Hammer and Harmony: Corruption

A shout was heard behind a set of massive iron doors.“Announcing Crown Princess Gildalaria Thanos Ironblood!”

The doors slowly slid open, revealing a single female griffon wearing obsidian regalia. Looking around, the griffon took in the glory that was the Throne Room of the Griffin Empire. Currently, a long oak table was sitting in the chamber, sunset light shimmering through the large windows on one side. At the end of the table sat two griffons, and behind them sat the throne, a black obsidian behemoth rumored to be older than discord himself.

In one smooth motion, the griffon at the end on the long table rose, revealing his massive frame which stood a full two feet higher than the others, and flew towards the newcomer.

Landing in front of the female, his own obsidian and gold regalia glittering in the sunlight, he spoke in a voice thought to shake mountains, “Welcome home, my daughter!” The griffon smiled and hugged the newcomer.

“It’s good to be back, daddy,” Gilda replied hugging her father.

Turning back to the other griffon in the room, the Emperor spoke once more, “General Swiftclaw, let us continue the invasion plans . . . but let it be known, my daughter will be a part of them.”

“Of course, Emperor,” the General responded, bowing slightly before returning to stare at the massive amounts of paper laying on the long table.

Gilda surveyed the papers as she walked around the table to sit with the other two griffons. She saw things regarding food carts, cannon transport, airship and warship routes. But at the end, as she sat down, she saw what she was looking for: invasion plans.

The General coughed slightly then began, “So, to recap, our first goals are to ransack Manehattan, and occupy Fillydelphia and Baltimare.”

Pointing to a map, the griffon continued, “Fillydelphia will be invaded via our limited number of airships, while Manehattan will fall easily to a mere division of warships. Baltimare will fall to the rest of the force.”

Pointing a talon to Fillydelphia on the map he continued once more, “Fillydelphia is the most important place to take for invasion. It has a straight shot to Canterlot, and produces a large amount of the food for the surrounding area.

“We must also occupy Baltimare, because we need that seaport to transport our cannons. Manehattan has only one route to Canterlot, through a mountain tunnel, which the ponies will most likely collapse to prevent us from using it, making Manehattan useless.”

The Emperor nodded slowly, satisfied with the plan as he spoke. “Good. Gildalaria and I will support the invasion of Fillydelphia. You, General Swiftclaw, will invade Baltimare, and tell General Blood Bleak that Manehattan is his.”

“Yes sir!” Swiftclaw bowed as he gathering up the plans, before making his way out of the throne room.

Gilda now spoke, concern in her voice, “What about the Princesses, Daddy? And Discord?”

“War brings hatred, my young Gildalaria. And hatred brings the Windigos. If the Princesses and Discord want their paradise spared from the everlasting Winter, they must defend against those elementals.”

The Emperor rose and placed his massive frame upon the obsidian throne before continuing, “Now, my daughter, go to the royal smith, and have them make you a set of war armor, and any weapons you desire. We leave in two days. The week after, our conquest of Equestria begins.”

Normally, when Ponyville is busy, ponies would have smiles on their faces as they bought and sold goods.

But today was different.

Everypony was rushing around with deepening frowns on their faces. Even the element of laughter could do nothing to stop the ponies from worrying. After all, they faced something Equestria had not dealt with for 300 years.

War.

Among those frowns, two in particular were obvious. They stood outside a library arguing, a young mare and dragon in heated discussion.

“For the last time Spike, you are NOT coming with us to join the army,” Twilight voice borderlining on the Royal Canterlot Voice.

“And I said there’s nothing you can do to stop me!” the dragon argued. “I’m almost 18, that means I can enroll if I want to! And for the last time, the library doesn’t need tending while we’re away! Nopony is gonna need books during war.”

“Spikecanus Emerald Sparkle!” Spike flinched at the use of his full name, “You are not enrolling in the Equestrian Army, AND THAT’S FINAL!” Twilight proclaimed.

Thinking for a moment, Spike replied, “Fine! Then I’ll go to Canterlot and visit Kajiya. You can’t stop me from doing that!”

Frustrated, Twilight stomped off towards the train station, leaving Spike alone in front of the library.

Spike quickly gathered a small bag of personal items, and used a stick to sling it over his shoulder, much like he’d done after the dragon migration. Spike then followed Twilight’s path, which was marked by small burn patches as it wound its way towards the train station. Arriving, Spike found Twilight’s friends already there. All were wearing the shining armor Kajiya had made.

Approaching the group, Spike overheard Rarity speaking, “But Twilight, you can’t let little Spikey Wikey go to war! It’s just not natural for someone his age to participate in such ruffian behavior!”

“I know he’s too young, Rarity, but there’s nothing I can do. Tomorrow, Spike turns 18, and he can do whatever he wants. I can’t stop him from visiting that horrible blacksmith either.” he heard her sigh. “I just hope he’ll be okay.”

That was when Spike realized something. That Twilight and all her friends were protecting him from the world. He’d thought about this before, but this time it struck him differently. Before, it was comforting that somepony was looking after him. But this time, he felt stifled. Spike’s loyalty to Equestria emerged at that moment, and he knew what he had to do. He had to protect everything he could. No matter the cost, he had to fight.

With this newfound feeling of patriotism, Spike made his way onto the train, despite glares from Twilight and her friends.

The train ride was long. At least, it was long when you purposefully avoided the pony who was practically your own mother. Spike departed the train without a single word to Twilight or Rarity or anypony else.

Spike departed the train at the same time Twilight and her friends departed from the next car over. The young dragon noticed something interesting.

The crowd reacted heavily to the six ponies coming off the train. As the seven slowly walked through the streets of Canterlot, business stopped to stare at the six ponies, leaving no glares for the dragon ten feet away from them. Spike spoke no words as everypony around him gawked at the brilliant armor Twilight and her friends wore.

Arriving at the army barracks, the group split, the ponies headed towards processing, and Spike towards the smithy.

He came to a large building. From inside, he could hear hammering, and the hiss of quenching steel. Spike knocked three times. A large grey unicorn with a bright purple mane answered his knocks.

“Who’re you?” the pony asked.

“I am Spike. Kajiya told me I could visit him here.”

“Hmmph. He’s busy, but feel free to try. Nopony else can even get him to speak two words.”

“Thank you,” Spike said as he walked in, looking around to try and find the small stallion he knew as Gizo. He spotted him at the very far end of the shop, with large mounds of armor surrounding his work area. Spike headed that way.

Spike spoke as he saw Kajiya quench a helmet, “Hi. I came like you said I could.”

If the pony was surprised, he didn’t show it. “Ah, dragon Spike, good to see you. How long has it been?” He placed the helmet in the pile of finished armor.

“It’s been 6 months. Twilight said I couldn’t enlist, so I came here instead.”

“She’s still trying to protect you?”

“Huh? How’d you know?”

“The night you stayed at the forge, when she came that morning. That was all I needed,” Gizo answered as he pulled down a bag of oats, and offered some to Spike before eating. “You are a Dragon. If you wish to fight in war, nopony should stop you.”

“But Twilight says I’m still a baby dragon!”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen. Why?”

“Then you are not a baby. Dragons should mature at the age of sixteen. Since you have not, I suppose you lack a hoard.”

“I need a hoard to get bigger?” Spike asked confused.

“Of course. Dragons only grow by hoard size.”

“But last time I hoarded anything, I grew really big and started destroying Ponyville!” Spike complained.

“And how old were you then?”

“Ummm…” Spike thought back, realization striking him hard, “Fifteen… It was my Fifteenth birthday when I started hoarding.”

“See. You were immature then. Now, you can hoard all you want, and grow larger because of it. But now the question is, what will you hoard?”

“I thought dragon’s hoarded money and stuff?”

“Most do, yes, but a dragon can hoard anything it pleases. Once, I saw a dragon who hoarded sand of all things.” Kajiya put up the oats, and sat back down, continuing to explain, “For a Dragon, their hoard is not merely a physical hoard, but rather, what they deem the most important thing in their life to protect.”

“So, I can hoard whatever I what?”

“Yes. Even ponies.”

“Isn’t that like slavery?” Spike asked, confused.

“Not if you treat them as friends.”

A lightbulb came on in Spike’s head, “So . . . I can use Equestria as my hoard?”

“Maybe one day. But for now, what is more important than Equestria to you?”

“Ponyville,” Spike quickly answered without thinking.

“Then accept Ponyville as your hoard and you will grow. It will not take long. The magic in your blood will accept that you have found a hoard, and force you to grow according to the size of your horde.” The pony paused. “I suggest sleeping outside Canterlot tonight, in a field. There is no telling how large you will become. Now, since you are here, will you join me in the singing of the craft?”

“I can’t wait!” Spike exclaimed as he and Kajiya started on a new piece of armor, this time a set of plate mail for an earth pony. The now familiar rhythm overtook Spike once more, and the two worked in perfect tandem. Slowly, the other smiths stopped to watch as the two worked. The dragon and pony were in perfect harmony, forging gear faster than anypony thought possible.

Spike thought back on his day as he slowly walked around Canterlot, the sun starting to dip below the horizon. Spike made his way out of the city and found a large field of grain. He proceeded to find a comfy spot to lay.

Before he fell asleep, he thought back to what Gizo had said. Accept Ponyville as your hoard, and you will grow.

The thing was, he didn’t need to. As he thought about it, he realized that Ponyville was his home, as much a part of him as his tail. It was the most important thing he could protect, except for his friends. He’d had a hoard all along.

With that realization still in his head, he fell asleep while watching Luna’s sky light up with stars ever so slowly.