In the Northern plains of the world, where the never-ending storm begins to weaken rests the Crystal Empire: Home to the Crystal Ponies. A nation of ponies that came back after a thousand year curse being lifted along with the tyrant that imprisoned that same empire. Shortly after, he was defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, Mi Amore Cadenza took over leadership of this newly discovered nation, recently freed of any threat. She was one of the few alicorns that exist in this world with her husband, Shining Armor, by her side to help maintain such a large important ally to Equestria. But this sort of development happened ten years ago. A new species and culture dominating the western parts of Equus with an iron fist has changed that. King Dainn and his army of caribou conquered what they saw and gave the stolen land back to the males, to liberate males from all the female oppressors of these two nations. Dainn's influence spread the longer he stayed in power, preparing for the inevitable threat to his entire plan, waiting for them to show their hand.
***
Around the border of the Crystal Empire, just at the edge of the barrier that surrounded the nation, a cloaked caribou approaches the border, his cloak flapping in the Northern winds. The eternal brewing snow storm of the north looming overhead to show it was about mid day. Efficient timing for a single soldier on foot from his homeland. Underneath, he wore shiny iron plated armor that had enchantments to protect him from the cold and anything blunt that might try to attack him, not that he wasn't careful with his movements, but it was an extra precaution. Especially this piece of land being overshadowed by a large pink barrier might end up being enemy territory. The caribou takes a footstep into the barrier bathing him in light; the warm breeze of the Crystal Empire washes over his fur to melt away all the bitter cold of the winter he’d just been in. There were a couple guards that were standing just a bit farther from him. Both of them noticed the caribou’s presence. They raised their weapons, unsheathing swords.
“Halt! Who are you?” One of the guards demanded to the stranger who just appeared before him. The gate behind them had a hard connection of three lines of magic lightning, formed into a wall-like fence, moving out of the gate and around the Crystal Empire to enclose the entire bubble. There was nothing within five feet of the barrier. The barrier is between the storm outside and the Crystal Empire's boundaries which meets up with the fence. The big doors had a passcode, seeing the padlock on one of the doors; it seemed likely that only the guards knew the code.
The caribou lowered his cloak to reveal his equine, specifically caribou facial expressions. His face resting in a neutral tired glare. He walks up to the guards, not worried about the swords they had unsheathed. “I am a soldier of a nation that is in a pact with your ruler. I have come to check up on the ambassador that we had sent to the capital of your nation.” He explained, not really going much else in detail.
The crystal guards looked at each other, before the other examined his appearance. He remembered a caribou fella that was dressed up in a similar format long ago. Of course, it was too long for him to remember exactly, but he remembered the green colored attire was roughly the same, below his torn cloak. The left guard nods in confirmation, moving to type the password in and open the gate, which groaned and whined in protest while it slid its doors further open. The right crystal pony glanced back at the soldier caribou directing him in a follow gesture. “Follow me. I’ll take you to his living quarters.”
The caribou seems to at least appreciate that they finally made up their mind. He followed the guard as the other one closed the entrance behind them and they continued further into the large green fields of the Crystal Empire. He walked with the guard along the dirt path, realizing that no one was around in the fields at this time. He found that a little strange given that he would have expected someone to be out there tending to get a good harvest, or starting one. He would then notice that the dirt path led to the actual capital, shaped like a huge rose compass from above. At least from what he saw in the pictures before coming here. He honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. From what he read up on the Crystal Empire and the reports given by their ambassador, it was a kingdom of ponies that had the strange tint of something crystalline within them. He was more interested in the power source of the entire kingdom: the Crystal Heart. From the archives, it is an old pony artifact said to contain power depending on how those around them resonate with it.
At least, he was thinking up all this while they entered the crystal wall that separated their city from the agricultural part of their safe space. Immediately, he was assaulted by stone architecture, but for some reason the patterns on each of the rocks glowed like it was a part of the wall itself. Each one painted in a different color or made in a different shape. He looks up to see that the house roofs didn’t really exist. It made sense given that there was no fear of large rainstorms in this city. All crops were likely sprayed with water every once in a while to make them blossom. He finally gets to see the creatures of the town as they take a right, moving through the slightly larger tunnels to the main road that would lead to the four main roads of the cardinal directions.
His eyes lock onto the creatures of the kingdom. It didn’t seem to match the theme of the city in any way. There were the occasional crystal ponies, which he was expecting, but the backwater streets were also filled with other activities with different species then what was supposed to be in the Empire. There were strangely Equestrian ponies in the mix among the Crystal Pony crowd.. The mares were strangely treated like how they were back home, but in worse conditions. To his knowledge, their society should be more balanced in terms of gender roles. At least, that’s what he thought, but maybe the Ambassador didn’t take a look at the streets. Surely, he would have done his research across the Empire for any straggling data, right? The soldier then glances sharply at seeing familiar shapes. Caribou shapes. To his surprise, he saw quite a few caribou going about their day like it was another daily part of their routine. He was about the question where they came from, until he noticed one of them hollered in a bit of pain. His attention snapped to the action happening, seeing the stag hit a mare that seemed to be stuck in a part of the wall, shaped just enough to fit her in. Her limbs tied and ropes limit her movement, but it was clear to him that she was biting something. However, with a few more hard hits to the side of her face, she finally let go, releasing what he expected was a cock. The mare did have a slight bruise on her face, but she left her mark, literally. She left a sort of scar of teeth, like a ring tattoo, right at the base of his appendage.
He winced at the painful motion of both actions he witnessed, but he only can remember one group that would even attempt to do this to mares not willing to the cause. The caribou here had to be of the Royal Regime. Only the cruelest and most self centered stags would even try forcing other nations into their own agenda. More importantly, why were the ponies being so nonchalant about the Royalist stags just prancing around doing whatever they want to their own mares? But then again, from the reports of the High Council, the Royalists are all dead. Not to mention there have been reports of other caribou tribes wandering the Frozen North.
“Why are the citizens of the Crystal Empire allowing their mares to be treated like…. this?” He asks as he steps closer to the guard gesturing to the display of mares wearing black collars to his left, which the soldier had little idea of the concept of even what a ‘black collar mare’ was. The state of affairs was not matching the reports that were sent by the Ambassador. This whole thing reeked of something strange going on, but he hoped the guard could explain at least enough to ease his worries.
“We are in a pace of… change, currently. The laws have changed for mares' benefits, but some just… don't understand that yet.” The guard explains after looking back to see what he was being asked about.
The soldier glanced at the caribou still walking around as they seemed to stare at him equally as hard. “In that case, where did all these caribou come from? To my knowledge, only from my homeland is there caribou.” He asked, the guard would jump slightly at the question, but not enough for the soldier to notice.
The guard quickly answered just to please the soldier until they got into the palace. “They are a different clan that we found in the tundra of the Frozen North. They looked like they were hanging on for dear life surviving in the wilderness. Once they explained they just wandered for years in the cold in search of a safe haven, our king gave them refuge in the Crystal Empire.” It was only half of the truth, so it was convincing enough.
The soldier hums in thought, that does seem to check out, logically speaking, but it was still strange that a caribou tribe acted similar in behavior to the dead Royalist. “In that case, who is their leader’s name?”
It took the guard a long pause to think of something that would sound convincing again. “Chieftain Johann. He is currently not in the Crystal Empire though, you’ll have to catch him another time. Sorry about that.”
This seems to sooth the soldier’s current concerns. He was a soldier after all, questioning things was not his strong suit. He just felt compelled to ask given that these caribou looked really familiar, but none of them were wearing any Royal Insignia’s, so he had no choice but to take the guard’s word for it. He continues to follow the guard closely to what seems to be the center of the Empire: the Crystal Palace. But he still had one question left: “Also, I thought you said you were taking me to the Ambassador?”
The guard nodded, confirming his question without hesitation. “Yes, we are heading to where he was stationed last. He was given a private chamber that is near the top, giving him a truly glorious view of the empire. He truly is a great stag to be around from what I hear.” He said casually to the soldier.
"Yeah, quite a character he is. I don't know him personally, but he always looks so lively when you do see him." The soldier chimed in. He felt a bit better hearing that, getting away from the strange atmosphere that the Royalists were presenting around him. They would give him long stares, not because of his species, but because he was a new face. After all, caribou are a pretty rare sight. He tried to ignore the stares, moving with the guard up the swirling stairway of precisely cut marble to the door at the end. The door opened to reveal more hallways inside. The crystal guard considered his words and took it into consideration for later, once the situation was dealt with.
The soldier took a look inside as he had to admire the inside decoration. What really got him to question the beauty of the murals of colored stain was what was being depicted in each of the panes. There were some mare forms in the first glass window. They had cut horns and red sheathed wings with red collars on their bowing forms. There were four of them, each mare a different color; pink, purple, blue and white. All pressed themselves low to the floor to show they are most submissive to this stag in the throne. The depiction of the male made the soldier freeze in place in realization. The caribou with very Royalist attitudes and images of the late King of those Caribou. The guard noticed he stopped moving, looking back, tilting his head at the soldier.
“What’s wrong? We are almost there to meet your Ambassador,” He replied, almost coaxing him to move forward.
The soldier warily takes a couple steps back, he realized just what was going on now. His eyes hardened as he drew out his knife he had with him in case of an emergency. But he didn’t seem to be fast enough, a spell of some kind hit the back of his head abruptly, jarring him and making his vision blur ever so slightly. The next thing he knew, he had collapsed on the floor with the guard leading him in getting closer, everything fading to black.
***
Within the Crystal Empire’s massive throne room which was the personal chair of the current King of the Crystal Empire: Shining Armor. He would use the throne room for important meetings of various nobles and/or address issues regarding what was happening in the kingdom. His silver armor glistened in the sunlight as the windows around them of colored stain glass were filtering said light across the throne room. It would have been a very regal sight to the common viewer. Velvet red curtains hang from the large panes of colored glass to enhance the coloring of the room filling with light and a long carpet of the same feel and color to lead to the throne chair itself, like a guiding light to their leader. It was kept in pristine condition compared to other locations in the palace. All the better to display his regal nature with the beautiful light. Not that anyone was challenging Shining’s legitimacy, but it instilled obedience in all forms to the commoners he governed over. Guards, both stallions and stags, were lined up in the throne room with swords on their belts; a couple of spearmen were stationed near the entrance of the throne room. Shining knew he completed his daily quota for meetings; his bored expression drifted to the right side of his legs to find his wife, Cadence, the previous princess of the Crystal Empire. To his delight, she gave up easily to his ways, but her expression did not match such obedience.
Her horn being chopped off and her wings plucked and sheathed a symbol of her loyalty to the caribou’s ideology and way of thinking. While she was quiet and attentive, her red collar chained to the throne, her eyes were sunken and tired at the same time. She was nearly numb to the constant abuse she experienced just about every day. His left hand stretches out before he sharply slaps her left large tits. That made Cadence jolt, straightening up automatically and shaking, resisting the urge to cover the pain that was just inflicted on her. Her eyes shifted to the ground, but did not say anything for quite a while.
It would seem Shining had to break the ice first as usual. “Love whore, are you ready for your dose of happiness?” He asked, like it was implied this was her payment.
Her ears would perk up as Cadence seemed to go in a small trance, her tail swaying, almost in a dog-like happy state demeanor. “Y-Yes Master! Th-This Love Whore needs her fix!” Her expression of genuine ecstasy seems to make his cock harder.
Shining regardless, was pleased with her response, looking to one of the guards that weren’t busy and motioning him to bring the drug. The guard seemed to understand without another word being told, going into the storage room and bringing out the pills. The pills in question were a bright pink, looks like it could go in a powder form, but compressed magically into this oval shape. The pony King smiles softly, grabbing the bottle of pills. He then pulls out a single pill showing it to Cadence. “Open your mouth wide.~” He encouraged her, making her stretch out the begging some more. She whined softly before complying to her now master’s wishes, leaning in and opening her mouth wide. Shining plops the pill on her tongue, the drug taking an almost immediate effect on her as her eyes widen and the substance dissolved instantly. She closed her mouth, moaning absentmindedly while seeming too absorbed in her own thoughts. Her hands tenderly massaging her body. One hand on her pierced pussy while the other on one of her pierced nipples. She was going to town on herself and while Shining would have made her serve him some more, a thunderous bang on the doors leading to his throne room resounded, catching his attention and made him slightly annoyed. He hates surprises, much less last minute interruption to the end of a fine day’s work. He waved at the door. “Open the door, we have another request it seems.” His tone is far more telling of his soured attitude.
The guards there complied; two guards went to open the pink crystal double doors. The door revealed four entities in the middle of the doorway, an unconscious caribou dressed in green colored clothing with patches of iron armor between them, the other figures were his gate guards. One of his stallion guards steps forward, he seemed to be wearing the uniform of the guards he normally placed in the outer rim of the Empire.
While Shining wasn’t familiar with the caribou, his appearance jolted something important in the love alicorn’s mind, bringing her back to reality, and then it hit her where she had seen this caribou. Before Dainn’s arrival and just about after she became the leader of the Crystal Ponies, this same fellow came around. They had a long talk, explaining to her about an age-old pact that the Crystal Empire and their nation called Vahalakin made back during the first winters of the Frozen North. An alliance that was meant to protect both nations from outside threats. Her vocal cords moved on their own as a tinge of hope glistened in her eyes overshadowed from view of Shining Armor. “Ambassador… Falknir….”
Shining did catch the naming which was of a name that clearly wasn’t this caribou. He had the same attire like him. He knew King Dainn and his followers never wore green. That was unmistakable, having Cadence speak out of turn made him quite irritated though, his hand raised before he hit Cadence sternly across the face, a light bruise forming on the cheek of the love alicorn. Shining regained the floor, glancing to the outer rim guard seeing him step forward attentively. “Why have you brought this stag to me? I find the intervention rather rude, I was just about to retire for the evening with my pet. Speak.” He demanded, waiting for an explanation.
The guard straightened himself up to full attention like he was addressing his commander.
“My apologies, sir, but I stumbled upon this soldier. He seemed to be the only one to have asked to see the Ambassador. Your order was to capture or bring anypony that wanted to speak with him, sir.”
Shining grumbled slightly, but he couldn’t complain with what he got. He didn’t expect there to be another traitor caribou in the midst of his Empire though. Just where do they really come from? He looked at the unconscious soldier as the other two guards that were dragging him had tied his hands behind his back and forced him to kneel on the ground just in case. “Wake him up for me. I have a few questions for this bastard.”
The guard simply moved back to the soldier and slapped him with enough force to make his head jerk to one side, the caribou whined as he opened his eyes slightly. Though he succeeded in waking him, he heard the stallion wince and hiss with pain trying to make his hand feel better after what felt like slapping a steel wall. The soldier glances up seeing the King in front of him. One test of his hands being secured to his back and him stuck on the floor told him everything he needed to know. “Okay, so clearly you want my undivided attention. I’ll see if I can stay for a few minutes.” that got a punch to his gut from one of the guards holding him. It didn’t really hurt so much as the punch was knocking wind out of his lungs.
The King of Ponies seemed satisfied with his guards taking the initiative, getting back to the topic at hand. “This is the second time I see one of your kind, other than our glorious liberator and his followers. I want to know who you serve and why you have come here. The Ambassador had made all his scheduled reporting, there should be no reason for the likes of you.”
That got a chuckle out of the soldier. He glares back at the King, clearly finding this pretend King to be amusing. “You think that I would be weak enough to share that kind of information with a beta like you? You must have grown soft beating up your mares like punching bags to make yourself feel like you actually accomplished something.” Another low chuckle forming after the insult.
Shining’s eyes flare in a bright violet color, same as his glowing horn’s color, his magic clamps around the caribou’s neck like a vice. The soldier’s expression turned into something similar to a fish that was caught fresh out of the water, choking all the air out of his lungs. He looked ready to kill this bastard and be done with his annoying presence.
Cadence immediately clings to her master’s leg in desperation knowing what he plans to do next. She didn’t care what happened to her, but she must try something. “M-Master, please! Don’t hurt him!” That only got a well placed hit to her face again, making her nose bleed a bit in the process.
“Be quiet, cunt! Your master is teaching this traitor a lesson.” He blurts out to his slave below him. Shining could not believe she would speak out of turn. This was unacceptable, and the cause was clearly this strange stag. He needed to be dealt with, but killing him would yield him nothing. Begrudgingly, his magic lets go of the soldier’s neck. Reflexively, he coughs and gasps for air as the color filtered back into his facial features. He just narrowly escaped death, but to the soldier, that would have been preferred and a great way to show the ‘King’ what a real stag was made of. The stallion huffs gesturing to the doors to the right. “Take him away. Make him sing like a bird. I don’t care how you do it.”
The guard seems to finally recover from the slap. Learning from his mistake and elbowing the soldier as that disoriented him while they dragged him away deeper into the castle. Cadence whimpers covering her nose with one hand, both of them knowing that a wound like that won’t kill her. She would easily heal from such an injury. She could thank her alicorn abilities for that little boon for him. She then speaks again, this time in a more humble manner. “Wh-Where… Where is he being taken to M-Master?” She asked weakly.
Shining didn’t seem to react to her question, but after a moment of silence answered his pet. “He will be taken in for questioning, and if he refuses, We will push the boundaries of what we can do to a bitch that doesn’t want to comply with us the first time.” Cadence shivered, her despair showing as she knew what that meant. She just didn’t want to live in this kind of world anymore. She wanted to be saved. Saved from this pain and disappointment. The soldier just smiles as he was led into the interrogation room. He may go out gloriously, but he knew that the next the High Council will send these ignorant foals to know the fury of their wrath.
Shining wakes up six months after the incident. It was easy to cover up such a thing since it happened in his throne room. Not that it mattered as it was already a memory to everyone but his slaves. He had no idea why that caribou was so appalled at his own way of life, but regardless, he knew the crime was carried out through justice. The stallion gets up and moves out of his bedchamber. He didn’t bother letting Cadence out of her cage today; he just wanted to think and get some air. He moved to the balcony, overlooking the empire as a whole still in thought. It was the beginning of a new day and his reign alongside King Dainn in Equestria. His thoughts are suddenly interrupted when a guard in all his armor walks up to him from behind and gently clears his throat. Shining room turns around still completely naked to see that the guard was holding a piece of mail with a wax seal of some kind. The guard seemed a bit nervous for some reason, handing the letter to Shining. It was an unfamiliar seal, but carried a similar weight to the Royal Caribou seal. The insignia was completely different. It was a circle with five lines coming out of the circle and a spear in the middle pointing downwards. He was curious about this letter, maybe the council had a different symbol than the King’s, but at the same time he was confused why it was delivered to him.
“This was directly made as an urgent response to you, my King.” The guard clarified for him, handing the letter to the stallion directly before taking a swift departure.
Shining stared at him a little longer while he left before his eyes met the letter again. What could be important enough to get a letter right to him? He hesitates, but opens the piece of paper to reveal a thick kind of old papyrus. It was strange to say the least given that they had mechanical paper nowadays, so this form of paper is normally never used for anything. Not just that, but the words were written in some kind cursive that looked like whoever wrote it had a hard time translating to Ponish. He huffs, trying to ignore these things to read the actual content of the letter:
Dear now King of the Crystal Empire, Shining Armor,
We are aware of what you have done to our Ambassador. We had sent him over to survey the kingdom due to your wife continuing our long standing pact to the Crystal Empire before it had returned. However, it is by this deduction of him not returning home that we are now holding an investigation over your actions and the legitimacy of our pact. If you don’t wish to be arrested under these notions and/or persecuted for the inequine treatment of our Ambassador, send him back to us alive immediately.
Signed, the Northern Council.
The stallion shook a bit, in rage or fear, it was hard to tell. He wasn’t sure what the Council was talking about, but he was pretty sure that the King’s Council did not send this letter. He was told by them to imprison the Ambassador when he took over immediately. Who else was out there? Who sent this message-
A terrible tremor shook the Crystal Empire by storm. Shining gripped the railing for support looking up to the magical barrier that was powered by the Crystal Cock. A ripple of energy forming into a wave happened which explained the shockwave that just occurred, it was the barrier absorbing the shock of whatever thunderous hit just occurred. It happened again, this time even louder and harder. It felt more like a thunderclap ringing across the heavens of this frozen hell. The shock was enough to jolt even Cadence awake, accidentally having her head hit the bars of her tight cage surrounding her. She covered the hit to her head with her hands seething softly a bit with a gentle moan. She had rarely woken up with such a stir before. Shining winced covering his ears, and then the silence fell across the Crystal Empire. The King of ponies got an awful feeling as the uncomfortable silence lingered. What just occurred at the border of the barrier? “I need my Hel Guards.”
***
Rainbow Dash was not a happy mare even on her best days, especially with this whole uprising of male domination for ten years. Ten years of being tormented, for rebelling when she was young and stupid, was starting to get really old now. Currently, she is bound in the guard quarters after being shipped off from Equestria to the Crystal Empire’s guard barracks for being a ‘useless toy’. It was a well known fact that Equestria often gives the Crystal Empire the ‘useless’ slaves. Making the citizens always yearning to go to Equestria to see the truly loyal mares that were in there. She was pinned inside a box with her small tits sticking out of two cut out holes for them, kneeling bound legs to the floor with only her head showing besides her breasts. The rest of her bound limbs kept within tight rope, just enhanced smooth enough to not cause rash burning, but rough enough for her to feel it against her fur. She had a routine going for her: Waking up to having her throat stuffed, getting her daily dose of cum by at least five of the guard ponies, wait for the occasional other guard passing by to have his fun with a bit of spanking to the tits and they carry on with their day. If you really think about it, this sort of life she got herself into wasn’t all that terrible, compared to what she went through in her younger years at least. Rainbow learned long ago that biting only made this existence even more painful and shameful to live in. She didn’t like being treated like this, but it was better than being shocked and recorded to make these sounds for things like horror movies. Just thinking about that made a shiver go down her spine. Those were the years of her life that finally broke her stubborn attitude. There was nothing scarier than having her private parts being zapped by two hundred watts of lightning magic and praying to whoever was out there that it didn’t fry her in some way. Luckily, the caribou are cruel, but not that kind of cruel, still it did hurt just enough to be infuriatingly tiresome. She sighs softly remembering those times.
A couple guards passed by her, but didn’t seem to bother with trying to interact with her. Which was fine, it meant that she didn’t have to feel their disgusting length within her mouth. She really was craving a Hayburger right about now. It’s been so long that she even forgot the taste of the most basic food since they are only fed ‘kibble’ to her this entire time. She grimaced thinking that thought up, fortunately, ‘kibble time’ won’t be around for another three hours.
“Did you hear that the Red Dog will be making a show around the plaza later in the afternoon?” The first guard said walking by her.
“You mean that male stripper everyone is talking about? Well, can’t say that he doesn’t have a fine ass, that’s for sure.” The second guard analyzed the first.
“I have seen better ass, I mean, not like they deserve this kind of praise, but the whores do get some nice ass every once in a while.”
The second guard chortles. “Man, you have weird choices. They barely could even rest an apple on those weak flabs they call rumps.”
Rainbow was just trying to ignore these ignorant antler holders and their sexist comments, but the last one really stinged her pride. She may be a sex tool now, but she has the ass to prove her worth, damn it! The males went out of the doorway, which was where Rainbow was situated. She thought to herself, since it was around that time, that maybe she should find an escape now. I mean, it’s not like she had much else to lose now. Only problem was the fact that her arms were tied behind her back in a place that she could not reach. She silently cursed herself. She really didn’t think her situation through well enough.
Suddenly, she heard a thunderous noise, something akin to a banging sound, Rainbow started to choke from the sensation of being off balanced, helpless, in the box. The shaking stopped, but a few of the guards came out of their bunks. They were clearly surprised by the noise that was made.
“Did you guys hear that?” The first guard in the bunk questioned. He’s confused, there shouldn’t be anything going on, right?
“Yeah, it could be just an experiment of the King’s going off in the distance, right?”
The earth shook again, this time much harder and, things not nailed to the floor were flung to the ground. A vase near Rainbow shattered to the floor making her ears pin to the back of her skull in a slight grimace. Her eyes twitched at the sound, but her attention drifted to the males around her getting up and heading out of the barracks to investigate the noise. They neglected to shut the door behind them, allowing Rainbow Dash to be able to see outside. She tilts her head toward it, seeing the guards standing around outside in high alert. Some with armor on and others didn’t have enough armor on. Not that she really wanted to see what they were packing.
It was then that the guards and Rainbow heard a soft thumping noise in the near distance. The guards snapped their attention to the noise immediately. Those with weapons were unsheathed while the guards with wands or horns started their magic casting. She couldn’t see what they were fighting exactly yet, but it was near immediately that they fired off their spells into the threat. Rainbow couldn’t tell because she couldn’t see, but it sounded like the fire bolts and lightning arcs were rendered worthless, striking something undeniably solid, but not hit their mark. And then she saw it. A shadow looming over them as it got closer she could identify that it looked like a caribou.
“S-stay back!” One of the guards shouted while two of the four guards with swords charged at the figure. The first of the guards got flung to the farthest left part of the barracks, making the barrack shake violently. Rainbow grimaced at the shaking, instinctively trying to figure out where that noise came from. The other guard got knocked out cold. He had been flung into the air, landing in the vast green field grounds head first, likely died by hitting his neck too hard. The figure came into view of the doorway, a massive body of a caribou about twice the other stag’s size covered all in a shiny tin looking armor, except with their antlers showing which honestly looked a bit more terrifying. She also noticed in his right hand he was carrying something–no, he was dragging a person with his hand with scary ease. The other guards, the spell casters, were shaking in front of the mass that was the caribou. He glanced to his right where the guy he was holding was. “Where is Shining Armor located? I didn’t come all the way here for detours.” He said slightly irritated, tightening his fist as the guard squirmed.
“H-He’s in the crystal looking structure in the middle of the city! You… You can’t miss him!” The guard replies and it makes the caribou sigh, seeing that the guard's usefulness was at an end. The armored caribou then pulls him to eye level before sucker punching him out cold and tossing him to the ground. His attention then fixes itself on the two guards, which now decide to bolt away from the imposing caribou. It didn’t help them as he seemed to shoot out two ice balls and all movement from their steps ceased to exist.
He stood there for a good while to admire his work it seemed before noticing the barracks. He came her way a moment later. Rainbow whines a bit in a desperate struggle against her tight bindings. This caribou was very bad news. She never heard of a caribou being able to use magic without a wand before, nor of a caribou that big besides Dainn himself. She gasps softly in her struggle, not trying to sound too obvious and draw his attention, but it was no use, the bindings were simply just too tight for her to move in any way. She heard the armored caribou step on the small porch that was near the doorway and she knew that it was over for her.
He walked in and immediately heard the mare to his right and though his helmet prevented her from being able to see what was going on behind the mask, he was clearly thinking what to do with her. She could practically hear the gears grinding in his head. A moment later his hand reached down to her before putting pressure on the box on the ends that were holding her. The pressure continued to build before she heard a very loud rip or shatter sound afterwards. The caribou promptly pulled the broken box covering her off her body and tossed it aside, exposing her knots and bindings around her limbs that kept her in places she was now. He took another moment to think before reaching down again.
Rainbow instantly assumed the worst. “W-Wait, I’ll be good, just… please don’t hurt me-” The armored stag just simply seems to freeze bits of rope holding her prisoner and just shatter the rope bit by bit. Eventually, all the bondage was loose enough for Rainbow to freely use her arms. She looked at her body moving on its own gobstruck. Rainbow was shocked at the fact a caribou would help her at all. She looked up to sort of thank him but he had already moved on, seeming to do the same for another black collared mare in her situation. That was fine with her, it could give her a real chance to escape this hell hole once and for all. Maybe get some actual clothes and- She forgot about the wing sheathes and the collar. She sighs, remembering that even with this newfound freedom, she would need a bit more help in order to get rid of the bindings placed on her body. She freed her legs next before taking the first step on her own for the first time. Of course she fell, but luckily caught herself, making sure her legs this time adjusted to the weight of her body. She groaned a bit standing up to her full glory in what was really years. All that humiliation and pain… It boiled within her body, she took a glance at the armored caribou who had freed quite a few mares by now. Each one going through similar experiences as her. But one thing remained unsure: why was he helping them? He was asking to see Shining, right? It made no sense to her either way she looked at it. She didn’t want to lick a gift horse in the mouth, but she wanted answers. Rainbow walked up to the armored caribou, shaking a bit still after witnessing him tossing, at least, four hundred pound weight stags like paper bags. She gently tapped his shoulder as he just got finished with freeing the last of the mares within the barracks. “Um, excuse me, uh… Master Stag, but why have you freed us from the barracks, you must know it is a crime to remove p-public p-prop… property from the holdings, right sir?” She asked, genuinely curious about this stag’s actions for once.
The caribou would glance behind him before standing up to his full height like Rainbow, dwarfing her form. His words came out like a powerful wave. “It is because I think the mares here deserve a second chance at their life. Live how you want to live.” The stag replied plainly, and just as so, left for the exit as quickly.
This gave the pegasus barely any time to process his words. He may not have been someone that was like those other caribou, something about him seemed more… more attractive than the caribou she knew. It could have been any number of things that he had, but the way he held himself reminded her of herself before the Fall. She stumbled a bit, but stayed behind him as he was trying not to break down the doorway. “Th-Then let me fight with you!”
This got another sideways glance from the armored caribou. He exited the doorway, not saying anything for a bit before finally turning back around to face her. She leans more out of the door frame to get a better view of him. She forgot how it felt to feel the light stroking her fur ever so slightly from the breeze. The caribou sighs, not sure how to answer that. “Look, I am not sure how much you know about the Royal Faction’s culture, but there is one thing we both agree with. Mares should not be on the battlefield. Just… stay away from the Crystal Empire until you don’t hear anymore screaming or explosions coming from the city.”
This response fired up Rainbow’s attitude again. Did he think she was some kind of dandelion or something!? She angrily glared at the armored caribou. “Just because I look like this, doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass with enough speed. I can kick anybody’s ass with my muscles alone! Don’t underestimate mares!”
At least the bastard listened to every word she said, she was panting after yelling so loud her point over to him. But it didn’t seem to change his mind much. “In your current state, your body can endure a lot of punishment, sure, but I doubt you have the muscles needed to fend off a caribou in real combat anymore. Do you think all this degradation they do is just for fun? They make the mare soft on purpose; to mold you into better toys for their pleasure. Besides, if you were a mare with some common sense, you would have started running away from this place as soon as possible.”
As he said that Rainbow realized that the other mares had long since abandoned the barracks, but that didn’t stop her from explaining her case. Her eyes softened from his relenting logic. “Please, just, I want to be in the fight at least. Let me see the bastards pay. I-I’ll do anything to make that happen. I don’t care what it takes… The things they did to me… I want them to experience even a tiny bit of that pain back. Please sir…” Rainbow begged, getting on her knees and forming her hands like a dog begging for a treat, her training kicking in.
This made the stag really uncomfortable seeing her do such an odd thing for one that came off as the strong and proud type. If she could see his eyes, they would swerve to the right, not able to bear the sight. “Fine. Just, don’t get in the way or become a hostage. I won’t slow down for someone that is dead weight.” He said plainly, turning his body to look from the outpost to the Crystal city just a mile or two ahead. “Also, please don’t ever do that again.”
Rainbow was confused by his closing sentence, not sure what made him say that. “What exactly?”
He grunts with a slight annoyance. “The…. thing you just did. It’s just… unsettling.”
She seemed genuinely shocked which turned to a small bit of smugness with a giggle. “To think that a big brute of a caribou would be uncomfortable with how a caribou taught me how to beg is just so strange to hear out loud.”
The caribou would glance back at her with her off hand comment back, his motions suggest that he was a bit irritated. “That is not something I would have taught you. Let’s get this one thing straight, I am not a Southerner or Royalist. I don’t believe a word Dainn said. Damn bastard is dead too, how could his followers pop up around here?” He comments further, getting a bit frustrated not understanding what was happening to the Crystal Empire. But he knew one thing, Caribou were an impossibility this far south of the storm.
Rainbow actually seemed to shut her mouth for further commentary; given what this caribou just said which made no sense to her. All caribou liked the same thing, how could one be this different from the ones she knew? “Royalist? Southerner? What, what do you mean by that?”
The caribou paused a moment before sighing softly to her question. “To make myself crystal clear, I am a caribou that comes from the North, a Legionnaire specifically. I am not under any Royal Family influence. My orders come from the Northern High Council.”
Rainbow stares up at the caribou as they walk, frowning, pondering what he said. She is hesitant to speak at the moment, a decent amount of her training has given her some involuntary mannerisms and assumptions to how these caribou might have lived. She never considered that there might be a caribou with a different opinion other than what words come out of Dainn’s filthy mouth. It was kind of a breath of fresh air with a caribou that was so openly against the grain of this caribou way of thinking while being a caribou himself. "Well... I wasn't aware there was a difference... as far as I'm aware, there's the King with his council and... the other caribou under their influence..." It was a glance, but she got a glimpse of what happened to the earlier guards she couldn’t hear. To her mild horror, they were frozen solid, facial features of mute horror dawning on their faces as they likely saw their life flash before their eyes. “W-Wait, are they… dead?”
The armored caribou finally noticed them pass the two small fry he froze earlier, shrugging a bit. “I would say that they are preserved well enough that they are still breathing. Not like I would wait long enough to see if the ice melted. I wouldn’t worry much about those two. Wait,” He paused, finally processing what Rainbow just said. “So Dainn is still alive, huh?”
Rainbow looked up back at the caribou. “What?” Her eyes hardened as she turned her attention away as hatred filled her. “Who do you think did this? He’s their king!” Her voice was full of venomous hatred and it was clear the mare had nothing but disgust for their king. Rainbow couldn’t believe he thought Dainn was dead! Wait– why did he think Dainn was dead?
“Hang on! What makes you think Dainn would be dead?” Rainbow’s focus is back on him in an instant as she poses this question.
The caribou didn’t seem to want to answer that for a long moment. He didn’t even want to think it was possible, but if that was her reaction to what he claimed, then he might have judged the situation a little too lightly. He sighs again, seeing that he would have to catch her up to speed. “Dainn was originally supposed to be executed at the border of our homeland. He committed several crimes in the name of his ideology of how to treat females. He went too far and his punishment was to die within the cold wastelands with his group of followers… If what you say is true, then it is likely he took over your country to challenge our homeland again out of revenge.” His muscles tensed a bit. “If that is the case, I need to settle the investigation here quickly and report what I know to the High Council.”
Rainbow Dash didn’t know what the caribou meant by ‘challenge the homeland’, but she had a feeling that all of this must have been the reason they suffered so much. While she thought about doing something or running away, she was too interested in finally getting answers to worry about the dangers. “Whatever, just do what you have to do. But I said I was coming with you, and I will.” She stated clearly to the caribou which didn’t seem to respond to it at all. The caribou didn’t answer her, knowing that she would insist no matter what. His motion stiffened abruptly, sensing someone getting closer to the two of them. Rainbow follows the direction of his gaze, morbidly curious of his sudden pause. “What’s the matter?” She asked as the pegasus noticed another armored male locked into the armored caribou’s line of sight. He straightened himself out, clearly not sure how to take a guy that carried a similar energy to him.
“Rainbow. You should give us some distance, this one looks much more dangerous than the previous bunch.” He said in a careful tone. Thankfully, Rainbow was willing to listen, giving them that space, moving to a nearby building for some cover. The caution in his tone was enough to get her to cooperate. After all, given what he’d done to the others, if he thought someone was going to be dangerous, she knew she should listen. Had she been several years younger, this may not have been the case.
A heavy silence fell upon the two soldiers for a brief moment before he revealed in one hand a spear that had a series of runes all across the blade; ranging from burning effects to lightweight and sharpness runes. He looked to be an earth pony behind the shining armor, glaring at the armored caribou before him. The two of them then clashed, grinding metal as they traded a couple blows. The earth pony, using his spear, horizontally slashes at him from the right side and puts some distance between them again. The armored caribou narrowly avoided the spear, moving the position of his cloven hooves and his weight to his left side to land a nasty left hook to the pony’s body. It seemed to let out a really hollow noise as the earth pony staggered for a second before rebounding and going for jabs instead to puncture his armor. His jabs increase as the caribou nimbly dodges the strikes with all that weight on himself. The pony grunts in mild annoyance before switching tactics, using the back of his spear to get him to block it. He then threw a surprise full kick to his exposed stomach. The caribou grunts while being sent a few feet back. He may have slightly underestimated the ponies. They didn't seem to have gotten weaker since the last time he fought one of them. The spear wielding armored earth pony then opens the face of the helmet, looking down at the caribou with a sly smile, beaming with confidence. To the Legionnaire, it seemed that this pony was confident in his abilities to deal with him.
“It seems your strength is not faked like the rest of those caribou.” The pony muttered, not sure if he liked this development or not. “I am of the Crystal Empire’s 5th Hel Guard: Pointed Blade. I was told to deal with anyone that appeared in our kingdom like an intruder. It seems our King has a very good intuition for these sorts of dangers.” He comments thoughtfully before remembering the armored caribou’s presence. “Guess that means I’ll be getting rid of you now.” The pegasus mare was intrigued by the commentary, mostly just wanting to see what the armored caribou would do to this pony as she got a better view of the fight that was going to occur.
The armored caribou just looked at him in a long stared off silence. Without much warning, he then runs into the earth pony, bashing him with his shoulder after closing the distance once more. He seemed almost surprised by the way that he just casually pushed all of his mass like it was nothing. The armor glowed in a faint light gray outline, letting the armored caribou and Rainbow Dash know that he was actively wearing anti-magic runes. The stallion regained his balance before positioning himself again and going in for a powerful thrust at the caribou while the caribou was straightening up from his slam attack. The caribou dodges to his right, his body language a little annoyed, but expected those runes. If Dainn was involved, runes like that were bound to show up to slow soldiers like him down. His position got more aggressive before he dashed into Pointed Blade again, delivering several hits to his abdomen, the last hit was an open palm attack. Rainbow noticed that hand turning an ice blue for a second before the contact delayed itself with a long silence. The caribou then quickly backed away as the gray light from the rune intensified to an insane degree, the earth pony was starting to freak out, not sure why it was glowing like this.
“WHAT DID YOU D-” Before the pony could even demand an answer from the caribou, it seemed he got it through a different method, the armor began seeping out magic and in a brilliant flash of oppressive light he went off in a large magical explosion. A moment later, the caribou and Rainbow saw traces of blood raining from the sky almost to state that he was once a pony.
Rainbow just stares both gobstruck and amazed at what she just witnessed. Those anti-magic runes were the bane of her existence, one of the few reasons why the caribou were just so hard to beat, nothing that the ponies could throw at them to defend themselves seemed to work on these runes, but with this stag, he just simply overwhelmed the enchantments to make them combust on their own. She didn’t even know there was someone out there besides Dainn and his followers that were even capable of overloading a rune like that.
The caribou lowered his hand, admiring his work before glancing back at the peeking Rainbow. She instinctively flinched, thinking something else might happen, but it never came. She opened her eyes quickly to nervously smile and chuckle, getting out of the building to follow him. The caribou continued on, but Rainbow wanted to stay a bit longer. She began looking through the junk on the ground left by the body. Of course, getting a nose full of the horrible stench from the barely recognizable corpse around her. It was rather a disturbing sight. She noticed there was still an object that was fully intact in the rubble. Upon getting closer, it appeared that it was some kind of rune made gem. Voices of what she can only guess were of his superiors. Her ears perked up in keen interest before she realized that the caribou was leaving her behind. Rainbow ducks down and picks the gemstone up gingerly, uncertain if it was cracked or broken from… Well, the explosion. She really did not want to keep on replaying that bit in her mind for too long. Rainbow also noticed that the gemstone was covered in a thick red paint, presumably something else entirely. She did her best to wipe the red stain from the gem, before quickly catching up to the caribou; moving to his left and handing him the device. The caribou looked at the device a bit confused for a second before it hit him. “Is this?”
“From what I can tell, it is some kind of communication device that the Hel Guard had on him.” Rainbow commented as the device became clear for them both to hear once the caribou manage to turn up to volume of the device:
“Pointed Blade! Come in! We need a status report…. Sir, the radio is silent.” The voice concluded after repeating himself a few times. This was when the ‘radio’ went completely silent afterwards. The caribou places the radio along the side of his armor before focusing on the path ahead.
An hour of walking got them to the next obstacle in the way of their destination: the stone wall that seemed to have surrounded the body of the Crystal Empire’s city grounds. Rainbow remembered the days when there were no walls separating the farmers from the city folk, and back when she would have been recognized as a hero with her friends…. She wondered if her friends were even alive anymore. The main entrance to the stone wall was shut tight. There was no one on the outsides of the walls, but they could only suspect that they still had no idea that they were heading deeper into the Crystal Empire. The caribou nods to Rainbow which she gave back and stepped back to give him space. She knew where this was going at this point. The caribou winds his body back to give a sense of a charged momentum before dashing at the double locked doors with all his might, he roared a yell while colliding with the massive door frame, there was a thunderous clang against the thick wood, but what was even scarier is the frost that began forming on the door that spread from around his body. The frost eventually seemed to take up most of the door before she heard a nasty cracking noise, like a tree tearing itself out of its base on its own accord. Spidering cracks formed across the whole door, giving only a few moments to any who might be on the other side to notice the disturbance. A few moments is all they got though, as the ice shatters into millions of flaky pieces making a rather large hole within the door itself. The guards that were just patrolling on the other side seemed to have various reactions. Most were bewildered or scared shitless. The armored caribou then turned to Rainbow again, almost like he was suggesting the coast was clear to move again. She without a worry or care for caribou customs, walked with the caribou while they were stunned by the scene that took place.
This in turn made those in the streets take a similar stance to the guards they’d passed moments earlier. Equines in the streets taking a look in extreme shock at a caribou in full plated armor and even worse of all, a mare walking by his side. Not crawling as a good bitch should, walking. Many of the males were angered by this mare’s arrogance of walking like she was. Not that Rainbow cared. In fact, since she had the chance to do so, she gave all males looking at her a long hard middle finger to the crowd. The males in the crowd shouted in rage, they started to crowd the streets while the mares shrink back knowing what was going to happen.
“Why that smug bitch!”
“Don’t get carried away, cunt!”
“I’ll make you eat your own asshole soon enough-”
Their threats were swiftly stopped as the last step the caribou took was emphasized, creating a spread of ice that was rapidly moving in front of him. The crowd saw this, backing off where the ice was in a hurried panic to make a pathway for the two of them. And while it was just meant to save time, it simultaneously silenced the crowd watching them. The mare was trying not to think about how cold the ice was below her hooves now, holding onto the side of the armored caribou for leverage against the slippery traction of the ice itself. That was when the guards finally broke out of their stupor, their swords drawn and approached the caribou from behind. Their words got the caribou to stop for a moment and glance back at the pretending to be fearless Crystal Pony guards.
“Halt! Y-You committed the crime of trespassing onto our border without permission of the Crystal Empire and his citizens. What’s say in your defense?” One of the guards demanded sternly when his attention was directed at them.
“Come with us quietly, please.” Another of the guards added a suggestion to the heavily armored caribou.
The caribou paused a moment before replying with a matter of fact tone. “If you wish to arrest me, then try your hand at it, but when you fail, I’ll make sure to tell your superiors that they attempted to arrest a diplomat of the Northerner Society. We had knocked carefully before, but you didn’t allow us in, so we had to force our way in this time. If you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to now.” The guards were stunned into silence again, they wanted to move to arrest him, but this caribou clearly had no openings they could take.
Without another word, he left the streets with Rainbow in tow, entering the Crystal Palace to be introduced to the glittering panes of glass surrounding them. The structure was already glimmering and nearly blinding light shining through, but the murals were a different story.
All the glass fragmented pictures and scenes of familiar ponies to Rainbow. Dainn’s depiction in the murals was much more recognizable to the caribou. He could make him out instantly, having seen the stag up close before when he was nothing but an anklebiter and look where he was now, a pain in the High Council, and world’s, side. His eyes narrow behind the helmet as he looks through the sections they had.
Rainbow specifically was looking at one of the murals near the center of the walkway. This mural was similar in style to the one that Princess Celestia made after the defeat of Nightmare moon for Twilight and her friends. She and her friends were centered around that Nightmare moon and lights of their respective element would shine onto the Nightmare Moon to supposedly ‘get rid’ of her. But instead of that mural, it was replaced with each of the Elements of Harmony, bowing deeply to Dainn, naked and submissive, all red collared. All six of the proud Elements dehorned or dewinged depending on their species and content with their way of life; getting their own way of life trampled by these brutes. It was a symbol to further show that male superiority was able to dominate even them. In reality, that was the farthest from the truth. She glanced back at her black wing sheathes, knowing she can’t simply pull them apart. Her rage spiked in that moment as she left the path to spit on the depiction of Dainn that was in that center. The armored caribou caught this detail just in time to see her wind back a punch, her anger boiled within herself like a raging river. She didn’t seem to care about her own health anymore. Fortunately, the caribou caught her, pulling her back gently before she struck the glass. There was a pregnant pause that followed. Rainbow realized too late that she couldn’t even hit a mural depiction of him. Her head tilts down as tears roll down her cheeks. Each tear makes soft tinks as they hit the crystalline flooring. She quietly sobs in the caribou’s arms. He didn’t do anything else but had pulled her away, letting her wallow in this feeling. She stares back up to the armored caribou and he could see the broken expression of someone that gave up on hope. Her voice raised in a shaky question, the caribou pulling his arms back to let her stand on her own. Instead of staying on her hooves, however, she crumpled to the floor. “Why? I…. Am I truly worth nothing more than a sex toy to you?” The cyan mare asked quietly before her eyes hardened after sobbing her feelings out. “What.. is your real reason for coming here? You got everything you wanted. Mares are at the mercy of stallions, the world is perfect for your tastes. Why would you give a damn about a mare and her life, or any of us for that matter?”
She wasn’t sure it was her tear stained face, or the questions themselves, but the caribou winced behind the helmet of his armor, if his body language had anything to say about him. Rainbow fell back into her flesh shell, her mind wondering why she was still alive again. None of what this caribou did made any sense. Was he simply playing along just to betray her and get her in an even worse situation? No male was this nice. It-
Her mind stopped mid sentence feeling something cold and metallic wrap around her small body again. The caribou had knelt down with her. She looked up only to find out in mild confusion through her panic attack that it was the caribou… hugging her with one strong arm. It was only just enough to give her a warm embrace, or as much as he could through the armor he was wearing. He looked toward her, raising his helmet plating to expose his eyes again. His look was sympathetic, almost understanding again. "I don't blame you for not trusting me.. I did say before why I was here, but I also understand the amount of stress you were put through better than you might think. In our homeland, Dainn and his followers did the unspeakable to one of our War Maidens…. They are an elite group of cows that serve us in time of need. Cows that chose the path of a male, not because they had to but because they decided it was right…. He violated her until she couldn't even recognize her own kin." His other fist tightened. The stag released her, to vent his anger, his disgust, at this memory. He placed his hand on the ground and the force broke the tile underneath like it was little more than an eggshell. But Rainbow didn't flinch. This anger was real. The same kind of anger she was feeling toward the bastard that made her and her friends life hell. The stag sighs solemnly in response shortly after. “I promised myself I will find him and finish the job myself if he ever lived," He turns her head. "But it doesn't matter now, I have no idea how he escaped his execution. Mark my words, Rainbow Dash, he will pay for his crimes." He said pulling his arm back and showing on his right shoulder the symbol there. It was a black circle with an upside down spear. She didn't even notice it until now because of how simple the design was. "I swear on my honor as a Spear Legionnaire."
There was another pause on Rainbow's part. She wasn't sure what a 'Spear Legionnaire' was but for the first time, she actually trusted this guy's word. His words were truly sincere. She smiles softly, standing up slowly, dusting herself off a bit. "I am sorry you had to see me like that. I…. Didn't even ask for your name…" Rainbow managed to muster, feeling a bit ashamed she was rattled so easy. She was supposed to be the Element of Loyal, damnit!
The armored caribou smiled at her change in attitude back to normal closing the face of his helmet once more. "Haghar."
It was quite a strange word, Rainbow Dash wasn't sure why, but actually hearing the name of a caribou was something she had never experienced before. They would never give one so freely to a mare. In the Southerner's eyes they were below giving a name to any female. She smiled a bit more, repeating his name in her mind a bit longer to remember him. Maybe there truly was hope for change after all. She took a hand to wipe the tears that might still be in her eyes before looking forward. “Thank you, Haghar. That meant a lot to hear.” She then realized why she thought it strange he was so… different from the stallions. “Wait, doesn’t the Crystal… Well, Cock effect makes the caribou desire mares too?”
Yet another layer of mystery for the stag to unravel. He seemed confused by this statement Rainbow made. Just what exactly did the Southerners do while the Northerners were ignorant, thinking they had died off somewhere in the cold? “I don’t have a clue what you mean, but we can always find out later. Right now, finding the ambassador, Princess Cadence, or the soldier sent here is our top priority.” He declared. He moved forward again, the cyan mare following in tow, but she seemed very reluctant to follow after him, likely with what he said. Considering out of the three that she might have connections to, only Cadence would make her worry like that. Something did happen here. It was all just a matter of finding out the facts of the truth of the incident. They walked further into the dark hallways of the Crystal Palace. He was really just trying to find his way to the throne room. It has been centuries since he even set foot in the Crystal Empire after all.
Author's Note
That was a mouthful to finish. I plan to make more of these long chapters, if you came here for the sex, then it will come later. This is just to set the plot for things to come. I have a LOT of bombshells already, so I'll leave it like it is.
Well, until the next chapter!
