Our group continues onward towards our destination, and thanks to my shadow wraiths, we've avoid a few gryphon patrols.

We stop for a quick lunch and I check over my remaining ammunition. I have fifteen shots left for my revolver and twenty-five left for my rifle. If I had more then I could deal with these damn silver weapons and armour the people here are using against us. But until I get more or Twilight figures out why we're vulnerable to it we'll just have to be careful.

We've passed a town but had no need for more supplies so we avoided it. Most of our group were silent except Twilight and the alicorns talking about her research into the silver on the sword she's studying.

Pinkie is feeling better again and is floating above us making random objects out of nothing. I then get an Idea and ask her if she could make more bullets with her ability but some of the objects she made started to just poof away in a puff of pink smoke, so that idea is out the window.

---

---

The last three days were uneventful, a few close calls with patrols but nothing major. We had to kill a patrol who spotted us before they warned others and I took their souls and dumped their bodies into the Shadow Realm. Turns out my shadow wraiths can devour the flesh of the dead to make themselves stronger, so I shall be making a habit of feeding them the bodies of my enemies. The stronger they are, the stronger I am.

I've topped up Twilight and Desire with my testosterone and they should be good for three to five days. Twilight was really enthusiastic this time.

Our supplies are getting shorter and we'll need to fully restock before heading into the Plaguelands. We come up to a large town that's the only one closest to the Plaguelands border from here.

"Luna, Selene. Time for you to get us as much supplies as you can," I tell them and hand Luna my bag full of gold coins. "I want you to store as much food and water you can into your magical storage, at least three months worth to feed all of us. Also, try and buy some bows and arrows for the thestrals," I tell them getting nods in return.

"We shall get what thou hast asked for, Sir Damien," Selene replies as both she and Luna cast an illusion on themselves to look like random unicorns.

"When you get the supplies, teleport back here. We'll be in the woodland area over there," I tell them and point to the small forest to our left.

"Very well. We shall make haste and return soon," Luna says and they both head off into the town.

Once they're gone, I turn back to the others. "Alright people! Let's head into the woods and stay out of sight! I want the thestrals and the harpies in the trees as lookouts!" I order the others.

Rainbow grumbles at being told what to do but complies and I'm surprised to see Fluttershy fly up into a tree with her animals surrounding the base of said tree.

I blink at Pinkie as I see her set up what appears to be an old world war two radar station with headphones on her head. I shake my head at her and then take cover next to Desire and Twilight.

---

---

Selene and I walk towards the town down the path to appear as travellers. The guards at the gate give us a glance before ignoring both of us. We head through and ask for directions towards the market, the kind old hen tells us where to go and we thank her.

Following the directions we arrive at a large market with stores and stalls lined up down a street into a large plaza. We quickly head to a few food vendors and buy a reasonable amount of produce and meats from each vendor as buying everything or too much from a single place would be suspicious.

So far we've spent nearly half of the bag's gold and our storage is nearly full with three months worth of food. We then head to a weapon store and enter where a little bell above us jingles and an elderly tom gryphon looks up from a newspaper he's reading.

"Huh... don't see many ponies out this far and certainly not in my store. What can I do for you young hens? You lost?" he asks us with a raised brow.

"Nay... I mean no. We've been travelling around Gryphonia on business and have decided to get some souvenirs for our husband back home. We thought some gryphon bows and arrows would be good as he likes archery. What would you recommend?" Selene replies and asks trying very hard to not slip back into old Equestrian.

"Does he now?" he says and puts his paper down, I wince slightly at the headline.

Demons in Gryphonia!

Reports from the Eaglesburg guard reveal the presence of demons from Tartarus have set paw in our fair kingdom.
They have a wanted fugitive by the name of Gilda, a twenty year old hen who was imprisoned for failing to pay her debts on time. She escaped with the aid of the demons and is currently missing as well as the demons.

They were last sighted at Rock Thorn Valley where our courageous soldiers fought them before they escaped.

If anyone has any information or seen the demons, please notify your nearest outpost immediately.

The old tom notices me looking at the paper. "Oh that? Yeah, frightening business that is. To think monsters are running about in Gryphonia, we've enough problems with the King taxing us into poverty..." he says and chuckles. "Don't tell anyone I said that, they'll have me head in a noose within hours."

"Veri... Yes, terrifying indeed. I suppose after this we should head back home then," I reply and smile at the gryphon. The monster comment he made hurt a little but Selene and I just smile and bare it.

"Right. So what kind of bows does your husband like?" he asks us and gestures to the bows lining the left wall of the store.

Selene and I look over the selection and Selene leans over to me. "We would prefer more of Sir Damien's firearm weapons than these," she tells me quietly.

From what she told me they can do and from what I saw when Desire killed that Pirate with her firearm, I would have to agree with her. But none the less, Damien has asked us to purchase some and we shall do so.

"We, I believe we shall take one of each kind. A shortbow, a longbow, a warbow, and a hunting bow," I say to the old tom.

"Very well, how many arrows will you be buying? I would assume he would have his own would he not?" the tom asks us.

"He does, but they're pony made. We think he'll appreciate a new variety to chose from," Selene replies.

"Makes sense, I doubt you'll be able to find gryphon quality arrows back in Equestria. So how many you want?" he asks us while getting the bows we asked for from the back of his store.

"Two-hundred should suffice," I reply as Selene's attention is brought to some noise outside of the store.

"Two-hundred? And do you have enough to pay for this?" he asks warily.

I take off my bag and let the heavy weight of the bag hit the counter where the coins jingle loudly. "Yes, we can afford it," I reply.

"Alright," he says and places the four bows wrapped up in a thin cloth to keep them together. "That'll be four-hundred and seventy tirits," he replies and I get the equivalent out from the variety of gold coins from the bag.

The sound of smashing glass out front gets my attention as two drunk toms are fighting each other and the guards arrive to break it up. There's also a group of gryphons watching us through the store's window. Selene continues to watch while I turn back to the old tom.

Once he finishes counting the coins, he hands us four quivers each packed with fifty arrows and bundled up in cloth for easy transport.

Selene opens her storage and deposits the bows and arrows inside. "That's rather handy, wish I could do something like that," he says with a chuckle.

I smile at him and nod my head. "Thank you, sir. we'll be heading home now, have a nice day," I tell him getting a goodbye in return.

We leave the store and start heading towards an alleyway to get ready to teleport back to the others. But before we could, a group of male gryphons follows us in with unpleasant expressions.

"Look what we have here fellas! Now what's a couple of nice looking mares like you doing this far from home?" the tallest one who I presume to be the ringleader asks us. He has black fur, grey feathers on his head, and dark blue markings around his eyes. A rare colouration for a gryphon.

"Tis none of thy business, gryphon. We suggest thee turn back and leave us be," Selene warns him with a frown.

"Ohhh, feisty. You'll make a great profit after selling you to Julian's whore house," he says and Selene's eyes widen. This makes the gryphon smirk but her eyes don't show fear, but anger.

"Thou dare to commit such an act!?" she yells at him, her anger building as the gryphons all laugh.

"Oh and what shall you do about it sweetheart? Blast me with your lame pony magic?" he asks mockingly.

Back when we were whole, I had a very bad temper and was quick to anger if insulted. I don't have that flaw anymore but it seems it was passed onto Selene now as she is grinding her teeth loudly, and it appears she lacks the self-control I have to keep it in check.

"Care for a demonstration?" she hisses out with malice in her tone.

He gives her a glare and smiles. "Cute. Okay guys, knock them out and stuff them in the carriage. Also cut their horns off just to make sure they don't try something," the leader orders the others with a grin.

"Yes, boss," they reply and I shiver at the hatred Selene is letting off.

Before I could say anything her horn glows and the leader screams in pain as the sound of flesh ripping and a rapidly growing patch of blood is spreading on the ground between his hind legs. He falls onto his side clutching his groin as Selene drops his testicles in front of his face.

"As the foals say nowadays, thou hast done bucked up!" she yells and points both her hands at the gryphons as a crowd starts to gather at the male gryphon's cries of pain.

She spreads her magic out and levitates the five goons into the air where they flail helplessly. Selene then grins widely as her disguise falls from her lack of concentration on it and her focus on the gryphons, displaying her demonic appearance and wings. She then raises them up before repeatedly slamming them into the ground over and over again as the sound of their bones breaking and shattering makes me wince with each impact.

Once thoroughly beaten but still alive, she levitates the leader towards herself and grins before sinking her fangs into his neck and pours her demonic energy into him just like we've seen Sir Damien do.

He screams as his body begins to change into a harpy and the pitch of his voice turns feminine. Breasts grow on his chest and his talons fuse with his hind legs, replacing the paws and making him... her bipedal. Her hips then widen and his waist gets thinner before her muscles get leaner and more curvy, her beak even shrinks and her face more rounded.

Once done, Selene releases her and spits out her blood as the same mark Damien gave us is now on her neck. "Thou wished to make us a slave? Then thou shalt be ours!" she tells her coldly as her horn charges up before the soldiers arrive and we teleport back to the field near the forest.

---

---

It's been a couple of hours and I feel a spike of energy ahead of us as Luna and Selene return. But I raise and eyebrow at the third person with them who appears to be a black furred, grey feathered with dark blue tips harpy.

Selene looks pissed as she drags the groaning harpy across the ground and then dumps her in front of me. Luna then drops her disguise and sighs.

"Who's this?" I ask Selene as the harpy shivers on the ground at my feet.

"A foul animal who threatened to enslave ourself and our sister as whores! So we turned him into a female and shall treat her as she would have treated us," she replies angrily.

I look down at the harpy with a frown. "Oh really? What's your name?" I ask and grip the harpy by the throat and lift her up.

Her eyes glow slightly at my command. "Ebonwing..." she replies weakly.

"So... You want to enslave others for your own profit?" I ask her getting a pitiful whine in response as she tries to use her wings like arms and pry my hand from her neck. I make the harpy look me in the eyes as I force my will over hers. "You will do as you're told when you're told! No matter the order. You will obey everyone here and not question them, is that clear?" I tell her coldly making the others shiver at my dark tone.

The harpy's eyes glow red and then dim. "Y-Yes, Master..." she replies lifelessly as she stops struggling.

I drop her onto the ground and turn to the others. "Do not abuse her, you can tell her to do chores or fetch something for you. But if you go beyond that I will have your head," I tell the others who nodded quickly. "And get her some clothes, I'll not have her naked."

The two orobas demons pick her up and drag her over to the cart and give her a plain shirt and shorts.

"So, did you get what I asked for?" I ask the two sisters.

Selene is still glaring at the harpy but Luna replies. "Verily. We hast procured four bows of various types and two-hundred arrows." She then nudges Selene to get her attention.

The angry alicorn opens her storage and pulls out the weapons.

I examine them and nodded. "These'll do for now, give these to the thestrals and anyone else who wants one," I tell them and they nodded before handing out the bows and arrows.

I sigh and give one more glare at the new harpy. She'll be obedient until she's earned her freedom back. I then notice the town seems to be abuzz with activity.

"I suggest we get moving before the town finds us," I say aloud and get the group moving again.

---

---

Over the weeks, Twilight has gotten further in her research about why silver hurts us. Apparently, silver is said to be a blessed metal from the creator of the planet who infused it with light magic. Which is why it's always used as a magical conduit for the devices Equestria invent. It's this magical signature in the metal that we're vulnerable to.

Now that we know, Twilight is trying to come up with a way to either reduce its effect or even negate it.

I've also discovered Twilight loves to cuddle a lot after feeding. Almost crushed my ribs when she once over fed off me, she was more affectionate than usual.

The girls and Shining are still sending letters back to their families while also receiving them as well, and Shining has finally spoken to his marefriend thanks to Pinkie’s power. While she wanted him back home despite his... "Condition", she agrees he should stay here and look after Twilight. He also told her about Gilda and what they do which she wasn't happy about and said they'll talk about it when he gets home later.

The harpy Ebonwing has been following all orders given to her, but at first she tried to kill herself rather than live like this. She was stopped and punished with only two meals a day instead of three for a week. I also gave her commands to be unable to kill herself or attack anyone else in the group.

Applejack after being stubborn for so long has finally given in once she was told her legs aren't healing properly by Twilight and if left alone, she'll never be able to run or applebuck again. I turned her into a lesser demon orobas, her legs healed and are now even stronger than before. Though she's not a fan of the ram like horns on the side of her head, or the two blades on the tip of her new tail.

Ironhoof's brother Thunderhorn has also decided to become a balrog after being convinced by him. Once turned, he's a lighter shade of blue than his brother and a couple inches shorter, but just as strong and tough as him.

Luna's student Dusk Shine is still conflicted about becoming a demon to get his magic back and misses Canterlot and a little bit for his parents despite disowning him, but is still learning basic education from both Luna and Selene. Even Twilight has taken some time from her research to teach him a few things.

We've been seeing less and less patrols of gryphons the closer we got to the border of the Plaguelands, which is fortunate for us at least. Though along the way we were able to barely see the Capital of Gryphonia from a great distance. It was similar to Canterlot that it was built on the side of a mountain, but not as grand in appearance.

---

We make it to the borders of the Plaguelands, which is nothing but a cracked and sickly looking pale sandy brown wasteland with dead trees and pools of what appears to be diseased greenish water or sludge. The air even smells foul with death and decay. It also seems it's not as lifeless as I thought as there are tracks which seem to indicate predators in the area.

"So this is the Plaguelands? Selene, which way to the Tartarus Gate?" I ask her.

"If we recall correctly, tis near a month’s travel... that way," she replies and points to the north east.

"We have to traverse this dreadful place!? My mane will dry out within a few days!" Rarity exclaims in horror.

I roll my eyes and address my group. "Let's get going. The sooner we get there the sooner we can head to Fel Haven, and Rarity?" She looks at me with a pout. "I have two daughters who run the best spa back home. If you suck it up and bare with it, I'll make sure you get a free full session," I tell her making her perk up at that.

"Well, I suppose I shall tolerate this till then..." she replies defeated.

The others look around us as we make our way through the Plaguelands.

Next Chapter: Chapter 38: Bad dream Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 15 Minutes