All watched with utmost silence and held breaths as the pegasus shook off the cloak, only to reveal two more cloth wrappings laden all around his back and midsection. Lance fumbled for a bit, using just his mouth to loosen the fabrics enough that he could simply shake them from his form as though they were stray leaves that had hitched a ride upon him. Once those extra layers fell into a heap at his side, his eyes darted across the whole parliamentary body as they let off a unified gasp, noting that a few had flown into the air on wings from the crowd as his own pair spread wide.

"His wings! What happened to his wings?!" one of the airborne pegasi shrieked, his irises shrunk to pinpricks.

"Who would force a pony to have iron merged into his flesh! It must be painful to trot in!" another exclaimed before fainting and dropping out of the air like a fly, whereupon another swooped in and caught her before she could hit the floor.

"It goes from the end of his withers to his croup! Is it possible to remove the iron without killing him?" a third hollered, his legs shaking freely as he stayed in mid-air.

Lance stomped his hoof, just prior to shaking his head. "I see you're all fixated with what's on my back. No, this cannot be removed at this time. It's too risky," he stated in a cold voice.

"What... happened?" Shining asked, his voice cracking as the question left his lips.

"A very long story," Lance replied, his tone firm and his visage set into a scowl. "But I can tell you what happened before this," he began, using a hoof to gesture to his wings. "It's very simple: I got my cutie mark."

Shining's eyes widened. "You... what?" he inquired.

Fenrir stepped forward, flanking the pegasus. "It's something that happens... all the time in Fantasia, sadly. Anygryph or pony with wings that aspires or achieves their talent markings have their wings plucked, torn away from their bodies, or in this case mangled beyond all repair should they get captured. It's especially common for foals, and doubly so for those whose talents center around flight. I have personally seen it happen many times, especially in the course of one night," he said in a low, chilling tone. "The flightless hippogryph filly we have with us... her feathers had already been forcibly removed."

"As did I, but I managed to get away before any of my feathers were removed," Sarah added, stepping forward. "Another one of the many reasons we don't want Mythonians in Fantasia—out of the seven that showed up, two were pegasi with cutie marks. It wouldn't have mattered to the locals that they were ambassadors. The end result would have been the same."

"Is there... a way to remedy his flightlessness?" Cadence piped up, a frown on her face.

Natalie stepped up. "Not yet, but me and Matt and Anna," she gestured to her fellow unicorns with a hoof as she spoke, "take turns working on possible solutions."

"A mob of very angry unicorns did this to me, so I figured unicorns could remove the blasted metal bits," Lance sighed, shaking his head. "But, after this damn thing gets removed—if that happens at all sometime this century—I may still remain flightless. I'm in a lose-lose situation here, and I wouldn't wish this upon anypony or gryph period."

He flexed his steel wings and flapped them for a moment or so before adding, "My joints and muscles are still whole, just covered and unable to grow feathers. For all I know, the metal could've been hexed ten ways to Sunday, and the three unicorns I have with me wouldn't know until they tried one of their many possible 'solutions' to my predicament."

"What's worse is that, if we make one wrong move, we could tear out his entire spinal column. We haven't tried many 'solutions,' and what little we could manage failed thus far. It's very tricky to deal with," Anna stated, trotting up and flanking the pegasus on his other side, using a hoof to gesture to his back. The parliament kept their gaze glued to Lance, though, and she sighed. "I get the feeling some of you want to toss him in a circus of freaks."

"A circus of freaks?" Blueblood scoffed, all eyes falling unto him as he spoke. "Oh, no no no. The rest of you, mayhaps you'd be fit for such a thing. But that pegasus and the very ugly changeling deserve one thing and one thing alone: to be put out of their misery!"

"Blueblood, cease! We will not kill the ambassadors, let alone relegate them to a miserable life just because they are standing in the same room as we are!" Luna bellowed, rising onto her legs and slamming her front hooves again.

"Can I ask for him to leave? Otherwise, he's going to continue to cause problems and be a pain in the cutie marks for us all," Matt groaned, gesturing to Blueblood with a hoof.

"If anything, it's you who should leave," Blueblood retorted, a wicked smirk curling on his face. He gestured to the ceiling with a hoof. "Look up there, at the ceiling," he stated. Matt hesitated for a moment and followed the hoof, finding the ceiling adorned with more stained glass murals. One sported the black pony from before, another had the chimera, a third featured a dark grey unicorn with an unusually red horn, and a fourth depicted a changeling mare with a black coat and dark blueish-green mane.

"What do you notice about those murals? Go on, guess," the blond-maned Mythonian stallion stated with an indignant huff. "The one with mismatched limbs first."

 

"The chimera is bright; it looks like it should be a walking rainbow with all of those colors," Matt replied, returning his gaze to Blueblood. He shook off his cloak and sat on his haunches.

"Very good. Now, tell me: what color are the other three creatures in the rest of the murals?" Blueblood inquired, still sneering.

"Black, or very close to it. Accompanied by reds, blues, and greens, also dark," the Fantasian stallion replied, frowning.

"Excellent. And what color are you?" Blueblood continued, his smirk widening.

"Mostly black, with white legs, a white horn, and white muzzle. What are you trying to get at?" Matt snarled, his face setting in a scowl as Blueblood sat on his rear and clapped his front hooves in a mocking applause.

Blueblood rose onto his legs and pointed a hoof at each and every Fantasian, and he answered, "All of you sport dark and faded colors! The only two exceptions I can see are the cream-colored mare and the pale changeling amongst you. Thus, you've all come here to seduce us and destroy Equestria—nay, Mythos—with whatever devilry you possess!" he shouted in an accusatory tone, still grinning even as Natalie and Katie shifted into pouncing stances.

"Enough!" Luna bellowed, jumping down from the perch and landing in front of Blueblood with a powerful leap, turning to him and spreading a pair of wings that stretched wide. She leaned in close to the stallion with an icy glare, casting her shadow over him, and she intoned in a low voice, "Leave us, at once. You are nothing but trouble, for you talk ill of our guests when they have done nothing more than attempt to speak."

The Fantasians flinched, watching Luna as she turned to face them, barely noticing Blueblood as he skedaddled out of the room. The alicorn closed her wings, and sighed. "Sincerest apologies... why are you all gaping?" she asked.

"Y-y-you have w-w-wings," Anna stuttered, her form trembling, "a-a-and a m-moon cutie mark like a pony o-on the murals."

Luna looked up at the murals on the ceiling and sighed before turning her attention back to the Fantasians. "Well, yes I do..." she trailed off when Shining looked at her with a frown, before his words bounced about in her skull.

"There are no known Fantasian alicorns. Their reactions might not be... favorable."

The archer trotted up to Luna, stiffening when she stood in front of her. "May... may I touch y-your wings?" she asked.

"W-why do you ask?" Luna inquired, eyelids slanting in worry as the Fantasian unicorn before her twiddled with her front hooves for a moment.

"To... assess if they're the real deal. No offense," Anna answered, still fidgeting.

The blue alicorn thought this over for a moment, briefly turning to Celestia and Cadence. The other two nodded to her before she turned back to the green-maned unicorn. "Only a little. Pluck a feather if you wish, but no more than that," Luna answered. She spread a wing and flinched when a tan-beige hoof rose up to fondle the appendage, stroking the feathers in a seemingly random fashion.

"By Gotcat's claws..." Anna murmured, eyes widening as she continued to play with the feathers.

"Stop," Luna stated as the hoof strayed a little too close to the junction where wing and back met. She hissed when Anna failed to comply and repeated in a much more stern, demanding tone, "Stop."

The archer flinched and backed off, cringing as she set her hoof down. "Sorry... it's just... they were so soft," she mumbled. A gold aura embraced her and dragged her back to her compatriots.

"Excuse her. She's... entranced by feathers," Alexander sighed, using a claw to gesture to Anna. "I'm impressed she hasn't laid a hoof on her sister's wings yet. It's like the things put a hypnotic spell on her or something of the sort."

"Feather-fondler," Sarah muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes.

Maria hopped off Alexander's back and ran to Luna, only to stumble on her own claws and trip halfway through. She flipped and landed on her back, wincing for a bit before standing up on wobbly rear legs. The filly stumbled again upon taking three steps on said back legs alone, this time landing on her face. Lance trotted up to her and scooped her up with a front leg, carefully placing her between his wings and sighing after.

"Walking on hooves is hard," the filly complained, eyes screwed tightly shut.

"I know it is. Why'd you try trotting to the alicorn, though?" Lance questioned, turning to the foal with a brow raised.

"Because she's pretty," Maria answered.

"Uhuh. Is that the only reason?" Lance continued, sending the filly a small grin.

"Yeah," the filly responded with a nod.

"I would love to continue with the pleasantries, but due to a vast number of complications, I am afraid I'll have to adjourn this parliamentary meeting for tonight," Celestia intoned, garnering everyone's attention as she spoke. "Captain Armor, could you escort the Fantasians until they find a place to rest?"

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

The group stood in an ornately-decorated waiting room, adorned with oil-based paintings of unicorns and pegasi that were framed with gold. A carpet expanded along the floor, an intricate pattern of stars, suns, and moons glistening under the light of hanging crystal chandeliers. The lot paid no heed whatsoever to this, though; rather, their gaze remained fixed on a pink-coated unicorn with a white mane sitting behind a desk as the sounds of paper being trifled with filled the room.

"Hrm... ten Fantasians, and their cat... only three of which are unicorns..." the unicorn mare behind the desk mumbled to herself as she flipped through a book on said desk. She turned to the assembled bunch, namely looking at Shining, and stated, "And you have brought them here... why?"

"On the direct orders of Princess Celestia herself," Shining replied simply. He turned to Matt and added, "Near here is a guard post. The guards stationed there will know if you guys cause trouble."

Matt nodded in understanding. "Alright. I assume I'll be the one paying, then?" he asked.

"I was only to escort you, and nothing more," Shining confirmed, and he started to trot around the group. "I have to return to my post." With that, he bustled out of the room. The half-Clydesdale sighed and shook his head, his horn softly glowing.

"How big are the rooms?" Natalie asked, trotting to the pink unicorn with a brow raised.

"Enough to have large beds. A room could hold six at most," the pink mare answered, closing the book and folding her front hooves over the desk. "The price is fifty bits per room, please." Matt summoned a small leather bag with a flash of magic and, after counting the amount of money needed for two rooms, plopped that bag on the desk. The pink unicorn nodded and hollered for a bit, until two unicorn stallions in suits appeared.

"Guests? At this hour?" one of the stallions asked as soon as he arrived, this one with a green mane and orange coat.

"Ten Fantasians, and their pet cat," the mare answered, gesturing to the bunch with a hoof. "Show them to their rooms."

"Right away," the other stallion replied with a nod, using a brown hoof to gesture to the bunch. He groaned when NoLegs mewed, but said nothing more as he trotted away with his fellow Mythonian. The Fantasians followed behind, and the suited ponies continued leading the group down a long hall lined with oak doors for a half-hour.

The orange stallion leaned close to the brown one and whispered in his ear, "They have an emaciated, hornless changeling with them. I think it's staring at me."

"Look on the bright side, Napkin," the brown one replied in an equally low tone, "they have two unicorn mares with them. Maybe we could try to score with one of them."

Napkin grinned and nodded. "I call dibs on the one with the shooting star cutie mark," he replied. He stopped and turned around, gesturing to a pair of rooms on one side. "Alright, we'll require your names to book you for the night," he said, his horn glowing. In a flash of light, a small notepad and a pencil floated before him. "Full names are preferable, or just the surnames if you're uncomfortable giving the full ones."

"Bladerune," Matt stated, watching as Napkin jotted something down on the notepad.

"Next," Napkin sighed with a nod as soon as he finished writing.

"Mine's a bit of a mouthful. Starcovert," Natalie responded.

"Alrighty, that's two names," Napkin chirped, beaming when Anna spoke next.

"Windwood."

"Lyregale," Sarah answered after the archer had spoken.

"Icedraft," Maria chirped.

"Boltwing," Lance stated, frowning as Napkin continued to jot down stuff on the notepad without even the slightest bit of a harried look on his face.

"Rubywing," Katie sighed, tilting her head as the suited unicorn gave a brief cringe.

"Armin. I have no surname," the living changeling spoke.

"Fenrir," the diamond dog snorted.

"Blitzplume," Alexander finished.

Napkin finished writing and turned his attention back to the group. "Excellent. Now, nonponies in one room, and ponies in the other..." he trailed off upon seeing Maria flinch, and he added, "and the hippogryphs with the ponies."

The group exchanged glances amongst themselves, though they didn't say anything. They filed through the doors of their assigned rooms, shutting the doors with muted grumbles as soon as all were within.

"For such an intricate exterior, waiting room, and a fairly lengthy hallway, this room... could use a little work," Sarah remarked, scanning the room. It had three beds, a carpet that had small holes riddling its frame, a worn table with two chairs, and one pillow whose stuffing spilled out of another gaping hole.

"Well, it could be worse," Lance retorted, shaking his head. "The stallions in suits kept giving Anna and Natz looks. I really hope they don't try anything. I don't want to explain how the ponies servicing us for the night wound up with arrows and scorched manes to the guards tomorrow if it comes to that. As it stands, I'm getting a bad feeling just standing here."

Natalie trotted to one of the beds and sat on it, bouncing her body on the mattress a bit before turning to the others with a frown framed in a blush. "I think a spring just popped out and poked me in the dock," she groaned.

"Joy, defective mattresses. What next?" Anna mumbled, turning to Lance. "So... who gets what bed?" she asked.

"Stallions in one bed, mares in another, and Maria sleeps with the odd pony out," Lance replied, trotting to another bed and flopping on it.

Matt trotted to the third bed and clambered on, quickly finding that the sides of the bed were cramped and the mattress folded a bit when he put his full weight on it. "Well, there's a problem with that," he hissed, turning to the pegasus. "The bed is so small it's trying to eat me right now."

"Great, they can't even be bothered to get bigger beds to accommodate the half-Clydesdale," Lance grumbled, stuffing his face in a pillow as he felt two more forms clamber into the bed he had claimed. He lifted his head and glanced around, seeing that Anna and Sarah had laid down next to him on either side, scooching so close to him he might as well been sandwiched between them.

"Anna, you're not touching my wings," Sarah growled, eyes widening as Anna's horn started glowing. Her left wing found itself embraced in a magical aura, and forcibly spread wide, draped over Lance with the tips of the feathers tickling the archer's exposed side.

"Stop with the shenanigans at once, or I'll kick you both out of the bed," Lance snapped in a cold tone, sending both mares a glare before resting his head on the pillow when the hippogryph's wing folded back at her side.

Maria clambered in the bed last bed, next to Natalie. "What are you doing?" she asked as the cream-colored unicorn hopped out of the bed, lifting her tail and prying off a spring that had gotten wedged on her dock.

"I'm going to complain to the staff about the mattress. Stay put," Natalie replied, quickly trotting out of the room with the offending spring secured in a magical grasp. She found Napkin loitering in the hall outside and marched right up to him. "Sir, I sat on the mattress of a bed I claimed, and this got wedged on my dock," she stated firmly, presenting him the spring.

"Oh?" Napkin murmured upon having his attention grabbed by the spring. He marveled at the object for a moment before speaking, "Well... Miss..."

"Starcovert," Natalie sighed, raising a hoof and letting it connect with her face.

"Well, Miss Starcovert, business has been bad for this particular district lately," Napkin sighed, shaking his head sadly. "We haven't been able to... er, exactly afford new mattresses, though there are spares that can be swapped out. Would you like the mattress the spring came from switched with one that's been used less?"

"If it means I don't get poked in the back, I can agree to that. Would that cost any extra bits?" the Fantasian mare asked, lowering her hoof down.

Napkin shifted a bit and donned a simple smile. "Not really," he replied, a gleam in his eyes. "At least, if you and I retreated elsewhere for... say, a few hours."

"E-elsewhere?" Natalie parroted, a cold chill running down her spine. She rose a hoof up in a flinch, ears falling back against her skull. She shook her head to steel herself before clearing her throat and stating in a slight sarcastic tone, "Really. What might you want to do in this 'elsewhere?'"

"Just hang around and chat," Napkin replied, his smirk widening. He rose a hoof up and used it to stroke the mare's chin, causing her to take a step back. "Hrm, what seems to be the matter?"

"I'm... afraid I'll have to pay you the extra bits. How much?" Natalie replied, one of her back legs twitching as she spoke.

Napkin sighed, his smile fading as he lowered his hoof. "Twenty will do," he stated. Natalie procured a small bag with a flash of magic, counted the coins within, and handed it to him. He took the bag and trotted off down the hall, and the Fantasian mare returned to the room to find that everyone had fallen asleep in spite of the less-than-appealing conditions. She sighed in resignation and trotted to the bed that Maria rested upon and clambered in it, but not before checking for any more possibly stray springs with potential to stab her in her sleep. Satisfied that the curled bits of metal had little chance of accosting her, she flopped over and closed her eyes.

Yet, sleep didn't come. Her ears twitched and caught noises, swiveling when the others mumbled in their sleep. Her brow furrowed when the filly next to her began squirming and happily mumbling something about dicks and other such things she didn't want to know about.

"Maria's having a wet dream. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, given she's giggling in her sleep.," Natalie mentally groaned, ears folding back against her head. She grabbed a pillow with her magic and scrunched it in a tight heap around her cranium, greatly muffling the little moans and giggles that came from the foal.

But the sounds immediately became frantic whimpers and agonized pleas. She threw the pillow off when the child jolted upright with a choked scream moments later, and wrapped a front leg around her form. "Nightmare, I take it?" Natalie asked in a quiet, soothing tone.

"Bad... hippogryphs," Maria mumbled, nodding fervently.

"It's alright. They can't get you anymore," the unicorn replied, using her other hoof to gently run through the foal's mane. She opened her mouth to say something else, but stiffened when the door opened slowly. She stood up, holding the foal in her leg as she got out of the bed. She made to speak again, but a magical glow, different from her own, grabbed her by the muzzle and held it like a vise, keeping her lips sealed.

A similar glow hefted Maria out of her grasp with ease, and the hippogryph foal started to wildly flail about, doing her best to scream even as the glow likewise took hold of her muzzle. An unfamiliar voice spoke up in a whisper as three dark forms strode into the room on cautious hooves, one of a gruff masculine nature, "That one's Starcovert?"

"Yes, but I know not her first name, if she has one," another replied in an equally hushed tone. "Bring the filly too."

Natalie's horn began glowing, but something slipped onto its frame and sent a jolt rocking violently throughout her body, effectively canceling out whatever spell she made to channel. Her muscles ached, and she tried to scream as a damp cloth rag with a strange smell wrapped around her mouth. Consciousness fled her with haste, and the world went black, but not before she heard one of the owners of the voices utter, "Get the green-maned unicorn, and don't wake the others."

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

Natalie awoke with a groan, lifting her head to find that deepest black greeted her vision. For a moment, her head bobbed about as she glanced this way and that, only to stiffen and shut her eyes when an overhead light turned on. The mare made to move her legs.

None of them budged an inch. Her eyes snapped open, and she jumped to find herself tipping backwards for a moment, feeling her weight aid something as it leaned against the floor to bound back with a gentle creak and rock her body forward.

She glanced down and paled, craning her neck to get a view of her rear and immediately found a saddle laden on her back and much of her tail bunched together, tied very uncomfortably and tightly with a what looked like a gauze. The mare shuddered before turning her attention to the floor to assess just what in hell was going on, though she instantly came to the realization that she wished she hadn't done so.

Her legs had been bound tightly in black leather, all four pieces joining with a fifth that wrapped around curved pieces of wood that supported her. There was a gap between the wood pieces, but they stayed at a fixed distance thanks to more wood that had been attached to them along the middle. Thick straps secured the leather tightly around her limbs, rendering them numb and painful to move.

Natalie turned to the side, eyes widening as she found Anna next to her in much the same position, though her head had hung low and a soft snore came from the green-maned unicorn. Through the locks of emerald, the now-alert mare could make out some kind of thick metal band inscribed with what looked to be runes at the base of her horn, in addition to a ball gag lodged in her mouth.

Her ears perked when another gentle creak hit her ears, and she whipped her head around in the other direction, yet in doing so her face drained of its color. Maria lay next to Natalie, tied upon the back of another mare, though this one had her pelt entirely carved off. This lack of coat exposed reddest muscles that took on a tinge of grey, in addition to the mane and tail having been plucked out. The bald mare reeked of decay.

What was left of the face warped so horribly at some point it looked about ready to slide off the skull at any given moment. Dark red blood dripped at random intervals from the third pony as the filly stirred, inadvertently causing the corpse to rock back and forth like a pendulum as a result. Her gaze trailed lower, towards the pony's side, only to find a large and gnarly gash that stretched from the front leg to the area where a cutie mark had once been.

The intestines of the deceased hung loosely from the torn belly, and the red-maned Fantasian felt her stomach clenching as she spotted maggots writhing around the exposed entrails, feasting on the innards without a care. Bile rose in her throat, burning at her esophagus, yet when it forced its way to her mouth she found it couldn't leave thanks to something obstructing the orifice between her teeth.

She ended up swallowing the acidic mixture, turning away from the corpse, her body trembling as her irises shrunk to blue dots in the sclera and her nose scrunched from the acrid stench that wafted from the dead pony. Her ears fell flat against her head when the sound of hoofsteps echoed in the room, and she spotted nothing more than a pair of orange limbs parked just outside the halo of light where she could see them.

"I see you're awake, Miss Starcovert," spoke a familiar voice. "And it seems you've gotten acquainted with the last mare who purchased a room. Pity that Windwood's still asleep, but oh well."

Natalie grunted, struggling against her binds and uttering what sounded like a muffled "Why?"

The owner of the voice stepped into the light, revealing a green mane and an orange body that now lacked a suit. Napkin sent the hapless mare the same smirk from before, though it came with a malicious gleam in his eyes. His horn lit up, crackling with golden electricity, and upon seeing this Natalie ceased any attempts at trying to break loose. The glow died down, and the stallion chirped in a pleased tone, "I see you're acquainted with electrical magic. I'd rather not have to shock you; it's bad for... business, shall we say."

The Mythonian briskly trotted to the red-maned mare and leaned in close, staring into her widened eyes. "Huh, I don't think I've seen that deep shade of blue before... it almost looks like a dark grey," he remarked, raising a hoof to stroke her chin as the bound pony began to fidget again. He found that Natalie's chest started heaving violently, and stepped back while removing the object in her mouth with a bit of magic. His smile faded when the cream-colored unicorn threw up the contents of her stomach onto the floor in front of her, coughing and wheezing when she finished.

"Gotcat-dammit," Natalie cursed in a weak, hoarse voice. "If you're gonna gag me again, at least leave a hole for me to puke through!"

"Normally, I don't appreciate vulgar language or a snappy tone," Napkin hissed, summoning a towel to blot up the mess the Fantasian made. "But, I have to admit you do raise a valid point. The last mare... burst after I denied her the right to vomit. Such a mess she made," he sighed, turning his gaze onto the bald, rotting corpse.

"She... burst?" Natalie murmured, turning to the corpse for a moment before redirecting her attention to Napkin. "She looks more like she's been slashed with a knife."

The stallion stormed up to the mare and slapped her across the face with a hoof. "You don't know what you're—" he began.

Natalie cut him off with but one little word, "Rubywing."

"What about—" Napkin began again, but paused as the Fantasian's response sank into his skull. His eyes narrowed as she turned to face him, her cheek reddening as she nodded, a glare set into her own face. "The pale changeling... of course," he mumbled, setting his hoof down before trotting between the unicorns and stopping behind the trio, enabling Natalie to catch a glimpse of his swinging fifth leg as he waltzed past her. Another set of hoofsteps echoed, and the stallion called out, "Chocolate Soufflé, is that you?"

Another familiar stallion with a brown coat trotted past Natalie, also lacking a suit but sporting a full erection. "Yes, it is I," he chirped. He looked towards Anna as she began to stir, letting off unintelligible mumbles as she came to. "Oh, it seems Windwood's about to rise and shine."

It took a few moments, but Anna soon snapped wide awake as she absorbed her surroundings, and she immediately began struggling vehemently once the weight of the situation set in. All she could do, though, was helplessly rock back and forth, stopping when a magic aura grabbed her and sent lightning shooting through her nerves. "Now, now, we will have none of that nonsense," Napkin chastised as Soufflé trotted up behind the stunned archer.

Anna let off a weak protesting groan, vision bleary as lingering pain continued to antagonize her body. Her head drooped for a moment before jolting straight back up as she felt a hoof connect with her posterior. She craned her neck, emitting a muted yelp as the brown unicorn clambered onto her back and wrapped a leg around the barrel of her chest. "Stay still, cutie. This won't hurt a bit," Soufflé murmured, leaning close to the mare's head and using his free hoof to pat her not-quite-affectionately.

"Bad pony, get off her!" a shrill voice cried out. All four ponies jerked their gazes to the corpse—or, rather, the filly who'd been tied to it. Maria struggled against her binds, flapping her bare wings madly as she sent a glare at the brown-coated stallion.

Soufflé and Napkin exchanged a glance, then turned back to the little hippogryph. "Why would I pass up an opportunity to pound a firm ass like this one?" the former asked, sending the filly a small grin.

"Because your cock is little and nopony or gryph likes you!" Maria shouted angrily, eyes narrowed to slits as her front legs began jerking wildly, her talons balled into fists. "I'll rip your nuts off and shove them up your butthole!"

Napkin turned to Natalie, a brow raised and a hoof pointed at the filly. "Care to tell me where the foal learned such foul language, exactly?" he asked.

"Don't ask," Natalie replied. “Never heard her use those words before anyway. I had nothing to do with it.” She grunted as the orange-coated pony put his body on hers, flinching as he conjured some magic to roughly tug at her mane.

"Icedraft, how old are you?" Napkin asked, glaring at the filly.

Somehow, the filly maintained her defiant expression. "Old enough to rip your face off," she hissed.

Napkin donned a wicked smirk. "I'd like to see you try, you little bald dodo," he retorted. He paused for a moment upon hearing a pained whimper coming from his right, and turned to his partner-in-crime to find Anna struggling again.

Soufflé looked at Napkin with a smirk, front legs resting on the back of his captive. "I put it through the backdoor on purpose. This one may be virgin," he stated with a shrug, hips pressed snugly against Anna's rear. The orange stallion growled and sent another electric stream coursing through the green-maned mare, eliciting muffled yelps of agony as well as electrocuting the stallion on her back in the process.

Napkin stopped the current of volts upon realizing his error, and once Soufflé recovered from the burst of mana, he snapped angrily, "Hey, at least let me pull out first, you jackass!"