The next morning, they enter the centaur village like proud warriors returning victorious from glorious conquest. Cheering, hooting and trotting around Pip as if he was the hero of their campaign.
The streets of the village, however, bore a stark contrast to their joyous celebration.
Stone stables lined the roads, crumbling from disrepair. Markets stand half-abandoned as women roam the streets listlessly with sad, tired eyes.
And the men, the few that still remained, lay slouched and splayed out in shady corners, smoking numbing herbs while preaching about the Great Mother's divine punishment and the virtues of celibacy to anyone that would listen.
"The curse is a gift!" one yells from a street corner, his manhood wrapped tightly in white cloth. "The Great Mother cleanses us! Forsake the pounding of flesh! Embrace the divine providence of celibacy!"
Pip surveys the village as they move, his core crystal droning softly as he watches the sad scenes around him.
His HUD flickers.
[ New Location Discovered: Centaur Village, The Green Sea]
[Population: 782]
[Males: 118. Females: 664]
[Local Affection Level: 12%]
As Pip was marched through the streets, women gawked and whispered and the men peek over their pipes, scowling and scoffing at the noisy celebrations before slinking off to someplace quieter.
The battlesisters sing of Pip's prowess. Every moan, neigh and orgasm he gave them is turned into verses of song and poetry.
As they approach the centre of the village, the doors of the royal longhouse burst open.
"Hooved hell! What is the meaning of this infernal racket!?" Chieftess Ventousa barks as she storms out of her home. Tall, wildmaned and rippling with muscle. She scans the procession with raised brow.
They stop at the base of her longhouse's tattered wooden stairs, where she looms over them from its summit.
The warriors fall to silence as the atmosphere grows thick with the Chieftess' presence.
Pip gulps. Digitally.
"You sound as if you're returning from a victorious battle!" she yells. "Rukari, what is the meaning of this?"
Rukari steps forward and stands to attention.
"...well?" her mother claps. "You just going to stand there or—"
"You are correct, Mother. We return home from glorious battle."
"...and?"
"We stand before you, conquered. Thoroughly."
Muffled murmurs erupt from the crowd that has gathered around the procession, but they all fall to silence as the Chieftess straightens her back and folds her arms with an angry snort.
She gazes across the smiling faces of 12 centaur warriors standing behind her daughter, her eyes wide with concerned confusion.
"You lost!? And yet you—"
"No, mother." Rukari interrupts. "Though we may have been defeated, we have a lost nothing—"
"What?" The Chieftess blinks. "Explain yourself!"
Rukari turns to Pip and Vuvi, raises her hand to her heart, and bows.
"He… is our vanquisher." she proclaims, pointing to Pip. "But he takes no life, nor blood. He blesses us with what the curse has stolen."
Ventousa's brow bends deeper. "Speak sense, child!"
"He defeated us, but not on the fields of battle." Rukari explains as her mouth begins to curl into a solid grin. "He broke us in the Moaning Meadows!" she yells proudly.
The crowd gasps.
"The… the sacred meadows? Wait… are you telling me this metal …thing… is a… toy? A tool of pleasure?"
"He is so much more, Mother. He showed me what we have lost." Rukari utters.
"He showed me heaven." Featherstep says softly as she steps forward.
"He showed me peace." Dukara smiles, her eyes soft and dreamy.
And one by one, the battlesisters each spoke reverently of their time with Pip.
It was no longer a parade or celebration.
It was a revelation.
Chieftess Ventousa stared at each of them as they praised their new metal mate-master, her face expressionless as some of her greatest warriors speak of things she has all but forgotten.
Deep, cherished memories of love and lust requinted, now long buried by a curse that has robbed her of almost everything that made her a woman.
Her eyes narrow, focusing onto Pip who stands at the center of the crowd, faintly glowing and staring awkwardly into the distance as he tries to avoid eye contact.
She moves, and every breath around her is caught in the intensity and beauty of her regal magnificence.
The warriors bow their heads and slowly move back away as she approaches.
His servos shivering as the mighty mare looms over him, Pip turns to her, bows gently, and pops her a quick hand wave.
"Hi."
The Chieftess' mouth spreads into a smirk as her eyes soften.
"They speak highly of you—"
"Pleasure Prince!" Vuvi squeaks as she pops out from behind Pip and bows deeply toward the centaur queen. "Made by yours truly, Vuvela Blackthorn. We are at your service, Your Highness."