Keyholder Demoness Bk. 02 Ch. 04

It was the evening time and Empusa had set up camp near a cold mountain river. Charity had had the luxury of washing her hair with some shampoo and conditioner that Empusa provided. Charity was sitting with her back to Faith who was fighting to pull the tangles out of Charity's dark brown hair.

"Ow! Ow ow ow!" Charity complained.

"I feel like your hair has gotten thicker as you've gotten older," Faith suggested. She had experience brushing her step-sister's hair her entire life since she had always played a major role in Charity's upbringing.

Empusa was busy unpacking gear from the cart, getting ready to serve up some food. "Look at the ponygirls," she said quietly.

Their boots had been removed for the day. Garnet had already been hobbled. It was her turn this night. Hazel wouldn't be hooded until they were all ready to go to sleep. As Charity watched, the ponygirls were looking intently at each other. One would wiggle her back end a little and after a pause the other would do the same.

"They are talking to each other," Empusa whispered. "The chain that links them is a particularly hard metal. Despite the fact that it is not organic, it is still the pathway for a lot of communication. The ponygirls become very sensitive in the spot where the chain exits from their backs. They seem to be able to get a lot of information from their partner by simply reading the other's tugs and shakes."

"I wonder what they say to each other?" Charity asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think that right now they are talking about you," Empusa said.

Occasionally, the ponygirls would both glanced over at Charity and seem to snicker.

"I think that they really like you," Empusa said.

Charity was not really sure how to respond. She was happy, perhaps, but also, a little wary.

Empusa cleared her throat and seemed to stare meaningfully at Faith for a moment.

"Oh! Hey, babe?" Faith said. "The Queen and I were talking earlier about... well, we are concerned about your sleep walking incident last night, you know?"

"Uh huh..." Charity said.

"It turns out that Empusa has an extra set of hobbles and we were thinking that it might be best if you wore them during the night time... as a safety precaution..."

"Um... ok..." Charity said. "I guess that makes sense."

"Okay, good!" Faith said, obviously relieved. "You just really gave me... gave us all... a scare last night."

Empusa was already pulling the hobbles out of a crate - two thick, open cuffs with a pile of sturdy, heavy looking links of chain. She gave one of the cuffs to Faith, then they both knelt down and Faith watched as Empusa demonstrated how to properly fit the shackles around Charity's ankles. When the fetters were locked they both stood and Charity watched Empusa slip the key into a pouch on her belt.

When Charity looked down she realized that there was only about twelve inches of chain linking her ankles. Most of the chain links made up an extension that branched from the midpoint of the hobble chain. Faith was holding the remainder of the links. She slowly led Charity over towards the ponygirls and Empusa bent down and connected that chain to the midpoint of Garnet's hobbles.

"Are you good, babe?" Faith asked.

"I guess so," Charity responded.

"Ok..." Faith turned and walked over to the fire where two stools were set up. Charity started to follow, but then she realized that Empusa was setting out the metal bowls of fruits and grains for the ponygirls on the rail of the cart in the opposite direction. The chain connecting her to Garnet went taut. Garnet and Hazel turned to look at Charity for a moment. Garnet gently tugged the chain. Charity had no choice but to follow the ponygirls to the cart.

Empusa set down the third metal bowl of food for Charity. "Mmmm! Dinner time, girls!" She patted Charity on the head then walked over to sit with Faith by the fire.

<>--+-

Charity and the ponygirls, Hazel and Garnet, were lying together in the meadow under a star-filled sky when Faith and Empusa arrived to prepare them for sleep. After eating dinner and being well-licked by the ponygirls, Charity had little choice but to follow along with them as they slowly wandered away from camp. If Charity resisted, the ponygirls seemingly worked together to get her to follow their lead. Garnet would tug on the chain between their hobbles while Hazel would move up behind Charity and nudge her. Charity eventually gave up resisting after one last look back towards the campfire where Faith and Empusa sat laughing together.

Finally, the ponygirls had found a soft spot to settle down for a while. After Charity sat down with them, they snuggled close and simply lay watching the night sky.

"Time for bed!" Empusa announced as she approached. She was holding the canister of massage cream and Faith and Charity scooped up handfuls to rub into the ponygirls' legs and backs. Charity was just finishing up Garnet's shoulders when she felt a cool glop of cream pressed on her own back. "I don't want you to be eaten by any predators either," Empusa said as she started rubbing Charity's back.

The cream felt similar to sports creams Charity had tried in the past. She felt her muscles relax and feel warm and loose.

"Contentment," Empusa said.

"Hmm?" Charity asked, lazily.

Empusa pointed at Charity's chastity belt. The inverted Y design on the faceplate seemed to be glowing a blue color, shining faintly in the darkness. "Your belt is starting to glow. I think that means that you are content. What do you think?"

Charity felt a surge of blood flood her genitals. Her arousal ramped up. "I'm not sure if it's contentment or just..." Her voice trailed off. Wow! She was really horny!

"Watch what I can do," Empusa said. She raised her hands up to the sky and then waved them towards Faith.

"Oh!" Faith squeaked. Her clothes began to shift. Her blue jeans and her sweat shirt seemed to merge and then restructure themselves into a long dress much more resembling the type of clothing Empusa wore. The sweatshirt split along Faith's shoulders until only two thin straps remained. Some form of support pushed Faith's breasts up and the shirt opened to better display her cleavage. The robes pulled in around her waist and flared over her hips displaying her figure as best possible.

Faith laughed. "Oh, wow!"

Empusa grabbed one of Faith's hands and held it up, examining Faith with a certain hunger. "Oh, wow, indeed! You look gorgeous! Do you like it?"

Faith was smiling looking down at herself. "I rarely wear dresses," she said, "but I really like this. It's very comfortable and... I feel very free in it..."

"Oh!" Empusa said. "Something fell on the ground there. I think it came from your pocket? Sorry. I didn't include a pocket on your dress."

"Oh, yeah," Faith said. "These were the things in my pocket..."

Charity felt as though she were in some sort of trance. She was surprised to hear her own voice suddenly. "A gun with four b... bullets and a dead cell phone..."

"A dead cell phone?" Empusa asked. "What is a dead cell phone? Did it die after you arrived."

"She means that the battery is dead," Faith explained, laughing.

"Battery..." Charity mumbled. She was starting to feel very sleepy. Horny and sleepy. She draped an arm around Garnet's waist and leaned into her. Everywhere they touched felt so good.

"It's a telephone, but it works wirelessly, electromagnetic," Faith explained. "Well... it doesn't work at all here. But... How did you do this?" Faith asked, smiling and waving at her new clothes.

"Magic, of course," Empusa said. "Your universe chose technology. Ours chose magic."

"But, what more can you do? Can anybody use magic?" Faith asked.

"Just like your technology needs a battery, magic requires a power source too. And no. Not everyone can do magic. I happen to have a great affinity for it. That's why I'm the Queen," Empusa laughed. "Let's get the ponygirls to bed. I have a safe place to store the things that were in your pockets on the cart."

Charity hardly felt like she was touching the ground as they made their way back into the camp. "Love you, babe," Faith said as she kissed Charity on the head. She helped Charity settle down on the middle of the blanket. Hazel, who had been hooded, lay down beside her. Charity rolled towards Hazel and draped her arm over her waist and up between her breasts. Garnet settled down behind Charity. She snuggled up close, pressing her breasts into Charity's back. The links of chain joining the two ponygirls draped over Charity's hip.

She felt so warm and protected. She quickly drifted off to a marvelously deep sleep filled with erotic dreams.

<>--+-

As Faith suggested, in the morning, Charity had her hobbles removed. Faith and Charity were resting on a small berm during their early afternoon rest stop.

"You seem to be glowing today," Charity said. "Your dress is beautiful and it really suits you. I rarely have ever seen you wear a dress. I like it."

"I like it a lot," Faith said, looking down at herself. "And you are glowing too. All this walking, I guess. I see some definition in your limbs, some muscle. You're not quite so noodle-y."

"Noodle-y? When was I ever noodle-y?" Charity asked.

"Come on, babe. Weren't you voted 'most likely to be rinsed in a colander' in high school?" Faith joked.

"A what?" Charity asked.

"A colander," Faith said with a concerned look on her face.

Charity looked down at her naked body for a moment. "It's funny how Empusa was able to... magic you up a whole new set of clothes, but I'm running around butt-naked."

"Technically, she morphed what I was already wearing," Faith said. "You seem to be pretty comfortable traveling naked, though, right?"

Charity shrugged her shoulders, afraid to think too much about it.

"I think that we are living in a different paradigm," Faith said.

"Huh?"

"This whole business about each person having a calling," Faith explained. "I think that Empusa looks at you as sees a beautiful, wild creature. She does things that she believes will make a person with your 'calling' most happy and satisfied. Back home, we humans look down on all the beasts of the world. Here, some beasts are utterly worshiped. She thinks you are fated to become such a beast."

"What about you, Faith? What does she think your 'calling' is?"

"I don't know," Faith said, smiling.

"You're blushing, Faith!" Charity said. "Why are you blushing?"

"I am not!" Faith said. "She told me that she would start to teach me magic when we get to her estate."

"Are you falling in love, Faith?" Charity was joking... sort of...

"Nooo! I mean, I like her. She's not like anyone I've met before. And it's good to have friends who are queens, of course. Oh, baby, don't look so worried! We're going to find Blue and Dammasch and get that belt removed and then we can both learn magic together."

Empusa had released the ponygirls from the cart. The ponygirls walked straight over to Charity and sat down on either side of her, which required Garnet to nudge Faith over a little. Each kissed Charity on the top of her head. Charity noticed that the chain linking the two girls settled across her waist.

Empusa noticed too. "I have never seen them be so possessive in all my life. They must really, really like you."

"They don't need to be jealous of Faith. She's my sister," Charity said.

Empusa laughed. "We don't have 'sisterly' bonds so much here, like you do in your universe. Maybe that's too bad."

"Why not?" Charity asked.

"We have evolved much longer lifespans than you have. It's probably due to our clean living. And that means that our reproductive years are more like reproductive decades. With such an available span of time, we aren't in a hurry to reproduce. Those who choose to have multiple children, likely have them many years apart. And since all the girls leave home at the age of ten to go to Paradise, sisters rarely interact much," Empusa explained.

"There is no concept of a 'family business'", Empusa continued. "Any girl may have any possible calling. If I had a child she would be equally as likely to be... I don't know... a ponygirl, a fisherwoman in the Sea of Chains, a Well watcher, an airship commander, art... whatever her calling is. The odds are extremely low that a queen would ever beget a queen. As a result, being the queen is no more and no less prestigious than being anything other. Our position fulfills a need inside our souls and a need inside our universe. That's the way it's supposed to work. That's why your universe is considered to be a failed universe. You spend year after year forced to labor for someone who reaps vastly more benefits than you... And that's if you're lucky!"

Charity wanted to argue, but she could not think of any good words to say. Faith was simply grinning at Empusa hanging on to every word. Hazel must have sensed some kind of distress in Charity and she leaned over and kissed her on the head again. Charity hugged her back.

<>--+-

It was a few days later that Empusa led the group into a valley and they stopped by a huge pasture of short green grass. Empusa had unhitched the ponygirls and all had a bit to eat. The ponygirls were acting a little unsettled, occasionally stomping their feet. Charity stood up and rubbed her hand on Hazel's back. The two smiled down at her and then jerked their heads off toward the large field. They seemed to be eager to head off in that direction.

"La sai (tick) sai (tock)sss!" Empusa said. She was speaking to the ponygirls, who both shook their heads, frowning. Empusa turned to Faith and Charity. "In a couple of days, we are going to come upon a valley with a couple of small rural villages."

"Oh!" Faith said, smiling. "There are other people here?"

"Yes!" Empusa said, reaching out a hand and touching Faith tenderly on the shoulder. "I am expected to perform a ritual with the women of the valley... a Guardian of the Valley ritual. It will only delay us a little on our journey home. We'll need to make a few adjustments to provide the... best appearance. People sometimes have certain expectations when the queen stops by for a visit. Sometimes deviations from expectations can be interpreted as ill-omens."

The ponygirls were stomping their feet again.

"They are so impatient," Empusa said. "Well... we can talk about this more as we get closer to the valley. Ok, girls! Go!" She smacked Garnet on the butt and the two ponygirls started off across the pasture.

Charity smiled as she watched them romp around. They were clearly happy - smiling and nudging one another as they trotted around in the grass.

"You too, dearie," Empusa said to Charity. "Don't you want to run?"

Charity felt her heart swell with emotion. She DID want to run! And before she knew it she was running out towards the ponygirls with a loud "Woohoo!"

The ponygirls trotted up alongside Charity and the three of them set off in a line across the field.

It felt so good to run. Charity felt the sun on her skin and the wind in her hair. Her legs and her lungs felt so strong. She had an exhilarating feeling of confidence knowing exactly where her next footstep would land. She looked up at the ponygirls running next to her. They were smiling down at her, both running in perfect synchronization, now - step for step. They were moving fast across the field.

Charity felt a surge of happiness. She knew she could go faster and she picked up her pace creating a little distance between herself and the ponygirls. She let out a laugh of joy and glanced back.

The ponygirls smiled at Charity, then briefly glanced at one another, then they shifted to a higher gear. They caught up and blew past Charity in an instant. Charity slowed down a bit, her mouth open wide, mesmerized at the sight of the ponygirls running. Their long black hair blown back behind them. Their legs, moving in perfect synchronization. Their heads, bobbing forward with each stride. They were beautiful!

The ponygirls circled around and started back towards Charity, zipping past, obviously teasing her, as Charity stood, breathing heavily. Then they circled around again. They had run more than a quarter mile into the field. Charity glanced back towards the cart and saw that Empusa and Faith were holding hands. Empusa was carrying a blanket and they were walking into a shady copse of trees.

Some part of Charity suggested that it would be ok if she felt a little bit of jealousy. But, in fact, what she felt was a surge of arousal, excitement, and unadulterated desire. She turned to look at the ponygirls. They seemed to sense Charity's sudden mood and they quickly jogged towards her. They stopped before her, their breasts heaving with each breath. Charity stepped up to Hazel, pulling her close and kissed her desperately. She reached out for Garnet, too, and when she moved to kiss her, Hazel was pressing up against Charity, passionately licking at her neck.

The three collapsed into the grass shifting focus from one to another giving and receiving pleasure as best and as fast as they could. Charity used her lips and tongue and fingers and her thighs to make desperate love to her ponygirl friends.They were strong and energetic and sharing and tender.

When at last they settled to some degree, Charity had still not had an orgasm, but she was happy to be entangled with Hazel and Garnet, confident that she had made them so happy to be with her.

Eventually, they heard a whistling sound from back over by the cart, and they stood and began jogging back toward Empusa and Faith who were waiting. Charity leaned into Hazel and Garnet nudging them as they had occasionally done to her. Love nudges.

When they got to the cart, Faith turned to Charity, "Are you good, babe?"

"Mmm hmm," Charity smiled, sandwiched between Hazel and Garnet.

"Good. I'm happy," Faith said, but she had already turned back towards Empusa, leaning forward and kissing her on the lips. "I'm happy."

<>--+-

Why do ponygirls meander around a field during their idle time? They are not searching for flavorful patches of grass to eat like real horses. Charity discovered that they just seemed to be easily distracted by colorful flying insect-like creatures, an interesting pile of rocks, or the sound of a babbling mountain stream. Regardless, Hazel and Garnet seemed to meander with a common purpose - an unknowable purpose. And since Charity was leashed to the ponygirls every night, and since both ponygirls were much bigger and stronger, Charity had little choice but to follow along wherever they chose to go.

And so, one morning Charity and the ponygirls were wandering around a field while Empusa and Faith repacked the cart. Empusa seemed to be doing a lot of rearranging. She was unpacking a larger square box, dividing its contents up to other smaller containers. Charity was too far away to ask about what was going on. Her curiosity could only be satisfied after Empusa finally gave a whistle and the ponygirls returned to the cart.

"This afternoon we will enter the Valley of the Guardians where we will meet up with the people of the local villages. And tonight I will be performing a ritual in which a new Guardian answers her calling. Unfortunately, the idea that I am traveling with visitors from another universe would be an extreme distraction for these people. I need to hide the two of you. Faith and I had a conversation and we have agreed upon the best plan." Empusa was looking at Charity as she finished talking.

"First, there is the issue of Faith's footwear," Empusa said. "Those sneakers have to go. A little transformational magic will do the job." Empusa turned to Faith. "Are you ready, love?"

Faith nodded her head, smiling, and spread her arms.

Empusa closed her eyes. Her lips were moving, although she was not speaking. Slowly, Faith's sneakers began to unravel. At least, that is the best way that Charity could think to describe it. They unraveled, changed color and reformed into something more like sandals. Leather-like straps grew from the material wrapping several times around Faith's ankles, then criss-crossing up her calves.