Chapter 1: Her Wilted Rose
"Rarity..." you mumbled, standing at the entrance to the run-down Carousel Boutique. An almost eerie gloom hung in the air, giving the perfect backdrop to accent the creepiness of it all. Staring at the boarded-up windows and chain-shut doorway made you regret ever leaving Ponyville for that military trip.
Although Princess Celestia hadn't told you much about the fate of your fiance, she warned you about returning to the quaint little town. At first you thought she was kidding. What on Sun's green earth would possibly be so damaging as to necessitate a quarantine and evacuation of the village? Little did you understand the horrors that awaited your return.
Against Celestia's wishes, you fled your luxurious royal suite and used Her provided connections to commandeer a small train. Your military clout made it simple enough to weasel your way past the guards, and before you knew it, you were on the outskirts of Ponyville. The skittish conductor adamantly refused to take the train into the station proper, having been warned under punishment of death. Calling him a coward, you ordered him to remain for three hours maximum while you found your missing bride-to-be, lest he be subject to a fate far worse than a Royal-appointed execution.
Little did you know that a torture far worse than simply "passing on" was already wrought upon the innocent citizens of Equestria.
You entered the outskirt streets nearing twilight, and found, well, nopony.
...but you found blood.
...lots of blood.
Crimson was smeared against windows and walls, the smell of copper and iron carried by the heavy fog threatening to consume Ponyville. Finding yourself there at the once-comely boutique, your heart caught in your throat. Like a man possessed, you ripped at the shoddy wooden boards at a lower window.
Where was everypony?
What happened to the Royal Guard?
Why in Equestria had the Princess ordered a blackout instead of using you to muster the serviceponies?
You needed to find her...
Normally you valued stealth; it had seemed to get you this far without alerting any potential villain. Yet, you now tore into the sloppily-nailed planks.
Changelings?
Discord?
Rabid gryphons?
You mind was abuzz with possibilities as the poorly-driven nails were finally pulled away. It was almost as if Rarity herself did this; she never could use a hammer. The thought of your poor fashionista in such urgent danger sunk your heart as you propped open the window just enough to allow entry.
Rolling through the frame, you landed smartly in the dimly-lit workroom. Wisps of nearly-melted candlelight was your only comfort; the fleeing sun had nearly finished setting. You were immediately hit with the smell if rot, and almost gagged. You were used to such unfortunate smells, but not from the house of your love. Normally Carousel Boutique was flush with brightness, candles and the aroma of Rarity's fancy perfumes. Instead of an awful silence, the air would have been filled with sewing machines and the voice of...
Her.
"Rarity...!" you hissed rather loudly, unsure if there would be any local intruder still lingering within. Slowly, you reached for the lengthy dagger at your ankle, then proceeded to make your way through the scattered tapestries and tipped-over mannequins.
"Rarity!" you risked louder, sliding your way up the stairs as you thought you heard shuffling from above. Neither hoof or tail was found of your fiance or her little sister. You only hoped that little Sweetie made it out unharmed.
Nearing the series of doors at the top, you listened closely. A gentle "click-clack" resonated from Rarity's bedchamber; her door was left ajar. The sound was almost that of well-worn teeth sawing against tired bone. The smell of spoiled meat grew, although you were getting used to it by the minute as you placed a hand at her door. Preparing to fight, you surged forth into the room, but were met with only...
"R-Rar...it..y...?"
Your heart could not sink any lower.
There she was.
Laying on the floor, in a pool of her dried blood, was your mare. Mindlessly, she chewed on her own fleshless femur. Nearly half of her skin and fur was missing; delicate meat gave way to the evidence of being torn asunder by inefficient herbivore teeth. However, it seemed as if only the areas that Rarity could reach herself were devoid of muscle and bone; her rear and most of her upper facial features remained intact. Had she been consuming herself?!
Slowly the Sun-awful gnawing stopped, and with the grace of a corpse, Rarity lifted her withered neck to stare at you with unblinking eyes.
*clang!*
"No...no..." you dropped your dagger to the ground before falling to your knees. Rarity's jaw still retained some muscle, as perhaps she wasn't able to pull the tendons into her mouth properly. Without ever leaving the contact of your watering eyes, her mandibles dropped open to reveal her tongueless maw.
You nearly sobbed.
Of course, you should have expected her to consume that, too.
Remnants of her tendons still remained on her forelegs, attached to their origins and stretching down to her ankles. They played a macabre symphony, snapping as the formed Lady shakily attempted to stand. Rarity's teeth clattered together, unable to do anything else, as your peripheral vision became black. Through her exposed ribs, you were forced to witness her still-beating heart.
Her lungs rose and fell.
Her muscles twisted and tightened.
How was it all possible?!
With a shaky step, Rarity shambled forward. Each awkward step bough the smack of bone-on-bone; her legs, mouth, and shoulder blades all joined in the mortifying chorus. Rarity's eyes looked wide, stained with the old trails of mascara that ran down the remnants of her cheeks. Her tear ducts looked swollen from former salty streams, surely long since dried.
Truly, she was death given form.
"Rarity...no. Please, no...please, no..."
Your resolute psyche rapidly slipped away. Sweat beaded on your forehead as you began to hyperventilate.
It was all a nightmare...
It had to be!
Yet despite any attempts at rationality, your paralyzed form would not accept the loss of your love. Methodically, as if moving with careful intent, Rarity approach ever closer.
Would she kill you?
If so, you desired her to eat your heart first.
However, about two feet away, the undead fashionista turned about ninety degrees and fell to her side. Bewildered, you watched in captive horror as she struggled to drag her flank into view. She then tried once...twice...three times to lift her skull to look back over her bloodstained ribs. Unable to eat her supple rump, the majority of it remained intact, although the same could not be said about her elegant tail. It looked as if her teeth yanked many a hair from it. Your eyes transferred images of which your brain could make no sense. What was happening here? Without her obstructive coils, Rarity's flanks laid bare, and as your tunnel vision inspected her intact cutiemark, Rarity...
...your fiance...
...winked.
The sight pushed you over the edge.
"Hah...hahaha...ha-ha! Hahaha! HAHAHA!" you laughed, no longer able to hold back your own tears that streamed down your insane expression. This really was a nightmare, your eternal punishment for waging human strife on other races in the name of Ponykind.
Rarity only looked on, her mouth agape, imploring you act. A soft gurgle escaped what was left of her tattered esophagus, drawing your attention.
"So!" you nearly shouted. "Still expect me to keep the promise, eh?!"
Your eyes were almost as wide as hers. Long ago, you swore and oath not to be killed before taking Rarity's virginity on your wedding night. However, you never imagined that the shoe would wind up on the other hoof.
"Shhgackkk...*gurgle*" Rarity rolled her head, as if attempting to nod yet only managing to spiral her neck. You couldn't believe that her ears, one clearly broken and hanging, could even understand you.
Did she understand you?
Did it even matter?
As your sanity melted away, it revealed the passion of your mind once locked in ice. Glancing at her still-presenting nethers, you felt yourself reflexively harden. Most of her was, indeed, still "intact". Looking up her mangled bodice, you suddenly saw only your lovely Rarity, your precious bride, hungering for something far more satisfying than pony flesh.
"Hah...are you...heh-hungry...for me...?" your rod began to harden. The blood from your brain rapidly found home within your manhood. "D-do you want...to eat me with your mouth...?"
Rarity remained silent, her lungs heaving heavily as she stared at your expression.
"N-no?" your trembling hands lifted your shirt, before fumbling with your pants. "Want to eat me with your..."
You bit your bottom lip in a pause, almost as if your last bit of sanity still fought to be heard.
"...virgin marehood?"
"Grrrackkkhhhsskk!" the undead mare wailed though blood-yellowed teeth, slapping a forehoof against the floor.
"W-well then!" you tossed your clothing aside in a heap. "How could I refuse such a lofty request from my Lady? B-But first..."
The grin of a madman stretched from ear to ear on your face. While nude, you slowly rose to your feet while picking up the dropped dagger. You stumbled towards her dresser, and quickly rifled though the corner drawer. You were already far too familiar with the contents; Rarity's non-blinking gaze never left your muscled body.
"Let's make things official." you spun around, presenting the elaborate engagement ring you gave to her so many moons ago. Through the boarded windows, a trickle of moonlight reflected against the precious stones. The flickering candles that still managed to burn in her chambers did the glorious symbol justice.
" *gurgle* Hssskrraaaasskkk!"
"I know it isn't the wedding ring I promised, but I think it'll make do." you walked to your mare, and with the grace of a Prince, slid the ring atop her horn.
"*guuurrggllleeee*" Rarity's mouth hung open and a long, grotesque sound of wet flesh slipped her gullet. To you, however, it was the voice of an angel.
"Now for my own..." you reached for a candle stand, and pulled it close. Rarity watched with zombified intent as you used the dagger to trace a perfect circle around your left ring finger.
*drip*
*drip*
Drops of crimson struck the ground as you completed your cut. Once finished, you set the instrument aside and took some candlewax with a finger. You gently held your finger along the low flame, and cauterized the wound with fire and wax. Rubbing off a bit of the residue, your skin still ached but formed a rather deep, scabby scar.
"There we are!" you proudly showed your hand-made ring to your wife.
"Grsskkk..." she gritted her teeth together, rolling her neck once more.
You felt as if you were walking on a cloud as you stepped behind her. You stooped down and lifted her too-soft flesh up in a half-standing position.
Although you were unsure if Rarity's nerves even worked properly, you were glad to see her puffy clitoris wink for you. You dropped once more to your knees, and lined your throbbing hardness up with your wife's withered onyx flower. Tints of grey spotted the areas around her labia, yet her anus and inner lips remained black as night. Many a mindless session was spent fantasizing about your Rarity's carnal treasure. You knew from a dirty letter or two while away just how she dreamed of your virile girth stealing her maidenhead. Finally, your shared wedding night was here, and the long-awaited moment where you gave yourselves to one another was only a thrust away.
The moment you placed your aching glans against Rarity's lukewarm entrance, the mare shuddered almost violently.
"Shhhaaaasskkk..."
The sound on skeletal muscles creaking drew your attention, and a small ooze of greenish-black mare-pre slopped onto your cock.
Your tender wife was lubricating your manhood.
Smiling softly, you ran a thankful hand along her butt. Half of it seemed to barely hang onto the muscle. But you hardly noticed. Rarity wasn't a walking corpse. She was your new wife. She wasn't a creature to be feared, but a Lady to be loved.
"Rarity..." you began softly, rubbing your shaft a few inches along her rancid marehood.
"...."
A ragged breath left her lungs.
"I now pronounce us: man and mare."
With a gentle thrust, your aching cock slid into the undead vice that was Rarity's virginity.
"Skkkraaaaasskkkk!!!" Rarity wailed, feeling your hot-iron spear easily pierce her decaying hymen. You bit your bottom lip, and inhaled deeply. The scent of her perfume flooded your nostrils; your mind was truly drowned in a sea of love and sorrow. Ridge after ridge, you felt the remnant of her musculature try to massage you into her folds.
"Oh, Rarity...my love..." you groaned as you nearly hilted. "You're so...tight..."
Pulling back, you saw the reddish-brown flecks of her virginity stain your pole. You reached down with an errant hand, and wiped some onto your finger. With reverence, you rubbed it over your rapidly-beating heart.
"Now, my elegant, gorgeous darling," you placed your hands back onto her flanks. "Enjoy."
The next shove forward was anything but gentle, yet Rarity seemed to hiss in satisfaction. You squeezed your muscles, and felt her tepid walls pull against your sensitive manhood on each out stroke. Your earnest breeding forced Rarity down lower, and her jawbone clattered against the stained floor. She opened and closed her mouth in time with each thrust, as if attempting to moan, yet only heart-chilling hisses escaped into the air. Your mind was already far gone, though. You massaged her rump with your fingers. It seemed to take an eternity for her skin to bounce back into place. Yet you savored her festering bodice as if it was a fine wine; each stroke into Rarity brought you closer to meet her rancid womb. As you felt your prominent ridge press into the hardness of her cervix, you held yourself still.
You ground your hips and wrenched her split lips apart, further testing the limits of her remaining muscular strength. Tiny strips of flesh wiggled back and forth, hanging from her stomach; bits of her once luscious coat danced for her husband.
"Ungh...yes...ohhh Celestia, yes..." you pinched her fetid clitoris between two fingers and kneaded it gently.
"S-hrsk-aaahhkskkh!"
Rarity lurched, pulling herself slightly from your cock. She seemed almost as if she was about to vomit; her stomach heaved as she shakily held herself aloft. Her eyes rolled back, and your venous pride was coated with a thick, blood-like soup. It oozed down your thighs, splattering against the ground in a rather lewd pitter-patter of undead cum.
"Ohhh, fuuucckk..." you held your cock still and allowed your wife to ride out her orgasm. Rarity's folds twitched around your member and threatened to send you over the edge. The stench of corpserot was powerful once again, awakening you to reality of your newly-deflowered mare. You noticed that, despite her thrashing, her eyes had yet to come down from her skull.
"Allow me to help, dear." you panted, licking one of your fingers to ensure it remained moist. Reaching out, you placed it against the white of her eye, and gently helped roll each one down. A slight trickle of moisture brought her iris to life. It stared back at you with a passion that only you could understand.
"I want to look into your eyes when I finish."
"*gurgle*"
Rarity massaged your member once more, still leaking a mucous-like strand down to the floor. The added lubrication allowed you to thrust with greater intensity, and you felt yourself swell larger and larger. Leaning over, you grabbed Rarity's shoulder bones. They felt smooth and strangely lukewarm; you pinned her. Writhing under your weight, Rarity's exposed heart beat slightly faster.
You looked from her thumping organ, to her undead sapphires, and back again to the heart. You swear you felt her warming up, although it was most likely the friction of your feverish mating. A familiar pressure was building in your testicles. You longed to release your pent-up love. You wanted each drop to flood your Rarity's essence. You wanted to coat every bone and muscle with your sperm. You wanted to feed her your cock, and watch the spurts fall from her open nostrils and through her empty jaws.
But most of all, you wanted to plaster her barren womb with your fertile seed.
"Ahh...d-darling," you gasped, "We're going to...h-have foals..."
Your thrusting became more desperate. A mind enslaved by lust and love took charge.
In that moment, Rarity never looked more beautiful.
"Bare my children! Take my love!"
'Of course my, husband.'
Your mind snapped, dissolving into an ocean of bliss and insanity. Your crown spurted rope after rope of thick, hot sperm into your wife's rotten pasture. Fresh human seed mixed with dead pony egg; her ovum was slathered with your essence in a doomed attempt at impregnation.
"Grrkssskkk!"
"Rarity! My wife!" you bit your lower lip while every muscle in your body contracted, acting as if by quantity alone your voluminous ejaculation would restore her. An errant hand ran over her heart, pausing to palm it gently through her ribcage. Rarity felt your warm touch, and spasmed again, sending yet another wave of ooze to the already bloody floor.
You never wanted it to end.
Your mind begged for it to last forever.
Yet, after what felt like an eternity, you were once again found throbbing inside Rarity's perverted marehood. You slumped over, and held your mare tightly. She twisted almost unnaturally before joining you, finally working her body into proper shape. You rested your head on a patch of non-stained tile, and looked into your mare as your ecstasy trickled away.
"That...was...amazing,...Rarity." you grabbed the back of her loose skull, shoving her neck forward. Your lips met her teeth, and she gently opened and closed her mouth. You slid out a tongue, and allowed it to trace her smooth jawline. It quickly became bathed in the deliciously fetid air pouring from her ragged esophagus. Breaking the passionate kiss, you sighed blissfully.
You could protect her.
Her heart was still beating.
You could...would, restore her.
Your wife wasn't dead, she was just...sick.
She was bearing your offspring now.
"Rarity..." you whispered.
"..."
Her hallowed stare was all the acknowledgment you needed.
"I...I won't let them stop...us." your mind spun, thinking of all the ways to leverage your military authority and political clout to hide away your mare.
You pulled your mare as close as possible, feeling your manhood still nestled tightly within her walls. You smiled knowing your seed was well-stopped.
"...the town is evacuated..." you talked more to yourself than to her. "I can...find a way to hide you before the military arrives."
"*gurgle*"
"There has to be more...sick...out there, that should buy us some time..." the pieces fell into place. Your wife's beating heart pushed against your skin. Rarity seemed much more relaxed, almost as if in a trance.
"Then, we'll get to work on planning our official ceremony." you were giddy, and although sure of your calmness, were unaware as to your own manic expression. Wrenching your sanity back into place, you stroked her stiff mane.
"...and I vow to always protect you. No. Matter. What. I love you, Rarity."
The candles gently went out on the pedestal.
Your wife's engagement ring glistened once more in the darkness.
'...and...I'll always love you, my darling.'