Equestria Trainers' Society: Work For Hire

Chapters

Character Introduction
Lost Friends, Found Oppertunities
A Not So Friendly Wager
Consequences Part 1
Consequences Part 2
It's a Living
The New Hires
The Quality of a Diamond
Gone to the Dogs
Extra Chapter: Gallus
Hunter Exam
The Calm
The Storm: Part 2
The Storm: Part 1

Character Introduction

Author's Note

To help readers get to know a little bit about the main character of this story before they jump in, I have decided to add a little bit of exposition here to explain a few details about her (in order to more fluidly tell the story without having to pause and explain some bits later).

The story follows a female gryphon by the name of Anya. She is 38 years old, and was born in Griffinstone. Like many gryphons who grow up in their homelands, she was not well taken care of by her parents, and eventually taken in by Grampa Gruff. Likewise, she became very disenfranchised with her nation of birth at a young age, and sought to leave it as she got older, in order to improve her life. One day after reaching adulthood, she simply left Griffonstone to find her fortune in Equestria, believing that she would never look back.

Once she got to Equestria, she started looking for work of any kind to get started, and after a few failed attempts, found a career she enjoyed in being a bouncer at a few pony clubs. Not only did it allow her to work off some of the frustration she was harboring from her youth, but the bits were enough to keep her interested. Over time, she found that her skills at dealing with ponies lead to a new line of work as a bodyguard for high profile ponies, which was incredibly well paying, but lead to an incident where her right eye was damaged beyond repair, and having to wear an eyepatch from that point on.

After some time working for some more seedy business ponies, she was one day hired to escort a unicorn stallion to a secret location, discovering on arrival that it was a meeting place for BDSM enthusiasts, her not knowing what that was prior. After a few time of this, having to sit on the side lines as she watched her employer partake of the event as a dominant, Anya developed her own interest in the practice, and asked if she was allowed to participate. The pony told her she could, but that there was a rule that all newbies had to spend their first party as a submissive. Anya agreed, if only to have the chance to participate as a dom.

While the submissive position was not horrible, with most who interacted with her treating her well, she discovered that it was the hope of her employer to tame her that night, and have her as his permanent submissive gryphon. His plan failed though, as she really wasn’t a submissive spirit, but her employer wasn’t upset that things didn’t go to plan, and graciously accepted his defeat. After that point, Anya was allowed to participate as a dominant, and developed a taste for putting submissive ponies in their place with displays of humiliation, staying within the rules of the group and never pushing a pony past their limits, knowing well what it was like to be in their position, which was of course the point of the initiation.

As years went by, Anya juggled her lifestyle with her job, accepting as much work as she could in order to pay for the expenses that came with her hobby. This eventually lead her to meet with a pegasus stallion named Pathfinder, who was a map maker pony who needed some protection as he charted out some more dangerous parts of Equestria. At first it was a normal worker/client relationship, but after a few misadventures, the gryphoness grew a bit attached, and formed a romantic relationship, where she would introduce the uninitiated stallion to her hobby in private. Years later, the two would stumble upon a baby kelpie lost in the wild, and Path would end up adopting the child, naming her Scylla. While Anya didn’t want to be a mother in a direct sense, she did act as a female figure to Scylla as the kelpie grew up, the girl understanding in time how Anya and her adopted father’s relationship was just a little more than ‘good friends’, but not enough that they would ever get married, as Anya hated being tied down to one pony or one job for too long.

Now just a few years past Scylla’s entrance into adulthood, something has happened to both her and Pathfinder, making them vanish off the face of Equestria. Not wishing to lose her two favorite ponies, Anya will track them down, only to discover a new type of group of BDSM enthusiasts, ones that aren’t all that concerned with the consent of their submissives.

Lost Friends, Found Oppertunities

“What do you mean they never checked in?” said a confused gryphoness to a pony standing behind a hotel lobby counter.

“Just what I said, miss,” said the stallion, looking through the hotel’s records, “We did have a room for two booked for a three month period by a pony named Pathfinder, but they never arrived. We had to give the room to somepony else after the first day they no showed.”

The female gryphon was bewildered, but had to accept that what the clerk said was true. Collecting her thoughts, she gave the stallion a nod, saying “Thanks anyways,” as she made her way out of the hotel.

The gryphon, who was named Anya, was a mature female for her species, having been through much in her life. Her features were very womanly, having curves in all the right places, along with a sizable, but not too large, chest for one of her species, many gryphons lacking actual breasts as their birdlike qualities shaped that area of their body. The feathers from the head up were pure white, while the feathers and fur beneath that were grey, and covered with spots similar to a leopards. This all made Anya a very striking figure to behold, but what made her stand out the most was the patch that she wore over one eye, made of leather and embedded with a sapphire that was cut into the shape of the ocular organ she was missing.

Stepping out of the building, she too a look around with the one eye she did have, taking in the tropical scenery of Haywaii. Two of her friend, a pegasus and his adopted kelpie daughter, were supposed to have been on holiday here at this island off the coast of Equestria, staying in the hotel that she had just left, but apparently they never arrived. It had been nearly three months since they left their home, and now Anya, who had come to spend their last week of vacation with them, had learned that they had never even arrived.

Something was clearly off, as the gryphoness knew that her pegasus friend wouldn’t have ever lied to her about where he and his daughter were going, and she had made him write down where he would be in case of an emergency. Now she was getting worried, because two of her closest relations, ponies that she could almost consider as family, were not where they were supposed to be.

The only conclusion she could come to was that something prevented them from coming, and that maybe they had chosen to stay home. Anya hadn’t been to their house for a while, and thus didn’t know one way or the other if that was the case. There was the possibility that one of the ponies got sick just before they were going to leave, and thus couldn’t travel, which could have lead to more complications. The more Anya thought about it, the more it troubled her, because she knew something had happened, but she needed to know what.

Taking one last look at the resort area, she couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. She really would have liked to have taken some time off in a place like this, but now she had more pressing matters to attend to than sun, sand, and salt water waves.

“Pathfinder?” said an earth mare standing in front of the missing pegasus’ house, “I haven’t seen him since the day he and Scylla left on vacation.”

“Really?” Anya said, having just encountered the mare as she was mowing the grass around Pathfinder’s residence.

She didn’t know the mare, which was typical as Anya didn’t associate with many ponies, not even the ones that Path would have known as friends or neighbors, but she was aware that somepony would have had to take care of things while the pegasus was away. There was little suspicious about what was going on, except that Path and his daughter were now absent from both places that they should have been.

“Actually, I didn’t even see them the day they left,” said the mare, “I was trying to catch him on his way out, but when I came to bid him farewell, he was already gone.”

Anya kept her composure in front of the mare, but now was becoming fairly worried. There were still plenty of plausible reasons why he didn’t go on vacation, but decided to leave his home. Things such as something happening with a relative that called his attention, or perhaps he even got a summons from Princess Celestia in order to do some important map making job, as that was his professional trade. These were reasonable things that one could assume had happened, but for some reason those conclusions didn’t sit well with Anya.

“Well, do you mind if I look around a bit?” Anya asked, “I’m trying to find him, and I might be able to get a clue on where he went with a bit of snooping.”

“Well…” the pony said, not sure that she should let someone nose around a house that wasn’t hers.

“How about this?” Anya said, “You wrap and head on home, and then I’ll take a little look around. You won’t be responsible if something happens here, and I won’t be responsible if something would have happened to you here.”

Anya flashed a talon in front of the mare’s eyes, flicking them together a few times to make sure she got the point. Seeing the razor sharp claws mere inches away from her face, the mare tensed up in fear, and returned a nod to the gryphon.

“Good,” Anya said, backing off, “Now pack up and head home.”

The earth mare grabbed her push mower, and dragged it away as fast as she could. Anya wasn’t exactly proud that she had to resort to intimidation tactics, but she wasn’t about to let some pony she didn’t know stand in her way, and once the mare had ducked around a large tree, the gryphon set to her task.

Taking flight, Anya went to the roof of the building, finding a particular tile in it, and lifted it up to find a spare key her pegasus friend left there. As far as she was aware, only she and Pathfinder knew about it. Taking the key, she flew back down to ground level, using it on the front door so she could get inside. Her plan was to search for a letter, a note, or something that might have been left to indicate that they had changed their plans.

Checking the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and both bedroom, she couldn’t find anything like that left out in the open. She thought about opening drawers, but decided that would be a waste of time. If they did change their plans on the day of departure, then they would have been in too big a rush to store away anything that would lead to them. It was unfortunate, but the house was a dead end. Anya exited her friend’s home, locked it up, and returned the key to its hiding place.

“Where could they be?” Anya pondered to herself as she touched back down to the ground, walking away from the building as she went over her thoughts, “They aren’t in either of the places they should be, and it's not like Path to just change his mind on a whim.”

As she paced around the foliage around the pegasus’ home, Anya’s sense of worry rose quickly. She had reached the point where rational thought was no longer helping, and the only explanations that seemed possible were ones that didn’t bode well for the two missing ponies.

“Could they have gotten into an accident on the way to the boat?” Anya asked, remembering Scylla mentioning they were taking pegashuttle, “Could they’ve crashed somewhere? Are they stranded on some island in the middle of nowhere?”

Anya quickly ruled out that possibility. If her friends ended up on an island, they both would have their own means of getting back to Equestria. Even if the worse came to worse, and they and the pegasi transporting them were all injured in such an accident, it wouldn’t have taken them that long to heal up and then head home.

“There has to be something I’m missing,” Anya said to herself, uncertain if that was really the case. There was absolutely nothing that led the gryphon to the location Pathfinder was at that moment. “Wait a minute… There was no sign of...”

Anya rushed back to the house, and let herself back inside for a second time. This time she took care to tread lightly, not wanting to disturb anything anymore than she had already. She inspected all the rooms of the house, top to bottom, and what she thought she had noticed was confirmed.

“It’s clean,” she said aloud, “Too clean.”

The house looked like it had been gone over with a fine tooth comb. When she entered the first time, everything was neatly stacked, put away, or cleaned to the point that it looked new. That wasn’t how most people would leave a house right before leaving for a vacation though, and even less so if they had to leave for an emergency, as no one would want to tidy up every inch of their home right before leaving it for months on end to collect dust. They would save those sort of chores for their return, if they intended to get to them at all. That was another thing, the place just didn’t look lived in, taking the appearance of a house that would be up for sale, only having furniture inside it so potential buyers would know what it would look like filled.

With this detail established, Anya reached a conclusion she would have never come to otherwise. “Someone didn’t want anyone to know they were here.” That was the only reason Anya could think of for the house being as it was, and that thought led the gryphon to another conclusion, “That means… Whoever did this took Pathfinder and Scylla.”

It was a tall claim, that someone had kidnapped two ponies who were, for the most part, not in the least bit important, but it wasn’t so far fetched that Anya could ignore it, especially since she had no other leads. The thought was also terrifying though, as if it was true, that meant Path and Scylla were in danger, and there was no way to find them.

“Unless,” Anya said, running outside, foregoing closing the door. What she had thought was a long shot, but it was the only chance she had.

The gryphoness started scouring the foliage around the house, going so far as to get on her hands and knees to crawl around. It was her hope that while the culprit might have made Path’s house spotless, they would have neglected something outside. It was a longshot, as even had they been so careless, time and nature might have destroyed that kind of evidence, but it was the last option Anya believed she had. Sure, the gryphon could have gone to the Equestrian Guard with what she figured out, but all she had was speculations, and she didn’t believe the authorities would care about a bunch of ‘what if’s’ from a non-Equestrian.

Anya must have spent the better part of an hour crawling around in the dirt, her dedication to the ponies she sought guiding her. She searched and searched, and only once on the verge of giving up completely, did she find something in a bush that she was just about to ignore, but then gave another look. It was a simple feather, protected from the elements by the plant surrounding it like a bubble. Not just any feather, though. It was a gryphon feather, which was the very reason she was going to ignore it, because she thought it was one of her own. However, when she gave it a second glance, she saw that it didn’t bare her leopard pattern prints, but the pattern it did have was something she believed she recognized.

Taking the feather and pocketing it, Anya believed that this was the clue she was looking for. Sure, it could have simply fallen off from a gryphon flying overhead, but seeing who Anya thought the feather belonged to, she found that unlikely. So since she now had a culprit in mind, the gryphon also had a destination; that being the nation of the gryphons itself, the city of Griffonstone.

Griffinstone had been in ruins for longer than most gryphons could remember. It could no longer be considered a kingdom, being more a collection of rundown shacks where gryphons gathered, the disheveled state of it being the result of a cultural lack of motivation after a certain tragic event. Most younger gryphons only saw it as a pit from which to escape from, but somehow always found their way back to it. Still, a few gryphons saw it as a place to call home, if only because of personal attachments to something or someone who resided there.

Anya was not one of those few, but she knew of one such gryphon, and to find the one she was looking for, the gryphoness would have to go through him first. She wished that she could show up at his doorstep under better circumstances, but with things as they were, Anya really didn’t have a choice.

Walking with a determined speed through the city, she headed to the house of her old caretaker, Grandpa Gruff, striding right past everyone in the street, who returned the disinterest of interacting with one another. Storming up to the ramshackle structure where the old gryphon lived, she hit the door three times with a force that threatened to knock the rickety piece of wood off its hinges, making a point that she would do just that if her knock wasn’t answered immediately. The message must have gotten across, as she heard a rustling from inside, and the quick opening of the door by the old, feline vulture.

“Anya?!” he yelled angrily, not liking that he had been disturbed, that it was in such a hostile manner, or that it was by one of his former wards, “What’s wrong with you?! Are ya trying to bring the house down?!”

“Zip it, you old buzzard,” Anya replied, the comment made in her own anger, as if this had been a normal housecall, she would have made an effort to show the elder gryphon a bit more respect, “I’m here for one thing, and then I’m off.” Anya reached into a pouch at her side, and pulled out the feather she had found. Putting it in front of the older gryphon’s face, Gruff could see it was mostly white, save for a gradient pink at its tip. With the feather presented to the old gryphon, the gryphoness asked a simple and straight forward question. “Where’s Gilda?”

Grandpa Gruff inspected the feather with scrutiny, and while the feather was worn and dirty, it was certainly Gilda’s, as there were no other gryphons with such distinct feathers. “Beats me,” he replied grumpily, settling down a little, since Anya wouldn’t be so inclined in finding Gilda unless it was something important, “I haven’t seen her in months now.”

Anya was afraid that might be the case, seeing that she found the feather in a place far away from Griffinstone. Gruff was her only lead though, so she had to try. “Why did Gilda leave?” she asked, hoping to get some clue on where Gilda could be.

“What is it, my job to keep track of every gryphon in Griffinstone?” Gruff replied, clearly irritated over the line of questioning.

In a way, it was Gruff’s job, and a self appointed one at that. If not for him, a lot of Griffinstone’s youth wouldn’t be looked after, and for as much of a miser and opportunist he acted like in public, he was always the first to help those in his care get the things they needed, like food or education.

“Grandpa Gruff,” Anya said, forcing herself to act more maturely about the situation, “I hate to impose on you, but this is important. Two of my pony friends have gone missing. They were supposed to go on vacation, but when I went to where they were supposed to be staying, I was told they never arrived. It’s been months since then, and when I went to check on them at their home, what I saw made me suspect foul play. The only thing I could find looking around their house was this feather, which shouldn’t have been there at all.”

It was surely suspicious, but Gruff couldn’t even think of a reason why Gilda would be connected to two missing ponies. “All I can say is that a while back, there was a group of minotaur that came to Griffonstone.”

“Minotaur?” Anya questioned, wondering how that related to Gilda.

“They were here offering anyone and everyone ‘jobs’ working for them,” Gruff went on to say, “But they never explained what the jobs actually were, only that they would be paying more gold coins than most gryphons see in a year.”

“So Gilda took the offer, I take it,” Anya concluded.

“Her and Gallus,” said Gruff, “And maybe Gabby too. Not sure about her though, since she stuck around a while longer, but she disappeared like a lot of other gryphons. All I could find while snooping around her room was a flyer for the minotaur’s little pyramid scheme.”

This was a lot to take in, considering that she was only looking for Gilda so she could get information on where her friends were, assuming Gilda was even involved with their disappearance. The minotaur lead did sound like a likely path to follow, as they tended to be entrepreneurs, and had the kind of bits that could lure in gryphons into doing diligent, if unenthusiastic, labor. It was fairly easy to see how Gilda could be suckered into doing some dirty work for a bull with bulging pockets, as well as the other two, seeing how they, like many others born in Griffinstone, had plans to one day leave the city. It was just strange in Gabby’s account, as she already had a job, but perhaps she saw this as a quicker way to reach the goal.

“Hey Gruff, you still got that flyer?” Anya asked, now seeing this as her only means to pursue both Gilda and her friends, “I’m about to go career hunting.”

A few days later, Anya had made her way to Dodge Junction. She was following the instructions written on the flyer Gruff gave her, which were written in an odd manner. There were different locations listed to go to, with different dates on which to be there. The minotaur who handed them out might have had different jobs at each of these places, seeking to meet a set schedule that took them all across Equestria, but such large projects were not the kinds of things creatures depended on day laborers with. She might have been overthinking a minor detail, but it would have just made more sense to hire a steady crew, and have them be there when you needed them, rather than to just hope that a group you told you had a job for would show up when you needed them, that group being a bunch of gryphons, no less.

Still, no matter how strange it sounded, this was Anya’s only lead, so she had to follow it. Looking at the piece of paper in her claw again, Anya checked the place she had to go, only written down as ‘The local bar’.

“They couldn’t have given an actual address,” Anya mumbled to herself, slightly agitated that she was gonna have to do extra work on something that, in all honesty, could lead to a dead end. Though she had the right date and time, it was still possible that Gilda wouldn’t even be there.

Anya stopped to get directions from one of the town’s ponies she saw on the street, who was very helpful as she pointed the gryphon to a building far down the street. Less than a minute later she was standing in front of it, looking up at the sign posted above the entrance that called the place ‘The Cherry Pit”. Poking her head inside, she could see all the standard trappings of an old western saloon, with round tables, a bar, and a piano that sat against one of the walls of the establishment. What she didn’t notice were customers, as the bar was empty, even though the door was unlocked.

“Maybe they just opened,” Anya said to herself, stepping inside. It was fairly early, before the time that most would come for a glass of cider. The only curious thing really was that there was nopony manning the bar.

“Hello?”Anya called out, having entered halfway into the building, hoping somepony was present that could help her. After not receiving an answer, she called out again, but louder, “Hello!?”

This time she got a response, in the form of a door opening, followed by the voice of a female pony, “Well I do declare, if it isn’t a gryphoness in my humble establishment.” Anya had to tilt her head up, to a banister above the bar, it just coming to her attention that the tavern had a second floor. There she spotted an earth mare with rose red hair, dressed up like a southern belle, and speaking with an accent to match. “Why, what brings a girl like yourself all the way out to Dodge Junction?”

Anya gave the mare a confused glare as she descended a flight of steps, as surely she should have known that her building was being used as a venue for recruiting gryphons by a group of minotaur.

“I’m here because of this,” Anya said, approaching the mare just as her hoof hit the bottom landing, and handing her the flyer, “I believe you were expecting some minotaur here today, and they were employing gryphons for some sort of job?”

“A job?” the mare said, looking the flyer over, though Anya was able to tell by the movement of her eyes that the mare wasn’t really reading it, “What kind of job?”

“Beats me,” Anya answered, “I’m not really here for that myself, but I was hoping to find a certain gryphon attending whatever this thing was.”

“Well,” the mare said, handing back the flyer, “I hate to disappoint ya, but we haven’t seen a minotaur in these parts since… well I suppose ever. Buffalo, yes, even bulls and cows, but not a minotaur. They don’t exactly see the business opportunities that can come with an out of the way place such as this.

Anya grimaced, not liking the sound of that, “So this flyer is…”

“A fake,” the mare said, stepping behind the bar counter, placing two cups on its surface, then grabbing a bottle from the shelf behind it, “Or maybe a typo. Perhaps they meant a different building, or maybe a different city.”

While typos were possible, one that wrote down the wrong city would have been a monumental mistake that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed. It’s not like there were other cities in Equestria with a name similar to Dodge Junction.

“Perhaps they meant to put down Appleloosa,” the mare said, opening her bottle, then pouring its contents into the glasses, “I wouldn’t be surprised if those minotaur couldn’t tell the difference from one western city to another.”

“Maybe…” Anya said, really hoping that wasn’t the case, “But that doesn’t explain something…”

“And what might that be?” the earth mare asked, pushing one of the now full glasses over to Anya.

“You’d think that there’d at least be a few more gryphons here, even if this was a typo.” Anya explained, “Because each flyer would say the same thing.”

“I reckon you’re right,” said the mare, taking the remaining glass in hand, “You can’t be the only one who got a bad flyer. Maybe if you stick around, they’ll show up.”

“I’d hate to just take up space,” Anya said, putting the piece of paper away, “Your customers should be coming in any minute.”

“Oh nonsense,” the mare replied, “You’re not gonna scare off any of my regulars, and we don’t get enough visitors in these parts for me to be worrying about every stranger who walks in.”

“Well then, thank you for the hospitality, Miss…”

“The name’s Jubilee,” said the earth mare, “Cherry Jubilee. I own the cherry farm in these parts, along with a few other businesses in town. Oh! And in case I didn’t make it clear, that first drink is on the house. Just a little something to make your trip not a complete waste, in case none of your friends show up.”

Anya picked up the glass, her gryphon instincts telling her to take it since there was no cost attached. Ponies did have a thing for being charitable, so such gestures were not unusual, and something to calm her agitation was welcome. She downed the drink, but found it was very strong as it hit the back of her throat, which made her cough a little as it traveled down to her stomach.

“Oh, sorry hon,” Cherry said, setting her own glass back on the counter, “I’m afraid Dodge Junction likes their cider spiked with a bit of whisky, but I thought a tough looking thing like yourself could handle it.”

“Oh no,” Anya said between coughs, “It's fine. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

“You should probably take a seat, just to be on the safe side,” Cherry said, leaving the bar in order to get one from a nearby table.

“Really, I’m fine,” Anya insisted, not believing that a single shot would harm her too much, “I can hold my liquor pretty well.”

“That might be true,” Cherry replied, “But once those sedatives kick in you’re not gonna want to be standing.”

“What are you… Shi-!” It took a second for Anya to understand what Cherry had said, but by that time she started to feel herself go a little tipsy.

It was a rookie mistake, but Anya wasn’t exactly some person who had to deal with drinks being drugged, nor were Equestrians known for drugging other creatures. There was little she could have done to prevent this from happening, but she couldn’t help but kick herself mentally for falling for such a trick.

“Now don’t you fret,” Cherry said, siding the chair over to catch the gryphon as she fell backwards, “It’s all part of the process. Just a little nap, and you’ll get all the answers you need. They might not be the answers you want, though.”

Anya tried her best not to fall asleep, but the sedatives she ingested acted fast. Soon her eyelids were too heavy to keep open, and it was all she could do just to stay conscious long enough to hear the sound of loud hoofsteps enter the room. The last thing she could sense was a sudden lack of gravity, or at least the feeling of vertigo, as some strong creature effortlessly picked her up from her seat. By the time she was securely cradled in the creature’s powerful arms, she was out like a light.

The next thing to breach Anya’s bubble of perception were the words, “Wakey, wakey, sleepy head,” said to her in a tone that was both condescending and dripping with egotism. At least, those were the first words spoken to her that she understood clearly, as the occasional mumbling had also reached her prior, but being able to understand the words was an indication that she was ready to do as they suggested.

Slowly, Anya’s eyes crept open, and she found herself in a new location, which was to be expected. She didn’t know where she was exactly, but the gryphon could tell that she was in a dimly lit room, the only source of light coming from a fireplace on the wall across from her, which was being obstructed by two large figures. One of the figures was expected, being the form of a large bovine, with muscles that looked thicker than her entire body in her still inebriated state. The other was a large chair, placed directly in front of her, and sitting within it was a purple unicorn, who’s fur shimmered lightly in what light was available.

“Ah, so you are awake,” the unicorn mare said, leaning forward in her seat, hands folded in front of her muzzle, “I hope your relocation to our facility wasn’t too rough on you. I’d hate for you to have bad first impressions about our organization.”

Anya made an attempt to get up out of her seat, but quickly found that her wrists had been cuffed to the arms of the piece of furniture, and her ankles were similarly shackled to its legs. She then tried to spread her wings out, but they had been bound into a folded position with leather belts. She was annoyed by her restraints, her sentiments not going unnoticed by the mare across from her.

“Sorry, but we can’t have you lashing out, which is a common reaction to our recruiting process.” said the purple pony, “But if you relax, then we can have you out of those cuffs in merely a few minutes.”

The gryphoness growled to herself, her catlike qualities coming to the surface in her annoyance. As pissed as she was, she knew that she couldn’t escape this predicament on her own, and she had to take into consideration that she hadn’t really been harmed so far. It hurt her pride, but listening to this mare couldn’t make things any worse than they were at the moment.

“I’m relaxed,” Anya said, “But I’ll let you know that I’m not happy being chained down like this.”

“Of course,” said the mare, “I can tell you have a pretty strong dominant streak, which is something I can appreciate. Just give me some time to explain why exactly I need to take these precautions, and so long as we can reach an understanding, I’ll gladly let you go.”

“Then start explaining,” Anya said, being civil, but direct.

“Well for starters, my name is Schorl Tourmaline, but since we are under less than formal circumstances, you may call me Schorl. With that out of the way, I heard from my associate, Miss Jubilee, that you didn’t answer my flyer looking for work, and instead you were looking for a fellow gryphon. Is this correct?”

Anya gave a nod in reply, seeing no point in lying at this point. She acknowledged the information the pony gave freely, as the flyer wasn’t from the minotaur directly, but this mare instead, meaning she was the one seeking gryphons.

“Might I ask whom you were looking for, and for what reason?” asked Schorl.

“I was looking for a girl named Gilda,” Anya said, “Because I think she might know the whereabouts of two ponies I’m acquainted with.”

“See, I was afraid that was what this was about,” said the crystal mare, “We get a lot of creatures around here in search of missing persons. Not often enough that it alarms me, but enough that it can be a hassle dealing with them.”

“And why, might I ask, do you have creatures coming to you looking for others?” Anya gave the question, but she was starting to piece together the picture, but she wanted to get confirmation from the mare herself, as there were still a few answers she could give, though none of them would be acceptable to the gryphoness.

“For the same reason I have to drug and strap down anyone who might inquire about a job from me,” Schorl replied, “Because the business I’m in isn’t exactly legal.”

“So you’re some sort of crime boss?” Anya replied, having figured out that much already.

“Of sorts,” Schorl went on, “But it’s not like I’m part of a mob or gang of thugs. My business is in the acquiring and preparations of hard to get commodities, which some will pay a large sum to get. This is why I sought out help in Griffonstone, as I know that for the right price, a gryphon will be willing to do anything.”

“Fine, I can respect that you consider what you do a business,” Anya said, not exactly happy with the mare’s given profession, but not exactly concerned with it either. Whatever she was doing, it was a pony matter, and pony matters were not her problem. “I don’t have any reason to get in the way of what you’re doing.”

“And what am I doing?” Schorl asked, wondering if the gryphon had actually put the pieces together.

“Smuggling, I guess,” Anya answered, “I’d say drugs, artwork, or artifacts if you didn’t say that you had to deal with creature looking into disappearances, but with that detail I can only believe that you’ve been sneaking ponies out of Equestria, to be sold into slavery.”

Schorl smiled, sliding her rump partially on the table between her and the gryphon, sitting atop it at an angle, “Very good. I knew you were smart, but it’s not just ponies.”

With a snap of her fingers, the wall around the fireplace lit up, revealing that sections of it were made up of glass windows, which lead into three small chambers, one holding a zebra, another with a small dragon inside, and the last containing a kirin. Each of the creatures were nude, bound up in compromising positions that exposed their most private parts, and looked to be in varying levels of discomfort, moaning and sobbing to themselves as they wriggled about in their bonds.

“For the clients that we serve, we acquire all sorts of different creatures, from the mundane, to the exotic, to the excitingly dangerous. We also train them so they can become perfect servants, willing to do anything their owner desires.”

“Who’s your client,” Anya asked, seeing if the mare would let that little detail slip, “The Storm King, the changelings?”

“Oh deary, no,” Schorl replied, “While you’d think those would be good choices, the changelings are not exactly hospitable to those who aren’t of their kind, and dealing with the Storm King’s nation is impossible, as they would rather take what they don’t already possess.”

“So you’re either dealing with another nation further away from Equestria, or your selling your slaves locally,” Anya said, still connecting one piece to another, “And seeing how you’ve displayed your examples here, it looks like your aim is for sex slaves, more than labor slaves.”

“You really are keeping up with the conversation,” Schorl said, slightly impressed, “But a clever gryphon like yourself should realize that I would never reveal my clients through simple conversation. At least, not until our own business matters have reached a conclusion.”

“Fine, that’s fair,” Anya replied, not really caring who the mare’s clients were, “That’s your business, but the problem is that your business has cost me.”

“In what way have I cost you anything?” Schorl questioned, her tone gaining a bit of hostility at the accusation, “Because I sent one of my workers to enslave a few of your friends?” The crystal mare wasn’t even trying to hide the notion that she might have been the one behind Path and Scylla’s disappearance, as it was clear that both sides had come to the same conclusion of the events that brought them to this point.

“Because you took what is mine.” Anya said, calm, but coldly. Anya spoke these words without thinking, the drugs still meddling with her thoughts a little, but in a way she meant what she said. As far as she was concerned, Path and Scylla belonged to her. Perhaps not in the way that Schorl believed a creature could belong to someone, but in a way that made her claim just as valid, if not more so.

Whatever Anya’s definition of her claim was, the crystal mare looked back at her statement impressed. “So you’re saying I stole your property?”

“I am,” Anya spat back, “And if you’re an honest business woman, you’d return what’s rightfully mine to me.”

Schorl stared at the gryphon, going over her demand in her head. It wasn’t the first time someone completely at her mercy acted with such defiance to her face, but the approach was something wholly unique. Anya was attacking not her morality or sense of decency, but her standards as the provider of a service. In the end, the crystal mare couldn’t help but smile, the gryphon winning her over with her bold approach.

“I want to be direct with you,” Schorl said, “While I know you aren’t looking for work, and can see you believe I owe you the return of your ponies. I want to offer you a job, one that I’ve offered many gryphons like yourself.”

“I’m not interested,” Anya answered, not really wanting to get caught up in some ill conceived slavery ring.

“Funny, most of your kind were happy to exploit other creatures for profit,” replied Schorl, “That is why we decided to rely on gryphons to act as our hunters above all others, as you’re more likely to turn a blind eye, so long as the bag tossed to you has enough gold in it.”

Anya didn’t like how the unicorn was describing her kind, but she also couldn’t deny that it was the truth. Had the pony approached her with the same kind of offer when she was still a young adult, it was likely that she would have accepted without hesitation.

“Of course, you’re not like the rest. You came looking for me, poking your beak around because of your lost property.” said Schorl, hopping off the table to walk around to the restrained gryphon. “So who were you looking for?”

“I told you, a gryphon Gilda,” Anya replied, hoping that this would get her somewhere, if she played her cards right.

“No, no,” Schorl said, shaking her head, “She might be the one I sent to kidnap your ponies, but she’s not who I meant. You do wish to get your property back, yes?”

“I’m looking for two ponies,” Anya corrected herself, understanding what Schorl was getting at now, “A brown and white pegasus by the name of Pathfinder, and a kelpie named Scylla.”

Schorl’s eyes widened, and she took a step back to ponder. “I see… To think that you’d have come for them. The kelpie was such a rare species that we took extra precautions in acquiring her when no one would miss her for a while.”

“Too many precautions,” Anya said, wanting to humiliate the mare, “Their house was so clean that I knew something was wrong immediately.

“I see,” Schorl said, making a mental note of Anya’s criticism of her coverup, “Miss Scylla and Mr. Finder were indeed acquired by The Society. That much I’m willing to tell you for free. It’s a shame you were looking for them though.”

“Why’s that?” Anya asked, worrying something bad had happened to them.

“Well, I was hoping that I could resolve this by simply trading the ones you sought back to you for a bit of work. I was even going to give you a discount, since you came so far in search for your friends, but I fear I can’t do that with those two. Miss Scylla was such a rare species that I had sold her off almost immediately, and Mr. Finder was bought as a father/daughter set.”

“Then tell me who bought them,” Anya said, “And I’ll go deal with them directly.”

“It’s not that easy,” said Schorl, “One of the benefits to my service is discretion for the clients. If I were to tell you who purchased your friends, then word of that would spread, and soon no pony would trust me to keep their sordid secrets of slavery.”

Anya shook slightly in her seat, being so close, yet so far away from those she sought. She felt like breaking the chair she was cuffed to into pieces, and using its splintered parts to force the information out of the mare. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen with the bull in the room, but she still held the sentiment.

“Don’t get too upset,” Schorl said, unable to ignore Anya’s slowly rising temper, “At least not yet. While I’m not privy to tell you myself where your friends are, perhaps I can figure a work around for you. If you’d give me some time to sort things out, I’ll be willing to help you out as much as I can.”

“For a price, right?” Anya said, knowing that the mare wasn’t going to do this out of the goodness of her heart.

“Of course,” replied the mare, “But for now, I’ll have my bodyguard release you from your bonds and escort you to a room, fully comped, so long as you don’t cause us any further trouble.”

“Fine,” Anya complied, disliking that she was essentially being put on hold, “But can you at least tell me how long I’ll have to wait?”

“A day at the latest,” Schorl answered, using her horn to release all the bonds on Anya’s person, each one simply falling off the gryphon’s body once undone, “By then I’ll know everything I need to in order to deal with your situation.”

Anya gave Schorl a nod of agreement, and stood up from her seat, looking over to the brutish bull still standing on the other side of the table. The bull gave a huff through his nostrils, and pointed to a door in the room, one that had been mostly hidden in shadow, in case Anya did make an attempt to escape, to make it harder for her to know which way to flee.

“This way.” he said, going out the door first, and opening it for the gryphon.

Anya followed the minotaur’s instructions, ready to allow him to lead her wherever he was going. She had gone from prisoner to reluctant guest, but that was subject to change the moment that she stepped out of line. It certainly bothered the gryphon to comply, but if it led her so much as one step in the direction of her friends, then she had to do so, at least for now.

Anya was detained for some time, stuck in a room that was comfortable, even if it was intended to be a cell to stick her in as Schorl decided what to do with her. Still, there was a bathroom to freshen up in, and a nice bed to take a rest, both of which Anya found herself using as she waited. She also didn’t go hungry, as she was treated to two meals during her stay in the room, both a meal fit for a gryphon, featuring a variety of meats and fruits, prepared in a manner fit for a five star restaurant. The unicorn was trying to appeal to the gryphon, for what reason, Anya could only guess at, and overall didn’t matter. The only thing that did was the inevitable rescue of Pathfinder and Scylla from this place.

Anya waited and waited, and finally a minotaur came to retrieve her to meet back with Schorl. She was happy to be able to leave the room, her thoughts never straying from her self appointed task, but she held no delusions that whatever the mare would say or do to her would be pleasant, and that was if she actually intended to be helpful at all. It was possible the unicorn just came to the conclusion that helping Anya would be too much of a hassle, and that she’d have to deal with her some other way. All it meant was that Anya would have to remain on guard, in case her host turned on her.

When brought to her destination, Anya was at least relieved to see the unicorn was there, which at least meant that the mare did want to speak with her again, which reduced the chance this was all going to lead to betrayal, if only slightly. She was also glad to see that the new room she had been brought to had appropriate lighting, Schorl ditching the darker atmosphere that was intended to be more intimidating. In this light, Anya could finally notice that Schorl was a crystal pony, her fur sparking as the gryphon was led to a seat. That did make her raise an eyebrow, as Anya had never heard of crystal ponies with horns. Still, that aspect of Schorl was only mildly interesting, as what she was meant little when it came to getting her friends back.

“Miss Anya,” Schorl stated as the feline fowl took a seat, “I hope you were treated well during your stay.”

“Well enough,” Anya replied, “So is this the part where you give me the good news and bad news?”

“I already gave you the bad news,” Schorl said, “And that news remains the same. I can’t help you directly in locating your friends. I can, however, point you in the right direction.”

“How so,” Anya said, not believing for a second that this would be straight forward.

“Well, as much as it might anger you to hear this,” Schorl said, prepping the gryphon, “Your friends were sold to a minotaur from a country outside of Equestria. The country itself has restricted access to outsiders, and it would be very unlikely for you to be allowed to enter, find your friends, and leave with them. Even with my connections, I can only set hoof on those lands when given permission.”

“Then how do I get permission?” Anya asked, not even knowing until this point that there was a country of minotaur outside of Equestria, as the minotaur she had encountered were all Equestria natives, and didn’t exist together in large civilizations.

“Simple enough,” Schorl replied, “While I have no authority to grant you access into the minotaur’s lands, I can get you in contact with those who can. In fact, I’ve contacted such a bull right now.”

Schorl looked to a door behind her, opposite the one Anya had entered, and a few seconds later two figures entered. The first was a large, grizzled looking minotaur, which Anya had expected. What followed after him though was more surprising, as it was a gryphon, and one that she was familiar with, as it was the one she was tracking to begin with. The fact that Anya was in the room wasn’t lost on the other female gryphon either, as her eyes widened for a moment upon spotting Ayna, before her expression changed to annoyance, her feathers ruffling as her cheeks puffed up her cheeks and her arms went cross.

“Miss Anya, I know you know Gilda,” Schorl said, entertained by the reaction of the younger gryphoness, “But our more important guest here is a minotaur slaver from the island continent of Minopolis.”

“Never heard of it,” Anya stated bluntly, having indeed never heard that name in her life.

“As you wouldn’t,” said the minotaur, “We have done well to not spread the name of our homelands in Equestria, nor have we allowed its location to be known to those outside of our most trusted… resources.”

“Oh please,” Schorl responded to the bull’s remark, “You flatter me. What our friend here says is true, though. Ask any pony in Equestria, be they a common earth pony, or Princess Celestia herself, about Minopolis, and all you’d get are confused looks.”

“Meaning that even if you let me go, I’d never be able to find the place on my own, I take it.” Anya said, voicing her conclusions aloud.

“Exactly,” said the minotaur, “But if you are willing to prove your worth to the minotaur nation, through service to our cause, then I may be inclined to grant you passage into our lands.”

“Schorl, what is he talking about?” Anya asked the crystal mare, “Cause this is starting to sound less like a business affair, and more like a bovine cult.”

“Well you see…” Schorl took a moment to explain the minotaurs’ situation, how they sought to increase their population, and how they could only do this through enslaving other species, as they had no females of their own, and willing participation in minotaur mating was dwindling, “So we supply slaves to Minopolis, and are paid generously for our services.”

Anya was both repulsed and impressed at Schorl’s handling of the minotaur’s need for slaves, taking their misfortune and turning it into something she could exploit. She could at least hold some form of begrudging respect for that kind of devious business model, which was something she couldn’t say about the minotaurs’ mating behaviors, which to her seemed like they were making excuses to kidnap and rape ponies.

“Now that you know about my little side business,” Schorl continued, “I want to leave you with the options you have. First one is the one that’s been stated. You do some work for this minotaur here, and in return he will take you to his homelands, where you can continue the search for your friends, without any further assistance from me. As far as it is concerned, I had nothing to do with this.”

“And what other option do I have?” Anya said with curiosity, as the mare was implying that there was some other choice the gryphon could make.

“Well, if it satisfies you more, I could simply compensate you for the loss of your property,” Schorl stated, “Pay you a sum that would be more than adequate for their value, and then we part ways on neutral terms. You would be taken out the same way that you came in, and delivered to Griffinstone, where you would have no idea how to find us again, and you wouldn’t be able to trust any other gryphons to help you.”

“Because they’d either not know what I’m talking about, be disinterested in helping, or on your payroll,” Anya said, listing off all the reasons gryphon help was not viable after leaving The Society.

“Correct,” Schorl confirmed, “And while you know Miss Jubilee is one of our members, searching any of her residences will not grant you any information about our whereabouts. Believe me, we’ve scrubbed her properties clean, and she will not speak against us.”

Anya knew that Schorl could have Cherry’s estate cleaned of any evidence of The Society, though questioned if it were true that Cherry herself wouldn’t squeal, but Schorl was trying to make a point here. Taking any gold that she was offering was a bribe, and would be an agreement on Anya’s part to never interfere with Society matters ever again. She had no doubt that if she tried, Schorl would take measures to silence her, which depending on how deep her network was, it might have been something the mare could very well do.

“If I chose to work for the minotaur, how long would it take for me to have pulled my weight?” Anya asked, considering the bribe a non-option, but still wanting to hear what it was she was signing up for.

“Nine months,” the bull answered, “And you’d be aiding us in enslaving other races, both on an individual level, and on a cultural scale.”

“Nine months!?” Anya yelled, standing up from her seat, outraged, upset more about the length of time she’d have to work than the things she was being asked to do, “Are you mad?!”

“You’re wanting me to reveal the secret location of my homelands, in the pursuit of two slaves who are in the hands of my kin. Nine months of work is the minimum I’m willing to go.”

“And don’t assume you will be working for nothing,” Schorl added, “Since our relationships with the minotaur have us exchanging slaves between each other, some of your captures will be brought to the Society, for which you will be compensated with room, board, and a bit account which you can use to barter the return of your friends with, once you locate them.”

“Wait,” Gilda interrupted, “That’s not the deal you gave me.”

“All deals are negotiated personally, and are not intended to be equal, Miss Gilda.” Schorl replied, “If you ever find that you no longer enjoy the terms we agreed upon, you are more than welcome to renegotiate your payment once they’ve come to a close. That is... unless you want to breach our agreement.”

Something Schorl said put a look of dread on Gilda’s face, and she shook her head at the mare. It was easy to tell that going back on a deal made with the mare was not a good idea, as one would expect when dealing with someone who made a profit from selling creatures as slaves.

“So nine months, with all my expenses covered, and you’ll even pay me.” Anya said, confirming Schorl’s list of benefits, “And how much are we talking about?”

“You’ll get a monthly pay rate, along with a commission for any capture you make,” Schorl said, sliding a paper on the table over Anya, “It’s less than what I pay most of our gryphon workers, if that pleases Miss Gilda to hear, but that rate is taking into consideration the service we are providing to you upon completion of your contract.”

Anya looked over what turned out to be a large list of coin totals she could receive for successful captures, which had been categorized down to male, female, and even children of any species that one could think of. While she didn’t know what the crystal mare paid other gryphons, the prices for each head on the list were enough that most bounty hunters would have been pleased. That was, except for…

“Not to sound like a heartless bitch, but why do you pay so low for children?” Anya wondered, seeing that for most species, they were a tenth of the value of adults.

“There are several factors,” Schorl said, “First being that The Society has standards when it comes to what we allow our customers to do, and one such standard is on abuse of the young. Basically, we don’t allow it, and thus capturing fillies, colts, foals, or what have you, is a large investment for us, for reasons I won’t go into here. Still, there will be times where you will have to capture one, such as in raids of foreign cities, and thus I wish to compensate you for the effort.”

“Fair,” Anya said, seeing that this was simply motivation, as most gryphons wouldn’t go out of their way to do anything if they weren’t rewarded for it.

“Now understand that you won’t be able to go out and capture any creature you want,” Schorl explained further, “You aren’t freelance, and we have to approve targets for capture. I say this because some of our hunters think they can just go after some of the higher valued targets and make a fortune.”

Anya had noticed that there were some creatures that were ridiculously high amounts, even with her supposedly reduced rates. There was even a listing for alicorns, which was in itself worth what looked to be enough coin to fill the Equestrian National Treasury, where one could easily retire in a small mansion with several servants, and still have left over money. Clearly, no one had actually claimed such a bounty yet, since there was no widespread panic over Equestria that one of their princesses was missing. It also had dragons on the list, but Anya didn’t think it would be a good idea to try and raid the Dragon Lands in hopes to capture something the size of a house.

“Those ones just exist to let employees know that if they will be appropriately compensated if they are given the opportunity to acquire such elusive captures. Now, if everything is in order, I’d like you to sign this.”

Schorl slid over another sheet of paper, this one having bold letters at the top that said ‘Employee Contract’. An inkwell was sent with it shortly after.

“You want me to sign this?” Anya questioned after reading it, finding that it touched upon everything Schorl had said, but knowing that it couldn’t possibly be a legally binding contract, due to the nature of the job Schorl wanted her for.

“It’s just a bit of insurance,” Schorl said, “Something to connect you to our business, in case you try to back out of our deal for any reason.”

Anya didn’t see the mare’s logic here, as if she did try to turn her into the local authorities, it would be unlikely she would be brought down by a simple signature telling them what she would already have let them know. If that was what Schorl was thinking, then it was a mistake. Still, at the moment she had no reason to go against the mare, so long as she fulfilled her part of the deal. Plucking a feather from her body, she dipped the tip into the inkwell, and placed her name on the line at the bottom, agreeing to the terms both in writing and mentally.

The gryphon sent the paper back once her name had been written, catching a small glimpse of the crystal unicorn’s horn glowing, before fading back to normal. Seemed she was quite pleased to have Anya on board in her slave ring. “Ok, everything is in order.” She said, taking the paper in hand, “You will leave for your first assignment immediately.”

“Immediately?” Anya asked, surprised to hear that she wouldn’t even be given a day to mentally prepare herself, “Okay… then where am I going and who’s the target?”

“You’ll have to ask your supervisor about those details.” Schorl said, “From this point on, you’ll be working under this bull here, since this deal is mostly between you two.”

“Fine,” Anya said, just wanting to get started.

The bull had been fairly stoic throughout this meeting, only watching as the two females spoke. When Anya looked in his direction though, he gave her a gesture to follow him out the door he had entered through, not waiting a second before heading to it himself. Anya quickly got up from her seat, seeing that the minotaur was stopping for nothing, and that she’d be left behind if she didn’t hurry.

“It was nice meeting you, Miss Anya,” Schorl said as the gryphon walked by, “And I hope you enjoy your stay in our employment.”

Anya didn’t reply, instead walking right out the door with the minotaur, with Gilda following right behind her. It was going to be a long time before she’d be able to find, and then free, Scylla and Pathfinder from their enslavement, and she didn’t want to waste a single second on unnecessary words.

There was one thing she was going to need to know going forward, unless she wanted to make things incredibly awkward for the next three months. “So big guy, do you have a name, or should I just call you minotaur?”

The bull tilted his gaze to her, still showing only a stern expression as he maintained his stride. As the three walked to their next destination, he only said one word, answering Anya’s question with as much brevity as possible.

“Rubric.”

A Not So Friendly Wager

Having parted ways with the crystal mare, Anya followed the minotaur calling himself Rubric, with Gilda following behind. They were traveling down a dark hallway, one different from the one that she had walked through from her room to the meeting place. While that one was well lit and had decorations that must have cost a fortune to acquire, this one had nothing but brick walls to act as scenery. If Anya had to guess, that was because this passage was meant for those who worked for The Society, while the other one was for Schorl’s clientele. That way, the ones paying for the service Schorl provided wouldn’t have to see the workers moving about all the time.

“You will have to walk with a minotaur whenever you go down these tunnels,” Rubric stated, “They are like a maze, and we have an innate ability to find our way around complex places like that. If you try to go down them yourself, your likely to get lost, and then we’d have to come look for you.”

“Is it that way for the slaves?” Anya asked, making assumptions.

“That’s part of the reason,” Rubric answered, “But minotaur also like these kinds of structures. Even our cities are maze-like, and can be hard for non-minotaur to navigate, even after years of living in it. We do have ways of helping our property find their way around without us though.”

Anya was listening, but found the details no concern to her. While she was intending to go to the minotaur lands at some point, she had wings, and thus any maze cities they had wouldn’t cause her any problems. No, there was something else she wanted to know more about at the moment. A certain thing that she needed to know about the gryphon following behind her.

“So Gilda,” Anya said, looking back to the younger gryphon, “You been working here long?”

Gilda grumbled, knowing this moment would come, and not being too happy with it. “For a while,” she relented, “But what’s it to you?”

“Yeah, I heard you were looking for a job from Grampa Gruff. I heard Gallus and Gabby went with you.”

“You think Gabby would want to work in a place like this?” Gilda replied, a bitterness in her tone, “The only way she’d step talon in The Society is in chains.”

“Then what about Gallus?” Anya asked, actually concerned about the male gryphon. He was just old enough to be an adult, and she hoped that he didn’t fall in with a terrible group like this.

“He's been here for a while,” Gilda answered, looking quite pleased with herself, for some reason, “He's been trying to work himself up to hunter status for a while now, but at his age they've got him doing grunt work around The Society. Lifting boxes, moving gear, preparing cages for incoming slaves.”

Anya didn’t like that Gallus had actually signed up to work with The Society, but was glad to know where the young male was, and that he hadn't done anything terrible first hand, at least not yet.

“Then that leaves just one more question I want to ask you,” Anya said, her tone getting darker.

“What’s that?” Gilda replied, not taking notice of the older gryphon’s demeanor turning grim.

“Did you have anything to do with the capture of a brown and white pegasus since you’ve been working here?” Anya asked, being as direct about the question as she could be.

“A pegasus?” Gilda asked, “Do you know how many pegasus pass through here, or the amount I’ve been sent to deal with? You expect me to keep track of each one?”

“This one should be easy to remember,” Anya replied, “He came in with a kelpie.”

That bit of information caught Gilda’s attention, “Oh, yeah, I know who you’re talking about. Yeah, I was part of that capture, why do you want to-”

Gilda was cut short as Anya span around and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, “Do you know who those two are?!” she yelled, “Maybe you don’t remember, but they’re my friends, and you sold them into slavery!”

“Back off!” Gilda yelled back, knocking the older gryphon’s hands away, “I didn’t do anything to you! If I captured some of your pony friends, then it’s only because I was sent there by The Society, and if I didn’t go, then someone else would have been sent instead.”

Anya was fuming, not really listening to what she considered Gilda’s excuses, but then she felt a large hand land on her shoulder. “She’s right,” Rubric said calmly, “If The Society wanted your friends as slaves, then someone would have gone for your friends, and they would have been captured. It is not Gilda’s fault that it so happened to be her, just as it won’t be your fault when you’re kidnapping someone else’s friends or family to become slaves as well.”

The minotaur’s point reached Anya better than Gilda’s defensive reply had, but she still didn’t like that the other gryphon was a part of this. “I might be working for you, but it’s not for profit, like her.”

“It isn’t?” Rubric said, “You might not be in this for the money, but you are expecting to be rewarded eventually with the return of your friends, even though you don’t even know if their owner is going to be willing to give them up. You might say you’re doing this to free them, but don’t be deluded into thinking you’re not doing it for yourself as well.”

“I don’t need to be lectured about my motivations,” Anya said, pushing the minotaur’s hand off her, “I just need to complete this contract, and you just need to get me to Minopolis once we’re done.”

“If you want to keep our relationship professional, so be it.” Rubric said, turning back to proceed down the hallway, “But if that’s the case, I expect you to act professional. That means no fighting with your coworkers. Got it?”

Anya sent a glare back to Gilda, who was smiling and sticking her tongue out at her. Angry and dissatisfied, but understanding the minotaur was in charge, Anya silently began following Rubric. Gilda quickly caught up as well, passing by Anya, and saying “Can’t wait to see if you back out of your contract”, taunting the older gryphon as she took a place at Rubric’s side.

The two gryphons were led to a chamber deep within the workers’ passage, its door leaking a bright light into the dark hallway as Rubric pushed it open. Anya entered, and once her eye adjusted, she was mildly surprised to see the large room she had entered.From where she stood, it looked like the chamber stretched out for a mile, and had a ceiling at least ten yards up.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Anya said, making her way in further, seeing many large objects strewn about the room as her eye adjusted further, “I thought we were in some underground base, since I haven’t seen sunlight for a while.”

“You thought correctly,” Rubric said, “This room was constructed far underground.”

“You could make a space this vacant underground without having the whole thing cave in?” Anya said, slightly impressed. She wasn’t that familiar with architecture, but she was certain something like this would not be easy to construct, and would get more difficult the deeper down one got, having to support tons of weight around it.

“The walls of all Society locations are encased in a thick layer of black crystal,” Rubric explained further, “The crystal mare forms it with her magic, and its sturdy enough to withstand the pressure around it. It also has a side effect that most magics can’t penetrate it, which helps when keeping magical creatures captive.”

“That’s interesting...” Anya said, wondering where the mare could have picked up such a spell.

“Now if you’re done asking about how the place is built, let me introduce you to the training area.” Rubric said, walking through the area, “Or at least the training area for flying creatures, like yourself. This is where we have new recruits hone their skills, in order to get them ready for slave hunts. Luckily for you, no new gryphons have shown up for a while now. Think we might have run that well dry.”

Anya was taken aback a little that they were here, and not getting prepared to round up ponies for enslavement, “You mean we aren’t starting my work for you immediately?”

“Don’t worry,” Rubric reassured, “Your contract, and its set time, started the moment you signed that piece of paper. I can’t just take you onto raids and hunting missions untrained though, so this part is basically coming out of my pocket.”

“What’s the matter?” Gilda asked, flapping her wings to lift herself off the ground, hovering herself over Anya, “Think a little training is beneath you?”

Anya might not have been a trained slaver, but she did have some experience when it came to fighting. Not a professional, but she figured that capturing creatures wouldn’t need a high level of combat training. She felt like training was a waste of time, when she could be doing the job she signed for.

“Don’t antagonize, Gilda,” Rubric scolded, “Now go take a seat and watch.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice to take a break,” Gilda said, flying to a bench sitting alongside a wall.

Anya watched the other feline fowl take a seat, still sending smug smirks in her direction, before going to Rubric, “So what is she to you?” Anya asked, “Don’t tell me she’s your second in command.”

“No,” Rubric said, “But she is a fairly decent hunter. Hot headed, but that anger drives her. That, and an apparent grudge against ponies.”

That detail caught Anya’s ear, as if she recalled correctly, she had heard from Grampa Gruff a long time ago that Gilda had made a pony friend in Equestria, during her time learning how to fly in junior flight school.

“I only brought her here today because Schorl said you were looking for her,” Rubric said, “By whatever issues you have with one another can be dealt with on your own time. For now, we will see how useful you can be for me.”

The minotaur looked up, prompting Anya to do the same. Above them was a set of plastic hoops, each suspended by a rod of a similar material that lead up to the ceiling.

“I want you to fly up there and go through all the hoops,” Rubric said, pointing to one that was the closest to the entrance door, “Starting with that one, and ending when you get back to me.”

Anya nodded, seeing that the minotaur wanted to see her display her ability to fly. With a flap of her wings, she made her way back to the first hoop, taking a moment to level herself out, and then shot herself through it. After going through, she took note of how all the other hoops were not positioned directly in front of one another, so she had to adjust her trajectory each time she went from one to the next. At one the curve was just a bit too much for her, and she had to make a complete stop, before changing her angle of approach and slipping through without issue.

It took a little under a minute for anya to get back to Rubric, but when the gryphoness did, she did a short dive bomb to get back to the ground as quickly as possible. Extending her wings at the last second, she flipped her body back right-side up, and gently touched her talons to the floor. “How was that?”

“It was fine,” Rubric said, “At the very least you can fly around obstacles with some precision.”

“Pfft, she might be able to fly,” Gilda said, picking herself up off of her seat, “But she can’t do it really good.” Without prompt, Gilda took to the air, zipping herself over to the first hoop with impressive speed, not pausing for a moment before slipping through it. She proceeded to do the same with each hoop that came along, making her way through each with no problems, not grazing so much as a feather as she passed through them. When coming to the one Anya had to stop at, the gryphon simply twisted her body into a barrel roll, and used her momentum to corkscrew into it and the one following. The feat was performed so well that Anya couldn’t help but be amazed. Had Gilda always been that good a flyer?

After finishing off the remaining hoops, Gilda did a dive bomb similar to Anya’s, but at reckless speeds. Anya thought Gilda was about to crash as she watched her get far too close to the ground, but Gilda pulled herself up in a dangerous curve that barely missed the floor, before landing next to Rubric, completely unharmed, and without any signs of fatigue.

“That’s how you do that course,” Gilda said, sending more smug looks to Anya.

“I didn’t realize this was a competition,” Anya retorted, her awe leaving fairly quickly the moment Gilda tried to rub her skills in her face.

“You’re new here, but I’m gonna let you in on something ahead of time, as a favor,” said Gilda, “For the hunters, it’s always a competition. If you can’t prove yourself, then no one's gonna respect you, and that includes me.”

Anya looked to Rubric, who gave a huff, “Our hunters do like to compare their abilities with one another, and have made a bit of a hierarchy with one another based on the captures they manage. It’s not something The Society endorses, but there is nothing wrong with it so long as it doesn’t get out of hand.”

It sounded like the gryphons The Society had hired took it upon themselves to start flaunting their ill gotten wealth, and create a hierarchy based on bragging rights.

“So how about it?” Gilda said, her tone carrying an attitude Anya didn’t like, “Up for a bit of a challenge? One with high stakes?”

“I don’t have anything to prove to you,” Anya answered, “I’m just here to do my tour, and…”

“Yeah, yeah, get your stupid pony friends back,” Gilda said, provoking the other gryphoness, “But do you really think you’ll be able to get them back if you can’t even beat me in a little competition.”

Anya felt her beak crease into a scowl. She normally wouldn’t have bought into the taunting, but something about Gilda mocking her made the older avian want to shut her up. “Fine, what do you have in mind?”

“Before I set the challenge, let’s talk about the stakes.” Gilda said with absolute confidence.

“Stakes?” Anya asked, not thinking that there would be anything on the line.

“It wouldn’t mean much if the loser didn’t get punished,” Gilda replied, “And I have just the thing.” Gilda took Rubric by the arm, which looked to be as thick as she her body, “How about whoever loses has to be this minotaur’s fuck toy for the rest of the day?”

“Excuse me?” Anya replied, knowing what she heard, but not believing her ears.

“You heard me,” Gilda reiterated, “The one who loses our little game has to give themselves over to this guy here for a day. Full submission, gotta do whatever he wants until Celestia raises the sun.”

“Did you plan this?” Anya asked Rubric.

“No,” the minotaur replied, “Though I’m not opposed to the idea of having one of you submit to me for an evening. It was heading into noon last I checked, so I would have roughly twelve hours with the loser.”

“Well I don’t agree with that bet,” Anya said, not wanting to risk her body in such a way.

“What are you, chicken?” Gilda asked, goading the other gryphon further.

“No, I just have self respect,” said Anya.

The minotaur grumbled. He didn’t care as much about having either gryphon submit to him sexually, but he saw that if this conflict between them wasn’t resolved, it would just keep going. “Look, if it will settle this feud between the both of you, then I’ll toss my own hat into this bet. I’ll set the challenge, the loser will submit to my will this evening, but… Anya, if you win I’ll tell you the name of the creature who owns your friends.”

Anya was shocked to hear the bull say that, “You know who has my friends?”

“I know their name,” Rubric repeated, admitting only that detail, “I was there when they were claimed. It would certainly make it easier for you to find them in my homelands, once you get there.”

The minotaur’s offer was much more tempting than simply shutting Gilda up. She wanted so much to put a name to the person she’d have to deal with once she was done with Rubric.

“But as an aside,” Rubric added, “Once this is done, I want this spat between you two finished. It will only conflict with my business, so which one of you wins is the better gryphon, no repeats.”

“That’s fine with me,” Gilda agreed, “I’m not gonna lose.”

It took Anya a moment to consider the terms, and then nodded, “I accept, on one condition.”

“What?” asked Rubric, “If you’re gonna ask that I tell you the name if you win or lose, I’ll have to decline. Information like that needs to be earned.”

“No,” Anya said, knowing there was a bigger issue to deal with, “I just don’t want either of us to get pregnant if you fuck us.”

“So you know about that,” Gilda said, playing it off as if it were a detail that slipped her mind.

Anya knew about that little detail about minotaur, being a respectively sexual creature. While she had never slept with a minotaur before, she learned their ability to breed with any female and the potency of their semen as a random bit of trivia. She didn’t want to have to deal with something like that, and she knew that Gruff would have been furious if she had let Gilda get pregnant, though from the sound of it, Gilda was already planning to get around that.

“That’s acceptable,” Rubric said, “You two wait here, I’ll go get your challenge.” The minotaur walked off, heading back out the way he came in. “And no fighting while I’m gone!”

Time passed, and the two gryphons had to endure each others’ company, one having an easier time than the other. It really wasn’t that bad, as they did little to interact with one another as they waited for Rubric to return, not saying a word to one another. Anya spent most of her time looking over the other obstacle courses in the room, knowing that she would have to deal with them later for training, whether she won or lost. She also didn’t want to be at a disadvantage if the challenge involved them somehow, believing that Gilda had to be familiar with the layout of this room due to her time here, and that the experience she had was what allowed her to fly through the hoops so well.

Gilda, on the other hand, simply leaned against a wall and watched Anya like a hawk, making sure to hold a smug expression on her face so the older gryphon would have to see it whenever she looked in her direction. Anya didn’t know what Gilda’s deal was, but the girl had always had a bit of an attitude. Anya just never thought it was this bad, but then again, she didn’t really know the younger gryphon well on a personal level, only through Grampa Gruff.

Eventually, the bull returned, coming through the same door as before with a large crate in his arms, and with twelve others following in after. Unable to ignore this new crowd, Anya went over to Rubric to get a closer look at his entourage, discovering that they were a small herd of naked, collared deer, an equal amount of stags and does. Anya was aware of the existence of Everfree deer, but the ones present didn’t fit their description, neither in general appearance, or with the series of tribal tattoos each one of them bore on their bodies.

“Ok you two,” Rubric said, putting his crate on the ground, the object touching down with a heavy crash, “I’ve got your challenge ready.”

“I assume it involved these slaves of yours,” Anya said, not having to work her brain too hard to determine the deer’s status in The Society. Oddly, some of the deer giggled at her comment, finding humor in it, or perhaps the status Anya claimed they were.

“Xenia,” Rubric said, looking down to a grey furred deer in the lineup, “Explain what is going on while I get things ready.”

The grey deer stepped forward, as the minotaur knelt down to search through his box. “Master Rubric has decided to test you both on your capturing abilities.” The deer said, in a fairly pleasant tone for someone who was enslaved, “He is going to have the other Antlerteans here spread out across this training ground, and it will be up to you both to catch and restrain as many as you can in five minutes.”

“You’re not on the menu?” Gilda asked, looking the grey doe up and down, a predatory glare in her eyes.

“I’m afraid not,” Xenia replied, smiling politely at the gryphon, “I’m just here in case anyone needs medical attention. If you want to rent me out later though, I’m sure the head mistress can arrange something.”

“Besides,” Rubric said, “She’d make the number of deer even, and we need them to be odd in order to have a clear winner.”

Rubric pulled out several sets of cuffs from the crate. Not ordinary ones though, but ones made up of linked together zip ties, half of them being red while the other were blue. Once obtained, he got back to his hooves and walked over the gryphons, handing the red ones to Gilda, while the blue ones went to Anya.

“When chasing your prey down,” Xenia continued, “You will have to use these zip cuffs to prevent them being able to move far from the spot you caught them. This will count as a catch, and give you a point. I’d suggest you bind their arms and legs, but if you can thing of other ways to accomplish this, then it will count just the same.”

“However,” Rubric added, “Damaged goods don’t sell as well as those in perfect condition, and I want that reflected in this test. If you hurt one of the deer badly, the point will not be counted.” The minotaur sent a glare over to Gilda, who rolled her eyes at him. “It goes without saying, but the one with the most captures at the end of the contest wins.”

“And the one with the least sucks down minotaur dick.” Gilda tacked on at the end.

A few of the deer made small “ooooooooooo” noises at Gilda’s taunt, acting like a band of schoolyard children. Others shook their heads playfully at the reactions of those who did, as they took to stretching on the spot to limber their bodies. The deer didn’t seem to take any of this too seriously, both the contest or their captivity. Part of her didn’t care, but another part wanted to ask the deer questions. Did they know they were in a slavery ring? Did they think this was all some sort of BDSM club, and they were just normal subs? Were they suffering from Stockholms Syndrome? Maybe a more important question was where did these ‘Antlerteans’ come from, as they certainly weren’t Equestrians, not with that kind of attitude towards being paraded around naked.

“That’s enough,” Rubric said, silencing the deer, “Now get out there, all of ya, and if I catch any of you half assing your part in this, I’ll have that half of your ass turned red.”

The deer ran off to different parts of the training room, some taking up shelter inside or around some of the obstacles. Once Rubric was satisfied with their positioning, he turned to Xenia and tossed her stopwatch.

“Ok girls, on your marks,” the grey deer said, thumb on the device’s start button. The two gryphons got ready, facing the training grounds, while getting ready to bolt off at a moment’s notice, “Get set.” The feline fowls let their wings go out to full span, both knowing that it would be faster for them to fly than to try and outrun each other. “And GO!”

With a shared beat of their wings, Gilda managed to bolt ahead, her speed beating out Anya’s at the start of the competition. Anya noted that Gilda was faster, the advantage of youth on her side, but that factor wasn’t the only one that mattered. Gilda could be as fast as she wanted, but if she could manage to pick her targets strategically, then she could overcome her disadvantage.

First thing Anya had to concede was that it was worthless to go after the closest deer, as Gilda would no doubt be targeting the same one, and fighting over the same target would not be beneficial with the ‘do no harm’ rule in place. It was best for her to go after the next closest, which if she captured them fast enough, it would allow her to have less distance between her and the next target, which would place Gilda even further away from her next possible target.

There’s one, Anya thought to herself, spotting one of the bucks that took up refuge inside a series of tall, thick poles that stood upright, each having several smaller rods sticking out on them all over the place. Anya had no clue what they were for, but she felt she could easily slip through them to get to the male.

As she got closer though, the buck made no effort to flee from them to get away. Instead he bent down, and twisted a few small crystals that were at the poles’ bases, which caused magic that was stored inside them to flow into them, causing the poles to start rotating rapidly. Suddenly the poles became a hurricane of spinning wood, making Anya have to stop before reaching them.

“Sorry miss,” the buck apologized from the center of the spinning obstacles, “But you’re not going to have an easy time getting to me. Better to go after someone else.”

Anya had to agree with the deer, at least at the difficulty of getting to him. Looked like the deer didn’t have any rules not to hurt their hunters, which was probably on purpose, as it would be the same during a real capture mission. Still, Anya could see out of the corner of her eye that Gilda was cornering her first doe, and she didn’t have the luxury to just move on.

While the poles were spinning fast enough to do damage, Anya found it hard to ignore that there was space enough where the buck stood for him to do so without fear, and so there was one obvious way around his defenses. Flying straight up, Anya went above the poles, and flew over the center area where the deer was. Just as she thought, there was plenty of room to get in there, and even the deer knew she had found a work around as he looked up at her descent.

Landing next to the deer, she looked him in the eye, giving the buck a glare that sent a chill through his spine. “Turn these off, now!” Anya demanded, to which the deer complied, giving her a nervous smile as he did. Ten seconds later, the rotation of the poles stopped, and the deer found himself hugging one, his wrists tied together on the opposite side of his body, marking him as a capture.

With one down, Anya continued her plan, spying a doe who had gone out into the open to get a better look at what the gryphon had done with the buck. It would be an easy point, so Anya went right for her, the deer noticing the avian’s trajectory, and taking off to get as far away as she could. Fortunately, the doe wasn’t heading for any structures, so all it would take was for Anya to catch up. At least, that’s what Anya had thought, but while she was closing the distance between them, another body blurred by, cutting the gryphon off.

“Too slow, Grandma!” Gilda called out, spinning back around, catching up with the exposed doe instantly, managing to sweep her up into the air by slipping her talons underneath the deer’s arms.

Seeing that, Anya knew that the point was lost, and made efforts to find another target. There was another doe not too far away, trying to stay hidden in what looked to be a netted jungle gym. Anya zipped over like a bullet, the doe ducking inside when she figured she was the next one to be rounded up.

They aren’t making this easy, Anya thought, feeling herself sweat a bit. Gilda had pretty much decimated the strategy she was relying on, the two gryphons now getting into an area where more deer were congregated, thus making the distance between each one fairly moot. The only way to beat Gilda now seemed to be employing superior skill.

The gryphon landed in front of the jungle gym structure, crawled inside, and quickly spotted the doe within reach. The two stared at each other for a moment, neither expecting to run into the other so quickly, but Anya recovered only a few seconds later, reaching out to grab the deer and get her into a set of cuffs. Seeing the gryphon coming for her, but still being frozen in the gaze of the feathered female, the doe screamed as loud as she could. In response to this reaction, Anya found herself flinching, not expecting the doe to react like that, briefly forgetting that she was supposed to be catching the girl.

Unfortunately for Anya, that short moment of delay was all the doe needed to collect her thoughts, and scramble for one of the exits to the structure she was in. Anya tried to follow after, but the moment the deer reached the way out, a pair of talons nabbed her by the wrists, pulling her completely out of the jungle gym and Anya’s sight. Anya mentally kicked herself as she recognized that Gilda had just stolen another point from her, giving her a two point lead. What was worse was that there were only eleven possible targets, thus if Gilda got just three more, then she’d win by default.

This… isn’t looking good. Anya thought, unhappily making her way out of the structure she was in, somewhat demoralized that she had allowed herself to fall so far behind.

For the rest of the challenge, Anya was stuck playing catch up. Her early game gambit had failed, simply on the merit that Gilda was playing for keeps, not having any qualms in blocking Anya from scoring a catch when she knew she could. She was also incredibly efficient, wasting little more than thirty seconds between each catch. Anya wanted to say that the younger gryphon was cheating, that the deer were letting her catch them, but keeping a close eye on Gilda let her see that the deer were indeed running like their lives depended on it, ducking around objects, and struggling against her once in her clutches, only to be bound expertly but the gryphon. There was no way that anyone in good faith could call what Gilda was doing cheating.

On Anya’s end, the rest of the competition was harsh, not helped with her distracting herself by keeping watch on Gilda. She managed to catch one more buck, but by that time her opposition had gotten to her fifth deer, and the game was pretty much over. There might have been a chance if Anya were able to do as Gilda did, and prevent her from scoring her last point by stealing her captures, but Gilda made a brilliant tactical move by heading to the deer that was furthest from Anya’s location. That gave Anya two terrible options; either follow the faster female in an attempt to stop her, or stay and try to catch the ones closer to her, giving Gilda as much time as she wanted to cement her victory. Basically, the challenge was over, ending three minutes and fifty seconds in.

Wanting to save face, Anya resigned herself to capturing as many of the remaining deer as she could, but when Xenia called out “Time!”, there was still one deer left unbound, Gilda not even bothering to go after that one once she got all the points she needed.

“Gather your captures, and present them for tally!” yelled Rubric, “And be quick! Any not present in a minute will not be counted!”

While there was a given time limit, this part of the contest went along much easier, the deer giving no resistance as they were released, walking themselves over to the minotaur to be counted. Not that Anya would have been satisfied if she won due to the deer having caused trouble for Gilda, but with that not being the case, any hope the older gryphon had of beating Gilda, even on a technicality, was gone.

“Well then,” Rubric said, looking at two groups of deer, and seeing that one was notably bigger than the other, “I think we have a clear winner.”

“Yeah…” Anya conceded, knowing what that meant for her.

“Don’t feel too bad,” Gilda said, “I’m just better than you.”

“Gilda,” said Rubric with a scolding tone, “But she does have a point. Gilda has been working for us for a while now, and she is simply more experienced with capturing creatures. Not to mention she’s gone through enough training in this room that she could probably go through the courses blindfolded.”

Anya sighed, more at disappointment with herself than annoyance with Gilda or Rubric. A lesser gryphon would have tried to say that the challenge was unfair, that it was set up from the start, in an attempt to de-legitimize it. Anya had too much dignity to stoop to that level though, so the only thing left to do was fulfill her end of the deal.

“Then I guess this means I’m your sex slave for the evening,” said Anya, accepting her fate in this matter.

“That’s right, bitch,” Gilda said, walking right up to the other gryphon, “Now strip and show your master what you have to offer.”

“Gilda...” Rubric scolded, ready to tell the arrogant gryphon off, that was until Anya raised her talon to stop him.

“No, she’s right.” said Anya, “If I’m going to be your sex toy, then I won’t be needing clothes.”

Anya, without any further prompting, started to remove each article of clothing on her person. She didn’t go out of her way to make the act sensual or seductive, the display being disgraceful for her, which on some level Anya felt it should be. This was what she agreed to, the fate of the loser, and thus shame should be the reward for the defeated.

Before long, the mature gryphon’s body laid bare, with her shirt cast aside, and pants and panties laying in a pile on the floor. Gilda couldn’t help but show her delight at Anya’s sorry state, but Rubric was a little more respectful, saying “You have a very lovely body,” to it being fully exposed to him, “It will be my honor to have it serve me this evening.”

The deer were also dealing with the situation with a good deal of maturity, not treating it like some schoolyard spectacle like they had before. Most were simply admiring Anya’s body like the minotaur, locking eyes with her form as they made their way over to the wall to form a line along it. They were in no way subtle about it, but they made no effort to make the gryphon’s shaming any worse than that, refraining from making comments, rude gestures, or cat calls, unlike Gilda, who was still snickering at Anya’s misfortune.

The only creature in the room who wasn’t eyeing up Anya in her undressed state was Xenia, who had taken to digging through the crate Rubric had brought in, searching through the box and taking out things as she did. The items she pulled out were things like more zip cuffs, a dental gag, sizable ring made out of what looked to be a wireframe mesh of crisscrossing rods, and lastly a large glass bottle containing a yellowish, green liquid.

“Here it is,” the grey deer said aloud, picking up all the other items, and heading over to Anya, “The master told me of the terms of this challenge, and that while the loser would be offering their body, they wouldn’t be bred.”

“That’s right,” said Anya.

“Then you’re going to have to drink this,” she said, handing over the bottle, “This will make it so you won’t be able to conceive for the next twenty-four hours, more than enough time for your bet.”

Anya looked at the bottle with suspicion for a moment, but then figured that if she didn’t want to get knocked up she’d have to trust what was given to her. Uncorking the top, she downed the whole bottle as fast as she could, suspecting the flavor to be less than desirable, and getting confirmation when something akin to the smell of paint thinner in the form of a flavor coated her tongue. Still, she managed to gulp down a majority of the concoction, even if it put her into a small coughing fit after.

Xenia gave her a moment to recover, but before she was able to do so completely, she went over to Gilda, and offered her the remaining items she held. “The master thought it would be an appropriate prize for the winner to prepare the loser to his liking.”

Gilda looked over the items, and seeing what they were, happily snatched them up. With items in hand, she marched herself behind Anya, and reached out to grab her arm. With the older gryphon still in the middle of coughing, Gilda was able to easily take her by the wrist, and wrench her arm behind her back, slipping her hand through one of the loops in the zip cuffs given to her, before tightening the loop till the hand could no longer escape. With that done, she did the same to Anya’s other arm, and taking mere seconds from start to finish, Anya had her arms sufficiently bound behind her back.

“Hey!” Anya said, realizing what had happened, “I’m not gonna resist, you don’t have to be r-ACK!”

As the older gryphon protested her treatment, Gilda slipped the gag she had into the mouth of the one she had defeated. “Oh, I know, but I’m having fun dominating you.”

Gilda pulled back on the leather straps for the gag, stretching them around Anya’s head so harshly that it caused the restrained female to bend backwards. Resisting the urge to walk Anya around in such an awkward stance, Gilda simply brought the straps together, buckling them together at the back of Anya’s head.

“Like this thing?” Gilda said, pushing Ayna forward just enough to make her stumbled slightly while she righted her posture, now incapable of closing her mouth as several curved steel rods were now lining the inside of it, “It’s called a beak gag, and it’s gonna make sure you keep that pretty suck hole of your open for your temporary master.”

Anya, understanding that she wouldn’t be able to say anything decipherable now, rolled her eyes out of Gilda’s view. She already knew what the device was, having more experience with these sorts of things the younger gryphon was aware of, just not when it came to their use in illegal pony trafficking rings. Had circumstances been the other way around, Anya would have been able to school Gilda on a few things about the device, like how to put it on correctly, as Anya found herself having to use her tongue to adjust the metal bits to make them more comfortable. Then again, seeing Gilda’s behavior, the discomfort might have been intentional.

“And now for your last piece of jewelry,” Gilda said, approaching Anya again.

The older gryphon breathed out a sigh as she watched her get closer, holding that wire frame ring she had seen before in her talon. She still didn’t resist though, standing herself up straight, ready to receive the object, whatever it was. Of the things she had seen, that last item was the only one she didn’t recognize by sight, so she braced for the worst, only to feel the frame brought around her neck.

“I would have gotten you something more restricting,” said Gilda, wrapping the object around Anya’s throat, it having two ends that could be easily separated from one another, and being made of a malleable metal that could easily bend, but returned to its original state once force was taken off it, “But this simple collar will due for the likes of you.”

A collar? Anya thought, looking down to see what was on her, but of course not being able to see the thing that was now on her neck. She would have tried to touch it, to feel what it looked like on her person, but her talons were not available.

“Now just needs the finishing touch,” Gilda said, slipping another small object on the wireframe collar, slipping it into the two ends that met in front.

Hearing a clicking noise, Anya had a good idea what this new item was, and looking down, she found that this time she could see something. It was a heavy lock, put in place to prevent Anya from being able to remove her new collar, but one that was specially crafted to have the appearance of a birdcage. The lock had a heavy weight to it, made of a dense metal no doubt, but the look and feel of it against her feathers told the gryphon that it was coated in some kind of soft rubber. What told her more though was the of imagery the object, as it let Anya figure out why the collar she wore was crafted in the design it was. It was symbolic, that so long as she wore the collar, she was like a bird trapped in a cage, a metaphor winged creatures often employed when they were in a situation they couldn’t escape.

“The bitch is ready!” Gilda yelled to Rubric, lifting one of her cat-like legs, and delivering a paw to Anya’s backside, pushing her towards the minotaur.

Anya was able to maintain balance, but by the end of her short stumble, she found herself in front of the minotaur. She looked up to meet his eye, the minotaur looking down at her in return.

“You look nice,” Rubric complimented, “But now that you are dressed up, it’s time we went somewhere so you can fulfill your end of your and Gilda’s agreement.”

Anya wondered if the minotaur was about to leash her, so he could lead her somewhere else more private, but to her surprise the bull grabbed her by the waste and tossed her over his shoulders instead, the gryphon being given a good view of his back as her stomach rested on said shoulder. With the bound gryphon securely held in place with one arm, Rubric made his way to the training room’s exit with no further delay or explanations of what he had planned. Anya was now in his possession, and would simply have endure what was about to come.

“Hey, wait up!” Gilda called to the minotaur, “There’s no way I’m gonna miss this.”

“Do as you wish,” Rubric replied, “But don’t get in my way, and don’t try to join in unless you want to be ravaged as well.”

“I’m just coming to watch her get humiliated,” Gilda assured, “It’s the least I can do for her, since we were raised by the same person.”

As the trio left, the deer that were used for the competition were casually left behind, no longer needed for anything. This wasn’t a huge problem, as they had their own ways to navigate the layout of The Society’s facility, and they were trustworthy enough that they could be left unattended if needed. They would all return to their appropriately assigned sections eventually, but they were also not so loyal and dedicated to their captors to ignore a moment to take an unauthorized break when presented.

At times like this, the responsibility of the currently unoccupied Antlerteans fell upon the one among them with the highest level of responsibilities, that being Xenia. She waited for the minotaur and the two gryphons to exit the area completely, and then waited about a minute more before turning to those now at her charge. With a simple knowing look accompanied by a nod from her, the entire group were given the go ahead to relax, which they gratefully accepted.

The small herd broke up into smaller groups, consisting of friends and those who worked closely in certain sections of the facility, using the time now granted to them to catch up, discuss the rest of their work day, and talk about things outside of their normal duties. Some even got on the topic of the gryphon’s challenge, and how fun it was to be used in such a way, the buck that used the pole device getting some compliments from those in his group for doing something so cleaver, if not very effective.

One doe in the group though didn’t join the others though, and instead went to Xenia, who went to pick up the things she had to take out of the crate to find the potion she gave Anya. She, like the grey deer, was a slave with medical training, so when Anya was given the potion, the doe was able to spot something amiss.

“Excuse me,” the doe said, joining Xenai to pick up and organize all the unused items, “But what did you give that gryphon to drink? It wasn’t the the same color as our infertility potions.”

Xenia smirked, thinking about the gryphons, and how most of their kind within The Society were greedy slave hunters who captured others for profit. “Well, there was a good mix of that potion in there,” she claimed, “But I’ve been working on a new potion for a while now. Something to help make sex with the masters more desirable for new slaves.”

The doe gasped, “You don’t mean the ‘Ruiner’ potion you’ve been working on, do you?”

Xenia looked at the doe, and put a finger to her own lips to tell the doe to keep quiet. “When Master Rubric sent me to fetch the infertility potion, it gave me a moment to make a fifty-fifty mix of the two. The gryphon still shouldn’t be able to get pregnant for a while, but she’s about to be in for a time she will never forget.”

The doe, was shocked, but in no way appalled by this action. For as much as the Antlerteans had come to accept and adapted to their lives as slaves and breeders, they still understood that it was not an ideal role for any creature to have to be subjected to. So the idea that one of getting back at the slavers of The Society in such an undetectable way as Xenia had just done was something the doe could appreciate, happy to know that the experimental potion was going to give her a taste of what it was like to be bound by sex, if only a small sample. Afterall, the knew enough about the Ruiner Potion to know of its intended effects.

It was not a simple stimulant, amplifier, or aphrodisiac; it was something with much more detrimental and devious, a potion with the ability to even make the agonizing pain of minotaur sex not just bearable, but something the drinker would desire. The kinda thing that could end up putting Anya in the same position as the Antlerteans, as just another breeding slave addicted to the minotaurs’ breeding rituals, without the need of intense training and brainwashing. All that was left to do now was to see if the potion worked as intended, and if the gryphoness had the will to resist it.

Consequences Part 1

Rubric carried Anya over his shoulder as he strode through the workers’ passage, using one hand to keep the side of her body pressed against his muscular neck. On Anya’s end, the gryphoness did what she could to hold still, not wanting to slip out of the bull’s grip, as a fall off the towering bovine would not be pleasant. She was effectively at the mercy of the minotaur at that moment, with her arms bound, and being hoisted up so high. Her wings had not been restricted in the same way, but at the moment they were being pinned down by the bull’s bicep, preventing them from being used. In this position, she found herself thinking how fortunate it was that The Society hadn’t targeted her for enslavement alongside Path and Scylla, cause she could see how a minotaur like Rubric could easily subdue her, if she gave him even the slightest opportunity to catch her.

But at this moment she didn’t have to worry about that too much, since this was just a simple bet, and Anya would be released after she paid her dues. She had to admit though, the minotaur was fairly good at his ‘brutish barbarian’ act, carrying her body in one arm with no issue. She had seen imagery of this before, in books that featured strong, savage men, who would raid villages and claim women as trophies, but she would have never guessed she would be in such a compromising position. She halfway expected Rubric to smack her ass out of the blue, or use his other hand to molest the space between her legs, which he could have done without complaint from Anya, if only because she was allowing him a period where he could do as he pleased with her. The bovine male was staying his hand though, perhaps uninterested in foreplay, or maybe uninterested altogether.

Anya could see how Rubric might not be so excited in screwing her, since this was going to be a one time thing, and from her understanding, the minotaur wanted mates, not flings. There was also another factor though, and that’s that this prize was something handed to him, and not earned. No, the one who won Anya’s obedience for the minotaur was Glida, and she was enjoying this walk much more than Rubric, grinning like an idiot at the older gryphon’s predicament, as she kept pace right behind the bull. Being practically forced to look at Gilda, Anya wondered why her bet wasn’t for the winner to be able to do as they pleased with the loser, as Gilda’s behavior was showing Anya that she had developed a bit of a cruel streak. Then again, Gilda might just be under the assumption that anything she could do, the minotaur could make worse.

On some level, the older gryphon wanted to take back how she had behaved earlier, and not just because it lead to the situation she was in. She really wanted to know what had happened to make Gilda turn this way, since much of this was not what Grampa Gruff would have raised her to be. Greedy and opportunistic, maybe, but not evil and sadistic. Not that she knew Gilda well enough to be that concerned anyways, but she knew that it would hurt the old buzzard to see two of his wards going at one another. Those feelings were not all that strong, however, because as easily as it might have been to be the bigger gryphon, letting a brat like Gilda the chance to feel like she had bested her was not something Anya would allow.

“So, how are you gonna stuff this turkey?” Gilda asked Rubric, trying to further add salt to Anya’s wounds, “Gonna strap her down, split those legs apart, and go womb deep until she begs for mercy?”

“You’ll both see when it starts,” Rubric replied, not even looking back to Gilda, “It won’t be too long before we get to our destination.”

What the minotaur said was more accurate than both the gryphons assumed, as one turn of a corner later, the group of three arrived at a door within the seemingly endless pathways of The Society’s facility. Without so much as a pause in his step, Rubric opened the door, entering in the same motion, but before Anya and the bull could enter, a barrage of sound hit the gryphon’s ear. Sounds of grunts and groans, screams and squeals, whimpers and cries, and flesh hitting flesh. It was the sound of sex, forcefully rough sex, which meant that there were others already in the room, and from what Anya could hear, many of them.

While the sound of the activities was the first thing to hit the gryphon before fully entering the room, it was not the only thing, as the scent of it that came to her next. A smell of sex so heavy that it flooded her sinuses, then traveled into her mouth, where she could taste the mixture of sweat and climaxes on her tongue. Only once that all these things assaulted her senses that the gryphoness’ head got through the door, that she was able to see what was causing all of it.

The room looked like a locker room combined with a S&M dungeon, with lockers standing against the walls, benches set up in front of them, and a more open space in the center. All around the room, Anya could spy equipment that would have been more at home in someone’s private sex dungeon, with restraints ranging from stockades to shackles that were bolted to the small bits of wall that weren’t blocked by lockers. There were even chains that dangled from the ceiling, ending in their own metal cuffs that hung several feet from the floor, with some currently being occupied, as were many of the other bondage devices in the room.

Kinky tools aside, the room was filled with many creatures, a good portion of which were minotaur, and more than Anya had ever expected to see at one time. In Equestria, minotaur were a fairly rare species to encounter, with most ponies maybe running into one a year. In this one room though, there looked to be somewhere between thirty to fifty of them, which, each bull being a naturally formed mountain of beef, the number of them was enough to make anyone a little intimidated.

Of course, what made Anya feel nervous the most wasn’t their numbers or impressive physics, but what they were all doing at that moment, which was plowing themselves mercilessly into many creatures around the gryphon’s size. The number of non-minotaur creatures was slightly more than the minotaur themselves, with each minotaur having at least one creature to screw, while other creatures were chained to a wall or restrained in one of the bondage devices, many slumped over in exhaustion after what Anya could only assume was a session of brutal fucking.

The common pony breeds were the most represented of the slaves in the room, with earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns being very abundant compared to other creatures in the room, save for the minotaur themselves. While these three groups dwarfed the numbers of all others together, the true majority belonged to a variable herd of Antlerteans in the room, who were not being harshly manhandled as the rest. Some were being fucked, and those that were didn’t receive any more restrained from the minotaur using them as anyone else, but many were walking around freely, offering food and drink to the minotaur, or aiding in the violation of other creatures. What was an odd sight to Anya was that few Antlerteans were assisting in the forceful rape of other deer, ones not bearing the tribal tattoos over their bodies like they had. It took the gryphon a moment to realize these had to be deer from Thicket, which meant that The Society had found a means to abduct citizens of the well protected city, not only having to get past the deer’s gates that were perpetually locked to outsiders, but the ferocious inhabitants of the Everfree Forest, which surrounded Thicket at all sides.

Beyond the common ponies and deer, Anya was able to spy a few unusual species in the crowd, including several bat ponies, a few zebras, and a couple of strange mares that had manes and tails like lions, but scaled bodies like a dragon. Anya had heard of ponies that had those features before, but the name of their race escaped her, because she dismissed their existence as myth. Seemed that whatever rumors she had heard were true, and that they too had been discovered and subdued by Schorl and her organization. By this point, Anya was surprised she didn’t actually see a dragon in the room as well, at least one of the smaller ones, as it really felt like the slavers had managed to round up at least two of every other species.

Without a dragon present though, the only notable creatures that remained were, in what felt like irony at this point, normal dairy cows, the kind that often worked at dairy farms across Equestria. The minotaur seemed to have a particular taste when it came to their bovine females, as the selected cows had breasts that would be considered huge even when compared to others of their naturally endowed kind, all simply dripping with milk, at least when not being sucked out directly from the tit by the bulls thrusting into them.

With all the variety of the slaves the minotaur were using as sex objects, what was of particular note was the lack of any kind of feathered felines, and Anya wasn’t thinking of sphinxes when she made this mental observation. The only two gryphons in the room now was Gilda, and herself, and that fact didn’t go unnoticed for too long by the other occupants of the room.

“Hey, Rubric!” yelled a minotaur sitting on a bench, currently pushing the mouth of some unfortunate female down the length of his shaft, in a way that it looked like the girl had to strain her jaw open to accommodate it, even though a good amount of the bull’s dick managed to nestle nicely in her throat, the sight of which was obstructed by a tanned, leather collar she wore. Like most of the slaves in this room wide orgy, the thick strap was the only article of clothing on her person, making her fully exposed otherwise, “What do you got there? Did one of your birds drag in another of their kind?”

Anya immediately shot Gilda a sideways glance upon hearing that, to which the other gryphon rolled her eyes away, her expression not changing otherwise. It appeared that the gryphons working for The Society were helping the slave ring gather up some of their own race, which without one present, Anya might have been able to assume the species had some sort of immunity to enslavement, had the minotaur not mentioned it. Then again, Anya felt she should have known that, as Schorl’s list of bounties did have a price listed for gryphons, but for some reason the gryphoness just thought that sending a gryphon to hunt a gryphon might have been a conflict of interest.

In retrospect, there was probably no reason Anya should have assumed that, and the only reason she cared now was that it put into perspective the comment Gilda made when they talked about Gabby. With the girl having been missing from Griffonstone for some time, the odds that she was caught, captured, and possibly sold by The Society were now incredibly high. It made her think that Gilda might have been personally responsible, because she showed no sign of care when Anya implied Gabby had vanished from Gruff’s home.

As Anya worked out all this in her head, the minotaur she was currently being held by greeted the male bovine speaking to him, “Not quite, Bacchus,” Rubric said, walking up to the bench where the other minotaur was being fellated. “This here on my shoulder is my new hire.”

“Got a gryphon in a breeding contract?” Bacchus said, gripping his victim’s hair so that it formed a ponytail in his fist, and using it to move the girl’s skull up and down his cock, “A little old fashioned, isn’t it?”

“It’s not like that,” Rubric said, setting Anya onto her feet, turning her to face Bacchus as he pleasured himself with the mouth of a defenseless creature, “This is Anya, and she’s going to be part of my gryphon crew. She arrived just today, and I snatched up her contract before anyone else could.”

“Oh, another mercenary,” Bacchus said, removing his grip from the girl’s hair, as he took a look at the gryphoness standing before him.

This also gave Anya an opportunity to get a good look at the girl this minotaur had been using, discovering that what she had assumed at first was just another pony, was actually a donkey girl. Donkeys, while being common residents in Equestria, were not often treated with reverence. While not second class citizens, like cows and sheep were often considered by other races, donkeys were often seen as plain creatures with no defined talents. In a place like Equestria, where things like cutie marks and special talents were praised throughout society, being unable to fit neatly into a particular niche in society made you stand out less.

In a way, seeing such a mundane creature among all these more notable species made the girl stand out more as an outlier. She wasn’t a homely creature by any means, her buck teeth, shoulder length hair that was mussed up from the minotaur’s manhandling, and slender, ‘bean pole’ body, complete with a small, A-cup sized bust, gave the equidae a cute appearance. Anya might have found enjoyment playing with and dominating the donkey herself, though not in this situation where the girl was clearly being forced to pleasure the minotaur using her.

“But what’s this all about?” Bacchus questioned about Anya’s appearance, flinching a bit as he spoke, the donkey girl continuing to deepthroat the bull, but finding it impossible to do so without grinding her two overgrown incisors against the soft flesh of his dick, showing concern as she did for what Anya felt was an obvious reason for a girl in her position.

“This is the result of an ill conceived bet,” Rubric said, speaking for Anya, “I won’t bore you with the details, but because she lost, she has to do as I wish till tomorrow.”

“Well damn,” Bacchus said, “If I had a fine bird like that at my command, then I’d be balls deep in her already.”

“I could have stuck myself in the moment she lost the bet,” Rubric said, “But I felt that she would savor her humiliation better in front of an audience.”

As the two minotaur spoke back and forth, Gilda crept up behind Anya, putting her beak at the left side of the older gryphon’s head. “Just so you know, that’s the second in command of our division of hunters. He’s the one who you’ll be answering to when you’re not taking orders from Rubric. Think about that when he watches you get treated like a whore by the boss.”

Anya could see what Gilda was trying to do, shaming her in front of her future co-worker. The thing the younger gryphoness didn’t know was that Anya had done this dance before, and felt less humiliated by this than she did getting beat by Gilda to begin with.

“Well, if you only have her for the rest of the day,” Bacchus said, doing his best to not wince from the two teeth scraping against his dick, “Then you’d better get started.”

“I intend to,” Rubric replied, “But she’s gonna need some loosening up first. I didn’t give her the elasticity injections, so she’ll have a hard time if I start fucking her without stretching first.”

“Then I have just the thing,” Bacchus said, reaching behind him, grabbing from beneath his bench seat a sizeable dildo, made of blue rubber, several feet long, looking to rival the average length of the minotaur in the room, “Had this mule enjoy some time with this earlier while me and the others watched her bounce her ass up and on it.” Bacchus gave the donkey girl a solid slap on her rounded bottom, the most pleasantly filled out part of her body, making a loud clap against her cheeks.

He regretted that action immediately after though, as the donkey didn’t have the level of self control needed to keep herself from reacting from such a sudden and powerful strike, reactively clenching her jaw, which even on the thick cock of a minotaur caused some degree of pain. Enough that the bull had to pull the girl off him immediately by her collar, her throat making gagging sounds as it was hastily vacated. The second her lips left the minotaur’s dick, her face was redirected to the minotaur, and to a raised hand that looked ready to come down across her muzzle. The girl’s ears slunk down, showing the fear she must have felt in the moment, her expression and body language displaying the same thing, as her slender frame tensed and her eyes forming small tears in their corners with the prospect that the minotaur’s mighty hand would strike her. All of this must have touched Bacchus in some way though, as he froze just before the point that it looked like he was going to hit the donkey, only to relax and gently put his hand atop her head.

“You better be glad you’re cute,” Bacchus said, removing the hand on her collar, “Now go be a good girl, and fetch us a bottle of lube. The bird is going to need it.”

The donkey’s ears instantly shot back up, and with a quick nod, she got up from the kneeling position she had been in at the minotaur’s side, running off and working her way around the other minotaur in the middle of fucking their victims. Her destination was a large barrel off in a corner of the room, which had many bottles of lubricant within it, and was probably stuffed to the brim when the orgy began. Grabbing a fresh bottle from what remained, the donkey returned to the man who was raping her, standing in display before him with what he requested.

“Good girl, Flauta,” Bacchaus said, finally speaking the donkey’s name, “Now set this toy up like before, and give it a nice coat.”

The donkey gave another nod of obedience, and took the oversized phallus from the minotaur. Getting back onto her knees, Flauta placed the end of the dildo opposite from its head onto the floor, the object having a suction cup on its ‘bottom’ that allowed it to stay in standing position. Holding it in one hand, displaying that the dildo had a flexibility to it that caused it to limp over to one side or another, the girl popped open the bottle’s flip top, and poured a good portion of its content over the head of the sex toy. The lubricant was somewhere between a gel and a liquid, looking a bit like slime, which the donkey smeared over the shaft with the same hand she was using to hold it upright, simulating masturbation on the rubber phallus, rotating the palm of her hand back and forth around its width, as she moved up and down its length.

Had this girl not clearly been a victim, indicated by her mere presence in The Society, Anya would have been very impressed with how well the donkey was performing her given task, as she showed a great amount of skill with the way her hand was moving, and knowing when to add more lubricant to to make sure she got every inch of the object covered with just enough of the substance as not to waste a drop. As it was, however, this was just a display of how good The Society’s ability to coerce and train a creature was, as Anya believed that Flauta had to be acting under duress.

Though, their training of the girl wasn’t all that spectacular, because at one point she made the mistake of swapping the bottle to her other hand, the container slipping from her grasp, falling to the floor and spilling a portion of what was left in the bottle upon it. Knowing she made a mistake, the donkey looked to her current handler with worry in her eyes, even slipping in an apology of “I’m sorry” before the minotaur could respond.

Bacchus shook his head disappointedly, saying “Clumsy mule” to Flauta, ridiculing the performance of her task, as it didn’t matter how well she did it prior to the mistake, just that she made the mistake, “I’ll devise a proper punishment for you later. For right now, help the bird get properly perched.”

“Yes sir,” the donkey replied, accepting her fate, as there was no avoiding the will of her captors.

Flauta turned her attention back to the dildo, placing both of her hands around its shaft, using them to hold the object in a fully erect position, at least the best she could, now that it was slippery with the slime coated it in.

“It’s time,” Rubric said, addressing his own captive, “I want you to get that dildo as deep into you as you can get it. Do not hold back, for anything.”

Anya acknowledged the command given to her, taking the few steps she needed to place in front of her the thing that would soon be deep inside her. Standing less than an inch away from the large, cock-shaped cylinder of rubber, the gryphoness saw that at full height it could just touch the entrance to her pussy. That meant that the length of it was roughly that of her own leg, and Rubric wanted her to stuff as much of it as she could inside her snatch. There was no chance that she’d be able to hilt the object, which she knew was usually the goal of this kind of display, as simple physics wouldn’t allow it, but she was sure the minotaur would enjoy watching her struggle as she tried.

Taking a deep breath, Anya spread her legs apart, and placed herself above the phallus. She paused for a few seconds after getting into place, but then proceeded to squat down on top of it. The first attempt ended with the bulbed head of the dildo slipping across her slit, sending a quick jolt of excitement up the gryphon’s spine, causing her unbound wings to go out in a spread for a split second. The second attempt got similar results, though this time Anya was able to control her wings, and prevent them from moving of their own accord again. On the third attempt, she finally managed to aim the tip at the right angle to get it to slide up inside her, which elicited a restrained moan from the depths of her throat.

The shaft was thick, but not anything she hadn’t felt before, with some of her prior pony partners having dicks on the plumper side of things. That aspect of the piece of rubber was something she’d be able to handle, if not without some visible signs of struggle. Lowering herself down further, the gryphoness found the slime coating the object assisted her progress greatly, and it didn’t take long for the lips between her legs touched the hands of the donkey still holding onto the dildo. Going further, Flauta saw her job was done, and released the phallus to let Anya do the rest herself, though didn’t move from her spot or looked away, simply because she wasn’t instructed otherwise. This gave the girl a front row seat to the penetration Anya was inflicting on herself, which was something she had done as well with the same toy earlier that day. She couldn’t help but stare, watching the slight imprint of a bulge travel slowly up to Anya’s belly button.

During the process of deep insertion, Anya became thankful that the toy working its way inside was as malleable as it was, the semi-flaccid fake cock conforming to her vaginal passage more than it had to conform to the shape of the dildo. Had it been a solid object, it would have been like impaling herself, and something would have surely torn inside. She felt that she could handle this object, as large as it was, all the way to the point that she knew was her limit, which was reached around the time her knees were about halfway bent.

“Why did you stop?” asked Bacchus, who had been enjoying the show from the comfort of his bench seat.

Anya, now panting heavily, could only groan in response, the gag in her beak preventing any other coherent sound she could make.

In her squat pose, the head of the phallus inside her rested against the entrance to her womb. This was the furthest that anything had ever gotten inside of her, even when it came to the biggest pony cocks she had taken. Within there, the phallus completely filled her birth canal, her inner walls squeezing around its intruder so that the space between them and the toy was practically non-existent.

Rubric came over to inspect Anya’s work, going before her, pushing the donkey girl aside to take her spot, so he could trace the area of her stomach that showed the imprint of the object she had shoved into her pussy. “It looks to be about at your cervix.” he stated, tracing the slight bulge with his finger, “Am I right?”

The rough touch of the minotaur made Anya quiver, her body becoming incredibly sensitive all of a sudden. She offhandedly shrugged it off as her body being aroused, as anyone’s would be would be in the middle of such sexual activity, amid the sounds and smells of others having sex, but unbeknowst to her, something had been activated with the touch of the minotaur. Something that at that very moment was altering the way she perceived the touch of another creature.

“Answer me,” Rubric said, becoming impatient, not noticing that the gryphon was in a slight daze from his touch.

The gryphon, not hearing the bull’s words, but comprehending the annoyance they held, returned a solid nod in response.

“Then you are not as deep as you can get,” Rubric replied, “Push… harder.”

Anya heard the command, but she honestly felt like the dildo could go no further. Making a meager attempt to satisfy the minotaur, she pushed down just enough that the head pressed into the small flesh ring blocking off her innermost depths, but made no real attempt to push it past that barrier.

“Here, let me help.” said Gilda, who had been standing a close distance behind the older gryphon.

In the same moment she spoke, Gilda placed both of her talons on Anya’s shoulder, and pressed down on them with full force. Anya, neither expecting the pressure now on her shoulders, or in a position to properly resist it, found herself going down on the dildo against her will. By the time Anya tried to struggle, it was already too late, her knees buckling and her body lowering so far down that she dropped to her knees. Inside, her cervix gave way to the rubber cock head barging into it, and once that was inside, the rest of the object followed with ease. The dildo went in so deeply that it hit the far wall of Anya’s womb, then due to it being so flexible, curved to glide along the interior of the sex organ, till it nearly made its way back to the cervix, stopping about an inch short.

Outside of Anya’s womb, the gryphon’s mind was set ablaze. She was screaming from behind her gag, unable to form words or try to stifle herself with her beak held open by it. Her wings returned to full spread, unable to close themselves back up, as Anya’s back arched, and her breathing became rapid. This was an all new experience for the respectively mature gryphon, having something grind up against areas of her body that had never been touched before. It hurt, but in that special kind of hurt that only made a person want more, the sensation helped immensely by an orgasm that overcame the gryphoness when her cervix felt a foot or more of rubber pass right through it.

“See,” Gilda said, easing off of Anya at the end of her moan of pleasurable agony, “You could do it, if you tried.”

Anya would have shot back a mumbled retort to Gilda’s taunt, if her head wasn’t spinning from the stunning climax it received. Her head was still trying to put together everything that just happened to her, and all she really comprehended was that someone shoved a rubber dick so far into her that it caused her body to go into auto-pilot. That, unlike the invasion of her womb that befell her, was something she was familiar with, the one time she allowed herself to be someone’s sub, when she first entered the world of BDSM. She just needed to calm down, and reinstate her self control.

She started by willing herself to take a few deep, though staggered breaths, and blinking her eye several times to reset her senses. Her surroundings slowly became less of a blur, and the noises around her more discernible from one another. Soon everything started becoming clearer, and as she forced the haze to disperse, she found that Rubric was still standing in front of her, though now without the single article of clothing he wore removed, and his dick out in the open for everyone to see.

“Back with us?” Rubric said, stroking his dick, working it to erection right in front of the bound and stuffed gryphon, showing absolutely no shame in the act, displaying an air of dominance that radiated off him like an impenetrable aura. “I can see the recognition in your eye, darting back and forth from my face and my dick.”

Rubric was correct, as the gryphon was having a problem keeping her gaze away from his dick, wanting to meet the minotaur’s gaze to display her own dominant nature, but finding the flesh pillar growing in front of her unignorable. She had already made a decent assumption of what she had gotten herself into, having quickly gauged from the other minotaur in the room what size a minotaur dick was as she watched them use the large appendages on their captives, but Rubric’s dick was looking to be even larger than the others. She was hoping that it was just a trick of perspective, that it only looked bigger because he was so close, but taking in the sight of it, the mass of beef was noticeably thicker than the object already inside her, if not so ridiculously long. Though from its appearance, if she was hilted by it, his cock head would very likely still reach the back end of her womb, and the growing rigidness of it meant that it wouldn’t safely curve once it met a solid object, but would instead slam into it like a battering ram.

“For my next order,” Rubric said, picking up on the subtle fear Anya was trying to conceal, and not caring about it in the slightest, “You will pleasure me with your mouth and throat, while pleasuring yourself on that toy of yours.”

Rubric’s command was as intimidating as his dick was huge, but she knew that the order was unavoidable. Her only concern was how she would even fit something that big inside her beak, but as she tried to wrap her head around the idea, Rubric wrapped his hand around her head. The minotaur had waited long enough, and with the prize Gilda had won for him ready, he would allow for no further delay.

Anya had her head pulled forward, the force of the minotaur’s arm far too great for her to try and resist. The bull’s cock was on a collision course with her throat, and with it on a fast approach, the gryphoness could tell the monstrous dick wasn’t going to fit, and would only go down her throat if the bull made great, and painful, effort to accomplish his goal, which it looked like he had the power and determination to do. Terror at the prospect of her throat being decimated by the dick filled the gryphon, and as Rubric’s tip was about to push into her beak, her will wavered. She had to stop the minotaur, but with her arms cuffed behind her back, there was little she could do to prevent what was to come. In desperation, the gryphoness did the last thing that she could do, releasing a screech that brought all who heard it pause, including Rubric himself.

“Is something wrong?” Rubric asked, tilting Anya’s head up towards his, a horrified expression covering her face as she trembled in his hand.

“A-Ahwad! Ahwad!! Ahwad!!!” Anya yelled at the bull, doing what she could to convey what she was saying with the gag in her mouth.

Rubric took a moment to parse the obstructed word the gryphon was repeating, and eventually reached a conclusion, “Safeword?”

Anya nodded her head rapidly, the bull figuring out what she said. As a creature who had had an active BDSM fetish, she was very familiar with the concept of a safeword, and how it could be used when one felt afraid or uncomfortable, in order to halt activities when they got too intense. She was relieved that the minotaur could comprehend her slurred speech, and that the safeword had spared her the pain she would have endured otherwise.

Rubric’s eyes left Anya as he held her a mere inch away from his dick, going around the room, as if looking for something, but returning to the gryphon once it made its rounds. “What about your surroundings gives you the idea that the concept of a safeword exists here?”

Without warning, the minotaur slammed Anya’s head towards his crotch, while thrusting his dick forward into her face. Anya could hardly let out another scream as the head entered her mouth, the point of her beak scraping across the top part of it, as the meaty bull cock was crammed inside her orifice. The gryphon’s mouth was filled so fast that her cheeks puffed out as they made room for the bull, as Anya discovered that the gag holding her mouth open could expand to grant more space for passage if needed. Relentlessly, the pole sized flesh phallus kept pushing till it made its way down the curve leading to the gryphon’s stomach, traveling deeper and deeper with ease once the bend was properly penetrated.

“You made a bet to submit yourself to me,” Rubric said aloud, as he pushed Anya’s face increasingly closer to his crotch, her throat becoming so full that its skin was pressed into the empty space between the wireframe form of the collar she was wearing, “And so long as you are under that agreement, you are no better than a slave, and will be treated like one. Such is the fate of those who suffer defeat at the hands of a superior foe.”

Despite the pain she endured by having her neck stuffed to what she felt should be beyond its capacity, Anya was able to hear and comprehend every word Rubric said to her, her senses becoming heightened during this forceful oral violation of her person, unlike previously when she almost lost all awareness. Anya didn’t know why though, as with her throat obstructed in this manner, she couldn’t even breath, and as she was hilted on the cock that had made it far enough that she could feel it behind every bone of her ribcage, she strangely had a level of awareness that let her realize she should have been blacking out from the pain, and an ever decreasing supply of oxygen.

This strange level of consciousness persisted as Rubric started to withdrawal his shaft, giving up a good portion of the ground he had taken inside Anya’s body, before taking the obvious next step and piston fucking the feline fowl’s face. She could taste the potent, masculine flavor of the bull running over her tongue, the taste traveling up into her sinuses, saturating her sense of smell so thoroughly that it drowned out any of the other sexual fragrances in the room. She felt the motion of her body, how when she was made to touch the front of her beak into the minotaur’s abs. It caused her body to have to lift up off the dildo still embedded inside her, the rubber object slithering out of her cervix like it was a string of spaghetti being slurped through a set of lips, almost escaping the womb entirely, only to be pushed all the way back inside when Rubric pulled back out, making her once more sit down on the phallus till only a small portion of it was visible outside of her snatch.

Above anything else though, the gryphon became increasingly aware of something that she couldn’t believe was happening, as the amount of brute force being inflicted on her shouldn’t have allowed it. She could feel the pain of having her throat and pussy being repeatedly invaded fading, and being gradually replaced with an ever growing amount of pure pleasure. Only as this strange pleasure grew to the point that it surpassed her pain, did she find it hard to keep concentrating on the world around her once more. The gryphon was falling into a level of sexually induced bliss she couldn’t believe that was possible under these conditions, the only rational conclusion she could come to as her mind threatened to blank out completely being that the minotaur overloaded her nervous system, to the point that she could no longer register what she should have been feeling.

And just as she was about to drift into bliss, the pillar of flesh in her mouth was withdrawn completely. Fresh air entered her lungs, Anya instinctually coughing and gasping for air the moment she had access to it, while the world returned to her as vibrant as ever. The minotaur stood over the feathered female, watching drool spill from her mouth, comprised of saliva that was building up during his assault on her throat.

“Too much for ya?” Rubric said, towering over the gryphoness, his question not one of concern, but an assessment of how much she could endure.

Anya had to concede, Rubric had done a number on her. While she considered herself a dominant, the bull’s personality and physical power made him a force to be reckoned with. He was forceful, far beyond any other dom Anya had met, but knew how to precisely limit himself to only what Anya was able to take. At least, that was what the gryphon had assumed had happened, seeing as he pulled just before she blacked out. Perhaps that was an accident, but Anya couldn’t deny how she felt as he did the one thing she had never seen another dom do in her life; Act without restraint.

When it came to the BDSM clubs Anya frequented, everything done had to be checked and double checked before a dom did anything with their subs. Not in a literal sense, but in many ways subs were the ones really in control of the situation. They were the ones who allowed the doms to use them, and had complete say of when a dom would have to stop, thus the safe word. There had been more than one time that Anya herself had to quit dead in her tracks because one of her pony playthings became hesitant with the extent she wanted to take things, and it never exactly felt good to be told to stop when you were already limiting yourself to begin with.

Here though, the ‘doms’, or slavers as they actually were, had no such stipulations. They could and would do as they pleased, and you’d just have to grit and bare it as they did. By that descriptor alone, they were more dominant than any of Anya’s associates from the clubs, who only took power when it was given, and could have it taken away in a second. There was a primal appeal to be had in enforcing your will over another, as well as releasing your will to another, that was the most basic interpretation of why BDSM was enjoyable, but socially acceptable way to explore those kinks would always force one to never truly indulge in what it meant to be a submissive or a dominant. In that way, every member and worker of the society was more of a dom than those who only practiced it could ever be.

Anya also couldn’t deny that as she had her throat fucked, she was really getting into it, more so than any time prior when it came to sex, though she didn’t know why, since she believed herself to be a dom, who never enjoyed her times as a sub nearly as much as the times she was in power. She had to believe it went back to how forceful Rubric had been, since she didn’t know the truth about the chemicals making her feel this way. Whatever the reason, she wanted to know if it was a one time thing, or just a mere fluke, and there was only one way to find that out.

“Ore…” Anya muttered, hanging her head, still in the middle of her cock induced fit.

“What was that?” Rubic asked, noticing that Anya had said something, but not able to understand what it was she said, “You can’t possibly have said-.”

In a sudden act that displayed her own ability to be dominant, Anya brought all of her sputtering and coughing to a momentary hold, lifted her head to look Rubric in the eye, and said in the most commanding tone she could manage in her position “Ore!”

This time the message got across, and while taken aback by her attitude after being relentlessly fucked down her throat, her order was one Rubric was happy to follow. With a grip of her head feathers, the bulls sent himself back down the female avian’s esophagus, holding only enough back to not cause her body damage, though with no such consideration for the amount of pain he might cause by barging in so roughly.

As the cock filled Anya’s throat once more, she found that this time the pain was nearly non-existent. She felt something, but nothing that compared to the pleasure of having Rubric’s pillar of bull meat stuff the path to her stomach so thoroughly that it squeezed her airway shut. It was as her entire throat had suddenly gained the sensitivity of her pussy, spasming around its invader like it was experiencing an orgasm, though in reality it was just trying to expel the obstruction filling it to its limits. Her sense of taste was set ablaze as well, not from the salty taste of cock, but of the irony flavor of blood that was touching her tongue. The minotaur, in his initial entry, managed to cut himself on the gryphoness’ beak, deep enough that his life giving fluids were slowly dripping out of his cockhead. If this caused him any discomfort, he didn’t show it, but Anya, being the predatory creature she was, found the bovine blood to be yet another thrilling aspect of Rubric carelessly taking her as he pleased.

Every minute or so, the bull would periodically pull himself out of Anya, as to let her inhale enough air to prevent her from passing out, but then would shove himself back inside when he felt he’d given her a few too many seconds past what she needed. This made it so Anya had barely any time to relax, and was constantly being forced back into the action. The intensity and consistency was so much more than her senses could bare, that she managed to cum once or twice just from getting throat fucked, which was something she had heard stories of, but she never thought was truly possibly. Then again, she might still assume that after, as the heightened sensations of it all just merged together into one long string for forced ecstasy.

Inevitably, the minotaur likewise reached his limit, and with a final thrust that smooshed the tip of Anya’s beak into his abs, the head of his cock got as close to the entrance to her stomach as it could get, and released a thick flood of creamy cum down the female’s gullet. Teetering on the edge of pure bliss, the gryphoness detected something heavy begin to fill her belly, spreading a new sensation of warmth into her core, that only became bigger when with each twitch of the dick shafting her throat. As the volume of the fluids pouring into her increased, her stomach found itself swelling up, rounding out to a nicely full and plump visage, as if the avian had just finish gorging herself on a delicious feast.

As things proceeded, the feeling of comfort began to shift, as what was a delightful sensation of warmth overcoming her body, started to turn into a disgusting feeling of something traveling up her food tube. The bull was cumming too much, and the limited space in her stomach had become occupied. With the bull still releasing spurt after spurt of semen into her, the fluid had to go somewhere, and the path of least resistance was back up the path it came from. Ayna, slipping out of her pleasure hazed thoughts, made an attempt to get the cumming cock out of her, but Rubric’s hand held her far too tightly for that to be possible, and a moment later a burst of the minotaur’s spunk exploded out any gaps in the avain’s beak, including out through her nostrils, the sperm so abundant that it quickly caused her sinuses to get clogged up, and even managed to get a small portion of the substance to leak out from Anya’s eyes as stingingly salty tears.

At that point, Rubric knew that he could go no further without endangering the female, if he hadn’t already. If it hadn’t been for his dick closing her wind pipe entirely, there was a good chance that Anya could have drowned on the amount of cum he was releasing, so as his orgasm came to the one minute mark, he pulled himself out completely, cock still spewing cum like a faucet, coating the gryphon’s throat even further than it had been, and finishing off by pouring a concealing amount right into her face once the penis was fully retrieved. The only thing Anya could do in response to this mistreatment was expel as much of the jism from her guts as she could, bending forward, a small waterfall flowing out of her mouth with the speed of molasse. This gross process of emptying herself was only delayed when the feline fowl had to take in a breath of air, Anya finding the will to stifle herself for a moment to take in fresh oxygen, before continuing to get to a point where she could handle the volume of bull milk inside her body.

“Holy shit!” Anya heard from some place in the room, another minotaur taking notice of what Rubric had done, “I can’t believe she’s still able to hold herself up after that.”

Anya had managed to stay kneeling of her own power, Rubric having removed his hands from her at the same time he removed his cock. While she had been used, she had yet to be truly dominated, her defiance against the current aches and pains going through her being proving that.

The loud declaration from the random bull drew in the attention of others, both minotaur and their slaves, and before long a crowd started to form. They were all a bit impressed, partially what Rubric had managed to do to Anya, and partially with Anya for managing to take it as well as she did. The bovines started sharing words of praise for Rubric among one another, as well as openly expressing a want to use Anya as he had. Anya had to scoff internally at the notion, as at that moment she felt like she’d never allow a minotaur to ever fuck her throat again, as terrible as the aftermath was.

Anya retained her status as a spectacle for as long as it took her to cough up enough cum for her stomach to lose some of its roundness, at which point she found it harder and harder to get even more of the stuff out of her as it stuck to her insides. The amount was manageable though, so she was able to recover enough to return to breathing normally, though she still felt like crap.

Unfortunately, the throat fucking of the gryphon’s life wasn’t the only thing on the docet, and upon her recover, Rubric decided to proceed. He grabbed her by the feathers sticking out on her head, pulled her right off the dildo she had been straddling, and took her to the bench where Bacchus had been sitting. Without so much of a word, the minotaur tossed her body across the plank of wood, her waist landing over the smaller length of it, while her upper torso hung over one side, and her legs the other. This made it so her ass was placed precariously up in the air, but Anya did nothing to change this. She could see what was coming next, as it was always going to be the end goal of the bet. The bull was ready to use her pussy, it being the true prize of any submissive female.

Seeing Rubric take a place behind her, Anya faced forward, staring at the floor, awaiting round two with the monster cock to begin. She heard a bit of shifting go on from behind, along with some more mixed mutterings from the audience they had acquired, and that was enough for her to know the bull was positioning himself for penetration. Soon the slime covered dick would be forced inside, and she’d have to endure it again, in a different hole. At the feeling of a hand gripping her ass by both cheeks, Anya clenched her eyes and braces for a secondary ravaging, hoping the cum and saliva coating his shaft, and the lubrication still lingering in her vaginal passage, would be enough to make the process as easy as it could conceivably be.

At the first sense of something touching her pussy, the gryphon’s resistance faltered ever so slightly, her pussy flinching in response. If Rubric noticed, the gryphon never knew, as the next thing she felt was a sizable object entering her now loosened snatch with relative ease. It was thick, as she had expected, and very slippery as it delved deeply inside, finding the path fairly inviting after having to accommodate the huge sex toy prior. As it traveled through her insides, it sent a strange sensation of pleasure into Anya’s mind, a combination of a slithering sickening feeling, and pure euphoria as the piece of meat touched every surface of Anya’s pussy at once.

For the most part, it was enjoyable, but there was something off about the pleasure Anya found herself feeling, something more than the thought that this should have been hurting her. The thing inside her didn’t feel like the firm shaft that had railed her throat earlier. In fact, it felt rather... malleable, having a lot to give to it when Anya’s pussy clenched around it in response to the pleasure it was getting.

While assessing this odd quality of the dick inside her, something unexpected happened, as the organ suddenly bent upwards inside her. Not in a way where it was moving in a curved trajectory, but in that it decided to move the front half of itself upwards, while the rest of it stayed at the angle it was at. The motion made Anya jump a little, from how unexpected it was, and that it sent a shock through her spine, forcing her to involuntarily moan as well. With that, Anya had to know what Rubric was doing, and how he did that movement with his cock. Opening her eyes, and looking behind her, she didn’t see the bull standing there, his crotch pressed into hers. Instead she caught him kneeling down, face against her slit, muzzle pushing into the space between her legs. It took her a moment of observation to get what was happening, but she managed to get it just as another shock hit her ever weakening consciousness, a strong wriggling occurring inside her snatch. That wasn’t the bull’s dick in her… It was his tongue.

Feeling every bit as girthy as the penis she had in her earlier, the tongue filled her female flesh cavity tightly, while having the kind of dexterity a cock could never have. Rubric could flick its tip, flex it, send ripples down its length, flatten it out, and make it solid at will. With this in mind, Anya was sent into her first orally induced orgasm, her still stiff wings flapping by themselves with enough force that her upper half was lifted off the ground. She might have even taken off, if not for Rubric keeping her grounded with his grip, not allowing Anya to escape him now that the next part of her domination had begun.

The gryphon’s vaginal nerves flared up wildly, her inner walls being manipulated in ways she could have never dreamed of. She had been licked down there before, but never so deeply, meticulously, or intensely. When the minotaur moved his tongue, the rest of her passage had to follow, moving around parts of her insides in the process. Not just that, but Rubric had ground the most sensitive spot within her, discovering it the moment she climaxed all over his oral organ. Sometimes he’d run a portion of his tongue over the G-spot, other times he’d focus on it with his tip, and others he’d push right into it several times in a row to make Anya scream out in bursts of uncontrolled lust. It would have been bad enough had she simply had to endure some powerful object teasing her insides, but the ruiner potion was intensifying everything she felt to degrees that risked frying her brain from the sheer amount of sparks flowing into it. It was a pleasure so mind numbingly strong that it turned to agony, then doubled back into pure pleasure, and then back into utter torment in an infinite cycle of polar opposites.

Anya howled like an animal, restrained and held, drool dripping out the side of her beak, with eyes rolling up into her skull. She could almost feel portions of her consciousness being destroyed as climax after climax tore her world asunder, while another part of the potion she had unwittingly drunk counteracted what should have been permanent damage by holding all those pieces together. The screams and flailing even got Rubric a little worried, as from his perspective, he had in his command the most sensitive female he had ever encountered. This didn’t prevent him from continuing, as if the gryphon got her mind destroyed by this, it would only be her fault, and if she became damaged by his sexual technique, then he’d just have to keep the foolish gryphon as a pet. In some ways, that idea only motivated the minotaur to keep going, as he had no qualms in breaking a female who took a risk, and flew too close to the sun.

Becoming a prisoner in her own body, Anya could only endure the extreme session of cunniligus for its duration, cumming more times than she could have counted in the pleasure induced delirium she was in. Over what felt like days of endless sensation, Anya had her pussy cleaned out, reshaped time and again, and explored so far that for the second time in her life she had something invade the sanctity of her womb.Only when the minotaur tired, and retrieved his tongue from her body, did her mind step back from the brink of oblivion, the fragments of her psyche coming back together to form a whole. However, things were not quite the same when she returned as when she left.

Her body had become fairly moist, a thin layer of sweat covering her body, forming small beads of it on small parts of her fur and feathers. The pace of her breathing had increased till she was outright hyperventilating, her lungs desperately expelling and inhaling air to keep up with an immense demand for oxygen needed to maintain her heightened state of stimulation. That was just her body compensating with all the new and powerful sensations though, cooling her off and increasing its metabolism to prevent a complete system shutdown.

What wasn’t part of her body’s natural functions though was the object she could now feel going down her throat, as a plastic tub had been shoved into it at some point during her black out, going no further than Rubric’s dick had earlier, and leading out of her beak to an Antlearten stationed nearby. The buck was holding the tube in one hand, elevating it upwards, while funneling in bottles of water at a slow pace, another deer handing him a fresh bottle whenever he ran out.

The gryphon made an angry noise at the stag, which was distinct enough from her moans that it caught his attention. “Oh, you’re back with us.” he said, then noticed that her eyes were shifting from him to the tube, “We noticed you were losing a lot of fluids, so we didn’t want you to get dehydrated.”

Anya didn’t think that she had sweated enough to warrant this intrusion of her body, but the issue wasn’t her sweat, but the amount of water her body lost due to her multiple orgasms. She wasn’t aware yet, but she had created a fairly large puddle of viscous fluids, and that was after Rubric had swallowed a good portion of what she produced.

“We also gave you a mild sedative to slow down your brain activity, which seems to have gotten the results we wanted,” the deer went on to say, noting how Anya was now responsive again.

Anya wasn’t too pleased that she had been drugged without her knowledge, but she was hardly in a position to do something about it. She also assumed that it was a common practice the slavers did when dealing with their slaves, so in a way she should’ve know prior that it could have happened.

Giving a sigh, both of exasperation and enjoyment, her body covered in the afterglow of her world shattering climaxes, Anya relaxed herself, believing that she had a moment to do so. She gulped down a few more pints of water, and listened to the crowd around her applaud Rubric for his display.

“Can’t believe you held that up for a whole thirty minutes,” one minotaur said to Rubric, who only gave a pleased smirk in response.

Anya, hearing this, gave herself a small laugh. He had only been delving inside of her with his tongue for thirty minutes, and pleasured her so well that it caused time to dilate in her perception. She had to give the minotaur credit, as no partner she had prior could accomplish such a feat. The gryphon had to give herself some credit too, as she would have never assumed she could have endured something like that without going crazy, but somehow she managed to not suffer any mental damage from having her senses overloaded for minutes on end. At least, not that she could tell.

Overall, she was worn out, but it was a good kind of worn out, so she wanted to believe. She couldn’t help but smile around her gag, that was until she heard Rubric say to her, “Ready for the next round?”. Those words instantly wiped the smile from her face, as she realized something terrible. The minotaur’s act of cunnilingus had only been thirty minutes, and the throat fucking before hand was less time than that. Rubric still had hours to do with her as he pleased, and it sounded like he wasn’t nearly as tired as she was. Feeling a hand grip both her wings at the base, the gryphoness lamented that the worst was yet to come, as she was lifted up off the bench and to her feet.

Consequences Part 2

Being pulled up from the bench she had been laying upon, Anya could hardly find the energy to do more than squawk like a panicked parakeet around the tube that was still stuck within her throat.

Anya had just gone through the harshest internal tongue lashing in her life, yet while her body and mind had been pushed beyond their limits, her temporary master was far from satisfied. If this were one of the BDSM parties she frequently attended, then the other people there would have taken note of how tired she was, and put a stop to any more activities with her, but these minotaur slavers didn’t care in the slightest. They were more than happy to keep going, until they got what they desired, and in some ways that made the situation for the gryphon both terrifying, and surprisingly kinda hot in her mind.

“Want us to soak her down?” one of the other minotaur asked Rubric, coming from the crowd that was now formed around the bull and his bird.

“I’ll let her decide that,” Rubric said, suddenly releasing the wing bones he had been holding.

With practically no strength to keep herself standing, Anya found herself falling forward to the floor, only able to catch herself by falling onto her knees in a slump. The motion of her body falling caused the gryphon’s head to go up for a moment, only to go back down in a tilt once her body had gone into a kneeling sit.

“That looked like a nod to me!” said one of the minotaur in the wall of beef circled around Anya, following his words with a bucket full of water that he splashed over her.

It was cold, not reaching icy levels, but enough to spark some more life out of the avian as it hit her, with a few more buckets of water following that helped that process further. Once they were done, her body had most of the grimy sweat knocked off it, and she felt a spring of energy burst from somewhere hidden within her, her mind now fully awake.

With this small bit of empowerment, Anya took a moment to look at those who assaulted her with the water, or at least the crowd they easily mixed in with. In the state she was in, her forced awareness just barely overcame her mental fatigue, it was not easy to tell one minotaur apart from the rest. When one stepped into her view from behind though, she knew exactly who that was.

“I asked you a question earlier,” Rubric said, not even bothering to lower himself down to her level. Had Anya wanted to look him in the face, she would have had to tilt her head back so far that she’d be looking at the ceiling. “Are you able to continue? While I still wish to use your body for my desire, it would be a shame if you were too weak to endure what I can do to you.”

Anya listened closely to Rubric’s words, and they were not ones of care or concern, as one might believe, but a challenge. The minotaur might have honestly wanted to not cause her harm, for a variety of reasons, but this felt more like a test, not of her body, but her will. A form of hazing, to see if he could break her, to see what she could take before she’d just give up, or maybe just to have her give up, only to continue anyways. In a twisted way, it motivated her to keep going, though she knew she really was at the brink of collapse. Perhaps she was curious too, of just how far she could be pushed before it became too much. So with a few nods of her head, the gryphon gave her consent to go forward with her violation, whether it was needed or not.

Rubric, catching her nodding, huffed in reply, seeing that this female wasn’t as weak as many others he had encountered as a slaver. That was at the very least interesting, so he was willing to let things continue, if the avian was so intent on putting herself through more torment. He was tired of being the one doing all the work though, so he decided to make things easier for the cat bird to please him of her own accord.

“Bacchus,” he said, looking to his associate, who was still watching from the bench, with Flauta, the donkey he had as a slave, sitting at his side, waiting for the moment she would be needed by him, “Come help our new employee to her feet.

“Sure thing, boss.” said the other minotaur, rising from his seat. He went right behind Anya, wrapped his fingers around her collar firmly enough to get a good grip, then lifted her up as if she weighed less than a feather.

Having had a moment to rest, if even briefly, Anya was able to remain shakingly standing of her own power, though Bacchus kept his hand on her collar in case her legs decided to fail her again. It was pretty much expected, seeing how much abuse the space between her thighs had received in such a short time. As he held her into a straight up stance though, Rubric took the time to remove some of the things that had been used on her up to this point, starting with the zip cuffs that had been put around her wrists.

All it took was the pressing of a button at the center of them to release the straps holding the gryphon’s talons together, and once removed, he went for her beak. Not to remove her gag, as he still preferred her to be unable to speak her mind, but to remove the tube in her throat that had been used to pour water directly into her stomach. All it took was a single tug once he had ahold of it, and it came out in one solid motion, causing Anya to cough a few times as her neck was voided.

“Stop your sputtering,” Rubric commanded, “You have proven that you can handle more than that down your throat.” Anya knew the minotaur was right, but it was hard to resist a natural reaction like coughing when something moved through your esophagus. “I think she can stay standing on her own,” Rubric proceeded to say to his associate, “Go ahead and return to your seat. I’ll be joining you in a moment.”

Bacchus lifted an eyebrow at the order, “You really just wanted me to get her back to her feet? Laaaame.” Despite declaring his distaste for being used for such a pointless task, the minotaur obeyed, and went back to the bench where his donkey was waiting.

“As for you,” Rubric said, addressing Anya once more, “It looks like one of us doesn’t know the limits your body can take. I’m willing to believe that’s you, but I don’t mind you being stubborn for my benefit.”

The bull’s phrasing annoyed Anya a little, but she couldn’t fully disagree with what he was saying. She was being stubborn, even if his previous offer was actually just a trap to have her submit, her refusal to give in put her in no better position than if she had. On Rubric’s end, he didn’t even look upset, and why would he? It was the same situation in reverse, as if he intended to keep fucking her, then it made no difference if she admitted her body couldn’t take it or not. No matter what, he would have the pleasure of being inside the gryphon.

Before saying anything else, Rubric walked past the avian, which prompted her to turn around to follow where he was heading, his destination being the bench, to do as he said prior and join Bacchus in sitting upon it. It was at this time that Anya was reminded that Rubric was completely naked, his body bare of all coverings, and his dick hanging semi-erect from between his legs. With all the things that she had been put through, it had momentarily slipped her mind that all the occupants of the room were nude, save for Gilda, who was the only one who hadn’t partaken in any sexual activity that day.

Having noticed this once more, she also took in how he was fairly attractive. She hardly knew the bull, and his personality seemed to be that of a dominant dickhole, the type who liked to throw his weight around like he owned the place, but physically speaking he was easy on the eyes. Tone muscles, huge cock, and a face that she found handsome, for that of a bovine. The gryphoness hadn’t really gotten a full view of him since they started, always being too close or at a bad angle, but having the full picture of him, she could spot some qualities of him that she liked, both his looks and the sheer dominance he displayed.

“It’s time you put some effort of your own into your punishment,” Rubric said, displaying the part of his personality Anya didn’t enjoy, his disrespectful treatment of her, “So far I’ve done everything, so you can come her, and show me if you know how to please a man without being treated like a masturbation tool.”

Anya could see this was the reason her arms had been released, as she would need to use them to do the task she was given. Her first thought was that she would need her talons to work his cock back to full erection, but as she approached him, she found that his dick swelled up on its own, like it knew she was coming for it. By the time she got within a few inches from the minotaur, it was nearly at an upright stand, only tilted forward a little due to Rubric sitting down.

“Now that your pussy has gotten it’s stretching exercises out of the way,” Rubric said, reaching forward to give the soft lips between Anya’s thighs a quick rub, “It’s time to put it to good use, don’t you think?”

Anya shuddered, unable to quell her reaction as she suffered that strange level of sensitivity that had overcome her since the start. To her, it was like anything the minotaur did to her was the best version of that interaction she had ever had. Thankfully, the sedative she was given calmed the effects of the ruiner potion secretly given to her, so while her sense of touch was still heighted to a point that she couldn’t deny the pleasure, she wasn’t sent to the point of seeing stars by a simple rub.

“I asked you a question,” Rubric said, expecting a reply from what Anya had believed to be a rhetorical question. She gave him a couple quick nods, which made him bring his hand back to his body. “Then show me how much stamina you have left, and if you can manage to last, then maybe I’ll give you a reward.”

The gryphoness understood that the reward was most likely ‘more sex’, but the task given to her was still something she had to do. Without needing any further instructions, Anya took Rubric’s cock in hand, finding it as firm as before, and tilted it down a little more before climbing up into his lap. With a good amount of care, she aligned his privates with her own. Rubric, seeing the gryphon having a bit of trouble getting it inside, even with her pre-penetrated pussy, placed his hands on her hips, gripping them tight, and with only a brief pause to give Anya enough time to understand what was happening, thrust himself inside the half-cat, half-bird with little restraint.

The room flashed out of existence for a split second, Anya’s mind almost going to a complete blank again as the bull crashed through her vaginal passage, getting her legs to spread around his muscular waist, as the massive meat rod made its way through her cervix, making it the second thing to make it that deep inside her body. It was a spectacular, if painful, feeling, but the moment that Rubric had given her prior gave Anya the opportunity to prepare mentally, so her perception didn’t go blank for more than a moment before she was able to regain her faculties, and regain control of her cock stuffed body.

Raising her arms up, she placed her talons on Rubric’s shoulders, using them for balance, so she could move her form up and down his cock, at a slow, but steady pace. Pleased with her actions, Rubric removed his own hands, and let her go about performing her given objective at her leisure.

Rubric wasn’t the only one happy with the gryphon’s efforts, as the other minotaur in the room were getting aroused at the sight of her mature avian body straddling the bull’s dick as well. It wasn’t often that a female had sex with a minotaur under their own power, at least not without immense training and chemicals to aid them, and seeing a female with the physical and mental fortitude to go through it without any form of assistance was exciting. Some took it upon themselves to go back to screwing their own captive slaves while watching the gryphon get fucked, while others were content with just observing for the time being. Whatever they chose to do, most of the eyes in the room were set on seeing how far the gryphon would push herself, or how far Rubric would take it.

“You’re really making me jealous,” Bacchus said, sitting right next to the scene, the only thing between him and Rubric being his donkey girl, “You’ve got yourself a nice piece of puss like that, and all I have is this mule here.”

He delivered a hard smack to Flauta’s flank at the end of his sentence, forcing a bray from her mouth in surprise. After the embarrassing outburst, she replied to her captor by saying, “I’m sorry, sir. I know I’m not as pretty or sexy as the gryphon.”

It was a little sad seeing the donkey put herself down like that, no doubt something the minotaur demanded of her, but Anya didn’t have time to be concerned for her, not when she had to concentrate on pleasing the dick crammed inside her.

“Yeah, but you still have your uses,” Bacchus said, “So why don’t you put yourself to use and get on my dick like the gryphon?”

“Oh!” Flauta exclaimed, her normally drooping ears shooting up in surprise for a second when she picked up on what the minotaur wanted. Without any question, she climbed up into her keeper’s lap like Anya had done with Rubric, taking Bacchus’ cock and aiming it to the slit between her legs.

“No, no, not there…” Bachus said, his tone condescending, “Use the best part of your body to get me off.” The donkey looked confused at the request, not sure without direct command which part of her was the best part. Bacchus rolled his eyes, as if she should have been aware of what he meant. “Your ass, you ass.”

Before Flauta could even try to change her position, the minotaur cupped the cheeks of her butt, lifted her up by them, and used his grasp to pull the two rounded pieces of fat apart from one another. Flauta gasped as the space between them became exposed to all the minotaur and slaves watching around them, and barely had time to form a blush on her face before having her rump dropped down on Bacchus’ cock, which was a bit smaller than Rubric’s, but none the less impressive when compared to the small frame of the female it was entering.

Unlike Anya, who had managed to be impaled in silent shock, Flauta let out an extended moan as her O-ring was made to expand widely to engulf the minotaur mast. The sounds the donkey made in her dismay caught Anya’s attention, and as she started her slow rhythm of moving her body along the penis filling her insides, she found her eyes drawn to Flauta, particularly to the area she had been penetrated, and the thing she had been penetrated with. Anya was no stranger to anal sex, but she had her limits, since the hole was not as easily gotten into as its front facing counterpart. That the donkey girl could fit so much inside such a tight hole got Anya a little flustered, as she didn’t think she could do the same if she was in Flauta’s position.

“Start moving,” said Bacchus, having embedded himself deep inside his slave, giving her another slap for motivation, which the donkey quickly moved to obey, lifting her rump up off his crotch, only to lower it back down, giving whispered groans as her intestines felt the large object moving back and forth inside them.

“You got her settled in?” Rubric asked, keeping a hand on Anya’s rear, mostly to give it something to do as the gryphon rode his shaft.

“I think she’s in a good position,” Bacchus replied, his eyes not leaving the girl, enjoying the sight of her efforts to please him.

“Then we need to talk,” Rubric said, “As much as I hate to say this, we’ve been getting a bit lax working at this slave training center.”

“Not bringing in as many slaves as usual?” Bacchus asked, finally turning to look at Rubric, showing concern when it came to a possible loss of revenue through the lack of a slaver’s only product.

“A little,” Rubric replied, “But not outside of expected margins. Our real problem is that our competitors have been increasing their output. I’m sure you’ve heard of all the successful raids recently.”

“Hard not to, when our men have been buying some of the spoils of those raids for personal use,” Bacchus replied, looking at some of the slaves contained within the minotaur locker room, “Two deer tribes, and the kirins. Those were some highly valued captures, and were sure to have fetched the raid chiefs a shiny pile of gold.”

“And their sections of the slave ring are sure to keep a good share of the females for themselves for years to come,” Rubric added, “Selling only a few at inflated prices, while breeding the rest in their private breederies to maintain a large market share of their claimed species.”

Anya had to pause hearing the two minotaur talk, wanting to take in what she was hearing, but having trouble doing so as constant sensations kept shooting through the nerves in her body. From what she believed she overheard, some of those captured by The Society were not simply individuals who were kidnapped away from their cities, but that their cities had been raided and possibly taken over completely. It puzzled her how the minotaur could pull that off, even though both Rubric and Schorl had mentioned that Anya would eventually have to participate in these raids herself. Not because she didn’t believe that the minotaur couldn’t pull off something like that, but because she assumed such raids were happening outside of Equestria. Inside of Equestria, it seemed like an impossible task to pull off, taking over a whole city or enslave an entire race of creatures, as the nation on the whole was under the protection of the alicorns. If an attack on one of its towns or micro nations occurred, surely it wouldn’t go unnoticed. Yet the proof of it happening was present in the room, as the Thicket deer and Kirin were now the captives of The Society.

“So do we have any plans to keep us competing with the other lead slavers?” Bacchus said, making it clear to Anya that he wasn’t the brains of the operation.

“The problem is that we have too much sunk into this training facility at the moment.” Rubric replied, “When I was brought into this deal with Sartek, he promised me first pick for hunting and hiring contracts, and while this place has been a steady source of gold, it hasn’t granted the big bursts that comes from these raids. It sounded like a great idea to have most of my men work here when raids weren’t an option, but with us spending most of our time here, I missed the news when…” Rubric stopped speaking for a moment, finally noticing that Anya had ceased her movements, “Did I say you could stop?”

Anya shook her head no, and quickly started moving again, trying to make up for her slacking. She hoped she didn’t get caught ease dropping, as she wasn’t sure she was supposed to be listening in. She was, afterall, only a new employee under Rubric, probably just meant to take orders and not ask questions.

“You wanted to know what we were talking about, didn’t you?” Rubric said, figuring out what was going on fairly fast.

Anya, having been found out, stopped again, and looked the bull in the face. Seeing no reason to lie, especially since that would be an open sign of fear for the bull, she made an “Uh-huh” sound from her forced open beak.

“Fine, I will explain a bit,” said Rubric, “But you’re to keep moving those hips as I do. You are on my time, not the other way around.” Anya gave the bull a nod, getting back to her given task, which the bull saw as her understanding what the cost of information would be, “For starters, I am not the only minotaur slave master working at this facility. Several factions of slavers have invested their time and manpower into this place, in the hopes that it would be profitable for them, in both gold and new products that they can circulate through our homelands.”

“We are just one of- uff… a couple dozen minotaur slave trade groups that- haa… are invested in The Society,” Bacchus said, grunting as the donkey grinded her ass on his cock.

“My group consist of the minotaur present in this chamber,” Rubric continued, “This being our personal changing area, which leads into our personal living quarters. There are a few more of us still working at the moment, but this is pretty much all of us.”

“And each group… oh gosh that’s good. Keep it up, slut.” said Bacchus, whispering the second part to his slave, “Ehem… Each group is being subcontracted by Sartek, the mmmmmm-”

“The minotaur who acts as bodyguard of the Society’s Head Mistress,” Rubric said, seemingly tired of Bacchus’ distracted speech, “I was the first slave master he came to, and I leaped on the chance to make more coin in what was essentially a raiding drought. It was fine for a while, but then some of the other slave masters were issued raiding permits to invade and enslave several cities that had been considered off limits prior.”

Anya was having trouble taking everything the two minotaur were saying in, her body having gone into orgasm in between the few sentences the bulls had said since she had started working her hips. What she did manage to hear left her with several questions, none of which she could ask with her mouth in its current condition. One she could figure out herself though, that being which races had been captured, which she recalled that it was the kirin and two separate deer tribes that had been taken. She assumed that meant the Thicket deer and the Antlerteans. The other major question was more of a curiosity she had in the idea of a ‘raid permit’, which implied some higher level of government with the minotaur that limited how they could enslave others. Anya had believed they were just a barbarian culture that did as they pleased, and were somehow really successful in the capturing of other creatures, but the more she learned, the more in depth the bovine’s culture of slavery became to her.

“So now,” said Rubric, not pausing for a second for his explanation, “Our group needs to find a way to make up the difference, before we are left in the dust by the other groups. That’s why I’ve hired a bunch of gryphons like yourself, as you’re not just inherently good hunters, but your kind are less suspicious moving around Equestria in large groups than a herd of minotaur.”

“And that’s how we’ve made a bunch of our extra money so far,” Bacchus interjected once more, but this time trying harder to contain his enjoyment of the ass he was fucking, “By sending you out to kidnap ponies for this place. We aren’t the only ones who have hired gryphons, though. Others have done the same, but we have a good majority of the contracts, and that gives us a little bit of an advantage.”

“An advantage that is limited, due to us not being allowed to capture ponies as freely as those with raiding permits can. That’s on purpose, as The Society doesn’t want to draw a lot of attention to itself, and neither does Minopolis, but it doesn’t help my business in the slightest.”

“So what do we do?” Bacchus said, getting back to the question he asked earlier, “Have you looked into getting us a permit yet?”

“I have,” Rubric said, addressing the other minotaur, “But I was told we weren’t going to be able to get one for months. I’ve been promised that it would be for a highly valued and sought after species, who we’d be more than able to capture without issue, but that wait doesn’t help us right now. So I have another plan.”

“Which is?” Bacchus asked, the question being the obvious one after such a statement.

“I’m looking into buying imports from another slaver outside of Minopolis.” Rubric explained, “Its unconventional, but the Crystal Mare was able to set up a connection for me to exploit for the time being, since Sartek promised me first picks of anything involving The Society.”

“So you’re buying slaves, and then selling them at a marked up price?” Bacchus asked, figuring out his boss’ plan, “That’s not exactly a very profitable way of running a slave ring.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Rubric reassured, “The slaver is from a land where a bag of coins looks like a mountain, and the creatures he will bring in are exotic enough that I’ll be the first one in Minopolis to have them. It should be more than enough to suffice until the big raid.” With his plan explained to the point Rubric felt fit, he returned his attention directly to Anya, who was still diligently pumping his penis into her pussy.

While he had been speaking to his fellow minotaur, he felt Anya’s vaginal walls spasm in climax several times, the constant rubbing of his shaft against them an impossible sensation to resist for the avian. On his end, however, not even a drop of cum had left his cock to spill into her vulnerable womb. It was not a fault of the gryphon’s that she couldn’t make him cum, but due to his own mental discipline, as leaders of slaver factions would undergo training to stifle their climaxes at will, ignoring the pleasure they received in order to increase their own sexual stamina, and assert a form of dominance over those they physically conquered.

Mostly, it helped those who practiced the skill keep their dicks from deflating after cumming, which prolonged their ability to stay erect over a long period of time. It was a cruel trick to give a slave the task of making their master cum, usually under the threat of punishment, just to make the given order virtually impossible. They would try and struggle all they could to force the cum to come out, becoming increasingly desperate to avoid whatever their owner had planned for them if they failed, with no feasible way around it, only for the slave master to release their semen after a given time limit.

Anya was under no such stipulation, but she none the less put great effort into trying to get him off, for what the minotaur assumed was due to a sense of pride. She had some degree of sexual training herself, that much he could determine from what little time he had with her thus far. She wasn’t embarrassed to be stripped and bound, and she her body could take things that would have made an inexperienced creature pass out from exertion. She must have had experience with bigger cocks too, as her pussy didn’t tear when taking his shaft, without the need of any medical assistance. Such ability would have made her an excellent breeding slave, as with more training she could possibly reach points where her stamina matched that of a minotaur, and it just was more pleasurable to fuck something that didn’t require the elasticity potion to comfortably accept a large cocks.

As skilled as she was though, she was succumbing to the intense feelings of pain and pleasure his cock was delivering upon her, her breathing becoming labored, her body trembling with her rapidly tiring movements, a certain subtle look of worry reflecting in her eyes as she saw she was making no progress. Her morale was lowering fast, as the pride in her sexual talents deminished, as well as her determination and ego. Slowly, but surely, she was slipping into the realm of defeat, with each orgasm making her question how much longer she could keep this up without break.

This was exactly what Rubric wanted, to make this outwardly strong female doubt, if only a little. Not to the point of breaking her, as he needed her to retain some confidence, seeing as she would be working as a slave hunter under him, but enough to get her to submit to his will as a superior. He needed his employees to not act on their own, as both Gilda and Anya had done by fighting with one another and starting the bet that led to this situation. Really, he probably needed to give Gilda the same attitude adjustment for her part in the bet, but this was the first time she had expressed what minotaur saw as ‘typical gryphon behaviors’ with such an intensity, and it seemed to only be brought on because she and Anya had some sort of history. Still, he’d have to keep an eye on the younger gryphoness to see if her ego would get out of control after having defeated Anya so thoroughly.

He’d worry about Gilda further on down the road, as now he had to make sure his newest underling wouldn’t cause any more disturbances with anyone else in his employ. So, seeing that she had reached her limit, Rubric slid his arms under her legs, lifting her up as he he stood up. Anya was surprised by this sudden shift in position, now held in Rubric’s arms, his palms cupping her back, fingers circling around the waist till they nearly met at her stomach. With her body in this angle, Anya couldn’t continue her motions, which was fine with her, seeing how tired she had become. All control of what happened was in Rubric’s hands, which he used to lift her body up off his shaft ever so slowly.

The gryphoness could tell what the minotaur was doing, taking back control of their fucking, and to some degree she welcomed what was to come. When he pushed her back down on his cock, thrusting into her as she came down, a now familiar mix of pain and pleasure filled her core, her womb receiving the brute force of his head barreling into it again. The sensation of climax as her pussy was pummeled by penis was starting to become addictive, but that was only one reason why she was happy the minotaur was taking charge again. To her, she believed this was him bringing her suffering to a close, tired of waiting for his own climax, which had to be building all this time. Soon he would come inside her, and that would be the end of it.

While Anya was bracing for what she believed would be her final climax at the hands of the minotaur, Rubric looked over at one of the minotaur in the crowd of bystanders watching his display, who had a well lubricated dick from throat fucking his own zebra femcolt during the show. Rubric waited till he knew the other minotaur was watching him, in between being throated by the striped stallion, and silently turned his head to gesture him over.

The minotaur didn’t notice at first, but a second gesture caught his attention. Pointing to himself, the random minotaur was given a nod, which in turn put a huge smile on his face. Immediately he pulled his zebra off his saliva covered cock, and took the sex organ in hand at the base as he gingerly walked over to the scene at the center of everyone’s attention.

Anya, too distracted by the cock inside her, didn’t even notice this, her eyes trained on Rubric’s face as she was bounced up and down countless times. She didn’t even notice when Rubric slipped his hands down to her ass, gripping and parting her cheeks for the newcomer to their public display. It was only when Rubric paused for a moment that she even began to wonder if something was wrong, and that was only a second before something hard and wet pushed against her back passage. When another set of hands gripped her by the waist, Anya had little time to do anything but come to the realization of what was going on, before being unceremoniously shoved onto another cock, while still being impaled on the first one. The new shaft wasn’t nearly as big as Rubric’s, but it was still bigger than anything else she had pushed inside that hole. Big enough to make her screech out in agony, and shed a few tears as she felt small tears form inside her intestines. She was completely unprepared for this kind of penetration, unlike when the bull had let her practice her pussy on the sex toy, and with two increadibly large flesh rods inside her, she was finding it hard to even breathe properly.

It was clear that she was in pain, but the two minotaurs could care less about how she felt. Their pleasure was all that mattered now, and when Rubric gave the go ahead, they both pressed tightly into the gryphoness between them, and their muscular bodies smooshing her between them as they started their off rhythm thrusts with one another.

There was nothing Anya could do to escape the assault going on inside her body, the two cocks barraging her from the front and back, the potion inside her sending her into a series of orgasms that from the sheer sensation of her body being used as a sheath for these two huge dicks inside her. Though her arms and legs free, the gryphon could do little to fight off the two bulls with her awareness slipping into a state of bliss, giving tired kicks with her cat legs to Rubric’s hips, her claws unable to get through his dense fur. She was trapped, the intense pleasure that had coated her body mixing with suffering, the likes she hadn’t anticipated up to this point, as she never expected Rubric to share her body with another minotaur. Her body was turning into a prison for her consciousness, not responding to her will, as it spasmed nearly nonstop in both her pussy and anus, bringing these brutes heightened pleasure as they battered her insides.

Finally seeing despair come to Anya’s face as she was sent into agonizing climax after agonizing climax, Rubric had gotten out of the avian what he desired, a visual acceptance of absolute defeat. With a few more thrusts, he released the mental blocks on his own climax, and finally came inside the gryphon for a second time. Quickly his cum poured into her, coating her womb in the white gunk, eventually filling the area as it had no other place to escape to. Feeling the spasming from both the bird and the other bull, the new minotaur also reached a quick climax, releasing his own load of jism inside, the salty sperm coating the avian’s flesh tunnels and seeping into the tears he had created with his crude, unchecked ramming of Anya’s ass.

Anya, feeling the two bulls cum inside her, her body being held in their strong hands, could only cry streams and catch try to her breath. Their cocks were still resting inside of her, but slowly deflating, the rigidness turning back into soft flesh, which allowed the cum inside her to find other places to be, and eventually find enough space to leak out her abused holes. While she cried, she had not been reduced to outright sobs, and her tears were only those that anyone would form under extreme duress and torment. Regardless of how strong she was, or how willful she could be, there were simply limits a creature of her size and strength could endure before their bodies did things against their will.

“Ok, who’s next?” Rubric called out to the crowd, pulling out of the gryphon, causing his semen to spill out of Anya, right onto the stone floor.

Minotaur hands began to raise, each wanting to be the next one selected. Not everyone was enthused by this announcement though, as Anya, in her already beaten state, let out a low moan of disapproval.

When Rubric heard this, he looked back at the gryphon and said sternly, “Don’t complain now. You made a bet to do as I wanted you to do till tomorrow, and I want you to learn a good lesson about what happens when you fight with your co-workers and lose. So by my command, you’re to fuck every minotaur who wishes to use you till your time is up.”

As Rubric finished speaking, the minotaur that had used Anya’s ass, who was still holding her upright as the gryphoness no longer had the ability to do so on her own, handed her off to another Minotaur who took the initiative to just walk over and take the next spot. Knowing the female would be far too tired to do anything after the dicking she received, he grasped her by the arms, and once the first bovine let go, used them as a handle with one hand to bend Anya over and hold her up by, while using his other to hold her up by the hip.

“How do you like the ‘Minotaur Domination Pose’?,” the minotaur taunted, shoving his cock inside the gryphon as soon as possible, “We use it on new slaves while fucking them standing up, to get complete control and make sure they don’t slip off our dicks if they pass out.”

The new minotaur sent a series of quick cock jabs into the feline pussy now enveloping his dick, being very excited that he was getting a chance to screw a gryphon for the first time. Gryphon slaves were rare, with most entering the facility being employees of The Society, and those who were slaves were quickly bought up. Thus, the thrill and feeling of this new type of pussy was putting him over the edge right off the bat.

“Don’t go full force with her,” warned Rubric, “Remember, you’ll be working with her in the future, and gryphons hold grudges.”

The minotaur hardly listened, and with each thrust rattled Anya’s body. The new punishment made her blood flow fast and her world spin once again, her head shaking around wildly as her tired muscles couldn’t keep it steady. It continued to bob around like this until, with a final powerful thrust, the minotaur lifted Anya up off the ground using the grip he had on her arms, and the stiffness of his oversized shaft. For a second time that night, Anya had her womb filled to capacity with cum, howling out like an animal as her stomach inflated slightly from the nerve searing orgasm induced on her by the bovine.

Once the minotaur was finished, he lowered Anya back to the floor, where Bacchus was already waiting for her to be let down. “You look like you need a little pick me up, birdie.” He said, slipping a syringe between the gaps of her cage collar, right into her neck vein. Another chemical concoction unwillingly received by her body, one that forcibly renewed her energy and awareness. “Wouldn’t want you to miss out on any of what’s gonna happen to you.

The gryphoness was starting to become annoyed with how these bovines wouldn’t allow her consciousness to crash so she could rest, an expression she wore clearly on her face as she looked up at Bacchus. The bull replied to the gesture by grabbing her head feathers, and directing her beak to his own dick, fully erect and ready to enter Anya’s body.

“If you’re awake enough to scowl, you’re awake enough to suck cock.” he declared, pushing himself down Anya’s unwilling throat, till her beak touched his hilt, Anya able to taste the flavor of the donkey on it he had been ass fucking moments prior as the dick flesh passed over her tongue, and as the Bacchus forced himself inside, a new minotaur was already taking the place of the one who had just released a womb’s worth of cum inside her.

For hours on end, Anya was passed around from minotaur to minotaur, at most times having to take several at once, as what felt like the entire herd of them using this opportunity to make sure she got to know their cocks. She was put into many poses, often stretched a bit further than she found comfortable, occasionally suspended off the floor as two powerful males held her up by all four appendages, or bound to an object in the room as she was used as a receptacle for their built up seed.

As sexually experienced and open as she was, Anya was not used to being used like this, and by so many men at once. She preferred sex as a more personal experience, one on one with another creature, and usually being the one in charge. Having now engaged in her first gang bang, she could say it wasn’t a pleasant experience. She didn’t know whether to blame her disenjoyment on the amount of dick she had to ingest all at once, the fact that she was being cycled between states of pure exhaustion and heightened awareness, or just because her partners where all brutes that did as they pleased with her, while giving no regard for her own pleasure. What she did know though was that she had no plans to do it again, and that extended to sex with minotaur in general, as her whole body had become one big ache, with how mercilessly they pummeled her insides, and carelessly touched her most sensitive of external body parts.

By the end of it, she had found herself bound again, her arms behind her back, with her ankles shackled together with a pair of metal cuffs connected by a solid bar welded into them. Bacchus, who by this point had taken several turns with the gryphon, had her suspended upside-down, his girthy cock finding its way into her throat once more, as he held his captive’s entire body up with one arm, by the center bar in her shackles. With relative ease, he moved his arm up and down, pumping it as if it were a dumbbell, with each downward rep lowering Anya’s mouth around his shaft, while the lifts up brought her to a point where she could take a breath.

At this point, it wasn’t even about pleasure anymore, as all minotaur present had taken their fair share of it prior. Bacchus was just displaying his immense physical power, to his brethren, the slaves, and especially Anya herself. Regardless of the amount of times he had exerted himself sexually, this bovine’s stamina didn’t seem to end. As the other minotaur sat down and rested, he was still going without the slightest sign of fatigue, only sweating from the exercise he was performing by using Anya as a weight.

As the night was getting late though, Rubric, who had been patiently sitting off to the side of the room, never taking a second turn himself, tilted an eye to a clock mounted on the wall, and saw that Anya’s time was almost up.

“You got five minutes!” Rubric told Bacchus, “After that she’s done, whether you cum or not!”

Hearing that Anya’s time as a sex toy was almost complete, Bacchus lowered her down one last time, holding her at a height where she’d take in as much of his penis as she could at that angle. As worn as her body had become throughout the night, with the drugs inside her all having run their course, it still found the energy to spasm around the obstruction inside her esophagus. The stimulation it gave to the bull’s dick was just enough for him to reach a final climax, shooting a last blast of sperm out to coat the gryphon’s throat, most of which immediately pouring back out as she was lifted up off the flesh pillar, and removed from Bacchus’ shaft.

“And… TIME!” Rubric said, declaring Anya’s part of the bet finished, “Set her down!”

Bacchus was already in the process of doing just that, flipping Anya rightside up, and setting her into a kneeling sit, as he knew there was no way anyone could hold themselves up after all that.

“I gotta say,” Bacchus stated, “Even with the drugs, I didn’t expect you to stay awake till the time limit. You’re pretty durable, swallow.”

Having given his complement, Bacchus removed his hands completely from Anya, which in she in turn slumped forward till she was laying on her front on the floor, her rump up in the air slightly, as she couldn’t muster the strength to flatten herself out.

“Heh, but I suppose your stamina doesn’t really match one of us though,” he said in jest, getting a laugh from the other minotaur, “But hey, if you ever want to go another round, give me a call. I’ll be glad to fill ya up again. Maybe next time I can show you what a ‘flooding’ is.”

Anya only responded in groans, her mind on the verge of blanking out completely, if not for the last remnants of the awareness drug keeping her from slipping into a climax induced coma.

Seeing that the gryphoness was in no condition for banter, Bacchus looked over to his donkey, “Come on Flauta, it’s time to go to bed.”

The donkey girl, who had been sitting in wait for Bacchus to finish, rushed over when ordered. Once the slave girl came to him, the bull put his hand on the back of her neck, before making his way to the locker room’s exit.

“You all should follow his example!” Rubric said, “I’m not gonna let any of you make an excuse tomorrow if you don’t get enough sleep!”

The other minotaur took their boss’ advice, and gathered up their own slaves before vacating the room in one big crowd. It took some time for them to leave, but eventually the room was devoid of the creatures who filled it, only leaving behind some of the deer slaves, who appearently had been stationed in this room.

Once every other minotaur had left, Rubric got up from his seat, and went to Anya. “No more bets.” he said sternly, “Not unless you want me to nullify your contract and make you my slave. Are we clear?”

Anya could hardly respond, left in a state where she could only catch her breath as cum seeped out of her open mouth like drool. Rubric took her eye movements as acknowledgement though, and aimed his attention to the deer remaining in the room.

“Remove her bonds and take her to the infirmary.” he commanded, “I want her able to work in no more than three days.”

“Yes sir,” said one of the bucks, the deer already moving to help Anya.

Seeing that the gryphon would be attended too, Rubric made his way to the exit as well. As he closed the door though, it was revealed that he was not the last to leave, as Gilda, who had stayed for the whole event, had hid behind it as all the bulls made their leave.

“Well, well,” she said, going to the well used gryphon on the floor, “Looks like you managed to survive.”

Anya assumed that Gilda was joking, as she really hoped the younger gryphon hadn’t intended to, or perhaps even still had intent to, kill her. In the state she was in, there would be nothing she could do to fight back if Gilda wanted to end her life.

“Stand aside, slaves!” she yelled at the deer, who when given a command by a superior, and with no higher ranked slavers present, obeyed without question, “I'll admit, I’m genuinely impressed. You’ve actually gained some respect from me… As a slut!”

With that mocking insult given, Gilda lifted a leg, placing it on Anya’s back. With a steady press down, Gilda pushed her fellow gryphon’s body into the floor, forcing it to compress, and causing a portion of the minotaur spunk inside Anya to pour out of every hole it could escape from. Anya could do nothing to prevent this, and simply had to endure large portions of sperm being forcibly ejected from her mouth, pussy, and ass all at once.

“Just remember who made this happen to you,” Gilda continued, “And that I’m the one who’s higher on the ladder, and I always will be.”

Those last words imprinted themselves on Anya’s consciousness as she finally found the ability to drift off to sleep. Her energy drained far further than it had ever been, the gryphon could no longer remain awake. She had been devastated, physically and mentally, by both the minotaur herd, and Gilda. Yet, she felt no urge for revenge at this disgrace, as it was one she had allowed to befall her. The only desire she could feel as the world turned to black was the same one she had started with when she came to The Society, that being finding her friends, and freeing them from the fate that had befallen them.

Until that happened, she could put up with any trial that came her way, and even the violation that she had been put through didn’t make her stray away from that goal set in her mind.

Author's Note

Another chapter of sexy bits. I always have issues with these kinds of chapters, as I always wonder if I'm doing them right. I suppose I must be doing something correctly, because people do say they enjoy them, but I guess I just feel I do plot stuff better. Then again, maybe I just suck at both. I don't think that's the case, since i do have some dedicated readers, which I suppose me saying this is just a segway to me saying thank you to all those who have stuck around this far. I really do enjoy having people read my twisted works, and and telling me what they think.

Hope you liked this chapter, and have a nice day.

It's a Living

A couple of weeks had passed since that fateful day that Anya joined The Society, and was given her severe lesson in picking fights with others, though she still believed that it was Gilda who had started it. Regardless of who threw the first punch though, the point was clear. No matter what happened outside of The Society, inside of The Society you were expected to act with some level of professionalism, at least in front of your employer.

It took two whole days for Anya to recover from her punishment, being tended to by the Antlertean deer constantly, and her body was still a solid mass of aching muscles by the time she worked up the will to get out of bed. Her recovery was reported to Rubric immediately, to which he re-initiated her orientation the next day, saying that she was still on his time, and if she could move she could be trained.

What came next was several days of physical training in the obstacle course she lost the bet in, this time with no one aside from Rubric there to watch her progress and keep her focused on the tasks given to her, keeping sessions long and rests short. Anya had an idea that this was just more punishment, her tired muscles not being given a moment to relax so they would stay sore for as long as possible. Still, she did everything the minotaur told her to do, if only to prove to the both of them that she wouldn’t let something as small as a minotaur gangbang slow her down.

By the fourth day, she was finally introduced to the rest of the gryphons working for Rubric, many of the older ones being people she had a passing acquaintance with, and even a good portion of the younger ones were gryphons she had at least encountered once prior, since almost all gryphons came from Griffinstone. It made introductions somewhat easier, but the familiarity had its own problems, seeing as she was a gryphon who actually managed to leave their homelands, and never came back. That, and Gilda had gladly spread around to the others that Anya had spent her first night employed whoring herself out to every minotaur in sight, which made it so the others had an unsavory topic to discuss every time they were around her.

From that day forward, Anya would spend the mornings training like she had been, now with the accompaniment of other gryphons, who at least knew enough not to cause trouble in the direct view of the minotaur, while the evenings she had to undergo training in what her first job at the Society would be, which she learned would not be capturing slaves for the organization, but instead another job that she had an even greater distaste for.

“This box needs to be taken to Section C, Aisle 4” Bacchus said, lifting up a large crate the size of a recliner, minus the back, with ease, and then placing it on a hand cart right in front of Anya, “Once you get it there, you can help stock its contents.”

“Yes sir…” Anya replied, taking the push bar for the cart in her talons.

Seeing the gryphon readying for the job he gave her, Bacchus went to see what else needed to be done.

Anya grunted to herself as the minotaur left her to the task he had given, straining her muscles as she pushed the cart to the destination she was told to take it, wanting to get far away from the bull as soon as possible, partially to do as she was instructed, and partially cause the minotaur bothered her.

The gryphoness was currently in a warehouse, given the job of a general laborer, moving things around day in and day out, at the command of her supervisor, Bacchus. Anya had come to learn that the bull, who had probably gotten the most use out of her the night she was communal property for every minotaur she’d be directly working with, was Rubric’s right hand man, which was why her employer was informing him directly of their upcoming plans.

When Rubric wasn’t around, he was the one in charge, and he seemed happy to give Anya lots to do. All day she’d be delivering something from one location to another, be it sex potions, equipment, meals for the workers, and occasionally slaves. It was honest work in a dishonest organization, and that was the reason Anya hated it. Outside of The Society she was a bodyguard and bouncer, because normal work didn’t sit well with her, so being made to do something like this, when she assumed she would be snatching up ponies from their homes, aggravated her to no end. It was a boring, mundane job, even if spiced up by the fact that it took place in a place where creatures were being trafficked into a life of slavery all around her, and the tedium of it was the very reason she had never subjected herself to that kind of labor prior.

She wasn’t the only one though, as every gryphon, and many of the minotaur, working under Rubric was doing something that seemed akin to normal work around her. Things that one would expect to see in any warehouse or factory, with the twist that the ‘items’ they were moving and storing were an assortment of living creatures. Some were ‘packaging’ the product, putting stallions and mares in bonds, wrapping them in restrictive materials that tightly hugged every curve, before boxing them up to be shipped to another Society location. Before that though, the unfortunate slaves would be prepped, injected with sedatives, so they wouldn’t struggle much as they were being tied up, and would sleep soundly as they were illegally transported within Equestria. Others were moving boxes like Anya, and others still were setting up supplies to be used by the other workers as their stock got low. Everyone had a job, and none of it was as thrilling as one might fantasize working around future sex slaves would be.

As much as she disliked her new position, there was no avoiding it. Someone had to do the grunt work that a business like this would require, and she had learned that when it came to the hierarchy of The Society, gryphons were most certainly the grunts. If any of them got to hunt the potential targets for Schorl’s clientele, it was completely up to the minotaur you worked for, and hunting contracts had to be earned through three factors; work ethic, dedication, and obedience. Funny thing was, Anya didn’t really care if she ever got a hunting contract, as the money that came with them, while tempting, was not what motivated her. If she never had to abduct a single pony, that would be fine. If she believed that slacking off would have kept her away from that messy task, then she would become Rubric’s worst employee to avoid doing it. At least, that was an idea forming in Anya’s head before learning of a secondary reason in this work that made her, and all other gryphons, put in as much effort as they could. That being the fear of ‘breach of contract’.

There was a reason Gilda had brought that up several times on their first encounter, as It appeared that each creature that worked for The Society worked under certain terms, ones with dire consequences if not upheld. If anyone didn’t adhere to the rules they had agreed to upon accepting the job, explained to them or not, then they would be, in a sense, terminated from their position of employ. Of course, one doesn’t simply get fired from being a slaver, and an inefficient, incompetent, or non-compliant worker would simply be tossed in with the rest of the product line. No one had told Anya that, and the only reason she picked up on any of this was because she overheard three male gryphons talk about pooling their money together to buy her during a time she took an unscheduled break. After that revelation, she didn’t dare slack off again.

So she worked her hardest, knowing that she was bound to her contract, unless she wanted to be bound in a more literal fashion. The only thoughts she had about the whole thing, as she moved box after box, was how the pay for even this kind of work must have been well worth the effort, or else her kind would never put themselves through this kind of labor.

Anya reached her destination after several minutes of pulling her cart, which wasn’t a place, but a person. “Hey Flauta!” she said, calling out to a now familiar donkey girl, who she caught pacing around between two warehouse shelves, with little more than a clipboard in her hand, and a knotted rope around her neck that acted as a collar, marking her status as a slave. To anyone who hadn’t worked there for more than a day, this might have been a strange sight, watching a slave walk around with nothing keeping her from leaving their assigned area.

It was just another thing for her to learn, about trustee slaves, and how they were essentially tamed in such a degree that they couldn’t disobey any member, or employee, of The Society. Flauta was such a slave, and thus there was no risk to leave her to her own devices, to the security of The Society, or as a flight risk.

As the call of her name hit her ears, the cute, buck toothed donkey lifted her head up from the clipboard she was currently reviewing, and noticed Anya coming her way. “Oh! Anya,” she said with familiarity, the two having gotten to know each other on a work relation level, “You got a box for me?”

“I guess so, if you’re the one in charge of this area,” Anya replied, “More packing supplies for the slaves,” she went on to say, knowing that the contents of her crate were an assortment of restraints and sex toys, which would be used on those passing through shipping, “You know, I’ve never seen so many dildos in my life,” she added, her eyes shifting to a holding rack filled to near capacity with rubber cocks, each one seemingly of a different shape, size, and color, “And yet I’ve never felt so turned off seeing them.”

“That’s just because you’re connecting them to work,” Flauta said, walking over to Anya’s crate, trying to open the lid, finding it to be heavier than she could handle, only for Anya to lift it up for her with relative ease.

“Perhaps you’re right,” Anya said, but felt there were other issues that were preventing them from being arousing to her. Pulling the cart up to the donkey, she slid the wooden lid over the side of the box, revealing the sex themed treasures held within, “But I guess it’s not the same for you, is it?”

The gryphoness couldn’t help but smell the scent of arousal coming from the donkey girl, which was reaffirmed when looking at the small streams of fluid running down Flauta’s legs. She certainly found something about her job that excited her, perhaps simply that she had to do it nude, if she was an exhibitionist.

The donkey returned a blush, “Well I don’t hate being here…” she said sheepishly, “But there’s something else that’s making me feel this way.” Turning around, the donkey showed Anya her plump rump, and revealed a sizable plug inside its hole, “Lady Tourmaline gave me a special toy today,” she explained without prompt, “A vibrating butt plug that only moves when I’m not moving enough.”

“So that’s why you were pacing around,” Anya said, taking an armful of leather cuffs out of the crate, “And here I thought you were hard at work.”

“A little of both,” Flauta replied, reaching into the crate herself, having to bend half of her body into it to reach some phallic looking mouth gags, “But I have to say, it does keep me motivated throughout the day.”

It made Anya a little happy, if also concerned, to see the girl enjoying her job. At least someone here was enjoying themselves, but her role as company property was giving her a unique privileged to be sexually stimulated as she completed her tasks. The gryphoness wondered if any other creature who was an actual employee would be allowed to do the same, if they wished. Not because she was actually in to doing so herself, but it just seemed like a strange situation if a sex slave could do something the normal workers couldn’t.

With items in hand, Flauta and Anya proceeded to stock the shelves around them, the gryphon going at a steady pace, to maintain the image of working hard, as the donkey kept to a faster pace to appease the object buried in her butt. Together they got through the contents of the large crate at a good speed, making it halfway through in about five minutes.

“Gotta say,” said Anya, taking another item out of the wooden box, “They do have some quality stuff here.”

The item in her hand at that moment was a collar, one made of a padded, white leather, and studded in black gemstones. It was pretty, and looked to cost a pretty penny, but it was also unlike any of the other collars she had previously hung up to await use. Each collar she had handled, and the ones that had been dangling from hooks hung between the storage shelves, was individually made, with custom details that didn’t match any other. Remembering her own unique collar, and noting Flauta’s own braided rope collar, this seemed to be a detail The Society cared about immensely for some reason.

Then again, the collars weren’t the only thing that came in a wide variety, as the sex toys also came in all sorts of shapes and sizes, to such a degree that it was nonsensical to try and organize them in any way other than size. When placed on a shelf, it was like an army of rubber phalluses of all species imaginable were standing in attention in front of Anya, from a recognizable barbed gryphon dick, to more familiar rows of pony shafts, and some she could only assume were dragon cocks, with the ‘scales’ they had along their length. At the touch, one could tell they weren’t made cheap either, with some being made of a flesh-like material, and others made of a solid plastic covered in rubber to retain a soft, but rigid form. Other items, like the cuffs and gags, were not as individually customized, but the metal and leather used to construct them was durable, holding together strongly when Anya gave them tests by trying to pull a few apart.

“What I wouldn’t have done to get my hands on some of these for my own collection,” Anya continued, lamenting on how her own tools, while serviceable, did not match the standards The Society seemed to maintain.

“Well you’re getting paid, right?” Flauta said, hopping from one leg to the other as she stopped on spot, using the motion to simulate walking, “You could probably buy some, if you want them.”

Anya shook her head, “My money’s already accounted for,” she said, her thoughts still on Pathfinder and Scylla, “It's just a shame. For a despicable group like The Society, they have good taste.”

Flauta gave a bit of a pout at Anya’s words, but just went back to work. Anya knew the donkey must have not liked her talking ill about her masters, probably because she’d get punished if anyone overheard, but Anya was just speaking her mind. Two weeks in, and she still had a poor disposition when it came to those in charge of operations. However, she knew when to take a hint, and silently went back to stocking sex toys.

Before Anya could make much more progress though, she was stopped by a series of grunting sounds coming from around a shelf, someone struggling with something, since they weren’t close enough to the packaging area for the noise to be coming from one of The Society’s freshly captured victims. Anya tried to ignore it at first, but as it went on, she could tell that whoever was making the noise was having a lot of trouble with what they were doing. Finishing up with what she had in hand, the gryphon tilted her head around the edge of the shelf she was working on, to see what the problem was without getting directly involved.

The sounds were coming from another gryphon, who was lugging over a dozen long, large rectangular boxes. This one’s load looked to be twice of that she had pulled, while the puller was three-fourths the size herself. Anya, seeing that and knowing that her own task felt like lugging around a ton of materials, became sympathetic, an urge to help overcoming her.

“You doing ok there?” Anya asked, stepping around the corner, “Looks like that cart is giving you trouble.”

“I’m fine,” the other gryphon responded, letting out a few more grunts as they made another go at pulling the cart forward.

“Don’t be stubborn,” Anya said, “This thing looks like it weighs more than me, and you could use some… Wait a second… Gallus?”

Upon hearing his name, the gryphon stopped what he was doing, and looked to the gryphoness standing a foot away. The two had seldom encountered one another, even less time than Anya and Gilda had shared outside The Society, only having brushed paths due to their connection through Grandpa Gruff. It was still enough time for Gallus to recognize her, though.

“You’re… that lady that comes to visit Gruff’s house every once in a while.” He said, not remembering the gryphoness’ name.

“Anya,” she said, introducing herself, “I guess this is where you went, huh? You working for Rubric too?”

“No,” Gallus replied, wiping the sweat off his brow as he took a short rest, “I didn’t want to be in the same group as Gilda, so I took the next person that wanted to take up my contract. I work for a minotaur named Titanius.”

“Well your boss looks like a real hard ass,” Anya said, once more looking at the load of wood boxes that were stacked onto Gallus’ cart.

“It’s not him…” Gallus answered, “It’s the other gryphons in my group. They put me through the wringer because I’m a ‘swallow’.”

“Swallow? “Anya questioned, “I always thought you were an eagle like Gilda, but just because you’re a swallow shouldn’t give them a reason to pick on you.”

“No, not biologically,” Gallus said, “It’s a term the minotaur use for gryphons who… uh… will have sex with them.”

Anya’s eyes widened, not expecting to hear that from the youthful looking male gryphon. “Gallus, how old are you?” Anya asked, recalling that The Society had rules against sexual misconduct with those below the age of adulthood. If Gallus was too young, she would have loved to inform Schorl about this violation of her rules.

“I turned eighteen a few months back,” Gallus confirmed, “A day before I left Griffinstone with Gilda to join up here. That’s actually part of the problem.”

Anya gave an exacerbated sigh, not liking where this story was going, but wanting to hear more. Poking her head around the corner she had come from, she said to the donkey girl still working, “Hey, I just met up with an old friend, and I’m gonna help them out for a minute. You got the rest of that crate?”

Flauta looked at the gryphoness as she put some vibrators on the shelf, “Uh huh, I think I can handle this.”

Given the go ahead, Anya went back to the cart and took hold of its handle, “I pull, you talk,” she said to the younger gryphon, as she headed in the direction he had been going prior to being stopped. “What did the minotaur do to you?”

Gallus, now feeling a little ashamed, followed along beside Anya. “Nothing really,” he said, averting his eyes as he spoke, “I don’t even remember how it came up, but I was offered some drinks after work by my boss, cause he knew I had just had a birthday, and he said I had been working hard. I wasn’t going to turn down an offer like that, but one thing led to another, and as I was starting to get tipsy, one of the bulls offered me a day’s wages to give his dick a lick from the bottom, to the top.”

“And you did it, huh?” Anya said, seeing the trap Gallus had been put into.

It wasn’t even an original idea, as her own BDSM group would often do the same to mares and stallions who had just come of age. Lure them in with drinks, and when they stopped thinking straight, entice them into doing something sexual, or just take them home to show them the ropes. It was a fairly easy way to find new playthings, by introducing them to the pleasures of adulthood all at once, before they had the experience needed to see they were being manipulated.

“I wasn’t thinking,” Gallus admitted, “but he did give me the bag of gold as he promised. The only problem is that now the other gryphons think I’m a minotaur sex toy, and pile things on me, because they think the minotaur are treating me better for being their slut.”

“Are they?” Anya asked.

“No,” Gallus replied, “And it was the one time. Even after, when other bulls offered me similar things, I’ve always said no. I’m not selling my body to the bulls for privileges.”

Anya believed him, but also could see how the minotaur just making more offers to Gallus was giving the other gryphons the idea that he was putting out for favors. Of course, it might be that the gryphons didn’t care, and were just looking for an excuse to pass their work off to Gallus, who was young and less likely to push back against the older members of his group.

“Just be careful,” Anya said, “Just cause you’re technically an adult doesn’t mean people won’t see you as a naive kid who they can exploit. Thing is, it doesn’t even matter if you are stupid or not. If enough people decide to target you, they can find ways to make things bad for you.”

“Well, if they don’t stop I’ll let Titanius know about it,” Gallus said, an annoyance growing in his words that Anya wasn’t sure if it was directed at his harassers, or her for not trusting his own ability to deal with the situation. “He told everyone from the get go that if there were any problems, then we’re to come to him so he can sort it out.”

Anya could see that just making the problem worse, since the other gryphons already assumed he was getting preferential treatment, but there might have been no other recourse. “I’ll just trust you to do what you think is right.” the gryphoness replied, giving Gallus a bit of room to take care of things his way.

“Anyways, we’re here.” said the male gryphon, stopping at a set of completely bare shelves.

Anya stopped when he did, locked the cart's wheels, and went to open a box sitting atop the pile it was carrying. “So what is this anyways? More bondage gear for The Society?”

“I’m not sure,” Gallus answered, “I don’t usually ask questions, but I think it’s something you’re boss bought from mine, to prepare for some slaves they are expecting to get in a month or so.”

Anya didn't know what Gallus was referring to, and at some level it didn’t matter. Creatures were cycled through the warehouse all the time, and there wasn’t a single species that needed special treatment over others, as any special breeds were all exclusively sold by other minotaur slavers, at least from what she had gathered from listening to Rubric and Bacchus.

“I guess there’s only one way to find-” Anya lifted the lid of one of the boxes, flipping it open like the lid to a chest, giving her full view of its contents, “… out.” The contents looked to be a assortment of bondage equipment, put together to form some sort of kit. Each piece of the assembled gear being made of either a polished steel, or some of the most finely crafted leather that Anya had ever seen.

A pair of cuffs rested inside, one on either side of the box, each comprised of a single solid bar ring that formed an oval, with a pair of matching straight bars that went through the center of either oval through a hole in the top and bottom parts of the loops. Anya had seen this style of cuff before, and knew that it functioned as a simple restraint device, where one put either the wrists or ankles of a submissive into the opposing sides of the oval, and then slide the bar between them to eliminate the space it needed to easily take them back out. It was simple, effective, and had a certain allure in how it gave the wearer the appearance of some lowly creature being kept in restraint by a crude form of bondage.

Next was a large, gold plated ring, missing a section of its loop, and ending in a spike with a grooved base on one end, and a slot for that spike to go into at the other. It was clear that this was a piece of jewelry, and one with a self piercing mechanism, where all one would have to do is squeeze the two ends together, with some fleshy bit in between them, and it would create a hole and then snap together in one single motion. With how thick the ring was, it would be difficult for anyone to meet the two ends of the ring together, unless that someone happened to be a minotaur, who could easily put the force of a vice onto the object with their bare hands.

Resting near the ring was a set of accessories for above the neck, consisting of a heavy duty leather collar, with a large cow bell hooked to its front, and a head harness that had straps connecting a thickly padded blindfold to a sizable ball gag. Seeing the bell, things were starting to come together in Anya’s mind, as to her all the items inside the box looked rather big, so big that had someone tried to use any of the restraints on a creature her size, they could just slip out as there would be too much room to move about. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together though, one could see that this equipment was made for bovine, their species generally being bigger than most others. For a creature of that size, the stuff in the box seemed to be very restrictive, as the collar itself looked like one of those novelty belts you’d see wrestlers use as trophies, and the ball looked so big that it would test the jaw of any cow that had to hold it between their teeth..

Of all of these eye catching things though, there was one object that Anya kept having her eyes drawn back to. One that sparked an odd reaction that she hadn’t expected upon seeing something like it, but also an object that Anya had the most experience with. It was one of those womb invading, cunt busting dildos, like she had taken into her own body when Rubric had used her as his sex slave. The thing laid in the box, end to end, placed in a depression in the padding that lined the inside of the container, several of the other items resting atop it.

The sight of the object brought up memories of that night, and suddenly the gryphoness could feel the sensation of the massive sex toy being thrust inside her. She could swear that her cervix was being parted once more by some phantom invader, railing her insides with a girth no other toy could compare to.

Anya had to place a hand over her beak to not yelp from the all too real memory she was reliving, but she couldn’t deny how her body was reacting, a sudden feeling of warmth flowing from her toes all the way to her head feathers, as a notable wetness appeared between her thighs. She was thankful that she was wearing pants, else she’d probably have streams racing to her ankles.

“Anyways!” she said, breaking her composure for a brief moment, “I think you can handle it from here. These boxes don’t look that heavy on their own, and you’re a boy, afterall. No way you don’t have this, right?”

“I guess I can take it from-”

“Good.” Anya said, not even letting the male gryphon finish his sentence, “Then I’ll leave you to it. I got some things I need to get to myself, so I’ll catch you later. Bye!”

The gryphoness was already stepping away as she was saying her farewells, and the moment she ended them, she ducked around a corner. At that moment, she had one destination in mind, and it wasn’t to return to the donkey girl to resume what she was doing prior to encountering Gallus. Hastily, Anya moved at just under a sprint, trying not to draw attention to herself as she made her way to the place she needed to be at that moment. A few other gryphons caught her movements, but each were too busy or didn’t care enough to wonder where she was going in such a rush, and with no one intercepting her, she made it to a door a good distance away from her starting point in a few minutes.

She opened the door, closed it immediately behind her, and stripped her pants off before taking a seat on the toilet in the room, having made it to one of the restrooms stationed in the warehouse for employee use. The space between her legs was soaked, and Anya was having trouble resisting the desire to just plunge her hand into her hole. She had no idea why the bovine sized dildo set her off so strongly, but she was aware of this problem that had been plaguing her, just not from this source.

While she had no difficulty working around all the bondage gear, sex toys, and even creatures walking around naked, without so much of an erotic thought, the situation was completely opposite whenever she saw or worked around one of the minotaur. Something about them turned her on fiercely, beyond simply finding the bovines attractive. It had to have been caused by her night of violation by the creatures, but for reasons that Anya didn’t understand, it was like any sexy thoughts she had were being nullified, except when in the presence of one of those beastly males. Shuddering and muttering to herself as her pussy twitched, going out of control, she understood that these feelings applied to anything that reminded her of them too.

“Fuck…” Anya said softly to herself, her loins feeling like fire. She couldn’t hold off touching herself any longer, but even as she plunged a finger inside her beef hungry snatch, she grumbled her complaints to her body.

Masturbation, as she had come to know, did little to aid her craving, as the feeling of fingers rubbing her inner walls was not enough to send her over the edge, try as she might. At least, it hadn’t been for the same amount of time as she had acquired her attraction to bulls. Slipping a hand under her shirt, and groping her chest didn’t help either, as it seemed to only work her up more without any payoff.

“I can’t believe I let this happen,” she continued to berate herself, having lost control of her arousal.

Had she known what was in that case, and what affect it would have on her, she might have been able to quell this lust that had overcome her before it hit. She had been able to do well keeping it at a low boil when any minotaur were around her, but she was simply caught off guard in this situation, and the only way to make it stop now was to ride it out. Well… there was another way, but she didn’t feel like humiliating herself by submitting to one of those minotaur again. They had gotten the best of her once, and as much as her body clearly enjoyed it, her pride as a dominant demanded she not allow herself to be put in that kind of situation a second time.

Strong of will as she was though, it was getting hard to keep up with her lewd actions, seeing as they were giving no payoff. If only she had taken that oversized cock along with her, but there was no way she would have been able to walk through a public area with that in hand without drawing attention, and no one would believe any excuse she might have had if she entered a bathroom with it. Still, it most likely would have solved her predicament, seeing how it was the start of it.

Fruitlessly, Anya continued stroking her slit, flicking her clit, and penetrating her tunnels for several minutes longer, the syrupy precum flowing out of her now coating her thighs, before dripping down into the waters resting in the toilet. After this, she could no longer understand what the appeal of edging was, as all it was doing to her was driving her crazy. She couldn’t keep at it forever though, as eventually someone would notice, and she’d get in trouble for taking too long a break. She was just about to remove her hand from between her legs and give up, but then the handle of the door began to turn before her eyes.

I forgot to lock the door!? She thought to herself, reaching forward to take hold of the knob, hoping that would be enough to prevent the person on the other side from entering.

She was too slow though, and before her fingers could touch, the door came open, and before her stood her supervisor, looking down at a gryphon who had clearly been doing something other than using the restroom for its intended purpose.

“So, I trust you to do something on your own, and this is what you do while you’re on my time?” Bacchus said calmly, staring right at Anya’s stretched out hand, whose fingers were layered in her sexual fluids.

“Hey!” Anya said in reaction, not caring that she got caught, “Get out! I’m bus-urk!”

The minotaur moved forward with speed that defied his bulk, slipping his hand under Anya’s chin to grip her by the neck. In the same motion, he lifted her body off the porcelain seat she was on, slamming her back into the wall behind it, her rump resting on its basin instead.

“Don’t talk back to me,” the bull said, retaining his cool as Anya was left struggling against his might, “You left your duties to hide out in the bathroom and finger yourself like a bitch in heat.”

“Fuck… you…” Anya managed to squeak out as the hand choked her, driving her claws into the fur of his bicep, but finding it too thick to hit flesh.

“But a swallow like you should know,” Bacchus went on to say, Anya now knowing that she was being called a whore by the bull, “There is only one cure for a heat as deep as yours.”

While effortlessly pinning Anya to the wall, the bull’s unoccupied hand traveled to the belt at his waist, and undid it with a finesse the female didn’t expect from his fingers, fat with muscle as they were. That was all it took for his loincloth to fall from his body, the minotaur casually stepping out of the piece of clothing’s leg holes, and kicking it aside the moment they touched the ground. Now his club sized penis was in full view, just as huge and erect as it had been that night in the locker room, the excitement the appendage was showing making Anya think about how impossible it seemed that such a small piece of cloth could have contained it.

With his own attire removed, Bacchus targeted Anya’s clothing next, putting his fingers into the pants that she had already lowered to her knees. “Won’t be needing these,” he said, a simple yank being all that was needed to pull the article of attire off her body, casting it to a wall in the same motion.

Devoid of lower coverings, the minotaur moved on to the shirt she had on, not happy with how it hid part of the gryphoness’ body from him. Bacchus formed his index and middle finger into the shape of a hook, showing off his strength when he drove them down into the neckline of her clothing, the fabric tearing like paper under the pressure of his might, till he completely ripped off the front of it, exposing her chest to him.

“There, you look like a proper slut,” Bacchus announced, placing his cock in hand, “Now let’s make you sound like one.”

The bull pointed his dick to Anya’s pussy, and stepped forward, placing his legs on either side of the toilet bowl as he closed the distance from his privates and hers. Anya couldn’t overcome his might as he casually pushed himself inside her nethers, the painful pleasure of a minotaur’s dick immediately drowning out all other thought as the pathway to her womb was barreled into. The brute held nothing back, pushing all the way into her until his crotch touched hers, penetrating into the core of her reproductive organs.

Anya could do little but moan and flail, her arms and legs still free, but unable to do anything to harm the minotaur, or get him to release her. The worst part of it was that she could feel her pussy tensing into its first climax the moment her cervix was barged through, the sensations of her impalement, and the heat radiating off the pole sized cock inside her, too much for her body to endure without setting off some form of reaction. It was humiliating to know that despite her own exhaustive efforts, it only took the brute one solid thrust to shoot ecstasy throughout her body.

It only worsened as he carelessly fucked her unwilling, and unimpeding hole with his monster shaft, as each motion seemed to extend the feeling of agonizing pleasure, re-igniging each sensation every time it traveled from one end of her sex tunnel to the other. Her whole body felt like it was clenching as she experienced a violation unlike any she had ever thought would happen to her, the edges of her beak grinding firmly together, legs instinctively wrapping around his hips, and talon fingers gripping his biceps as her own flexed so strongly a cramp formed. Her heart was racing, causing her to rapidly inhale and exhale in short breaths as her lungs tried to keep up with the demand for oxygen her rushing blood required to keep everything going. None of this deterred the minotaur though, as he did as he pleased with the helpless half feline, half fowl at his mercy, of which he would give none.

Finally, he gave his final push forward, and unloaded a bovine sized climax into his victim’s pussy, the heat and texture of which Anya could swear she felt splatter directly onto her eggs. It was that feeling which reminder her that unlike the night he had first used her body, she didn’t have anything in her body to prevent herself from getting pregnant, and with how minotaur came in measurements of quarts, her abdomen swelling up from the volume of the substance being churred into her most sacred place where babies were made, it would be impossible for not a single one of his sperm to reach the nucleus of her eggs. The gryphon hoped The Society had something to deal with that issue after the fact, that is if Bacchus didn’t just toss her into a cage and turn her into his slave.

As soon as the bull finished cumming, he pulled out, a torrent of creamy white liquid following after, spilling out of Anya into, and around the bowl sitting beneath her inseminated slit, left agape from the absence of the object that had been inside a mere moment prior. Watching all that cum leave her body, Anya could only lay back in a slump, as if the sperm was taking with it every drop of energy she had in her with it, all that remained in her being the sweet soreness and savory satisfaction of a string of climaxes only minotaur could bestow upon her.

As Anya’s eyes started to drift closed, unable to stay awake after receiving her due punishment from the minotaur, a knocking came to the door of the bathroom. It hit her ears clear as day, piercing through the clouds in her mind caused by her climax. She believed that Bacchus would respond, say that he was in there and was busy, so he could continue using her as his plaything, or perhaps open the door to show off his conquest of a feeble gryphon, but the minotaur didn’t say or do anything. In fact, he didn’t make so much of a sound, and instead another voice came to Anya.

“Hey, are you okay in there?” she heard from outside, hearing the deep voice of another minotaur. A recognizable one, as it was the voice of Rubric. Something about that made Anya’s eyelids shoot open, and when she did, it was like her world had changed.

Bacchus was nowhere to be seen, simply not being anywhere in the bathroom. Not even his loincloth was present, which would have been hard for him to collect and leave in the small time he would have had between pulling out of her and the knock at the door. Likewise, she was no longer sitting on the toilet’s tank, but properly on the seat, with her pants around her knees, and an untorn shirt over her upper torso. All the cream colored cum that had spilled onto the porcelain fixture and the floor around it was gone, though her own clear fluids now covered parts of the seat, and her body was drenched in sweat, so much that her shirt was heavy in saturation.

One more knock came to the door, and Rubric called into the room again, “If you don’t answer me, I’m busting open the door.”

Anya blinked a few times, realizing that the door was now locked. More to the point, it had been locked from the moment she had closed it, having offhandedly hit the button on the knob, like most people would do when closing a bathroom door. Bacchus hadn’t stormed inside and raped her, and likewise she was in no threat of being pregnant. Everything she had experienced was an incredibly vivid fantasy, dreamed up while Anya touched herself. She hadn’t intended it to happen, the event coming unexpectedly to her, but for some reason her mind focused so much on the one thing it believed could get her off that she felt it like it was real.

“I’m okay!” Anya said, wanting to prevent the bull outside from breaking the door down, “I’m just… having some trouble is all!”

“Upset stomach?” Rubric asked from the other side of the door, his tone stoic, making the gryphon wonder if he was showing concern or ire at the assumed predicament.

“It’s… kinda personal!” Anya called back, trying to make her voice sound pained, knowing that the response would be vague, but enough that the minotaur could come up with his own explanation, “If I can have ten more minutes, I think I’ll be fine!”

There was a slight pause, but then Rubric replied with, “Very well, but if you’re able to keep working once you’re out, I have a job for you.”

“Sure, just… I need you to go away for a minute!” Anya waited in silence, until she heard the sound of heavy hoof steps leaving the door.

Minotaur were so heavy with muscle that one could tell when they walked in proximity around you, and could even feel the vibrations in the floor. Faking the effect of walking away from the floor wasn’t something they could do, if they even cared to do so, so Anya believed she had bought herself some time.

Getting up off her butt, she went to the bathroom sink, and looked into the mirror behind it. She looked a mess, as if someone had actually ravaged her. She wouldn’t have believed masturbation could be that intense, but she now supposed it was all a matter of how much effort you put into it. One thing was clear to Anya though, that the delusion she went through was vivid, and effective, as her body was in the middle of the afterglow of an orgasm.

“But why that?” she muttered to her reflection.

Her masturbation fantasies were always of her being a dom, binding and teasing some submissive, and controlling their pleasure. The idea of being dommed was not one she even considered all that arousing, at least… she hadn’t till she went through the barbaric domination tactics minotaur utilized. She had hoped that her enjoyment of the treatment was just a one time thing, as she still only saw herself as a dominant, but it looked like something those bovine males did left an imprint on her.

It was a problem she’d have to deal with later, as her employer was waiting for her to exit the room, and eventually even her excuse would not be enough to keep him out. “First thing’s first,” she said to herself, “Clean yourself off.”

With the short time limit she bought herself, Anya quickly went to the task of making herself presentable, starting up the water from the faucet in front of her, stripping out of her clothes, and hanging them aside the sink. After that bit of preparation, she grabbed a few paper towels, and some hand soap from the dispensers on the wall next to the mirror, proceeding to rub the soap all over her feathers and fur, occasionally splashing water on as well to get the liquid soap to sud up better. This ‘Whore’s Bath’, as it was called, wouldn’t get everything, but it would get enough that she shouldn’t draw attention.

Giving some extra attention to her vaginal area, Anya made sure to get rid of any sex smells her body had on it, then moved to wash away as much sweat as she could. The only problem was that her clothes wouldn’t be able to dry off, given how little time she bought herself, but it would have to suffice. At what she believed was the five minute mark, she began applying more water to herself, and used the paper towels to wipe the soap away. Once that was done, all she could do was put her clothes back on, head back out into the warehouse, and hope for the best.

Anya left the bathroom, slightly going over the ten minutes she requested, but not in a way that Rubric had to come back to check on her again. He did, however, wait close by, and as soon as the door opened, he approached the gryphoness.

Before greeting the female, Rubric looked her up and down, noticing her fatigue, and the tired look she had. “You look terrible,” he stated bluntly, “Are you feeling ill?”

“No, no,” Anya said, unsure what would happen if she said yes, “I’m fine. Just had a bit of trouble in there.”

“I’m just wondering if the deer played a prank on you, and didn’t give you the proper potion after you lost the bet.” Rubric said, his statement revealing his worry, though his demeanor still hid whatever feelings he had about it, “Though it would be too soon for you to have morning sickness.”

That idea was something that hadn’t even crossed Anya’s mind, until Rubric brought it up. She had just taken their word that she was given a birth control potion, but for all she knew, the deer just gave her a bad tasting beverage.

“It wasn’t morning sickness,” she explained, the gryphon not assuming that her problems were being caused by being knocked up, but it was something she’d have to keep an eye out for, “I was just having some trouble, but I think it passed. The Antlerteans don’t really do that, though… do they?”

“They seldom do things that would go against a direct order from us minotaur,” Rubric admitted, “But that’s no reason to assume they wouldn’t. One should always expect the possibility of treachery from a slave, as its their loyalty that should bring suspicion.”

“I guess you have a point,” Anya replied, understanding that it would be foolish to outright trust someone who you’ve enslaved, “But really, I’m fine. Promise.”

“Very well, then you will be up to the task I have in store for you. Follow me.”

Rubric made his way to wherever he was heading, and Anya followed closely behind him, glad that the minotaur was none the wiser of what really happened inside the bathroom. Like with Gallus, she already had a reputation among other gryphons of having fucked some minotaur, and she didn’t need the minotaur to think that she wished to indulge in sex with them again, despite what her wild desires were making her think. If she could just maintain a business relation with the bovines, then she’d work through all the screwed up stuff in her head when she got her friends back.

Following Rubric, Anya found him leading her to a part of the warehouse she had seldom been, but nonetheless knew what area the section was for. They were going into ‘receivings’, otherwise known as the place new slaves were brought into the Warehouse from outside of The Society. Once inside, a slave never had the ability to ever exit outside of a Society controlled building, even when being transferred from one facility to the next. The Society had access to some form of teleportation magic to relocate their property and employees, in the form of slabs of black crystal that were connected to one another as portals. Anya had to go through one herself, ending her up in this building on the outskirts of Equestria, near some unmapped village called ‘Starlight Town’, which apparently was under full Society control. With it being so far out of the way, and all occupants being part of the secret, it was the perfect place for The Society to receive its goods.

“So remember the other day,” Rubric said, knowing they were almost where he was heading, “During the bet, when me and Bacchus were talking about our plans for our group?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Anya answered, remembering those details, even if the rest of the night was mostly a blur of consecutive climaxes, “So you managed to get your raid contract?”

“No,” Rubric said back, “And if I had, I wouldn’t be coming to you. You’re still too green in your training to have you go into a full on raid.”

“Geez, thanks for the vote of confidence…” Anya replied, but understanding to some degree that the minotaur needed to know she was ready in his eyes before she could participate in what was perhaps the most important endeavor a slaver could perform.

“Don’t get grumpy,” Rubric scolded, “I’m planning on having you be part of that raid when it comes, so long as you are showing you have the ability to do more than process slaves and stock bondage gear. That’s months ahead though, so for now I want you to assist me with the other thing I talked to Bacchus about.”

Anya scratched her brain trying to think about what the other thing he was talking about was, as whatever it was didn’t seem to have the same draw on her attention as the idea of capturing a village full of creatures did.

“If you don’t remember, then you’ll figure it out soon enough.” said the minotaur, “But first, you and I both need to meet someone. Speaking of…”

The pair entered into the receivings area, and to Anya’s surprise, what was in there wasn’t one of the usual transport carts used to sneak a captured slave across Equestria, but a rather large airship that was docked at a cleared out area. As they approached, Anya could see movement on the ship’s deck, what looked to be other gryphons hauling cages around, no doubt holding more victims of The Society inside them. While this was an unexpected resource for The Society to have, it wasn’t impossible for anyone to buy a commercial airship, and one with the kind of money the head mistress appeared to have could certainly afford it. There was one other thing that had caught Anya off guard though, that being a catlike creature walking down the ship’s gangplank.

The cat made his way down as Anya and Rubric got close, an orangish, brown furred creature with green eyes, and a bit of blue hair atop his head, wearing a faded red jacket. “Why hello there,” he said, reaching the warehouse floor, “You must be the minotaur the crystal mare set me up to meet. Though it’s hard to tell with how many of you are walking about.”

“An Abyssian,” Anya said aloud, recognizing the species from one of Gruff’s old books, “Your kingdom is deep within Storm King territory. I’m amazed to see you here.”

“What a well informed gryphon you got here,” the cat said, speaking to Rubric as he gave Anya a look of mock amusement, “But is she the one in charge here, cause if not, then I’m not sure why she’s the one speaking to me.”

Rubric huffed out his nose, a sign Anya learned was him showing annoyance, “She is assisting me with the product you have brought, but you are right. Her observations aren’t needed.”

Anya’s face muscles clenched up, feeling insulted that she was dragged all this way just to be told to be silent. Honestly, she was just bringing it up because she recalled Schorl saying The Society didn’t do business with the Storm King, so she was wondering what an Abyssian was doing here.

“However, what is needed is the inventory you hopefully brought in this vessel.”

“Please, Capper always fulfills his business arrangements,” the Abyssian replied,giving a slight bow, before looking back up to the minotaur with his arm lifted, palm up, “But before I hand them over, there is the matter of my payment.”

Rubric stepped away from the cat, going to a chest located by a nearby wall. Capper followed closely behind, watching the minotaur as he took a key from his belt, and opened it. What was inside notably pleased the cat, as his eyes lit up and his smile became undoubtedly real, the box filled to the brim with Equestrian gold coins.

“Five thousand coins for fifty Abyssian females, plus the expenses of your travel. You are welcome to count it all,” Rubric said, but as Capper went to reach a hand inside, the bull shut the lid down on the box, “After you show me the quality of what you brought.”

Capper, displeased by the minotaur’s hostile gesture, broke his character by giving a scowl, but he couldn’t delay his end of the agreement any longer. “Celaeno! Have the men bring down five of our best girls for review!”

It was no time at all before a small line of feline females were being brought down the gangplank, fully nude, chained together by their metal collars and ankle shackles, while their wrists were linked together behind their backs. They were escorted by a pair of avian creatures that looked like parrots in pirate attire, who tugged the Abyssians along by a chain leash connected to the one leading the pack.

Anya felt a bit unnerved watching the birds lead around their captive felines, as it looked as some strange bastardization of nature to have a bird hold power over a cat. It also, in some strange way, looked like the two aspects of herself, her feline and avian biology, at ends with one another, in a clear display of both willful dominance and unwilling submission. With the things going through her head lately, the idea of anything that could represent a part of her being forced into submission was not something she wished to think about, especially since the metaphor was going even further with the fact that the Abyssians were soon to be handed over as property to a minotaur.

“Front and center, girls!” Capper shouted at the enslaved cats, showing no remorse for the treatment of his kind, “The buyer wants to see the merchandise before we finalize the sale.”

Rubric went over to the Abyssians, and observed them like produce at a market. At first he just looked, then took an initiative to touch them without bothering to ask if it was ok. He did intent to buy these females, so if their seller objected to him getting intimate with his inspection, then he would know that something was off. “These ones are malnourished,” Rubric said, noting how their muscle tone was soft, and their bodies were slim, even for a cat.

“Your contact said you were looking for Abyssians.” Capper replied, “And Abyssinia hasn’t exactly been doing well since the Storm King took over the territory. The fact that people can be picked up off the street and sold into slavery should tell you how bad off the kingdom is.”

“So this might be the best you can get,” Rubric responded, gripping one girl in the middle of the line by the chin, lifting her head up and turning it about with little resistance. “They aren’t much for the eyes, but I’ll admit their compliance is remarkable. I doubt you have trained them, so is it so culturally acceptable to be enslaved in the Storm King’s territory that they simply accept it?”

“Not exactly,” Capper said, reaching into his jacket, “These girls are junkies, addicted to what we like to call ‘Abyss Sludge’”, having given the name of the drug he was using to control the other cats, the male pulled out a small vial of thick, brown liquid, that seemed to cling to the glass as he held it out and swirled it around.

The second the vial was revealed, the orderly line the female Abyssians had formed was broken, all five of the girls rushing over to Capper, pulling the chain the avians were holding right out of their hands as they stumbled over their own bonds and each other’s bodies to make it to him. It was like they were racing to see who could get their first, as if the vial’s contents would be their prize for doing so, despite no promise made to that conclusion. They were completely shameless in the act, desiring the addictive mixture above anything else.

“This little concoction has an ability to increase the physical strength and magical abilities of whoever drinks it,” Capper explained, “And at first it can be an incredible thrill, having the ability to move faster, think at a higher capacity than you normally can, and overall be a better version of yourself.”

“But it doesn’t last, does it?” Rubric said, “And you become dependent on that level of awareness. It’s a problem that happens when we overuse some of our own stimulants, but I take it your potion is much more potent.”

Rubric watched the cat women still struggling against one another, the rattling of their chains filling the room as they pushed, scratched, and clawed to get to Capper, who was smugly watching them fight over the drug.

“I believe I’ve seen enough,” said the bull, “If this is how they behave when craving a drug that I don’t have access to, then I’m not sure I can use them, or the others you have stowed away. After all, you brought these ones out as your best examples of your stock, so the others must be even more heavily addicted.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Capper said, stepping over the bodies of the chained up Abyssians to get to the minotaur, “These ones were just the most attractive, and knowing what you want them for, I thought that would be the most important feature to you. As for the drug, I’m sure we can make an arrangement about that. In fact, I have a couple crates full of it on the ship that I was using to keep them calm.”

“So that’s your game.” Anya said, piecing things together, “Boss, he’s trying to scam you.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Capper said, “I’m just offering you a little extra value while I’m here. Enough Abyss sludge to keep these girls in your thrall for a few months, and then I can bring more next time with my next shipment of slaves. I’m thinking two thousand a crate should be a fine price, don’t you agree?”

Rubric stoically stared at the feline salesman, and then to the women crawling up behind them, one getting so far as to pathetically grab the tail of Capper’s coat with her teeth. “Yes, I believe two thousand per crate would be a fine agreement.”

“But boss!” Anya said, knowing that Rubric was walking right into Capper’s scheme.

“Quiet Anya,” Rubric said, taking the vial right from Capper’s hand, brushing the cat aside to show that he was the possessor of the vial now. “And as for you five, ENOUGH!” The females froze, seeing that the minotaur, who they knew they were gonna be sold to as sex slaves, was infuriated with their behavior. “On your knees, in a formation like before, else none of you will be getting a sip of this.”

The five Abyssians did as they were told, shifting their bodies to get onto their knees, each facing the bull who implied they would soon get the drug in his hand.

“Look at each of you,” Rubric scolded, “The dredges of your kingdom. Worthless females without goals or a purpose. None of you have the right to call yourselves Abyssians, and from this point on will be called ‘Pussies’ by me, my workers, and anyone who will use you for the only thing you’re good for. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes sir,” they replied in a disorganized fashion.

“Capper, this only works if drunk, right?” Rubric asked Capper, popping the cork, “Skin contact won’t trigger its effects?”

“Not at all, you could wash your hands in the stuff and all it will do is stain them brown,” said Capper, to which the reply was Rubric grabbing him by the arm.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I poured some on you, would you?” Rubric said, wanting to make sure the cat wasn’t lying.

“Go ahead,” Capper said nonchalantly, “But you’ll be paying for my fur cleaning.”

The lack of fear from Capper was all the bull really needed, and he released him on the spot. “Unchain the redhead from the bunch. I want to do one last test to see if your product, both of them, is worth my gold.”

Capper wasn’t happy that the bull was being so thorough in his inspection, but it looked like it was coming to an end. “You’ve got a good eye there. This one in particular used to help me make Abyss Sludge, till I started noticing that she was skimming some of it off to the side.”

“You don’t say,” said Rubric, as Capper undid the requested female from the chain gang, “Come to me girl.”

The red haired cat shuffled on her knees, until she sat right in front of Rubric.

“Good,” he said, undoing the buckle of his pants, pulling out his huge, but currently flaccid cock in front of everyone.

“Hey, hey!” Capper said, covering his eyes, “What are you doing?!”

“Performing my final test,” Rubric answered, tipping the vial sideways, right over his dick, letting the Abyss Sludge pour over it like maple syrup, “What is your name, slave?”

The feline thought for a moment, trying to come up with an appropriate answer, and then said to the minotaur. “My name is Pussy, sir.”

Rubric shook his head, “That is your title, but I want your name. You are not so lowly in my eyes that I will deny you your name.”

“It’s… Catrina, sir…” The cat answered truthfully.

“Well Catrina, it’s your lucky day.” Rubric replied, emptying the vial completely, and tossing it aside, “I’ve selected you to be my personal pussy, so you’ll be allowed a taste of your addiction before the other girls, so long as you’re willing to-”

Rubric couldn’t even finish before Catrina pressed her face against his monstrously thick cock, showing no dignity in her actions as she predicted what the minotaur wanted from her. With no hesitation, she ran her tongue over the bovine sex organ, slurping up every drop of sludge on it, with all the elegance of a two bit, back alley prostitute.

“Such an eager bottom feeder, isn’t she?” Capper commented, overcoming his initial discomfort at the minotaur exposing himself.

“Indeed,” Rubric said, patting Catrina on the head like a common house cat, “I think I’ve made my decision. I’ll buy all the female Abyssians you have on the ship, along with the offered crates of your drug.”

“Excellent,” Capper replied, “I’ll have them all brought out as quickly as-”

“For the original sum of five thousand coins.” Rubric said, clarifying his intent.

“Wait… wait, wait, wait.” said Capper, shaking his head and moving his hands as he stepped in front of Rubric to face him, “You think I’m just going to let you take all the girls I brought, and my drugs, for just five thousand gold coins?!”

“Yes, I do,” Rubric said sternly, “Because we had agreed ahead of time on five thousand, and you show up with an inferior product, and an intent to change the deal from the start. As I said, I’ll buy your drug, since I’ll be needing it to detox these women, for the agreed two thousand per crate, but with the cost I’ll have to put into these girls, they aren’t worth a fraction of your asking price. I’ll give you twenty coins a head, which is more than you should be getting for picking up garbage off the street.”

“And if I refuse?” Capper said, unwilling to accept Rubric’s alteration to the deal.

“Then you can tell the pirates that they traveled all this way, carting around a ship full of cargo, and risking their livelihood by smuggling citizens out of the Storm King’s territory, only to go back empty handed. Looking at the patches and holes in your jacket, I’m certain you don’t have the money on hand to cover the cost of travel, do you?”

Capper’s eyes widened, realizing that the minotaur knew he needed the money, if only to make sure the pirates didn’t lynch him for wasting their time and resources. Likewise, the other Abyssians were in a state of awe, never assuming that the brutish minotaur would out haggle a street savvy cat like Capper.

“Now that I have reached an understanding with you,” Rubric said, all the while maintaining his usual stoic tone, “Let me explain a few things to you. I am a bull of my word, and had you come to me without trying to swindle me, I would have paid for these girls for the agreed upon price. That being said, while I can see by your attire that Abyssinia has fallen on hard times, I can tell by your own good health that it’s not so bad that you couldn’t find me healthier females.”

Anya gave the cat a closer look when hearing her boss say that statement, and Rubric was right. For as tired and worn as these girls were, Capper looked fine. It was a detail that even she had missed out on, as she wasn’t worried about his condition, only that of the girls he had brought.

“And you might think I’m some stupid, barbaric minotaur, but I’ve been in the slave business for much longer than you, and I can tell exactly why you wanted to sell off these girls, who would otherwise be your customer base. Your lands are broke, caused by over taxing by your new lord, and exacerbated by you peddling poison about to a population who uses it to cope with their terrible lives. Now these girls have given you every penny they had, and are of no more use to you. As a businessbull, I can’t fault you for wanting to get one last payoff from customers who are of no more use to you, but without them you have another problem you are trying to push off on me, which is that you’re overstocked on those drugs, which you intended to sell to them.”

Capper’s jaw practically dropped, clearly thinking in his head this minotaur can tell all that just by looking at me? Anya was amazed too, as those details were nowhere within her radar for the cat.

“So when you hear of our need for slaves,” Rubric proceeded to say, “You thought you could kill two birds with one stone. Get rid of your old clients, who are so hopelessly addicted to your drug that they’d allow you to sell them for another hit, and no one would ever miss cause they are such lost causes already, while finding a new buyer to keep up your distribution by using it to control the clients you just got rid of. It’s a clever plan, but I’m cleverer than you.”

“But I… You see… I…” Capper, for as slyly he spoke earlier, was at a loss for words. He never expected his plan to be so thoroughly seen through.

“That all being said, I am willing to continue my business with you, so long as we are both clear with one another from here on out. While it will be a hassle cleaning these girls up, I’m certain that my investment will be rewarded when I sell them off to other prospective buyers. I also have to believe that Equestrian gold is more valuable in your lands than you are letting on, and that you just wanted to get every coin you could out of this first deal. Again, respectable, but I’m not the minotaur to try and do that with. I am, however, the minotaur who can make you rich, so long as you keep supplying me with more pussies for my slave stock. I’ll even pay you triple our originally agreed upon price for ones I don’t have to fix up. How does that sound to you?”

Rubric extended his hand to Capper, showing that he had no hard feelings over this first exchange, since he happened to win it. Capper, on the other hand, didn’t know how to react. He wasn’t happy that he couldn’t pull one over on the minotaur, but he did like that it seemed that he was getting away with it, with only a lesson in making deals with people being his punishment. Had he been dealing with an emissary of the Storm Lord, he’d already been on his way to a dungeon, or perhaps worse.

So the cat couldn’t be too angry, especially when the minotaur was right about the gold. It was very valuable in Abyssinia, and five thousand coins was more than enough to keep him going for months, since Rubric was paying for his flight expenses separately. His greed had just gotten to him, but some level of greed was an important trait for both con-men and businessmen alike.

“Then I suppose we have a business arrangement,” Capper said, already thinking of a few other deadbeats that he could round up for the second shipment. Accepting Rubric’s proposal, he placed his hand in the bull’s, and gave it a shake.

“Just don’t try anything like you did today again,” Rubric added, “Else I might have to take offense the next time.”

“R-Right…” Capper replied, not believing at that point that the bull could be tricked.

“Good,” Rubric said, believing that the cat would make no more attempts of that nature, “Then start unloading my slaves, deliver the two crates of the drug we agreed to, and my men will take it from there.” With that said, Rubric handed over the key to the chest, “Like I said, feel free to count the coins to make sure all the money is there, but I’ll assure you it is. Once our business is concluded, you can leave at your convenience. I’m going to take my leave now, and have Catrina here come with me to discuss her new duties as my personal slave. Anya, come along.”

“Yes boss,” Anya said, walking fast to catch up with Rubric as he headed out of the area, his new Abyssian being towed along behind him by the chain still attached to her shackle collar. The second they were out of receivings, she had to ask, “Shouldn’t someone be watching him though? He could just run off with the gold, slaves, and drugs.”

“Someone is watching him,” said the minotaur, “Captain Celaeno, the ship’s master. We commissioned her before, and have a working relationship with her when it comes to transporting things around Equestria. She was working as a cargo ship for the Storm King before we hired her and her crew in secret. I’m still not certain how we did that, not my department, but she has been working for us ever since.”

“Is she the one who spread word that The Society was looking into Abyssians?” Anya questioned, thinking that sounded logical.

“She might have helped, but its not hard to covertly spread rumors in the Storm King’s territory talking about a private collector looking for certain types of creatures, since he doesn’t care about slavery being rampant in his kingdom.”

“Well, I guess you have that covered then,” Anya said, seeing her concerns were moot, “But can I ask why I had to be there? You seemed able to handle that yourself.”

“I just wanted you to see your next project,” Rubric replied.

“Next project?” Anya said, not seeing where the minotaur was going with this.

“The head mistress looked a little deeper into your background,” said the bovine, “And learned that you actually have a history with BDSM culture. Have had a few submissives in your time.”

“One of which The Society kidnapped from me,” Anya interjected.

“The point is that I was thinking about making you a ‘Trainer’. The title is exactly what it sounds like, as you’ll be helping to train our new collection of Pussies to have the skills and obedience they will need to fulfill their new roles.”

“So I’m going to be in charge of fifty slaves?” Anya asked, “Isn’t that a bit much for my first job as a trainer?”

“More like ten,” Rubric answered, “We rotate slaves between several trainers, and work towards creating a general oppressive regimen for them that all the trainers follow.”

The sound of that news made the cat woman walking behind the two whimper a little, seeing as her future was not going to be easy.

“Ah, yes, that reminds me.” Rubric said, stopping in an open area in the warehouse, “Catrina, just to make it clear, you are mine now. Unlike the others, I have no intention of selling you off, and every intention of using your body to bare my children and grant me pleasure.”

Catrina hung her head, currently able to understand exactly what she had gotten herself into, able to focus more having had her fix. She had traded her whole life away for a drug, and later on would continue to do so as her cravings returned.

“Before that though,” the bull went on to say, “I’m going to ween you off that awful Abyss Sludge, and make sure your body is in a state to carry a child. No breeding slave of mine will be as sickly as you are now.”

“Yes sir,” Catrina replied, having accepted her fate by this point.

“You will call me ‘Master’ from now on,” Rubric corrected.

“Yes Master,” Catrina complied.

“Perfect,” said Rubric, “Now let me ask you this. Do you still remember how to make the Abyss Sludge?”

“Huh?” Catrina reactively responded.

“Capper said you used to help him with it, so you should know the formula, right?”

“I… could make it, if I got the right ingredients… and I was using some.” Catrina admitted, “My mind is too hazy to make Abyss Sludge without taking some.”

“I’m sure,” Rubric agreed, “You probably feel like you think too slowly without it. Luckily, I don’t need you to make it. I just need the recipe for it, so we can work on making something to help clear it out of your, and the other Pussies, systems. We have other slaves who can help on that end.”

Catrina pouted slightly, not even certain she really wanted to be without the drug, but could see that was one of the goals her new master had for her.

“Don’t worry,” said Rubric, lifting a hand up to scratch the Abyssian gently on the chin and cheekbone, showing some uncharacteristic sympathy for Catrina’s situation, “I will be here to make all your decisions from now on, and before you know it, you’ll be like you were before you ever took that poison.”

Catrina, enjoying the attention she was being given, let out a low purr, her pout turning to a light smile. It had been some time since she was treated with any kind of compassion, strangely coming from a male who had no problem giving her a degrading title, and intended to forcefully impregnate her.

As the trio stood there, Rubric caught out of the corner of his eye someone heading right for him at a quickened pace, and with a slight shift of his view, the bull could see it was his second in command. “Ah, Bacchus, you came at the right time. The Abyssians are here, and we need to discuss some rules when dealing with them.”

Bacchus stopped right in front of his fellow minotaur, having to take a few deep breaths as he stood there, obviously having ran for some time. “No time to talk,” he said, “I’ve got news.”

“Really?” Rubric questioned, “About what?”

“The crystal mare is about to make an announcement for all the slave masters, and its supposed to be big!” Bacchus said, looking more serious than Anya had ever seen him.

“Hmmm…” Rubric muttered, taking to rubbing his chin, “First I heard of it, but perhaps something just happened that needs our attention.” Looking at his newly acquired slave, and having an idea pop into his head, “Then why don’t we all go and see what she wants. Anya, want to come along?”

“Me?” the gryphon asked.

“If this is a meeting for all the slave masters, I think it’s a good time to show off what we’ve just got into our possession, as well as introduce my new Pussy Trainer.”

“Well if that’s what you want, I don’t see a problem.” said Anya, having no reason to refuse. If anything, it was just a valid excuse to avoid work for a while.

“Then take this, and follow me,” Rubric handed Anya the chain attached to Catrina’s collar, “The head mistress seldom leaves the main building, so we’ll have to go through the Way Stone to get to the meeting place.”

Rubric and Bacchus started walking, and giving a look to Catrina that said she was just as clueless as the Abyssian about this, the two followed right behind, as two felines curious to see what was probably about to screw with their lives next.

The New Hires

The small group of two minotaur, one gryphon, and their recently purchased Abyssian slave girl, left the warehouse, heading to what Rubric called ‘The Way Stone’. The large, dark crystal wall that allowed Society members to travel quickly from one location to another. The clear stone structure could only function when the head mistress of The Society willed it, her magic being what allowed it to function, thus on any normal day, it was little more than a peculiar wall in the building. With the crystal mare summoning all the minotaur slave lords, however, the Way Stone was already active when the four approached it, and allowed them to pass through it without issue.

It was like walking through water, and once through Anya found herself in a new location, one that she had never been in before, where she struggled to get over the disorientation that came from traveling a great distance in space in under a second. This place, from what she had gathered from the two minotaur as they talked about what was happening, was the main branch of the slave ring, wherever that was supposed to be. When Anya was first abducted, the gryphon was taken to the Dodge Junction facility, where she did most of her training until Rubric transferred her to the Starlight Town location, but this new place was a completely unknown location to her, which was probably intentional.

“Greetings, Master Rubric.” Came the familiar voice of Schorl Tourmaline, as she welcomed the most important figure stepping out of the waystone. She had stationed herself at the side of the crystal portal, to more effectively power it, as well as to present herself as a gracious host to each arrival. “I’m glad you could make it, as I’m sure that you will be happy with what we have to announce.”

Anya took a moment to refocus her view of her surroundings as the mare spoke, and by the end of the sentence she had corrected herself, allowing her to see an all too common sight to her at this point; a room full of minotaur. The room itself was like the inside of a dome, with benches lining the outer walls in rows, like it was a stadium of sorts, with said seats being currently occupied by bovine males waiting impatiently for whatever announcement was going to be made. Because of how the room was made, they all faced towards a spacious center area, which was more than likely where whatever Schorl had to say would be said.

It didn’t take long for Anya to feel dark urges rising up inside her, initiated by the sight of all these bulls in an enclosed space. Her thoughts were trying hard to stray into the erotic, with flashes of these massive males pinning her down, so they could force themselves inside her against her will, leaking out from her subconscious. She knew this encounter would happen though, and thus was already shoving those visions back into the depths of her mind from which they came. The gryphon would not be controlled by these desires, just so long as she could prepare mentally ahead of time. At least, that is what she kept telling herself.

Having stabilized herself, Anya looked away from the minotaur in her direct line of sight, to the only minotaur not in their seat, aside from the ones who she had arrived with, which was Sartek, Schorl’s personal bodyguard, who was standing close by his employer. He seemed always present with her, and perhaps with good reason at the moment, as he might be needed if some of the other minotaur decided they didn’t like what they heard, and wanted to take it out on Schorl’s attractive pony body, after stripping off her pretty dress, and bending her arrogant flank over one of the se-.

Realizing that sexual thoughts were rising again, Anya made a now visual attempt to stifle them, clenching her eyes and shaking her head to knock out the images of Schorl, Catrina, and herself servicing a herd of buff bovines. Luckily, no one seemed to notice, as all attention was pointed in the direction of the hostess.

“So what is this all about?” Rubric asked, not to the mare who was his host, but to Sartek, “It’s rare for an impromptu meeting to be called.”

“All will be explained once you and your plus ones take your seats,” Sartek replied, “You were the last one we were waiting for.”

Rubric gave a nod in reply, searching for a spot that would accommodate the four members of his party, which thankfully there was plenty of open space left onin the benches. From the looks of it, the room could probably hold three times the amount of occupants if needed, so those present were, for the most part, only those important enough to be invited to this event. Most likely the other minotaur slave masters who Schorl dealt with to help run her operations, or so Anya assumed.

“Come,” Rubric said, finding a suitable spot, not saying anything else as he made his way.

Bacchus walked alongside his employer, having a good idea where they were going to sit already, while Anya just followed along, guiding Catrinia along with the leash she held firm in her paws. The Abyssian, being bound and in a strange location, showed no signs of resistance, but wore her worry very clearly as she was paraded through the room. Anya could understand her fear, as while Rubric had claimed her as his personal sex slave, the gryphon had already come to know that he had no issue sharing his slaves with others, and each minotaur they passed by had their eyes drawn to the feline creature, since she was of a species that none of them yet possessed.

The group of four ended up taking seats on the opposite side of the room from the Way Stone, right next to an exit door. Anya, being wise to her boss’ motives, figured that he did this just so everyone in the room would have a chance to see what he had brought with him, as a form of advertising. Though, if they had an interest in the cat creature gracing the room with her presence, they would have to wait till later to inquire, as the moment Rubric took his seat, Schorl took that as a signal to begin her explanation as to why everyone had been summoned.

“Thank you all for coming, esteemed minotaur slave lords,” she said, her voice filling the domed room as her horn took glow, the crystal unicorn using a spell to amplify her volume, as she walked down a small ramp leading from the Way Stone to the center of the room, “I know that it was a short notice that you were summoned to attend this meeting, but I assure you all this will be well worth the distraction from your slaver activities.”

The minotaur murmured amongst themselves, perhaps skeptical of Schorl’s claim, or just curious as to what would be so important to pull them away from their work. They wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out what she had prepared for them, as she reached center stage, and continued.

“As you are all aware, The Society is constantly looking for new ways to satisfy and make easier the lives of not only our pony clientele, but that of our gracious minotaur investors, of whom without this facility wouldn’t even be possible.” The mare said, speaking like a presenter at an investor’s conference, who was about to reveal some new product or innovation devised to pull in interest from the share holders, “With the aid of The Society, you all have been given access to many luxuries and opportunities, such as the lovely accommodation set up to help you relax after a long day of raiding, and access to our extensive slave network, which provides you with females and males of any species your hearts may desire to have in your service. Not to mention our services in subduing and training said creatures so they can perfectly perform whatever role you may intend for them.”

No minotaur objected to the claims the mare made concerning her illegal slavery ring, but looking around, none of them seemed all that impressed by Schorl’s declarations. These minotaur were, in their own twisted way, businessmen, and unlike the sleazy, rich and famous ponies of Equestria that the head mistress of The Society usually entertained, they were not swayed by glammed up words about what her organization had to offer. All they truly cared about was what they could see, and so far Schorl was doing far too much telling, and not enough showing for the bovine’s liking.

That didn’t impede the mare in the slightest in proceeding with her show, as she found her own entertainment in being the performer, even if her audience didn’t appreciate the effort. “However, at my own admittance, our organization, which at its core exists to provide every possible desire to those privileged enough to be considered a member, has failed in providing you a proper variety in a certain area. While we have provided the best cooked foods from across Equestria and beyond, and consistently one up ourselves by adding new, rare, and exotic creatures to our slave rosters, we have done little to expand on the talent we have available as workers.”

The minotaur in the room stirred slightly at what the mare was saying, even Rubric as he rubbed his chin in curiosity. Anya, on the other hand, didn’t really understand what was so special about Schorl’s declaration. She was providing the minotaur with more workers to hire? As far as Anya had seen, the only creatures they ever had done the grunt work were minotaur and gryphons, so it just sounded like the crystal pony had found more saps from Griffinstone to help cart around captive ponies for profit.

“I can see that some of you are already intrigued with what I have to show,” Schorl said, sweeping her eyes across the attending minotaur, “So without further delay, allow me to present the newest additions to our little family.”

At the head mistress’ cue, the exit doors to the room opened, revealing what Schorl had believed was so important to summon all the top minotaur in her employ. Being seated right next to the doors, Anya couldn’t see who was entering, but she could see that some of the minotaur who could were starting to form shocked expressions. Whatever they were seeing, they clearly weren’t expecting it, or it was something so grand that it amazed them regardless.

“Come on in,” Schorl beckoned to the doorway, “Let your potential employers get a good look at you.”

The creatures that had been waiting outside the room entered, and when they got a few feet into it, Anya could finally see what had shocked the minotaur, and became somewhat surprised herself, as what she laid eyes on was perhaps the furthest thing from what she believed she’d see.

Several dozen small, dog-like creatures, walking on their hind legs, wearing small scraps of untattered, but incomplete articles of clothing made their way to the center area, to join Schorl in that space. They were Diamond Dogs, a species that Anya had encountered, but had no formal interactions with. Not that most civilized species would, as diamond dogs were not the kind of creatures that interacted well with those outside of their own communities, known to be general pests who burrowed deep in the underground caves of Equestria, always seeking gemstones, and being a general nuisance while doing it.

While not exactly smart creatures, they had no issue with stealing things they think they needed, and had even been known to kidnap creatures to use as slave labor. As that aspect of them dawned on Anya, it became very clear why Schorl would think it would be a good idea to have them be on The Society’s payroll. It was a novel idea, for sure, but Anya couldn’t help but snicker at the mare’s unfamiliarity with how these creatures operated. They were not the type who could be bargained with, nor did they make deals.

They were, in many ways, barely above wild dogs, the kinds that sentient creatures made their pets. Schorl might have had them sign some sort of contract for their labor, like she did with the gryphon she hired, but these canines would not have had the mental capacity to understand it, and would have even less ability to follow the rules she set in place. Just getting from one end of the walkway from the door to the other was proving a problem, as the bigger ones practically trampled over the smaller ones as they strode unimpeded in the tight space between the bleachers, as some of those tiny dogs made small growls displaying there dissatisfaction at almost being stepped on. Maybe that was the point, to cause a ‘breach of contract’, giving Schorl an excuse to force them into submission, but with the size of the group present, Anya didn’t think that would be an easy task, even for these experienced slavers. To some degree, Anya was anticipating the chaos these dogs would bring to the crystal mare.

For now though, they appeared to be behaving, assuredly lured in with the promise of jewels, the only thing they cared for, and once they were all front and center, everyone could see that there was a wide variety of them present. Diamond dogs and wild dogs were very closely related, thus they shared many similar breeds, from pugs to saint bernards. It was kinda like how gryphons were comprised of a mixture of cat and bird breeds, though no self respecting gryphon would ever make the comparison between themselves and these mutts. Still, such a diverse clan of diamond dogs, assuming that was a single group, was interesting to see.

“As you can all see, we have plenty for everyone,” Schorl said, noting the number of those she had convinced to work for The Society, “And if this arrangement works out, then more are to come. More importantly though, I’m sure that you all are wondering how these creatures can aid you in your tasks, both large and small.”

Schorl started to list off a series of things the diamond dogs could do, which to Anya amounted to an unimpressive combination of ‘dig good’ and ‘be swarming brutes’. To her, the minotaur would be better off sticking to gryphons, since they had an actual talent when it came to airborne combat, which gave them a distinct advantage over most other creatures, outside of winged dragons and pegasi.

With how crafty Rubric showed himself to be with Capper previously, Anya was almost certain he would likewise catch on to how this was a poor investment. A money sink that would not garner any returns. The other minotaur slave lords might fall for it, but Rubric had to be the type to know a lemon when he saw it.

“Hey Bacchus,” Rubric said, just loud enough for Anya to pick up his words through Schorl’s sales pitch, “What do you think of these mutts?”

“Some of the females look nice, I suppose.” Bacchus replied, thinking with his dick more than the practical uses of the dogs, but Anya could agree that was a better way to appraise them. Now that it was on her mind, Anya had to admit that some of the diamond dogs were pretty cute. Not in a way that sparked her attraction that much, but in a way that she wouldn’t mind taming one into a submissive, if given the chance. “But they’re kinda small aren’t they? I wonder if they could even take a dick.”

A small burst of air shot from Anya’s beak as she kept it closed to prevent herself from laughing. Even an oaf like Bacchus didn’t consider them anything more than potential cocksleeves. If this was a trend that was prevalent throughout the attendants, whatever finder’s fee Schorl hoped to get from the enlistment of these dogs was going to be non-existent.

“She’s not showing off slaves,” Rubric said, correcting his second in command.

“She’s not?” Bacchus replied, revealing that he was hardly paying attention to Schorl’s words, “Then what’s with the collars?”

“I think it’s just a clothing aesthetic they use,” answered Rubric, “They are dogs, after all.”

“So they are workers like the gryphons then?” Bacchus questioned, “But they are so… tiny.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean they can’t serve some purpose.” said Rubric, trying to evaluate what he could do with just a few of them, “I’d at least like to see what they are capable of, and if they can’t do much at first, perhaps they can be trained.”

A part of Anya wanted to tell Rubric that the diamond dogs wouldn’t be worth the money or effort, as he had gained some small degree of respect from her, but her gryphon nature convinced her that this really wasn’t her problem. Besides, when she tried to give him advice during the abyssian deal, he effectively shushed her. If the minotaur wanted to drop money on something like this, that was on him.

Rubric’s discussion with Bacchus ended right around Schorl ended her detailed explanation of the diamond dogs’ abilities, and with that finished there seemed to only be one segment of this meeting left.

“Now that you all have gotten a good look at what we have to offer, and have been made aware of how useful they can be, we will now open the draft for all those who wish to purchase employment contracts. Of course, I must remind all of you that Lord Rubric has the first pick of the litter, due to the special agreement between him and Sartek.” The crystal mare made her way over to Rubric, getting as close as she could without leaving the central space, “How many shall I mark you down for?”

Rubric, having all eyes locked on him, stoically replied, “What is the standard pay for these creatures?”

“Roughly the same as a gryphon,” Schorl said, to which Anya silently took some offense to, “But there are some special details to paying them.”

“Which is?” Rubric asked, clearly wanting to know what this provision to their wages would be before accepting it.

“Diamond Dogs wish to only be paid in gemstones,” Schorl stated bluntly, “And since I know that you all don’t carry around bags of rubies and emeralds everywhere, all payments will have to be done through me, since I do have a deep well of gemstones I’m able to deliver at the ready. Aside from that, it’s all just a standard payment method.”

Listening to Schorl’s explanation, Anya’s brain clicked everything together. The crystal pony’s scheme was to use this exchange of money for gems to get more out of them than they were worth. Even if she did something as a five percent markup, then she’d be able to restock her supply of gemstones at no cost to herself, and make a profit on the side. At least, that’s what the gryphon suspected, since it was a basic rule of business to sell things for more than it’s worth, and there was no reason for the unicorn to let the minotaur get gemstones, even the cheapest ones one could find, for their actual value.

“Then I’ll take three,” Rubric said, “Just to test them out before making any further decisions. Bacchus, go pick out some nice ones, before we let the others have their go.”

Bacchus got up from his seat without a word, using the bleachers as steps to get to where the diamond dogs were. He swept his gaze across the lot of them, trying to figure out which ones were the pick of the litter. Eventually, he decided which ones stood out to him, pointing at three males.

“You three, come over here.” he said, having to wait a moment as the chosen trio figured out who the minotaur was talking to. Once they figured it out, they separated themselves from the crowd, and made their way to the awaiting minotaur.

“The minotaur made an excellent choice,” said a gray, green-eyed dog wearing a red vest, “We will work well for you, as we have much experience in capturing ponies.”

“But not at keep’in them,” called a voice from the remaining diamond dogs, which caused an uproar of mocking laughter from much of the pack.

The gray diamond dog twisted himself to snarl and growl at those who hadn’t been selected, not at all amused at the joke brought up at his expense. Bacchus didn’t seem that amused himself, since this brought his judgment to question.

“Who said that?” Bacchus said angrily, more reactively than anything, since it wasn’t like he could punish the one who made the outburst.

“Yes, which one of you did say that?” Rubric said, raising his voice from his seat, the tone and frightening depth of it bringing the laughter to a halt. “You had something to say, so no reason to hide now that you’ve said it.”

The congregation of canines started to shift, as those gathered in the middle were made to make way for the owner of the snide remark. Before long, a diamond dog that was just slightly smaller than average stepped out of the group, a female one who bore the features of a german shepherd.

“I’s the one oo’ said it,” said the shepherd, looking over to the other of her kind that she called out, “And say et again, I would. Rova’ ear couln't keep a single pony prisna for a’ houwa, let allon the bunch yu’all want.”

The diamond dog spoke in a strange, broken accent, which Anya couldn’t exactly pin down. It sounded a little Bittish, crudely cranked up to a thirteen, to the point that it was difficult to understand every word she was saying. What was clear though was that this dog held a lot of confidence, as she didn’t hesitate or flinch at all when addressing Rubric.

“And I assume that you can do better than him and his team?” Rubric asked, evaluating this brazen bitch’s traits, and gauging her reactions to his word.

“Sur’a can,” replied the female diamond dog, “Me an’ me mates could roun’up more ponies than yu could snip a whip’pat.”

“Are you trying to steal my job, Mattie?!” yelled the previously selected male, looking like he was ready to start a fight over this interruption.

“It’s not your job yet,” Rubric said, expression stoic as usual, but clearly interested in the sheppard’s, “So, Mattie was it? Can you guarantee me a better performance than your friend here?”

“I’s don’t know what ‘garrante’ means, but I’s can promise yu more bitches for yor cages than this onna getcha.” The shepherd's declaration held no quiver of doubt, as she was certain that any task the gray male could do, she could do better.

“Then you’ll have your opportunity to prove yourself,” Rubric accepted, “So long as you have two more to join with you.”

The sheppard looked back into the group of her fellow canines, and gave a whistle. Immediately the small pond of bodies had to shift again, but this time for a more obvious reason, as one of the larger dogs made its way out from the center. It was another female, with a fluffy coat of fur, covered in the dirt of the cave that was her home, making it a mish-mash of gray, brown, and black.

“It looks like a great pyrenees,” Anya said, identifying the diamond dog’s closest relative, “A breed that sheep often keep around for protection.”

“So a guard dog,” Rubric said, deducing a possible purpose for this large diamond dog, “Could come in herding targets, and keeping watch over them.”

As the pyrenees breached the border the rest of her kind made with their bodies, one more diamond dog stepped out behind her, following fairly close, a smaller female that was almost hidden by the pyrenees’ large body. She wasn’t just tiny compared to the large breed she was following, but a bit smaller than the shepherd as well, her fur being different shades of dark and light brow, with a patch of beige fur that covered her belly and chest, that traveled up her neck and to her muzzle.

“That must be the third member of their trio,” Rubric stated to Anya, “Do you know anything about this breed?”

“She’s a cocker spaniel,” Anya replied, “They are a smaller breed, traditionally used to flush out small animals, usually by more predatory species.”

“So a group of herding dogs,” Rubric said, noticing that each of the three female diamond dogs, or at least the wild dogs they were similar to, all had ways of guiding other lesser animals around. “That could be a useful skill during raids.”

“I guess,” Anya said, mostly to herself, not so sure about these dogs.

“I’ll take those three,” Rubric said to Schorl, satisfied with what he saw, “Prepare whatever paperwork I need to sign, and I’ll fill it out while the others fight over the scrapes.”

“Of course, Master Rubric,” Schorl replied, going over the trio of female canines, “This way girls. You’ll soon be adop- I mean, hired into the service of this powerful minotaur.”

Anya scoffed at the crystal pony’s words, catching what she almost let slip. To the mare, this was akin to running a puppy mill, letting her best clients purchase whichever ones caught their eye. Anya wondered if even Schorl truly believed that the diamond dogs could be useful, or if this was just another way to make money for her. Whichever it was, Anya had to admit that her plans succeeded, as the minotaur in the room started competing with one another over the remaining dogs, now that Rubic had made his selection, and they were free to place bids freely.

As time went on, with Anya waiting for Rubric’s return, she was left to just sit there and stew in her thoughts, which were still being plagued with random urges to have the minotaur in the room fuck her. The room, as large as it was, felt increasingly more claustrophobic the longer she stayed in it. Her hopes that their group would leave soon after Rubic made his pick were sorely dashed, as she ended up being there till the contract auction came to a close, which the gryphon believed took over an hour to finish.

An hour of just sitting there, with the absyssian Rubric purchased attached to her via a leash, watching a room of unfamiliar bovines lay claim to a bunch of dogs. If she had been in a room with literally any other type of creatures, Anya would have been happy to get that time away from work, but it was difficult for her to remain seated when all these bulls were causing some of the most debaucherous thoughts the gryphon had ever imagined to emerge. It took a great force of will to push them all down, as they came one after another, each one taking a toll and sparking her arousal bit by bit.

The space between her legs had slowly moistened, becoming dewy against her will, the room was becoming increasingly stuffy as her body heat rose a few degrees, before Rubric finally returned, the three diamond dogs he had hired at his side.

“Get up you two, we’re leaving,” Rubric said, commanding his subordinates.

“Good!” Anya said in a hushed yell, trying not to draw attention to herself as her body shot right up, standing up as fast as her legs would allow, more than ready to leave.

“Are… you ok?” Rubric asked Anya, such behavior impossible to ignore, nor was her semi-spread wings, and slightly flushed completion, which was showing under her feathers.

“I’m fine.” Anya said back, being very short with her response, “I just want to get out of here. We have to get back to the Waystone, right?”

Anya slid out into the aisles, Catrina still attached to her wrist, rushing past Rubric and the diamond dogs as she made her way towards the stone, with the abyssian having to keep up with her pace to prevent being dragged along. Rubric sent a sideways glance to Bacchus as he got up as well, who responded to it with a shrug, having no clue what Anya had been going on inside her mind.

“Come on girls,” he said to his new diamond dog employees, “Time to put you to use.”

The three dogs complied, following Rubric as he went the same path Anya had, as she did go the most direct way to get to the Waystone. If the gryphon thought they were heading back to the warehouse, she was only partially right. Rubric needed to see to something first, and that would end them up somewhere not quiet where she assumed.

The Quality of a Diamond

It took a little longer for the Waystone to be opened, since Schorl was needed for its use, and she was busy triple tasking running auction, making sure the contracts were filled out, and keeping the diamond dogs themselves in check once they started to get bored and antsy with the process, but when she finally was able to operate the Waystone, Rubric’s group was first in line.

The moment the portal was active, Anya went through, raising a little more suspicion with Rubric, since she had been acting strange all day. She didn’t care though, as her need to get away from the herd of minotaur in the room was far too great to worry about manners. She was surprised to see that the other side led to an area that was outside for a change, but was glad to get a breath of fresh air for the first time since she started working for The Society, taking deep breaths to clear out the minotaur musk that had accumulated in her lungs.

Catrina, still leashed and nude, went through with the gryphon, having been pulled along for the entirety of Anya’s fleeing from the auction room. Being at the mercy of the tether, the abyssian did her best to not get tugged along, so when Anya stepped through the stone, she went right after, with no hesitation. Now on the other side though, she had an obvious question to ask.

“Where are we?”

Anya took a moment to actually take in her surroundings, and she couldn’t really say where they had ended up. It was a large, open area, surrounded by trees and large rock formations, as if it were a clearing in the center of a forest. There was training equipment scattered about, similar to the training room at the facility she worked at, but it was less of the obstacle courses, and more just general equipment like barbells and practice dummies.

“Surprised by what you see?” Rubric said, coming through the waystone himself, the rest of their odd group coming out after, “This is an open training ground we developed after conquering a village of kirin. Me and my brethren pillaged and dismantled their homes, leaving nothing behind. The spot you stand on is the site where their species resided, hidden within a mountain, away from the prying eyes of other creatures.”

“Is this in Minopolis?” Anya asked, wondering for a moment if the minotaur had made a mistake, and brought her right to the destination she was working for him to get to.

“Equestria,” he said, “The far outskirts of it, at least.”

Anya knew it was wishful thinking to assume Rubric would have made such an error, but if he had she would have taken to the sky the first opportunity she got, and started her search for Scylla and Pathfinder.

“You can unleash the pussy now,” Rubric added, “We have blocked off every exit that can be reached on foot, so she won’t get anywhere.”

Anya did as she was told, and unclipped the leash from Catrina’s collar. Now separated from the gryphon, she took a few steps away from her, and to the only source of safety she believed was present, that being her owner. Though she had only been his possession for little over an hour, he wouldn’t want something that was his to be harmed. At least, that is what she assumed.

“So what are we doing here?” Anya asked, “I thought we were going back to the warehouse.”

“You were in so much of a rush, you didn’t hear me tell the crystal mare to send us here.” Rubric said, though even if she had, she might have been surprised to see they didn’t go back, since the places the Waystones were located were only referred to by a cite number, and not the name of the place they were kept. “I also gave her instructions to open the portal for us after two hours, so we can get back once we are done.”

“So we’re going to do more training,” Anya asked, figuring out that was the plan. It was one she was more than willing to agree to too, since the exercise would help her to work off some of her sexually charged tension.

“I didn't mean all of you,” Rubric corrected, “We are here mostly to see what these three bitches are capable of.”

“Boss says e’ wanted to mak sure we was worth the gems, girls.” The three diamond dogs moved in front of the minotaur, placing themselves between Rubric and Anya, the shepherd doing so first, and the other two following her lead. “Let’s show’m wha three bitches can do.”

Bacchus, amused by the behavior of the tiny canine, let out a bit of snark. “What are ya gonna have them do? Fetch a ball? Tug on a rope? Send the cat into the woods and have them sniff her out?”

“Those aren’t bad ideas,” Rubric answered, “They are dogs, and should be capable of doing what a dog can. Do you have a gag on you?”

“A gag? Why would you want- Ohhhhh… I get it.” Bacchus reached for a pouch on his person, and pulled out one of the mouth gags that he happened to have on his person. One with a large, red ball as its gagging mechanism. “How bout it doggies, you want to play?”

Anya scoffed to herself at how Bacchus was being his usual, disrespectful self. Minotaur all had a habit of using terms like ‘cat’, ‘bird’, or what have you to refer to other creatures, but that wasn’t a trait that was restricted to only their kind. Diamond dogs themselves often referred to others by their race, which seemed to stem from their lower than average intelligence. Bachuss really liked the idea of treating others like lessers, though, only ever speaking to other minotaur like equals. While diamond dogs were closely related to wild dogs, they were still intelligent beings, and Anya assumed that being treated like animals would sit as well with them as much as being treated like a fuck toy sat well with her.

To the gryphon’s surprise though, the three dogs’ ears perked up once they saw the round, red object in the minotaur’s hand, and they rushed right over to him as they figured out what was going on.

“Aren’t you all energetic,” Bacchus said, moving the ball around, with each motion making the dogs’ heads turn to keep their eyes locked onto it. Mattie even went for the gag when Bacchus put it down low enough that she thought she could get it, leaping up with her jaw wide open, just to have the bull shoot his arm straight up to get it away from her. “Ah, ah, not so fast.”

“So here’s how this will go,” Rubric said, addressing the three diamond dogs, who were too fixated on the ballgag to pull their attention away to face him, “Bacchus is going to toss this across the field. The three of you will do your best to get it first, and then bring it back to me. I’ll be keeping track of which one of you can get it back to me, and with that I’ll figure out what task you’ll be best at when we go to get more slaves.”

None of the dogs responded, all so focused on the ball that it was a wonder if they even heard what Rubric had said to them.
“Go ahead and toss it,” Rubric instructed his second in command, to which Bacchus launched the ball gag at what looked to be a half mile away.

The moment the ball left the minotaur’s hand, the three dogs were after it, giving a quick turn on spot, going to all fours, and bolting after the object. The shepherd was the first to start her sprint, her reaction time a bit better than her two associates, making it a few feet away before the other two could make a single step. The spaniel was next, following right behind the group’s leader, while the large pyrenees took up the rear, lumbering behind with her much larger body. Despite it looking like the pyrenees would be incapable of catching up, she still gave her all to go after the ball, seemingly more concerned with the chase than actually coming out on top.

“I’ve heard of ponies doing things like this to distract diamond dogs in the past,” Anya said, once she thought the trio was out of earshot, “But I always thought it was something ponies came up with in order to call them dumb.”

“Have you interacted with diamond dogs?” Rubric asked, curious if all of Anya’s knowledge of them was secondhand.

“A few times,” she answered, “But not for extended periods of time. Ponies with bad intentions sometimes use them as henchmen, and I have dealt with my fair share trying to ruffle my feathers.”

“So you’ve never tried to talk to one,” Rubric followed up.

“You don’t really strike up a conversation with someone trying to tie you down and hold you hostage.” Anya answered.

“I don’t know,” Bacchus said, keeping an eye on the three dogs, “I’ve had plenty of good talks with the slaves I’ve tied up. Though usually what they have to say is ‘ugh, uggghhh, AHHH!’.”

Anya gave the minotaur a stern glare from her peripherals, unamused by his immitations of his victims, assumedly as he raped them. She would have thought this was typical minotaur humor, if not for how deadpanned Rubric was at the comment as well.

“Hey… you think the diamond bitches would like to play with a stick after this?” he added, crudely referring to his penis.

“Keep it in your pants,” Rubric replied, “You know the rules. No small races aside from the dragons.”

“Oh come on,” Anya scoffed, “You’re telling me you have rules against something like this?”

“Yes,” Rubric answered, “Because most species smaller than a pony can’t take our cocks without tearing, even with our potions. Could you imagine a minotaur trying to force themselves on the smallest of those three?”

Anya tried to, and couldn’t think of a way it was possible, without outright destroying the girl.

“We minotaur have certain laws, even with our slaves, which prevent us form doing things that would cause permanent damage or death.” Rubric briefly explained, “Which are strictly upheld.”

“Yeah…” Bacchus agreed, “But it doesn’t mean I can’t get them to suck my dick. Not to mention that big one is almost the size of a pony, just short.”

“Focus on the task at hand,” Rubric reiterated, “I get that your excited with this new species in front of you, but these dogs are for working, not fucking. Remember, we have a much bigger prize down the road.”

As Anya and the minotaur talked amongst themselves, the dogs caught up with the ball gag, the first one to rach it being the spaniel, as she managed to run past Mattie, and snatch up the ball gag while her group leader was still a foot away, doing it in midrun. Without stopping, the smaller diamond dog had to curve her sprint to turn back towards the minotaur waiting for the prize now resting in her mouth, but now was faced with another problem.

Just as she had set up a straight run back to Rubric, Mattie dived right at her, determined to get the ball for herself. This was unexpected by the ones watching from the sidelines, since this wasn’t really supposed to be competition, and nothing was at stake here, but the smaller dog was well prepared, and dodged by leaping over the shepherd. Mattie immediately started stumbling to reroute herself, shifting in the dirt to stop her momentum, but the time it took for her to do that was more than enough to give the cocker spaniel enough distance away.

Her leader wasn’t her only obstacle, however, because the pyrenees, despite being last place in this race for the round, red object, had not yet given up on it, and was on a collision course for her pint-sized partner. The spaniel was less than half the size of the pyrenees, and didn’t have nearly the muscle mass of the larger canine, so if she got caught, the ball was as good as gone. She had to out maneuver the other female if she wanted to keep the ball, but getting around her huge body wasn’t going to be as easy as it was with the shepard.

So she didn’t. With a bit of quick thinking, working mostly on reflex, the cocker spaniel prepared herself for another jump, which was what the pyrenees was expecting, leaping upwards herself. Instead of trying to hop over the larger dog though, the spaniel dived forward, going underneath the gap created by the pyrenees’ actions, sliding past her in the dirt, before going right back into a run. Even with Mattie course corrected at this point, the rest of the sprint back to Rubric was unimpeded, and the spaniel ended up sitting on her butt right in front of him, happily holding the now slobber covered ball in her mouth, as she panted heavily.

“Looks like we have a winner,” Bacchus said, lowering his hand in front of the spaniel’s face to be given back the gag.

The small diamond dog complied, dropping the ball gag right into his hand, twitching a little on spot as if she was expecting him to throw it again.

“So what’s your name, girl?” Bacchus asked, wiping the dog’s spit off of the bondage tool, and returning it into his pouch.

“Claire…” said the spaniel, a little dejected that the game of fetch was over.

“Those were some decent moves out there,” Anya said, congratulating the smaller dog, “But you three did know it wasn’t a competition, right?”

“Well, yeah…” Clair said, “But you can’t throw a ball and not expect dogs to not fight over it.”

As the spaniel gave her answer, the other two diamond dogs made it back to the minotaur, taking their time as they knew they had been beaten.

“Mattie, your underling here has implied that if someone throws a ball, you’ll be compelled to chase it.” Rubric stated, “Is this going to be a problem I have to worry about?”

“Don’ ya worry,” the shepherd answered, “Wees know how t’ control ourselves whin needed.”

“I hope so,” Rubric said, “Cause I’d hate for a target to escape because they threw a round object right before they got captured.”

“So what’s next?” Mattie asked, taking note that the ball had been put away.

“I tested your speed,” Rubric answered, “So now I want to test your strength. The targets I have in mind for you are powerful, so you’ll need some kind of muscle behind your group in order to handle them.”

Rubric took a moment to look around, looking at a bit of rope left on the ground, a small remains of the buildings the minotaur had dismantled and hauled away.

“Over there,” he said, pointing to one such stray item littering the area, “Clair, you’re the fastest, so go ahead and grab that rope real quick.”

“Right!” She said, running off to retrieve the rope, snagging it up in her mouth just as she did the ballgag, before running back with its end trailing a half foot behind her sprint.

As she made her way back to the others, Rubric crouched down, awaiting her arrival, taking hold of the other end of the rope as soon as she came close enough.

”Now, I’m gonna pull on this with a bit of my power, and I want you to hold on the best you can.” said the minotaur, wrapping the rope once around his wrist.

Claire gave a nod, along with a playful growl, keeping the rope held in her mouth. Rubric, understanding this was the dog’s preferred way of holding the object, and that it allowed her to use both her arms and legs to pull against him.

Rubric gave it a little tug, which startled the spaniel when the smallest amount of force from the bull pulled her right off her paws, yanking her forward a little. After that brief bit of shock, Claire knew it was on, and started tugging with all her might, mimicking the movements of a wild dog, growling as she gave tug after tug on the rope.

As much effort as she put into it, she wasn’t getting so much of a budge out of Rubric’s arm. He just stayed crouched, body stiff as a statue, as the dog fruitlessly put her all into it. When the minotaur thought he had seen enough, he gave a slightly harder tug than before, which caused the rope to fly out of Claire’s mouth, the grip of her teeth not enough to keep hold.

Her animal instincts had the diamond dog going after the rope as soon as she noticed it was on longer in her possession, but the minotaur stopped her by placing her free hand on her head and pushing back.

“Your turn is done.” he said, “Go sit somewhere, and let one of the others have a go.

Claire was disappointed, having enjoyed the small games the minotaur was playing with her, but she obeyed, finding a spot not far away to plant her butt down and wait.

“Then I’s guess it’s my turn, izzit now.” Mattie said, stepping up to the challenge. She picked up the free end of the rope with her hand, but then did as Claire, putting it in her mouth. Rubric gave her a moment to get ready, and then gave the rope a tug to signal the start.

While the diamond dog’s leader was a bit stronger than Claire, she didn’t show any real difference from the spaniel’s attempt, showing just how wide the gap was between the minotaur’s power, and the dogs. Rubric could gauge that she was stronger though, so the test did give him the information he needed, especially when she wouldn’t let go when he tried to yank the rope away like before.

“Ok, you get a passing grade,” Rubric conceded, “Go sit by Claire, and let the last one have a go at it.”

Mattie gave a smirk, and spat out the rope, seeing that she had to be told to stop as a win on her part. With that bit of satisfaction taken from the test, she gladly took a seat, ready to watch the pyrenees take her turn, as she had an idea that she would enjoy what was about to come.

“You’re up,” Rubric said, picking up the end of the rope the dogs had been using, and offering it to the final member of their group.

The pyrenees, having waited patiently, stepped up to take her turn. Seeing the size of this particular diamond dog, Rubric got up from his crouch, expecting more out of her than the other two. The minotaur took the opportunity to give the rope one more coil around his wrist, then offered the other end of it to the huge dog.

“I take it you’re the group muscle,” Rubric said, having completely based that assumption of her size alone.

The pyrenees returned a nod in silence, taking the end of the rope given to her, and putting a quick knot into it before shoving it into her mouth. Rubric raised a brow to this, as the dog went to all fours, hunkering down her front half, as she prepared for the struggle to come.

Rubric gave a small hum, and then began the test with a moderate tug, which the pyrenees responded to by pulling back with much more force than her partners. Not only did she manage to make Rubric’s arm budge, but she managed to have him move forward slightly, with one hoof coming off the ground an inch before planting itself firmly in the dirt.

“Not bad,” Rubric said aloud, “But how about this?”

The minotaur flexed his muscle, pulling in the pyrenees, despite her using her paws to anchor herself in the ground. After a few seconds, Rubric relaxed his arm, and immediately the diamond dog regained the ground she lost. He tried to go for a second flex, but the pyrenees prevented it by flailing her head around, pulling back against him with all the force she could, pushing backwards with all four limbs at once in between her wild shakes.

This continued for a few minutes, as Rubric tested the diamond dog over and over. Her jaw grip was excellent, the rope never slipping from it, and her strength was enough to easily overpower a medium sized species like a pony or a gryphon. It still wasn’t really enough to take on a minotaur in more than this playful tug-o-war, having to use her whole body just to compete with a single arm of the bull, but for a creature of her size, there was reason for the minotaur to be impressed.

There was something exhilarating in seeing this kind of power in a creature like a diamond dog, who was normally looked down upon by practically every other species of the known world. As sweat formed on both his and her bodies, getting a good bit of exercise in the hot sun, a distinct tightness could be felt forming in his loincloth. The bull, in his excitement, was becoming a bit aroused, enjoying this opportunity to put his muscles to use against another creature. The blood in his body pumped heavily, both from exerting himself, and being increasingly turned on. Bacchus was right, as there were some attractive qualities to at least one of these canine girls.

Rubric, making a decision on how to deal with the feelings coming over him, put all that pent up energy into pulling the dog to him by the rope, scooting her across the ground like he had at the start, until she was front and center with him. Now in range, he used his free hand to take her by the muzzle, and bend her head upwards to look him in the eye.

“Drop it,” said Rubric, the way he spoke those two words resonating with such commanding presence that the pyrenees did so immediately.

From there, Rubric tossed the rope aside, but kept his hand held on the pyrenees’ muzzle, looking her in the eye, as if imprinting his commanding visage onto her. The diamond dog, in return, did nothing, except stare into his gaze, unable to look away from his dominating presence. The minotaur was bigger, stronger, and technically was her boss, though the shepherd more directly filled that role, so it was just second nature to not want to do anything that might upset him, and ruin the opportunity this employment gave the trio.

Rubic kept this hold for about half a minute, to the point that it was becoming as uncomfortable for those watching as it was the pyrenees who had to go through it. At least Anya felt that way, since she could tell the minotaur was ‘asserting’ himself over the dog. Bacchus probably didn’t care, because he wanted to do the same thing. Catrina probably didn’t care, cause she would have to deal with worse once she and Rubric were alone. And the other diamond dogs, they weren’t showing any signs of interceding in this, staying seated like they were instructed.

“Good girl,” Rubric finally said, releasing the pyrenees, “You showed a good deal of strength, as well as excellent self control by not fighting against me. I can see you’re a good asset to your leader.”

After all that, the pyrenees appeared nonplussed, as any other creature in her position would have headed to the hills the moment they were released, having been basically threatened by the minotaur. There she was though, not showing any kind of fear from the interaction, nor anger at being put in such a position, just a bit of confusion as wiggled her nose a bit, after being held in place for so long.

“Now that we’ve finished that test,” Rubric said, stepping to the side so he could focus on removing some of the sexual tension he had built up in the contest of strength, “Let’s move on to your next test.”

Bacchus, noticing how two of his suggestions had already been used, grew a grin on his face. “So, are we gonna have the dogs hunt down the cat now?”

“Not quite,” Rubric answered, “I’d hate to have my property get lost if they can’t track properly.”

“Ey!” Mattie yelled, “Al ave ya know our sniffers are perfect at finnin’ things!”

“Still, I want you to find someone who’ll be able to come back under their own power,” Rubric said, turning his attention to the nearby gryphon, “Anya, let me have one of your feathers, and go hide in the forest.”

“Me?” questioned Anya, finally turning back towards the minotaur, his dick now limp, but still exposed as he hadn’t gone to the effort of putting his loincloth back on. While this was a bit unnerving, it was enough to keep her urges down.

“Yes,” Rubric answered, “You’ll cover more ground than the pussy, and you’re less likely to get stuck somewhere than someone in bondage gear. Also, I can’t trust her yet to not make an escape attempt, drug addiction or not.”

Catrina stayed silent, as she didn’t seem to want to get involved. Of everyone here, she was the only slave, and too new to know what was permitted and when. As far as she knew, speaking out of turn was a fast lane to a swift punishment. If anything, she appreciated that this status gave her an out to doing physical activities, since her body was in no condition for strenuous exercise.

“Fiiiiinnneee,” Anya said, plucking one of her wing feathers out, holding it out for Rubric, “But do you know how degrading this is?”

“You help put kidnapped ponies into forced servitude to other creatures,” Rubric rebutted, taking the feather, “Your concept of humiliation is incredibly skewed for someone who does that.”

“Noted,” Anya said, seeing Rubric’s point. Though by the logic of The Society, slaves were meant to suffer through indignities that their betters would never have to endure. She was starting to see that applied to some degree to the grunts as well.

“Don’t be angry,” Bacchus said, “He just knows that you’ll provide more sport than a tied up cat. With those wings, you’d probably be a mile away before he sends the dogs after you.”

Anya figured that was Bacchus’ best try at a compliment, so she let the comment about being used for sport slide. Spreading her wings open, the gryphon gave them a small beat to lift herself off the ground.

“Just find a good place to hide, and stay there,” Rubric said, before Anya could get away, “No need to run if they find you. This is just to test their tracking abilities, not their ability to capture a target.”

“Got it,” Anya said, taking off for real this time, flying right for some trees in the distance, that looked to line the cliffside of the mountain crevice they were training in.

Slipping into the trees, Anya only went straight for a few more feet, to make sure she was out of line of sight, then made a shape turn around a tree. If Rubric wanted to test these diamond dogs, she was going to give them a good challenge. Being that they were canines, she was certain that their noses could track her if given the chance, but she wasn’t going to make it easy.

The gryphon wasn’t going to go so far as to cover herself in mud or anything, but she had ideas on how to delay them for as long as possible, and give her a moment to truly relax away from her boss for a while. First thing she had to do was confuse them, fly around a bit, stay low to the ground, and disrupt as much of the foliage and soil as she could, while scattering around some loose feathers to give them the idea that she was in this area. She had to do all this while staying on the move, as she didn’t know how much time she was being given before the dogs would be after her.

Once everything looked nice and disrupted, Anya took to flying just below the tree branches, hoping that at that altitude she wouldn’t be leaving behind much of a scent to track. The moment one of the dogs figured out what direction she had gone, the game would pretty much be over, so now all she needed to do was make distance. She could have disrupted another section of the woods, and doubled back, but she was still assuming that the dogs could be after her any second. With that in her mind, there really wasn’t enough time to create some elaborate series of deceptive distractions to detour the diamond dogs from her location.

Besides, the less deceptive traces she left little behind was also a way to lead the dogs off the trail, as they could easily think she was giving them a false trail, and that could have them running in circles. It was a strategy of outsmarting them by making a purposefully dumb move, one that would very likely get her caught if she were being pursued for real, but in this kind of test, the diamond dogs could have pre-assumed notions that Anya was trying to trick them, when they actually weren’t, and that would be the real trick. It wasn’t really a brilliant plan, nor did Anya need it to be, but it would appropriately test if the dogs could track via the details of their surroundings.

Anya, having put as much effort in this plan as she wanted, all she figured she needed to do was find a good place to put herself. The branches of a tree was a good idea, but seeing as she could fly, that was an obvious place for her to hide. Instead she flew until she found a tree that was hollowed out near the base by age and rot, and settled down there.

And now we wait, she thought to herself, taking a deep breath to expel some stress as she settled in.

Then she realized, this was the first moment in a while that she had to herself. At The Society’s facilities, she was always around ‘co-workers’, both gryphons and minotaur alike. They worked in the same slave trafficking warehouse, ate in the same break room, took cleaned themselves off in a communal shower, which was something Anya had to get used to quickly seeing her recent minotaur fixation. All that time together, all the noise from those she in many ways found morally repugnant, which she had to endure each day.

Perhaps that description was taking it too far, seeing as she had no moral qualms herself in anything her fellow gryphons or The Society were doing, only that they targeted people close to her, but that one detail alone put a bad taste in her beak when it came to helping them further their goals. If only there was some work around to finding Path and Scylla quicker, but with the way The Society was set up, it didn’t seem like she’d ever get that opportunity. It was a pain, but she really did have to play ball until her contract was up, and she was given their location as part of her payment.

Anya did her best to put that out of her mind for now, and just enjoy the peace of the forest encircling the vacant remains of a pillaged village, the fate of the surely enslaved inhabitants weighing no burden on her conscience. If she was lucky, she wouldn’t be found till the Waystone was reactivated, and it was time to go back to the warehouse. All that time to herself, not having to think about or repress the sexual imagry of minotaur violation that had been plaguing her, would be nice.

Whether it was the distance she traveled, or the diversions she made, Anya managed to buy herself a bit of time to unwind, and twenty minutes later she was still unfound. She was wondering if Rubric would be mad that she made him wait so long, or would be happy that she tested the dogs to their limit. It didn’t matter to her how he felt, since she was just doing what she was told, and thus she couldn’t reasonably be in trouble for it.

It was getting kinda dull just laying about, however, and her state of mind was slowly shifting from clear headed and relaxed, to just being bored. Anya wanted to do something to occupy herself, like humming, but she knew that sound would just give her away if one of the dogs just happened to be nearby. Instead, she took to silently tapping a foot on the ground, using it to simulate the rhythm of a song she knew. It was all she could really do to stave off the boredom, save for taking a nap, but while it helped in that regard, it was probably the biggest mistake she could have made.

Her tapping went on for maybe another minute, until suddenly, the earth shifted from underneath her, and to her surprise, a paw popped out from it and grabbed her by the ankle. Following right after the hand was an arm, then a head, and the full body of the shepherd.

“Gotcha,” she said, shaking the dirt off her body, flicking some onto Anya in the process.

“Watch it!” Anya yelled, not from surprise that the dog got the drop on her from underneath, as that ability was well known of their kind, but because shielding herself from the specks flying toward her face with her arms. Once the dust settled down, her hostility died, and she said calmly, “So you sniffed me out, huh?”

“Mosta’ the way,” Mattie said, letting the gyphon go, “But trail went cold while back. Had t’ go t’ plan B.”

“What’s that?” Anya said, climbing out of the tree trunk, so she could stand up and dust herself off.

“Trakin’ the vibrations yu’s were makin’.” Mattie said, climbing out after, “Wes diamond dogs can feel the movement above ground when wes below ground. Tooka while forya t’ start movin, but I’s gotta bead on ya as soon as ya did.”

The foot tapping… Anya figured, Well it was about time to wrap this up anyways.

“Ok, you got me.” Anya conceded, finding her part in this test, and its conclusion, fairly dull. She was happy for that though, and the time away from The Society’s operations that it provided, “Let’s go back and let Rubric know.”

The gryphon and the shepherd exited the woods, and upon exiting Mattie put her fingers to her lips, using them to make a loud whistle. Not long after that, Clair and the pyrenees came out into the open as well, summoned by the call of their leader.

“Finally found her, I see.” Rubric commented as they approached, “Took a little longer than I intended.”

“That’s my fault,” said Anya, willing to take the blame, “I did a bunch of things to set them off course. Things above and beyond what you asked for.”

“So you hid and it took them a while to find you,” Rubric reiterated, “Just like I asked you to. You don’t need to take the blame on something like this. It just means we have something to work on, which was part of the purpose of this test.”

“I guess you got a point,” Anya said, seeing that her minotaur boss wasn’t taking this as a failure on the dog’s part, but strictly as a way to see what areas they needed to improve in.

Now that the three things Bacchus suggested were through, most of the group thought that this first go at training was over. Unlike the obstacle course at the facility, there wasn’t any equipment to run drills with, so unless they were just going to repeat the previous test until their time was up, there was nothing left to do but wait. At least, that’s what they thought.

“Bacchus, you’re up.” Rubric said suddenly, looking at the other bull.

“Huh?” Bacchus replied, not being told beforehand what his employer had planned.

“You’re gonna be the last one to test the abilities of our dogs,” Rubric said, “By doing what you can to fend them off as they try to take you down.”

“You sure about that?” Bacchus said, looking at the three girls, “I don’t think they stand much of a chance, even if I hold back.”

“You’re pretty strong,” Rubric said, “Enough to be my second, but there is more to capturing slaves than only pure power.”

“Ok, if that’s what you want…” replied Bacchus, stepping out into the area where he threw the ball gag earlier, “But don’t blame me if they get hurt.”

“Just keep it to a normal fight,” Rubric said as the younger bull walked away, “I don’t want you molesting them in the middle of battle.”

“Something tells me that won’t be a problem,” Anya said quietly as she came aside Rubric, “Diamond dogs might be weak, and not very clever, but… well just watch.”

Mattie, hearing the gryphon’s backhanded compliment, gave a brief snarl to avian, before she told her associates to follow her with a wave, and stepped out into the field themselves.

Bacchus, seeing their approach, readied himself for what fight they might put up. He wasn’t really worried about the two smaller dogs, but he had seen how the pyrenees handled herself against Rubric. She might not have been minotaur strength, but she was still pretty strong, at least enough that she could do something.

Keeping his eye on her as the three dogs approached, a good distance away at the moment, Bacchus almost missed the other two hopping off the ground, and diving paws first into the ground in front of them, each burrowing so fast that it looked like they were plunging into water, the dirt getting dug out so fast that it barely impeded the two canines.

“There they go,” Anya stated, expecting this tactic, “Diamond Dogs are incredibly skilled at burrowing through dirt and rock. They dig out entire cave structures in their search for gemstones, but they are lacking when it comes to actually finding them, sometimes digging right around them.”

“Cave structures, you say?” Rubic repeated back, thinking about the practical purposes for that skill.

As the two spoke on the matter, the pyrenees charged at Bacchus, being the only dog still above ground. It looked like she was going to go head on, which was exactly what the minotaur was hoping for, as if he could take her down, whatever the other two were planning didn’t matter.

Bacchus braced for impact as the large diamond dog closed in, solidly planting his hooves into the dirt, and spreading his arms in preparation to catch her. When she got into about a foot of him, the pyrenees instead made a sudden stop, and bent her knees to do an underhanded scoop into the ground, snagging a large portion of it in her large paw, before chucking what she had gathered at her opponent.

Being as large as he was, and that this attack had came out of nowhere, the minotaur couldn’t dodge it at such range, only able to defend himself as the sizable clump of dirt flew right at his face. Putting both his arms in front of him, forming a barrier with his massive forceps, the dirt ball erupting against the shield of muscle on touch. He didn’t have even a second to react after that though, as the pyrenees followed up by ramming her shoulder squarely into his abs.

It was a solid hit, pushing him back a few meters as his hooves skid backwards, but it barely made the minotaur react otherwise. The bull was built like a mountain, with rock hard abs to match. He might feel a little sore later, but he could take a single hit like that, and now the pyrenees was in his range. Bacchus lowered his arms, flicking them to the sides so he could go in for a grab. Once the big dog was in his clutches, she’d never be able to get away, and he could do with her as he pleased. The only thought he had on this was that it was a shame he couldn’t enjoy himself with the dog after, but showing off his superiority would have to do for now. Bacchus’ hands swooped down, moving in on the dog that only stood at stomach height to him.

The pyrenees was not a nimble creature, so she couldn’t recover from her tackle in time to avoid the hands coming down to grab her. Fortunately, she didn’t have to, as the two other members of her team popped up from out of the ground, prepped and ready to intercede. The shepherd was first, leaping from a hole she had made near where the minotaur was standing, a lassoed rope in her hand. With a well aimed toss, she snagged one of Bacchus’ arms by the wrist, the feeling of his appendage getting caught enough to draw his attention away from the dog he had been fighting.

“Isn’t that?” Rubric mumbled to himself, looking around him for the rope he had used in the tug-of war earlier, only to find that it was gone, and that a hole in the ground was left in its place. None of the observers, Rubric, Anya, or Catrina, had noticed that one of the dogs, most likely Mattie, had taken the time to get the item.

Though the minotaur was roped by the wrist, he really wasn’t in any danger of being beaten. As shown earlier, the shepherd wasn’t strong enough to outmatch a bull. With a simple yank of his arm, the shepard would fly forward and face plant, making the effort useless. This was where Claire made her move.

The smaller spaniel dashed out of her own tunnel, and snatched the rope before Bacchus could perform his action. He went through with pulling his arm back to his chest, but with the smaller diamond dog’s speed, she closed the space between the two, making the rope’s length slack, which in turn made the minotaur’s show of strength have no effect. With a now limp rope in her grasp, Claire dashed to where the minotaur was standing, and darted around and in between his legs several times.

Bacchus wasn’t completely oblivious to what the spaniel was planning, but he couldn’t do much to stop her when the pyrenees was still right in front of him, keeping him preoccupied with more blows to his gut, that threatened to topple him as he had to shift his legs to maintain balance, while contending with the ropes that tangled around his hooves. The pyrenees and the spaniel were working well together, combining their speed and strength to overcome the obstacle that Bacchus represented, and as they did, Mattie did her part by borrowing back into the ground, creating some new tunnels, which traveled over behind the minotaur, creating an opening, that she continued to work on once made.

After a fer more laps around Bacchus’ legs, Mattie slipped in front of the pyrenees for a brief second, pushing her end of the rope into the bigger dog’s paws, before going to help her leader to make the entrance to their constructed tunnels much bigger than needed for either of them. What was once a small section of missing ground was quickly turning into a large hole that looked big enough to fit an adult pony through.

Seeing the progress the other two dogs had made, the pyrenees gave Bacchus one final shoulder tackle, before giving the rope in her hand a good pull. With the other end still tied around the minotaur’s wrist, the rope encircling his ankles tightened into a jumbled coil, forcing his legs together, and combined with the hit, managed to get the Bacchus to fall over.

The pyrenees wasn’t done though, as the second the mighty minotaur’s beefy body hit the ground, she leapt over him, right to where the other two dogs had been making their hole. In no time they had doubled its size, and with the rope tightly tangled around Bacchus’ ankles, the large diamond dog dove into the tunnel, taking the rope in with her, and having her associates follow in after.

Bacchus, recovering from both the impact he had made with the ground, and the embarrassment he felt from allowing himself to be pushed over by the does, started to pick himself up, just in time for the rope leading away from his legs to go tight, and his body to be dragged across the ground. It was surprising for the bull, to say the least, as he didn’t think that the pyrenees had that much strength in her, and he would be right. Though he couldn’t see it at the time, it took the effort of all three dogs, as well as the use of some leverage created by pulling the rope around one of the tunnel’s bends, to get the bull to move. He found himself pulled into the tunnel, which he didn’t know about till saw his lower body slip into its mouth, followed by the rest of him as he disappeared from sight.

The diamond dog’s plan to beat Bacchus was brilliant, an excellent show of how the trio could capture creatures much bigger than themselves. The only problem was that they were dealing with a minotaur, and one that had been holding himself back. While Bacchus hadn’t planned to be dragged underground, the three canines had pulled the partially bound bull right to them, and unlike some weaker creatures, the tight tunnels they crafted to restrict his movements wasn’t going to be enough. While Anya and Catrina believed the winner of the fight had been decided, Rubric patiently waited for something neither of the two women could have anticipated.

Not even a minute after the bull had been pulled under, the ground erupted, as the minotaur pushed away the obstruction it presented. It took a decent amount of the minotaur’s strength to do it, but to a creature like him several feet of dirt was like brushing aside a thick layer of sand. He didn’t escape the trap alone either, as he had caught all three diamond dogs by the neck, holding the two smaller ones in one hand, while the pyrenees got the other hand to herself. The three could have probably tried to escape the hold, and continue fighting, but they were each a bit too shocked to try, as they really didn’t anticipate this battle to go beyond that point. That the bovine could just brute force himself out of that situation, which took a good amount of effort and coordination to create, was a sign that they really couldn’t win.

Bacchus, with the dogs in hand, walked his way back to Rubric, and dropped them in front of him. “Did you get what you wanted out of that?” He asked with some annoyance, as he went to the process of brushing the dirt off of him, his fur having collected a large portion of it when he unburied himself from the tunnels.

“I believe I have,” Rubric said, looking at the defeated diamond dogs, “And I have to say, I’m actually impressed with their overall performance.”

“Impressed?” Bacchus asked, coming off as slightly repulsed by the notion, “You think what they did was impressive?”

“They did manage to drag you off,” Catrina said, having been herself amazed that the three small dogs were capable of doing that much.

“Shut up, pussy,” Bacchus said, being more blatant with his annoyance. It was becoming more clear to those listening to the minotaur that his issues were with how he had been shown up, than any perceived lack of skill from the dogs.

“My cat has a point though,” said Rubric, ignoring his second in command’s indigence, “The abilities they have shown, unrefined as they are, are something that we could use. They might not have worked against you, but think of what would happen to a lesser creature in your place.”

Bacchus thought about it, and realized that his boss was right in this matter, “Yeah, other creatures wouldn’t have been able to get away so easily.” The minotaur took a moment to flex, showing off his beefy muscles, “It’s not like they have the raw power I possess.”

“You’re fairly strong, even when it comes to other minotaur,” Rubric agreed, “But you still have a vulnerable ego. If you didn’t think that you’d lose, then you shouldn’t let a small setback like this affect you so much. It was a minor failure, so don’t let it get in the way of seeing the potential of useful employees.”

“Fine,” Bacchus said bluntly, looking down at the canines, “You three did good. I really wasn’t expecting you to get as far as you did.”

Claire gave a smile to the complement, while Mattie reacted with slight hostility as she turned her head away and huffed, hating that the minotaur was so close to losing outright, but overcoming what was a brilliant plan because he was just too strong.

“I think that you might have upset the alpha,” noted Rubric, “But a lesson in humility is good for both of you.”

“Humility don put gems i’ma poket,” said the shepherd, “An’ I’s was hoppin’ to make a new deal with u’s once we’s showed off wha’ we’s can do.”

“I see,” Rubric said, “Not a day in, and you’re already wanting to renegotiate your contract.”

At the utterance of those words, Claire's ears perked up, and she inserted herself into the conversation, “Please forgive our leader. She just thinks that we are hard workers, and deserve more than any of the other dogs.” Diamond Dogs were generally not that smart, but the way the cocker spaniel leaped in at the mention of their contract hinted that she might have been paying attention to some of the things that might void it.

“Don’t worry,” Rubric replied, “Well I can understand wanting to be rightfully compensated for your talents. From what I’ve seen though, I do think you are being fairly compensated for what you are capable of, especially since my payments usually match with the higher bids of my brethren. Let me ask you this though, You three are just doing this for the gems, am I correct?”

The three dogs nodded, as if the minotaur had said a magic word that compelled their actions.

“So if there was an easy way to get gems, that didn’t risk your safety or freedoms, would you do it?” Rubric asked, clearly leading into a proposal.

“Depeens,” Mattie said, though her intrigue was visible, “Wha’cha got in mind?”

“I would like to… double your payment,” Rubric said, catching the attention of everyone present.

“Boss, you can’t be-” Bacchus started to object, but Rubric stopped him by lifting up a finger.

“If you’d agree to letting me, and the rest of my men touch you as we please, with no complaints, then I’ll double any pay you make.”

“Esat’ all?” Mattie asked, not seeing a problem with the bull’s new terms, “Not gonna change ya’ min’ later?”

“Not at all,” Rubric confirmed, “I think that it would just benefit all of us if my crew could touch and pet you as they pleased. You are dogs, afterall.”

Mattie thought it over, looking to Claire, to see what she thought. The spaniel gave a silent shrug, not really understanding what the minotaur was getting at, but unable to just say no to lots of gems. The pyrenees didn’t make any gestures at all, nor was she consulted for this decision.

“Ok, but Is gots a term of ma’ own,” Mattie said, realizing what was likely the intended reason for this, “Ya can’t fuck us. Witha stick as big as u’s, we wouln’t survive.”

“Agreed,” Rubric said, “I had no intention to do that in the first place, and already discussed to Bacchus that you’re too small for that. But if one of my men decides to get a little feely, then I expect you to let them do anything else. They can grope you, and touch you with any part of their bodies, and so long as you let them, I’ll double what you make with me.”

The shepherd didn’t have to think much further after that promise was made. She agreed on the spot, and neither of her companions raised a voice to object.

“Then it’s settled.” Rubric said, confirming the deal, “It won’t be on contract, but I believe you’ll find I’m a bull of my word.”

“U’s better be,” Mattie said, “Cus I’s wager the sparkly mare holds u’s to agreements too.”

Rubric said nothing to this, and instead shifted his eyes slightly to the pyrenees, the only one in the bunch that he actually had interest in. It was such a subtle movement that most would have never noticed it, but Anya with her eagle eyes picked up on the redirection of his irises. That, her own personal experiences with Rubric, and the obvious reasons why one might want to have free access to another creature’s body, made his intentions clear to her.

Still, it wasn’t really something she cared about. If anything, it was probably a good thing the minotaur, Rubric and his men, had another target for their lust. The more they focused on someone else, the more she could stay away from them, and the less she had to be plagued with unwanted urges involving them.

“Now that we have an agreement, and I’ve properly tested you,” Rubric said, “It’s probably about time we prepared to leave… After we fix up this area.” Looking around, the ground had been torn up a bit by the fight between the diamond dogs and Bacchus. “This is a public training area for the Society, and it wouldn’t be good to leave it a mess like this.”

Rubric was the first one to make a move to seal up the holes, going to the big one the other minotaur made, shoving as much dirt into it as he could find to get it level.

“Well, you all gonna stand there and watch?” he said, “Anyone who helped make the mess can help fix it. Anya, you keep an eye on my cat while we fix this up.”

Bacchus and the diamond dogs went to join Rubric to fix the mess they had created, while Anya happily took the time to relax more, taking Catrina with her to rest under the shade of a tree. The gryphon didn’t expect to get too many days like this, where she could just lay about, and she intended to take advantage of it. Little did she know how busy her life would become from this point forward.

Author's Note

Sorry it took a while to get new chapters up, but I did post two in the same day to make it up to you all. However, this story will be on a small hiatus as I get to another one of my stories, with the intent to work towards finishing it. Hopefully I left this at a place that wasn't a cliffhanger, so no one has to be at the edge of their seats wondering "well what happens next". So until the next chapter, thank you all for reading up to this point.

Gone to the Dogs

With the introduction of the Diamond Dogs to the Society’s ecosystem, things changed drastically for not only Anya, but all the gryphons employed by the organization. Each of the feline fowls found themselves receiving less unwanted attention from the minotaur, who because of the deal Rubric had made with Mattie, had become very popular around the warehouse.

While their agreement had only applied to Mattie and her two cohorts, word spread fast that the trio was getting double pay for what amounted to some ‘heavy petting’. Every other Diamond Dog present the day Schorl presented her new addition had been hired in one way or another, and as a species whose greed for gemstones rivaled a gryphon’s greed for gold, they were each happy to give up their right to personal space to make their purses a little bit heavier. Not every dog got the same double pay deal as Mattie’s gang, with the males receiving a large cut to this bonus on the whole due to most minotaur having more interest in frisking the females, but each surrendered to a smaller percentage when the alternative was nothing.

For the first few days, every gryphon was relieved that they were no longer the targets of random minotaur teasing, flirting, and outright offers to exchange sex for money, but as the days went by they started to realize how in place of all that was more work.

“Can you believe it?” Gilda said, complaining aloud to those around her, who happened to be Gallus and Anya, as she stewed in her own angst over the sudden changes in the social dynamics among the Society’s workers.

The three gryphons had their own corner of the warehouse to do their assignments for the day. They were assigned to work together assembling portable cages clearly designed for large sized creatures, as even a minotaur could have fit uncomfortably inside them. Gallus, while contracted to a different minotaur slave master than the two gryphonesses, had been rented out as an extra set of hands for the finalization of preparations for some big project Rubric had been setting up for long before Anya’s discovery of the Society.

“They just show up one day, and end up taking up all the easy jobs.” Gilda scoffed, watching a small pack of dogs pushing and pulling a set of carts with boxes stacked on top of them down the shelves of capture supplies, it taking three of the smaller ones to do the work of a single gryphon.

“They are doing what the minotaur think they are capable of,” Anya said, trying to give a counterpoint to the younger gryphoness who had been nothing but adversarial to her up until now, while in her mind admitting to herself that the use of the dogs was very inefficient. She then followed up with, “You expect creatures that small to be able to pick up these heavy steel gratings?”, referring to the walls of the cages they were tasked with putting together.

Both Anya and Gilda reluctantly bent down to grab one of the heavy pieces of steel lying across the ground, working together to lift it into a standing position, right up against the other parts that were already put together. Gallus was waiting in flight, ready to move in to insert the large pins that would link what was to be the cage door, connecting it to the rest of the already constructed structure.

“No, I expect the minotaur to do this shit,” Gilda replied, displaying her indignance openly as both the female avians strained to hold what would be the cage’s door up log enough for Gallus to finish, “But they’ve all started taking up the supervision jobs now that they got the dogs to cover the rest of the work with us.”

Anya hated to say it, so she didn’t, but Gilda had a point. There was no reason she could see why the minotaur couldn’t be the ones doing the heavy lifting here, except that they were just choosing not to. It wasn’t just these three who had it worse either, as every gryphon not working in the slave processing part of the facility had been given tougher tasks, made to strain their bodies with labor that the bulls typically did without breaking a sweat.

“But that aside, you know the minotaur are playing favorites here.” Gilda continued, just complaining for the sake of it, “They give the mutts the easier jobs because they like being around them. They take them out to train daily, put their hands on them every chance they get, and treat them more like pets than employees.”

“That was the point of the deals they made,” Anya replied, dismissing Gilda’s gripes, “You do know that even at double pay, they get less money than us, right?” While each dog was getting paid their body weight in gems, lots of the glittery stones held next to no value when compared to a standard Equestrian gold coin.

“I’m just saying,” said Gilda, not ready to let this go.”If I had known being weak was such an advantage here, I would have pretended to be as pathetic as them from the start.”

“Yeah…” Gallus said, having to flap his wings hard to keep airborne as he slid what must have been twenty pound pieces of tempered steel into place. “Who would have thought that brutes like them had a type for cute creatures.”

“Cute?” Gilda repeated angrily, “You think those slobbering mutts are ‘cute’?”

“No, no,” Gallus objected, as he put the next peg in place, “It’s more something a minotaur said to me before. He told me I was… cute, and that he would gladly pay me a bit extra if I… did him some favors in private.”

“Heck, I’d take one up on the offer if it meant not having to do stuff like this anymore,” Gilda said, stepping away from the large cage door now that two of the three hinges were filled.

“Gilda, he means the guy wanted to fuck him.” Anya clarified, being much less subtle about the subject, to Gallus’ embarrassment.

“I know that,” Gilda replied, “Everyone knows he’s the company twink.”

“I’m not a twink,” Gallus rebutted, annoyed by the insinuation.

“Sure, dude,” Gilda said in a flippant response, “But even if you aren’t, you should hop on the opportunity. Really, what’s the worse choice here? Having to put together these quarter ton cages all day, or taking it up the-?”

The loud clang of metal slamming into metal disrupted Gilda’s sentence, as Gallus put the last piece of the cage together with a good deal of added force behind it. “You know, at least the minotaur treat me with a bit of respect when they're trying to get into my pants. All I hear you and the other gryphons say about me is that I’m some kind of slut ‘cause I got talked into a sexual dare ONE time.”

With his part of the job done, Gallus flew off to another part of the warehouse. His reaction to being teased caused Gilda to be taken aback, as the younger gryphon had never displayed hostility or stood up to other gryphons. “What’s his problem?”

“Geez, do you think it might be exactly what he just said?” Anya answered, perhaps the only gryphon who didn’t ridicule him for playing into the minotaur’s hands. Then again, she was called a minotaur sex toy behind her back too, so she and Gallus were in the same boat. “I’m pretty sure that he’s not even gay, and you’re telling him to drop his shorts and bounce his ass on a dick the size of his arm.”

While Anya couldn’t deny that the idea of seeing the younger avian performing such acts would be arousing to see, her time around ponies granted her the empathy to know that one shouldn’t pressure another into a lifestyle they didn’t want to be a part of. If Gallus was so adamant against against being seen as gay or as some sort of prostitute, either of which to him might have been seen as an attack on his masculinity, then at the very least the people who knew him personally, like Gilda, could do is not keep propagating that idea.

“Oh, come on. You know that gryphons like to mess with each other.” Gilda said, defending her position, “It toughens us up, stops us from being namby-pamby creatures like how ponies are.”

Anya knew this was true, as she had gone through, and participated in, her own various events of hazing growing up. “Gilda, do you ever wonder why it is that gryphons keep wanting to leave Griffinstone when they grow up?”

“No, everyone knows that place is a dilapidated shithole that’s filled with je-” Gilda paused, catching where Anya was trying to lead her train of thought, “Whatever, he’s acting like a huge pussy about this, and I’m not talking about those oversized cats Rubric bought.”

Anya sighed, as she probably would have said the same things when she was Gilda’s age, “You know, living in Equestria has taught me that it’s ok to not be a total bitch all the time. I’d have thought that you going to that Junior Speedsters’ flying school would have done the same.”

Gilda gritted her beak, Anya unknowingly touching on a tender subject when it came to things involving that school. Suddenly, the younger gryphon slammed her fist into the bars of the last cage they had finished. “Well look at that, solid as a rock. Pretty sure that’s the last one for today too, so I’m clocking out.”

With that said, Gilda made her leave, making sure to offhandedly flip Anya off as she flew away. Anya ignored the disrespect, as the more she came to know about the younger gryphon, the more she came to learn this wasn’t something directed solely at her. Gilda treated pretty much everyone, from the diamond dogs, to fellow gryphons, to even the minotaur that employed her, with some degree of attitude. If Rubric wasn’t going to correct her indignant behavior, then it didn’t seem worth the energy for Anya to try again either.

Besides, there were more important matters to attend to after a hard day of work. Anya’s muscles ached, and her body was covered in sweat from exerting herself over and over with these cage parts. The leather jeans she wore that day were completely saturated on the inside, and she was glad she wore a black shirt during work hours, else everyone would have been able to see dark spots in the places that soaked up her perspiration. To put it bluntly, she was tired, wet, and smelled a bit, and that was something that needed to be rectified immediately.

Thankfully, the crystal mare that owned this facility understood that a hard day of work could lead to situations like this, and had the building built with that notion in mind. So, after taking a small break to let Gilda leave the warehouse, and hopefully return to the housing section of the facility, Anya made her way to the time clock herself, signing off for the day, before heading to an open pathway just off to the side of it. A sign above the pathway read ‘Showers’, but Anya knew well what lay just beyond that exit from her work space.

Just before a split that separated the males shower room from the females, there was a small barred window in the wall that housed an earth pony mare who was on duty tending to those who wished to use the bathing area. An enslaved pony, one of many that was assigned to this station, who had been trained to perfect obedience. A ‘trustee’, as they were called, who Anya had little concern for outside of their function. In exchange for a few bits, Anya would receive from this mare a bucket of discounted cleaning supplies, including bottled soap, a washcloth, a towel, and a scrub brush for her cat fur and talons. Anya suspected that had the crystal mare who ran this operation wanted, all of these could be given to the workers free of charge, since the few bits given hardly covered a tenth of what these things would cost to maintain. However, she also had a feeling that the cost was used more as a reminder that this was a work relationship, and anything that was not part of the worker’s contracted pay would not be supplied freely.

After trading her hard earned gold for goods, Anya moved on to the next room, one containing walls of lockers. Finding the one that ‘belonged’ to her, she messed with the combination on it until it opened, finding a fresh pair of her clothes waiting inside. All she did was confirm that the locker had been restocked before closing it back up, and proceeded to strip every article of clothes off. She was so glad to get all those sweat drenched clothes off her body, even as her own saturated body hit the cool area of the locker room, making her skin form goosebumps from the exposure. Tossing her dirty clothing into a bin to be washed, the completely nude gryphon made a quickened walk to the showers, bucket in hand.

Passing through an open doorway, Anya made it to her destination, the large, open room which served as the female bathing area. There were no stalls, only a row of wall mounted shower heads that could be detached to get water to hard to reach spots, and small stool seats placed in front of each one. This was another thing that Anya assumed was not the cause of budget cuts, but something that served a secondary purpose. If it was to build some form of solidarity, then the crystal unicorn underestimated how little gryphons enjoyed each others' company. If it was to instill humility through embarrassment, then she underestimated how strong a gryphon’s ego was. Whatever the reason, most of the gryphon crew had gotten too used to the accommodations to care one way or the other, Anya included. Still, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t enjoy having the room all to herself, which she would for the next ten to twenty minutes since she clocked off early. After that other gryphons would enter in, and infest this room with a plague of gripes and gossip, but as they would come in, she would head out, having finished with her nice, relaxing, and private shower.

Setting her towel up on a rack near her chosen shower, it only took a turn of a handle for a stream of pure pleasure to rain down, and wash over the gryphoness, her tired body rejoicing at the heated water pouring down from above. “Sweet fuck, this is better than sex.” Anya declared aloud, feeling the entirety of her body delightfully shudder from the warmth.

With an added full body stretch, that would have nicely shown off her feathered feline features if anyone had been present to see, Anya set her item bucket on the stool, and retrieved the liquid soap and washcloth from the container. Squirting herself out a handful of the soap, she turned her back to the sprinkling water, and spread the gooey fluid all over herself, rubbing it wherever she could reach till a light foam formed.

Her chest plumage became obscured with lather, as she made sure that each of the soft feathers received a thorough cleaning, with her cat fur covered hip and waist curves receiving a lighter layering of suds due to the small hairs being easier to get clean. As she moved her hands lower down, she took the scrub brush in from the bucket so she could reach around and knock any grime she had collected in the fur covering her nicely rounded butt cheeks, and then used the shower head to get the space in between them and under the base of her tail. From there, the last place that needed a thorough cleansing was her crotch, which she focused the shower’s stream on directly, parting her legs so she could expose her mound to the warm water, which felt wonderful.

Had this been a time before joining the Society, and particularly before having gone through the intense experience that was sex with a minotaur, she would have used this moment to touch herself, and sneak in a light after work orgasm. After weeks of attempting to get off in private, she knew that to try and bring herself to cum would take a great deal of effort to get any results. Not only that, but her mind seemed to only get turned on by a single type of fantasy now, that being her own domination at the hands of a minotaur.

It was not a pleasant fantasy for one who fancied herself a dominant, to be under the hoof of another, but thoughts of a minotaur enforcing his will onto her were the only thing that got her juices flowing. Furthermore, it was all she could think of when watching the bulls in action, as the smallest display of their raw power, effortlessly flaunting their physiques. The gryphon couldn’t understand how a single time with two minotaur could ruin her sexual perspective to this degree, after all the other perverse encounters she had partaken in over the years, but it was like she was in some form of mental chastity, which only these muscular bovine men held the key to her liberation.

Anya was just glad she had been able to keep her attraction so well hidden for so long, cause if the bulls knew about her newfound weakness for their species, they would surely exploit it, poking and prodding at this unwanted desire of hers until she cracked. Then she would be the ‘swallow’ the other gryphons called her behind her back, a gryphon who was willing to put out to the minotaur like a common slut. Personally, she was thankful that Rubric assigned her to the back breaking labor in the warehouse, because if she was in the slave processing areas, she’d probably lose it the moment she saw some kidnapped pony getting held down and tied up by one of her bovine co-workers. Just imagining it, and putting herself in that position, gave her tingles that she instantly regretted. That’s why she never complained about the exhausting tasks she was given, because she didn’t want to risk her complaints being taken to heart and her being given a ‘simpler’ job in that department.

All Anya had to do was keep her head down, not involve herself with anything that might ignite her unexplained lust towards the minotaur, and last until she completed the terms of her contract. Then she’d be free to do what she came here to do in the first place, which was rescue those the Society took from her that she held close. So far that wasn’t too hard to accomplish, but the gryphon had a feeling that if she had to see the kind of groping and molesting that they inflicted upon those they captured and sold as slaves, she might just end up in a collar alongside them.

Moving onto the rinse portion of her shower, Anya started to hear some noises coming from the locker room. The sound of light conversation, and metal doors opening and closing. “Have I been in here that long already?” she asked herself, not thinking she had spent ten minutes in the shower yet.

In most places she stayed, she would have been to gauge how much time had passed due to the temperature of the water getting progressively cooler, but the society always had access to hot water, with rumors saying that it was due to captive dragons being used to keep it consistently high, for as silly a reason that would be if it were true. In the shower room, one could only keep track of things by the pace of how they cleansed themselves, and normally it only took Anya seven minutes to get through her routine, and she hadn’t even gotten to her wings yet. She had to assume that others had gotten off early just as she did, so she wasn’t going to be able to just stand under the water for an extended period of time like she wanted.

“Dammit,” she said to herself as she moved the bucket off the stool, so she could use it to sit down, pissed that she found the one day when some of her kind decided to be punctual.

At least, that’s what she had thought, but as she brought a wing to her front to wash them by running the shower head across her longer feathers, she kept watch on the entryway from the corner of her eye. A few seconds later, the gryphon saw someone enter, but it was no gryphon that she had been hearing, as a large creature had to enter through the doorway by bending forward so they wouldn’t hit their head, or the horns atop it.

No way, Anya thought, her eyes going wide and her irises narrowing as a minotaur stepped into the showers, followed by another, and then another, carrying buckets just like the one she had for her soap and towel.

For a moment she thought this had to be another one of her recent sex driven hallucinations, and that her mind was making her picture a scene where a group of bulls were coming in to gang fuck her. Then she noticed that these minotaur still had their clothes on, what little each wore, and for this setting it would have been strange to imagine someone to be dressed.

“Hey!” she yelled, turning away and using her wings to cover her body, while twisting her head sideways to shoot them an angry glare, “You have the wrong side! This is the women’s room!”

“We’re aware of which side we are on,” the bull replied, “But we aren’t here to shower ourselves.”

“Then what the fuck?!” Anya yelled, getting pissed that the minotaur were not immediately leaving, “Don’t tell me you’re coming in to do some repairs while I’m in here.”

“Nothing like that,” said the minotaur, not showing a bit of care about Anya’s privacy or anger, “We have to use the showers, but not for ourselves.”

It was about this time that Anya noticed that the group of minotaur were not alone, and that some of the last minotaur to enter were tugging on leashes that lead into the locker room, meaning that they were bringing in other creatures. Anya’s first guess was that it would be some of the Society’s slaves, and maybe the place they were normally bathed had a broken pipe, but then she saw what was on the other end of the leashes enter in, which was a small pack of female diamond dogs.

“Are you serious?” Anya said, annoyed that this was the excuse the minotaur were using to invade the sanctity of the female shower room, “Diamond Dogs don’t even take showers.”

“Exactly,” said the minotaur, “Have you gotten a good whiff of them since they got here? They stink. They smell up the warehouse when they work, and get covered in dirt when they train. We showed them where the showers were, and even offered to pay their fee, but they kept ignoring it. So if they aren’t gonna bathe themselves on their own, we’re gonna do it for them.”

The diamond dogs, having been stripped of all but the collars they enjoyed wearing, were tugging hard on the leashes to get free from the bulls who vastly overpowered them, not wanting to be there as much as Anya didn’t want them to be there. Though, the only thing the diamond dogs seemed truly against was the idea that they were going to be bathed, as none of them so much as covered what they should have considered private parts, or verbally expressed how humiliating it was to be treated like common dogs.

“If you got a problem with us being here, you’re welcome to finish up and leave,” the minotaur that had been speaking to Anya said, as the others each took a dog and headed to an open shower, “But even the head mistress agreed that today had to be the day.”

“Couldn’t you have done this on the male side?” Anya said, making one last rebuttal on this unideal situation.

“We are,” the minotaur replied, “Where do you think all the guys are?”

Looking over the present pack of pooches, who were currently getting their leashes knotted to the towel racks of their individual showers, Anya could only spot females among them. Thus, in a ‘to the letter of the law’ sort of way, the minotaur were, adhering to the notion that this shower room was for the use of women only.

“So what’s it gonna be? Sticking around, or heading out?” said the minotaur, not waiting for a verbal reply as he headed to one of the dogs that had been tied up and left alone.

Anya would have taken off if she felt she could, but she was already having issues when it came to being naked in front of all these minotaur. Her knees felt weak, legs trembling as she felt arousal build up in her loins. If she hadn’t been sitting, she might have crumpled to her knees the second the bulls walked in on her. She was also having trouble keeping her wings down, as they wanted to go into the ‘wing boner’ position that happened when avian species got turned on. In this condition, she’d have to crawl out to leave, and that would not go unnoticed.

It would be a shameful exit at best, but if a minotaur wanted to take advantage of her, Anya would be unable to offer up any resistance. She probably would even allow it if a minotaur asked directly, as much as she tried to fight with her sexual instincts against the idea of letting a minotaur treat her like a sex doll again. Her objections didn’t prevent her body from urging her to give in, as her pussy drooled out fluids in preparation of a potential bovine penetration.

“Just keep it together, Anya.” the gryphon whispered to herself, the running water from all the now active showers not letting her words get anywhere close to minotaur ears, “Keep calm and continue your shower like you had planned.”

Anya reached down to physically lift one of her talons onto her knee, with her legs not working properly to do it by themselves, so she could use the scrub brush on them, deciding not to do her wings first so she could use them to block her body. Though as she looked over her shoulder to see if any bulls were trying to sneak a peek, she found that no one was particularly paying her any mind. They were all attending to their diamond dogs, pouring copious amounts of soap into their hands, and soaking down their coats, much to the canines’ dismay. This made Anya feel a little better for a second, since she thought that if none of the surrounding bovines were ogling her, she might not have to worry about perverted thoughts entering her mind. The moment she felt she could relax though, was when the real problem arrived.

One by one, the diamond dogs started to let out a series of whimpers and yips as the minotaur laid hands upon them. Each one of them had to endure having their fur rubbed down with soap and water, which led to a good deal of fondling as the bulls did not shy away from their breasts, asses, or the spaces between their legs. As Anya snuck her own peek at the activities going around her, she could see that those particular areas of the diamond dogs were being focused on more than others, and she could not give the bulls the benefit of the doubt that this was purely to ensure these sensitive spots were properly clean.

It was without any uncertainty that this was one of the minotaur’s little games, and while the original inspiration for this could have been the dog’s odor, they must have quickly seen this as an excuse to grope them. Anya wouldn’t have been surprised if the ones bathing the males were of a homosexual persuasion, and were purposefully poking and prodding at their genitals and the space beneath their tails as well.

Anya wondered if the mongrels knew they were being molested, and were just being silent about the hands rubbing them relentlessly due to their individual agreements to let the minotaur touch them as they pleased. Watching them out of the corner of her eye, they seemed to be just behaving like typical dogs, with some trying to escape at each opportunity presented, only to get caught by their leash and get dragged back into the invasive hands of the bovines. Others were doing their best to hold still, showing more self control when it came to being made to bathe. A small part of them looked like they were trying to enjoy themselves, falling into their minotaur’s arms as they let the bulls rub them down, with one of the smaller ones chomping at the shower stream like the water was something she could bite.

Each diamond dog was finding their own way through this mandatory cleansing, the floor of the shower turning brown as the water and excessive scrubbing removed every speck of dirt they had accumulated over a lifetime digging through the earth. All in all, they were taking it quite well, as they gave into the cleaning, and in time most found some enjoyment in the bathing. The echoing howls and whining slowly shifted into elated moans and sighs as the pleasant feeling of a clean coat accentuated the sexually motivated hands of the minotaur.

The only one not having a good time through this was Anya herself, as her unwanted cravings started to build up inside. All around her, she saw minotaur perversely exploring the bodies of the diamond dogs, and a part of her wanted to receive the same kind of attention. To be held down, have her body touched all over, and perhaps have a bovine shaft cramped up inside her holes once more. Unable to contain her rising lust completely, her hands converting fondled her own body, using the soap suds to disguise it as part of her showering.

But as she became aware that simple rubs and pinches of her tender flesh would not be enough, she debated on doing something drastic, like taking the bottle of her liquid soap, long and cylindrical as it was, and using it as an improvised dildo by shoving it up into one of her holes. Pussy or ass, she really didn’t care, so long as she felt something inside her. She shuddered as she looked around, seeing all the minotaur not paying her any mind, The gryphon really did feel tempted, grabbing her soap container, setting it on a space between her legs, its bottom part sat flat on the surface.

If I tilted it forward, would I be able to cram this thing into me before anyone noticed what I was doing? Anya thought to herself, getting lost in her sex driven thoughts, Would my lips even spread far enough to take it?

It was a valid question, as her body had completely recovered through the drugs given to her by the minotaur’s deer slaves. While it was being slicken by the passage’s currently overflowing fluids, the hole was likely too tight as it was, and if it could fit there was no promising that Anya could keep quiet and not draw attention to herself while doing it. Unable to resist her cravings for much longer, Anya closed her eyes, and braced herself to be filled by the plastic cylinder and the thick fluid contents held within it, when she heard someone speak up from behind.

“Hey swallow, aren’t you clean enough yet?” said the gruff voice of one of the minotaur, followed by the sound of heavy hooves walking in the gryphon’s direction. “I feel that you’ve been in here long enough to take several showers.”

“Maybe she wants to be in here,” said another minotaur, coming towards Anya from another direction, “Maybe she enjoys being naked around us.”

“Fuck off,” Anya said, giving her kneejerk reply as her body begged her to reconsider.

“Sorry, I only heard that first word,” said the first minotaur, “Did you say ‘fuck me’?”

Anya growled to herself, trying her best to not give in, she opened her eye, ready to give the bull a death glare as she reiterated that he needed to get lost. She was caught off guard when she turned to face him, the tip of his meaty shaft pointed towards her.

“Well, swallow, if you are that concerned about keeping things clean, why don’t you work on getting this cleaned off?”

Unable to muster up a defiant word, with shock overcoming her with the sight of the huge bull cock right in front of her widening eyes, Anya turned her face away, only to find another giant penis shoved in front of it.

“You can do mine too,” said the second minotaur, his dick so erect that the veins on it were popping out.

“H-hey, you guys can’t just shove y-your dicks in my face like this.” Anya said, her words wavering not because she was worried the minotaur might press the issue despite her objections, but because while the water flowing down on her was mildly warm, she could feel an intense heat building up within her. The gryphon knew what her body wanted, to once more feel those battering rams of cocks the minotaur were holding between their legs inside her, and that they would just ignore the rules set by the Society for the workers, and take her ‘against her will’ on the spot.

How easy it would be if the minotaur just did it, since she would have no ability to fight back physically. If they raped her in front of everyone here, then her desire for humiliation and submission would be fulfilled, and she could keep pretending that it wasn’t her idea, and that she hated being force fucked by the only creatures big and brutal enough to bring her to orgasm at this point. No matter how many times Anya tried to push it out of her head, her body knew what it craved, no, required to be thoroughly fucked by these bovine men.

It seemed the minotaur knew it too, as they laid their cocks right onto her face, one covering up her only functioning eye, while the other put his over her patch. All Anya could see were the large flesh rods, and with them presented so unabashedly, she could no longer resist. She took one of the impressive shafts in each hand and began a steady, rhythmic stroking as she let desire take over.

“You want to get clean, boys?” Anya said, pulling one of the cocks down to her beak so she could slide her tongue across it from one end to the other.

The flavor of sweat coated it, as the gryphon discovered they really did require some bathing of their own. She even thought she could taste the tangy flavor of the last slave mare they had stuck the oversize sex organ in. All of it only excited the gryphon more, as she gave up her pride and let herself enjoy a moment of sexual degradation.

The two bulls crossed their arms and watched as the avian slurped her tongue and slid her face across their lengths, as her beak formed a goofy smile from the elation she was feeling. This must be how subs feel, the thought to herself, experiencing the joy of letting go of her need to be the one in control, and permitting a thus unexplored submissive side of herself to surface. She wasn’t even being fucked, and she felt sensations and emotions that were comparable to an orgasm.

Anya did her best to satisfy both minotaur at once, as she took turns licking one and stroking the other. She felt it was her mission to run her tongue across every bit of skin these hefty dicks had on them, running it from base to tip many times, and making sure to get a taste inside the space under their foreskins. It was such a turn on, and she herself succumbed to something akin to love as she finally gave into these powerful beasts of men. The only creatures who could conquer her previously untamed spirit. She only had to complete her task, to do the thing that defined her true role in this organization. So, giving the first minotaur priority, with full intent to do what she was planning to do to the other minotaur right after, she opened her beak wide, aimed his cock right down her gullet, and prepared to swallow.

“Watch it, you crazy bitch!”

These words reached Anya’s ears a mere second before a frigid chill that coated her exposed body flooded her senses. She cried out in shock, jumping right out of her seat as she attempted to grasp what had happened.

Looking around frantically, she could no longer find the two minotaur she had been servicing. They were just gone, which was simply impossible, since creatures as large and bulky as them lacked the agility to have left so fast that Anya couldn’t have seen them walking away. It was like they vanished from reality.

Suddenly, the voice she heard before the chilling sensation spoke again, saying “Hold still!”, as Anya discovered it was a minotaur speaking, one that had decided to use one of the showers next to her own.

He was currently juggling the shower’s removable head between his hands, while trying to hold down the diamond dog he was washing by trapping her head in his arms. The dog, slick from the water covering her, was managing to get out of his grasp time and again, but because of her leash being tied to the wall, she never escaped for long, yelling, “Too cold! Too cold!” as she squirmed and leapt around, her nipples poking out from under her chest fluff to show she was not lying about the temperature.

“I told you, cold water is good for your fur!” the minotaur said, flailing to catch the dog once more, the water from the shower head being sent in all directions as he wasn’t paying any attention to how his movements directed it.

Being so close to him, Anya’s leg got a light spraying from the minotaur, and when the water hit, she felt that the bull had put it at its absolute lowest. It surprised her, being barely tolerable, as she could feel her skin tighten and turn red from the contact underneath her own fur. She would have thought that the bovine was just trying to be sadistic to the diamond dog, subjecting her to a temperature torture for his entertainment, except he was receiving a good dowsing as well while having to deal with the dog’s resistance.

Anya shook her head, partially at the clumsy ineptitude of the minotaur when it came to controlling a single dog, but also because she was putting the pieces together of what had happened. The sudden chill she felt while she was giving herself to those two minotaur had to have come from the water he was haphazardly throwing about. With that in mind, and how those bulls disappeared all of a sudden, she came to the conclusion that she must have been having one of her fetishized hallucinations of bovine domination again, the shock to her senses snapping her back to reality.

The gryphoness thanked her luck, as she didn’t know what she looked like in the real world as her mind sent her into this unexplained sexual fantasy she developed. For all she knew, she was doing an embarrassing act of stroking off the air, while emulating the act of gulping down a massive dick, and had anyone took their eyes off their paid pets to look her way, they might have realized this was a chance to make a move on Anya and turn what was going on in her head a reality. At best, it would have been a humiliating display that would have spread like wildfire through the facility, which would have brought up even more malicious teasing from the other gryphons.

Having avoided all that, and discovered her ticket out of any further sexual degradation, Anya returned to her shower, and turned the handle all the way in the opposite direction, as she cooled off her building desires with a healthy dose of cold water. Anya had to contain a want to shriek as she gave her body a good dowsing, but after a couple passes the gryphon felt no more desire to be ravaged by the large, muscular males around her. What she wanted now was to towel off and get into her clothes to warm up, so while she still found her legs were trembling as she made her way to the shower room’s exit, the cold induced shivers were nowhere near as disempowering as those caused by her unchecked lust.

Minutes after she left the dogs and bulls behind, Anya dried off and retrieved her spare outfit, putting it on so she could retire to the gryphon’s quarters for the evening. As expected, though, by the time she was heading out, the other female gryphons were making their way into the showers. It crossed Anya’s mind that she should warn them that the minotaur were currently occupying the shower room, but before she could say a word, the others sent her silent mockery in the form of smirks of superiority over the ‘swallow’ they were passing by. Given this reminder of how petty her own kind could be, Anya decided it would be best to spare them from having to speak with one as lowly as herself, and would allow them to discover what awaited them after they undressed and entered the shower room.

Upon leaving the other gryphon hens to their own embarrassing encounter with the minotaur, Anya spotted a few more diamond dogs at the supply booth, accompanied by another bovine, but this time she actually knew. It was Rubric, along with his small crew of dogs; Claire, Mattie, and the silent Great Pyrenees.

“Ah, are you all here for the diamond dog shower day?” Anya asked, though it was obvious that was the case.

“Ey,” Mattie replied in short, as their coworker emerged from the dreaded shower room. Standing tall on her hind legs, with arms crossed and a furrowed brow, the leader of this trio of canine goblins let her displeasure be known, “Ya above landas put so much car’ in the stupit’ist things.”

“And yet, if you want to continue working here, you’re gonna comply with our stupid concerns.” Rubric said, having paid for enough cleaning materials to deal with his tiny pack, acknowledging that the issue of smell might have been a mere ‘above lander’ matter, “Besides, your pack mates don’t seem to be as defiant about this as you.”

Rubric was correct, in a roundabout manner, as both Claire and the Pyrenees were not nearly as standoffish about this affair, though that was because the spaniel was timidly sitting as if she had accepted some terrible fate, while the larger dog seemed nonplussed about what was to come, just standing in wait to be led to their destination, awaiting whatever order the minotaur or Mattie gave her.

Mattie let out a loud, grumpy woof, “Iffin’ ya wassin payin’ us a hill’s worth of gemstones already, we’s wouldn't stan for this.”

Rubric ignored the complaint, as bickering with a subordinate was pointless, and he was already getting what he wanted. If the dogs wanted to comply while in protest, that still meant they were complying.

“Oh, Anya, I see you’ve already taken your shower,” Rubic said, having heard the gryphon, but only now seeing which direction she was coming from. “I take it that means you completed your work?”

“Yeah,” the gryphoness replied, “Me, Gilda, and Gallus got it done almost thirty minutes ago.”

“That’s good,” he said, “Because after today we have everything we need in place for the upcoming raid. We’ll be focusing on our training from here on out, and anyone who meets my standards is welcome to participate.”

“And if I qualify, and everything is successful?” Anya asked, saying all that needed to be said, since they both understood that while she had been paid well for her services thus far, there was only one thing she really wanted from all this.

“Then I will help you get to Minopolis so you may find the slaves you’ve been seeking,” Rubric replied, re-confirming the terms of their private agreement, “I will keep my word so long as you contribute your fair share of work, as agreed.”

“Fine…” Anya said back, wishing that this far too long foreshadowed raid wouldn’t take another few weeks to get around to, as she really wished to rescue her friends and put all this behind her, “I’ll go get to practicing my skills after a short break. Trust me, I’ve been through a lot today.”

Rubric assumed that she was worn out due to the heavy lifting, and didn’t question her need to relax, not aware of all the mental stress she was trying to recover from. “Be sure to invite Gilda with you when you do. I want all my gryphons to be at top performance the day I test you, and her overconfidence, if warranted, leads her to neglect daily training.”

Rubric handed her a few coins, enough to compensate for the shower she had already taken, and with an eye roll of reluctance, Anya replied with, “Sure thing, boss.”

With that, the two parted ways, with Rubric leading the diamond dogs in the direction the gryphon had just left from. Anya would do as she was instructed, the coins payment enough to give Gilda a reminder to do her daily course run, but that was only an afterthought compared to what now took up the space at the forefront of her mind. So long as she passed whatever qualification exam Rubric was planning, she’d be well on her way to finishing this job, and walking away from the Society, and hopefully this minotaur fixation of hers, for good.

Extra Chapter: Gallus

Author's Note

As the title suggests, this is an extra side chapter that doesn't focus on the main character, but Gallus. As one of the gryphons who works for the Society, I thought it would be good to get a bit of his perspective, and introduce some parts of the story that will soon become important through him. Gallus, for those who might have forgotten or overlooked his parts in the story so far, has not fared will among his peers. A simple mistake in accepting a sexual bet from a minotaur while inebriated has made him a target to be picked on and accused of prostituting himself out for favors. Under all this pressure and embarrassment, en continues to work, but towards what end and what reason. Surely his gryphonic greed is not all that guide him, but if not that, then what does?

Extra Chapter: Gallus

The second Gallus had finished his assignment for the day, he flew away from his two female coworkers as fast as his wings could take him. The blue gryphon didn’t want another word from Gilda’s beak, and while Anya had not said anything to demean him, she didn’t make a move to defend him, and in his frustrated state that made her complacent with Gilda’s insensitive teasing as far as he was concerned.

Gallus was far too familiar with mockery sent in his direction by this point, over a simple mistake that he had made when under the influence. Every time he was around one of his peers, they would make snide remarks, or laugh at the mere sight of him as if his presence alone was a joke to them. It was all so tiring, to be teased and ridiculed every day by those who he should be able to relate with the most, but he was aware that this intolerable trait was not only directed at him.

Gryphons had a terrible nature of being greedy, selfish, disinterested creatures, that made themselves feel better by making others around them feel worse. Grandpa Gruff always attributed that shared attitude to the collapse of the Griffonstone Empire, which left the once great nation impoverished and destitute, but that was an event so far in the past that Gallus couldn’t agree. Sure, having nothing but dilapidated shacks to live in didn’t make life any easier, but after all this time it felt like the others of his species only didn’t improve the poor conditions of their lives because they’d rather have an excuse to be angry than find a means to fix things.

Not every gryphon was like that though, particularly those like Gallus, who had the fortunate misfortune of being abandoned as a child, so he could be raised by the only adult gryphon in Griffonstone who seemed to give a damn. Under the watchful eye of Gruff, Gallus avoided acquiring the most extreme negative gryphon traits, desiring all the things the old avian recounted in his tales of Griffonstone’s lost glory, namely riches, loyalty, and most of all, something to be proud of.

Each of these were eluding Gallus at the moment. The pay working at the Society was far better than anything Griffonstone could offer, but his job as doing manual labor around the supply warehouse wasn’t going to make him rich any time soon. He couldn’t find any solidarity among those few coworkers who were not gryphons, which consisted of creatures he rather not associate with in the first place, such as trustee slaves trained to do as they were told, diamond dogs who were just here to satisfy their greed for gems, or minotaur who he had bad experiences with. As for pride, it was hard to be proud of anything with all the hen pecking constantly coming from his own kind.

Seeing how disappointing this career path of his had become, Gallus might have considered quitting if the terms of his contract didn’t include a terrible penalty if he attempted to terminate it. While he wasn’t aware of the fine print at the time of signing his work agreement, he at least knew that wanting to prematurely end the commitment had consequences, as there was a single gryphon that had tried to quit after finding the work too strenuous for their taste, and demanded to be allowed to leave. As she openly expressed her disapproval towards the demanding conditions of working for a pony trafficking ring, a pair of minotaur came to collect her, so she could see first hand how it compared to how the slaves of the Society were treated.

Gallus had not seen her since, and through this, he learned it was better to keep his nose to the grindstone. He was determined not to end up bound and blindfolded in a birdcage somewhere in the Society’s dungeons, letting that be the top thing on his list of motivations. If there was one common trait he did inherit from his kind though, if to a lower degree, it was that he had little care of what happened to others. So he felt no moral qualms about another gryphon being forced into slavery and even saw it as a bit of karma for getting into this kind of underhanded work, only to complain when they found out exploiting other creatures was not easy. Of all the reasons he would quit if he could, seeing another gryphon being dragged off was not one of them, but even then it was possible, he did not see it as a good option, as all that would do have him crawling back to Griffonstone with nothing to show for it.

So for now, he had to accept that he was going to be the laughing stock of all his peers until he could qualify to be a hunter in his boss’ eyes, where the real money laid in kidnapping ponies and other creatures to be trained, packaged, and sold to the highest bidder, who would probably be some rich snob who had far too much spare change. However, just because he knew he’d have to receive insults and heckling from other gryphons while around them, that didn’t mean he had to be where they were.

Flying to the area where all the equipment for capturing creatures was stored, Gallus made his way through the shelves, staying near the ceiling as he stayed out of sight of anyone working below. His shift wasn’t ending for another twenty minutes, and while he could clock out early, he had a more clever way to spend his last remaining minutes, while still getting the full pay for his time. Flying to the large shelves standing at a far end of the warehouse, ones that stored the crates used to transport tools the hunters used when obtaining new slaves, Gallus avoided the sight lines of the other workers as he made his way to this out of the way corner.

He had done this many times prior and knew exactly where he was heading. A tiny space pressed up against one of the outer walls of the building, where several of the empty crates had been set at the top shelf. Since anyone would rather take the easier to reach crates at the bottom, these ones in particular had remained undisturbed since they had been placed there, save for a single time Gallus altered how they were arranged. Reaching this place, the blue gryphon slipped himself between the wooden boxes, into a vacant space hidden behind them.

The space he entered was a bit cramped, requiring him to be on his knees as he disappeared into it, but it was just open enough that he could twist his body and lay down if he folded his wings around his body. He had taken quite a few unscheduled breaks like this, being out of sight and out of mind of those he had to call co-workers. It was the one place in the facility where he didn’t have to take orders from the bulls that ranked above him, the gryphons that made comments and jokes at his expense, and the diamond dogs and trustee slave workers that were so far beneath him that he didn’t want to be around them either.

He only came here when he thought he wouldn’t be missed, such as now when it was the end of the day and all his work was finished, so he would not be noticed by anyone who might make this minute breach of the rules into something far bigger than it needed to be. The one place that, despite the discomfort caused by the gridded metal platform he was lying upon, made him feel the most relaxed in this facility.

He intended to stay here until the work bell rang, which sounded the time that work was typically finished. Then he’d join in with all the other gryphons going to punch their time cards, and go eat the free dinner provided to all the gryphon workers by their boss, a minotaur by the name of Titanius. The meal was always something basic to satiate the workers after building up an appetite over the course of the day, and while they got three such meals each day, it was never anything to look forward to, unless one was particularly hungry.

“Shouldn’t be too long now, anyways,” Gallus said quietly to himself, aware that the work day was almost finished by the time he left Gilda and Anya. At most, he’d be waiting another fifteen to twenty minutes, but any time away from the mocking words of the other avian felines was a relief to him.

Closing his eyes, he started creating depictions of a more favorable reality on the back of his shut lids. One in which he was actually respected by the other gryphons, in which he did some grand accomplishment that made him rich, famous, and admired. It was not an overblown fantasy, with hens throwing themselves at him as trophies while the cocks bowed at his feet in jealous awe of his clear superiority like so many like to imagine themselves in. Instead, a more obtainable one where he had accomplished some important capture job for the Society, and was paid a substantial amount while being promoted to the rank master hunter, garnering an appropriate amount of esteem and a round of apologetic words from those he worked with for said accomplishment.

While achievable, this was not a very thought out fantasy from Gallus, as he didn’t even think about what he would have captured to reach his desired status, nor did he know if ‘master hunter’ was even a rank in the Society. He had never been selected to be a hunter, so his understanding of that role in his work was a bit lacking, but what he did know was that those who had proven themselves capable of kidnapping ponies or capturing more dangerous species were seldom seen in toiling in the warehouse, as those good at the job were requested personally by the clientele the Society served.

Outside of that, all he knew was that to be picked, you had to display an impressive degree of skill at the mandatory training practice the minotaur held every week, which was how Gilda had been enlisted to join in on the occasional capture mission. Despite having joined at the same time as Gilda, Gallus had never been given the same invitation, which did bother him a bit, but he believed that was just because her boss had lower standards than his own. He might not have gone to the training grounds as often to hone his skills as she did, which seemed like an everyday occurrence as she used it as a means to blow off steam, but he had a mindset that even without putting in the effort, he could perform at least as well as her, if not better. He just had to wait until his own minotaur employer recognized his talents, and then he’d show everyone.

Gallus gave his body a stretch, as much as he could with the room he had, and allowed himself to get lost in his daydream. As it went on he thought about all the things he would spend all the gold he would earn on, such as his own tree house somewhere away from Griffonstone, and lots of delicious meats that most gryphons never got the chance to so much as taste, and maybe he’d purchase a slave of his own to serve as a companion. Maybe he’d put out a capture request for Gabby, a gryphon he knew from Griffonstone whose personality couldn’t be further from a normal gryphon. She wouldn’t be a bad option, though other hens were more attractive than she was, but she was always eager to please, so he did wonder how she would act after going through the Society’s training. Then again, having a pony or some other species might have been better, since it wouldn’t be as awkward to own one of them as it might be enslaving another gryphon. Maybe a dragon, since those seemed to be the most valued slaves the Society had to offer, at least for the time being.

Then again, maybe we should stay away from that part of being successful, Gallus thought as he wiped away the idea of personally owning another being.

While he had no moral issues working for the slave trafficking ring that currently employed him, he wasn’t sure if he had it in him to indulge in it himself, even if having servants was a status symbol that denoted power. It was one thing to make a profit off the suffering of creatures who could care less about you, but owning one bore the risk of forming empathy towards them, and that would complicate things if it happened, and Gallus didn’t see himself as evil or uncaring for that to be impossible to occur. So perhaps he would just stick to a nice home, fine food, and the respect of his peers as an end goal. It would weigh less on his conscience.

“That will be nice.” Gallus said, seeing his fantasy as his inevitable future.

The gryphon got so wrapped up in his plans for the future, that he didn’t pay attention to the sound of something scraping across the floor below, accompanied by a soft vibration going through the platform he was resting on. Had he noticed, he would have dismissed it as someone pulling something off the lower shelves anyway, but his complete lack of awareness made it all the more surprising when the crate he was hiding behind was pulled off the shelf in a solid motion, and he was confronted by the visage of a bull staring in at him, caught in the act of slacking off. This alone left the gryphon panicked, pressing himself against the wall like a cornered prey animal, but his fear heightened even more when he took in the bull’s features and realized it was his boss, Titanius, who had discovered his hiding place.

The minotaur slave master had pulled over a sturdy object to use as a step stool, his height allowing him to easily reach the top shelf, to remove the empty crate Gallus used as cover with ease. The bull let out something between a huff and a sigh as he took in what he had discovered, but then looked down to the ground, at a diamond dog waiting below.

“Looks like you were right, boy. He’s hiding up here,” said Titanius to the dog, reaching into a pouch at his side to pull out a small ruby and toss it to the hound, before turning his eyes back to the gryphon. “You. I would like to have a word with you, in private.”

Gallus gulped as he shook in place, terror gripping him. He wanted to try and explain his way out of this, come up with some kind of reason why he was back there that might get him out of this situation, but his voice was caught in his throat. The only thing he could do in the face of this creature who could claim this was a violation of their work agreement, and possibly get him enslaved for it, was nod in compliance, in hopes that he could get off with a warning if he did what he was told.

It took Gallus a moment to get down from the shelf after agreeing to speak with Titanius, with the bull standing patiently, though verbally expressing Gallus’ need to hurry along through the use of “come along now”s and “hurry up”s. By the time Gallus had placed his feet on the floor, the work bell had rung, and everyone else was making their way to punch out for the day. This made it so that quite a few of the workers caught glimpses of the blue gryphon being walked in a different direction by the bull, which Gallus presumed wasn’t doing him any favors when it came to rumors of minotaur favoring him, not that those mattered at this time.

Titanius guided Gallus to a door that the gryphon knew was an area normally restricted to all by those in charge of operations, which meant everyone below the status of a slave master’s second in command. Not even other minotaur ignored this restriction, so if he was being taken into this place, Gallus had to assume it was for the worst reasons.

“Look, sir. I know what I did was inexcusable,” Gallus said, finding his voice in the face of this looming threat, “But I promise, I won’t-”

“Save what you have to say for when we get inside,” Titanius said, not permitting the boy to plead his way out of this before they reached this isolated area, “You’ll have plenty of time to say whatever it is you want to say once we’ve discussed the matter.”

The minotaur placed his hand on the blue gryphon’s shoulder, which Gallus took as him saying that he wasn’t getting out of this so easily. Having no other option than to submit to his impending doom, Gallus stepped through the door when opened, and flinched when he heard Titanius step inside after and close it behind him.

The room they entered looked like a large conference room, in the sense that it was made to house many minotaur inside it, with its massive table in the center, and seats made for huge creatures like the bovines. This was clearly where the minotaur slave masters discussed business and made deals with one another, collaborating and coordinating their actions so none of their affairs interfered with one another, since the warehouse, slave processing facility, and creatures targeted for enslavement were shared by all those who utilized Schorl’s facility as a base of operations.

“Take a seat,” Titanius demanded, “Any will do. None are claimed by any particular minotaur, and they would not be offended if a les-, ahem… worker took one when they weren’t here.”

Gallus caught that he was about to be called a ‘lesser creature’, but didn’t bring it up. To be fair, at this moment he felt pretty small, and he didn’t want to compound any trouble he was in by speaking out about the minotaur’s thoughts on gryphons. He chose the closest seat to him, finding it a bit too big for him to comfortably sit in, but he had the idea that his comfort was not important.

With the gryphon’s seat chosen, Titanius made his way to the other side of the table, so he could take the seat across from him. This moment held a frightful silence to it, and not being able to bear the few seconds of only hearing the bull’s hooves stomp across the floor, the avian took another look around the room, so he might take his mind off things. Gallus spotted a bulletin board on a far wall, and saw that it had several names on it, including Titanius’ and that of Gilda and Anya’s boss, Rubric. Underneath each name were pinned papers and pictures, which no doubt listed their objectives for the upcoming day, week, or even month. While his eyes were sharp, and he could make out the images on the board, a majority of which held the image of random ponies, with others showing a variety of non-pony creatures, and a single stand out showing what looked to be a fortress city in the middle of a snowy landscape, his vision was not so adept as to make out any associating notes to any of these pictures.

“So, boy…” Titanius said while slipping into his chosen chair, his expression stoic as he locked eyes on the gryphon, “Would you like to explain to me what I caught you doing?”

Hearing the bull’s deep voice, Gallus shot his gaze back to him, before looking down at the table to avert looking him eye to eye, and answering. “I was taking an unscheduled break.”

“An unscheduled break?” Titanius repeated back in the form of a rhetorical question, “While on my time?”

“To be fair, sir. I wasn’t on your time, I was loaned out to another minotaur today.” Gallus said, not trying to be cheeky, but looking for anything that might help his case, “But I guess that doesn’t really make a difference, does it?”

“It certainly doesn’t,” the bovine replied, “If you were working for one of my peers, then that means that you were contracted through me to perform the duties assigned to you today, and to do so while abiding by the same standards I would expect from you. When you do something like this, it not only looks poorly on you, but on me as well, and it’s possible that I might have to pay a fee for your insubordination, which would in turn come out of your payment.”

Gallus was partially relieved to hear the bull imply that the punishment he was intending was a cut in wages, but his gryphon greed didn’t like the thought of having his pay docked when he had completed the task he was assigned.

“Now wait a moment, sir.” the gryphon said, “I’ll admit that I shouldn’t have gone to hide away and slack off, but I did all my work today before doing it. Me and two others had to put together thirty large steel cages in an eight hour work day, with a single thirty minute lunch break, and we did it with twenty minutes to spare. I only flew away to relax a bit because I had nothing left to do until my shift was over.”

“Is that so?” Titanius said, “I suppose checking inventory tomorrow will confirm that, but you’re still not allowed to just fly off and hide away in the storage area. You should have informed Brutus you were done, and if he had no more jobs for you, then you should have clocked out for the day. It’s not like you’re working an hourly wage, where your timesheets matter.”

“Yeah, but…” Gallus was about to give the reason he didn’t want to do things that way since he was not guaranteed time to himself if he just finished his day. Everywhere he’d go, there would be other gryphons around, ready to give him crap because he was an easy target. He didn’t see how admitting to that could help though, so he detracted the complaint he was about to make by instead saying, “No, you’re right. I won’t do it again.”

“I have to say, I might not have cared so much if this was the first time I suspected you did this, you’ve been noticed going missing several times now.” Titanius explained, letting it be known that Gallus’ secret getaways were not as secret as he assumed, “Trust me, you’re not the only gryphon here who has made an unscheduled and extended break, but if I let you get away with this, then others would think it was fine for them to do the same. Or even worse, they might think I was playing favorites.”

Gallus mentally rolled his eyes, since the others already made assumptions that he was well liked among the minotaur. This belief didn’t just stop with those he worked with and thus had contact with, but implied that he was sleeping with Titanius as well, when this was the first time he had ever spoken to the bull face to face. Even when being selected to work under the slaver, Gallus only saw the minotaur point him out in a large crowd of other gryphons, before being ushered into a room to sign paperwork with one of Schorl’s trusted servants.

“You know, boy,” the minotaur proceeded to say, “I look at you, and while I see a gryphon and know how… unmotivated your kind can be, I don’t see someone who is bad at his job. I might not watch you like a hawk, but each time I see you on the floor, you are doing your work to the best of your abilities.”

“Could you not call me ‘boy’?” Gallus muttered under his breath, finding that title belittling, to a degree that the compliment given was completely ignored.

The gryphon had assumed that this would have either been ignored or gone unnoticed, but the minotaur spotted the movement of the avian’s beak, and how he looked away as if he did it.

“If you have something to say, then speak so it can be heard,” the minotaur said, having no issue doing this himself.

“I said…” Gallus wanted to speak his mind, about this in particular, but was a little hesitant. After all, this was his boss, and upsetting him could lead to all sorts of negative consequences. “Look, it doesn’t matter. Just give me whatever punishment you want to give me. I just want this day to be over.”

Titanius raised a brow, as it was usually much harder to get a gryphon to concede on something they had done wrong. Usually, they were far too arrogant and combative to accept their mistakes, and it was strange to see one submit themselves for any sort of corrective action. This was a unique interaction that peaked the bull’s curiosity.

“Boy, wait here. I’d like to discuss this further, but I need to grab something first.” Without another word, the minotaur got up from his seat and left the room.

As Gallus heard the door close, he realized that he was trapped there. Not in a literal sense, as he doubted the room had locked as the bull left, but because he’d surely be in even more trouble if he tried to leave. Knowing how things worked in the Society, he had to assume that his employer was going to get something related to his punishment, with his thoughts drifting to the idea that Titanius was going to get something to discipline him like a slave, since he had heard stories of minotaur who enjoyed dominating those that they saw as ‘lesser creatures’, and Titanius had already almost addressed him as that earlier.

While he had never heard of one of the workers being punished physically, the gryphon could see the bull coming back with a paddle, and offering to let him off the hook if he submitted to a series of solid swats on the ass. As he sat and waited, Gallus couldn’t help but think of what if that wasn’t the full extent of what Titanius would want to do. The minotaur could want to set an example and get him to agree to a harsher punishment like a whipping, or perhaps something more humiliating. Gallus’ mind wandered over all the things he had overheard other gryphons say they had seen minotaur do to slaves to get them to become obedient, picturing himself in their positions, as he envisioned Titanius doing painful, embarrassing, and even lewd things to him.

It was terrifying to think that things could be done to him over wanting to take a moment away from everyone, but he had no reason to think otherwise. He had already seen a gryphon be taken away for breaching their contract, and he wasn’t aware if what he had done counted towards something like that. If the minotaur came back in with a ballgag, a butt plug, and the girliest dress in Equestria, Gallus would put all three on in front of him if termination of his contract was even implied as an alternative. It would be shameful and emasculating, but he knew worse would happen if he ended up enslaved.

He had to sit alone with these thoughts for only ten minutes, but that was more than enough time for the gryphon to be shaking so hard his minotaur sized seat was jittering with him. When he heard the door open and close again, he had his mind set on this being the most horrible moment of his life, as the sound of massive hoof steps got closer, he found himself cycling through the best ways to plead for forgiveness.

Soon the minotaur was standing at his side, his large, muscular body towering over the avian, casting a shadow that covered Gallus’ body. The gryphon’s heart was beating fast, as he assumed the minotaur wouldn’t have gotten so close unless the bull needed to ‘make contact’ with him in some manner. Judging by his previous interactions with minotaur, he was expecting that he would have to re-enact what he had done during his drunken bet, only this time sober. With no other way out of this situation, Gallus considered it the best means to bring this to an end, if that was what Titanius wanted. Turning his head to face this male who possessed his work contract, and thus had absolute power over him, the gryphon expected to see something large and meaty being presented to him, and in a way, he was correct, just not as he presumed.

“Is that!?” Gallus said, his eyes wide with confusion, “A sandwich?” The minotaur was holding in his hand a partially wrapped piece of food, comprised of two pieces of wheat bread, a lettuce leaf accompanied by a slice of tomato, and a grilled chicken breast that was so freshly prepared that Gallus could see steam wafting off it. This sandwich came with a medium sized paper glass of soda, which the minotaur held in his other hand as he offered both items to the avian.

“I know you gryphons usually eat after work, so I got you something from the meal hall.” Titanius replied, placing the food on the table in front of Gallus.

The gryphon’s bewilderment over his boss going to get him food got him, while he was in the middle of being scolded for poor work behavior, got him to calm down a little as he grabbed what had been given to him. “Th-Thanks.” said Gallus, as Titanius made his way back to his seat, giving him enough time to slip a quick peek into the sandwich to make sure nothing had been slipped in that shouldn’t be there.

“I hope you don’t mind it without condiments,” Titanius said, his head still turned away from Gallus, “I didn’t want to ruin it since I didn’t know what you liked on your food.”

“No, this is fine.” Gallus replied, taking out the lettuce before biting into the sandwich, finding the cooked meat somehow better tasting than usual, if only because of his relief that he was not wrapping his beak around a minotaur’s dick at that moment instead.

“Good,” said Titanius, returning to his seat, “Then let’s continue.”

“Are you gonna punish me?” Gallus asked, in between another bite of his meal, “If so, this is a weird way to go about it.”

“No, I don’t think that disciplinary action is needed… this time. The fact that the others saw me pull you aside should be enough to dissuade them from doing what you did,” the bovine replied, emphasizing that he might not be so merciful if this behavior repeated, “But I don’t want you to leave just yet, as there are a few things I’d like to discuss with you first.”

“Like what?” Gallus asked, letting the bull be the one to direct the conversation.

“I’m just curious why a boy like yourself would get involved in something like this.” Titanius answered, “I know that your species have a habit of being greedy and disinterested in others, sometimes even other gryphons, which makes a high paying, if illegal, business like this perfect for them. However, you seem a bit different from the usual group of opportunistic vultures we get. I suppose I’m curious as to what goals you have working here.”

“Isn’t making money enough?” Gallus answered, but since the minotaur certainly wanted a better answer than that, he followed up by saying, “I suppose I would like to be able to move away from Griffonstone with what I make here.”

“Ah, yes.” Titanius replied with a nod, “I hear that is a common goal of you younger gryphons. I’ve never been there but I hear it’s-.”

“Awful?” Gallus said, cutting off the minotaur this time, “That it’s less a city or a kingdom, and more a pile of wood planks put together to pretend they’re houses?”

Gallus had no issue talking poorly about his hometown, since Griffonstone never did anything for him but caused him pain. Simply living in the gryphon’s ancestral home was a financial drain on those unfortunate enough to have no other option, as Griffonstone hardly produced anything of their own on the craggy mountain top they lived on, and thus what money they acquired was often spent in other nations, which required travel time, or to have them imported into the kingdom. That Equestria, the closest neighboring kingdom in which they got a majority of their needs, happily exploited this dependency on others was probably why no gryphon working for the Society had any issue exploiting the ponies back. Still, most gryphons did begrudgingly grasp that most of their plight was due to their own failure as an empire, brought about by the failings of some long dead king, and go as far as to readily describe it as the shithole it was.

“I suppose I can relate with not being happy with the circumstances life has thrown you into,” said Titanius, not objecting to Gallus’ claims since he had no first hand experience with the gryphons’ lands. He did, however, know of hardships that came from being born into a poor situation, “There was a time when the men of my tribe were nomadic. We didn’t have lands to call our own, and thus we traveled across Equestria and its surrounding lands as traveling merchants.”

“You’re not gonna give me a history lesson, are you?” Gallus asked, taking a sip of his soda.

“I suppose not,” Titanius replied, “I’m just trying to say that while you might feel like your home doesn’t feel like a home, there was a time when my kind felt that no place was our home, and so I get a need to find some place you belong.”

“Where I belong is in a mansion, with a pile of gold coins, and some girls around to treat me like a king.” Gallus said, lightening up a little with his employer, “But I suppose you understand that too. Being a slave master, I bet you have lots of women who heed your every word.”

“Not quite,” Titanius said, “I’m more into males than females, but I do keep one around in order to… Well, perhaps that’s not important. Though I’ll say, I didn’t think you were the type to be so ambitious as to want to be a slave owner yourself.”

“Do you need to be in order to own someone?” Gallus asked, not understanding why that trait was important.

“Well of course you do,” Titanius said in declaration, “Taking care of another creature, even one bound to you by chain or contract, requires lots of resources. With each addition to your household, you’ll require more resources to maintain them. Food, water, clothing… if you intend to dress them that is. Sleeping arrangements. Even if you want to share your bed with them, you’ll need to get one big enough for all of you, or at least a room big enough to accommodate several pet beds. All these things cost money, and to acquire more money one must be determined to do what they need to in order to keep what is theirs.”

Gallus gave a small, nervous chuckle in reply, “Now that you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense. For some reason in my head, it always felt like they’d take care of themselves, or the cost would be something I could brush off. So I guess I shouldn’t be worrying about getting slaves till I’m really rich.”

“Being rich isn’t the point,” Titanius said, “Among my tribe, those who are not as well off as others can still have a servant or two at their disposal. The point is that you need to determine how you’re going to achieve your goals, and if it’s actually what you want.”

“Trust me, every gryphon in Griffonstone wants to be rich.” Gallus replied, but there was a slight sound of annoyance in the statement. A notion of ire in this well known truth about gryphons that Gallus couldn’t pinpoint the origin of.

“Well they certainly crave money, but money is often the symptom of a greater desire.” Titanius said, as if explaining the drive of gryphons in a philosophical sense, or the closest thing a minotaur could come to discussing things in such a manner, “For instance, most may want it because they see having it as their only way out of the poor circumstances of their lives in Griffonstone, but maybe a few see the possession of countless coins as a symbol of status or power. Money is hardly ever the end goal, and what most creatures fail to grasp is that money is often not required to get what they truly want.”

“And what do they really want?” Gallus asked, his interest peaking as the minotaur spoke of the reasons one might want money aside from mere survival.

“Security, freedom, comfort. To have something to show for the effort one puts into living, and be able to get something out of it. Have you ever felt the heft of a well filled coin purse, and simply felt good about the fact that no matter what came your way, you’d be able to handle it, if only for that day?”

It was hard for Gallus to say he had that exact experience since this was pretty much his first job outside of doing random errands for Grandpa Gruff, which only got him a few coins to blow on whatever trivial thing his younger self would want at the time. Though the amount of coins he got this way was never very large, he could relate to some of the feelings the minotaur was describing, as many felt when earning their first bit or had saved up more money than they felt they deserved.

“And while money is something that can aid in all of these things,” Titanius went on to say, “It can also complicate things at the same time. Some creatures are just not cut out to manage their own business, or be the head of a large household, which managing a bunch of enslaved creatures can seem like at times.”

“Ok, but what if I think I can be,” Gallus replied, believing that his future happiness lay within being rich, “How do I get to that point when all I do is grunt work?”

“Well, first thing you have to do is prove that you’re capable enough to be trusted with the tasks that would give you higher pay.” Titanius answered, “I never see you at the training grounds after work, so I assumed you were disinterested in becoming a hunter.”

“You… you scout out talent by watching them in the training grounds?” Gallus didn’t know what else to say when told this, as he wasn’t aware that this was how they vetted who was hunter material. Training was usually voluntary, save for a bi-weekly one just to make sure each gryphon met physical requirements to perform their jobs properly, so Gallus avoided it just to stay away from the other gryphons. Had he known, he would have been running the courses every day.

“There’s hardly any other way to determine who would make the cut,” Titanius reiterated, “And believe me, you're not the only gyphon who doesn’t do daily practice. This is why I said you didn’t seem the ambitious type before.”

Gallus couldn’t believe that all this time he’d been sabotaging himself. He had worked so hard in the warehouse, assuming that was how other gryphons like Gilda got selected, but he had missed out on this detail.

“I can see you’re not pleased with this news,” said the minotaur, reading his expressions, “But there is nothing saying you can’t make up for lost time. Why, a boy your age has plenty of time to carve his fate and make his fortune.”

The minotaur was right, and all Gallus needed to do was change his course to improve his role in the organization, but the avian was too frustrated at himself and the circumstances skewed his decisions towards choices that made him miss out on the opportunities he could have had. While he was far from the breaking point, his gryphon nature told him that the appropriate action now was to lash out at others for his own mistakes.

“Could you stop calling me a boy?!” Gallus blurted out in a fit of anger, only to instantly become aware of how yelling at your boss was typically not a way to impress or gain favor from them. His rage left as quickly as it came, and Gallus sank in his seat, feeling very sheepish while enduring the piercing stare of the bovine male.

“Ah,” Titanius said, as if he had just made an important discovery, not phased by the outburst itself, “So that’s your goal. It’s not for wealth, or power, or anything as frivolous and fleeing as those. You want the one thing that truly matters in this world, to be respected and seen as a man.”

“I… uh… I just don’t like it when others look down on me.” Gallus replied, hoping to restore the neutral atmosphere he had broken, “And that’s something that’s been happening since I started working here.”

“Hmmm… And who’s been looking down on you?” Titanius inquired, “None of my boys, I hope.”

“Your… boys?” Gallus asked back, “Are some of the minotaur here your sons?”

For the first time during this conversation, Titanius’ eyes went wide, as it dawned on him how his words came out to the gryphon. “Oh, no. At least I don’t believe so. Minotaur culture doesn’t keep much stock in paternity. I just use the word ‘boy’ to refer to any male I hold responsibility over. That’s all I meant when I called you that as well, not as something to belittle or insult you.”

“Oh,” Gallus replied, now getting that it was just a term of endearment, or something similar, “Well it’s not a minotaur that disrespects me. Its…” A part of Gallus wanted to hold back, seeing this as proving those that mocked him right, but having let this much slip, it would only be a matter of time before Titanius looked in on it himself, “The other gryphons.”

“All of them?” Titanius asked.

“A lot of them,” Gallus said, “And before you ask, I won’t name names.”

“Commendable,” the bull replied, respecting Gallus’ wishes to want to handle this problem himself, “But if you won’t tell me ‘who’, then tell me ‘why’?”

It shamed Gallus to tell the minotaur the reason, but it was another thing that could be easily found out if Titanius decided to do some digging, “I made a stupid bet shortly after I started working here. Some minotaur learned that I turned old enough to drink, took me to the employee bar, and got me drunk enough that I’d agree to anything. I pretty much sold my first experience with sex for fifty bits.”

“I see,” Titanius said, “That would be an embarrassing thing for others to bring up. Drinking to the point that you lose control never feels good.”

“Pretty sure the sex thing is the more embarrassing part,” Gallus said, pointing out what he saw as the problem, since it felt like the minotaur was tiptoeing around it, “I don’t know why I did it. I’m not even gay.”

“And if you were, would it make a difference?” Titanius asked, “I like males, and I still think that getting so sloppy that I’d put out to anyone would still be humiliating. It’s not the sex that’s the problem here. It’s that you, in your youthful naivety, got put into a position where others could control you. You feel tricked and used, and that by having been tricked it diminishes your masculinity.”

“Maybe you’re right about that,” Gallus said, finding nothing incorrect about what the bull was saying, “But when I’m teased, me doing… what I did is always the thing people focus on. They even have a name for it.”

“You mean ‘Swallow’,” Titanius said, “I’ve heard the term tossed around, as the minotaur working under the slave masters had picked it up after hearing your kind say it. If it makes it any easier, I assure you that you’re far from the only one who is called this.”

“Yeah, but I’m the only one who gets picked on daily over it.” Gallus replied.

“That’s because they see how it gets to you.” Titanius said back, “But an attack on your masculinity is only effective if you allow it to be.”

“No offense, sir, but I’m not in the same position as you.” Gallus said, “You’re one of the ones in charge here. You have money and power, and others have to respect you if they want to get even a bit of that from you. Even with the sex stuff, you say being gay doesn’t matter, but that’s because you’re probably the one doing the fucking, and not the one getting fucked. For me though, I’m the one who always gets fucked. Not just with sex, but in every part of my life.”

“Judging by your background as a gryphon, I can see how you could think this.” said the minotaur, “Born into a ruined kingdom that offers you nothing, surrounded by those who harbor that loss after centuries, spreading their bitterness with anyone they can find. If you’re trying to prove yourself as a man though, you can’t let yourself be held down by these things. A man is not measured by what he has, but by how he acts in the face of adversary. Take those stags we have in our service, for example.”

“You mean the enslaved ones that work around the facility?” Gallus asked.

“Yes, them.” Titanius confirmed, “I think we can agree that being someone else’s slave is a far worse life than what you have right now, and like you, some of them were born into their poor situation. Yet, despite being enslaved, despite having their nation taken over by my brethren, their women used as breeders, and some of them being used as sex slaves regardless of their own sexual preference, the lot of them take it in stride, and go about their daily duties with a smile on their faces.”

“That just sounds like they're brainwashed,” Gallus stated.

“Far from it,” Titanius said, “As when given the ability to be autonomous, they often figure out their own ways to complete whatever tasks are given to them. I’ve even had a few come to me with desires to renegotiate the terms of their enslavement, once they believe they have proven themselves as invaluable assets to my house.”

“A slave can do that?” Gallus questioned, finding that a bit absurd when it came to what a slave was supposed to be.

“Well, they can at least make the attempt.” Titanius said, chuckling a bit as he acknowledged how silly it sounded, “And I’m certain not every master would humor the notion, but in the minotaur lands it's not uncommon to hear of a slave trying to adjust their contracts.”

“Their… contracts?” Gallus asked again, “Why do they have contracts?”

“It's a continued practice of a bygone era.” Titanius explained, “We minotaur used to use contracts to finalize a lot of agreements between our kind and others, this ranged from trade agreements, breeding contracts, and other such deals. It would probably be better to call it a ‘deed’ nowadays, but ‘slave contract’ just sounds better to us. Besides, the practice hasn’t fallen completely out of fashion, and when we discover someone willing to do so, we still utilize these kinds of contracts to ensure fair treatment of both parties.”

“Okay, but why would you let those you already own do this?” Gallus asked, confused about the reasoning behind that. It sounded dumb, maybe even made up in order for the minotaur to prove some kind of point.

“Because it can be beneficial to forge a mutual understanding between those who serve you, to grant them some level of respect, however small that might be, if it leads to them being happier and being motivated to work harder for your sake. Now these contracts do come with their own clauses, terms, and conditions that must be met, and an enslaved creature doesn’t hold that much negotiation power to get everything they might want, but I find it a simple concession to ease their burdens or appeal to their desires, if the end result leads to a better understanding between us.”

The bovine’s eyes drifted to the upper left corner of their sockets, it dawning upon him that he had derailed from the point he was trying to make with this crash course on minotaur ownership rights and slave/master relations.

“Ahem, what I’m getting at is that it's up to the individual to improve their way of life, even in the slightest ways, and doing that is how males prove they are men. There is nothing stopping you from changing how you live, except your own self doubt.”

“Okay,” Gallus said, having received the message, “Then I’ll try harder to improve on things.”

“That’s a good b-,” Titanius had to stop himself, and then corrected with, “Man. Now you might have heard, but in case you haven’t, allow me to give you some advice. Not long from now we’ll be scouting through every able bodied creature at our disposal for those with the ability to be slave hunters. What we need them for is still months off, but we’ll be seeing who qualifies in just a few weeks. This will be a golden opportunity for a gryphon wanting to prove themselves and change their life, as our targets have high prices on their heads, and there are a lot of them. So long as you can show us you have what it takes, I’ll gladly recommend to the one in charge that you be part of this.”

Of everything said during this conversation, that was one of the few things the gryphon could get behind completely. Not only could he boost himself to the top of the Society’s hierarchy quickly this way, but it sounded like this was the way he could get a large amount of money from a single job. Even though he didn’t know what it entailed, this was exactly the kind of break Gallus was looking for.

“So all I need to do is go practice, show I’m capable, and I’ll be able to get what I wanted from the start?” Gallus said, ecstatic at what the minotaur was offering.

“There is more to it than that,” Titanius said, “But that would be a step in the right direction. For now though, why don’t you go to your quarters and rest for the evening? I’ll expect to see you after work in the training area though, that is if you were serious about not wanting to be a stock boy from now on.”

“Yes sir,” Gallus said, taking the final bite of his sandwich, before making his way to the door, determined to be a part of whatever this upcoming capture mission was.

“And Gallus,” Titanius said, making the gryphon pause as his talon touched the doorknob, “This was a constructive conversation. I think that it has allowed us both to see a little more eye to eye.”

The meaning of that statement was not lost on Gallus, and he gave a silent nod as he accepted the minotaur’s small concession to his needs, when the bull could have foregone them and made his life worse had he wanted. With nothing more to say, the avian left the room and prepared for the day to come.

The next day Gallus made his way to the practice grounds right after his post work meal. He had been looking forward to this all day, his anticipation and elevated outlook on his situation allowing it to fly by as he completed the tasks he was assigned to. He entered the room with his determination showing in his facial expressions, ready to display that he could be just as good a hunter as any other gryphon, if not better.

“Well, well,” said one of the gryphons waiting with several others for their turn to run an aerial obstacle course made of suspended hoops, “If it isn’t the swallow. You here looking for some minotaur dick?”

“Yeah, tell us again how many licks does it take to reach their center?” asked an owlish looking male a few spaces ahead, as the group turned to face the bright blue feline bird standing at the back of the line.

The lot of them laughed, expecting these words to get to Gallus as they always did, but instead of being put off and disheartened, he found himself smirking at their feeble attempts to demoralize him.

“Sorry, guys,” he said, spreading his wings, “I’m not gonna make myself choke because of a bunch of giant cocks today. Though, it’s a good thing a lot of you skipped lunch to get here early, cause you’re about to eat crow.”

Just as the gryphon currently using the course finished, Gallus took off into the air, zipping right past the one who was supposed to be next. If his cutting pissed off those who had been waiting, they could take their objections and sit on them like an egg, after all the crap they put him through until now.

The blue gryphon flew right through the hoop that acted as the starting point, which initiated a timer at the end of the course, and then made a big flap of his wings to reach the next one above him, before diving down to the one after that. The course continued on like this, testing his ability to control his course in flight by making him go in all directions, while keeping a forward momentum. He was far from flawless in this, as his speed was just slightly above average, and his maneuvering led him to graze a few of the hoops, but his brazen display of confidence while performing at acceptable levels managed to impress a particular onlooker.

As Gallus reached the end, a timer stopped and displayed a mediocre time. The blue gryphon wasn’t trying to break records though, just the barriers that had been limiting him for so long. Touching down to the ground, Gallus spotted that he was being approached, by the very minotaur who had inspired him to work towards his goals.

“That wasn’t too bad for a first try,” Titanius said, “But you shouldn’t disrespect your fellow gryphons by cutting in line like that.” The bull then turned his head slightly, seeing many of the gryphons that Gallus had cut in front of stewing in their anger. “Even if it is warranted.”

“Just wanted to show them that I wasn’t gonna let their words get to me, sir.” Gallus replied.

“Well good. Now why don’t you go and work with some wing weights? No one is using them at the moment, and you’ll need to get your strength up if you want to fly at the pace we’re looking for.”

“Yes, sir.” Gallus said, taking to the air to go to where the weight training equipment was stationed.

“That’s a good boy,” Titanius whispered, waiting for the young gryphon to get far out of ear shot to show his endearment towards him. Once that was done though, he turned to those still angrily glaring at Gallus. “What are you all standing around for? If you gaggle of grunts are gonna gawk, get out of the line and let someone who actually wants to improve take their turn.”

While most of the gryphons didn’t work for Titanius personally, his loud words were drawing the attention of the other minotaur there to monitor their physical abilities, and those who trained often knew that the minotaur took notes that would reach those they were contracted under. So while they were steamed that they had been shown up by Gallus, even if he had actually done nothing special, each relented and went back to the reason they were here.

“Heh, and maybe that will teach you all not to target the weakest member of your group,” Titanius whispered to himself, assuming that was the real reason these gryphons had been teasing the blue bird boy, as he knew from a rumor that many of them were swallows themselves, and had done far more degrading and demeaning things for a small amount of coins than run their tongue across a minotaur’s girth.

Furthermore, they did it far more frequently as well, so the only explanation for persecuting Gallus was to divert attention to their own shameful acts. If only Gallus knew, he might have been able to laugh this off sooner, but they were far better at keeping their disgraceful dealings out of public knowledge, and it was probably better for Gallus to be able to dismiss their words without being able to throw them back. If he was aware of the hypocrisy of his peers, he would have gotten over his issues for a day, but assuming that the taunting of these gryphons held no weight to them altogether had solved his problems for a lifetime.

Hunter Exam

The moon hung full in a pitch black sky, casting its pale, silvery light over Equestria like a lantern. The celestial body, placed there by Princess Luna, went unobscured this evening, with hardly a cloud in the sky. If Equestrians didn’t need to sleep at these hours, every citizen of the pony kingdom would be able to see and appreciate a spectacular night such as this, one lovingly crafted by their dark princess for their enjoyment. Instead, it was often those who held ill intent for the citizens of this kingdom that got to take in the splendors of Princess Luna’s craft.

“By King Gover’s bones, this place is frigid.” said some gryphon hen that, until now, Anya had never associated with.

The two were stationed atop an icy cliff side, looking down on some small town in the mountains in the north part of Equestria. That anyone would build a settlement, even this small, in a place like this, where it was hard to grow food, with noeasy way to get to other cities could only serve one purpose; ‘Isolation’. Anya wasn’t privy to what the ponies residing here were trying to hide from, but it seemed that this place was discovered by the head mistress a while back before the gryphon had recruited to the Society’s cause.

“Yeah, but suck it up.” Anya said in a hushed tone, wanting to keep quiet as she was well versed in environmental hazards like avalanches.

Anya was cold as well, but after learning about the benefits of colder temperatures, particularly how they kept her thoughts from drifting to daydreams of minotaur sexually dominating her, Anya had come to welcome the chilling bite upon her skin.

“We need to keep our eye out for that signal.” she continued, “It could come at any moment.”

The gryphoness beside her gave a disapproving “tsk” from the tip of her beak, and looked in a direction away from Anya as she pulled out a thermos from an inner jacket pocket. Anya, looking out of the corner of her eye as she kept watch, grimaced to herself as the container was opened, and hot steam poured out before her assigned partner took a drink of whatever was inside. The minotaur had said to dress warm for this, but she didn’t plan for things to be this cold, and thus she was not as prepared as this other gryphon was.

This was, in a sense, her first capture mission for the Society, though it was doubling as an exam. Several pairs of gryphons had been stationed around the peaks surrounding this no name town, and in a little while they would all be given the go ahead to enter it and capture whatever ponies they could while paying mind not to let any escape. Not that it was an issue that they did, as the one road going through this village was being blockaded by groups of minotaur and other trained hunters to prevent any who might slip away from reaching any other town, but to let even one pony leave the borders of this village would look poorly on each gryphon of the group.

Another thing that was stressed was that this mission was supposed to be executed with stealth in mind. While no points would be deducted overall so long as every pony that inhabited this place was captured, it would be much easier to accomplish this goal so long as no one was alerted in the first place. Also, there was talk of penalties for unnecessary damages to buildings or the things they contained, which Anya assumed was due to the minotaur wanting to preserve any goods in the town for expropriation after the mission’s success.

Aside from that, the rules were simple; Each pair got their own house designated to them, which was assumed to have somewhere between five to eight ponies residing in it, as this place was some sort of commune with shared living quarters. They were not provided with tools that would aid in the mission, but were allowed to take with them anything they had on hand at the announcement of the test, and would each get a small satchel of leather cuffs to use to restrain those they captured. Outside of that, there was a strict rule about not maiming or causing the death of one of the targets, unless the gryphon who did so wanted to become part of the Society’s inventory themself.

This was how Anya was supposed to get approval to become a hunter for the Society, and thus be qualified to participate in the upcoming raid, which would fulfill her end of her contract with Rubric. Thus, she wasn’t going to let anything distract her from passing this test with as high of marks as she could. If she could, she’d be the first one in and the first one finished with her assignment.

As Anya continued to watch, a ball of dim light shot up from ground level, silently bursting into a ball of dark purple that merged with the sky. At this late hour, it was unlikely that anyone would be awake to see it, except for those participating in this capture mission. Likewise, if someone had gotten out of bed to get a glass of water or some other reason, a signal like this would not be something noticeable for anyone not looking for it.

“Ok, there it is, let’s go.” Anya said to her assigned partner, already seeing shadows of other gryphons flying towards the village from their perches.

“About time,” said the other gryphon, spreading her wings to take flight.

Anya followed the other gryphon’s lead, and together they descended to their targeted house, having shared maybe ten lines of dialogue with one another up until this point, two of which being ‘hi’ to one another when they were first paired up. Now Anya had to depend on her to do her part to get them both to pass, and Anya wasn’t very trusting of the other gryphons on the Society’s payroll in general.

“Hey,” Anya said, flying aside this other hen, “Just as a reminder, they are judging our performance on this one. If we don’t do a good job, they won’t let us become hunters. So we really need to work together, and get this done right.”

“Okay, I got it,” the other hen replied snidely, “We go down there, break into the house, and get the ponies inside cuffed to their bed. In and out, with no problems.”

It would be great if it were that easy, and Anya prayed that it would be, but something in her head told her not to assume everything would just go their way. While this kind of job was a new experience for her, she had practice in a variety of other adventurous fields, and far too often things got their worst when you believed that nothing could go wrong.

Each pair of winged shadows touched down either on top of their assigned building, or on the ground next to it, readying their unlawful entry. There weren’t many options on how to get in, either a window or a door, and it was up to the gryphons to figure out how they’d get past them. As Anya and her partner touched down, she immediately started scoping the place out to see if there were any exploitable vulnerabilities. First thing she checked was the back door, finding it to be locked as she turned the handle.

“Ok, so this door’s shut tight,” Anya said to the other gryphon, “Do you know how to pick a lock?”

It was not an absurd question to ask, as many clawed creatures, such as gryphons with their talons, had natural tools that could be used to trip a lock tumbler. It wasn’t easy, but with enough skill one could make short work of a door like this without excessive force.

“Not really,” the other gryphoness said as she shuddered and rubbed her arms, the cold of this snowy mountain top climate getting to her. It was unlike what one would feel in Griffonstone, where they merely had to deal with strong winds.

“Well you better start learning if you want to get in quick,” Anya said, not being very skilled in breaking locks herself. At least not ones like these, as she was more used to breaking into old temples, and not other people’s houses, “Just see what you can do, and I’ll check the windows.”

The two hens swapped places, but Anya didn’t think that this other gryphon was gonna learn on the spot how to undo a door lock. She also wasn’t too confident that the windows would have been left unlocked either, expecting them to be closed up tight to keep out the chilly air. She had to at least try and hoped they’d be lucky.

One by one, she attempted to lift up or push in the framed glass, trying windows on both the first and second floors of the structure. The place was locked up tight, more than most homes in Equestria, which felt a little weird if this was supposed to be a shared home in a community where it was presumed everyone knew and trusted one another, but perhaps there was something else out in the mountains they needed to keep out. Anya hoped that wasn’t the case, because she would have loathed if this test turned into some sort of horror film. Then again, seeing that the gryphons were home invaders trying to kidnap the residents of the town to sell them into slavery, it already was a horror film, just with her group as the monsters.

In the end, not a single window gave so much as a jiggle. The only progress gained from this was that Anya got a good layout of the inside, and spotted the ponies that they were after, a bunch of mares sleeping soundly in beds located within two separate rooms upstairs. So if they could get in without a sound, this should have been the easiest job in the world, but that still begged the question of how. In her desperation for an easy solution, she went so far as to check under the front mat for a spare key, but the ponies were not so naive as to have left a free ticket to being burglarized in such an obvious spot.

Relenting on her inspection of the house’s exterior, Anya headed back to her partner at the back door to see if she had made any progress, only to find that the gryphon had stopped attempting to crack its lock, and was standing next to the door with her hands in her jacket pocket.

“Fingers get cold?” Anya asked, figuring the metal of the door’s knob and key slot might have been freezing to the touch for an extended period of time. It was not that much easier for herself, but she had the advantage of not having to keep constant contact with the windows as she inspected them.

The other gryphon didn’t even dignify Anya’s question with an answer, since it was clear that she wasn’t taking too well to the frigid climate, instead saying, “Did you find a way in?”

“No luck.” Anya replied, “This place might as well be a vault, and since we don’t have a key…”

“We’re busting in?” the other hen asked, “Fine, whatever gets me inside. I feel like I got ice collecting in my feathers.” The gryphoness looked around on the ground for a second, and then bent over to pick up a large rock, “This should do the trick.”

Taking a few steps over to the closest window, the gryphoness made sure to make distance between herself and her target, before winding up for a toss. The motion was so fluid that Anya barely had time to comprehend what was going through this other gryphon’s mind, but as the stone was being brought into the arch of a throw, Anya figured out what plan was running through her partner’s head. Anya dashed to get in the way, and since she wasn’t too far away from the other avian, she managed to shield the window with her body, using her wings as the barrier to keep it away from that glass.

“Are you stupid?!” Anya said, infuriated while keeping a hushed tone. It was lucky the stone did no damage, to her or the window, “We’re here this late because all those ponies inside are sleeping! If you smash open a window you’re gonna wake them up, along with any ponies in the next houses over!”

“Well, how do you suggest we get in, then?!” the gryphon said back in a more elevated whisper, already knowing that forced entry wasn’t a great idea, but what other choice did they have?

Anya took a moment to calm herself, now that the near disaster had been averted. The other gryphon, while brash and crude with her actions, was the least of her issues at the moment. “Look, just give me a minute to think.”

Anya wished that the minotaur had given them some kind of tools for this trial mission. The Society had plenty of things to help hunters when they went to collect some new merchandise, but it was likely that the point of this test was to see the ingenuity of each gryphon pair. Gryphons were on average no more or less smart as ponies, so this had to be part of the vetting process, to determine who could be trusted to be smart enough to deal with situations like this if they arose.

“Give me a second to scope out our competition, maybe they’ve figured out something.” The other gryphon gave Anya a roll of her eyes, certainly thinking shattering the window would be faster, and assuming that might happen while she was gone, Anya grabbed the stone and any others she could find that were of decent size, “Two minutes, tops. If we still have nothing, we’ll do it your way.”

Not waiting for a reply, Anya made her way to the front of the building, dropping all the stones she held after taking a few steps around the corner. Every building in this town faced a singular road going through the center of the town, leading to one larger building at the end. With nothing really obstructing the view between each structure, Anya hoped to catch someone else making their way inside their targets. If this was a test, someone had to be watching everyone’s progress, probably from a safe distance while they used the open city streets and the light of the moon above to keep an eye on everything going on. So there was no reason Anya couldn’t do the same if it led her to an answer to this problem.

She was at least happy to see that her pair was not the only one having trouble getting inside, as other gryphon pairs were just as stumped with their homes without alerting the neighborhood as she was with her partner. A few had no signs of activity, however, and it could be assumed those ones had been successfully infiltrated.

Anya cursed her timing, having missed what method they found to enter, but as she watched the others make their attempts, she came to the conclusion that far more than just her had come to this woefully unprepared, or lacked skills that would have made this test easier. When she started seeing some of the males get fed up and start ramming the door with their shoulders, making noise that could only be ignored so many times by the hopefully still sleeping ponies, Anya knew that the time for a stealthy entrance was running short. Having made no discoveries that could help, she turned around and resigned to just breaking in. While it would certainly alert those inside, it was a better idea than standing in the cold like an idiot.

Anya made her way back, snagging a rock from her discarded pile as she went to rejoin her partner, a little disappointed that this was gonna be the solution, since it was gonna make things much harder, and she had now stopped the other gryphoness for no reason. “Okay, it looks like we’re going with your…”

Being brought to a pause as she turned the corner, Anya found the other gryphon hen drinking from her thermos again. She had, as Anya requested, stayed herself from busting anything down, and was taking a drink of whatever hot liquid she had as she waited. Seeing the thermos though made the cogs in Anya’s head start moving, and with a toss of the rock over her shoulder, she walked right up to the other gryphon and snatched the thermos right out of her hand, saying “Give me that” as she used her other one to keep the robbed avian at an arm’s length.

“Hey! Get your own!” the gryphoness yelled, this time being a bit louder due to her outrage at having her only source of heat pulled right out of her hands.

“Shut up,” Anya said, both to get her to be quiet and to show that she was dismissing her objections, “Just watch.”

Without any explanation, Anya moved to the window with the angry gryphon still trying to reach past her to get her drink back. Taking the open thermos, she placed it at the top of the frame, and poured its contents onto the glass panel. It turned out to be coffee inside, though it didn’t matter what the fluid was when it came to how she was using it. The other gryphoness was not pleased with this perceived discarding of her heated drink, knocking Anya’s away as she made a reach for the thermos before what was left ended up wasted as well. She had managed to grab Anya by the wrist, but by that time one eyed gryphon’s objective had been achieved, and a series of large cracks appeared in the window, breaking the panel into numerous large shards.

“What the…” the gryphoness questioned in confusion, getting the thermos shoved back into her claws as the first response to this question.

“It’s something I picked up while working with ponies,” Anya replied, while pressing against the glass to push its newly formed segments inward enough that they could be safely wiggled free from the wooden frame they inhabited, “If you add something really hot to something really cold, it will often react by shattering. These windows have been out in the cold of this mountain for so long, I assumed your drink would be enough to do the trick.”

This thermic reaction was not one your average gryphon would know, and it was one Anya herself had to learn in reverse when visiting the dragon lands while doing her real job of acting as protection to small groups of ponies who saw themselves as adventurers. This particular expedition involved watching a dragon migration within the reptiles’ own domain. The ponies had brought along a cooler of ice cold water bottles to stave off the heat, and one idiot accidentally dropped down a hill that led into a lava stream. Seconds later an explosion happened, and the guide had to explain to everyone that intense heat and cold had destructive properties when mixed.

“Ok, smartass, but how is this a different result than if I had broken it with a rock?” the gryphoness asked, still upset that her coffee had to be used for this.

“Cause this didn’t make as much of a sound.” Anya explained, reaching inside to unlock the window, now that the glass was removed, “And I would like to at least get inside before alerting our victims.” A quick turn of a latch, and retrieval of her arm, and the window was ready to be opened without any further issue.

With that out of the way, the two gryphonesses made their way inside by climbing in, immediately enjoying the temperature difference of the inside from the outside. “Take a second to warm up.” Anya said, needing this other avian in a decent condition before they proceeded. Though, she was aware that this room they had entered would not stay heated for long, now that there was an open gap in the window for the warmth to flow out from.

“Don’t worry about me,” the gryphoness said, “I have my drink to keep me warm.” Without a second thought, she drank down the remainder of the coffee, and Anya couldn’t help but think that this was in part to prevent her from trying to take it again. Not that Anya had plans to do so, but the other hen left little doubt that she was pulling a petty act that was far too typical among their people.

“Fine, then let’s just do the job,” Anya said, ignoring the chill on her own body. She could get warm while being on the move, and the cold was keeping her focused more than anything, “Come on, I think I saw where they were sleeping earlier when I was checking the windows.”

Anya had spotted some beds with ponies sleeping in them on the second floor, with the lower floor being used as a general living space, where the bathroom, kitchen, and a simple lounging area were. All they had to do was get to the second floor and then restrain their unsuspecting prey without waking them, and this would all be over. It was easy to believe that getting in was supposed to be the toughest part of all of this since they made their entrance so silently, but Anya would find other obstacles to overcome as she proceeded.

The other gryphoness put her drink container away now that it was empty, and followed behind Anya as they searched for the way upstairs, “Hey… The minotaur didn’t say anything about taking things that might be… valuable, did they?” she said to Anya, as her eyes started to drift about the building.

“Not in so many words,” Anya replied, grumbling a bit that this other gryphon could keep her greed boner in her pants, “But I’m sure they don’t want us distracting ourselves with worthless trinkets.”

“Oh come on, some of these pony ‘trinkets’ can fetch as much coin as the ponies themselves,” the gryphoness said, more as a testament to how low the Society’s head mistress paid for run of the mill ponies than how valuable their possessions were.

“Look, I’m not trying to get in trouble here,” Anya replied, “And I have a different reason to become a hunter than just money, so if you could keep your hands to yourself, I’d really appreciate it. Besides,” Anya took another look around this place they were in, and everything looked cheap and bland, like the inhabitants of this house were purposefully trying to keep from having anything that would stand out, “I don’t really think these ponies have anything that would be worth your while stealing.”

The other gryphoness did a scan of the spaces the pair were quietly wandering through as well, and her on the spot appraisal had her agreeing with Anya. That was until they made their way into the lounge room which was where the steps were located. They both were making it through the room with no issue, until they passed by a long, knee high table placed between some chairs and a beaten up couch.

“Wait…” the other gryphon said, spotting a sizable bag sitting on top, “What about this?”

Anya turned her head in her partner’s direction as she reached for the sack, and noticed that it was not just any kind of bag, but a large coin sack. This was confirmed immediately as the burlap bag was untied and opened, revealing a decent amount of coins within.

“Now this has to be worth more than one or two of the ponies we’re nabbing.” the other gryphon stated, a devious grin appearing on her beak. It didn’t take any kind of deep thought to determine what was on her mind.

No, Anya’s thoughts were dwelling more on why the ponies in here would have such a large amount of bits just lying about in the open. This was a lot of money for any single pony, but maybe not for the entire household of what she estimated was about six mares. While the amount could be explained away as the residents pooling their money together, the placement of it wasn’t as easy to accept. These ponies were cautious enough to lock down every door and window, and yet not mindful enough to put away such a large bag of money for safekeeping? This felt weird, but as far as Anya’s trained eyes could see, both her real one and the artificial one in her eyepatch, there were no traps or the like protecting this small bounty. It was just there for the taking.

And that was the very intent of Anya’s partner, as she reached down to dip her hand into the sack, clearly to scoop out as much coin as she could to shove into her pockets. While there seemed to be nothing wrong with the bag, and it was likely that a single handful of coins would not be missed, something about this felt off, and Anya didn’t want anything to jeopardize her ability to be a part of Rubric’s raiding team.

For the second time that night, Anya had to put her hands on the unfamiliar gryphon, snagging her by her wrist before the gryphoness could touch the gold. “Look, something doesn’t feel right about all this.”

“You growing some morals?” the gryphon replied angrily, “It’s not like they’re gonna need any of this after they are sold to the Society.”

“No, it’s just…” Something about how the ponies could be simultaneously prepared for potential intruders, but lack common sense when it came to the safekeeping of money bugged her. “This is supposed to be a live test, right? Something real to make sure we are cut out to be hunters. Well, how many of these could they have if we’re supposed to be here on a legitimate mission?”

The other gryphon stopped resisting as she heard this, which in turn prompted Anya to release her grip. Pulling back her arm, the gryphon considered what was being said to her. “So you think this was all set up?”

“The conditions for this are too perfect,” Anya answered, “An entire city in the middle of nowhere, houses lined up in two neat rows, every house locked shut, and while every pony’s sleeping in their beds. I wouldn’t be surprised if the crystal mare had this whole town set up, and is using those trustee pony slaves she has to set up an ideal testing scenario.”

“And this?” The other gyphoness asked about the bag of coins.

“If I were to guess, it’s a loyalty test.” Anya replied, “Or just something to see if we’d get sidetracked. Think, it’s just sitting there for the taking, but it isn’t a lot. It looks to be about ten weeks of pay for warehouse work, which as a hunter you’d make a lot more.”

Estimating the amount in the bag made Anya think that perhaps the test here, if the was indeed a test, was maybe one for intelligence instead of loyalty, because if this little amount of money was enough for someone to risk the opportunities the Society was offering, then their judgment and rational thinking skills were not fit for a profession of abduction. What would such a person do if offered a bribe from their victim? Take it and release them? That would put the Society at risk, and that would be trouble for those whose interests lay with it.

“So we’re… just supposed to leave it then?” The other gryphon said, looking disheartened at the coins.

“Yeah, we leave it,” Anya said, stressing the point once more, “Now come on, let’s get this job done and over with.”

The other gryphon nodded, quietly following behind Anya up the steps, “Wait, if this is a test, does that mean we’re not getting paid for these captures.”

Anya groaned, knowing what might come if she said yes. Without the motivation of money, some gryphons would refuse to work at all. She didn’t put that past this gryphon to stop on the spot if there was even the slightest doubt that payment wasn’t coming, so Anya thought up something quick to keep things on track.

“The crystal mare has done this plenty of times, right?” Anya said, “And I doubt she’d be dumb enough to piss off a bunch of gryphons who were expecting to get richer from this. You’ll get your money, no doubt, else everyone here would end up rioting.”

“Ah, good point,” said the other gryphon, accepting this reasoning.

The two hens made their way up to the top of the steps and were met with a single hallway with a door on either side. From Anya’s earlier reconnaissance, she knew that each side had beds for three ponies, six in total, and last she saw they were all full.

“What do you want to do?” Anya asked the other gryphon, “Take them one by one, or each takes a room?”

Going in together was safer, as one could block the doorway as the other went to work, but had the risk that the other room would be unguarded if they were alerted to the gryphons’ presence. This would be easily rectified by the person who was standing guard stepping out into the hall to block the steps, but even then it might be hard to keep three or more ponies from barging past them. Alternatively, splitting up would be faster, and simulation or not, Anya didn’t know if they were being graded for time. The issue there was that if someone slipped past one of them, they’d be unobstructed as they made their way downstairs and to the front or back door.

“I think splitting up would be best,” the other gryphon said, “We already wasted enough time outside, and I want to get this over with.”

“Okay then, open up the shackle satchel.” Anya said, to which the other gryphon obliged.

Taking out three of the chained leather cuffs, Anya draped them over the arm of her off hand, and then gave a nod to confirm she was finished. Her partner then closed the pouch, before making her way to one of the doors. Anya went to the one not selected, and together they quietly turned the knobs, finding neither locked, and separated as they went into their chosen rooms.

Anya, being as silent as she could be as she crept into her chosen room, spied her targets immediately. Three mares, sleeping soundly in their beds, blissfully resting as a predatory avian invaded their space. They were, upon observation, fairly cute, with neatly kept manes that were each cut in a similar fashion, short, straight, and with small bangs in the front that draped down just above their eyes.

This in itself was not that odd, as they could be friends into the same hair style, as plain as it was, but what was strange was that each mare had a grayish tint to the otherwise colorful fur that covered their bodies. Not that their coats were gray, but it was like the saturation of color had been drained from them. Anya had been around ponies long enough to understand what this was, as when something was wrong emotionally with their kind, the normally bright hues of colors they wore would dim to visually represent this.

If there was anything that denoted that this was all set up by the crystal unicorn, this sealed the deal for the gryphon. It was something Anya had noticed on the few trustee slaves she interacted with, though their traits were often more subtle, but any victim of the torment and rape from the Society’s cliental would no doubt show similar signs of internal conflict. It was also unlikely that each of these mares was suffering some shared mental anguish if they were in a place where they could freely express themselves.

Test or no, Anya had to at least treat this like a normal job, and thus she got to work ensuring that none of these mares could make for an escape once they realized there was an intruder in their very room. It was like something out of a dark fantasy story, as she made her way to the first bedside. The mare had her eyes closed and was showing no signs that she was aware of Anya’s presence. Her hands were positioned under her head, above the pillow, which granted the gryphon easy access to the part she needed.

Taking a set of shackles she had, the half feline fowl wrapped the chain around the bed post, and then carefully wrapped the leather cuffs around her wrists. It was difficult, but not impossible, to get the restraint around those exposed forearms, and strap them on just tight enough that the grip of them wouldn’t rustle her from her slumber. Thus, the mare was successfully restrained, as even if she woke up now, she’d have a hard time making a run for it with her arms effectively tied to the frame of her bed.

Moving on to the next mare, Anya couldn’t believe that she was having to utilize a skill she had honed with her lover, Pathfinder. As the pegasus stallion enjoyed being tied up, and she enjoyed tying him up, there were a few times that she would surprise him by chaining him to his own bed while he was sleeping, during times when she would make an unexpected visit to his home after one of her jobs. The thought of him and the fun they had didn’t arouse her though, and not just because her libido had been fixated on minotaur as late. Her memories of him and his kelpie daughter were what kept her focused, as she used them to remind her constantly of why she bothered to work under Schorl, Rubric, or any others in the Society in the first place.

The next mare’s arms, unlike the first ones, were hiding under the covers, and so Anya would have had a harder time getting to them to lock her up the same way. The one after looked to have this same problem, but had shifted in her sleep enough that the blanket she had was pulled up, and her hooves poked out. Seeing her as the lesser challenge, Anya went to her first, and without too much trouble got a shackle on one of these hooves, while attaching the other end to the bed directly. If that mare tried to run, she’d find her trip short, ending with her face meeting the floor.

“Two down,” Anya said softly to herself, looking to the last one. Calmly she walked back to the middle and determined her approach. There was no easy way to reach her appendages, and while she could probably risk waking the mare, Anya wanted to do this as professionally as she could.

The gryphon stood there for about half, pondering how to address this problem, when suddenly she heard sounds reaching her ears. Not ones from inside the house, as she had worried she might if her partner fucked up, but ones hitting the window to this room from outside. The sounds were not as loud as she had been anticipating, but they did meet her expectations of what they would be, as several yells started to sound in the streets. Anya quickly figured that other pairs had encountered some difficulty while apprehending their own targets, and the results of these complications were now pouring out into the streets.

“Not my problem,” Anya said, remembering that she couldn’t help any other groups, even if she had felt inclined to.

However, she became increasingly aware that this steady sound of screams and shouts was actually an issue for her, as the growing chorus of pony voices was not just reaching her ears, but those of the sleeping mares. There may not have been an actual time limit to this test, but the ineptitude of the other would-be slave hunters had created a point in which all ponies in this town would be alerted to what was going on. The mares Anya had taken responsibility of subduing were being brought out of the land of dreams, and back into the reality of the waking world.

The two already shackled were effectively restrained, but the one in the center could ruin everything if she slipped out of bed. Anya had to act fast, and since she couldn’t get to her arms and legs, there was only one thing she could think of to keep the mare from getting up. Catching the at first slow, but then suddenly fast, the opening of this mare’s eyes as she saw the winged figure loaming near her bed, the gryphoness ceased her hesitations, and leaped onto the bed itself, catching the mare the moment she tried to scurry off her mattress.

In the ensuing struggle between the two, Anya had but one objective; to prevent the mare from getting out from under the blankets. The very thing that prevented Anya from easily chaining this pony to her bed would now become the thing used to pin her down upon it. This would have been a foolhardy plan if the mare had been an earth pony, and questionable if she was dealing with a pegasus, but Anya noticed prior that this one was a unicorn, with her horn in plain view on her forehead.

The physically weak species had zero chance in overcoming a predatory creature like a gryphon in a test of strength, and the only thing to worry about was if she tried to use her horn. In the mare’s panic though, it seemed to slip her mind that she could use spells to aid her escape, and so Anya could keep her trapped through brute strength alone. Repositioning herself, she straddled the mare’s body at the hips, pressing her own body down to apply as much weight as she could, as she gripped the edge of the blanket and held it down tightly at the mare’s neck. Everything from the shoulders down was now stuck under the covers, as it was used like a net to restrict the unicorn’s movements.

“Hold still!” Anya commanded, disregarding silence and subtlety at this point.

If the screaming from outside was not enough of a disturbance to rouse the other mares in this house from their sleep, the loud sounds of the mare’s resistance was. As the gryphon assumed, the other two mares on either side of her woke up shortly before her yell, and while their poorly rested states made their ability to assess the situation slow, they were at this point discerning what was going on. As it would have been with any pony, the two other mares’ first thoughts were to leave their beds, but both found themselves unable to assist their roommate or flee to the door as they became aware of the chains connecting them to the furniture, with the one bound by their ankle making a painful trip onto her front once she made one hasty step too many from her bed’s frame.

“Nobody try to move,” Anya demanded, believing she had full control over what was happening, and that she had removed any means of escape these ponies had, “And none of you say so much as one word to me. That is unless you want to get hurt.”

The gryphoness gave a quick display of her talons, sharp enough to cut through pony skin, to show her captives that she meant business. Each mare, in turn, not having any foreseeable options to get away unharmed, did as they were told, the two stuck in bed going still, as the one who tripped adjusted herself to a sitting position next to her bed. If these mares were indeed slaves set up here to test hunters, they had to be aware that their part was done, and if not they must have believed Anya was a common robber who would make good on her promise if they didn’t comply.

Either way, Anya was relieved that her part in this was done. All that was left was to ensure that the mare under her would not do something the moment the gryphon got off her, so she instructed the unicorn to place her arms above her head at the headboard. She obeyed without a word, and the shackles were placed on her to match those of the other mare chained by her wrists. With that done, Anya’s role in this was truly completed, and she got off the bed to look over those she might have been dooming to a life of forced servitude and sexual violation.

“I know this doesn’t mean much,” said the gryphon, “But realize that whatever comes next, it’s not personal. You three were just part of a job.”

No doubt that her words meant little to those who would suffer the consequences of her actions, but Anya felt it needed to be said. The gryphon wanted to believe that if not for her loved ones being at stake, she would never do something like this, and it felt like not giving some form of apology or condolence would make her out to be no different from any other gryphon here for the sole purpose of exploiting others for profit.

Anya was ready to receive some barbed words in return, assuming the power of her threat might have expired now that she had moved to a safe distance away from her captives, but before anyone could speak, she heard a door burst open from the hallway outside this room, followed by the distinct sound of quickly stepping hooves across a wood floor. It took Anya a moment to react, and zip over to the door, and by the time she flung it open, all she caught a glimpse of was the tail of a pony slipping beyond the doorframe, followed by her gryphoness partner coming into view as she ran towards the steps.

“One got away from me!” she yelled, doing her best to chase after what had to be the last target they were responsible for.

Anya let out a low growl, “Of course.”

The gryphon didn’t bother to run out into the hallway to give chase. A pathway that small, all that would happen is that she’d get blocked by the other gryphon and more than likely make matters worse. That didn’t mean she was going to leave it up to her partner though, as she knew at this point that would only lead to the pony getting away. Instead, she rushed over to the window of the room, undid the lock, and opened it to give her a different exit from both the room and the house. It wasn’t a good option, and she had to squeeze herself through due to her wings as she hurried back outside, but Anya managed to eventually slip herself out the opening, and back into the night air above the singular street of this secluded village.

Elevated as she was, the gryphon could see the mild chaos this town had devolved into, as many gryphons were going after their own escaped targets before they made a getaway. When it came to some of them, it wasn’t a single pony they were going after, but in some cases every single one of their targets were scattering off throughout the town, making it a hopeless effort for those few to regain control of the situation, especially when they started losing track of which ponies were the ones they were supposed to be capturing.

Anya wasn’t about to let that become her, as she was going to solve this problem before it started. “Okay, now where was that… There!” Anya was looking for the front door, as that was the most likely way the escaping mare was going to exit out of, seeing as it was the closest to the stairs.

The one eyed gryphoness made a bee-line to that door, and as expected it flung open a second after she started her descent. An earth pony then bolted out, no doubt ready to run right out of the city, only to be tackled from the sky by over one-hundred pounds of winged feline the second her hoof touched outside the house. The impact knocked the mare to the dirt, and had Anya crash right on top of her, with the gryphon’s only worry if this collision might have broken one of the two’s bones. It certainly hurt to do what she did, but as she pushed through that pain to grab the mare’s arm and wrench it behind the pony’s back, she determined that she wasn’t in enough pain to assume injury.

Shortly after subduing the final target, with Anya hoping that her so called ‘partner’ didn’t leave the other two ponies they were supposed to take care of unbound, the other gryphoness made her way out to the road as well. At first she looked towards the city’s exit, peering out to where the houses stopped, before noticing that there were two prone bodies not too far from where she stood.

“Oh wow,” the gryphoness said, “You managed to get her. I guess that means we passed this test.”

“Could you drop the act?” Anya said suddenly, struggling to get to her feet while pulling the restrained pony up with her, “You didn’t come here tonight to be tested, you’re the one here doing the test.”

“What?” the other gryphon replied, coming off as confused by what Anya was saying.

Anya was certain this reaction was false though, and believed she had this all figured out. “I’m pretty sure this town was set up for our exam, and that these ponies are property of the Society already, but even if they aren’t, you’re definitely not here to pass this test yourself. This entire time you’ve been attempting to do every bad move you could think of, either out of laziness, greed, or being plain sloppy.” Anya took a moment to push the mare she was holding over to the other gryphoness, who reactively caught the equine before she got rammed by the incoming body. “Honestly, I could chalk all that up to incompetence, but that doesn’t explain how you knew to do something that no one taking the test for the first time could have prepared for.”

The other gryphon, with the earth mare now in her grasp, took a moment to place the pony in her last set of cuffs. While she could have dismissed Anya’s accusation completely, she instead chose to humor her. “And what is that?”

“You brought a thermos full of hot coffee to this mission, when we were only told to dress warm, and were given little time to prepare. Sure, you could have made a pot, and brought a cup if you thought it was gonna be really cold, but to have a thermos ready for just this occasion? I think that’s telling that you knew where this mission was gonna take place before we came, and how long we’d be waiting on that cliffside for the signal.”

The other gryphon did not look too impressed by Anya’s deductions and went so far as to shove the pony back into the house and close the door before answering the accusation. “Ok, sure, you figured it out. This is all a set up to figure out some details about possible hunters. Each pair consists of one gryphon actually taking the test, and a hunter watching to see what they do to accomplish their mission.”

“While also acting like an idiot to see how they’d deal with that kind of problem, right?” Anya said, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Not entirely,” answered the other gryphon, “If you took too long to get inside the house, we’re supposed to do it ourselves to move the test forward, so that part was on you. As for the bag, it was there to see if you’d get distracted by gold, or go along with taking it for yourself. Honestly, I’m gonna have to dock you some points for that part.”

“For what?” Anya said, cocking her head to show disapproval.

“Because figuring out how to game the system doesn’t mean that you’d pass up on the money if you didn’t realize this was all setup.” said the other gryphon, “And so I need to mark that you could still get distracted with something that you could steal to get rich.”

This just sounded like the other gryphon was upset that Anya had seen through the fabrication of this scenario, or maybe that her own role had been figured out. “Fine, whatever, but I assume on every other level I proved my worth.”

Anya’s fake partner rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I can’t fault you too much. While it took a bit too long, you did manage to get into the building without too much noise, albeit with something you shouldn’t have had access to in the first place. Judging by how none of the other mares are stampeding out of their beds right now, I can only assume you got them restrained good enough for our B-team to come in and retrieve them. As for the ‘escape’ part of the test, I guess it can be said you thought quick on your feet and took care of the problem before it actually became a problem. While it’s not up to me to decide, you’re probably gonna pass simply on the merit that no ponies managed to get to their ‘escape zone’.”

Anya was relieved, cause Rubric had promised her that as long as she could become a hunter, he’d let her join in the raid, and complete her end of her contract. After that, she could kiss the Society goodbye, and finally move on to rescuing the missing kelpie and pegasus pair she had been after all along.

It took another hour for the fake raid to come to a close, with every pony either being ‘captured’ or making it to the part of town that marked them as having ‘escaped’. As Anya was made to stand with a collection of other gryphons in the center of town, she was curious as to how many, if any, of them figured out the test was staged. Not that it matter, since they would have still had to give it their all if they wished to pass, but early detection of this would have made it incredibly easy to get past the ‘greed test’ at the least.

As she waited, she noticed that it was not just her kind on the testing grounds anymore, as the minotaur had come in to ‘restore order’ and act as if they were cleaning up the mess of those who failed. The ponies, all slaves that were working under the Society’s orders, had allowed themselves to get rounded up by the bovines, and shoved into the large, untouched building at the end of town, where they no doubt got to enjoy the heated interior as they relieved themselves of the bonds placed on them during the event.

Then there was the matter of the two ponies who hadn’t been bound, that being the Society’s head mistress, and another unicorn mare Anya had never seen before. This pink unicorn, of whom Anya didn’t even bother to ask the name of since it really didn’t matter to her, was accompanying the head mistress of the Society as they both checked the condition of the houses. This pointed to the pink mare being the one who either owned this space of land, the slaves used for the test, or probably both. This mare, whoever she was, would have wanted to assess the damages done to her property, evaluating every nick and ding, to ensure everything was within the agreed upon parameters of whatever deal she and Schorl had.

“I swear, if Gilda was half as careless with my friends as the gryphons here…” Anya said, noting that the other ponies present were part of the pink unicorn’s property, and that while Gilda was a hunter for the Society, she was not the type to handle goods with the utmost care.

The one eyed gryphoness let that thought petter out, remembering the lessons she had to learn from trying to get back at Gilda. It was a hard pill to swallow, but the younger avian’s age and talent had her outmatched, and she often proved that when they trained together. The difference in their skill levels might have been further complicated by Anya’s problem of being distracted when a minotaur was present since she couldn’t work out without heating up and getting her blood pumping, which activated all sorts of undesired images when she spotted one of the bulky bulls.

As Anya took a moment to remind herself of this inconvenient truth, a minotaur walked right up to her, and caught her unaware as he managed to get right up beside her before she took notice of his presence. “You. You’re to come with me.”

The gryphon gave a nod to the bovine, figuring this was yet another creature directing the test, and followed him to a spot not too far away, where other gryphons were already standing in wait. With the crowd small at the moment, she spotted Gallus among these few, and once she was added to the group, she gravitated right to him.

“Hey Gallus,” she said, getting the attention of the blue gryphon, “How did you do?”

“I don’t think I did bad,” Gallus replied, “I managed to get inside quickly, and I was so focused on getting things done fast that I zipped past the coin trap.”

“Oh, so you figured it out too.” Anya said, please to see she wasn’t the only one.

“Eh… more like I was told afterwards by my partner, since I aced the test.” Gallus replied, “At least, that’s what he said, and given that gryphons don’t give out compliments lightly, I have to believe him.”

“Oh, so you must have made it inside quickly then. How did you do it? I’m kinda curious.” Anya asked, curious as to what other ways others found to break into their house.

“I didn’t do anything special. Just found a rock and broke the knob off the door.” Gallus said, “All it took was a good swing, and I was able to get to the inner parts to get the latch to unlock.”

“Really, that simple?” Anya questioned, though for her it might not have been so easy. Such an attempt required a little more brute force than her arms could muster.

“Well I noticed that the door didn’t have a dead bolt, so I thought it was at least worth a shot, and since I got it off first try, I didn’t make enough noise to wake up the ponies upstairs.”

It was never made clear if the ponies had actually been sleeping or just waiting in their beds for the gryphons to arrive, but either way, they had acted as if excessive noise mattered. Anya learned about this from a few gryphons she heard grumbling about having to deal with targets that were roaming around the houses, and how it unfairly increased the difficulty of their objective. In a real situation, such sounds would not go unnoticed, but Anya was curious if the loud smash of breaking a doorknob should have granted this penalty. Not that she wasn’t happy for Gallus, if only because this was what he wanted to do apparently, but she would hate for him to go into a live situation with him if he was unprepared.

“Well if you passed, then this must be where they are gathering everyone who pass. That’s a real relief,” said the gryphoness, happy to get some form of confirmation on that matter, “But things will probably only be harder from here.”

“Don’t worry, I know.” Gallus replied, “But my boss has been helping me shape up lately. Keeping me motivated, giving me training tips, and all sorts of stuff.”

“I thought you didn’t want special treatment from the minotaur.” said Anya.

“Oh, this is different. It’s more like, uhhh… on the side life coaching. Besides, I only didn’t like it because the other gryphons were making fun of me for favors they thought I was getting. Now that I’ve been getting better at my job, I haven’t heard anyone say anything about me.”

Probably because they know a minotaur is actually helping you now, Anya thought to herself. It always felt like the hen pecking from the other gryphons was done to keep certain individuals from establishing closer relationships with the bulls, particularly the ones who were easily more likable than themselves.

Gallus looked like he wanted to continue talking about how he had been improving himself, but he was brought to silence when he heard the Society’s head mistress yell, “Ok everyone, can I please have your attention!”.

Each gryphon in the group shifted their attention to face her, and Anya noticed that in the time it took to speak with Gallus, quite a few more gryphons had been added to this congregation. About thirty percent of the total testers had been separated from the flock, and if Anya had to take a guess, that meant they were the ones that passed.

“I would like to thank each of you for participating in this exam.” Schorl said, addressing only the gryphons that Anya and Gallus were a part of, “If you are in this group at this moment, unless you have slipped over here for whatever reason without being permitted to do so, then that means that you are among the few who have been promoted to the rank of ‘hunter’ in our organization.
From this point forward, you will be considered to join in higher paying jobs, in which you will be trusted to kidnap important targets for our organization’s members, which will increase in value the more that you prove yourselves capable of the task. However, do not think your training in this field is over, because for your first few missions you will be accompanied by-”

The rest of the explanation of the career path of a hunter was a blur for Anya, as she had no intentions of advancing any further than she was right now. She didn’t even have the intention of accepting a single mission the Society and its clients might offer her. The sole purpose of this was just to meet Rubric’s standards to be apart of his planned raid.

“Now be aware, all of you, that just because you are approved hunters now, that doesn’t mean that your services working in our warehouses, sorting and storing supplies, or adding in the processing of our more lively products, are finished. Nor does this mean that any of you should start slacking on your physical fitness and exercise routines. If every gryphon qualified to be a full time hunter was to be relieved of their duties, we’d have quite the works shortage, and capture missions don’t come in but from time to time. Still, be patient, as you’ll each get your chance to earn big soon. Speaking of…”

Schorl snapped her fingers, and a minotaur came up to the gryphons with a wheelbarrow full of small bags. Going to each gryphon in the group, a bag was handed to each one, and the clanging of small bits of metal as each gryphon received theirs let Anya know this was their payment for a completed mission. It was a good amount, with what she assumed was half the stated worth of the six ponies used in the test, since Schorl seemed to still be upholding the idea that this was real, and she had to give half the reward to the proctor. Still, this was a lot of cash for one night’s worth of work, and she could see why other gryphons would find that kind of payout appealing. Gallus himself looked immensely pleased with his portion, since it was probably more money than he had ever seen at one time.

“Once you receive your payment, please make your way back to the cave that held the portal stone used to get here.” Schorl said, wrapping up the test for those who had succeeded, “If you don’t remember where it is, feel free to ask another among you, as I’m sure at least one of you knows the way.”

With that said, Schorl made her way to the second, larger group, the wheelbarrow still having some bags of a noticeably smaller size within it, no doubt to act as consultation prize and incentive to those who didn’t yet qualify for the position of hunter. The only gryphons who stuck around after that were the ones who were clueless in which direction the cave Schorl spoke of was, and those few took the hint and followed the rest of their group.

Clenching tightly to her own gold bag, Anya had only one thing in mind when she got back to the facility. Find Rubric, inform him that she was now a hunter, and sign up for the raid he had planned. But that wasn’t all she had to look forward to, since the lead up to the raid would not be a point of relaxation, but one of considerable training, where she and those participating would be made to go through more tests like this one until every member of the group understood what they were to do, and what they were up against.

The Calm

The very moment Anya got back to the slavery facility, she sought out Rubric to tell him the news of her completing the hunter test, and made the minotaur put her on the roster for the raid group. She half expected the minotaur might have been caught off guard to hear she had completed his requirement, maybe even betraying his outwardly ‘honorable businessman’ persona by trying to make excuses to keep her away from the upcoming mission, so he could keep the gryphon around longer to use as a worker.

The stoic minotaur made no action to take back what he had already said, and hearing that she was now a Society approved slave hunter, told the avian “I assumed you’d pass the test. You’ve shown an intellect and rationality that is above most of your kind, and while brute force and athletic skill like Gilda’s has its place, smarts are often more useful for our capture units.”

“Uhhh… Thanks I guess.” Anya replied, knowing that this remark was about as good of a compliment she was gonna get from a minotaur.

She didn’t like being compared to Gilda, not fair for her to be offended by that comment. Rubric was only verbally sorting what department each of his employees should be placed in, and minotaur often spoke their minds without filter. They were the ones handing out the coins for each job, so why would they need to censor their own speech for those who valued the gold they had to offer. In a competition between a gryphon’s self respect and their greedy desires, it was greed that often won out.

“Ok, so I’m in. No backing out, right?” Anya said, pressing the point that she wanted a fast track to the completion of her contract.

“Yes, yes,” Rubric replied, “You’ll get your place in the raid group, but you must be aware that signing up for that is more of an obligation than just the raid itself.”

“As in, you’re gonna want me to participate in whatever training drills you have for us hunters to make sure we’re ready.” Anya said, knowing that further training had to be in order.

As it stood, any gryphons that would join up in this operation would be nothing more than a ragtag group of mercenaries, who had zero coordination or synergy as a group. Unless their target was some poorly defended settlement in the middle of nowhere, like the one specially set up for the hunter test, a bunch of gryphons flying around and doing their own thing wasn’t gonna cut it.

“Not just you gryphons,” Rubric corrected, “But the diamond dogs too. The operation will require a joint effort between minotaur, gryphons, and the dogs if we wish to capture our target.”

“That’s gonna be a hard ask,” Anya said, thinking over a united force of the three species, “Are you gonna put some gryphons in charge of the dogs, or will minotaur be the only ones delivering orders?”

“Worried about the chain of command?” Rubric asked, happy to see Anya considering the operation in full, and not seeing herself as just another grunt, “You are correct in thinking that the Diamond Dogs are better taking orders than giving them, but I’m not sure if I can trust just any gryphons to be in charge of their own pack of them.”

Anya was likewise glad Rubric was listening to what she was saying, as the leadership qualities of most gryphons was yelling at things until things went their way, and that often led to fruitless results. There were reasons besides the national poverty that Griffonstone had no standing military, or even a militia, and a large part of that is that gryphons hate following orders, and only hate it slightly less when money is involved. The most organized group the avian race had was their team for the ‘Equestria Games’, and that team was held together only by the potential of getting the silver or gold medals as a prize for competing.

“Perhaps we’ll need to set up some training sessions with the dogs, to see which gryphons would be best suited for the role.” Rubric went on to say, “Would you like to participate in such a course?”

That Rubric was asking Anya to be a part of this leadership test told her that he had already had her in mind for handling for this little side project. “I don’t see why I couldn’t.” the gryphoness replied, thinking that having some control of this upcoming raid would ease her worries a bit.

Anya had no delusions on how much of a newbie she was to this line of work. This raid would be her first, and intended only, job as a hunter, so she was well aware that danger was involved. No matter how much training was involved to prepare, nothing was a better teacher than experience, and a missing eye had educated her well that even a well trained creature could make mistakes.

“But let me ask you something first,” the gryphon said, knowing that one of her greatest concerns was her current lack of knowledge. For the most part, she knew what she would be doing, and who she would be working with, but there was one detail that had thus far been completely omitted, “When were you thinking of explaining who the targets of this operation are going to be?”

While Anya made it her career to explore the trap laden ruins of Equestria’s past, she wasn’t the type to go into a hostile situation completely blind. The idea that the Rubric had yet to say what, or rather ‘who’, he was after worried her, as there were numerous targets she could come up with that would make the mission suicidal in nature. If it was something like trying to infiltrate the Dragon Lands to abduct some of its inhabitants, then one would have better chances flying through a ravine infested with quarray eels.

“That detail is only for those who need to know,” Rubric said, making Anya think he was going to continue withholding that information. Before she could make a formal complaint about being kept in the dark, Rubric diminished this assumption by saying, “But since you seem dead set on being a part of this, I suppose you are such a person.”

“Ok,” Anya said, relieved this conversation was going somewhere, “Then who is it?”

“The creatures we are going after will not be easy.” Rubric said, serious in tone, “They are one of the few we minotaur worry about going toe to toe with in physical combat.”

“That narrows it down.” Anya replied, not being sarcastic in the slightest.

When it came to ponies, not even earth ponies stood up to minotaur in an exhibition of physical feats. Outside of equine species though, there were a few that would make for an interesting match up. Buffalo were one that came to mind, with both being bovines, as would a chimera, or a centaur, though both those species were unlikely to be the targets, due to how rare they were in the first place. Then there was the subject of dragons again, but outside of the more domesticated ones that resided in Equestria, that the Society already had a good stock of, it still felt like a terrible idea to even try to start trouble with them.

“Though that doesn’t tell me exactly who it is,” the gryphon went on to say.

“I was getting to that.” Rubric replied, “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to back out of the whole thing once you heard, though. The target for the raid is-”

One month passed after Anya was told the situation, and she and every other gryphon that had signed up for Rubric’s foolhardy plan had spent it preparing themselves for what would be the most difficult operation the Society organized to date, at least from what she had heard. It wasn’t so much a suicide mission, but the kind that could very easily leave the feathered felines with permanent injury and lifelong imprisonment if they failed.

The reward was far too tempting, though, as each capture would result in a payout of two hundred Equestrian bits, sponsored by the crystal mare’s own seemingly bottomless bank account. No doubt, Schorl would be getting her pick of which ones she would be adding to her own private collection, after Rubric and his captains made their own selections of females to keep for breeding with. It was the only reason Anya could think that she would front the expenses for the raid, outside of maybe that it came with a large interest rate, or possibly that she was just doing it cause she found it amusing.

This raid… no, ‘invasion’ was a more apt word, was certainly going to make a lot of gryphons rich if everything went to plan, which was why over a hundred of the gryphon hunters employed by the Society were in a line doing wing ups alongside Anya. Many were annoyed and disgruntled that they had to wake up early each day, earlier than it was for them to do the more typical work in the Society, to do what would amount to a full day of training, but determination was what drove them to keep going forward, with only a few dropping out due to the difficulty of the training.

On what was the last day of physical preparations, Anya might have quit too, if not for her own goals driving her forward. Being no spring gryphon, her wings burned each time she had to lift her body using them alone, the sensation having set in halfway through her set of one hundred. It was just as bad when this all started, when they only had to do twenty-five, and it would start hurting after ten, but now the suffering lasted much longer.

“Come on you weak collection of house cats!” yelled Rubric’s right hand man, Bacchus, who was looking over each gryphon’s efforts, preventing any from attempting to skip a rep or two, “A calf could do twice push ups, and with half the grumbling!”

“Easy for you to say…” Anya said under her breath, arms placed behind her back, struggling to reach wing up ninety, “You block headed bulls could bench press a building if you wanted…”

As much as Anya complained, she was far too familiar with this drill instructor act to actually be upset with him. The comparison between their two species was just a motivating factor, mostly to get the gryphons to push through their pain through sheer spite. There was no delusion that any amount of training would get them to match up to the bovines, but Bacchus was planting a seed of hatred toward him to get those he was instructing to become as good as they could be in their own talents.

Getting another push up in, Anya eased herself back down till her chest touched the ground. She was tired, sweat covered her body from the strenuous exercise of her wings alone, and part of her really wanted to stop, but she knew it was important for her to be as ready for what was to come as she could be. Pressing the tips of her wings into the ground, she felt her body slowly rise, lamenting that the initial lift was always the hardest part. She pressed on, though, intent on doing those last nine wing ups.

Suddenly though, she felt the weight of a hoof touch the back of her head, and push down. “Having trouble, swallow?”

Anya couldn’t turn her head to confirm, but the voice she heard matched that of Bacchus, the minotaur coming back down the line to torment her in particular.

“I could hear your griping from halfway down the line,” said the minotaur, keeping Anya from lifting herself up any higher, “As if any of you lesser creatures had any right to object to anything I say to you.”

Anya’s eye shifted to either side of her, and none of the other gryphons were reacting to the bull’s words. Not a single slight glance of anger was given to the bovine, which actually gave her a feeling of relief. If this were a collection of hardened military officers, then she might have believed they could continue training unfazed by the degrading words of their instructor, but these were gryphons.

There was no way that any of her kind would outright ignore the declarations Bacchus was uttering out his mouth, without so much as a huff or an eye roll. It just wasn’t in their nature, so if they were outright ignoring being talked down about, then it was a clear sign that this wasn’t happening. It was yet another one of Anya’s hallucinations of being dominated by the bulls.

They had occurred off and on all throughout her training, since the act of exercise got her blood flowing and her body heat rising, not helped by the fact that there was always a minotaur around to act as an authoritarian figure during the sessions. One moment she’d be running laps, and part way through she’d envision herself naked, ankles shackled together, with the bovine on duty cracking a whip onto the space between her wings as she hopped along as fast as her bound legs would take her. When she did squats, the common event was that she was lowering herself down upon a dildo that penetrated her pussy, unless the fantasy decided it was her ass that needed to be filled.

Luckily, her body outside of her perverted and shameful fantasy would continue on task, some part of her taking over to prevent an embarrassing event from happening. However, for the duration of the mental illusion she was at the mercy of a domineering version of her instructor, who would stop at nothing to humiliate Anya regardless of the fact it was all in her head.

Of course, there was a way out of it through the use of a splash of cold water, and she had always kept some on her person to deal with the unwanted fantasies as they came, but amazingly they started to adapt. Even now, as she tried to go for the bottle she kept on her belt, Anya found herself stopped by the tension of a chain tightly wrapped around her arms.

“Ah, ah, ah.” The vision of Bacchus said, as if it knew what Anya was trying to attempt, “No cheating. Keep those arms behind your back and lift with your wings, bitch.”

Anya groaned, and complied with her temporary master’s demand, lifting with all her might with her wings. It was much harder with the hoof on her head, but the minotaur illusion only applied enough force to make things harder, not impossible. She managed a full lift, back straight, legs together, wings extended out as far as they would go. In this position, Anya took note that she was once again rendered nude, her clothes vanishing as she played along with the scenario. If there was any remaining doubt that this was not real, then this clarified those up immediately.

“There we go,” Bacchus mocked, “Now let’s see eight more.”

Anya felt a strong application of pressure pressing down on her skull, as the false minotaur put his weight back down upon her till she reached the floor. The gryphoness gave no resistance, since doing that would only prolong how long she had to deal with the fake bull. As she went down though, she felt something press up against the tip of her beak. Anya didn’t need to look to figure out what had happened, but her eyes instinctively directed themselves towards the obstruction, identifying a red rubber phallus that had appeared from nowhere, pointing straight up from the ground.

“Oh come o-guuh!” Anya managed to get out, before her mouth was pushed down around the object.

The rather large dildo stuffed her beak, and pushed down her throat as she was lowered further downwards. It was amazing how realistic the imaginary toy felt, the rubbery texture sliding across her tongue, cramming her neck full.

“I’ll go a little easier on you,” Bacchus said, “You only have to lift yourself up high enough to get the cock head out of your throat. Do that eight times, and you can quit for the day, my little bitch bird.”

Anya, accepting that this was the only way out, gave a light nod while the toy was still deep in her esophagus, and started lifting. While it looked like she was still resisting this delusion, the truth was that she was falling deeply into the role of the submissive. She was giving in, ever so slightly, to this building desire to obey and allow another to control her. The gryphoness could still object, denying all her feelings, while not in her own little world, but here she had to admit that submission was a literal means of liberation. The only way she could continue being herself was to accept this role.

“One,” the image of Bacchus said, his leg lifting as Anya pushed against it, and pressing down as when Anya took a few breaths, “Two”, he said again, repeating the process, Anya swallowing the sex toy down her throat, and then removing it by picking herself up off it. “Three,” The bull commanded, continuing his count as another brief impalement of Anya’s throat took place, “Four.” It was a good thing that the object seemed cemented to the floor, else the size of it would have gotten it lodged in the tight space of the gryphon’s orifice.

The motions of Anya’s wing ups had become steady as she worked under the minotaur’s direct governance, despite this only being her mental depiction of the bull. He was applying more pressure on her, but it felt as if it was easier, because she was enjoying it. Her body, filled with sensations of pleasure, told her to embrace this dynamic between the two, and the only thing keeping her from slipping completely into the submissive underling of Bacchus, Rubric, or any other minotaur was her predetermined notion that she had a dominant will.

“Five… Six… Seven…” The next three wing ups went along smoothly, with Anya having no trouble downing the fake dick, nor heeding each demand for her to proceed. She only found her pace slowed down when he applied a bit more pressure, to time the gryphon’s completion of the exercise with him saying, “Annnnnddddd… Eight.”

The second Anya slipped the rubber cock out of her throat for the last time, she found her arms released, her clothing returned, and both the bull and his sex toy gone. Immediately, she collapsed to her side, the ache of her wings returning now that she wasn’t distracted by the perverse thoughts in her head. Every other gryphon in the line paid little notice to this, believing it to just be Anya’s wings giving out after exerting them for so long. They were all suffering from sore wing muscles, so it didn’t cross anyone’s mind that there might be something more to Anya’s actions. Nor did they question when she took out her bottle of cold water and doused herself with its contents, though they were aware that this was a typical thing for her to do during training. If anything, all they were worried about with her is that she easily got dehydrated.

The one eyed gryphon, now released from her mental prison, gave a weak smile to herself, her senses coming back now that she was back in reality. Anya was so happy that this was the last day of practice, and thus one of the last times she would have to worry about this problem. Once this was all over, she swore to herself that seeing a shrink was the second thing on her list of things to do after rescuing her friends from slavery, the third thing being never to be in the same room as a minotaur ever again.

Rolling herself back to her front, Anya gave herself one last push up, this time using her arms. This alone was not without some pain, as the ache of her wings traveled down into nearby muscles. With a little effort, though, she managed to get herself back up into a sitting position, finally able to relax along with the others who had already finished. Rubbing her wings, her body wet from water, sweat, and a substance that formed between her legs during her daydream, Anya could see that only a few remained who were struggling to do the last few reps. Scanning both ways down the line, she had to stifle a small chuckle as she discovered that one of the other hens had Bacchus standing over her, spouting off some insulting dialog as she stared back at him angrily, the ironic humor of that something only she could understand.

From here, she just had to wait for everyone else to wrap things up, massaging her sore wings the best she could with the time given. It was a soreness Anya could appreciate, though. The number of wing ups she could do now showed the progress she had made, and given a day of rest, she and everyone else doing this intense training would easily be within the top ten percent of fliers among gryphons employed by the Society, and perhaps would outmatch all other gryphons in Griffinstone on top of that. Not getting ahead of herself, Anya recognized that she would still be at the bottom end of this group, and that this placed her nowhere close to ‘Wonderbolt Level’ when it came to flying, but such improvements could not be ignored.

They were also absolutely necessary, as what they were up against would be impossible for even a well trained gryphon to take on hand to hand. That job, if it were needed, would be up to the minotaur themselves, while the gryphons would be doing their best to keep distance with aerial tactics, and diamonds dogs would be doing their thing under the protection of the ground. In a sense, the non-minotaur members of this small army were to stay as far away from the targets as possible, and only provide support in the event that an actual fight broke out. That was if a battle ended up being inevitable, as Rubric was planning for another approach that he hoped would remove conflict all together.

It didn’t take much longer for the final stragglers to finish up their last wing ups, and after that the group was given an extra fifteen minutes to recover, with this of course meaning those who got done first were granted the most break time in between this in the final activity before their training was complete. When time was up, Bacchus made his way to the center of the line, but he did not end up there alone. Rubric, who had been watching the exercise routine with immense scrutiny, had entered the training room, joining up with his second in command so he may resume control of those who would be vital to his operation’s success.

“I see you all have been working up a good sweat,” Rubric said, addressing the group, getting a good deal of groans in return, “Yes, yes, I know that all of this has been tiring work, but I assure you it will all be worth it in the end. So long as everyone does their job, and the raid is a success, everyone in this room will receive their weight in gold.”

It was an exaggeration, but a motivating one, as it set the gryphons minds back to what this was all for, the chance to strike it rich on a single difficult job.

“Now I’m not gonna make some big speech on how I feel the lot of you have improved yourselves, and met the standards I was expecting from each of you.” Rubric said as he continued to address all those under him, “At this point, the only thing you’ve proven is that you're willing to stick to the program, and if I didn’t have some faith in each of you, you wouldn’t be here. However, while I have few doubts that our upcoming operation will be a success, persistence isn’t what is going to make that happen. It’s going to be talent and teamwork, and only when the raid starts will we know if each of you can display that or not.”

Anya didn’t know if the minotaur was talking to anyone in particular or not, but he was right to assume that skills exhibited during the many training drills they did might not be the deciding factor if the mission would succeed or not. Any one of the participants of the raid, be they gryphon, diamond dog, or minotaur, could screw up at a dire moment, and complicate an already sensitive operation. Anya kept thinking about what they were actually up against, and how a single mistake could make an already risky attempt of subduing an entire population into a situation where failure was certain.

“As you are all aware, we are gonna be dividing our forces up into teams, starting with an infiltration unit to open the front gates for us minotaur. At the same time, several groups of gryphon lead diamond dogs will be making their way through the city, subduing and suppressing targets to keep any potential chaos in the streets to a minimum.”

“Potential chaos? Are you expecting someone to raise the alarm?” one of the male gryphon’s, interrupting Rubric’s explanation of the mission.

“It would be nice if everything went smoothly, and the suppression teams could take care of the entire mission on their own, but we expect resistance at some point. This is not a common enemy, and that’s why some of you will be on standby. Those selected for this will be providing air support in the likely event that a battle takes place. This means that you will be fighting alongside us minotaur, along with a contingency of hounds, to force any combatants into submission. While this means you will be engaging in combat, I think that it should be understood by now that none of you are capable of direct conflict with our targets. Even a civilian among them could cause severe injury if you are foolish enough to get close, so you will be provided with devices to allow you to assist us from a distance.”

As Rubric said this, Bacchus walked over to where a few Antlerteans had been standing by in case any of the gryphons needed medical attention from the exercise. Ever since the start of today’s training, they had been hovering around a large crate that had never been present at any other point of the training, and most of the gryphons already assumed it contained something important.

Brushing the deer aside, Bacchus pried open the nailed down lid with his bare hands, tossing it aside and reaching in to pull out a strange object that looked like a miniature cannon, one glowing with magic imbued markings. It was no doubt a device created by the deer themselves, as those cervid creatures dabbled in magical contraptions, usually some sexually based piece of magitek commissioned by the minotaur. The only odd thing about seeing this was that no one expected the minotaur to have them to craft weapons as well. Walking back to the gryphons, he tossed it to Gilda, who had been at the far end of the line.

“Grip it by the handle, point, and then squeeze the triggering part near your fingers.” Bacchus said, instructing Gilda, very poorly, how to use this object.

Gilda fiddled with the thing for a moment, trying to understand how it worked. At the start she had it sideways, but once she positioned it correctly, she faced it away from anything in particular, and found the trigger. Next thing everyone knew, a large net erupted out the barrel of this weapon. The net fired at a high velocity in the open air, making it tens of feet away before its momentum died, and the capture device arched to the ground.

“These nets might not be sturdy enough to contain the warriors with just one, but they should be enough for any stray civilians, and will help us if you focus on a single target with several.” Bacchus said, explaining the limitations of the fiber webs the gryphons would be using. “Just don’t do something stupid like aim it at one another.”

With that thought implanted in her mind, Gilda gave a female gryphon sitting next to her an evil look, and pointed her new weapon, the hen ducking the moment she saw Gilda motion the weapon her way.

Rubric shook his head, having to accept Gilda’s antagonistic antics, as she had his respect as one of his best hunters. However, the gryphoness didn’t get away completely un-scolded, as he said, “I hope each of you display more seriousness than the support team captain when using these weapons, as the ammo is not cheap, and misuse of them will come out of your end pay.”

Gilda went through a series of emotions as she went from enjoying her new toy, to showing annoyance that her behavior was being called out, to being her eyes going wide as it dawned on her that Rubric just announced she would be in charge of the gryphon division of the support team. Of course, when she became aware that her shock was showing, she played it off by returning her expression to a casual smile.

“So I’m gonna be the one running the show when it comes to the skies, huh? That sounds about right.” she said, acting as it had been a foregone conclusion.

The other gryphons were not as happy as Gilda about this decision, as while she was a good hunter, it was pretty well known she didn’t work well with others. Still, if it was what the boss wanted, they had to abide by it. They made no objections, though a lot of them hoped that they would be assigned to one of the other teams.

“As for the rest of you,” Rubric continued, “We’ve made out a paper for each of you that will be passed out now telling you what role you’ll be, and who will be in your group.”

At the mention of the papers, an Antlertean doe stepped forward, carrying the documents. She went down the line of gryphons, handing one to each avian present. As Anya got hers, she saw that the page was personalized with her image, listing that she would be in command of one of the suppression squads, consisting of two other gryphons and Rubric’s personal diamond dog trio, Mattie, Claire, and the great pyrenees that Anya had yet to learn the name of. The dogs were to be expected, as she had spent a lot of her training time with them, getting them used to the idea of being led by her. Mattie didn’t mind giving up her command so much, since her pack’s inevitable gem payment was all she cared about.

“The operation starts sixteen hours from now,” Rubric added, “We will be meeting up six hours before that in the Waystone room. We have already set up a stone far on the outskirts of the target’s territory, so we will have means to get close to their borders without being detected. Any who back out now will be in breach of contract. So show up, or you know what happens.”

The gryphons all nodded, not needing the threat to motivate them at this point. They had their eye on the prize, and tomorrow would be the day that would see them get rich, or die trying.

“Ok, you’re all dismissed. Take the time to meet up with your squad mates and prepare for tomorrow. If you have diamond dogs in your group, I suggest you speak with them as well so they know you will be in charge of them. Aside from that, rest well, eat well, and don’t fail me.”

Rubric and Bacchus walked away, having nothing more to say. The gryphons got up from their sitting positions, and started looking for those they were assigned with. Since Anya hardly associated with the other gryphons, she was instead waiting for those she was paired with to come to her, but when no one came to her, the gryphoness went around to any of the others who looked like they were still seeking out their partners. Unfortunately, no matter how many she asked, she couldn’t find either of the ones named on the list. Not only that, but those she talked to were having trouble finding a partner or two as well.

It was all so confusing, until Rubric addressed the group once more. “Right, I forgot to mention. This is going to be a joint effort between two of the slaver groups that work for the Society, namely me and Titanius.”

Anya knew that name, as he was the minotaur Gallus worked for. Made sense that he would be involved, since he often loaned out his workers to Rubric for the purposes of preparing for this.

“If you see a name in red, that’s our group, so I’m sure none of you had trouble finding them. Names in blue are his, though, so you’re wasting your time looking around for them.”

Anya looked at her paper again, and saw that the names listed were indeed blue. It was something that could have been easily mistaken, as for all she knew when first looking at the names, it was just a color used to make the names stand out more. Relieved that she didn’t have to spend any more time finding her teammates, Anya made her way to the training room exit, and headed back to her quarters. She would find the other gryphons tomorrow, and they’d have plenty of time to work any issues out while Rubric was prepping for the attack.

That was her initial thoughts on the matter, but then she got to thinking about the dogs, and figured there might be some benefit in confirming to them that they would be working together. The diamond dogs that the Society employed were given their own personal kennel area to occupy, which the gryphon heard was a lot nicer than the places they kept the enslaved ponies, those consisting of small cages that were either lined up or stacked upon one another in a fashion that would ironically make one think of a standard dog pound. These kennels were not too far from the gryphon’s quarters, so Anya saw no reason she couldn’t stop by, say hello, and get things sorted with the members of her squad she actually had frequent contact with.

So after a slightly longer walk than she first intended, Anya made her way to the diamond dog quarters, and what she found there was not quite what she expected. Where the gryphons were given a living space that could be mistaken for a military barracks, the space for the dogs almost made Anya think she had finally stumbled upon the facility’s exit. Above her was a sky blue with a bright light source shining down on her, and actual living grass touched her feet the second she stepped inside. Upon a second glance though, she could see the ceiling was just painted and it was one of the Antlertean’s crystals that was casting the light, dangling down from a chain. The grass was still real, though, which meant that this light was sufficient enough to allow it to grow.

Getting past her initial confusion, Anya found that the space was a decent simulation of an open field. There was a large fence painted on the wall, which she assumed was made that was to not confuse the dogs into thinking they could run into some visually endless horizon, and all around were dogs running about, lounging around, and generally acting like what one would expect a canine would if left alone to their own devices. They had been granted many recreational devices, as some ran around with balls or fought each other via tugging on knotted ropes, and even had a large structure set up for them to run through. Some could be seen sleeping in one of many dog houses placed around the area, too tired to join the others in their play, laying upon plush beds granted to them to ensure their comfort.

Anya had to remind herself that these were sentient beings while watching them go about, barking, burrowing, and basking in the artificial ‘sun’. When diamond dogs got like this, it was hard differentiating them from any wild dog, and it was pretty obvious that their displayed simplicity was the most enjoyed aspect of them for Schorl and the minotaur. It certainly made it easier when your underlings could be pleased like any common canine, turning them into more of pets than personnel.

Still, that easy to please attitude got them everything this room had to provide them for entertainment, when all the gryphons got was a bed and a paycheck. Anya wondered if gryphons would have gotten something similar if they played up their avian or feline natures, granting them a room of false mountain crags and perches to build nests upon, where upon mice would be released daily for them to stalk as prey. That kind of playing into those assumed traits sounded like something Schorl would encourage, as the crystal mare seemed to enjoy degrading others to stereotypes.

Anya knew no gryphon would allow her or the minotaur to belittle them like that, and rightfully so, but seeing the dogs being carefree in their own little artificial ecosystem made the gryphoness wonder if this would had been something worth taking a hit to their pride for, if only to not be stuck with a blank chamber of four concrete walls to reside in. The thought quickly passed, though, as Anya remembered why she was here to begin with, and looked about for the trio of diamond dogs she sought.

It wasn’t hard finding them in the herd of hounds, or at least not a particular one she knew would stick out from the crowd. The great pyrenees she had been paired with was far too large to be hidden among the typically smaller dogs, and Anya spotted her immediately once she started looking. The large white dog had sequestered one of the houses that fit her, and had discarded the pillow bed in lieu of a large hole she had dung for herself, with most of her body hidden underground, as her head and front paws rested outside it and the structure.

Anya took to the air, not wanting to navigate around the many dogs running about, all too wrapped up in their leisurely play to pay mind to someone walking through their territory. It took no time at all to get to the pyrenees this way, and once Anya landed in front of the house, she crouched down and gave the dog a pat on the head.

“Hey there, girl.” Anya said, addressing the large dog the only way she had come to learn how, “Have you seen your pack leader around? I wanted to talk to her.”

The pyrenees opened its eyes slowly, and acknowledged Anya’s presence by directing them in the gryphon’s direction. That and a nod was about the extent of any conversation with this dog, so it was unclear what the canine was doing when it allowed itself to slide into the slanted tunnel that she had been laying in. Anya could have taken it as ‘Leave me alone, I’m sleeping’, but she didn’t believe that was the case. Waiting patiently, she was soon met by a new head poking out of the tunnel, that being a familiar face of a german shepherd.

“So iz the traina comin’ to pay uz a visut.” Mattie said, crawling herself out of the tunnel once she saw who it was. Seemed this house had not just been claimed by the pyrenees, but was being used as a small base for the three dogs, with the largest one acting as bouncer by blocking the hole, “Whas gotchu commin’ to our ‘ittle ovel?”

“I just wanted to let you know that it is confirmed we are paired up for tomorrow’s big mission.” Anya replied, “But that was probably a given, since I don’t think you’ve been working with anyone else but me during training. What you might need to know is we’ll have two other gryphons working with us too.”

“Mor’ birds, eh,” Mattie replied, “Well izzint a matah. Theys just be a couple of tag-a-longs then.”

“I’m hoping they won’t just be standing around and profiting off our hard work.” While the only thing that mattered in the end was that the operation was a success, and the minotaur got what they wanted, it wouldn’t sit right for any gryphon if they allowed someone to get paid for their labor, “But I agree that they shouldn’t get in the way of how we do things.”

At that moment, another head popped out of the hole, as the cocker spaniel of the group decided to see what their team leader was doing. “Oh! Hey Anya!” she said, practically dashing out when she saw the gryphon. Of the three dogs, Anya had come to learn that Claire was the most enthusiastic of the bunch, her behavior at times verging on hyperactive when she got excited. The sight of her gryphon trainer had the tiny diamond dog running circles around her legs, since they usually only got together to practice routines and formations, which Claire always treated like play.

“Did the bulls forget to do some drills with us? Maybe some more fetch practice? A race us across the field?” Claire continued to run around Anya as she made her assumptions, until the gryphon finally crouched down and grabbed her by the collar.

“No, I’m just here to talk to Mattie.” Anya said to the dog, having to put a bit of her power into holding Claire in place so she would listen, “You know tomorrow’s the big day, and I wanted to make sure everyone was ready for it.”

“I sure am!” Claire replied, “Is it true we’re going to some place far away?”

“From Equestria?” Anya asked, since she was still unsure where the building they currently occupied was located. “It’s a little out of the way, but not that far. You’ll have plenty of room to run about, that’s for sure.”

“Really?!” Claire said as she jumped on spot, making the gryphon have to increase her efforts to keep her in place.

“Afta wez are dun wit the job.” Mattie stated firmly, “Rememba, dere are lotsa gems at stake.”

“Right!” Claire said, “Gems first, then play. That’s the rule.”

Having come to learn that Mattie had a good command over her subordinates, Anya let Claire go, prompting the cocker spaniel to retreat back into the burrow. When it came to their training, Mattie was the one tasked with keeping Claire focused. The pyrenees had no difficulty understanding that when Anya or Rubric was around, they were in charge, but Claire could get easily distracted when the top bitch of their group didn’t give out the orders.

Anya did her best to restrain her feelings towards Claire’s actions, as she preferred the relationship between her and any other being that were part of the Society, be they employee or slave, on a professional level. Watching the cocker spaniel’s scampering back into the hovel the trio had created for themselves forced a smile on her beak, though, one that didn’t go unnoticed.

“Eaga’ litta pup, ain’t she,” Mattie said, “Spunky and luvs to pleaz. Coudun ask for a betta mate.”

“Mate?” Anya questioned, “You mean you two are-.”

“No, ya git,” Mattie corrected, seeing where the gryphon was going, “Ah partna’, a pal, a fren.”

“Ah, right. Sorry. I’ve been around these minotaur for so long that any talk of mating just makes me think about sex at this point.” Anya replied, feeling embarrassed at her assumption.

“Suppos’ that iz their bizniz,” Mattie said, accepting the reason the gryphon made her mistake, “Boss dozen’ talk too much onnit, but plenny of thos’ unda ‘em do. So eh git it.”

“You’re right though,” Anya said, taking a few steps back in the conversation, “You and your crew are a good team. Makes me wish I had stumbled across you before the Society did. I could have used three dogs like yourselves in some of my tougher jobs.”

The gryphoness wasn’t just being polite, as she had come to enjoy the company of these three diamond dogs. Mattie was a little smarter than the average gem seeker that she had ever met, and while the other two were little more than her muscle and energetic underling, the three together were great at following and executing commands. Of course, they had shown that aspect of themselves as far back when they were first tested by Rubric, but the hands on experience Anya had with them was what it took to really see them as the assets they were.

If she could, Anya would absolutely hire the three of them for a reasonable sum of gemstones, but something told her that their contracts had them working for Rubric for a far longer time than the average gryphon working here. She wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they had been duped into signing into a literal wage slavery, as while Mattie was smart, she was not so smart to be able to understand, or even read, the pseudo legal jargon on Schorl’s documents. The shepherd probably just slapped a paw print on whatever was presented before her, so long as she was promised a pile of gems in return.

“So tell me, bird,” Mattie said calmly, for the first time speaking in a manner where her accent didn’t overpower her words,” Are ya ‘ere cause ya nervous ‘bout tomorrow?”

“No, I was being honest about just wanting to let you know we would be working together, for what will be the last time for me,” Anya answered, “Though I won’t lie and say I’m not worried what could happen. I know you’ve been briefed, so you got to understand that this thing they keep calling a ‘raid’ is gonna be more like a war.”

“From wat ey heard, sound ‘ bout route” Mattie replied, “The boss ain’t goin’ afta sum town outtin’ the mittle ove noware. Iz ah whole bleedin’ kingdom.”

“All behind a single wall,” Anya said, as this nation, like so many of the ones neighboring Equestria, was composed of only a single capital city, “But a kingdom nonetheless. He’s basically asking us to enslave an entire species.”

“Ye, ittle be a foight fer sure iffin some un messes up,” Mattie stated, realizing the risks.

Of course, the diamond dog was ignoring the moral issues of this, which fit seeing that the dogs were not opposed to slavery themselves. Anya, on the other hand, could not be so oblivious to what they were about to do. She had resolved to do it, if it was the only means to get those close to her back, but just like back in hunter exam, she could at least respect the fact that she was trading the freedoms of others to get what she wanted.

“Things ‘ill go fine,” Mattie said, spotting the subtle worry reflecting in Anya’s eye, but not getting that it was about more than just her safety, “Most fights in these lands dun last but a day’er two anyways. So lon as ya watch our back, we ‘ill watch yours.”

“Thanks, Mattie…” Anya replied, deciding it was time to go and prepare for the day to come, “I appreciate that you’ll be keeping an eye out for me.”

The gryphon made her way back to the exit, not looking back once as she left. At this point, the only thing she could do was keep looking forward.

As the following day came, all involved with the raid met up in the Waystone chamber, awaiting deployment. To Anya’s knowledge, the room had never been so full, with the congregation seeping out into the halls. It was bound to happen, with the number of bodies that would be participating in this mission, and this being the only exit from the facility, but it made Anya regret a little about having come early, just to get stuff in like a canned sardine. It would have been much worse if the minotaur participating had been there too, but Anya caught them going through the portal already, in order to prep the area for the arrival of the rest.

As with when she went to take her hunter exam, Anya was wearing the warmest clothing the Society had to offer, and this time was bringing along a thermos full of hot coffee, taking inspiration from the examiner from said exam. Everyone else there was similarly dressed, with gryphons and diamond dogs alike being bundled up in jackals, wool hats, earmuffs, and the like. The location they were heading to was in the Far North, a place just above Equestria’s borders, covered in snow.

It was a pony speculation that these were the fabled lands the Wendigo destroyed before Equestria’s founding, never having recovered from that time. If so, then that territory was eventually reclaimed by a few species since that time, including reindeer, elk, and yaks. Of these three species, one of them were the ones Rubric wanted to turn into a nation of slaves, and it was neither of the cervid races. This small army was heading to Yakyakistan, in an attempt to bring the bovine residents to their knees.

This was the reason Anya worked so hard to be as fit as possible, because just like the minotaur, yaks were natural born powerhouses that could physically overpower most other non-bovine species. In a one on one fight between representatives of the two groups, a minotaur would probably be a bit stronger, maybe a little more maneuverable, but generally they were on even terms.

What tipped the scale greatly in favor of the yaks was the one thing they had that the minotaur could not replicate, the single thing that might have prevented an invasion of the nation up until now, and for as silly as it sounded, that one thing was their hair. Their wool covered bodies acted as a form of natural armor. They grew them out of necessity, since the winter lands they resided in were too cold without them, but a byproduct of them was that they acted as another layer one would have to get through in order to touch flesh, stopping blades, resisting elemental attacks, and absorbing blows to make them into walking tanks. If not for that, the minotaur wouldn’t need a small arm of other creatures to take on the yaks, but in what was surely a battle of attrition, the side that could take a beating longer were the ones who won out.

“This is so nerve wracking,” said a gryphon right next to Anya, one of two gryphons from her team, his voice just barely elevating over the sea of mumbles they were drowning in, “It really feels like we’re about to go to war.”

Anya had to agree. While she couldn’t compare this to how normal hunting contracts were performed, this gathering had a tension to it like no other. She couldn’t count every single creature in the group, but her guesstimate was that there were two-hundred minotaur, consisting of a hundred from both participating factions of this joint effort between two slaver lords, an equal amount of gryphons, and the hundred diamond dogs to act as specialized support. While there could have been more of the canines, as the Society had so many of the misshapen mutts on hand that they could be considered expendable, Rubric was stern on only including the best of the best. Not a single creature among this coalition that could bring this operation down through their individual incompetence.

The other gryphon of her group was there too, as were Mattie, Claire, and the pyrenees. The whole group had arrived fairly early, and at that point those in charge were doing their best to organize by groups. Anya had to assume that plan fell apart once the room got full, but as far as she could see, most were in their respective groups, visible by armbands that were handed out when someone checked in.

“So did you manage to see them take those large crates through the Waystone?” the other gryphon of her squad asked, “I swear I hauled around some of those things months ago.”

“You get a peek inside then?” the first question.

“Yeah, but it was more of that deer tech shit,” the second replied, “Couldn’t even try to fiddle with it, cause it all works off those crystals they charge.”

“I’m sure we’ll figure out what it is once we get there,” Anya said, having to raise her voice to be heard by the two. “It’s probably gear we’ll be using anyways.”

If the net ejecting device given to Gilda was any indication, Rubric and his partner splurged on this event to ensure that it would end up successful. With the amount of hours and money they presumably put into this, they would need to get a return on their investment. Remembering how Rubric bought up a bunch of Abyssians on the premise that their value was based purely on their exclusivity, the gryphoness assumed that was what was going on here. There had been no evidence or talk of any yak slaves going through the Society’s system, and rumors of new species would often reach Anya’s ears from those who worked in that department. If that were the case, and two minotaur slavers gain a stranglehold on the only source of bovine sex slaves, then certainly they would fetch a fortune per head back in the bull’s homelands.

As Anya dwelled on that, the scheduled time for participants to arrive passed by an hour. It was far too long to be fashionably late, and so without any further delay, Rubric and his minotaur associate, Titanius, pushed through the crowd to where the Waystone was stationed, the esteemed leader of the Society following right behind them.

The two bulls and the crystal unicorn took a space right in front of the inactive portal, and faced the crowd, ready to get things started. “Attention everyone!” Rubric yelled, his voice bellowing over everyone else’s, “We are about to depart. End whatever conversations you and your peers are having, and listen up!”

The room became deathly silent, with all eyes locked onto the raid leaders. Everyone knew this was it, and once the portal was opened, they would need to get serious for the sake of both their fortune and health. This might have been the most important thing everyone present ever did, an act that would change history as they knew it, at least as far as the yaks are concerned. They were toppling a small, isolated nation they had never seen prior, all for the sake of another nation that most of them would never visit. Anya wondered if those present even considered that, or if greed blinded them to the momentous scope of this undertaking.

“The other side of this portal has been placed well within the borders of Yakyakistan’s territory, its location hidden among the mountain peaks surrounding their city. Once we arrive there, everyone is to stay within the area and set up camp as me and Titanius plot out how exactly we will engage. We’ve been planning this for some time, so it should not take too long to get things started, maybe by the end of the day, so they have no ability to discover us before we strike.”

“Once the operation begins,” Titanius said, taking over for a moment, “All of you will be expected to perform your roles perfectly, or the closest you can get to that. No slacking off, no mistakes, and any deserters will be hunted down and dealt with, if not by me and my associate, then by the Society itself. You are all far past the point of no return. Don’t let a moment of hesitation stay your hand or change your mind. You owe these people nothing, and have everything to gain from their domination.”

It appeared that the raid leaders at least understood the severity of this attack, and were tempering the wills of those who would be acting as soldiers in this invasion against those they hoped to defeat, imprison, and breed. It still felt to Anya that it was a comment directed solely to her, seeing the overall lack of care her species had for others, but there were probably a few others who needed this reminder that this was their only shot for the kind of riches being offered by these minotaur.

“The crystal mare will now be opening the Waystone,” Rubric stated, taking over again, “All of you should be used to how travel using it works, so I won’t explain it. Just walk on through at a steady pace, and don’t shove to get through to get in before anyone. Everyone will be getting to the same place at the same time.”

As Rubric finished, he looked to Schorl and gave a nod, to which she responded by turning to the Waystone and activating it with her magic. With a wave of his hand to follow, the minotaur entered through the slab of dark crystal, followed by Titanius, before everyone else marched into the portal as well. One by one, gryphons and Diamond dogs vanished into the stone, and as the crowd shrank in size, Anya and her party of six got closer.

Eventually it became their turn, and Anya stepped through the portal with no delay. One second she was in the Waystone room, the next she was outside in the snow, walking through a not yet completely built encampment. Minotaur were still setting up temporary tents, unloading supplies and tools, and creating a perimeter to keep local wildlife away. Some of the earliest arrivals among the gryphons and diamond dogs were being put to work as well, as later ones were standing at the front of the hoard to receive duties.

Anya, expecting to be given a shovel and told to dig ditches, waited in line for her turn, until she was suddenly surprised by Gilda coming up to her from the side. “Hey, you. The boss wanted me to find you and Muttie here as soon as you got through.”

“It’s Mattie,” Anya corrected, unsure if Gilda was trying to mock the canine, or if she honestly didn’t know her name.

“Whatever,” Gilda replied, being as standoffish as always, “Just come on. The boss thinks you two are important enough to get your orders directly from him.”

Anya looked to Mattie, who then looked to the other two dogs of her pack, “Wait ‘ere. Wez won’t be gone lon’.”

Claire and the pyrenees gave nods in return, with the larger of the two dogs picking the cocker spaniel up off her feet right after, walking over to a large tree, and sat down at its roots before placing her smaller associate right into her lap.

“Cute,” Gilda said begrudgingly, walking off without another word.

Anya and Mattie gave a shared smirk to one another behind the gryphoness’ back, both pleased to see Gilda slightly annoyed by the antics of the other two of their group. “Hey, you two,” Anya said to the gryphons of the group, “You might as well go take a seat with the dogs, but if the minotaur ask you to help with setting things up, you might want to do what they say.”

The two gryphons made their way over to the tree Claire and the Pyrenees were at, following Anya’s instructions, if only because they included ‘take a break’ as part of it. They didn’t really respect her authority as group leader, and Anya was aware of that. It didn’t bother her, they were only assigned to her for this mission anyways, so whatever got them to listen was fine.

With their crew taken care of for the time being, Anya and Mattie went after Gilda, who was making their way away from the main camp. “We have to go by foot.” said Gilda, more to complain than to inform, “They don’t want to risk the yaks seeing one of us flying about and getting curious.”

Gilda led the way up a portion of the mountain the base was at the foot of, making the three of them have to climb at some parts, which was likely why Gilda was being grumpy about not being able to use her wings. It wasn’t that long a trek, and before long they found themselves stepping out onto a craggy ledge, with Rubric already seated there in wait.

“Ah, there you girls are,” he said, his head turning towards them momentarily to acknowledge their arrival, before facing forward once more, “I wanted you three to get a look at this.”

Facing the same direction as their boss, Anya, Mattie, and Gilda had no trouble spotting what the minotaur wanted them to see. Down below them, not too far from where they were, was Yakyakistan. The city was huge, roughly matching size with the Crystal Empire, made up of wooden buildings that would be considered primitive to most other species, while making your average gryphon jealous. All of this was surrounded by a massive defensive wall that looked as if it could withstand any blow. It was unlikely that even the minotaur could breach such a thing, at least not before being stopped by the yaks, which was why they needed someone to get from either above or below, and open the door for them.

“Girls, this raid is going to change the lives of everyone involved, minotaur, diamond dog, and gryphon alike,” Rubric said with a stoic confidence, “Tomorrow we will meet face to face with destiny.”

The Storm: Part 2

As Yakyakistan became active with the horns of alarm, Gilda watched from above with a growing smirk on her face. Someone below had caused one too many fuck ups, and now the entire nation was going on high alert. Judging by the movement she could see below, the gryphoness could assume that the suppression team had done a decent job, as only a small amount of were rushing out of their homes, presumably all civilians in a panic now that they knew their nation was under attack.

While it was unlikely that all of them trained warriors, Yaks were often thought of as oafish brutes by all other species, whose natural strength could easily destroyed most things like they were made of cardboard, which apparently was something they did frequently for fun. While not many had escaped being put to sleep for the night, an individual yak posed a dangerous threat to any gryphon they stumbled upon, thus only recourse those who had infiltrated Yakyakistan was to leave immediately so not to be brutalized by a bunch of riled up bovines. The suppression team fled in flocks, and it could only be presumed that the diamond dogs were ducking underground to safety as well. This was the moment Gilda was hoping and waiting for, as it gave her the perfect opportunity to steal the glory of this raid all for herself.

“Listen up everyone!” she shouted, addressing the support team as she shoved a crystal battery into her net launcher, “The dweebs screwed up as expected, and now it’s time for us to have some fun! Get your gear ready, and prepare for some action!”

Many of the gryphons of the team did as they were told, each following by Gilda’s example as they prepped their weapons. However, not all of them blindly did as instructed, recognizing that this was far too early for them to be involved. Concerned about this deviation in the plan, one spoke up on the matter.

“Aren’t we supposed to wait until the minotaur have made it into the city?” asked one of the males, noting that the bulls had not arrived, and were most likely still traveling across the frozen tundra around the nation on foot.

With the darkness surrounding the area around Yakyakistan, no one could tell if where the minotaur where at that moment. All they knew is that Rubric’s forces had not yet made it through the gates, which meant that they were supposed to sit tight and wait, even if things went south.

“Look, dweeb,” Gilda said in her typically aggressive manner, “If we let those yaks group up and get coordinated, then it’s gonna be a lot harder for us to get them under control. So either we go in and start taking down some wooly bullies, or risk letting this whole operation go up in flames.”

Gilda wasn’t really all that worried about the yaks grouping up, she just was tired of waiting and wanted to see some action. A bunch of the gryphons in her group were feeling the same, as waiting in the sky for the better part of the night was already putting them on edge. They didn’t want to spend another minute just flapping their wings in place, being bored out of their skulls having done so for so long already. Seeing that the majority were ready to go, those who wanted to stick to the minotaurs’ plan relented, and readied themselves for battle as well.

Seconds later, they were descending down to the city. Gilda’s team passed by those members of the suppression team who had booked it out the moment they heard the horns, shooting them smug smirks as to let the other gryphons know they were going in to clean up after their mess. A little longer after that, and the gryphons were in the airspace a few yards above Yakyakistan, able to see everything going on below in much better detail than before. The yaks had not managed to assemble into a larger force yet, and now that Gilda was there, she wouldn’t allow them the chance.

“Everybody! Split up into groups of three and start taking down targets!” Gilda commanded, taking charge of the forces given to her, “The minotaur said one net won’t keep them down, so nail them till they can’t move anymore!”

Gilda was determined to not be mere support in this battle, instead turning her and her group of aggressive gryphons into an assault force. With a gesture of her hand to begin the attack, the gryphons broke into trios, spreading out across the small nation to restrain any yaks they came across. Gilda, having formed a group of her own with the two gryphons closest to her, spied a pair of guardsmen that looked as if they were still trying to figure out where the threat to Yakyakistan was coming from. She didn’t even have to give a command as she flew towards them, the other just following her lead, as they fired a volley of nets at one yak in one pass, and then the other yak in the next, wrapping them up tightly in a triple layer of binding fiber strands that caused them to become unbalanced and fall over.

“Ha! Losers!” Gilda mocked, shoving another load of her ammo into her net cannon while adjusting her flight due to the recoil of her shot, “What’s wrong? That hair in your eyes make it hard to look up?”

The yak warriors struggled as much as they could to break free of the nets, but found that no amount of anger fueled strength could snap the netting. With how strongly as those constricting strands gripped to their bodies, it would take another creature of bovine strength to free them, but the gryphons flew off with devious grins on their faces as they knew a yak wouldn’t be the one to remove those binds.

“That was actually really easy.” noted one of Gilda’s teammates aloud.

“Of course it was,” Gilda replied, “Those minotaur over prepared for this. They should have just sent us in with these things.”

All around them, Gilda could see other gryphons firing their net launchers down at whatever yaks they could find, with the yaks throwing back enraged yells at their airborne attackers. While Gilda believed she was undoubtedly the best shot of all present, the yaks were so big and bulky that you’d have to aim in the opposite direction to miss them. With the element of surprise and aerial superiority they had, Gilda could see this whole raid finishing before the minotaur even arrived. If only the support team had messed up sooner, then everything could have been done already, and they would have had more targets to have fun with.

As the gryphons attacked from above, the yaks did their best to defend below. A few of them had been caught off guard by the initial attack strike, but those who had stayed on guard found ways to keep from being captured. While dodging was out of the question, they could defend themselves by grabbing large objects they saw out in the open, such as pull carts and city benches, to place a barrier in the the path of the nets being rained down upon them. They had no concern if they destroyed objects in the process, as Yak ritualistically smashed and rebuilt things daily, and these improvised shields proved effective in preventing them from becoming entangled and bound, the gryphons’ artillery not big enough to wrap around the both the objects and the yak holding it at the same time.

When a gryphon weapon would need to be reloaded, the yaks would launch a counter attack by hurling the object they held at the flyers, wasting no time after to grab the next large thing near them to replace it. In no time, the skies were being filled with back and forth debris, one side now firing with significantly less accuracy as their priority became avoiding being struck down by a random wagon wheel. They knew they were done for if they got hit head on or knocked down to ground level, so they had to put all their focus into dodging whatever loose things of decent size the yaks carelessly chucked into the air at them.

This pushback seemed to put the yaks in a firm advantage, as even if one of the bovines got randomly hit by the friendly fire of one of their fellow yaks, they hardly noticed and just went about their business, truly unmoved by any act of sheer force. Only after several minutes of this barrage of garbage, when it was looking like the bovines were running out of things to throw, did it seem like the tide would turn back in the gryphons’. That was until the yaks decided it was time to improvise, and rip apart the very buildings around them, smashing walls for brick and lumber, tearing doors off their hinges, not caring if a structure collapsed on someone still inside. The gryphons watched in astonished shock as they yak busted apart perfectly good homes to create more ammunition, not believing that they would tear apart their own city in their attempt to protect it, even as they witnessed it firsthand.

For some of the avians that was the last straw. What seemed to be a successful ambush was turning into a lesson in futility, with the yaks managing not only to prevent any more of their numbers from being caught up by the gryphons’ restraining weaponry, but breaking others who had been caught at the start free from their bindings, so they could rejoin in with defending their nation.

“Retreat!” one gryphon yelled to those around her, before getting her wing feathers grazed by a hefty piece of mortar.

It was far too much for what was supposed to be an aerial support squad to handle. Had half the nation not already been put to sleep, they would have all been knocked out of the sky by an unavoidable bombardment of debris. They had to fall back, at least until the minotaur arrived to act as a distraction by being a bigger threat than what the gryphons posed.

The call for retreat spread fast, and each gryphon had to agree that it was the right call. One by one they ascended, getting out of the yak’s targeting range, which likewise put them at a distance where their nets would be useless, as all momentum they had from the cannons would be gone before they reached the ground.

Gilda was left dumbfounded as she watched the members of her squad fly up to a safe elevation without her order. “Hey! What are you idiots doing!” she yelled impotently at those fleeing, pausing only long enough as another block of bricks being thrown in her direction would allow.

The gryphoness managed to do an aerial dodge to avoid getting hit, but it was a close enough call that it finally dawned on Gilda that the situation was getting dire. She couldn’t flee though, not without accepting defeat and the embarrassment that came with it, so instead Gilda rushed over to a nearby rooftop for cover, with the two gryphons she had working with following right after.

“It’s a killzone out there!” One of the two gryphons complained as they landed, truly believing that any stray rock those yaks were flinging would destroy them if they ever hit their mark. It amazed the male gryphon that no one had already been killed or injured, only able to contribute that luck to the moonless night and their black outfits that acted as camouflage. “We have to get out of here!”

The other gryphon agreed, giving a stern nod, but Gilda couldn’t accept that. It was on her order to attack, and thus a retreat, even a tactical one, would not look good on her. Not when she was supposed to hold back until the minotaur arrived. More than that though, this was proving to be a big blow to Gilda’s pride. Every single member of the squad she was supposed to be in charge of had gone against her order, and she was being soundly defeated by these northern barbarians. Creatures considered so lowly that other bovines were trying to turn them into breeding stock. She was not about to let these yaks get the better of her, even if she had to take them on alone.

“You wanna run?” Gilda said, aggravated by the cowardice of her kind, “Fine! Go!”

The two gryphons were relieved when they heard Gilda come to her senses, but then became baffled to see her snatch a net cannon right out of one of their hands.

“I’ll take them on myself! You fucking chickens!”

Next thing the two knew, Gilda was flying back out into the fray. Every gryphon knew that she was more hot-headed than most, but this was insanity. Without anyone else out there to act as a distraction, she would be drawing in fire from every yak in the kingdom once they honed in on her. Not to mention she couldn’t have had the ammo to supply two cannons for more than a few shots. It was practically suicide, and while they probably should have went after Gilda to save her from her own hubris, one of them didn’t even have a weapon anymore, and the other didn’t feel like he could make a difference alone. Seeing the circumstances of the situation, the two gryphons placed this in the ‘not their problem’ folder, and made off into the sky.

Gilda grunted in anger as she watched them leave in her peripherals, expecting no less from those gryphons, but having hoped her tenacity would have inspired some courage in them as well. Unfortunately she had to accept that she was, as she always saw herself, alone in this matter.

While enraged, Gilda was not stupid, knowing that the yaks had every advantage now that her forces had left. If she tried to fight more than one head on, the best she could hope for was to net one while avoiding the other, which was effectively pointless since the yaks could free their downed comrades the moment Gilda couldn’t keep them distracted. She had to look for isolated targets, preferably ones that weren’t combatants. Better yet, if she could perform a surprise attack to take a yak down before they knew what hit them, she’d be able to fly off to, reload for another attack, and then go after another target in no time. Gilda knew she couldn’t take on Yakyakistan by herself, but she could show off by claiming some captures all on her own.

Flying through the sky, just high enough to blend herself into the pitchblack night, the gyphoness
avoided the groups of soldiers that were consolidating together now that the threat had eased up, seeking out easier prey in the form of the civilians that had ran out into the streets earlier. Gilda had no idea where they headed off to, assuming they were indeed fleeing to some safe zone set up in case of attacks, but she was determined to locate any still wondering about.

“There has to at least be a few left.” Gilda muttered to herself, trying to determine in what direction a yak might go to if they were in danger.

There was only one obvious choice, and that was the largest building the nation had to offer, the only one that towered over the rest. It was known to her that this was the capital building, where the yak prince, Rutherford, resided. It came up in the pre-mission briefing , a detail Gilda only paid attention to because he was supposedly the strongest warrior the yaks had, and all gryphons were to avoid him at all costs. If one wanted to be safe, they would go to him.

Gilda directed her search to any roads leading in that direction, and for a short time all she found was empty streets, until she spotted the glow of a light moving on its own through the narrow spaces between the yaks’ huts. The light could have been a torch or a lantern, but more importantly its source was being carried by someone, and that someone had to be a yak who who was slow to respond to the alarm horns.This stray yak was exactly what Gilda was looking for, thus she flew at full speed to prevent her newly acquired target from ever reaching safety.

As she got closer, the gryphon made visual contact with the one she was hunting, seeing that she was dressed in a shawl that was the traditional garb of yak females. This might have been the first female yak she had recognized seeing that night. The very prize the minotaur sought, what this whole siege on Yakyakistan was about, and it was wondering about like a lost lamb. Blinded by her determination to have something to show for her pre-emptive attack, Gilda, armed with a net cannon in each hand, flew down to ambush the yak.

“Got you now, you cow!” she yelled victoriously, pinning all her parameters for her success on this one yak. The gryphoness waited until the startled yak turned her head around to see who was yelling at her, wanting to see the look on her face, before squeezing the trigger on both weapons at once.

Near simultaneously, the nets were ejected from the barrels of the guns, launched forth with incredible force. Far too much force a creature as light as a gryphon, as the recoil of both weapons at once launched Gilda backwards. She had been dealing with the force of a single cannon before, but that was mid-flight and in the open air, where all she had to do was adjust her trajectory to go where the miniature cannon was forcing her to be. Trying to fire in spot was the problem here, as was the matter of being so low to the ground now that there was a wall in most directions around her.

With no place to go but backwards, Gilda found herself careening into one of the surrounding buildings, slamming into it, so harshly that the impact stunned her. The cannons fell out of her hands, tumbling to the ground before skipping away about a half a foot each from the spot they landed, with the gryphon plummeting to the ground after them, touching it for the the first time since she left the minotaur’s encampment. The gryphoness disgracefully landed face down upon the snow covered soil of the yak nation, both dazed and in pain.

Gilda groaned, more out of humiliation and frustration than from the ache that now throbbed all over her body. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Her assault failed, her squad abandoned her, and her solo efforts were so bad she couldn’t capture a single stray yak. Despite a few hiccups working for the Society, she was one of the best hunters that her boss had. None of the other gryphons could keep up with her, as she was like an apex predator when compared to the rest of them. This sort of work should have been as easy as scaring a pathetic little pony with a roar.

The gryphoness, not yet having learned her lesson, tried to bring herself back to her feet, but found the process agonizing after being subjected to the kind of blown she had received. She learned the hard way that despite how easily the yaks broke the buildings apart, they were actually very well made and sturdy.

Prone and still in a good deal of pain, Gilda could only assume that the female yak had fled, and that her one chance to have something to show for herself ended in absolute failure. However, she soon discovered this to be incorrect as a light from a lantern came up to shine upon her, and the hulking form of the female yak holding stood over her.

The yak gave the injured gryphon a glare of disdain, for reasons Gilda could probably guess. It was an intimidating gaze, only made mores so by the impressively stout figure of the bovine. Her body was what one would expect from one of her kind; a stout figure, with large breasts, thick thighs, and a rump big enough that it would satisfy any creature who liked their women large. Her traditional yak attire, consisting of a layer of fabric that would have been ridiculous in the cold climate of the far north, if not for her own natural insulating hair, along with teal shawl that draped over her shoulders and down her back.

What parts of her body that weren’t concealed by clothing were covered in a light brown wool so thick it was impossible to tell how much of her mass was just that. Strangely though, these were not the things about this yak that drew Gilda’s eye the most, as there was one other feature aside from her daunting size that demanded attention. Atop the yak’s head was her brunette hair, which had been tied into a pair of thick braids that hung from the sides of her head, starting just underneath her large horns, and ending all the way down to her ankles.

“Gryphon!” the yak boldly said, her voice loud and boisterous. She took a step towards the downed avian, practically on top of Gilda at this point, just narrowly avoiding landing her hoof not only on top of the gryphon, but also upon the tips of her own long hair, “Why attack Yakyakistan in middle of night while yaks all sleeping?! Gryphons and dogs trying to insult yaks but fighting unfairly?!”

Gilda didn’t have anything to say to this yak cow, refusing to give answers to the questions asked, or any others that would surely come after. While Gilda didn’t hold any particular allegiance to the Society, the minotaur, or anyone else aside herself, she would remain silent only on the principle that giving information to the yaks would be admitting she was afraid of what they might do to her if she didn’t, and that would have been a true admittance of defeat for her. She wouldn’t allow that, her ego would not allow that, especially when these barbarians did nothing to deserve her humility.

Receiving no answers in return, the female yak scowled, “If gryphon not speak, and not stand up, then Yona will just smash gryphon!”

It was the reaction Gilda expected, and she could not deny that had the roles been reversed, and it was Gilda in need of information, she would not have hesitated to resorting to violence either. The gryphon could only watch as the yak lift her arms up, readying to pummel the avian with a series of downward slams. Even Gilda had to flinch once the fists were sent down towards her.

“NOW!” came a yell from out of the darkness, followed by two figures jumping out from the shadows into the light of the lantern.

It was a pair of diamond dogs, small ones, who leap at the much larger yak, fangs bared. They didn’t aim for her body, where her hair was so thick that they would never reach the flesh underneath, instead going for a place where they would be intentionally biting into only hair. Each dog grabbed ahold of the ends of the yak’s long braids, clasping them in their teeth before diving between the yak’s thighs. Both Gilda and the bovine were caught off guard by this, as neither expecting this sudden strike from the shadows, done by two lone diamond dogs of all things.

However, the dogs were not actually alone, and as they made it to the back end of the yak, there was another, much larger diamond dog waiting. This bigger canine, a great pyrenees, used her paws to grab the braids brought to her by her teammates, waited for the other two dogs to release, and then pulled back with all her might. The expertly tied hair ropes went taut against the yak’s muscular thighs, snapping upwards against her crotch, creating a fulcrum in which the yak’s head had to follow the path her hair was trying to go. Bending over as far as she could, the well endowed yak soon found herself becoming top heavy, tipping forward so far that she ended up face planting into the snow covered dirt.

The whole sequence of events had the yak on the ground next to Gilda, her eyes spinning as gravity hurt her worse than the actual attack on her person. She ended up dazed and disoriented for a short moment before she straightened able to put together what had happened, but that was all the time the great pyrenees needed, as she repositioned herself to the yak’s side, persistently tugging at the yak’s braids like a set of reigns.

“Stop pulling Yona’s hair!” the yak yelled at the dog, upset for more reasons than the canine could understand about this part of her being targeted.

Her first recourse to get the dog to cease was to grab her braids and pull back, but the pyrenees proved strong enough to maintain her grip, pulling back with equal strength. Every tug caused the yak’s hair to not only yoink her head in an uncomfortable direction over and over, but also made the braids rub and strike the yak in the soft spot between her thighs. So long as the diamond dog kept tugging the braids in this way, the yak would have an incredibly difficult time getting to her hooves. The yak only kept up this tug-of-war with the dog until she started to feel some of the strands snap, which made her see that using force in this instance was not viable.

The yak’s next course of action was to try and get to the dog itself. She tried crawling over to the pyrenees, grabbing and swiping at it, but to her dismay her hair was too long, and allowed the canine enough length to keep her distance while keeping the hair strains tightly pulled. Blinded by a desire to get the dog to stop, practically forgetting everything else that had happened that night when her lovely hair was at stake, the bovine flailed about until managed to flip around onto her back, one her her legs going over the hair ropes to do so, which placed them at her front once more. This caused the dog to lose the leverage she had which allowed her to match the overwhelming power of a full grown yak, but at this point it was no longer needed. All of the pyrenees’s actions had been done to get the yak into this position.

As the yak started to sit upright, dead set on dealing with the dog still holding onto her cherished hair braids, she wasn’t aware that another gryphon another gryphon was slipping into the light of her lantern, rushing her from behind. Next thing the yak knew, a burlap bag was being forced around her muzzle, one that this gryphon had lifted from a food stall prior to engaging in this attack. In shock, the yak female ended up flailing around more, but at this point the other two dogs had returned, and along with the pyrenees, were causing so much of a commotion that the yak couldn’t focus on any one thing for too long.

That was exactly what the gryphon wanted, as her only objective was to stall the yak long enough for her true plan to take place. It would only take a few seconds, just long enough for the timer of a sleep gas grenade to hit zero, and this would be all over. The yak was in so much of a confused panic that she didn’t even notice the solid object bouncing around inside the bag, pressing up against her nose, and after the expected time, the vial released its contents, filling the bag with sedating fumes that had no place to go but the yak’s lungs.

The struggle ended shortly after, as the yak’s eyelids grew heavy, and her motions became just as weighted. It didn’t take much longer for it to be lights out for her, and the yak succumbed to the effects of the gas, collapsing limply against the gryphon behind her before proceeding to fall to the ground. Once subdued, the gryphon removed the bag from the yak’s face, and with the gas bomb still releasing its sleep inducing fumes, chucked the whole thing onto one of the nearby rooftops.

Through all of this, Gilda had been watching from the sidelines, completely in disbelief as a gryphon accompanied by a bunch of mutts took down an adult yak, without the use of the weapons her team had been given specifically to help combat them. It might have just been a confusing back alley scrape pitted against the yak’s favor, but even under those circumstances it was amazing that the bovine ended up getting beaten in a direct conflict. Gilda would ever admit it, but even she was impressed.

Most importantly though, the interference of this other gryphon had spared Gilda a beat down, and now that she had time to recover from her earlier blunder, she was able to pull herself to her feet. “Hey…” she said to her rescuer, “Um… thanks for the save.”

The gryphon looked in her direction, wearing one of the gas masks given to the support team. That was another blow to her pride, knowing it wasn’t even one of her squad that took down the yak. It only got worse as the gryphon came over to her, speaking in a voice, that while muffled, Gilda had heard far too many times to not know who this was.

“Are you ok?” said Anya, looking Gilda over to make sure she wasn’t hurt. While the two didn’t like each other on a personal level, the older gryphon was not so callus that she didn’t are about Gilda’s well being, “That yak must have nailed you with something heavy if she managed to keep you down that long.”

“I’m fine,” Gilda said, looking away in a huff as she blushed lightly in embarrassment as Anya showed concern. This was only half true, as she was still aching a little from her collision with the wall. Her pride prevented would never allow her to show any weakness though. “I just… had some trouble with my weapons is all.”

Gilda would have given a more outright lie to Anya if she felt she could have, but she wasn’t clueless about what had happened. A takedown like the one she witnessed was not the kind one did at the spur of the moment, and he older gryphon must have seen her fuck up while using two net cannons at once. What little time Anya had when seeing the yak go to deal with Gilda had to go to putting together her hasty, but functional, rescue plan.

“What are you doing down here anyways,” Gilda continued, “Why didn’t you retreat with the rest of the suppression team, like you were supposed to?”

“If you want to know, I was worried,” Anya said, “I didn’t want an early alert to lead to this mission failing. I know this is just a job on your end, but I have more at stake than just money. While everyone else fled, including those in my squad, I stuck behind to try and gas whatever houses I thought hadn’t been touched. Then your team came down, and I thought I did as much as I could… but then it dawned on me that Rubic’s raid forces couldn’t have gotten here that fast. I was wondering what was going on, but I guess you all jumped the gun.”

“I thought that a gryphon strike force was all we needed to take care of these yaks,” Gilda replied, reflecting on how she ended up where she was right now, “But I guess this time I was wrong. The other gryphons ran like cowards, and I couldn’t accept defeat.”

“No one said you had to,” said Anya, still needing this raid to end up in victory for her employer, “But a tactical retreat isn’t a bad idea right now. Besides, your early attack did help out in one way.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” Gilda asked, assuming the older gryphon was being sarcastic, since they weren’t exactly fond of one another.

Anya walked to the corner of one of the huts around them, walking around the sleeping body of the yak, while the diamond dogs of her squad used the bovine’s rope like hair to bind her wrists and ankles together. She cautiously took a look around the round wall of the building, then waved her talon at Gilda to come to her. Gilda, being a bit curious as to what the other gryphon was going on about, did as she was told for once, and joined up to see a strange sight.

They were looking out into one of the more open streets of Yakyakistan, one that had gone silent despite the state of alert that had befallen the nation. It was clear to Gilda that Anya wanted her to see something, but she couldn’t tell what it was.

“See, over there,” Anya pointed to a partially demolished building, a victim of the yaks restocking their ammunition, “You can see the good your attack did coming from that building.”

It took a moment for Gilda to figure out what Anya was going on about, the dark of the moonless night not helping in the matter, but after peering at the building as hard as she could, Gilda finally saw what the older gryphon meant. The building was one of the ones that had gotten hit before the support team’s attack, and thus had been filled with the sleeping gas used to prevent the streets of Yakyakistan from being flooded with more bovines that their raid forces could handle. However, since the walls of this building had been breached, something else was flooding out from it, in the form of a blue fog seeping from the broken structure.

“It looks like the sleep gas we’ve been using is pretty heavy,” Anya explained, “And it’s not just flowing out into the air. By breaking their own homes, those that were filled with this stuff are now releasing it. You can even see that some of the guards are falling to it.”

Anya pointed out a trio of unconscious yaks laying in the street not too far away, covered in a large cloud of blue fumes, perhaps the ones who unknowing let the gas out in the first place judging by the debris that scattered on the ground around them.

“Well at least the attack did something…” Gilda said, grumbling that she couldn’t actually take credit for this, then she realized a bit of a problem with this situation, one that could turn this accidental boon into a big problem, “Hey, should we be staying here with that stuff floating around?”

“Me and the dogs should be fine,” Anya said, tapping her gasmask, “But I don’t have another for you. You should really get out of here before you inhale too much of that stuff. Either that, or find a place to take a nap.”

Gilda had to accept that Anya was right about this. Her team was supposed to stay at an elevation where the gas would never get to her, so without a mask she was forced to leave. She couldn’t even spare the time gathering up her equipment, as the gas used on the female yak was starting to flow down from the nearby rooftop Anya had tossed the bag onto. Soon this entire area would be flooded with the stuff.

“Fine,” Gilda agreed, for once not sounding outright irritated that she had to obey someone else’s order, “But you need to leave too. The boss said that all support team members have to leave if the alarms were sounded, and your you can’t expect to keep getting lucky.”

“Don’t want an old bird to show you up more than she already has?” Anya said, playfully mocking the younger gryphon, wearing a smirk behind her mask, “But ok, since I’m just a squad leader, and you’re a team lead, I’ll obey your order. Just let me go deal with the dogs before we take off.”

Anya went to instruct the trio of dogs under her command that she was leaving, and that they should retreat underground until the minotaur arrived. Unlike the rest of the suppression team, the dogs had another job to do once the raiding party arrived, and the time in between would let Maddie and her gang take a small break before the real action started.

Unable to do anything with the yak maiden, they would have to leave her laying tied up on the ground, assuming the minotaur would find this slumbering prize before she had a chance to wake up and break free. The dogs ducked into a nearby tunnel, and the two gryphons took to the sky.

Gilda knew this was just a prelude for her, as she would have to return when the final attack took place. She would need to regroup with her team, who would hopefully still follow her orders after the first failed attempt, and prepare for a secondary strike once the minotaur arrived. Anya, on the other hand, would be sitting the rest of this out until the fighting was over. At this point, the success of this mission was out of her hands, and she could only hope what little extra she had done had made a difference.

The two avians were fortunate enough to not be spotted as they made their leave, both believing that all other gryphons had left Yakyakistan now that they were gone.

However, not every gryphon had escaped the yaks’ lands, as there was still one making his way through the city streets. Gallus, who had taken up the mission his treacherous team captain had left unfinished, was doing his best to navigate this unfamiliar territory, having to go on foot thanks to the scuffle with that hen leaving him with a severely damaged wing.

Making his way to his new objective was not without obstacles, as Gallus got caught up amidst all the chaos that had taken place during Gilda’s solo attempt at the yak nation. Gryphons causing havoc overhead, only to get everything including kitchen sinks thrown back at them. For the duration of the battle Gallus had hunker down, not wanting to get mistaken as a target by some gryphon with an itchy trigger finger, or be pelted by the heavy debris the yaks were using as projectiles as it fell back down from the sky. During this time, Gallus had momentarily believed that the minotaur found their way in already, but after noticing a distinct lack of non-wooly bovine warriors, and the full retreat of his fellow gryphons, he figured that someone had jumped the gun, and it wasn’t difficult to figure out who.

After things settled back down, Gallus had to travel the rest of the way to the main gates while every yak guard was on high alert, but he found a means to get around them when he heard some talk about the ‘blue fog’ that was overtaking the city, as the yaks discovered what it did and warned one another to avoid it. Gallus wasn’t stupid, he knew this was part of the minotaur’s suppression plan, but if the yaks were going nowhere near it, then braving the fog was his best method to avoid detection.

Several times the gryphon had to enter areas where the sleeping gas was present, moving around it the best he could while holding a cloth to his beak, occasionally using his less injured wing to painfully blow away the clouds when they completely impeded his way. This stuff was supposed to knock out a yak, but he hoped that if he stayed away from being immersed in the fog, it wouldn’t affect him. He was completely unaware that the gas was only visible when it was in high concentrations, and he was already inhaling the substance.

It wasn’t enough to knock him out, as the gas was not very potent when only in a fume state, but it wasn’t completely without effect. At first it proved beneficial, as the sedative dulled the pain he was feeling, his damaged wings becoming less excruciating as he proceeded. However, as his pain faded, so did other senses. He was having more trouble hearing things, as they became like distant echos, and visualizing things became wonky. The dark got darker, while anything illuminated seemed saturated in light, being surrounded in a white aura to Gallus.

“I need to find this gate soon…” Gallus said, still holding it together mentally, but realizing that he was now on a time limit other than the minotaur’s arrival. He gave his head a good shake to stave off the effects of the gas, and pressed forward.

Gallus did his best to stay the course, moving ever forward in the direction he believed the main gate to be in, taking extra precautions to insure he didn’t stumble upon wandering yak patrols as he did. Despite believing he had aimed himself directly to the gates, his efforts eventually had him hitting a wall. A literal one, as a tall, impassable barrier obstructed his path.

“Come oooonnnn…” Gallus bemoaned, assuming this was yet another building he would have to navigate around to get back on track.

As he looked side to side for the nearest corner though, he could only see the wall stretch out endlessly to him in his impaired state of mind. The gryphon worried that the gas was getting to him, obfuscating his perception even more than before. If he was this far gone, he didn’t think going forth would be a good idea, though neither was to stay there to be discovered by the yaks.

Gallus wasn’t as worried about what would happen to him if caught, as much as he was worried about the mission. While he didn’t have as much as Anya to lose if this whole thing went up in a haze of blue smoke, he would loath letting down Titanius after all the support the minotaur had given him. He didn’t know how much of the raid plan relied on the gates being undone for the minotaur’s arrival, but it was probably safe to say that if they were not opened, the minotaur were not getting in.

“We got to keep trying.” Gallus said, giving his head another shake, before moving along the wall. Skewed perception or not, this wall had to have an end, and once found he could get back on track.

He moved along this seemingly never ending, choosing a direction on a whim, intent to go as far as his feet would take him. The wall was unlike any other Gallus had come across that night, comprised of solid wood instead of stone supported with wooden logs. Gallus also couldn’t see a rooftop when he looked up, the darkness consuming the wall before he could see the top.

“How far does this thing go?” the blue gryphon asked himself aloud, doing all he could to keep himself focused, letting his determination drive him.

He was completely oblivious to what this wall truly was for a good while, until he stumbled across a set of torchlights that appeared ahead of him. His first thought was that it was a patrol, having finally found him. Being too tied to try and flee, he kept walking towards his presumed fate, only to find that these torches were not within the hands of some large wooly bovines, but were inside a set of sconces fastened to the wall he was moving along. The sight of it sobered up his muddled thoughts, as Gallus had come to realize he had been walking down the defensive wall surrounding the city, having misjudged where the main gate had been, missing it by a few yards.

“Seriously?!” Gallus blurted out, amazed by his own luck. Had he gone in the other direction, he would have been walking for miles to the next entrance gate.

With that in mind, he momentarily questioned if this was even the correct gate to begin with, but quickly dismissed that notion. There was really no room to second guess this. Right or wrong, this was his only chance to give the minotaur a means into the city.

“Hey!” a booming voice said from directly above the gryphon, “Did yak hear something down below?”

“Oh shit!” Gallus exclaimed in panic, though hushing his tone so he wouldn’t be heard a second time as he pressed himself flat against the wall, just in time to avoid the eyes of the gate guard peering over the ledge. He was so glad that yaks were so loud and boisterous, unlike the minotaur who were more stoic and calm speaking, else he would have been exposed then and there.

“Not sure.” said another voice, clearly another yak stationed above the gate, “But yaks should probably check, with all the alarms yaks heard.”

“Too dark for yaks to see beyond walls anyways.” said the first one, the darkness across the tundra being too deep for them to see more than a few feet outside of the kingdom.

Knowing that he would soon have a pair of unfriendly yaks searching for him, a surge of adrenaline flowed through Gallus’ veins. He thought about laying in wait for but a moment, but the gryphon knew this small boost in energy was not gonna last long, and he didn’t have a clue how close the raid forces were to their arrival. If he was going to act, he had to do it now.

Gallus hurried to the gate, it having no yaks guarding it on this side. The entirety of the defenses of it looked to be an incredibly sturdy set of doors, barred by a log that looked to have come from a section of oak tree. It would be difficult for even those of minotaur might to break through that, and impossible for the gryphon to move it even if he wasn’t injured, so there had to be some other means to get rid of it.

“Ok, what did you give me to take care of this?” Gallus asked himself, hastily going through the pouch he confiscated from his team leader.

He grabbed everything within the bag, pulling out several glass containers of some white substance he couldn’t identify. Opening the top of one bottle, he gave it a sniff, finding it had no odor, and touching it he found it to be a finely ground powder. Gallus didn’t have a clue how this was supposed to take down a gate as finely built as this one, his anxiety growing as he was aware he wouldn’t be alone for long.

“Come on, there has to be something in here that tells me what to do.” Gallus dug into the bag again, and felt a piece of paper at the very bottom, “Yes!” pulling it out, he opened it to find a single sentence written, it saying ‘pour on door brace and ignite’.

It was simple enough instructions, and Gallus got right to work, opening and dumping bottle after bottle of powder across the surface of the log, making sure to pour it between it and the door to prevent the substance from spilling or being blown away by a random breeze. He went through a half a dozen of the containers, until a decent amount of the stuff covered the tree trunk and there was none left to use.

With the powder in place, there was only one thing left to do. The gryphon reached into his own pouch to grab his torch, only to be reminded that he had lost it earlier when fighting with the hen he had taken the powder from.

“Fuck, how am I supposed to-” Gallus was about to scold himself for losing something so important for this moment, but then look up to the things radiating light on either side of him, “Duh!”

Gallus grabbed the torches out of their sconces, and tossed them both atop the log, into the pile of white powder. The gryphon then quickly made distance from the gate, expecting something akin to a huge explosion, only to be disappointed when nothing happened. The log was starting to burn, yes, but it didn’t seem to burn any faster than it would have had he just tossed the torches on by themselves. Watching it, he could tell it would take a while to burn through the wood, if it could at all, and this was time he did not have.

Another horn of alarm sounded, coming from near the wall, as the two gate guards discovered the attempt of sabotage. Gallus understood that this was gonna bring a number of other yaks to come see what was going on, but he had no place to go. Being tired, incapable of flying due his hurt wing, and out in the open, the gryphon could only stand there as soldiers within ear shot of the horn arrived to the scene. He was caught, and had to face the music.

“Gryphon!” yelled a yak from the back of the forming crowd, pushing his way to the front with ease.

Of all the yaks present, this one was among the largest, his coat a dark brown, while his beard was a lighter shade and the hair atop his head a hue of orange. As the huge wooly bull stomped his way right up to Gallus, the gryphon figured he was being addressed, though he had little to say in return.

“Why gryphons try attacking Yakyakistan at night?!” the yak stated, in a tone that expressed… disappointment? It seemed odd coming from a creature whose nation had been under siege, but this is what Gallus was getting from the way the yak spoke, “Gryphons make Rutherford wake up from traditional yak slumber time. Gryphons should have attacked during day, when gryphons could bare witness to yak battle prowess.”

Gallus was a bit confused by this reaction, as the yak started scolding him not because his kind led an attack on the city, but because it was an inconvenient time of day for them to make the attempt.

“Also, why use blue fog to put yaks to sleep? Gryphons using underhanded tactics to fight, when gryphons should try smash yaks like real warriors! Gryphons dare besmirch sacred art of war with underhanded tactics?”

“Is… is this like a game to you?” Gallus asked, trying to make sense of what this yak was upset about.

“War no game!” the yak declared, “War where two groups of warriors come together to display might, followed by traditional post war feast in celebration of invaders’ defeat, because yaks best at war!”

Gallus had to shake his head, thinking he was losing some form of context here because of the sleeping gas he had inhaled. “What?”

“Does gryphon not understand how war goes? Invaders come to challenge yaks. Yaks smash invaders into surrender. Then yaks invite attackers to grand feast in name of bravery, since yaks never defeated. Is how yak wars always go!” The large yak stepped over to the gate, looking at the fire Gallus caused, “Gryphons even started traditional destruction of Yakyakistan grand entrance, but only one gryphon is here. Yaks been searching where gryphons went since battle start, but gryphons nowhere to be seen. Did gryphons run like cowards?!”

“Uhh… yeah, I think they did.” Gallus replied, not sure what the yak wanted to hear from him, “But if it helps, I think they’ll be back.”

The yaks gathered in the area let out a series of angry and disheartened groans, displeased at what Gallus had to say. The one speaking to Gallus put a hand to his face in frustration. “War does not have break time! Yaks and enemies are to fight to finish! How are yaks to display that yaks are best if enemies flee?!” Gritting his teeth and letting out a low growl, insulted by the gryphon’s retreat, the large yak turned back to the others of his tribe. “Fetch water. Put out fire. If gryphons want to break down gate, gryphons must do it properly.”

A few of the yaks left, going to fulfill the command of their leader, Prince Rutherford. The others stayed right where they were, muttering among one another about how poor the events of this attack were. Yaks were a civilization of battle hardened people, with every member of the city raring to start a fight when it was presented. While they would prefer better circumstances, not enjoying the gryphons’ chosen time or use of aerial combat, these were conditions they were willing to accept if it meant they could prove the might of their people.

Having to play by the code of conduct of those that would try to best them was part of the pride the yaks wore when defending their homelands, but they did not respect anything aside from outright combat, and even something like a tactical retreat was treated as a dirty move. This, on top of all the other tricks the gryphons employed that night, was making it difficult for the yaks to respect these opponents.

On the other side of things, Gallus was becoming rather aggravated himself, finding no rationality in the behaviors of the yaks. Their homes had been destroyed, their people attacked, the sanctity of their kingdom infringed on, and the only complaint they could muster was that the fight was not finished to their standards? In Griffonstone, if you so much as looked at another gryphon’s property the wrong way, they’d jump down your throat so bad they would metaphorically climb out the other end. The yaks were so backwards in every way, and while he should have felt relief that it didn’t seem they would hurt him, a resentment was building on how perfect their lives must have been to be this carefree about a threat to their kingdom.

After a short wait, the yaks that left came back with large pales of water, making their way past Gallus to the now spreading fire of the main gate. Overall, the flames were still not enough to actually damage the doors or the hefty tree trunk keeping them closed. All in all, it appeared that Gallus’ efforts were in vain, and the raid attempt was a failure. The young gryphon didn’t know how he’d ever be able to look Titanius in the eye again, if he would even be permitted to leave Yakyakistan.

“Fellow yaks!” Rutherford said in a commanding tone, “Put out fire, and show gryphon that yaks will not be beaten by schemes and tricks!”

The other yaks obliged, not getting too close to the flames, cautions as to what such a large fire might do to their wool. In a unified action, each yak tossed their bucket onto the small flame, assuming it would be completely extinguished as the flames got smothered. As the water splashed down though, a strange and unexpected occurrence took place. Instead of putting the fire out, the flames exploded outward, its heat and size more than doubling in an instance. The incident they tried to avoid took place, as the hair on their bodies got singed, with some yaks having to pat themselves down to put out a small flame igniting on them.

“Water didn’t work?” Rutherford said, questioning the situation, “Go get more water. Be quick!”

The yaks went back to get more water, doubling their pace from the time prior. When they got back with freshly filled buckets, they repeated the process of throwing their contents onto the now engulfed entry gate, but once more the addition of water only seemed to make the problem worse as the blaze increased in size and power. What had been a small fire at the start had grown into an uncontrollable inferno steaming from the tree trunk. Rutherford was at a loss, as were the other yaks.

On the other hand, Gallus was starting to piece together what was going on. He didn’t know if straining his tired mind was giving him some sort of epiphany about what was happening, but he figured that whatever he had poured earlier was not supposed to accelerate the fire he started, but was always supposed to turn the yaks efforts to put it out into something that made the situation worse. It was a devious trap that any creature would fall for, since anyone would immediately think to dowse a fire when they spotted it. The gryphon had to marvel at the creativity and ingenuity of the minotaur to have come up with something like this, completely forgetting that their Antlertean slaves were the ones that devised the devices and contraptions for this invasion.

Rutherford wasn’t nearly as impressed, as he saw this as yet another deviation from his concept of a perfect battle, a defilement of the ancient tradition of yak combat. There were ways that creatures, no matter how physically inferior, were supposed to breach the city walls, as they were like a test to see if the would be invaders were even worthy of fighting the yaks in the first place.

Hit the door with enough force to burst it open, torch it to the ground to with heats so destructive that the wood turned to ash in an instance, cut through it with an axe, or just knock down the walls around it. These were the yak approved ways to be attacked, and to see yet more tricks filled the yak with rage. Now aware that these flames were somehow enchanted or altered to not be put out by conventional means, Rutherford decided to take a different approach. Approaching the door, not caring about the heat of the flames, he grabbed the trunk by one of its ends, and lifted it up off the wooden arms holding it in place.

For Gallus, it was a sight to see as the yak juggled this massive piece of wood between his hands, trying not to get burned, while taking a few steps away from the gate. As the hair of his body started to catch fire, he placed the log in one palm, before effortlessly tossing it over the tall walls surrounding the yak’s city, out into the empty tundra outside. Rutherford then patted down the patches of burning hair on his body, having seen others do this prior, extinguishing himself in mere moments. With that trunk now gone, the remaining flames looked far less imposing, and were likely to put themselves out long before the door would succumb to them.

“There.” Rutherford said, with some satisfaction with himself now that the besmirchment was gone.

However, in his haste to remove this blight, the yak never stopped to consider why winged beings would bother to have a barrier like this removed in the first place.

With the matter of the burning door taken care of, Rutherford went back to Gallus, ready to give the captive avian a stern talking to about how the gryphons conducted themselves in battle. “Now, Gryphon listen. Yaks will fix city, get rid of fog, and prepare for grand battle. Gryphon will go tell other gryphons to come back midday tomorrow, after yak lunch time. Then Yaks and Gryphons will fight the right way, and gryphons learn how real warriors wage war. If gryphons don’t show, then we wage war in Gryphons’ home!”

Gallus knew there would be no battle after this one. Even at the threat of a Griffonstone invasion, his people didn’t care enough to come back and take their licks for attacking the yaks. The fight was always supposed to hinge on the minotaur fighting the yaks directly, and since they could not gain entrance to the city, under what might have been the best circumstance for them, another attempt would not be made. At the very least, he was relieved the yaks were letting him go to act as messenger, but with his broken wing it was gonna be a long and pathetic walk back to the encampment, and with his head all clouded from breathing in the tainted air inside Yakyakistan, Gallus wasn’t even sure he could trek that distance before collapsing into slumber.

As Gallus was about to accept that his efforts were for nothing, he noticed a bit of unexpected movement from behind Rutherford. Tilting himself to get a better look, he witnessed the heavy gate doors opening, seemingly on their own as none of the yaks were doing it. He wasn’t the only one to notice either, as a few of the surrounding yaks watched this with bewilderment, as the doors were far too heavy to be simply blown open.

Rutherford, hearing the sound of the wood scraping on ground, turned to see the entryway part open, a growing crack to the outside forming down the middle. “Gryphons return already?” he questioned, thinking that it would take a large number of creatures like them to push open the gates. “Yaks, push doors closed!”

Those closest to the door went to shove the doors back in place, as Rutherford had declared the gryphons unworthy to breach the door and join into battle. The moment the yaks got close though, the door shot open, hitting the wooly bovines and knocking them aside. To Rutherford’s surprise, it was not a hundred gryphons bursting through to begin battle, but a small force of two dozen bovine creatures like themselves.

“Minotaur?” Rutherford said, instantly recognizing the bulls, questioning both their arrival and why two of the creatures were carrying with them a large black crystal. “What Minotaur doing here? Minotaur banned from Yakyakistan ages ago!”

Gallus, now just a witness as to what was to unfold, had to take a seat on the ground. Every part of him was exhausted, with his mind, body, abilities, and tolerance for the yaks having been tested that night. Yet, it had appeared that by some fluke, he had done it. The minotaur had set hoof into the city, and while there were only twenty-four present, the sight of the waystone was not lost on him. As the two carrying the black rock set it on the ground, and others closed up the main gates again, the minotaur’s infiltration of Yakyakistan was complete.

Among the minotaur who had entered through the yaks’ main gate were Rubric and Titanius, along with their respective seconds in command, Bacchus and Brutus. These four minotaur observed the situation before them, their small band of bulls facing down a veritable herd of yak warriors, with the nation’s prince standing at the forefront of them.

“Looks like the king’s reindeer was eerily accurate again.” said Titanius, his voice slightly muffled behind a black mask he was wearing, the same type the suppression team wore, except sized for one as large as the bovine. The others all wore the same contraption, preventing them from falling victim to the sleeping gas that now permeated Yakyakistan’s air.

Rubric stepped to Titanius’ side, not acknowledging or questioning Titanius’ comment. Whatever the other bull was speaking of, he was not privy to its context, nor did he need to be. All he knew was that over a half a year prior the minotaur’s king summoned him, and charged him with the overtaking of the yaks’ kingdom, to claim and bind its inhabitants into servitude to Minopolis and those who inhabited it. He was to work with Titanius, and follow his instructions, assigning specific people to specific tasks at precise points of the operation.

The orders were not so meticulous that he needed to move every member of his raiding party in exact ways, as most were bit players whose involvement apparently meant little, but he was instructed who within his flock of hired gryphons should be placed in charge of which divisions of the raid, and where he personally should be at various points of it. In doing this, the series of events that occurred had allowed the minotaur access to the city, which in itself supposedly foretold their inevitable victory. If he cared about concepts such a fate, he might have been a little unnerved about all this, but truth be told it didn’t matter to the minotaur, so long as he got his cut of the spoils of this land.

Having intruded on yak territory, in a manner that spat in the face of the yak’s code of conduct, the bovines could not go unaddressed for long. Only a few minutes of silence passed before Rutherford made his way over to the minotaur, and once he made his move, Rubric took a step forward in kind.

“No,” Titanius said, placing a hand on the other minotaur’s chest, blocking his way, “This one is mine to deal with.”

“Another one of your instructions?” Rubric asked.

“Yes, but this is also personal.” Titanius said, moving towards the approaching prince.

The two bovines met halfway between their two forces, Rutherford stopping first, with Titanius only stopping when taking another step would have been impossible. The two bulls stood chest to chest, with hardly any space between them, the pair glaring into each others’ eyes, Rutherford having to tilt his head upwards as the minotaur looked down at him.

“It has been a while, Prince.” Titanius said, “You have certainly grown into a fine man. One that I would gladly welcome into my bed chambers.”

“So minotaur is who Rutherford thought,” said Rutherford, anger in his voice, “Haven’t seen Titanius or minotaur in decades. Thought minotaur learned lesson, and obey father’s decree of banishment!”

“Your father has not been around for some time,” Titanius replied, “And his insistence that my kind never graced Yakyakistan soil ever again always was too demanding. You yaks always expect things to go exactly how you want it, thinking yourselves to be better than every other creature. We are here to show you once and for all that you’re not.”

Rutherford blew a huff of air from his lips, dismissing Titanius’ claim as nothing more than empty bravado. “Rutherford not scared of minotaur. Remember how quickly minotaur were beaten after breaking through gate last time. Not even a challenge.”

“Then how about we put our might to the test, shall we?” said Titanius while preparing to grapple, his arms up and legs bent to brace the rest of his massive form.

“Lets!” Rutherford agreed, seeing this as the easiest means to prove yaks superior to their lesser bovine cousins. Raising his own arms up, he shot his hands into those of his minotaur opponent’s own, and the two immediately began struggling against each others’ strength.

No one on the sidelines made a move to try and help, knowing that this was a battle between two men, with the pride of each one at stake. Of everyone watching, only Gallus seemed to be in any way worried, with every bovine secure in their belief that their side would win.

“Not bad.” Titanius said, between strained grunts, “Certainly better than the last time we grappled, but you were hardly a man then. Too stubborn to know when you were outmatched. Or did you simply want to get close to me in a way that wouldn’t get you disapproving looks from the king?”

“Titanius talk too much,” Rutherford said, unphased by the other bull’s taunting, pressing forward with all the might he could muster.

No words could get under a yak’s skin, as their inflated egos would not allow themselves to fall prey to the words of those who could not compare to their glory. Yaks were the best at everything they did. Feats of strength, building, smashing. They played the best music, made the best food, and had the best culture in all places both in and outside Equestria. If yaks could use magic, they would be the best at that too, and no puny, aging minotaur would ever get the better of the very prince of Yakyakistan, who in himself was the best among yaks.

Rutherford shoved forward with all his might, managing to push the bull back, as Titanius’ hooves skid across the dirt. The force the yak was employing was too much for the ground’s friction to hold the bigger bull in place, and footing was just as important as one’s own strength in a competition of power such as this. This was something that the older bovine knew well, and was why he wasn’t going all in like Rutherford was.

Given credit where credit was due, the prince was perhaps as powerful as he boasted, his strength unrivaled by most, but all this strength was just pure brute force with zero refinement, and no restraint. It was everything Titanius was expecting from the prince of yaks.

By shifting all of his weight to the side, swiftly placing one hoof in front of Rutherford’s while stepping out of his opponent’s direct path, Titanius allowed the yak’s own momentum to send him stumbling forward, with only their locked hands keeping the wooly bull upright. Now that the prince had lost his own footing, Titanius did not waste this opportunity to take control, pulling Rutherford’s arms into a compromising position behind the yak’s head, the minotaur’s own powerful biceps finding a place under Rutherford’s chin.

“You yaks are all power, no tactics,” said Titanius, “And even a dragon can be wrangled if you grab them by the head.”

Rutherford tried his best to get out of the hold, but he was in an awkward position, and the minotaur was not that drastically weaker than him to begin with. There were ways to escape a choke hold like this, but the yak was completely unaware of any of them. This was a problem he couldn’t simply brute force himself out of, and strength was always the first, second, and last solution a yak turned to.

“You know, prince,” Titanius continued, “I quite enjoy seeing you in this position. Held in place, struggling fruitlessly against my might, sweating and grunting while your backside is pressed up against my front. I’m not yet done embarrassing you in front of your people though. I’ll let you go so we can continue this fight under more fair circumstances.”

Titanius leaned back, using his height and leverage to pull the yak backwards, betraying his promise to release the prince. Rutherford was heavy, but not so weighty that a muscular minotaur couldn’t part his hooves from the ground. Suspended like this, the yak’s neck had to support his beefy body, intensifying the choke hold and cutting off Rutherford’s access to air. Titanius held this pose for a brief moment, just enough for Rutherford to become desperate for another breath, and once he thought the yak had enough, the minotaur gave his body a mighty twist, flinging the smaller bovine into one of the nearby buildings.

Rutherford smashed through the wall with ease, receiving little damage from the impact itself, as yaks honed their bodies to endure most any impact. However, this particular building was one of the yak homes, and had been visited by the suppression team earlier that night. With the yak destroying the structure with his powerful form, an explosion of blue clouds escaped the building, and then slowly descended into the surrounding area.

“That should even the playing field a little.” Titanius said, making a leisurely stroll over to where he tossed Rutherford.

The yak prince was no doubt gasping for air now that he wasn’t being strangled, not even thinking about the sleeping gas he was now saturated in. It might not have been enough to sap all the fight out of Rutherford immediately, but it would fill him with enough fatigue to make the rest of the fight a simple matter, made worse with each passing second Titanius trapped him in there.

It was about this time that the other yaks had seen enough. They were more than happy to let the minotaur face off against the prince when they assumed defeat was impossible, but they could tell that the fight was swaying against their favor. They also assumed that the only reason this could be was because the minotaur had cheated in some fashion, as yaks were best at grappling, so some kind of trick had to have been employed if the minotaur beat their ruler like this. Not wanting to let Titanius reach Rutherford, the yaks began a charge. The minotaur were still outnumbered, and there was no way the twelve of them would overcome them all.

Rubric, having been told prior to entry not to do anything until the yaks initiated what would be the battle for Yakyakistan, saw them rushing towards their group as the signal he had been waiting for. Having been standing next to the waystone since Titanius told him to stand back, he slid his hand into the stone for a brief few seconds, and then pulled it back out.

A hoard of minotaur, each with a gas mask strapped tightly to their head, appeared from the stone one by one, stampeding towards the oncoming yaks, having been waiting for Rubric to wave them into a full on fight. The yaks, not expecting this sudden increase in the minotaur’s ranks, ceased their own charge in shock, as their numbers were quickly being matched, and then overwhelmed by creatures of even strength to their own. None could think to retreat though, as their battle creed still compelled them to stand and fight to the end, no matter how growingly demoralizing the conditions against them were.

The battle began, with yaks and minotaur exchanging blows with one another, as the two factions of bovines put their might to the test. To the yaks’ dismay, the minotaur were easily gaining ground, with each yak warrior having to face off against pairs of the invaders at a time, the front lines easily being decimated as they were teamed up against and subdued. The ones behind them had a slightly easier time, as the pairs would split up once they felt a yak had been sufficiently softened up, but watching their brethren be so quickly brute forced through lowered their morale even further than it already was, and the sedating clouds had now settled back to ground level where they’d have to breath it in to keep fighting. All in all, there was nothing about this fight that was in the yaks’ favor. Regrouping elsewhere would have been the only means the yaks had to hold out, though that might not have prevented a defeat that now seemed inevitable.

Rubric stepped into a clearing in the conflict going on around him, to the spot where Gallus had been sitting, completely ignored by those participating in this historical event. “Are you ok?” he asked the prone gryphon, “Titanius wanted me to ensure you’d be taken care of once the raid began.”

Gallus gave a nod, not able to form words at that moment. He wanted to express how stunned he was over what was happening around him, but his thoughts were becoming hard to make as the blue mists settled around him. It was taking a great deal of effort to not close his eyes and go to sleep himself.

Rubric, accepting Gallus’ nod, looked back to Bacchus and Brutus, who were still at his side, “Brutus, summon the gryphons and dogs to join us in battle.”

“On it,” Brutus replied, already having a flare and a tremor rod in his hands, shoving the metal staff into the dirt to signal the diamond dogs, while setting off the flare to let the gryphons know the true raid had begun.

“Good,” Rubric stated, “Once we’ve cleared out the warriors here, we will move into the city to collect the ones that are sleeping, and bind them before they can awaken. Send a secondary team to flush out and capture those who avoided sedation, and take the yaks’ palace. There should be a good amount of women held up there, protecting their children from harm. Do not underestimate them, Bacchus, unless you want a bruised skull throughout the duration of the conquest ceremony.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.” Bacchus said dismissively, before joining the fray.

Rubric went back to the stone, awaiting the arrival of the diamond dogs, as the gryphons descended to perform their second, more successful attack on the city. Brutus, on the other hand, just stood there for a moment, looking in the direction of where Titanius and Rutherford were now fighting.

Titanius’ second in command let out a whistle from behind his mask. “Didn’t expect the boss to just toss a bitch like that. Kinda hot, don’t you think?” he asked, addressing the blue gryphon at his feet.

Gallus still couldn’t reply, but the words echoed in his mind as he finally gave into his fatigue. Thinking back to how he saw the fight between Titanius and Rutherford, he remembered the spectacle of it all, as the two bulls went at it, surrounded in a radiant glow in Gallus’ eyes. The display of power from the minotaur was impressive, and admittedly attractive in an intimidating fashion. If there was ever a creature that was the personification of masculinity, it was a minotaur, and Titanius seemed to exemplify this.

At least, that’s what Gallus thought as he closed his eyes, and fell backwards onto the snow covered ground. The gryphon would slumber for the remainder of the raid, unable to awaken until it was finished, and by then the nation of Yakyakistan would be under minotaur occupation, with the conquering creatures preparing to partake in the spoils of war.

Author's Note

New chapter today, and I hope you all enjoy it. I put a bit of effort in this one, to make it feel engaging while focusing on the story's three main gryphons.

However, I'm curious what you all would like for the next chapter. Do you all care to see how the minotaur subdue their soon to be yak prisoners, or do you pretty much get how the raid will turn out from here, and wish that we get down to business with the sexy aftermath. It has been a long time getting to this point, so I would not be surprised to see the yaks get the punishment that has been awaiting them. In this alone, I'm certain I will not disappoint :twilightsmile:

The Storm: Part 1

For the whole time that they had daylight, the raiding party set up their temporary camp and divided up their equipment to each of the teams. It was like some bastardized version of Hearth’s Warming Eve, wherein everyone present got something granted to them to use in the upcoming operation, from the most important minotaur, to the lowliest diamond dog.

As promised the day prior, the members of the support team each got their own Antlertean made net launchers to use in the likely event that they would have to get involved, while the minotaur passed around clubs that doubled as shock batons, thick bovine sized cuffs to restrain captives, and staves with claw-like devices on the end that looked similar, but sturdier, to something animal control might use to corral a dangerous beast. The infiltration and suppression teams got the most of it although, as their part in the start of the mission was the most vital. They had been given bags full of devices, brief explanations on how each one worked provided by a small group of Antlertean slaves brought along to assist the operation in whatever tasks the other creatures present were too busy or too uneducated to do themselves.

The gryphons were expected to commit each function to memory, which was evidently harder for some than others, as some were asked to show how some of their gear worked, and none of the ones asked could get it down right the first time. Anya was not one of these randomly selected gryphons, but she felt that she had understood everything and didn’t need a refresher course. However, one gryphon who did need a small remedial course was Gallus, who had some small problems working a handheld torch that would be used for melting open door locks.

Anya was pleased to discover Gallus would be part of the infiltration efforts, as his team would be making sure every house would have a way for her team to get in, so they could do their part to either prevent the yaks from fighting back at all, or failing that reduce the number of combatants to a minimum. It might have been the best job for him, since the team’s objectives included not engaging combatants, and bailing the moment that any action started. None of the gryphons were supposed to get into fights with the yaks, but this team in particular was expressly told to not even humor the thought of participating if things got active, thus making them the most likely to get out of this unharmed.

It took until the sun started to set until the last minute training was complete, and at that time the Antlerteans started handing out small sacks to each gryphon and diamond dog there, each containing a pure black outfit they were told to wear. A lot of gryphons grumbled about how they could have been handed these things back in the warmth of the facility, in turn were told that they waited till now because they would have stuck out easier in the white show if they had been wearing them all along, and they couldn’t risk the yaks spotting what was going on not too far away from their fortress city. Fortunately, this was why the minotaur had set up tents, so at the very least the gryphons didn’t have to endure the frigid winds of the mountain they were on while swapping from one set of clothes to the next. The diamond dogs, on the other hand, didn’t require a shelter to swap attire, and just did so the moment they got them.

By the time everyone was done, the sun was down, and the moon was rising, and when Anya saw what the moon looked like, she was surprised to discover that even the alicorn princesses in Canterlot were aiding in this attack. Surely not knowingly, but the two regal pony sisters had meticulous schedules for all acts in their kingdom considered ‘natural’. Plant growth, animal population, weather control, these were all things that were stringently controlled by the governing bodies of Equestria, and typically only affected those within the kingdom itself. There was one function that ponies managed though that had an effect on the whole world, and that was matters of celestial management.

So when Princess Luna rose a full moon, all neighboring kingdoms would see the night as she intended, the pale light of it basking down on everything below. Every so often though, the opposite would happen, and for reasons known only to the princess of the night, a New Moon would arise, casting the world into shadows for a single night. That was what was happening now, as the outline of the moon was barely visible, and the outside world was much darker than usual. Not pitch black, as the stars in the sky provided a small amount of light, but enough that one’s range of visibility would be limited, especially if a creature you were trying to look at happened to be wearing black.

These types of events were never announced publicly, particularly so malicious forces could never exploit them, and a creature’s first assumption would be that this was something the minotaur couldn’t have planned for. Yet, those in charge started giving out orders as if this was the signal to begin. Did the Society’s sources go so deep that they infiltrated Canterlot Castle itself?

That seemed to be the only explanation, but also felt wrong. Anya had to blame her own lack of knowledge in the matter, but something this great in importance was the kind of thing that the princesses should have shared with no one, for the very reason as to what was about to befall Yakyakistan.

Whether planned or a fluke, the fact of the matter was that it was time to sound the horns and go to war, or in this case quietly seize the Yak kingdom in the name of the Minopolis. At the command of their minotaur raid leaders, the individual groups of gryphons spread their wings and took flight, while the diamond dogs made their way underground, each heading to their positions, while the bulls themselves started making their way to the front gates. Hopefully, by the time the minotaur got there, said gates would be open, the yaks would be subdued, and the mission completed.

The steps for it all were simple. The infiltration team would go in first, given a ten minute head start to do their part, getting houses open and finishing off by dealing with the entrance to the kingdom. The suppression team would then go in, regroup with the diamond dogs, and perform their task. Meanwhile, the support team would wait on standby until the raid team, also known as the minotaur, forced their way into the kingdom and started dealing with all, if any, combatants remaining.

This had been told to Anya a number of times now, but she had to repeat it in her own head over and over because she couldn’t mess this up, and there were so many parts that could be messed up. Now that she had gotten close to the end of her arrangement with Rubric, it was worrying that the outcome of this final task, and thus the fate of her friends, hinged on the success of this hostile takeover.

Was it impossible or even unlikely that they could topple a long standing kingdom like this one? With all the planning and preparation the minotaur put into this, and experience they said they had conquering other civilizations, Anya wanted to believe this would not be as difficult as it seemed it should be.

“Ok, this is far enough.” the one eyed gryphoness said to the two others under her command, being their flight to a stop above the city.

Here they would have a bird’s eye view of the torch lit streets below, while the darkness of this night made it next to impossible for them to be spotted in return. The other gryphons were already taking up stations in the open sky as well, with only a fifth of the total avian forces descending upon the large Yak city.

“Good luck…” Anya muttered to herself, directing it towards Gallus more than anyone else in the group, hoping nothing happened to him, while his team did their tasks unnoticed.

Gallus followed his team leader down as they glided down into Yakyakistan, his unit, like so many others, being at the command of a hen from Rubric’s contracted gryphons. Unlike Anya and Gilda, the blue gryphon had not been put in charge of his own unit or squad, despite having improved greatly since he got serious about being a hunter. It was ok though, as Titanius had told him it was not his skill that prevented this, but his lack of experience.

He was still young, and had never done anything that exhibited leadership abilities. He hadn’t even gone on a capture mission to abduct a creature for the Society before this, and thus it wouldn’t have made sense for him to be in charge of other, more qualified gryphons. That he was permitted to be a part of this big mission, one that guaranteed him a huge payment upon its success, spoke volumes about how much trust his boss felt about his improvement. It was that trust that gave him confidence that even if he was just a bit player in all this, he would perform his role so well that it would be impossible for others not to notice.

Looking over his squad, following their formation, Gallus felt the excitement coursing through his veins. With all of them in their black infiltration suits, they looked like some professional team that could bring a nation to their knees, with his own suit being somewhat unique to cover his body more than the others, due to his bright blue feathers needing to be completely concealed. He was even given a black mask, which he couldn’t help but think made him look cool.

Feeling this hyped up about himself, and what he was doing, Gallus was already envisioning himself moving about the city like a shadow in the streets, breaking into houses like a master thief, and preparing his boss’ targets for conquest. He could already picture himself getting his first payment, and how it would shoot him out of the status of ‘poor’ to ‘well to do’. It wouldn’t be enough to get him everything he ever wanted, but it would be a good start. There would be plenty of jobs after this one, ones that paid less, but would be far easier. After all, what could possibly be harder than taking over a nation?

“Listen up team,” said the team leader, holding Gallus’ full attention, “I see a space near the center of the city that looks like it has low patrols. Follow my movements, and keep quiet. Not so much as a wing flap.”

The unit dove downwards, their beaks practically pointed to the earth as they quickly made their way to the ground, pulling up only a few dozen feet from making contact with it so they could fluidly touch down. The flight training they all had for this had paid off, as it was not a maneuver any winged creature could manage to do, and as soon as they landed, they made their way into the closest dark alleyway they could find, within what looked to Gallus like a marketplace for the massive yak kingdom.

“Step one, complete.” the infiltration leader continued, “Onto step two, everyone pull out your maps.”

Each gryphon reached into a pouch at their waist, shuffling through their equipment to pull out a map of Yakyakistan provided to them, while the female gryphon grabbed a red marker from her own. Assessing the situation, the lead gryphon took each map and marked on each one how he wanted to divvy up the work. Drawing lines on each other gryphon’s of what area they were responsible for, before handing them back to their owners.

“Here are your assignments,” she said, “Any building inside where I marked on your map needs to have at least one entrance opened. Once you’ve gotten something open, use the bottle in your pouch to mark it.”

Gallus reached into his pouch, and pulled out a small spray bottle that the team leader was talking about. It was only a common perfume bottle, but inside had a substance that held a particular scent that the minotaur had been using to train the diamond dogs. When it was time for the suppression team to come through, they would use the dogs to spot the openings for them, and whatever they would do after that was not something his team had to worry about because they’d be long gone.

“As a final reminder,” the hen added, “Don’t do anything stupid. The minotaur have promised each of us a fair share of whatever value these yaks and their possessions are worth to them. Don’t take anything, and don’t try to capture a target hoping for a bigger payout. Just get in, and get out. Easy money.”

The members of the infiltration gave a nod, some with a bit of an eye roll, since this was about the hundredth time they were told not to go scrounging for extra coins.

“If everything’s clear, I’m gonna go deal with the front gate, and in about ten minutes I’ll send the signal to let the suppression team know that they can start.”

The group knew that it wasn’t expected of them to be done in ten minutes, only that by that time the next team would be coming in to take care of the buildings they had gotten open. That was what the scent marking spray was for, so the two teams would not get in each others’ way.

“Well then, let’s get to work.” said the leader, dismissing each gryphon to their tasks.

Since they were in the middle of the Yak’s large capital city, each member of the group had to fly off in different directions out of the alleyway to get to where they were assigned. Now separated from the rest of his unit, Gallus took to flying slightly above the rooftops, in order to spot where the guard patrols were, and to use the tops of the buildings as cover as he made his way to the closest spot in Yakyakistan that looked like he’d be able to work undisturbed.

Okay, Gallus, the gryphon thought to himself, We just need to open a few windows and unlock some doors, and we make it back a hero. It took Gallus a moment to dwell on what he had said, and how it didn’t reflect the activity he was participating with. Or whatever. Heroes are overrated anyways.

Gallus was not so lost in his line of work that he believed he was a good guy in this. He was pragmatic, though, and didn’t really care what side he was on, so long as it was the one that won. That the yak women would spend each day of their lives after this one in chains, living out cycles of being bred and giving birth, while the men would spend their days toiling as slave labor, didn’t have the same moral impact as it did with Anya. Besides, every time that he heard about Yaks they were always depicted as ‘wooly barbarians’ with a strange obsession with things being ‘perfect’, living out in the middle of a frozen tundra. Using his own species as a baseline example of cultures no one cared about, he couldn’t think that anyone really cared about what happened to creatures that fit such a description.

It didn’t take long for Gallus to spot a place to begin his mission, landing several yards away from a patrolling night watchman who was turning a corner. He figured that with that yak leaving the area, he’d have plenty of time to do his job unseen. He dove his hand into his pouch, pulling out the Antlertean made magitek torch he had been given, before going to the first house of many he would visit that night.

All he had to do was aim the device at a doorknob or window lock, and supposedly within seconds the metal would melt to the point that it couldn’t properly keep the passage shut. Pressing down the button like he had been shown, he found that it was not that simple, as the doors were a bit sturdier than that of a pony made one, but he figured they’d have to be when one of the national pastimes of Yak culture was destroying their own stuff.

“Honestly…” Gallus said quietly to himself, as he watched the strong metal slowly turn to soup, “If all they do is break stuff, being ruled by the minotaur might do them some good.”

Gyphons typically lived in broken down homes due to their national poverty, and knowing that another species would break things on purpose, requiring sturdier houses in order to not sleep out in the cold, did annoy him a bit. Gryphons scrounged and scraped for every scrap they could get their hands on, yet these yaks were purposely destroying the things they had while thriving in these frigid lands. Gallus couldn’t help but be a bit bitter, feeling that these creatures had never known hardship if they could be so flippant with their property.

After a little over a minute, the door was finally breached, a hole now in the place of the knob that had been there prior. The simple locking mechanism that had been inside it was now little more than droplets of iron flown down the side of the wooden divider, hardening quickly in the cold air to form small beads of metal that clung to the structure they once sealed. Testing that he was finished, Gallus lightly pushed the door, and while it was a bit heavy, it gave enough for the gryphon to show it could no longer protect those inside from the intruders yet to visit them that night.

“One down,” Gallus said, applying his scent spray on the door, “And what looks to be fifty-nine more to go.”

It was going to be a long night if he kept up at this pace, taking well over an hour, which he felt couldn’t have been the intended estimated time for him to complete his task. He was supposed to get in and out, leaving shortly after the suppression team arrived.

“Have to start looking for alternative entrances,” Gallus whispered to himself, finding the front doors both inefficient and more compromising to break open, since he had already seen a patrolman walk down the street in front of this house.

Slipping into the spaces between the yak huts, Gallus began seeking out windows, and found that he had much better luck with them. The yaks used thick glass to prevent the cold air from leaking through, but even the toughest glass was no match for the heat of his torch. It was far less resistant compared to the metal of a doorknob, while being sturdy enough to not shatter outright, allowing him to make holes just large enough for him to reach in and open a path inside. After that, he’d pack up some snow, use it to block the hole to keep out the winds that might alert the residents of the home that there was a break in, and then spray down the scent for the diamond dogs to track later.

Doing it this way saved him so much time, and once he got a rhythm for it, he ended up cutting down the time for each of his his break-ins to around forty seconds. When it was nearing the time for the suppression team to be signaled in, he was already done with half his assigned targets, having never come close to being spotted by the guard or anyone inside the homes.

“There,” the blue gryphon said, completing yet another one of his cycles, finishing with the spraying around the window frame, “On to the next one.”

Gallus, knowing that soon he’d have the next group of gryhpons following on his heels, had no desire to slow down. He was, both metaphorically and literally, a man on a mission, hoping to be the first to finish up and leave. Marking off another house on his map, he zipped over to the next location as fast as his wings could take him, making a beeline to the first window he could spot. As he had each time prior, he set down right next to the windowsill, and pulled out his torch to get right to work.

When he went to start though, he found his eyes drawn to something just beyond the glass, and what he had seen made him immediately duck around the wall of the window. There, on the other side, was a yak. He had landed at a bedroom window for the first time that night, having lucked out at each other house to approach windows leading into living rooms or kitchens. The idea that he might have been seen freaked out the gryphon, but at a second glance he could see that this yak was so soundly asleep, it was snoring. The thick glass of the window was enough to dim the sounds, which was why he didn’t notice it upon approach, but as his back pressed against the outer wall, he could feel the vibrations that came with the sound of each inhale.

“So this is what the minotaur are after,” Gallus muttered, as he took a closer look at the Yak, and discovered it was one of their females. Not that he had to look too hard to figure this out, as her breast and pussy were on full display, the bovine sleeping in the nude, with a blanket hardly covering her body.

The yak cow was slovenly sprawled out atop a bale of hay she was using for a bed, which Gallus assumed was because their kind would break any bed or mattress they had, either by their sheer bovine weight, or just for fun. Her arms were positioned above her head, and her legs dangled over the side of the hay in a way that made her thighs spread wide open, putting the mound between them on full display. Her hair was done up in two long braids, with one ended up hanging over the edge of the hay as well, while the other went through the valley of her chests to drape over her stomach. Moving on to her body, it was a bit on the plump side, especially in those big breasts that seemed huge even for a girl as big as her. A lot of her presumed mass might have been an assumption on Gallus’ part though, as she had a layer of the wooly fur that covered practically everything from the neck down. Still, he felt that even shaved down the thickness of her body probably would have put the glass windows he had been melting to shame.

Gallus didn’t know for sure, since he had never been around Yaks, but judging by the minotaur he had met, he guessed that this cow had recently reached adulthood, perhaps being around the same age as him. If he was correct, then that meant that she would not be exempt once a minotaur got ahold of her, and being collared and caged would be the least of her problems before the coming of the dawn. He wondered for a moment if she was what the bovines considered attractive, or if she was more homely in their eyes.

The gryphon male had to admit, the sight of her naked body was getting his own blood pumping, but that was because this was his first time seeing a girl like this, and more importantly, the first time of him seeing tits on display. He was not completely new to a sight like this, as he and Gilda both lived in the same house back in Griffonstone, and he had on occasion stumbled in on her not fully dressed, but this was different for a few reasons. The first being that Gallus saw Gilda as a grumpy older sister, thus diminishing any attraction he could have towards her, and the second being that Gilda lacked an important feature that this cow had, which was breasts. Gryphons were part mammal, and seeing as his own sex organs fell in that category, an attraction to the sexual features of other mammals was bound to occur.

For a second, as he continued to take in the nude bovine before his eyes, he humored the idea of buying this cow with the money he’d get from this job, working towards that fantasy of his where he lived in a nice home with lots of servants tending to his every need and desire. The idea of domesticating her, stripping her of her barbaric ways, to transform her into a submissive and obedient maid was a thrilling thought. Perhaps he could ‘gift’ her a golden nose ring, with a blue ribbon that matched his feathers tied to it, in which he could pull to summon her whenever he wished.

He didn’t consider the idea that trying to have sex with a woman of that size, her weight alone more than triple his own, would be difficult to say the least, or that his own dick was comparable to her sex holes as a pencil would be to a loop of a finger ring. He didn’t even factor in that the minotaur were not likely going to sell the yak’s outside of Minopolis. All he was focused on was that he was gradually coming to the conclusion that he liked what he saw.

“Wait a second…” Gallus said, pulling his eyes away from the yak cow to recollect his thoughts, “What am I doing? I’m supposed to be getting these houses opened.”

Gallus came to the realization that he had been standing there, losing precious time, for nearly a minute now. He allowed himself to get distracted, and was falling more and more behind by the second. For all he knew, the signal had been launched, and the suppression team was already making their way through town. He had to get back to business, and worry about whether he could get his own personal yak slave later.

Pulling out his torch, he approached the glass pane again, ready to melt his way through as he had several times prior. He turned on the device with a press of the button on its side, and its crystal battery ignited the tip. It was at this time that Gallus noticed that there was a light sound that was coming from the flame, one that had heard prior, but didn’t put any thought into since he was the only one around to hear it. He wondered if it was enough to wake the slumbering yak, but quickly came to the conclusion that if her snores couldn’t breach the glass, the sound of his torch shouldn’t have been an issue either, at least till he made his way through.

Gallus approached the window, torch in hand, and pressed the fire to the glass. At first, everything went as expected, a hole in the pane was being formed, and soon he’d have access to the turn lock on the other side. He was almost all the way through, but suddenly the yak stirred. The gryphon immediately cut the fire off, ducking behind the side of the window again, keeping an eye on her movements, only to see her turn away from him, her backside pointed towards the window, but still asleep as far as Gullus could tell. It was as if she was trying to distract him, with both her actions and her body, her large ass now being presented for him to look upon and admire.

The gryphon wanted to stay focused, and to get this window done so he could move on, but this yak really was enticing to look at. He had to take back his thoughts from earlier. There was no way this yak could be considered ugly among her kind, not if she could pull so much of his attention away from his task. It was hard to pull his eyes away again, but he still had to wrap this up and move on, so he gave a glance back to the melted glass to see what he had already accomplished, looking at the latch on the other side that he needed to unlock. That’s when a certain detail about it came to the gryphon’s attention.

Gallus had been undoing latch locks all night, so he was familiar with what position they had to be in to prevent entry. This one, however, looked to already be in the unlocked position. He gave it a closer look, and it was in fact not secured at all. This particular yak must have seen no need to lock it, or simply forgotten that night. He had wasted all this time, and it was on something that had already been done for him

“This dumb cow,” he said aloud, needing to blame something else for his own ineptitude in this situation, while his hand instinctively found its way to his face, knowing its owner was the one to blame in this situation, “I can’t believe I got held up over something so stupid.”

If there was ever a yak that deserved the fate about to befall her, it was this one. At least, that’s how Gallus felt as he shook his head and got his spray bottle to mark this spot for entry. The suppression team would have no issue getting this one subdued.

“I really hope she’ll be available for later,” said the gryphon, pulling out his map to see which house was next, “And that she’s cheap.” After marking off this distraction from his to-do list, Gallus looked around to get his bearings straight, having forgotten which way he was even supposed to go next, another thing he was blaming the distracting yak for. “I can’t make heads or tails of this from down here.” he said with a sigh, leaning against the glass of the window as he used his torch to get a better look at the details on the paper.

With a single flap of his wings, the gryphon shot up into the air to get a better view, not noticing the movement happening right behind him as he rushed to get to his next location. The yak he had been spying on stirred awake right as Gallus took his leave, the light from his torch hitting the back of her eyelids too many times now for her to stay asleep. Sitting up on top of her bed of straw, she groggily looked to the window, not seeing anything but the deep dark of a moonless night. Still, she had to assume the light she had sensed was coming from somewhere, and outside was the reasonable source, since she knew about the patrolling guardsmen.

The yak maiden went to close her window curtains, but as she pulled them closed, she noticed the damaged part of the glass, right in front of the lock. She was too tired to want to inquire too deeply into it, so instead she simply secured the lock closed, assuming that what had happened to the window was not that big a deal to begin with, before flopping back upon the bale of hay beneath her, and going back to a sound sleep.

Meanwhile, high above the city, the gryphons that made up the suppression and support team waited for the signal to begin. There was supposed to be a dimly lit flare shot out from the city once everything was set, but fifteen minutes had passed and there was no sign of anything.

“Hmm…” Anya hummed to herself, trying to remain patient. She had anticipated that there may be a delay, not expecting her kind to be the most punctual of creatures, but five minutes was pushing it.

“Relax,” Gilda said as she heard the older hen make discomforted noises, having grabbed a cloud from she had spotted to sit on, since she was not going into the city until the suppression team did, if she’d be entering Yakyakistan at all, “The dweeb and his team are probably finishing up right now.”

“I hope so,” Anya replied, happy that Gilda was not being antagonistic right now. “I just wish we could see what was going on down there.”

While gryphons were part bird, none present were the type that were good night hunters, which was perhaps a small oversight from the minotaur when sorting the teams. Anya and Gilda themselves were eagles, and while they had incredibly good eyesight during the day, that meant next to nothing at night. As such, none present could tell if anything was actually happening in the yak city. They could see the lights of the patrolling yaks’ lanterns weave through the streets below, but that was about all. That the lights weren’t moving around as if in a panic or like they were chasing something was about the only indication that things haven’t gone south.

“You could always go in ahead of the signal if you’re worried,” said Gilda, “If you don’t mind stepping on the toes of the infiltration team.”

“It’s not the whole team I’m worried about,” said Anya, “But the team leader is the one in charge of keeping track of the timer and setting off the signal. He’s also in charge of making sure the front gates are open, so all that needs to happen for this to go wrong is for him to get caught in the act.”

“Yeah…” Gilda replied, giving a tone of unease as she pretended she was aware of that detail beforehand, when the truth was she had been in her own head when for most of the briefing for the mission, “Now that you put it that way, that’s not a good sign.”

“I’ll give them ten more minutes,” Anya said, hoping that the flare would be launched any second now, “Any longer than that, and even the bosses should notice something’s wrong.”

“So you’re saying we should back out after that long?” Gilda asked, not happy to hear she might be losing out on her big payday.

“No,” Anya replied, “If I have to, I’ll lead my team in ahead of time and complete our end of this mission the best we can. Besides, I don’t think the minotaur would appreciate us backing out, even if something wrong has happened.”

Anya was pretty sure that abandoning this mission would lead to the dreaded contract breach, but there was more to this for her than that. Even if Rubric let it slide, Anya couldn’t potentially leave Gallus behind, or allow the friends the Society enslaved and sold to have to wait even longer for her to rescue them.

“You hear that you two?” Anya said, looking at the two other gryphons in her squad, “Ten more minutes, and we’re going in. Get ready to go to work.”

Anya looked to the other gryphons in charge of the suppression efforts, and while they didn’t enjoy that the hen was asserting herself into command of the entire unit, they could not argue against her opinion on the matter. If they didn’t want to get hunted down by the Society for desertion, and more importantly, if they wanted to get paid the gold they had been greedily lusting after for months, they were gonna have to enter the city, signal or not.

Back in Yakyakistan, Gallus had taken a perch upon one of the roofs, inspecting his map carefully as he tried to get back on track. He didn’t know why, but it was much harder to navigate at this point, the dark of this night combined with the similarity of the yak’s huts conspiring against him. He didn’t even know which way was the starting point anymore, and thus he had no point of reference of which way he had come from and which way to go.

“How did I fuck up this badly?” said Gallus, scolding himself. He had gone from being proud of his progress, to kicking himself over his blunder.

It was getting to a point that he felt that he’d be better off picking a new point at random, but he was worried that he’d retread ground he had already covered, or accidentally going into another gryphons designated area. He wondered how many had been melting off the front door locks, and how many had been doing windows like him, and it made him think that he might end up ‘unlocking’ houses that had already been hit.

All of this because he let himself get distracted. He felt so stupid, like he was letting down his until and, more importantly, his boss by falling so far behind. “Come on, there has to be something I can look for that I can use as a landmark.”

Checking the map again, there was a building that looked a bit bigger than the residential buildings near where he left off. The only issue was finding any of them. Yakyakistan was not the smallest of places, and wandering off in any direction could get him more lost. If he flew in a single direction, he could just end up at the outer wall, far away from where he was supposed to be. His only other option was to try and locate one of the others in his group, which would be embarrassing to have to admit that he got turned around and needed directions. At this point though, he really didn’t have the time to let pride get in the way. If the mission was complicated, or even failed, due to him refusing to ask for help, that would be far worse than a temporary feeling of humiliation.

Putting away his map, Gallus went into a low altitude glide above the homes, on the search for any other gryphons. He zipped around the city as fast as his non-flapping wings would take him, not too worried about being spotted, as long as he didn’t make noise by flapping his wings, he blended in perfectly with the sky above. Other gryphons weren’t wearing a full body black outfit though, so he would not have as hard a time seeing them as anyone else would him.

Keeping his eyes to the space just above the roofs, he kept an eye out for any sign of movement, scanning the horizon they made, only occasionally looking down for a split second to check if someone was in an alley below. Each passing moment made him more determined to locate one of the other gryphons, as his disappointment in himself grew. A minute or two passed, and his determination was starting to turn to discouragement, but that’s when he finally saw some movement out of the corner of his eye. Gallus immediately turned himself toward it, and saw that it was one of his group standing atop a building. While it took far longer to find them than he wished, he still thanked his lucky stars that he was able to find anyone as he flew himself right towards the gryphon.

He floated in quietly, waiting until he was about to land to announce his presence by saying, “I’m so glad I found you”. The gryphon jumped slightly, which was not unexpected by Gallus seeing how quiet he had been on his approach, so he quickly followed up with “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you, but I got turned around, and lost track of where I’m supposed to be. I’m sure you’re about done by now, so could you show me where we are on your map, so I… can…”

Gallus’ words came to a slow stop, as the gryphon he had found turned to him. From a distance, in the dark of this night, he couldn’t tell which gryphon it was. Now that he was this close though, he knew exactly who it was, as it was the infiltration leader. He had to take back the thanks he had towards his luck from earlier, as this was by far the worst person he could have encountered, short of coming face to face with a Yak. Had he ran into anyone else, he might have been able to bribe them to get them to forget this interaction happened, and save his reputation. He had to assume that the one in charge of this part of the operation had higher standards though, and would not be so easily swayed from reporting his mistake to Rubric and Titanius.

The hen, still startled, looked Gallus up and down before exhaling and relaxing. “Oh, it’s just the rookie.” she said, oddly addressing herself instead of Gallus. It didn’t take long for her to address the gryphon male though, as the next words out of her beak was, “Of course it would be someone like you to wonder back this way.”

“Wander back?” Gallus questioned, “So you’re saying I’m-”

“Still in your section,” the hen replied, “Just back near where we first grouped up.”

Gallus looked around, and while there were a few buildings between him and it, the blue gryphon could barely see where the center of the yak’s fortress city was. Taking out his map, he quickly gauged where he was, and thus where he needed to be.

“Oh, thank you,” he said, truly grateful, “But hey… I know I messed up, and I’m way behind schedule, but is there any way that you could not tell the boss, or anyone else about this. I’ll be gl-.”

“Yeah, sure.” the gryphoness said, “Just go and get your work done, and I won’t tell anyone what happened.”

“Really?!” Gallus said, raising his voice slightly above a whisper to exclaim his surprise and appreciation.

Gallus could hardly believe that this gryphon was letting him off the hook. After all the ridicule he received from practically every gryphon that worked for the Society, he was expecting to have to pay for this like it was some sort of service. Now he would be able to save face, maybe even get his tasks finished before anyone noticed. Getting them done before anyone else was probably out of the question, but if Gallus worked quickly, then he might be able to leave before anyone noticed his delay. As the leader said, he was the rookie of the group, and thus being the last one out really shouldn’t be seen as strange.

The blue gryphon spread his wings, ready to get back to task, but before he took a flap, something dawned on him. The gryphoness had revealed to him that he was near where the infiltration group had started, a place he and all the others in his group should have been far away from at this point. Everyone, including the leader.

In fact, she was the only one who shouldn’t have ended up back here, as it was her job to take care of the front gates, and ensure that the minotaur could enter in with no problems. Turning his head back to the hen, looking over his spread wings, he spotted her bending over to pick something up off the roof, and while the darkness of this night still made it difficult for him to see more than a few feet away, he was close enough to identify the large sack in her hands.

“Hey…” Gallus said, keeping his wings up like he could bolt any second, using his feathers to hide the fact that he was slowly reaching into his item pouch, “Did you activate the signal flare yet?”

The gryphoness paused, “Wondering if you missed it and the suppression team is gonna catch up to your work? Don’t worry, I haven’t fired it yet.”

“Why not?” Gallus said, carefully undoing the zipper of his pouch so that it barely made a noise, “You said we had ten minutes, and it’s been a lot longer than that.”

“Well, I got caught up with something myself.” the hen replied, knowing from the start that her being here was odd, but hoping Gallus wouldn’t bring it up. She also could not assume that Gallus didn’t see the bag she was now holding, “Got put on a special mission to secure some things before the raiding party got in here.”

Gallus couldn’t help but think that was a lame excuse. While this was the center of the yak city, this square didn’t have anything here that seemed important enough to need a single operative to gather up for the minotaur before they came in and took over the nation. Just stalls and stores for yak merchants to sell their wares. If the yaks had something of such great value that it had to be collected by an infiltrator, like a treasure or magical artifact, the gryphon male could hardly believe it would be located there.

Thankfully, Gallus didn’t have to debate his thoughts on this for too long, as the hen spoke up again, “I guess you’re not buying that, are you?” She wasn’t even trying to hide that she was up to something nefarious anymore, something aside from the nefarious act she was being paid to do, “Look kid, if you really want to know, I’m fleecing the place. Grabbing anything that looks shiny or valuable, and letting these cows duke it out on their own.”

“Why though?” Gallus asked, his hand now in his pocket, his fingers wrapping around his torch, the only thing he had that could be used like a weapon, “Like you said, all that stuff can’t possibly be as valuable as what the Society will pay us.”

“If this mission succeeds,” the infiltration leader said, “And personally, I don’t think the minotaur have what it takes to beat these yaks. If they did, they wouldn’t need us to do pretty much everything for them.”

“So you’re gonna cut and run just cause you think we’ll lose?” Gallus asked, mostly to keep the hen talking at this point.

“I’m hedging my bets,” the hen said, gripping her bag of stolen goods more tightly, “And on top of that, I’m just done working for that crystal pony bitch. We do all the grunt work for her business, and we don’t even get to see our money until our contract is up. That’s if she even intends to pay us to begin with. I wouldn’t be surprised if she made a deal with the minotaur to add us to their breeding stock the moment we stop being useful to them. You’re a swallow, you know they see us as things they can fuck for the right price.”

The hen’s words were the kind that struck true to Gallus… or at least they would have before his private conversation with Titanius. Ever since that point, the bull had only shown him respect, and served as a source of motivation for the young adult gryphon. He couldn’t think that the bull would do that if his fate was to be bound, gagged, and put on the slave processing lines. This hen was only saying what she could to get him to see things her way.

“You know, I think I’ve stolen enough stuff for myself,” the hen said, assuming this point was far more believable than her prior ruse, “How about you go ahead and snag yourself some spoils, and we can both get out of here with something. Then we can leave everyone else to fend for themselves.”

“And what about the Society?” Gallus questioned, finally pulling his torch out, finger laying lightly against the activation button, “You know they’re gonna try and find us once they realize what happened.”

“Please,” the hen dismissed, “The crystal mare sends gryphons to do all her dirty work, and after this operation goes bust, and the others learn they’re not getting paid for it, they aren’t going to do shit for her.”

“So it’s not just your assumption that the minotaur will lose,” Gallus said, “You’re banking on it.”

“If that’s how you want to see it kid, sure.” the gryphoness replied, “But let’s face it, if the minotaur could get through those gates, they wouldn’t need someone to get them open for them, and I was the only one given that job.”

“Then how about this,” Gallus said, finally turning to face the hen, his torch hand behind his back, as he extended his free hand to distract her eyes away from the other, “Give me what they gave you to do that job, and I’ll let you go. I won’t say a word about what you are doing, and you can just go M.I.A. So long as the mission succeeds, I doubt they will care that one gryphon left.”

The hen thought for a moment, and then used her own free hand to undo her item pouch from her hip, “Fine, if you’re that dead set to lick bull dick, I’ll let you do it. You had better make sure they never try to come after me ever again though. After this, I’m a ghost.”

“Deal.” Gallus said, taking steps towards the gryphoness.

The hen followed Gallus’ example, and walked to him as well, the arm with her pouch stretched out to his own open hand. The two were getting to a point that their hands could touch one another, and it looked as if the pass would take place without issue. Gallus’ talon tips were little more than an inch away from the strap, and he felt he could just snatch it away if he wanted, but he decided it would be best to wait. Another step was all it took, and his hand was right beneath her own, the strap in his palm.

He wrapped his fingers around the strip of leather, but the moment his grip was firm, the hen made her move. With a fierce tug, Gallus was pulled forward into a stumble, with the hen then releasing the pouch completely to grab something else, that being Gallus’ throat.

“There you go, little boy,” she mocked, digging into feathers and flesh with her own talons, “You got your pouch, but I’m not gonna risk letting you go so you can tell the minotaur what happened here. I think cutting your neck open and letting you bleed out in the snow is a much better way to make sure I’m never found out. Like you said, they won’t care if a gryphon, or two, goes missing.”

Gallus could tell this hen was not kidding, the intent to kill in her eyes. He was ready for this though, and with a press of his thumb, his torch ignited. Without saying so much as a word, he lifted his arm towards the gryphoness, the light from the hot flame catching her eyes the moment it rose above the height of his hip.

The gryphoness quickly removed her claw from Gallus’ neck, not expecting he would attack with a torch, but having noticed that he was hiding a hand that could have had anything in it. As the arm continued to arch upwards into now empty space, the hen retaliated by swinging her bag of stolen items up to chase after it, hitting Gallus’ claw so hard it knocked the flame producing item out of his grasp and into the air, flying off the roof.

“Idiot!” the hen yelled victoriously, as her swing carried on, “You think I didn’t see what you were planning?! Any amateur could see you were hiding something!”

Gallus knew she was right. The way he positioned his body while walking to get the pouch, it would have been hard for anyone to not notice it, even in the dark of this night. That goes doubly so for a gryphon, who always assumed some level of treachery from others. In fact, that is what he had been hoping for.

As the bag of yak treasures started to drop back down, and the gyphoness reached forward to make another grab for his throat, Gallus did the only thing he could think of to beat her. Slamming the now empty hand down on the sack, he gripped it as firmly as his fingers would allow, while at the same time stomping his foot down on the surface of the roof so hard that he lost his footing again - only this time, he was falling backwards. The gryphon male tumbled down the slope of the yak hut, the bag still clenched in one hand, and the hen’s pouch in the other. The hen, employing her own death grip on the bag, ended up falling forward after him, and together they both fell over the side of the roof’s surface.

The pair of gryphons flailed in the air, the gryphoness trying to flap her wings hard enough to stop her downward motion, but finding the combined weight of her bag and the male gryphon was too much for her to lift, especially since Gallus had taken to curl up in order to brace for impact, basically making him dead weight. Of course, the hen could have released her bag at any time, but her greed was so strong that she didn’t see it as being an option. So, with there not being that much distance between the height of the roof to the ground below, both Gallus and the gryphoness ended up hitting the unpaved dirt of the yak streets in seconds.

Gallus landed, as he planned, on top of his wings, while his former team leader ended up meeting the ground with her shoulder, doing the only thing she could think of to absorb the impact. As for the bag, the hen found she could no longer keep her vice-like grip on its mouth once the pain of the fall struck her, so she was forced to release, thus allowing everything inside to spill out.

“No!” the female gryphon cried out, watching all the coin and shiny trinkets she had spent time collecting scatter in so many different directions that it would be impossible to get everything together again. “You fucking bastard!”

The gryphoness stumbled back to her feet, the idea of grabbing even the smallest bit of her ill gotten goods becoming a distant thought in her mind. Instead, something else came to the forefront of her thoughts. If there was one thing that could rival a gryphon’s greed, it was their pettiness, and at that moment a deep desire for revenge was replacing the want for riches she once held. Seeing Gallus on his back, writhing in pain worse than she was, the hen made her way over to him with the intent of making him pay for interfering, seeing it as her only way to get ‘something’ out of her efforts that night.

“Do you know how much you’ve cost me tonight?!” the gryphoness yelled, dropping down on her knees at Gallus’ side, so she could get her arm back into range of his neck.

Gallus, in quite a deal of pain, watched as she bent over him, her eyes filled with unblinking rage and murderous intent. She was going in for the kill, and wanted to capture every moment of the act. The blue gryphon had to admit, his wings hurt worse than he hoped they would after his stunt. It felt like he might have broken something, which was all sorts of not good at that moment. However painful it was for him to even think about moving his wings, he wouldn’t be needing them for what came next.

Waiting for the last moment, as the talons of the gryphoness nearly clamped down to issue his last breath, Gallus turned to his side, at no small cost of pain for him since he had to roll onto one of his wings in the process, and pointed the last thing he had at his disposal at the treacherous gryphons’ face. Before she could react, Gallus shot a heavy mist of the scent spray right into her eyes.

Whatever was in the bottle, Gallus had to assume that since it produced a scent, it had to be more than just water, and prayed that the substance would do something more than get moisturize her. The reaction was instant, as the hen recoiled away, grasping and screaming, while her eyes produced tears to try and wash away the heavy irritation they felt. Not knowing how long this would last, while also noting that the sounds of their conflict had drawn attention as lights appeared inside the windows of the surrounding houses, Gallus forced himself back to his feet, winching from the ache in his wings, before running away from the hen in the first direction he discerned.

“I did it.” he said in an excited whisper, slipping between another set of houses as soon as he could, fishing through the stolen pouch as he made distance away from his defeated enemy.

He didn’t know if the gryphoness would get caught by the yaks, or if she still had the ability to fly after the injury, but he knew that she had been beaten. However, he knew that this was not the end of his troubles. With possession of the infiltration leader’s supplies came her responsibilities, since she had purposefully neglected them herself.

“Here it is.” Gallus said as pulled out the signal flare, heavily panting as he kept up his sprint.

Aiming the device to the sky, he activated it, and sent out the long overdue announcement that it was time for the suppression team to do their part of the mission.

“And next,” Gallus said, continuing to run as fast as his legs would take him, folding his wings to try and minimize the pain, trying to tune it out with thoughts of his next important mission, “To deal with the main gates.”

“Woah!” Gilda shouted, as those who had been waiting for the signal just got an up close experience with it, as the flare shot right past her, luckily avoiding her and the small army of gryphons waiting in the sky with her. “The fuck?! Weren’t they supposed to fire that thing away from us?!”

Anya, while just as surprised as Gilda, took the incident a bit more calmly. Even had the flare connected, it probably would have bounced off harmlessly, but it wasn’t worth telling Gilda that when it was time for her to get to work.

“Ok everyone, look lively.” Anya said, addressing each squad among the suppression team, “It’s showtime.”

With that said, the gryphoness became the first to descend upon the yak city, with others following shortly behind her. They dove down sharply, each more than ready to do their part in this attack. Pulling up only when they got close to the rooftops, the different squads split up and found some place quiet to land, staying far away from a part of Yakyakistan that looked more illuminated than the rest, with house lights coming on and lanterns from the patrol converging there. Anya was a little worried that someone had fucked up, and was being pursued. If that was the case, they would just have to tough it out until Yakyakistan was overtaken, as it was not the job of the suppression team, or any other, to rescue someone in trouble.

As Anya and the two gryphons working under her touched down, the one eyed hen quickly took off a backpack she had been wearing, and started rummaging through it. While the infiltration team had to pack light, and thus only needed a small pouch to carry all their items, the suppression team’s job required a variety of different equipment to get done. The first of these items, when taken from the bag, held the appearance of a metal ground spike, etched with the Antlertean symbols they put into all their devices. With the insertion of one of the deer’s battery crystals, the pointed rod started producing a low level vibration.

Now that the device was active, Anya shoved it point down into the dirt, getting it about a third of the way in. The trio of gryphons waited patiently, knowing what came next wouldn’t be instant, but they didn’t have to wait more than a minute before a hole opened up directly under the rod, making it fall into the darkness of the earth below. Seconds later, the head of a diamond dog poked up, and looked around to see who was around the hole. This one was not one of Anya’s group, being a boston terrier looking male, and once the dog understood that he was displaced, he excused himself by saying “Wrong hole”, before diving back in. Seconds latter though, a more familiar dog popped their head out, as Claire made her appearance onto the scene.

“We found it,” she said with her snout pointed into the pit her body was inhabiting, and shortly after she was pushed out by a large white paw that had to belong to the great pyrenees.

Next climbed out Mattie, taking a moment to look around and take in her surroundings. This place was completely new to the diamond dogs, so she needed to get her sense of direction. Taking a few sniffs in the cold night air, Mattie commented aloud, “Yu’s bird shore got the place stink’in. Coud trak dat scent a moil out.”

“Well good,” Anya said, “That means the infiltration team did their job. Now what about you?”

“D-dog team got par’ one dun ages ago,” Mattie answered, referring to a job they were expected to complete prior to the suppression team’s arrival. They were to make a series of tunnels under the city, from one side of the city walls to the other, to give the dogs a means to get around the city easier, as well as a place for them to attack from and slip into if needed. “Got paths run a’ through dis place.”

“Good,” Anya said, happy things were going smoothly, “Then it’s time for phase two.”

The older gryphon reached into her bag, and pulled out another Antlertean made device, this one less magitek, and more a simple chemistry project. It was a glass canister, about the size of a jam jar, except a bit taller, a pale blue fluid sloshing around inside it. Of all the items the gryphons’ bags held, this was what the majority was comprised of. The liquid inside was, as the deer had put it, a compressed gas that would expand the moment the glass was broken. Within seconds, a yak hut would be filled with the gas, which they were told was a powerful anesthetic that could knock out even a bovine if inhaled long enough, which was the intended purpose after all.

“Ok, everyone knows what we are doing, right?” Anya said, not giving anyone a chance to say yes or no before saying, “We’re gonna use Claire here to sniff out the entrances made for us by the infiltration team. Meanwhile…”

“Me an’ mah bigga mate will fala’ from dow bellow,” Mattie said, knowing her part.

Her ability to track vibrations would be used to locate patrols as if they had radar, which would be how they’d avoid detection for as long as possible. Each squad had at least one dog decent at this task, that would try to work to relay information back and forth with one another and their squads. If for some reason they were about to get caught in the act, that’s where the pyrenees would come in, using her strength to trip up, distract, and misdirect the guards long enough to let the gryphons slip away.

“Boi the way,” Mattie said, “Ey’s suggest we’s dun go that way. Lotta heavy foot falls.”

The dog pointed in the direction where Anya had seen the patrol lanterns earlier, and it only confirmed what she already assumed; That someone had gotten caught, and now had half the city guard in hot pursuit.

“Noted.” Anya said, not wanting to go anywhere near that mess, “Now let’s get on our masks, and get to work.”

Anya reached into her backpack once more, and this time was joined by the rest of her team doing the same with their own bags. Each located a gas mask stowed in their equipment, each custom made to fit their respective owner. These were supposed to protect the wearers from the effects of the gas should it seep out into the streets, a very likely possibility. The only one who didn’t put theirs on immediately was Claire, since her nose was needed to locate where access to the houses were, but she did have it hang from off her collar by the strap so she could put it on the moment she started feeling tired.

With a nod to each member of this squad, Mattie dove back underground, and Claire started sniffing around, heading off towards the closest house with the gryphons hot on her tail. It was not hard for the spaniel to locate the source of each scent, the gryphons either finding an unlocked door or cracked open window they could toss one of the gas canisters into before quickly shutting it tight.

After a few houses, the trio of gryphons started a pattern between them. One of Anya’s underlings became designated bag carrier, holding one of their packs for the others to pluck the gas canisters from, while the one eyed gryphoness and the other gryhpon she was commanding took turns following their guide dog, tossing one in, and staying behind for a moment to make sure that the container broke open. It was steady and efficient teamwork, the likes Anya had never seen from other gryphons outside of this operation. Catching sight of other gryphons occasionally, seeing them likewise finding quick methods to drop off their gas grenades, before heading off to their next location.

Anya didn’t like the idea that the cooperative and coordinated actions of her kind were the results of the Society’s training, but it was strangely nice to see gryphons not bickering, fighting, and putting down one another for a change. Of course, this was only because there was a large amount of money on the line, and was sure things would revert back to status quo the second the others got paid, but it was still a unique experience a gryphon really didn’t get to see. Now if only they could apply that kind of effort into fixing up Griffonstone, Anya thought to herself, tossing yet another canister into a window with a melted lock, then chasing after her team before they could get too far away.

By all accounts, the first phases of the minotaur’s attack was going far better than could be expected. House by house, the creatures of Yakyakistan that were sleeping in their beds were being put into such a deep sleep that nothing would be able to awaken them for hours. The infiltration team, save for two particular individuals, had wrapped up and were making their way out of the city. The minotaur themselves were making their way on foot, the lightless night allowing them to cross the snow fields around the fortified city unseen, preventing a full alert from taking place up until now.

Outside of a single point of intrusion, which was deemed an act of burglary by a gryphon hen, judging by the scene discovered around the culprit, the yaks had no clue that anything wrong was happening. With the diamond dogs warning the gryphons of any approaching yaks on patrol, the avians were able to stay out of sight, leaving only the smallest traces behind that would go unnoticed by the wooly bovines.

To all those still active within the city, it really did seem like the minotaur had devised the perfect plan. All it would take was subduing the patrolling guards to completely overtake the Yak’s nation, and that would happen once the minotaur arrived, coming right through the front gates, which would be unbarricaded and ready for them to walk right through on their arrival. Not everything had been done to plan though, as one of the groups discovered first hand when coming upon a window that was still locked.

“Er! Erah!” a gryphoness grunted as she strained to open the barrier of glass that kept her from her last gas canister, and being able to make her exit.

Her team had decided it was best to split up, as they used all three of their dogs to track the scents left by the previous team. It was a little harder to avoid the patrols without one acting as an underground lookout, but since most of the patrols were dealing with some unknown issue elsewhere in the town, employing a bit of caution all that was needed to get from one hut to another. Her team would have been the first done, if not for this one window.

Giving it a few more tries, to make sure it wasn’t frozen shut, the hen stepped back and looked at her problem, “Rover, are you sure this is the right one?”

A gray diamond dog in a red vest stepped forward, sniffing at the window, “Yesss, this is the one. It has that scent sprayed right here.”

The gryphon gently pushed the dog aside, and looked over the window, examining the glass. While a lot of houses she had visited had different means of entry, the windows in this area had mostly been melted through, something she only noticed because she spotted snow being packed into the holes. With a brief examination, she spotted a part of the glass that had been melted, but only partially.

“What happened here? Did they stop part way?” the hen asked, having no clue what would have caused someone to half ass the job this badly. “Typical… We’re gonna have to find another way in.”

The hen thought about the situation, and what she could do to rectify it. Then a thought came to mind, one that she figured was as good as any other.

“Hey, Rover,” the gryphoness said, canister in hand, “I don’t think they got any floor boards in there. Think you can just tunnel your way inside, and toss this thing at the closest wall?”

The diamond dog took the glass container, and considered the situation, “Should be easy enough,” he said, “But…”

“No buts,” the gryphon hen said, “I want to get out of here before the fighting starts, and you said this was the last house that you could track a scent to. Now get in there.”

The diamond dog grumbled, knowing that there would be no bonus for him for doing this. Still, he wanted to be done with this job as much as the gryphon, so he relented and dug himself a hole into the canine made tunnels beneath Yakyakistan.

“Tell Rover to do bird’s dirty work…” the dog grumbled to himself, having to burrow a new path to get under the locked up yak hut. “Rover will do it much better than bird ever could.”

It took a minute for the Rover to get through the stone foundation, but the moment his claws got through to the other side, the dog tunneled upwards knowing he would get inside, breaching the surface as quickly as he vanished into it. He poked his head out, intending to find the closest wall and chuck the canister in his possession at it as instructed, but while giving the room his quick scan, his eyes came across a set of hooves barely an inch away from his newly formed hole. Seeing them made the dog freeze, then look up as he traced them to their owner.

There, looking just as shocked as the dog did in that moment, was a large female yak, fully nude, and likewise fully wide awake. She had gotten up from her hay bale bed, unable to get back to sleep after being disturbed earlier, and had gone to her kitchen to her a large glass of milk to help fix that problem. As she stood there, looking at the terrible creature that was trespassing in her home, she no longer saw a need to get back to sleep, as the fear inside her removed any desire to sleep entirely.

“Uh… Sorry…” the dog said nervously, trying to slip back into his hole without further incident, “Wrong hou-”

Before he could finish, the yak cow screamed at the top of her lungs, seeing this creature for the intruder it was, if not knowing the purely malicious intent of the reason it broke into her home. This scream was loud enough to sound through the walls around her, and make it out into the streets, hitting the ears of nearby guards to alert them of a second issue they would have to deal with that night, and that was one problem too many. Reaching for horns they had at the waist side, those within range of the scream sounded the alarm, which created a chain reaction where the patrol that heard that sounded their own horns, and so on until every guard and every ungassed resistant of the yak’s isolated nation was awake and alert.

It was the end of any stealthy and non-violent attempts to subdue Yakyakistan, caused by an unforeseeable mistake. Now the true raid had begun, and those still within the city would come to know that they had just left the eye of the storm.