Elementary, my dear Twilight

Pain.  Mind-numbing pain.  That's the only thought that went through Spike's head.

He groaned, then cracked open his eyelids.  His vision was swimming, and his memory fuzzy.  He didn't remember much, but did recall a lot of screaming and cackling.  He tried rubbing his eyes, but discovered his arms were tied behind him.  That realization snapped open the young dragon's eyes fully.  Simultaneously, his memories came surging back with a vengeance.  Going out with Rarity to dig up jewels for a new order of dresses, the Diamond Dog ambush, then everything going black when one of them smacked his temple hard with a paw.

Unfortunately, his alertness also amplified the pain.  As quickly as Spike's eyes opened, they squeezed shut as he doubled over in pain...

...Well, doubled over as much as his bonds would allow.  Spike was tied from his chest to his shins in sturdy ropes to a large tree.  In the Everfree Forest, no less.  His actions alerted the silhouetted figures that stood about 15 yards in front of him.  One of the shadows stepped forward into the dim light, revealing it to be a Diamond Dog.  Its muzzle was curled upward in a feral smile as his watched the bound dragon shake his head, trying to alleviate the pain.

"Well well well, Sleeping Pony's finally woken up, hm?"  He said in a deep, gravelly voice, then chuckled.  Spike had never liked Diamond Dogs to begin with.  So these ones in particular had him nursing outright hatred towards them.

"Where the hay is Rarity?!"  He demanded while struggling uselessly against the rope bindings.  The Dogs only responded by laughing and jeering at the young dragon.

"Who, the lovely purple morsel?  She's right here."  Two of the Dogs stepped aside, giving Spike an unobstructed view of Rarity.  Spike's breath caught in his throat in shock at the sight of his love.

Rarity was bloody and bruised, her normally meticulously-kept mane now in an unruly mess.  Her left eye was closed and swollen black.  But the absolute worst part was her flanks.  There were deep claw marks all over them, none penetrating the skin but very much visible...

The terrible truth slowly dawned on poor Spike.  When it did, all he could do was stand there in his chains, staring at Rarity's limp form in utter horror.  That didn't last long, as all his shock gave way to anger.  These motherfuckers were going to PAY!!

Spike wrenched at the ropes with renewed vigor, with the sole desire of causing his love's rapists as much pain as he could.  His green eyes blazed white-hot with feral fury in them.

"Awww, look.  The wittle baby dwagon likes the pony!"  The leader cackled in a babyish voice.  All of the other Diamond Dogs joined in, shouting various insults and threats to Spike.

"Well, you're too late now, not that you stood much of a chance!"

"Yeah, the pony's OUR toy now!"

"I'm. Going. To. KILL YOU!!!!"  Spike bellowed, his voice echoing for miles across the forest.  The Dogs stopped laughing and stared at him with menacing intentions glinting in their eyes.  All that bravado and anger drained instantly and was replaced by fear.  He may have been much more able to fend for himself than than he use to be, but he couldn't hope to defeat over 36 Diamond Dog rapists all at once.

"What did you say?"  Alpha Dog asked softly.  He padded slowly over to the tied dragon, then grabbed his neck with his right forepaw and squeezed.

Spike's eyes widened and he gagged, trying desperately to get some air.  He tried to wriggle as much as he could to throw off the paw, but the Dog's grip may as well be an iron claw.

"Apologize."  He said sternly.  Spike hacked and gagged some more, then managed to  choke out a response: "Why don't you go buck yourselves."  The Alpha Dog snarled furiously, then tightened his grip more.  The poor dragon's vision was beginning to tunnel.

"I said, SUBMIT."  He growled.  "What's the point of fighting?  There's nopony here to save you."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Alpha's paw suddenly opened wide in surprise at the new voice.

Spike's head fell downwards, and he greedily gulped in generous amounts of air.

"Who's there?"  Alpha demanded.  He'd inwardly hoped with all his might that he was only imagining things, but the rest of his pack were shifting uncertainly.

The voice chuckled menacingly, sending chills down all of the Diamond Dogs' (and Spike's) spines.  "I?  I am but a messenger, here to deliver your shares of karma that you bitches very much are overdue for."

"...What?"  One of the Dogs said stupidly.  All of them were pretty dim-witted, except for Alpha, who literally was the sole reason that their ambush had worked in the first place.

The voice sighed "In laypony's terms..."  A hulking figure stepped from its hiding place right next to where Spike was tied, earning a cry of shock and terror from all those present.  "Die."

The creature--if it could even be called that--was completely covered from top to bottom in olive-green metal that shined brilliantly in the sunlight.  It was absolutely MASSIVE.  If there was one word that Spike could describe it, "massive" would be it.  Stuck to its back was a strange, angular object that glowed orange from gaps between parts.

Clutched in its hands was an equally huge...sword?  It was so large Spike wasn't sure what to call it.

Spike knew without a doubt that he'd never seen or even heard of this...thing, but something about it seemed weirdly familiar.  Something about the voice...

The dragon's eyes widened in realization.

"Wi--?"

The creature whipped its head around to stare at Spike.  Though he couldn't see its expression through the opaque-gold plate, the message was clear: Be quiet.  It turned its head back at the Diamond Dogs, almost all of whom were shaking very much and cowering in the shadows.

Almost.

Alpha had held his ground, but the scariest part was his expression.

Or rather, his lack of one.

Alpha's face betrayed no emotion whatsoever.  But his eyes were different, somehow.  The surprise from before was replaced by excitement and sick happiness.  He smiled evilly.  Then he spoke.  But it wasn't the same voice that he had before.  It was deeper, echoing, and carried with it untold millennia of hatred, bloodthirstiness, and insane happiness.

"So, the so-called 'Reclaimer' has finally arrived."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Will tensed ever so slightly at its voice in fear.  He shook it off; there was only one, and the actual Diamond Dogs would be nothing more than a minor nuisance.

He raised Brisingr with his left hand, his right hand leaving the hilt and reaching for a cylinder magnetically attached to his thigh as he slowly started stepping to the left.  Alpha mirrored his motions.  He grasped it, held it out slightly, and pressed the button.  The glowing blue plasma of the Energy Sword sprang to life with a snap-hiss.  However, there was an equal amount of orange mingling with the blue aura, but never actually mixing into one color.

The Dog's eyes widened momentarily, then they narrowed and he bared his teeth in a gruesome approximation of a smile.

"Don't think your puny little weapons will stop us.  You destroy one of us, ten more will retaliate."  It snarled.  "If the Flood cannot stop us, what makes you--or them--think YOU, an inexperienced little human adolescent, can do any better...or even anything at all?"

Will's weapons quivered with anger.  If there was one thing he hated more than people threatening what he held dear to him, it was people who scoffed at what he could or would do to them.

"You'd be surprised, you insane Necromorph."

The disguised Necromorph laughed.  "Very astute, young warrior!" It exclaimed mockingly.  "So, what gave it away?"

"Though I am wondering, how did you do that?  From what I know, Necromorphs couldn't disguise themselves in the first place, much less take over another creature's body without any physical evidence." Will said, still slinking left.

The Necromorph cocked the Dog's head to the side.  "Quite true.  I am a new breed, of course.  However, there are signs, though I won't just disclose them to you."  It was still copying Will's actions, then it smirked.  "You really take me for a fool?  I saw right through your pathetic trick."  "You may as well give up.  You can't outsmart me."

Suddenly, Will guffawed heartily.  The Necromorph looked through the possessed Diamond Dog's at him in surprise, then anger.  "What do you find amusing about imminent death?" it demanded.

Will didn't respond immediately, he was too busy cracking up doubled over.  Finally, he managed to straighten himself up.  "No, I'm not laughing at 'imminent death,' as you put it." Will said with residual traces of mirth still worming their way into his tone.

"It's the irony of your situation."  The hideous creature stared at Will with the Dog's eyes in confusion.

"You say I'm a fool, but in reality YOU'RE the fool."

"Have you been keeping an eye on your prisoners...and companions?"

The Necromorph whipped its canine muzzle back at where the rest of his pack, Spike, and Rarity were...

...Or what had been left behind.

Nothing was there except for the pieces of rope that held its prisoners to their trees that lay useless on the ground, while the rest of the Diamond Dogs were nowhere to be found.  However, what it DID see were the rapidly-shrinking forms of at least eight gigantic figures with an abnormally-large backs racing away.

Absolute rage seized the Necromorph as understanding dawned on Will's trickery.  It let loose an ear-splitting roar of fury, and tried to dash after them.

Keywords being tried to.

It had barely taken a single step, when it froze as unimaginable pain lanced across its back.  It shakily rotated its head around to look in shock at Will.  He was standing right over the Diamond Dog's form, with the strange Energy Sword plunged into its spine.  The needle-like tips of it were just poking out of the Dog's belly.

Then Will smoothly pulled out the sword, and without hesitation, the gaping stab wound started dissolving into orange light, then disappearing into nothingness.  Wherever the crumbling phenomena touched, the Necromorph felt it go completely numb.

"Have fun back in hell, motherfucker."  With that, Will smoothly turned around and sprinted after the retreating figures in the Everfree, leaving the possessed Diamond Dog to crumble to nothing.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

It took a considerable amount of time to catch up to the figures, given their huge head-start, their speed, and inexhaustible stamina.  Finally, Will managed to catch up with them, and signaled for all of them to stop at a nearby clearing.  After skidding to a halt, the eight figures bent down and gently laid down the Diamond Dogs, Spike, and Rarity.  Will faced them, waiting for them while standing at attention.

Then they stood and walked into the light, revealing themselves.  They were Promethean Knights.

But since they were of Will's design, there were considerable differences than the original Knights.  These glowed with an emerald-green hue rather than orange, and their proportions, while still towering over practically everything they've met at 9 feet tall, were much more human.  This included their heads, faces, and yes, even their gender.  One of the Knights that carried a Z-250 Directed Energy Engagement Weapon, better known as the "LightRifle," stayed hovering over Rarity's limp form and began working , pulling out a med-kit and setting up various

The Knight Commander stepped forward.  It gave Will a crisp salute, which he returned.

"Commander Joshua, status report."  He ordered.

"Sir," he spoke in a flat tone.  "The unknown-analogue creature is suffering from minor chafing from its bindings and a small concussion from a hard impact to the skull."

Joshua continued without emotion.  "The equine-analogue creature's condition is more serious."   "Several of the lacerations it's suffering from are quite deep, and are in danger of infection unless it is given immediate medical attention."

"How deep?"  Will asked, concerned.

"The deepest cut, which is located on the upper regions of the right foreleg, reaches close to the bone."

He internally winced; This was bad.  Unless he could seal up her wounds soon, she would need her leg to be amputated.

"Commander, what about the other creatures I ordered you and your team to bring with?  Any injuries that I should know about?"

"No physical ones, sir." the Knight replied crisply.  "Though they all are quite traumatized."

Will nodded.  This wasn't unexpected; A seven-and-a-half foot tall, metal-covered, bipedal thing comes barreling out of nowhere and threatens to kill them.  Then their leader reveals himself to also be alien...and a very evil one, at that.  After that, a group of yet more hulking aliens sneak up behind them and dragged them to who-knows-where.

"What is the name of your team's medic?"  Will inquired.

"Her name is Knight Roanoke (pronounced: ROW-uh-NOHKE)."

"Good."  Will said.  "Commander, I'm going to assist Roanoke in any way I can, then see if I can't get the wolves to calm down."  He used the term 'wolf' to refer to the Diamond Dogs so the Knights would understand what he meant.  "I want you and the rest of your team to set up a perimeter and guard for any potential threats."

"Yes sir!"  The Commander saluted again, then turned to his team and relayed Will's orders with a flurry of beeps, whistles, and chirps.

Will strode over to where the kneeling Promethean, Roanoke, was still tending to Rarity.  As he approached, the Knight stopped what she was doing and turned to look at him.  He could see that she knew what she was doing; A small rectangular prism hovered above Rarity's chest, emitting a rhythmic beep.  A heart monitor.  Next to Roanoke, a set of medical tools were neatly laid out and ready for use.

It was an impressive set-up: A portable surgical laser, biofoam canisters, medi-gel dispensers and containers, the whole package.

Will walked up to the two of them. "How is she, Roanoke?"

"Sir." she said.  "I've been able to ease the pain somewhat, but she's suffering from a lot of mental pain as well."

"Mental pain?" Will asked.  At the same time, a knot of dread and unease started forming in his gut.

Roanoke held up a small, teardrop-shaped device.  "I scanned the equine's body for signs of any internal hemorrhaging, and her brain showed high activity in her amygdala."  "The neurons' firing sequence match those of one who experienced something very frightening, and is hysterical because of it."

The knot of dread in Will's stomach tightened almost threefold.  "Anything else?"  he inquired shakily.

Roanoke thankfully didn't acknowledge his not-so-secret dread.  "Yes." she said.  "The equine has a plethora of signs that, when combined with the state of her mind, point to one conclusion..."

When the Knight uttered those words, Will's heart stopped as realization dawned on him.

"...Rape." both of them muttered at the same time.

Will's mind was numb; Diamond Dogs did some pretty evil and cruel things before.  But this...this was absolutely unbelievable.  He knew that even they drew the line at certain situation, and rape was one of them.  Besides, when he glanced at the other Diamond Dogs, none of them were showing any signs that indicated that any of them had done it.

That Necromorph.  Will recalled.  The leader of the Dog pack was indeed a Necromorph in disguise, and it seemed ready to do anything that could make it happy.

Will found his hands clenched into fists and shaking with anger.  He stilled the tremors and looked back at Roanoke, who was back to dressing Rarity's injuries.

"What about the deepest cut?  How is that right now?"  He asked.

"Sir I've sealed up that wound with biofoam and medi-gel, but it'll only hold temporarily.  They've significantly delayed when the equine's limb will need to be amputated, but it won't be very long." Roanoke reported.

"Well, I've set up an operating station about two to three dozen miles from the edge of this forest." suggested Will.

She shook her head gravely.  "Even so, my patch won't hold on foot, sir.  In order to prevent an amputation, you'd need an aerial transport."

Will's expression brightened at Roanoke's statement.  "Then there's still hope."  he muttered.

She cocked her head, confused.  "Sir?"

"My armor's systems has long-term flight propulsion." he explained.  "I'll take Rarity back to the station.  Tell Commander Joshua to rendezvous with me at the coordinates I'm about to send to you."  "Are there any serious injuries on any of the other life-forms you all brought with you?"

"No sir.  There are some on the purple-scaled, one, but nothing I can't treat here."  replied the Knight medic.

"Good.  Tend to those first, then you and Joshua's team will head to the rendezvous point."

"Yes sir!"  She exclaimed.  Will couldn't help but feel pride blossoming within his chest.

"Good.  I'll see you when you guys get back."

He knelt down in front of Rarity's body and, very gingerly, picked her up.  With a series of precise blinks, he diverted all of his suit's energy shielding to in front and above of him.

Will looked to the sky and activated the thrusters.  A massive amount of sound erupted into existence as they roared to life, sending Will up into the air and back to Ponyville with his arms wrapped protectively around Rarity.

Hang on Rarity.  You're almost home.