Ava was...perplexed. ‘Why is everypony staring at me?’ Ava asked herself as she self-consciously tried in vain to hug her giant boobs a little closer to her body, feeling violated as practically everypony that saw her gawked, and some even followed as she entered the fairly large almost-town village. ‘I usually adore this kind of attention, why am I not enjoying it at all compared to before?’

{Probably because our current form is completely devoid of predatory instinct or capacity.} Crescent commented as he too felt really out of place. {Thestrals are omnivores, so this is a completely new experience for me as well, and that time with Missy as a Feral pony was too clouded with hormones and us being all emotional for it to be noticeable.}

‘I don’t believe this. First time as a pony in forever and I turn into a total wallflower! I need a drink.’ Ava huffed as she looked around and spotted the tell-tale sign of a tavern, that literally just had the actual word ‘Tavern’ on the front. ‘Ponies, please. Stop. Sucking. At. Naming things!’ Ava moved to the heavy door, beings the all-wood buildings of Seam were all built with the cold in mind, and grunted at trying to pull open the door, the iron knocker/handle not budging the thick wooden door, and pushing yielded similar results. ‘Why am I so weak?! I thought Crystal Ponies were at least similarly as strong as Earth Ponies!’

{Why not try that idea you had before?} Crescent suggested, being similarly disturbed at lacking the physical prowess that Avarice was so used to.

‘Okay, I just hope we don’t get too heavy.’ Ava took a deep breath, ignoring all the ponies watching her in curiosity. Soon, under the leather, Ava felt her body shift slightly, heard the floorboards of the porch of the tavern creak under her increasing weight, and then she growled before grabbing the handle, and easily tugging the heavy door open as if it were weightless. ‘Yes!’

Ava entered, not noticing several of the locals all whispering. No mare had ever been able to open Tapster’s front door in years, not even the miner mares.

Feeling a little more emboldened, Ava casually sauntered up to the bar of the place, which was packed full of grungy, and very~ nicely muscled crystal ponies of both genders in various states of filth, clearly they were the local miners, and it being the late afternoon, it was likely they’d just finished the day’s work and came here to relax.

“Well hello beautiful. What can ol Tapster git ye?” The middle-aged one-eyed dull jade stallion behind the counter asked as he cleaned a crystal glass tankard. The stallion had no mane, and the older male was a surprisingly fit specimen considering his vocation and age, and the fact he was shirtless helped display that. The fact he and his establishment was so clean was also impressive.

“Something strong, and since I don’t know what you all consider common fare up here, I’ll let you decide. You do take bits up here right?” Ava asked as she reached into her coat to take out a bag of bits.

“Hm? A Crystal Pony not from the Empire? Odd, yer parents were the adventurous types eh?” Tapster’s words made Ava’s eyes widen in shock.

‘Dumbass! Uh-um….’ “Y-yes. Mother ventured south into Equestria proper and met my father, Log Runner, on her travels. Pop was an earth pony, but I took more after mum. Though, I did get pop’s stature and strength.” Ava emphasized by easily hefting up the large bar chair next to her with ease, and then set it down to climb up into it, her large yet firm plot making the firm cushions yield.

“Wow. That was impressive. These chairs each weight over 50 pounds.” Tapster said with a grin, surprising Ava. “You really aren’t from around here. Crystal stallions are notoriously tough. Gotta have heavy and tough stuff to take our weight and strength eh?” Tapster said, curling an arm and causing the heavily veined dull jade to bulge, ripple, and seem to shine a little in the lights of the candles.

‘My gog I want to move here….’ “Makes sense...but what about the mares?” Ava asked as Tapster put down a mug and took out what looked like a crystalline wine bottle, the substance itself, when poured, looked like red liquid crystal it was so clear.

“Our mares, unlike you, are usually far less strong compared to stallions like me. Instead they’re faster, more limber, and quicker-witted. It’s something that’s made us Crystal Ponies different from the other pony tribes. Either gender for any of the other tribes have a near half-n-half chance of being equally gifted in their natural traits. Either an Earth mare or stallion could be ridiculously strong, or just fairly strong. Or a mare or stallion Pegasus can be just as fast or agile as another. Things like that. But up here, the mares are better suited to more athletic pursuits, while stallions are best off using our muscles.” Tapster informed as he corked the bottle. “But we still do things outside our body’s comfort zones if we want to. Like me. I’m more suited to swinging a pick than spinning a bottle, but I love my tavern. Not about to go back to the mine just because I’ve got an arm that can shatter boulders.”

“Interesting. So what is this divine smelling drink?” Ava asked as she tugged her bandana down around her neck to better sniff the sweet-smelling drink.

“Crystal wine. Up here, we’ve got actual crystal crops. I’m no farmer, so I haven’t a clue how it all works, but it’s safe to consume, and even dragons drop some gold for a few bushels of crystal berries now and then.” Tapster said, gesturing if it was okay for him to access her bit bag, and Ava nodded as she took a sip, swishing the amazingly sweet yet thickly-bodied, even velvety, drink in her mouth. “Up here it’s a common drink, so that mug will only cost you five bits.”

“Wow...it costs the same for a good beer down in Equestria. I’ve gotta get some more of this before I head back.” Ava said, planning to buy several kegs to store in Canterlot’s wine cellar. “So, have you noticed anything unusual late-?” *KRAAACK-THUD*

The thick and heavy front door suddenly blew off it’s mounting, a good portion of it actually shattered around the former upper hinge where it had clearly been shot by an enormous caliber gun. The rest was wrenched off the frame by the impact and sent flying halfway into the tavern, sending shards everywhere as everypony but her screamed and ducked under cover.

“Well, well. Mister Hyperion Exec got a sex change I see.” Ava’s eyes widened even more at recognizing the deep and distorted synthesized voice. “Even with that coat I can see the sides of your giant hooters from back here. Turn around so I can see the pretty face I’m going to be blowing off with my new toy.” *Splashback of frozen green acid* [RIP Ya a New One...WITH ACID!]

‘FUCK! RIP?! How’d he respawn?!’ Ava mentally freaked out as she steeled her face and stepped down from the large chair to turn around and face her enemy. The 12-foot Badass Alpha Man-Skag towered over everyone, and considering she was eye-level with his pelvis, that wasn’t something fun to consider fighting. ‘Damn it! If I wasn’t trying to avoid attention in the first place I wouldn’t possibly be screwed over right now!’

{At his height, that rifle we’re staring down the barrel of might as well be an average person on a short guard tower.} Crescent growled as RIP growled and his tongue lolled out a bit.

“Mm, mm. You turned into a fine~ bitch, didn’t ya? Shame for you, I happen to prefer dogs. Canida bitches are sexy as sin.” RIP then quickly cocked the lever, pissing Ava off at missing a chance to evade she wasn’t aware she had before. “Any last words before this thing blows your head to tiny bloody pieces?”

“Yeah, actually. LOOK! A DOG WITH HUGE BOOBS!” Ava shouted as she pointed past RIP, who more or less, like the rest of the room, blankly stared at her. “Yeah, I got nothin’.” Ava said, before surprising everyone and rushing at RIP in a quick zig-zag, the giant alien dog firing a shot that ruptured the floor as it barely missed her, and she shoulder-tackled the beast in the groin, effectively launching them both out into the street with RIP getting his upper back and head slammed into the top of the doorway as she continued booking it further into the village.

“Bastard!” RIP howled as he quickly got up, and aimed at his running target, firing off a shot that succeeded in ripping off her right arm, shoulder, and most of her right breast, making her scream in agony as her crystalline body’s fluids and viscera splattered around her, but keep running around a corner, panting and gasping as she rapidly committed her energy stores to regenerating the lost mass and clothing.

‘FUCK! FUCK! What kind of gun is that?! Hyperion doesn’t have guns that ridiculously powerful that aren’t E-Tech or especially high-quality!’ Ava cursed as another round blasted through the corner of the house she’d ducked behind, and she began running again, another giant bullet ripping through buildings disturbingly close to hitting her as she kept evading in her panic. ‘That scope! It must have infrared or something to track me through solid objects like this!’

{Damn it! I think I know! That’s one of Demir’s special designs! You know? The ones enchanted by Saddle Arabian mystics! That’s why the thing is practically a portable cannon!} Ava wailed at a shot that went through another house, clipping her head, taking off an ear and a portion of her skull, which she had to quickly recover before it could end up being her death. Unable to die or not, she didn’t want whatever force behind RIP having the chance of Corrupting her in a vulnerable state.

“Come out! None of these little stick huts will be able to protect you!” RIP shouted, before several clangs and the sounds of flying arrows were heard, along with the pinging sound of projectiles hitting a shield!

“NO!” Ava screamed fruitlessly, as shortly following were the agonized bloody screams of murder following as she bolted around the corner to see several Crystal Guards melting in acid, screaming until they stopped moving, and quickly liquefied, armor included. By now, anypony brave enough to be onlookers had run away, knowing that their homes were not safe from this monster. “You bastard! You just murdered innocent ponies!”

“Hmph, I did nothing. They killed themselves by attacking me. My shield did the rest.” RIP coldly said as if talking about the weather, and flip-cocked the devastating gun, his great size making the action easy. “Now, are you going to be a good bitch and let me kill you? Or am I going to have to tear this place to ribbons playing skag and varkid?”

“Fuck that, I’m done letting...you…?” Ava said as she reached into her coat.

To feel plain leather.

‘W...what? I can’t grab anything from my cache! Or anywhere!’ Ava began panicking, backing away as RIP sensed her sudden helplessness. ‘The Nullifiers! I can’t grab anything outside the barrier! FUCK!’

{But earlier, the bits! Our personal storage is still accessible!} At Crescent’s realization, Ava then instead focused on something she never left off of her person, and whipped out her Chiappa at RIP, surprising the skag as she fired a slug at him as she moved towards him, his new overpowered toy useless in closer quarters as he missed his retaliatory shot and she easily nerfed his shield’s homing spike since it seemed he had indeed switched from his melee spike shield to a damage-based homing spike shield. Getting around the spike and it turning harmlessly into the ground was easy as she flip-cocked Chiappa and shot RIP point-blank, his shield almost unable to handle the force at that range.

“Damn you!” RIP shouted as he flip-cocked the rifle, smacking her in the face as the heavy barrel of the gun rotated, and she quickly flip-cocked her own lever-action and they both aimed at each other’s gun point-blank, firing before thinking. The two massive bullets, both from enchanted weaponry, pancaked before punishing their hasty shooters with lead shrapnel, Ava getting the worst of it due to her lacking a shield at the moment and having the shorter weapon, sending them both stumbling back.

“Gah, I’ve gotta start wearing my shield out of habit!” Ava growled as she took out her healing shield and hooked it into her belt. It’s regenerative effects would help her out by reducing recovery time as well as lessening the strain on her personal regeneration. “Let’s dance asshole!”

“Now we’re talking!” RIP cackled as both he and Ava flip-cocked their guns, running around each other to the right as they fired, their respective shields helping them weather the giant rounds, and after the next shot, they both ducked behind cover of the nearby now-abandoned buildings to reload.

“I can’t believe Dox’s enchantment on my gun just up and vanished.” Ava complained as she fished some of the buckshot she originally made so long ago with Demir out of her personal storage, and fed them into her Chiappa’s tube. ‘Five rounds. Knowing that gun, it has five shots too despite it being a revolver.’

{How can we manage this? That rifle makes any further ranges suicide, and there’s no way we can warp to safety, who know’s what else that barrier blocks.} Crescent asked, not seeing an easy way out. {I’d suggest us letting our size increase, but considering how hard we had to work on this form, it’d take too long to do that much.}

‘Guess I’ll just have to use what I got, and then some.’ Ava snorted, and then bolted around the building seconds before RIP fired at her previous location, blasting out the corner of yet another house. ‘He thinks he’s big? I’ll show him big!’ Ava growled as she bum-rushed the sniper, barely rolling under a shot meant for her head, and flipping Chiappa around before going for the mother of cheap-shots.

The grip of a gun to the groin.

Needless to say, RIP froze. Dropped his rifle, which rolled down Ava’s back onto the ground, and he squeaked in an impressively high-pitched tone as he fell over, twitching, slowly moving his claws to cradle his groin, which while having a retracted genitalia, was still beyond sensitive. “...ow...my tenders….”

“Consider that being for killing innocents. And this?” Ava said as she knelt down, and jammed Chiappa into RIP’s maw. “Is for being a fucking nuisance!” Ava pulled the trigger, blasting a hole out the back of RIP’s skull, his purple glowing eyes going dim, before once again, his body began to evaporate in purple light.

But, seeing something different as a grenade stayed behind, Ava gasped as she tried to get away, only for a flash of green to envelop the immediate area in a corrosive cloud, making Ava scream in utter agony as everything on her melted off, including her skin, her eyes. If she wasn’t so damn dense from her earlier alteration, the gas would’ve fully melted her before it dissipated, leaving her a skinless mess.

Ava fell into the dirt, twitching, eyeless sockets and mouthless maw gaping as she couldn’t comprehend anything in the pure pain as her body slowly began regenerating, but she blacked out long before awareness was a thing available to her.

[ $ ]

It was so soft. Whatever Ava was laying on, it felt like a cloud. Might’ve been. It was also warm, and snuggly...and there were cuffs on her wrists and ankles-say wha?

She weakly cracked open her eyes, the slightly flattened domes of her giant shiny black boobs met Ava’s vision first, forcing her to lift her head up with a hiss to see over them at the lavish room she found herself in. “H-hello-*vicious hacking cough*-a-anypony...here?” Ava weakly rasped out, trying to move her limbs, only to hear the jingling of chains, and she wearily turned her head to see thick chains made of some sort of gray gems binding her arms to the posts of the thinly veiled poster bed, and when she managed to look around her right boob, saw the same for her legs for those posts.

‘Holy shit...I’m actually trapped right now.’ Ava mused blearily, too tired to properly muster the energy to even be irate or worried about the situation.

{Damn girl, without the heavy clothes I can see your earlier modifications have turned us into a bodybuilder! Dem muscles~.} Crescent, clearly just as disorientated, pointed out quite well in spite of their shared confusion. Indeed, if she focused, Ava could see, and feel, just how strong her body was. She had thick biceps, her formerly plush thighs were now practically Chun-Li thighs. And from what she could see between her tits, her abs were a washboard.

‘Lot of good that does us, can’t muster the energy for some reason….’ Ava mused as she didn’t even bother wondering why she was warm when she was completely nude and uncovered, laying her head back into the amazing pillow. ‘I’m just gonna sleep here for a while...wake us when it’s next week….’ Ava thought, blacking out once more.

Author's Notes:

Got RIPPED again. Bastard. Writing fights with him are hard.

I wonder just who has Ava chained to their bed this time?