally, she wore black socks and matching brown hiking shoes over her feet.

Both women each carried a large box of folders filled to the brim with the last of several stacks worth of old documents they had picked out of the cabinets in the veterinary office. They had to lean back and prop the boxes against their laps to prevent themselves from collapsing under the weight of all the paper inside. Eventually, they reached the car's boot and lowered the boxes to the curb before standing up and exhaling in relief.

“Ugh, that was heavy!” the light blue-haired girl groaned as she swung her arms around to shake the strain from them. She then turned to her companion, who had to lean against the car to steady herself as she recovered the strength in her arms. “Thanks for helping me carry this all out, Fluttershy. I’m sorry that there had to be so much.”

“Oh, don’t be, Fauna,” Fluttershy assured gently. “I’m always happy to help a friend in need.” She looked down at the boxes of documents while Fauna pulled her key out to unlock her car. “But why didn’t they clear the archives sooner, even before we joined the Zoo?” she asked.

“My best guess?” Fauna answered with a deadpan expression as she opened the boot. “Management was too busy or lazy to get rid of all hard copies of the medical records we had accumulated over the last 2 decades, even after we digitalised all of our succeeding records. I would've brought a trailer if Dr High Dosage had told me how much paperwork we were dealing with.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “I swear if I didn’t know him better, I’d think he was some kind of slave driver. The only reason I haven’t kicked his ass to Saddle Arabia and back by now is that he’s my manager.”

“Fauna!” Fluttershy exclaimed, shocked at her colleague’s last comment.

“S-sorry, sorry,” Fauna pinched the bridge of her nose as she composed herself. “I was ranting. It’s…just been a few long days for me.” Shaking her head, the veterinarian went to pick up the boxes to start loading them into the boot, with Fluttershy lending a hand to help once more.

Once both women loaded all the documents, Fauna closed the boot. “There, that should do it!” she huffed with satisfaction. “Come on, Fluttershy, get in. I’ll drive you home.”

“Huh? Oh no, I couldn’t!” the light pink-haired zookeeper replied sheepishly. “My home’s not that far away. I can just walk back.”

“Walk home? Alone in the dark? Where someone could easily kidnap you on a whim without anyone noticing? No way,” Fauna countered with a slight smirk. “You’ll be much safer in my car. Besides, it’s the least I could do after you helped me carry these dusty old papers all the way here from my office.”

Fluttershy awkwardly shifted her eyes away and twiddled her fingers as she processed her friend’s rhetorical question. Yes, it wasn’t too far to walk home from the Zoo, but it was also close to midnight, and the streets were dark and practically empty. She wasn’t about to risk putting herself in danger just because she didn’t want to feel like burdening her friend by being her passenger.

“W-well…when you put it that way…” she sighed briefly. “Alright, I’ll join you.”

Fauna smiled warmly at Fluttershy’s answer. “That's better,” she said. “Now, let’s go!”

Nodding her head, Fluttershy walked over to the passenger side, opened the door, and slipped into the seat to buckle up. Fauna did the same behind the wheel before pulling out her key again and inserting it into the ignition switch. A thought crossed her mind just before she could turn it to start the engine.

“You know,” Fauna began as she turned to her colleague, her hand still on the key. “You could take up driving lessons yourself if you don’t want others to do it for you all the time. It’ll be a handy skill to learn, too.”

“I would, but…I…” Fluttershy replied nervously, pausing for a few seconds. “I don’t think I can trust myself to drive a car, even if I can afford one. It looks fine at first, but the dangers behind it seem so…scary to me. There’s so much I’ll need to be careful with just by sitting behind a steering wheel. W-what if I end up hurting myself, or worse, dead?”

Fauns lifted her hand from the key to pat her shoulder. “Don’t fret too much about those things, okay?” she spoke gently. “You don’t have to go to driving school immediately, and learning to drive is not a do-or-die situation. That door will be open for you whenever you’re ready. Even then, just take it nice and slow. You’ll get the hang of it in time, and who knows? You might even have fun.”

Upon hearing that advice, Fluttershy found herself relaxing, albeit somewhat. She still had doubts about someone like her being able to drive a car without issue.

“But that’s enough talk for now,” Fauna continued. “Let’s get you home.” She grabbed the key and turned it until the engine started. As the engine hummed lightly, she shifted into drive and disengaged the parking brake before slowly emerging from the parking lot‒

*PSSSHHHHHHHH!* *THUD*

They had barely moved over 30cm from their spot when they suddenly heard a loud hissing sound, followed by a violent jerk as the entire car dropped to the road. After which, the vehicle rocked as it struggled to move further.

The noise caused Fluttershy to jump in her seat, but Fauna, on the other hand, was visibly fuming. Turning off the engine, she reached down and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Oh my Faust, now what!?” she groaned. She flung the door open to get out and check the damage while Fluttershy hastily got out to investigate from her side.

When both women peered down at the wheels, they realised that someone had punctured all 4 tyres on Fauna’s car had been punctured, the rubber now squashed flat under the wheels. It wasn’t 3 seconds after that when a glint caught Fluttershy’s eye. The zookeeper’s eyes widened in shock at what she spotted behind the now-flat tyres. “Fauna, look! Behind the wheels!” she called out. “Someone blew the tyres out with nails!”

Fauna clenched her jaw as her eyes settled on the nails on the road beneath her car. “I swear if this is some kind of prank, I’ll-” she was interrupted when she suddenly heard muffled screams from the other side of her car. Darting her head, she was horrified to find a masked street thug dressed entirely in black, holding a struggling Fluttershy back as he held a cloth over her mouth.

“FLUTTERSHY!!!” she tried to call out. Unfortunately, before she could rush over to help, another thug jumped her from behind, twisted her arm behind her back, and slammed her face-first into the bonnet. She cried out in pain as she felt the cold, hard metal strike her temple. The thug pinned her down before pulling out a wet cloth and slapping it over her nose and mouth, forcing her to inhale the strong scent it emitted as she struggled fruitlessly under his body weight.

In seconds, Fluttershy and Fauna felt their heads getting lighter as their eyes rolled back into their heads, and their consciousness slipped away. Both fell limp in their captors’ arms.

The thug holding Fluttershy scooped her up. “Man, this was too easy,” he told his friend. “2 hot bitches with 2 huge puppies each, and neither of them put up a fight! Oh, I can’t wait to tap these!”

“Talk later, man,” the other thug replied, slinging Fauna over his shoulder. “Let’s get the hell out of here before someone sees us. The other guys at the hideout will want a piece, too.”

Wasting no more time, both thugs hurriedly lugged the unconscious women to their car, which stood just around the corner outside the carpark gate, and stuffed them into the backseat. Unbeknownst to them, a small spy drone slowly poked out from behind a bush as it followed the thugs’ trail.

From the roof of a nearby building, a shadowy, feminine figure had been watching both of them through that same drone, recording their voices and footage of the kidnapping in the carpark while relaying the content to her goggles. The thugs both got into the front seats of their car as fast as they could, slamming the doors shut and starting the engine, still unaware that they were being watched.

Smirking under her helmet, she raised her rifle and aimed through her scope just as the car began to move off. When she pulled the trigger, a tiny tracking device launched from the barrel of her gun with a soft “Pew!” and zipped through the air before landing on the thugs’ car near the rear wheel.

*Tink*

The thug in the passenger seat perked up at the noise. “Did you hear something?” he asked.

“Eh, it must’ve been a bit of loose asphalt,” his friend answered from behind the wheel.

As they continued driving back to their hideout, the tracking device that landed on the side of their car sprouted 8 silver legs. Detaching itself from the metal panel, it silently crawled down to the undercarriage, out of plain sight, before latching on again (This time, underneath the floor panel) and activating its homing signal.

Back on the rooftop, a robotic female spoke through the figure’s helmet, “Signal active. Tracking target now.”

She opened a live map of the city on her HUD, which automatically zoomed in on a flashing dot moving away down the road from Canterlot Zoo, indicating the position of the thugs’ vehicle in real time. She could feel her smile growing wider as she imagined what would come next for them while she recalled her drone from the carpark, which flew back to her at breakneck speed and docked itself in the port on the side of her utility belt.

“Oh, Spike’s going to love this,” she thought as she raised a finger to the side of her helmet and pressed the radio button.

21 May 2021, 2320hrs, Main Command Centre, The Dragon's Den

Spike and Aphrodisia walked through the double doors together into the central control room of the Command Centre.

In the centre of the vast, dark theatre stood a series of 10 long desks, laden in rows of 2 from front to back over an inclined floor. Their arrangement left enough space for 3 aisles on either side of the room and down the centre, wide enough for 3 people to stand side by side comfortably with room to spare.

Atop each desk were 5 sets of high-tech monitors and keyboards, all connected to a massive, high-capacity server in the block's basement level. Staff members occupied all seats to monitor the positions and progress of any deployed units across Equestra’s cities, subduing criminal organisations and activity wherever local police could not reach, let alone in time. A massive projection screen was mounted on the front wall of the control room, showing a live map of the entirety of Equestria, followed by clusters of tiny, luminous dots, each representing an active unit, that slowly trailed throughout the area they were combing.

Spike’s eyes settled on a particular group of 3 Demons standing in a circle, engaged in conversation next to the desk at the back of the theatre, where a Spider Demon was operating the map of Equestria through a set of 3 monitors that stood before him.

“Thorax! Pharynx! Ember!” Spike called out, breaking all 3 Demons out of their talk as they turned their heads in Spike’s direction. Thorax and Pharynx grinned with delight as they jogged over to greet their friend, Ember following close behind.

Pharynx stood at about 170cm, which was not much taller than Spike but still enough to make him look up slightly to meet his eyes. In addition, he was noticeably more buff than his friend, with heavier muscles compared to Spike’s slightly leaner build.

His skin and face were well-tanned to complement his short, dark, bluish-green hair, which ended in bright red highlights, and his medium purple eyes. A pair of matching red antlers, shaped like Stag Beetle mandibles, protruded out from the sides of his head and curved upwards in the vague shape of a crescent. His hard, dark purple carapace, which concealed the transparent insectoid wings, curved smoothly over the upper back of his combat suit, which looked similar to Spike’s, except that the armour plates were dark bluish-green like his hair with red accents. His helmet stood folded around the back of his head.

Thorax stood much taller than his big brother, at 192cm. He was much leaner in build and had a fairer skin tone, which made his purple eyes stand out more. His long hair, which was light green and ended in bright orange, was tied in a low ponytail and hung to his upper back.

Like Pharynx, he had mandible-like antlers that sprouted from and curved over the sides of his head, but they were bright orange and much more prominent. He wore the same suit as Pharynx but with light green armour plates, bright orange accents to match his hair, and his helmet folded behind his head. His carapace was dark magenta at the base, which faded to a vibrant dark purple at the end.

Finally, there was Ember Infernus: A pure-blooded Fire Dragoness who was as tall as Pharynx, with shoulder-length dark blue hair that was swept back over her head in a spiky beehive, complete with a matching set of bangs that hung over her forehead and ended just above her piercing coral eyes. A pair of large, downward-curving, ivory-coloured horns adorned the asides of her head.

Her wing digits and long, muscular tail were lined with light blue scales, with her wing membranes and spade tip covered in deep blue to match her hair. The appendages protruded through specialised holes in her armoured combat suit, which hugged every curve of her athletic yet alluringly feminine figure. Much of her chest plating had to be custom moulded to fit snugly over her 179cm bust. In addition, the skintight undersuit that held her armour highlighted her 55cm waist and 78cm hips, curving graciously over her large, well-toned, rounded butt if one dared to look.

“Hey, Spike! Where have you been?” Pharynx spoke first as Spike broke away from Aphrodisia to pull him in for a friendly shoulder bump.

“Oh, nowhere in particular,” Spike replied as he shook Thorax’s hand. “Just went stargazing to clear my head before coming here. Aph just finished running me through my suit’s upgrades.”

“Was that before or after you made out with her for the umpteenth time?” Pharynx teased with a smirk. Thorax couldn't help snickering at his question while Aphrodisia lightly clasped a hand over her mouth and giggled. Ember simply rolled her eyes.

“She’s a Succubus, Pharynx!” Spike retorted, a slight blush growing on his face. “You know I only do that to humour her.”

“Oh, sure you do,” the Changeling Prince countered. “With how closely you’ve both been working together these days, I’m surprised that’s all you’ve done. So what’s stopping you two from straight-up fucking each other’s brains out on the spot?”

“Pharynx!” Ember snapped. Meanwhile, Spike could only groan in embarrassment.

Although Thorax was not above laughing at some of his brother’s jokes, he too was shocked by the bluntness of Pharynx’s question. He stepped in front to face him. “Ok, brother. Thatwas a bit too personal.”

“Guys, relax! I was just kidding!” Pharynx assured as he raised his hands apologetically. “I’ll stop now.”

“He does have a point, though,” Aphrodisia remarked as she wrapped her arms around Spike again with a smile. “So far, it’s been nothing but hugs, kisses, and the occasional grope between us. So why don’t we take some initiative and start making real love, Spike?” She lowered her voice into an even more sultry tone. “We could have our first official fuck session back at your place, and I’m sure you’ve got the bed for it. Or, if you’re up for a little thrill…” She leaned closer to his face. “We could do it right in your office…with the blinds open…for everyone in The Den to see. Just imagine it, Spike: Both of us, naked as the day we were born, while I’m propped face-first against the window. My big, firm, luscious, milky tits squashed against the glass for our audience to behold, you pulling my arms back like I’m your precious little captive as you rail me from behind like a bull in heat, churning my hot pussy and womb, making me scream for more as your balls get ready to blow a nice, big, fat-”

“Alright, Little Miss Horny, that’s enough,” Ember interjected, grabbing Aphrodisia by the ear and gently pulling her away, which caused her to blush and squeak with pleasure. “Spike here needs to work. You can have some more fun later.”

“Gheeheeheehee, noooo…” The dark-skinned succubus laughed giddily.

“Thanks, Ember,” a now blushing bright red Spike said, visibly relieved that he didn’t need to put up with any more of his secretary’s antics in front of his friends, least of all Pharynx. He swore that the eldest son of the Changeling Queen was way too childish for his age.

“Oh, come on, Ember, you didn’t have to interrupt the story!” A mature female voice playfully told her off with a titter from behind Spike.

“Damn right, Barb,” a 2nd female voice agreed. “I could listen to a good fantasy occasionally, and Aph’s was just getting juicy.”

Spike rolled his eyes as he turned to face his 2 mothers, Barbara and Pyra, who had entered the control room through the front door a minute before and overheard Aphrodisia’s little fantasy. “Not the time, Moms,” he stated firmly.

Barbara entered the room dressed in a dress suit like Aphrodisia’s from her day job. The difference was that her white blouse was fully buttoned up, and her skirt hung to her knees to meet the human regulations at her workplace. In addition, her jacket and skirt were a dark green that emitted a satin sheen under the light of the monitors, and her pantyhose was dark grey as opposed to Aphrodisia’s black. She wore a pair of black high heels on her feet. To complete the look, she had a simple gold chain necklace with a single square emerald hanging from the centre, a matching pair of gold-framed emerald ear studs, and a gold smartwatch with a small green crystal for a button on her wrist. She also wore Spurn’s onyx wedding ring on top of her emerald one in memory of her deceased husband, and her wavy, waist-length green hair was tied up into a large, neat, high bun behind her head.

On the other hand, Pyra wore a backless, baby blue halter top with a teardrop-shaped window in the centre that showed off the top half of her deep cleavage, paired with a blazing orange, yellow-trimmed latex jacket that had an ornamental dragon emblem she had custom-embroidered on the back as a symbol of her heritage, along with light blue and yellow hot rod flames on the ends of the sleeves. On the bottom, she wore a gold chain belt that hung loosely around her waist and over her pearl-white skinny jeans. She stood high on white stilettos to match. Her accessories consisted of a topaz-studded, gold chain choker and matching ear studs, a similar gold smartwatch to Barbara’s on one wrist (Hers had a light blue crystal), and 7 gold diamond-studded bangles on the other, and her turquoise wedding ring. She wore her hair in a modified high-swept pixie cut, with the back of her head close-shaven.

To say that both Barbara and Pyra’s beauty had all but matured to a hellishly erotic level within the millennium after The Purge would be a massive understatement. They now stood at a statuesque 196cm, just taller than Spike, even disregarding their high heels. Their busts had also grown to a staggering 215cm apiece, their tops wrapping snugly around their humongous mammaries. Their hips had expanded to 106cm, which gave more room for their butts to grow and round out even further. The springy flesh of their glutes jiggled and bounced with every sway of their hips as they approached their son while their wings and tails hung and swished respectively behind them.

“Oh, it was just about to get juicy, alright,” Aphrodisia replied with a sly grin. “I’ve also had ideas about throwing in a little…bondage to spice it all up.”

“Stop it,” Spike protested flatly.

“Ooh, bondage? How steamy!” Pyra exclaimed as she playfully fanned herself. “What kind?”

Ahprodisia’s smile widened. “You know, just me being tied down to the top of Spike’s desk, with long, tight straps to squeeze my big, beautiful tits around those thick, meaty serpents of his, my hands tied above my head, and my legs held wide open, putting my tight pussy and ass on full display-”

“Please stop.”

“-and he would plough me harder than a field without a care in the world as he spanks me sore like the slutty little cocksleeve that I am, telling me how mind-numbingly good it feels to fuck me so hard I won’t be able to move for-”

“Enough, Aphrodisia!” Spike snapped. He took a deep breath, calming himself down slightly before he continued. “Look, let me make this clear. I have absolutely nothing against your nature, your advances, or your wild imagination, but please let me focus on my operations for more than 5 seconds before you make me blow a nut on the spot.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing that,” The succubus thought with a slight blush.

“Aww, don’t be such a prude, sweetie,” Barbara replied, giving her son a brief hug. “You’ve been a grown man for quite some time now, and it’s high time you got yourself hooked up with a pretty girl or two. Surely you’d like to finally experience what happens between a man and woman after putting it off for so long?”

“As tempted as I am by the opportunity, Mom, girls, and dating will have to wait because my job cannot. And if you’re all done, I’d like to get down to business as soon as possible. These missions won’t accomplish themselves.” Spike said before heading for the desk at the back of the room.

“Your mother has a point, you know,” Pyra explained, causing Spike to pause mid-step. “You’ve been working so hard for us for centuries on end. First, as a mercenary, followed by small businesses, your company, and now The Demons of Vigilance.” She couldn’t help but beam inwardly with pride as she mentioned the latter two parts. “Yet despite all that, you’ve never set aside even a little time to mingle with any of the girls in the city, let alone the entirety of Equestria. Sex has been a big part of our nature and culture, and all of those years of repressed sexual tension can’t be good for your health or your sanity, even if you’ve done a pretty good job of doing just that. All Demons have their limits when it comes to inhibition, and Tartarus forbid that you go on a lust-fuelled rampage from holding it all back a moment too long.”

There was a moment of pause as Spike processed his stepmother’s words. Turning his head back, he answered Pyra’s argument with 4 simple words:

“I’ll think about it.”

Spike turned back and reached the desk where the Spider Demon was seated. His 6 arms spread across five different keyboards and three wide touchscreen monitors as he surveyed the data flashing across the thin electronic panels.

“Dusty Cobweb,” Spike greeted.

Dusty looked up from his monitors to face his leader, his eyes taking a second to focus. “Good evening, Sir,” he acknowledged. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that embarrassing sex talk in just 3 minutes.”

“Don’t be,” Spike assured him. “They can sometimes get annoying, but they’re still my family and friends. Teasing is something that comes with having either of them and something you have to learn to live with, whether you like it or not.”

“Understood, Sir,“ Dusty replied. Standing 13cm shorter than Spike, he had a remarkably lean build, albeit leaning more towards the slender side. His 8 silver eyes stood out against his short jet-black hair and the dark coffee-brown chitin that covered his forearms and hands. He wore a dark bluish-grey shirt modified to have 6 sleeves to accommodate all his arms, which rolled up neatly to his elbows. In addition, he wore black pants and shoes to compliment his shirt.

“Family banter aside,” Spike continued. “What’s the status of tonight’s criminal activity?”

“Let’s see now…” Dusty enhanced all annotations on the massive screen, holding information on their operations throughout Equestria. “So far, this week’s been pretty low on crime, Sir. We have 1 small-scale drug dealership in Vanhoover that we’re tracking right now. On Tuesday, we also had a short series of smash-and-grab robberies across 3 different jewellery stores in Manehattan by the same group of burglars who are now apprehended. On top of that, we located the hideout of a scam call syndicate of 10 people in Baltimare the day after and stormed the entire place in under 6 minutes. No one got away,” he explained with a satisfied smile. “Not to mention arresting 4 vandals in Cloudsdale, foiling a railway sabotage attempt on the line between Canterlot and Appleloosa, and stopping a trespasser at Crystallia Airbase before handing him over to the Shadowbolts.”

Spike decided to return to the first mission Dusty had mentioned. “Any new findings on the Vanhoover drug deals?”

“The unit we sent to investigate has managed to locate one of their main rendezvous points at the docks, in Warehouse 11,” the Spider Demon answered. “They’ve set up temporary surveillance and are lying in wait to capture at least 1 member for interrogation when their next customer comes into trade. Then we’ll need to get a list of their clients to hand them over to the local authorities.”

*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*

As Dusty finished his sentence, the system’s call alert rang out. Everyone in the room turned their heads in time to see a notification flash across the projector screen:

Incoming Call: Lacy Spinneret

Needing no further prompt, Dusty quickly clicked the “Answer” icon, letting Lacy’s voice sound throughout the Control Room.

“Hi, Dusty,” she said over her microphone. “Is The Emerald Dragon there?”

“He is,” Dusty replied. “I have him on the line right now.”

“Lacy?” Spike called.

“Hey there, Boss,” she greeted in a more flirtatious tone. “How’s my little green-haired stud doing tonight?”

Spike sighed in exasperation before he spoke. “Save the pleasantries for later. What did you find?”

“Oh, nothing much,” she replied casually. “Just 2 poor, sweet, innocent girls getting kidnapped by a pair of burly thugs in black. I believe their names were ‘Fluttershy’ and ‘Fauna’ respectively?”

Spike’s expression hardened at that brief description. “What?” he asked. “You mean Fluttershy, the shy, pink-haired zookeeper and member of The Rainbooms and Fauna, the top vet from Canterlot Zoo? Those women?”

“The very ones,” Lacy confirmed in a slight singsong tone. “I’ll let the footage tell you the rest.”

With that, she sent the recording she took from her drone to the main screen of the control room for everyone present in the room to see. The video played back everything that went down during the incident, showing how both thugs had snuck around to the sides of the car shortly after Fluttershy and Fauna had both shut the doors and poured nails under the front of the tyres before sneaking back out of sight and waiting for the car to move off. As soon as the tyres blew and the women got out to check, they were both tackled from behind and chloroformed, their bodies falling limp as the chemical did its work, and the thugs carried them back to their car.

“Man, this was too easy. 2 hot bitches with 2 huge puppies each, and neither of them put up a fight! Oh, I can’t wait to tap these!”

“Talk later, man. Let’s get the Tartarus out of here before someone sees us. The other guys at the hideout will want a piece, too.”

As Spike processed the words he had just heard from that recording, only one expression formed on his otherwise handsome face: Stone-cold fury. He did not need to go on a screaming rampage to make his anger known. The fire in his eyes and his terrifying death glare were enough to send most of his subordinates back away.

He had seen and heard his fair share of rape cases throughout his lifetime, more often than not, with the perpetrators getting away with their crimes because their victims were too terrified and traumatised to speak out, their assailants blackmailed and threatened them into silence, or the perpetrators had enough connections to band the law in their favour. It was for those reasons that such a crime had become so personal for Spike, and he had made it his duty to hunt down all rapists with extreme prejudice and make sure that they answer properly for their actions against society.

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Spike demanded, his voice now heavy with barely restrained anger.

“Because there’s more where they came from. One of them said that the rest of their little gang would want to have a go at the girls,” Lacy said seriously. “I’ve planted a tracking device on their car, and they’re still on the move as we speak. If we can catch them all in the same place simultaneously, our job will be much easier tonight. Besides,” her smirk returned to her face before she spoke into her microphone again. “Where’s the fun in capturing them now?”

Spike took another deep breath to compose himself. “Just send us the vehicle's location,” he ordered.

“Roger that,” Lacy acknowledged. A second later, a secondary map popped up, showing the position of the thugs’ car in real-time, carrying the unconscious hostages as it made its way towards the hideout.

Spike narrowed his eyes at the blip on the screen as it approached the northwest region near the border, approaching one complex in particular. “Sunshine Flats?” he wondered aloud. “No one’s lived in those dingy old apartments for years.” He then turned to his friends. “Ember, Pharynx, Thorax, come with me,” he said, earning their nods before turning to Dusty, who was still seated at his desk. “Dusty, call the Canterlot City Police Department and alert them to the hideout. Remember to scramble the line while you’re at it.”

“Copy, Sir!” Dusty acknowledged as he quickly dialled the anonymous hotline.

Spike approached both of his mothers, giving each of them a quick kiss on the cheek, but before he could turn to leave, he stopped when Pyra placed a hand on his shoulder. Upon turning back to his stepmother, she spoke with a proud smile, “Go kick their asses for us, Kid.”

Spike cracked a small smile through his serious face. “Don’t worry,” he assured before pressing the buttons on his helmet's sides, causing the helmet to unfold over his head and around his face, the curved, dark green panels concealing it entirely. “I will,” he finished, the built-in voice scrambler replacing his natural charming voice with deep, demonic bass. After that, Spike turned and ran with his team out the door towards the vehicle bay.

Barbara and Pyra looked at the door where their son had just run out. “That Spike, always so committed to both of his jobs, yet he doesn’t seem to want to slow down even a little bit,” Barbara sighed. “I can’t help but worry that he’s forgotten what it means to relax now and then.”

Pyra wrapped her arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Don’t, babe. Spike’s grown into a capable man who knows what he’s doing. He’s already done this more than a few times, so he’ll be fine.” She looked back towards the projector screen. “In the meantime, I want to see how this fight goes down. Care to join me?” she asked, turning back to her wife with a smile.

Barbara looked at her for a moment before letting out a gentle sigh. “Alright, Pyra,” she answered, which earned her a loving kiss from the blue and orange-haired Dragoness. Both women pulled out a couple of chairs to get comfortable while they waited for Spike and company to rendezvous with Lacy.

21 May 2021, 2328hrs, Vehicle Hangars, The Dragon's Den

Spike made a beeline towards the door of Bay 1, his friends following close behind, and pressed the button to open it. As soon as the ascending door was high enough, they ducked under it, not wanting to wait any longer than necessary, before continuing towards their waiting vehicles.

Spike pressed a button on his gauntlet to open the canopy to his vehicle: A bulky, partially streamlined 8-wheeled car built like a tank, painted white and transitioned to dark grey, then black towards the rear with lime green and green accents. It was heavily armed with 6 chaser guns mounted at the front, followed by a turret with 4 straight tilting barrels in the rear, flanked on either side by a pair of large, pivoting 6-barrel Gatling guns.

Thorax and Pharynx unfolded their helmets and lept into their armoured trucks, which were both nearly identical except for their choice of weapon turrets: A pair of blocky, rugged 8-wheeled armoured bricks that, while not as streamlined as Spike’s, were still capable of bulldozing their way through even heavy obstacles. They also had weapon turrets attached to their roofs and were painted to match their owners’ colour schemes.

Ember did the same with her helmet before climbing into her jet: An azure and dark blue single-seater fighter with a cockpit raked forward and canards for additional manoeuvrability. On each of its low-angled wings lay 4 chaser guns and a missile pod bolted on the underside that carried 4 missiles. Underneath the wings and the fuselage were a set of VTOL thrusters for lifting the entire craft effortlessly into the air when it wasn’t using its wings to stay airborne.

All 4 of their vehicles sprang to life with a deep humming sound as their crystal reactors started. Now fully seated in her cockpit, Ember pulled back on the control sticks, causing her jet to leap straight into the air and float over Spike, Pharynx, and Thorax. Their vehicles launched from the hangar onto the wide driveway before serving hard to the side and heading straight for the nearest gate.

“Omniscia,” Spike called out. “Open the gate to the northwest region!”

“Acknowledged,” the robotic female voice answered. “Opening northwest region now.”

The enormous metal ring in front of the team began to glow a brilliant white as it began to activate. A second later, a small, bright disc of the same white colour erupted from the very centre of the space inside the ring until it reached its borders and faded to a more silvery shade, creating a large enough gateway to the other side for the 3 ground vehicles to drive and Ember’s jet to fly through simultaneously, with plenty of room to spare, before vanishing in a flash of white light. After a few seconds, the magic field that formed the portal brightened once more and suddenly shrank back into oblivion as the gate shut down.

As Barbara watched her son and his friends leave the base through the camera feeds, she instinctively clutched Spurn’s wedding ring, which still laid on her finger beside hers, in her other hand, silently wishing safety for the young Dragon, as she did every single night since he founded the militia.

21 May 2021, 2330hrs, Northwestern Border of Canterlot

In an instant, the 4 Demons found themselves in a pitch-dark tunnel that appeared to ascend to nowhere gradually. Then, a large door opened ahead of them into a place near the edge of a forested area, under the rich, black, starry night sky. When they reached level ground, the door closed behind them, perfectly concealed by the rocks and foliage.

Ember took off further into the air, ensuring she matched her friends' pace as they surveyed the area they just entered. Northwestern Equestria was primarily a rural area, so few people lived in that region, except for a few neighbourhoods consisting of only a few blocks each. The remaining land not occupied by residential housing was either small industrial buildings or untouched, grassy/forested wilderness.

Thorax decided to speak to Spike over the radio. “So, Spike, what’s with this…Sunshine Flats, anyway? I didn’t think there was such a place until now. You didn’t tell us anything about it, either.”

“No one talks about that complex anymore, so I didn’t think it mattered,” Spike explained. “From what info I’ve gathered on the subject, Sunshine Flats was an overly optimistic attempt to make cheaper apartments a reality. Tin Roof conceived the idea and was determined to make it easier for people to buy their apartments without the hassle of paying monthly rent for as long as they owned them. Unfortunately, cheap isn't always better in the long run, and Tin Roof couldn’t earn enough revenue from its tenants to keep the place running following its completion in 1984. In the end, the residents who owned the apartments were all eventually refunded by the Board of Equestrian Housing Development after moving out, and the complex was abandoned in 1987,” Spike finished. “Nobody has claimed the property since, making it the perfect place for a criminal gang to hide out.”

A minute and a half of driving later, they saw the Sunshine Flats complex straight ahead. Over the decades they had laid unused, the once pristine 15-storey buildings had devolved into rotting husks of their former selves. Algae, dirt, and grime from years' worth of rain stained every surface of the apartment blocks in patches of red, green, and black. The sunny orange and yellow paint scheme against a white background stylised in the form of the midday Sun on the welcome sign and the sides of the buildings, was faded and peeling off in large chunks.

The foundation was severely overgrown, with hundreds of weeds clinging to the bare concrete for dear life. Graffiti had been sprayed over random spots on the walls by vandals who passed by the area, wanting to leave their mark, and there was no sign of light, the buildings having been completely stripped of all utilities by salvagers looking to recycle any materials that weren’t permanently attached to the floors, walls, or ceilings.

“Alright, guys,” said Spike, who had turned serious. “Lights out and cloaks on.”

All of them pressed a button on their consoles, which turned on their cloaking devices, causing their vehicles to fade away in seconds and their lights to switch off as they entered stealth mode. As soon as their cloaks were fully engaged, Lacy’s voice came in over the radio again. “Good, you guys are here,” she commented. “Meet me on the roof of Block 2. I’ll explain the situation there.”

As Spike, Pharynx, and Thorax pulled through the broken gate, they all ejected from their seats, spread their wings, and took to the air, leaving their vehicles to park themselves along the driveway of the carpark. Spike flew straight for the roof of Block 2, the Changeling brothers following close behind. Seeing Lacy waving to them from near the roof's edge, they all landed behind her, nearer to the centre. Meanwhile, Ember had flown up over the roof before ejecting and gently touching down next to Spike while her still invisible jet landed on the roof, albeit a short distance away.

Since no one else was in sight but they, Lacy Spinneret had her helmet folded down behind her neck, allowing Spike, Thorax, Pharynx, and Ember a full view of her face. At a glance, with her heart-shaped face, shiraz-coloured eyes, and wavy, neck-length pink flare hair, her complexion appeared positively human, aside from the extra 6 smaller eyes that dotted her forehead above her eyebrows. Her lips were a soft, healthy pink and held a slightly mischievous smile wherever she went.

Standing 9cm shorter than Spike, Lacy wore a combat suit like the rest. The main difference was that it was jet black, with deep, reddish-pink accents, and custom-tailored to hug every curve of her body like a second skin. Thanks to that, the entire shape of her 181cm breasts, 54cm waist, and 84cm hips was on display for all to see. Her 6 arms were long and slender, ending in a perfect set of long, feminine fingers. Meanwhile, her thighs, shins and butt were lean and muscular, thanks to years of running, jumping, and climbing. She wore a pair of flexible, flat-soled boots to allow her to move her feet and ankles around when crawling around on the walls.

“Lacy,” Spike greeted quickly.

“Good evening, Boss,” Lacy answered with a coy smile. “Did you miss me?”

“Save the flirting for later,” Spike responded thoughtfully. “What are we up against, and where are the hostages?”

Lacy raised her left arm and pressed a button on her gauntlet. Instantly, a holographic screen flashed into view, hovering about 15cm above the projection point on her wrist and displaying an X-ray imaging of the basement level of Sunshine Flats, several skeleton figures moving about the area. “I’ve snuck a few more drones into their hideout under Block 1 to survey their defences. We’ve got 2 guards watching the basement door. Behind that, we have 12 more patrolling the corridors around the rooms. The remaining 11 are inside the storeroom, including their leader.” She zoomed in on the room in question, which showed the thugs roughly pulling something away repeatedly from Fluttershy and Fauna’s still unconscious forms. It was clear that they were stripping them naked and tossing their clothes in the corner.

“It’s a sizeable gang, but nothing we haven’t taken on before,” Lacy continued. “Only the door guards and the leader have rifles, while the rest have light pistols, knives, and clubs. The corridors are only wide enough for 2 people to walk through shoulder-to-shoulder. We can easily cut them off in case they try to run.”

Spike narrowed his eyes at the screen as he watched the thugs chain the women’s wrists and hang them by a pair of long chains from the ceiling in the centre of the storeroom. “Is that all we’re facing for this rescue mission?” he asked.

“Yes,” came the Spider bombshell’s answer.

Pharynx turned to Spike. “So what’s the plan?”

Spike took a few seconds to formulate one before speaking up. “You and Thorax will take out the 2 goons at the door. Then, Lacy will slip in and pick off 2 more before bringing them outside, leaving you both a spot to take their places and neutralise the rest of the patrollers in the corridors. Make as little noise as you can.”

“Done,” the Changeling brothers answered.

“Lacy,” Spike turned to her again. “Once you bind all the guards, head straight to the breaker room and cut the power to the entire level. Subdue anyone they send to investigate.”

“Easy peasy,” the pink-haired spider flashed a thumbs up while she unfolded her helmet over her head and face.

“Ember, you’re with me,” Spike addressed the only dragoness among them. “We’ll handle the rest inside the storeroom once the lights go out. We’ll free Fluttershy and Fauna once the entire place is clear.”

“Copy,” Ember replied.

Spike then turned to face his entire team once more. “Remember, this is strictly an arrest and rescue mission. Turn off those punks as quickly as you all can. Use force if needed, but don’t kill them.” He turned again to look at the ramp that descended under Block 1 to the basement rooms. “We’re bringing those girls out of there alive and unharmed.”

21 May 2021, 2341hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Storeroom

Fluttershy groaned as she stirred on the spot. She was feeling light-headed from that sudden coma as she struggled for a few moments to lift her head and open her eyes, the faint scent of chloroform still lingering under her nose.

As the pastel pink-haired woman opened her eyes, she first saw a blurry image of a large group of black figures standing against a dark grey background, combined with the faint sound of unfamiliar voices. Confused, she tried to focus her vision as she wondered where she was and why, and the voices slowly became clearer with each passing second.

“Holy shit, look at her tits! How has she not ripped her clothes all this time?”

“Never mind how! If anyone has tits that big, it’s always the shy ones! It’s one of the main unwritten rules of anime!”

“Seriously, Dude, you need to lay off those shows if you’re already applying anime logic to real life.”

“Enough about that! The point is, we’ve finally got 2 hot girls in our midst! I’ve waited a long time to fuck a nice big pair of knockers raw, and now I can!”

That was when Fluttershy’s memories hit her like a wall. She and Fauna were about to drive home for the weekend when someone blew their tyres out; then, when they got out to check, someone jumped her from behind and chloroformed her. It was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.

Snapping her eyes open, she realised she was in the middle of a bare concrete room with no windows. To make things worse, 11 men surrounded her, all dressed in varying shades of black and grey clothes and wearing ski masks (except for their leader, who stood in the centre), who stared at her with what could only be depraved malice. That was when the strain on her wrists and arms finally registered. She looked upwards, only to find her wrists chained to the ceiling. She tried futilely to free herself, but her cold metal bindings rattled and clinked stubbornly.

Fluttershy was interrupted when she heard a low groan from her right side. When she darted her head toward the sound, she saw it had come from Fauna, who was bound in the same manner about 2m away. She, too, was stirring from her coma as she raised her head, initially confused as she tried to blink the bleariness in her eyes away before her eyes popped wide open at the realisation that they had both been kidnapped. Panting with fear, she too spotted the several unfamiliar faces standing before her as they eyed her greedily before struggling frantically against her chains.

“Don’t bother trying to break free,” the gang leader spoke with a sickening smirk. “Those chains holding you back are high-tensile steel imbued with magic inhibitors. You can struggle all night and not leave a single mark.”

“W-who…who are you?” a now pale-faced with terror Fluttershy asked.

“Ah, yes. Where are my manners?” the leader replied. “I’m Rogue Wave, leader of the Canterlot Ravens. And you, Fluttershy and Fauna, are nothing short of exquisite.”

Fauna could tell that Rogue’s compliment reeked of faux charisma. Maintaining as brave a face as she could, she asked, “How do you know our names? What do you want from us!?”

Rogue chuckled darkly. “You two have gained quite a reputation at the Zoo these past few years. It wasn’t that hard. As for your 2nd question, what I want is simple: The boys and I would like to get to know you extremely well. And to start, I thought we’d get rid of all your clothes, just to make things easier.

Both women’s eyes went wide with horror at Rogue’s last sentence. “W-what?” Fluttershy managed to utter before they looked downwards at themselves.

True to Rogue’s word, they were indeed both stark naked, their clothes having been stripped off and thrown aside while they were still unconscious. Now, Fluttershy and Fauna laid bare before their captors. No wonder it felt unnaturally chilly inside the room. Their ankles were chained to either end of a spreader bar, chained to the floor beneath them. The restraints would allow the Canterlot Ravens free reign to violate their lower holes to their hearts’ content with little resistance.

That was when Fluttershy’s panic kicked into high gear, and she began screaming and thrashing against her bindings. “NO! PLEASE! LET US GO!! SOMEBODY! HELP! HEEEEEEELP!!!”

Amused by the scene before him, Rogue Wave stepped forward, grabbed Fluttershy by the jaw and forced her to face him. Tears of humiliation and terror streamed down her face as she met his lust-filled gaze. “Scream all you want, Babe, ‘cause there’s no one here but us,” Rogue responded, his voice lowering to a threatening tone. He leaned in closer to her ear. “And in case you didn’t notice, you’re a very, very long way from help.”

Meanwhile, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Entrance

The 2 Raven thugs stood flanking the basement door from both sides, rifles in hand, staring dead ahead at the car ramp that led outside. They both wore bored expressions on their faces, having been ordered by Rogue to keep anyone who came in from interfering while they had their way with the 2 girls they had brought in from the streets.

The guard on the right side of the door turned to his buddy. “I can’t believe we have to be the ones standing outside while the rest inside have all the fun,” he groaned. “Why couldn’t the boss just let us have a go at a piece of those thick asses?”

“Yeah, I feel you, man,” the other guard replied. “But someone has to keep outside fuckers from walking in on our activities. Unfortunately, we’re working the night shift now, of all times.” he sighed in mild annoyance as he shifted on the spot. “Hopefully, the guys will give us a few turns before the dawn breaks. I haven’t felt up a decent chick in ages.”

“Have you seen the hooters on the pink-haired girl?” the first guard asked. “The other one’s also big, but you could crush a melon between them! When we get our turn, I’m going to be the one fucking those tits first!”

“Wanna bet?” the other guard challenged.

During their conversation, Thorax and Pharynx had shapeshifted into cockroaches and crawled across the ceiling from the ramp until they were positioned directly above them. After sparing a few more seconds to ensure they were still distracted, Pharynx turned to his brother.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready.”

Both brothers dropped silently behind the guards and shifted back into their natural forms in a flash of green light. Before either thug could react and turn around, the Changelings immediately slung an arm around the front of their respective guards’ necks and yanked them down onto their backs, silencing them in the process. Thorax and Pharynx immediately pulled out their tranquiliser pistols from their belts and shot their targets in the neck. The startled guards struggled for a few seconds as the tiny darts did their work until they finally fell limp in their grasp. They wouldn’t wake up for the next hour.

“This is getting too easy,” Pharynx remarked as he laid the thug he held down, sounding almost disappointed. “I need a real challenge.”

“Don’t get cocky, Pharynx,” Spike warned, having walked in alongside Ember and Lacy as soon as the guards passed out. “You just might get one. Lacy, tie them up.” he gestured to the unconscious men.

“On it,” Lacy answered. She picked the thugs up one at a time as she expertly spun them around, thick strings of silk shooting from under her wrists as she used them to bind their wrists and arms behind their backs, as well as their ankles. She finished the job about 12 seconds later.

“Nice work, boys,” Lacy said with a smile under her helmet. “My turn.”

The changelings could only nod in response before turning around and opening the doors, leaving Lacy to skip right in and jump up to the ceiling before the T-intersection of the corridor. The feed from her Drones told her that there were 2 guards on either end of the corridor from the entryway. Smirking, she waited until both guards had turned to face each other. When that happened, she immediately crawled across the ceiling into the intersection. That was when both thugs noticed her as they looked up.

“What the‒?” one of them managed to say before Lacy stuck out 2 of her arms and fired more webbing from her wrists, which landed right over their mouths, thoroughly silencing their voices and catching them off guard. Before either of them could draw their guns, Lacy extended 2 more arms and fired thick ropes of webbing, which stuck to the guards’ chests. She then yanked hard enough to send them flying and crashing into each other, the impact knocking them out cold.

Satisfied with her work, Lacy strung them together and tossed them outside with the other 2 guards by the door. “All done,” she radioed the team. “Pharynx, Thorax, you’re up.”

“On it,” Thorax acknowledged. The brothers quickly swiped the guns and ammo off the unconscious forms of the guards and shifted into their disguises. After slipping the stolen equipment onto their belts, they ran through the door into the corridor, with Lacy temporarily closing the entrance again as if no one had broken in.

Just after she did, 3 more thugs ran up to the still-disguised Thorax and Pharynx, guns in hand, having heard the commotion from the far side of the hall. “Hey, everything alright?” the leading man asked. “You guys sounded like you saw a spider.”

“We did. Right at our feet,” Pharynx answered. “The damn thing was the size of my head. We both stumbled over each other, trying to escape it.”

The 3 men shuddered at that story. “Fucking Faust, that’s terrifying,” the 2nd thug commented as he holstered his pistol. “Is it still there?”

“Thankfully, no,” Thorax replied, managing to sound relieved. “It escaped by crawling out under the front door. I doubt it’ll come back anytime soon. Just head back to your posts. We can take it from here.”

“Alright,” said the 1st thug. “Just be careful, okay? Radio us if you see any intruders.”

With that, the 3-man squad turned to head back down to the next corridor. 2 seconds later, unbeknownst to them, Pharynx had begun to sneak up on them, grabbing the heads of the two trailing guards and smashing their heads together, instantly knocking them out cold.

The guard ahead stopped at the sound and turned around quickly to see what the noise was. The last thing he saw was Thorax taking a running leap off Pharynx’s back as he was settling the first 2 guards down and taking a hard swing at his temple with the end of his pistol grip before his entire world went black.

Both Changelings then hauled the 3 unconscious men near the intersection leading towards the front door, where Lacy was waiting to bind them as usual. From then onwards, taking the remaining 7 guards out in the corridors was smooth sailing, with Pharynx and Thorax taking the right hall and Lacy taking the left. Spike and Ember walked through the corridors a moment later, following the trail of unconscious thugs that Lacy had left behind, all wrapped tightly in thick bands of spider silk, and some even hanging from the ceiling with their bodies encased in thick cocoons.

Lacy stood up, having just finished restraining the last of the guards in the hallways. “Well, that’s got it done,” she said as she dusted her hands off and rested them on her hips. She turned to Spike and Ember. “All clear, Boss. I’ll head down to cut the power now. Stand by!” She waved like a happy little schoolgirl before spinning on her heel and lightly skipping in the direction of the breaker room, her asscheeks visibly bouncing with every spring.

Ember could feel Spike rolling his eyes under his helmet as he turned to the Changeling brothers, who had just come around the far corner. “Move all of these men out the basement door and keep watch there. Don’t let any of them escape,” Spike ordered.

Once Thorax and Pharynx began to carry the bound thugs outside, Spike and Ember both slipped behind the corner near the storage room and assumed a ready stance where the hostages were. “I swear that Lacy enjoys herself too much sometimes,” Spike mused. “I ask myself why I hired her in the first place.”

“Let her be, Spike,” Ember replied. “Lacy may be eccentric, but she always knows how to get her work done and has proven a valuable asset to the militia. For now, let’s just focus on rescuing Fluttershy and Fauna.”

Spike could only hum softly in agreement. Just then, Lacy radioed in again from the breaker room. “I’m in position, Spike,” she said, her tone low yet heavy with anticipation.

“Starting the party…now.”

21 May 2021, 2348hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Storeroom

Keeping his hand firmly over Fluttershy’s jaw, Rogue slowly moved her head to the side and bent down to the nape of her neck, planting rough kisses before opening his mouth a little wider to begin nibbling at it. With his free hand, he began to grope and fondle her ample breasts. The firm flesh rolled and squished in his grip as he went to work on his victim.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy could only struggle in a fruitless attempt to pull away. She mentally prayed to Faust for a sign, even the slightest hint, that this horrible nightmare wasn’t happening, that she had just passed out in Fauna’s car from physical and mental fatigue from staying back with Fauna at the Zoo to sort out all of those archive documents, that all this was just a paranoia-induced hallucination. Unfortunately, her prayers went unanswered, leaving her with the ugly truth that her luck had taken a steep nosedive into the abyss, as well as leaving her and her colleague at the mercy of these crazy bastards, who were all too intent on raping her.

This situation was all wrong. It shouldn’t be happening. Neither Fluttershy nor Fauna should have been here, but they were. Fluttershy could only weep as the terrifying man proceeded to violate her very body as he wished. “N-No! Stop! Please! Get away from me!!!” Fluttershy wailed, still thrashing against her chains. The cold, hard metal rang apathetically without budging even once.

Fauna watched in horror as her close friend got molested by that madman. Then, Rogue gave the other side of Fluttershy’s neck attention while moving his hand from her breast and slowly down to her exposed lower lips. Fluttershy’s screams grew louder, and her flailing was more aggressive when she felt his fingers prod at her entrance. The sight grew too much for Fauna, who decided to attempt one desperate plea to take his attention off her friend.

“Leave her alone!” Fauna cried. “Take me instead!”

“Mmm, tempting, Fauna!” Rogue purred, removing the hand that was holding Fluttershy by the jaw and waving a finger at her in a mocking “Not so fast” gesture. “As hot as you are, your friend here has proven herself a…special kind of beauty to me: A sweet, kind, innocent young woman with a body that any girl would kill to have.” He turned back to Fluttershy. “It’s not easy to find a bombshell as good as you, Toots. You should be proud.”

Fluttershy fought back more tears as she stared back at her captor, fear still rife in her eyes.

“Besides…” the gang leader continued, again turning to Fauna. “I can’t give pleasure to 2 girls at once. That’s why I have the boys with me.” He gestured to the 10 thugs who accompanied him in the room.

When the girls looked, their horror was only further affirmed. Some of the thugs had already unzipped the front of their pants and pulled their cocks out, jerking off to the sight of the girls’ naked forms, wicked grins plastered on their faces, chucking maliciously as they slowly approached. Fauna and Fluttershy did their best to avert their eyes from this shameless display of depravity and perversion as they closed in, waiting for the signal to strike.

“Remember, guys,” Rogue reminded them. “I get first dibs on both of their pussies and assholes. Otherwise…” His grin darkened. “...knock yourselves out.”

That was all his underlings needed to hear, and they instantly dove into the fray, arms and hands extended, to swipe, grope, suck, and bite their way all over both women’s bodies. Fluttershy and Fauna, completely and utterly helpless, began screaming in pure, unbridled anguish as their imminent rape fell upon them.

“NOOOOO! GET OFF ME, YOU SICK BASTARDS! STOOOOOP!!!”

“HEEEEELP! DON'T! LET ME GO!!! HELP MEEEEE!!!”

*Bzzt!*

Suddenly, the Canterlot Ravens’ “fun time” was interrupted when the lights for the entire room blacked out, plunging everyone inside into complete darkness. The 2 women heard Rogue Wave groan in frustration as his flashlight came on. He waved it around for a few seconds before he found one of his goons’ faces in the blackness.

“Batter Up!” he barked. “What happened!? Didn’t I tell you to fix the fucking power!?”

“W-We did, Boss!” came Batter’s frantic reply.

“Well, take your guys and fix it again!”

Nodding rapidly, Batter zipped his pants back up, gathered all 4 of his friends, and bolted off with them to the breaker room as fast as they could, lighting the way ahead.

21 May 2021, 2350hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Breaker Room

A few seconds later, Batter yanked the door open, and his group slipped into the smaller room. As he searched, his light shone upon the breaker box on the far side, opposite the door. They ran up to a large, rusty steel cabinet before Batter reached for the handle and pulled it open.

They were stunned as their eyes met the sight of the several rows of breaker switches—or lack thereof. Somehow, someone had managed to pull every single switch off its mounting points.

“What the fuck???” one thug asked, completely gobsmacked. “Who in Faust’s name did this!?”

“You tell me,” Batter replied. “We’d better find all the switches or get new ones. The boss is going to lose his-”

*BANG!*

The 5 henchmen immediately turned around to find the door had slammed shut, and in front of that stood the one who did it: A slender, voluptuous woman clad entirely in what looked like a skin-tight spandex suit and helmet, both of her hands planted on her hips, which cocked to the side, and her legs crossed, as if she were posing for a photograph.

“Hello there, boys,” Lacy asked in her most playfully seductive tone. “Looking for these?”

Much to their horror, the gangsters watched as she sprouted a 3rd arm, seemingly from behind her back out to her right side, to dangle a large, webbed-up bundle by some of her string from it. It only took a second for all the men in the room to realise what she was holding.

It was the entire missing set of switches from the breaker box.

The now pale-faced from terror henchmen shakily reached for their pistols and aimed them all straight at her, but not without backing away slightly. “G-Give those switches back, you fuckin’ freak!” Batter Up yelled, a slight tremble in his voice. “Or we’ll s-shoot! We have you outnumbered, 5 to 1!”

Lacy tilted her head to the side, almost amusedly, as she processed his words before asking, “Me, a freak?” She let out a chuckle while she slowly began to stroll toward the thugs, the group in question promptly backing away further. “Oh, how adorable. Do you think pretty little insults and a handful of pea-shooters are enough to threaten me?” She casually tossed the bundle of switches aside, which landed with a loud *Clack!* on the floor. “Let me make this clear, Sweetpea,” she continued, pointing a finger at Batter. “Petty little rapist thugs like you are nothing but child’s play in my line of work. I could tear you all apart in seconds, but I have rules to follow. Besides, that wouldn’t be as entertaining as making you squeal, would it?” She giggled like a schoolgirl at her last sentence, the rest of her arms sprouting from her sides.

Batter’s party had now backed up enough to hit the wall behind them, their guns now rattling in their grasp as they tried unsuccessfully to suppress their terrified shaking. Thankfully for them, the 6-armed woman, or…whatever that thing which stood before them was, appeared to stop once she reached the centre of the room.

“But, if it’s a freak you want so badly…” her arms and legs began to stretch and grow in length as she assumed a striking stance. In addition, a large, smooth spider's abdomen burst out of her tailbone area. Her helmet-concealed head twisted and morphed into a matching head, complete with a lethal pair of fangs. 8 dark red eyes opened one by one on her face as her transformation completed. In her full Spider form, Lacy towered over the thugs, her long, gangly legs spread out over the floor.

“...ṱ̸͖͋͑h̸̟͑e̵̬͚͋n̷͉͊̓ ̷̧̗̊̈́i̷͖͆̀t̵͇̻̓͌’̷̬̜̃͘s̸̰̤̀ ̵̛̱͈̂ặ̶̹ ̷̢̪̓f̶̧́͠r̴̖̀̿ę̷̡̛̋a̷͈̬͑k̸̛͍͘ ̵̟̿y̶̛͈͗ͅo̵͙̳͝u̵̖̼͑’̵͕̂̕r̵͙̄e̸̹̭͐͝ ̷͙̇͘ğ̵̡͆ô̶̖̣̓i̶͈͗̌ṇ̴̐̑ĝ̸͇̚ ̸̘̓͆t̵͎͑ǒ̵̝ ̶̺͒̎g̷̼̥͂̿e̴̦̅t̵̖̥͋̚!̴̧̒̅ͅ!̶̰̘̂̚!̴̩̹͊͠”

It was at that moment when girly screams and gunshots rang throughout the room as Batter Up, and his repair team opened fire on the Spider Demon with everything they had. However, the bullets bounced uselessly off her chitin body as she began playing around with her newest toys.

21 May 2021, 2352hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Storeroom

“The hell!?” Rogue Wave turned his head in confusion at the sound of muffled screams and thumping coming from the direction of the breaker room. He turned to another group of his goons. “You 3, back them up!”

Nodding, the Raven thugs drew their pistols and ran out the door, only for the rest to hear their startled yelps, the sound of struggling, and the ring of their weapons hitting the floor once the last man had exited the room. Instinctively, everyone in the room, sans the hostages, pulled their guns out and aimed at the doorway.

Fauna and Fluttershy, both still shaken from the brief sexual assault enacted upon their exposed forms before its abrupt interruption, could only look on in a mix of confusion, hope, and renewed fear as they wondered who or what was causing the commotion outside. Had someone come to their rescue, or did they only want to take down the Canterlot Ravens so they could have them for themselves? Whichever way it would go, neither of them knew.

None of the gangsters could see beyond the door in the darkness, but one thing was now clear to them: Someone had broken into their hideout, and to make things worse, they had brought company.

“Who are you!?” Rogue demanded, keeping his arm rigid and his finger hovering over the trigger, ready to pack the first sign of movement from the doorway with lead. About 6 more seconds had passed, yet that time still presented no sign of the intruders.

“SHOW YOURSELF!” he shouted.

In return, the leader of the Ravens got a round, black object flying through the door at breakneck speed and hitting him square between the eyes. It bounced upward as he cried out and stumbled back in pain, clutching the bridge of his nose before landing on the floor and rolling to a stop between Fluttershy and Fauna.

Rubbing the pain away, Rogue turned around to see what had hit him, and everyone in the room had a second to determine the object. It looked like a black metal sphere the size of a baseball, with strange etchings covering the otherwise smooth surface of the plates that made up the shell. After the second passed, the plates suddenly spread apart, and bright green light burst between the gaps before spraying the air with thick white smoke.

Fluttershy and Fauna coughed as the smoke billowed around the room, blanketing them and the thugs entirely. The next thing they knew, they heard cries of terror and saw the flashes from their captors’ gun barrels as they tried to shoot whatever had come in front of them, the accompanying noise ringing in their ears. What shocked them more was the large streams of green and hot pink fire that rocketed around the room, throwing the goons off guard and pushing them back. Those whose clothes caught fire frantically patted themselves out, which left them open to attack by the intruders. As the seconds ticked by, more of them fell silent to their assailants’ hands.

Miraculously, neither woman was hurt in the apparent chaos.

When the smoke finally cleared, the hostages got their first good look at the ones who had just effortlessly taken out the entire Canterlot Ravens gang in just under 20 seconds. There stood 2 tall figures, 1 male and 1 female, masked and dressed in primarily black and dark grey high-tech combat suits. Fluttershy gasped softly as her eyes happened upon the dragon's wings and tails they each possessed. Around them lay the now unconscious thugs that had tried to rape them mere moments ago. All that was left was their leader, Rogue Wave, held by the strange male figure in the air by his neck.

Rogue struggled to breathe in his current position. “Y-You…” he sputtered as he grabbed the man’s wrist in an attempt to take his weight off his throat. “You’re that…Emerald D-Dragon bastard everyone’s…*wheeze*...t…t-talking about!”

The Emerald Dragon answered in his low, distorted voice, “Correct. And you’re a vile, rapist mobster who stalks the streets, stealing weapons and women like it’s nobody's business!” He pulled him closer, his grip still firm around his neck. “You bastards think you can take whatever you want from an innocent woman and move on to the next just because your victims are too afraid to fight back! Well, guess what? Your filthy sexual predations end tonight, for we, The Demons of Vigilance, are here to clean up the mess that people like you create.” He tightened his grasp, causing Rogue to choke harder. “And I’ll ensure all those who follow your example will face due justice for their actions against society.”

“Fuck-ck-k…y-you…” Rogue barely managed to utter. “I-It was only…2…w-women…”

“Tell that to the police,” The Emerald Dragon said before balling his free hand into a tight fist and slugging the gang leader right in the temple, knocking him out instantly. He then let the sorry excuse for a man fall unceremoniously to the floor in a heap.

The demonic figure and his partner both stepped up to Fluttershy and Fauna, respectively, who were both still bound and terrified, and each pressed a finger to the side of their helmets. A bright beam of light sprang from their visors as they ran full-body scans up and down the women’s naked forms. They flinched when the beams passed over their privates.

“No physical injuries sustained,” The Emerald Dragon concluded for Fluttershy. He then turned to his partner. “How’s Dr Fauna?”

“No injuries sustained, either,” she replied in a distorted yet still distinctly feminine voice. “Come on, let’s get them out.”

Nodding, The Emerald Dragon knelt to begin unbinding Fluttershy while the dragonesque woman followed suit with Fauna. They started with the cuffs holding their ankles to the ends of the spreader bars, their hands glowing with some kind of ethereal magic before effortlessly snapping the enchanted metal devices open like glass. They moved on to the handcuffs that chained the hostages to the ceiling and did the same thing. After that, Fauna and Fluttershy collapsed to the floor, finally freed from their torment.

Fluttershy rubbed her wrists for a few seconds before she looked up at her saviour. On instinct, she wrapped her arm over her bare breasts to cover herself up, if only slightly, as she studied the dark figure who kneeled again to meet her eyes. The young zookeeper had only heard various rumours and stories and seen questionable photos of the so-called “Emerald Dragon” and his militia, but to finally behold his complete form, up close no less, was a completely different story altogether.

With trembling lips, Fluttershy asked, “You’re…you’re The Emerald Dragon, a-aren’t you?”

Though she couldn’t see his eyes, the person in question stared back for a moment before he gave his answer in his most gentle tone. “Yes, I am. Don’t worry, you’re both safe now.” He rose to his feet. “Gather your clothes and get dressed. I’ll see you outside.”

“Wait!” Just as he began to turn around, Fauna stopped him. “What about them?” she asked, pointing to the unconscious thugs on the floor.

“We’ll bring them all outside and hand them over to the police when they arrive,” The Emerald Dragon responded. “They tried to rape you, and they will stand trial for that. Now, go.”

As the 2 women started putting their clothes back on as fast as they could, The Emerald Dragon and his accomplice carried the thugs out to the basement level's exit.

22 May 2021, 0006hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Ground Level Carpark

As if on cue, the police convoy arrived at the scene just after Spike and his team had dumped the last of the gangsters, now fully restrained, onto the pavement next to the top of the ramp. Once each vehicle came to a halt, armed personnel filed out one by one to take the Canterlot Ravens into custody.

Spike walked through the crime scene, watching as the officers split into pairs to pick the still-unconscious thugs up and haul them inside the backs of the vans. Thorax, Pharynx, and Lacy helped out, each carrying at least 2 at a time and chucking them like bags of grain into the holding bays.

“Excuse me, Sir!” Spike was broken out of his thoughts when an approaching policeman called out to him.

“What is it?” Spike asked.

The young officer swallowed nervously before answering, “I want to thank you. You know, for saving those poor women.” He gestured to Fluttershy and Fauna, both seated on the curb, draped in towels to shield them from the cold night air. A few police officers sat or knelt around to console them after the assault. “Are they going to be okay?”

“Physically, yes,” The Emerald Dragon replied. “Emotionally, I don’t know yet. They’re still clearly shaken from the attempted sexual assault, and they’ll feel its effects for a long while, but it’s, fortunately, nothing crippling. We managed to rescue them before the Canterlot Ravens could inflict more damage.”

The officer felt uncertain of their recovery, so he said, “Maybe, but even attempted rape can have lasting consequences for any victims unfortunate enough to experience it first-hand.”

Spike turned to the cop and placed a hand on his shoulder. “They will recover, officer,” he assured. “Have faith in them.”

After receiving a slight nod from him, Spike turned and walked away to regroup with Ember. Lacy, Thorax, and Pharynx joined them seconds later.

“Alright, guys. Is everyone ready to leave?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir,” came the chorus of answers from his teammates.

“Good,” said Spike. “Now let’s go home.” he reached for his wrist remote and summoned his vehicle to his position, his team doing the same with theirs. Looking around, Spike noticed something odd.

“Lacy, where’s your Crawler?”

Lacy perked up at his question. “Oh, I just left it on the wall.” To prove her point, she pressed a button on her wrist, turning off her vehicle's cloaking device. When the rest of the squad looked up, they saw that Lacy’s crawler was indeed clinging to the wall of Block 1, having suspended itself to about 4 stories off the ground.

It was the largest of the 5 vehicles in Spike’s team, with 8 rugged wheels to support its weight high over rough terrain, the middle 4 being larger to spread the centre of mass even further. The crawler was also appropriately armed with 2 double-barrelled chaser guns at the front, 2 single-barrelled tailguns at the rear, and a dual mortar launcher turret mounted on the roof.

All police officers in the area stared in confusion at the seemingly impossible position of the 8-wheeled armoured vehicle. Spike ignored their reactions and continued speaking. “By the way, you didn’t need to scare the goons in the breaker room any more than they already were. We came to arrest them, not traumatise them.”

“Aww, but I’m so good at that!” whined Lacy playfully.

Spike simply sighed at her response. “Just board your vehicle and head back to base. We’ve accomplished our mission.”

Lacy turned to the Changeling Princes and said, “I'll race you there!” before leaping for her crawler’s cockpit.

“You’re on!” Pharynx called after her and ran to his truck. Soon enough, he and Lacy were on the road, speeding back to The Den. Thorax just shook his head amusedly before hopping into his truck and driving off after them. Spike strode quickly to his tank car, and Ember flew up to meet her jet, strapping themselves in for the return journey.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy noticed that her rescuers were about to take their leave. “W-wait-!” she tried to call out, but The Emerald Dragon’s team were already too far gone to hear her voice. She and Fauna could only watch as their vehicles took off into the night at full speed.

The pink-haired zookeeper bowed her head as a small wave of sadness washed over her. She had narrowly missed her chance to ask her saviour for his name and her only foreseeable opportunity to thank him for their rescue.

Fauna quietly hugged her colleague close to comfort her. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. You’ll see him again soon,” she consoled, her voice shaking slightly from their ordeal. “Let’s be happy that we’re both safe now.”

Fluttershy stared at her in her brief moment of doubt before nodding slowly. They spent a few more minutes sitting on the curb, staring at the night sky, until the police called for them to be escorted to the nearest police station to continue their recovery.

Author's Note

And with that, Chapter 1 is finally out after months of delay!

Sorry this took so long, but my final year studies have been a nightmare to put up with. Now that I'm graduating soon, I finally had the spare time to apply the finishing touches to this chapter before publishing.

I can't estimate how long Chapter 2 will take to write and publish, but I'll do what I can to keep this story going. Remember: Quality, not Quantity.

Stay safe, everyone!

Chapter 2: Working Days

28 May 2021, 0749hrs, Drake Manor, Spike’s Bedroom

“Last week, on 21 May, at approximately 2320hrs, zookeeper and Rainbooms band member Fluttershy Breeze and Canterlot Zoo veterinarian Dr Fauna were abducted from the carpark while leaving their workplace after staying back late and nearly raped by a criminal gang known as the Canterlot Ravens, led by this man, Rogue Wave.

“However, the entire group was quickly subdued at their hideout in the abandoned Sunshine Flats complex in a successful rescue mission by 5 members of the mysterious militia who call themselves ‘The Demons of Vigilance’. Commanding this squad was the organisation’s leader, the equally mysterious figure known only as The Emerald Dragon. Although their true motives remain unclear, The Demons of Vigilance continue their devotion to enforcing the law and safety of Equestrian citizens to this day, ever since they first emerged 2 years ago.

“All members of the Canterlot Ravens will face charges next Thursday for attempted rape and multiple accounts of smash-and-grab robbery from various arms dealerships across the city. More news coverage will begin at 0830. This is Dateline, reporting live for the Omega News Network.”

*Click*

Spike lowered the remote to the top of his sideboard after turning off his bedroom TV monitor, smiling inwardly at the fact that the recently apprehended thugs would soon face justice for their crimes against the city. Walking over to the large floor-to-ceiling window, he slipped his hands between the curtains and spread them open, allowing the bright morning Sun to fill the room with its light. Once he had finished tying the curtains to the adjacent walls, he turned to inspect himself in the mirror.

He had decided to settle for more straightforward attire for work that day: a plain, light grey long-sleeved shirt with a chest pocket and sleeves neatly rolled up to his elbows, coupled with sleek black pants held up by his black leather belt. On his feet were cotton socks to match his pants. His shoes were waiting outside the door to the basement carpark.

Spike took a few more seconds to pat his collar down and pull down on the front of his shirt to straighten it out. After turning around to check that all of his clothes were in place, he grabbed his phone, wallet, and car key and slipped all of them into his pockets, slung his bag containing his laptop over his back, and stepped out into the expansive corridor, turning in the direction of his mothers’ room to check if they were ready to head to work as well. Upon reaching the large white door, he reached out with his fist and knocked 3 times.

“Come in!” came Barbara’s muffled response from the other side.

Without further prompting, Spike pushed down on the handle, opened the door and leaned inside the room. “Hey, Moms,” he began. “Are you ready to‒?”

His question cut short as his eyes widened, his face flushed, and his brows rose towards his hairline at the image he saw before him. Barbara was standing at the bed's footboard, laying out the business attire she was planning to wear for the day, while Pyra was doing the same thing from her usual side of the bed, right next to the window. However, this wasn’t the reason for Spike’s shocked expression. It was the fact that both of his mothers were going about their morning business dressed in nothing but their lacy thongs, their topless forms laid bare for their only child to see.

And Barbara had just permitted her son to enter.

The 2 women had already donned their human disguises before Spike entered the room. The daylight caused Barbara’s fair skin to glow while giving Pyra’s slightly tanner skin a golden sheen. Barbara had picked up her bra, her huge breasts jostling as she shook it open in preparation to put it on, when she noticed that Spike had frozen on the spot.

“Spike? Are you alright?” the green-haired bombshell asked.

That question was enough to pull Spike back to reality as he shook his head vigorously to focus. “Y-yeah, I’m fine,” he answered before rephrasing his original question. “Will you both be ready to go soon?”

“Give us 5 more minutes, Honey. We still need to get dressed,” said Barbara with a loving smile as she slung her bra straps over her shoulders and clasped the hooks behind her back. Her expression held some visible amusement at her son’s chagrin.

Spike simply sighed and replied, “At least put a few more clothes on before letting me in,” before quickly slipping out the door and shutting it before the situation could get any more awkward. Giggling lightly, Barbara turned to see Pyra with her hands on her hips and shaking her head despite the big smirk on her face.

“You’re enjoying this too much,” she remarked. “You know that?”

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the same, Pyra,” Barbara defended. “Besides, he’s my son. And that means I can tease him. However. I. Like.”

Pyra walked up to her wife, wrapped her arms around her waist, and yanked her close, her still-bare tits mashing against Barbara’s covered ones. The fiery Plasma Dragoness gazed into her eyes. “He’s our son, Babe,” she corrected. “He may not share my blood, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean that I can’t be his mom, too.”

The green Succubus Dragon returned Pyra’s gaze with a lusty smile and said, “You’re right.”

With that, Barbara leaned in and locked mouths with Pyra, bringing her into a deep kiss like they had done thousands of times before. They tilted their heads side to side to change angle as they ground their lips together, their tongues lashing and grappling as the 2 Demonesses made out. Half a minute later, they reluctantly broke apart to resume dressing up, slipping all their remaining clothes on in under 2 minutes.

0755hrs, Drake Manor, Living Room

Spike paced slowly around the polished black marble floor as he waited for his mothers to finish dressing for work. The image of his mothers’ near-naked forms still lay fresh in his mind. He thought both of them needed to tone down the teasing they inflicted on him so often. While Spike loved both of his mothers deeply, it didn’t make the scenario any less embarrassing for him.

Barbara, his birth mother, would tease him by talking too much about sex around him, casually walking around the house in various states of undress, or, like in the most recent case, she would allow Spike to enter the room while she was changing her clothes. Spike couldn’t honestly blame her, though, for he understood that she was born a Dragon-Succubus hybrid, so part of the reason was that she was simply indulging in her Succubus nature. He silently thanked her for indirectly teaching him how to put up with the likes of Aphrodisia, whose lustful behaviour was far worse by comparison.

As for Pyra, he wasn't sure what to feel about her other than that Barbara had rubbed off on her, literally and figuratively. He had initially thought that full-blooded Dragons weren’t as sex-driven as the Succubi. However, the numerous times he had heard his mothers going at it like wild animals from behind their closed bedroom door told him that he had greatly underestimated a Dragon’s capacity for lust. In public, Pyra was the sexy but tough woman men lusted for but were afraid to approach. In bed, though, she was a wild, beastly sex demon. He could hear her literal roars of ecstasy as she did her best to rut Barbara senseless in the bedroom despite the door’s natural soundproofing. It was as if she had a switch that Barbara knew how to flip.

Though he was mildly annoyed with their antics towards him regarding sex, Spike still couldn’t stop thinking about how utterly stunning they both looked. Despite it not being the first time he had seen both of his mothers near-naked or completely naked, their figures were admittedly a sight for sore eyes. Barbara was fair-skinned, which contrasted nicely with her dark green scales. Not only that, she possessed wide, child-bearing hips, well-rounded buttcheeks, and a giant pair of breasts, all of which combined formed an astoundingly voluptuous, feminine body that had “MILF” and “Lover” written all over.

Pyra effectively had the same thing going for her. The only difference was that her body said “Athlete” more than “Lover” - a complete set of well-toned yet distinctly feminine muscles lining her arms, legs, and everything in between. She even sported a gentle 6-pack over her abdomen and a set of huge breasts, wide hips, and a matching ass to rival Barbara’s.

No words could do them any justice, for Barbara and Pyra’s bodies were, for lack of a better term, otherworldly in every sense. No matter how many times Spike had been away from his mothers for work, he would sometimes find himself drawn back to their sexy forms. It was then that he subconsciously let his imagination run.

Somehow, he could see them now, standing before him, in the nude, dancing erotically around the room, their hips gyrating while they held their hands high in the air before slowly running their hands over their bare skin, caressing their most private areas. From over and around their tits, down their waists, over their ample rumps, even down to finger their moistening folds before they would begin exploring each other, occasionally stealing passionate kisses. All the while, they would giggle like schoolgirls who had just decided to get naughty on the spot, beckoning their son with their eyes to reach out and learn just how warm and firm those 4 milk jugs would feel to his touch…

At that point, Spike had to shake his head vigorously and blink a few times to return to reality, having realised that he had let his mind wander too far.

“No,” he told himself. “I can’t. Not in my position.”

No matter how much Spike loved his mothers, he felt that he could never be in any public position to make sexual advances toward them. He needed to maintain his image for the good of them all. Incest, as he knew it, was an act now heavily frowned upon in modern human society. If the media got word that the proprietor of Drake Security was engaging in an affair with his mothers, they would never leave him or his family alone again. In addition, Spurn had already taken both of them, and Spike loved his father and respected his mothers too much to taint his memory in any way.

Spike was broken out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps descending the stairs from the upper floor. Looking up, he saw Pyra swiftly jogging down the flight, fully dressed in a bright yellow low-cut spaghetti top and tapered black jeans. She had a beige-coloured purse slung over her right shoulder and a pair of sky-blue reflective shades resting on her forehead. Her smartwatch and bangles were in their usual places on her wrists.

Barbara followed close behind, wearing a tan jacket and skirt with a white blouse underneath this time. She wore her usual emerald necklace and swapped her emerald ear studs for pearl ones. Her long hair was in a large high bun, save for a pair of wavy cockroach feelers that hung off the sides of her head in front of her ears.

“Alright, Spike! We’re ready!” Pyra called as she reached the bottom step. She and Barbara took notice of Spike’s flustered expression and heavy blush. “Spike? Is everything alright?” she asked. “What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, it’s…it’s nothing,” Spike lied. Unfortunately for him, both women smirked knowingly at that. Neither of them bought it for a second.

“Still thinking about seeing us almost naked earlier?” Barbara enquired.

Spike sighed in defeat. “Yeah…I was.”

Barbara’s smirk morphed into a compassionate smile as she cupped her son’s cheek. “We were just having a little fun with you, Sweetie. Being attracted to women is nothing to be ashamed of,” she assured, giving his cheek a few loving pats. “Now let’s go. We’ll talk more about this another time.”

“Of course,” Spike answered with a slight nod. With that, he led the group down the adjacent flight of stairs to the basement carpark.

0801hrs, Drake Manor, Basement Carpark

Once the Drake family reached the carpark door, Spike turned the lock handle and slid it open, the solid wooden panel sinking sideways into the wall until it was flush with the edge. Stepping out of the doorway, the 3 Dragons found their shoe cabinet standing to their right. It stood at 5 shelves high and 3m long, with all of its compartments categorised according to what type of shoe they contained, complete with polishing equipment located on the side shelf nearest to the door where they came out. Opening one of the cabinet’s 3 pairs of doors, they swiftly grabbed their shoes and put them on.

Spike slid on his usual black shoes for most of his work days. For Barbara, she had chosen her plain, covered, leather high heels, which were also a sleek black like her son’s. Finally, Pyra strapped her feet into dark gold high-heeled sandals.

After everyone had put their footwear on, Spike led the family down the last short flight of steps into the spacious carpark. A single, 2-lane road ran straight down the centre of the floor, which was flanked on either side by 2 rows of parking lots, each with enough room for 8 cars to park side by side while still leaving sufficient space for people to comfortably walk between any parked cars and open the door to slip inside without hitting the adjacent vehicle.

At the far end of the carpark was a pair of large, fully equipped garages with an open floor area for vehicle turning, where the family could take their cars to perform any maintenance, repair, or modifications. Spike didn’t like to spend extra money on hiring personnel to do the work for him, so he decided to install the garages and teach himself, and later his mothers, to do their DIY work on their cars. Although he had to set aside a good amount of cash to invest in all of the necessary equipment, he believed that whatever money they would save in the long run would be worth the time and effort.

As for the Drakes’ rides to work, 3 sleek, custom-built, low-riding supercars stood waiting in the 3 parking lots adjacent to the carpark steps. The first car to come into view was Spike’s - Its bright green gloss paint and lime green trim, which ran along the bottom edge of its body and over the wheel arches, made it glisten under the light. In addition, it had a complete sports aerodynamics kit: A carbon fibre splitter, skirts, diffuser, and wing. It could easily be confused for a racecar on the road.

Barbara’s supercar had a similar treatment. However, its paint was a darker shade of green than Spike’s to make it appear more distinct at a glance. Spike had also rounded the car at the edges and corners as he knew that his birth mother preferred curved forms to angular ones

Pyra’s car had the most daring appearance. It looked like a blend of cyberpunk and toy car design; only Spike made it more practical. One could look at it and think it was for both track and drag racing.

To date, Barbara and Pyra’s cars have been the most significant surprise gifts Spike has made for them, using the money, resources, and skill he has amassed to build his career. He would always think fondly of the day when he had finally unveiled his work before their eyes, followed by the bone-crushing hugs and smothering kisses that followed seconds after. He swore that he could still feel the lingering pain in his ribs from that moment.

Spike then turned back to his mother. " Are you both ready to go?” he asked, pulling his car key out of his chest pocket. It was a dark, rectangular metal device about 75% the size of a credit card, with a single bright green crystal embedded in the centre that glowed under even daylight.

Barbara smiled sweetly. “Of course, Spike,” she answered as she stepped forward to lean in and kiss her son goodbye on his cheek.

“See you later, kid,” said Pyra, who followed Barbara and kissed Spike as well, only on the opposite cheek. She then turned to Barbara and pulled her wife in for one more kiss before they set out for work.

As they walked to their respective cars, Pyra and Barbara pulled out keys similar to Spike’s, with Barbara’s crystal being dark green and Pyra’s light blue. Spike proceeded to open his car’s canopy and step inside. Once fully strapped into his seat, he inserted his key into a receptacle next to the steering wheel, which locked in place with a light “click”. After that, Spike had to press the crystal like a button.

When he did, the entire instrument panel shimmered brightly, and the car sprang to life with a soft hum from the engine behind him. Without further ado, Spike shifted into gear, released the handbrake, and rolled out of the parking lot towards the exit ramp, with Barbara and Pyra following close behind in his rearview mirror.

0814hrs, Canterlot City, Business District Main Road

The next few minutes were yet another uneventful drive down the road approaching Canterlot for the Drakes, who kept in single file the entire route from their home on the outskirts to the streets of Equestria’s capital city. The glass facades of the skyline glistened in the morning Sun, the bright light cascading down the skyscrapers’ walls to the roads below, where the hustle and bustle of traffic and pedestrians alike ran like rivers as people navigated the colossal city grid to get to work.

For a long time, Spike enjoyed life in the modern cities; over the decades, he had seen them grow before his very eyes. All this technology and engineering poured into their conception was made possible by human ingenuity, which Spike greatly commended. The boundaries of such only continued to be pushed further by the humans combining whatever technology they had developed with magic - magitek, as named.

On the family’s approach to the next cross junction ahead, Spike watched his mirror from the corner of his eye, seeing Pyra break away from the group first to take the adjacent sliproad on the left and enter the next main road, heading straight for Platinum’s Vanity studio for her summertime photoshoot.

Barbara would do the same once the light halted straight-line traffic and gave way to turning vehicles 2 junctions later, except that she would take a right turn to head off to her workplace at the Equestrian National Bank.

Now, all that remained of the Drake family on the busy road was Spike. Taking a few seconds to stretch out the kinks in his neck, he waited at the junction amid the swarm of cars before the stop line. Once the green light flashed, he started down the road to the headquarters of Drake Security Inc.

It did not take long for the massive complex to come into view. Standing in a wide open area at the edge of the Canterlot skyline was one of Spike’s most outstanding achievements yet: The Drake Security complex, consisting of 5 office towers, the centre one surrounded by the remaining 4 in a square configuration, followed by 4 massive factory buildings that filled the space in between. Whatever additional space for the factory floors that extended into the ground was hidden by the superstructures above. Every building was connected through enclosed, vehicle-sized passageways, forming an intricate transportation hub where people and materials could move as needed throughout every block on the property.

The entire perimeter of the complex consisted of 3-metre high walls of 1.5-metre thick reinforced concrete, which had a series of record-sized steel plates with protection runes embedded every 10 metres along the walls’ length to protect them against explosive devices. As an extra layer of security, Spike had installed a solid light barrier on top of the original wall, adding a metre of height. The barrier also angled outward by 45 degrees and would instantly zap and repel virtually anything that touched it, making the wall near impossible to climb over. A pair of entry and exit gates, each about 3 vehicle lanes wide, was positioned at the walls' North, South, East, and West faces. All manner of traffic could enter and leave from those points.

Spike swiftly drove towards the South gate, stopping just behind the line. A security guard emerged from the booth and leaned through the car window with a scanner.

“Pass, please,” he asked.

Spike reached into his wallet, pulled out his security pass, and showed the guard its barcode. The guard raised his scanner’s laser to it. A second later, the indicator light flashed green with a “Beep!”

With a satisfied nod, the guard holstered his scanner and greeted with a smile, “Welcome back, Mr Drake.”

“Thank you,” Spike returned in kind as the massive steel panel in front of him sank sideways into the adjacent wall, allowing him to drive through and enter the borders of his workplace. Soon enough, he was down the entry ramp into the basement carpark under the central tower, also known as Tower 1. After rolling off the bottom of the ramp and onto the landing of Basement 1, he drove deeper into the carpark, approaching his reserved parking lot, which, aside from the accessible parking area, was next to the door to the lift lobby.

The (relatively) young Dragon took just over a minute to park his car in its designated space before opening the canopy and stepping out of his seat, remembering to remove the key from the port. Pressing the crystal button in the centre once more caused the car’s canopy to close and lock with a barely audible “click”, followed by a series of 3 “beeps” quickly. With that done, Spike pocketed his car key and strode through the door to the lift lobby to call the next available lift that would take him to his office.

0823hrs, Drake Security Inc, Tower 1, Lift 5

The lift ride up to his office’s level at the top of Tower 1 was yet another silent, uneventful ride. Spike stood alone inside the large metal box for the entire journey, with his only company being the ambient music that the built-in speakers played to break what little silence they could.

In the meantime, Spike took the opportunity to relax, leaning back against the lift wall as he began to let his thoughts trail back to what his mothers told him about starting a relationship.

“Aww, don’t be such a prude, sweetie,” Barbara replied, giving her son a brief hug. “You’ve been a grown man for quite some time now, and it’s high time you got yourself hooked up with a pretty girl or two. Surely you’d like to finally experience what happens between a man and woman after putting it off for so long?”

“Your mother has a point, you know,” Pyra explained, causing Spike to pause mid-step. “You’ve been working so hard for us for centuries on end. First, as a mercenary, followed by small businesses, your company, and now The Demons of Vigilance.” She couldn’t help but beam inwardly with pride as she mentioned the latter two parts. “Yet despite all that, you’ve never set aside even a little time to mingle with any of the girls in the city, let alone the entirety of Equestria. Sex has been a big part of our nature and culture, and all of those years of repressed sexual tension can’t be good for your health or your sanity, even if you’ve done a pretty good job of doing just that. All Demons have their limits when it comes to inhibition, and Tartarus forbid that you go on a lust-fuelled rampage from holding it all back a moment too long.”

Spike did tell them that he would think about it, but now that he was, he wasn’t even sure where to start, especially since he had never taken any time to mingle with any girls in the millennium that passed since The Purge. While a few stunning women caught his eye as he walked through the ever-evolving streets, and many more drawn to his handsome facade, those cases never grew beyond distant eyeing and short conversations.

Time slowed around him as Spike pondered his mothers’ words from the previous week. “I guess they’re right. After spending so much of my life in singlehood, it’s about time I started hooking up with a girl or 2,” he thought. “But…how could I possibly start? Maybe if I talked to Aph about it later, she could give me a few tips.”

He paused for a moment at his choice of source for dating advice. “Yeah, knowing Aph, she’d probably want to get started on getting laid as soon as possible, but there’s still a chance that I could be surprised. Whatever she may have in store on dating girls, it’s better than nothing.”

*Ding!*

“Level 70. Doors opening.”

Just as Spike concluded his thoughts on the matter, the lift’s announcement snapped him back to reality. Once the doors opened wide enough, he stepped into the floor’s lift lobby and quickly turned to his right toward his office.

The entire place was relatively quiet, partially because it was still morning and only some had arrived at their desks. There was also no reason to talk outside of work-related purposes or break times. As Spike navigated through the grid of cubicles, his employees greeted him individually, with most women doing so with light blushes and a somewhat dreamy tone.

Quickly returning each gesture, he continued walking briskly until he finally reached the wall at the far end of the floor, with a large pair of double frosted glass doors in the centre. A single pair of plaques adorned both doors, inscribed with the following names and appointments:

Spike Drake - Proprietor

Aphrodisia - Secretary

Pushing one side open, the wealthy Dragon entered the spacious secretary's office. The floor and wall trimming of the room were covered entirely in deep red marble to give the place a warmer look. Sitting snugly against the inner side of the wall surrounding the door were 2 long teak tables carrying various photos of Spike and his family, a montage of pictures of Aphrodisia striking several sexy poses (in human form, placed at her insistence), wearing different outfits that covered just enough to be safely displayed within office premises, and an A3-sized commemorative plaque dedicated to the establishment of Drake Security Inc.

On the opposite wall stood another frosted glass door leading to his office. To its left stood a large, fully equipped rosewood desk with a rack for stationery, a folder shelf, a triple-decker document tray, and a desktop computer neatly arranged on top.

Aphrodisia was sitting on the front corner of her desk, wearing an ivory blouse with a wine-red blazer and skirt, which entirely covered her figure to comply with attire restrictions. However, she reluctantly did so (“Bunch of prudes,” she pouted). Over her legs were a pair of lacy black stockings that she had decided to swap her pantyhose out with, which had rose patterns woven into the trim and over the surface, capped off by ivory-covered high heels to match her blouse. She was texting on her phone while having one leg crossed over the other and the side of her skirt raised, revealing a good portion of her thigh and the garter that held her stocking up, the metal clips glistening under the ceiling light.

She had perked up at the sound of the opening door and smiled broadly at the sight of her boss. Pocketing her phone, Aphrodisia stood up and sashayed over.

“Ah, welcome back, Mr Drake!” she warmly greeted as she approached, throwing her arms around his shoulders, pulling him in for a hug and planting a kiss on his cheek. She even did a toe pop, which made Spike roll his eyes in slight amusement.

“Good morning to you too, Aph,” he replied, evoking a giggle from the Succubus.

Aphrodisia gestured to the door of Spike’s office. “You can go right in,” she said.

Without hesitation, Spike nodded and broke away and took precisely 2 steps towards the door before he felt something swat his right buttcheek. He turned quickly to glimpse Aphrodisia’s tail slipping behind her back.

“And have fun, Tiger,” she added with a titter, a wink, and a flirty wave of her fingers.

“Thanks,” Spike answered with a bemused expression. “I will.”

With that, he turned and continued his way into his office. It was similarly decorated to the one in The Den, albeit with darker colours for a more formal aesthetic while retaining the sense of futurism. Spike’s work desk stood against a glass curtain wall that gave him a spectacular view of the skyline, overlooking the rest of the complex below.

Spike paused for a few seconds to drink in the scene that had welcomed him back to the office so many times before, even cracking a small smile when he did so. Once done, he moved over to settle down in front of his computer and pressed the power button on his CPU, booting up the device in under half a minute.

“Now let’s see, where was I yesterday…?” Spike thought to himself as he scrolled through the folders in his file window. A few seconds later, he stopped at one file in his slides folder.

“Ah, there it is. The Drake Security Military Branch: Combat Vehicles. That reminds me - I still need to fix a few bugs in the Tumbler’s program later…”

0835hrs, Equestria National Bank, Customer Service Centre

The echoing sound of heels clopping against the cold, hard floor accompanied Barbara as she emerged from the lift door into the lobby and turned to her right, heading straight down the diorite-lined corridor into the expansive area that was the Customer Service wing of the National Bank.

The facility's centre began with a vast open floor area, which served as the waiting lounge for customers as they awaited their queue numbers. It was divided into an orderly grid of rectangles, marked by appropriately shaped patches of black marble tiles, all outlined by shiny brass floor trimming. In addition, the floor had red velvet carpets and dark grey sofas where customers could sit to make their waiting time more comfortable. The monitors that would show their queue numbers were either mounted on all faces of each column or suspended from the ceiling over the waiting lounge. Beyond those columns lining the main room's walls were 30 long service desks, each operated by a staff member or 2. Soft chatter rang across the facility as each desk took calls or spoke to their customers about their enquiries for the occasion, and waiting customers engaged themselves with the screens of their laptops or mobile devices, periodically glancing up at any of the screens when the announcement bell rang.

Barbara paused and slowly scanned the room until her eyes fell upon her empty seat at Desk 17. With an unwavering smile, she strolled towards a large, reinforced steel door in the corner leading to the faculty area. Posted on the front of the door was a sign written in large, bold red block letters:

STAFF ONLY.

NO UNAUTHORISED PERSONNEL BEYOND THIS POINT.

Off to the side was a small touchscreen monitor about the size of a calculator that controlled the locks to the door. Barbara tapped the screen with a finger, causing the monitor to spring back to life as it flashed a short text box in the top centre of the screen with the accompanying keypad and automated voice prompt, “Please enter the password.”

The green Dragoness typed in 8 characters for the password and clicked the “Enter” key.

“Please scan your thumbprint,” the voice spoke again as the scanner box to the left of the touchscreen flashed yellow.

Barbara placed her thumb flat against the small glass pane. A split second later, a bright yellow beam of light ran from top to bottom under her thumb, taking under 2 seconds to finish.

“Barbara Drake identified. Access granted.”

The heavy door slid gracefully into the wall, allowing Barbara to enter the faculty room. Passing through the printing section, where a colleague was retrieving a stack of freshly printed hardcopies, she approached the row of lockers on the far wall of the faculty room. Reaching for the inner pocket of her jacket, she pulled out a small key. After that, she inserted the key into the locker’s keyhole and turned it 180 degrees clockwise, opening the lock with a muted “Click.”

When she opened her locker, Barbara saw her usual sight: a single wireless headset neatly folded up and placed flat on the locker's floor. Wasting no time, she grabbed her headset, shut her locker, and walked out the counter door towards her work desk.

She grasped the top of her swivel chair’s backrest and spun it around before daintily settling her large, voluptuous ass into the seat and turning back into place. Next, she slipped her headset over her ears, started up her desktop computer, and pressed a button next to her monitor to signal that her desk was open.

*Ding Dong!*

The announcement bell rang again to alert the next person waiting for their appointment. That was when Barbara’s first customer for the day arrived at her counter. He was a relatively young man who appeared to be in his early 20s, with short, slightly unkempt black hair and a confused, slightly worried expression on his baby face. He was dressed casually in a plain teal T-shirt and beige pants, complete with white sneakers with dark blue accents stitched over the sides. He set his backpack down at his side as he sat in the chair provided.

When the young man saw Barbara, a light blush formed on his face as he beheld her radiant beauty. “Um…good morning, Miss,” he began. “I’d like to enquire about an SMS I received from the bank yesterday. Y-you see, I’m a new customer, and I just opened a fresh account 3 months ago. According to the message, I still had an ‘outstanding bill’ that I had yet to pay off, but when I checked my account a few minutes later after reading the message, none of the bills I had for the month were unaccounted for, so I don’t know what could have warranted this.”

Barbara listened intently, giving the occasional nod as the man described his situation. When he finished, she asked, “Do you still have the SMS?”

“Yes, right here,” replied the young man. He fished his phone out of his pocket, unlocked the screen, and opened his SMS app before handing it to her.

As Barbara carefully read the message in question, her eyes widened slightly in realisation. She returned the phone to the counter and looked up at her customer. “Sir, the associated number is not registered in our contact list. The message that you received is a scam.”

The man went wide-eyed in shock at the revelation that he was almost duped into giving away his bank account details. “R-really??” he asked.

Barbara nodded in response. “Yes,” she answered. “While scam messages each have little tricks to look professional and authentic, they always do one thing that banks would never do over an SMS or any other messaging platform: Ask you to leave your bank details directly in the chat.” She shifted in her seat and leaned forward before continuing, her clothed breasts pushed up by her desktop. “It’s good that you brought this matter to our attention. Otherwise, you could have lost hundreds to thousands of dollars from your bank account once the scammer accessed it by obtaining your account info.”

Just as she finished, Barbara noticed that the customer’s eyes had seemingly dropped down to her desk, his face flushed red, and his jaw hanging slightly. She raised an eyebrow at this. “Sir?” she called. “Is everything alright?”

The young man snapped back to reality as he hastily shook his head to focus his mind. “Umm, y-y-yes, I’m fine!” he answered frantically. “Y-you were saying?”

Not wanting to stress the poor soul further, Barbara decided to proceed with her advice. She pulled a small card from a nearby stack and handed it to him. “Here’s a contact card. It contains all numbers registered to the Equestria National Bank. You may refer to these whenever you’re in doubt about the next unknown phone number to send you a similar message in future,” she explained. “Alternatively, you may refer to the associated website for further information on our contact addresses. In addition, you can report any suspected scam messages through the website’s reporting system. All you will need to do is attach a screenshot of the suspicious message, clearly showing the number of the person who sent it. We will put any reported contacts in the queue for investigation and use them to track the suspects down.”

“Of course I will!” replied the young man as he stood up. Thank you so much for your help!” He took his phone and the contact card and slung his backpack over his shoulder before walking out of the centre with a broad smile.

Barbara shook her head in amusement as she watched him leave. “Boys will be boys,” she thought to herself. With the appointment settled, the Dragon Succubus spent another minute filing the case in the system’s database before the phone on her desk started to ring. Without hesitation, she took her hands off the keyboard, reached for the answer button on the side of her headset and pulled the microphone down over her mouth.

She opened with the standard greeting, “Equestria National Bank Customer Service Centre. How can I help you?”

“Hello,” came a female voice from the other end of the line. However, the woman’s greeting did not sound polite in the slightest. Instead, it sounded irritated. “I’d like to enquire about a problem I have had for some time now.”

Barbara’s smile faltered at the caller’s somewhat hostile tone. It was one of those people again. “Could you describe this ‘problem’, please?” she asked politely.

“Over the past 4 weeks, I‘ve been receiving emails claiming that I owe credit card bills overdue by over a month! A month!” the woman barked over the phone. “You’d better confirm that this shit was from you, or a complaint won’t be the only thing you should worry about!”

Barbara sighed quietly. “Could you give me your email address, please?”

Once the woman gave her email address, Barbara quickly searched the bank’s email history. When she keyed the address in, her answer flashed clearly on her screen. The woman had received numerous email warnings that her credit bills were long overdue for payment, as she claimed, so it made even less sense why she would complain about such a thing.

“Alright, Ma’am, I can confirm that the emails you claim to have received are authentic,” Barbara explained. “You indeed have a credit bill that you have yet to pay from last month. You will need to make the required transaction as soon as possible, or you will face an additional $100 in lateness fees should you refuse to pay off your credit by the end of this month. If you refuse to comply after that expires, we will still have no choice but to press charges against you for debt evasion.”

“You dare threaten me with charges, you smug little bitch!?” the woman spat. “I knew it! I’m being targeted by the fucking bank! Why should I be required to pay my bills within a time limit, huh!? I’ll pay my bills when I feel like it! What part of that sentence do you retards not get!?”

The woman’s unruly ranting over the line made Barbara’s eyebrows furrow in irritation. Yet, she kept a level head throughout the ordeal, as she did many times. No, she was not about to stoop to that level just to get back at a rude customer after years of tolerating such behaviour. It would only allow them to win the fight.

“You know what?” the woman continued. “Redirect my call to the Management Office now! We’ll see how much you’ll laugh once I’ve made my point to them!”

“If you insist,” Barbara responded. “However, do keep in mind that the charges mentioned will still apply if you do not make the payment soon, and Equestria National Bank will not be held responsible for the consequences you face in challenging the system. Please hold while I transfer your call.” Her voice then turned deadly serious when she spoke her final sentence.

“You have been warned.”

With that, Barbara dialled the number on her phone to make the transfer, and a second later, the call had finally ended. She took the time to take a deep breath and compose herself before she prepared to receive the next customer to make a physical appointment.

After a few seconds of performing her breathing exercise, Barbara heard another female voice coming from her right. “Hey, Barb,” it asked. Thankfully, the voice was a lot less shrill and much more friendly. Turning her head to meet the source, she smiled at the sight of her long-time colleague, Topaz Pearl.

She was yet another stunning beauty as a human, despite being a mother of one on the brink of her 40s. Her shoulder-length blaze orange hair was in a bell-bob cut where her locks flared outwards towards the end before curving inwards toward her neck, leaving the ends virtually invisible from the outside. Her flamenco-coloured eyes matched her hair analogously, while the pastel brown lipstick she wore complemented her fair skin. She wore a similar attire to Barbara’s, the only difference being that it was dark orange. It appeared to fit snugly over her 209cm bust, 56cm waist, and 100cm hips, almost like a second skin. Anyone could see the curvature of her body from all angles.

Barbara’s mood lightened a bit at the sight of her friend. “Hi, Topaz. How are you holding up back home?”

Topaz’s face fell when she heard Barbara’s question. She took off her blazer and draped it over her chair’s backrest before taking her seat and pulling her headset over her ears. “Same as always - as much as I can, anyway,” came her answer. “My husband still rarely comes home for dinner, if at all, and still acts distant when he does. I’ve been raising my daughter Citrine myself since she turned 16. At best, Legal Tender acknowledges us with little to no enthusiasm. At worst, he comes back from his job too tired to speak to us, let alone spend quality time. ” She shook her head and sighed. “It’s a far cry from the man I fell in love with so long ago.”

Barbara’s expression changed to concern, but she still tried to assure her colleague. “Don’t worry; I know you’ll figure something out to pull things back together. Given your situation, I know it’s not much for me to say, but it’s still better than nothing.”

In response, Topaz nodded with a bittersweet smile. “I'm Avoiding the subject of my husband further…” she began. I saw that look on your face from your last call. Did another Karen get you down on your first hour?”

“I’d be lying if it wasn’t,” Barbara answered with a sigh. “I swear, those people are everywhere, no matter where you work.”

“That’s life, Honey,” Topaz shrugged. “Luckily, we know how to deal with them when needed.” Her face then lit up. “Plus, with that last call you got, we’re tied! If you get one more by the end of the month, you’re buying lunch this Sunday.”

Barbara snorted at that remark. “Don’t get cocky, Topaz,” she said. “It’s the last working day of the month.”

That was when Topaz’s phone rang. Pressing the answer button on her headset, she made the usual Customer Service greeting. 2 seconds later, her brows quickly knotted in irritation. Barbara could tell that another Karen had reached her phone line.

Smirking victoriously, the green-haired Dragoness leaned in towards Topaz’s ear. “I could go for a nice steak lunch this Sunday,” she whispered. “Thanks for the treat.”

As Topaz quietly glared defeatedly at her, Barbara returned to her seat to continue taking customers. “Well, this day just got off to a bumpy start,” she thought. “I wonder if Pyra’s having any more fun than I am.”

0846hrs, Platinum’s Vanity, Studio 1

*FLASH!*

“Lay back! Kick your leg high!”

*FLASH!*

“Now, on your belly! Blow a kiss to ze camera and wink!”

*FLASH!* *FLASH!*

“Stand up! Hips to ze side! Push up your breasts! Show your lady lumps to ze vorld! Yes, yes! Zat’s it!!!”

*FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!*

Pyra, dressed in nothing but a super-skimpy, gold-embroidered, sky-blue sling bikini with just enough material to cover her nipples, areola, and groin, combined with a pair of matching platform high-heeled sandals, effortlessly struck pose after pose after pose as she followed the rapid-fire instructions barked out by her photographer, Photo Finish.

She was also a stunning if overenergetic beauty in her own right, with sleek, Catskill white hair that she wore in a straight, shoulder-length bob. Her 169cm breasts, 56cm waist, and 92cm hips were mainly covered by a thick, poofy black-and-white striped designer dress, one of her favourite clothes to wear on the go. As she stood in front of the studio set, her red violet sunglasses sat high on top of her head. At the same time, she kept her matching eyes trained on Pyra through the camera lens, constantly shifting, squatting, kneeling, or standing as she did her damnedest to capture every possible angle of Pyra’s almost nude form she could.

The camera flashes each turned the room white for a split second every time Photo Finish took a picture. Even the mildest epileptics would have launched into a seizure after a few seconds of exposure, yet Pyra remained utterly unfazed by the dazzling light. Still, she danced wildly on the spot, working her hardest to deliver the juiciest shots that the Chique Chicks magazine’s annual Hot Summer Daze season would have to offer to any daring reader to grace their pages.

*FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!*

Photo’s camera maniacally clicked and whirred as she continued the photo shoot at full speed, with Pyra keeping up the pace. What little sweat she produced formed over her bare skin, but the Dragoness never slowed down as she switched her poses at lightning speed. Her huge breasts, barely contained by the swimsuit she wore, flailed about like wrecking balls from the resulting momentum. Pyra's only expression throughout the ordeal was a bright, unwavering, and sometimes lewd smile that she held for the camera and her audience.

“On your knees and arms behind your head! Flaunt zat figure! Now, on all fours! Turn around and flaunt your buttocks! And look back to ze camera! Yes, yes, YES!!! Zat is vat I vant to see!”

*FLASH!* *FLASH!* *FLASH!*

“AND DONE!!!” Photo Finish finally bellowed.

That was the cue for Pyra to stand up and stretch herself out. She had powered through a workout session of non-stop posing before Photo’s camera for 20 minutes straight, barely breaking a sweat. Swinging her arms back and forth, she let out a satisfied exhale before stepping off the set to the side. Once her feet had left the stage, Photo walked over.

“Wunderbar! Wunderbar!” the pale-haired photographer applauded, clapping her hands in joy. “You vere magnificent!” Her thick Germane accent accompanied every word of praise she spoke. “Such energy! Such beauty! Such sass! You burn like ze fire, a sign zat you truly know how to show…ze magicks!” Photo Finish punctuated the last phrase with a dramatic wave of her hand.

“Thank you, Photo,” Pyra replied with a chuckle as one of Photo’s assistants quickly stepped forward to hand her towel, which she used to wipe her face and neck before draping it behind her shoulders. She then shook her head amusedly. “That was quite the workout you gave me, even for your usual sessions,” she continued. “Are you sure you don’t want to be a fitness instructor?”

Photo tossed her head back and laughed. “Ohohoho, no, no, no, no, fraulein!” she answered with a dismissive wave. “If I vanted to be a fitness instructor, I vould have left zis job long ago! Fashion photography is an art zat I have come to love far too much to give up, and I vill never, ever stop loving it!” she proudly proclaimed with a wide grin, her eyes burning and fist raised with pure determination.

Pyra couldn’t resist a short laugh at her photographer’s antics. “Alright, I admit it was a dumb question. Point taken.”

“And let’s keep it zat vay,” Photo stated with a smile and a firm nod before her expression turned serious. She spun around and tapped the frame of her sunglasses with her finger, which caused them to fall back down over her eyes, obscuring them from the world again. Her hands shot up into the air, and she clapped twice loudly.

“GIRLS!” she barked to her 5 assistants as she strode to the set. “Start rearranging ze props for ze next model! SCHNELL!!”

As the assistants ran onto the stage to begin their work, Pyra walked off to the side of the large room. There were 11 young women with her, each drop-dead gorgeous in her own right. Pyra walked off to the side of the room to join the rest of the models called in for the photoshoot that day.

To Pyra’s far left, standing confidently with a hand on her hip, was Taffy Shade. She was a stunning 180cm tall, with a goldenrod blonde mane of fully permed back-length tresses that framed her lightly freckled cheeks and half-lidded Malibu yellow eyes made up of light gold eyeshadow to match her hair. Taffy's tantalising figure was clad in a pink gold 2-piece microkini, with a pair of Dorito-shaped patches making up the top that barely covered the area over the nipples of her 159cm breasts, which were held in place by spaghetti strings. The bottom had the same treatment, with a Dorito-shaped patch that only just covered her crotch, while the strings that held it in place wrapped around the top of her 89cm hips before meeting at the back, right over her tailbone, and completely disappearing into the crack of her large, peach-shaped butt. Her 54cm waist was left bare. To complete the outfit, she wore glittery gold “Fuck Me” heels that glistened with every subtle movement she made in her step.

On Taffy's immediate left was Garden Grove, who was as tall as Taffy. Her long, wavy, turquoise blue hair stood in a high ponytail, with two more locks framing her face. Her Malibu blue eyes complemented her gentle, almost seductive smile as she watched Pyra walk towards the group. Garden shared the same height and asset measurements as Taffy and wore a bright, lime-green 2-piece bikini. The top wrapped around her back and tied off with a ribbon that was so narrow it showed off plenty of inner and outer sideboob. The bottom was a thong that rode high over her bikini lines and was translucent at both ends, leaving an opaque, diamond-shaped patch to cover her crotch. It tied off over her hips with the same thin ribbon knots as the top. For her footwear, Garden stood on a pair of lime green high-heeled platform sandals trimmed with highlighter yellow pinstripes along the base of the soles and over the straps.

Standing to the far right of the group was Cold Forecast, the third woman in the ensemble to share the same height and asset sizes as the previous two. Unlike Taffy and Garden, she wore her waist-length hair down in almost straight locks that bowed outward slightly before curving back inwards at the ends. Her heliotrope eyes and face carried a welcoming smile as she watched her senior colleague at work on set. She donned a dark chrome green, asymmetrical one-piece suspended by a single strap over her right shoulder and held together by a sturdy metal clip behind her upper back. The twist on her swimsuit was that it had two large elliptical cutouts, one on the front that exposed the underside of her breasts and her flat belly down to the top of her crotch while leaving just enough material to cover her intimate parts, and the other behind that left her entire back exposed before closing off at the bottom, leaving her Dimples of Venus and about 3cm of her butt crack visible. She completed her look with matching chrome green, knee-high stiletto boots with diamond-patterned cutouts that gradually increased in size from the ankle up.

The third woman standing to Pyra’s left and Garden Grove’s was Varsity Trim, who stood at 178cm tall with slightly smaller assets than the previous two, with a 155cm bust, 53cm waist, and 80cm hips. Her eminence-coloured, amethyst-highlighted hair was in a high, poodle-permed, shoulder-length ponytail. Despite her efforts to remain confident for her upcoming turn in the photoshoot, Varsity still had a light blush on her face from the embarrassment of wearing a skimpy swimsuit that showed off more skin than she was comfortable with. Occasionally, her Casablanca eyes would glance at random corners of the studio to check for any signs of peeping Toms who might have sneaked in, despite the studio’s private booking to prevent such interference. She was one of the few who kept her robe on, though she left it open for her cue to step on stage, revealing a cream-coloured, strapless 2-piece bikini with violet roses embroidered over the surface. The top consisted of two 6cm wide bands of waterproof fabric that wrapped around her breasts, just covering her areola and nipples. They were held together from behind by a metal clip like Cold Forecast’s 1-piece while being joined at the front by a single gold hoop that showed what little cleavage Varsity had left to hide. Her thong had a G-string that was buried in the crack of her heart-shaped butt and a small triangle of fabric to cover her crotch, the side strings held together above her hips by a pair of gold hoops to match the top. She wore glittery white "Fuck Me" heels like Taffy.

To the right of Cold Forecast stood Orange Sherbette, who was in the same height and measurements group as Varsity Trim. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she stood with a bright smile and wide, heliotrope eyes. Her tango hair was completely down and neatly curled at the ends. She wore a custom-made, orange 1-piece slingkini with spaghetti straps over her shoulders, each splitting into two to hold up circular fabric patches that covered her nipples, each embroidered with a marigold flower. The bottom halves of the patches were joined by a Y-string that converged over her navel, joined by a silver hoop, before expanding into an oblong diamond over and under her crotch. As the fabric narrowed once more into a string and travelled up her buttcrack, it diverged at her lower back, connected by another silver hoop before finally returning to the straps that started at her shoulders. She wore platform sandals similar to Garden Grove's, but hers were yellow with orange cross-straps that ran up her shins, ending just below her knee.

Continuing from Varsity’s left was Ginger Owsleye. With the exact measurements as the former and Orange, she possessed straight, waist-length purple heart hair with bangs that completely covered her eyebrows and bright turquoise eyes that bore a reasonably neutral expression despite the light blush on her face. Her arms crossed under her ample breasts, which were covered only by a single strip of waterproof fabric secured at the back and front by two silver hoops, similar to Varsity’s. Still, it was part of a one-piece swimsuit that also had another long strip of fabric that descended vertically down over her crotch and under her buttcrack before climbing up the centre of her back and joining the back hoop. The front ring was suspended by a spaghetti halter strap wrapped around the back of Ginger’s neck, making the entire swimsuit resemble the “Ankh” hieroglyph from the front. In addition, it was coloured bright turquoise to match her eyes, with small, highlighter blue owl's eye flowers (her namesake) dotting the surface. Ginger’s footwear was a tad more modest than what the rest of her colleagues wore: simple purple stiletto sandals.

The 4th woman joining the measurements group with Varsity Trim, Orange Sherbette, and Ginger Owlseye was Diwata Aino, who stood with her hands on her hips to the right of Orange, with a smile that was just as bright. Her cerise red and cranberry-striped hair was tied into a high ponytail, much like Garden’s, except it was curled upwards at about shoulder length, leaving no visible ends. Her eyes were purple to contrast her fair complexion. Over her voluptuous figure, she wore a 1-piece like Cold, Orange, and Ginger for the photoshoot. However, hers was raspberry red and consisted of a spaghetti halter strap that wrapped around the back of her neck, crossed over the front of her collarbone while cascading down and expanding slightly to cover her nipples, and then converged just at the top of her buttcrack before going in and under her crotch, only to diverge again at the top of her lower slit and finally loop high over her bikini line to join with the section that initially travelled round to her back after passing over her breasts. Diwata wore knee-high stiletto platform boots whose colour matched her swimsuit, with highlighter yellow straps securing them.

4th in the exact measurements group as Taffy, Garden, and Cold was Crystal Lullaby, who stood on Ginger’s left, tall and feminine, with her hands clasped in front of her. She had done her electric violet, medium purple highlighted hair in a high, shoulder-length ponytail styled into a single octocurl that spiralled down to the end, complete with a parted fringe that showed off her slender eyebrows. Her emerald eyes were half-lidded in a serene expression with a small smile. Crystal wore a glossy, silver-trimmed, strapless 2-piece bikini, where the top was a stretched infinity symbol that covered her nipples and areola while leaving the rest of her breasts exposed above and below. 2 strips of waterproof fabric extended out of either end of the front to wrap around her upper back before being joined at the centre with a matching silver buckle. Meanwhile, the bottom consisted of a singular patch of fabric covering her slit that was rounded at the top and narrowed into a string as it passed under her crotch and up through her buttcrack before splitting in a “Y” pattern high over her hips. The front and back of the bottom were connected by a set of strings joined by a pair of silver hoops at the peak of the hips. What little surface area of fabric on Crystal’s bikini had glossy, sand blue sequins that sparkled whenever her breasts jiggled and her hips swayed. She wore the same platform sandals in satin silver as Orange Sherbette.

The 5th woman in the measurements group alongside Varsity, Orange, Ginger, and Diwata was Melon Mint, who stood to Diwata’s right as a bold, sassy individual with straight, waist-length, mandy-coloured hair and bangs that were slightly shorter than Ginger’s, complimented by her lipstick eyes, which closely matched her hair. Her swimwear was a strapless, mint green-trimmed, watermelon pink 1-piece vaguely shaped like the letter “I” from the front. The top was a narrow band of fabric covering her areola, which wrapped around the front and back. Another strip of fabric stemmed down the front to connect the top with the bottom, which had enough material to cover her crotch as it narrowed over the hips and into a G-string down her buttcrack. Her feet bore the same “Fuck Me” heels as Taffy and Garden in mint green to match her trim.

Standing on Crystal's left side was Alizarin Bubblegum, the group's youngest member. She stood 169cm tall with radical red hair, green-yellow eyes, a 140cm bust, a 54cm waist, and 80cm hips. She embarrassedly held her arm, wearing a revealing swimsuit underneath her open robe. The two-piece microkini was the same colour as her eyes, featuring heart-shaped patches of fabric that barely covered her nipples and slit. The microkini was held in place by spaghetti strings tied off in bows behind her neck, back, and hips. She wore platform sandals on her feet that were also radical red with additional heart patterns running across the sides of the soles.

Last but not least, the eldest of the Crystal Prep supermodels stood in the centre of the row, Fleur des Lis. She shared the same measurements as Taffy, Garden, Cold, and Crystal but stood taller than them at 188cm. Her French lilac hair was rich and silky, with tutu highlights reaching her waist and gradually curling upward. Her beautiful face wore a stoic expression, and her purple heart-shaped eyes seemed focused on the floor before her as if deep in thought. She had her arms crossed under her large breasts, slightly pushing them up. Her swimsuit was a glittery, light silver slingkini with a string hoop around her neck fastened from behind by a single gold buckle. Two more strings in front held up leaf-shaped fabric patches that were just wide enough to cover her nipples and areola before converging over her crotch and continuing up her buttcrack. They then split in 2 just as they emerged to meet with either end of the neck strap. Fleur wore dark purple platform-heel boots with two elongated strips of latex running up the front and back of her legs, ending halfway up her thighs. These were held together by silver cross laces, leaving plenty of skin exposed down the sides.

The supermodels stepped forward to gather around Pyra as she continued to wipe the rest of her upper body down from the ordeal. Their heels clopped against the hard floor, and the cold white studio lights reflected off their skin and swimwear, causing both to glisten tantalisingly.

“I must say, Pyra, Photo Finish has been on fire this week, and so have you!” Garden Grove began. “I haven’t seen her this lively until you came along.”

Taffy Shade rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “Oh, please, Garden, when is she not lively?” she asked, playfully elbowing her friend’s arm. “Photo’s the kind of woman who works her models until they drop to churn out all the pictures she can get. Sure, it’s difficult, but we look great doing it. Just look!” she gestured to a framed portrait of herself among the others on the far wall, sitting on a ledge in skimpy black lingerie, striking a seductive pose with a hand lifting her hair and a stocking-covered leg crossed over. “It’s like no matter how tired or flustered we get in the process, she always manages to make us photogenic!” Taffy finished, wrapping her arm behind Garden’s bare shoulders.

The other girls chimed in with enthusiastic agreement, their voices filling the room, except for Varsity, Ginger, and Alizarin, who simply blushed harder at the memory of the last lingerie photoshoot they sat through.

“W-well, antics aside…I’ve been wondering about something,” Alizarin said as she returned to Pyra. “You’ve barely broken a sweat after how much Photo Finish has pushed you over the past few weeks. Anyone aside from us would have dropped dead after 3 days, so how do you do it?”

Pyra smiled down at the young redhead. “It’s simpler than you think, sweetie,” she answered. “I’ve had a long history of working out during my free time in my youth, and I’ve had lots of free time.” She giggled briefly at the last part. “But seriously, it’s helped me greatly through Photo’s sessions, which are a workout in themselves."

Pyra raised an affectionate hand and laid it on Alizarin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry too much about Photo Finish. She may be wild and eccentric, but she takes her job seriously. You’ll get used to it. Besides…” She ran her free hand over her shallow six-pack with a smirk. “...her photoshoots do wonders for your figure. Isn’t that right, Fleur?”

Pyra had turned to Fleur, but to her surprise, the woman in question hadn’t joined the group during their conversation. Instead, she stood back from the other supermodels, eyes on the floor, arms crossed, and face slightly flushed as she was distracted by her thoughts. Raising an eyebrow, Pyra walked over in front of Fleur as the other women watched in confusion.

“Fleur?” the disguised Dragoness called, even patting the pale supermodel on the shoulder, but still, no answer came.

“Hello, Equestria to Fleur des Lis! Come in!” Pyra called a little louder, raising her hand before Fleur's face and repeatedly snapping her fingers.

“Huh!?” Fleur yelped as she jumped back slightly, finally having been yanked back to reality. “Wh-what is it?”

“You haven’t moved since Pyra’s photoshoot started, and you looked pretty spaced out, too,” Orange Sherbette explained with a hint of concern. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, yes, yes, I’m fine,” Fleur almost stuttered her answer as she looked away awkwardly, her face still flushed. “I was just…thinking, that’s all.”

Crystal Lullaby raised a sceptical eyebrow at her reply. “About what, Fleur?” she asked. “It certainly can’t be the photoshoot. You're much too confident about those.”

Now, the pink-haired Prenchwoman began to feel cornered. “Umm…w-well, I was th… I was th-think-”

“Oh, I think I know just what she’s thinking about, girls,” Pyra said, her smirk widening as she crossed her arms. “I’ll sum it up in two words: Fancy Pants.”

Everyone in the group who wasn’t Pyra or Fleur gasped, and their eyes widened at the revelation.

“Wait!” Cold Forecast began. “Fancy Pants, the businessman? That Fancy Pants?”

“The very one,” Pyra confirmed.

The girls slowly turned back to Fleur as she stood frozen to the spot, her face bright red the moment Pyra uttered Fancy Pants's name. The initially shocked expressions on the faces of Taffy, Garden, Cold, Melon, Orange, Diwata, and Crystal were quickly replaced by massive, amused grins.

Orange ran over to Fleur. "Hey Fleur, come to think of it, you and Fancy have talked quite a bit lately. Are you 2 dating now?" she asked, her tone curious and friendly.

Melon Mint stepped over to Fleur's side and put her arm around her shoulder. "It's so nice to see you interested in someone, Fleur. You've always been so focused on your career and studies that we were starting to think you weren't interested in dating at all," she said with a warm smile.

Fleur blushed at the attention but shook her head. "N-no, we're just friends. We enjoy each other's company and have some common interests," she explained.

Cold raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Just friends with a handsome guy like Fancy? Come on, spill the tea, Fleur," she joked.

Taffy giggled, but Pyra cut in before anyone else could ask more questions. "Alright, that's enough, girls. Let's give Fleur some space and respect her privacy," she said firmly, and the group nodded.

Sensing more attention from behind her, she turned around to see the slightly disturbed and concerned expressions of Photo Finish’s crew alongside Photo’s confused one, all of whom had been interrupted by the commotion.

“Don’t worry, we were just discussing Fleur’s little crush,” Pyra assured them.

To that, Photo simply shrugged before telling her crew to get back to work.

Pyra then walked over to Fleur and continued. “Seriously, Fleur. All teasing aside, I’ve been in love myself for long enough to know all the signs. From what I’ve gathered, you’ve just about ignored every boy who has tried to court you until Fancy came along. When I see you talking with him from a distance, I’ve never seen you happier. You smile whenever you’re in his company, you laugh with him, not to mention you’re blushing all the while.” A few of the other supermodels giggled at that last point. “And when he needs to leave, you walk away as if floating on air, practically giddy with joy from the ordeal.”

A few seconds of silence followed, and Fleur took a deep, shaky breath before exhaling hard and hanging her head in defeat.

“Oh, alright, I confess,” she groaned. “I do have a crush on Fancy Pants.”

Fleur then clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for even more teasing. Instead, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw Pyra’s compassionate smile.

“Chin up, young lady. We were just joking around,” Pyra spoke. “If you’re truly in love with Fancy Pants, then we’re all happy that you are.”

“Of course!” Varsity agreed. “By all means, don’t stop going after your man! He will be honoured to date a supermodel like you.”

“You got that right,” Taffy chimed in. “And you know what else comes with dating a supermodel?” she asked Fleur with a sly grin. “Free sexy photo albums! All. Year. Round.”

Somehow, Fleur found herself chuckling at that remark by her blonde companion.

Ginger Owlseye decided to give her input as well. “You’ll even have another source of motivation to continue modelling. Not just because you enjoy it, but also because you’ll finally have someone to continue your passion for!”

Ginger’s encouragement earned another round of agreement from the rest of the women in the group.

Fleur looked at them all with a heartfelt smile on her fair complexion. “Thank you, girls,” she answered with sincerity. “Truly.”

“Fleur!” came Photo’s call right at that moment. “You are up next!”

“Oh, that’s my cue,” Fleur remarked, stepping forward as she looked back at her friends. “I’ll talk with you later!” With that, Fleur strode onto the newly rearranged stage, posture straight as an arrow, head held high as she put on the confident front for which she had become famous.

The remaining models watched as Photo began to drill Fleur through several different poses quickly. She flashed her camera repeatedly, smiles adorning their faces for Fleur’s newfound love. Pyra had the biggest smile among them, for she had grown to like Fleur as a close friend despite being hundreds of generations apart. At that moment, she silently wished that Fleur’s and Fancy’s love would grow to bloom just as brightly as hers did for Spurn when they first hooked up.

1126hrs, Drake Security Inc., Spike’s Office

“Hmmm…maybe if I try rearranging the resistors, then placing another transistor here…”

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Click!*

“Simulation running…”

“ERROR: Excessive Resistance - No voltage in the following components,” came the program’s voice reading out the verdict of the simulation test.

Taking a deep breath, Spike took the mouse and keyboard in his hands and tried again.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Click!*

“Simulation running…”

“ERROR: Voltage detected in the ground - Circuit overvolted.”

There was a pause as Spike’s brow began to furrow in his growing frustration with his inability to correct the circuit layout in the control system for one of his latest projects. Once he collected himself, he made another attempt to fix the layout.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* *Click!*

“Simulation running…”

…

“WARNING: Output sensitivity is high, which may result in excessive speed from affected servos.”

Spike let out a long, agitated groan as he propped his elbows up on the desk and clutched the sides of his head. For the past 2 hours, he had tried to resolve the same issue of configuring the circuits in the program before transferring the configuration to the hardware down inside the Ordnance Facility. Yet, the Emerald Dragon had not yielded any positive results. He glared at his computer screen again, eyeing the digital electronic diagram in the centre with mild anger and great confusion.

“This software’s been giving me nothing but negative feedback messages every time I try something different!” he silently vented to himself. “What am I doing wrong!?”

*Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock! Knock!*

Spike was jolted back to reality when he heard knocking at his office door. After taking a second to compose himself, he called out, “Come in!”

The door swung open to reveal Aphrodisia, wearing her usual sultry smile in her boss’s presence, as she stepped through the frame with her tablet cradled in her arms. Shifting her grip, the Succubus freed a hand to reach out and shut the door behind her. The tall slab of ebony wood swung shut with an audible “Click!”.

Spike blushed ever so slightly as he saw the tablet his secretary held press against the lower half of her left breast through her blouse. The large, fleshy orb was pushing so hard that it threatened to burst through the soft fabric. Still, the seemingly delicate material held under such pressure that Aphrodisia reached the front of the desk.

“The HR department has just finished assessing the interviews following the latest batch of applicants for the ‘Robotics Engineer’ role,” Aphrodisia relayed. “However, we only have 1 outstanding applicant from the 22 who applied.”

Spike raised an eyebrow at this. Many high-scoring graduates have had close competition when hunting for jobs at Drake Security over the years in which the company existed. Hence, it was unusual for him to see only 1 candidate for any job past the interview phase.

“Really?” he asked. “Which one was it?”

Aphrodisia opened her tablet’s folder and navigated to the “Private Interview Shortlist” section. “It’s a 22-year-old Canterlot University Graduate who goes by the name ‘Micro Chips,” she answered as she sent a copy to Spike to read for himself on his desktop monitor.

The document of Micro Chips’s resume opened up with his photo in the top left corner of the page, which presented a skinny young man with short blue bayoux and waikawa grey hair that stood wavy and high above his brow. In addition, his eyes were black under his thick-rimmed glasses, and his jawline tapered. In the photo, he sat facing square to the camera, wearing a calm smile. Below his photo lay the rest of the details on his resume:

MICRO CHIPS

Executive Summary:

Open to new challenges.
Values teamwork and independence.
Able to solve problems.

Contacts:

Mobile No.: +XXX XXXX XXXX XX
Telephone No.: +XXX XXXX XXXX XX
Email: microchips@eqmail.com

Education:

Canterlot University (Mar 2017 - Feb 2021)
- Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical & Robotics Engineering
- GPA: 4.8/5.0
Starswirl Polytechnic (Jun 2014 - May 2016)
- Diploma in Computer Engineering
- GPA: 3.91/4.0

Work Experience:

Academic Internship Programme (AIP) - Hyper Dynamix Pte Ltd, Assistant Robotics Programmer (Intern) (Mar 2020 - Aug 2020)
- Assisted in programming the AAS (Advanced Augmentation System) 2000 Series industrial robots.
- Assigned to a project to debug the processing codes for the AAS-2400 robotic arms before shipment.
- Performed hardware and software troubleshooting during the robot’s testing phases.
- Designed electronic circuits for the AAS 2000 series CPUs.

Skills:

Computer programming
Electronic circuit design
Computer-Aided Design (CAD)

Spike spent a moment in thought as he read through the resume’s details a few more times. He had to admit that the high GPA scores were impressive, while not impossible to achieve for anyone. He then looked back up at his secretary.

“He appears to have a significant educational and work experience background,” Spike commented. “More surprising to learn that he’s the only one in this batch to make it to the shortlist.”

“Indeed,” Aphrodisia agreed, her sultry tone slipping through her supple lips. She then leaned closer and propped her hands on the edge of the desk, her clothed mammaries now squished between her biceps. “So, stud, when shall we schedule the next interview?”

Spike’s blush deepened at the little show Aphrodisia was putting on, but answered her question. “We’ll need to find a time slot next month for that. It will give both sides more than enough time to prepare everything. We’ll discuss the exact date at a later time.”

Aphrodisia’s smile grew at his answer. “Consider it settled, then,” she replied before straightening herself and slowly sashayed around the desk to join her boss from behind. The sound of her shoes clopping against the hard floor rang throughout the soundproofed room in the 10 seconds she took to reach the chair. She slipped a hand behind Spike’s back and planted it on his far shoulder as the monitor screen caught her eye.

“How’s your big presentation coming along?” Aphrodisia asked sweetly. “You’ve been pretty eager to get everything right lately for when the Aetheris sisters come to visit next week.”

“That’s the thing. For the most part, everything in the presentation slides has been completed and proofread, and all of the prototypes involved have been assembled and debugged,” Spike sighed as he pointed to the screen. “Except for this one: The Tumbler’s weapons control system. I’ve been trying to rewire the entire circuit for half the morning to ensure that everything receives optimal power with no risks of overloading or underloading. Still, the program’s been giving me nothing but errors and warnings throughout.” he slumped against the backrest of his chair, wiping his face with his hand as a gesture of frustration. “I just can’t see how I can’t resolve this problem.”

Curiously, Aphrodisia looked up at her boss’s monitor, which displayed the simulation program window and, within, the circuit diagram in question. She only needed a few more seconds before asking, “Hmmm…did you try arranging them like this?”

The dark-skinned Succubus took Spike’s keyboard and mouse into her hands and adjusted the components’ positions throughout the circuit and their respective functions. A few clicks of the keyboard and mouse later, she hit the “Run Simulation” button.

“Simulation running…”

“Simulation complete. No excessive/insufficient loading detected in the circuit; no voltage detected in the ground; circuit performance is nominal.”

Spike’s eyes widened as he studied the configuration his secretary had developed before him. “Of course!” he exclaimed, mentally kicking himself. “Why didn't I think of doing that?”

Aphrodisia smiled as she turned and sat on the edge of Spike’s desk to face him and crossed her legs over. “The best solution to a problem is often the easiest one, Stud, and even the best people overlook such things.” She slowly leaned closer to him. “That’s why no one can truly work alone without a sliver of help to nudge them in the right direction.” She punctuated her sentence by cupping the far side of Spike’s face and pulling him in to kiss his cheek, which he quietly accepted. Aphrodisia couldn’t suppress a lustful giggle when she pulled away a full second later.

"Aph, I have to admit, despite being somewhat used to your flirtations, you do bring up a good point," Spike said with a small smile and a shake of his head. "I appreciate your help, even if I sometimes don't need it."

“Ohoho, stop it, Spike! You’re making me blush!” Aphrodisia giggled, fingers pressed to her lips in mock suppression of her laughter.

*Ding!*

That was when the duo were interrupted by the notification bell on Spike’s laptop, signalling the start of lunch break. Spike quickly reached for his mouse to acknowledge the alarm and close the adjacent pop-up before locking his computer and rising from his chair. He then turned back to Aphrodisia.

“Would you care to join me for lunch?” he asked politely.

Ever wanting to be close to the handsome young Dragon, Aphrodisia grinned at Spike’s invitation. “Of course,” came her answer. “When would I not?”

She wrapped her arm around his elbow as they made their way to the door and out of the office, briskly making their way to the nearest lift to take them downstairs.

1132hrs, Bistro Junction, A few blocks away from Drake Security Inc.

Spike and Aphrodisia arrived at Bistro Junction, a few blocks from Drake Security Inc. They walked together along the wide, slate-paved walkway that led 150m towards the large fountain in the centre of the junction, surrounded by 3 more walkways that joined at the fountain's position in a radial pattern. Only a few people occupied the otherwise empty aisles, including pairs or groups of people sitting on the benches along the sides as they chatted, couples walking hand-in-hand while drinking in the scenery or searching for a suitable restaurant for lunch, and the occasional parent bringing their children for an eventful outing.

As the name implied, restaurants of all varieties lined the entire ground floor on either side of each of the main strips, with a mixture of restaurants, bars, and shops filling the remaining space above throughout the 4-storey, 4-building complex. Above the ground spanned a system of bridges that connected the upper floors of each building, providing convenient access to all shoppers who crossed back and forth in their search for the next hottest item on the market.

It was around this time when the Food and Beverage hub remained especially quiet on the weekdays, as Spike and Aphrodisia took this opportunity to take a walk to one of their usual places to eat before the lunchtime crowd could come flooding in to fill the outlets to bursting point. A few more seconds of walking later, they arrived at one of the restaurants in question.

To their left, occupying the 1st and 2nd floor, was a reasonably sized bistro named “Brewed Delights”. The entire facade of the restaurant block was a dark, earthly green with alabaster accents framing the windows. The windows comprised wide, untinted panes that spanned from 60cm above the floor and stopped at the same distance from the ceiling, allowing plenty of natural light to enter the spacious interior. Only a few tables had been occupied at this hour by fellow early birds who wanted to beat the crowd to a nice, leisurely meal, eating and conversing under the warm LED light that illuminated the restaurant floor. Combined with the sweet aroma of freshly prepared food, Brewed Delights had a cosy, welcoming atmosphere that could draw in hundreds to thousands of customers for years.

Spike and Aphrodisia glanced at the queue line, marked by matching earth-green belt stanchions. They saw the empty line and headed straight for the reception counter. A staff member was operating the computer and the cash register, and as both Boss and Secretary approached, they could hear the soft tapping sounds of the waiter typing away at the keyboard. The waiter looked up and noticed their footsteps approaching from his peripheral vision.

“Welcome back, Mr Drake! It's great to see you again,” the waiter said with a smile. Would you like a table for 2?”

“Yes, please. On the second floor, next to the window, if possible,” Spike replied politely.

“Certainly, right this way,” the waiter responded, pulling out a fresh box of cutlery and serviettes from under the counter and gesturing towards the stairs.

Spike and Aphrodisia saw the restaurant's interior as they followed the waiter up the stairs to the second floor. The area was decorated in the same style as the ground floor, with neatly arranged rows of laminated rosewood tables occupying the centre. Dark brown leather-lined dining chairs with brass-plated stainless steel frames surrounded them. Against the wall were more rosewood tables, each bolted to the floor through a single post that acted as their stem. They had wraparound dining benches with leather upholstery, standing side by side in a neat line to the extreme corners. The tables adjacent to the window, Spike and Aphrodisia's destination, were of similar construction but smaller, with straight, back-to-back benches on either side. All the chairs, benches, and tables wore the same upholstery.

Once the waiter had placed their cutlery on the tabletop, he stepped away to allow Spike and Aphrodisia to take their seats facing each other. Spike reached toward the tablet on the table by the window and pressed the button to unlock it. As soon as the menu flashed onto the screen, Spike turned to his secretary and said, "After you, Aph," gesturing to the tablet.

Smiling at the offer to go first, Aphrodisia reached for the touchscreen with her finger and spent the next minute browsing the sections until finally settling on Bangers 'n Mash. After she finished, Spike took his turn to do the same, eventually deciding to order the beef stew. With both dishes confirmed, Spike clicked the "Place Order" button, sending their orders straight to the kitchen.

Aphrodisia took the next few moments to carefully scan the rest of the room that they were in. Since it was still early in the lunch period, no one else was seated on the same level as them, at least not within earshot. Having confirmed that it was safe to start their discussion, the orange-haired Succubus turned back to her boss.

Aphrodisia lowered her voice as she remarked, "Isn't it funny how I've known and worked with you for so long, yet I've never seen you mingle with any women, whether inside or outside the company or your little militia? I guess I'm your closest thing to a girlfriend, and I'm just your secretary."

Spike suppressed a heavy sigh, anticipating where the conversation was heading. "Come on, Aph, do we have to talk about this now?" he replied dryly. "It's bad enough that my mothers have been teasing me about it for years. I don't need you adding to the stress."

Aphrodisia pouted, saying, "I'm just saying, Spike. You've been a bachelor for over a millennium, so it makes some sense that Barbara and Pyra are trying to encourage you to hook up, even if you don’t completely agree with their current methods. Even I can see that it's time you broaden your horizons."

Spike's gaze drifted down to the table as he considered his words. After a few moments of thought, he looked at his secretary and said, "Alright, as much as I don't like to admit it, I have to agree with you. But as much as I would like to talk with more girls, please understand that I want to fulfil a promise I made to my father: to make him proud."

Seeing the serious expression on Spike's face, Aphrodisia nodded sympathetically; she knew what Spike was talking about. To this day, it still pained the young dragon to recall Spurn's final words to him before he gave his life to save his family from The Purge all those centuries ago. However, Spike remained determined to honour his father's last wish for him.

"And to make him proud, I want to achieve what failed so long ago," Spike continued. "I'm going to earn their trust back by protecting their people in places where they can't do so themselves. Their knowledge of demons has now been reduced to mythology, making it much easier for me to prove that our races aren't so different from each other and that they were wrong to assume otherwise."

Aphrodisia's smile returned when she placed a comforting hand on her boss's wrist. "I know you will succeed," she replied. "And I know that no matter what else you do in life, you could never stray from your goals if you tried. Besides, having a lover or more will bring you more support. Speaking of which..." She leaned closer to him across the table, her clothed breasts pressed against the edge in the process. "Despite all the flirting, teasing, and free kisses I've given you, I'm amazed that we're not an official couple by now. If you'd like a kickstart to your love life, I could be your first," she added with her usual lusty titter.

Spike remained stoic towards Aphrodisia’s antics, but inwardly, he was amused by her offer. “I won’t lie, Aph, I am tempted by your offer, but we need to remember that you are my secretary at work,” he explained. “If we were to try to advance our relationship beyond now, I’m afraid the rest of my employees may not take it well. At best, they’ll think I’m giving you special treatment whenever we’re alone. At worst, rumours could spread to our competition, who could use them to slander my image. I’d rather avoid any potential legal issues from that.”

“They don’t need to know about what we do privately,” Aphrodisia assured him. “Even if they did find out we were together, we both know that we have no bad intentions. But I'm not your only option if you want to pursue a relationship. Why not start with someone else, like a pink-haired zookeeper you recently met?” She smirked slyly, nodding in the direction of the stairs. “Just a thought.”

Spike raised an eyebrow and turned towards the staircase to see who Aphrodisia was referring to. To his surprise, he saw Fluttershy, the young woman he had rescued from the Canterlot Ravens the week before. This time, however, she wasn't accompanied by her colleague, Fauna, but instead by a group of 7 other gorgeous women who followed her closely to a table in the back corner. Spike recognised them all immediately from The Den's database and social media.

Fluttershy had dressed modestly for the day, wearing a plain white cotton T-shirt with a cartoonish teal green cat's head printed on the front and back. However, the size of her bust caused the shirt to stretch tightly over her chest. She paired the T-shirt with coral pink shorts that extended halfway down her thighs, offering comfort and freedom of movement without showing too much leg. Her feet had white shin-length socks and teal flat-soled shoes that matched her shirt. A single azalea pink butterfly barrette pinned back the left side of her hair, which flowed down her back in gentle waves. Despite her friends closely escorting her to the table, Fluttershy's nervous expression revealed the lingering trauma of her recent near-rape experience, reminding Spike of her need for a safe and supportive environment for her recovery.

Accompanying Fluttershy’s left was her childhood friend and Rainbooms lead guitarist, Rainbow Dash, a young officer and one of the youngest pilots to become a member of the Wonderbolts, an elite branch of the Equestrian Air Force. Spike noticed Rainbow had just returned from camp, still wearing her standard-issue military field uniform. The base of the uniform was light azure, with random patches of sand and navy blue in a pixellated camouflage pattern. Rainbow had neatly folded her sleeves inward above her biceps, with the cuffs flat over the rest of the material. The uniform had numerous pockets sewn in every possible location on her shirt and pants. Above her left chest pocket, 2 military award patches stood in place: the first patch, rectangular and navy blue, had a satin silver shield with a gunmetal grey lightning bolt in the centre, wrapped in a silver wreath with wings on both sides. The second patch was identical in design but in satin yellow gold and placed on top of the first. On her right sleeve, a square velcro patch held her Wonderbolts formation badge, which was sand blue and bordered in light azure. The badge displayed the Wonderbolts logo, a large winged lightning bolt embroidered in satin yellow gold, encircled by a sky-blue ring overlaid by a yellow gold wreath with a matching ribbon at the bottom, bearing the Wonderbolts' slogan, "Altius Volantis," in black block letters. On her right thigh pocket, her yellow wool beret peeked out with the Equestrian Air Force logo clipped in place, featuring a flat gold disc with a reared-up silver alicorn, embraced by a pair of silver wings, all sitting in a flat gold wreath cradle. Rainbow's black military boots, also standard-issue, were well-polished. She held a protective arm around Fluttershy when they came up the stairs.

Spike couldn't help but notice that Rainbow had the smallest measurements of the entire group, with a 150cm bust, a 55cm waist, and 70cm hips. Even so, her figure would still look impressive by human standards, especially under her uniform, which radiated discipline and athleticism as she moved.

Accompanying Fluttershy on her right side was Sunset Shimmer, the rhythm guitarist and oldest member of The Rainbooms. Sunset's waist-length hair was a fiery pomegranate red, with Portica yellow highlights flowing down her back and shoulders in shallow waves. Her vibrant, spray-green eyes, alert for potential threats, scanned the room with focus. She wore a teal-coloured T-shirt that hugged her 164cm bust, featuring a single spinning, flaming wheel printed in the centre. Sunset wore a black leather jacket with red and orange accents on the shoulders to complete her outfit, left open to reveal her shirt. Her lower half had form-fitting, dark charcoal-grey cotton pants held by a black leather belt with a shiny yellow-gold buckle that emphasised her 55cm waist and 79cm hips. Bright orange shin-high socks and thick black ankle-high trainers with orange accents completed her ensemble.

Following closely behind Fluttershy, Sunset, and Rainbow were the remaining members of the girl group: Twilight Sparkle, Applejack Apple, Pinkie Pie, Rarity Belle, and Starlight Glimmer.

In the middle of the group walked Twilight Sparkle, an Archmage and backup guitarist of the Rainbooms. She held the distinction of being the second oldest member of the band and the third oldest among their circle of friends. Her waist-length, straight hair was a striking shade of astronaut purple, with perfectly flat bangs that grazed her eyebrows. Two skunk stripes, one in eminence purple and the other in French rose, adorned the right side of her head. Her eyes matched the eminence purple skunk stripe. Twilight's attire was more modest compared to Sunset and Rainbow. She wore a baby blue blouse with short, poofy sleeves that delicately covered her shoulders. The blouse's single chest pocket bulged slightly, accentuated by Twilight's 164cm bust. Her 55cm waist and 76cm hips wore an eminence purple knee-length skirt secured by a custom-made dark purple belt with a 6-pointed star buckle in French rose. French rose ankle-high socks and polished black leather buckle shoes completed her outfit.

Walking to Twilight's left were Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Applejack, the bassist of the Rainbooms, had a slightly tanned complexion compared to the other girls, with a few freckles adorning the peaks of her cheekbones. Her Texas yellow-blonde hair featured an upward-swept fringe at the front, while the rest cascaded straight down to the top of her waist. The last few centimetres tied off with a red band to keep the strands from flying in the wind. Perched atop her head was a Tusson brown Stetson, a trademark accessory rarely seen off her head. Her mantis green eyes glistened under the restaurant's light, revealing a neutral expression as she followed the group. A red and white plaid shirt, with the top button undone and sleeves rolled up to her elbows, concealed her 167cm bust. She paired it with skintight blue jeans that hugged her 55cm waist and 75cm hips, held in place by a maroon belt with a silver buckle. Completing her ensemble were ankle-high Tusson brown cowgirl boots, matching her Stetson.

Pinkie Pie walked with a subtle bounce in her step and a cheerful expression in her spray blue eyes, bringing her energetic presence as the band's drummer. Her French rose hair bore large, poofy curls resembling cotton candy. It cascaded freely over the front and back of her head, reaching the top of her bubble-shaped posterior without any knots. Her top revealed a bit more skin compared to her friends' outfits. She wore a pastel pink off-shoulder blouse with short puff sleeves, resting low over her 169cm breasts and accentuating her deep cleavage. Pinkie opted not to wear a bra, adding to the allure of strapless tops. The blouse followed the contours of her 55cm waist and ended just above her navel. Her 83cm hips filled out the form-fitting, azure blue booty shorts she had chosen for the day. Unlike the others, Pinkie didn't wear a belt. Her feet had shin-high pastel yellow socks, emerging from azure ankle-length sneakers with flat soles and white trim.

Walking to Twilight's right were Rarity and Starlight Glimmer. Rarity, the Rainbooms' keyboardist, was widely regarded as the band's most beautiful member, drawing admiration from both men and women on social media. Her butterfly bush purple hair was meticulously curled at the ends, featuring a long side fringe that gracefully hung just above one of her sparkling Boston blue eyes. The rest of her hair cascaded down her back, reaching past her waist. Her eyes bore her favourite blizzard blue eyeshadow, complemented by long, curly eyelashes that fluttered with each blink. Rarity's outfit showcased her signature style, starting with an asymmetrical satin white blouse. It had one long puff sleeve that encased her right arm, extending halfway over her forearm. She accessorised with seven silver bangles adorning her right wrist and a silver-plated smartwatch on her left. The blouse covered her 165cm breasts, displaying no sign of a bra from the bare shoulders. It hung loosely above her navel, leaving more of her 55cm waist exposed compared to Pinkie's outfit. Rarity wore dark blue ankle-length tights that hugged her lower body, accentuating every curve, from her 72cm hips to her peach-shaped derriere and long, slender thighs. The tights ended at her ankles, just above her black open-toed stilettos. Alongside the two side pockets in her tights, Rarity carried her belongings in a matte silver purse, gracefully slung over her shoulder as she walked with her friends.

Last but not least was the only non-Rainboom member of the group, Starlight Glimmer. Her studio purple hair, adorned with water leaf green highlights, was elegantly styled in a neat beehive, with the ends flowing in shallow waves down to her upper back. Not tied back, a small section of hair formed an upcurled side fringe that framed her portage purple eyes. Starlight wore a simple aquamarine T-shirt embellished with a glossy, yellow-gold meteor shower print, accentuating her 169cm bust. The fabric contoured to her breasts as she moved. The T-shirt ended just above her navel, revealing a similar amount of midriff as Pinkie's attire. Complementing the top, Starlight donned a pair of charcoal grey skinny jeans that hugged her 77cm hips and were secured around her 54cm waist by a black leather belt. The belt featured a custom buckle resembling Twilight's, with a wisteria purple 4-pointed star overlaid on a white 4-pointed star. Her feet had charcoal grey platform sandals that matched her jeans, and she sported a black smartwatch on her left wrist.

Spike observed in silence as the girls swiftly approached their table in the corner and took their seats. Fluttershy occupied the centre spot on the wraparound bench, flanked by Rarity, Twilight, and Sunset on her right and Pinkie, Starlight, Applejack, and Rainbow on her left. Pinkie and Rarity sat right beside Fluttershy, while Sunset, Rainbow, and Applejack positioned themselves at the ends of the bench. Spike deduced that they decided the seating arrangement to ensure Fluttershy's safety, with the table as a barrier against potential threats and her friends forming a protective shield on either side.

He turned his attention back to Aphrodisia. "How did you know they would come here?" he inquired.

"I didn't," the Succubus secretary shrugged nonchalantly. "However, while you were conversing, I sensed their auras when they entered the restaurant." She shifted slightly in her seat. "Poor little Fluttershy still carries so much fear within her," she sighed, shaking her head. "And her friends exude an air of caution."

That's when realisation hit Spike like a wall. "Damn it. That reminds me - I haven't checked on her well-being since I rescued her last week," he said, preparing to stand up, annoyed at himself for being so consumed by his work in the militia and the office. "I need to ask her about it before I forget again."

However, before he could take a step away from the table, Aphrodisia firmly grabbed his forearm, causing Spike to look back at her in confusion.

"No need to rush, Boss," Aphrodisia assured him gently, her usual flirty smile in place. "Remember, Fluttershy has been through a lot that night last week, and she's just starting her recovery. So, approach them with care and gentleness."

There was a brief pause as Spike processed his secretary's advice, contemplating the best approach. After a moment, he nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't worry, I will."

Aphrodisia's smile widened in response, and she released her grip on Spike's forearm, granting him the freedom to make his way toward the Rainbooms' table in the far corner. As he approached them, his enhanced hearing effortlessly caught snippets of their conversation.

"Chin up, Flutters!" Pinkie cheerfully tried to reassure the young zookeeper. "After what happened to you last week, you deserve to have a good time. That's why we're here, to have a fun Friday outing, just the eight of us!"

Fluttershy mustered a small smile, though her voice trembled with nervousness. "Thank you, Pinkie," she replied. "But I'm not sure about eating in a place like this right now. I don't feel very safe."

Rarity frowned sympathetically, placing a comforting hand on Fluttershy's lap. "Darling, I understand your concerns," she responded gently. "What those brutes tried to do to you and Fauna that night was horrendous, but it's in the past now. You were rescued by the Emerald Dragon himself! If he had arrived just a few seconds later..." Rarity shuddered at the thought. "...you would have left that abandoned building in a far worse state."

"They're right," Sunset chimed in. "What happened to you both was horrifying, and we're here to support you and help you move forward. If anyone dares to harm you again, they'll have all of us to deal with."

Just then, Sunset saw Spike approaching their table from the corner of her eye. Her expression shifted, and a hint of protectiveness crept into her gaze. "Speaking of which..."

As Spike reached their table, Sunset rose from her seat to take a protective stance in front of Fluttershy. Rainbow and Applejack, having followed Sunset’s gaze to whoever had earned her ire, quickly assumed defensive positions to her left, with Rainbow in the centre and Applejack further left.

Spike immediately halted, seeing 3 Rainbooms forming a protective barrier before their table. Peering over their shoulders, he observed the now-terrified expression on Fluttershy's otherwise gentle face as she pressed herself against her seat. Rarity and Pinkie wrapped their arms around Fluttershy, prepared to shield her from potential harm. While Twilight and Starlight remained in their original positions, their intense gazes locked onto Spike, and he noticed a faint glow emanating from their hands, poised to cast spells at a moment's notice.

Despite the unmistakable signs that these girls wanted to defend their friend from any potential threat, Spike maintained a sympathetic expression. While he knew that resorting to violence in a public place was extreme, he could empathise with their protective stance given what Fluttershy had been through.

Rainbow was the first to speak, her anger palpable yet controlled. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Spike quickly reassured them, raising his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Don't worry. I'm not here to harm any of you, especially not Fluttershy," he said calmly. "I just wanted to see if she's okay."

Rainbow snorted sceptically, clearly not convinced. "Yeah, right. A guy walks up to us claiming he just wants to talk, less than a week after our friend here was almost raped by a whole gang of them in the middle of the night," she retorted, her fists clenched tightly. "So why should we believe you won't try anything funny first?"

Spike let out a sorrowful sigh. "I understand your concerns, and I don't blame you for being wary," he replied earnestly. "Fluttershy went through a terrible ordeal, and you all want to protect her. I respect that. But I assure you, I have no intention of causing any further grief. I just want to talk."

He emptied his pockets one by one, revealing his phone, wallet, keys, and handkerchief in his hands. He turned them inside out to demonstrate they were genuinely empty before returning them to his pockets. Spike then awaited the girls' response.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Nice try," she admitted. "But your keys could still be used as weapons, and let's not forget that your fists can be dangerous, too."

"Rainbow, dear," Rarity interjected from behind her, still shielding Fluttershy. "While you have a valid point, it has only been a week since Fluttershy's abduction, and I highly doubt anyone else would be foolish enough to attempt the same thing so soon. Besides, this man has shown nothing but respect towards us thus far, and we have confirmed that he has no lethal weapons. So, let's at least hear what he has to say before passing judgment."

The Wonderbolt pilot, Applejack, and Sunset Shimmer turned their heads back as soon as Rarity spoke. Her words had initially shocked them, but they couldn't deny the truth in what she said. Although it hadn't been long since Fluttershy's traumatic experience, the likelihood of a repeat incident was low unless they were incredibly unlucky. After exchanging hesitant glances, they all redirected their attention to Spike.

"Fine," Rainbow addressed Spike with a strained sigh. "We'll let you talk. But if you make any sudden movements to attack us, we won't hesitate to throw you out of this restaurant."

"Fair enough," Spike nodded, adjusting his stance and allowing his arms to hang at his sides. "Let me start by introducing myself. I'm Spike Drake, the proprietor of Drake Security Inc."

Fluttershy and Rarity's eyes widened in surprise.

"W-wait," Fluttershy managed to stutter, her voice filled with disbelief. "You're S-Spike Drake?"

Spike turned his head towards Fluttershy, raising an eyebrow. "You know about me?"

Fluttershy gasped, quickly turning away. "Um, well... I've seen your face and name a few times on the internet," she said sheepishly, staring down at her lap with a flushed face. "So I thought you looked familiar, but I... I didn't think you were the same person."

"I suppose you've also heard about me?" Spike inferred from Rarity's comment.

"Business articles, Mr. Drake," Rarity answered simply.

Spike stroked his chin in thought. "Hmmm, it sounds like I'm more famous than I thought," he mused aloud before returning to the Rainbooms. "But please, just 'Spike' will do. I've never been one for formalities outside of my workplace."

"Anyway, before I get too sidetracked..." Spike continued, his voice filled with sympathy. "I wanted to offer my sincerest condolences to you, Fluttershy." He turned his gaze to the girl in question, his expression gentle. "I read about the horrific incident where the Canterlot Ravens kidnapped you and Dr Fauna from the zoo and attempted to harm both of you. I am truly sorry that you had to endure such a traumatic experience, and I am immensely grateful that The Emerald Dragon intervened before they could inflict any further harm." Spike paused, his eyes filled with concern. "How have you been holding up since your rescue? Are you coping as best as you can?"

There was a moment of hesitation in Fluttershy as she slowly turned to Rarity, which earned her a silent nod of assurance. She then turned back to Spike to answer his question.

"Umm... w-w-well... yes," Fluttershy stuttered slightly, her voice soft and hesitant. "I've been on compassionate leave since Monday, and I've been trying to attend as many counselling sessions as possible in addition to spending time with my friends here." She paused for a few seconds, her gaze fixed on the table. "But I don't know how much more it will take to recover fully." Her vulnerability was palpable, and Spike couldn't help but feel compassion for her.

"Just keep going at your own pace for as long as you need to," Spike replied earnestly. "You're already on the right track to overcoming whatever trauma you've experienced since that night. And remember, you have the support of seven amazing, beautiful ladies who will always have your back, no matter what happens." His gaze shifted to the other Rainbooms, giving each of them a reassuring nod as he spoke.

All the girls in question blushed slightly at Spike's compliment (Pinkie giggled lightly in her case) except for Rainbow Dash, who crossed her arms and snorted. Yet, she couldn't help but be somewhat amused, if not flattered, by his words. "Are you sure you didn't come over to our table just to try flirting with us?" she asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

“Rainbow!” Sunset interjected with a roll of her eyes. “He was just complimenting us for being good friends!”

“Uh-huh. Then what about the ‘beautiful’ part?”

Spike raised a hand to wave Sunset down. “No, no, it's fine,” he assured the redhead before turning to Rainbow again with a raised eyebrow. “As for your question, do you believe that a company owner can’t simply walk up and comfort a near-rape victim before and give genuine compliments to her friends? I’m only speaking the truth about your beauty; Fluttershy is no exception.”

It was Fluttershy’s turn to blush at Spike’s sincerity. Meanwhile, there was another pause as Rainbow processed Spike’s words. She then took a deep breath.

"Alright, touche," the Wonderbolt Officer answered. "But we also haven’t had many businesspeople approach us just for a friendly chat, so we can't know your intentions, especially after only talking for a few minutes."

"She's got a point there," Applejack chimed in. "There's a whole bunch of shady folks out there who might want to rope us into whatever messed-up scheme they're running, and we sure as hell don't want to be one of their cash cows."

"Don't worry, I completely understand," Spike replied just before he heard Aphrodisia calling his name from their table. Turning around, he saw his secretary waving to him with a smile, which he acknowledged, and their orders sitting on the table, freshly arrived from the kitchen. He shifted his attention back to Fluttershy. "Before I go, I'd like to give you something."

Spike pulled aside his lapel and reached underneath with his free hand, retrieving two small slips of paper. "These business cards contain the contacts for my office and the Customer Service department at Drake Security." He stepped forward and gently placed them on the table, pushing them towards Fluttershy. "If you'd like to keep in touch or explore our protection services and hardware, simply dial or message any of the numbers listed," he continued. "Alternatively, you can scan the QR code for a one-month free trial of our protection software and a complimentary home/personal security starter package. No obligations whatsoever."

Fluttershy slowly reached for the contact cards, hesitating to accept the young businessman's offer. As she examined them, her friends gathered around her to get a closer look.

"You don't have to decide right away," Spike added, redirecting the Rainbooms' attention. "Take your time to think over everything I've mentioned. Even if you choose not to accept, remember that my doors will always be open to you in the future. Being part of a band makes you both famous and vulnerable. The risk of another attack isn't a matter of 'if,' but 'when,'" he concluded. "Just consider it."

With that, Spike turned to return to his table. As he walked away, he overheard the Rainbooms murmuring among themselves.

"That went surprisingly well," Twilight remarked. "And as much as I hate to admit it, he's right about the possibility of another attack, Fluttershy. Taking this offer could potentially save your life."

"I'm not so sure," Rainbow argued. "I've heard plenty of stories about shady businesspeople, both fictional and real. A guy coming up to us and offering his services without any strings attached seems too good to be true."

"Oh, come on, Dashie!" Pinkie chimed in. "Let Fluttershy decide. Although, I'd take up Spike's offer without hesitation. If anyone tries anything, the authorities will know right away! Plus, you'd get to talk to Spike Drake again," she sang softly, casting dreamy eyes at him as he walked away. "Can't blame you, though. He's quite the catch."

Fluttershy blushed even more profoundly at Pinkie's words.

"Pinkie!" Starlight hissed, her face tinged with red.

"What? It's the truth!"

"We've only talked to him for a few minutes!"

As Spike's steps carried him back to his table, he listened to the fading voices of the Rainbooms. He couldn't help but blush slightly at Pinkie's comment while also agreeing with Twilight that the conversation had gone remarkably well. Given Fluttershy's recent ordeal, he had approached them with care, and the girls had tentatively responded.

Upon reaching his table and retaking his seat, Spike noticed Aphrodisia's amused smirk as she rested her cheek on her hand.

"So, Mr. Drake, was it so challenging to talk to girls outside of family and work?" she asked, her tone flirtatious.

"Honestly, no," Spike sighed, a mixture of mild annoyance at his secretary's teasing and relief over the success of his first real conversation with unrelated women. "My mothers were right. I've gone far too long without a relationship. Maybe it's time I took their advice and started putting myself out there, no matter how long it might take."

Aphrodisia giggled briefly. "That's the spirit, babe," she said. "I'm sure you'll find a way to relieve all that built-up stress once you have a few girls in your arms." She reached for her utensils and began cutting into her sausages. "Now, let's eat. We don't want to keep your projects waiting."

With a nod, Spike picked up his fork and started enjoying a large beef cube from his stew. The rest of their lunch continued in silence as the minutes passed by.

1242hrs, Drake Security Inc., Basement Sector, Military & Ordnance Facility

Lunch had come and gone all too quickly for both Demons. Before they knew it, they found themselves back at the company’s headquarters, descending several wide flights of stairs, with a tablet each in hand, into the basement levels of Drake Security, where the Military & Ordnance facility was situated.

After a few minutes of descent, Spike and Aphrodisia arrived at the final landing of the staircase. This landing gradually expanded into the main entrance hall of the facility. Since only a select few were permitted to visit this area, Spike placed more emphasis on decorative elements. The room maintained a functional aesthetic, with plain grey granite tiles covering the floor and white plastered walls stretching upward.

However, the true centrepiece was the imposing door on the wall opposite the stairs. This door was the barrier between the valuable hardware concealed within and the outside world. It consisted of two sliding halves crafted from thick, reinforced super-steel. Further enhancing its strength, Spike had secretly infused the door with potent shielding enchantments, aided by his militia. These enchantments rendered the door nearly impervious to any form of breach. It was a formidable defence, ensuring that no human weapon could hope to breach it within any reasonable amount of time.

Flanking the door were 2 rows of security terminals, tall cylindrical structures constructed from thick bulletproof glass panels encased in gunmetal grey steel frames. These cylinders were spacious enough to accommodate a person standing within and allow for ample movement. They served as the primary means of authentication for accessing the most heavily fortified section of the entire complex.

The sound of footsteps reverberated across the room as Spike and Aphrodisia approached the two terminals immediately to the imposing door's left. When they placed their right palms on the small tablets mounted beside the terminal doors, a thin white light traversed the screens from top to bottom. This quick scan of their handprints lasted a second before the screens flashed green, prompting the terminal doors to slide open in unison. Stepping into the centre of their respective chambers, they turned around to face the doors, positioning their arms at their sides in readiness for the upcoming biometric scan.

Without delay, a group of scanners descended from the upper part of the terminal chambers, releasing brilliant blue beams of light that danced around Spike and Aphrodisia's bodies. This process created a spectacular light show, a mesmerising display of luminescence.

Within a mere 10 seconds, the machines completed their scan. Subsequently, a deep and authoritative computerised voice resonated, intoning, "Access granted."

Shortly after the terminals had opened and both Demons had exited, the main door's actuators emitted an audible hum, causing the door to gracefully part. What appeared before them was a transparent blue energy barrier that extended across the entire door frame, a secondary line of defence designed to thwart any unauthorised entry. Yet, for Spike and Aphrodisia, this barrier posed no hindrance. They passed through it effortlessly as if it were an insubstantial veil.

Once they were beyond the barrier, the view within the Military and Ordnance facility, initially distorted by the energy field, became crystal clear. The sprawling factory floor buzzed with activity. Robust, heavy-duty robot tractors transported a diverse range of cargo along the designated pathways that crisscrossed the aisles. These loads included vehicle-mounted weaponry, firearms crates, and various tools. Adjacent to the tractors, mechanics huddled around tablets, taking notes and exchanging ideas. Meanwhile, a separate group worked to lower a gun turret onto the roof of an armoured offroad buggy using an overhead crane. Hundreds of assembly robots collaborated with human workers, cutting, bolting, welding, and lifting every last part into place, leaving little to no deviance.

Sticking to the marked footpath, Spike and Aphrodisia made a left turn around a corner. As another robot tractor transporting a car-sized artillery gun rolled quietly by, they headed toward the locker rooms, indicated by a walled-off section a short distance from the main entrance. In the middle of the front wall, two doorways beckoned. The left led to the men's locker room, while the right led to the women's. Spike took the lead, walking ahead of Aphrodisia. Before parting ways, he turned to her one last time.

"I'll meet you back out here," he informed the orange-haired Succubus. In response, she offered a sultry smile and a graceful wave of her fingers as they parted into their respective changing areas.

Within the next 5 minutes, Spike emerged from the locker room carrying his tablet, now having changed out of his business suit and into a dark grey, 1-piece industrial-grade jumpsuit adorned with yellow high-visibility stripes and bands stitched over the sleeves, chest, back, and legs, as well as a pair of black safety shoes and a polished white hardhat strapped to his head. A few more seconds passed before Aphrodisia emerged from the women’s locker room, fully dressed in the same outfit, except that it was slightly smaller to accommodate her figure without too much material hanging loose. When Spike looked her up and down, he couldn’t help noticing that the thick fabric of her jumpsuit was pushed outward at the chest and rear by her bountiful assets, cracking a small smile in the process.

“Do you see something you like, handsome?” she asked with a knowing smirk.

“Just my faithful secretary ready to work,” Spike answered respectfully.

“As always.” Aphrodisia’s smile widened. While it wasn’t the direct answer she hoped to hear, she could still tell he occasionally enjoyed admiring her voluptuous body. “Shall we?” she asked, gesturing towards their destination on the factory floor.

“Let’s,” Spike replied with a nod. The duo began walking once more along the marked footpaths, heading straight for the Vehicle Sector, which, in the vast open space of the facility, was a 3-minute walk from the locker rooms, its borders marked with high reinforced concrete partition walls. Upon reaching the sector, Spike and Aphrodisia found themselves approaching one assembly station in particular.

In the centre of the large square work area, surrounded by assembly robots, stood a heavily armoured vehicle that could only be described as a truck built like a tank. Its foundation consisted of a thick, reinforced alloy steel space frame. On this frame, iridescent, high-strength enchantment runes occasionally glowed. Inside its central cavity rested a blocky energy crystal reactor, roughly the size of a small rectangular aquarium. It emitted bright yellow light from its internal crystals through integrated observation windows. These windows were constructed from solid, 5cm-thick tempered glass and featured the same glowing enchantments as the frame.

At the front, a robust forged steel bumper with headlights at each end and a faceted canopy constructed from bulletproof and blastproof glass covered the cockpit. Most of the vehicle, including its armour plating and wheels, lay dismantled nearby. All of its wheels were also detached and stacked in the corner of the workstation, leaving the core of the combat machine to stand on a hydraulic jack mounted on a turntable beneath it for workers to rotate the entire thing at their convenience.

As for the workers themselves, there were 6 in the total present at that moment - 3 of them were moving around the armour plates with flashlights and scanners, performing last-minute inspections of the heavy steel panels before assembly. 2 were at the manual control panel of the reactor fine-tuning the power output settings of the core crystals before starting it up. Spike looked up to the last one, kneeling on the vehicle's roof with protective goggles over his eyes, tightening the bolts that would hold down the dummy turret mounted there with a pneumatic torque wrench.

“Rivet!” Spike called out to him.

Rivet looked up from his work to see his boss approaching. “Mr Drake!” he responded, smiling before holding his finger. “One moment, please!” He looked down again to continue torquing the last bolt into place with his wrench, holding the trigger down as the power tool slowly continued to whir for 5 more seconds, until at last, the wrench’s monitor sounded a “Beep!” and the side LED flashed green, signalling that he reached the required torque.

Breathing a sigh of satisfaction, he grabbed the pneumatic hose, tossed it over the side, and then shuffled over to the ladder to climb off the roof back down to the floor. Spike and Aphrodisia continued to wait patiently as Rivet quickly bundled the hose up before setting it and the wrench on top of the tool cabinet off to the side before dusting his hands off and returning to Spike.

“Did you finally figure out how to fix the control system?” Rivet asked as he pulled his goggles off, revealing his dark brown eyes.

“Sure did,” Spike answered. “Well, technically, my secretary figured it out.” He nodded to his left, where Aphrodisia was standing.

Having just realised that his boss’s secretary had joined him on the factory floor upon seeing her more closely, he hastily turned to face her and bowed. “Milady,” he greeted, to which Aphrodisia smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.

“I had to rearrange quite a few parts in the main circuit,” she explained. “The poor thing would keep failing under Mr. Drake’s input, no matter what he did.” Aphrodisia looked towards Spike and flashed him a smirk.

“Aph, not now,” Spike protested. “We have work to do here.”

“Oh, lighten up, Spike! I’m just messing with you,” Aphrodisia pouted, slapping his upper arm. “Can’t you have at least a little fun on the job?”

"Yes, but now that we’re close to finishing the Tumbler for when President Aetheris arrives, it will have to wait," Spike explained. "Don’t worry; we’ll discuss this further when we're back in the office."

Aphrodisia’s smile returned at his reassurance. "I’ll look forward to it," she said with a wink before strolling off to inspect the Tumbler and its still-unassembled parts.

Spike turned back to Rivet. "Sorry you had to see that," he apologised. "My secretary can be a tease often, both in and out of the workplace."

"Oh, no-no, it’s fine," Rivet responded. "My wife does that sometimes, too, especially when we’re alone. But I wouldn’t trade her for anything else." He shook his head in amusement before turning back to Spike. "Are you ready to get started, Sir?"

To that, Spike lifted and unlocked his tablet, which contained the amended program codes, and answered, “Always.”

Needing no further invitation, both men strode over to the cockpit of the Tumbler, where the main computer lay. It was a simple, sturdy, angular black box with a HUD monitor above the steering wheel. Spike opened the panel off to the right, revealing a grid of nine USB ports to the right. Plugging the tablet in, Spike booted up the HUD screen and navigated to the “Import Programme” menu.

“Please select a programme to import,” the monitor read.

Spike swiftly selected the program Aphrodisia had devised earlier in the circuit design software and clicked the "Select" button.

"Importing…" the monitor displayed as the computer began its task. A few seconds later, the computer's following message appeared.

"Import successful. Perform a dry run now?"

Spike didn't hesitate; he immediately clicked "Yes."

"Dry run in progress…"

Spike held his breath as the computer processed the program, making corrections to the circuitry in the weapon controls, debugging, and conducting virtual calibrations within the next minute until…

"Calibration complete. Circuit integrity normal. Weapon control system nominal. No errors found."

"Yes!" Spike quietly cheered. Relief washed over him as Aphrodisia's assistance put the remaining part of his projects back on track for the upcoming presentation. With a long exhale, Spike turned to his secretary, who had followed along as he ran the program. "Hey, Aph? Thanks again for your help," he said.

"The pleasure's all mine," the dark-skinned Succubus replied with an appreciative smile.

Fully satisfied, Spike disconnected his tablet, powered down the Tumbler's computer, exited the cockpit, and went straight to the tool cabinet to place the tablet inside. He grabbed a toolbox before returning to the Tumbler.

"Alright, everyone!" he called out to all station personnel. The control program's resolved! Let's assemble the rest of the Tumbler and activate the reactor before the day is out!"

All the people on the scene complied and hurried over to the robots and cranes to lift every remaining part from the floor and secure them onto the heavy vehicle, marking the final preparations for its test and its place in Spike's presentation to the President of Equestria.

2159hrs, Canterlot Suburb-City Border, Near Fluttershy’s House

The moonless night sky shimmered with starlight while the lampposts illuminated the roads leading in and out of the central city area. A few cars still traversed the streets, their occupants heading home for the night or venturing into the city for relaxation. Meanwhile, the Rainbooms chose to accompany Fluttershy on foot, maintaining a close-knit group as they chatted animatedly on their way out of the city, carrying the spoils of their gaming adventure.

"Ugh, I've been trying to win something from those Faust-damn claw games for years!" Sunset groaned, turning to Pinkie, who cheerfully carried a bag full of plushies she had won from the games. "How the hell do you do it every time!?"

Pinkie tapped her chin thoughtfully and glanced at the sky as she contemplated her response. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I just can. And since I've never lost a claw game before, I don't see the point in asking how."

Sunset shook her head, a tinge of envy in her expression. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but smile at the girl with cotton-candy-colored hair. "Always managing to do the impossible, Pinkie," she sighed. "Sometimes I wish I had your power."

Starlight snorted in amusement. " 'Wish'? More like 'Pray to Faust Almighty to bestow it upon you'," she jabbed playfully. "We've all seen your rage after a few losses to any of us on gaming night."

"H-hey, I can handle a few losses against other people!" Sunset fired back, visibly flustered. "It's just that I can't stand losing to the game itself."

"Yeah, no shit," Rainbow interjected with a laugh. "The last time that happened, you almost threw your controller at your screen on livestream. The viewers were losing it in the chat!"

"You try speedrunning a Bullet-Hell platformer without dying once! At least I don't turn off the console when I'm about to lose a match!"

"Damnit, Sunset! It was just one time!"

"And we haven't forgotten, Rainbow!" Applejack added. "That was still a low blow!"

Twilight decided to mediate between Sunset and Rainbow before the banter could escalate into a fight. "Alright, girls, that's enough," she spoke firmly. "We've all just had our fun for the day, so let's not spoil the evening by arguing over who's the worst loser at video games, especially since Fluttershy's still here with us." She gestured to the woman in question, walking at the back of the group between Rarity and Starlight. "We can discuss this another day."

Rarity could only shake her head in annoyance and amusement at the exchange between Sunset and Rainbow. “Don’t worry about them, Fluttershy,” she assured the introvert without turning to her. “They’ll let it go…eventually.” A few seconds passed before she realised that Fluttershy wasn’t responding out of the corner of her eye. Concerned, she finally turned to see what was wrong with her friend. “Fluttershy…?”

Fluttershy paid no attention to the exchange in front of her. Instead, as she clutched a bag holding the giant teddy bear Pinkie had won for her, she bowed her head, lost in thought from the memories of what happened earlier that afternoon. Staring down at the contact cards that Spike had given her, she couldn’t help but wonder if Rainbow, for all of the scepticism she demonstrated, actually had a point - Why would a businessman like Spike directly approach her and offer his personal and unconditional aid? Any other honest businessperson would be far more concerned with their work and the problems involved, yet he decided to set aside time for her. The stories she had heard and read about those doing the same thing for sinister purposes did not help either. It was all so gracious, yet somewhat confusing. However, to be fair, he did seem reasonable and genuine in his gestures, at the very least. Not to mention that he was also, admittedly, incredibly handsome-

“Fluttershy!” Starlight called. Fluttershy jolted back to reality a split second later.

“Oh! U-um…yes?” Fluttershy asked, startled by the half-shout.

“Oh, thank Faust, you’re still awake!” Starlight huffed in relief. “I almost thought you were sleepwalking!”

Rarity gently placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder as they and the rest of the Rainbooms, having overheard the commotion, stopped in the middle of the walkway. They all shared concerned looks when Rarity spoke up. “Fluttershy, darling. Are you feeling alright? If something’s bothering you, you can always talk to us.”

“Oh, no-no, nothing’s bothering me!” Fluttershy hastily assured, fidgeting with the cards in her hand. “I was j-just…t-thinking…that’s all…” She looked away, her face retreating halfway into her long, silky locks. Her face sported a noticeable blush.

Rarity raised an eyebrow as her eyes trailed down to the cards she was holding in her hand. “This is about Spike Drake, isn’t it?” she inquired.

Fluttershy could only manage a soft “Yes” to answer the purple-haired fashionista’s question, avoiding eye contact out of embarrassment.

Rainbow stepped forward to address her childhood friend, her arms firmly crossed. “Flutters, I won't stop you if you’re seriously considering his offer. But please, think hard about what you might get into with people like him. Your abduction only happened last week, and you’re still recovering from that ordeal. For all we know, Spike Drake could just be using this as a way to get closer to you, so how will any of us know he won’t try the same thing as the Canterlot Ravens and rape you at the first opportunity?”

“We’ve only talked to him for less than 10 minutes, Rainbow,” Rarity countered. “That’s hardly enough evidence that he’s trying to make perverted advances to Fluttershy.”

“I’m just as suspicious as you are, Rainbow,” Sunset joined in with Rarity. “But Rares here has a point. Even with what little time we had in that conversation, Spike’s been nothing but cordial with us. He didn’t make lewd remarks towards any of us; he kept his distance, and he didn’t get aggressive once. So I’d say that we give him more room to express himself the next time we run into him before we can make a more concrete judgement.”

Pinkie skipped up to Rainbow’s side. “Come on, Dashie. I know good emotions when I see them, and Spike was no exception,” she affirmed. “Even if you don’t believe the others, you can always check in with me! Or…” She whipped out her phone faster than anyone could follow and opened Spike’s social media feeds before holding the screen in front of the young Wonderbolt’s face, scrolling through the comments as she spoke. “...Spike’s followers on PageOne, SnapGap, KonneKt, and VideU can testify instead. He’s gained quite the fan club in only a few years.”

Rainbow remained sceptical. “You do know that among those people are looney gatekeepers who can’t take any criticism of their favourite user and will violently shoot down anyone who tries, right?”

“Well, duh!” Pinkie answered, rolling her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any real admirers who can accept a couple of his flaws. I wouldn’t worry about the crazies online because what can they do besides mash their keyboards and yell mean words?”

“Anything we see of Spike on the Internet is debatable at best,” Rainbow continued. “For all we know, his talk with us could just be a distraction to trick us into letting our guard down before he strikes and does some real damage to any of us!”

“Now, hold on just a minute there,” Applejack interjected. “I understand your concerns, Rainbow, but not every corporation and business has a greedy, sleazy, overentitled, string-pulling varmint who takes anything and everything he wants on sight. I mean, have you seen my family? Or our biggest client, Filthy Rich?”

“AJ, those are the only honest businesspeople we know for sure here in Canterlot, and they’ve been around for years!” Rainbow argued. “Spike’s still a new player in this whole game of business, so we still can’t tell what he wants from us!”

“And we won’t know who or what he is unless we give him a chance! What kind of people will we be if we deny him that!?” Applejack countered. She then took a deep breath before continuing. “Look, I don’t know how much bad news you read about business affairs, and I’m sorry if it’s damaged your trust in them, but you can’t let it be the reason you can’t trust any others in future.”

Silence fell upon the Rainbooms as Rainbow stared at Applejack, who continued to stand her ground, unsure of what to say next. That was when Twilight decided to step forward and break the silence.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow, but I’m with Applejack on this,” Twilight spoke gently, grabbing Rainbow’s attention. “If we want to know more about Spike before coming to an objective conclusion, then all we can do is give Spike some leeway to talk more about his feelings, as Sunset said earlier.”

Rainbow turned to Starlight, silently asking for her opinion on the subject. “If it were up to me, I’d say let him talk as well,” Starlight said with a shrug. “You can’t make new friends if you don’t allow them to communicate their intentions.”

Realising that it wouldn’t be worth trying to drag this argument any further out, Rainbow could only look away and manage a long sigh of defeat before saying, “Alright, I’ll give Spike the benefit of the doubt, but that doesn’t mean I’ll trust him. Not yet, at least.” She turned back to her friends, her expression turning dead serious. “However, if he tries anything funny with any of us, I’m dealing with him myself. Now, let’s get Fluttershy home. We’ve stopped out here in the dark for long enough.”

The rest of the journey to Fluttershy’s house was in complete silence. Approximately 2 minutes and 5 blocks later, the group had finally arrived at their destination. There was nothing unique about the exterior of the 2-storey detached house that distinguished it from the others in the neighbourhood, except for the soft, earthly shades of green painted over the walls and the dark brown sloped roof that topped the building, which was made barely visible by the peripheral light from the street. In contrast, it was brightly lit by a single overhead porch lamp, illuminating the plain white door against the darkness - a welcoming sight for Fluttershy.

Making their way up the brick steps, the Rainbooms escorted their friend until they reached the door, where Fluttershy reached into her pocket to pull out her keys and open the lock. Once she had stepped inside and turned around, Pinkie stepped up to present the overloaded bag of plushies she had won at the arcade.

“Here you go, Flutters!” she chirped. “Some friends to accompany your teddy bear with!” She nodded to the bear in Fluttershy's bag beside herself.

Fluttershy gasped softly. “Oh no, please, I-I couldn’t,” she tried to protest. “I only need one.”

“Don’t worry about it; it’s all on me,” Pinkie replied, her smile unwavering. “After everything that happened last week, you need this gift.”

After a little more hesitation, Fluttershy smiled and accepted the bag. “W-well, in that case…thank you, Pinkie.”

“Don’t mention it!” Pinkie said with a wink. “Oh! I almost forgot!” she quickly reached about elbow-deep into her poofy hair, rummaging for a few seconds until she felt what she was searching for before pulling it out and handing it to Fluttershy. “Lavender-scented candles to sweeten the air in your room!”

“Oh, thank you, Pinkie,” Fluttershy replied, accepting the bundled candlesticks from the hyperactive party planner. She turned to the rest of her friends. “And thank you all for being here for me. Good night, everyone!”

“Good night, Fluttershy!” the rest of the girls chorused and waved before returning to their homes. For a few more seconds, Fluttershy watched her friends leave for the night before retreating into the living room, locking the front door behind her before pulling her shoes off and slipping them under the adjacent shoe cabinet.

After reaching for the nearest switch and flicking it on to light up the living room, she picked up the 2 bags of plushies and quickly moved them over to the coffee table for the time being until she could decide what to do with them in the morning. She breathed a sigh of relief at finally arriving home before hearing a faint pitter-patter sound from the upper floor. As she turned to check, the pitter-patter subtly grew louder as it descended from the darkness of the upper floor down the stairs. Initially resembling a small black shadow, the source quickly rounded the bottom of the railing. As it reached the living room's light, it turned out to be nothing but a small white rabbit.

It stopped a metre away from Futtershy and stood up, its large, black eyes full of concern.

“Oh! Hello, Angel,” Fluttershy sweetly greeted as she knelt and held out her arms, allowing her beloved pet rabbit to jump in and nuzzle her ample chest affectionately. “Did you miss me?”

Angel’s response was a series of squeaks and clicks as Fluttershy listened intently. “Oh no, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” Fluttershy assured with a titter. “Have you behaved yourself while I was out?”

Angel gave an exasperated twitch of his nose and squeaked out his umpteenth “Yes” to his owner’s question - one she would ask him almost every time she came home.

“Good,” Fluttershy acknowledged, smiling down at her pet. “Is everyone else asleep now?”

Angel nodded silently.

“Very good,” Fluttershy acknowledged again. “Now, let’s get ready for bed ourselves. It’s already late.”

After switching off the living room lights, she carried Angel up the steps to her room on the second floor. Once she reached the top landing, she turned to the open doorway to the bedroom. Reaching to her left, Fluttershy found the switch on the door frame and flipped the one for the wall lights. The warm yellow light was bright enough to illuminate the room enough for her and Angel to see their way around it, yet dim enough not to wake the rest of the animals.

Much like the rest of the house, the main bedroom had modest decor: The bed, which stood next to the window, had a low-profile light oak frame with a matte finish, topped with a plain white mattress, bedsheet, and 2 pillows laid at the head. A teal green blanket folded at the footboard added a touch of colour. To the left, along the window wall, was a matching oak desk, where her laptop, lamp, and a bunch of books stood out in the open. The desk's drawers held various items out of sight. The vanity was opposite the bed against the wall to the right of the door, flanked on either side by a pair of identical dressers. Occupying the adjacent wall was a built-in wardrobe that blended seamlessly with the paint.

Fluttershy looked up at the ceiling, where 5 wall-mounted birdhouses housed her sleeping bird companions. Smiling at the scene, she walked over to set Angel on the desk before emptying her pockets onto the desktop. She first retrieved her wallet and house keys from her left pocket and placed them on the desk before reaching into her right pocket, pulling out her phone and the contact cards Spike gave her.

Fluttershy took a moment to examine the cards’ contents again, pondering the young businessman’s offer to help her protect her home and herself from future assailants. While the offer was tempting, she couldn't disregard Rainbow's warnings about accepting services from a man she had just met earlier that day. The best compromise for her would be to take a cautious approach, but she would need more time to decide.

She could think it over in the bathtub. Her skin had become sticky from the day out in the city, and she needed to clean up before she could go to bed.

Fluttershy left the cards on the desk before approaching the door on the left of the bedroom entrance and opening it up to reveal the bathroom, with Angel following closely behind to accompany her. It was half the size of the bedroom but was still spacious enough for a single person to move around comfortably without accidentally hitting anything. As with most bathrooms, every surface was either tiled or painted white. The sink, mirror, and open shelf were mounted on the left wall, holding all the essential toiletries, while the toilet and cupboard stood to the right. On the opposite end of the bathroom from the door, the bathtub had a single-handle, stainless steel tap over the tub's rim, a detachable showerhead, and a set of watertight glass slide doors that stood open. All of this surrounded the frosted glass window above the tub that would let natural light into the room while preserving the occupant’s privacy.

Once Angel had passed the door frame, Fluttershy shut the door and locked it in place before flicking the water heater switch on. Wasting no more time, Angel scurried across the bathroom floor and lept onto the bathtub ledge, reaching for the tap handle and pulling it upwards to begin filling the tub. Water began flowing steadily into the polished white vessel as Angel watched over, occasionally sticking his paw in the stream to check its temperature to see if it was too hot or cold.

Once satisfied, the rabbit briefly left the tap running to retrieve the bubble bath solution from the window ledge. He had to carefully shuffle along the tub's rim to ensure he didn’t slip and fall in - an embarrassment he’d rather not deal with at night, even if Fluttershy was the only one in the room with him. When he had safely reached the bubble bath, he grabbed the bottle by the top, tilted it towards himself, and popped the cap open with his teeth before turning it over and shaking some of the contents into the rising water. The lavender-coloured goo took a few minutes to diffuse as the bath water began to foam.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had preoccupied herself with undressing. Sitting down on the closed toilet lid, she lifted her feet, one at a time, to pull both of her socks off before stretching and wiggling her dainty toes, allowing the skin of her feet to breathe fresh air once more and be relieved by the cold, hard surface of the bathroom floor. Tossing her socks into the corner, Fluttershy stood back up and undid the button on the fly of her shorts, after which she pinched the zipper handle firmly between her finger and thumb before pulling it straight down and open, revealing a pair of white panties that she had decided to wear for the day. All that was left for the zookeeper to do now was push her shorts down her legs and off her body.

Tucking her thumbs under the waistband, Fluttershy braced her arms and began to take her shorts off. When the waistband had reached her hips, she met some resistance as she felt the fabric start to tighten over not just her hips but her derriere as well. Putting a little more effort into removing her shorts, she pushed down further with a soft grunt. She could feel the back of them dragging her glutes down until they finally slipped off, and her magnificent ass bounced free from its confines.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Fluttershy took a second to stand up and gently rub away the strain in her lower cheeks while she tossed her shorts into the corner to join her socks. After that, she crossed her arms over her front, grabbed the bottom of her T-shirt, and slowly pulled it up over her head. Like her shorts and butt before, she felt her vast breasts get briefly dragged up by the tight fabric before slipping free and bouncing back into place, now only covered by a matching white bra that barely restrained them.

At this point, her underwear was the only thing covering her, so taking a deep breath, Fluttershy reached behind and opened the clasp that held her bra in place. Once she felt it slacken completely, she reached for the shoulder straps, pulled her bra off, and tossed it in the clothes pile, her panties following seconds after.

After spending half a minute undressing herself, Fluttershy was now completely denuded. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling contently, enjoying the cool night air as it settled on her bare skin. She raised her hands to her breasts and gently rolled her palms over their firm flesh, gently massaging away any soreness they may have sustained, if at all, from within the confines of her clothes. A low moan escaped Fluttershy’s throat as she felt the relief in her pillowy mammaries sink in.

Satisfied with the feeling, she slid her palms down over the sides of her waist and then behind her back to give her posterior the same treatment. She could feel the shallow marks that her shorts left on the skin of her glutes. Thankfully, they would go away within the next hour if she didn’t wear any more tight garments. She would have to make a new plan down the road to save some money to buy a set of custom-tailored clothes and/or underwear for her assets.

Seconds later, Fluttershy opened her eyes and turned her head over her shoulder to see her reflection in the mirror. Her long, flowy locks covered most of her back, cascading down and over her rump like an azalea-pink waterfall. Reaching up with one hand, she hooked her fingers under her hair at neck level and pulled it aside to check her body over.

Her entire back had silky, smooth skin and was almost flat, tapering into a slender, hourglass waist as it descended until it reached her hips. From there, it expanded outward into an amazingly round, peach-shaped ass that jiggled with each step she took. The only blemishes there were a few faint bruises from that fateful night the week before when the Canterlot Ravens had abducted and tried to rape both her and Fauna. Running her fingers over the still-healing bruises, Fluttershy could feel the horrific memories bubbling back to the surface, cringing as they replayed through her head - The feeling of complete helplessness, the humiliation of being stripped naked and chained up for a gang’s sick amusement and pleasure; Her and Fauna’s screams and cries of distress; The Canterlot Ravens’ deranged grins of lust as they jerked off to their nude forms - No matter how much she tried to fight them down, she could still feel their hands groping away at her bare flesh as they all but invaded her most private areas, most of all from their leader, Rogue Wave.

She had told herself many times that he was in custody with the rest of his goons awaiting trial, far away from her, but the mere mention of his name continued to make her blood run cold. She eventually turned her body around to face her front to the mirror, revealing the same faint bruising on her breasts, stomach, and crotch. Looking down from her reflection, Fluttershy brought her hands over the affected areas to touch them, still feeling a slight sting, but it was nothing serious. It would still take a while for the contusions to disappear completely without a trace, so all she could do then was wait.

Grimacing at the view of her injuries, Fluttershy raised her head again to face the mirror, only to find Rogue Wave standing right there, staring back at her with that same twisted, lust-ridden grin he wore back at that abandoned flat complex.

“Miss me?” he asked.

Fluttershy let out a scream of horror and stumbled backwards, landing on the closed toilet lid with a loud “Clunk!”. In addition, she had reflexively clasped both of her arms over her breasts and crotch in a desperate attempt to shield her body from her assailant’s view.

“NOOO! STOP!! GET AWAY FROM ME!!!”

Angel, who was preoccupied with filling the bathtub, had jumped at Fluttershy’s scream and turned around in time to see his mistress land on the toilet. He hurriedly turned off the water and rushed over to console her, leaping straight up onto her thigh and shaking her arm to snap her out of her freakout, squeaking loudly.

Fluttershy turned her head sharply and yelped when she felt something fluffy on her lap, realising that Angel had rushed to her aid. Panting heavily from the scare, she quickly looked back at the mirror to see that her reflection had returned, sharing the same look of terror she wore. After a few more seconds, the Zookeeper stared down at her pet rabbit as her breathing began to calm. Angel could only stare back, his face full of fear and concern, before slowly squeaking out one last question to ask his mistress if she was alright. That was when Fluttershy immediately picked him up and hugged him as tightly as she could.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Angel!” she apologised, tears welling up in her eyes and her voice shaking. “I thought I s-saw…s-something horrible! I-I thought…R-Rogue Wa-ave was…in h-here…some-somehow…”

Angel nuzzled Fluttershy, silently assuring her that no one was in the bathroom but them. He eventually pushed himself off to face her and asked his next question.

“Y-yeah, It’s been a long day for me…” Fluttershy agreed, nodding. “Maybe the bath might take my mind off of this.”

That was when they both heard tapping from inside the bathroom wall. Turning their heads, Fluttershy and Angel looked to see a small, circular hatch open up in the wall before 3 birds came hopping through into the bathroom: A peach-coloured bird, a Bluebird, and a tiny, bright green Hummingbird. The last of which shut the hatch behind them before zooming through the air to land on Fluttershy’s knee. They must have heard the commotion and decided to come in to investigate.

“Constance? Gilbert? Hummingway?” Fluttershy asked in confusion. “What are you all doing here? Did I wake you up?”

Constance, the peach-coloured bird, landed on Fluttershy’s shoulder and began twittering into her ear. She explained how her scream had woken the others up and that the 3 of them had volunteered to check on her while letting the other animals in the bedroom go back to sleep.

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, guilt beginning to wash over her. “Oh, I’m so sorry you had to hear that. I just had a terrible scare.” She ran the back of her finger over Constance’s head. “I was so terrified.”

An even higher-pitched tweet caught Fluttershy’s attention. She looked down at her knee, where Hummingway the Hummingbird proceeded to ask if she would like some friendly company in the bathroom.

Fluttershy looked away for a moment, contemplating her answer. Once it became clear, she looked down at the Hummingbird with a warm smile.

“Yes,” she replied softly. “I’d like that.”

Fluttershy stood up from the toilet and walked over to the bathtub, not wanting to waste any more of her time. She lifted one leg over the ledge and carefully lowered it into the foaming water, feeling a rush of relief wash over her as soon as the inviting warmth of the bath touched her skin. As soon as she felt the bottom of the tub and got a sound footing, she shifted her weight and lifted her other leg into the bath. Once she had fully stepped in and Angel hopped in to stand by on the ledge, she turned around and shut the bath door before propping her hands against the rim and lowering the rest of her body into the water. Constance, Hummingway, and Gilbert perched on top of the bath doorframe to watch over their mistress in case she had another breakdown.

Any stress that Fluttershy had felt from the brief panic attack she experienced moments before had slowly begun to melt away in the warmth of the bath water, if only temporarily. She then got to work, scooping up handfuls of the soapy mix and rubbing it into the skin of her arms, shoulders, neck, and breasts, washing off the sweat and grime she had accumulated from the long outing with the Rainbooms.

Feeling a little refreshed after the self-rubdown, Fluttershy reached for the shower valve handle and pulled it outward, allowing the showerhead above to rain down warm water over her face and hair, soaking her long tresses thoroughly. When she finished that, Angel shuffled over to hand her the shampoo bottle, which she accepted with a “Thank you” before she popped the cap open and poured a large dollop into the palm of her free hand. She then set the bottle aside to spread the shampoo between her hands and over her head and hair, working up a thick lather through her pink tresses to clean it up.

2242hrs, Fluttershy’s Bedroom

The rest of Fluttershy’s bath had been uneventful. Before she knew it, she opened the bathroom door and stepped back into the bedroom, rubbing the excess water from her hair with a towel, having already dried her body a minute before. She was still completely nude, as she preferred to sleep as such. Although she was the type of girl who didn’t like to show her body off, she had found bedtime nudity oddly liberating ever since she turned 20.

She had bid goodnight to all 3 of her bathtime bird companions, who returned to their respective birdhouses to settle in for the night, as well as Angel, who had quickly jumped into his basket and conked out as soon as he landed, not wanting to miss another minute of sleep. As Fluttershy continued to dry her hair, she again noticed Spike’s contact cards out of the corner of her eye, lying undisturbed on her desktop. She paused where she stood, staring at the slips of paper. The debate to call for Spike’s assistance began to take over her mind again.

Draping her damp towel over her shoulder, she slowly walked over to her desk to pick them up and reread them. Meanwhile, her memories replayed the conversation with her friends from earlier.

“Flutters, I won't stop you if you’re seriously considering his offer. But please, think hard about what you might get into with people like him.”

“Come on, Dashie. I know good emotions when I see them, and Spike was no exception.”

“Anything we see of Spike on the Internet is debatable at best.”

“I understand your concerns, Rainbow, but not every corporation and business has a greedy, sleazy, overentitled, string-pulling varmint who takes anything and everything he wants on sight.”

“You can’t make new friends if you don’t allow them to communicate their intentions.”

Fluttershy had to admit they all had points on befriending someone like Spike Drake. While Rainbow had a right to be cautious about his actions, the rest had agreed that pushing him away now would simply be an unfair move on their part. So, after a few more minutes of thinking, Fluttershy finally decided.

Steeling her nerves for what could come next in the near future, Fluttershy picked up her phone, punched the numbers in, and saved them to her contact list. Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she walked to the bedside table to plug her phone in to charge for the night and returned to the bathroom to return the towel to its rack before exiting again, closing the bathroom door behind her.

Sitting on her bed, Fluttershy spent the next few seconds running her fingers through her hair to help it air-dry faster in the cool air, which took about 5 minutes to complete. Once she had confirmed that her hair was fully dry, she reached out and pulled the blanket over her bare form and laid her pillow flat before finally shifting to lie down on her side. As her eyes slowly closed, her thoughts drifted again to the young businessman’s face and personality before she fell fast asleep under the dim starlight of the night sky.

Author's Note

*Phew!* It's finally done!

This chapter honestly took a lot longer than I expected, and the word count was much higher than I intended, but lo & behold, I've finished it!

I'm deeply sorry that you had to wait for so long after the last update, but my job and personal distractions kept getting in the way, & I had no time over the weekdays to continue writing Chapter 2, & I will likely continue to face this same issue for future chapters.

All that I ask of you now is to please continue being patient as much as you can, because sooner or later, Of Humans & Demons will see new updates, and I'm not about to leave it hanging for more than a year like many other stories on this site. So stay tuned!😉