Spike looked out the window at the scene playing out before him. There was a wall being built around Ponyville, but its only true purpose was to give the sense that they were doing something to slow down the slaughter of the towns ponies. Even as two stallions managed to drive another pole into the ground, they had to run for cover as a large shadow passed overhead.

It wouldn’t be long now before Spike was just as big as those other dragons, and he could finally help protect the town. Most importantly, he had to protect Rarity; she was the only thing that mattered to him. He had to hoard more than just books and jewelry to start growing again but it would be worth it, so long as Rarity was safe.

He ducked down under the rafters as he made his way towards the exit to the attic. Spike barely fit through the pony-sized doors anymore, and had to squeeze through. The wood still buckled and cracked, so with a sigh he finally just knocked the door frame out with his claws.

The stairs were easier to get down and he found the piano that housed a secret basement in Rarity’s house. Spike found it rather hilarious anypony would hide a basement behind a piano. Still, it served his purpose well so he played the catchy tune to open the basement.

Once he reached the bottom, he looked over the spacious room. Spike had spent the better part of a day digging out more room down here until it resembled a cavern more than a basement. It helped that Rarity had left a bunch of old junk down here, among it a couple of shovels.

On the far side of the room where there should have been a pony with a crude chain leashing them to the wall, Spike saw only an empty spot on a small purple couch affectionately known as the “fainting couch”.

Spike sighed. “Rarity, what’d I tell you about trying to break out? I have to keep you down here to keep you safe!” He waited for a response and when he didn’t hear one, he began to look about the room. It had only been a couple days that he kept her down here. The first day he’d just tricked her down here and locked her in from upstairs. The second day he’d grown enough to force her into the corner while he dug.

After searching for a bit he found Rarity hiding under a table, which was littered with hats, canes, and other low-value items Spike had stolen to add to his hoard.

“Spike, let me go; I’ll be perfectly safe! This isn’t like you!” Rarity cowered rather pathetically, clearly not believing her own words. She had seen plenty of ponies eaten alive by dragons not much larger than Spike.

“I can’t! You won’t be safe out there and you were trying to break out, weren’t you? I’m gonna grow strong enough to protect everypony; I’m not gonna fail you.”

“Spike, Twilight wasn’t your fault—”

“They’re all my fault! If I was a real dragon I’d have been big enough to fight them off or talk to them or something…” Spike’s stomach rumbled as he hadn’t eaten in a while. The town’s supply of gems had been rapidly depleted as Spike’s jealous and greedy instincts kicked in.

“I won’t stay down here, Spike…”

He sighed, rubbing a claw over his belly. “No, I suppose you won’t.”

Rarity nearly felt some relief until a sharp pain at the base of her tail caused her to yelp. The next thing she knew, she was hanging upside down in the air by her tail and staring at Spike’s face. “Spike, you put me down this instant!”

“Oh, I’ll put you down… and maybe after a day or two you’ll be seeing things my way and be ready to stay on your couch.”

“Wha.. what do you mean?!” Rarity felt her heart race in fear as he licked his lips.

Without another word he tilted his head back and opened his mouth. From her vantage point, Rarity could see two dozen sharp teeth on his bottom jaw mirroring the other twenty-four on his upper jaw. His long reptilian tongue had even developed a small fork in the tip.

The slimy tongue wrapped itself around her neck and shoulders, smearing saliva into her well-groomed fur. Spike let out a content moan at her taste. Once he finished tasting her, he pulled his tongue back. “Try not to squirm too much, my teeth have gotten rather sharp.”

“You’re going to eat me?! Spike, put me down!” Rarity was screaming in panic now, even levitating some large sterling silver and gold-plated fine-china against Spike’s head.

“Gah, stop that!” Spike tilted his head back again and lowered Rarity into his maw. She felt his sharp teeth grazing her fur, kicking out one leg and managing to nick it on his incisor. She felt the sharp pain, and Spike tasted the coppery blood on his tongue. It was a rather pleasant taste to him, and he closed his jaw to trap Rarity in.

Only her tail stuck out of his mouth, between two teeth that sheared half of it off. Rarity would be appalled if she wasn’t presently getting lathered up in spit by Spike’s tongue. He continued to roll her around in his mouth for a good five minutes, enjoying the taste and struggle of his prize.

He had no intention to really hurt her; after all she was the most valuable gem in his collection. Spike looked around the room until he found the small corner containing all the pictures of his friends. Applejack, Twilight, and Rarity had central locations. The rest of his friends had smaller pictures, mostly laying or sitting on the floor.

Rarity screamed and kicked around inside the mouth, thoroughly disgusted at the thick coating of slime in her hair. It was far thicker than normal saliva and clung to her almost like goo. She was likely the first pony to be inside the flame-retardant spit of a dragon’s mouth without being in pieces or burnt to a crisp first.

“Spike! Let me out!” She slammed a hoof against his uvula, which caused him to swallow on reflex. Rarity let out a dainty scream as the tongue shifted and she slid ass-first into his throat. The powerful muscles pinched her and tugged her flanks down further into the throat.

Rarity hung onto his tongue with both forelegs, but with all the slippers saliva everywhere she lost her grip after only a few seconds.

Spike hit a claw against his throat, rubbing it as the lump passed down towards his stomach. She wasn’t as nearly as much fun going down as she’d been in his mouth. He would get used to it, however.

Rarity’s eyes struggled to adjust as the light dimmed. The light that had made it through his cheeks had made it possible to see while inside his mouth. Now, there was just a narrow shaft of light making it down the throat. The sphincter to the stomach opened up and she felt her weight shift as she fell into the stomach.

It wasn’t big by any means, yet it was much more spacious than the narrow throat. She had just enough room to stand and almost enough room to do so without the walls touching her. At least she wouldn’t get any muscle cramps in here, but it wasn’t much better than the cat carrier she took Opal to the vet in.

Spike rubbed his belly as the gurgling settled down and he no longer felt hungry. He yawned and stretched, unsure how long he could realistically keep her in there. However, he suddenly felt the urge to curl up next to the radiator that warmed the basement to take a long nap.

Nearly blind, Rarity was bumped around as Spike walked. Fluids splashed on her skin that tingled, and she started to pound on the walls. “Spike! Let me out!”

There was no answer, but the movement finally stopped. Rarity laid on her side, sighing in disbelief. She felt low-level magic running through her horn as her sub-conscious fought to protect her from the harsh conditions of Spike’s stomach. Somehow, she found herself feeling drowsy and nodding off to take a nap, despite the cramped conditions.

Dash flew around the outskirts of Ponyville, several miles from the nearest pony. She had taken up the most dangerous patrols as she was the only pony who could outrun anything that might be thrown at her. During her patrols, Dash was careful not to break the sound barrier. She did fly just below the speed that would cause a sonic rainboom, so she was no sitting duck if she got spotted.

The last time she had been out this way there had been one dragon in the sky, who didn’t bother to try and chase her once she doubled up her speed. Today it had been quiet, and were Dash the superstitious type she’d likely think it was too quiet.

In the distance, the sun was setting over Canterlot mountains. Dash took an uncharacteristic break to slow down and land on a small knoll. Her muscles were aching from flying so fast for so long, so Dash laid down in the grass. She knew as an avid athlete she should cool down and stretch, but the grass felt very relaxing.

The sun was throwing beautiful reds and oranges across the sky. Everytime Dash saw it, she knew, deep down, it meant Celestia and Luna were still out there somewhere. They were the only ones who could raise the sun and moon, and they were still rising and falling every day.

Dash wondered often if Discord was ruling now, as he too could control the sun and moon. However, when he had done it, the days had only lasted minutes… She sighed and got to her hooves, having already taken a couple minutes to enjoy the view.

Her ears pivoted back and to the right as she heard a whistling sound, and detected a change in the wind. Dash flared her wings and beat them down hard, launching herself up into the air.

Something collided with her side, sending her to the ground and rolling down the hill. She hit a tree which stopped her from rolling any further and knocked the wind out of her. Gritting her teeth, Dash stood up and looked up the hill. There was a griffon clad in light-weight chain armor. He was snarling and holding his arm, which had a deep cut in it.

In the ground where Dash had been seconds earlier was a broken spear the griffon had been aiming at her. Though she had missed the spear, Dash was now struggling just to breathe and get to her hooves even as the griffon walked down the hill.

He looked at her like food, and was grinning ear to ear. He thought his meal was beaten but Dash had other plans for him.

She waited, wobbling her legs a bit to appear weak as he approached. Once he was in striking range she lunged at him and went straight for his beak. She’d learned from Gilda just where the delicate parts of a griffon were, and if Dash managed to crack his beak it’d be just as painful as a pony splitting a hoof.

Her hoof glanced off the beak, thanks to the griffon reacting quickly to move his head to the side. She still got a satisfying crunch as she broke one of the bones below his eye socket. Unfortunately for Dash, she hadn’t been paying attention to what else the griffon was doing. Several talons ripped into her leg as he yanked her from the air, and pinned her to the ground.

Dash screamed in pain, already bucking her hind legs up into his chest. She could hear the sickening sound of a rib breaking, even through the chain armor. Before she could kick again, the griffon’s other claw grabbed Dash’s throat and the talons dug into it, threatening to tear her throat out.

He opened his mouth, as if to talk, but instead just coughed blood on Dash. She’d nailed him pretty good with her strong hind legs.

She spit in his face as she was pinned there, as good as dead, and Dash knew it. While she waited for him to finish her off, she noticed his pupils dilating. There seemed to be something off, and for a moment she hoped she’d stopped his heart or something.

The griffon teetered, then fell to the side. His muscles seemed stiff, almost like a corpse that’d been dead for hours. Dash felt at her throat with a hoof and looked to see it covered in blood. The cuts didn’t seem deep, but they were bleeding pretty badly. Her left foreleg burned, the bleeding there actually being much worse.

She got to her hooves, feeling a little lightheaded already and looked around for something to bandage her wounds with. That’s when she saw the pony that had saved her.

“Scootaloo?! What are you doing out here? I… I thought you were dead!” Dash stumbled towards her as fast as she could in her state and hugged Scootaloo.

“Dash…” Scootaloo was crying as she embraced her hero.

It wasn’t until Dash opened her eyes that she noticed the normally orange fur of Scootaloo had a thick black shine beneath it, almost like a bug. She also had eight legs, which seemed to be too many to Dash, but her mind was struggling to come to terms with what had happened.

Finally she took a step back. “Scootaloo?”

“Dash, you’re hurt.” Scootaloo walked forward, her legs skittering through the grass. The once normal filly was now sporting an extra pair of eyes, a much shorter mane, and a bloated stomach. She was somewhere between half-pony and half-spider.

“What are you?” Dash stumbled over a rock and landed on her rump.

“I got attacked and became… this, but it’s okay, I won’t hurt you! I care for you too much, it won’t be like with the others…” Scootaloo sighed as she poked at one of Dash’s wounds with a chitinous hoof.

“Gah…” Dash bit her lip as she looked at the red streak in the grass leading from where she was now, to where she had been. “Squirt, I need a doctor fast…”

“Town’s too far, but don’t worry… I’ve been watching you, I’ll keep you safe.”

Dash’s eyes went wide as she saw Scootaloo wrapping a thick white gauze around her arm, the strand leading back to her ass. It was spider silk and Dash tried to push it off, but only got her other hoof stuck.

“Stop it, Dash, it’ll stop the bleeding.”

She looked up at Scootaloo, and from this angle saw her two fangs, dripping from blood where she’d bitten the griffon to paralyze him. “S-stop, go get help!”

As Scootaloo bandaged her neck with the spider webbing, Dash continued to struggle, tearing at the web and causing herself to bleed more. “Dash, calm down! You’ll hurt yourself!”

With Dash continuing her weak attempts to escape, she got more tangled in the web. Finally Scootaloo gave up, quickly lifting up and cocooning Dash from muzzle to tail in the webbing. Now, Dash couldn’t verbally complain anymore or move her legs or wings.

“You’ll be fine, Dash, but we’ve got a long walk home and I’ve got to carry him with us… we’ll feed him to the children after I ask him some questions.” Scootaloo worked quickly to wrap the griffon up, then began to drag them both towards the treeline to sneak home. Dash gave up her struggling once she realized just how powerless she was now.

Photo Finish whinnied, or at least tried to. She was hogtied on the ground by the griffons who had captured her in Canterlot. They had tossed her and the captives into the castle dungeon and had been taking them out one by one to feed the troops. Now, they were inflating an odd balloon in her throat attached to a metal rod. It was wedged painfully in there, past her lungs so she could still breathe, but it was too uncomfortable to talk.

Another jolt of pain hit her as they forced a similar metal rod up her ass and began to inflate the bulb. To her horror, they they lifted her by the metal rods and set her down on two “Y” shaped poles over a small campfire. She realized it was a sort of improvised spit to roast a pony alive.

Photo tries to squirm down but the thick rods were painfully wedged inside her, and one of the griffons began to rotate her. She watched the world spin as the flames grew, searing her hair off easily. She could see strands of hair falling to the ground. The griffons had thought it funny to leave her sunglasses on, but now they too fell to the ground, melting in the campfire.

By now her skin felt rather sunburned, and there wasn’t anything she could do but cry. The tears would run down her cheeks, then back to her eyes, as she slowly rotated. The griffons began to chat about their conquest of Equestria and battles far and wide.

Her skin burned as if she had touched a hot stove, and at one point she even wet herself. Photo Finish’s whole body was uncomfortably hot as it was slowly cooked through. It was getting hard to breathe and she wanted to vomit and her stomach churned.

Dizziness began to pass over her. She realized she couldn’t feel her skin. It wasn’t numb, it was as if it was gone completely. All the nerves had died, and now the only parts of her transmitting pain were deeper in her body.

Her chest was being crushed, her kidneys stabbed, her muscles spasming. Pain she had never imagined wracked her body as she smelt nothing but burnt flesh.

A griffon began to rub something on her, she caught a faint scent of spices. They continued basting her as she slowly turned over the campfire, until finally and mercifully, she passed out.

“Hey, Gilda, don’t hog the last leg,” a male griffon said loudly.

“Buzz off, I didn’t see you on the front lines when we took the throne room.” Gilda scowled at him and threw one of the bones she had finished at him. “Here, scraps for a mutt.”

The griffon took a few steps towards her and probably would have started a fight, had one of his buddies not grabbed him and dragged him back. Gilda had risen to the rank of lieutenant and it wouldn’t be wise for any of the enlisted to assault an officer. If there’s one thing the griffon army was, it is brutally efficient, and they did not tolerate insubordination.

Gilda tore another piece of meat of Photo Finish’s leg and swallowed it. She began to mumble to herself, “I hope Pinkie tastes just as good…”

Soarin sat at the table, still amazed at Pinkie’s transformation from party pony to alicorn. Across from them sat Fluttershy, who looked more scared now than ever before. Dash hadn’t shown up for the council meeting.

Octavia sat at the table now as well. Originally searching for Vinyl, she had become an important member in helping co-ordinate the Ponyville defense. With ponies vanishing faster than ever, even the powerful Elements of Harmony, Soarin was taking any pony at all who could help…. even ones who turned into alicorns overnight as if wings were being handed out as door prizes.

“So that just leaves Spike… you’re sure he’s okay, Fluttershy?”

“I, um… well, his greed made him grow but he hasn’t eaten anypony and he did scare off those timberwolves earlier…” She looked around, still hoping Dash would show up late.

There was a knock at the door that made them all jump. It was too loud to be Dash, and a moment later Spike opened the door to the library. “Hi, guys.” He was a bit big to come in without risking destroying the doorframe so he sat outside, peering in on the meeting.

“I can’t believe any of this…” Octavia shook her head and looked around.

“Me neither, but with great power comes great responsibility, isn’t that right, Spike?” Pinkie asked.

“Uh, yeah. We’ll keep Ponyville safe.” Spike scratched behind his head, feeling Rarity hitting at the walls of his stomach again.

Soarin shrugged. “I’ll take what I can get, our numbers are still dwindling. As long as Spike can take a dragon in a fight, we’ll be good. I’ve seen you work, Pinkie and… well... I don’t care how but you’re the best we’ve got. You and Spike are to make sure one of you are always on lookout.”

Pinkie gave her best salute. “Okie dokie lokie! Those dragons haven’t been flying so close when Pinkie’s on the lookout!”

Soarin nodded. “Though you do vanish a lot… Pinkie sense?”

“Yeah.” She giggled. “And I did still throw a party for one of my friends, they just got eaten on the way to it…”

Fluttershy looked outside nervously, wondering if her animals were safe back at her home. So far her gift for animals had kept her safe, with several large predators—a bear, wyvern, two timberwolves, and even an alligator—had been protecting her home. Every animal she’d ever nursed back to health, every thorn pulled from a paw, had not forgotten her. Fluttershy felt guilty that while she was probably the safest pony in Ponyville, everypony else was scared and vanishing. She’d invite them to stay at her house, but what if the animals ate them? Fluttershy wasn’t sure she could control so many at once…

“You okay, Fluttershy?” Soarin asked.

“Yeah.”

“And how are things at your cottage? You don’t come out much.”

“Well…” Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Some of the predators are still my friends, and guard the house, but I don’t know how long it’ll last…”

Soarin nodded. “We don’t need you on the front lines, so just keep talking to them. Maybe you can get some intel, find out why the dragons attacked, give us a warning if they spot the griffons moving this way. If anyone can find a peaceful solution, it is you…” Soarin mentally laughed, knowing no such peace was possible, but it would not due to upset such an easily frightened pony.

“Yes, Soarin… And, Spike… you’re sure you’re all right?” Fluttershy asked. “Last time you got this greedy—”

“I’m fine!” He snapped. He saw the ponies looking at him, and he tried to give them a comforting smile. Unfortunately, he now had sharp teeth, some of which were approximately six inches long. “Sorry, just upset about Rarity vanishing.”

“And you’re sure she’s gone?” Soarin asked. “You went over to check on her two days ago and haven’t seen her since?”

“Yeah, and I’m gonna keep living there. This library is too noisy and with Twilight… with her…” Spike looked away for a moment. As much as he felt bad any pony has died, he took Twilight the hardest. That’s why he had no doubt Rarity was safest either chained to the wall in his dragon hoard or in his stomach. Soon, she would see that too.

“Oh, Soarin, I found some stuff I think will help us win this war!” Pinkie smiled and bounced over to him.

“What? And you’re just now telling us?” Soarin rolled his eyes.

“Ahuh, it’s back at my place, come on!”

Pinkie grabbed one of his legs and began to drag him out the front door of the library. Soarin yanked his leg back, “I can walk just fine, Pinkie, sheesh.”

Octavia chuckled, a bit relieved to see at least Pinkie’s spirits still lifted. It was frustrating to her to be just one Earth pony trying to do so much to help, yet feeling so little impact.

Soarin and Pinkie made good time towards her house. Instead of going inside, Pinkie led him to what appeared to be a tornado shelter. “Hey, I’ve never seen this before,” Soarin said.

“Oh, it’s my apocalypse survival shelter. I was fully prepared for zombies, raptors, nuclear holocaust, or a variety of extinction level events… just come down inside with me and I’ll show you,” Pinkie replied.

“Uh, sure.” Soarin followed Pinkie down into the shelter, which was nearly pitch-black. After a few tense seconds she turned the lights on.

Along the wall were dozens of suits of Royal Guard armor, weapons, and spell books. The other wall had boxes of rations piled to the ceiling. There were also chemical warfare suits, zombie bite kits, a book labeled “Dummies Guide to Jurassic Ponysaurs”, radiation meters, and more….

“Holy shit, Pinkie, you weren’t kidding,” Soarin said.

“Yep! We can start to arm some ponies but this is our little secret, okay? If everypony knew I had this shelter than we’d have no fallback plan.”

Soarin scratched his head. “Huh? A fallback plan?”

Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, if everypony else dies then you and me have to hide in here and repopulate the species.”

He laughed at her joke, before realizing she wasn’t even smiling. “You’re serious?”

“I never joke about the survival of a species, Soarin, and you’re the sexiest stallion who isn’t currently fertilizing flowers in the Everfree. So, my super-secret survival shelter is always open to you!”

“Uh, thanks.” He was more than a little creeped out, slowly backing up to the stairs. “I’ll keep that in mind, and send some of the armor to the library, okay?” Soarin turned and quickly left.

Pinkie walked over and closed the doors to her survival shelter, locking them. She then walked to the closet in the far corner. She opened it up and smiled.

At her hooves was Golden Delicious, tied and gagged. Pinkie licked her lips as she eyed her daily snack. “Don’t cry, Golden. An apple a day keeps the dragons away!”

Author's Note

If you find any typos, post in the comments... I could use some volunteers to keep Pinkie fed.