The purple flesh of the fruit offered no resistance to Alice’s teeth, the pulp so soft it was as if it were offering an invitation. The juices held within spilled out into the reindeer’s mouth, surprising her tastebuds with a splash of flavor she did not expect. This passion fruit, despite having the outward of a peach, tasted nothing like one. It was still sweet, but intensely so, as if the fruit was comprised of pure nectar. It was just at the edge of being far too rich in sweetness to find palatable, stopping just before that point to be near irresistible.

Alice found herself eagerly chewing a small portion she tore off from the whole, swallowing the bits down once the pulp became mostly mush, and going in for a second bite. She didn’t feel in anyway compelled to do this, as she might of resisted had that been the case, only finding this fruit too delectable a food to stop after one taste. This uplifting sensation didn’t flow only onto her tongue, but across her other senses as well. Everything felt more vibrant, as she started to resonate with the excitement of the other occupants of the stadium as the match between the two competing bulls neared its start.

The reindeer didn’t find this sudden shift in perspective strange, as it was not odd at all that a person’s mood could change when given something enjoyable. Pleasant music, the smell of gingerbread, and the taste of sugary sweetness, all could give a person a psychological boost. It was part of the reason Gift Givers took their jobs so seriously, as they spread the feeling of joy that helped keep the world in harmony, with most creatures not even noticing how a single gift could reverse their outlook on life.

If these passion fruits could give Alice, who was all but done with the bovine’s city, a bit of joy through the taste alone, it was no wonder this was considered a luxury item in Minopolis. The Gift Giver could see minotaur downing these by the barrel, to push the dreary and dismal atmosphere of their city from their minds, if they could afford such a thing. Seeing that Babi had personally delivered a large amount to the king’s home, that had to be the case.

As she continued to devour her fruit, Alice’s interest in what all the cheers grew. She too found her eyes locking onto the two bulls in the arena, as they made one last turn to the crowd, motioning to stir up the crowd a final time before the fight. If she had been in her prior mood still, Alice might have found them lifting their arms to encourage the crowd to raise their voices to be uninteresting gestures, but now she found herself joining in with her own mumbled cheer, having to gulp down the partially chewed up pulp in her mouth to do so.

“I hope you all are ready for some blood and action!” called the announcer, signalling the match’s start, “Fighters, take your places!”

The two bulls, Asterius and Talos, turned to face one another, their shields and clubs held at the ready, with one making a few rapid, at least for a minotaur, back and forth side steps, while the other stretched his neck one last time.

“Annnnnnndddd… Begin!”

Immediately the two minotaur made their opening moves, charging one another to close what little distance they had. They both made a bid to be the first to take a swing, but as one’s arc managed to close in on its target faster, the other minotaur pulled back and lifted his shield to stop the strike connecting with his body. The impact made a loud clash with the protective device, and igniting the crowd into another roaring cheer as the first blow was sounded. The defending Minotaur, not content with being locked in a struggle against this attack bearing down on his arm, made for a strike to his opponent’s side, forcing his attacker to back away and reevaluate his approach.

Now getting into the action, Alice took another bite of her fruit, chewing and swallowing it quickly, so she could ask a question of the minotaur aside her. “So is this a point system, or does one have to get the other to concede to win?”

“Hmm?” Babi grunted in a questioning manner, missing any signs of his guest having been eating as he tried to pay attention to the fight, the two minotaur combatants slamming their shields into one another as they went to test each other’s strength, “The winner is declared when one is knocked unconscious, rendered unable to continue, or the opponent calls it quits. It often comes to the last one, when a fighter is knocked off his footing. After that, it is clear that one standing has overpowered the other.”

Another impact crashed throughout the stadium, as the one who had been on the defensive till now went for another side swipe, and aiming not for a direct block, but for the shield his opponent was holding. Nailing the narrow shield edge with the broad part of his club, the protective object was forced aside, and with it now out of the way, the defender now became the aggressor, pressing the opening by thrusting his own shield forward into the other bovine’s chest.

“A solid blow from Talos!” The announcer declared, rousing the crowd yet again as the hit minotaur stumbled backwards.

Alice had to admit, even she was getting a thrill from watching the large, muscular males duke it out. While she couldn’t see it, she could imagine they were both sweating hard as they swung full force at one another in the hot sun. Each attack was displaying the kind of force that would incapacitate or cripple a creature like her, but the bulls were able to take the hits and keep going. Even after the staggering shield bash, the minotaur hit by it was able to recover and swing his weapon down so hard that it knocked off a portion of said shield.

“Ooooo…” Alice said aloud with a shudder, as a retaliatory attack from the defender hit cleanly across the face of the other, a blow that got a good share of gasp from the does in the audience. Taking another bite of what remained of her fruit, Alice had to ask, “And he’ll be ok after getting smacked on the skull like that?”

“Asterius will be fine,” Babi answered, “From what I’ve seen of Talos, he’s no slouch when it comes to hitting, but a strike like that isn’t gonna do more than sting the arena champion.”

The reindeer had to take Babi’s word for it, since she had no clue how much punishment these bulls could take. She watched as the one named Talos went to press his advantage, aiming for a body shot to bring down his opponent for good, but Asterius met him with a shoulder check that slipped past the club mid-swing. The charge was quicker than the other minotaur expected, and he took the full weight of the bovine, followed up by a brutal looking head butt, their helmets clanging against one another as they met.

Watching the fight go on, with Asterius catching his second wind, Alice took the last few bites of her fruit as the fight continued. Had she not been so drawn into the fight, she would found it surprising that was so interested in what was going on in the first place. The Gift Giver had little love for violence as a sport, but she couldn’t deny that something about this battle made it hard for her to pull her eyes away. Later on, when she was no longer wrapped up in the excitement of it all, it would be easy for her to assume she got sucked up in the emotions of everyone else here. The demands for victory and blood coming from the Anlerteans permitted to watch this event soaking into her mind and making her follow suit. The truth was much more simply though, yet impossible for Alice to know about in this moment.

Inside her, the fruit the reindeer had been eating was being digested, broken down into chemical compounds, and absorbed by her body. The main properties of the Passion Fruit were not to make the world seem brighter, or grant some artificial high as the reindeer assumed. While those were welcomed side effects, the true purpose of this food was to ignite something within the one who consumed it. To trigger the processes of the eater’s sex drive, and get them in the mood.

Had Alice known this, she would have never let the fruit touch her lips, and would have seen it as another tool of the minotaur to get their slaves to comply to their desire to breed. While it could have been seen that way with how the minotaur utilized it, the truth of the matter was that this was not something conceived and engineered by the bulls, who would have no means to cultivate such a useful crop. It was, in fact, a product of the Antlerteans prior to their enslavement. The deer’s culture, after splitting off from the other tribes, had in some ways degenerated into one of decadence.

Once they established themselves, and mastered their skills of magitek in isolation, the wayward clan turned to promiscuous pursuits, in which ritualistic acts of sexual exploration began to sprout, all of which involving the mass consumption of Passion Fruit to kick off their celebrations. It was another trait of the Antlerteans that made them into the perfect breeding slaves for the minotaur, as they had never against copious amounts of sexual interactions, and the most vocal complaints of those originally forced into the minotaur’s chains was that they’d have to have sex with something outside of their species. The irony of it all was that while their purpose was shifted to becoming breeding tools, the minotaur heavily reined in how prevalent sex was in the Antlertean’s island kingdom.

Clueless to any of this, Alice sat in her seat, her body’s chemistry getting muddled up as the fruit took hold. The Colosseum, filled to the brim with pheromones flowing off spectators and combatants alike, added in the trap Alice unwittingly stepped herself in, every inhale filling her lungs with the heavy scent of testosterone. Watching the two bulls go at one another, like two young bucks vying to impress a doe, was the last ingredient needed for the reindeer’s instincts to kick in, and an artificial estrus to begin.

It started slow, with Alice’s calm breathing turning into a soft pant, and unnoticeable response to what was going on inside her. Her thoughts on the other hand, that couldn’t be ignored, as Alice offhandedly took into consideration how powerful the fighters were, their bulking forms and feats of strength slowly becoming attractive features to the doe, as her mind was subtly shifted to sexual activity. At her distance away in the seats, she could not take in their well sculpted masculine forms, but her building desire was able to fill in the spots she missed, granting her a decent depiction of their rippling, rock hard muscular structures.

The gradual ascension of her lust could not be ignored forever though, and after a particularly hard attack from Asterius upon Talos that knocked him for a loop, the combination of the excitement from the fight and the Passion Fruit’s influence pushed Alice over the edge, and a sudden tingle warmth and tingling could be felt by Alice in her groin. Her eyes got pulled away from the combat as this sensation came to the forefront of her awareness, and looking down between her thighs, her irises narrowed at what she saw.

A puddle had formed beneath the reindeer, one completely comprised of her own female fluids. She didn’t even notice the wetness until she had seen it with her own eyes, but now that she did the distinct sensation of wetness came to her clear as day, her underwear having become soaked. This brought with it other awarenesses, as Alice felt her nipples had become hard, and that her breathing had turned heavy. She was no stranger to this phenomenon, old enough to have gone through several estrus cycles, but to have it come at this moment was far too inconvenient.

Her immediate thought was to get up and find a bathroom, work out the problem with a bit of personally implied relief, but that seemed like a terrible idea when she was dead center in minotaur territory. It would be a problem if the reindeer encountered a male who noticed her situation, and wanted to take advantage of it. It didn’t feel like she could just push through it either though, as the effects of her heat were hitting her hard. Alice had to do something, as it felt like she was gonna start fondling herself out in the open any second now.

Making a choice, Alice stood up like a bolt, getting the attention of her minotaur guide. “Something wrong?” he asked, as Alice stepped out into the middle row.

“This is all a bit too much for me,” Alice said, not stopping as she spoke, “I’m gonna go wait inside the halls.”

Babi, being a considerate host, worried if something the reindeer had seen had set her off, and that she wanted to leave immediately. Concerned, he tried to ask if this was the case, but only managed to get out “Want me to-” before being interrupted.

“No, everything is fine. Sit there and finish watching your match. I’ll just wait for it to be done.” Alice replied, Babi only hearing the first part clearly as she made her way down the steps.

As she reached the bottom, and turned to make her way to the arch that led back inside the stadium, her eyes got drawn back to the two fighters, and at this distance she was able to see them in better detail, and take in how handsome each looked for ones of their kind. Their powerful forms crashing into one another, assertive natures as each tried to take control of this fight, and the distinguishing good facial features they both had. It gave her pause for a moment, as she took in their details and thoughts arose in her of what it would be like to share a bed with either of their beastly men, until another solid strike to Asterius’ face snapped her back to reality, reminding her that she had to leave now.

Without any other distractions, Alice made her way back into the halls, and away from the sights that were stimulating her ever growing desire. It was embarrassing to have to flee like this, with streams of her own fluids flowing down the inside of her thighs, but it seemed like it was the only sensible choice she could make. As always though, any choice she made on a whim was one guided by the path of fate, and the actions and events that would one day make her the version of herself she was trying to resist.

Walking down the hall with no destination in mind, Alice hoped the motion alone would help work out the need building up inside her. Jogging was a common thing does did to relieve pent up tension caused in times of estrus, but Alice knew that going into a full sprint would only draw in unwanted attention from anyone sharing the inner corridor of the colosseum with her at this moment. She had to hope that walking at a slightly quickened pace would not get her too much attention, while relieving her enough that she wouldn’t start moaning for someone else to fix her problem.

The only good part of her plan was the timing, as few were gonna miss the championship level match taking place at that moment. Only those who were just arriving would be in the halls, and they were in as much of a hurry to get to their seats as Alice was to get away from hers. Though, the times when two parties unwittingly went about was often the times when they would end up stumbling each other.

A simple turn of a corner was all that was needed, and Alice found herself walking face first into the massive body of a minotaur visiting the Colloseum that day, her own tiny body bouncing right off of him like a rubber ball. It was a startling interaction, one that had Alice sputtering out apologies immediately as she tried to walk around the bull, but startling turned to panic inducing real quick when the minotaur commented on what had happened.

“Attilius, is this one of yours?” the spoke the minotaur the Gift Giver had collided with, the voice recognizable by the doe, as it belonged to the very creature she had tried to avoid.

It was “Master”. The very king of Minopolis that was known by no other title. Tilting her head up to his, she could see from under her hood the face of the man who destiny had decided she would belong to. Standing next to him were several other minotaur, along with a few female Antlerteans who were tagging along as entertainment. Among the bovines was Attilius, the Colosseum's master, and the future owner of the chimera that would one day put Alice in critical condition. That she would have the misfortune to literally run into these two.

Alice froze, not knowing whether she was following or going against her instincts in doing so. It might have been that her mind was racing with too many questions to do anything else. Why was the minotaur king here? Why at this exact moment? Why when she was feeling the effects of a powerful estrus? Whatever the reason, she had not the will to try and run away. This was probably for the best, as nothing else would expose her than to bolt away from these minotaur for, what the minotaur would see as, no reason.

“No, she’s not one of mine.” Attilius said, giving Alice a slight glance, “I don’t give my slaves cloaks like that.”

“Hmmmm… Then maybe she left the deer parking out of curiosity, and snuck in to watch the show?” Master questioned, his eyes locked onto Alice, as if he was awaiting for her to attempt the slightest twitch.

“Master, you insult the capabilities of my Colosseum’s security.” Attilius said, chuckling at his king’s presumption, “No one, let alone a mere deer, could slip in without notice. It’s far more likely that her master gave her permission to leave his side, and she is just trying to find the restrooms.”

The minotaur king still looked suspect of the doe, as if he knew that there was something off with her, and not just that she was keeping her face concealed under that hood. Alice did her best to do nothing that would encourage the mighty bovine to look into matters further, but anything she did could potentially make him more curious. Even standing still for as long as she had felt like it would increase the doubt the king had that she was just some ordinary Antlertean slave.

At this point, the only hope that she had was that she had foreseen herself back home, and thus if the path was being followed, nothing bad could happen to her here. Fate would have to intervene, and not have her be revealed. Unless she drastically misunderstood the functions of the path of fate, then she had to be completely safe.

For a brief moment it looked as if Master was going to reach down and reveal her identity by taking off her hood, but as soon as he made his move, a loud cheer sounded through the building.

“Master,” said Attilius, drawing the king’s attention away from Alice, “We were already late getting here to watch Asterius and Talos’s fight as it was. If we waste more time now, we risk missing everything.”

The minotaur king huffed, but pulled back his hand, “Very well. A random doe wandering the halls really isn’t cause to miss something this important.” Having said that, Master had yet to take his gaze off the reindeer, clearly not satisfied that she was without an owner at her side, even if there was nothing truly strange about a doe walking around on her own. “Go about your business, doe, and then return to your master immediately. I’m sure he is eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

Alice only gave a nod in reply, and waited until the minotaur king and his entourage left. She could not will herself to move an inch until the second they could no longer be seen, which at that moment she dashed away and didn’t look back. The reindeer wanted to leave that building, the city, and the entire island at that moment, as this was too close a call for her to have any desire to stay longer.

There was only one major problem, that she was still feeling that building heat inside her. It had been suppressed for a moment, as being in the presence of her potential future master had been like a constant cold shower, but with her heart racing as hard as it was after the encounter, the need to satisfy her biological urges had come back twice as strong.

Alice could tell running wasn’t going to make this feeling go away, since that’s what she was doing at the moment and it wasn’t helping at all. If anything, the rubbing of her thighs again and again was just making it worse. It was becoming so strong that she was starting to trip up over her own two hooves, her legs feeling weak through a combination of fear and lust. She had to do something about this, and now.

As her eyes landed on a door in the corridor, Alice went to it with zero hesitation, hoping it would be someplace private. To her convenience, she happened to luck into a storage closet. As silly as it might have seemed, even grand stadiums such as this one needed something as mundane as a place to keep cleaning and maintenance supplies. Seeing that as a place she could isolate herself in, the reindeer entered and shut the door behind her.

Seconds later, Alice had pulled down her panties, bracing herself against one of the supply selves with one arm, while her other hand found its way to her crotch. She was soaked by now, her soft mound coated in her own fluids. It was far too easy for her to slip her slender digits inside herself, and massage the slick surfaces of her inner walls. Alice had to will herself to stifle her sounds, making small whispers of moans as the reindeer dug her fingers in deep. A small portion of her thoughts were on how she had never felt this aroused before, wondering if this was somehow related to her reaching adulthood, not understanding that her body didn’t have any grasp on such concepts.

All the Gift Giver’s other thoughts, however, were stuck on the minotaur, and particularly on her destined master. It was near impossible to think of anything else, as the symbol of her terrible fate had stood right next to her, and she was finding it hard to get over that. As she frantically fingered her pussy to extinguish the flames of lust within her, his image kept flashing in her mind, and when she did her best to force him out, all that she could think of with her sex drive so heightened were other minotaurs she had seen during her time in Minopolis. Their muscular frames that practically resonated with masculine presence. Their unquestionable authority in this land, with every other deer more than willing to be little more than sex objects for them. That last statement was only partially true, but Alice’s own presumptions of minotaur and Antlertean relationships had formed this belief, and her horny state was turning that into a full on fantasy within her subconscious, where she could picture herself being taken by a powerful minotaur male, and shown what it was like to be a female in the bonds of sexual servitude.

As her emotions reached their peak, and her prodding brought forth an inevitable flood of unwanted euphoria, her thoughts ended up going back to the minotaur king. His image, and what it represented, was inescapable. All she could think about was him as her vaginal passage quivered in orgasm, and her body’s needs were met. Legs shaking, Alice sunk down in defeat. No one knew about this besides her, and yet she felt like she had failed in some way. As if this was somehow one of the worst things she could have done during her investigation of the minotaur’s kingdom, even though her will had in no way shifted towards the minotaur’s ideals.

The Gift Giver had engaged in masturbation many times in the past, as any with a healthy sex drive would, but hiding out in what amounted to a broom closet, stroking herself to completion to the thoughts of giant, buff, bovine men, gave her a feeling of shame she could not shake. Worse still, she could feel her desire building up again, not satisfied with slipping over the edge of pleasure just once. Alice silently scolded herself, but placed her hand back between her legs for another round. The doe knew that trying to leave before her body was satisfied would only lead to more trouble, and so reluctantly she went back to work, hoping that one more time would do the trick.

Two orgasms later, Alice finally found an end to her body’s arousal. The whole affair left her panting, sore, and a bit drained, but in the end the tides of desire subsided. Luckily for her, this supply closet had a sink within it, and using some of the less caustic cleaning substances she could find, the deer found a means to bathe herself and remove the scent of sex from her body. To her gratitude to fate, no one entered the closet for the duration that she was in there, nor caught her slipping out of the room when she was finished.

The corridor had become more full since she hid herself away, with lots of minotaur and deer making their way through the Colosseum, with most heading in a single direction. It was pretty clear to Alice what was going on, as the fight she was watching before must have come to its conclusion, and those here to see it were heading for the exit. For a brief moment she wondered how long the fight had went on for, because what might have been a few dozen minutes felt much longer to her in her isolation.

Then the reindeer reminded herself that the end of the match presented a more pressing matter than just the time that had passed, as it meant that Babi, who believed that Alice was waiting for her in the halls, would have surely left his seat to find her. As little as she thought of the minotaur on the whole, Babi had proven to be a bull of his word, and would not have left her waiting for longer than needed, if he even sat through the whole fight in the first place.

A small problem arose when Alice realized she had no clue where Babi would be by now, but then she made the assumption that if she waited by the exit, then eventually Babi would see her. Following the crowd of departing minotaur and their slaves, Alice had no trouble finding her way there, and to her relief it was Babi who was waiting for her upon her arrival.

When noticing her coming to him, Babi spent lighty questioning where she had been, to which she lied and said she had went to the bathroom, remembering that Attilius found that to be an acceptable excuse for her to roam the halls. Babi didn’t seem all that pleased that he had been left to worry about if someone had discovered what Alice was, and if something was being done to her when he was promised her safe passage, but did not press the matter too hard. They had found each other, and that was all that mattered in the end.

After that there was no more room for detours, as both Alice and Babi wanted to leave Minopolis as soon as possible. Having been the one to suggest the Colosseum, the minotaur felt bad that Alice felt the need to leave during what was supposed to be the most exciting spectacle of not only that day, but for months to come. While none of what happened was truly his fault, Alice was glad that he was determined to bring her tour to a close. She had enough close calls and revelations on how the minotaur did things to last a while.

Though despite everything, especially her perceived failure to control her urges, Alice did feel this visit was productive. She had a fairly good idea of how the Antlerteans and the minotaur perceived and interacted with one another. She understood what parts were not as bad as they first appeared, and which parts needed to be outright removed. Unfortunately, the reindeer still had no clue on how to prevent the terrible deeds that the path of fate dictated would happen, but thankfully she still had time to figure somethingout.

The two left the city with no issues, and Alice allowed Babi to take her all the way back to his farm, if only to say goodbye to Amy and Nezzar, since they were of the few Antlerteans she had some sort of friendly relationship with.

“It’s such a shame you can’t stay longer.” said Amy as she was told by Alice that she was heading back home, “But if you need a place to stay next time you’re around, think about us.”

“Now Amy, you shouldn’t make offers without consulting the master first.” Nezzar said, as the minotaur was not too far away from them.

“I suppose if she just needed a place to stay, it wouldn’t be that big a problem.” Babi said, listening in to the conversation. “But I think I’m done giving tours after today.”

Alice gave a nervous chuckle, agreeing to some extent that it was not the best idea to ask a random farmer to smuggle her in and out of Minopolis. For all the information she gained, there were just too many spots where things could have went terribly wrong, if it had not been fated that it wouldn’t.

“Look, I’m thankful for all you did for me.” Alice said, truly appreciating the effort the inhabitants of this farm did for a complete stranger, “But truth be told, I don’t know when I’ll be back to take advantage of your offer.”

If at all possible, Alice would have liked it that she never stepped foot on this island ever again, but seeing as she’d have to deal with the minotaur some time before they started their conquest of Equestria adjacent settlements, and the enslavement of their people, that was probably an impossibility. She would have to return someday, but hopefully not as a brainwashed servant of the minotaur king.

Giving her final farewells, Alice took her leave, and walked off of Babi’s land, heading back to the shores of the island continent. Checking every so often to make sure she wasn’t followed or that there was no other minotaur on the countryside to spot her, she eventually got back to the location she first landed at when reaching the island, and then took a deep breath to steel herself for the long jog back, remember how hard it had been the first time going across the sea.

Testing the air to make sure it was cold enough to use for the reindeer’s form of flight, she found it a simple task to step on the frigid breeze, and begin her trek back to Equestria. Like before, it took hours before she could see the familiar lands, and several more to finally be able to touch down on solid ground again, but through an exhausting jog that she would never suggest any other reindeer attempt, Alice completed her journey.

After a long rest, the doe waited for night, when the air got cold over Equestria, and continued her trip back to the Far North. Alice didn’t stop again until she made it back to the Gift Giver’s Grove, and the cozy cottage that she called home. Only stopping for a moment to give the front door a knock, she opened it and announced her return.

“I’m back!” she yelled, dropping her backpack at the doorway, while removing her cloak to hang it up.

While it was late in the evening, it was not so late that the other Gift Givers had retired to their rooms. Only that they took to resting in the living area after a long day of work, with Aurora sitting near the fireplace as she knitted a sweater that would become some fortunate creatures next Hearth’s Warming present, while Bori took to reading a book.

“Welcome back. How was your trip to the village, dearie?” Aurora asked, the two other reindeer believing that was where she had been for the past few days.

“It was fine,” Alice lied outright, “Nothing new. Same old, boring town with the same old, boring people.”

“I bet ‘boring’ felt pretty nice after all this trouble with the minotaur,” Bori said, assuming that Alice wanted to go home in order to clear her mind of all that. Perhaps address the problem from a new direction after a relaxing stay with her parents.

Alice might have agreed, if not for the urgency she felt to rectify this problem. She didn’t have time to relax when every day put her closer to becoming the Alice of the future, which would doom everyone she knew, and more, to become minotaur breeding slaves. Problem was, after everything she had done, and everything she learned, the doe didn’t know what to do next. While she had a better understanding of the foe she was up against, how they functioned, and how not all minotaur were like their king, she was still pretty clueless about how to prevent the events that had been foretold.

Not really having a response to what Bori said, Alice made her way to her personal seat in the living room. Truth be told, she wanted to make her way up to her room, and fall into her bed, but the chair was closer and much more inviting at the moment. Slumping down into it, Alice took a moment to relax her weary muscles, it dawning on her a few moments later that this was the point in the future she had seen when she checked to make sure she’d return home safely. Her destiny up to this point had been completed, and while this reaffirmation that a fate that depicted her safety was just as immutable as any other vision she had seen was comforting for now, it still had the horrible implication when it came to her minotaur dominated future.

Sinking into her seat, Alice closed her eyes, feeling herself drift into slumber. As much as she wished she could commit more time to figuring out what to do, she could not resist the call to sleep. The last thing she felt was a blanket being placed over her body, this not being the first time she crashed out in the living room.

The young reindeer didn’t try to resist, as tomorrow she would have to return to her Gift Giver duties, and she would need all the energy she could get if she was to do that while still seeking a way to change not just her destiny, but what felt like the destiny of the entire world.

Author's Note

So this is the last chapter for this story this year. Sorry if it's a bit underwhelming. As I mentioned in the comments, I kinda got down with the sickness, and spent some time dying in my bed as I recovered. I'm good now, but it sucked of quite a while.

Assuming you all got through, I would think that a lot of you were expecting a bit more from this. Alice's trip to Minopolis, on the whole, kinda felt like it didn't amount to much. In a sense it was meant to convey that when she not using her powers, she's kinda running blind, but I'm not sure if that exactly makes for an interesting section for this story. To be honest, I did think of spicing this chapter up by making Alice's masturbation scene but instead making it a scene where she grabs a buck she sees, drags him into the closet, and practically rapes him in her eyes (I'm sure he would be fine with it), in a "no one will ever believe you" moment. Then I come to the conclusion that a situation like that is a bit too far for Alice as a character, and reigned it back a bit. Not entirely sure it was the best idea.

As an aside, I'm surprised no one commented on all my cheeky references. That Babi's farm is called "Babi-Lon Gardens" (As in the hanging gardens of Babylon) That Nezzar and Amy are named after the king and queen that owned said gardens. That Babi's master Lon has a milk ranch, and has a pair of slaves named Malon and Cermia (This all being a reference to the Zelda series, and Lon-Lon Ranch). Alas, maybe you all did notice, and didn't think it important enough to mention. Still, I love adding in little easter eggs like this.

Well hopefully there will be more progress next year, where I actually have an important part of the story to enter into. Until then, see ya all later.