Prisoners of War : A Beatrix Belladonna Tale

Lightning Spark woke to a dreadful, familiar scene. A dense forest laced in frost. Her body webbed up. "At least I'm not naked this time," she mumbled, still in her Wonderbolt-like costume. Her eyes scanned the pitch black area, her sex still afire with unquenched need.

Panic returned at the sound of buzzing and chittering. As she feared, the smell of her arousal attracted several changelings that stalked the area, some more warped by disease than others. The Mi-Go, as Arcanum called it, that he claimed was some sort of eldritch infection which twisted one into an unrecognizable monster.

Though have changelings ever been more than monsters? She'd certainly never met a friendly one, but if what the warlock said was true, maybe these drones were victims, too? Not that it mattered much in her predicament...

Lightning wriggled and squirmed in a vain attempt to break away from the strong silk. Beset by the realization that she could not escape the swarm that approached, she instead desperately tried to manifest her 'Onoma’ Beatrix told her about. "Come on, come on," she whined desperately and focused her will.

A drone's pinchers opened and closed above her. Its maw drooled over her flesh.

Its compound eyes drank her in. One of its limbs rubbed over the webs that confined her, ready to shred it partially open to access her body, its ovipositor raised as it pulsed.

A shrill cry pulled its attention towards the unnatural abomination that had taken her from the Crystal Empire bounded in, and the beast's natural weapons scythed the horns from the Mi-Go closest to it, who suddenly went docile, cut off from a hive mind link as the unnatural antenna was removed.

The swarm hissed and turned on the monstrous changeling, who quickly dispatched his extra limbs, armed with harvested weapons. As their horns were carved away, more insectoids were freed from the alien voices in their heads.

Lightning watched with perplexion as the drawn-off drones flew away, while her kidnapper backed up towards her. She noted its head swaying as if uncertain if more would come.

Almost like it was guarding her...?

“H-hey! I don’t know what you want with me, but I am not your prize!” berated Lightning, managing to charge tiny sparks. The multi-limbed changeling glared back at her and, from her position, she could make our pupils within its large main set of eyes.

It drew its snout closer, taking a couple whiffs.

"Cut that out, you creep,” the pegasus mare demanded. “Release me! Now!!”

"Shut your mouth," the creature spoke. "It’s bad enough my senses are overwhelmed by your scent. All that noise you're making will attract more changelings!”

Lightning’s eyes widened upon hearing words from the beast’s partible jaws. “Y-You can talk?!”

The rogue changeling grinned mockingly. “Well, aren’t you a little genius? Of course I can talk! Did you think I was just another drone aimlessly scouting the area!?”

“N-no, but… I had thought you were-“

“A mindless beast? That’s the problem with you ponies. Always assuming,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “So quick to label something before you even consider asking questions.”

The electric pegasus narrowed her blue eyes at him. “Alright then, I’ll ask! Since you’re so smart, why don’t you tell me what’s going on then?”

The changeling monster snorted before crawling up to poise above the tangled mare in his web. “Ever since Chrysalis came in contact with the mushroom, everything’s been off,” he began explaining. “She wanted to reignite the war when all the other colonies had settled into hiding. So she used the Mi-Go to spread her influence, infecting all the changelings in Equestria.”

“Chrysalis! Figured she’s behind this,” exclaimed Lightning. Did that mean she and her mother were abducted into the queen’s hive?

The arachnid creature continued. “We're overly sensitive to pheromones. After a certain point, the parasite completely takes over. All that’s left of them are wandering husks trying to spread their disease, like zombies. And if they happen to pick up the scent of a fertile female nearby, well… you’re probably used to that by now, huh?”

“Yeah, no thanks to you and your accursed kind,” Lightning sneered, still wriggling within her silky confines. “That’s not the mushroom’s doing. You're already parasites, kidnapping mares and turning them into your personal incubators!”

His eyes narrowed, glowering, “And who gave you the right to treat us like monsters? What you consider immoral is just our way of life. You ponies drove us underground when we were on this land long before the alicorn sisters began their regime!”

This made the blue pegasus pause in her argument. “I… I-I didn’t know that,” she admitted.

“Of course not,” huffed the changeling. “You decided what I was the moment you took one look at me.”

“Abducting me doesn’t help your case,” argued the electric pegasus. “Plus… have you seen yourself? No offense, but you’re not exactly easy on the eyes!”

That seemed to have touched a nerve as his expression soured. “I didn’t ask to be this way,” said the changeling. “And I’m sure my kind shares that mindset. You accuse us of Equestria’s dwindling state when the blame has always been yours. That witch is responsible for the spatial storm, if I remember correctly.” He laughed bitterly, pushing off the web to land on the ground. “Soon, it won’t matter who wins this ‘war.’ Nothing is going to remain of our world…”

The sound of panicked chittering brought their attention to a lone changeling, badly infected by the Mi-Go the most. Stems and fungi broke apart its carapace, wings, and compound eyes. Its wings fluttered uselessly, discolored liquid seeping out its screeching jaws. While Lightning could tell the creature was in pain, it must have been more agonizing for the rogue who could understand those sounds.

"Poor guy doesn’t even know what his purpose is anymore,” the rogue changeling lamented, ending its madness with a swift swipe from his stolen gauntlet, the critter’s head rolling off the neck. Its decapitated body flopped to the ground, tiny tendrils wriggling out in search of a new host to leech on.

“How awful,” Lightning muttered, trying not to vomit. Her blue eyes fell on the changeling. “You really aren't aligned with Chrysalis! Then… who are you?”

"Deinos,” he responded while bringing down the other cocoon. “I was taken from my hive to be a part of their ‘gladiator’ experiment, resulting in these extra arms instead of wings. Would have lost my intelligence too, if not for a slight mutation.”

She looked to the arm-wielding Equinox’s fish hook gauntlet and questioned, “Is that how you can assimilate weapons?

“Heh. You catch on pretty quick,” the changeling confirmed with a chuckle. “I’m limited to how much stuff I can store in my biogenetic code. If I want something better attached to my body, the previous weapon must be wiped clean from my cells.”

“Freaky… yet cool,” admitted Lightning. With her next question, a blush crept over her snout. “So…is your mutation the reason you’re also resilient to my estrus?”

Deinos turned and gave the mare a skeptical look. “No, that’s called having basic decency,” the changeling said, an amused smirk crossing his overbite. “Why? Interested in becoming my ‘personal incubator’~?”

“W-Wha-No!!” She denied, face completely red. “I was just curious, as most changelings don’t hesitate to try and force their eggs into people! I wasn’t asking 'cause I actually want you to fuck me!!”

She gasped as the rogue changeling sprung back onto the web, his enormous shape on top of her. She whimpered under his hot, heavy breath panting against her face, her body squirming for a different reason now.

‘Fuck! He’s so big,’ she mentally screamed, feverishly imagining the monster-sized member her abductor packed.

Deinos’ teasing wasn’t helping, either. “It’d be easy, y'know. I could string you up in any position I want. Rut your little brains out until you're thoroughly bred. Belly ready to burst with all the foal batter I've got stored in my sack. Heh… I bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you~?”

Lightning could only whimper in response, her inflamed labia aching painfully from his words. Her body felt on fire, burning with the enhanced biological instinct to fuck and procreate. A soft cry escaped when his snout pressed into her neck, inhaling her intoxicating wet musk.

With a thoughtful groan, Deimos instead pulled away. “Nah,” he whispered playfully, an evil smile stretching his mandibles. “It would be far more enjoyable hearing you beg for my changeling cock. Break down that equine pride piece…by… piece~!”

Deinos ran his dexterous tongue across Lightning’s face before leaping back down to resume tearing open the second cocoon, leaving the flustered mare to squirm.

“Yuugh! You fucking bastard,” she cursed through sharp breath, trying to shake the slimy drool off her face.

Ignoring her insult, the giant changeling tore through the silky casket, filled with severed Mi-Go horns, to which he added his latest acquisitions. Lightning spotted a pile of weapons taken from Web Spinner's stash. Her eyes were particularly drawn to the unicorn horn wands with a shudder.

“N-no,” the electric pegasus whimpered, angry tears streaming down her face. “What did you do with Web Spinner? Did you kill him!?"

When the changeling gave no response, she demanded, “Answer me!!”

Taking a deep inhale, Deinos once more turned around to face her. Flatly, he told her, “I didn’t kill him…”

Suddenly, his massive form began to shake as the monster heaved stressed groans. Steadily, he shrank down, his secondary pair of limbs folding into his back. He hunched over the cocoon, sounding constipated as he grew a new layer of skin to hide his exoskeleton.

Lightning Spark’s eyes dilated with horror as the changeling’s monstrous visage was replaced by that of the kindly unicorn scientist who greeted her at the Crystal Empire. Catching his breath once his shape settled, he stood up with his spectacles, pushing them onto his face.

Melancholy blue eyes stared back as he said with a layered voice, “… I am him!”

*****

The mountains quaked and threatened to turn volcanic under Kralot Andrei's rise from within. Each of his three heads roared and filled the skies with ash and smoke. Freed from his imprisonment, he smoldered as his belly burned like a furnace. His slit pupils leered down at the black cloaked lich floating before him, while the grizzled old gunslinger battled the mutated scorpions across the mountaintops.

“Another pitiful warlock thinks he can conquer us?” The middle head snorted irritably.

“He will fail like many before him!" The left head snarled.

“His power will become our own!” The right head proclaimed maliciously.

At once, the three-headed drake breathed cones of ghastly green flames, hurtling towards Mortis Saltaire and Quicksilver Bullet… only for the skeletal unicorn to lift his palm and conjure a magical shield to absorb the blaze, which seared off into a storm of scattering embers.

“On the contrary,” the undead wraith spoke. “I plan to supplant your power.”

Andrei tilted his heads, eyes narrowed.

“You wish to seek the ones who imprisoned you, do you not? I, too, seek the destruction of someone who has evaded judgment. I will guide you and your battalion towards Beatrix and her friends, where you can enact retribution. I only require one thing…”

“Our soul,” assumed the first head with a snarl.

“An empty promise from an even emptier husk!” spat the second head.

“Return to the crypt you crawled out of, revenant,” warned the third head. “Or we scatter your remains in the sand!”

“A valiant threat,” Mortis said with a dry chuckle. “But it matters not. I have come for your soul, Andrei…” He then opened his palm to summon his rusted cleaver scythe. “…and I will have it!”

The two fiends rushed at each other, draconic claws clashing with blackening steel. The bony revenant ducked and blinked out of harm's way, avoiding Andrei’s flog-shaped tail and snapping jaws. He blasted one head with spectral magic and managed to decapitate the other.

But befitting his hydra appearance, a new head sprouted from the amputated wound and retaliated with a barrage of fireballs. Mortis used his guillotine-shaped blade to deflect the blast, each unrelenting hit forcing him back.

The other head joined in spouting flaming orbs while the middle cackled. “Is that all you’ve got? Pathetic!”

But the lich unicorn didn’t falter, above such pitiful taunts. While his minions were busy getting repaired by Varys, he reaped the entire astral plain for thousands of souls, harvesting their essence to further strengthen himself.

And soon, Andrei would come to understand how severely outmatched he was…

With his master concentrating his efforts to keep the mad drake distracted, Quicksilver was busy pumping the bed of scorpions full of enchanted lead. His duster whipped behind him each time his rifle took aim and unloaded rune-inscribed silver bullets.

The mutant arthropods shrieked as each head popped. Dozens were crumpled about the rocky area, downed by the caster and hunter, but more mutants arrived to aid and defend Andrei.

Quicksilver followed Mortis’ instructions, having told him beforehand to keep the scorpions as intact as possible when finishing them off. Thanks to the undead revenant’s intervention, his rifle had nearly limitless ammo, as a tube of mercury released drops that transmuted into more silver bullets.

"Keep comin', you sons of bitches," mumbled Quicksilver, the old stallion wide-eyed as black wisps and phantasmal skulls rose around the corpses of the multi-eyed scorpions...and their winged bodies twitched, reanimated by the black blood Mortis filled the mutations with.

Thinking he had his opponent on the ropes, Andrei prepared to finish him with one final breath, failing to notice when his ‘minions’ began to swarm around him.

The dragon yowled as one scorpion clamped its pincers into his leg. And soon, all of his heads twisted to blast the flying arthropods. Andrei roared in outrage.

“What’s happening!?”

“They dare attack us?!”

“You miserable cretins!”

Fires torched several scorpions, which cooked their insides as they bubbled and blackened. But the army of scorpions proved too overwhelming for the mighty Andrei. Stingers and pinchers sank into flesh, driven between the tiny portions amidst his armor-like scales, pumping their venom into his veins.

Andrei cursed and thrashed as the beat of his wings started to slow. The dragon began to discolor as more winged mutations covered the three-headed monstrosity, until he was completely immobilized.

“Good lord,” murmured Ashen Dunes, who observed the entire scene through his binoculars. “Andrei’s down for the count! Turned on by his own scorpions!”

“I-isn’t that a good thing?” Rhenaes stammered, taking her turn to peer at the drama unfolding.

“Not when Mortis is involved…”

The unicorn pulled his airship to a stop, prepared to turn them around and race away at top speed should danger turn in their direction. Yet he and the ballerina pegasus could only watch as Mortis hovered before the trembling drake, his rust-colored cleaver raised.

Rhenaes gasped, "Is he about to-"

"A soul reaper's claim to fame," noted Ashen, who held her close.

Andrei’s narrow slits gazed weakly up at his impending executioner, a strange sense of dread filling his paralyzed body as life quickly seeped out. Deathly energy wisped from the steel as Mortis delivered the dragon's 'last rites.'

“I will occupy… I will help you die… I will run through you…”

While normal eyes could not see it, Mortis swiped with his scythe and cleaved the spirit from Andrei. The light faded from the beast’s eyes as his soul emerged from his body. Mortis reached to grasp the glowing green orb in his hand.

“Now… I rule you too!”

The vengeful revenant assimilated the dragon's soul into his skeletal form, a burst of energy igniting around the wraith. He let out a hollowed cry as bony appendages grew out from his back, piercing through his tattered black robes. The fingers spread apart to reveal a thin membrane between them.

Mortis gave a teasing flap of his newly formed wings, relishing the overwhelming power of Andrei's spirit. Speaking of the dragon, he unleashed a beam at the monster’s corpse until it rose back up. The ethereal vapor slowly melted Andrei’s reptilian hide, revealing bony spines and plates. Each eye glowed with Mortis’ ghastly aura.

Quicksilver couldn’t help but shudder as the freshly made dracolich bowed all three of his heads to Mortis. The brutish dragon was no more. Now merely another undead servant to his master’s will.

“We have what we came for,” announced the lich to the hunter, running his hand to pet one of Andrei’s snouts. “Now we return to deal with that treacherous swine!”

“Yeah, about time," replied Quicksilver, who held his head in an attempt to ease a migraine. Something about this felt… familiar. A strange sense of déjà vu that the gunslinger couldn’t recall correctly. Every time he tried, the pain worsened, his head growing foggier…

Mortis opened a sickly green portal in the air, where he, Quicksilver, Andrei, and the many undead scorpions made their way into the rift. They would reconvene with the rest of his minions to plan their next attack on the betrayer, Shadow Scythe, and her lover and comrades.

They may boast otherworldly powers, but with a weapon of mass destruction like Andrei under his command, victory was all but assured.

“Fuck, fuck, FUCK!” Ashen yelled, nearly breaking his binoculars as he chucked them.

“Andrei was bad enough alive,” exclaimed Rhenaes, utterly terrified. “How are we supposed to stop him now?!”

“I don’t know!” The unicorn trended his fingers through his sandy locks, his anxiety through the roof. “At the very least, we need to alert the others! Maybe Somnambula and Stygian have a way to open a portal?”

“Sir!” The helmsman interrupted. “Storm brewing dead ahead!”

Both ponies looked back at the horizon. As the rift sealed, a dust storm settled in, maintaining an apocalyptic hue. The airship wobbled against the violent gales blowing through the sails as if forces of Tartarus had been unleashed. Gaseous clouds rolled across the skies, the tinge of sulfur suffocating.

"Come on, baby," whispered Ashen, his hands tightened around the wheel. His ship rattled and creaked, caught in the gales that howled around him. "Stay close," he called over the wind to jade crystal mare, met by the screams of one of his men as he was whipped off the deck.

The engine sputtered and started to burn the bed as it smoked, pushed to the absolute limit as Ashen overrode the safety. It was either escape the storm now, or they were dead anyway!

Not wanting to feel helpless, Rhenaes observed the deck and came to a suggestion. “Ah! What if we jettison some weight? Will that help?"

"Good thinking," Ashen said with a pained sigh. Yanking out his communicator, he ordered, "Open the hatch and drop the treasury! It's not worth our lives!" The bottom of his ship snapped open, and a deluge of glittery gold and jewels rained across the desert far below.

"It's working," Rhenaes exclaimed, smiling as the airship started to pull out of the sandstorm. However, pieces of the ship surface were torn away, alongside a couple more of his crew, their screams lost when they were battered across the hull or hurtled into the atmosphere.

"One chance," hollered Ashen as he pushed the lever. The vessel burst free from the storm, met by cheers from his surviving crew and a warm hug from Rhenaes as she kissed the unicorn merchant's scruffy cheek. He smiled back and patted her hip. "We’re almost out. Unfortunately, not without casualties. My poor baby’s hurting bad…”

Yet he dared not slow down, despite the risk it would fall apart.

"Plus, we lost a lot of crew members to the vortex..." added the ballerina mournfully.

"I know. I will make proper compensations for their families once we head back. Though I doubt it will ease the pain. So this is how my brother feels." While White Shadow Penumbra never spoke about it, their mother, Inky Rose, told Ashen the loss of soldiers under his command still haunted him.

Rheneas cupped his cheek and gingerly stroked his jawline. “How long until we make it back to the kingdom?”

"Probably two nights tops." Ashen returned the ship to regular operation, which still continued to rattle. Hopefully, it could make the trip back!

His half-lidded eyes locked with her own. "You know how I feel after I've defied death?"

Rheneas smirked as his hand rested on her lower back. "Horny~?"

"I was going to say invigorated, but yes! Guilty as charged," he confessed with a chuckle as he slyly claimed a handful of her plush rump and squeezed the tender flesh. "If you're interested in a trip below, my dear?"

She giggled back and leaned into his touch. "Well, I...wait! Look!" The jade pegasus pointed ahead, and he followed her gaze to the harrowing storm that manifested beforehand. "Not again!"

Yet both sensed this one was different. Not unlike the one that first brought Andrei into this world. Another rift blossomed across the atmosphere.

A hurricane materialized and sucked up the airship. Ashen reached for the safety override...but realized it was suicide in his ship's state. He drew Rhenaes to him, his eyes closed as he resigned himself to their fate.

Tears filled her eyes. "Ashen-?”

“I love you,” he whispered before pulling her in for a kiss. A cliche, admittedly. But if these were to be their final moments, he wanted his beautiful ballerina companion to know his feelings were pure.

Further words were lost once the airship was swallowed by the foreboding clouds, vanishing into the heart of the storm…

*****

The party scoured the dense forests outside the Crystal Empire in search of Lightning Spark. But after hours of tireless searching, no one had turned up anything. Even Arcanum Folklore's ability to track magical signatures proved fruitless.

“Buggar,” cursed the warlock. “It's like someone knows how to jam me spells! Must be one hell of a wizard to manage a trick like that!"

“Or the storm could be causing interference," reasoned Beatrix.

"Or perhaps some enchanted relic in the enemy's hands," mused Iclyn.

Whatever the reason, they agreed they should set up camp and continue the hunt at dawn before sunset. However, everyone proved restless and decided to tire themselves with some training before bed. And no one seemed more eager than the kunoichi vixen, who followed the male vulpine leading her through the trees.

Tracing his paw over the giant branch, Kyube nodded satisfactorily before patting the spot for her to sit down. “It’s important to find the ideal place to practice,” he said before taking his perch. “This will not only sharpen ourselves for whatever’s ahead, but help you tap into your yokai roots!”

"Understood," answered Kitsune as she sat cross-legged. "Your sister, Chisana, and my bandmates...we must be in top shape to protect them!”

“Not until you’ve grasped the fundamentals first,” the fox man reminded as a flame blossomed atop his open palm. “Conjure the spirit from within, and harness it into a ball.”

Kitsune nodded and held out her own hand. Her brows furrowed with concentration as sparks popped several times until she summoned a tiny wispy of flame. She grimaced, “So small…”

The bandit chuckled. “It’s a reflection of your restraint. Yes, fire can be dangerous when one loses control. But too much control is also harmful. After all, one tiny flame cannot provide enough warmth to last the winter!”

He leaned forward to blow out her candle-size wick before encouraging, “Try again. Don’t worry about tomorrow’s successes or yesterday’s failure. The present is what matters.”

The vixen blushed meekly before closing her eyes, relieving her mind from the worries burdening her with each slow exhale. Instead, she focused on her calmness and the pleasant warmth of Kyube’s company.

That warmth ignited into a baleful orb of blue spiritual essence with a wispy red trail.

“Yes! Just like that,” praised Kyube, his bushy tail swishing excitedly.

Kitsune marveled at her yokai ball, testingly juggling it between her hands until it dispursed into embers. “Amazing...!”

"Haha! Look at you go! You should have this mastered in no time!"

The female vulpine lowered her gaze shyly, a small smile on her snout. "You flatter me..."

"Nonsense! Based on your demeanor, I guessed you’d be a fast learner~!" He hopped down from the branch to the earth below. When she followed, she landed close to him, their noses almost touching. This made Kitsune's heart skip a beat as her eyes strained to meet his own.

"I...have always had to learn fast," she whispered, not wanting to shatter the mood with her history. How the elusive organization that captured her and Wispy turned them into living weapons, requiring them to carry out assassinations or suffer brutal punishments. She'd thrown everything into becoming a proficient killer, if only to ease her sister's pain.

Fortunately, that knack to learn had carried over when Wispy and her joined Eclipsed Heart to form the band B.A.B.E. They had picked up skills in some instruments within a few weeks. Of course, the kunoichi still favored her shamisen, an artifact from a past she couldn't recall.

Clearing her throat, she asked, “What’s next?”

“Simple,” his voice suddenly came behind her as a clone tapped her shoulder, making her jump. The Kyube in front unraveled into leaves while the other back flipped away, whirling his wooden staff etched with runic spirals. “Tag. You're it~!”

She blinked in disbelief. “… you can’t be serious! This isn’t the time for a child’s game!”

“Sure it is,” countered Kyube, resting his hands and chin on his stick, smiling coyly. “Or are you afraid you can’t keep up without your augmentations~?”

Kitsune narrowed her eyes, turning her back on him. “Like I’d be scared of something so trivial as-” She instantly cuts herself off to lunge at the fox man… only to hit another decoy that bursted into leaves.

Her pointy ears perked at his teasing tittering, turning her head to find Kyube standing on another tree branch, three tails fanned out.

“Not bad,” he said. “Would have caught me if you were just a smidge faster, though!”

Kitsune snarled, “Well, this is hardly fair since you’re using your magic!”

“Never said I wouldn’t,” the vulpine bandit pointed out matter-of-factly before leaping higher into the forest. “Try to keep up~!”

The vixen was flustered while racing after him. Charming as she found Kyube, Kitsune would not stand for his playful jabs, determined to beat the bandit without relying on her cybernetics.

His laughter echoed through the rustling wind, whipping behind his tails as he pressed his advantage. Bandits like him needed knowledge and awareness of their surroundings at all times. And this was the ideal area to help kindle Kitsune’s yokai spirit.

But to his surprise, Kitsune was starting to keep pace with him. Couldn’t afford to let his guard down, even now!

At each corner he passed, Kyube split up into duplicates to further bewilder the riled vixen. She decided to pounce on the bandit on the right. Another clone. Though the cheeky fox man took the opportunity to sneak up behind the distracted kunoichi to give her breasts a light squeeze.

“A-agh! Hentai,” Kitsune yelped, twisting around to smack him. But the grinning vulpine was just out of reach, using gravity to help evade capture and propel him to another tree.

Her frustration had fully manifested, and she was blushing madly. Her ‘teacher’ proved crafty enough to figure out what buttons to press. But perhaps that was the point. Showing Kitsune how intensely she took this playful game of tag. And how her assassin’s mindset wasn’t working.

If Kyube wasn’t above using tricks, why shouldn't she?

Taking another gulp of air to calm her nerves, the cyber ninja resumed the chase. She could spot three versions of Kyube jumping through the trees. Smirking, she descended down the bark until they lost sight of her.

“Uh oh!”

“Where’d she go?”

The three bandits perched onto different branches, looking for any sign of Kitsune, ready to flee at a moment’s notice.

Then, Kitsune lept from her hiding spot, her gi no longer adorning her body. Her nine tails covered her ample assets, figuring the mere glimpse of her naked was enough to distract Kyube and his clones from the lunar knives she flung out.

While two barely reacted to the ninja weapons coming their way, one foxman noticed and readied his staff to block. Finding her target, Kitsune twisted around to use a high branch to propel herself at Kyube, tackling him from the air.

They landed in a bed of leaves that helped soften their fall. The bandit huffed and looked up to see Kitsune straddled atop him, a victorious smirk on her narrow snout.

“Shinu,” she whispered huskily, booping his nose.

“W-well played,” he congratulated, his face a shade of crimson. It took him great willpower not to openly hawk at her luscious curves concealed by her fluffy golden tails. If she pressed her backside down, she’d feel how hard he was getting underneath his baggy pants.

A gentle breeze reminded her of her stark nudity, and she quickly got off to fetch her uniform, face completely flushed. This was the first time the vixen ever used such a tactic. Seduction was more Wispy’s thing, since the nekomata was far more sexually charged than she was. Yet she couldn’t deny the rush of emotions she felt.

As she finished putting her clothes back on, Kyube jumped beside her. “Everything okay?”

Kitsune nodded. "Y-yes,” she assured softly. “I never thought I'd be capable of doing… that.”

“It’s okay! Surprising as that was, you didn’t have to do that…”

As a kunoichi, her body was merely another potential tool to fulfill her mission...but she had always avoided seduction in favor of action, often told she was a living weapon. “It was a heat-of-the-moment decision. I was getting infuriated at the fact I was losing at a mere child’s game.”

"It's no big deal," insisted Kyube, whose ears dropped down while he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. “I was a bit forward, wasn’t I?”

“It was... unexpected,” the kunoichi said, her hands clasping her chest. “But it helped me let loose and take the game less seriously. In the end, I… think I don’t mind.”

Kitsune found herself leaning into the vulpine’s arms, a relaxed sigh parting her mouth. Then she began to quiver, her fluffy tails coiling around his limbs. He noticed a solitary tear dripping down her cheek, which he wiped with his finger.

“It’s so strange,” she lamented, her voice holding back sobs. "I was modified to suppress my emotions. Sensations such as taste and pleasure were all but completely dulled when they turned me into a living weapon. A creature made of liquid metal that pretends to be a woman. I know not even my own name, though perhaps now, that’s no longer relevant. But throughout this journey, I’ve experienced things I thought were lost to me. Joy, friendship…” She touched his chin. "…attraction."

Kyube felt his furry cheeks glow hotly; his aqua green eyes found hers when she asked, “Am I… beautiful to you?”

"O-of course,” he admitted, smiling brightly. “From the moment I saw your reflection, I was bewitched by your elegance and grace. Befitting a nine-tailed goddess~.”

Kitsune mirrored his grin and said, “I am happy to hear that.” Reluctantly, the female vulpine removed herself from his lap; looking over her shoulder, she said, “Let’s continue our game. You’re it~.”

She brushed a few tails over his face before soaring back into the treetops. With a chuckle, Kyube tailed after the mysterious kunoichi, wishing to coax more warmth under her distant demeanor.

The foxy duo crossed over and cast shadows over Cerise Silhouette and White Shadow Penumbra; the royal siblings locked in their own friendly bout. She lunged at him with the butt of her spear and side-stepped when he tapped her with a wooden sword. "Point."

"Grrr..." Cerise snarled and attempted another strike.

"Point." The sword tip poked her exposed belly. The pale pegasus arched an eyebrow. “Come on, sister, this isn’t amateur hour."

"I know!" She huffed and sweated. "But I-"

"While you’ve greatly improved, you’re relying too heavily on those crystals. Just because most spellcasters won't expect them doesn’t mean all enemies will. Worry not, though! I'll whip you into shape," he swore.

Cerise released another breath and said, "Thanks, brother!" Before she could try a different approach, a sphere of black magic wooshed past them before it blinked between other points. "Whoa! What the-!?”

She turned to the snickering witch as Beatrix waved her finger to direct her new projectile around. The dark sphere blinked upwards before erupting into a small blast.

“Wooo! Looks like all that hard work is paying off!"

“I’ll say! Couldn’t have done it with such excellent teachers,” agreed Beatrix, who winked at Iclyn and Arcanum, observing from afar. The icy doe kept up her aloof facade while the erenn unicorn nursed another drink from his flask.

“Cute trick,” he complimented. “Definitely getting the hang of it! But ya still have a long way to go.”

“That’s what you always say!” The violet mare grumbled.

“Aye! 'Cause I’m not convinced you're ready to attempt portal hopping yet!”

“Then why don’t you physically instruct her this time?” suggested Iclyn, her face scrunched with disgust. “Instead of drowning yourself in smoke and liquor, make yourself useful for once.”

“Oi! I’m trying to conserve me energy for when real shit hits the fan!”

Her aurora glare deepened. “Are you implying all eight of us are incapable of fixing this mess? That only you have the means of saving us like we’re helpless damsels?”

“Wha?! N-No, I wasn’t-I mean, I am, but… yaaargh!” Arcanum marched towards Beatrix, muttering curses at the deighdyr, whose lips curled into a slight smirk.

“So, is this gonna be a friendly spat or-”

“Ain’t got the time nor patience,” barked the warlock, pulling out his Kurdish dagger. “You hold back on me; I’m kicking your teeth in!”

“Ooh, playing rough! Just how mama likes it~,” she tittered playfully before her studded rapier in hand, channeling her umbral power.

The two spellcasters engaged in a magical duel, unleashing their most potent spells. Arcanum noted that all that sphere holding had greatly improved Beatrix’s accuracy, relying on barriers instead of dodging her elemental spells.

But the scruffy stallion was no slouch like Iclyn mockingly proclaimed, as the violet unicorn struggled to avoid his fireballs. And once he had an opening, Folklore closed the distance with a short-range teleport, his dagger clashing against her rapier.

With everyone coupled up, this left Midnight Blitzer and Autumn Equinox to spar with each other. They took their training away from the others, though they briefly spotted the foxes' silhouettes fly overhead as they danced from treetop-to-treetop overhead. "Romance is in the air," he mused before taking a sharp punch in the jaw. “Gagh! Hey!”

“You were wide open,” spat Equinox, rolling her wrist with a crack. “Quit watching that mushy crap and fight! I’m not gonna coddle you like your soft-hearted whores, himbo!”

Midnight cast a sneer before rubbing a fist over his snout and squared up, readying as she approached.

After guarding most of her blows, the marauder landed another strike across his face, knuckles cracking his snout. Blood dripped from his nostrils, but Midnight simply smiled, caught her arm, and hurled her into a mud puddle. The blue pegasus twisted Equinox into a submission hold, threatening to snap it until he felt her teeth sink into his flesh and force him to release her with a yelp.

"Ghaagh! Crazy bitch!" He hissed, swooping his massive plumage at her.

Equinox cackled wickedly. "Damn straight I am! You think your pampered princess and sidepiece slut could survive a mad world like this? I lost an eye, but they’d make easy pickings for the changeling swarm!" She punched and kicked at him as they traded blows. "Don’t try to deny it!"

Midnight growled in response, unable to admit the truth. His lovers were soft-hearted; it was partly why he loved them. He managed to land an elbow into her chest. "That’s no excuse to act like a monster!" His fist smashed into her chin, confident she could take it!

Their struggle soon took to the sky as they punched and clawed at each other, his anger at how the bat mare treated Moonlight, Cerise, and especially Lightning fresh on his mind.

“Pft! Typical," Equinox scoffed when she caught him in a headlock. "Just another stallion who likes his mares submissive! Someone happy to cook your meals and do your laundry. Can’t even handle a real woman~!" She laughed and applied more pressure, her tits pushed into his fluffy back.

The blue stallion wheezed and strained as their wings flapped and they swerved about the treetops. His eyes turned white from his hyper-stallion instincts as he snarled in frustration, determined to put the marauder in her place!

A burst of wind hit Equinox as he tossed her over him. She yelped in shock, but he dove with her still dragged by the arm, her bulk slammed into a tree trunk; not to cripple her, but with enough force to knock the wind from her. Equinox lurched and threw up a little, his brute strength unexpected as veins lined his rippled muscles.

Sexual frustration got the better of him; his fist seized around her top, which he shredded away to reveal her breasts as they dropped free with a wobble, nipples perky in the cool breezy air. Emerald returned to his eyes with sudden self-awareness. “O-oh, shit! I’m sorry, I-” his apology was cut short by a stiff knee to the crotch.

"What a wuss!” Equinox swiftly recovered, and the topless thestral repeatedly pummeled the stallion with laughter. "If you had even a shred of backbone, you’d pummel me until I begged you to stop! But without your hyper-stallion side, you're nothing punk! Just another stupid, gullible idealist like your fath-gack!"

Midnight silenced the cocky wrench by seizing his fists around her throat, squeezing her windpipe. Equinox kicked, squirmed, and clawed at his arms, locked in Midnight's iron grip as his eyes started whitening again. He could break her in an instant! He'd overcome worse foes...!

Spittle ran from the corner of her lip as she taunted, "H-harder daddy… I can take it…~!"

"Middy, stop!" Cerise and Penumbra flew over to meet them at the trunk's base. He barely noticed his wife for a moment until her brother shoved him off Equinox, who coughed and choked. "This isn't like you!" She pensively turned to the bat mare. "Are you okay-"

Equinox slapped her hand aside. "Worry about yourself, princess! You might live a life of luxury, but out here, you'll end up like so many bright-eyed mares! A changeling egg factor-" She hissed as the royal thestral encased her in a black crystalline pillar. Her curses and threats were lost while she thrashed within her prison.

"Finally, some peace and quiet," grunted Penumbra, his lip curled in disdain.

"Don't worry," said Cerise with a cheeky smile. "It'll wear off...in an hour or so~!”

Midnight heaved, slamming his fist into the dirt. He lost control again. And he was only slipping further into that primitive mindset!

There had to be a way to contain it until they found a proper cure… Otherwise...

The crystals dissipated into sparkly crumbs under a magical aura. Equinox started to rush at Cerise with a hateful cry....simply to be seized by the same aura that released her. "Oi, cunty," came the voice of Arcanum, who strolled up. “I suggest you let it be. Can't afford to waste ourselves on petty grudges."

Cerise shook her head. "Oh, you’re one to talk! We hardly know you!"

Penumbra nodded. "I'm sure you have your own agenda, but I won't press you on that. For now, we must focus on what matters most.”

“Find my sister and kill that changeling,” Midnight surmised.

"Yeah, well, the changelings will have the advantage once darkness settles in,” reminded the warlock. "We need to find somewhere to lay low before sundown."

Kyube and Kitsune landed on a tree's summit above him. “Then we’re in luck,” the fox bandit said. "During our little game, we stumbled on a house!"

Arcanum tilted his head, questioning, “A house?”

Kitsune nodded. "Out on the meadow and apparently abandoned.”

"That seems way too convenient to be true," said Iclyn when she and Beatrix made their way over. "It’s probably a trap, but we don’t have a lot of options for shelter. I take it you'll-?"

"Afraid so!" Beatrix marched on ahead with a swish of her platinum mane. "Lead the way!"

They followed the foxes out of the forest and into the meadow, where an ordinary suburban house stood slightly crooked by its lonesome. Arcanum knocked on the door, waiting for an answer.

When none came, he pushed on first and lit his horn in an attempt to search for anything unusual. He flipped the switch, and surprisingly, the lights came on. The erenn stallion opened the fridge, finding regular food and drinks. And running up the stairs, he found a bathroom, two bedrooms, and one beautiful room. The warlock walked back out, running a hand through his mane, and concluded, “Electricity somehow works; there’s a handful of bedrooms, a kitchen, a shower, and even a basement. For all intents and purposes, it’s… just a normal house.”

"There’s nothing normal about this," dejected Iclyn, unconvinced. “There shouldn’t be a house of this caliber this far from civilization!”

“Yeah," concurred Penumbra. "For all we know, it could be an eldritch abomination in disguise.”

“Like the manor,” muttered Beatrix, reminded that her home base was now in allegiance with Countess Alma. "Well, it's a castle now!"

“But it's probably safer than out in the open,” surmised Arcanum. “Whoever owns this house is long gone. I’m sure they won’t mind if we stay for the night.”

Cerise smiled at him. "Always the optimist! I'll leave them some money for the trouble."

"You do that, princess. Me, I'll take the first watch." The warlock headed upstairs towards the balcony for the optimal viewpoint. Following him were Iclyn and Equinox, who was still in a huff while everyone else settled into the mundanely bizarre, yet cozy abode.

The foxes took the couch, finding a remote on a table. Kitsune pressed a button for the television, and the screen turned on but only displayed static as a wall of white noise blasted from the speakers. She instantly turned it off, cupping her sensitive ears.

“Yowch!” groaned Kyube.

"I should have expected as much," said Kitsune. "Television is common in my universe, but Beatrix says she's rarely encountered it elsewhere?"

The fridge rattled while Midnight checked it and noticed there was still some fresh food. Was a family living here before they were forced to evacuate? His twin sister encountered a similar situation before Equinox took her to the Crystal Empire. His face soured, and his loins burned at Equinox's name, his cheeks ablaze.

Her taunts rang deep in his thoughts, which drifted to a scenario where he did give in to his instincts and fucked the shit out of her.

Once more, the soldier shook it off and turned to Cerise and Penumbra. He had yet to confess about the tryst with Fiery Kickstart's wives. Though perhaps he should keep that a secret..?

Maybe a part of him really did want an amazonian mare. Kind and compassionate as his lovers were, it was becoming apparent he required more than what they were putting out…

*****

Aware that he would be away for some time, Moon Hammer made preparations ahead of time to protect his village and his wives. Instructions were offered to the guardians for weapons, armor, traps, and most importantly, automatons which would serve as disposable protectors.

When his people were pulled into this dimension, unexpected arrivals came. One of those boons included schematics from another dimension, where clockwork technology was commonplace. With that, the minotaur could sharpen his craftmanship skills at an unprecedented rate.

His workshop was left in the care of Strawberry Moon and Blue Moon, the holstaurs taking a moment to study their husband's many unfinished works. Among them were upgraded Penumbra's false arm and Moonlight's prosthetic wings, since his work continually improved over time. Machinery lined the benches, the walls adorned by more works beside the schematics.

Their attention was pulled to the automatons he left them, mounted on each wall. Golden constructs fashioned after bulls that towered over them and glimmered under the light. Each was covered in thick sets of straps to hold up whoever decided to take them for a ride.

The Cretan Bull, Moon Hammer dubbed them. One of his masterpieces. Their husband had once been small and lean by the standards of his race, but hard work over time had bulked him up.

Below the mechanisms were deep basins. Strawberry read the letter he left behind. "Sorry I can't be with you. I hope these contraptions will suffice in my stead. Love, Moon Hammer."

"He's so thoughtful," said Blue Moon, she and her gravid twin barely contained by their cow-print bikinis. Halfway between crystal mares and bovines, they must be routinely milked dry.

Controls were set by the machines, which could be switched between manual and automatic modes. Strawberry undid straps under one's muscular belly and asked, "Care to try them out?"

"Sure!" Blue did the same, then the twins undid their tops and let their mountainous udders flop free. Followed by their bikini bottoms, which they shimmied around their child-bearing hips and over wide, round bottoms, the pair rendered completely naked save for bells on their chokers.

They strapped themselves in under the bulls and felt the twin false endowments of the machines rest atop their buttocks and below their swollen slits. At the press of a button, the bulls reared back their hind ends, the protrusions lined up with their lower holes, ready to penetrate.

The front hooves were closer to hands, which at another button press circled around their pendulous udders, which hung suspended and swung to a settle before they were grabbed.

"Don't worry," said Strawberry as her holes reflexively clenched in neediness. "They're designed to make sure we're not harmed! He's installed several safety precautions and various fail-safes in case of emergencies!"

"Good! Because I'd rather not be fucked to death by these monster cocks!" Blue shivered at the idea as her heart hammered. She and her sister plopped some lube onto their palms, then rubbed them into their puckered assholes and already drippy pussies in shared anticipation.

Padding also slid below to support their heavily impregnated bellies. They knew their offspring were safe, a natural barrier formed around their spawn by their partial holstaurs physiology, able to safely take Moon Hammer's monstrous cock no matter how roughly he battered away.

The clockwork mechanisms were also the partial result of alchemy. At best, Moon Hammer was a dabbler, but the notes that mysteriously appeared in his villa helped fill in the gaps.

Strawberry asked, "Ready, sister?"

"R-ready," answered Blue with a huff.

"Let's start slow then," Her sister answered as Strawberry set the automaton on the lowest setting. Chiseled hips surged forward, bull cocks prodded at their lower holes before it spread them wide open, a moment of respite offered to let them become used to the intrusions.

"So...full," admitted Blue between shameless moans. "Just like Moon Hammer's-!"

"Excellent craftsmanship," agreed Strawberry, as the tools humped into them, their lower canals separated only by thin flesh as they clamped around them. Their wide pink areola was already beaded in milk droplets, met by sprays into the basins as the hand-like bull portions distended their udders and firmly squeezed out milky streams that slapped below. "W-wow. This is-"

"-amazing," finished Blue, both rocked forward with each powerful thrust. They decided to turn up the intensity and felt the fake cocks vibrate as they drove in and out with rapidity that made succulent asscheeks slap under each impact. Their cutie marks shimmered. "I'm...I'm...!"

They squealed and came in unison, soaking themselves on the bull cocks that pierced past the cervix and battered the back of their slippery wombs. Panting, their tongues draped out and drooled without a moment's rest as the mechanized bulls continually fucked the sultry sows into submission. Soon they shuddered and were left to ride out another series of climaxes.

The alchemy-infused testicles of the bulls smacked against their stuffed cunts. Their heart-shaped clits were rubbed with each entry and exit of the bullhoods, which pulsed with a final trick; volleys of viscous spunk fired deep into their fuckholes, pushing them back over the edge.

The Cretan Bulls roared as vapors emitted like smoke trails from their nostrils. Spunk impacted the core walls of the breeders, who wailed away.

Goo dripped from their abused orifices, a mixture of their nectar and fake cum, the twins overfull and overstuffed. Little more than playthings mounted and ridden to exhaustion by the fuck machines that still pounded away like pistons.

Eventually, the twins buckled, left slack, and strapped in place as their eyes rolled into their skulls and their ample flesh quivered. By now, the basins were half-filled by sweet, creamy lactation.

Sweat dripped down the bovines. With another button press, the bulls slid forward until the sisters were face-to-face, so close their snout tips touched. Their lips connected in hungry, sloppy kisses, the fake dicks still sheathed completely as they hammered away in a series of lewd schlicks.

When their tits were finally emptied for the night, the last drop squeezed from their perky pink buds to drip free, both twins lost track of their orgasms. Reluctantly, they undid the straps and freed themselves from the bull contraptions.

"Goodness," mumbled Blue, whose gaped holes popped and dripped once freed. "That was-"

"-unbelievable," finished Strawberry, who shared her smile. "Proof of our husband's love!" They embraced, udder-to-udder, and shared another drawn-out, messy kiss in a bond of skinship.

Both turned back to the workshop, with an arm still wrapped around the waist of their double, their palms snaked down to lazily feel the other's plush cutie mark-adorned buttock. After all, they shared in their twin's physical sensations, their sensuous unions almost akin to masturbation.

"I feel pretty safe and secure here," said Blue. "Despite all the weird stuff that's happened!"

"And despite the absence of Moon Hammer." Strawberry sighed. "Honorable to a fault." The sisters had no doubt that the minotaur would help save this ruined world while he was away.

The sisters wiped themselves clean and wandered out of the shed into the open air. It was situated on the outskirts of the settlement, away from the eyes of others, not that nudity was considered particularly taboo in their culture. A breeze rustled over them from the night skies.

Hand-in-hand, their cow tails intertwined, the duo stood atop a hill. Intertwined female symbol cutie marks still adorned their coral pink buttcheeks. Their eyes were drawn to the moon, its beams left to illuminate their supple curves, since the twins had taken their titles after their husband.

For a moment, it was like they were back on that nudist, paradise planet where they first met him. Eden, as they had dubbed the verdant utopia.

However, it wasn't to last when pitch black blanketed the sky. A reminder of the world's state, which continued to fluctuate at times.

*****

Moonlight River had been told to stay in the medical wing, where she sat around in her underwear and tank top while the doctors and nurses looked her over. Unfortunately, none of them could compare to Web Spinner's skill and prove unable to help the poor thestral much.

Grayish-purple fur and skin prickled in the cool air, her sizable breasts, hips, and buttocks barely contained by the white fabric. A teal blue mane trailed over one side of her face. She'd left her two false plumes in Moon Hammer's hands, since he promised to unite them into one, her naked back lined in thin twin scars. She kicked her feet and squirmed on the cot, a towel placed under her to soak up the feminine lubricant she leaked on occasion, which made her face burn hotter.

A nurse poked her with a medical instrument. "How do you feel?"

Yellow eyes narrowed with a snarl. "Pissy. Irritated. Impatient. Restless."

The nurse raised an eyebrow. "And...?"

"…horny," she whispered almost inaudibly with a deeper blush and squirmed. No doubt the induced estrus had made her moody, and she shouldn't take it out on these poor workers! But Moonlight couldn't bear to stay cooped up here, either! "So, there's no way to cool me off...?"

"Afraid not. Only your lucky husband can do that," said the nurse with a titter.

"Great..." She was still annoyed with Middy, especially when she needed her stallion to scratch this itch. Otherwise, desperation to be bred would eventually drive her insane! A mare like Cerise could help ease the pain for a while, but her instincts wouldn't be satisfied until-

"Bah! I can't sit on my butt here!" She shot up, and the cot shook; doctors and nurses turned in her direction to hush her. She reminded herself she sadly wasn't the only patient here!

A doctor walked her way. "The supreme commander said-"

"If he’s got a problem, he can take it up with me in person!" They'd taken her clothes, so she seized a hospital gown and threw it on her as the thestral rushed out of the examination room. She'd also swiped perfume from a nurse and doused herself in some to hide her natural musk.

Doctors and nurses burst out and shouted at her. "It's in your best interests! You're in no state to travel! Guards!" Orderlies and soldiers started to rush in her direction.

"What the hell," muttered Moonlight as she ducked around a corner, found an air duct, and tore off the grate before she slipped inside. Trained in the hopes she would join the Lunar Guard, the late Luna's personal army, she'd learned some tricks to help infiltrate tiny spaces.

Most ponies couldn't hope to fit into these thin tunnels, but she'd practiced twisting her body and wounding her way into the interconnected maze across the base. The first time she'd slipped into one of these air ducts, it had terrified her, afraid she might end up stuck until she died.

Now, it seemed like second nature. A bit of espionage that made the bat mare’s heart race. Unfortunately, estrus continued to burn in her moist loins and made her clumsier...which led to her shift to shred when it seized on rusty screws. "Son of a bitch," she cursed her back luck.

The useless shift left behind, Moonlight continued on in her black underwear. Her navy blue tail was tucked between her inner thighs, over the crotch of her garments, which were stained by a wet spot. She clenched her lower holes and bit her lower lip as her honey pot dripped fresh beads of love nectar, wide nipples painfully erect as they peeked through her bra.

And to think, this was a comparatively mild infection! Lightning Spark must be in horny hell...!

"Time to do a little recon like a proper Lunar Guard," she decided. At first, the thestral didn't see anything unusual. The mess hall. Barracks. Bunks where soldiers slept or were empty.

She needed to locate the commanders and find out what they were up to!

However, while she stalked her way through the complex, Moonlight stumbled on something promising. Familiar voices carried through a duct. She followed the sound down the cramped air duct corridor, where once crouched down she could overlook the spacious War Room below.

Fiery Kickstart, his wives Panna and Chezka, and many lesser commanders sat around a table where diamoras that symbolized the territories were displayed in the middle of a discussion.

“...obviously unfit to lead the Crystal Empire," proclaimed the half-burned commander. "Grief has utterly consumed the Shining Armor’s heart. Made him...unstable,” finished Fiery.

“A complete hindrance,” agreed one loyal soldier.

"We can't afford to be divided in these times," warned another commander.

"All the more reason to support Fiery Kickstart," said Panna, the topless doe close by the mustard stallion’s side. "Were there any Amazons left, I'm sure they would throw their support behind my husband. The most powerful must always rule."

"We need someone firm in their decisions," added Chezka, the centaur topless like Panna, as she rubbed his scorched cheek. "What has the supreme commander accomplished lately?"

Another commander looked to a map marked all over and a diorama where small pieces were used to represent their territories and their divided troops stationed within. "W-well..."

Another sputtered, "But he was the Love Queen's chosen heir! Cadence and Flurry Heart ar-”

"Are dead," reminded Fiery, head bowed in reverence. “The time for mourning has long passed. Our kingdom's future is ruined in the hands of the supreme commander. He's too cautious about making a decisive move." His fist tightened. "Meanwhile, the swarm continues to expand their hives by the dozen and ravage our mares! Where was our leader when one of our own was taken hostage by that monster!?”

A terrible silence hung in the air, no one able to counteract Fiery’s point.

“I’ll tell you where. Sniveling in his office like a child, yearning for old days.”

"We don’t want to harm Shining Armor," promised Panna, a hand raised to her bare bosom. "We just want what’s right for our kingdom. And you lot can make that possible.”

Chezka asked, "Are you with us?" Her hands twitched at her sides, a quiver strapped across her tattooed bosom and a bow in hand...with the excuse they needed to defend themselves in case more drones infiltrated their home, but she had promised Fiery she wouldn't allow anyone that opposed their plan to leave the war room.

A poisonous arrow would keep their silence! Amazons didn't tolerate cowardice! Panna, likewise, kept a venom-laced curved knife sheathed at her belt, ready to finish traitors.

Despite some clear reservations, the War Room gave favor to Fiery's unified direction. Seeds of doubt had been sowed in Shining Armor for some time. And while it went unspoken, some blamed him for another respected commander's capture and assumed death, Thunder Storm.

"Midnight Blitzer will be the key to our victory," elaborated Fiery. “As some of you might have heard, he’s indeed a hyper-stallion. Impeccably strong. Normally, genes passed from a hyper-stallion stud are rendered inactive, however-"

"Web Spinner was instructed by the supreme commander to help awaken them," finished Chezka. "Before his untimely death, he came up with an experimental enhancement pill to help activate those suppressed cells."

"In honor of his sacrifice, we will use his formula and have Blitzer breed us an army of super soldiers," explained Fiery, smiling at the rise of murmurs and concerned whispers. He slammed a fire-scarred fist on the tabletop to reclaim their attention, shaking the miniature buildings and knocking toy soldiers over. “I request you ignore morality for a second and consider the results,” he insisted. “Imagine; equine soldiers with increased strength, stamina, pain tolerance, and immunity to fear! A united Crystal Empire, risen from the ashes to ascend better than ever! And after we end the changeling resurgence, we will expand our reach further over Equestria itself! We will make the land harmonious, like before!”

One of Fiery's most trusted soldiers, whom he allowed to attend, looked at a miniature representing the hive Fiery's men had assaulted and asked, “A-and what about…it, sir?”

Fiery Kickstart lifted a miniature piece sculpted of rose quartz, resembling a beautiful changeling queen. "Have ‘it' transferred to Web Spinner's laboratory. No need to waste space now that the poor bastard is gone. And who knows? Young Blitzer might be the first to pass it his seed!" he mused aloud with a dry, muted chuckle.

Fists were raised to meet Panna's and Chezka's own. The sub commanders shouted, "Fiery! Fiery! Fiery!" A self-satisfied smile lit up Fiery's scorched snout, the odds shifted entirely in his favor.

Midnight's poorly explained disappearance by Fiery, Equinox's comment that she wanted another round with him… Moonlight put all the clues together, and intuition told her what he'd no doubt been up to when she shook her head at the bare-breasted Panna and Chezka below.

The thestral spy scowled and decided she'd heard enough. She scampered down the air ducts, all the way to the supreme commander's office, as she'd passed it earlier but had hesitated to check in yet. Grates were yanked aside when she dropped down before his desk and softly landed on her feet, forced to stifle a wince as her sensitive breasts settled in the cups of her bra.

"Moon-?" Shining knocked papers from his desk, half-asleep. Immediately, he locked the door and put up a sign to ensure he wasn't disturbed. Not that it was likely, at this hour. "What are you doing here? In nothing but your underwear, no less? And why were you in the vents, cadet?!”

"There’s… a lot to explain, sir." Her face colored, noticing how his eyes slyly trailed over her half-naked grayish-purple, toned body. Boys will be boys, she decided and didn't bother to cover herself when she sharply saluted. "That's not what matters, sir! It's about the subcommander!!”

"You mean Fiery? What's he up to now?" He strolled around the room and circled around the cadet, unable to take his eyes off her after he noted her estrus musk in such close proximity, despite attempts to hide it with perfume. His nostrils flared, his crotch twitched in his pants.

"I spotted him and a number of commanders in the War Room! He's plotted a coup against you, and-“

“Oh. That.”

Moonlight did a double take. “You know?!”

Shining Armor chuckled dryly. "Always have. Figured it would happen, sooner or later. I just don't have the support to stop him. At this point, I might as well hand him the position just to save face!" He heaved and paused to stare at a picture of his late wife and daughter in the corner. "I've worked so hard to preserve Cadance's memory. But all I’ve done is tarnish our legacy. No one would ever appreciate this, despite my efforts!”

"That’s not true, sir!” Moonlight shot him a pained, toothy smile. “I’m still on your side. Your recent actions might be questionable, sure. But at heart, you're twice the leader Fiery thinks he is!”

"You think so, huh..?" The paladin turned his back on her and fished a tiny vial from the front of his shirt pocket. A little extra he swiped in secret from Web Spinner's lab, after he'd read the scientist's extensive notes on hyper-stallions.

In truth, he'd come to Spinner because he was a suppressed hyper-stallion, unable to unlock more than a fraction of the power he'd passed onto his son. "Tell me, Moonlight...are you ready to do whatever it takes to help me beat Fiery?"

"Yes, sir!" She saluted the stallion who'd trained her. "Whatever the mission requires!"

“Heh… I’m glad to hear that, cadet," he whispered, popped the vial's top, and downed the bitter liquid. It burned on the way down as his eyes watered at what he was about to do.

But to awaken his hyper-stallion side and finally drive out the remnants of the swarm, Shining Armor couldn’t let guilt weigh him down. The alabaster unicorn had plenty of horrific scars from his sinful actions. What was one more?

He was already on top of Moonlight before he could think it over; color drained from his pupils as his muscles expanded and veins popped across his rippled, chipped musculature. The bat mare yelped as his firm hands seized her black bra and tore it from her chest. Her heavy orbs bounced free with a fleshy smack, her nipples fully erect, swelled by estrus larger than usual.

"S-sir, what are you-!?" She could barely comprehend what was happening once he pushed her to the desk and bent her over, a hand hooked into the hem of her panties, which he also tore away. The crotch was lined in a trail of slickness that connected to her painfully inflamed pussy folds. He breathed in her musk to deliberately work himself up, as his horn lit and his aura undid his zipper to free his black cock.

"You said anything," he firmly reminded. “It was on my recommendation that you and Midnight were allowed into one of the prestigious military academies here. You promised me you'd honor whatever favor I asked you for when the time came to pay up. Well cadet, that day is today."

The thestral sniffled; her yellow eyes were watery. "N-no, please! Anything but that! M-my body’s for my herd alone! Plus I'm highly fertile right now!”

“Good,” he groaned deeply, crazed by lusy, the turgid head of his darkened cock poking at her exposed marehood, causing her to involuntarily shudder. “I don’t intend on stopping until I’ve plugged every fuckable hole in your body.”

“B-but I’m promised to Middy, Cerise, and any other mare invited into our herd!"

He frowned and paused his assault. "Do you intend to renege on our deal, cadet?"

"… n-no, sir," she lamented, her eyes closed to hold back tears. A proper soldier was supposed to obey their superior without question. It had been drilled into every cadet from the moment they enlisted. His orders came even before her vows here, indoctrinated as foals to blindly obey.

Almost imperceptibly, Moonlight forced herself to nod her consent. How could she blame Midnight’s betrayal after what she was about to do? But she owed the supreme commander...!

She felt his stallionhood slap between her buttocks, ashamed as her cunt dripped and reflexively winked, her estrus screaming for the veteran stud to breed her. "Please, can we-"

Shining leaned forward and closed his teeth around the nape of her neck, a typical mark of dominance from a stallion, to make a mare buckle in submission and present herself to him when he claimed her fertile womb in the classic position of their most ancient ancestors.

Firm hands seized her toned, shapely buns and spread them wide open to expose her clenched holes, her heart-shaped clit left to wink and splatter his rigid shaft in her feminine lust. His precum-smeared ebony tip prodded at her cunt, then he drove himself inside his former student.

"N-no! Ah..." She whimpered and closed her yellow eyes, tears in their corners. Nonetheless, she felt instant relief from the itch and burn in her most intimate canal, frozen by indecision and instinct when her supple asscheeks clapped under his wild thrusts, a mere vessel of raw lust to awaken a hyper-stallion. Wet squishes and lewd slaps filled her flattened, bat-like ears.

"Mmmnh! Estrus has made you snug and tight," he wheezed and nipped at one of her ears. "You really needed dick that badly, huh cadet!?”

Grunts and snorts sputtered from the now white-eyed Shining Armor, as his muscles expanded under the experimental drug's effects and his clothes ripped, the threads strained until they tore away to reveal his full nakedness. Palms encircled Moonlight’s tit and buttock. Squeezing them so hard, she squeaked, a steady drip of her nectar left to drip down his equipment while he fucked her. "Gahd! Damn! This feels better than I imagined it’d be,” he admitted with a lusty grin of triumph. “I should have taken you long ago!”

The desk shook and creaked across the floor as he relentlessly pounded into her pussy. With her lover’s size, Moonlight was used to such massive intrusions, even when Shining punched past her cervix and bottomed out in the back of her slippery womb; which made her squirt a backed up waterfall on the spot, unable to hold back a moan that sounded more like a whiny howl.

She sniffled while she rode out her climax, trying to think only of Middy and Cerise. The herd she had promised herself to. A childhood friend and his princess, who'd invited her into their relationship! And yet, here she was, letting Midnight’s father do as he pleased with her body. Despite her heart-felt desire to resist...!

Any complaints she tried to make were swallowed up with a sharp crack to her asscheeks. The bat mare squealed each time Shining spanked her, felt her treacherous twat tighten around his cock as it repeatedly punched balls deep into her core; the would-be hyper-stallion drove to inseminate his sow. Soon, red hand prints decorated her poor abused buttcheeks while she shamefully moaned louder.

Fortunately, his office was isolated, especially at this late hour. Thus, the claps his hands and hips across her ass went unheard. Finally, with one last brutish hump, fully sheathing her wanton slit, his blackened cock flared, locking in her spread wide cervix as he fired violent loads that repeatedly splattered her slimy walls. Moonlight continued to milk his tool and squirt on him, barely able to think thanks to her damned estrus.

Shining Armor seized her wrists and pulled her arms behind her in the classic prison guard's position to assert complete dominance over her. Her ears perked at his masculine mutters in the throes of her unwanted ecstasy, like he competed with his own son to show her he was better at laying pipe. Like he could somehow win her heart over Middy, after what he'd pushed her to do.

Eventually, the supreme commander released his last load in her partly swollen stomach and popped free. Moonlight huffed, her fur glistening in sweat as heated cum settled in her core.

Yet she felt his still half-erect dick poke at her sphincter, which he rubbed circles around with his tip to lube it before he claimed her asshole, too. She whimpered, “N-no… no more..!”

"Got to make sure my hyper-stallion side takes," he mumbled as he laid claim to her impaled ass. "The more holes a hyper-stallion claims, the better. Shame I don't have another mare here..."

Moonlight tried to shut him out. She'd swore to do whatever it took to help the supreme commander, to help him maintain his hold on the Crystal Empire after he'd confided in her. But she never imagined her unbreakable promise would come to this...this unspeakable betrayal of vows.

She should have seen the signs sooner when he'd first walked in on the mixed showers, where cadet males and females bathed together in the unspoken hope they would breed; since Fiery believed females were better off birthing more of their numbers, rather than on the battlefield where a changeling could potentially claim a fertile broodmare to increase their numbers.

What would Midnight and Cerise think if they could see her now? She sniffled as her face burned, forced to lie there and take it up the ass like a bitch until he emptied himself in her bowels. Gaped wide as he popped free, ribbons of cum soaked her holes and drizzled down her.

"One last favor, cadet. You know what to do."

The sweaty thestral picked herself and knelt before him, and brushed her parted navy blue mane aside, his half-hard shaft taken into her mouth. She tasted herself and his cum, not so different from when she made love with the herd and helped Cerise clean up. However, where that was done out of affection, this was an obligation.

His hands brushed through her mane, murmuring, “Mmm… that’s a good look for you. Belly pregnant, tits leaking while worshiping my thick cock. I bet Middy feels the same way.”

She gazed up scornfully at her commander before he guided her down to the base as she bobbed her head, her throat little more than another vessel for his pleasure, to help empower his artificially-induced hyper-stallion state.

Her tongue rolled circles around his vein-lined black shaft, as he rested her hands on the unicorn’s muscular hips and serviced the stud.

Shining bucked into her face, his muscles drawn taut, and he blew part of his load directly down his stomach. The rest painted her face and tits when he withdrew to mark her, like she was now his property. "My son has nice taste in mares," he wheezed. "I wonder how Cerise’d look taking my-"

"Don't you fucking dare," she warned fiercely with a sharp hiss. “I don’t give a rat's ass what you do to me. But touch her, and I swear I’ll kill you!”

He chuckled when she rose to her feet as the already tall stallion stud towered over her. "I'd like to see you try, cadet," Shining said. "But it's hard to take that threat seriously when you were busy guzzling my cum!" He watched an excessive amount of his voluminous load coughed and almost vomited from her, where it ran over and between her heaving tits to wash over her toned tummy and crotch before it pooled under her.

His horn lit, his aura scooped up every last trace of his cum that marked her or the floor, and he forced the ball of spunk past the bat mare’s lips while she reluctantly swallowed the salty seed. Her fur was still matted, but the spell Twilight Sparkle once taught him otherwise cleaned her up, the stud spent on a relentlessly fucked mare.

"There… all gone," she proclaimed bitterly. "Are we done? Can I have my clothes back?"

"Think I'll keep them," taunted Shing with a cheeky grin, using her torn garments to wipe away his precipitation. "After all, I'm sure a would-be Lunar Guard known for her infiltration skills can find her way back unseen..." He slapped her round, muscled ass with a cheeky chortle.

Sent on her way, Moonlight shot him a last dirty look before she made her way back into the ducts with a choked sniffle. The thestral felt so foolish! So used and discarded! He'd been like a second father to her! She'd always looked up to him!

At least Beatrix's contraceptive potions were easy for her to brew. But she couldn't tell them what had happened here. Tears streaked her cheeks on her way out of the base, thankful at least no one threw an alarm. This 'favor' was a terrible mistake. One she planned to take to her grave...

Shining Armor settled back into his chair with a wry sigh, born of ambivalence. In his eagerness to assert his masculine dominance and test the limits of his hyper-stallion studly prowess, he'd alienated someone else he claimed to care about.

Madness derived of lust died away and left him hollow. But to keep a hold of the fading Crystal Empire, he'd have to match Fiery's ruthlessness!

*****

Midnight's thoughts were on his childhood friend when he leaned over the balcony to overlook the meadow, blissfully unaware of what his father was up to. Thankfully, the storm had lightened up, which allowed moonlight to illuminate the wavy field of grass. He watched for changelings or other suspicious activity; his fluffy blue fur and expansive plume tensed up. He'd left his armor behind to feel the air, down to a tunic and pants.

He spun to meet the soft footsteps of Iclyn, then lowered his spear when the snowy doe arrived at his side. "Your shift is up. Get some rest."

He furrowed his brow. "What, really? But you already took your-"

"I'm used to little sleep," she shrugged. "Something I learned in my own training. Besides, I'd prefer not to hear whatever you get up to with the princess behind closed doors..."

"Understood!" He beamed and shot her a clipped salute, marching into the room when Iclyn took his position. Upon looking back, his green eyes were fixated on the blue doe's plush rear, the skirt of her coat keeping her bits hidden.

Midnight usually didn't find Iclyn sexually appealing, given he was aware of the doe’s physical anatomy. But his loins stiffened from just ogling her backside, pondering how soft it would feel against his hips. How tight her tail hole would be locked around his hyper-stallion cock…

If Iclyn preferred to be seen as a woman, he would gladly treat her like one. She was already in the proper position to receive his cock!

Without hesitation, Midnight dropped his pants, ran back up, and secured Iclyn from behind. Ignoring her protests, he hiked her coat up, pressed his hardened stallionhood between her ass, and shoved it into her rectum.

A sharp cry awarded his boldness as the hyper-stallion got to work pummeling the cyan doe, hammering her wide hips over the railing. Breaking her tight anal passage in to accommodate his girth. His grunts and snorts animalistic, dominating another female so that she could...wait, she couldn't bear him foals-

Iclyn raised a skeptical brow when she looked over her shoulder. “What are you staring at?”

Midnight broke his lust-induced daze with a shake of his head, finding the object of his fantasy glaring at him suspiciously.

“Duh!? Uh, n-nothing, just… nice being able to see the moon,” he stammered bashfully before hightailing it down the hall. His lust-crazed fantasies were somehow worse than ever!

Once he was out of her sight, he bashed his head into the wall. ‘What the fuck’s wrong with you?!’ He internally berated himself. ‘Get a grip, man! These are your friends! You’re better than that!!’

He exhaled deeply, running a hand through his spiky mane. Perhaps a shower would help him unwind. But as Midnight approached the bathroom, his ear flicked at the sound of running water. Then the door opened, and fresh hot steam escaped out. His emerald eyes reflexively watched as Equinox walked out, fully naked.

Water droplets dripped down the tall thestral's muscled curves, her short red mane drenched and covering parts of her face. When she noticed him standing there, Midnight looked at her missing eye, usually covered by her patch, with a number of scars written across the closed lid.

Her good eye lowered into a smoldering gaze, a grin exposing her fangs. “Like what you see~?”

“N-no! I-I mean, I do, but I didn’t mean to-”

“As if! Don’t think I didn’t notice how many times you felt me up during our little sparring match. Hell, I think I felt you poking against my ass a couple of times, desperate to bury that bone!”

His blush became vibrant, his stallionhood painfully erect. "N-no, I didn't! If I touched you anywhere inappropriate, it was an accident!"

Equinox snorted, her muscled arms folded. “So tearing off my top was a total 'accident,' too, right? I bet you'd use that same excuse after ripping my bottoms off and screwing me right in front of your friends! ‘Oh, sorry for slipping my hard dick inside your cunt, Equinox! It was totally an accident, I swear~!’” She cackled to herself.

His teeth clenched, fist bawled. “Quit it!”

“Geez, relax! I get it. You’re a good-looking stud; I’m a hot as hell mare. It's natural you’d wanna mash privates with me. Matter of fact, I’m disappointed you didn’t follow through…”

Equinox swayed closer until she pressed up against Midnight, her drenched titties staining his thin shirt as they flattened into him. She purred into his ear, “… You could make it up to me now, though. How about it, stud? Wanna fuck~?”

"Wha-what?" His stallionhood bobbed despite himself, much to the thestral’s delight. Her fingers traced up his sides to tease his muscles, her snout close to his, lips inches apart… until she turned around and sank into his arms, her muscled ass firmly planted into his crotch.

“Heh! Looks like someone’s happy to see me~” she tittered teasingly as she wiggled her rump against his pants. His tented stallionhood brushed between her buttocks and bare pussy, a thin barrier the blue pegasus could so easily remove and penetrate her at his whim. "Bet you can't wait to pound this pussy up the wall~!"

“W-we… we shouldn’t!”

“But you want to,” Equinox pressed further. “C’mon, I know you need to keep those hyper-stallion instincts tamed! And unlike wifey, I won’t get mad if you accidentally knock me up~!”

This made his member pulsate and his green eyes pinpoint. “H-how do you-?!”

“Wasn’t hard to pick up on,” answered the marauder. “Your herd should know by now you’ve got needs they can’t fulfill alone. And to deny you breeding rights is inexcusable. If I was your wife, I’d make sure I was pregnant on the spot to honor what a virile stud my husband is~!”

Her titillating words made it hard for Midnight to focus on Cerise and Moonie. He felt shame in remembering how he'd thoroughly bred Chezka and Panna in a fit of unrestrained lust. It was like his needs only worsened, constantly fantasizing about putting foals in his friends' bellies to preserve his bloodline, regardless of relations.

If only Cerise had secured Rhenaes into their herd. Maybe then, she wouldn’t have been claimed by that smooth bastard, Ashen Dunes. The petite ballerina should be here, relieving his carnal needs as she yelled his name instead of-

Midnight shook away those troubling thoughts. ‘Where had that come from!? I shouldn't be feeling jealous! Ugh, damn these hyper-stallion instincts! And damn you, Equinox!’

His eyes widened upon realizing they were not in the hallway. He was in her room, hands wandering all over the thestral mare, who quivered and cooed from his fingers glided over her toned hips, her muscular stomach, all the way to her breasts where her perky nipples poked into his palms. He hissed and groaned as her hand was busy pumping his exposed, turgid cock. "Let me show you how a real mare handles dick! Much better than those wannabe sows~."

"T-Those 'sows’ are my herd!" The blue stallion pushed her away, causing her to laugh as she landed with a bounce on her bed. She rose to all fours and crawled to the edge, her breasts suspended and left to swing and sway, as she raised a hand and used a finger to beckon him over. Instinct screamed at him to fuck her.

Before the blue soldier could allow this to continue, he ran out of the room. Equinox letting him fuck her any way he wanted wasn’t worth the heartache and pain he would cause Cerise and Moonlight. More so than he already had with Panna and Chezka, intentional or not!

In a split second, Midnight arrived at his shared room with Cerise. After a soft knock, she called, "Middy? Come in!" He clicked the door shut behind her as she looked at him, dressed simply in a hot neon pink lacy bra and panties, her mane let down. Her brows furrowed, and she skeptically asked, "Why are your clothes wet? Pretty sure it only rains hail around these parts!"

"Huh? O-Oh, um, Equinox threw some water at me while I passed by!" Her scowl deepened, not liking the sounds of that. Just the mention of that marauder mare made her charcoal skin crawl.

Nonetheless, she didn’t question him further, already upset with him as it is. “So…how are you?"

"Okay, mostly,” Midnight said, noticing a chessboard across from his wife, with some of the stylized pieces moved. "Hey-"

“Tried to play a few rounds by myself, but I suck at this! Sometimes, I don't remember how each piece moves! My brother promised to help me step it up and teach me some tricky moves!"

"That's nice, but you don't have to push yourself." He realized she'd also noticed his partial hard-on, and his cheeks burned. "Sorry honey, but it’s been a while since we… did anything.”

“I’ve noticed.” She sat on the bed, her back turned to him.

His expression soured. “Well, maybe we can make up for a lost time!”

“I’m really not in the mood, Midnight,” she said flatly.

“Babe, c’mon. These instincts are driving me crazy! It’s bad enough you don’t want to have children.”

He immediately clamped his mouth with his hands, instantly regretting the words that flew out his mouth and stabbed at his wife’s heart. She looked back at the blue stallion, appalled. “Cerise, I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean to-”

She spun to him. “Excuse me?! What the hell, Middy! We’ve been over this! I’m not bearing any children until we fix your hyper-stallionism! Plus, the whole universe is in a dire state, in case you’ve forgotten! Now is not the time for that!

"Okay, but when will it be time? We haven’t found a way to fix this yet. Who knows how long I have left! So when Cerise? When?!”

"I don't know!” The charcoal dancer trembled with fury, her breath shaking. She took a deep breath and straightened her posture, glaring softly at her husband. “I love Beatrix dearly, but… trouble follows everywhere she goes. Don't misunderstand; I don't blame her, but I'd constantly worry about what'll happen to our kids! I don’t want them to suffer the same fate! I also feel like I haven't proven myself fully capable yet! I want to battle at your and Moonie's side like an equal and show my parents and brothers I'll be a worthy queen someday! Let alone a good mom!"

"And you will!” He assured, a hand on her stomach. “You’re so much stronger. You’re gonna make a great queen someday. And I’ll be beside you, supporting and loving you all the way. I promise…”

Cerise closed her eyes, thoroughly vexed. She still felt like Midnight didn’t deserve sex. Especially with Equinox near. Far as the charcoal mare was concerned, her husband was clueless about how badly he let down Moonie and herself. He hid something from them; it was written on his face.

Yet part of the dark princess didn't think it fair for a wife to deny sex from her husband. She'd taken a vow to fulfill her duties as only a wife should.

Heaving a reluctant sigh, Cerise turned to Midnight and offered, "Will a blowie suffice...?”

“Y-yeah! That would be more than enough,” the pegasus said.

Nodding her head, the princess unhooked her pink bra to let her charcoal titties tipped in pink nipples drop free. She took the hem of her panties and shimmied out of them, hopeful that her full nakedness would help push him to cum faster once she performed her wifely duties.

After dropping to her knees, Cerise tugged his pants down. And out flung his cock, slapping her in the face with a meaty thwack. Precum oozed from his hardened flare, his shaft lined in thick veins as her pouty lips closed around the head of his horsedick and took him into her wet mouth.

The dark dancer closed her eyes and hummed around his shaft. While she bobbed her head to take him to the base, Midnight fondled her ample breasts and pinched her erect nipples. Wet smacks met the air while she serviced him, her neon pink eyes opening to study his reactions. From his perspective, it gave his princess a sultry manner while worshiping his veiny horsecock.

The charcoal thestral muffled her moans around his fat stallionhood. Despite her initial hesitance, she felt her pussy moisten and drooled her love nectar onto the floorboards with each wink. No doubt due to his masculine musk, which she’d been breathing in, and made any lover he took more receptive and submissive to the virile stud.

Cerise licked and suckled his turgid tool until increased pleasant sighs signaled Midnight’s release. Her pink eyes narrowed when he placed a hand on her head and began jerking his hips into his snout, causing her to sputter and gag each time his swollen tip pushed past the back of her throat. But the charcoal princess withheld her anger since he was about to burst and braced herself by grabbing at her husband’s buttock.

Midnight cried out as his dick pulsated and fired thick hot ropes of spunk down his wife’s throat, her face mashed balls deep into his furry crotch. Cerise clutched her eyes while she dutifully drank down his seed, feeling its warmth settle into her belly. Finally, he removed his hand, and Cerise popped off his dick, gulping for air once she swallowed that last of his semen, bits of residue mixed with saliva dripping down her stained chin.

"T-Thanks," the blue pegasus wheezed, his expression contorted with shame. During that last stretch, he'd pictured being back in Equinox’s room, the marauder eagerly slurping his throbbing dick while he violated her throat. Maybe he wouldn’t feel as guilty if Cerise and Moonlight allowed her to be a part of his herd. But he highly doubted they would, given the animosity the three mares have for each other.

Once Cerise licked the last stray traces of his semen off her lips, her frown deepened to see his staff still erect and throbbing, clearly ready for another round. "Come on Middy, I thought you said one blowjob would make it all better...?"

"I did!” He insisted, brushing a finger over her moist slit, which winked and drooled her lust. "But then you were getting into, and I thought maybe you changed your mi-"

"No!” She chided, bristled more than she was aroused. “I did not appreciate you grabbing my head like that without any warning, either! I'm sorry, Middy, but I can’t do this with you. Not until you've learned some restraint and honesty!”

“W-wha?! I’ve been nothing but sincere this whole-”

But Midnight’s words died in his throat from the wrathful look Cerise gave him. Those once soulful pink eyes now burned with disapproval. “You lie like a cheap rug,” she said with a sob-filled voice as she rolled onto the bed, her back facing him.

“Babe, c’mon… Cerise!!”

“I’ll be ready to forgive you when you’re ready to come clean,” was all the princess said before she fell silent, trying to focus on sleep. Midnight bitterly took the other side of the bed, mentally chewing himself for being unfaithful and dishonest. Cerise would never forgive him if he confessed to his insatiable need to fuck and breed everyone around him.

Eventually, both would fall into a somber sleep, rather than the usual way they’d spoon. Husband-and-wife ruminated on their rocky future, their sacred vows tested once more.

But even in slumber, the hyper-stallion instinct wouldn’t be denied his drive to claim his fertile mate and try to put a baby in her womb. Midnight rolled over, his muscled arms wrapping around Cerise’s toned midsection, as his angry erection drove into her slippery folds. She moaned and smiled at the penetration but failed to stir awake.

And as Midnight unconsciously fucked and felt his wife up amidst their deep sleep, the erotic dreams assaulted his psyche only grew worse...

*****

Arcanum Folklore was a light sleeper, who tended to rest the bare minimum it was necessary to function. Any second wasted filled him with existential dread, knowing life could be snuffed out at any moment by random chance. There was always more to see and stuff to do. Lessons to learn and battles that needed to be won.

After a few drinks, he'd rubbed dark circles under his eyes before he finally propped into a wall and drifted off to sleep, to prepare for the mess that went down in the Crystal Empire. Probably less than a few hours, ready to take on the city.

He'd found himself in a pitch black void, swathed in a white, phantasmal miasma. He immediately realized it was one of his old dreams, since he'd encountered this same premonition many times.

It's how he'd learned about the Necronomicon's possible presence in this world. Why he'd really come here, his determination to fix the holes punched in this reality mostly a bitter excuse.

His boots echoed when he walked. "Oi! I know you’re there! Show yourself already!"

"Arcanum..." A familiar, feminine, accented voice met him. He saw the silhouette of a mare approaching from a distance. A brick-red brown earth pony, well-built, her blonde mane curved to drape over her shoulders. Golden brown eyes met his, a small smile adorned on her snout.

"Bloody Merry..." He sucked in a breath, remembering the day she died. When he failed to save her. She wore a blue blazer that ended in a skirt, black stockings, and a tie. "You're not supposed to be here," he told the phantom as she continued to approach the warlock.

"Oh? I seem pretty real to me," said Merry when she arrived at him. Her bust was heavy even under the constraint of her clothes, the well-postured mare mildly muscular yet curvy and tall.

From here, he could breathe in the familiar scent of her perfume. Grace oozed from her every deliberate move, no doubt from her days as a spy and assassin. "Nah… just a trick of me mind."

"Does it matter?" She poked his chest. "You could have me back! You know what to do..."

Arcanum scoffed when she rubbed his chest, barely hidden by his shirt. "The Necronomicon, up to your old tricks. Think you can tempt me to seek you out so you'll have a new host?"

"You're not like the other wizards, Archie. You could easily master that tome," she cooed with a titter. "Think of all the lives you’ll save! The lost wisdom you could take from it! Most importantly..." Merry took a step back, and his breath froze when her clothes vanished into the ether.

She stood completely naked before him, her hands clasped behind her, one hip thrust out. The erenn stallion felt her body heat, her supple flesh pressing on him as her heavy bosom mashed on his chest. "...you could also have..."

After she moved to kiss him, he shoved her away. “Piss off…”

"Why? You want this. There’s nothing to be ashamed of? It's only us here~.”

His hands shook, somewhere between fear and rage, when she directed his palms to rest atop her soft, wide toned buttocks. "You can save me. Have me, my sweet." She half-lidded her eyes. "The Necronomicon can do the imposs-"

"I don't want a soulless husk!" He pushed her back. "The real Bloody Merry was me friend, you shit!" In truth, while he and Merry shared a mutual attraction, their relationship mainly had been professional. He had no idea how she truly felt, both too afraid to take the next step.

"Find the Necronomicon, and you'll find me..." Her voice faded to a whisper as he turned his back. He'd snapped back into the strange house they were all staying in, standing down the hallway, dark circles thicker under his eyes.

“Sleepwalking? That’s a new one,” he grumbled groggily while descending the staircase. He spotted the foxy couple curled up on the couch, sleeping soundly, their tails blanketing each other.

“Lucky sods,” he commented before sneaking into the kitchen. It reminded him of a photo of him and Merry, passed out drunk from a rare party they attended. But while the scruffy detective could reminisce about the glory days all he liked, he knew Bloody Merry was dead. And it was way past due to let her rest in peace.

Arcanum raided the fridge for another beer. "Guess this cheap swill will have to do," he muttered, popped the top with his aura, and took a drink. He still couldn’t wrap his head around this bloody house, how it could possibly exist.

Likely a result of the unstable convergence between the crumbling multiverse, which brought about the baffling, yet interesting theory…" Another anomaly,” he grimly stated. “Yeah… Knowing me rotten luck, what are the odds that’s probably true..?"

With a heavy sigh, the warlock shut the door and looked to make his way back to his room… until a shape on the wall moved out the corner of his eye. Instantly, he rushed into action.

Boots creaked across the bottom floorboards, his attempt to follow whatever he saw leading the erenn sorcerer to the room in which Beatrix was sleeping. He surveyed the area, and cracked the door, finding nothing out of the ordinary, nor an anomalous presence. Just a cozy room with the wayward witch sleeping comfortably in bed.

"Bahh! I’m freakin’ losin' it,” Arcanum spat, rubbing his troubled head. He glanced at Beatrix, wondering if he’s been too harsh on her. But he’d leave that decision for tomorrow, the heaviness of the cheap booze starting to kick in.

The erenn unicorn lumbered his way back towards his room, too busy mentally debating what he saw to notice the door to Beatrix’s room steadily close itself shut without a sound…