Konrad jolted awake with a scream as a sadly familiar sensation cracked across his back. "Wake up slave! Time to get to work!" Sharp's deceptively sweet voice commanded, and he growled as he turned over in his cot to face her, his thong-covered groin exposed to her as she demanded he do, fucking perverted bitch. "Oh, don't give me that look. Do I have to mark your face too?" The big-booty bitch asked as she playfully stuck out her tongue, only she could be so cute while being an utter dike.

"Fuck you." Konrad growled as he sat up, and he leaned back with a glare when she strutted up to him, her hooves clacking sharply on the stone floor of his cells as she leaned into his face.

"Is that an invitation~?" Sharp asked huskily, getting Konrad to blush even as he grit his teeth and growled at her. "Just keep it up buck. Might just earn it." Sharp didn't expect it when Konrad suddenly bolted up, grabbing her throat and bodily pinning her to the floor, choking her as she kneed him in the lower abdomen in futility with her armored knees.

"HOW ABOUT THIS YOU LITTLE BITCH?! You're a lion tamer facing a lion in a small room! And you fucking forgot your chair!" Konrad relished the fear in her eyes as she started losing air, and was going limp when he was tackled off of her by two of the guards in the hall, who had to struggle against him as Sharp gasped and coughed as she desperately took in air. "LET GO OF ME YOU LITTLE SHITS! I'M GOING TO PUT THAT BITCH IN HER PLACE!" Konrad roared as he muscled through the shocked and worryingly insufficient stallions to try and stomp on Sharp, who rolled out of the way and expertly lashed her whip out, wrapping several times around his neck, and choked him as she pulled on it, destabilizing him and throwing him to the floor.

"You stupid slave! Did you forget that any poor behavior on your part equals the pain of the pretty little mares down here?" Sharp hissed as she pulled tighter, Konrad unable to pull the corded leather weapon from around his neck as she continuously tightened it as she approached, and then cheekily sat her luscious bubble butt on his forming abs. All the smithing was doing wonders for his physique. "Listen, slave. You are MINE! Your life is MINE! Your time is MINE! Even THIS!" She reached a free hand to his crotch, and fondled his balls to his shock. "Is MINE! You have no say in anything! Now, get it through your head, or I'm going to make you watch as I whip a mare to within an inch of her life! Am I understood slave?!"

Konrad was barely breathing, he could barely get any air through both the whip, and her sitting on him, so he went limp and weakly nodded. "Good. Pin him." Sharp ordered, and the two stallions stood on his hands as she unwrapped her whip from his neck, and got up in his face. "That was a good effort though." Konrad felt odd, looking in her eyes, instead of hatred...he felt unwanted desire for this bitch. He wanted to make her his. He was surprised when she licked his snout though, and she giggled darkly as she stood up and made sure to step over his head, forcing him to look up at her groin as she passed over, and her long purple tail brushed against his snout, forcing him to get a whiff of her, which excited him to his confusion. "Keep up the good work slave~!"

After Sharp was out of the cell, the two thestral stallions that were pinning him quickly retreated as well, slamming his cell door shut. Konrad laid there in confusion for a few moments, trying to gather himself. 'The fuck? That bitch just keeps confusing me. She keeps sending me signals I shouldn't be responding to, but it gets harder and harder to resist her....' Konrad thought, and then he cringed as he started hearing the bitch's whip crack, and a poor mare start screaming in agony. 'Damn it...I'm so sorry....' Konrad sighed in sadness as he laid there and listened to the whipping and screaming go on for a few more minutes, punishing himself for letting his anger get the best of him...again.

That was murder attempt number three, and again Sharp manages to detain him with nothing but a whip, even if this time she needed her guards to help. Konrad hissed as he rolled over, and groaned as his stomach roared for food. 'I should stop trying that, at least until I finish the boomstick.' Konrad mused as he stood, and looked around his smithy/cell. In one corner behind the smelter was a pile of failed ingots of brass, where he'd fucked up the zinc to copper ratio and wound up with Alpha-Beta or White brass, which was useless for what he needed it for. Next to the worktable in the corner was a small pile of shotgun stocks he carved from his oak firewood supply.

All his materials were delivered to his room while he was asleep, and nothing was taken out of it unless he told the guards his workstations were getting cluttered. Also all the tools were charmed with some sort of spell that made aggression with them impossible. He was forcibly passive when using any of the tools that could also potentially be weapons like the hammers, tongs, and other striking or cutting tools. Which confused him why Sharp didn't seem so engaging while he was working. She seemed to prefer him when he was fresh out of bed, grouchy and rebellious. Stupid, sexy dominatrix.

Konrad shook the errant thoughts from his head as he looked out the cell to check if they were watching him, they weren't for the moment, likely busy with the mare they were punishing to punish him, so he strode over to his cot and carefully dug his fingers into a slightly jutting brick, and pulled it out to reveal a steel double-barrel and a stock that was carved specifically for it. Those were the easy parts, he was still trying to get the brass fittings and trigger and hammer systems working. Having a single-shot would be useless in getting out of here and having more than one gun to juggle would just get him caught quicker. If he could get off two shots with some weak powder made of mostly coal and metal filings using hastily made shred-shot from his poor-quality brass ingots for knockdown on anyone who interfered with him killing sharp, then he could force his way out of here through raw muscle. He discovered early on that he was far stronger than any of the guards down here, it was mostly Sharp's skill and the threats on the other prisoners that kept him here.

'Soon...soon.' Konrad convinced himself as he closed the brick hiding place, and sighed as he went over to the casting area which was always ready with fresh damp clay when he woke up, picking up his trampled bread from the floor on the way, not caring for the spilled water, he could just drink from the barrel of water meant for his forging when he needed to. He considered if he should change his process for the day, and shrugged as he decided to just go as he usually did. He picked up a bit of charcoal, and went to his coat to mark his tally wall. He sighed as he counted them, and added another. Today was day 34.

[ $ ]

Demir was smithing another batch of her guns once again. It was pretty much all she ever made these days. She wasn't going to complain though, each one she made improved her skill with them, and she even started figuring out the extractor catch with a bit of practice on prototypes she kept messing around with. She hoped to make a double-barreled variant soon, or even a revolver variant! All the types of guns that Avarice told her about while teaching her just made her want to try and make all kinds of guns, but she loved the aesthetic of the shotgun, so she was going to focus on it for a good while. Demir paused as she was putting together a prototype revolving shotgun casing, and looked out of her shop's door. She hadn't seen her mentor in over a month, and she was getting worried.

The buxom black horse mare decided to take a break, and set down her prototype revolver shotgun before taking off her apron and smock, and hanging them next to the door as she closed it and locked it. Now wearing just a plain white sarong with a matching white thong and white bikini top, she strode away from her shop as Janissaries took position around her shop to ensure nobody got any bright ideas, while a couple shadowed her to ensure her safety. She was used to the executive treatment by now, as she was still the only smith/engineer in the country who could make the guns and ammo so easily. She made over 20 of them a day, and was considering having to take another smith as an apprentice so she could focus more on advancing the designs of her guns rather than just making more of the first model.

The wind picked up and blew her long white hair into her face, forcing her to brush it out of her eyes. She'd let her hair and tail grow out since she was mostly doing small-scale work since making the stocks and barrels was easy what with so little hammering actually involved compared to filing and cutting, and pulling her hair back was easy. Because of this, she didn't see the stallion in front of her and she bumped into him chest-first, getting a soft "oof" out of them both. "Oh, I'm so sorry sir, I...wasn't...." Demir looked slightly up into the burnt orange eyes of the chocolate brown stallion she'd bumped into. He was heavily dressed in fine robes that were simple, yet elegant, and she couldn't make out his body beneath it, but that wasn't what drew her attention. His eyes...they were so vibrant with intelligence and wisdom beyond his years, despite him possibly being a few years her senior or junior. "...Looking...."

The stallion was similarly frozen, her golden eyes had captivated him the instant he saw them. They shined with energy and a love for her lot in life that so few achieved. He barely even noted her body as her hair whipped about, the long straight white strands contrasting gloriously with her damp black fur, clearly she had a demanding vocation for her to be sweating so on such a pleasantly windy day. "To be fair my fair mare; neither was I." The stallion stated, his voice was suave and filled with calculating undertones someone steeped in politics always seemed to have, but his voice carried no hidden agendas, no schemes. "May I ask your name my lady?"

Demir's heart jumped. She wasn't looking for a relationship, at least, not actively. She always felt the stallion should be the one to approach first, and here was one clearly making that approach judging from his tone, and that he did not back away from her bosom pressed into his chest, their faces so close. "I am Demir. I am the smith in the administrative district."

The stallion's face lit up with recognition, it made her excited to know her name was getting around to stallions such as this. "The one who created the Demir Classic? I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you dear. I have been meaning to arrange a meeting with you, but my duties have kept me occupied thus far."

Demir blinked, wondering who he was to be too busy to visit her, and for him to have to consider wasting his time on her. "Then might I ask what the name of my current companion is?" Demir asked, only for the stallion to smile softly, apparently glad to not be recognized at all.

"I am Prince Suleimane, current Baig of your city." Demir froze in shock. The stallion she was pressing her assets against was one of the highest powers in her country. "Do no fret, you have done no harm. In fact, this is quite the pleasant situation. It isn't often I find one daring enough to be so forward, even if on accident." Suleimane teased, getting a blush and smile out of Demir. "My lady, if you have the time...would you care to join me for a meal?"

"I would be honored my prince." Demir said calmly, accepting his offered left arm, and pressing her right breast into it as he led her down the street to a cafe the prince frequented.

"Please, my dear. Just call me Suleimane."

[ $ ]

It was a few days later, Konrad didn't resist Sharp's treatment since the third attempt, and to his satisfaction, it actually seemed to irritate her even more than outright resisting. He realized she enjoyed his resistance, and so if she was going to tease him so shamelessly, he was going to tease her back by not giving her the satisfaction, while starting to flirt back just a bit. This was throwing her off, and Konrad was incredibly proud of himself for turning the tables a little. He was in the middle of using a file and chisel set to shape a stock, so he was currently pacified when Sharp strutted in with his lunch, setting the disposable wooden tray of a wood mug of water and a large loaf of bread on a clear space. "Have your lunch slave. Don't forget to eat and keep your strength up."

"Of course . Wouldn't dream of it sweet cheeks." Konrad smirked a little at her snarling, and he expected her to leave, when he was taken by surprise by her taking the handle of her whip, and hooking it over his neck to start choking him, making him drop his tools to try and stop her.

"Cut it out! You can't possibly be reciprocating! Prisoners never reciprocated before!" Sharp hissed as she pressed her petite armored breasts into the back of his neck, and looked down her snout at him from above, him looking up at her in confusion. "You can't seriously be liking this...." Sharp then grinned before she blew on his ear, and it flicked as he shifted in his seat, and he shouted in pain when she suddenly bit the tip of his right ear off, sucking on it as he whimpered, and his thong began tenting forward. "Oh Faust! You really ARE getting turned on by this!" Konrad was horrified at the realization, and even more by her discovery of it. Then, rather than keep choking him, she forced his face up with the handle, and kissed him.

Konrad's mind was blank, Avarice had gone silent a while ago from trying to keep the drugs from affecting them too adversely, so he had no mental response to the fact that his tormentor was kissing him. And he loved it. When he suddenly shot his tongue into her mouth, her eyes snapped open and she jumped away from him. Konrad was confused even more when he heard the cell door slam shut, and he heard Snap's hooves frantically galloping away. He sat there, turned around looking at the cell door in utter confusion. 'What was that?' Konrad was so confused, the following couple of days, Sharp was oddly subdued around him, and he was missing her previous demeanor for some reason. When she got back into the swing of things though, their back and forth got more eager on both parties, and while Konrad still wanted to kill her...he began entertaining letting her live.

[ $ ]

Luna had just finished giving a rousing speech to her soldiers, they had finally taken the first city on the way into Bullgaria. The minotaurs were so adamant of not giving an inch, but before their superior numbers and tactics, the brutes were eventually routed and the survivors taken as prisoners. Of course, her own forces had taken a blow too. She'd lost at least several dozen soldiers at the city walls, and she didn't even know the projections and casualties yet for the fighting and skirmishes inside the city itself. Luna calmly strode down the massive hall of Horn Keep. Horn was the closest city in Bullgaria to Equestria, and so was the first stop on their way to the capital city; Bovia.

Luna continued to walk, her strides leading her down, down into the keep's dungeons which were appropriated for her force's own use in imprisoning their prisoners of war. Luna's hooves did not stop until she came to the largest, deepest cell in the dungeon. "Lord Horn. I wish to speak with you." Luna's words stirred the well-dressed massive minotaur from his rest on his suitably sized cot, and he snorted as he turned over and got up, standing at a daunting 12 feet of rippling muscle and and prime example of a minotaur in his waning years. Even being so old, Lord Horn was still a fierce and dangerous bull, as he proved on the battlefield this day when they breached his city's walls, and he led the charge against their invaders.

"So. The Goddess of War seeks my presence. What words would one so violent as you have for me? Come to gloat?" Lord Horn demanded as he towered a good five feet over the mare. Luna would never admit it, but warriors such as Lord Horn still daunted her. Were it not for her flight and magic, she would stand no chance against warriors of Lord Horn's caliber.

"No. I still do not understand your people's insistence on declaring me the Goddess of War. The moon is a dangerous and powerful thing for certain, but I brought this war down on your heads because your warriors continued to harass travelers and trespass on our lands. And when Griffonia suddenly declared war, you were not far behind with your intentions. We are merely ensuring that you never get the chance to do this again, even if it means we must annex your country." Luna's words made Lord Horn look confused.

"But...we declared war because YOUR soldiers were harassing OUR travelers, and YOUR soldiers were trespassing on OUR land!" Lord Horn said back, clearly baffled, and Luna looked similarly shocked. "One of us is either lying, or we're both telling the truth and something far worse is ahoof here...." Lord Horn growled, and Luna looked at the confused and aggravated stallion with shock. She could tell HE was telling the truth, and she wasn't lying...as far as she knew.

"I shall speak with you again later Lord Horn." Luna briskly strode away. 'This does not bode well...we did not enact any aggressive behavior with Bullgaria until they declared war on us, and our soldiers were merely on standby, serving as mere guards as always.' Luna climbed up the massive keep until she reached the pigeon coops. She had a letter to write to her sister.

Author's Notes:

Decided to add this thanks to a very good point made by a comment. It didn't really make sense to jump to the rape without some build-up, show you the teasing and torture he went through from Sharp during his confinement proper, as well as the developing situation between them that ultimately resulted in her raping him.

Of course, to get to the meat of it all, you'll just have to find out later.

I also wanted to give some insight into how Demir was really doing, and show how important she really is for the future of weapons development on Equus in this dimension, as well as some of the developments that occurred during Avarice's containment.