Original Link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BYInfgpXtAM-o1giCQ874v0zv2rvL0fLclB5uZCyTMY/edit?usp=sharing

Bouncing left. Bouncing right. Fluttering to the broken roof and down again. Picking up everything interesting while leaving behind radiantly green trails of smoke in the air. Toxica could not be happier. Some might even argue that she is probably the happiest little demon in the world. Having spent most of her existence underground, hiding in strongholds and just waiting endlessly, it was only understandable that everything around her was new and exciting, no matter where she went. Now that Equestria belonged to the demons, she was finally free. Still, there were places she was not allowed to go, especially when Succubus’ servants were there. So while they were searching in the old castle of the royal sisters, she had to stay outside and stand guard in case any rebels might attack. As with everything, she turned this into a game she kept playing eagerly for hours.

In the meantime, Despair was inside, displaying a tense but grim expression. She knew it was very unlikely anyone would even dare to attack her. But when going after such important tasks as right now, she could not make any mistakes. So she just sat there, acting as the supervisor watching over the ponies that had fallen for Succubus’ beauty. As they were searching, their mistress kept one of her followers for herself. Without a care in the world, she lay on top of a stallion, sliding her long snake tongue down his throat and enjoying everything he could offer to her.

“Mmmh. What a nice specimen. So much vigor. You wouldn’t mind sharing any of it with your lady, wouldn’t you, honey?” Succubus requested.

The stallion was fully entranced, nearly absent-minded. With dreamy eyes and heavily blushing, he could only slowly nod, then close his eyes and present his neck. The red and black demoness did not wait long. She gave it a long lick, then slowly sank her teeth into it and began to drink. After swallowing a few times, she stopped again.

“Despair, sweetie. You really should have a taste of his blood. It is so rich and sweet,” Succubus commented, licking her lips.

“I got no time. Someone has to watch these ponies,” Despair argued.

“You worry way too much, sweetheart. When they hear my voice, they will come to me. When they see me, they will fall in love. When they smell me, they will do everything I desire. And when I kiss them, they will eternally be mine. I own every last pony here and they are quite reliable servants. None of them could ever resist me,” the demonic seducer explained.

“You are born that way, so I don’t blame you. But even when we are clearly in advantage and dominate everything, we can never allow ourselves to get lazy or cocky. Don’t forget why we are here. We must find it and we must keep it safe. This is important for everything else to work out,” Despair stated, then got up and started wandering through the old library.

Succubus just smiled and lowered her head back to the stallions neck. A few more sips followed, then she was finally done. The wound was not deep, since it was not her intention to kill the stallion. But he definitely was suffering from blood loss now. So as a small stream of blood leaked out of the wounds, she just kept licking them until they stopped bleeding before getting up.

“Very nice, sugar. Now would you be so good as to put your hazard suit back on and go outside? I bet Toxica could use a playmate,” the demoness requested.

Again, the stallion just remained silent as he got up and dizzily followed her wish. He was unable to think, but Succubus was not. She knew that she just sent him to his death. Even though the poison may not kill him, Toxica was known for being a very destructive player. At least she had been playing with so many ponies by now that her patience increased, allowing her to relish the games longer before she would utterly mangle her playmate. The idea made Succubus lift her left front leg in front of her mouth, smile and chuckle a bit.

But soon, the burning desires inside of her dominated again. One pony was never enough to satisfy her. Succubus’ lust was, as her title implied, insatiable. Craving a female body now, she just walked around the library, picking the next best mare close to Despair and started feeling her up.

“You know, what I don’t understand is why we didn’t do this any sooner. What if at some point, Celestia would have started wondering if that scroll existed and began searching for it herself?” Succubus wondered.

“We kept her so busy with the present, she could not even start to think about the past. She never found out how it all exactly began anyway. The only one who could have told her was Luna, but even she has lost her memory,” Despair stated, then began to grin sinisterly. “It is funny, really. Celestia doesn’t even understand that she was actually helping us by making sure nopony, not even her own sister, would remember the rise of our queen.”

“And still, honey,” Succubus started, then gave the mare’s left front leg a long, slow lick before continuing. “There were so many opportunities where we could have gotten the scroll earlier. Slendermane could have so easily just picked it up and disappeared with it.”

“You don’t get the point, Succubus. If we would have taken any actions on it earlier than now, we would have risked the scroll to fall in the hooves of Celestia. If not even we know where exactly it is, it would be impossible for her to ever find it. Only through us, she would have gotten it. Only now that Blueblood… Master Blueblood is in control, we can securely attempt to retrieve it. After all, Celestia never hesitated to even order attacks on our strongholds whenever it was possible. Even if we could have secured the scroll sooner, she might have sent reapers to take it away from us again. We can’t allow any of that to happen. So, it was best to show absolutely no interest in the castle ruins at all,” Despair explained.

“At least we can go here now. These old, crumbling halls have a very special feeling of dread to them. This was the birthplace of our queen. This is where it all began. No wonder the BloodClaw Cult wants to build a shrine here so badly,” Succubus commented while laying on her side and petting the mare’s head as she placed a trail of kisses on the demoness’ belly.

Soon, erotic noises were following. The servants of the demoness were very tempted to turn around and jealously observe their evil lady as she played her games with one of them. But that would mean disregarding her wishes. An absolutely impossible thing to do. Even Despair did not respond or pay any attention at all and just continued wandering around, making sure the ponies were not secretly planning anything or slacking off. She had full confidence in Succubus’ abilities, but with such an important item, she could not be careful enough. At last, another mare shouted in cheer from the other end of the library.

“I think I found it!” she announced.

Despair instantly ran over as fast as she could, almost tearing the scroll out of the mare’s hoof. Turning her front legs into claws, she carefully unrolled the scroll. A big sinister grin followed moments later.

“So that is what it looks like? Very beautiful in its own way,” Succubus commented as she approached from behind.

“Yes, this is it. Luna’s artificial pony rune. This thing is what created our queen,” Despair explained.

Moments later, a scream of agony could be heard outside of the castle ruins, followed by Toxica’s child-like giggling.

---

Around the Crystal Empire, the first signs of spring could be seen. Tiny streams created from thawing snow were running down the rocky hills and the first animals started to wake up from their hibernation. It never really gets all that warm this high up in the north. But at least for a few short months, plants could grow on the snowfree spots in the ground. Not that it would really matter for the residents of the Crystal Empire. They always had the same pleasant atmosphere due to the Ever Season. But the slowly awakening scenery around the empire inspired many to get into a more cheerful mood, welcoming the spring.

Same rule applied to Applejack and Babs Seed. Both were carrying baskets in their mouths up a hill and looking for a nice flat spot in the grass, preferably close to a tree. After just a few moments, they could find a good location, placing their baskets down there and opening them. Babs’ basket contained nothing but items. A large rug, plates and cups. Applejack’s was full of food. Mostly pastry made with crystal berries and homemade apple juice. About ten minutes after they were finished unpacking, they spotted Caramel running towards them.

“Phew… made it… Sorry for being so late,” he apologized breathlessly as soon as he arrived.

“Oh, don’t sweat it. I’m just glad you could make it!” Babs stated happily.

“Ah take Spring Sapling lectured ya again?” Applejack wondered.

“Yeah… I don’t know, but I think he has something against me,” the stallion figured.

“Or it might be because ya lost the keys to the storage barn three times in a row,” Applejack commented with a light chuckle.

“Go rub salt into the wounds, why don’t you?” Caramel spoke in a grumpy tone.

“Ya know she’s just teasin’. Come on and have a seat,” Babs invited, offering a plate with a crystal berry muffin on it.

The light brown stallion began to smile again and opened his own basket. Suddenly, his expression changed into confusion and he seemed to nearly panickly search for something. Eventually, he stopped and let out a depressed sigh.

“Sorry… Seems like I lost the pie I promised you on the way here... “ he stated.

“Aw man!” Babs commented with a mildly frustrated and disappointed expression.

“Well, good thing Ah brought extra food!” Applejack commented.

“You knew something like this would happen, didn’t you, AJ?” Caramel mumbled, feeling mildly insulted.

“Aw, come on now, Sugarcube. Ah just wanted to make sure we all get enough to eat. Don’t be all saddle-sore ‘cause of the pie. Ya know Ah just want to support ya,” Applejack stated.

“Yeah… sorry… again…” Caramel spoke meekly.

“Enough with all the awkward stuff now! Come and try some of the apple juice! We made it ourselves just before we left!” Babs invited.

At last, the light brown stallion sat down and began to eat while Babs filled his cup with some of the juice. His eyes suddenly went wide open after he took a sip to wash down the muffin.

“Wow! What’s in this stuff? It’s great!” he commented.

“Nothin’. Just apples. Good apples, that is,” Applejack replied. “Ya know, it’s pretty hard to get some decent ones around here. The merchants don’t even know the difference between a Gala and a Red Delicious. But with the right knowledge about the right types of apples, ya can make really darn good stuff out of them.”

“I have to admit that I didn’t even know that there are different types of apples. I thought apples are all just the same…” Caramel commented with an awkward smile.

“That’s no big surprise. I heard just the same about most of the city folks. They think there’s just one type of fruit or vegetable for everythin’. But there’s such a huge variety! Same goes for the crystal berries we farm, by the way! Just by lookin’ at the different bushes, ya can see that we are growing various types! The ones Ah figured out so far are Prism Pride, Tenderness, Sunshine Delight and Faintling,” Applejack explained.

“My gosh. I had no idea!” the light brown stallion replied in astonishment, causing Applejack to giggle.

“Ya should’ve seen Sapling’s face when Ah told him that Ah figured that out by mahself. Ah think he nearly became a Faintling himself, if ya know what Ah mean,” the orange mare stated, followed by all three giggling a bit.

“That reminds me of Lily Valley. Remember her? That pink earth pony mare from Ponyville who would faint every single time when she became stressed?” Caramel wondered.

“Hehe. Yeah Ah do,” Applejack replied with an awkward smile. “She once fainted because of a bunny stampede. Boy was she angry when she figured out that Ah caused it.”

“How the hay did you even do that?” Babs wanted to know.

“Well… Long story short: Ah had to harvest all of Sweet Apple Acres just at the beginnin’ of applebuck season once, because mah brother had hurt himself. Ah was too proud to ask any of mah friends for help, so Ah worked mahself to the bone. Still, Ah had to help others, Fluttershy in particular for this incident. Had no patience, since Ah just wanted to get back to work. So Ah tried to round the baby bunnies up like cows or sheep… Didn’t know bunnies don’t take that too well and would panic. So… That’s that…” the orange mare summarized.

“And here I thought I was the only one causing trouble! You can cause some serious havoc compared to me!” Caramel stated while chuckling.

“Okay Ah admit, Ah deserved that one for earlier,” Applejack replied, adjusting her hat.

“Oh man, what a story! But then again, I caused just as much trouble when I first came to Ponyville,” Babs commented, rubbing the back of her head.

“Didn’t we want to leave the awkward stuff aside and focus on the pick-nick?” Caramel wondered playfully.

Another round of giggling followed, then all three continued eating and drinking. Once they were done, they all just laid back and looked straight up into the blue sky. Barely any cloud could be seen all around.

“Ya know, Ah really do enjoy thinkin’ back to the happy times. Much has changed, that’s for sure. But with the help of good friends, ya can overcome anythin’,” Applejack commented.

“Ya do have pretty extraordinary friends, cuz. Then again, you are pretty extraordinary yourself,” Babs commented.

“Aw shucks, Babs. But truth is, Ah am very grateful Ah have such amazin’ friends. Without them, Ah don’t think Ah’d still be alive today,” the orange mare replied.

“Well, I can’t really say anything as extreme about you, but I am incredibly grateful I have you as a friend myself, Applejack. Thanks for dragging me out of that dark pit I’ve been stuck in,” Caramel added.

“It’s the least Ah could do for ya, Sugarcube. Ah’ve been through all of this mahself and in all honesty, Ah’m really glad to have ya as a friend, too,” Applejack replied.

“Hearing that means a lot to me. Really,” the light brown stallion finished.

After that, the conversation came to a halt, as all three just laid there and enjoyed the nice weather. Babs was even about to fall asleep when they suddenly heard somepony running towards them. Applejack was the first to lift her head, smiling widely as she spotted a friend she hadn’t seen in months.

“Howdy, Twilight! So glad ya’re finally back home! How did things go with the arabian ponies?” she wanted to know.

“Hi, Applejack. We got their support, but that’s not the most important thing at the moment. Rarity is doing really bad! We just brought her to the hospital,” the purple mare stated.

Instantly, Applejack jumped up in shock. Babs and Caramel, too, got up and showed expressions of worry.

“What?! Darn! Ah knew it was a bad idea to travel in her condition! Ah just knew it!” the orange mare stated while stamping on the ground, blaming herself for letting Rarity go that easily.

“I need to get back to the others. I just wanted to let you know. We will have to talk about everything later!” Twilight stated, then turned around and started running again.

Applejack was clearly nervous now. She quickly gathered her belongings and stored them back into the basket.

“Ah’m sorry, but Ah just gotta check on her! Pardon!” she mumbled with the basket in her mouth.

The others understood and just let her go. Even though they didn’t know Rarity all that well, they too were worried about Applejack’s friend. So Babs and Caramel continued the pick-nick on their own, the atmosphere now slightly less relaxed.