Captured. In Ponyland.

All of us who's seen how Nondis operates are stunned to a lengthy silence. Questions rack our brains while solutions seems far too sparse for reason. Everything in my mind at this point seems to reflect on the idea of a desperado rescue mission that is very likely to turn south by the time we even cross their borders. And the longer we sit here, the more we start to see how things can go from this to even worse for everyone. As for me, I know who he is, but also what he is, what he can do. And I dread the thought of him getting cornered into an ultimatum, where they leave little option aside from him finally cracking that boundary and letting all hell break loose. It terrifies me to no end.

Gabby hasn't seen that side of him, much less even seen him in person. So her ignorance is partially understood. "So, now what happens?"

"Obviously getting him back is probably in our best interests." Hestia comments.

Zenobia bites at her hoof, becoming nervous. "But why would he go back there? He had to already know that they'd be trying to extract information about his world and their weaponry. That just makes things even harder."

"I don't even want to imagine if the former princess catches wind of this happening." Amor comments, shuddering with the thought of the princess' nightmarish transformation.

I try to find some mode of hope in the situation, at least seeing it from the standpoint that he might have been a little careless, and that this situation might just be a temporary thing before he finds a way to free himself. It wouldn't be beyond him to bully his way out of a bad situation. "Okay. I know it looks bad, but let's all try to calm down and─" The sound of a die clattering against the table distracts me, I look over to see Discord already with a character card and a pen, filling out his first stat result. "Uh, kinda in a bit of a moment now."

"Aw, come now, Spike. You know I do enjoy a good campaign when it's just lying around." The draconequus responds.

"But I would like it if we could keep our focus on the situation you've just updated us on. As much as I would love to run the campaign, we got bigger things to worry about."

With a dismissive tone, he taps the center of the table, letting a small crystal orb sit in the middle of the table. "Oh yeah, he also had me make this to give to you."

"A memory sphere?" Gabby asks.

"I guess he wanted to get one last word in before they got to him." I tap on the orb's surface, activating the playback within. "Let's see what he said."

The visuals are dark, almost pitch black with an occasional spotlight running past. His face is barely visible. He sounds to be huffing and puffing a bit. "Damn, bought this shit brand new and they're already shooting at it." He complains just as a pellet whistles by him. "Dayum, that would've hurt─hey Spike. Probably wondering what I'm up to right now, yeah I paid ol' dude a visit. Y'know, give 'em a quick rundown on some shit to avoid if he wants smoke, was hopin' he'd not try to go off on a power tangent and say 'fuck you, we war anyway', but obviously he ain't take our conversation too well. I guess he said if I don't live, shit don't happen. So yeah, I'm gonna follow my second mind and bill this one over to them, probably get an all-expense paid trip to their luxurious dungeons, maybe get a square meal a week out of the deal."

Gabby notices the human ducking down, the spotlight briefly highlighting his face. "Huh, never saw him before."

I quickly explain to her who she's looking at. "That's the last captain of the guard before Celestia retired. Captain Nondis, he's currently retired, or at least he's supposed to be."

"Oh yeah, so that's what he looks like." The griffon nods. "I never did actually see him, just heard that he was the first human in the E.U.P. Guard."

A loud smack sounds from the sphere, accompanied by a repeated glugging sound. "Fucking son of a bitch, they hit the gas tank─Okay, so some housekeeping to keep it all decent. Check this out, they're sending a guy out to the north to stir up some shit with the Sombra cultists, some guy named Militades, guess he's important somehow. He's there to divest some of the forces up north and supply the cultist with some of Ponyland's weaponry. From there, they'll make the fight a little interesting for Shining and them. Then when Twi gives the order to send reinforcements her brother's way, they'll make their first real move on the coastal cities. They plan on stacking assaults from both inside and outside our boarders. The thing you'll need to advise that purple ali-demon on is not to bite on the initial assaults up north. I know she may want to help Shines and Cay, but she's gotta let that shit ride. Hopefully it's not too bad where they can afford to let that happen. Just have the bastards bring the fight to them, not the other way around. Play defense. From there, have the major cities reinforced, especially those of chief strategic importance. And relay that information to Blueblood as well. That's the first thing."

"Uh, I feel like I shouldn't be watching this." Gabby announces.

"That's all the first thing?" Amor questions. "Then what's the second thing?"

Another smack near him kicks up some snow. He still remains calm through it all. "Probably wondering what that second thing is. So I'll let you in on something. I'm not going to even try to break out of this one. I'm gonna stick around, run psyops and collect as much information and try to relay this information to you guys as best as I can do it. Discord's helping me out here, so if it gets too hairy, he'll probably step in. But the worst thing they can do at this point is kill me. And if they go for that option, there will be some things that will happen that should explain my reappearance."

Hestia then asks a fairly legitimate question. "How does one go about living after dying?"

Once more, he answers the question as though he's predicted it. "I'm sure you're probably with others, so I'll keep the classified info to a coded detail. First, you may want to refer to the twelfth paragraph in chapter 9 of the 'Book VII' and cross-reference that with the entire chapter 4 excerpt in 'Book XXIX'. A certain thing will happen and I'll be good to go once I find a willing 'volunteer'." My eyes expand with horror as I quickly understand what he means by that. "Shit, never thought I'd have to do that, ever. Just make sure my wife doesn't get wind of this part. That first thing, you tell Twi and the others. That second thing, you keep quiet. I'm trying to make it back to the wife and not have her embrace that demon inside of her. I'm sure you understand why I can't let her discover that I might have to go to such lengths to stay alive. I can only hope their medical knowledge of humans isn't as profound as ours, otherwise they'll know exactly where to aim."

I mutter a thought to myself. "Wow, these two really keep a lot from one another, don't they?"

Another smack quickly grabs his attention, the impacts getting a little too consistent for his liking. "Oh shit. They're closing in. Alright, I'll see you in a week, maybe a little later than that if they start popping off with their shit." Another smack sounds next to him, appearing to set the leaking gasoline on fire. He immediately jumps up to run, snagging the orb as more pellets come whistling his way. "Discord, take this, hurry up and get the hell─"

The orb falls silent, cutting back to it's usual transparent state. "That's where it stops?" I ask before noticing a powerful grimace on Zenobia's face. "You look concerned."

The imperial alicorn turns her head to me. "Militades, he's sending Militades to the north."

"You seem like you know the fellow Nondis mentioned in his report. Is he a familiar face to you?" Discord inquires to the foreign princess.

"Hard to forget, he's my younger brother."

Hestia also comments to her sister's testament. "And if you think Zenobia's disgusting for her continuous perversions, then let me fill you in on that nauseating manifestation of filth incarnate."

"Wow, even for you, those are some strong words." I comment about disparaging words.

"Trust me, you have no idea how filthy of a bastard he is. Everything about him and what he does to anyone makes my blood run cold. And that's coming from me." Zenobia confesses as her loud pink magic starts to conjure up an image of the prince in the memory sphere before us.

"Sounds like Xerxes is a nice guy compared to this one." I reply sarcastically.

"If only he didn't see Xerxes as an inspiration coming along." Amor comments.

"And that's a mild representation of his mindset." Zenobia cosigns. "If he ran into your vising party instead of me, who knows what would've become of you lot."

Somewhere in the Crystal Mountains...

"The one thing I hate about him especially..."

Prince Aegis Militades

Noble Blood

Amidst the northeastern rails bellows a purple and silver train headed west. The engine runs far differently than the typical steam implementations that are often seen roaming the lines. The diesel train runs at a more expedited pace than the steam versions. The snowy pass hides most of their advance, and it's walls contains a sharp scream sounding from the first passenger cart.

*WHAP*

A green unicorn mare shrieks as she falls to the ground, her back reddened from the repeated impacts of the prince's wooden rod. Her eyes water from the pain, her lip bleeds from the pressure of her own bite, her posterior falls flat to it's side, her back arched as she recovers from the strike. But instead of a bargain for his mercy, she swallows her scream and obediently hails out the words of her affirmation. "Please... sir... may I have... another!?"

The prince appears greatly bemused by the whelped mare before him. "This sucks." His yellow magic holds nothing but the rod he uses, not daring to help the mare attain her submissive position. "Everything about this assignment is fun as hell, but we can't even go in on the airship. Instead we have to take this dumb ass, slow-as-hell train because 'stealth reasons'. Like that's the most boring part. Where's the part where we piss people off with our engines being so loud that they can't hear the sounds of their own poverty?"

"Ahem!" A mare walks from behind him, appearing to be a similar color of green. But as the mare's mane before him is dark gray, hers is that of a jet black. "Your highness, I understand that your patience is thin, But I can assure you that your fun will come soon enough. All that's required is that we'd wait for another six hours to reach our destination."

"Fucks sake." The prince groans with growing impatience.

"Yes, I know. But I'm sure you can find some other means to satiate your boredom for the time being."

The young male tilts his head, tossing away the rod. "But I got tired of beating Remedy three hours ago. Plus she sucked the hell out of my dick like an hour back. Busted a fat, runny one all over her face too."

The uninjured mare rolls her eyes with disapproval. "Sir, if you would please refrain from engaging in such acts, how about you instead place that same level of descriptive detail into some of your studies. Your father is not pleased with your recurring marks of failure."

The adolescent cracks a smug grin towards the nagging mare. "I get it, Rhapsody, you don't want me talking about the shit your sister does for me.... You can still get in on it, though."

"Your majesty, I'm afraid that I will have to vehemently decline."

The alicorn stallion smirks as he opens his legs, revealing his sheath to the mare. "C'mon. You love it when I smash my cock deep down your throat."

"Your majesty, to be frank, you barely move the needle for your growing self. I would not deny that your size trends towards that of a formidable task, but right now you have yet shown the mental maturity, not to mention the fair trade, to maintain one's attention to properly engage in mating. And besides, a prince your age should be more invested in your studies, not trying to actively denigrate and demean the help you're assigned." The prince ignores her and starts rubbing on his sheath, slowly coming to form. "Ugh... I swear, the youth of your line is so cruel and uncaring."

"Do you think I give a shit?"

"No. Of course not." The mare grimaces.

"Melody's too busy being motion sick again." His horn glows with a yellow hollow magic, yanking the mare's head into his lap with nary at thought of her reluctance. "I need a second mouth."

"You understand that I am not one to entertain you and your delusions." Her warning is only met with the warmth of his endowment laid upon her nose, reaching up to her forehead. She takes a frustrated inhale, rolls her eyes, and licks her lips in knowing what she'll be doing next. "I only choose to do this because it would quell your vengeful spite towards Remedy."

"Cool, whatever gets your throat filled up faster."

The mare quickly introduces the prince into her mouth, his shallow breaths of complacency offering no assurance of her work, no praise for her compliance, even under the sensual circumstance. She suspends her work to offer him further words of warning. "You know, when you choose a suitor in the future─"

"Nah, you can cut that bullshit out." He shoves her head down, her lips reaching his hilt as he smiles with selfish gratification. "I know what I am already."

As he holds her head in place, the mare struggles to breathe with him indignantly placed within her esophagus. She pats her hooves against his legs, trying to protest her lack of air. "Ghnn...nnkph"

"See, can't be that small if you're still choking on it. Just admit it, you were never really good at the throat thing. What you really like is when I shove it in your ass, and then I let you kiss. You're a fucking trash-ass whorse, and that's the shit I keep you around for." He finally allows her the reprieve to regain her breath, coughing as she recovers from his sudden and harsh withdrawal. "Now be a good girl and let Remedy get a turn, she's more than happy to let you take a moment to catch your breath. At least she can lube us both up for what I wanna do with you."

The other mare who is still with painful welts across her back staggers up, trying her best to ignore the bodily discomfort and applies herself in between his legs to service the vain prince. Rhapsody is quick to recover from her own abuse while trying to lessen the work of her sister upon the prince. "Perhaps you can spare some of this cruelty towards our enemies?"

"Nah, I got better ideas for them." He comments, all while being displeased by the haste the mare takes in trying to rush his enjoyment. "Sheesh, no sense of pace worth a damn. Can you at least pretend you're taking Melody's place when you do this?"

The mare curses back at him. "...Limp-dick asshole."

The prince cracks a smirk as he grabs the mare by her mane, yanking her head up to meet his by the nose. "Nasty ass bitch."

He forcefully shoves his tongue down the mare's throat, glancing down at the beaten mare who slowly takes all of him into her maw. He breaks his kiss and points the mare's face towards her obedient sibling. She breaks from her slow work and whispers praise to the young prince. "Anything to satisfy you, your majesty."

"See that? She knows the way." He mutters to Rhapsody, raising her up to his hips, aligning himself to her posterior. The mare winces as she feels the tongue of her sister tracing out the ring of her body's exodus. His magic aligns his length to the mare's vulva, but seeking north of that before plunging inward towards his marked destination.

"There's no perversion he hasn't acted on, from modest practice to the most despicable of taboos."

"He's a cretin of the highest order, a mind so perverse that he'd sooner disgust our father with the machinations of his mind. He's so much of it that he aspires himself as the sultan of suffering. And that's not even a title I granted him, he's accepted it as a way of carving a role in the family, a sadistic bastard who spoils himself with the screams of others, all because he merely wishes to be entertained." Zenobia concludes, her hooves clasped together as she issues her thoughts of her younger brother.

"Well that sounds familiar." The draconnequis hums to himself.

"Discord, what do you mean?" I look over to him to explain.

"A figure who does what he wants, acts to his own malice, and denounces the idea of following the society around him. If he dares to go against the laws of nature and commit any unspeakable acts to the dead, then we'd have a reincarnation of sorts."

"I'm not sure of what you mean. If anything, half of that description you spoke can easily apply to you too." I point out.

"Half of that description, you just said it right there. About half of that I would do at any given time. But it's the other half I don't take particular interest in." He explains as he looks over Gabby's notes. "I took a moment to read up on your campaign, are you familiar with that little debacle from seven years ago?"

"I'm afraid I don't follow." Gabby replies.

"You mean the Doctor?" Amor questions.

"Precisely."

My eyes widen for a moment, always halfway knowing that there was something similar about it's premise. "Now that's a new layer of horror I didn't need to imagine."

Zenobia shudders in thought. "Trust me, I don't think we need to imagine that for too long. Not when there's still a stern reminder walking the land of the living."

♫So my darling, so my darling, my baby, my boo... You are my best friend, you are my best friend. Remember I'll always love yoooooooooou─♫

As my phone sings out a ringtone I've never heard of, the creature cranes his arm over my phone and sees Fluttershy's face decorating the screen. "Hold on, I have to take this." He pick up and places it against his head to speak. "Hello?... Yes... I know... I did say that we'd get together and... I know... Alright, I'm on my way. I... I'm in front of... Fine... I love you too, my little chaos charmer."

As he gives me back my phone, I quirk a brow back at him. "Fluttershy complaining?"

"Apparently, I overspent my welcome. I apologize for the abbreviated conversation. My window of operation has officially closed for now. But until the next time, you'll know who to seek out if you need more information."

"Till the next time, I suppose." He says as he snaps his fingers to become miniature sized, wearing a sukumizu and cannon balling into my phone, making a small splash before my screen goes dark.

Gabby looks over her story and grows confused. "Why did he talk about my campaign?"

"Familiar tactics of villainy, that's it really." I answer.

"But we're not even close to discovering the villain's backstory of how he became what he is." She grumbles out angrily. She flips to the end, becoming disgruntled that she might have to change her entire campaign out of fear that Discord may have spoiled the big plot twist. However, she finds a brief distraction in a growing inquiry about the Ponyland imperial family. "But then again, I should be more interested in knowing what's up with your family. Like what's got you guys to be so wild and out there like this."

"It's as we always say, the few and privileged speak and act out so much that the vast majority of us unfortunates are lumped right in with them. You try having two alicorn princes for brothers and then talk to me about it." Hestia complains as she rises from the table. "Sorry, I suppose my mood has soured for this. I'll just be up in my room."

Amor rises as well, finding no interest in the current campaign. "I guess I'll just... go find something to read."

Gabby turns to me. "Still down for it?"

I take a deep breath, knowing she's not gonna like my answer. "Actually, I need to get Canterlot. That report we just got is something I need to issue in person to Twilight. Matters of national security." The look on her face gives a silent condemnation of my sudden abandonment of her. "I'm sorry. I'll be back as soon as possible, and then I'll try to spend time with you. I promise."

As I quickly gather my things and head out the door, Zenobia stares back at the griffon and taps her hind hoof against the ground. "So... any way I can learn how this stupid shit goes so that I can join this so-called campaign of yours?

"...You know what, forget it." The griffon grumbles as she tosses her notes to the ground, realizing that the campaign she built up is going to have to be redone from the ground up. "The mood's gone, the campaign is too spoiled, so what does any of it matter now?"

The griffon leaves the room, only Zenobia remains as she looks down at the table with the 20-sided die resting at the center of the board. "...Rolling for boredom, I guess."

Canterlot Royal Castle Two Hours Later...

The feeling in the room is a tense air of not only resignation, but also uncertainty. Upon the conclusion of my report, everyone sits idle with unkind thoughts stirring in the mind. It seems that everyone has at last started to mull the thought of war preparedness, the positioning of our troops, the safety and security of our guards. Every stone left unturned up to this point will soon be flipped with the ugly truth staring us back at our faces.

"So Nondis' negotiations have failed?" Twilight asks with a grave tone.

Sergeant Humbreeze sighs, leaning forward in his seat as he looks at the map of our country at the center of the table. "That guy's insane, but then again he's always been diving back into the crazy right after leaving it. Pretty crazy that he is that way, but he's got a reputation among the guards that earn our respect for it.."

The only two that are not present with the gathering are summoned through communication orbs, their holographic presence still providing a visual of disappointment. "So, the Sombra cultists are looking to make some moves against us. Any details we could use?" Shining inquires.

"Not anything I can list off from the top of my head. The only thing I know is that Prince Militades from Ponyland will be making a supply drop to their forces. From what Nondis said, it'll be the low end of their weaponry. Seems they intend to keep the goods stuff to themselves." I inform him.

"Great, just what we need." Blueblood replies. "More chaos going on within our borders."

"At least he's gone and done the dirty work of explaining how they'll try to hit us." Stanton shrugs.

Shining looks towards Twilight. "Flurry's not going to like the family being separated for too long. But if staying there is what will keep her safe, I can manage that. Twily, look after Flurry for us."

Twilight nods at her brother and directs her attention to her sister in law. "You two need any reinforcements before you leave, Cadance?"

"From what Spike said, they'll be counting on that to happen."

"He did say that he suggested that you guys stay on the defensive instead of meeting those guys halfway." I reiterate.

"The problem is if they intend to strike at us with guerilla tactics, we may need to perform measures of counterinsurgency. And to add to our problems, our more notable specialists are..." Ms. Blue pauses as she turns to me. "Spike, I'm sure you can fill in the blank." I don't need to, I still feel the weight of their dog tags on my neck.

"That means we won't have a choice. I'll need to expend a specialist out that way just to be sure." Twilight explains.

Cadance already points out a candidate. "Hey Padrig, wanna take a tour of the north with me?"

"I would be honored."

Twilight goes down the list of our remaining specialists. "Kali and Tempest are south in Klugetown. Padrig and his contingency will have to go north. That leaves Blue, Gallus, and Stanton to hold the home front."

"Actually, I may need to head out west." The stallion raises his hoof. "If they strike at the shorelines, I'm sure we'll need to make sure that the western seaboard will do some bulking up. Blueblood can manage the east."

"Looking to keep a certain someone retired so that they don't fall back into active status?" The blond prince jokes at the transformed human.

Stanton chuckles as he nods. "Something like that."

The purple princess mulls her current circumstances, growing increasingly worried. "So that leaves me with just Blue and Gallus."

"Your majesty, I can stay here and keep an eye on Princess Flurry." Gallus offers, much to the princess' relief.

"Very good." Twilight turns her eyes towards another one of her specialists. "Blue, I don't think I'll have to specify what your new assignment will be."

"Not in the slightest, but that's something I hope that Stanton can clear up before I even try to reach out to Alex for."

"If he knew what's going down, he'd try to keep Nondis and Celestia retired too." The disguised human replies. "I'll give him a ring, then I'll call you, have it done on conference call."

"You're a huge help." She says before dividing her attention elsewhere. "Spike, you seem to have pretty close connections with Nondis. Have you heard anything from him?"

"Other than what he told me, nothing."

"That man stays in trouble. If there's anything that we need to do on our end to get him some help, let me know."

"You do realize who we're talking about, right?" I ask.

"Yeah, but still."

"He's fine. Ain't nothing for him to pull some shit out of his ass and make it work. He always does."

"It works until it doesn't." Twilight sternly warns. "On the matter of the others."

"Still being supervised." I respond on the implied topic of the Ponyland imperials.

"Good. Continue to keep an eye on them. I'll have the other two poke their heads in at you if you need help."

"Nah, things are a bit more manageable with Ember on reprieve." I inform her.

"If you say so."

The Next Day...

Preparations all throughout the day have been sharply centered around the mobilization of our forces, the allocation of our units to what parts of our shores, and the growing calls of concerns from many dignitaries from overseas. And dealing in terms of international politics, that involves a lot of paperwork, phone calls, hoof shaking, and even trade negotiations to solidify our supply lines. So naturally, our day was rather busy up in Canterlot.

The sun has started to go down, and I'm lumbering back home with not much in the way of good news. Lots of moves that have been made and I'm tired of dealing with the nitty gritty of it all. Plus being home is all but a peaceful reminder of what I'm going to be protecting. Granted it ain't much to some, but this home, the beings in here, and the web of good memories that we've already spun under this roof is far too priceless to let some emperor looking to compensate for the militaristic failures of his heir apparent.

As soon as I walk through the door, looking to the cabinet for a nice bottle of wine, Smolder's the first one to greet me. "Busy day?"

"Busy as hell." I reply. "They kept me overnight. Had a lot of paperwork to fill. Can't exactly say for what, but the board is on the table, the pieces are moving, and we're already anticipating what will be the first thing they'll try to take."

"You sound like you could use some time to cool off, big guy." She sweetly comments as she pulls me into a smooch.

"Yeah. Could definitely use the time to unwind a bit." I confess.

The dragoness drapes her arms around my shoulders, slowly winding her body from side to side. "You know, you and I haven't really got back to where we were before you screwed off to Ponyland."

"Oh yeah, the makeup." I recall.

She smirks at me leans in closer. "I bet you've been waiting for me to do that again."

I'll be the first to admit that I haven't seen Smolder in makeup before that one instance. But the way her body sat ready for me to take her in, I almost forgot there were guards behind me. The only thing that ruined it was Ember being needy and frustratingly stubborn. Actually, I could go for some of that right now. "I don't even know why you try with that, knowing damn well I'd mess it up."

"Then I've got another idea in mind, just for you, big guy." She grabs me by my snout and pulls my head down, kissing me on my forehead and letting me go. "Meet me in the bedroom in ten minutes. Bought a little surprise for you today, thought you'd might like it."

As she slithers away from my sight, my imagination starts to run amok with ways I'm going to touch and tease, grasp and fill, bite and subjugate. There's always a natural connection when it comes to the two of us, likely because we are who we are and what we are, two dragons merely doubling down on our mating preferences. And while the thought of an egg or two coming out of this somewhere down the line unnerves me, I simply tell myself it's an issue that future Spike will get into. Ain't no telling how soon that future will be, it's not my problem now.

"Well hello, Mr. Paladin."

I startle for a moment, turning around to see Zenobia eying me down. "Oh, hey. Why'd you call me a paladin?"

She holds up the notebook of Gabby's campaign and tilts it before my eyes. "Apparently there's a lot more of a so-called campaign that's going on here. Seems to me she was trying to get to those x-rated scenes far more than she wanted to continue off from where you both last began."

"Well that's nothing new." I comment.

"By the way, I knew she talked a bit oddly, but I never knew that she was quite the writer. It seems so well flushed out, this campaign. It's tragic that she feels the need to abandon it, but I suppose it's a worthy read over since she's not into it anymore. Quite imaginative." She gives me a glance and smirks. "And the image of a strong dragon toting around that heavy armor, carrying whatever princess demands his attention."

"You're playing a dangerous game." I alert the scheming alicorn. "I don't think Smolder would be so eager to have you break all the hard work she's put into getting me all riled up."

"You forget that I can bring most any dragon down a number of pegs." She announces as her horn starts to glow. A familiar pink leash bridges the distance between me and her. "And I subscribe to jealousy very frequently. You'd do well to attend to me before I find ample opportunity to enrage either the changeling or the griffon."

"Aren't you a bit old to be acting like this?" I ask her.

"Aren't you a bit young to be worried about things like refractory periods?" She yanks me in, pulling me a few inches away from her face. "You shouldn't be worried about not being able to get back up after a quick romp." She glances down to see my growing interest in the trouble I've found myself getting into. "And the lad down there seems to agree with me."

"Hey, big guy!" Smolder hollers from upstairs. "Still waiting on ya!"

The leash disappears from between us, her eyes locked on to me as she hops into the air and glides by, even brushing her tail against my nose for good measure. "She can have her fun. But I will be expecting a visit from you. Don't make me hunt you down." Just for a second the leash reappears and tug me along before disappearing again. "Filthy bastard."

...I should get upstairs before I find myself getting sidetracked.

I notice that there's a bit of a pleasant mess made on my hallway floor. Nothing too egregious, just rose petals and the ash of some rather pleasant-smelling incents. I'm surprised that my nose hadn't caught up on that sooner, but then again, Zenobia was wafting her tail in front of it all the same. Now that I think on it, she's got me pretty damn frustrated with the way she talks. It's almost like the insults she dish out encourage me in a way. But promises are promises, and I've got another in front of me, looking for the proper attention to be paid.

I tease myself by opening my door so slowly, and my reward is just. "Oh... hello ma'am."

"You know, I thought about what happened on Friday. So I decided to take my time for you today."

"Well..." I get closer to the bed, her claws warmly inviting me with how firm they press over her lingerie. Her eyes track my every step, my eyes lock to the sight of her claws gently patting against her bottom set. Slowly, she drags them up her belly, ruffling the negligee she wears with a devious smirk sat upon her lips. She places her claws in a v shape against her lips, lolling her forked tongue at me with a beckoning growl. "Can't say I'm not interested."

She pulls me beside her. "Then you'll do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Stay down. Get real comfy." She orders, pressing her palm into my chest, forcing me against the pillows and sheets as though she has every intent to wear me into them. "You've been studying and working hard all this time. I think you should get a break. No hard work needed with me."

As I obey her request, I slowly let my fingers wander south to take hold of my growing interest. But her tail bats at my hand as she turns around. The whip stings a little, but the sight of her posterior circling in my face is a dire sight that demands naught but my utmost attention.

Actually, I'm starting to see why clothing is such a fetish for us creatures. It's everyday we see each other in our natural state, walking the world the same way in which we're introduced to it. You don't pay mind to the areas where the sun don't often shine much, especially when everyone is the same way. But it's the way the clothes hide those areas, inadvertently bringing attention to them. The attention of a lechered preteen in the awakening of his sexual journey. It reveals, yet conceals. Even having already experienced her, my mind is left with much to imagine.

"You look like you like what you're seeing, big guy." She turns around, taking off the top of her negligee by means of a carefully concealed clasp at the front of her bra. Obviously a feature left over from what seem to be a human implementation. "If you haven't guessed already, Rarity designed this whole thing. She made it for some human lady who didn't like the color, but Yona modified it for me. So I took it. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Yeah, it's got my attention."

She drapes the negligee over my eyes, letting me see the world through a thin curtain of black satin, her smile brightens up as she turns around. Seems she's been eager to do something like this for a while, and not just for me either. It's cute to see that she's so excited for this. Perhaps she's really putting herself out there, letting her walls down completely, and letting me see the real her.

She bends down towards me, I see the shade of her lifting a leg, placing her claw over her pelvis, swirling the matching bottom to her ensemble around a finger. She sits herself down on top of me, grinding her hips in that passionate circular motion she teased earlier. I'm brought to my most attentive pose yet, and she greedily denies me the pleasure of an instant access. Instead, she lets me feel just how much she's beginning to crave my presence. And it leaves a notable impression down the inside of my legs. "Geez, what made you get like this?"

"I had to rush my Friday time. I know that you were hurting real bad from that. So now..." She stops, and raises her hips. Her tail coils around me and guides me into her as she makes sure that my arms stay pinned to my bed. "I want my time with you. No rush. No competition. All clutch, no pulls." She sinks down, causing me to gasp in surprise of her embrace. "You stay down, big guy. Let me work you off."

I can't help but to smile in admiration of her. "Yes ma'am."

She's true to her word. Not an ounce of speed, a hint of a rush dictates her pace. Her claws aren't delving into any part of my body, she's not trying to carve her name into my soul like last time. Instead, she's donning all that pretty makeup, planting her fingers into my side, her eyes softly glancing down at me, the shimmers of candlelight reflecting warmly in her eyes. Her hips rise, then fall, and grind forward until she threatens to withdraw from me. Her meticulous process repeats, inviting me into the cool depths of her walls. On occasion, she leans down to kiss me, soft pecks, slow embraces, just a taste of tongue. Her breath is hotter than her body, her gracious affections creaming with every withdrawal and press.

I've always known her eyes were blue, yet the eyeshadow brings it out even more. I always figured her lips were soft for the harshness she can speak so confidently, and her patient yet tender kisses grace my neck and chest. Poor thing is trying her best to time herself, knowing that she's drooling at the thought of rushing to get hers. But she shows great discipline, an acquired grace in maintaining her pace. But for us, it doesn't matter.

Her breaths grow heavier, showing just how tired she's becoming of her work. I offer to meet with her halfway, but she plants her palm into my abdomen, keeping me in place while she continues to brave through her fatigue. Her eyes plead for me to wait, her mouth ghosts the words of her desire. "Let me work it. Let me work it, baby." Her quiet request seems to trigger a response from her own body, her eyes slowly departing from present tense and crossing to find some semblance of sanity in her mind.

Hips tense and shake, her walls close in around me. But she rises and falls in spite of that embrace. Her arms buckle under her own weight, she leans onto my chest, breathing erratically as she strives to let her hips keep going. Her display quickly makes me forget my own self, only to realize that I can't fight off the grip she has on me. I want to thrust my hips into her so bad, just once, just let me finish, please.

Her hips sink into me again, this time feeling like I've cross a vice that locks me into place. My eyes dilate at the sensation, the insanity of knowing that I'm crossing beyond the point of crisis. My arms clench around her back, reaching under to grab her shoulders, pulling her down to milk every ounce of my seed into her womb. She intentionally tugs me along with her, purposefully drawing me to the last drop.

Not an ounce spilled, not a chance of refusal, full acceptance.

I see stars, and her hips continue to drag my soul from out of my loins. I'm left imprisoned in a wonderful place. Smolder snickers as she picks up her panties and adorns them over my face, but not the lips. She still kisses those, and she prefers having access to that. She lifts my chin and nibbles me on my neck.

I question her over this intense display of praise. "Why you gotta be so good to me?"

"Duh, 'cause you're worth it." She says with a sweet smile.

"I never felt a clutch like that." I tell her.

She snickers as she whispers her little secret. "Honestly, Olla's been training me to do that for a while. But the only way I can do it like that is if I go slow. Any faster, and it would've been a hard clutch from the offset. So she's been trying to get me to better understand what exactly makes me clutch, what drives me to clutch so hard, and find a middle ground where I can give you that experience."

"All of that for me?"

"You gotta remember, you were the base model of a mate that I could find that she could adapt to. Can't possibly forget that one day she came back from the Dragon Lands and told me that she was inaccurate in imitating you."

"In what way?" I ask.

"You were a bit bigger than what she made you out to be. She offered to be a lot more realistic, but I told her to keep me surprised." She snickers. "Let's just say that I'm happy with the choice I've made."

She shifts her weight just a bit, both of us glance back down at our union, seeing how melded we've become. "You know, we're gonna be stuck like this for a while."

"Yeah. Wouldn't trade it for the world though. It was forever ago when I thought I wouldn't really be able to find a mate outside of you, and I don't think I was ever gonna ask you about it because... you know."

"Reservations?" I conclude.

"You were still hung up on Rarity. Next you were with Gabby. Then you were so busy that Gabby dumped you. And then you kept coming by on short visits, not nearly enough for me to gauge my own self over how I was gonna ask you. Truth is that I wanted to show you this side of me for a long time, but I didn't want you to feel like I was changing up on you, dragons don't like that too much. So I just left things as is."

"Well quite frankly, I like this side of you. I know being cute and all is a bit annoying when you have a bunch of dragons around to make fun of you for it, so you have to harden up and get confrontational. It can be pretty stressful."

"Not if you know how to wail on a motherfucker, that shit's cathartic." She chuckles for a bit. "But for real, it can lead to a lot of dragons looking at you weird. And then you gotta defend yourself from every rumor. So yeah, it can be distressing to keep up that façade every time. With you, you pretty much see through that with your whole circumstance. You make me feel comfortable, so I wanted to be that for you."

"Usually, putting on makeup is a pretty lengthy and frustrating process too."

"Not for me. I think of it as a reward of self. Dragons don't usually wear makeup, and not one of us will openly admit that looking good after a little bit of self-labor is a great way to feel better about yourself. Sometimes we need the second opinion outside of our own species. And we don't ever go this far for a mate either. I mean, we only hook up so it don't make sense to go through all the rigmarole."

"That does leave me to ask something. How long do dragons stay mated for on average?"

"Few weeks, maybe some months. Three to five years tops."

Yikes, that's not very long. "So, basically long enough to get annoyed with each other. And then what?"

"See other partners. Repeat the process. That doesn't mean there aren't dragons who don't go their whole lives staying mated to one partner. But it is like a one-in hundred thousand chance."

"I wonder why relationships so finite for dragons, like love is so elusive and hard to pursue?"

"Well, relationships are like being friends, just with added stuff." She explains. "It's a lot of hard work to maintain it, and dragons aren't known for making friends exactly."

"See, my point exactly! You'd think that dragons would be willing to tough out that challenge!"

"Yeah, but dragons aren't typically a patient species. I.E.: See Ember for example."

"You aren't lying there." I comment.

The dragoness stirs a claw into the sheets, making out unseen shapes as she thinks aloud. "Since me and Olla have been pretty good for the past four years, I guess that puts us in the dying stage of a dragon's relationship. But hey, not very many dragons keep it going for this long."

"Guess it could be that she's a changeling." I ask. "Maybe she's working hard to keep things up with you too."

"Yeah, and I feel for her in kind. She's my best friend. She's my adorable little love bug, and I'd pretty much burn a few towns to their molten foundations to stop her from crying." She looks back to me with a bit of sadness in her expression. "But don't you forget, I've been wanting you on my team too. If anyone ever comes to bring harm to you, and I don't know them or respect them in any way, you can expect me to break all established guidelines and be the first to torch a motherfucker."

"Please don't get in trouble for me." I politely plead to her. "I'm not worth it."

"Well I say you are." She points back at me. "And nothing will ever change that."

As her claw pokes into my snout, I resist the thought to say something that would seem so early into the relationship we've built. "Geez, making me wanna say some things I don't think I can say yet."

"Why do you feel that way?" She asks.

"I guess... It's really more like I don't think I've done enough to earn the right to say it, or that I don't feel like I've given you enough time to do that. Like I still split my time with three other females of varying species. Would it even be right for me to say it?"

She raises herself up to look at me head on. "Funny you'd think that. If you ask me, I feel like I've known you long enough to say that I love you." I open my mouth to say something in response to her heartwarming reply, but she pinches my lips shut. "You can wait on it, big guy. I'm not gonna force you to pump it out when you're still discovering your own feelings right now. I'll let you say when you're comfortable. Okay."

I stammer for a moment as she releases my lips, watching as I fumble through my thoughts and finally come to say the first thing that crosses my mind. "You're way too good to me, you know that?"

"I would've burned your house down if you didn't come back. Almost did when we found out that you were stuck there." She adds. "Just thought that you should know. And thanks for coming back so that I didn't dragon out like that again."

...In hindsight, I should probably avoid getting myself in life-threatening situations. The way she's talking, I'm lucky to have a home to come back to. "Yeah... thanks for not doing that."

Meanwhile in the Crystal Mountains...

The sun's dying gasp of light is drowned out by the shadows of the craggy mountains of ice and snow. Their prominence provides a chill to much of the area, leaving no mercy for the oft wayfaring traveler. But to the young Ponyland prince, the air gives a familiar quality much like home. With the walls of Midnight Castle being built and carved into the mountain it rests into, the chilling bowl of air offers no issue.

That much cannot be said for the cultists, who now lie beaten on the ground by a blond-maned, green mare, her eyes fixated towards the croaking grunt that remains contorted under her grasp. Her hooves planted into his neck he feels his foreleg twisted behind his back. A lifeless look dwells in her eyes, up until the moment the prince gives her praise. "Good shit, Remedy. You basically gave that guy everything I gave to you."

The mare smiles with a giggle of pride. "It's always an honor, your majesty! I'd give life and limb to satisfy you."

Not wanting to hear her sister give praise to the cruel prince, Rhapsody walks forward with another chiding remark. "Your majesty, you should be more careful about where you walk."

"Nah, it's alright. You girls got it." He confidently proclaims as he walks past the groaning collection of forces, looking down to a cloaked figure. "As for you peasant dipshits, I got a little something for you that's way out of your budget. Maybe you can find some way to keep me entertained aside from watching you all die slowly in this cold."

The prince clops his hooves together, a pegasus mare labors greatly in dragging a wooden crate from within the train. She grunts angrily as Rhapsody looks to hurry and help her, but the prince pulls at her tail to prevent her from getting involved. Her approach is slow and lumbering, but she inevitably reaches her stop and tiredly kicks the lid open for the cultists to inspect. "What are these?"

The prince raises a spear from the box, flourishing the weapon with his magic. "The newest model of ballistic weaponry. Damascus steel tipped, hard oakwood shaft, rocket propulsion to maximize range of effectiveness from the typical throwing average of twenty-seven meters all the way out to a possible seventy-five. Saltpeter-fueled, ignition primed from a flintlock trigger at the bottom of the shoe, just whack it against the ground to ignite the propulsion, toss that bad boy and watch your enemies fall all over the place, helpless that even their most stout armor is getting full-on dicked by your hardware. Though you shouldn't get too close after you kick these bad boys off, might lose something you'd like." The prince plants the weapon into the ground blade first. "Got about a thousand of these. Could get more."

"A thousand would be more than enough." The leader of the group steps forward, looking disappointed towards his grunts on the ground. Suffering the embarrassment of their defeats coming by two meager maids, he swallows the sound defeat and address the prince directly. "And you're expecting us to pay for these?"

"Lets just say I'm bored as shit and I wanna see heads on pikes. And there's clearly a lack of those on the way in. You should change that up." Militades suggests.

The leader approaches the prince, but finds the two mares standing beside him threat enough to not approach so carelessly. "You're young. Do you even know what we do?"

"Me personally, I couldn't give any less of a shit. These are gifts, in exchange of you dipshits doing a little chore for me."

"And what's this so-called 'chore'?" The stallion questions.

"Should be pretty easy, go around, knock off a few of those shiny guards around the nearby town, fuck up a few rail lines on the way to and from the town. Flip some shit, burn a few buildings, maybe show off the head of the local magistrate outside the city gates, just a little bit of that. All you gotta do is make a scene, rush in, nab the incompetent fuck, dip, and give the dumb shit a clean shave. Should be pretty easy, right?"

The leader rolls his eyes. "Implying that would be as easy as you'd say. You speak of a chore, and all I am met with is a compounded list of militaristic desires with an overwhelming risk of collateral damage."

"You don't really give a fuck about the collateral damage part, do you?" The prince smirks.

"Not much, no." He chuckles.

"Then it should be pretty easy, provided you've got the mind to put it all together."

The stallion stops his chuckling, seeing that the young prince seems to have doubts of his strategic abilities. His mind already starts to cook up a plan of his approach to the requested favor. "How many barrels of saltpeter you have?"

"Eh, about twenty. Should be more than enough to fill your spears."

The stallion nods quietly, starting to put together an even grander idea. "I don't think we'll need as much of that for the purpose of refueling..."

The prince laughs in return. "You see, I figured you'd say some shit like that."

"You did?" The leader quirks a brow at the young prince.

"Yup!" He confirms while walking to the train. "I'd figure you'd be the cool guys, no point in trying to hide a good time when you're clearly up for one. So I took the liberty to ride in on this here bomb on rails, just to see if I'd even feel a bit nervous. So far, we seem to be pretty good." He opens the doors of the supply crate, revealing far more than twenty barrels, but rather ten times as many as advertised. "So, how many places you're sending to the smokestack?"

The leader cracks a satisfied smile, no longer having to do the math of rationing his supplies for the purpose of his internalized vision. "More than a few. How many barrels are in that caboose?"

"Ten score and four to blow."

The leader happily shouts to his downed grunts. "Alright, boys! Get up, we got some window shopping to do in town, and our young friend here broke the bank for us! Let's go make a few deposits!"

Wounded prides aside, they rise to the task with enthusiasm. "Yes sir!"

Watching the group all come back to life, the prince nudges Rhapsody in her side. "See? I knew this would be fun."