End of an Era: The Upheaval

For the moment, the majority of the civilians were left packed into the cafeteria or placed under house arrest. Others disappeared without a trace, with whispered rumors that they, too, were taken to the interconnected series of hives below the earth. Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse tended to the wounded with a number of crystal pony doctors and nurses, under the watchful eyes of the changelings and cultists which hovered nearby. Until the new queen decided their fate, they were hostages to make certain the former rulers and the 'Swords' didn't attempt to mount an uprising. Already there were sounds of unrest, especially from those who'd been separated from family.

“At least they've fed us,” whispered Moonlight, while she sat with her fellow cadets around a table. “Probably to fatten us up, until the stallions are ready to be eaten, and the mares...”

“Don't say it,” replied Lightning when she couldn't finish. “No way in hell we'll let that happen!”

“Keep your voice down,” reminded Moonlight, thankful all the chatter drowned them out. “Believe me, I'm frustrated, too. I honestly don't see a way out of this, not without outside help.”

Midnight nodded and also kept his voice low. “Maybe Celestia and Luna will come themselves? Send in the Elements of Harmony with a massive army behind them, and rescue us from this mess?”

“Doubt they know what happened yet,” said Moonie. “Besides, they're a continent away. Even they're not capable of mass teleportation, from what my father told me.”

Sighing, Lightning plopped her chin atop her folded arms on the table. “Well, so much for that idea! What kind of Wonderbolt could I ever hope to be, when I can't even save myself?”

“Your time will come,” reassured Moonflower, who delivered them another tray of fresh food. She and Snowy Blizzard also sat with them, where they all shared a meal to help pass the time. While none of them voiced it aloud, they all wished the 'Swords' were there to make them feel more secure. After they'd been called away, they hadn't heard another word about them.

Later on, everyone that wasn't injured was ushered by the guards to the barracks, and into the massive showers the soldiers once used. They were demanded to strip and bathe, with those that were slow to obey prodded by swords and spears, until every stallion and mare started to disrobe. The hiss of water poured from the shower heads and sluiced into the drain while the room steamed up. Soap bars and champoo were passed around, and the sea of bare flesh was soon lathered up.

Ocellus and the 'Swords' were also directed there to bathe, the former a cum-soaked mess with her head bowed and ears flat. Lastly came Cadance herself, still collared with a chain leash, which was held by Trixie, Fuchsia and Lavender at her sides. They forced her to crawl in on all fours, her skin and fur also caked with mostly dried cum after the mares had taken hundreds of messy loads.

“We could use a bath ourselves,” echoed Trixie's voice. The three unicorns let their robes drop to expose their now nude bodies, whereupon they wandered in with subdued splashes from footsteps.

Despite the circumstances, Cadance was secretly thankful she'd at least be allowed to finally wash the reek of musk from her, even if she wasn't allowed to rise, another attempt to degrade her before her people. Her wet mane fell about her, her eyes clothes as she felt renewed by her bath.

She felt a hand encircle her horn and opened her eyes to see Trixie smirk back. “Sorry, lovebutt, but there are some risks even I won't take. Girls, hold her down!” They crowded her with hands that seized at her slippery, wet flesh, and even though Cadance didn't resist, found herself trapped between the combined auras of the unicorns. From behind her ear, Trixie plucked a black ring which glinted under the lights, which made Cadance pale and instinctively pull back from her.

“P-please don't. I've behaved so far-”

Trixie snickered with a sneer. “So you know what this is?” The ex-queen nodded. Celestia had outlawed and destroyed these devices before Cadance was even born, but she'd seen replicas, which were of an incredibly poor quality compared to the real deal. These cursed rings would permanently attach to a unicorn horn and forever neutralize their magic, and from what she'd read, the eyes of any unicorn that wore them eventually lost any sense of life, forever cut off from an important part themselves. Almost as bad, was that any unicorn that tried to remove them would have their horn severed when the device shrunk in retaliation. She wondered if their wands came from this method.

“We can't risk that you'll teleport away and seek help,” explained Lavender.

Fuchsia cupped the ex-queen's chin. “Or, we could always make you one of us?”

Trixie shook her head. “There are some creatures that can't fathom the truth. Alicorns are one of them, protected by an ancient magic even our order hasn't been able to crack. A shame! You could probably level most of our other enemies here by your lonesome! Now, hold still! I'd prefer not to harm any of your precious cadets here!” With a sniffle and slump of defeat, Cadance submitted.

She couldn't help but release a couple tears that trailed down her cheeks when the cold piece of metal slid down her horn to the base, before it clicked into place. She dared to risk the simplest spell, basic telekinesis...and cried out when it felt like her skull was about to split as it buzzed.

“There we are,” said Trixie. “Hey, think of it this way! You're no different from a mudpony now, since I'm pretty sure that plume won't work anymore, either!” The unicorns cackled like witches.

Cadance felt like she'd truly lost, since from what she'd read, no one had ever successfully removed one of these infernal devices without the loss of their horn, cursed by the blackest of sorcery.

Lavender whispered, “Wonder whether one of those would work on Fiery's little trick?”

Fuchsia raised an eyebrow. “Where would we place it? On his cock? We only have the one, anyway!”

Trixie reminded them, “Time for the next phase of our plan!” With a wink, she then turned to a few cultists outside the open shower, who nodded and floated off to follow her directions. Chrysalis had already okayed it, and provided them with a sizable dose of Ocellus' aphrodisiac venom, the last of the reserves, with no other known changeling able to reproduce what Ocellus had managed. They wondered whether it was because she was a Protoquen, before she'd lost her true shape.

Either way, like planned the cultists then pumped the venom into the water supply. It soon poured over the bathers, filed the air which they inhaled deeply, Trixie and her sidekicks included, who wanted in on the action about to ensue. While the trio couldn't be knocked up anymore, they could still partake in pleasures of the flesh, and the stallions and mares here were soon driven to mate. Nipples hardened, cocks stiffened and bobbed, pussie winked with moist anticipation.

“I...I feel hot,” murmured Lightning with glazed over eyes, forced to thrust out a palm and lean on a wall for support while her knees wobbled and her head swam amidst her bodily heat.

Moonflower whispered, “E-estrus? Shouldn't be that time of year yet!”

Snow Blizzard wondered the same. “Why do I suddenly feel so...?” She couldn't finish, her face stained by a blush, while every admittedly attractive pony here suddenly looked so fuckable! Unfortunately, her eyes found her son first, as he was closest to her, and looked studlier than ever since his hyper-stallion side had been awakened, almost a mirror to a more youthful Thunder Storm. “Hey boy~.” She pressed her motherly flesh to him, her breasts mashed on his chest.

“H-hey mom.” Midnight tried to resist, but his hyper-cock had other ideas as it slapped onto her belly, and he felt Lightning, Moonlight, and Moonflower crowd about and press themselves into him too, desperate for their own turns with him as he emitted his own potent hyper-stallion musk.

He backed up, and his well-cut butt collided with a wall, while the four mares went to their knees and started to service him, with kisses and laps at his meat which swelled to its full size. Similar scenarios played out around them, as Ocellus' copied 'cutie mark' resonated with the ones that adorned Foal-Bearer and Wet Nurse, when the three of them also sucked off Fiery.

Trixie, Lavender, and Fuchsia mobbed Night Blade, with a promise to, “Warm you up!” The bat stallion's hands slid down their supple flesh, as his snout connected with their lips.

Grinded flesh filled the air with echoes of wet slaps. All part of a masterplan the cult representatives shared with Chrysalis, with the intention that every mare present would be knocked up by the time this was over, and produce more incubators for the swarm to implant their clutches in.

Cadance, too, found herself swarmed by a line of stallions who'd always wanted a piece of their love queen, driven mad with lust when she opened her arms and spread her legs to accept them all. Her holes were stretched and filled, the loss of her power a distant memory as she was fucked silly.

By the time it was over, every stallion present would take at least one turn with their queen, their unspoken fantasy fulfilled. She could feel their mixed cum slosh about her stretched out womb.

Midnight also bulked up a tiny bit more with each mare he bred, his own mom, Moonflower, the twin sisters, and Ocellus all included, since he felt a burst of renewed energy each time he came inside them. With the last mare he claimed, his physique almost matched his father's. Currently, his hands seized on Moonflower's hips, the mare draped back as she was plowed amidst her moans.

At his side Moonlight mashed one of her tits into him, while their tongues wrestled, faint hearts visible in the eyes of everyone here. Lightning then pressed to his other side, and he kissed her too, while Snowy Blizzard pressed her breasts into his back, bent over, which provided Fiery an opportunity to drive himself into her cunt, everyone driven by lusty instinct in the free-for-all.

“What a shame none of them will remember this,” said a cum-covered Fuchsia.

Lavender was also drenched in spunk and schlicks from rubs across her moist pussy sounded as she replied, “Side-effect of the venom in such heavy doses? But wow, he sure can fuck!”

Trixie's eyes lit up while she'd watched this play out with a wicked smirk. “That's because he's a hyper-stallion! Usually, that mutant gene shouldn't activate in peace times, but maybe the war never really ended? After all, we've kept the conflict between the tribes stoked up in secret.”

“Chrysalis wouldn't have come this far without us,” noted Fuchsia.

“Well, we have operated subtly, behind the scenes!” Lavender tittered. The 'Cult of the Nemesis' had spread across the multiverse, and their agents provided weapons and information to sacrificial tools. She wouldn't have known where most of the other hives were, had we not let it slip!”

Even before they'd made contact with Chrysalis, the order left evidence for her to find, a bread crumb trail that allowed Ocellus and a number of other peaceful Protoquens to fall. They'd let Chrysalis stoke her own ego before they made themselves known, so that she dropped her guard. Even now, they were aware of the dark queen's predicament, but let it be drawn out to amuse them. Finally, Trixie licked cum off her lips when she rose and beckoned her sidekicks to follow.

“Time to move on. A hyper-stallion's seed can sometimes override another pony's, so maybe he'll be able to knock up a number of mares here,” mused Trixie as they washed themselves off.

“A shame he can't put foals in us,” said Fuchsia, who rubbed her belly.

“We have something much better implanted in us!” With that reminder, Lavender massaged her own stomach, as the three of them felt the eldritch entities that lived within them squirm within their wombs, and moaned in unison, rewarded with a climax that released a flood from their twats.

Gifted by the hidden masters of their order, each acolyte felt blessed by the truth. One which Trixie hoped she could make her own little hellspawn, Beatrix Belladonna, see. The witch unicorn mare had been attacked in her own Equestria by the cult, as were Lavender and Fuchsia, defeated and forcibly converted to the cause as the tentacled, eldritch entities were implanted in their core.

Then, they'd used the cosmic storm like many of their members to travel the cosmos. What others called ruin they perceived as perfection, and spread their work and word across the multiverse.

Beatrix was meant to be their order's 'Dark Messiah'. A task she'd turned her back on the moment she'd learned the truth about what she was. Yet she couldn't break her connection to the Necronomicon, no matter how far the star traveler attempted to run from her dark fate.

*****

A coffin rocked amidst the slap of wet and wrecked flesh, Chrysalis spit-roasted between Shadow Haze, Bane, and Gloom. They took her over-and-over, with the threat their pincers would sever her horn, and Haze had rasped, “Transform into Celestia. I always wanted to fuck the most powerful, beautiful queen in all of Equestria.” She bristled at his words, but nonetheless took the likeness of the voluptuous white mare in a flash, straddled atop Bane below while he hammered her pussy, Haze would piston into her ass, and Gloom facefucked her, her belly heavy with many loads.

She stared hatefully at them and wondered when it would end while their mandibles helped themselves to more of her bouncy suppleness. They sawed in-and-out of her, drooled on her, and Bane would occasionally take one of her titties into his mouth and fiercely suckle them. She couldn't help but moan, clench up, and occasionally bathe them in unwanted lust forced from her.

Again, with a final, synchronized thrust, they slammed her between them, balls deep when they unloaded into her core. She felt their clammy seed fill her, forced to drink a massive load down. “Time to switch,” said Haze when they popped out, careful to keep their pincers near her horn.

“Good. I want to try Luna next,” said Bane.

With a roll of her eyes, she transformed herself into the lunar queen. Her eyes widened when they shoved their erect cocks back into her orifices, Gloom now at the bottom, Bane in her rectum, and Haze down her throat. In her mind she wondered, “Don't these scum ever tire of this....?”

They clapped her ass some more. Brutalized her stretchy insides with their mutant cocks.

What would they do with her once they finished? Keep her tethered up here with the hope they'd knocked her up, like they did that crystal mare maid they'd already captured and kept in a casket?

Forced to take more voluminous loads, her head swam, like the blurred royal crypt around her.

Three hooded and robed figures floated in. She wondered, “Am I hallucinating...?” From the folds of their robes, hands brandished unicorn horn wands, which they pointed at the mutant trio. Flames spat from the tools, which started to shine. Haze, Gloom, and Bane yelped in surprise, as the small blazes licked at the sheen of their armored shells, forced to pop out of the queen's holes.

“We're here to rescue you~!” Lavender tittered as they used their wands like flame-throwers.

Chrysalis flashed back into her true form and hissed, “You sure took your time!”

“Wasn't our fault you chose to head off alone,” countered Fuchsia, as the shimmer of the flames reflected off the area. “Think you're clever, do you, sons of Sombra? We knew one of you had infiltrated the drones we experimented on from the moment you showed up! That's why we picked you when the time came! We knew you'd lead us to whatever you're up to down here!”

Trixie snickered too when they drove the three rhino beetles into the corner. “Now, behave, or we'll cook those precious cocks and feed them to you! Hmm, what's this?” She looked to Autumn Gem, unconscious in a coffin. “Girls, it looks like we'll walk away with another convert, too!”

“I can't wait to show her the way,” said Lavender with a slow lick of her lips.

Chrysalis hissed at that idea. “You promised me the ponies here are all mine-”

“We rescued you,” reminded Fuchsia. “Surely you can spare us one of these mares?” Grumbles rose from Chrysalis, aware a mare could produce at least a dozen drones at the lower limit, but she sulked and nodded. “Good! These sons of Sombra think they're clever, but they've doomed themselves!” Small fires flickered from the wand tips, which cooled down as they spoke.

Shadow Haze rasped back, “What do you mean? Do you intend to kill us?”

Trixie tittered and shook her head. “No, but you may wish we had! You possessed these bodies because they're full of arcane darkness, but didn't consider the consequences! Now, not only can you not escape them, but eventually their psyches will meld with your own! No matter how much you try to master this flesh and teach yourselves, you'll eventually devolve into dumb, servile brutes! A suitably anticlimactic end for another bunch of Sombra's failed bloodline!”

Gloom rasped out, “You lie!” He shrank back with a whimper at another bout of flame.

Fuchsia mused, “Do we? Believe whatever you like. You're our prisoners now!”

Trixie seemed to pull the crystal ball from nowhere. “I have an idea to amuse ourselves.” She waved a hand over the sphere, as the miasma filled it and cleared, to reveal the army on their way to the Crystal Empire. “Beatrix is already on her way! As his another child of Sombra.” The mists revealed Cerise, still locked in her bovine form while she strained to help pull a caravan with the bulls.

Bane stared at her. “Impossible! Our father wasn't able to father a female! And why's she a cow?”

“Nevermind that,” dismissed Trixie. “Point is, your Sombra can't because he delved too deeply into the dark arts and alchemy he used to supernaturally empower himself further, and altered his seed so that his children were rendered lesser, failed 'clones' of him. That would be you three included! But of course, that wouldn't necessarily apply to the Sombras from other dimensions...”

“The Sombra that fathered Cerise Silhouette became a hero,” explained Fuchsia. “Partially due to Beatrix's influence. She's like an incarnation of the butterfly effect, wherever she travels!”

Lavender added, “Not so different from us! We're here to make certain Chrysalis succeeds!”

Shadow Haze dared to take a small step forward. “Why not choose us instead? We can help you retake our father's nation,” he offered in desperation, with no other boons left to barter with. “We know a number of Sombra's secrets! We can share them with you! Let us be your allies!”

“You have little to offer us,” dismissed Fuchsia. “Other than more cannon fodder!”

Lavender's eyes lit up. “But obey us well, and maybe we'll let you knock up Cerise~.” The sons of Sombra shared a look, aware they had little alternative, and forced a solitary nod. “Excellent!”

Chrysalis huffed, her arms folded beneath her breasts. “”Now that you've finished your little chat, let's head back! I take it you already adorned Cadance with the black ring? And filtered the venom into the showers?” The mares nodded, and she cursed, disappointed she hadn't been there to see it.

She was tempted to torture these mutants, but her concern was more on the army headed her way. Doubtful their much smaller numbers could overcome her far more vast forces, but she'd been told not to underestimate the minotaurs and Amazons, each much fiercer warriors than a typical pony. At the first hint of treachery, Trixie reassured her they would torch Shadow Haze, Bane, and Gloom.

They left the royal crypt, with the unconscious Autumn Gem in tow, one of many all but anonymous captives which the order brainwashed into a fresh acolyte. A waste of a fertile womb, Chrysalis believed spitefully, but she made the occasional trade to keep the cult on her side.

At least, she told herself, any of the enemy forces that survived would prove useful to her hive...

*****

Beatrix sat atop the cart that was pulled by a holstaur alongside a number of minotaurs, and occasionally bounced on the rocky terrain which made up the road. “Hey Cerise~,” she called. “Ever feel like somewhere, somebody's talking about you? Because I feel like that all the time.” She exhaled. “Of course, it makes sense when your mother's the Great and Powerful Trixie~!”

With a huff as sweat rolled down her, Cerise said, “I'm sure people talk behind our backs all the time! I mean, even some of my people think I'm a spoiled princess, and you tend to make messes wherever you travel, or so I've heard! Darn it, this adventure stuffer is really hard work!”

“Don't have a cow, ma'am!” The witch chortled, met with more rumbles from Cerise. Nonetheless, despite her attempts to ease the tension, they shivered from the same sensation. Almost like a sixth-sense, aware that Grayscale Carnifex likely watched them, and possibly their enemies, too.

“Not that much farther,” broke in Moon Hammer, who helped pull. “A few more hours!”

“That's when this'll all be decided,” said Redrum, who pulled beside his chieftain. “Better rest up before we head into the heart of enemy territory. Can't win when we're exhausted.”

“Or on an empty stomach,” replied the blacksmith, as Redrum nodded with a smile back, one of their supply carts filled with rations and drink to keep them on their feet as they marched.

From a cart further back Sanguine complained between messy chews, “Jerky isn't the same as the real deal. Kinda weird to have a world with a mix of animals and man-beasts!”

“Demons are products of the arcane,” mused Xanadu. “So too could be these anthropomorphic creatures? One of those divine mysteries I suspect we'll never fully uncover.”

Kismet said, “Who cares? Why should we overthink it? We're here to live and love!”

“To amuse ourselves wherever we can,” added Nymphette, who sat atop and idly kicked her clawed feet. “Hey mistress, you've been pretty quiet lately! What's on your mind?”

“Just...focused on what's ahead,” admitted Bellatrix. She'd never planned to be a 'mother', but reminded herself these succubi needed her, both so they could learn and so they wouldn't embrace the worst sides of themselves, like she had for a time when under Sombra's influence.

A lot of them could perish in the war ahead. Her fellow demons included, since she didn't have much time to prepare them. Usually, she'd avoid any conflict that didn't personally concern her, and only swoop in when Beatrix and her friends were in trouble, but Carniufex had made it personal when he'd delivered these demons to him and told her he'd written her into the Necronomicon.

Zafire Heart ruminated over similar concerns. She had absolute faith in her Amazonian army, but felt the loss of each one. However, she'd finally be able to return to the Crystal Empire, even if it wasn't her own. No doubt her crystal pony ancestors would be proud of what she'd achieved.

Far as she was concerned, the captured ponies there were her people, too. Her lieutenants, Chezka Windhooves and Panna Fauna, would help lead her forces into the assault they planned.

She'd already taken them for a ride today, but Zafira's eyes settled on the succubi. Bellatrix may not be an option, but what about the rest of them? Perhaps they'd be happy to celebrate with some 'recreational' activity, after they overthrew Chrysalis and restored order to the Crystal Empire?

Yet that was far ahead. She couldn't allow pride to lead them into their downfall. Grayscale Carnifex's forces had better make an appearance and be worthy to ride with them when the time came, or else she shuddered to think of the losses this alliance could suffer as a result.

Sometimes, when her eyes turned from the road and looked to the treetops, she swore his hooded shroud was visible, a constant observer that waited to make his play. Was he simply cautious, or a coward? A benevolent schemer or a devil in the dark? She hoped they wouldn't find out too late.