“Could it be...?” Twilight Sparkle sucked in a breath. Seemingly abandoned, their venture into the Crystal Palace took them to the throne room. Resting upon the stand was a ghostly image of the Crystal Heart. It radiated a faint light, filtered between a tangible and incorporeal form, barely able to maintain itself with the power it had recently spent.

“Allow me,” said Sunset Shimmer, marching forward. The moment her palm touched the ethereal artifact, her eyes gleamed pure white and her maw fell open. "A-ahh!"

“Not again! Are you okay?!” Twilight sailed next to her, pressing a hand over her heart and almost hyperventilating.

Within moments Sunset's eyes regained their color and focused in a dreamy haze. “I-I'm fine. I...I saw it all. What's been happening in Sombra's nation. Here, I'll show you.” She held hands with Twilight, who helped her form a circle with Flurry Heart and Somnambula, the Sphinx reaching a massive paw into the room. They were likewise assaulted by a series of visions.

Sombra's cries of anguish as the Pony of Shadows inflicted its abuse. Confirmation that rumors about the militarization of his land were legitimate, the helmets he forged to control and empower his elite guards, the abuses of his lovers, and the experiments he enacted with the black arts.

And most importantly, the revelation that the Crystal Heart lay in Radiant Hope.

Tears ran down Flurry's cheeks. “We have to help them,” she cried after they broke free of the shared vision.

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves,” said Sunset. “Of course, I want to help, but we can't just rush in ill-prepared.”

“Why not? I can blink in, rescue them, and be back in no time!” Flurry beamed.

“Maybe. Or you might be captured, too. Who knows what traps the Pony of Shadows might have placed around the pyramid? Remember what happened to Somnambula.” Sunset nodded at the Sphinx pacing around in the hall, unable to fit into the throne room. “She barely escaped alive! Not to offend you, but after what Chrysalis did to you, well, your powers are still unreliable.”

Flurry slumped her head with a frown. “Yeah, I suppose. I just can't stand to think about what he's doing to them!”

“I know. I could almost feel that creep's hands on me,” Sunset said with a quiver, arms holding each other to stifle the chill.

Uncertain she'd have another chance, Flurry sat on the throne and imagined herself as Queen. “I wonder, after what Chrysalis did, are Cadance and I still immortal? It's sad to think I'll have to watch most of my friends pass on.”

“I know the feeling,” Twilight lamented, strolling up to her niece's side. “I've lost so many friends and family. There were times I didn't think I could go on. I'm lucky that people like Spike, Rarity, and Fluttershy are still around.” She sighed. “Not to mention Shining Armor and Cadance. It's a shame they couldn't come, but I understand they're still trying to get their lands back in order.”

“Yes, without the Crystal Heart around, it's been tough to keep the snow at bay. And that's without the rising Wendigos! Really hoped the Eldritch attack would do something to destroy them, at the least!” Flurry frowned and drummed her fingers on the sides of her mother's throne.

Sunset watched the Crystal Heart vanish into nothingness, its power to project itself spent. “Guess it's time to head back.”

Rejoining with the Sphinx, the team strolled back outside, nearly blinded by the blizzard that whirled about them. Twilight readied herself to teleport them back when a familiar howl made her pause. She and her companions stared into the sky, watched the storm of wendigos circle like vultures high above, and with a snarl, she stood her ground, ready to deal with them.

The ethereal creatures howled and whirled around them. Blinded by a swirl of snow, Twilight, Sunset, and Flurry lit their horns, and the Sphinx sailed upwards to take the fight to them directly. Blood dripped from the maws of the abominations, further warped by their nightmarish surroundings, fed on the frozen dead and the tension that simmered between those trapped here.

Blasts of magic tore through the air, obliterating chunks off the frozen crystal guards around the perimeter who erupted in bloodied chunks. Yells and screams were drowned in the flurry of the storm.

Try as he might, Spike felt his instincts eat away at his resolve. Being surrounded by so many beautiful women wore at his restraint, the urge to take Trixie and Beatrix right there on the stage overpowering. His body burned with unfilled needs, and he recalled what Somnambula told him that if he didn't fulfill them, he would burn himself out before ensuring the safety of his family. Despite the frigid air around him, his belly burned with an inner fire, stoked by lusts that demanded to be slaked by what was at hand.

“G-gals...I need you,” he admitted with a growl, grabbing the pair of witches by their waists with his claws and pulling them into his lap. His hot breath rolled over him, nostrils flaring and smoking, mind dulling under base instincts to claim them as his trophies. To a male dragon, potential mates were a horde to be collected, symbols of status that showed one's prowess.

“W-whoa! Take it easy big guy,” Beatrix giggled while rubbing his scales with a subdued blush. “We're here to help you~!”

“Figures you'd go after the most alluring and beautiful of mares,” Trixie added with a sexy pout to her lips.

Given permission, he didn't hesitate to sink his claws into their costumes and tear them from their bodies. Breasts toppled free in bouncy fashion, and they would have shivered in the cold, were it not for the heat he emitted. Their nipples were rock hard on his bare chest, and he impatiently used his tail to remove the rest of his armor, a hindrance that separated him from them.

He bent them over the stage, propped Beatrix atop her mother, and without ceremony pressed his twin cocks to their pussies. Luckily the pheromones his musk emitted made them moisten, their twats inflamed, and he drove into them with a grunt. Growling, he humped into them, pulled their manes, spanked, and kneaded them, his fin-ears raised at their mewls.

Confident they could take it, he loosed his instincts, took them roughly, his eyes turned to slits. He panted, muscles rising and falling, raised his snout, and spat fires in the air. Their buttocks slapped under his thrusts, and he buried himself womb-deep, balls churning and ready to pump his payload into their depths, lost in a mad mating frenzy.

“O-oh shit!” Beatrix cried out, blushing hotly from how much fem cum was squirting out of her. "Y-you really needed this badly!"

“D-don't worry, Spike!" Trixie grunted with each rock of her hips. "J-just, focus on relieving yourself with our pussies! Y-YAAH~!"

He barely heard them, lost in a haze, and his heavy balls ached for release. But he could only find so much satisfaction from females he'd already bred and wanted more. He needed more. A more primitive state subsumed his thoughts, and in a brief moment of clarity, he wondered if survival were even worth the price, if he'd be reduced to little more than a horny animal.

Not that his current paramours seemed to mind. They breathed in more of his scent, whinnied and buckled under his savage assault on their overstretched cunts, content to temporarily be his sleeves, lost in the euphoria of having such a burly beast ravage them senseless without mercy.

He nipped the napes of their necks. Twitched his wings and landed smacks on their buttocks. Raked their asses and tits with his claws, left small little red marks that didn't entirely break the skin, but the unbearable pleasure drowned out the pain.

And in turn, he couldn't suppress a need to sexually dominate them, show them they were his mates, to please him, bear his spawn, fulfill their purpose.

His tips rubbed the walls of their contracting, slimy wombs. He cast back his head, roared another blaze of fire skyward. He pumped his payload into their depths, splattered their moist confines, made their bellies bloat up when they squealed and came themselves in messy squirts under the impact.

Their cascade washed over his firm stomach, groin, and thighs. Pulse-after-pulse was emptied into their core, made them wail.

“That's it, big guy,” mumbled Beatrix between pants. “Let it aaall out. Mnhf, fuck, I haven't felt so full in a while.” Cum sloshed in her.

“M-mhmm~,” was Trixie's only reply, lost in the afterglow with a goofy grin plastering her muzzle. He withdrew from them, and a mixture of their juices sluiced from their ravaged funholes, barely able to do anything more than lie there, gooey cum sloshing in their uteri. "Wow, better than I remember!"

His slit eyes refocused and widened when sanity returned. “W-whoa fuck! Sorry if I was a little rough on you two.”

“Pft, I've handled much worse,” snickered Beatrix, rolling off her mother and slumped beside her, thighs slick with their nectar.

Trixie sat up next to her and patted her tummy. “Well, I'm certainly satisfied, at least for now!”

“Good! I'd hate for this to be one-sided,” he muttered, knowing that this wasn't going to hold him for long. He hoped Lady Ewe would accept his offer before he lost himself completely. At least the inferno within him had cooled for the moment.

He strolled about in the snowfall with a crunch, stretched his nude, statuesque body to its limits with loud cracks and pops.

His eyes followed the blizzard blistering in the distance. Narrowing his eyes, he focused on the storm, swore he could spot something move within them.

Wendigos? His suspicions were confirmed when the flash of magic lit the area.

He realized the creatures must have engaged Twilight's team in battle. What to do? Stay here as they wished and defend their temporary home? Or rush to aid them? He wanted to believe they could handle it.

Still, he worried that those monsters would prove more robust than ever in the Necronomicon, able to siphon the conflict between the twisted creatures trapped within this dimension to empower them.

His decision made, the dragon raced back to the wagon, prepared to share what he'd seen with Sombra and Lady Ewe.

Blinded by the Crystal Heart's radiance, Sombra was appeased for the moment and retired alone to his chambers. In the meantime, his lovers were left to their own devices to await their fates. His elite guards had confined them to a private room, where they were fed, watered, a bath and restroom prepared for them. After the hell they'd suffered, it was almost a vacation.

Radiant Hope's translucent flesh continued to sparkle, as did Foal-Bearer's and Wet Nurse's. The room was rather barren, and they soaked in the vast pool with Inky Rose and Cerise Silhouette, surrounded by steam from the heated waters.

“Whatever happens, I'm proud of you all,” said Radiant, who smiled at them.

Inky rubbed at her false wing, stretched it with a wince, still plagued by phantom limb syndrome. “We owe you.”

“Not at all. I finally understand.” She clasped a hand over her heart, concentrated, and made the small Crystal Heart appear in her bosom, the tiny heart-shaped jewel now the size of her fist. “This saved us.”

“The Crystal Heart,” cried the twins in unison. Tears ran down their sparkly, coral cheeks.

Cerise chewed on her lower lip and paused between soaping up her black-furred curves. “What does this mean?”

“It could mean Equestria is trying to rebuild itself,” explained Radiant, washing the suds from her mane. Soft splashes sounded when she rubbed down flesh and fur, her curvature lathered up. “Given time, maybe the Elements of Harmony will also return?”

“I highly doubt it,” Inky said with a shake of her head. "The Elements haven't been useful in years. Especially with some bearers dead.”

Cerise pressed herself to her mother from behind and wrapped her hands around her midsection. “Well, I want to believe it, too! We need a miracle, and the Crystal Heart helped make that happen! It feeds on hope, yeah? We need to have faith in it!”

“You're right.” Inky managed a small smile. “You know, I tried to make Pacific Glow happy after I helping her overcome her addictions. Though in truth, I wanted happiness for myself as well. I often felt so alone and wanted someone to share my troubles with. Sometimes she was my sole reason to go on. I can tell she's in there with you, sweetheart. You have her kindness.”

Cerise beamed back. “Pacific's part of me, but I'm my own brand of happiness!”

“Want to know what I think?” Radiant met their eyes. “You said Sombra unknowingly worked his magic when he seeded Pacific Glow and embedded her soul to the unborn child. But I believe you played a part too, Inky. You never wanted to be alone from her, and that made it possible. Call it intuition, but I think because of how tied he is to the Necronomicon, Sombra still draws on its wicked powers in small doses. That's why he was able to be reborn. And why the dark arts come so naturally to that devil.”

“So he's like an extension of the tome,” reasoned Inky, who paused between preening her plumage and considered all the secrets he'd shared with her, pillow talk after they made love. “That makes sense.”

Foal-Bearer settled her wet bottom on the side of the tub and swished a foot. “This could be our last night to relax.”

Wet Nurse took her hand. “Do you think he'll have us executed? Branded traitors? He still needs his brides, at least, doesn't he?”

“We knew the risks. I'm not afraid to die,” said Foal-Bearer, who narrowed her eyes in determination.

“Now comes the hardest part. Where we're left to wait.” Radiant Hope knew they were out of options. Their fate was in the hands of a madman. Aware that it wouldn't help to dwell on their circumstances, she lathered herself up like the rest of them, and the soap subs ran down their suppleness.

She closed her eyes with a soft moan, contented to be with her sisters.

She wondered; if the Necronomicon was indestructible, did that extend to Sombra as well? She's heard about how many times he was defeated, reduced to ashes or rubble.

And each time, he came back stronger. And if the sins he committed became too much to bear, he could spend the rest of eternity trapped within his own personal hell, one caused by his own terrible deeds.

She bathed the twins, and Inky did the same to her daughter. The drip-drop of water echoed about them, ther nude forms reflected on the crystalline pool.

Inky met her daughter's eyes. “Cerise, dear, will you dance for us? I miss that.”

“O-okay,” she replied with wide-eyed bewilderment, uncertain what had brought this on. Despite the lack of music, the twins began to sing in harmony, a sweet melody that carried around them, and Cerise raised her arms and began to sashay her foal-bearing hips in a gradual, sensuous manner. She closed her eyes, unable to help but smile, dripping and breasts swaying.

“Pacific Glow was always happiest when she danced,” said Inky, who smiled back. “It allowed her to forget her troubles.”

Radiant Hope allowed a smile to grace her lips, realizing some warmth and levity was precisely what the Crystal Heart needed to grow. Strengthening the bond between them all could only help that. She couldn't help but admire Inky's wit and resourcefulness, certain whatever flaws that devil Sombra had, his taste in mares remained impeccable. A shame he treated them so poorly.

She watched the earth pony gyrate; her back momentarily turned to them while she wiggled her bottom. Thankful that she was able to hide the Crystal Heart at will, confident that Sombra wouldn't hesitate to have it carved from her breast, her thoughts wandered to the cities outside the pyramid, where the tyrant vigorously recruited more soldiers into his expansive military...

Outside the wagon, Beatrix and her mother were cleaning themselves up. Lady Ewe and Sombra were resting beside Bellatrix, so it was best not to disturb them. Using magic to summon new costumes, Beatrix helped Trixie set up more displays around the stage, their bellies no longer swelled.

"Nngh!?" All of a sudden, the younger mage felt a sharp cramp in her gut, causing her to sway before stumbling onto the corner. Sweat poured off her forehead, and she churned with nausea. Her surroundings blurred, attempting to refocus before she bowled over by an assault on her senses.

Uncertain what caused these unfamiliar sensations, she plopped down on a chair next to a stack of props. Her palm slapped over her mouth, afraid she'd hurl, an acidic bite in her throat and her limbs numb.

“Are you okay, my little hellspawn?” Trixie rushed to her side and held her shoulders. “How about a cup of water?”

“Y-yeah, I think this place is getting to my head,” mumbled Beatrix between her fingers. Her face twisted when she swallowed down a chunk of vomit, tried to steady herself without success.

Something was incredibly off. She hadn't felt this ill her last time in the Necronomicon.

“Just wait here! I'll be back in a flash,” Trixie insisted before she rushed off.

With a weak nod, Beatrix stared into a snow-capped forest beyond the city walls. Maybe she'd taken it too hard lately, as she rarely rested between adventures. Fatigue and lack of food was catching up to her, that's all.

She clasped her Prima Materia in a weak squeeze, wondered if this or worse was how Bellatrix Primadonna felt in her condition.

Another pain rushed through her, causing the witch to lurch forward. Beatrix hissed, clutching at her head as her vision grew more distorted and chromatic. "W-what's happening?!" She wheezed, looking down to her arm before discovering a horrific sight.

Small slits opened all over her forearm as fleshy eyeballs peered out to gaze up at her.

"BWAAAAH!?" She shrieked, jumping back into her chair and frantically rubbing over her arm like it was covered in poison ivy. A second look showed that her arm was apparently fine. She clutched her form, breathing heavily, unsure of what was happening with her. Whether this was the Necronomicon's doing or something else.

"Keep it together," she told herself. "You'll be fine. We're almost out. This is just in your head!"

"What's in your head?"

Her eyes snapped open over the small delicate voice coming in front of her. Raising her head, a little girl stood before the older mare. Her head was to the side, staring at Beatrix with a sunken eye through long white hair with dark faded tips. Her charcoal black skin complemented her small white dress.

"W-what? Who are..." But before she could finish, the child floated away into the forest. "H-hey wait! No, come back!" Beatrix called after, stumbling to her feet, and slid off the stage to trudge through the thickening snow.

Even if this was just another mind trick, she just couldn't stomach the thought of a small child being lost in the Necronomicon. Snowflakes drifted around her, and her stomach rumbled, but she scrunched her snout and pressed on.

As she got closer to the tree, she heard a scribbling sound. Cautiously, she approached so as not to spook the girl hiding behind a trunk before bending down. The little unicorn was doodling something with a box of crayons in her lap, seated in the snow.

As Beatrix tried to look over, the girl jumped and clutched her picture to her chest. "It's not done yet!" She looked back with a pout.

"O-oh, sorry! I'm not trying to intrude, you just...came out of nowhere." She chuckled awkwardly before the girl seemed satisfied and returned to her doodle. "U-um, who are you?"

"Someone you haven't met yet. But you will soon," the child commented.

"W-what do you mean by that? I don't understand. Don't you have a name?"

She shook her head.

“Why don't you come inside? Aren't you cold?" Again, the child shook her head. Annoyance began to fester within Beatrix. "Look, I'm not really feeling well. Just tell me if you're real or not. I don't know if you noticed, but we're in an evil book and-"

The sound of sniffling stopped her from going on a full rant. The child had finished drawing in favor of curling her legs into her chest as her sobs grew louder.

"I just want to be home," she whined.

Empathy rushed through her as Beatrix wrapped her arms over the shivering girl with her cloak, cuddling her tightly to her bosom. "I-I know. I wanna go home too," she whispered. Though for the longest time, she wondered what was home to her?

She never settled on any place or time, too far wrapped up in adventures to really think about if she wanted to try living everyday life. Or if she even deserved one.

"Why don't we go home together?" She offered with a chipper smile.

But there was no response. It took Beatrix a moment to notice that she was cradling nothing in her arm. Her heart sank that she had been deceived, but something caught her attention as it flapped against her chest.

It was the picture the child had been drawing. Taking each end, she held up to get a better look before her eyes went wide. Three characters were scribbled together. One was the little girl in her monochromatic color. Holding her hand was what appeared to be herself, in her purple and blue coat and hat. But the third character next to her didn't look like anyone Beatrix knew.

It was tall, colored in black and gold with what she could only guess was a dark blue octopus for a face. But etched around them were magenta-colored eyes, much like the ones she thought were all over her arm.

"Zeloph..." She muttered coldly, a sharp shiver running through her as she picked herself up and kept the picture close. She felt never-ending dread over what that monster wanted with her. Or the girl she encountered and what she was. She hoped Lady Ewe had some ideas on what this could mean.

But one thing was for sure; they couldn't afford to stay in this wretched place any longer.

How many hours did Fleur spend fighting all these agents of Sombra? She strained and sweat poured off from her voluptuous form as she gripped her weapon tightly. Another body kneeled as blood soaked into the sand.

"Scum," she muttered cruelly before clutching the soldier's collar and dragging him down the dune. Her head twitched violently as it reeled back.

The pale moon shined down on her complexion as she ran a hand over her neck. A delightful smile spread her muzzle.

"Don't worry, love, we're almost done," She insisted. "Just a couple more bodies and then Sombra and all his evil forces will be gone. No one can separate us again. We are one~."

With a giggle, she continued to drag the corpse along towards a pyre she had built, a stack of bodies piling on top.

What she failed to realize in her delirium was that the people she mercilessly butchered were not Sombra's men.

Just vagabonds looking around the oasis for safety, now reduced to charred husks.