Once her armor was back on, Stern's demeanor became stony again. The big griffon still smiled a bit at Murky, but not as warmly as she had earlier. A few questions sat on his mind as he cautiously dropped off the bed and began to look for his jerkin. It was here somewhere, he'd seen it get tossed aside last night. It was in a little bundle on the floor, having fallen from the far edge of the bed, and while Murky began to dress himself Stern spoke up.

"We're going to breakfast, Red Eye will be there and he'll want to meet you." she says plainly, despite the fact it almost made the stallion lock up and fall down. THE Red Eye was going to be there? Murky's worrisome mind couldn't even think of a way to make this situation more terrifying than it already was.

"Wait, Stern?" Murky began to trip over his own words again, "Wh-why's he- Why's he gonna be there... With us? Me?" in his fretting, his worries weren't perfectly voiced. But Stern seemed to understand what he meant.

"He does this every year - wants to meet the ponies. This is my first time joining in and he wants to meet you. Don't worry, Murky." Stern says, straightening out her mane of feathers in the reflection of her large knife, "He's easier to deal with when he's not giving speeches."

The dining hall was on one of the lower floors of the building, a few nervous questions had shown Murky that the tower's lower ten floors were all sealed from the ground and inaccessible. The only access was on the rooftop. While this made the building feel a little safer, this also brought about the unvoiced realization to Murky that unless he could fly, he was trapped here. Like all things in Fillydelphia; if it seemed good it was actually bad, and if it seemed bad it was actually nightmarish. The halls of the tower were bustling with the various pony and griffon residents who all seemed to be heading to the dining hall for this meeting.

The hall itself had old red curtains hanging against bare walls, framing the slowly decaying construction while adding a warm softness to the room's appearance. Murky sat across from Stern at one of the many long tables that had been set up in rows perpendicular to the wall that held a stage. Most likely so that nopony at a table had to crane their necks too much to view the stage.

The sweet and savory smells of unknown yet enticing foods wafted around the large room, coming from a kitchen on the far end of the hall and making pangs of hunger come back to Murky's belly. All he'd eaten lately was... Well, he'd had a lot of milk. But the calcium was probably good for his bones. The room became almost intolerably loud in his ears as the room filled with griffons, ponies, and their conversations, turning to a single massive blaring sound through which no single voice could be deciphered.

Stern returned to the table with a plate for herself and a bowl she set in front of Murky. It was oatmeal, but a lot better than what they had on the Fun Farm. It wasn't watered down and seemed to be comprised of... Milk and oats. Murky looked around, there was a lot of dairy products included in breakfast here. Stern was eating some unidentified meat with a dark sauce.

The room very quickly drew to a silence, heads turning to face the stage. Murky looked up, there he stood in the center waiting for the quiet with a pleased smile plastered on his face. Not with him were the heretical mutant alicorns he always seemed to be flanked by.

At once, the silence of the room punctuated only by the clink of plates, was replaced by a charismatic voice greeting them.

"Good morning to you all, and a special welcome to our new residents at the roost. If this hasn't been explained to you, I hope my own words will bring peace to any fears you may be dealing with having been so suddenly abducted in some cases." Red Eye's voice was clearer now than over the loudspeakers in Fillydelphia, allowing the finer tones of his voice to be heard, the slight rasp in his voice, the occasional crack when he reached a high point. He wasn't just some disembodied voice in the speaker that somehow ruled over Murky's very existence, he was a pony like any other. Only a pony who somehow had massive control over everything in Fillydelphia. Not any less disheartening.

"I know many of you have heard this speech before, but it's necessary for the rebuilding of not only Equestria, but the entire world." He continued, his voice not as silky as it appeared through the speakers, "Historically, ponies and griffons have been allies, even before the war that saw Equestria's destruction. What better way to breed unity than this? To demonstrate that companionship can still exist, that despite the sins of our ancestors, creatures of all walks of life can come together." Red Eye's voice held on the word 'breed', he seemed to be making discreet jokes far too dirty for an innocent pony like Murky to get, but there were muffled laughs during his speech. Maybe Red Eye knew he was giving a speech to give some context for some kind of poorly-written story.

Red Eye's talking went on for longer than the author was able to reliably imitate but just long enough that Murky was able to figure that all of this was to help maintain relations between ponies and griffons, maybe transfer into future peace in Red Eye's utopia, or maybe he just liked seeing interspecies stuff. Murky knew for a fact that a pony could have a 'thing' for griffons, it happened to him.

The intimidating red stallion sitting next to Murky at the table enjoyed a similar breakfast. Murky was sitting to his right, granting him an up-close and unobstructed view of the mechanical device he had in lieu of an eye. He stole passing glances at it while they ate, noting the painful looking borders where metal met flesh. Stern didn't speak much during their conversation, her responses kept short while he prodded her with simple questions until he gave her one that required more than a few words.

"You've always sat this holiday out, Stern. I was beginning to think you were celibate." a sly grin crosses Red Eye as Stern looks to the side in silence.

"I supposed you were just waiting for 'your type' to show up?" he continues to probe Stern, making wild assumptions without really saying them directly. He brings a hoof to his chin in a display of faux pondering, "But the question remains, what about Murky makes him 'your type'?" Their conversation went on as if Murky weren't sitting right there next to them. Maybe Red Eye was just good at giving all of his attention to somepony, or griffon. Somegriffon? What if they said somebirdy? No, that sounded dumb.

There was some unspoken communication going on here, was Red Eye just teasing a colleague he'd known for a long time?

"The wings? The height? That shy disposition? What about the cutiemark?" Red Eye's teasing focused on Murky next, "What does it represent?" he asked, turning at the table to face him.

Murky had never thought about, or tried to make much thought about the shackles that adorned his flanks. They'd always been a painful symbol of his fate to forever be a slav-

"Are you some kind of escape artist? A special talent in getting yourself out of all kinds of predicaments? I bet you keep Stern on her toes. Or perhaps you're one of those ponies who knows how to have fun with chains." Red Eye rambled on about Murky's cutiemark having some more adult connotations, asking if he was good at tying up others, or if he was the one who was chained.

Murky had never considered the shackles meaning anything beyond what he'd first mentioned, Red Eye's revelations opened his eyes in a weird way. What exactly were those shackles supposed to represent? Maybe Red Eye was right about the escape artist thing? Murky remembered a few times he'd snuck off from work or talked his way out of a good beating. Maybe... Maybe Red Eye was right about... Murky imagined himself in chains again, but this time he was back on the bed with Stern and she was holding the whip again, his eyes went wide with an uncontrollable stirring in his chest suddenly rushing to a stirring between his legs. How could whips and chains be fun?! Murky pushed those thoughts away and now had no answer for the very salacious pony he knew as Red Eye.

"I-I, uhm..." he tried to think of something before Stern spoke up.

"I just think he's cute. Leave the poor guy alone, he looks like he's about to die of embarrassment."

Red Eye chuckled quietly, patting Murky on the head, "I was just excited to meet the pony who got Stern out of her shell. Feel free to take the rest of the week off, Stern. The holiday has brought production to a halt for now." Red Eye says, finishing off his oatmeal and departing from the table to leave Stern and Murky alone together.

Stern was left somewhat embarrassed, visible through her stoic attitude in the way her face was visibly red even through her feathers. Murky unfortunately, couldn't push away the new ideas Red Eye had given him. Whips and chains, who would dare to try and make those sound fun? That was almost as bad as heresy! Stern didn't speak for a painful few minutes while she finished her breakfast, Murky was more focused on pushing away lewd thoughts.

The dining hall slowly cleared out, one or two greeted Stern as they left, passing by with a friendly "Mornin', captain." Once there didn't seem to be so many in the hall, and the cacophonous hum of hundreds of voices wound down to a quieter buzz from which Murky could hear individual voices. Stern got Murky's attention by tapping a talon on the table near his hooves, "You want to go back to our room and pick up where we left off?" she says, "We've got a lot of time together this week." she said in a tone that would have sounded menacing if Murky didn't know exactly what he was in for. Wait, 'our room'? That kind of implied he owned it as well. It brought some confusing implications for Murky about how Stern viewed him. He didn't dislike it, she was a ton of fun when the armor came off, and she was really soft to hug. Murky's innocent thoughts kept dancing around how she'd so expertly machinegun jackhammered his cock and didn't even scrape it while she used a fistful of razor sharp talons. That was an unspoken plus he was too pure to mention.

Murky didn't answer verbally, a quick and minute nod of his head was enough to let Stern know he was indeed in favor of that offer. Stern got herself up from the table, stretching with a flutter of her big wings, her head motioned towards a door, "Come on then." she says.

Murky's little legs broke into a trot to keep up with Stern's long legged stride as he chased her through the halls back to their room. It was an exciting feeling, and a nice view from behind the griffon. He hadn't taken too much time to really look at Stern, especially from here, but the concept was pretty similar to some of the mares he'd seen around Fillydelphia. Only Stern was more well-fed, and scaled up a bit more. She filled out that armor all too well, black fabric hugging her and creating shapes and curves that would most definitely appear in his drawi- Murky realized his sketchbook was back at the Fun Farm! Oh Luna, what if somepony had found it?! They'd come to wrong conclusions about whoever was the artist. He had to get that sketchbook back!

Murky looked up at Stern, his eyes trailing up the back of her hindlegs to her rump, then her tail to that little paintbrush-like tuft of fur at the end of it. He'd have to ask her about helping him get it back later. Definitely later. Stern's tail swept across his face multiple times, irritating his nose, it felt like she was doing that on purpose.

The bed, the only thing that came to mind when thinking of what could be softer than the bed was Stern's underside. There wasn't a wait, he was lifted up and set on Stern's bed while she got back out of her armor, hastily tossing it aside near Murky's jerkin as the armor plates came off with the vest first, then the sleek black catsuit she wore under it all. Stern looked back a few times as she removed her clothes, casting a knowing grin when she saw Murky watching. Ponies, and griffons too, were normally naked meaning it shouldn't have seemed as enticing as it did seeing her disrobe.

Stern climbed up onto the mattress, her larger frame indenting the bed more than Murky's, and laid on her side facing him. "Roll over for me, on your back." she says, a gentle authority in her voice that seemed to knock Murky onto his back. His wings hadn't hurt so much lately, he was able to roll over without much soreness. A large shadow eclipsed the pegasus, Stern was going to be on top...

A mixture of excitement and anxiety hit Murky as the griffon positioned herself over his readily available pegasus dick. He'd hadn't even realized his body was ready far before his mind. He looked down the length of his belly to see Stern was lining the two of them up. With a controlled descent, Murky's mottled cock slipped into a hot, velvety soft pocket between Stern's thighs at an agonizingly slow rate. Only a portion of her weight bore down on his hips, but it was enough to gently squish Murky into the mattress. Stern's eyes shut as she exhaled a shaky breath. "Just lay back and enjoy the ride, Murk." Stern huffed, beginning to pump the little pony for all he was worth. In Stern's defense, she'd tried to ease him into it, but there are things that just can't wait.

A hand planted itself on the bed past Murky's head for stability as Stern slipped up and down, countless cycles of forcing her tight griffon pussy to fit over his flare drove her nerves crazy. Murky finally started to get into his role, a hoof raising up and settling behind his head while he relaxed and let Stern do the work for him. Several minutes of squeaking mattress, Murky felt it coming close, just like this morning, chills running down his back. Stern's hand planted on his chest a little rougher than he'd have liked.

"Hold- Hold it, not yet." Stern panted, "Me first." she says, beginning to reach a twitching climax. If she'd really let herself go, she would have probably been too rough with Murky. Rolling waves of spasms and gripping tightness squeezed Murky, and to speak for his rapid attainment of bedside skills, he'd actually held off from flaring until Stern's climax finally set him off like a broken water main, pumping the griffon full of pegasus seed.

Stern climbed off of Murky, leaving him in the little pony-shaped indentation he'd formed under her in the mattress, and laid on her back next to him panting heavily. Murky stared at the ceiling, this was... By Celestia's flowing mane, he felt great. Neither of them had the energy to move for a few minutes, Stern being the first to pull on Murky, dragging him closer to cuddle.

He could feel Stern's heartbeat between the rising and falling of her chest. He had slept against her side the previous night but now Stern was burying him in her plumage, the soft feathers tickling his ears. They laid together for about an hour, Stern's beak occasionally angling downward to play with his mane or rub against his ears. He was probably the only living thing to ever see this side of the Talon. It wasn't even noon and somehow Stern had worked him harder in a half hour than any of the slavers could in an entire day. It brought a tired smile to Murky's face.

Thoughts of his sketchbook came crawling back, he really needed to ask Stern about it. Later, he'd ask later. This was too comfortable to interrupt, until Stern rolled Murky to face her and began shuffling the stallion lower until his muzzle was against her soft underbelly. Murky opened his mouth and topped off his stomach with griffon milk while getting a relieved sigh from Stern. Yeah, too comfortable to interrupt.

Author's Note

Alright, I think I've got a handle on how I get from here to the intended ending. Sorry if this thing has gone on for too long.
Footnote:
HP fully restored.

Level Up!

New Perk Added:
Lover's Embrace
After spending some quality time with your special someone, you feel completely relaxed and ready for anything! +15% XP earned for a limited time.
Talon Ally
Special dialogue options are now available when speaking with griffons
Escape Artist
You've got a knack for getting yourself out of sticky situations. When chained or tied up, you have a chance to pick the lock or squirm free.