Neighezid II looked at his letter, pondering if he should send it. It was a letter to Luna, one he planned to send yesterday, but...he didn't want to disappoint his Goddess, even if she would understand. The Sultan could not arrest the Equestrian fugitive Avarice any longer, for he had provided an immense service to his country, not mentioning the potential boon his teaching the smith Demir his secrets held for his country's military power. He knew it was Avarice who had somehow delivered that disgusting, horrid book of guilt, with the fuck Eziyet's coat of arms branded on the front no less!

There are no coincidences, only fate, and Avarice was fated to flee to his country, and save many of his people from a monster he'd unknowingly instated himself. He decided he'd send his grandson Suleimane to govern the city, as his intelligent and ruthless son Selim was instead on the front lines fighting the Bullgarians alongside the Equestrian armies. In the end, Suleimane while no slouch in war, was far more suited to politics than his father, who he feared would misuse the position of Sultan to feed his hunger for war.

With this, Avarice provided him with proof to unmake that bastard Eziyet, save his citizens, provide a major advancement in weaponry, and also give him a good excuse to provide his grandson experience in governing. That settled it. Neighezid II rolled the letter up into a scroll, sealed it in golden wax with his personal seal, and then handed it off to a trained falcon, that dutifully flew out the nearby open window, which Neighezid II approached to look out of at his glorious capital of Istanbull, feeling both humbled by his failure, yet enlightened by it. Hoping to lead his people better until he had to pass on the throne.

[ $ ]

Luna was disappointed. Not in Neighezid's reasoning, oh no, she understood completely. It was simply the fact that she knew for fact that Avarice only likely did this seemingly heroic act through contract with someone desperate enough to see the corrupt Baig deposed. What did he demand in return for such a service? An enigma such as Avarice could ask for nearly anything, he didn't seem to follow any logic.

And then there was the fact that he'd blatantly supplied Saddle Arabia with a new weapon design of sorts. Neighezid would never turn on them, she knew this, but his son Selim...should that blood-crazed and power-hungry monster get on the throne before he died in battle or was succeeded by his own son somehow, she could easily see Equestria's long-lived alliance with the desert nation dissolving into war for little reason than for more war.

Neighezid already promised to share the weapon's design and any alloy recipes born of it with them to “dissuade potential future tension” by evening the playing field. As it stood, Saddle Arabia's and Equestria's armies were nearly even in power. What ponies had in variety, horses had in their superior physical conditioning, training, and weapons expertise. All theoretical clashes between the countries promised horrid, terrible losses on both sides in a war of attrition. Equestria would only win by virtue of having more resources, and that would take years of bloodshed to achieve.

So it was with a sigh of disappointment that Luna rolled up the scroll for bookkeeping and as evidence of Neighezid's promise to provide the designs of the new weapon. “Lieutenant.” Luna's call was promptly answered by a dark blue pegasus stallion who entered the door to her suite granted by a hotel in the town of Las Pegasus. The town was more focused on it's mining than anything else, good silver was in these parts, and the Marehave was packed with valuable ores under the dry, cracked, clay surface. “Be prepared to move out. There's no reason to stay here anymore. I'm certain sister is feeling the strain on the naval campaign, and I need to oversee the progress of our invasion of Bullgaria.”

“The fugitive ma'am? We've been after him for months now. Shouldn't some of us remain on his trail in case he comes back north from Saddle Arabia?” The Lieutenant's question was quite justified, but Luna sighed again in more disappointment.

“No. He's done the Arabian's a great service, and so he's now welcome there. I'm afraid that in spite of the risks his contract magic poses, he's out of our hands now. We return to the front. Tell the stallions to pack their bags.” The Lieutenant saluted and left to carry out his orders, Luna looking out the window facing south across the valley with resignation of having lost her quarry.

[ $ ]

For the past several days, as he and Demir refined the design of the Demir Classic, Avarice found himself...oddly welcome. The whole town seemed to know that it was him who exposed Eziyet, and both the guards and Janissaries completely ignored him, as if he was just another person in the city. Demir said he'd likely won many friends with his actions, and Avarice was rather embarrassed by it.

Konrad refused to take control of his own body, listlessly droning to himself over taking someone's life, and that he was a horrible person for doing so. With Avarice at the wheel though, there was no chance of the idiot killing himself through either negligence or suicide, so Avarice planned to leave him to his self-pity until he recovered naturally, which so few people get the chance to do.

In that time, Avarice tested the prototype to discover, quite sadly, that the cast iron barrel was far too brittle to withstand the shot made with common blasting powder and lead shot, as it fractured on the first test. Thankfully he'd been holding it at hand length away at the archery range when he tried it, so he thankfully avoided needless injury. With that though, the next step up was clearly steel. When Demir asked him what steel was...oh, ho, ho, Avarice was all too happy to teach her the recipe for steel. In layman’s terms, steel could by made by combining a high-carbon allotrope such as powdered coal or graphite with iron in a smelter. He didn't know the more refined methods, but when they successfully made an ingot, they decided to make a cast steel barrel for the next test.

The second prototype of the Demir Classic fired flawlessly, and each successive shot was just as effective. They'd done it. They had a single-shot, top-break shotgun with a steel barrel and beta brass fittings and trigger. The moment Avarice reported this, both his and Demir's eyes flashed red. The contract fulfilled.

“Must you go?” Demir asked sadly as Avarice finished collecting the 30 or so shotshells he'd made for himself using brass, scroll, blasting powder and his own green resin.

“Yes. I cannot stay here Demir. I have fulfilled our contract. You now know how to make a shotgun, and if you're smart, you'll learn how to make more than your DC.” Avarice looked at her fondly as she wilted, and he sighed as he put his claws on her shoulders, rubbing consolingly. “Demir my dear, this month has been such a treat. I am so sorry to leave you, but there's a whole world out there for me. Deals to make, trouble to find. I can't just settle down someplace and make guns my whole life. I'm not a stay-at-home busybody. I want to see what this world has to offer, and I don't want to settle for a desert when it's what I've seen most my life already.”

Demir sniffed as she cried a little. “I understand. I too sometimes wish I'd been more adventurous. Heh...listen to me. I sound like I'll never see you again....” Demir looked at him sadly, her golden eyes turning red not with magic, but with sadness. “I will see you again, won't I?”

“Of course. If I'm welcome here, I'll stop by now and then, to visit or lay low if I need. That alright?” Avarice asked, and the buxom mare surprised him with a hug, nuzzling his neck and face through his hood and bandana.

“Of course, you silly bug. You're welcome in my home anytime.” She then further surprised him by quickly releasing him, grabbing her first ever successful gun he'd just returned to her, and held it out to him. “Please...in case we never see each other again...I want you to have something we made together. You can't say no either, because I can just make more. I've got spare iron barrels to make more casts to make steel barrels, and the other pieces are all up here now.” Demir joked by poking her head, and Avarice reverently accepted the simple, yet aesthetically pleasing small shotgun. He really wished he could express tears form his eyes right now.

“Thank you...this means so much.” Avarice then hugged her, and she hugged him back. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until they finally let go. “See you later Demir.”

“Farewell Avarice the Merchant. May we meet again.” Demir said politely with a curtsy, and the Plaga saluted before drawing in his tail, and vanishing with his coat.

[ $ ]

When they reappeared from the air, it was to a familiar region. 'Hey...hey, why'd you bring us back here?'

{You need some familiar territory, and a change of pace. We're going to relax here in quiet Dock End as a pony for a bit, help you relax and come to terms with yourself.} Avarice said before stripping nude and “packing” away their equipment in their own personal hammerspace, which apparently everyone here in this world can do. His coat was just special for “holding” so much.

'Oh gog, really?!' Konrad asked as Avarice brought out a black thong that the male prostitutes in Sığınak often wore, which was apparently traditional for Saddle Arabians according to Demir, who shamelessly stated she wore one too when he brought it up, and was confused at his gaping expression at the time. 'No. Just no. We have tons of other clothes, I'm not going to let you display us like a piece of meat!'

{Oh~ someone's getting some brass balls for once. Go ahead, try and stop me.} Avarice laughed as he felt Konrad try to assert himself back into his own body while he slowly fed his legs through the holes in the skimpy article of clothing and slide them up. “Pony-time.” A swathe of green fire, and in place of the Verdugo was a white and black paint pony with more of a white base and black patches of fur covering his coat. His face was the same as back in Saddle Arabia, and he played with the ginger hair of their mane as he stomped his hooves to get used to having a thick, protective layer between the ground and his feet without any boots. “Seriously, what have you got against this?”

Avarice languidly stretched and flexed his lithe, tight muscles that while not bulky like Logger, were still quite notable, and even popped his pecs in amusement. 'Oh gog...I miss being a scrawny beanpole. At least then people would just look at me as a person rather than a slab of meat.' Konrad was referring to all the forms he took aside from his true Verdugo and old human form. Demir told him that at least according to her; pretty much every form he took was attractive in a smooth, streamlined way unlike the bulkier specimens she was used to. She told him that to help avoid further confusion regarding her expressions around him when he transformed. The exceptions were of course his human and Verdugo forms, both for merely how alien they were.

“Well, this slab of meat is going to just traipse on in like it's no matter.” Avarice said with a confident grin, before calmly strolling through the trees onto the road a good distance northwest of Dock End, and casually walked right into town. He managed not to look anything besides idly content with a small smile as he passed a few of the mares, who all blushed and gawked at him as he entered the small budding town. They'd already added a few more buildings along the road, and the place was practically filled with soldiers. {Hm...I hope that doesn't mean anything terrible is happening on the Bullgarian front. These people are good folk.}

'Probably not, see those guys?' Konrad mentally pointed out something in their peripheral and Avarice turned his head slightly to see several horses in standard Saddle Arabian footsoldier armor along with elites and snipers. 'Those guys must be from that march we passed about a month ago. They must be securing the border villages and towns so no minotaur insurgents can hurt the citizens.'

{I hope you're right.} Avarice replied, and then paused at a surprising sight. {They....} Their chair, the one they bought from the town, and the cabin that was supposed to be theirs were both still there. The cabin had even been finished, and a sign that said “Soft Spin's Sundries” was next to the door. {They...did it anyway....} Avarice approached the chair, and looked at it fondly. It was his chair. They hadn't touched it.

'….' Konrad reached out and wiped some dust off of the seat, and sat in it. Taking a deep breath of the clean, fresh air. They relaxed. 'This is nice.'

{Finally. Took you what? Half a month of wallowing in your misery?}

'Fuck off, I'm relaxing.' Konrad stretched and put his arms behind his head, enjoying the warm sun overhead and the cool breeze that blew through the small logging town as he closed his eyes. Until he heard someone in armor approach.

“From where do you hail, My Little Pony?” The regal mare's voice garnered Konrad's attention and he opened his eyes, only to barely refrain from widening them. She was gorgeous. She stood a statuesque height of about seven feet even, her curves even greater than Demir's, not hidden at all in her full suit of bronze armor burned black with a diamond shaped into a crescent moon on her breastplate. Only her head and wings were revealed, showing she had both a horn and wings. The dark blue mare's fur glistened in the sunlight, her ethereal mane of the night sky flowing in the wind that seemed to sweep past, her gentle smile and her cool blue eyes were enthralling, and she smiled knowingly. “Hast our beauty struck thee speechless?”

“Yes.” Konrad admitted freely. “I have not seen a beauty so exotic or regal, and I have just come from Saddle Arabia, where all the mares are as tall as you and equally as beautifully formed, yet they do not compare.” 'Holy shit, where's this suave shit coming from? And with our rough cockney voice it's kind of odd.' Konrad's musings had to wait however, as the mare blushed lightly and chuckled as she habitually tried to tame her hair.

“I had asked because it is not common to see ponies so bold as to wear so little. I have not been to Saddle Arabia in so long, but I am sure I remember that to wear nothing more than a thong; a stallion was often in the business of providing pleasure, am I correct?” The mare asked cheekily with a grin, and Konrad blushed as Avarice howled with laughter in his head.

“Y-yes...well, this was the only clean article of clothing I had after an encounter with a giant leech on the way. I'd rather not wear slimy clothes thank you, and this is the first river I've even come across.” Konrad fidgeted under the mare's gaze, feeling her eyes molesting him. 'Oh gog...being sexually objectified is...oddly arousing.'

“Oh, a shame. And here I was hoping to satisfy an itch I've been ignoring for a good while.” She lidded her eyes into a smokey bedroom stare, making Konrad flush deeper. “Mind scratching it for me?” Konrad was flustered, but he didn't think much on it.

“U-um...i-it would be rude of me to refuse the request of a lady. Might I know your name ma'am?” 'Wow, this mare must really be stressed if she's soliciting me in broad daylight. I'll see if some massage can help her.' Konrad didn't catch the moment of relief in the mare's eyes.

“Just call me Lulu.” She quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him down the street to the inn, ignoring all the staring.

[ $ ]

Luna woke with the morning light. She hated being diurnal, but for her duties she had to flip schedules. She yawned as she sat up, holding the sheets to her bosom and looked to see the naked stallion she'd bedded for an afternoon...and night still sound asleep under the sheets next to her. She must've tired the poor dear out. Luna wasn't kidding when she told him she needed to scratch an itch, but when you're one of the ruling princesses, and have a whole army and country to help run, you tend not to have the time for a good romp.

When she saw him, she'd hoped he was a prostitute from his garb, or lack thereof. Because there was no shame in the occupation, she saw nothing wrong with soliciting him to help her. She wasn't going to just ask some random citizen and force herself on them, or have relations with any of her soldiers like she bet her sister shamelessly indulged in. However, the fact that he didn't recognize her, or even know her on sight, or that she was a princess...it meant something. He was clearly nervous, but that was expected, and he even massaged her! Nopony massaged her before sex before. She had to do that again sometime.

She didn't even know his name, and that made Luna sad. She just used him, that was clear, and he didn't mind. It was wrong. Oh, here comes the guilt. Luna sighed as she quietly left the bed, cast a few cleaning spells over herself and her sleeping companion, as well as double-checking the contraceptive spell to ensure his seed didn't take. She blushed at realizing how close their romp was at impregnating her, even through the spell. 'We did go at it, what, seven times? More?' Luna magically summoned her armor, and looked back to the sleeping stallion. She then summoned a scroll and quill and wrote a note, before leaving it and a hefty bag of bits on the nightstand. 'I hope to see you again Stranger.'

Luna left the room, feeling a bit hollow like she always did with one-night-stands.

[ $ ]

Konrad groaned as his stomach growled, and thought he'd shift back, but he didn't. {Odd...something's...changed.}

'What now?' Konrad asked Avarice as he shoved his face into his pillow.

{Our pony and horse forms are...stable now. Our body isn't straining to keep the form up like it used to.} At Avarice's input, Konrad grunted as he sat up. Oh...he was sore all over. {You had to try the backwards dog position.}

'Hey, that's where SHE was going, I had to follow through.' He looked around, slightly sad to see her gone and a bag of bits on the nightstand. 'It was odd though. There was an unusual amount of kissing, fondling, and passion in that. That's not one-night-stand behavior.'

{Going at it 11 times over the course of several hours isn't one-night-stand behavior either.} Avarice commented, making Konrad sigh.

'Hey, not my fault we had to live with a hot mare who was off limits for a whole month.' What? He'd been sharing a place with Demir for a month, and the mare had little to no shame in even walking about her house naked when she was fresh from bed and not all there in the head yet, and while his base form had no genitalia, he could still get aroused somehow, but he had no outlet with her being nearby all the time. So he and Lulu both went at it last night with everything they'd likely built up.

Konrad approached the bag and put it in his hammerspace, but paused from reaching for his thong when he saw the note.

Dear Stranger.

I am sorry to have used you like this, but I have had a harsh couple of months with no outlet for my stress. My ponyhunt for a dangerous fugitive turned up drier than the desert he fled to on top of all of this, and there were no prostitutes in Las Pegasus as it's a mining town first and foremost.

I hope you can forgive me, but I hope we somehow meet again, and that we do this again on perhaps a regular basis.

Your VERY satisfied customer, Princess Luna of Equestria.

Konrad dropped the scroll, and stood frozen for a few minutes. 'We...just banged the princess....'

{And she was the one hunting us too....}

They both remained stunned, until they both suddenly roared with laughter at the absurdity of it all. “Oh my GOG! That's just...fucking priceless!”

{If only she knew! Oh GOG! The face she'd make!} They collapsed onto the bed, laughing until the maid opened the door.

“Sir is everything-oh my!” The orange maid blushed scarlet and Konrad froze, his legs were spread and his groin in clear view. “I-I'm terribly sorry!” She went to close the door, but instead paused and looked him in the eyes, and he rolled them.

“Mares, such lonely creatures.”

[ $ ]

After pushing himself and satisfying another mare, Konrad decided to leave the town before he was solicited again. 'Thanks so much Avarice. This thong makes me a prime target for repressed mares.' Leaving by following the road this time, Konrad was pleased to feel no strain on his body from keeping his pony form. Considering he'd screwed Luna, that might have something to do with it. She was the effing Goddess of the Night and Moon, he'd be amazed if nothing special happened from even being near her.

{Hey, you just got seriously lucky twice in two days. Thank me a little more sincerely. And that whole Bedding a Goddess thing? That's a fucking story to tell! You can totally brag about it later on.} Konrad rolled his eyes at his alter ego before leaving the path, and transforming back into his Verdugo form to put on his equipment. {So, what now?}

“Now, since we can hold an equine form nigh infinitely. It's high time we traveled north, experienced Equestria for real.” Konrad fit on his perfectly fitting Merchant outfit once more, and once he'd put on the bandana, he transformed into his horse form, basically his earth pony form but bigger, retaining his height but losing his bladed tail and claws while his snout made the bandana hang away from his chest. “With all the things we bought and bartered for from Saddle Arabia's caravans, we have a much wider selection of goods to provide.” His green eyes shimmered red. “And so many ponies to service.”

Konrad went back onto the road, jogging at a good pace, the next stop; Trottingham.

Author's Notes:

Konrad has ever lived in one place his whole life until this madness happened to him. He isn't going to squander it just settling down in one place, not when he has no real attachments.

Demir is currently his only true friend, and it was hard to decide to leave, but hey; it wouldn't be much of an adventure story if this suddenly turned into slice-of-life now would it?

Also; Moon Butt XD