Open World: Level Up

by BioQuill

Button Mash ran away from home, running deep into the heart of the Everfree Forest without knowing he has a near death encounter with the local wildlife he wakes up in a bed that's not his, in a building not his house, on a world not his own, in a universe he can't even begin to understand.

7. Chapter 7: Reunion

The next two months have been interesting. A few new infected types showed up. Some are not native to the Harran Virus strain, but other strains of infected. Boomers, Spitters and Hunters from the Green Flu virus. Lickers, Zombie Dogs, and a fucking zombie alligator, T-Virus. There were more but those were the ones I saw most often.

Cream Heart, Cheat and Philomena have all also gotten… much bigger, their pregnancies both something I've come to realize I am so unprepared for, constantly working and going on Runs to help keep them and the soon to arrive newborns safe, and of course finding and freeing Prize Pod People.

My plate was full, and thankfully I was only partly driving myself mad.

"I mean…while it's really cool that I've been getting a lot of training over the past two month's from Donahue but…I hate how I'm still driving myself mad with all of this…" I grumbled, thankful for the training my new Bloodthirster friend gave me but…it didn't feel like enough in this damned world.

"I still say you need more sleep." Cheat said. Being the first to get… well, knocked up by me she was the largest as she was a little over three months by now. Philomena and Cream we're only two months right now. Cheat sat on a large loveseat we found. It was huge, soft and she was also surrounded by pillows and blankets. "Climb on up."

"Cheat is right. You need more sleep." Cream added, sitting next to me on the couch. "You've been going on a lot of late runs with Parker, and coming home even later cause of the Late Night bonus rewards for looting/scavenging at night. Course if someone would let you sleep undisturbed, then it might not be that much of a problem." Cream added as she looked over at Philomena in the kitchen.

Philomena was, despite only being two months along, bigger than Cheat and Cream combined. Parker says she has nine pup-ponies. "I only do as Master asks. If he asks for a quicky when he returns I am obligated as his servant to do so." She said with a smirk as she stirred a pot of soup.

I slumped on the couch cushions and sighed. I am so lucky I haven't found any other Lovers or… Mistress Class Pod People.

"It…helps me fall to sleep faster." I tried to point out weakly.

"Not when it lasts for half an hour…" Cheat said. "You're getting more and more worried about the others huh?"

My ears fell to the sides. We've been here almost five months… still no sign of dad, Maud, Sweetie Bot, anyone. If this place let me I know I'd be having nightmares about worst possible scenarios. So, my awake brain gives me daymares.

Sometimes I see an infected and swear it's them, or I think I hear one of their voices… aside from the Runs for supplies and such, sex helps keep my mind off those thoughts… cause ironically it's when I try and sleep when they hit me the most.

"I'm…constantly having daymares about it…" I answered. "It's…it's getting worse…we've been here for five months and nothing…"

"And none of Parker's few friends have found anything either." Cream sighed.

"I'm sure they will turn up eventually…" Philomena said, though there was clear doubt in her voice.

I sighed… where are you guys?

---

"Okay… so we're in Australia… Undead Australia…" Sweetie Bot said. Her coat was dirty and slightly stained. Despite being a Synthetic her nanites injection made her nearly identical to biological life, so this was to be expected when walking across the ruins of cities followed by vast deserts. She and Scootaborg now stood at the coast facing Indonesia. "Any luck calculating where Button landed?"

"Based on our height and angle of descent… most likely in the southern mid-west area of this places America." Mei said. She and the others shrunk in the armored saddle bags Sweetie now sported.

"At least he's not in Florida, only place that might be worse than Australia." Diamond pointed out.

"Ugh, that doesn't narrow where he is down at all though…" Sweetie huffed. "Five months to reach this coast. Fucking Zombie Kangaroos…" As it turned out, while zombies based on intelligent beings ignored them, zombie animals, and, plants, did not. "It took us way too fucking long to get to the coast and now we have to get to America, by hoof, and keep looking for Button…"

"Look Sweetie, we both miss him and will probably ride him on sight when we find him, but right now you need to keep it together. You're our only safe means of crossing this place." Maid said.

"I know. I know." Sweetie huffed. "At this rate it might be years before we can get there let alone find him…"

"Perhaps a boat will speed our travel?" Scootaborg asked, pointing a hoof at several floating boats.

"Can you even sail one?"

"Affirmative."

"Well, let's find one with plenty of gas…"

---

The next morning I was out on another run. With our population growing, it was crucial we keep food stocked. The farm is getting along but it will be a while before anything edible is grown.

Supermarks, food trucks, and restaurants were thankfully plentiful and not too difficult to raid.

In my time here, I have to admit… I've gotten into shape. My legs, once rather skinny and weak for an earth pony now we're strong, toned and muscular. My overall strength, endurance and stamina all have improved greatly too. And that's without putting a single skill point, which are hard to Acquire as my main means of getting them is killing at least two thousand zombies at a time… for one skill point…

Still, despite that I have managed to gain seven so far. I consider that pretty good overall.

"So far so good…even with all the new infected somehow getting here, thing's are working out." I said with a smile, pride swelling in my chest knowing I'm doing good.

My first target was an abandoned food truck in a car crowded bridge. And, as usual, infected were all around.

I've gotten really good at my telekinesis spell… and so I also invested some Skill Points in there.

With a smirk I levitated my small, sharp makeshift throwing knives, using the spell to launch them at lethal speeds and imbed or punch through the heads of the infected. Once all the major ones were dead I shook them clean of blood and put them all back in. Damn, now I know why unicorns always use their horns to do stuff. It's just so much easier.

I broke the lock off the truck and spotted a single pallet of what seemed to be canned beans.

I stored it all away into my Assistant and headed out, dodging a Hunter as I did and used Telekinesis to slam the truck's back door down and keep him in there.

Okay, food truck one. Check. Next… minimart.

"Alright…let's see what fat bastard decided to stalk the minimart…" I frowned, still hating how fucknig 7 Boomers were stalking the place.

I rushed along and made it there. Still seven Boomers and some Thugs. Same as before, levitation, knives. Boomers explode, Thugs go down quick.

The minimart doors slide open automatically. Hm. Some cigarettes, booze, chips, sodas, candy… and in the back there is- holy fuck there's frozen pizza here!

I put them all away into my Assistant and head off. Next… Gun store. Ah yes, the Columbia Gun Store. This place finally let me know I was in the state of Tennessee of some country called America. You'd think a place with so many guns wouldn't fall to the infected so easily.

"Well, if these idiot's failed to use guns, I sure as hell won't." I shook my head, going up and starting to take all the ammo and the guns.

This place usually had ammo in plenty, and a few guns. Today it gave me a shotgun, a machine gun and a really fancy sniper rifle. Now if only my aim wasn't crap…

I put everything away and headed off. One last place, the hospital.

I leave this place for last because it's the hardest. This place alone practically fills up half my kill count meter towards getting skill points. But it's got medicine, and Antizen. The stuff that keeps the Harran Virus from actually turning you… and some of our people are already infected. Even with a good stockpile, better too much than not enough…

"You ready Button?" Cheat asked me.

"More than ready." I said with a smile.

I adorned my armor, my training with Donahue filling my mind as I jumped off the building top and into the hoard below.

I crushed an unfortunate infected from my fall, and with a stomp sent spikes from my armor out in all directions, the spikes stretching out twenty feet around me, then rapidly spun around my body at incredible speeds in all directions, slicing and killing all the infected around me. I kept this up, quickly dealing with the outside hoard til it was a massacre of the undead. The spikes all retracted back to their normal length and I burst through the doors. The many things here I rammed with strength far exceeding their own, ending them as I knocked them around and stomped around, crushing limbs and bones into gore.

I quickly raided this floor of supplies before heading up to the next. Here I encountered a mix of common infected, Thugs, and Hunters. My rampage left the walls soaked and painted red, the floors a mess of viscera and meaty, bone riddled chunked.

Each floor went like this, a slaughter before looting until I came to the top floor. When I saw them I almost smirked. A Demolisher, fitted in a hazmat suit mostly torn and over stretched across their body. Behind them. A full box of Antizen.

I called this big guy Frank. He feels like a Frank.

"Alright Frank, I'm gonna kick your ass." Button growled. "Between me and some very important drugs, and I really need those drugs."

They roared at me, same as always. They rushed at me, I side stepped them, sending out a volley of spikes that sliced them across their grotesquely meaty body. Frank still stood as he spun to fists down upon me.

I didn't move, taking the hot square in my head as he slammed down. The spikes around my helmet shot out like bullets from his hand, rapidly spun and turned the limb into sliced meat. Frank roared again and tried to swipe me with his other hand.

I raised a hoof up, catching the swing and stood up on my hind legs, and brought my other hood down upon his arm between his wrist and elbow. Thick meat violently split open and his arm bone broke down the impact.

As he howled in the agony I quickly pounced at him, slamming him onto the ground and delivered a spike covered hoof deep into his face.

Once his head was broken into chunks, he stopped moving.

I walked over to a nearby wall. Blood making up a makeshift score board between Frank and I. I've had to run away twice… but this makes my thirteenth time killing Frank.

I smiled as I added that bloody tally to the board before picking up and putting away the Antizen.

"Is Frank really even a challenge for you anymore?" Cheat asked.

"Not anymore, but you never know." I shrugged. "Something might happen to make him stronger."

"Maybe. Still, thirteen boxes of Antizen? I know it's limitless with the respawning but that's a crap ton of the medicine."

"Better to be safe than sorry." I answered. "And I'm not taking any chances."

"I suppose. Our little settlement is gonna be a town soon. Almost a hundred people. Well, including the eleven unborn, we're over a hundred already…"

"Which…is a massive problem if any chaos guilds find us…" I sighed. "But…hopefully it'll be alright."

I quickly rushed out of the hospital and began making my way to the settlement. There was still lots of daylight and- what the?

I stopped, looking a distance away… smoke? Doubt one of the infected caused it…

I ran towards the smoke. Upon my arrival I found some armored van of sorts. Sitting around a small makeshift fire was a pony like me, A Blue and green earth pony mare in some odd armor. The other two looked human. One was in an all metal armor and the other looked… odd. Rather pale for a human.

"Uh…hello?" I asked nervously, really hoping these aren't apart of who I think they are.

They looked over at me. The pale human looked on the defensive but the other two just shrugged. "It's the new Settlement head Oro." The mare sighed. She looked back over at me. "Been looking for you. I'm Sludge, and that's Kijiv." She motioned to the armored human.

"Alright…so considering you're not immediately trying to attack me means you're at least on talking terms." I started. "Hi, it's nice to meet you three, my name's Button Mash and…why are you three here if I may ask?"

"What, Parker didn't mention us?" The pale one, Oro, asked.

"We're his…friends…" Sludge said.

"Ah." I nodded. "Right then…any and all help is appreciated, it really is." I nodded.

"We only came because Parker asked us. Said he's bringing back the Rescue Pods." Oro said.

"How long have you known Parker?" Kijiv asked. His voice was… very deep. Very authoritarian.

"About…four to five months." I answered. "And he's basically been a god send since we got separated after getting shot down…"

"Welcoming committee. Was the same for me." Sludge said. "Oro there got kidnapped and sold, And Kijiv here was born to one of the Chaos Guilds but defected. Parker saved us all."

"So where do I sign up for the 'saved by parker's club?" I joked. "I wasn't really 'saved' but…fuck would me and Cheat be in a lot of bad situations without him."

"Heh, he does that. So, how many Pod People he save with you?"

"A lot, almost a hundred." I answered readily. "Which I think is good because of…what this place is."

"Yeah." Kijiv said. "I remember what they do to them. Erase their Profile and replace the data with what they want." He growled.

"And I'm going to make sure that stops in some way shape or form." I said readily. "One Prize Pod at a time if I have to."

"That's good, but unfortunately we were too late saving this one." Sludge said, looking over at the van. "She's been reprogrammed…"

"How bad?" I asked sadly.

"Standard protocol dictates all her old profile data, name, memories, skills, personality, emotions, removed. They then reprogram in desired emotions and mentalities and personalities based on what they're being… rebuilt for." Kijiv said. "Some are made for servitude. Blindly obedient. Some are made for soldiers or labor work. Others… are made into Breeders."

"Sweet Celestia…" I muttered in horror. "Is…is there any way to save them?"

Oro shook his head. "Once their old profile is deleted… there's no recovering it. All that's left of them is whatever the Chaos Guild puts in them."

I was really trying to keep my rage at these Chaos Guilds in check, ever since I was growing more accustomed to Khorne's Realm of violence and bloodshed I've been trying to keep it in check…but oh boy was this getting my blood to boiling. "I hate these Chaos bastards…"

"Yeah. We're hoping Parker can take her in."

"At this point, if anyone can save them, it's him." I answered readily.

"Yeah well she mostly needs a place. Like we said, what's happened to her can't be undone but thankfully at least living here keeps her from being sold as a Breeder." Sludge said.

"That is for the best." I nodded. "Just…wish I could get stronger faster and help out more…"

"First thing you need to know about our line of work kid, you'll never be strong enough." Kijiv said. "Sure, you can take on some of the grunts and even some of their soldiers… but their Elites, their King Pins, their Nobility and Guild Heads… they're on a whole other level."

"Sadly…" I sighed. "Just…I don't know…just want to help more ya know? I know every bit counts…"

"At least you're adapting well to this world. Took me ten years to get used to the bullshit." Sludge laughed.

"Jeez, that's a long time." I said in surprise.

"And been stuck here for ninety four." She chuckled.

"That's gotta suck." I frowned.

"Eh. What doesn't suck on this planet?"

"Admittedly, the food ain't half bad." Oro said. "If you can find a good cook who can make use of the monsters and such. Some of the apocalypse zones are even Beneficial for this, like Eden Pitt and The Zoo. Course they aren't without their own dangers. Wouldn't be Armageddon without something trying to kill you."

"True, true." I nodded. "Considering I've spent the better part of two month's training under a Greater Demon of Khorne, yeah, Armageddon wouldn't be like that if something wasn't trying to murder you."

"Oh, you actually train in that war hole? Well, it's a good place for free gear admittedly. It's where Kijiv got that armor of his. Picked it right off it's former headless owner."

"Gives complete environmental damage immunity." Kijiv said. "Poison, traps, ECT, the armor nullifies that damage. Makes searching in usually nasty areas easy."

"Hmm…that is interesting." I said honestly. "Hmm, I wonder…" I hummed. "Hey Cheat, can you absorb things like armor and weapons to make yourself stronger? Or am I just making that up?" He mentally inquired his symbiote girlfriend.

"I don't know? Maybe if I can upgrade my skill trees. I am both a symbiote and equipment. So maybe?"

"Alright, just making sure cause I met some of Parker's friends, and they talked about some pretty nifty Armor that can help make you even tougher than normal."

"Neat." Cheat said.

"There you all are." We looked up, seeing Parker arrive. "I see you all met Button. Oro, Kijiv, Sludge."

"Hey. They only had the one left when we got there. But better with you than in the market." Sludge said.

Parker nodded, walking over to the armored van.

I walked behind him as he pulled the back door up and open.

Inside I was met by a long, massive snake tail, but it had leaves rather than scales and the upper half was a humanoid wolf with moss green fur and a patch of long loss from her head going down like hair. Her eyes were covered by a cloth and she sat in a coiled pile.

"A halfbreed? Looks like partly Nature Fay, and Floof Noodle."

Floof Noodle?!

"Yeah. She's not a Den Mother though." Oro said.

I looked back at her, seeing yup, only a single… rather large pair of fluffy breasts were on her, covered by her moss-hair.

"Uh…huh…" I said. "This is…really something to see." I said. "Also…the fuck is a Floof Noodle and who decided that name?" I asked, trying not to laugh at the adorable sounding name.

"Some members of the Family supposedly bred their species into existence. The name was a joke that just stuck, but the species as a whole is actually one of the more powerful of them all. Their scales or equivalent is tough enough to be immune to most common metals, bullet proof up to a 45 caliber, their fur and hide are tough enough and resist most blades, blunt and even fire damage. Not to mention that both males and females have three stomachs. One holds young, cargo or whatever. The other secrets an oil that heals illnesses, wounds, even broken bones, and the third for eating food but it can't be accidentally opened. In short, there's a tank in combat and a healer all in one." Parker said

"Wow…" I blinked at that. "That's uh…that's a pretty strong race."

"And that's without any skills or abilities added to the mix." Oro added. "Being half Fay, she probably has their nature related powers as well."

"In other words, she could grow our crops in minutes rather than our usual months…" Parker realized.

"Yeah, but the poor thing was reprogrammed to be a Breeder. So she's… yeah, that." Sludge added.

"Crap… explains the blindfold though. Whoever she sees she'll imprint on…"

"This is absolutely horrible…" I groaned, hating how these Chaos Guilds are just…treating these people like cattle.

"The question is… who's gonna let her imprint on them?" Kijiv asked.

"Button is used to women constantly advancing him. One more can't be too bad, right Button?" Parker asked me.

"How…bad is it?" I asked nervously. "While it would be cool…I want to know how bad her mental state is…"

"Standard breeders will only see themselves as tools for their imprinted masters to use and satisfy sexual needs. They will care for and look after any children they or others have, and if not… used, they do begin to suffer signs of depression, anxiety, and can suffer panic attacks." Kijiv informed. "While they will do whatever they are told, they live solely to serve and pleasure their master and if they're not doing that, they will suffer both mentally and physically. Going as far as self mutilation if it brings so much as a smirk to their master. Basically, taking her in will be greatly different from a Lovers Class. Lovers Class are people, too, can think for themselves and be individuals, but Breeders… can't. They don't consider themselves people, just as objects for use."

I almost felt sick at this point, wondering just how far these depraved bastards are! "I'll…I'll try to take care of her…" I said. "These…these Chaos Guilds are worse than this…and that's legitimately horrible to say…"

"This, it's just the surface of what they're capable of." Parker said. "Well, just take her blindfold off and make sure you're the only one in her vision. That will set you as her imprinted master, alright?"

I nodded… Slowly I headed over to her. She sat motionless in the van as I had to climb on her tail and was now face to face. I used Telekinesis and pulled the blindfold off her. Her bright yellow eyes fell upon me, and for a second, maybe even less, I saw what looked like a flash of green and black in her eyes.

"Master?" She asked, her voice low and gentle. "Am I… needed?"

I…honestly couldn't help myself as I just hugged the poor lady, tearing up as I felt horrible for her fate. "I'm sorry…" I told her, knowing she won't understand but some part of me still held out hope there was something, anything about the old her, that stayed.

---

"Master, are you in need of pleasure yet?" She asked me.

It has been two days since… Lilly, she didn't have her own name, nor remembered what her former name was, so we called her Lilly. She is always asking me if I need… servicing. I usually say not now or later.

Philomina has been trying to teach her maid things, to which she is learning, but she's always asking still.

"You do know at some point, you are gonna have to sleep with her." Cheat said as I tried to focus on my new book…

"I…I know but…" I trailed off, trying to find some excuse, some reason, to not do something like that to someone that's literally incapable of thinking on their own.

"I know you don't like it… neither do I." Cream said. "But you heard what Parker said, if you don't do something with her, she'll start falling into that depression and worse."

"I think she already is. Last night she was crying in her sleep…" Cheat said.

Crap. This soon? The hell did those Chaos Guilds…

"Fine…" I growled. "Lily, follow me." I said as I led her to our room.

Once we were in the room she actually looked… happy. Excited even…

I swallowed hard, and we got started…

I won't lie… she's good, like Cheat, Cream, Philomina, Maud and Sweetie Bot combined good! But, that made it all the more apparent what they programed her to do… I felt… dirty, but she… she enjoyed every moment of it and wore the… mess, like a badge of honor… I had to tell her to take a shower, otherwise I think she would have just kept the… fluids on her til they dried and got really nasty.

I hate this planet… and the monsters that call it home…

[New Skill Trees Unlocked.]

Huh? My anger at myself, this planet and the Chaos Guilds was interrupted by that. New Skill Trees?

[New Skill Menu Available. Dark Skill Trees Available.]

New Skill Menu? Dark Skill Trees?!

[Dark Skill Tree Taboo, Available. Dark Skill Tree, Slave Master, Available. Dark Skill Tree, Slaver, Available. Dark Skill Tree, Sinner, Available.]

Woah, woah, woah! Hold up!

[Dark Skill Tree Taboo Skills Unselected. Dark Skill Tree Slave Master Skills, Obedience, Blindness, and Terror, selected and active. Dark Skill Tree Slaver Skills, Enslavement, Manipulation, and Marked Ownership, Selected and available. Dark Skill Tree Sinner Skill, Rapist, Selected and available.

Dark Skill Trees do not require Skill Points to grow and increase in power. Only Actions.]

I stared at that menu, that message for… so long… Rapist… I felt so many emotions… terror, agony, self loathing… rage…

I burst out the room, out the apartment and down the hall, breaking down the door to the apartment before me. Parker sat at his couch, something on the table in front of him being built or disassembled, I don't know… I didn't care… "So, finally done?" He asked me… He knew…

"Go to hell." I growled, walking past him as I was not in the mood for literally fucking anything right now.

"It had to be done." He stated flatly.

"No it didn't!" I snapped. "I'm just propagating abuse that those assholes want!" I shouted, so purely and utterly done with everything. "I'm not a terrible person…"

"No duh." He said. I glared at him. He snapped his fingers and… Gods… Parker showed me an image, his Skill Trees… The Dark Skills Trees… Both were… massive. "On this planet, to get stronger, to actually be strong enough to make any kind of real difference, or to protect people you care about, you have to be willing to do the unspeakable."

"It's…it's still not right…" I shook my head. "We're…we're supposed to be better…better than all this…"

"Do you know why so few of the Heroes Guilds actually come here? Because of the Dark Skill Trees. You think what I got here is bad? Some of those fuckers have them basically maxed out, basically committed every crime possible in creation… Sometimes, to be a hero, you have to become a monster. Because if you can't, then this world, and the people thriving here, will take everything you care about. Your family. Your friends. Your kids… The only things the Chaos Guilds can respect, or fear, are people like them, just as powerful, just as capable…"

I looked at Parker, hearing him say all of this…"I know…I know you're right…but I still hate this…"

"So do I. But on Armageddon, you can't be a hero only in the light. You need to be able to dive into the darkness to deal with the monsters there. I'm sorry I had to… trick you into this. Not telling you, but if I did… would you honestly have been willing to accept it all?"

"While…I would argue 'yes' because I've been putting skill points that would make me an overpowered bloodthirsty berserker that literally can't be hurt…I don't think I would agree at all no."

"Especially since the Dark Skill Trees don't take Skill Points. You have to Commit the actions to increase them."

I shook at that… I'll…

"I….I'm not going to like…any of that…" I said, feeling a bit of bile rush up on me.

"I don't expect you to. And that is what separates us from the Chaos Guilds."

I took a deep breath. "I hate this...I hate it so goddamn much…" I growled. "But…what does half of this even do for me?"

"Well, you should have the Taboo, Sinner, Slaver and Slave Master Trees. Taboo is a unique one. It mostly relates to magic and bodily mutations and such. Seeing as you have a Symbiote it will also be able to link you two together in a whole new way. It would allow you access to her abilities without actually having her do anything. Sinner usually acts as a booster. Things like strength, health, ect is all boosted based on the sins being committed. Slaver, as the name suggests, means anything you would capture and enslave, be them people, animals or monsters will obey you so long as your own will is stronger than their own. This goes hand in hand with Slave Master. It basically holds a bunch of abilities that ensure your… property, doesn't get ideas or resists. There are many other skill trees but these ones will be all you need to worry about for now."

And…sadly, my gamer instincts wanted me to learn how to absolutely abuse Slaver as a weird Monster Rancher esc thing. "Can…I 'upgrade' monsters I enslave? Like…the zombies here to gain intelligence and the like?"

"It will take a lot of terrible deeds to get there. Are you up for it?"

"No…" I sighed. "But let's get this over with."

"Not now. For now, you need to be with your lovers. Trust me, friends and family will both make you feel better… and terrible, but the company will help with the guilt."

I nodded, knowing they would all help me through this hot garbage. "Fine…" I sighed, heading back to find my family.

---

The next month was… manageable. Parker and I went on runs and… I worked on my… Dark Skill Trees.

Being with… Lilly became a regular thing. I still feel bad about it, but it keeps her happy. She's also pregnant now, so it didn't surprise anyone with that news… She's at least been working in our garden, making the crops grow rapidly. At the rate she can make them grow, fresh produce is almost plentiful, even after giving Kilpulo his share.

Turns out Enslaving Zombies is… really easy. They're mindless so, no wills to fight my own and I just order them to do stuff. Even things they don't normally do. Like fight other zombies, use guns. It's kinda crazy really.

"That makes thirty of the undead under your control." Parker said as my little army was kept in a gated area, some basic obstacles to see what they can and can't do.

"I'm surprised I can make them do this stuff, especially the more…completely mindless ones." I said honestly.

"Well, it seems their mindless traits don't hinder the fact that their bodies can still perform complex tasks. Guess that means you can put them to work gathering scrap metal and even supplies."

"Which would help a lot, especially at night cause they can gather everything as it's respawning without getting attacked." I said simply.

"Yeah. Works out great. So, next will be the Sinner Tree." Parker said.

I sighed. That Skill, ability thing… It's a title. From the Lust branch of abilities. There are seven Branches in the Sinner Skill Tree, makes sense… Meaning Wrath, Pride, Sloth, Gluttony, Greed and Envy are the other six.

"Fine…which one should I start with?" I asked carefully.

"Given your combat style, Wrath and Pride will help you with your Berserker abilities best."

"Cool…so just go on a rampage and have fun doing it?" I inquired.

"It's not that simple." Parker said taking a seat next to me.

"Why isn't it that simple?" I asked worriedly.

"See for yourself."

I opened up my Skill Tree Menu. I found the Dark Skill Tree Menu and… woah. It's all… inverted colors and upside down. Let's see… Wrath. First Skill, Bucherer. Kill… 100 people?!

"Like…a hundred…living people?" I asked worriedly. "But that doesn't make any sense…I slaughtered tons of Marines in Khorne's realm…does that not count?"

"It has to be people of your race." Parker stated.

Oh… Oh no…

"Yeah…I'm not liking that…like at all…" I shook my head. "I'm…I'm not going to kill innocent people…there's plenty of zombie ponies here…"

"Those are not people. They are monsters. And, they don't have to be innocent." Parker added. "Come on, I know a place."

I followed Parker to the portal and he took me to- Woah. It was… Equestria. In ruins but Equestria. Canterlot was surrounded in some weird bubble and the sky was… actually, normal looking.

"So uh…what happened here?" I asked worriedly.

"War. But that's not what's your goal here. See Canterlot up there?" He asked. I nodded. "That's an off world Puritan Colony. Bunch of racist assholes with a superiority complex. Every race in creation has at least one, and that one belongs to the Pony Puritan's. Basically is you ain't an earth pony, pegasi or unicorn, you're shot on sight or tortured in prisons. Some even force race conversion to 'purify' the unclean."

"Oh now that's some bullshit." I growled. "Yeah, that is not okay."

"Hence why they will welcome you in, and once you are, you will be attacking them, and destroy their portal back to their main planet. There's roughly 100,000 ponies there… foals and infants included." I felt my stomach drop. "You don't have to kill them, but they will hate you for what you're about to do."

"I'm not going to enjoy this at all…" I sighed. "Alright…looks like I'm gonna have to do some very terrible things…"

"At least it's to terrible people."

"I mean…yeah…but I won't like ruining the lives of children…"

"Necessary evils…"

---

I walked back from the re-ruined canterlot. There was… so much blood on my coat.

About three dozen foals followed me in terror… and they carried at least twenty infants with them.

I achieved Bucherer, then Slaughterer, then Kin Hunter, and now, I have Bloody Crown. Bucherer gives me a times two boost to lethal strikes in combat. Slaughterer regenerates my health with each kill. Kin Hunter has me do ten times damage to enemies of my own race… and Bloody Crown gives me an immediate fear based ability. All I need to do is look at someone while I'm pissed and I can put pure fear into the hearts of others so long as their will is weaker than mine.

All it cost me was traumatizing three dozen foals and orphaning them and the infants.

"Two hours. Not bad." Parker said, looking at all the foals.

"Three dozen foals are now traumatized and hate me." I answered bitterly. "And I have no idea how to help them be better…"

"Don't worry… this sin is on me next." Parker said, he raised a hand, all the foals squatting down in fear. His hand glowed with this pink energy that flowed out and covered them all. As it passed through them, their eyes glossed over. The pink fog soon floated up, covered in shimmering white lights, and then burst into flames.

"What…what did you do?" I asked worriedly.

"It's similar to what… Chaos Guilds do to Prize Pod People. I erased their memories. Well, remove and burn them. They'll keep their names, personalities, but they won't remember anything. Their parents, what you did, though the fear might be there for… a long while."

"That's…fair…" I sighed. "So…we now have three dozen foals to take care of…good thing we have many undead guards…"

"And twenty infants… Hm." Parker added. "Doubt Philomina and Lilly can care for all of them… Shit…"

"Yeah…" I shook my head. "This is gonna bite, but I hope we can manage…I know Cream has been trying to become a Den Mother through skill points…but that can only go so far…"

"There… is one other way… But neither of us will like it… at all." Parker said.

"Does it involve turning into a woman?" I asked.

"What, no." He shook his head. "But it does involve… buying them…"

"Oh come on…" I groaned. "Ugh…I don't like it…"

"Neither do I, but it's the only way we can get enough Den Mothers to take care of the babies and the children. Meaning we'll need to get Kilpulu to contact a salesman from Lust…"

"I mean…the only solace we can get is knowing that we're taking them away from other more…terrible people." I frowned.

"If that helps you live with yourself." Parker said.

We brought the foals and infants back home, putting them all inside and getting them settled.

Once that was done we went to Kilpulu and he made the call. We received the salesman from Lust. She was a humanoid red bird person dressed in a pink suit. "I was told you're interested in our products?" She asked.

"Regrettably…" I said through clenched teeth. "We…need a few Den Mothers…"

"Den Mothers. Oh, any species preference?" She asked.

"No. Just some who are ready to nurse." Parker said.

"That's something all Den Mothers are ready for. But if it's for raising children then perhaps some Floof Noodles will do. They are some of the best mothers in creation, rivaled only by Dire Wolf and other similar races. Would you prefer them to be mixed breeds or pure bloods?"

"Doesn't matter." Parker said.

"Gotcha. What is your budget?"

"Sixty thousand."

"Ooh! That can get you ten Floof Noodles, or eight Den Mothers of the Dire Wolf races or I can have a mix of them for ya, I'll even throw in an extra for free if I can expect repeat purchases."

Parker looked over at me. "Your call there."

"I hate this…I hate all of this…" I grumbled. "Let's…get a mix…just to cover our bases…"

"Well, alrighty then. Wanna pick them or-"

"Make it a surprise." Parker said. "And, yes, we'll repeat buy later…"

With a nod she went back through the portal.

"I feel awful…" I muttered. "Why is this worse than getting Chica and Roxy?"

"Because once those chips were removed, they at least got to return to being themselves." Parker stated. "These people… will never be who they were before…"

After a bit, she came back with them. Five Floof Noodles and six Dire Wolf Den Mothers, each blindfolded… I hated that they were also naked… The bird lady took the money and left.

"Well, all yours." Parker said.

I walked over and started to take off their blindfolds, seeing their eyes imprint on me before moving onto the next, trying my damnedest not to feel sick about this abuse.

The Den Mother Dire Wolves were fairly different from one another. First, was Jackie, she was dark blue with neon green ear fluff. Beth, she's a light gray color. Karla, who had pink fur. Grace, who was a sky blue color. Meg, who was dark blue with black stripes along her arms, legs and tail. Lastly for the Dire Wolf Den Mothers was Haley, who was actually had a bright red fur coat over the blue ones.

Next were the Floof Noodles, who were similar to Lilly, but their upper halves looked more like those of the Dire Wolf Den Mothers.

First was Zion. Her scales were a bright yellow, and fur all white. Kiara, who had green scales but orange fur. Carley, who was actually all dark blue but also seemed smaller than the others. Kara, who was a neon blue with spotted black scales. Lastly was Lola, who was actually the biggest of the Floof Noodles and had a pure black fur coat with equally black scales.

"Hello everyone." I said to all the new ladies.

"Hello Master." They all said in near unison.

"It's…nice to meet you all." I said softly. "Follow me…you all have to help me with taking care of children."

They followed without question…

And so, another two months, all eleven of them pregnant now cause if I don't… do that with them they get depressed… and Cream, and Cheat looked Ready to burst and… Philomina had hers.

I was genuinely surprised but apparently being a Den Mother Fox, she only needs three months to have her little.

Three walked on hooves like me, the rest were bipedal like her but… I can so see the resemblance. Either a tone in the fur, tales or patches of my coat or mane color was on them and… woah…

They are so adorable! Oh crap I'm- I- shit! How am I gonna teach them?! Vaccines! We need WAY more diaper- ouch!

I jumped away from Cheat, who is now six months along and frowning at me. She bit me! And not in the kinky way!

"What the heck Cheat?" I huffed, rubbing the bite mark. "Why did you bite me?"

"You were having a panic attack. It was that or a slap and frankly moving is kinda a bitch right now." She huffed.

"Listen, there's a lot to think about alright?" I asked sheepishly. "I'm already doing a lot of…terrible things that I hate…but I want them to grow up right…"

"But having a panic attack and all this stress isn't gonna help anyone. Least of all you. You need a day off."

"Considering I now have Sloth as a possible skill tree…I really doubt it'll just be 'a day off'..."

"Not for those Trees, just, a day off to yourself." Cheat clarified. "You've been going on runs, going that… Dark Skill Tree training, and having to rutt all those girls cause of what the Chaos Guilds did to them. You barely sleep as is. That did not help."

"I have to be strong…stronger than all of them…" I said, even though she was right that I was basically running on no sleep. "Even if…even if I have to become a monster…it's…" I teared up again, all the stress hitting me a lot harder now that I have kids. "I need to do it to keep you safe…I…I can't lose any of you…"

"And what about us?" She asked. "You think we want to lose you? Button, I know you want to keep us safe, and it sucks that I can't be out there with you fully because I could help you. Being your armor doesn't feel like enough for me but I don't want you to drive yourself crazy or worse with all this insanity going on. You need at least a day to sleep or rest or something."

I sniffled. "Al-alright…I'll…I'll try…"

"You better, because if you're not I will force you."

"Fine…fine…" I sighed. "I…this all just sucks…"

"Just go get some sleep alright?" Cheat asked as she put a hoof to me. "Would it help if I cuddled you while you slept?"

"I…need all the cuddles…" I admitted, still trying not to bawl my eyes out.

"Come on you." Cheat said. She lead me to the bedroom where we managed to get comfortable. Cheat grabbed hold of me and kept me tight and close. Between her breathing, heartbeat and the occasional kicks from the foal… I fell asleep faster than I have in months.

---

I woke up feeling… good… oddly heavy but good. I tried to open my eyes… open my eyes… the heck? Why can't I-

"Oh, you finally woke up." Cheat said. Suddenly my eyes opened and I was staring at the wall… wait, I didn't. "Now… don't be mad…"

"What did you do." I asked bluntly and sternly… only I didn't… speak it.

"Well, I spoke with Cream, and Philomina and we all agreed you are not responsible managing yourself or your own stress, so, I will." She said… the what? "So I used an ability of mine to… well, kinda eat you/absorb you."

"Cheat what the fuck!" I mentally shouted. "I am totally responsible managing my stress! I'm sorry that this is my first time being a father."

"You go on runs for twelve hours a day, come home, eat, bang the girls for three. Four if I, Cream or Philomina are involved and then your insomnia from your Daymares, lack of eating when you aren't here, swapping between Training your Rage stuff or Dark Skill Trees, not to mention, I know how much you're holding back Button. All the things you've had to do for those trees, our link is two ways. I can feel EVERYTHING you've been burying and have seen everything you've done! I know it's killing you inside!"

"I have to be a monster so you don't have to!" I mentally told her.

"I'm a symbiotic set of armor who for the last few months has been piloting the body of an undead mare I ate and reassembled so I could fuck you properly! I'm already a monster Button, always have been. So if you think I'm gonna let you go through this alone, then you are staying a passenger in our shared head til you change your tune! Yes this is shared but until I give you controle, you are my passenger. So enjoy the ride and enjoy your vacation."

"Cheat please, I need to do this…" I said, damn near pleading. "I…I can't…I can't just sit here doing nothing, I need to do something or else…" I trailed off.

"You will do something. You will enjoy being in the back seat for a change while I show you what relaxing is really like. And don't worry, your Penis is intact and outside so I can take over your thing with the girls. And yes while you were out I checked, they recognized me, or rather us as master."

"No, I…I can't face it…" I mentally said, trying to not panic as I was literally forced to be nothing but a voice in Cheat's head. "Please…I can't…" I pleaded, there being nothing to stop any of the bad thoughts I've been trying to hold back for months.

I felt them crawling at me. It was…

…

…

…

Umm… Where did they-

"Did you really think I didn't know about those either?" Cheat asked. "Our union of bodies gives me a lot more control than you think. That includes your nasty thoughts."

Suddenly, I had pictures of cats, puppies, and the taste of peanut butter cupcakes in here.

"Uh…what?" I mentally asked.

"The Peanut Butter cupcakes I've been craving for a while alright? And relax. Tonight, we deal with those nasty thoughts once and for all."

"Alright…but it's gonna be…awful."

Cheat proceed to keep me in the back of my our shared head.

She at least let me see how we looked like this. It was… more or less, how Cheat always looks so nothing too different, save our Cutie marks were now marged. We were a sexy futa, and taller than either of us were alone… maybe about… two feet taller? Huh… neat.

After that, Cheat had a normal day. She watched some movies, ate some food, made out with Cream, gave a kiss to Philomina and all our babies, said hi to the foals who were all adjusting well, checked on the girls and the babies, and took a shower-Ahhh!

So… I forgot Cheat left the female Genitals… and woah… that was… different… nice even- oof!

"Ouch… that was my bladder…" Cheat huffed as she rubbed her belly. "Settle down there baby. You're pappa is in here too now…"

Shit that's how much a foal kick hurts?!

"Yes, it hurts less when they don't aim for an internal organ…"

"Still hurts…"

"Relax, it's just six more months…"

Oof… maybe I wait…

"Oohhh… Heh… Forgot to mention… I can't undo this so… surprise!"

…

"Cheat…"

"Oh hey look, that is my dildo!"

Wait, you have a OooooOhhhh!

---

"Welcome to your inner mind!" Cheat said.

After she sneaked out of an argument by… doing things I'll probably want to do again, she went to bed. Shortly after, we appeared in this place full of… well, it was like Ponyville but the sky was full of brain cells, the buildings were all in the wrong place, and there were all kinds of weird things around either in the ground, floating or just there.

"So back to the fact I'm going to be stuck inside you for six months." I brought up.

"Not six months… Forever…" Cheat said with a weak laugh.

…

"Know that I love you…" I started, before moving behind her.

"Know that I know what turns you on and can now totally control your sex life." She countered.

"But you now deserve this." I said, before wrapping my front hooves around her barrel and giving her a german suplex straight into the ground.

"Ooof! Yes sir, that's my apple vodka…" Cheat groaned, shaking her head. "For that, I'm having Cream put the strap-on on when we wake up." She groaned. "Look, it won't be that bad. It will be like when I was in your body. We can swap out every so often, take turns and now you really won't be alone in what you're doing. Plus, my armor set is stronger when all pieces are being used. So now that you have two of me in you, my armor form will be stronger in combat."

"That's not the point!" I snapped. "Now you don't have your own body, now you could get hurt while I do what I'm supposed to!"

"Bitch I'm your armor! I always take your damage! You think I don't feel that?!"

"Why do you think I got that Pain Split skill three months ago!?" Button snapped. "You know, the thing that's been making you feel a whole lot less hurt whenever I managed to screw up?"

"You think I want you to feel that?! Despite everything, as your armor, the last thing I want you to feel is pain! That's like, the whole reason armor exists!"

"And you're my girlfriend, and I don't want you to feel pain!" I argued. "Even if you are my armor…ever since…all this started to happen…I didn't want you hurt…I wanted you to be safe…"

"And I want you to be safe, to not get hurt, and to come home every night and actually sleep. Yes, I basically threw away my own body, but I don't care! You are worth more to me than having a body of my own. I value you more than you could know, because how you feel about the others, about me, that's how I feel about you, that's how all of us feel about you! And seeing you walking around like those literal walking corpses out there is killing us! So shut up and let me do this with and for you because we want you happy and safe just as much as you want us happy and safe and so help me Mother if I need to I will keep our body pregnant forever if that's what it takes!"

I rubbed my temples, knowing she was right and knowing how much they all loved me…but I'm doing horrible, terrible things just to keep them safe. "Ugh…why does everything have to be so fuckign complicated…" I groaned, hating everything going on right now and not knowing how to make this better.

"Because life is complicated- Look out!" Cheat pushed me aside. A large blade hitting where I was sitting.

I turned to see the silhouette of a humanoid, wielding a large jagged blade. I recognized that blade, my Daymares fantasies of some Chaos Guild member walking into the settlement and killing everyone…

"No! You can't be here!" I shouted, getting back up and bucking the bastard in the stomach as hard as I physically could in this dream world.

They grabbed my hind legs and tossed me aside. I looked up just in time to see them swing that weapon at Cheat… who caught it in her teeth, and bit it down with a row of razor sharp teeth that was not there before. She then bit down on the blade, shattering it. "Button, sweetie, I love you, but there is a reason Symbiotes are classified as Monsters."

Her eyes then glazed over with the same silver-gray her armor form has, her skin sprouting out the same spikes their armor form has and her jaw grew larger and she smiled as a long snake like tongue slipped out.

She pounced on the silhouette, biting into it's neck and tearing it's head off in a meaty rip… and ate the head off that thing… then the torso, bones, organs- Oh god slurped the intestines!? Finally she chomped the last limb and then her body reverted back to normal…

"Well then." I said with a frown.

"I know you want to take care of me, but I want to take care of you… besides, without you, I have no emotions, no empathy, no… anything. Back before you put me on, those early days, remember how much of an ass I was?"

"Yes, you were indeed an ass." I nodded. "But considering you were pieces of the Berserk Armor, which I learned later was based on Gut's armor from Berserk…yeah." I shrugged.

"Well back then I didn't have actual emotions. I was a psychopath. Remember in the realm of dreams back then I said I was getting laid? I lied! I killed and ate people!" Those memories flashed in a frame in front of me… oh… woah… "You… over time just, you made me feel emotions. Happiness, sadness, guilt. You made me less of the monster I was born as. Made me a person. So if you're going to become a monster, then just know that I'm the monster that will always be by your side and trust me, there is nothing you can do that I will find in poor taste. I am still mostly sociopathic. I'll be fine with anyone dying save those I care for. Meaning you, Cream, the kids and them, I will help you keep them safe and kill, and maybe eat, anyone who tries to hurt them."

"Just…let me be mad darn it!" I whined. "Why must you be too good for me?"

"Because I am one stubborn mare and you never stood a chance." She chuckled, giving me a kiss. So… that's what entrails taste like… "Now let's go kill the rest of your bad thoughts and eat them!"

"Not sure if I like eating people…but let's go kill us some Daymares." I said readily.

"Lucky for you, I do like eating people! All pureblood Symbiotes do, I was suppressing the urge when I started being flirty and pervy with you so I was really glad to find out sex worked well enough as a distraction… but if you're open to me casually devouring… people, monsters and anything else that tries to do us harm, I'll happily reward you in bed~"

"You're lucky I've found ways of making my hips stronger." I shook my head. "How are you gonna do that though? We share a body now?"

"You underestimate my controle over the body~"

We then went through this Mind World Ponyville. Each Daymare monster or entity I or Cheat fought and killed. Then Cheat would eat them. The more we killed, the more… normal, this place began looking.

Eventually we killed off the final Daymare monster and the sky became the usual blue with the sun shining high.

We woke up feeling… amazing.

"So, shall we start the day?" Cheat asked.

"Yes please."

"Good. Now I'm going to give you controle of the body, so just relax, try not to overdo it, and enjoy your time off for the next six months cause… yeah until this baby is out, we ain't moving much…"

I suddenl;y felt, well, the body. All in controle. I moved the hooves, smirked and ouch! Why are my teats hard and sore?! Oh right milk… Hmm…

"Am I…really going to ask this?" I muttered. "Hey Cream?" I called out to the mare.

That was… also, very enjoyable. Once that… pressure was down and the… equal wood that became of it was dealt with I walked… well, waddled, into the living room. Damn, walking with a baby is not easy…

"Welcome to my last several months. Only six more to go and they won't be getting easier…" Cheat sighed. I climbed up the love seat, turned on the TV and began playing Futurama, season 2 on DVD. Been finding a lot more new movies in the last dozen runs. Good hauls.

---

"Okay, we're in India now… Still a crap ton of way to go…" Sweetie Bot sighed.

"Maps suggest travel through Russia will allow a more secure means of travel but less water travel to America." Scootaborg said.

"Will it be shorter travel wise?"

"Travel time will be shortened by plane or motorized vehicle."

"And where are we going to find a working plane or car?!"

"Military base located ten miles to the north of here."

"And let me guess, can you fly that?"

"Affirmative."

---

Oof… okay, yup… not getting out of bed…

Six more months, basically a full year on this planet, six months in this new body, which at this point I just want to not feel like there's a- Ouch! That's my liver, little guy…

"Can't move either?" Cream asked.

"I don't like this…" I groaned. "I could be out there helping save Prize Pods, getting stronger…literally anything…"

"The whole point of you and Cheat being stuck in the same body was to get you to relax. Take a break. At least we can enjoy being stuck in bed together waiting for the moment our foals decide to finally leave!" Cream yelled that last part.

I always had a respect for mares, knowing that carrying foals was difficult, but this has beyond dialed that to a million…

"Need some breakfast?" Philomina asked as she entered the room. Our new additions have taken to all the babies and infants. They all take care of them while we're busy. At least one of us can walk…

"Yes please…" I said. "I wish I could walk…"

"Well you and Cream are probably going to be due any day now. You will be walking shortly after the birth."

Oh I am not looking forward to that…

"I am." Cheat said.

"I know you are, but I'm not." I mentally told her. "Ugh…can we just…get on with this? I'd really like to move…I've been stupidly bored half the time…"

"So, Button, what will you do once the baby is born?" Cream asked.

"Nurse, care for and mother them at least a little." Cheat said.

Huh… I am going to have to do that… at least for maybe the first month or two…

"Going to Nurse and care for the kid's for…another month or two…" I groaned. "And then it's back to doing what I've been doing for four months…"

"I mean, your Zombie Slaves gather more than enough supplies, Parker has been on the Prize Pod person rescue. Anything you plan on doing specifically?" Cream asked.

"Well, with my abilities, we could work on Gluttony." Cheat offered.

"Next…would probably be Gluttony." I said simply. "Won't like eating…a lot of stuff Parker will be wanting me to…ugh…" I shuddered.

"You won't be alone. I'll be there committing them with you!"

"And I thank you Cheat." I nodded. "Though…gonna have to probably find Khorne himself to get some more serious training in, cause while Donahue is great…well, getting some training from the literal embodiment of martial combat, bloodshed, and heavy metal would be a bit better." I chuckled.

Cream and I laid in bed. I was reading some rather crappy romance novel, it was mostly just cheesy one liners, poorly written sex scenes and rather dumb trains of throught by the characters-

…

…

…

Okay… either I peed myself or-

"Baby's coming!" Cheat declared.

So that's why they say water broooOOOOKAY THAT FUCKING HURTS! "Baby's coming! And it won't wait!" I shouted in pain.

Philomina rushed into the room. The next Thirteen hours were a pain I think I'd have preferred being mutilated in horrible ways!

Finally though, after all that pushing, pain and screaming, and some pulling by Philomina… I was holding my and Cheat's little filly.

She was wrapped in a blanket with ducks on it, her mane was the same brown as my, our coat and her coat was a bright shade of brown, like coffee with creamer mixed in. She's so…

"We have a daughter Button! A little filly!" Cheat cheared, though even from in there I could feel and hear her exhaustion…

"She's…beautiful…" I panted heavily. "Oh…boy everything hurts…"

"Heh, well it will hurt for a while. So, what are you going to name her?" Philomina asked me.

I looked at my daughter… a name… I remember when I asked mom what she would have named me if I was a Filly…

"Power Up?" Cheat asked, remembering the name too.

"Power Up…that's our daughter's name." I said warmly.

I cradled my daughter, thinking she and her siblings with Philomina are gonna have so much fun, and when Cream has hers… This, this is why I want to make this settlement a safe place. For them. I don't know if we will ever get off this planet… maybe that's alright. If I can make it safe for them, then I will have been the best parent I can be…

"Uhh… not to ruin the moment but…" Cream spoke up, her water having also broken… Well, at least her foal waited.

Philomina laughed. "Welp, back to it then."

---

The next three months I spent being a nonstop mother. Power Up was so… so needy. Feed, burp, attention, song, lullaby or gentle rockings to get to sleep and somehow, at four twenty six in the morning on the dot, she cries for a diaper change. I have no idea how she times her poops that well, I'd be impressed if it didn't leave me so freaking tired.

Cream and our son, Dovahkiin, yes, I named him after Skyrim, he has a mostly dark gray steel looking coat and a milky white mane. My brain just went there. Anyway, he is less needy. He doesn't even cry when his diaper is full. Just sleeps and only cries when he is hungry or sleepy.

"Ugh…why must parenthood be so tiring?" I groaned. "Just let me sleep…"

I yawned, chugging my third cup of coffee that morning. Today I had to get back to training. I was meeting back up with Parker at the Hospital to see if I lost my touch. Time to see how old Frank is doing. Wonder if he's missed me?

"Should probably capture Frank…he's a tough jerk, but he's still good for help."

"You be safe out there alright?" Cream said, holding both Power Up and Dovahkiin in her hooves. "And bring back diapers if you find them. The zombies you control haven't found any."

"I know, and it sucks." I sighed. "I'll be back, and hopefully with some diapers." I said, nuzzling Cream real quick.

With that I was out, jumping the rooftop- oof… My legs caught the edge of the building I was jumping to… right. Forgot I'm taller, need to jump with a little more oomph. Okay, second times the charm.

The rest of my running and jumping thankfully didn't give me any issues. It felt great to be on a Run again. I had no idea how much I missed this… okay I did.

I found Parker at the building across from the Hospital.

"How's the little ones?" He asked.

"They're doing great…if Power Up would give me a break and let me be with my one true love, Sleep." I whined. "But they are adorable, and I love them with every fiber of my being."

"Good. Now, I was told that given Cheat's Symbiote abilities, you wish to build up Gluttony next. Smart move. Gluttony is arguably tricky to build up but also one of the more useful of the Sinners Skill Tree branches to grow."

"How so?" I inquired. "Will it make me immune to poison's or something because I have to eat…basically anything and everything?"

"Well, that is a potential bonus, but also the more it grows, eventually you will get the ability Soul Devourer. This ability can actually allow you to eat someone, and keep them from respawning by trapping them inside of you, and so long as they are imprisoned within you, you also gain all their abilities, their stats stack onto yours, and all their memories are yours to go through. It actually is the only ability that having it can gain you a Legendary Ability known as Consume. It does basically the same thing, save keeping them imprisoned. They will respawn but they will be a blank slate. You will have taken all their skills, stats, skill points, abilities, all of them from them and they will have to start over."

"Huh…that's…interesting." I said honestly.

"It's not well known because Gluttony is so tricky to max out. But we're gonna start with the easiest parts of the branche."

"Eating things?" I inquired.

"Yeah. The first skill the Gluttony Tree offers is Bottomless. It's basically an ability that boosts your metabolism to such rapid levels that anything you eat won't be able to sit in your stomach. You'll digest, process and assimilate the mass into your own. This also comes with a rapid healing factor because of this. And with Cheat's Symbiote abilities to also digest harmful things like the viruses in the infected and poisons and other toxins, this one will be fairly easy to unlock."

"So…just start eating a whole lotta zombies then?" I inquired. "Or do I need to eat…living matter?"

"Technically most of the Undead are alive. Just not in the normal sense. A prime example is the Green Flu infected. While they act like the stereotypical undead, they are alive. A few shots to the chest, destroy the spine, heart, they're dead."

"Huh…" I frowned. "Kinda thought all their internal organs, besides their brains, were nonfunctional for the generic undead?"

"It depends on the virus or how the Undead originates. While there are some who's organs and such aren't functioning, most do. It's how they actually digest their meals. After all, if they are with no means to digest than they'd just be packing their stomachs until they burst in broken bones and rotten meat."

"Which…would also explain why most zombies don't just die in natural weather." I frowned, now noticing that even with the weather being so outrageous zombies just seemed to…not care? "Cause I've learned enough about biology that too much heat or cold on a rotting corpse wouldn't make them function anymore…but they just keep going, and that's not the augmented ones like the T-Virus or those Licker bastards."

"T-Virus infected are… a unique case. While the base virus and infected are technically undead, the virus is… special. It can replicate the function of damaged cells and repair damage and, of course, reanimate dead cells to function as living again. This of course makes them more durable and harder to kill. Especially the unique infected. But for now, you'll be feasting on the Haran infected."

"Fair enough." I nodded. "Not going to like it…just because Cheat's here, doesn't mean my taste buds won't be begging for death…"

"Oh my sweet naive Button. You are about to experience how my species tastes our meals." Cheat said.

I suddenly felt our tongue change shape, becoming long and… stronger, then our teeth. From the omnivore ones I've become used to to all razor sharp, mini daggers from front to back… did the jaw also extend?

"That…feels weird…" I grumbled, rubbing a hoof to my new mouth.

"Remember, your mouth is now a weapon. Chewing and crushing flesh and bone is easy with this. We can also bite through rocks, steel and such with relative ease."

"That's really cool." I said honestly. "Well then…let's get to eating."

I jumped off the building and down to the small hoard below. Okay… now how to…

"Just think of it like a berserker attack Button." Cheat offered. "Go in with a charge, and rather than slam them, swing in with your mouth, bite down hard on a limb then, CHOMP. Make sure to chew fast and try not to bite your tongue or cheeks."

"Cool." I nodded, digging my hooves into the ground and pouncing onto one of the zombies, biting down onto it's leg since that was the first thing I thought of, and just tore it off as I devoured it with a new found voracious appetite.

My tongue expected to taste bile. Filth a decay and grime… I tasted ecstasy.

Like, I can't explain it, it was like… I can't explain the flavor, but it was… amazing.

"And now you know." Cheat said with a chuckle as I finished off the leg.

"This is still really weird cause I'm not only a pony and shouldn't like meat…but this is literally rotting flesh, what the fuck?" I asked with a frown.

"It's Symbiote biology. We're made to eat raw flesh and meat. Rotting or not, it keeps us and our hosts alive better by having a stockpile of proteins, minerals, vitamins and because we can store genetic information we can add it to our hosts own. That leg gave me enough genetic data that I can turn you into a human or at least humanoid if you'd want."

Hm, now that's useful.

"Okay…that's pretty cool." I said, starting to eat the rest of the zombie.

[New Skill Obtained. Symbiote Bond has reached rank 2.

Haran Zombie Virus Obtained.

Haran Virus Antibodies Generated.

Immunity to Haran Virus Type 1 Acquired.]

Holy crap! Immunity to this fucking virus! Or at least, the basic one, heck yeah!

"Alright, so maybe there's a lot more positives to this…" I said carefully. "Also, Symbiote Bond rank 2?"

"Yeah. Basically it determines things like how much I can do for you, and how strong our bond is on the genetic level. Meaning the higher it ranks up the less likely someone can just rip me out of you. Unfortunately this also means that the stronger it is the more your body, or our body, become one and the same meaning I really won't be getting a body of my own again. Bright side there are some work around I can do so while I'll still be in you I can probably do something neat later on that will be kinda like I got my own body even if I don't."

"That would indeed be a good thing." I said readily. "Cause one thing I don't want is Power Up growing up without her mother…well, technically being physically there…" I said, though now that I thought about it, it was a lot weirder considering what's happening. "Also uh…how's Power Up going to live being half Symbiote?"

"She isn't. She's pure pony. Since my former body was a more or less empty pony shell with no mind I was just piloting, there was none of my DNA actually in it. That could only have happened should I father the next baby. As in I put a tiny cell of my actual Symbiote biology into one of what are now your eggs. Although should Symbiote Bond rank up to four then our kids from then on, be them being mothered by us or fathered, will have a small chance to obtain some Symbiote abilities and biology."

"Ah, alright." I nodded. "That makes sense."

I went about devouring more and more infected. Cheat was running my digestive system into overdrive. Eventually I finally managed to unlocked Bottomless.

Once I saw that I went back over to Parker. "Alright. Bottomless was the easiest one to unlock. The rest will be… more challenging."

"What? Do I need to eat more or do I need to eat specialty things?" I inquired. "Cause for some reason, I'm now thinking that if I eat specific monsters, like say a Fire Dragon, I'd gain some resistance buffs to fire or some crap like that."

"Well, more or less. The next thing you'll need to eat is energy."

"And…how do I eat energy?" I asked curiously.

"That's the tricky part. While there are many ways to technically eat energy, for this method to work you need to either acquire a specific ability, mutation, or a unique virus or parasite."

"And where the hell am I going to find…any of those?" I asked curiously. "Cause I doubt any of the viruses or parasites here could fit the bill…and I have no idea what abilities or mutations could work for this."

"They won't. So, we go with option B." Parker said with a sigh.

"And option B being?" I asked curiously, wondering what sort of nonsense he's about to throw at me.

"You are not going to like it…" He said.

"Is it worse than what I've had to deal with over the past year?" I asked.

"Well, you won't actually be doing anything but it will be… painful."

"That's…not going to be good…" I muttered.

"No, it won't but at the moment it's our only option… do you still want to go through with it?"

"If it helps me get stronger…" I said.

Parker sighed. "Alright, we'll need to set up a lab." Parker and I headed inside the hospital. He rapidly cleared it out and cleaned a room. Once he did he had me sit on a gurney, one not meant for ponies and strapped me down.

"So uh…" I said nervously. "Should I be concerned you might…stick a flamethrower in my mouth and just hold down the trigger until it works?"

"Heh. No, I won't be doing that, but what I will be doing will make you wish I was." He said, making sure the restraints were tight. "As you can imagine there are a lot of illegal items here on Armageddon. Some are made by the Chaos Guilds, others are spawned in naturally." He then pulled out various medical coolers, bottles and syringes, and some what looked like… implants? "We are going to inject you with a variety of these things, triggering multiple mutations on a genetic level that should trigger the Dark Skill Tree Monster to activate."

"Am I going to become a chimera or something at this point?" I asked worriedly.

"Our genetics are… weird. You won't look any different once it's all over but you will definitely feel the effects of all I'm about to shoot into you." Parker said as more and .were pulled from his Assistant.

"And…how illegal is this?" I asked worriedly.

"Well, let's just say there is a reason the ones the Chaos Guild makes are only manufactured here on Armageddon." Parker stated as he took a vial of a transparent blue liquid and filled a large syringe with it til the bottle was empty. "Always found a stockpile of these things when I'd raid a Chaos Guild base or camp. Guess holding onto them was useful after all. Now, hold still cause… this is gonna hurt…"

He put the injection into my leg, and once the fluid entered my veins it was like magma, burning, hot and slow moved through my veins and across my whole body. I screamed, Cheat was screaming, it made breathing hard and my heartbeat ran like crazy.

[Quote]Genetic Mutation Detected.

Genetic Mutation stabilized.

New Mutation Ability: Overheat, Obtained.[/quote]

I breathed hard. That was… not how getting an ability normally feels!

"That…the fuck happened!?" I shouted in pain. "That's…that hurt like hell!"

"One of the main reasons it's outlawed." Parker said. "That was a dose of Serum Chance. It forces the… blank strands of DNA into a new pattern. Creating a mutation ability. The Assistant then registers it and stabilizes it."

"Well…I got Overheat if that matters…whatever the hell it is…" I groaned.

"That one makes you able to raise your body temperature to high enough levels you can start fires or resist the cold while also gaining an resistance to heat. Good but not what we are looking for or need." Parker said, pulling another vial and syringe.

"Oh come on…" I whined.

"I told you it was going to hurt and you weren't gonna like it. And this is just dose two of two hundred and thirty one." I gulped. "After that it's other serums. Some implants, artificial symbiotes/parasites and then the heavy duty surgeries…"

"Why me…" I whined in pain. "I'm sorry Cheat…"

"Don't worry. I said I was gonna go through this with you and I mean it. Even if it does suck." She stated.

And so, for the next I don't even know how long, Parker Injected every vial of that crap Into me. Somewhere after fifty I began to grow numb to it. After seventy I was just… numb.

Each ability it gave me was hit or miss or situational.

When that was finally over he gave me some water I chugged greedily before moving onto the next stuff…

"Alright, these injections are meant to be like the Nanite Injections only man made. They aren't illegal, but it will hurt. They will increase the cellular density of your muscles, bones, ligaments and so forth by… a lot."

"Alright…" I sighed. "At least it'll hurt less…"

"This one, the nature will have to be injected with an IV feeder. So this will take a while."

Parker got the whole thing set up. Once the IV was in me and dripping I felt it. It wasn't nearly as bad as the other one. More a dull Ache in my muscles and bones. Joints too. I just kept still, not moving and waiting for this to run out.

"This fucking sucks…" I grumbled. "Wish…this went a little faster…"

"It will pass." Parker said.

"Oof. So, Button. When all this is over, mind if I have the body for a bit?"

"What do you want to do?" I mentally asked.

"Mostly just relax, enjoy some time with Cream or Philomena, the babies. Seeing as we're sharing this body we do need to work out some schedule so we each have time in controle of it. Like, you get it one day, I get it the next kinda thing?"

"This is why we really need to get you a new body…" I mentally told her.

"Well until then consider the days I have controle your day off. It will do you some good and frankly I don't plan on looking for my own body anytime soon. This shared fused body of ours looks hot, can be really fun in bed and frankly the two extra feet helps a lot more than I was expecting."

"True…also just wish this wouldn't take so long or be as painful…"

"Yeah. Well, in any case, at least you aren't going through this alone."

"While that's true…I don't want you to be hurt like this…cause seriously, two hundred and thirty, and a lot of them weren't even worth it!"

"Eh. It happens. Hence why games of chance are dumb."

"RNG is total bullshit yes."

After maybe an hour and a half the last of that stuff was now in me. Next came several other ones that… actually hurt way fucking more. It all screamed. Every cell in my body…

"Why!?" I groaned breathlessly. "Why must you hurt me like this Spider-Man?" I wheezed a tad bit deliriously from the pain.

The last of the syrs and injections finally slipped into my body, and I was in agony.

Cheat and I had blank minds, trying not to think about pain, despite it being everywhere.

Parker gave me some more water and a protein shake. "Sorry can't be physical food. The next stuff might make you throw it up."

"I promise I want sell your pictures to Mr. Jameson Mister Parker…" I whined, in legit outlandish pain still.

"You can rest for a bit. Up next, implants and body modifications."

"Hey God? If you're out there…you're an ass for giving people the sensation of pain…" I whined, thinking that the implants and body modifications will be even worse.

"There's like, way more than one God Button." Parker said, suppressing a chuckle.

"Does that stop them from being an ass?"

"Nope."

Cheat and I laid there, breathing slowly as possible to regain some sanity from the fog of pain.

"So, implants… wonder what he's gonna shove into our body?"

"As long as it doesn't hurt as much as that bullshit I'm fine."

After a few more hours of rest, Parker began the Implants. Thankfully, I was allowed some MAJOR pain killers and woah… they work. I was also glad Parker blindfolded me cause I don't wanna know what he is doing… bad enough I can hear it…

"I hate this…" I thought bitterly. "Seriously…we've been here for what? A day or something and it's just been us being in mind numbing pain…"

"Hey, at least this time we don't feel anything. Frankly, that's a huge improvement." Cheat replied.

"True…but still, how long does it take to get this Monster Skill Tree?"

"I'm assuming… a long time. Well, now that we have time… can I get the body when this is all over?"

"Fine…I'm stupidly bored…" I mentally sighed, wishing there was literally anything to do besides lay here and doing nothing.

"Well, there is something we can do."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Exactly that."

---

"Okay, so Kentucky was a bust…" Sweetie Bot sighed. Their current mode of transportation, a modified truck, was covered in makeshift welded spikes and, and dried blood and various zombie bodies. Some of which were still moving.

Diamond Tiara was happy to at least be out of the backpack.

"Oh open sky and air, I will never take you for granted again." Diamond sighed, enjoying the open air as she flapped her wings in pure joy.

"Next destination, Tennessee." Scootaborg said.

"Your sniper skills have come in handy, especially with that new rifle." Sweetie Bot said.

Diamond smiled, hugging her brand new rifle. It was found in a Russian military base, shoots fifty caliber bullets, and is semi automatic with a forty round drum magazine and a range measuring zoomed scope. She called it Baby.

"This is my Baby, and I can't wait to show it to Button." Diamond giggled. "And then smack him upside the head with it cause I know he's been doing something stupid while we were away."

"What makes you say that?" Sweetie asked.

"It's Button first of all." Diamond joked. "But also…I can just…feel it in my bones…the closer we've gotten, the more that feeling comes and goes…and I'm scared he's in a lot of pain…"

"... Diamond, do you also have… feelings for Button?" Sweetie asked. She turned and saw Diamond was bright red. "You do?!"

"Shut up!" Diamond whined in embarrassment. "Don't make me smack you first."

"Why didn't you say anything! You could have been part of the herd forever ago!"

"I…I mean…" She sputtered. "I…I wasn't sure if I really did…but all this time without him…it feels…worse…"

"Oh Diamond, when we find Button you need to let him know."

"That's what I'm going to be doing, yes." Diamond nodded. "Just…I miss him ya know?"

"Are you going to kiss him?"

"It's been a year in the making…" Diamond sighed. "I just…hope when we find him, he's hasn't…changed as much as I fear he is."

"What are you expecting?"

"I…I don't know…I'm just…scared that, when we see him…he'll practically be someone completely different." Diamond shook her head.

"I just hope he hasn't gone crazy. Hopefully he found some friendly people to be around… worst case I'm hoping for is the harem has some new members."

"I'm pretty sure Button probably found Prize Pod's around here." Diamond shrugged.

"Wonder how he and Cheat have bonded. They have had a whole year together."

"Either Cheat's driving him up a wall, or somehow he shoved that symbiote into a woman and…did a whole lotta things." Diamond shrugged.

"He managed that… you don't think they might have… had a foal, do you?" Sweetie asked.

"While I want to say 'no, they wouldn't risk that on Apocalypse'...knowing Button…Cheat's a lucky bitch…" She huffed.

"...do you think if they did we should… add to that or… maybe wait or…"

The car suddenly came to a screeching halt. Looking up Sweetie and Diamond saw… Glamrock Chica?

"*Squack!* You almost ran me over!" The animatronic chicken yelled.

"Sorry about that!" Diamond said worriedly. "So uh…what are you doing here of all places Chica?"

"Scavenging scrap metal." She motioned to a partly taken apart car. "Part of my settlements deal with this guy to ensure we don't get attacked by Chaos Guilds."

"Isn't that extortion?" Sweetie asked.

"Maybe but it keeps all the really nasty ones away from us and we get access their portal thing and Button uses it a lot for there-" Chica squacked again, suddenly having Diamond and Sweetie in front of her.

"What did you say? You know where Button is? Where is he?" Diamond asked suddenly and rapidly to the animatronic.

"Uh, right now they went on some training thing with Parker but they'll probably be back soon. I can take you if you want. Wait, you're the friends he's always talking about aren't you! Oh man Cream and Philomena are gonna wanna meet you three… where the rest?"

Sweetie tapped her backpack lightly. "Safe in here."

"Yeah, so please take us to wherever your settlement is, we've been looking for Button for…about a year now."

"Oh gladly! You two get to meet Cream and Philomena and all the babies!"

That made Sweetie and Diamond pause.

Suddenly, Pro Go jumped out of the backpack and to full size. "I'm a grandpa?! Grandma? Grandparent?!"

---

My implants went smoothly. Thankfully, I have no idea what most of them do but I do know that apparently about forty percent of them are considered illegal.

Last were some unique parasites and symbiotes.

Those didn't actually hurt going in but man did they feel gross when they did. Thankfully Cheat was actually able to make them extensions of herself through the body. This negated some of their negative effects and gave me the ability to consume energy and the Monster Dark Skill Tree.

"Well, that was an exhausting day and a half." Parker said as he gave me a hot pocket. Finally, real food!

I ate that thing like it was the last meal I'd ever have. "Oh sweet food, how I missed you."

"Sorry for the all liquid diet. Some of the implants cause nausea after immediate installment, and some of the Symbiote and parasites just make that worse. Especially the ones that merged with your stomach, intestines and throat."

"I…can imagine…" I said. "Ugh…finally we can move…"

"I do have to admit, I'm surprised how well your body has just readily accepted all that. I was expecting a lot more rejections but not a single one."

"Yeah…that is a bit surprising." I nodded in agreement. "So…what's this Monster skill tree supposed to do for me?"

"I'm short, anything Monsters can do, you can gain the ability to do. It works really well with the Gluttony Branch of Sinner. It's almost like having Copy Cat, only you need to hunt and eat whatever you want to gain the Abilities of."

"Sounds about right." I nodded. "So that's cool…and yeah I really want to do something after all this laying around…"

"Well you are free to do that, just wear this while you do." Parker said, putting on a metallic cuff on my leg. "This device will monitor your body, the Injections, implants, parasites and symbiotes, the whole thing. Just keep it on for a few days and try not to stress. I've honestly never seen anything take all this in one go successfully. Better to keep an eye out for side effects just in case."

"Fine, fine." I nodded. "I'll try not to stress myself too much."

"Which means I'm in control now!" Cheat said, suddenly taking over the body. "Thanks for the terrible memories Parker. I'll drink to forget them!"

"Fair." Parker laughed.

With that Cheat ran us outside and back to the rooftops.

"Why can't I be the one that's running around?" I mentally huffed, having been the 'main driver' for all that nonsense.

"Because you are always the one running around and last time I got to jump rooftops and look through stuff, was before I got knocked up. So I wanna enjoy this for a bit. First I'm gonna hit the video stores, see if I find something new to watch. Then the electronics store for a new TV, DVD player, and if we're lucky they might even have some videogames there."

"Eh, fair."

And so, I sat in the backseat as Cheat went scavenging. Finding some more series on DVD, some new movies, popcorn, and to my surprise she did find a new flat screen TV and to my excitement, a PS3 and some games for it.

Once all those were packed into the Assistant the started browsing some books. "Hmm, cook book, fitness book, Bible. Bible in Spanish. Hm, well these kids books will probably be good for all the foals."

"Yeah, it'll probably be good for the kids." I mentally agreed.

Cheat pocketed all the kids books and a few others.

After that she quickly went to… what!?

"Oh don't be so dramatic Button, it's just a lingerie store." Cheat rolled her eyes as she walked through the door.

"I know that, but why!?" I asked incredulously.

"Well, you can't lie, this hermaphrodite body of ours, looks hot, and our flanks are nice and round and bouncy and jiggly." Cheat said. If I could I'd blush at the moment. "And I see how every mirror or reflection we pass you give it a glance."

"Sh-shut up…" I tried to argue. "It's not my fault…"

"Oh I know. But when I absorbed your body and merged it with my own the extra two feet still left me with a lot left over so I put it where I felt it would get the best use~"

"I…know I know…" I admitted. "Still…very different is all…"

"A very sexy different~" Cheat added with a chuckle. "Anyway, I also plan on seeing how our human and humanoid forms. One because I bet we got nice tits, and two because aside from my usual stuff, I've always wanted to try swords and guns."

"Same. I always wondered what hands were like for myself and not…what Philomena has done…"

"Oh that's half the reason I want them." Cheat said.

Well, the whole dressing thing was… embarrassing, but I am not gonna lie… we look hot…

Once all the pony stuff was work and put away she changed us first to a humanoid form. Basically we kept the fur, mane, cutie mark, pony ears and all that around the face but a human body…

Firstly, Small C cups, but HUGE hips… and we're apparently five-six in this form… After cheat tried on humanoid clothes that… a certain bulge of ours were very visible through… oddly, that was alright with me…

Anyway, once all that was done she swapped to a pure human form.

Our skin tone was a lighter tan brown than our coat, and our hair was the same as our mane. Aside from that I just looked… well, human.

Cheat then began looking for undergarments, a bra, and finally a dress and heels.

"Damn. We look nice." She said, doing a twirl.

"Yes, yes we do. Also…hips for days apparently."

"Yeah. It's all going on down there." Cheat said with a chuckle. "Shame our chest isn't that big but our ass really makes up for it."

With that, Cheat grabbed more clothes before reverting back to pony form. She then headed to… Cheat no!

"Cheat yes~" She purred, walking into the adult toy store.

"I RSVP NO!" I mentally shouted in fear.

"What? Didn't you enjoy what I did in the bathroom with my toy? Think about all the ones in there can make us feel~"

"It's…I'm still trying to sort that out…but there's no stopping you here…"

"Nope. Don't worry, I'm sure they have some for males too~ Besides, better use those than constantly having them all get pregnant. Plus I was hoping to get a bigger strap on for Cream."

Wait… she actually has one?!

"Why must you do this to me Cheat?" I whined.

"Because I'm a pervert and I enjoy using sex as a weapon against you who can not resist the advances."

"Fine…" I grumbled.

And so, Cheat went in, and walked out with the whole store… there was stuff there I didn't know existed… and Cheat is gonna use them all on us…

I won't fight it, but I will not be ready for it.

Finally though she made her way back to the settlement. A skip in her trot, a million perverted thoughts running through her head that more or less were bombarding me and all while planning on feeding Power Up and watching her new movies.

"I'm getting a lot of tonal whiplash here Cheat…"

"Now you know how I feel when you've got a million thoughts going on during your training."

"There's a difference." I tried to defend myself.

"Not much of one." She said.

We arrived in the settlement and…

"B-Button?!" Cheat looked up… Dad, Maud, Diamond, Sweetie Bot, Echo, Ali, Victor…

"Welp, it's your turn." Cheat said, putting me in controle again.

"Dad…Maud…everyone…" I teared up, shakily stepping towards all of them… "You're…you're…all here…you're all alive…"

"Button… you're hot!" Sweetie said in a blurt. "I mean, you were handsome and all before but… what happened?! Chica said you're a dad and also a mom and Cheat apparently did all that?!"

I first gave them each a hug, then spent a long time explaining the last year to them…

It was late at night when I finished explaining everything. Dad was playing with Power Up, Dovahkiin, and all my kids with Philomena.

"So… you fucked your mom?" Ali asked.

"I'm not his mom." Cream frowned. "I might be an alternate version of her, yes, but I did not birth this Button and given my first son clearly isn't a mini Button, I doubt I will."

"Is it weird I thought Maud would get pregnant first?" Sweetie asked.

"I wouldn't mind if it happened." Maud shrugged.

"It's…it's been a rough year…but thankfully everyone here has made it better…well…some of them…" I sighed, remembering that there's a lot more…'slaves' here than my actual lovers. "It's…it's still a lot…"

"I can't say I approve of you having Breeder Class… but, it's better here where they'll be treated better than the bastards in the guilds." Victor said.

"And you… have to screw them daily?" Diamond asked. I frowned, nodding.

"Breeders are reprogrammed to suffer depression, anxiety and self destructive thoughts and actions if they aren't… used." Victor sighed. "It's a whole nasty situation they're forced into."

"Well, if anyone would treat them right it's Button." Sweetie said. She then walked over and gave me a kiss. "We've missed you so much."

"Yeah." Maud added, giving me a kiss too.

"I've…I've missed you all so much…" I said again, sadly breaking down for…probably the fourth time today as I sobbed in pure joy at being with all my loved ones again.

"Hey Button. Mind if we talk?" Diamond asked.

"S-sure…" I sniffled, rubbing away my tears again. "Do you want it privately or…what?"

"Well, privately, yeah." She nodded.

We walked to the bedroom. Diamond closed the door and before I could ask she flew up a little, grabbed my head and kissed me on the lips.

The shock made me freeze a bit and when she finally stopped she looked at me with a silent pause. "Wow…" I blinked. "Uh…where…did that come from?"

"I… might have had a realization over the year that my feelings towards you might be more than that of… just friends… Sweetie actually called me out on it just before we found Chica and came here…"

"Well…" I started. "It's…this year has let me know how much I cared about all of you…how much I missed all of you…and well…I…did have some feelings for you Diamond…"

"Do you want to… act on them?"

"I'd love to." I answered happily. "It's been a year…so we have a lot of catching up to do."

"Well… I guess that means we should go on a date. Didn't expect my first boyfriend to be both a father and mother though. How scandalous." Diamond said with a chuckle.

"Eh." I shrugged. "It happens, but I'm glad to…actually go on a probably normal date after so long…"

"Yeah. That will have to wait though. I imagine Maud and Sweetie would like to make up for lost time as well."

"Oh yeah." I nodded. "Those two would want…to make up for a lot of lost time."

"Heh. Well, I'll leave you to it then." Diamond said, giving me one more kiss. "So, date night tomorrow then?"

"It's a date." I said with smile, kissing her this time and feeling so much better about having her here.

With that, Diamond left the room… and shortly after Maud and Sweetie entered, closing and locking the door behind them. I smiled, happy to make up for the year I wasn't able to give them the attention they wanted from me.