Fall of Equestria: Judgment

by Ekhidna

Rating: mature
Tags: Tragedy, Queen Chrysalis, Sex, Anthro, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other, Spike
Length: 168823

Facing the trail to decide his fate for his crimes against the caribou race, Spike smiles and waves, knowing full well what his ultimatum will be.

When the Fall began Equestria was left alone. Betrayed by its allies and leaving just a handful of rebels to try to fight back the caribou.

The Caribou think it's their right and mission to spread the 'truth' male superiority is the only way of life.

They think they won. They think Equestria is theirs to do as they please.

They were wrong. Now the Caribou are no more, only a few females remain after a massive genocide lead by the only Dragon citizen of Equestria. Facing the trial to decide his fate for his crimes against the caribou race, Spike smiles, and waves, knowing full well what his ultimatum will be, and he doesn't care in the slightless.

They want to know something worse than Tartarus? He will speak.

*If you are feeling generous you can buy me a Ko-Fi!!

*Anthro body concept can be seen as the models of Avante92 or Pia-sama, choose whichever you prefer although I would incline more for Avante92 version in some cases. Except for Discord, since he is anthro already, kinda.*

Published 2014-11-08 07:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-12-24 02:23:55 UTC

Chapter 2: Mind Set Free

Chapter 2: Mind set free

-----”Caribou’s, or at least the males, were nothing but big, dumb, over-muscled freaks. Like seriously, some of them put Minotaurs to shame! Their small tails did look kind of funny when compared to the rest of their bodies. And their antlers? Mainly used to show their social position, odd and twisted in some cases. They usually adorned them with jewelry or gold. Why? The fuck if I know. I never bothered or cared enough to find out why.”

“Their armor was an entirely different story, though. Strong, sturdy, and beautifully crafted with engraved runes and symbols, some even to the point of being mistaken as something to show off instead of actual armor. They rarely wore it, though. They prefered to just use leather pants and bracers, showing off their body and usually wearing a unicorn mare’s horn around their necks as a sort of trophy. Damn fuckers.”

*Deep breathing*

“Sorry, back to their armor. It usually covered only their chests, or part of it, and their ugly dew claws and hooves. Their weapons, strangely enough, had nothing really impressive, aside from nullifying almost all magical energy around it, just like their armor.”

*Snickering*

“Almost. Anyways, they prefered hammers and other blunt weapons, mainly because they loved to take prisoners. But they adored the whip. Just…...not for combat.”

-Are you alright, Commander Soarin? You’re…..trembling. Do you wish to end the recording?-

“*Mirthless chuckle* Of course I’m not alright. Just talking about those fucking bastards makes me want to puke. Remembering what all of us had to go through………what we had to endure…...”

*Shifting noises*

“I sometimes can’t sleep, can’t eat. Tartarus, some days I can’t even get out of bed, not because of what we did to them, but of what they did to us, to our mares. To all of our females, regardless of their species. For what I…….what I did before I snapped out of their control.”

-It’s alright, Commander Soarin. You went through a horrible and traumatic experience, you’ve said enough already. We can stop now.-

“No, not yet.”

*Deep breathing for thirty seven seconds*

“Did I mention they were patriarchal, misogynistic, racist, sex-addicted assholes? Fuck, I hate them……... I think I’m done for today, if you don’t mind.”

-Of course.-

“Hey, wanna come to my place tonight? Me and some friends are gonna throw a party. No charge.”

*Chair shifts*

-What’s the occasion?-

*Door creaks open*

“The three month anniversary of the death of all Caribou, of course.”

*Door closes*-----

-----Commander Soarin of the Reinstated Equestrian Wonderbolts and Captain of the ‘Rise of Equestria’ Army, Report on the Caribou-----

------“Ah known Spike since the first day he came tah Ponyville, four years before…..yah know. Cheerful little guy. Hard tah believe he was only four years younger than mah sister Applejack. He was always helpful and willing tah give a hand, or claw, to everypony that needed it.”

*Strained laugh*

“Not the brightest fellah around. Not of the bravest, either. He was kind of a coward, actually. Had the nicest heart in Ponyville, well, third nicest if yah count Pinkie and Fluttershy. But the little fellah was a strange one, wearin’ aprons, cookin’ and bakin’, doin’ stuff mares usually do around and the like. That kid didn’t had a bad bone in ‘im, even when his greed made ‘im big and nasty, he was still nice. Sort of.”

“We, in Ponyville, knew he could never hurt a fly, even if he wanted tah. That was Spike tah us. The nice, harmless dragon of Ponyville.”

*Sigh*

“Was.”

*Twelve second long pause*

“Ah’ve killed mah fair share of Caribou and Ah see no evil deed done in it. But Ah didn’t like it either. But Spike, he... he liked it. He took pleasure in doin’ it.”

*Ten second long pause*

“In battle, he killed those bastards fast, but he would still make it painful for ‘em. But what he did to the prisoners, if yah could call ‘em that, was far worse. What Ah did tah many of ‘em was justice. What others did was torture.”

“What Spike did to ‘em was... Ah don’t even know what tah call it. No one could. He never told what he did to ‘em inside his ‘Fun Room’ and Ah’m glad he didn’t. Just hearing the screams of those bastards, the laughter of Spike and the rippin’ sound of flesh was almost always too much tah handle.”

*Gurgling noise*

-General Macintosh!-

“Ah’m... *Gurgling noise*... Ah’m fine.” *Deep Breathing* “S-Spike always ended up bathed in Caribou blood, meat and… and other things. Always comin’ out smilin’.”

*Twenty second long pause*

“Ah don’t blame ‘im. We all suffered under the rule that fucker of a king, Dainn, had us in. But Spike had the worst part of it, in all ways. Ah see no sin or wrong no matter what he did to ‘em.”

*Sniffle*

“It’s sad, yah know? The nice, harmless dragon of Ponyville was broken tah his very core in ways Ah don’t want tah know. The Spike Ah knew, that little innocent guy Ah laughed and joked with, died the day the caribou came. What he went through…”

*Cry*

“In his place the Hero we begged for was born.”------

-------General Macintosh Apple of the ‘Rise of Equestria’ Army, Report on Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’.-------

Spike sat peacefully in his chair, all eyes on him, while he slowly drank a glass of water. Once he was done he placed the glass over the table and stretched a bit. He let out a loud, long-drawn yawn before looking up to the ceiling.

“Two years, three weeks, five days and eighteen hours. That‘s the time I spent under their control. Give or take a few minutes,” Spike began, his gaze lost in space. “Some may know now what names we gave to males and females, to help identify certain groups among our ruined and raped nation.”

Looking down he set his eyes on the cervidae judge. “The first, and most common conformed mostly by males, was the group I belonged in during that time. We called them ‘Enslaved’. It was slightly different for males and females, each of the four groups were. For males it meant that the caribou brainwash had snared one’s mind into a state of ‘bliss’, where that shitty-ass voice would always tell you everything was fine and that things were as they should be.”

“For females, well, the voice said pretty much the same thing, but it would also tell them how unworthy and low they were. That their only purpose in life was to be used by any male in any way they demanded. Any male.”

Spike shifted his gaze to the minotaur judge. “The second group were the ‘Corrupted’. Unlike the Enslaved, who still had their own minds—just with that fucking voice whispering to you clouding your judgment and actions, making you believe and accept what it said as the only truth—the Corrupted had their minds taken over by the, well, corruption of the Caribou. Males would completely act and think like those fuck--”

“Enough with your swearing, Mister the Dragon!” The Diamond Dog judge growled. “At least have the decency to speak like a civilized being.”

Spike shot a quick glance to the judge. “Make me,” he said quietly, then his gaze returned to the minotaur judge, uncaring for the growl the Diamond Dog judge shot at him. “As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, males would completely act and think like those fuckers, their true minds lying dormant inside them. The females would turn into totally submissive red collars, or purple ones.” His gaze turned to the dragon judge.

“The third, and thankfully the scarcest, group were the ‘Embracers’. Fucking backstabbing traitors that welcomed what they called ‘True Heaven’ those shit eating caribou bastards brought with them. Mostly conformed by males but there were some females, too. They sold out their own families, friends and foes alike, just to have a place among the Caribou.” Spike smiled gleefully. “Glad they were so easy to sort out from the rest.”

Spike shifted his gaze to the ursa judge. “The last group were the ‘Fakers’. They were either completely immune to the brainwash or had broken out of it. One of every twenty males was a Faker. One of every three females was a Faker.” Spike’s eyes flashed white light for a second or two, his hands forming fists. “The Fakers had the worst part of it. Males pretending to be under the brainwash, no matter what, if they wanted to give at least a bit of protection to their loved ones. The punishment for being caught was either death or be turned into a female.”

“Females, though, they couldn’t do anything beside fight back with all their strength and resist.” His hands began to tremble. “They were mostly black collars. Very few had the infinite luck to be silvers and some even were brave enough to fake being reds, waiting for a chance to escape and/or kill their ‘masters’. But the Caribou, those fucking assholes, they loved breaking black collars. Turning them into purples, literally fucking them to death or worse.”

His hands stopped trembling and his gaze was once again lost. For several seconds, the dragon didn’t say anything or move an inch of his body, except for his tail that moved every few seconds from one side to the other. The judges shared worried glances before leaning in a bit, just to see the purple dragon up-close.

“Some Enslaved,” he said suddenly, making the judges jump back in their seats, “that broke through the brainwash had a very explosive initial reaction. Me included.” Spike fell silent again for almost ten seconds.

“It was Friday, something around ten in the morning, I don’t remember checking the hour. I woke up, then woke Twilight up and let her out of her cage. She yawns and greets her master, I fuck her throat, like every morning since becoming my pet. I finish, she drinks my cum, I go get her mare kibble and a bowl of water, she eats her breakfast and I eat mine. Bacon and eggs with a glass of the sweetest mare-milk.” Spike frowns and bares his fangs, smoke leaking his nostrils.

“I check up on the rest of my pets in training in the castle basement. After that Twilight gets everything ready for ‘Twilight-Cunt Time’. I leave the castle and… and...” His expression changed back into a more neutral expression, except for his eyes, that showed nothing but hate, pain and misery. “And the second best day of my life begins.”

-----------------------------------------------****************************************

*Ponyville, Second year of the Fall*

“Yet a new wonderful day where stupid bitches know their proper place and male superiority shows its power!”

Yeah, Spike thought as he walked through the streets of Ponyville, smelling the now very common scent of sex in the air. It’s great and all but---

“Are doubting your power, your rights as a male?”

O-of course not!

“Then embrace the light!”

Spike sighed loudly. Right from the start of the Fall, he knew he wasn’t quite the ideal ‘Male’ he was supposed to be, like his Caribou superiors. But he wasn’t one of those blaspheming ‘Heretics’ or a misguided rebel. Dainn forbid him to be one of those ‘Pro-Mares’ idiots! He was a male, and proud to be, too!

He had worked hard becoming the best mare handler in Ponyville, going par to par with Big Macintosh in that regard. He was eternally loyal to king Dainn, male superiority, and the caribou, that much was certain. But there was something deep inside him, something he couldn’t quite find. He was ashamed to admit, and would actually rather die than to bring disgrace to his brothers if they found out, that he felt pity... and guilt for what mares, and females in general, had to go through each day.

But it didn’t make any sense to him. His memories even before the Fall were of his male brothers abusing and treating females like the toys and tools they were. He was one of the few males that was treated as ‘second rate’, even by the females, especially his pet bitch, Twilight and her other five so called friends. The Fall had just ensured proper control over Equestria and nothing more. Now he was a first class citizen. Everything felt good, everything was fine, everything was perfect.

“And yet I feel like this. Why can’t I be a true male, even though I try so hard to be!” he muttered through his teeth.

“I’ve told you, you’re doing nothing wrong, you’re just taking your rightful place as a male in Equestria. And soon, the entire world will see the light, too!”

Spike smiled, yet that horrible feeling in his gut made its presence every time the voice of his king spoke to him. He was so fortunate, every male was, to have the voice, a fraction of their beloved and powerful king, inside them. They were truly blessed. And lucky, in his case, it couldn’t spread out his secret, his shame.

“S-stay back! Get a-away from me, you pigs!”

The sudden shout of a panicked mare caught his attention, pulling him out of his thoughts. Stopping for a moment to see what was going on, he soon saw, just a couple of meters away from him, a white coated mare with red mane and tail pressing her back against the wall of a house. She was wearing a red collar, the lack of wing-sheaths and horn stump make it clear she was an Earth Pony mare. There were tears falling from her eyes, hate and fear pouring out of them. She was using a kitchen knife to fend off three of her caribou masters, who were smiling at her silly attempts of ‘self-defense’.

Giving a quick look around he saw several other males. Caribous, stallions, donkeys and even a griffon stopping their daily activities, with one or two of their pets by their side crawling like good bitches, to see what all the fuss was about. Many laughed while others shouted insults at the mare for fighting against her vastly superior male masters.

Spike glanced at the mare for a second, suddenly remembering her. As he watched her futile struggle, his eyebrow arched a bit. Yesterday, that same mare had come for an advance class of ‘kinky bondage’. She was a great bitch and a good pet, one of the best, actually. She was close to graduating as an A-Class cunt. But now she was rebelling against the caribou. It happened from time to time, good pets and cunts suddenly transforming into disrespectful and disobedient sluts. It was blasphemy! Heresy!

He was about to shout an insult when one of the caribou lunged at her trying to grab her hands. She swung her weapon randomly in front of her, managing to cut the caribou enough to draw blood. There was a collective gasp as everyone froze. The caribou didn’t look happy, at all. But before he, or anyone else, could do anything she plunged the knife deep at one side of her throat before slashing all the way to the other side in a swift motion. There was another gasp, this one a bit louder than the previous one.

The mare fell to the ground, her arms and legs twitching as a pool of blood formed beneath her.

“Such a waste of good cunt,” one of the caribou said. “Let’s call cleaning services.”

“Yeah,” the one bleeding slightly from an arm said. “but after we visit the public stocks. I NEED to fuck a slut right now.” the bulge in his pants didn’t lie.

“Totally. I heard the stocks today have a few new mares, and some were rebels! One is even, and I’m not lying here, a changeling! Haha!” the third one added as they turned around and walk away. Just like everyone else did, ignoring the body of the still twitching mare on the ground.

“No way! Being too long since I fucked one of those whores. I gotta try the cunt, too!” the first one said before all three of them breaking in laughter.

Spike stood still watching the mare twitch less and less, until she finally stopped. He could hear moans of pleasure, gagging noises, cracks of whips, shackle of chains and yelps of pain coming from all around him. It took no genius to figure out the reasons why. The dragon stood there for about a minute before he then turned to continue on his way. He had better things to do. He didn’t feel sorry for that mare, since she deserved death for injuring one of her masters. Her corpse forgotten by everyone else as they went on about their day. She deserved no less.

Then why was he crying? He had no idea, maybe something was stuck inside his eyes, again.

---------------------********************

*Sweet Apple Acres*

Spike arrived at the farm like usual. He saw a few warbeasts in the distance, no doubt keeping an eye on work-sluts tending the fields, fuck-bucking apple trees or harvesting the rape-vines. He chuckled; the warbeasts were impressive: big, strong, resilient, and trained to obey their caribou handlers to perfection. The perfect guards in many aspects, yet docile enough to not kill females, just knock them out if they tried to run away or something similar.

Soon enough he reached his destination, the Apple Family house.

“You here, Big Mac?” Spike called entering through the main entrance of the house.

“Howdy, Spike,” the red stallion wearing a white shirt and blue pants greeted from his spot in the sofa. He smiled at Spike before he took a generous swig from the beer can in his massive hand. “Need more mare kibble, Ah suppose?”

“Yeah, and I also need five or six blocks of straw.” Spike took a seat on the couch across from Mac. “My pets have been good these past two weeks, I think they earned a little treat and clean cages.”

“Of course.” Big Mac snapped his fingers with his free hand. A couple of seconds later a red collar wearing Cheerilee crawled her way from behind the sofa Big Mac was, to where Spike was sitting.

“Cock?” the ex-school teacher asked.

“Thanks man, but I’m not in the mood for a blowjob right now,” Spike said just before catching a can of beer. “Now, a drink I can’t refuse.” He opened the can and drank the whole can in one go.

The red stallion shrugged “Suit yerself,” he said before taking another sip out of his beer. Once he was done he whistled and Cheerilee crawled back behind the sofa.

“Ah! That was good!” Spike said finishing his drink. His eyes drifted downward to see the can. It had no name, just the image of Celestia sucking Dainn’s cock in one side and in the other the image of Luna’s ass being fucked by Dainn. He smiled despite the sudden urge to throw up that hit him. He loved that beer but his stubborn stomach didn’t like it so much.

“Heard there was another ‘incident’ near the markets,” Big Mac said calmly.

“Word travels fast, I see. First time I’ve seen it in person, actually. Real nasty, but that bitch deserved it.”

Big Mac just nodded.

“Any word on your bitch little sister and your worn out granny?” Spike asked.

“Nothin’ since the Fall began, sadly.” Big Mac said before taking another sip from his beer.

There was a moment of silence. “How’s Applejack?” Spike asked. It was so strange to him. Twilight and the rest of the once Elements of Harmony and the ex-princess pony sisters were the only mares he referred to by their old names. No matter how hard the tried he couldn’t just directly call them bitches, sluts, whores, cunts or any other name worthy to describe their filth. At least he could call Twilight by the names she truly deserved in the privacy of his castle.

“Fine.” The stallion took his last sip from the beer before smashing the now useless can, dropping it to the ground. “She’s in the barn, workin’ on the new cages and work-bars.”

Spike sighed. “I know she was your sister and all, but you really shouldn’t let Applejack, a black collar slut at that, be in charge of anything. She’s in deep shit for trying to escape four times and fighting back against her masters as it is.” Spike looked at Big Mac right in the eye. “You’re lucky the caribou let you keep her after all that. Even if she is an Ex-Element of Harmony.”

“She’s loyal tah me,” was his answer. Spike sighed again. “Ah’ll get her tah round up yer stuff right away,” he said as he stood up.

“Nah, I’ll get the straw myself. I don’t trust any black collar to do anything for me. Not even Applejack.” Spike stood from the couch. “It’s also in the barn, right?”

Big Mac nodded. “Ah’ll get yer kibble then, meet yah at the barn,” the stallion said before going to the kitchen.

Spike turned around and left the house. Soon enough, he passed the fences and approached the barn, the closer he was the louder a couple of voices were heard coming from inside the barn.

“Get yer filthy hands off of me, yah fuckin’ vermins!” Applejack snarled, followed by grunts, a few moans and laughter.

“I love how much this cunt tries to fight back. Really turns me on!” said a caribou.

“Too bad we can’t break her like the stupid pink whorse. Why can’t your empty head understand you’re nothing but an inferior female? Just look at your red collar ‘friends’; they seem to embrace their rightful place below our hooves very well.” another caribou said mockingly.

Spike walked inside the barn, unnoticed by the caribou. He saw Applejack being held in the air by her wrists by a hulking caribou, while the other groped one of her tits and had his other hand buried between her legs. The orange mare had a black collar around her neck and nothing else over her well shaped and muscular body. Her once inseparable stetson hat forgotten for two years in some dark corner. She was blushing hard but her expression reflected pain, hate, and shame as the caribou had their way with her.

This… this is wrong, Spike thought, seemingly frozen in his place.

“It’s as it should be!” the voice said making Spike take a few steps forward.

“Ah s-said let *moan* go of me!” In a swift, and rather hard, kick the caribou holding her up let go of her in a very high pitch scream. Now using his free hands to hold to his injured zone, Applejack fell to the ground with a grunt.

“You bitch!” said the other caribou before kicking her in the stomach so hard it lifted her completely in the air for a second or two. Applejack let out a hollowed scream of pain. “How dare you” *another kick* “attack” *another kick* “your masters!?” This time instead of kicking her, he grabbed a handful of her mane and lifted her in front of his face.

Spike saw the tears forming in her eyes and the trickle of blood running down the mare’s mouth. She was going to get beaten hard, he was sure of it.

I… I... I have to help her! Spike screamed inside his head.

“You have to punish her and remind that slut of her place in the dirt!” the voice screamed back at him. Spike took another step forward, still unnoticed by either the caribou or the mare.

The caribou spit on her face before punching her with his free hand. Applejack let out a pained cry as tears finally started running down her face. Her left cheek was now visibly red by the blood the powerful hit drew from her skin below the fur. The caribou let go of her mane just enough to make her kneel in front of him. He opened his pants, then cock-slapped her before rubbing his semi-erect cock all over her face.

A burning fire suddenly erupted inside Spike. He had seen mares getting beat down and being punished like this several times, but he had never done so himself, nor he had seen one of his former ‘friends’ on the receiving end in front of him before. He bared his fangs for some reason.

“What are you waiting for? Go there and teach that bitch a lesson!”

“See this slut!? This is what you obey, what you must worship!” the caribou cock-slapped her again. “You ponies are so fucking annoying, thinking you’re so special because you have ‘special talents’. Your only special and true talent is to suck dick, you fucking bitch!”

Applejack coughed a bit of blood before shooting her tear-filled eyes up to the caribou, wishing nothing but the worst upon her captor. “F-fuck you,” she rasped.

The caribou laughed at her petty resolve to fight him. “What a nice idea, bitch,” he said as he pushed her back harshly. A moment later he was on top of her one of his hands holding both her hands up by her wrists. His cock, now fully hard, pressing against her vagina.

Spike heard Applejack take a deep, almost horrified breath just before---

“GYAAAAHH!” The orange mare screamed loudly. The caribou hilted himself in one hard, painful motion. Applejack continued to scream while the caribou raped her hard and fast.

“Fucking… bitch,” the other caribou said, finally letting go of his injured balls. “I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget. I don’t care if you’re some kind of national prize!” the caribou shakily got up picking up a warhammer with his hands. “You don’t need those fucking legs anymore.”

‘Applejack!’

“Her name is cunt! She’s getting what she deserves for being a bad pet.”

‘No! She’s my friend, not an animal or a thing!’

“She’s just a lowly female! Act like a male, go there and punish her, too!”

“Ahh---N-no! P-p-p-please!” Applejack managed to scream out between thrusts.

‘This is wrong! This… this isn’t me!’

“This is the real you, what you thrive to be, what you deserve to be. A true male!”

‘I... I don’t… G---get out of my head!’

“Listen to reason! You are happy, everything is fine. This is paradise, our paradise!”

‘This is Tartarus! Get out of my head, I have to help Applejack!’

“Hold her steady, bro. I need a clear shot to break the cunt’s legs off,” the hulking caribou said, readying his warhammer for the blow.

“Fuck *pant* y-you got it, bro. Damn, this cunt is tight!” the caribou raping Applejack huffed. The mare tried to say something but the caribou punched her again, silencing her. “Shut up, cunt!”

‘Let me help her, dammit. She needs me!’

“Can’t you see she’s enjoying being used and punished like she deserves? She knows her place!”

‘I... I... M-maybe you’re right.’ Spike thought, making the fire inside him begin to die down. ‘Yeah, you must be. I’m sorry for---’

“HELP ME!” Applejack managed to shout as hard as she could just before being punched again by the caribou raping her.

The other caribou had her left leg in between his thighs, his warhammer raised above his head. “Oh, I’m about to help you.”

Suddenly the fire inside him exploded with a force he thought impossible. Everything inside him burned. His blood, his muscles, his heart. Everything, including the dark whispering voice of Dainn. The voice became weaker and weaker, until it was completely and utterly gone. His mind turned completely white, nothing around him made sense. Except for the uncontrollable urge to hurt something big, furry and brown. The same kind of something that was in front of him right now. Then he snapped.

“GRRAAAAHHHH!” Spike shouted furiously at the same time his legs moved him forward.

Both caribou stopped dead in their tracks to see what was the source of the shout was. The one violating Applejack barely managed to turn his head enough to see a series of claws centimeters away from his face. The claws slashed through flesh, muscle, and bone easily across most of his face. Unfortunately for the caribou, it was not enough to kill him.

“YEEEEERRRRR----HMPFH!” The caribou had only a moment to scream his agony before his body was suddenly tackled to the side with enough force to send him flying two meters away from the mare.

Spike shifted quickly above the caribou once they hit the ground and a block of hay. Sitting on the caribou’s stomach, and uncaring for the caribou’s petty attempts to cover his face, he proceeded to hack and slash repeatedly through the caribou’s head, chest and arms with his bare claws.

Something very heavy and hard suddenly hit the dragon in the right side of his head.

The hulking caribou stood behind Spike, his arms holding firmly the wooden pole of his warhammer, now destroyed upon hitting with all his strength the scales of the dragon. The caribou pulled up his now useless wooden pole with disbelief. An angry snarl made him look down again, and what he saw made him jump back a few steps.

The dragon was looking up at him with eyes that promised only pain and death. The broken scales and the trickles of blood running down the side of his face and snout, only added points to his already animalistic look. Before the hulking caribou could scream or run, Spike turned around and lunged at the caribou with a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud. The hulking caribou found himself in the floor a second later, his throat smashed between the fangs of the dragon on top him while the dragon’s claws dug deep inside the sides of his abdomen.

Spike let go of the caribou, spitting out the blood and meat inside his mouth. A moment later he used his claws to rip to shreds the chest of his newest victim. Once he was satisfied he stopped, his breathing rapid and harsh. He heard movement at his left side and turned his head.

“S-Spike?” Applejack whispered. She was holding the injured side of her face with one hand while her legs closed her ravaged marehood. Spike took several heaving breaths as the adrenaline left his body, never breaking eye contact with Applejack. For a few seconds neither moved. Then Spike turned to look at his hands and claws; bathed with caribou blood and covered with meat and fur. He moved to the side and away from the corpse, his rage induced trance now dying, but his mind still unable to fully comprehend what was going on.

“Y-yer a----”

“What the fuck!?” both mare and dragon turned their attention to the entrance of the barn. A caribou soldier stood at the entrance to the barn, eyes wide. He brought up a whistle to his mouth, took a hasty deep breath and then a sound of something heavy came from behind him. The eyes of the caribou shifted to the back of his head before falling to the ground with a loud thud.

Spike and Applejack watched the guard fall to the ground, then looked back at the door. Big Macintosh scanned the room for a moment or two, his expression neutral and unreadable. He moved forward, tossing a big wooden lug inside the barn carelessly. Grabbing the unconscious caribou by his antlers, Big Mac dragged the body inside the barn completely. Once inside, he let go of the caribou and returned to close the doors.

With the doors now closed, Big Mac moved close where his sister was, ignoring the confused Spike altogether. The stallion touched his sister’s injured cheek softly before touching her forehead with his own. Both siblings closed their eyes for a moment that seemed eternal to the dragon watching them. Opening their eyes again the stallion got up, helping Applejack in the process. The mare got up holding her stomach, groaning and grunting in pain.

“Can yah move?” Big Mac asked.

“Y-yeah,” Applejack answered. “Ah can s-still make it.”

The stallion nodded before turning to his right to see the corpse of the caribou that had raped his sister. Without a word he walked over to the far wall of the barn, where several farming tools hung from nails in the wood. He retrieved a pair of leather gloves, a scythe, and a sharp fork-like hand tool with curved ends. He came back to where the first corpse lay. His eyes scanned the body for several seconds before a deep scowl etched on his face. Raising the fork-like tool above his head, he hit the caribou a couple of times with it, ripping his already destroyed flesh even more. After several hits he stood up and walked to the second corpse. Big Mac shared a brief glance exchange with the dragon before doing the same with the hulking corpse.

Deeming his job finished, he walked to his sister and presented her the handle of the tool. She took it instantly, gripping it several times in different places. Once she was done the stallion tossed the tool towards the second corpse. Turning around he walked to where the unconscious caribou lay. He rolled the hulking body onto its side with ease, then he brought up the scythe then slashed it down, almost cutting the head of the caribou clean off. The body spasmed as blood squirted out of his neck, repeating the motion he finished cutting-off the head of the caribou.

Big Mac returned to his sister, offering the scythe’s handle. After Applejack was done handling it, Big Mac tossed the scythe at the third corpse, impaling the tip of the curved blade in the stomach of the caribou. The siblings shared a moment of silence looking at each others eyes. Big Mac offered a wan smile just before walking behind Applejack.

Spike followed the red stallion with his eyes as he pulled at a nearby rope hanging from the second floor of the barn. There was a cracking noise for a moment, then three boards at the back of the barn lifted up, creating a passage just wide enough for a pony to walk through it. He couldn’t see it very well from his position, but it seemed to go under the barn. Where it ended up he had no idea.

Applejack walked to the opening, looked back to see her brother then at Spike, she smiled.

“Thanks.”

“Say hello tah Applebloom and Granny fer me, will yah?” Big Mac said getting a nod from his sister in return. She looked to the front again and started to walk away. Once she was past the bushes dividing Sweet Apple Acres and the Everfree, Big Mac let go of the rope, making the boards fall into place again followed by a clicking noise. The red stallion tossed the hanging end of the rope to the second floor, then he walked over to where Spike was sitting and looked down at him, still with that same neutral expression.

“Come,” Big Mac said before turning around, making his way to where the wooden log lay, hefting it up and tossing it to the second floor of the barn. He kept on walking until he reached a fairly big wooden cargo box near the wall he picked the scythe from. He kneeled in front of it and waited for Spike to catch up with him. Once Spike was behind him, his eyes glancing his hands and claws reflecting confusion and fear, Big Mac let out a huff of air and pulled the box up until it carefully flipped over.

Kneeling down again Big Mac searched for something in the dirt, soon enough he found what he was looking for and puller two thick wooden bars from below the dirt, revealing a dark hole below them.

“Jump down. Go tah the light in the end. Gotta clean up here first,” the stallion said calmly. Spike glanced the hole for a few seconds, then he did as he was told and jumped down the hole. Once he hit the bottom he looked up to find Big Mac staring down at him about half a meter above him. “Go. Ah’ll meet yah on the other side,” he said before putting the two wooden bars back in their place, making a bit of dirt fall over him and cut off what little light there was to begin with.

Darkness surrounded the dragon for a moment. Once his eyes adjusted, he saw a distant spot of light almost directly in front of him. The sound of the cargo box landing above where he was made him start to walk forward. His pace was slow but steady, the increasingly distant sounds of movement behind and above him reassuring him to continue on. The tunnel was spacious enough to let him walk without crouching, but just wide enough to let him through at all. A caribou was sure to be unable to walk through it.

“Caribou,” he whispered, he wondered why that word seemed so familiar and instantly his mind stung him, painfully. “Arrggg--” he protested shaking his head a bit, but never stopping his walk. Almost a minute later he reached the spot of light and the end of the tunnel, the spot turned out to be a glass covered hole. He tried looking into it but everything was blurry. With nothing else to do Spike decided to wait.

His wait was short lived. Around two minutes later he heard distant hoofsteps coming from above him. They stopped for a moment then resumed their march, only this time there were two sets of hoofsteps. A door opened followed by a few more steps, the door closed and now the hoofsteps sounded like the owner was going down stairs. And getting closer to him. He heard steady hoofsteps again approaching to where he was, stopping almost in front of him.

“Yah there, Spike?” said Big Mac.

Spike? The nude mare had call him that, too. His name was Spike? “Arrgggg!” There was that stinging pain again, this time stronger. He shook his head harder erasing the pain again, barely noticing the noises coming from the other side of the wall. Something opened in front of him and light flooded the tunnel he was in, blinding him for second or two.

“Easy there, fellah,” Big Mac said letting Spike walk out of the tunnel. “Clean yerself there.” He pointed to a big metal basket filled with water.

Spike made his way to the metal basket, kneeled and dipped his arms into the water. He instantly noticed it was hot and, for some strange reason, made purple bubbles around his arms. He used his hands and claws to wash away the fur,meat and blood clinging to his scales, the ‘water’ making it incredibly easy to do so.

In less than a minute his arms were clean, free from any stains and smell. Seeing his reflection in the ‘water’ he noticed the blood stains in his mouth and neck. He decided to clean those, too. One he was done Spike felt something land on his left shoulder; a towel now lay on his shoulder, and he began to dry off. Now dry, he turned around to examine the room he was in. It was somewhat brilliant thanks to a series of small windows in the upper side of the right wall. He also noticed a stairway made out of wood, the floor and the walls were made of stone but the ceiling was made of wood. Looking around the room he saw the red stallion near the tunnel he had come out from, he was doing something judging by the sound of it but couldn’t see what.

The room he was in was spacious, but aside from the place he had come out from, the metal basket, a nearby stone chair, two more wood chairs and a couple of barrels there wasn’t much to see. The sound of something being closed caught his attention again. He turned to see what was going on and saw Big Mac checking the sides of a big painting of a sun mixed with a crescent moon wrapped in chains. The symbol was familiar for some reason but it made him feel incredibly angry and guilty at the same time. This time instead of pain, he felt there was a hollowed out hole in his chest.

This emptiness… it feels worse than the pain, he thought, bringing up one of his hands to touch his chest, just to make sure there was no hole in it.

Something warm touching his shoulder made him jump. He looked at his shoulder finding a red hand on it. The stallion smiled weakly at him, patted his shoulder a couple of times and then walked to the stairs. Just as he was about to go up, the door above opened. A somewhat darker shade of pink coat colored nude mare walked past Mac, carrying a white box and some other object the drake couldn’t identify. She hurried down the stairs and knelt down at Spike’s side, appraising him with a worried gaze.

“Go and sit down, please,” she said, pointing at the stone chair engraved in the wall.

Spike obeyed, the emptiness in his chest growing each time he looked at the nude mare. He sat down and the mare kneeled in front of him, putting the white box and the other object at her side. She gently touched his face, most likely to check on his injuries that, up until that point, he had ignored. His eyes searched for the stallion near the stairway but didn’t find him.

“This might hurt a little,” the mare warned before letting go of him and opening the white box Inside were many flasks, bottles and bandages. She picked up a brown bottle, opened it, poured some of its contents into a piece of cloth laying beside the box and brought it up, carefully pressing and cleaning the injured side of Spike’s face. He winced a little but let the mare continue her work. “You’re lucky to be a dragon, Spike. A normal pony would’ve died.”

“I guess,” Spike said. He focused on her face for a moment, he then frowned. “I know you, but I can’t remember why.” The mare looked at him in the eye and smiled sweetly at him. “Same goes for the stallion, the mare in the barn, and... me. You say my name is Spike?” The mare said nothing as she continued to clean his wounds.

About half a minute later the door upstairs opened, and the red stallion stepped inside, closed the door and walked down the stairs. The mare deemed her work finished and moved the box and the other objects aside and got up to grab one of the nearby chairs to sit in. Big Mac walked over to Spike and placed something in front of him. He then grabbed a chair of his own, sat down and let out a loud sigh of relief.

“What’s with the bucket?” Spike asked glancing down at the empty bucket in front of him.

“Yer gonna need it.”

Spike glared at the bucket for a short time, then sighed and looked up to see the pair of ponies sitting in front of him. Seeing the mare wearing nothing but a red collar made the already empty hole in his chest grew larger and larger.

“Why… are you naked?” He asked, trying his best to look at her in the eyes, mostly to avoid making that horrible feeling any stronger.

The mare didn’t even bother to cover her exposed breasts, instead she clenched her hands into fists. Big Mac touched her right shoulder, but he never met her eyes. The mare began to tremble as hot tears began to fall from her eyes. Her eyes open, refusing to close and relive the nightmares she had to endure since the start of this new Tartarus.

The dragon, for his part, felt even worse the moment she started to cry. Something inside him was practically screaming at him to get up and hug the poor mare that had tended to his wounds. Another part told him to leave and run away, to get as far as he could and never look back. He chose the later.

“I… I should go,” Spike said and moved to get up but a glare from the stallion froze him in his tracks. “I, uhhh, I didn’t mean to m-make you cry, miss. But I really gotta go. Thank you for, ummm, helping me, but I... I...” His mind was working hard to create an excuse and get out of there, fast. “I think someone is calling my name, yeah. Maybe Twilight----”

The moment that name left his mouth everything went white and his mind cleared. He felt as though something had just hit him hard enough to send him flying straight into the sun. He could see it all.

His days as a true baby dragon being taken care of by Celestia.

All the training and private lessons he had went through under her and many private teachers.

The day he discovered his fire breath was magical and connected both him and his mother together.

The day he met Twilight Sparkle.

The days they spent together playing and learning.

The day he became her ‘Assistant’.

All the letters, books and long hours of study and work.

His days with Twilight’s family and Cadance.

Their first day on Ponyville and the five unique mares they met.

The return of Nightmare Moon and her defeat.

The mission his mother gave him during the following party.

Their adventures and misadventures.

The Gala.

The return of Discord, their almost defeat and his subsequent downfall.

His greed-induced transformation.

The wedding and the changeling invasion.

The return of Sombra and the Crystal Empire. Sombra’s death and him seen as a hero.

Discord’s freedom and reformation.

The ascension of Twilight.

The Tree of Harmony.

The Equestria Games.

The return of Tirek, Discord’s betrayal and redemption and Tirek’s defeat.

The birth of the Castle of Harmony.

The peace that ruled for a whole year.

The silence of the Crystal Empire.

The sudden all-out invasion of Equestria in all fronts by the Caribou.

The beginning of the Fall and his cowardice.

What Twilight had become in just a couple of hours.

The cries of pain, desperation, torture, agony, and the countless deaths that followed during the first days of the Fall.

The females and males committing suicide rather than suffer their fates under the caribou rule.

How all bordering and foreign nations, once sworn allies of Equestria, ceased and closed all trade and relations with them.

What all females suffered under the ‘male superiority’ that ruled over them.

The dozens of mares he had used and trained to be proper ’pets’.

What his friends, mother and family had been turned into.

What he had done to Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity. How much he enjoyed it.

Everything the Caribou did to his home and the Crystal Empire. How they had raped them in all and every way imaginable.

Everything he had done, said, thought, experienced, and seen up until that morning. And how he did nothing to help or fight back.

All of his memories flashed before his eyes in less than a second. He fell forward from his sitting position, barely stopping his fall with his hands. His breathing was fast, harsh and hollowed, he could barely feel his own heart-rate. Without any kind of warning from his stomach, it crunched and expelled its contents. The first glob of bile and stomach contents hit the stone floor cleanly. Spike managed to pull the bucket in front of him just in time to catch the second glob in it.

As he vomited his guts out, his mind replayed over and over all he had done and said during those two miserable years, making him vomit more and more out of guilt and hate rather than disgust and revulsion. Slowly his grunts and moans of pain and disgust turned into cries of rage and desperation. He tossed the bucket aside carelessly clutching his head with his hands, hard. His eyes painfully closed trying in vain to keep his tears in.

He got up and stumbled for a few steps before shooting his eyes open and letting out a soul-tearing roar. His mind took him back to the first sleepover Twilight held in their new home. The way the six of them invited him to join them without shame or second doubts, the fun they had that night talking, joking and playing, the way all seven of them had cuddled up and slept through the chilly night. It was one of his favorite memories. Then the next he saw was his six mare-friends kneeling on the ground in front of him, wearing nothing but collars and leashes, while he held the leashes tightly with one hand. All of them shared the same blank expression and dumb smile.

His roar suddenly ended and his hands fell to his sides.

Big Mac got up from his seat once the dragon stopped. He walked over to him and placed his hand over his left shoulder, trying to show support to his friend. Seconds past but the dragon didn’t move an inch.

“Spike?”

Spike said nothing.

“Spike?” Big Mac repeated, but once again the dragon said nothing. He just stood still with his mouth open as wide as it could be. He shook the dragon a bit, trying to get a response but nothing happened. “Spike!?” Big Mac, now quite worried, shouted this time, finally noticing the dragon’s eyes open and rolled to the back of his head. He was in shock.

-------------------------------------------------*********************************************

Spike woke up slowly, the warm rays of the sun bathing his face in soothing warmth. He opened his eyes and blinked a few times to adjust his vision. He wasn’t in the basement anymore, but he recognized the room. He was in Big Mac’s room.

The memories of why was he there in the first place hit him hard. A wave of revulsion and disgust hit him again only to be replaced by guilt the more he thought about it. He tried to get up but couldn’t move anything besides his neck. Even his snout was held closed by black rope. He didn’t try to fight for long, both noticing it was useless and because the ever growing guilt in his chest made him cry like a little drake again. Hot tears filled his eyes as he began to let out muffled groans and shouts.

Twilight. Girls. Mom. I’m sorry…..I’m so, so, so sorry, he apologized in his mind. Everypony…...everyone, I’m so sorry. His tears falling freely to the bed below him. He knew it wasn’t enough, nothing would be enough for what he had done to them, but what else could he say or do to apologize?

Every crack of whip, every moan and grunt of pleasure he gave out, every cry for mercy the females under his care implored to him played back through his mind again and again. The crying faces of every female he had raped and trained to become pets for other males. Especially for the caribou.

Caribou, he repeated inside his head. Caribou. His tears finally halting their fall and his guilt being replaced by something else, something much more powerful and heavier. Caribou.

The guilt in his chest was suddenly replaced by a feeling Spike had felt just two or three times throughout his life, even then those past experiences were nothing compared to what he was feeling now. His lungs and stomach filled with fire, his nostrils becoming geysers of green fire in each of his increasingly rapid exhalations.

He let out a very powerful muffled roar. His entire being filled to the brim with anger, rage and hate towards the bastards that had destroyed everything he once knew and morphed it into their definition of a paradise. His mind jumbled, thoughts racing back and forth, but through it all, one name replayed constantly, standing out among the horrors.

Dainn!

Spike tried again with renewed strength and vigor to free himself from his restraints. Desperate to go and kill the motherfucker responsible for over two years of pain, misery and suffering, his hate threatening to burst out of his chest if he didn’t.

“Spike, calm down!” said a hushed voice at his side.

Spike snapped his head to his left to see who that voice was. His rage diminishing little by little as he stared into the green eyes of the mare from before.

Miss… Cheerilee, he thought almost instantly.

A door in the other side of the room suddenly opened, revealing Big Macintosh wearing a white towel around his waist, steam followed behind him and he could still see a few drops of water falling down his mane and coat. He walked over to next to the kneeling Cheerilee, shared a second long glance with the dragon and then brought up one of his index fingers over his lips, motioning him to keep quiet.

The dragon huffed and puffed angrily before a loud knocking came from down the hallway followed by a shout.

“Mister Macintosh, are you home?”

Big Mac looked down to Cheerilee and nodded.

“Don’t make a sound,” he whispered as he turned around.

Spike held still, his breathing slowly returning to normal. The hoofsteps of Big Mac echoed perfectly as he walked to the main entrance of the house, followed by him walking down stairs. A few seconds later the hoofsteps stopped and a door opening was heard.

“Captain Harald, tah what Ah owe the pleasure of yer visit?” Big Mac said politely.

Spike’s pupils shrank into tiny dots upon hearing that name, the bottomless feeling in his chest returning ten-fold. He was stopped, however, when Cheerilee took hold of his head and made him look directly into her eyes again. She slowly shook her head, silently begging him to endure for a little bit longer. It took him several seconds but in the end Spike complied, just barely. He would deal with the sick bastard later.

“--od to hear, captain. Fer a moment Ah thought there was somethin’ wrong with mah papers,” Big Mac said in that same polite tone. Spike realized he had missed a bit of their conversation.

“You’re illness was, thankfully, cured almost a year ago, Mister Macintosh. I say, I was happy to see you reform completely. It would’ve been a true shame to switch a paragon of masculinity such as yourself,” Harald said with a haughty, arrogant chuckle.

Switch. The word sent his stomach roiling. It was the term used by the caribou to call males-turned-into-females that had fallen into ‘heresy’ for trying to protect, defend, or respect a female in any regard that didn’t involve something sexual. Or in some cases for being considered liable to start trouble or protest against the caribou regime.

“Then what seems tah be the problem, captain?”

“Three of my guards have yet to report to the garrison. Their rounds had them patrolling the south border of your farm, Mister Macintosh. Those fools are most likely having their fun with your pets around the farm, but may I ask, have you seen them?”

“Ah can’t say I have, captain. At least, not recently. Ah saw three guards a few hours ago before comin’ home tah ‘play’ with mah favorite bitch. Haven’t seen ‘em since then.”

Hearing Big Mac say those things sent another wave of revulsion through Spike’s gut, but he knew Big Mac was lying. What are you doing, Big Mac?

“Must’ve been them. I swear, those three idiots are gonna get themselves killed one of these days.” Harald sighed. “Can you tell me where you last saw them?”

“Near the barn. Now that Ah remember. Ah haven’t seen mah slut of a sister either.”

Harald grunted. “You give that black collar bitch too much freedom, Mister Macintosh. I know she obeys you, but she’s still a black collar. The amount of trouble that mare has given me with her escape attempts and her constant fighting back have been a nightmare. The bitch is lucky King Dainn likes to keep her around for shows and fuck-a-hole tournaments.”

“Don’t Ah know it.”

Both laughed for a few seconds before the sound of hoofsteps echoed once again.

“I’ll go check where those idiots are. Then maybe we can share a drink and a bitch? Perhaps two?”

“Yah know it, captain!” Big Mac said enthusiastically.

The door closed followed by the slight clinging of metal and several hoofsteps walking away. Silence reigned for several seconds, then rapid hoofsteps echoed around the house. Seconds later Big Mac re-entered the room, tossed the towel aside, uncaring for his sudden nudeness. Throwing on on some blue pants and a green sleevless shirt, he turned around to see the dragon tied in bed then at Cheerilee.

“Don’t make a sound. Ah’ll handle this.” Cheerilee nodded, and Mac left the room in a haste. A minute later an enraged, wordless shout came from the barn. The front door slammed open and Big Mac rushed outside the house.

Spike and Cheerilee waited for several minutes, only the occasional distant shouts and sounds of things breaking interrupting the would-be silent wait. Suddenly the shouts began to make sense and become louder.

“I want you four to search the perimeter this instant! Find that fucking slut, now!”

“Yes, sir!” several voices yelled in return.

A couple of seconds later anxious sounding hoofsteps came from downstairs. “This is bad, this is really, really bad. King Dainn won’t like this,” Harald muttered, his voice almost shivering. “How am I going to explain the loss one of the national prizes!?”

“Captain, if Ah may suggest somethin’.”

“Y-you may, Mister Macintosh.”

“It looks tah me that… it was the fault of the guards that my whorse sister escaped,” Big Mac explained softly.

“What do you mean by that?” Harald asked, a bit of hope noticeable in his voice.

“Ah knew ‘em enough to know they enjoyed letting black collars defend themselves before showin’ ‘em who’s boss. Mah slut sister was unbound to do her mornin’ chores. Maybe they thought it would be fun enjoyin’ an Ex-Element by themselves.”

A few seconds of silenced followed. “You’re right, Mister Macintosh. They did have that pointless fetish.” Harald hummed. “Yes, I can see your point. In their overconfidence and ignorance, they likely gave a weapon to the bitch. She just bid her time and then struck them down.” He hummed again. “Still, a mare, even if it is an earth one, took down three of my men on her own…”

“Mah slut sister was, and still is, one of the strongest earth’s there is. Remember her last attempt eight months ago?”

Harald huffed. “How could I forget? That cunt dragged two of my strongest through the ground when they roped her.”

“Sadly, Ah carry some of the blame, too, captain.”

There was a sudden shifting noise. “Of course not, Mister Macintosh. It wasn’t your fault those three idiots decided to grab your property without asking you first.”

There was a moment of silence. Then a group of hoofsteps approached and entered the house.

“Sir. We’ve found a path behind the barn that leads to the forest. It seems the whore tried to cover her tracks but failed in the end.”

“Then what are you waiting for, you imbeciles!? Go after that bitch! Search in the depositors hives, go to that zebra bitch living in the forest! I don’t care how you do it, but you must find that fucking cunt whatever the cost! I don’t care if it takes you days, just find and bring her ass back to me!”

“Yes, sir!” the guards exclaimed at the same time before hastily leaving the house.

Harald let out an angry huff. “Mister Macintosh, I know the bitch--”

“Yah can do what it’s necessary tah deliver her punishment when yah catch her. Turn the cunt into a purple for all Ah care. The bitch deserves no less.”

Harald let out a small chuckle. “I’m glad and thankful for your permission, Mister Macintosh. I’ll take your advice into consideration. Maybe, if Dainn smiles upon us, we can benefit from all this. Good day.”

“Good day, captain!” Big Mac said happily. Hoofsteps were heard for a few seconds, then the door closed. Slow, almost dragging hoofsteps followed it. After a minute or so Big Mac appeared once again through the door-frame, his expression unreadable. He stepped inside his bedroom, groggily made his way to a chair next to his dresser and sat down. He covered his face with both hands and moved them as though washing it.

“How did it… go?” Cheerilee asked.

Big Mac let out something between a sigh and a groan while freeing his face. “Better than Ah hoped. We’re lucky Harald’s a fool and a coward.”

“Will Applejack be alright?”

“Eeyup. The potion Zecora made keeps those darn monstrosities away. She’s invisible to entanglers, depositors and pacifiers now.” Big Mac looked to the window and let out a content hum. “She must be past the ‘safe’ limits of the forest by now. She’s finally safe and we gain a little piece of hope.”

“Thank Celestia,” Cheerilee breathed.

Big Mac stared at Cheerilee for a few moments before speaking. “Ah’m sorry, Cheerilee. Fer everythin’.”

Cheerilee got up and walked to where Big Mac was sitting, she then hugged the stallion tightly as she could.

“It’s alright, Big Mac, it’s alright. We both agreed to endure it. At least we have each other, don’t we?”

Spike chose to remain silent, silently watching their embrace and understanding something he hadn’t even thought of before.

I’m… I’m not the only one who’s suffered. Everyone in Equestria and the Crystal Empire have, too, Spike said to himself grimly. Just another reason to increase his inner hate.

“Spike?”

The dragon looked at Big Mac standing next to him, Cheerilee at his side.

“Are yah alright?” Big Mac asked, Spike nodded in return. “These here ropes are strong enough to hold down a warbeast. No matter what yah do, they won’t break. Ah can untie yah, but only if yah promise tah NOT go after the caribou or that fucker Dainn.”

The dragon glared at the stallion for uttering those words, but soon calmed himself enough to nod again.

“No, Spike. Ah need yah to be truly honest with us. Yer are a dragon, but yer are just one. The caribou are many. They have weapons, magic, armor, armies, not to mention Dainn himself. Please Spike, understand this. Yah can’t fight ‘em on yer own.” Mac winced as he said the words, pain bleeding into his voice. “We lost too many already. Havin’ yah at our side again is one heck of a blessin’. Please, don’t waste yer life now that yah got it back.”

Spike let out a muffled groan followed by a snort of fire out of his nostrils. That is no life, I rather die than go back to that shit!

“Think of Twilight, dang it!” Big Mac said. “Think of the girls in yer castle! What will happen tah ‘em if yah go and die fer nothing!?”

His words managed to both anger Spike more and give him pause. What would happen to the girls, the females under my care if I die? Spike thought. His mind betrayed him, showing him different scenarios and punishments he was all too familiar with.

Spike finally relaxed, his fury replaced by a tormenting concern mixed with guilt. I… I won’t abandon Twilight. Not again.

“Ah see you finally understand what’s at stake here, Spike,” Big Mac said before moving around the bed, undoing bind after bind. A minute later Spike was free and sat on the edge of the bed. “Sorry fer tying you, Spike. But Ah couldn’t take any chances.” Big Mac sat down next to Spike. Cheerilee sat next to Big Mac quietly. “Ah just… Ah just don’t wanna lose another friend.”

“I… Thanks, Big Mac.” Spike turned his head just enough to see the stallion and the mare at his side. “You’re… heretics.”

“We like Fakers better, if yah don’t mind,” Big Mac corrected.

“Fakers,” Spike murmured before looking down at his claws. He clenched them a few times, almost as if examining them. “W-what happened to me, at the barn? When Applejack screamed for help I… I don’t know. I felt something just shatter and that voice was suddenly… gone.”

“You were what we call an Enslaved, Spike,” Cheerilee said. “We always suspected you to be one, but weren’t sure.”

Spike said nothing, but hummed in response, his mind busy examining his hands and claws for almost a full minute. “The voice was… controlling me?”

“Yes and no. The ‘voice’, as you call it, was there to ensure the caribou’s dark magic brainwash, to turn you into one of them. Or a Corrupted, as we call them. But at the same it repressed your mind just enough to trust it on whatever it said and slowly twisting your memories, to prevent your rebellion, if you will,” Cheerilee explained.

Spike tried to say something but failed, he had no words to express his thoughts at the moment. He remained silent for a couple of seconds before getting up slowly. “H-how long have you been here-I mean, Fakers?”

“Almost since the beginning,” Big Mac admitted. “When it started Ah barely had time tah get Applebloom and Granny out o’ here. Ah tried tah fight back but the caribou were too many and strong. Even fer me,” Big Mac said sounding ashamed. “Ah’m sure yah can remember the first year, don’t yah?”

“Yeah,” Spike replied grimly, his hands turning to shaky fists.

“When Ah got word what the caribou were doin’ tah stallions that fought back Ah decided tah play along. Just to keep mah sister and other mares as safe as Ah could. And it worked.” Big Mac sighed. “Ah found out I was immune tah their dark magic the same day Cheerilee arrived here.”

“I started to fake being under their control six months into the Fall,” Cheerilee said sadly. “At least then the punishments were… softer.” There was a moment of silence. “I did my best to be assigned here. There was a rumor that Big Mac treated his ‘pets’ nice by caribou standards. It took all my courage to speak freely to Mac the night I arrived.” Cheerilee got up, caring not for her nakedness.

“I was part of a rebel camp, you see. We had plenty of information on the caribou and we knew about the brainwash, the dark magic they used and the monstrosities they brought with them. Thankfully most of the camp escaped before we were captured. Needless to say I wasn’t so lucky.” Cheerilee let out a mirthless chuckle, looking down at her exposed body. “It’s amazing how shame for your body is the first thing that fades away.”

Spike looked away, baring his fangs in anger. “Big Mac,” he said without looking back at him, not wanting to see Cheerilee again. “H-how can you, any of you, live like this?”

There was silence, only interrupted when the stallion got up and walked in front of Spike. “Because we have tah, Spike.” Big Mac placed his hands on Spike’s shoulders, forcing the dragon to look to him. “The other nations turned their backs on us. We, what little is left of Equestria, stand alone. We must fight in any way we can against the caribou, but we have tah be smart. Everypony… everyone in Equestria is trapped in this new Tartarus. But they will pay one day fer what they did and are doin’ tah us.” The red stallion smiled warmly. “We just need tah have hope and wait fer the time to hit ‘em back in the pucker.”

Spike smiled, albeit weakly at the stallion. “Y-you’re right. Thanks.” Big Mac nodded, letting him go in the process. “What happens now?”

Big Mac’s smile dropped and in turn a sour look took its place. “Yah’ll have to wait till Sunday tah pay me another visit.”

Spike stared down at the ground, catching the silent meaning behind Big Mac’s words. “I-I c-can’t--”

“Yah must,” interrupted the stallion. “It won’t be easy, that much Ah can tell yah, Spike. But please, don’t do anything stupid.” Big Mac stepped closer to Cheerilee, hugging her close for a moment. “If yah can’t do it fer yerself, do it fer Twilight and the other mares.”

Spike looked up and silently watched the embrace the two ponies shared. It was more than obvious they knew what they were talking about. And that realization made him think of just how much pain they were holding inside. Spike nodded slowly, accepting his new role with a hole in his stomach and hate in his heart.

“What am I suppose to do?” he finally asked.

“Just do what yah usually do until Sunday night. Make sure tah act the part, Spike,” Big Mac said dead serious, Spike nodded again, his hands clenching hard.

“What happens on Sunday?” he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

“Poker Night.” the stallion replied.

--------------------------------------------------------------***************************************************

Spike stood in front of the once proud Castle of Friendship, the castle and home of Twilight Sparkle, himself, and the council of friendship . Purple banners showcasing a green ‘S’ in the center gently flowed in the breeze at each side of the entry. Now, it was his castle. It was merely for show, he knew it, but still asked himself why did Dainn let him keep it instead of giving it to one of his officers.

He stepped closer to the entrance, knowing full-well what laid inside those walls. The urge to vomit hit him for what seemed like the thousandth time since his departure from Sweet Apple Acres . He resisted, however, the words of Big Mac still fresh in his mind.

This is for them, this is for them. He repeated the mantra in his head as he opened the doors of his castle. Stacks of straw and a bag of mare-kibble sat just in the entryway.

As he walked inside he could hear the murmurs of Twilight speaking.

Just finishing her… lecture, Spike thought, another wave of revulsion and anger hitting him dead in the eye.

He entered the throne room, HIS throne room. He looked around for a moment, glaring and wanting nothing more than to destroy all the posters hanging in the walls.

Mares licking the hooves of a caribou. Everything is better when you know your place, it read below.

A donkey mare being punished by pulling her breasts and nipples almost to the tearing point. Talking back is forbidden.

A griffoness tied up to an X-shaped bed. She had no feathers or fur and had a soulless look on her eyes. Be obedient or be blanked.

A diamond dog pulling a leash while a mare crawled at his side obediently. Good bitches are happy bitches.

Fluttershy on all fours, dildos sticking out from her pussy and ass. She was looking at the camera with a joyful smile while acting as a hooverester. Red Collar Rewards: Important Jobs.

A zebra mare armed with tribal armor and a spear being lifted off of the ground by a caribou while other behind her readied himself to put a black collar around her neck. Resistance is futile.

Cadance taking a cum bath while sucking the dick of Shining Armor. Embrace your true destiny.

The backside of Celestia in full display with Dainn fucking her pussy, a riding crop hanging nearby of Celestia’s ass. SUBMIT, it read in bold red letters.

Spike growled angrily, tearing his eyes from the posters.

‘This is for them, this is for them, this is for them.

A minute later he was calm enough to continue across the throne room. In the past, seven thrones were arrainged in a circle. Now, just one oversized chair remained. He stopped in front of another door, knowing that behind that door was Twilight most likely wrapping up her “class.” He steadied himself, grabbing the knob of the door.

“Do it for them,” he whispered to himself before opening the room.

“Attention cunts! Master is back!” Twilight said in a happy tone from behind her desk.

“Hello, Master,” said two dozen females at the same time in a polite tone from their chairs, some of them with a hint of anger. No wonder, most were black collars after all.

Spike glanced quickly around the room, seeing bondage furniture, saddle bags, paddles, chains, leather and plastic clothing, riding crops, dildos of all shapes and sizes, locks, a corner covered with newspaper, bowls of water in another corner and the walls filled with even more posters like the ones in the throne room. The chalkboard littered with the new teaching of the caribou regime, such as ‘Obey your masters’, ‘Good slaves get dick. Bad slaves get beat’, ‘Disobedience is misery’ and ‘Silencing your inner “no” is happiness.’

Spike clenched the rope holding the stacks of straw hard, his claws almost tearing through it.

“I see everything is going nicely, Twilight,” Spike said earning a few gasps from the red collared females. Most were ponies but there was a cow, two griffonesses, a zebra and a Saddle Arabian. All were looking at him in shock. “Uh... what?”

“Oh, Master! As the worthless cunt that I am, I don’t deserve the privilege to be called by a name.” Twilight giggled. She got up from her chair, revealing she was wearing a small black tie and a transparent skirt that didn’t cover anything. As she got up Twilight let out a small moan of pleasure, her chair revealing two medium-sized dildos slick with her fluids.

Spike bit the inside of his cheek for a moment, silently cursing himself for his stupidity. “I know, slut. I was just testing your reaction,” he said at the same time he cursed himself for doing so. Twilight giggled again then turned to her students.

“Alright sluts, this concludes Twilight-Cunt Time for the day. Tomorrow, we will review the proper use of bondage, and how to obey and understand body commands.”

The females got up slowly, some grunting and others moaning as they did, revealing that their chairs also had dildos, just like Twilight’s. All of them had chains locking their hands and shackles on their ankles. Then, in perfect order, they walked down a passage at the back of the room leading to the basement and to their cages. Spike followed closely behind Twilight as she retrieved a keyring from her desk.

Reaching the basement, the females lined up again in front of their respective cages. Twilight whistled and the females went to all fours and crawled back into their cages. Twilight walked to each cage, slamming the doors shut and locking them. Once she was done, she put the keys on a nearby hand handle and sank to all fours herself, crawling back to where Spike waited for her.

Spike, for his part, saw the rest of the cages, another two dozen, all filled with females, most of them ready for ‘shipment’. He didn’t even notice the smell of filth and other body fluids. He was used to them. Wordlessly, he grabbed one of the straw stacks, cut the bindings and carried the loose straw over the cages, letting go a good amount of it in each cage. The females inside, even the most stubborn black collars, took their straw with joy in their eyes. New straw meant comfy beds for them, a true luxury.

Once he was done with the last sack of straw, he grabbed and opened the mare kibble bag and poured a great amount of mare kibble into their bowls. Some of them immediately began to eat, clearly starving for food. He turned to leave when a voice stopped him.

“Thank you, Master.”

Spike turned to look. The only Diamond Dog in his “collection” was smiling at him in between mouthfuls of kibble. Moments later several other females began to thank him for his gifts and his kindness. He said nothing and left the basement, Twilight crawling at his side the entire time.

He made his way back to the throne room, walked up to his throne and unceremoniously sat. Twilight crawled in front of him and in between his legs.

“May this useless cunt please your mighty cock, Master?” Twilight asked licking her lips in anticipation.

Spike looked at her for a moment or two before answering. “N-not today, bitch. I’m feeling very tired.” Twilight let out a small whimper of disappointment. “Go to the kitchen and eat whatever you want for today.”

Twilight let out a horrified gasp. “B-b-but Master! Food is meant for superior males such as yourself, not for ignorant, worthless, disposable--”

“Are you questioning me?” Spike interrupted her angrily.

“O-o-of course not, Master!” Twilight apologized immediately.

“You’ve been a good pet during these past weeks, I think you deserve a great reward for being so good,” Spike said with a stoic face.

“B-b-but---”

“You know what, slut? I order you to go to the kitchen, make yourself a nice salad, eat it and then go back to your cage and rest,” Spike said with unabashed authority, two years worth of using such a tone bearing their fruits. “Or are going to disobey an order from your Master?”

Twilight trembled a few times, looking around unsure of what to do. A couple of seconds later she stopped and looked at the ground.

“Thank you for your generosity, Master,” she said softly and, dare he say, even happy.

As Twilight crawled towards the kitchen, Spike sat on his throne, alone with his thoughts. Just thinking that a few hours ago he was an Enslaved, as Cheerilee called it, made him sick. But at the same time, he was infinitely thankful to be free, to be ‘himself’ again. At least, as much as he could in the dark pit he was. He even got to kill two caribou all by himself.

“I… killed,” Spike whispered.

He looked down at his hands and claws with a frown. He could remember it now so clearly. The blood and the meat and the bone his claws had slashed through. He remembered the texture of their fur, the warmth of their blood, the stench of their meat, the flavor of it all.

He also remembered a few talks with some royal guards and even with Celestia about killing. Very few guards had actually killed somepony or someone in their line of duty and his mother had rarely done so herself, despite her thousands of years fighting against the forces of evil. But everyone of them said that it felt awful the very first time they did it. That and that the experience was shocking, sometimes even traumatic. A feeling, an experience, one could never forget.

“Then why,” Spike whispered to himself clenching and releasing his hands repeatedly, “don’t I feel anything?”

---------------------------------------------------------*************************************************

*Sweet Apple Acres-Sunday Night*

Spike walked through the darkened streets of Ponyville at a steady pace, making his way to Sweet Apple Acres for ‘Poker Night’. It was a little past nine, the hour Big Mac told him to come. The streets were practically empty, except for the occasional pony or caribou guard he bumped into every few minutes.

“Lord Spike.” A unicorn guard saluted as Spike walked past him and the border of the village leading to the Apple’s farm.

“Good Night,” Spike said to the guard, waving his claw at him a few times.

A few minutes later Spike now stood in front of the Apple Family Household. Nervously, he knocked a few times. Almost instantly he heard the sound of hoofsteps approaching to the door. Then it opened revealing Big Mac, wearing a blue T-shirt and green pants. The stallion smiled at him for a moment before stepping outside himself. “Come, everypony else is waitin’ fer us.”

Big Mac closed the door behind him and locked it. He began to make his way across the field of his farm, a few lampposts placed here and there to provide just enough light to illuminate the dirt road. Their walk continued for almost two minutes with the sounds of the forest nearby, crickets and the distant moans and screams being their only company.

They walked past the rape-vine field: disgusting plants that looked like mix between a carnivorous plant and some sort of tentacle monster. The rape-vines, like any carnivorous plant, fed on the fluids of others. Unlike others, however, rape vines fed on the female fluids, their sexual juices to be precise. Its tentacles were long, easily seven meters on the fully grown ones, and strong enough to lift even a warbeast effortlessly, making resistance futile. The rape-vines attacked any and every female near them and used their multiple tentacles to ‘feed’ off of them. Just another monstrosity brought by the caribou that, strangely enough, had an actual purpose for their care and harvest other than entertain the caribou.

Their seeds were used to produce the beer caribous loved so much.

Spike resisted the urge to vomit, remembering all the beer he had drank over the past two years. Truly disgusting.

Spike shook his head, trying to forget that line of thought. Coming back to his senses he noticed a lamppost illuminating a small wooden sign that read:

‘Poker Night ongoing; Do not disturb unless for important business.’

The dragon remembered seeing that sign a few times in the past, yet he had never being invited in the past. Not that it mattered to him then anyways. A little further down the road he saw something he could only describe as a large storage room. The building had the shape of a square even though it was made out of wood with no paint over it. It had two lampposts at each side of the door, a pair of small windows with a couple of red curtains blocking the view inside the room-house-thing and, to his surprise, a ‘No Bitches Allowed’ sign hanging over the door in yellow.

“What’s with the sign?” Spike asked while Big Mac searched for the key in one of his pockets.

“Safety,” Big Mac replied. “Even the caribou know what ‘guy time’ is. It ain’t very common but plenty others do similar things, even some caribou.” He pulled a shiny metallic key out of his left pocket and proceeded to open the door.

Spike followed Big Mac into the building. The first thing he saw was seven familiar faces sitting around a round table. He advanced slowly, unsure of what to do or say next. The door closed behind him startling him for a moment.

“Welcome, Spike,” Big Mac said walking past him and taking the seat in front of Spike. “Yer among friends. Take a seat.”

Spike obeyed the command and sat on the only empty chair left next to Big Mac. He looked around the table, his eyes filling for the first time with joyful tears. He quickly wiped them off and smiled.

“Filthy,” he said looking at the brown earth pony stallion wearing his usual business suit. The stallion nodded back at him.

“Thunderlane.” The dark grey stallion wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans smiled at him.

“Caramel.”

“Glad to have you here, Spike,” the caramel colored stallion wearing a brown shirt and red shorts said.

“Mr. Cake, Pokey, Cranky, Bulk Biceps,” Spike said hastily looking at each of the other stallions and donkey. They wore similar casual clothes as Mac. As he said their names, a smile adorned his lips.

“You must have a lot of questions, dontcha Spike?” Pokey said with a sad smile, Spike nodded. “You’ll get your answers, but first...” he pulled a deck of cards from his pocket. “We play Hold'em.”

*Half an hour later*

“I got nothing,” said Filthy Rich, sliding his two cards in front of him.

“Ah fold,” said Big Mac putting down his cards.

“Two pairs,” said Bulk Biceps showing his cards, a blue five and a green seven.

Pokey smiled slyly showing his yellow and blue Captain’s, matching perfectly with the red one below and the green and blue two’s earned him a free pair which meant. “Full house boys.”

“So I win again!” Cranky said with a very small smile. “Four-of-a-kind. Better luck next time Pokey,” the donkey said showing his red and yellow two’s.

The unicorn huffed. “You won’t be so lucky next game, old geezer.” Activating his magic he took all the cards on the table and began to shuffle them once again. “So! How are you feeling Spike?”

Spike, resting his elbows on the table, eyed Pokey for a moment. “It’s a mixed feeling. Half of me wants to puke my insides out, which I am tempted to do almost every minute. My other half of me wants to… hurt them.” Spike snorted out a small streak of flames. “And another half of me wants to end it all.” There was a moment of silence after he said that.

“I know what you mean, Spike.” Mr. Cake said with a knowing sad smile. “We all do.” The rest of the males agreed.

“Is it… is it worth it?” Spike asked receiving two new cards.

“At first it doesn’t look like much,” Thunderlane said. “But after a few weeks you can see the impact you make on their lives. How more tolerable their situation is. Even if just a little. it’s a huge boost for them.” he paused for a moment to look at his cards. “Flitter and Cloudchaser are safe with me… most of the time.”

Spike saw the expression on his face, the same Big Mac had two days ago in his room. “They are black collars, right?” Thunderlane nodded. “Do they know you’re a, what did you call it Big Mac? Fakeling?”

“Faker.”

“No, they don’t. To them I’m just another brute that, oddly enough, treats them a bit better than your average male,” Thunderlane said with a sour look. “We must keep our group limited.”

“Speaking of our group,” Carrot Cake said throwing two black chips to the middle of the table. “Any news on Applejack?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said throwing two black chips too. “Got word just this morning. Applejack made it tah the rebel camp safely. The caribou Harald sent after her were killed by the inner monsters.”

“So the potion Zecora made is effective?” Caramel asked curiously. Big Mac nodded earning a content sigh from Caramel. “It’s good we have her on our side now.”

“Is Zecora like miss Cheerilee?” Spike asked, throwing two black chips into the now formed pile in the center of the table.

“Has been since she broke from the brainwash,” Filthy said with a serious expression. “We’re lucky she decided to stay and help us. We need all the help we can get.”

Spike looked down at his cards then around the table. “Mmmmm, isn’t this place a little, I dunno, unsafe to be talking about this stuff? A-are we safe?”

“Of course we are, kiddo,” Cranky said. “See those little red orbs in the walls?” Spike looked around the room, scanning it for the first time since his arrival. As Cranky said there were tiny spiral shaped red orbs across the walls.“The zebra made them for us. They don’t let any sound pass the walls, not even with the windows open. We tried.”

“Basically, while we are here what we say stays here,” Pokey said placing the three reveal cards.

Spike kept quiet for a few moments before asking. “Are there… are there any more like you… us?”

“Yes, there are,” Filthy said in an almost remorseful tone. “But most of them act on their own and most of the time the males end up dead or switched, while the females end up in dirt farms, dead or blanked, sometimes even worse.” Filthy closed his eyes, a slight tremor in his jaw. “Just gathering our little group here took almost two years, and even then we took great risks doing so.”

The group went silent for a moment, sour looks adorning their faces. They continued to play in silence for a couple of minutes until they finished their game, Cranky winning again. Pokey picked the cards with his magic and placed them in front of him.

“Our group is just twelve members strong, you included, Spike. The other three members are Cheerilee, Zecora and Redheart,” Pokey said placing his hands on the table. “But we’ll talk about that another time. We have business now,” the typically bubbly and cheerful stallion said in a dead serious tone. “I just got word that the rebels near Stalliongrad took out several cargo shipments and, get this, found out what this shit really is.” Pokey pulled a carefully enclosed paper out of the bag hanging from his chair.

Unfolding the paper it was revealed that it was another one of those propaganda posters that littered almost every wall in Equestria. But this one was different, this one focused on a product.

The poster pictured a black collared cow with her eyes glowing green and a dumb smile, below her there was a strange flask with green juice. “Black collar problems? Try out changeslut juice! Obedience guaranteed.”

“The caribou, those fucking maniacs, are using live changelings to produce it.” Pokey clenched his hands into fists. “They… they kill them, grind them up and turn them into… that,” Pokey said with absolute disgust, some angry grunts and even a ‘Bastards’ echoed around him.

“But why?” Bulk Biceps asked confused.

“Since changelings are immune to the caribou brainwash, they… developed a method to take the changelings own brainwashing magic and use it for their sick goals.” Pokey finished hitting the table once. “Three years ago, I hated changelings with a passion of a thousand suns, but since the Fall...” Pokey sighed heavily. “Since that Tirek-damned day they were dragged to fight against the caribou. With their survival at stake and with the things the caribou do to them… now I feel pity, and respect. They may be fighting for their own, but they’re the only help we’re getting from any other race.”

“But can we trust them? Their queen still remains hidden,” Cranky said.

“Rich said so himself, we need all the help we can get. And to be honest, we need them,” Caramel said sinking in his seat. “But now that Applejack is with the rebels deep in the Everfree we can finally have some hope back. At least we know she’ll be safe there. Not even that fucker Dainn dares to go past the safe zone.” The group, minus Spike, shared a short laugh.

“Any word from yer contacts in Canterlot, Mister Rich?” Big Mac asked.

“Just the usual, I’m afraid. Although my contacts in the Crystal Empire say that a couple of exploration teams have gone missing, apparently trying to get to a supposed rebel base up in the far north, almost reaching the Solitude mountains.”

“That far into the north? How can anyone survive there?” Pokey asked.

“They’ve sent four groups already, none came back,” Filthy said with a hint of happiness. “I don’t care who they are. They’re killing caribou and others under their control, that just means less to worry about,” he said coldly.

“How can you say that, Rich!” Caramel said. “Some of those may be Enslaved or even Fakers!”

“Then those rebels did mercy upon them. And if there were Fakers between them then they died for a good cause. We have lost many and we will lose many more before we can finally take Dainn down. Maybe even us.”

The room fell silent, knowing Filthy was right. After a full minute of uncomfortable silence Spike spoke up.

“How many have tried to kill that... that… that monster?”.

“Too many. Both males and females. I… I lost my Matilda to that… thing! I may be old but I will do all I can to see that fucker die,” Cranky said barely containing the tears in his eyes.

“There have been many assassination attempts but none has been successful,” Filthy explained. “He rarely leaves Canterlot. He has guards at almost every vital point he is at the moment and there are some always near him. Few can come close to him and almost all of those few are either caribou or completely broken females. He doesn’t like to mingle with other males that aren’t of his race, except for Shining Armor and Discord. They and the occasional male that ‘proves himself’ to him.” Filthy sighed. “Getting close to Dainn is almost impossible.”

“Damn coward,” Pokey snarled.

“A strong coward,” Bulk Biceps said angrily.

Spike’s mind wondered for a moment, disconnecting himself from what was going on around him.

Get close to him, he thought. If I can get close enough to him maybe I can…..kill him. Something jumped inside his stomach, but unlike the urge to vomit, this felt almost pleasant. Spike looked to his claws for a moment, clenching and opening them slowly.

Kill Dainn. My claws could do it. So could my fangs and my fire. Maybe… maybe I can kill him.

I just need to get close enough to kill Dainn. And with him dead everything will be back to normal, Spike thought clenching his fists hard. Twilight and the others will be free and the caribou will pay for what they did to us.

They will pay with blood...

“Filthy,” Spike said loudly, effectively interrupting the conversation of his fellow Fakers. “What do you mean by a male proving himself?”

Big Mac slammed his hands on the table and got up. “Yah can’t be serious, Spike!” the stallion almost shouted at him. “Do yah want tah die!?”

“You told me I couldn’t fight against the caribou alone. But if I can get to him, alone, then maybe, just maybe I can kill that perverted maniac.” Big Mac kept silent for a moment, not truly convinced. “Think about it, Big Mac. As a dragon, I have the best chance to actually do it.” His tone was even, but with just a hint of eagerness.

Big Mac looked at Spike for a few moments, then he sighed defeated taking his seat again. “Are yah sure?” Big Mac asked,his voice devoid of emotion. Spike nodded. “Mister Rich, Cheerilee, and Ah are the only among us that are immune tah the caribou’s dark magic. The rest of us were Enslaved, just like yah, and have been Fakers after they broke out,” Big Mac said almost in a hush, his voice threatening to break. “We’ve done terrible, awful things tah keep us safe and tah fight silently the caribou, Spike.”

“But what you’re asking is beyond stupidity, Spike,” Filthy declared. “Let’s make a deal, shall we? Our next Poker Night is two weeks from now. If you still feel the same way by that time, then I will tell you everything you need to know to try, and I repeat, try to gain Dainn’s attention. Do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” Spike said without hesitation.

-------------------------------------------------***********************************************

*Ponyville-Castle of ‘Spike’*

Spike lay awake in his bed. It was somewhere past midnight but he didn’t care, he couldn’t sleep. The soft snores that Twilight made from her cage at the side of his bed felt like daggers to his heart, made worse by the gentle humming of the vibrator she had inside her pussy. Even when asleep, she made sure her body was receptive...

It’s been just two days of this. How can the others stay so strong? The things they must have done… is it possible for me to be as strong as them? Can I really… do it? Spike thought, doubting himself for a second before a low moan from Twilight made his fire burst inside him.

No, I can’t. I MUST do it. And… if I survive, then maybe… maybe I can beg for their forgiveness.

Spike turned to face to the other side of the bed, away from where Twilight was. And for the first time since being set free he began to cry softly, his tears falling from his eyes like small rivers. He silently wept in the darkness of his room, knowing full well the real Tartarus was just about to begin.

-----------------------------------------------------------*************************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

The entire audience was silent as they kept on hearing the tale of the dragon sitting in front of the nine Judges. The guards didn’t dare to move and the Judges stood still, except for Chrysalis who already knew the tale. She just limited herself to send a look of absolute pity towards the dragon in front of her. She knew the story, but not all the gory details.

The thought alone sent shivers up her spine. Just what horrors could Spike, the dragon she had come to respect and, dare she say, even call a friend be hiding?

“The two weeks that followed were nothing short of torture. I nearly snapped a couple of times. Twilight, the others, my friends and my desire to kill Dainn with my own claws were the only things keeping me in line, barely,” Spike said nonchalantly. “Those two weeks instead of making me change my mind made me all the more certain it was the only solution, my only chance.”

“So Poker Night came again and, as promised, Filthy Rich told me everything I had to do to try and get a chance to get close to Dainn.” Spike chuckled. “Y’know, looking back now, becoming the greatest, richest, most influential and successful female dealer from Ponyville to Neighpan was the easiest part of it. Step zero if you will.” Spike laughed, earning nothing but uncomfortable silence in return.

“Oh man, Pokey, Caramel, and Bulk Biceps were angry at me for what I had to do. But even then I was very, very careful to only train fully Corrupted red collars, a couple of purples and, as much I hate to admit it, some black collars as well.” Spike faced darkened. “You have no idea how many orgies I had to attend to. How many fuck-tournaments, rape exhibitions, blankings, switchings, executions, parties, and females I had to rape. Always with a smile on my face and cup of mare-cum in one hand.”

Spike’s eyes turned white, his fangs bearing to full display. “How many fillies I had to see get raped and turned into reds.” He spoke with an icy cold tone. “The fucking caribou teaching boys barely twelve years old how to treat their pets. Where to stick their dicks. How to punish the fillies. Some of them giving live demonstrations with the fillies. Most didn’t survive.”

Spike closed his eyes and breathed slowly. A minute later he opened his eyes again, now normal, and fixed his gaze on the ursa Judge. “I achieved success in just under six months. And I hated every single second of it. But the worst had yet to come. Because one day I received a summoning to Canterlot by Dainn himself.”

Spike’s eyes filled with tears for the first time and his voice broke.

“O-only i-it wasn’t f-f-for all th-that I had s-sacrificed. E-everything I did in th-those s-s-six mo-months meant no-nothing.” Spike’s eyes turned white again, a blue glow emerging from his chest. “My r-real Tartarus w-w-was just be-beginning.”

Chapter 2 end.

Author's Note

Enjoy the second chapter!

Big thanks to Jake The Army Guy for his HUGE helpin editing and proofreading!

I Feel like I should adress this now. While this is a hate fic, I do NOT hate the artists and writters that add to the FOE universe. I hate all that Fall of Equestria is and represents, thats all. Carry on then!

Chapter 3: Point Of No Return

Chapter 3: Point Of No Return

----- “We like to consider ourselves as the masters of disguise, manipulation and mind-control. But what the caribou did in just a few hours to Equestria and The Crystal Empire was something not even us could hope to imitate.”

*Eleven second long pause*

“What I tried to do during the wedding of Shining Armor and Cadance took all of my effort and months of careful planning. And in the end I failed by the same reason that fucker of Dainn failed. He thought himself as invincible, but unlike me, he nearly was. Every attempt to end his miserable life always failed and every attack done by my changelings and the rebels to Canterlot ended in a crushing defeat. No matter what we tried to do he always was a step ahead....or so we thought.”

*Chuckle*

“It’s funny that I personally tried to forge an alliance with him a day after the Fall began. Barely escaped with my life. Once I was healed and safe I ordered my changelings to hide and continue to gather love for the future of our species. It was…….it was just a few weeks later when we noticed two things.”

*Hissing noises*

“The first was that the love we needed to survive was…..tainted and drained. Rotten, if you will. Panic ran among my subjects, we had just enough love to survive hidden for just one year. The second thing was something only I and a few of my best soldiers noticed. The dark influence in the air, that awful power that tried, and failed, to enter our bodies.”

*Thirty second long pause*

“A month into the Fall I grew desperate, so did my subjects, we had to find a way to run away from Equestria before our love reserves drained. I sent small elite groups to each and every border only for them to report the same thing. There was an almost invisible red barrier surrounding Equestria and The Crystal Empire, it didn’t allow anything to pass it, not even the caribou.”

*Sighing*

“But it was also growing at a slow but steady pace. That’s when I knew what that bastard of a King was trying to do. Make the entirety of Equis his personal playground. And it also meant we were trapped inside Equestria.”

*Angry snarling*

“I never liked the ponies, or any other races for that matter, but once I began to hear…...and see what the caribou were doing to them…….how they……..turned them, males and females alike…….into…..that.”

*Ten second long pause*

“My changelings and I did something we only do in extreme cases, we united our minds together to build a consensus. A few minutes later we reached a consensus.”

-What was it, queen Chrysalis?-

“A pointless question given what already happened, but I’ll humor you. We decided to fight against the caribou for our survival……..and the freedom of all those under their regime.”

-Why put yourselves in such a risk?-

“We, as changelings, are seen as monsters for what we must do in order to survive and live. We owe nothing to any other race, not even our mercy. But seeing…..and feeling what was happening around us we knew we couldn’t hide in the shadows anymore. At some time we had to fight them anyways, why not then?”

*Strained laugh*

“The caribou were a very seclusive race, even more than us, to the point where no other race had the slightless idea what they did inside Hraljord, their small country. Not even the Cervidae, their cousin race. Their attack was flawless and perfect. Dainn defeated Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Cadance almost on his own. And yet it was driven by two major factors.”

*Chair shifting*

-What were those factors?-

“Ask Spike, if you dare that is.”-----

-------Queen Chrysalis (‘The Liberator’) of the Changeling Race, Report on the Caribou------

------“The first time I ever saw Spike was when he was a very little, and very cute if I say so myself, hatchling. Celestia had brought him along with her because he had refused to leave her side, even during our meeting. Thankfully he was asleep. Have you ever heard a crying dragon hatchling?”

-Can’t say I have-

*Giggling*

“The second time I saw him was during a visit my then husband and I did to Equestria in that lovely town of Ponyville, the spectacles were amazing and the fireworks even more so! He was still so little and cute!”

*Cheerful laughter*

“The third time was during the Equestria Games. Let’s just leave it like that, shall we?”

-Of course-

“The fourth time was three weeks after the barrier fell.”

*Fifteen second long pause*

“Four months earlier we began to exchange messages between us, to coordinate our attacks. It was good to hear of Celestia’s adoptive son again, even if some information about him was, at the time, doubtful. Chrysalis vouching for him surely helped to convince me.”

-Pardon me, Empress. But I thought the barrier didn’t allowed anything solid or magical to trespass it, how did you exchange messages then?-

“Oh, Chrysalis and I already had a secret location that moved along with the barrier and a few of our soldiers guarding it. Every day they would check if he or I had new messages for the other. We would write a letter, give it to our most trusted messenger to meet with said guards and then show the letter to the guards on the other side. One of the other guards would copy it’s contents before showing it back to the messenger to make sure everything was in order.”

“Then the other guard would deliver the letter to him or to me depending on whom sent it. Very rudimental but it worked like a charm. Oh, and to make sure it was indeed us we always used a secret word that only Celestia knew hidden somewhere inside the message. But enough of that, let’s return to our original topic.”

*Twelve second long pause*

“When I saw him…..I…..I didn’t know what to expect. When I saw him I was…..afraid.”

-Afraid?-

“There was something about him that felt…...wrong. It wasn’t his power or his his attitude, but his eyes. Eyes that told of a great sadness only surpassed by hate and fear. It was in Ponyville, or rather what was left of it, when we met in person. The moment our eyes met I felt like he would rip me apart and eat what was left while I was still alive. Strange feeling is it not?”

*Sniffle*

“I saw the eyes of a true monster. A monster forged by the caribou. The survivors that fled to Hraljord called him The Reaper, an appropriate title given the fact of what he did to them.”

-Empress, if this is too hard for you, we can stop for now.-

“I did not asked for your opinion on the matter, guard. I will stop when I decide to stop. ”

*Seventeen second long pause*

“But a second later I felt safe and secure, almost like he would protect me to his dying breath. And I also felt pity for the secrets he held inside him, secrets he never shared in his letters or to us during his report.”

*Sniffle*

“As he showed me around his encampment I could see the remains of the horrors the caribou had done. I heard the tales of soldiers, equestrian, changeling and my own told…..and I weeped. I weeped for leaving Celestia, Luna and Cadance in their time of need. I weeped for Discord and Shining Armor, for what what they were forced to do. I weeped for Twilight Sparkle and her friends.”

*Six second long pause*

“And I cried for Spike when he told me he was going after the caribou to their own homeland, in his words ‘To lay justice upon them’.”

*Sniffle*

“Dainn was a demon in every way imaginable and beyond. But Spike? Spike is a monster. A monster Dainn created. A monster that cried out for caribou blood.”

*Ten second long pause*

“And blood he claimed a plenty.”------

------Empress Shifting Sands of Saddle Arabia, Report on Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’.------

*Ponyville, Two years and seven months into the Fall, Castle of Spike*

Spike sat on his throne while two red collar unicorn mares, with their arms bonded behind their backs, greedily sucked and licked his dragon cock. Both of them moaned every time they took a gasp of air, while the low humming of multiple small vibrators stuck inside their assholes and pussies echoed all over the room.

The mares had their eyes covered by a black leather blind-fold, which made them moan in pleasure the moment the dragon grabbed the back of their heads, gently petting their manes. The one in the right suddenly felt the hand of the dragon shift position to grab the right side of her head, a moment later his other hand pressed against her left side before he pushed her head forward roughly. Effectively forcing her to deepthroat him.

The mare on the left groaned in disappointment as the gagging noises of her comrade reached her ears. A few moments later she heard her comrade cough and gasp desperately for air, she opened her mouth wide in response, her tongue hanging out as much as she could just before the dragon grabbed and rock her head back and forth, forcing her to deepthroat him in the same manner as with her companion.

She heard him groan and began to suck as hard as she could, moving her head on her own accord desperately despite the dragon’s effort to rock her on his own. A moment later he slammed her head against his pelvis until his entire dick was inside her mouth and throat, her muzzle and lips touching his scales. The mare moaned as much as she could at the same time an orgasm surged through her entire body. Her whole body trembled while squirting out her juices.

A second later she felt the dragon pull back just enough to let his first wave of cum hit the back of her mouth. The mare began to suck on greedily on the cock while it spurted wave after wave of warm, sticky and hearty dragon cum.

After his orgasm ended Spike pulled the mare’s head gently away from his still hard dick. The mare sucked and lapped at it almost like begging for more of his cum, refusing to let go of his cock until she got more. Finally the mare couldn’t fight the superior strength of the dragon and released the tip of his cock in a loud ‘pop’.

Almost instantly the other mare latched herself to his cock, hungry for a dose of cum for her own delight.

“Bitch, stop,” Spike said in a neutral but authoritarian tone. The mare stopped and kneeled in front of him, the other one did the same albeit shakily and panting heavily. A few strands of cum still clinging inside her open mouth.

“As you can see, mister Hard Press, in just two days your pets are now properly trained. Obedient, stupid and eager to please. Just like a true female should,” Spike said as his cock retreated behind his scales.

“Your reputation certainly do you no justice, Lord Spike!” a minotaur dressed in a fancy suit said just a few meters in front of him. “I went through every damn female handler in Manehattan without real results. I should’ve listened to my friends earlier before, your services are worth every coin,” the minotaur said before clapping his hands together. A moment later a black collar buffalo mare wearing work bars on both her arms and legs, and an oversized dildo sticking out of her ass, crawled dragging a great bag of bits, or coins as they were renamed, with her mouth.

She crawled her way until she reached Spike, looked up and presented the bag of bits to him. Spike whistled making a black collar blue coat pegasus filly come walking behind his throne, the filly took the bag with her tiny hands and dragged the bag away, grunting as she did so back to where she had come from.

“My friends also told me of your unusual methods to handle pets and the way you treat black collar sluts.” he looked down to see his two unicorn pets licking his pant covered crotch, he haven’t even noticed them moving. “But I won’t argue with the results, Lord Spike. You must have a secret for your success, could you tell me what is it?”

Kill Dainn and make the caribou pay for what they’ve done. Spike smiled at the thought. “Just trying to do my part for male supremacy in the service of our great King.”

Hard Press grunted but smiled nonetheless, he looked down to the buffalo mare that was crawling her back to him. “Want this bitch?” he asked pointing down at the mare. The mare looked up to the minotaur for a second before looking back at Spike, almost pleadingly.

“Are you sure?” Spike asked as Hard Press used a key to free the two unicorn mares from their restraints and put on a leash on their collars. “I wouldn’t mind having another black collar bitch pet, I sorta have a collection of them and another buffalo sow would do nicely.”

“Of course.” Hard Press said standing up again, a leash on each hand. “That fucking retard can’t suck dick for shit, but her snatch is quite tight, though. I hope that’s not a problem.”

“Don’t worry, if she gives me too much trouble I can always send her to a dirt farm, put her on the stocks or get her ass blanked,” Spike smiled wickedly at the buffalo mare, who in turn just trembled where she was.

“Well then, farewell my good sir, it was good doing business with you,” Hard Press said turning to leave.

“The pleasure will be all yours, sir,” Spike said waiting a few seconds for the distant front gates of his castle to be closed by two black collar earth pony mares. After a minute or so he whistled again making several black collar females came out from nearby corridors carrying this or that, cleaning floors or doing other daily tasks around the throne room and the castle. He then looked down at the confused buffalo mare and kneeled until they were almost at the same eye level.

“See those other black collar bitches?” the buffalo mare nodded weakly. “See them walking around without restraints, vibrators or chains?” the mare nodded again. “Want to be like them?” the mare nodded eagerly. “Then you must follow five simple rules:

Number one: Don’t attempt to escape, it’s pointless.

Number two: When I tell you to do something, you do it.

Number three: When my top bitch tells you to do something, you do it.

Number four: No fighting, no talking back and always show respect to me, my top bitch and your fellow pets.

Number five: Follow the previous four rules obediently and you’ll get an extra bowl of kibble, water and a comfy bed to sleep in.

Do you understand that, cunt?” the buffalo mare nodded as fast and hard as she could. “Good.”

Spike used his claws and strength to break in two her bindings, he used his tail to reach the dildo on her ass and pull it out in a single stroke. The mare grunted in pain but held steady. Once she was free Spike got up, for a few seconds the mare stood still then she crawled her way to Spike’s feet and began to kiss them repeatedly. Spike didn’t do or say anything, he was already used to getting that reaction from many black collar females.

I wish I could make your death painful, slow and agonizing, Dainn. Killing you fast will be mercy, but with you dead, they will be free and that’s all that really matters. Do it for them, Spike. He screamed inside his head as he clenched one of his hands into a fist. “Enough of that, you slut. Get up,” Spike commanded and the buffalo mare obeyed, she got up shakily almost falling a couple of times. Once the mare was up Spike touched her chin gently, the mare stood still as the dragon touched and caressed the scar running across her throat, covered partially by her collar.

Spike turned around slowly before signaling two nearby females walking by, a minotaur and a saddle arabian, to approach him.

“Show my newest pet her new home and then find something useful for her to do,” Spike said as he walked away.

“As you command, Master,” both females said at the same time in an almost respectful manner.

The females took the buffalo mare away as she took one last glance at the dragon.

Spike continued to walk away, uncaring for the little droplets of purplish blood that fell from his clenching hand. A new day had just begun and it wasn’t even noon yet.

A few minutes later he reached the classroom where ‘Twilight-Cunt Time’ was taking place, opening the door he was greeted by the all too familiar sight of Twilight and her students, but this time Twilight was giving a live presentation to her class using two mares as examples. The unusual potent smell of musk froze him where he stood.

Spike saw a pegasus with blue-ish coat and two different tones of yellow mane and tail, her cutie mark being a white lightning with three stars below it.

Lightning Dust, Spike thought instantly recognizing the mare. He noticed her eyes snapped open, her pupils shrunken while she looked to the front of the class while tears fell freely across her cheeks. Slowly traveling down he also noticed the red gag ball on her mouth and the black collar adorning her neck. He saw a glimpse of her black wing-sheaths and how they twitched every so often.

He also noticed her breasts being pulled down slightly by a weight hanging from a small chain connected to her erect nipples. Tit-chains the caribou called them, used mostly by maid females to hold on to tray cans since their arms were chained behind their backs. But they were also used to ‘enhance’ the size of a female’s breasts until they were the size, and the way, the caribou prefered them. Big, soft and sensitive. The caribou would use magic to do it most of the time, but using the tit-chains like this provided a ‘more enjoyable way’ to enhance them. The process being slow and very painful for the female.

Traveling down he saw her arms held tightly by black leather restraining gloves, in a cross like manner in front of her just below her breasts. Further down he noticed the other mare behind her licking desperately at her pussy in between her legs, making sloppy slurping sounds while moaning depravedly while holding Lightning Dust’s legs firmly with her hands. He focused a bit on the other mare, she had a white coat, a horn stump, green mane and a red collar around her neck. And given the wetness all over her, and on Lightning’s legs, it was obvious she was drenched by several orgasms from the pegasus she was so eagerly serving.

Finally he noticed a spread bar connecting Lightning’s ankles, making it impossible for her to do anything else but hold still. Spike took a step inside the room just before the gagged mare let out a muffled scream, she had cummed once again making the mare below her slurp and lick her cunt even more eagerly.

“That’s enough, cunt,” Twilight said from her seat making the white unicorn mare stop and crawl back, allowing Lightning Dust to fall to her knees and then forwards, her breathing fast and shallow. “Bad cunts get punished, just like this bitch. Look at how miserable the whorse is. Instead of obeying her rightful superior male masters, like the obedient cunt she has to be, she talked back against her rightful owner,” Twilight got up from her seat and made her way where Lightning laid twitching and crying.

“The pleasure of serving our caribou masters and all and every male with our bodies is the only reason we live. And the greatest achievement any of you stupid cunts can hope to do is to give birth to another powerful male,” Twilight looked down at Lightning with disgust. “But there are sows, like this bitch, that can’t see this simple truth. For it is the only truth for us lower than dirt females. That’s why they wear a black collar, to signal their idiocracy and blindness to it,” Twilight then looked up to her class and smiled broadly.

“Rejoice, cunts. For Master,” she beaconed to Spike “shall show you what it means to be a true female. Soon you’ll see the light and be forever cleansed from those blasphemous thoughts of ‘opposing’ our masters. Then you shall be happy for the rest of your miserable usefulness. We owe eternal devotion to our caribou masters, and more so to our great and magnificent king, Dainn; blessed be his name, for opening our eyes and showing us our true purpose in life,” Twilight ended her speech.

Several claps were heard, all of them belonging to the red collar females in the classroom, while the black collar ones remained silent. Most of them with their heads hanging low or trembling.

“Bitch,” Spike said coldly. The clapping died instantly. “I believe everything is running smoothly?”

“Of course, Master,” Twilight answered happily. “Your red sluts are almost ready to enter the final steps of their training. Sadly, the blacks are stubborn as always,” she licked her lips slowly. “But not for long, some of them are beginning to crack, Master.”

“Good.” Spike said plainly. He then looked down at Lightning Dust, weakly staring up at him with all the hate she could muster in her current condition. “I’ve had it with you, cunt. I gave you a chance to be like the rest of my pets but you tried to escape. I showed you mercy and you tried to kill me instead.” Lightning Dust simply shot him a glare.

“Pick up this bitch, she’ll be going to the Dirt Farms.” A look of absolute horror ran across Lightning’s face. “Don’t worry you slut, you won’t be going alone. There are several stupid cunts like you around. I hope you learn your lesson there you’re costing me more than you are worth as it is. I want her dumb ass in the entrance in ten minutes, bitch.”

“Of course, Master.” Twilight said with a bow.

Spike turned around, closing the door harshly with his tail. He let out an angered snarl before walking away with heavy stomps.

“Do it for them, Spike. Do it to kill Dainn, that motherfucking spawn of Tartarus. Do it for that.” Spike whispered to himself in the coldness of his castle, making his way to his bedroom.

*Around fifteen minutes later outside the castle of Spike.*

Spike stood as he saw the six mares, including Lightning Dust, he was sending to the Dirt Farms. They were slowly aboarding one of the five carts forming a single line, being carefully watched by several caribou guards and some pony ones. Most of the females already aboard the carts were black collars, but there were some red collars, too, begging for another chance to prove their usefulness to the caribou. It was so common to see females like them; their previous owners didn’t want them around anymore and thus sent them to the Dirt Farms.

Damn fuckers, Spike thought angrily seeing a caribou guard approach him.

“That’ll be a hundred coins as usual, Lord Spike,” the caribou guard said respectfully.

“Of course,” Spike said handing over a small pouch of coins. The guard accepted the pouch at the same time Spike began to made his way to the leading cart, and to the unicorn guard holding the reins of two horses. The dragon shot a quick glance around him, making sure there weren’t any caribou near him or looking at his way.

“Give this letter to Lord Berl when you arrive as well as my thanks,” he said handing an enclosed letter to the unicorn guard. The guard and Spike shared a quick glance before the guard nodded. “Are they ready?” he whispered to the guard.

“Of course, Lord Spike,” the guard said putting the letter inside his chestplate. “Lord Berl will be pleased to receive your letter.”

“Good,” Spike walked away, searching for the cart his pets were in. Once he found it he walked toward it. “You cunts will learn to behave under Lord Berl’s care, and I’m quite certain all of you will realize just how compassionate I can be if you just obey,” Spike said in a mocking tone, the six mares, all of them pony, tried to say something to him but all that came out were muffled noises thanks to their gag balls.

“Specially you,” he said grabbing Lightning Dust’s collar, pulling down to put her almost face to face to him. “I made sure Lord Berl gives your worthless snatch a good scrubbing, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” several nearby guards laughed at this. But the burning fire inside Lightning Dust’s still red eyes never faded.

Spike pulled the pegasus mare closer to him, his lips practically touching her left ear. What he was about to do was beyond stupid but the way she resisted, the way she never gave up despite the intense training and re-education Twilight had put her through, her indomitable spirit. It made him envy her, and not just her, it made him envy the strength and resolve all six mares he was sending away had. The same dozens of other mares he and Big Mac had sent already showed.

They deserved it. They deserved their chance to fight.

But Lightning Dust was special, she deserved to have hope. She was worth the risk.

“Don’t stop fighting,” Spike whispered to her ear, she barely heard him but froze on the spot nonetheless. “You’ll be free soon, keep fighting, you’re not alone,” Spike finished before smiling wickedly and pushing her away, causing the guards to laugh even more and her to fall to the floor of the cart.

Lightning Dust ignored the pain her fall caused and instead got up as fast as her body allowed. She was beyond confusion and wanted answers but the carts began to move slowly. She settled down to keep her gazed fixed upon the dragon.

The guards began to move at the sides of the carts, after a few seconds Spike was left alone outside his castle, his eyes still fixed on Lightning Dust.

“Worry not, Lord Spike. My guards will deliver this batch of sluts to Lord Berl’s Dirt Farms, you won’t lose any more of your precious pets to those so called rebels,” a very familiar, and annoying, voice behind Spike said.

Spike snarled mentally as he turned around, finally breaking eye contact with Lightning Dust. “Captain Harald, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Spike said with a small smile.

“Something very important, actually,” Harald said in a dead serious tone sitting high on his chair held by four red collar, and very muscular, earth pony mares. “Here, it came just this morning,” the captain offered a golden enclosed letter. “It seems you caught the attention of his majesty, our King.”

Spike took the letter with shaky hands, he held it for what felt like forever to him. His mind went wild imagening and recounting all the fantasies he had to deal with Dainn, all he had done, everything those poor females had to suffer by his claw and command would finally pay off. He then smiled.

At last.

-------------------------------------------------------*****************************************

*Canterlot-Four hours later*

Spike walked through the streets of Canterlot in a calm and steady pace, he had arrived almost half an hour earlier at the train station and was making his way to the castle. His pace became slower and slower until he finally stopped just outside the Canterlot Market Plaza. He had seen horrible things all around Equestria and the Crystal Empire during his quest to gain Dainn’s attention, but what laid inside the Canterlot Market Plaza was by far the worst thing he had encountered so far.

Gods above, if you really exist, please grant me the strength, patience, speed and valor I need to face Dainn today. Grant me the power to endure this place once more. I beg you, don’t let me fail, Spike thought grimly for a moment before continuing his walk once more, now entering the market while the sounds of pain and pleasure filled his surroundings and the heavy smell of sex, blood, cum, pussy juices and death attacked his sensitive nose relentlessly.

The first thing he saw were the now all too familiar ‘Pet Chairs’ they had at the entrance for rent. The same kind of chairs used by Dainn and some wealthy males to travel around town. Next were the cages holding purple collar females crying out for a cock to suck or a male to fuck them. Then came the stores that offered bondage items, as well as a couple of black collar females chained to a stock to use for practice. Some were wealthy enough to offer some very unique items, such as manti-cocks or changeslut juice.

Spike walked faster uncaring for pushing aside the other buyers and passerbiers.

The following sellers offered similar products, female-worth wallpapers or equipment for maid bitches. Almost reaching the center of the plaza he saw a group of ten or so young females, not older than eleven by his best guess, most of them pony fillies but there was a zebra filly, a caribou calf and a griffoness child, too. All of them were chained to smaller stocks with their asses in full display for all to see. He was forced to stop as there were several males looking with interest at the young girls.

“My little bitches are top of the class! I can assure you that, my fellow brothers!” a caribou wearing nothing but leather pants and a necklace made out of five unicorn horns said eagerly. “I personally trained them to obey any wish you desire and are tough enough to do so with ease!” the caribou boasted. “You will find no tighter young cunts anywhere else, and you can enjoy them for just the low price of one thousand coins each!” he finished slapping the ass of a light brown coat pegasus filly hard enough to rock her small body, making her let out a muffled scream of pain.

Almost every male began to scream, eager to claim one of the little girls for themselves, some even willing to pay twice as much. All were silenced, whoever, when the dragon began to laugh so hard and loud it became uncomfortable just to hear him. He continued to laugh for several seconds until he slowly stopped, everyone around him silent as they stared at him.

“Spike!” a zebra said recognizing the dragon at the other side of the store, instantly all males around him took a few steps away from the dragon as the public began to murmur between themselves. “What are you doing here? I thought our next appointment was due in another week?” the zebra asked making his way to the dragon.

Spike recognized the zebra instantly, he was the best mare-milk producer in Canterlot, he also was one of the main reasons he had achieved his fame as the best female handler around so fast in his first two months.

“I was summoned by our great king for a private affair, Zezil,” the murmurs increased in volume as the words left his mouth. “Are your pets giving you any more trouble?” Spike asked the zebra.

“Not after your training, my friend,” Zezil said happily. “But, why were you laughing?”

Spike look at him, then to the caribou vendor, then around him. After a few seconds he sighed. “Because I’m going to save your coins, it seems,” he said making his way to where the girls were being held at. He then grabbed the ass of one of the fillies and spread it wide, slightly opening her asshole and pussy.

“Hey, hands off the merchandise!” the caribou vendor demanded angrily.

Spike examined the earth pony filly for a short moment before letting her go and looking to the perpexled would-be buyers. “You said your little cunts are top of the class, right? Well, either you’re one heck of a liar or the best female handler there is. I’m willing to bet on the former, because,” he made his way to the next filly, a unicorn, he then spread the filly’s backside further than the previous one, making her squirm in protest. “Their butts are stiff and plain, their assholes lack proper elasticity, their snatches lack wetness and judging by the color it’s obvious you have no idea how to train them properly. They groan and moan constantly,” Spike made his wave to the griffoness girl before he plunged one of his fingers deep inside her pussy earning a pained moan in return, twitching it around a little he got the same response.

“Their cunts can barely squeeze at all and they feel like sandpaper,” Spike took his finger out, sniffled it once or twice before giving it a good long lick, he then made a face of disgust. “And to top it all off, the smell is sour and the flavor is awful,” Spike turned to the now very nervous, and angry, caribou vendor. “These small pets aren’t even worth fifty coins, much less a thousand.” Spike smirked. “Trying to scam your fellow male brothers is punishable by death, is it not?”

“Y-you can’t prove anything!” the caribou vendor said quickly. “Your word alone carries no weight whatsoever!” the caribou smiled at his apparent victory.

“Then this is truly my lucky day!” Spike said before breaking the stock where the zebra filly was held in, he pulled her up with one arm, her mouth holding a gag stick and her eyes covered by a yellow blindfold while a red collar adorned her neck. Spike used his fire to heat up one of his claws, a few moments later he placed the tip of his claw on the collar and quickly scratched the collar. A few seconds later red scraps were scrapped out of the collar, Spike retreated his claw leaving a very clear black mark on the collar with some small strands of red hanging in some points.

There were a couple of gasps and plenty of curses as Spike let go of the filly carelessly. “I believe that proves me right, don’t you think so, guards?” Spike said at the, up until now unnoticed, approaching guards.

“Indeed it does,” the biggest guard said in a very angry tone. “You have our thanks, Lord Spike,” he said as two guards dragged the now crying caribou vendor away with ease.

“It’s my duty to help unmask those that try to treat their male brothers like if they were a stupid female, guard, just one of the reasons I became who I am today,” Spike said while shaking hands with the guard. “Say, what will happen to these cunts?” he asked pointing down to the girls.

“They’ll be handed over to the local skank raiser,” the guard said while some other guards made the passerbiers move one, most of them thanking Spike for saving their coins and for unmasking the scammer. “But if you pay a low fee I can make sure to deliver them to your castle in Ponyville instead. If you want them, that is.”

Spike nodded before letting out a small stream of green fire upon his right hand, moments later the fire extinguished itself and a small leather bag in its place. Spike offered the bag to the guard, he took it with gusto, opened it for a quick glance and smiled.

“This will cover the fee nicely, Lord Spike, your new young pets shall arrive first thing in the morning tomorrow,” the guard gave a small bow before signaling other guards to take care of the girls. Once they had them all he turned around to continue his duties, the bag of coins clinging as he walked.

“How…..?” Zezil said walking next to Spike. “Damn, I know you’re good, but not THAT good, my friend!”

“That’s because I’m not good, I’m the best, remember Zezil?” Spike said with a winning smile. “I should go. The King doesn’t wait for anyone.”

“You’re right, see you next week?”

“Of course, I have to take a look, and taste, at your new batch personally,” Spike said walking away while waving an arm up high for a few short moments.

Spike continued to make his way through the plaza and the market, he passed through several other stores and stands, dancer sets, auction displays, rape racks for black collars, public stocks and the grand statue of Dainn himself in all his glory. On the base of said statue laid the Golden Stock, where he would have his way with Celestia for everyone to see from time to time. Celestia was his personal trophy along with Luna, but unlike her sister, Luna was still a black collar, and Dainn always used her for public use during special festivities such as Nightmare Night, fuck-a-hole tournaments and other similar events. But while he loved to humiliate Celestia as much as he could he never used her for public events, at least none that he was aware of.

Mom, I promise you will be free soon. Zecora is working hard to find a way to revert their brainwash and with that fucking shit eating asshole dead, you’ll be back to normal again. And so will aunt Luna and Cadance and Twilight and the girls and everyone else, just wait a little longer.

Spike thought reaching the other side of the market, the castle laying further down the road. He gulped, swallowing both his fearfulness and his eagerness to face complete his self imposed task.

After a couple of minutes he finally was at the gates of the castle he had grown up in. He saw no less than ten guards mounting each a mighty warbeast guarding the entrance to the castle. Spike took a deep breath before walking calmly to the nearest guard, reaching down to one of his ‘pockets’ he pulled out the golden paper sheet,out of it he pulled out a grayish letter with red corners.

“His majesty, King Dainn, is expecting me,” Spike said in a respectful, yet authoritarian tone.

“.....” the guard didn’t say anything, instead he stepped down from his warbeast, took the letter from Spike’s hand and gave it a quick read. Moments later the guard pulled up a warhorn and blew it. The gates suddenly opened and the wooden bridge slowly fell down, connecting the entrance with the castle. “Go on, Lord Spike,” the guard said with his deep rumbling voice.

Spike took his letter back and made his way into the castle. His heart beating faster than ever before. The dragon barely took a few steps into the castle when the bridge began to close behind him. Once the bridge made a loud clanging noise, a beautiful female caribou wearing a red collar stepped out of a corner, her expression amiable and, like every other caribou doe, her antlers were permanently kept small and dull. The doe kneeled before licking Spike’s feet, she then presented him a red leash.

“Welcome, Lord Spike. Master sent this worthless cunt to guide you to him,” Spike accepted the leash. “Please, follow this lowly swine,” the caribou doe said before starting to crawl through the vast hallways.

As he was guided Spike saw for the first time in almost three years the interior of the castle, and it truly surprised him how little had changed. Giving into account how much the caribou loved to “re-decorate” everything they laid their filthy hands on. But there were some changes here and there he noticed. There were weapons and suits of armor decorating almost every hallway he passed through. The were also several caribou, minotaur, pony and even diamond dog guards guarding entrances or some other place of importance.

From time to time he also saw black collar maids working hard to clean the windows, floors and walls using only their mouths to hold to their cleaning equipment, always kept in line by red collar females wearing nothing but a cardboard helmet and spear. the spear itself was a joke since the point had the shape of a cock, a caribou one in most cases, almost the same as a pony cock just a bit less thicker and more pointy.

“Work harder, slut!” a diamond dog bitch ordered when he was passing beside her, just before shoving the cock shaped spear point into a donkey mare’s pussy without care. The mare hissed in pain and her body trembled while the guard proceeded to fuck her with the spear harshly, making loud wet noises as she did so.

Spike tore his sight away from the scene and did his best to ignore the noises behind him.

A while later he began to walk through the crystal stain window hallway, this time he froze at what he saw, feeling as though someone had smashed his head against a diamond hard wall. The once beautiful and breath taking windows he so much adored were replaced by the exploits of Dainn while conquering the Crystal Empire and Equestria.

It started with Dainn sitting in his throne while Shining Armor and Cadance bowing in front of him presenting the Crystal Heart.

Next was the moment he morphed the Crystal Heart into the Crystal Cock.

It was followed by a two parter window, in the right laid Cadance in her normal attire, in the mid section was a small Crystal Cock and in the left she was on her knees licking Dainn’s dew claw hooves.

The next one was of him standing triumphant over the nude forms of Celestia, Luna and Twilight while in the background his army captured and enslaved several mares.
Spike felt a sword pass through his heart the moment he saw the next, and final, crystal stain. Dainn was sitting in his throne, almost like looking to the viewer, Celestia and Luna licking his cock at the same time. But at his side stood none other than himself holding Twilight on a leash and Shining Armor doing the same with Cadance. He continued to stare at the window unaware of anything around him or himself for that matter.

“Impressive, is it not?” said a voice behind him.

Spike felt his blood turn into molten lava as he recognized the voice of the bastard king himself. Calm down, calm down! Wait for the perfect time, you only have one shot at this, Spike. Don’t you dare ruin it! Spike thought doing his best to calm his burning rage.

“I-I….*hhrrmph*..--It’s very impressive, my liege,” Spike said turning around followed by him taking a knee. “One that shows y-your might over the worthless females,” Spike said doing his best to sound respectful and casual, even though his inner dragon screamed at him to rip the fucker to pieces.

“I actually installed that last one a month ago,” Dainn said casually. “But enough of that, get up,” Dainn said and Spike obeyed, letting the dragon see only his back. The caribou king snapped his fingers and a second later the mare that had acted as a guide for Spike up until that moment left crawling away quickly. “Come, Spike, we have much to discuss.”

“Of course, my king,” Spike said noticing two very odd things. One, there were only two hulking caribou guards at each of Dainn’s sides. And two, there were small gray/brownish wings on his back. Before he could question himself about that he shook his head lightly.

That’s not important, once he’s dead it won’t matter anymore, Spike thought before shooting one last glance at the crystal stain he had silently swore to destroy until nothing remained.

*Ten minutes later, Dainn’s private chambers.*

The doors leading to Dainn’s personal chambers magically opened letting the small party through. Spike walked in last, his nose quickly filled by the smell of sandal and mare musk. The hulking caribou guards, bigger and seemingly stronger than any minotaur he had seen so far, closed the door behind him. Spike focused for a second on the room, not surprised to find the very best coins could buy, a king sized bed next the large window of the room, silk sheets, pillows, cushions and curtains, several armor sets lined up perfectly in one corner of the room next to a rack showing various kinds of weapons. Paintings of himself posing scattered all over the walls.

There was also Dainn’s throne, showing proudly the four alicorn horns on its top, in the middle of the room right in front a fire place. He also saw two extremely beautiful silver collar unicorn mares chained to each side of the bed, resting on their knees while looking straight up blinking every now and then. Spike allowed himself to smile internally. Silver collars were the scarcest and, surprisingly enough, most expensive kind of females. They were used exclusively as trophies or something similar, it was forbidden to use them for anything even remotely sexual, they still had their horns or wings, depending on the species, and their only practical use was reserved for the wealthiest and most powerful of caribou. Living pillows to hug at night and keep the caribou warm. A waste for some males, given the fact all of the silvers were creatures of such beauty and grace, with almost perfect hourglass figures, all of them could compete against Celestia herself in that department.

They have, however, one big problem. While they were able to obey every order they received they didn’t react to anything, not even to pain or pleasure. They were like living, unfeeling dolls that could eat, breathe and shit.

They are truly blessed, Spike thought happy for those mares.

Dainn stopped in front of his throne, sat down, the tip of his antlers illuminated with a light blue shimmer and his throne shifted for him to face his dragon guest.

Spike finally was face to face with Dainn after almost three years, not counting the few public events he had attended with Dainn as the promoter. His coat was a mix between gray and brown, his eyes a deep metallic blue with a look of neutrality and unamusement on them, his expression almost as stoic as a stone. His antlers were still short, proof that he had molded them recently, and didn’t have a single piece of jewelry or gold attached to them .Their brown color made a good contrast with his black hair, making both his antlers and golden crown that had nothing in special be all the more present.

His clothing, however, was plain and nothing too great. A gray long sleeve shirt, brown leather gloves, pants and boots. A silver belt holding the pants in their place and a chestplate that had one strange looking symbol, probably some sort of rune, engraved on it. Thinking back about it Spike remembered Dainn never wore anything fancy or royal, except for his chestplate that almost always showed a different rune or symbol.

This is the fucking bastard that turned my home into a living nightmare, the same asshole that his word is law, that can get anything and any female he wants with just a single command. The alpha male, the caribou king, the bringer of the Fall and the beacon of ‘Male Superiority’. And he dares to try be seen as a humble ruler!? Spike thought angrily almost losing his cool for a moment. He quickly kneeled in front of Dainn once again, just to ease his rage and calm himself down a bit. He just had to endure for a while longer and wait for the perfect moment to strike the insane caribou down.

“There’s no need to kneel, Spike, get up,” Dainn commanded.

Spike obeyed, barely containing the urge to leap at him.

“Do you have any idea why I summoned you, Spike?” Dainn asked in a neutral tone.

“W-well, your majesty, I’d like to think it’s because you took notice of my expertise and perhaps are in need of my services? Unless, of course, I did something to offend you greatly, my king.”

Dainn chuckled a bit. “A little of both, actually.”

Confusion and worry washed over his entire body, his mind racing back and forth if he had screwed up something on the last four months, excluding this morning of course. Dainn clapped a couple of times before one of the guards left the room in haste. A minute later the same guard returned followed by six females, two red collar earth pony mares carrying another throne similar to Dainn’s throne, minus the horns, on their backs. The other four were red collars as well, two zebras and two pegasi. They didn’t had any sort of bondage gear on them or vibrators, they were also very clean, looking like they just came from a long bath. They were also incredibly beautiful, curvy, with big breasts and perfectly kept manes, all of them had silver piercings on their nipples and clits.

The mares carrying the throne made their way a good two feet past Dainn, the other four got up for a second just to pick the throne up and lower it to the ground. Once their task was done the two earth pony mares crawled their way to a nearby corner. The other four crawled their way behind both thrones, a zebra and a pegasus for each one.

“Come, sit by my side.”

Spike gave a slight nod before making his way to his seat next to Dainn. Once he sat he moved his tail behind him a couple of times, his action seemingly oblivious. So, he’s far enough for even my tail to reach, eh? Smart bastard.

Suddenly he felt his throne turn to the right slightly, a moment later he was face to face with Dainn again, the females at their left and the burning fireplace on their right. Dainn pressed his back against his throne and let out a relieved sigh.

“Spike, do you know why I let you keep that castle?”

“Is it because of my past in Ponyville, my king?”

“Exactly. But also because I hoped for you to become another I could rely on. Like Shining Armor, Discord and Blueblood,” Dainn smiled a little. “And I’m happy to see you finally taking the road I had foreseen.”

“What do you mean by that…...my lord?” Spike asked, his voice low and confused but his heart dreading the answer.

“I mean that it took you some time, a bit longer than I had hoped actually, but you’re finally acting like a true male. That and I’m so very surprised to see your rapid growth and success, you have become exactly what I had expected of you.”

Spike’s mind went blank, his rage, his plans and his hope kille by one single sentence.

I…..I’ve been doing what he wants from me……..All those mares…...all of them…….all I’ve done…..for nothing? Spike thought as desperation began to climb up his spine.

Dainn closed his eyes and let out a happy chuckle at Spike’s apparent shock. “Keep it up and I will need you at my side in the near future.”

That brought him back in an instant.

NO! I can still do it! Just you wait, Dainn, just you wait, he thought as a smile formed on his lips.

“Although,” Dainn said now in a more serious tone. “I’ve heard rumors about your ‘peculiar’ means to treat those worthless females, specially your black collar collection,” Dainn leaned forward a bit resting his arms against the armrests of his throne. “I’m displeased about that, but I will look at it with blind eyes just this once, since the results you provide speak for themselves. Tell me, what is your secret?”

Spike took a deep breath, both in relief and to calm down his nerves. There was still hope, his original plan was back in action. All he had to do was wait for the perfect moment. No matter what you throw at me I can take it, Dainn. Seeing you die is all I want. Bring it on, you son of a thousand Nightmares.

“Confidence,” Spike answered making Dainn raise an eyebrow. “I let those fucking sluts believe I’m their friend or something close enough to it. I give them extra rations, some liberties and make their work less heavy. Suddenly they think I’m ‘protecting’ them and in return they obey me almost without question. HA! That only shows how stupid females really are if you ask me!”

Dainn burst out laughing making Spike laugh even harder, even the guards at the door were chuckling a bit. A few moments later the laughter died down.

“Ah ha ha ha! That’s a good one, Spike!” Dainn said wiping a tear. “But that is foolish of you, too.”

“Yes, my king, I know its a double edged sword, but hey, I’m a dragon so I have little room to worry about that anyway,” Spike chuckled for a second before collecting himself. “I beg forgiveness, my liege. I’m speaking to you like I would to one of my friends, a simple commoner compared to you, my lordship.”

“Pay it no heed, Spike, for if I am to need you in the future you must consider me not only as your king, but as your friend, too,” Dainn said leaning back against his throne once more. “But now that you mention it, I’ve been wondering something about you.”

“What do you wish to know, my king?”

“Why are you always naked?” Dainn asked with sincere interest looking up and down at the dragon in front of him.

Spike remained silent for a few moments before getting up.

“Why should I bother wearing clothes or anything at all, my king? I do wear suits from time to time for certain events but other than that, I’ve always been naked, even before you blessed us with your grace and opened our eyes with your light.”

Dainn kept silent, watching as Spike took a step forward before showing off his biceps and triceps. Even Dainn was surprised to see the scales move to form very powerful and ripped muscles below their purple shimmer.

“I may not look like it but I’m just as strong, if not stronger than any minotaur, earth pony…..or caribou, except for yourself, of course, my king,” he then presented his claws. “My claws are like swords,” then his tail. “My tail a whip,” next he rose up a leg, showing his feet and his talons. “My feet can crush almost anything like hammers,” then he bared his fangs. “My fangs razor sharp spears!” he said excitedly. “My fire scourging like the fires of Tartarus itself!”

Finally he sat again on his throne, pounding his chest with bravado. “And my scales sturdier and tougher than any armor, almost like diamonds!” Spike said huffing out a small strand of green fire. “So, as you can see my king, I don’t have to worry about many things, much less any sort of *snicker* threat those worthless sows can dish out, and they know it.” Spike leaned back on his throne, trying to look intimidating, if only a little. “I can also eat practically anything, hold my breath for hours, poison does nothing to me, swim in lava and no matter how much I drink I can’t get drunk. So, yeah, dragon.”

“You don’t …..say,” Dainn said slowly, impressed by the words of Spike. “I’ve never met a dragon before, except those two that lived in the Everfree. That abomination of a male serpent,” Dainn hissed with hate. “that dark blotch of nature and stain to male superiority fled to the deeper parts of the forest. I wish only the most painful and humiliating of deaths upon it.” Dainn took a few seconds to calm himself again.

“The other dragon was a true male, such a shame he died protecting his impressive hoard inside his cave,” Spike opened his eyes in surprise. “But I guess being so big inside such limited space gave my troops the advantage, he did kill several squads of my soldiers but in the end he died,” Dainn eyed Spike’s crotch for a moment. “What about your malehood?”

Spike shook his head a few times before answering. “Hidden safely behind my scales alongside my testicles,” he patted his hidden pouch a couple of times just to make emphasis.

“Alright then,” Dainn said neutrally. “Spike, I-”

“Hey Danny!”

“WAAHHHH!!!!!” Spike jumped from his seat the moment a new voice almost shouted next to him. He fell backwards pulling his throne with him and, ironically, the owner of the voice too.

“Discord,” Dainn pressed his temples with his hands whispering the name in an annoyed tone. “How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?” Dainn said while Discord picked himself and Spike from the ground.

“Five hundred and fifty one, but hey, who’s counting?” Discord said casually, dusting himself off and Spike, while his long tail picked the throne back up as well. “So, Danny, whatcha doin’ with Spikester here?”

“D-don’t call me th-that, Discord! You almost g-gave me a heart attack!” Spike shouted angrily at the draconequus, who in turn paid him no mind.

“We are trying to have a very important talk, so please tell me, what do you want this time?” Dainn said back in his neutral, yet slightly annoyed tone.

“Just returning the bitch you lent me, Danny,” Discord snapped his fingers before a flash of light appeared to their left and near the fireplace, a second later a panting, crying and cum covered princess Luna appeared with a loud thud hitting the floor. “The slut won first place, blue ribbon!” Discord snapped his fingers again letting a cum drenched blue ribbon with a golden bold number one on its center landed on Luna’s face.

Discord crossed his arms and huffed angrily. “I still think my dearest Flutterslut should be able to participate, but alas, she’s my sweet little red pet. And those assholes only accept black ones. Foul play I say! They must be getting paid below the tables.”

“How nice,” Dainn said unamused. “At least have the de--No, you know what, forget I said anything,” Dainn snapped his fingers, moments later two red collar diamond dog bitches entered the room and picked up Luna carelessly, licking as much cum as they could while taking her out of the room.

“Discord, could you please leave? Don’t you have something better to do?”

“Mmmmm, now that you mention it, I do. I gotta take Flutterslut to her new photo session! Today’s the turn of the cockatrice! Danny, Spikester, cya later!” Discord said before opening an air-door, he stepped in but before he closed it his head popped out again. “And congratulations, Spikester. You’re finally gonna be one of us!” and then he vanished from existence once more.
“One of this days I’m going to go crazy or kill him, probably both,” Dainn said letting out a loud sigh. “But he’s reliable and I know I can trust him.”

“My king, forgive me for saying this but…..trust Discord?” Spike questioned finally back in his throne and his heart returned to its normal rate.

“I know it sounds unlikely, but believe my words, I can trust him.”

Spike knew Dainn was hiding something but decided to not press it further, he could figure it out later. Once you’re dead, fucker.

A long minute of silence followed before the doors of the room opened once again, this time entered a minotaur cow pulling two upside down ‘V’ shaped objects. The objects were small, probably half his own size, they had a pair of handcuffs held at the same level, half way through each side, a small chain connecting them to the object. There was also a larger handcuff, clearly destined to hold something bigger than arms or wrists, directly attached to the object right where the two sides met up top.

Spike recognized the objects instantly, ‘Living Tables’. Behind the minotaur cow and actual cow was carrying two average sized dildos, two leather blindfolds and two plates attached to a long, dick shaped handle. One of the plates was holding a bottle of wine while the other held two gold cups.

The minotauress stopped while the pegasi mares, up until now sitting quietly at their left, got up and unlocked the chains carrying the mobile Living Tables. Each positioned one of them at either side of Dainn and Spike. A guard with great antlers approached before using his magic two lock the tables to the ground. Then the zebra mares got up and walked to each of the tables and, with the help of the pegasi mares, turned upside down themselves spreading their legs as much as they could above them.

The pegasi mares worked fast to secure the middle handcuff around the zebras stomach. Once secure the zebras lowered their legs expertly, effectively exposing themselves completely while their tails hung behind them motionless. The pegasi mares instantly took hold of their legs and secured them to the lower handcuffs at either side with ease. Next they took the dildos the cow was carrying, they licked the tips a couple of times, kneeled down and gently, but quickly, gagged the zebras.

The dildos had two small chains falling from each side of their bases, the pegasi mares took them to fasten the dildos. The zebras gagged and squirmed for a few seconds before their breathing turned calm and slow. Next they blindfolded the zebras and finally they took the plates. Then, without care, both pegasi shoved the caribou penis shaped handles deep inside their pussies. Spike, for once, was glad the zebras were the kind of females trained to become wet in seconds, or else they would’ve done the opposite of letting out a loud gagged moan of pleasure.

Spike saw Dainn take both cups and the bottle of wine just as the pegasi mares returned to their posts, while the minotauress and the cow crawled out of the room.

“Guards,” Dainn said handing over a cup of wine to Spike. “Leave us.”

Yes…..

“But, my king!” one of the guards protested.

“I said, leave us,” Dain repeated in a neutral tone.

Yes. Yes. YES! Leave me alone with him, you fuckers!

“.....As you command, my king,” the guard said before signaling the rest of the guard to leave, the doors opened again letting the guards inside to walk out, the doors closed again, there was a clicking noise and then only the sounds of the burning fire were heard.

“Before we begin, a toast!” Dainn rose his cup. “For male superiority.”

“For male superiority,” Spike said leaning in a little to cling cups with Dainn. The caribou king gulped down the wine in one long drink. But Spike drank his slowly, his eyes scanning the room further.

This is it, I’m alone with the king of fuckers himself, now I only have to wait for the perfect moment. Dainn, by claw, fang or fire, you will die today. I swear it on what little is left of my honor, Spike thought happily before gulping down the rest of his wine in one go.

*Half an hour and eight bottles of wine later*

The door closed for the ninth in thirty minutes, a crystal pony mare crawling in every few minutes bringing a new bottle of wine for the two thirsty males inside.

After the first bottle Dainn began to talk of his multiple sons, the state of the kingdom and some minor projects and improvements he had in mind. Spike, on the other hand, listened attentively while giving his opinion every time Dainn asked for it. He had even been bold enough to ask Dainn what was the situation with the rebels and the more ‘organized’ resistance. His answer was clear and truthful, simply stating they were becoming a pain but one that would, in time, be eradicated. That made him smile inwardly.

Spike did found strange, however, that Dainn had not once mentioned his conquest over the alicorn princesses and especially over Celestia, it was no secret he enjoyed to swank how Celestia made for the perfect pet, the only one in the same level as Cadance. He had never heard him personally, but just by listening to what the elite said during parties was more than enough.

Where is she? Spike thought as the fact that he had yet to see even a glimpse of his mother finally dawned him.

The doors opened again, this time four caribou doe walked in carrying a large cage with a now clean, but chained and gagged, Luna inside it. Spike followed with his eyes the captive princess, their eyes meeting for a few short moments. Moments Luna used to transmit all her hate and disappointment she could. Spike gave her a sly and mockful smile, even if inside he felt like crying. He had spent little to no time with his aunt and he was, at first, scared of her being Nightmare Moon in disguise. But after he first visit to Ponyville everything changed, they spent little time together, yes, but they cared for the other deeply. A strange sympathy formed between them, driven by the same reason of feeling so different and out of place, even around their loved ones.

It was hardly worth calling it a family bond, but they were without a doubt friends.

“Nice bitch you have there, I can easily see she has gone under a lot of augmentations and other treatments, my king,” Spike said turning to face Dainn again as the four caribou left the cage a meter or two beside the right side of the fireplace, a perfect view of her bounded form to be glanced at for the enjoyment of Dainn and Spike. “I thought both slut sisters were your personal pets, my king, where is that other lowly whorse?”

“Nearby,” Dainn said plainly as the doors closed. “I think I’ve had enough wine as it is,” Dainn said placing his cup on the plate at his left, albeit a bit shakily. He looked up at the dragon once more, almost like scanning him. “You really can’t get drunk?” he asked after a few moments.

“No, my liege. I’ve tried a couple of times,” Spike said serving himself another cup of wine. “I can drink as much as I desire, taste and enjoy it immensely without the worry of having a hangover, much to the envy of my friends,” Spike told taking a slight sip of wine. Suddenly he felt a sudden urge making him smile uncomfortably. “Although, I still need to use the washroom after drinking so much, and I’m terribly sorry for asking, but may I be excused for a moment, my king?”

Dainn laughed a little before coughing a few times. “That won’t be necessary, Spike,” he clapped his two times in quick succession making the two earth pony mares crawl their way next to the Living Table holding the cup salver. Dainn used his magic to unlock it, then the mares used their mouths to pull the table away, just a couple of meters. Using his magic again Dainn turned the thrones to face the fireplace, a moment later the mares returned crawling in front of their crotches. The mare in front of Dainn quickly began to use her mouth to open his pants.

Spike’s stomach did a summersault knowing what was about to happen. He gave a quick glance to the mare in front of him waiting for his order to proceed. Clenching his hidden right hand he nodded, signaling the mare to move forward. As the mare began to lick the zone just above his hidden member he glanced to Dainn again.

The mare had succeeded to free his penis from the confinement of his pants and was licking the tip slightly. She was blushing madly and breathing rapidly, then she moved her head just a bit back holding the tip of Dainn’s cock tenderly with her lips. She closed her eyes and a second later she began to drink the piss of Dainn, moaning contently as she did so. Dainn, for his part, only had his eyes close enjoying emptying the content of his bladder into the mare’s mouth and stomach.

Spike felt his own penis come out of its cave, his shaft almost completely red, except for the tip that was more rounded and was purple colored, almost as thick as a normal pony and barely just as long. He saw the mare make a similar expression as the one tending to Dainn, just less excited. She took the tip of his shaft inside her mouth with grace and closed her eyes. Soon he closed his own eyes.

Whoever you are, please, forgive me, Spike thought before freeing his own bladder juice into the mouth of the eager mare. Each loud gulp she and the other mare made feeling like a scale being tear from his body.

Moments later he was done, the mare gave his tip a few licks and a long hungry suck before freeing his shaft.

“What do you think you’re doing, slut?” Dainn asked making Spike glance at his side again. He saw the mare in question still had the tip of his shaft inside of her mouth and by the looks of it, she was trying hard to get more of it inside.

The mare let go instantly, fear and desire mixed in her voice as she spoke. “P-p-please forgive this worthless cunt, master. But after smelling your magnificent and tasting your divine flavor I long for more! Please, master, fuck my face, force your mighty dick down my throat.I beg you, show me what a lowly cunt is only worth for!” the mare cried out watching hungrily the raising cock before her.

“You stupid slut, you worthless pile of shit!” Dainn shouted before slapping the mare so hard it sent her straight to the floor. The mare only cried out a little in protest. “You’re nothing but a dirt eating mud bitch, even drinking my urine is too good for you. You should be thankful for such a blessing, but instead you try to feed on my cum!?” Dainn shouted enraged.

The mare used her hands to kneel again as best as she could, she coughed and spitted blood over herself, two or three of her teeth coming out. She looked up to Dainn with tears in her eyes and a wide smile on her face.

“Yes, Master! Hit me more! Punish this no value whorse, place her below your might where I belong!” the mare begged as she crawled to Dainn’s crotch again.

Dainn eyed the mare for a moment before smiling. He used the same hand he had slapped her with to pet her tenderly, she in return opened her mouth as wide as she could, showing the fresh blood inside it to Dainn. Suddenly Dainn grabbed her by the back of her head and shoved his entire erect shaft deep into the throat of the mare.

Dainn kept her like that for about twenty seconds, the mare twitching as she fought to breathe again. As suddenly as he shoved her in he pulled her out, allowing her to breathe once more. The mare took several long gulps of air before her throat was filled with cock once again. Dainn repeated the motion a couple of times before he really started to fuck her face hard and loud. The mare let the caribou king move her head as he pleased, she just limited to gag, slurp, suck and breathe as often as she could, doing her best to milk him dry.

Spike just stared silently, it wasn’t the first time he had seen this scene before. It happened quite often everywhere. Harald, the captain of the guard of Ponyville, was particularly found of this same activity, specially when he used his three favorite pets. Daisy, Lily and Rose, the once known ‘Horror Trio’ sisters. The same trio he had trained personally to act just like that poor lost mare.

Spike’s own dick was rock hard, as much as it disgusted him it was impossible not to be, the heavy mare musk that was practically suffocating him being responsible for the all too familiar reaction. Soon enough, much to Spike’s anger, Dainn had stopped while the mare did the motions herself. The process continued for several minutes, the mare in front of him plunging her fingers deep inside her pussy, just as the two pegasi behind the thrones. After what felt like forever Dainn used his hand to keep the mare’s face glued to his crotch as he came. Once he was done the mare slowly let go of his dick, covered in blood and cum. The mare opened her mouth, showing her prize while moaning like a bitch in heat.

She chewed and tasted the blood stained cum inside her mouth with gusto until she swallowed it all slowly. She moved forward again, taking the limp hanging dick of Dainn inside her mouth once more, this time to clean it free from her blood and his cum. Once she was done she ended her service with a kiss to the tip of his cock, the usual sign of gratitude given in thanks to their masters, owners or any male that happened to use them at the moment.

“So that’s how your malehood looks like, certainly not as strange as the rumors stated,” Dainn smirked. “Guard,” he called before the doors opened again. The same guard as before entered the room with haste. Dainn waved his left hand once and the guard knelt at his side, whispering something to his ear. “Carry on,” Dainn finally said making the guard got up, shot a deep glare to Spike, grabbed the mare in front of Dainn by her mane and then turned to leave the room once more, dragging the mare behind him effortlessly. The other mare crawled back to the corner silently.

The doors closed and a few seconds later a deep green aura covered them. Spike looked at Dainn with some confusion, yet the fire inside him burned like molten lava at the possible opportunity.

“Now that we’re alone and no one can hear, my dear Spike, can you please answer me something?” Dainn asked using his magic to be face to face again, uncaring of his exposed junk.

“Anything, my lordship,” Spike answered before taking a sip of his, up until now, forgotten cup of wine. Now, all that’s left is for me to get close enough to wrap my finger around his filthy neck. I can pounce him now…….but I don’t want to give the fucker even the slightest chance to survive.

“Are you loyal to me and only me, Spike?”

“Yes, my king, I am your most faithful servant!” Spike answered eagerly.

Just hold on a little longer, Spike. Everything will be over soon, don’t screw this up.

“Would you lie to me?” Dainn asked in a more serious tone.

“Never! I prefer death before disgracing you, my king.”

Dainn leaned back in his throne, silently looking at the fireplace.

Come on, say what you want to say already! Let me kill you, grant me the pleasure to see the life escape from your wicked eyes. Let me maim you, Dainn! Spike screamed inside his head, the cup he was holding shaking lightly.

“Spike,” Dainn began after what felt like ages. “The reason I summoned you is to test your abilities as a mare handler, but also to discern or prove a rather important information related to you,” Dainn got up and walked until he was exactly in front of the fireplace. “You see, I made a small mistake, an error I did not calculate when I brought the glorious truth of male superiority to the Crystal Empire and Equestria. There was something I…….didn’t know,” he turned to face the dragon once again.

“Up until two days ago I was ignorant of this fact one of my scribes found, later on Blueblood was able to find more information and confirm the validity of said document,” Dainn took a step forward. “A very well kept secret, involving you, Spike,” he said in a low icy cold tone.

The sound of a golden cup hitting the pristine marble floor echoed around the room.

No...….No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! FUCK NO! How!? How did he found out!? Spike shouted inside his head, his body trembling with fear. How!? What fucking document is that bastard talking about!? Nopony knew anything about it beside the princesses and me! Not even Cadance, Twilight or Blueblood knew! There’s suppose to be no other evidence linking me---......The Proclamation, Spike opened his mouth in shock, remembering the only official paper that stated him as-

“Or perhaps I should call you Spike Solaris?” Dainn asked in that same icy tone.

Now’s your chance, you idiot! Kill the fucker now! Spike shouted to himself internally but his body didn’t move, he wanted to do it but he knew everything was lost. Dainn was more than likely waiting for him to strike. There was no way he could pull off his attack now, he was going to die without taking Dainn with him. Meaning that Twilight and the rest of the females living under his care would suffer a fate he did not dare to imagine.

NO! I can still do it! Spike thought as he got up shakily from his throne. I can use this at my advantage, he thought grimly and feeling nauseous. Then he dropped to his knees in front of Dainn, his forehead hitting the ground loudly as his arms reached for the legs of Dainn.

“Please forgive me, my king! I-It was a secret since the day of my hatching!” Spike yelled to the ground. “I don’t know w-why that b-b-bitch did it, but after your arrival I was ashamed to admit I was related to t-that slut of Celestia in any way. The pain of calling that whorse my mother is greater than anything in the world, that’s why I n-never said a word, for I was afraid of your anger and distrust!”

Just a little more, just a few inches more! Spike continued to yell as he slowly advanced to Dainn until his hands reached the exposed part of his legs, just above his hooves.

Then he pressed his claws hard against his skin, trying to incapacitate him but, to his absolute horror, his claws didn’t pierce through the coat of Dainn. His coat is harder than my scales….. Spike thought direly, knowing that if the rest of his coat was as strong then not even his fangs would do any damage. He remained unmoving, letting his crying continue for almost a minute then he spoke again. “Please, forgive me, my liege!” Spike begged looking up to Dainn as best as he could, tears falling freely from his eyes.

I...failed.

Spike saw directly into the eyes of Dainn with great pain, guilt and sadness. There was no hope left.

Dainn smiled at the dragon. “Rise, Spike,” he ordered offering a hand to Spike. Spike took it hesitantly, his body and mind seemingly in auto-pilot.

“I understand your distraught, my boy, even I am ashamed to admit a lowly female gave birth to me. But if you look it in the proper way, its just nature itself acknowledging our might. Producing more worthy, strong and capable males is the only real use females have,” Dainn placed both of his hands over Spike’s shoulders.

“But I can’t imagine your grief, the humiliation you had to endure calling Celestia ‘mother’,” Dainn whistled before letting go of Spike, walking past him. “That’s why, today, you may have your revenge,” Dainn said as Celestia came crawling out below his bed.

Spike watched stunned as Celestia, his caring and always loving adoptive mother, stood up with a slight blush and a happy dumb smile.

“Come, stand by my side, Spike,” Dainn said.

Spike walked slowly and with heavy steps until he was at Dainn’s right side, his eyes never leaving the figure of Celestia.

Dainn took a step back and used his magic to bring his throne to him, the two pegasi mares crawling behind it. Sitting down on his throne again the two pegasi mares crawled until they were in front of him and his exposed phallus.

“Go ahead, ravage that slut as you wish, make your justice against the worthless bitch that dared to humiliate you for so long, just like that purple whorse back in your castle.”

“I-I….I c-can’t….” Spike whispered, his mind turning into a complete mess. “S-s-she….she’s your trophy, my king, I’m n-not worthy,” he managed to say before Celestia began to take slow steps towards him.

As Celestia approached, Spike couldn’t help but notice that her mane and tail were sparkly clean, just like her groomed coat that looked as white as clouds, promising to be just as soft and tender. Her borderline perfect hourglass figure was the envy of almost every mare in Equestria and the source of lewd dreams of stallions everywhere. Her breast big and marvelous, just like two delicious marshmallows ready to be enjoyed, her peachy pink nipples drawing attention to them due to their perky perfection.

Her stomach flat yet slightly muscular, proof that her inner muscles were powerful, ready to bring joy to her master. The way she swayed her hips was nothing short of hypnotic, showing just second long blurs of the pussy between her long, slender, beautiful legs. The red collar around her neck added some sort of kinky contrast, just like the wing sheaths on her back or her cutie mark.

Once she was standing in front of him, Spike focused on her face for a moment, her magenta eyes eyeing him almost like begging to be used as he desired. Her ears folded against her head shily. She was even wearing some make up over her eyelids in a light red tone, just enough to notice it making a charming contrast with her horn stump. And her lips painted with a gorgeous shade of pink, making them even more appealing and irresistible than they already were.

All in all, Celestia was beautiful in every way of the word. Seeing her this up-close after almost three years made Spike realize why Dainn didn’t allow anyone, but himself, to touch such a beacon of beauty and perfection.

“Choosing someone worthy or not falls directly into my jurisdiction alone. If I say you’re worthy, then you’re worthy, Spike. Now, go and experience what just a select few have enjoyed and make your justice upon my favorite cunt pet,” Dainn said clapping two times.

“Spike,” Celestia said with that same soft, gentle and graceful voice, taking another step closer to Spike and wrapping her fingers around his erection softly with one hand. “My strong, powerful son,” she sighed contently. “Leaving my stupid, ignorant and misleading self behind I even forgot about you. Master is so generous to give me this chance,” she leaned in giving a quick loving lick across his left cheek. “I was so blind before. Believing I was capable of thinking or using my empty mare brain to do anything besides what I was born to do,” she gave him another lick.

“My rebel sister, your aunt, is really stupid,” Celestia shot a disappointed glance at the cage her sister was in, just to a little behind to her right. “It’s so simple to be a mare….a female,” she said starting to jerk off Spike, while he, in turn, was frozen in his place.

“If only she could realize just how worthless mare kind truly is she would be happy…..content,” Celestia gave Spike a long lick along his trembling neck. “You taste so good, my wonderful son,” she whispered to his ear making his dick twitch in her hand. “Master blessed us all, showing us the light and freeing us from the dark ignorance we were trapped in. A female is meant to think with her cunt. So simple, just suck, fuck and serve our male masters, no matter who or what they are,” Celestia gave Spike a light peck on his lips, nothing but the whisper of a kiss.

“I had so many plans, for your pet bitch, for those useless cunts she called friends and for you, my magnificent son. But I did so much wrong to you. Me, a stupid mare cunt that is lower than the dirt you walk over. I beg you, punish and abuse me just like Master does. Show this once so called princess they joys of being raped by her son.”

Celestia ended her speech by planting a hard kiss on his lips, her tongue instantly finding his own, licking and sucking everything his mouth had to offer with her own. The loving hand around his cock gripping him harder while her pace remained slow and steady.

Spike simply let Celestia suck and please his tongue and cock. As Celestia did her work with her mouth and hand, both of Spike’s hands slowly rose behind her shaking uncontrollably.

From inside her cage Luna stared as Celestia continued to do her work on Spike, her eyes glanced at Dainn for a moment, he was smiling excitedly and his eyes were glued to the alicorn and the dragon, while the two pegasi caressed, massaged, lick and kiss his erect dick and balls tenderly and eagerly. Returning to the two figures standing before Dainn she saw Spike slowly lift up his trembling arms behind her sister. Then she focused on the only visible eye of the dragon.

It was wide open, unblinking. His small slit pupil resembling a thin line, seemingly devoid of life. She saw Spike wrap his arms around Celestia, tightly pressing her against him while he began to kiss the sun princess hungrily. Luna felt her stomach revolt with revulsion at the sight and the heavy sounds of slurping and moaning. A sight that was beginning to last more than what she expected. After a few more seconds Celestia began to twitch, the hand over the dragon’s cock slowing down while her free hand pressed against the body of the dragon somewhere. But no matter how much she moaned or twitched and trembled, Spike didn’t let go of her, he was, in fact, pressing harder.

Her eyes suddenly went wide.

I failed, I failed. Like I always do! Why must I be damn useless!? But if I can’t take Dainn with me then at the very least I’m going to end your torture, mom! You won’t touch her again, you fucking asshole! Spike shouted inside his head, pressing Celestia against him even harder, slowly suffocating her.

Dainn sat still in his throne, the smile on his face growing at the show Spike was giving him.

Spike deepened the kiss, plunging his tongue all the way inside Celestia’s throat effectively blocking her air duct. He felt the hand on his cock losing its grip when he casted a glance at Luna, she was looking up at him, her eyes wide with tears falling slowly across her cheeks.

Luna closed her eyes, slowly nodding, understanding what he was trying to do and that he wasn’t one of them. Happiness erupted from her heart, there were those that still fought against Dainn, his madness and the caribou. A sudden gasp of air made her snap open her eyes again, the tears were blurring the image, but she was able to see Celestia holding herself against Spike taking long breaths of air. And Spike holding her close as tears fell from his now normal looking eyes.

I…..I’m pathetic……. Spike thought regretfully, he was just seconds away from completing his small victory over Dainn when, looking at his aunt, he remembered Twilight, the females in the castle, Cheerilee and Zecora, his friends and all those who had any relation with him. What would Dainn do to them if he killed Celestia and died there and then? A simple question that betrayed him. He eased the hold around Celestia just enough to let her slip a little, her head suddenly resting against his right shoulder. He looked at Luna again, an apologetic look in his eyes. He saw her blink slowly again, almost like understanding him.

Spike snarled angrily feeling a great wetness against his crotch and legs.

“W-who gave you permission to cum, bitch!?” Spike asked angrily while his hands moved to Celestia’s butt, each hand squeezing and holding a buttock hard, spreading her ever so slightly making Celestia let out a depraved moan. He squeeze her even harder yet his claws never penetrated her coat. A momentarily realization hit him across the face before picking Celestia up and carrying her to the bed. Without any gentleness he tossed her on the bed, quickly climbing on top of her while using his hands to hold her arms in place above her head, meanwhile his legs spread hers wide.

“You worthless sow!” Spike shouted impaling his phallus inside her pussy in a single thrust. “You fucking useless whorse! Using me as your personal mail system, degrading me to be your so called ‘son in the shadows’, saying it was for my good when you treated me like a living joke!” he shouted angrily at Celestia’s face while his hips slammed constantly against her own, creating loud slaps of wet coat hitting his scales each time they met.

“Now look at you, moaning and crying out like a bitch in heat while your ‘son’ rapes your loose snatch!” Spike was fucking Celestia hard and fast, trying to get off as fast as he could while doing his best to ignore her moans, screams of pleasure and begs for him to go faster and harder, to hit her and make her scream for his delight.

Hot grief filled tears fell from his eyes and onto her face. He felt a hole form inside his stomach, urging him to vomit and he would have, if not for all the practice he already had suppressing that same feeling. Yet he couldn’t help but notice just how warm, tight, wet and soft her insides were and not only that, her muscle control was outstanding. Her pussy turning into a vice-like grip when he pulled out only to transform into a velvety softness that massaged his dick softly when he entered.

Not even Twilight, who was considered a national example of how a female should be like, could compare to the mastery his adoptive mother was showing to him first hand. She was without a doubt, thanks to his female handler abilities, the best female he had ever fucked. A fact that made him increase his pace, desperate to end even faster, uncaring for anything else around him.

Soon enough he came, forced to do so deep inside thanks to Celestia’s legs wrapping around him at the last moment. He roared letting a short stream of green fire leave his mouth upward. Once his climax ended he used his hands to push himself away from Celestia and the bed, he landed on the floor as he panted heavily. Looking to Celestia again he saw her breathing heavily and slowly sitting on the bed. She had her eyes half closed when she saw him with a big content smile on her face.

Looking a bit down Spike saw his own cum oozing out the pussy of the one he saw as his mother, it was a total mess. He saw Celestia guide one of her hands to her crotch, take a good amount of the cum flowing out of her marehood and then slowly eat it. She practically purred as she gulped bit by bit the cum of Spike, clearly enjoying the flavor immensely. Once there was no more of his cum to feed on she licked her lips soundly.

“To think I could’ve enjoy your taste long before, my strong and proud son-master, such a misguided fool I was,” Celestia said ending with an adorable giggle.

Spike was still trying to catch his breath when he glanced at Dainn, who was smiling like a fool at him. The two pegasi mares cleaning his cock, and their faces, of cum.

“You still have much more to avenge, Spike, don’t stop until that bitch can’t walk anymore. Show my pet the might of male superiority,” Dainn ordered, grabbing the breasts of one of the pegasi mares, pulling her up uncaring of her yelp of pain and placing his dick between her ample chest.

Spike gritted his fangs and got up, walking toward Celestia once again.

Please, forgive me.

-----------------------------------------------************************************************

*Ponyville-Outside the Castle of Spike- 10:12 P.M.*

Spike was making his way to the entrance of his castle, his pace slow and collected. He took notice of a caribou guard standing just outside the doors, the caribou had to taken notice of him as well, since he began walking toward him. Spike didn’t stop as the guard reached him, saluting him quickly.

“Lord Spike,” the guard began. “Captain Harald wishes to express his utmost sincere apology for losing another shipment of sluts, especially those belonging to you, and wishes to repay you entirely.”

Spike grunted in acknowledgment. “How?”

“It was those blasted rebels again, my lord. They took every single one of those sluts and killed most of our guards, those that weren’t killed were taken prisoners or worse,” the guard said with a heavy taint of hate on his voice.

“Humph, matters not, those whores were beyond repair anyways. Tell Harald he has to pay me just half the amount, he lost valuable soldiers and will need to replace them.”

“Your generosity will be much appreciated, as always, my lord,” the guard saluted again before walking away.

Spike reached down to his left ‘pouch’ and pulled up a golden key. Moments later he was in front the doors of his castle and soon opened them. Once inside he locked the doors again, continuing his aimless walk knowing Twilight was taking care of the majority of his pets and sluts on training in the basement. A few minutes later he passed through the east wing of the castle, used to house his tamed black collar pets. He heard murmurs come out of the room and stopped, making his way slowly to hear what they were saying better.

“-mpt to escape? There aren’t any guards and that traitor can’t be everywhere at the same time,” said one gentle voice.

“We already told you, Hard Stump, there’s no use. This castle is in the middle of the town, the garrison is just a few blocks away, there are guards on every street,” another more mature and tired voice said.

“Not to mention the Everfree blocks one path, the farm another, Canterlot is just a couple hours away and we are wearing these,” the clunking noise of a collar reached him. “As long as we wear them we can’t even leave the castle without Spike himself or harm that fucking traitor of a princess. To think I was afraid of princess Luna, when she’s the only one that didn’t betray us,” a more bubbly voice said,many other females agreeing with her. “And do you really want to give up what we have here?” silence was her answer.

“I…...I want to thank master Spike for being so kind to me,” a young voice, no doubt a filly, said. “He gives me lots of kibble and water and he doesn’t…... put anything weird inside me, like that other old stallion did,” the filly said in an almost shaky voice.

“It ain’t perfect, but at least if we behave, do our jobs and keep our mouths shut we can live a pretty good life here,” another female said tiredly.

“You call this life?” said an angry griffoness. “If I could get this motherfucking collar off I would gladly start killing all of those fucking assholes,” she said spitefully.

“But at least we’re safe here, Merida, or do you want to return to the public stocks?” another female said in a cold tone, the gryphoness didn’t answer. “Be happy with what we get here under the care of Spike, most would give an arm to be on our place.”

“To think he was used to be that sweet dragon boy before the Fall, eh Blossomforth?” said another female.

“Yeah, you said it Carrot Top…...heh, a month before the invasion I was actually planning to ask him out on a date, and now I’m just part of his collection after he dragged me out of the public stocks, alongside many of us here, ain’t that hilarious?” Blossomforth said without sympathy. A sudden collective gasp made Blossomforth look back and her blood turn into ice.

“M-m-master…..g-g-g-goodnight,” she manage to stammer as the dragon looked down at her with indifference, and the rest of the females inside the vast room, most of them sitting in shock on their pony sized dog beds. She knew Spike was a good master but when angered or provoked he could be quite brutal, sometimes even more than the caribou. She trembled in fear and closed her eyes the moment he began walking towards her.

Spike knelt in front of her before petting her head tenderly. Blossomforth looked up and with a bit of confidence opened her eyes meeting that same indifferent look.

“Come with me,” he said in a neutral tone before getting up. Blossomforth got up and followed the dragon, expecting only the worst. She followed him across half the castle until they reached his room. “Wait here,” he commanded before entering his room.

A few minutes later he came out with a letter in hand.

“Give it to my top bitch when she’s done with her chores,” Spike said simply handing Blossomforth the letter as he walked past her.

“M-master, I-I’m sorry, please, forgive me,” Blossomforth said on the verge of tears.

“Bitch,” he said in almost a whisper stopping for an instant. “did you do all your chores and duties today?”

“Y-yes, Master.”

“Then do what I just told you to do and then go to sleep, understood?” he said before continuing his walk.

“Yes, Master!” Blossomforth said, silently grateful he hadn’t heard her. Or so she thought. She turned to leave and went on the opposite direction to where Spike was heading.

*Half an hour later- Main border with the Everfree Forest-*

“Is that Lord Spike?” a caribou said to his partner.

“I think so,” the other caribou answered while the dragon in question approached them silently. “Halt, Lord Spike.”

“Is there a problem, guards?”

The first caribou shook his head. “No, my lord. But could you please tell us where you are headed?”

“Inside the forest,” Spike said pointing to the road behind the guards. “Heard there were some pretty nice cunts over the hives, so I planned to do a late trip to see if there’s something worth getting out. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find a mongrel whore.”

“I’m terribly sorry, Lord Spike, but no one can enter the forest past the established hour and without a permit of captain Harald,” the other caribou guard said apologetically.

“And if I remember correctly taking whores from the hives is strictly forbidden, my lord,” the first guard added.

“Such a shame,” Spike breathed a small stream of fire over his hands, seconds later two small but very full bags of coins stood on them. “I’m sure these coins would love to depart from my hands.”

Both guards shared a quick glance, then they smiled and took each a bag of coins.

“Remember, I was never here and I might hire your services again,” Spike said as he walked past the guards.

“Who was never here? Do you know if someone beside us was never here with us, Boleg?” the first guard asked to his partner while putting the bag of coins inside his pocket.

“Just the wind, as always,” the other caribou answered, doing the same as his companion.

Spike said nothing and just kept walking down the road. He continued to walk across the forest without any eventuality, until the sudden screech of a pacifier resounded around him ever closer and closer. Then there was a moment silence followed by Spike shooting a hand in front of him, his pace never stopping.

In his hand was now a trapped pacifier, a disgusting creature of tentacles that resembled a sick mix between an octopus, a bat and some sort of insect that, by plunging their hidden appendage inside a female’s mouth, took control over their body. They were stupid creatures as well, they attacked almost everything that moved but only took the females to a hive or to a nearby depositor. Spike was holding it tightly across most of its body, the slight screeches it made indicating it was in pain. It was using its tentacle like wings to grip around his hand and let itself free to no avail.

Spike looked at it with a neutral expression, he huffed and snorted before squeezing the pacifier, violently, almost instantly making it’s internal organs pop out everywhere. He then tossed what remained in his hand carelessly to the side before breathing fire over his stained hand, burning the fluids and small remains of the creature and cleaning it at the same time.

He kept on walking down a seemingly invisible road across the thickness of the forest. After a long while he finally reached the limit of the ‘Safe Zone’, marked simply by a sudden change in the color of the foliage. While the safe zone was bleaker and more humid, past it was more colorful, warmer and most importantly the very air itself felt heavy. Not to mention the beasts inside were relentless and wicked, even more so than before the Fall.

Spike cared little for this and instead kept on walking on a very familiar road just him and other chosen few knew about. He just kept on walking undisturbed, until finally he reached his destination. He took a quick look to the castle ruins across the bridge before walking down some dirt stairs, leading to the cave in the base of the abyss between the forest and said ruins. Spike stopped outside the cave, looked around and then walked to a nearby giant boulder, big enough to cover the entrance of the cave easily. He dug his claws into the boulder and, with a loud grunt, picked the boulder up and walked to the entrance of the cave once again.

Spike turned around, his back facing the entrance of the cave, just before entering the cave until the boulder hit the borders of the entrance. The dragon give the boulder a tug before letting go of it, then he turned around to face the Tree of Harmony shining in all its glory. Spike took a few steps forward until he was just a few meters away from the Tree.

“So, you keeping the forest safe as always, eh?” Spike said to the Tree. “Last time I visited was two months ago, right? Sorry for the delay but it’s just that I was very, very busy as you can imagine. Ya know, trying to actually do fucking something to help, but you wouldn’t know much about that, would you?” silence met him.

Spike chuckled. “I know you’re alive, I mean, you gave Twilight, oh, please excuse me, you gave my top bitch a freaking castle with that magical box of yours, and you also need her and the other five to be the Bearers of the Elements, am I right? So at the very least you have to be sentient,” silence was his answer again. “But anyways, I just wanted to tell you Dainn finally took notice of me and I was summoned to meet him at Canterlot, all of that just this morning. So I went to meet the fucker king, ready and eager to kill him. And you know what? You know what!?” Spike asked angrily, his hands turning to fists as his entire body began to tremble with rage.

“Turns out I was doing what he wanted me to do, he found I’m Celestia’s adoptive son and, get this, I got to enjoy her eight times, oh and my dear aunt Luna two times, isn’t that great!? Isn’t that fucking hilarious, Tree!? Huh!? Why aren’t you laughing!? Aren’t you amused by seeing us suffer!? It’s so funny I can’t stop laughing! Ha, ha ha ha HA HA HA HA HA!” Spike began to laugh loud and hard, his emotionless laughter filling the entirety of the cave. He continued to laugh until, without any sign, he let out a mighty roar just before he broke into a run and hit the trunk of Tree as hard as he could, yet the Tree didn’t move nor any signs of Spike’s attack being effective showed. But that didn’t stop Spike from starting to punch the Tree repeatedly.

“When are you going to do something to help us, you useless piece of crystal shit! Haven’t they suffered enough? Are you punishing us or is this your idea of a joke!? Or maybe Dainn perverted you just like he did to the Crystal Heart!?” Spike shouted angrily, never stopping his relentless assault upon the Tree’s trunk.

“Why don't you answer to me!? You even gave me a throne of my own, I must mean something, anything to you, don’t I !? Haven’t I done enough? What more do you want from me!?” Spike gave one last tremendous punch to the Tree that made it shake a bit. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked down to see his hands, some of his scales broken while small stains of blood covered the back of his hands and the spot on the trunk he had been hitting so far.

“You want my life? T-take it. You want my mind and body? It’s yours. Just….just give me the same power you gave to my friends. Give me the power to save them, please,” Spike begged dropping to his knees. “Or are you trying to tell me I’m even more worthless than I thought?” silence met him once more. “I...I’ve done horrible, unforgivable things, Tree. I don’t …...it doesn’t……...I’m scared, Tree, the more I do them the easier it gets to swallow my guilt…...What if I turn into one of them, for real?” Spike said seeing his hands slightly covered in his own blood, clenching and releasing them constantly.

“I could end….myself…..but I won’t abandon Twilight again, I swore it,” Spike began to sniffle, then it turned into sobbing, then he whimpered and finally he cried. He cried his heart out like never before for the longest time in front of the silent, unmoving Tree of Harmony.

----------------------------------------------------------********************************************

*Ponyville- Three days later, Sweet Apple Acres- 9:24 P.M.*

Spike opened the door of the building he and his fellow Fakers used for their Poker Night. The moment he entered all eyes were set upon him, most of them glad to see him again. After leaving the Tree of Harmony he had spent the last three days secluded inside his castle, refusing to see or talk to anyone except for business.

Spike looked around the room closing the door with his tail, a smile forming on his lips when he saw his all of his friends once again and they in return smiled at him, yet he lost it the moment he saw a new, yet familiar, face sitting around the table.

“Spike?” the newest member whispered in disbelief.

“Soarin,” Spike said in an icy tone.

Before the Fall Soarin was the sub-commander of the Wonderbolts, the very first major group to give into the caribou, once the Fall settled in he was promoted to commander in chief, making most of his mare Wonderbolt comrades his personal pets and given a new elite squad under the name of Shadow Hunters. A group dedicated to find and capture any females attempting to run away or hide, but they also exterminated any signs of resistance or rebellion inside the cities.

He was also known to be especially brutal with his punishments, most of the time his pets would end up with broken bones, severe internal injuries or bleeding and, in some rare cases, in death. And was the owner of Rainbow Dash, whom he treated with special cruelty often putting her on the public stocks, rape exhibitions and many tournaments that he knew would lose only to beat her up. She being a national prize meant he could only go as far as to break a few bones every now so and again, opportunities he used to the fullest.

Spike had developed a deep hatred for the stallion whom he was sure was an Embracer, but seeing him sitting on his seat; trembling slightly and the look of fear and shame on his eyes. It reminded of himself just a little over six months ago. Spike made his way to Soarin, the stallion wearing his personal Shadow Hunter armor, once he was beside him he patted his shoulder twice.

“You’re among friends, Soarin,” Spike said with a small smile making the pegasus tear up a little.

“Spike,” Big Mac called. “Thank Celestia yer alright,” he said sincerely.

“There were rumors about you going to Canterlot, man,” Pokey said shaking hands with said dragon.

“Not rumors, facts,” Filthy said from his seat. “One of my contacts just confirmed me you were summoned by Dainn himself four days ago. Spike, what happened?” Filthy asked just as Spike took a seat for himself.

“Geez, Filthy, at least give Spike a so--”

“He wanted my services to train some new dick polisher maids for the guards around the castle, I’m expected to deliver in five days,” Spike said cutting Cranky off.

“How close did you get to that bastard?” Caramel asked anxiously.

“Close enough that I wrapped my arms around his ankles,” Spike said casually while the others looked at him in disbelief.

“You got to lay your hands on him and you didn’t kill that motherfucking tyrant!?” Soarin shouted, his entire body shaking in anger. Bulk Biceps and Thunderlane held Soarin tight, everyone else in the room was either baffled by Spike’s revelation or holding their anger at him.

“I had my chance, my hands around his stinking coat but my claws didn’t harm him,” Spike said in relaxed and mellow tone. “His coat is harder than my own scales, just as hard as the coat of Celestia and Luna,” Spike presented one of his claws, pressed and dragged a small line across his left arm, his claw making a strange clicking noise each time it passed a scale. Once he was done there was a barely visible white line marked the path the claw had taken, just to be replaced by some of his blood a second later.

“He didn’t yelped in pain or anything, he didn’t even felt it,” Spike smirked much to the confusion of his disheartened friends. “But he said he would need me in the future, meaning I can get more chances to be close to him and in the meantime find a weak point. It isn’t what I wanted but at least we still have some hope left. He also admitted to be getting increasingly worried about the rebels forces,” most of the stallions around the table nodded and sighed contently.

“But I’m not going to wait until that asshole calls me again, I’m going to find a way to destroy his ass no matter what the cost and for that I’m going to force him to notice me more; make myself indispensable for him.”

Almost the entire room fell silent, except for Filthy who sighed sadly.

“Spike, haven’t you done enough already?”

“I did nothing but hide inside my closet the day of the Fall, Filthy. No matter what I do it’ll never be enough to earn their forgiveness,” Spike sighed. “I’m already past the point of redemption, Filthy. Most of us are,” Spike said crossing his arms. “I don’t care what happens to me anymore, but if I’m going to die I’ll make sure to take Dainn with me.”

-----------------------------------------------------***********************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“Can you imagine how frustrating it was to know how powerless I was every single fucking day?” Spike asked before letting out a small laugh.

“And so my old plan became my new plan, with a slight variation since I couldn’t tell my friends killing Dainn was impossible for me because he had, somehow, become the caribou equivalent of an Alicorn. I also didn’t tell them what I was forced to do, although I think Big Mac suspected it,” Spike looked up to the judges. “Most dragons love to brag about their power, or their hoards, but when compared to a fully grown alicorn? We are nothing, I’m right aren’t I, brother?” Spike asked to the paralyzed dragon judge.

“The next day I began to work tirelessly to achieve my new goal, but I had to be smart and not be caught. That was the tricky part given I’d soon be introduced to you, my dear Chrysalis,” Spike winked at a stunned Chrysalis.

“Having Soarin at our side would prove to come in handy in the future,” Spike snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, Soarin wasn’t an Enslaved, he was a Corrupted, just sayin’. He was one of the first Corrupted to break from the brainwash, you see.”

The entire room was silent except for the minor sobbings Spike could hear behind him.

Empress Shifting Sands got up from her seat and began to make her way to where Spike was. As she got closer she finally let her tears fall and her arms open inviting Spike into a hug.

“M-my poor boy,” before she could reach half her way Spike got up.

“Stay back, Empress,” Spike warned with a dead serious tone making the Empress stop, looking at him confused and hurt. “I don’t like…..females touching me, not since the beginning of the Rise, its a personal matter so please, return to your seat,” Spike said politely, Shifting Sands wiped her tears with a hand before nodding and returning to her seat. Spike sat down as well.

“The next two weeks were unremarkable except for my little chats with Soarin. Around that time we also noticed that the frequency in which the Enslaved broke free from the brainwash all over Equestria and the Empire was increasing,” Spike closed his eyes. “Most didn’t survive or simply committed suicide, not that I can blame them for choosing death,” Spike opened his eyes again.

“It was during our next Poker Night when Filthy surprised me. He managed to arrange me a secret meeting with his most important and influential contact in Canterlot; “I don’t approve what you’re doing, Spike, but if you really want to go through with your plan you’ll need his help,” that’s what Filthy told me at the end of that Poker Night.”

“So then I prepared everything I needed to meet Filthy’s anonymous contact,” Spike chuckled coldly. “I was determined, you see, for if not even a Nightmare was interested in me, even though I was willing to sell my soul for power, then my only possible option left was to rise to power and use everything I could at my disposal to find a way to bring Dainn down,” Spike chuckled again.

Spike’s eyes turned white. “I just had no idea I was biting more than I could chew.”

Chapter 3 end.

Author's Note

Thanks for all who read it, you're amazing!

Since my friend Jake The Army Guy is currently quite busy, anyone that wishes to help me edit this chapter is welcome to do so, just PM me!

I've got 3 PM's asking me what Spike's voice sounds like, you'll find a link at the start of the first chapter to answer that question.

Chapter 4: Climbing Up The Ladder

Chapter 4: Climbing Up The Ladder

----- “I ain’t doin this shit.”

-Madam, as I’ve told you several times already, we require your report on---

“The fucking caribou? What do you want me to say exactly? Should I tell you how they raped me several times a day? How they used their dark magic to turn me into a red collar for almost three years? What they did to all those who disobeyed them in any way? How many families were destroyed beyond repair?”

*Loud banging noise*

“Or maybe you want me to tell you backstabbing motherfukers how many suicides we have each day back in Equestria. Perhaps you’re just curious about how hard is for a female to even glance at a male without breaking down crying and screaming. It could be possible you just want to have a reason to laugh even more at our misery; since you did so for so long.”

-That’s not what hap---

“What does it matter now anyways? We won, the caribou are near the point of extinction and in a few years they’ll be. All of you should be thanking us….and him….for getting rid of them.”

*Ten second long pause*

“You want a report? Then here it is.”

*Door opens*

“Fuck the caribou and fuck you all.”

*Door slams shut*---------

---------------- Major Harshwhinny of the ‘Rise of Equestria’ Army, Report on the Caribou------------

------- “..........Spike did good.”

-Could you please elaborate?-

“Spike did bad.”

-What do you mean by that?-

“Spike saved me.”

-A….are you alright?-

“Spike saved her.”

-.......Who?-

“Spike did many things. He laughed and sang killing caribou left and right; he was death to them and they trembled in fright. But he saved her and everyone else, me included.”

*Seven second long pause.*

“I don’t know what he did or what price he paid to get his power, but he knew how to use it.”

*Chair shifts*

“I must be going now, Fluttershy is going to wake up soon.”

*Finger snap*------

-----Discord the God of Chaos, Report on Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’.------

*Ponyville, Two years and eight months into the Fall, Castle of Spike*

“Does your useless brains understand what you must do, sluts?” Spike said to half a dozen black collar mares in front of him while Twilight stood at his side.

“Yes, Master,” the mares responded in unison.

“I doubt it, but that’s why my top bitch is here for, to make sure you don’t fuck up,” Spike said while petting Twilight a few times making her smile sweetly.

“You can count on me, Master,” Twilight said eagerly while a dildo shaped like his shaft buzzed between her legs.

“I know I can,” Spike pulled her mane back making Twilight yelp in surprise before leaning and kiss her soundly. After a few seconds he broke the kiss and withdrawing his long tongue from her throat. “Make sure everything is ready once I come back and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you cum more than once tonight,” Spike said before smacking one of her buttocks.

“Yes, Master!” Twilight said with a fierce blush on her face and dumb, eager smile.

Spike pet Twilight one more time before opening the gates of his castle and walk out.

Once he was outside he saw a carriage surrounded by no less than thirty caribou, pony, diamond dog and zebra guards; most of them being heavily armored caribou ones.

He made his way to the carriage and two zebra guards opened the doors for him to enter without problems. “Move quickly, driver, chief Gunne is expecting me in less than three hours,” Spike said once he was inside.

“Of course, sir,” the caribou driver said. “All right, let’s move out!” the driver shouted just before the carriage began to move and the sound of marching guards around him reached his ears.

Spike closed his eyes, leaned back in his seat and smirked.

After about two hours the carriage suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong, scouts?” the driver asked.

“There’s a pile of pony corpses; around twenty, all males, blocking the way just a hundred meters ahead,” someone responded. “All of them fresh. Also, we found this box next to them, sir.”

“Let me see,” the driver said before something was opened. “Damn it all!” the driver shouted just as the sound of a wooden object hit the floor. “Circle formation!” the driver shouted again making the guards obey and take their positions.

Spike smiled internally. “Is everything alright, driver?” Spike asked with a hint of worry in his voice. “Can I help?

“Stay inside the carriage, my lord,” the driver said in an odd mix of anger and respect. “Boleg, move your ass now!”

“Yes, sir!” someone said a few seconds before the doors of the carriage opened and a caribou guard entered it. Once inside the doors closed again and the caribou sat in front of the dragon. “Don’t worry, my lord, I’ll protect you!”

“From what exactly…..Boleg was it?” the caribou nodded. “What’s going on out there?”

“An ambush, my lord. We thought this road was outside the reach of those changeling bastards and heretical rebels, but we were cowardly deceived by them,” the caribou said nervously. “My apologies for putting your life in danger, my lord.”

“They dare to attack us?” Spike asked hearing nothing but an uneasy silence outside the carriage. “Everything sounds silent to me,” Spike said gulping down loudly.

Bolg didn’t say anything and instead sat unmoving and in silence. Spike did the same for ten whole minutes.

“At ease, they must be long gone by now,” the driver said making several sighs of relief echo around the carriage. “Let’s continue,” the driver said making the carriage start moving again. “Boleg, stay with lord Spike just in ca--eerrrllgggh--” the driver was cut off just a moment before loud screeching noises, bolts of magic and shouts of fury emerged from all around.

“Fucking rebels!” Boleg cursed loudly while screams and the clashing of metal began outside the carriage.

“Let’s go and help them!” Spike said trying to reach the doors of the carriage only to be stopped by Boleg. “What’re you doing!?”

“They must be after you, my lord, let us handle them!” Boleg said just as something heavy hit the side of the carriage with enough force to make it sway abruptly. “Damn!”

“Kill those blaspheming traitors and protect lord Spike at all costs!” someone outside yelled earning eager shouts of bravado.

Spike remained still and silent as the battle outside carried on.

Cries of pain, shouts of anger, clashing of metal and flesh being torn or bones being smashed, curses and swearing; all of it drifted through the air and entered Spike’s ear fins.

Boleg, too focused on his task to watch over the doors while gripping his battle axe tightly, never noticed the slight trembling of Spike of the tiniest of smirks on his lips.

The battle raged on for just a few more minutes until the doors of the carriage were opened abruptly; both of them sent flying by something incredibly strong. Boleg lunged the moment he saw two changelings taking a peek inside, but he was suddenly stopped by something wrapping around his neck.

Boleg fell backwards hitting the floor of the carriage with a loud thud; he opened his eyes just a few instants later to find Spike looking down at him with a neutral expression. Before he could say anything three changelings grabbed him by his legs and was harshly dragged out of the carriage. Boleg cursed and shouted while the changelings kept on dragging him to an unknown location.

Moments later Spike step out of the carriage and saw several corpses laying all around, most of them belonging to his previous guards. Taking a quick glance around he saw a zebra, a diamond dog and three pony guards taking off their armor while being checked by some buffalo chamans. They stopped for a moment when they saw him; the five of them shared a look of surprise and disbelief before giving him a faint smile.

Spike smiled back just before a changeling, a male, clad in a very intimidating chitin like armor approached and salute him.

“Sir, on behalf of our queen, we thank you for the information provided onto us,” the changeling said in their usual, strange hissy tone.

“Not a problem, but what took you so long? I was beginning to think something had happened to you,” Spike said handing out his hand before the changeling took it.

“Our apologies, sir, we did not count on their advance party.”

“Any Fakers among them?” Spike asked concerned.

“Negative, all of them were Enslaved and Corrupted; we had no choice but to kill them all.”

Spike nodded. “How many casualties?” Spike asked looking around the corpses, most of them being stripped from their valuable possessions by changeling soldiers and pony rebels. Spike stopped for a moment to see the corpse of a caribou that had an axe, probably his own, stuck in his head.

“Thanks to your information, sir, we only lost eight of our own, two of them ponies and a griffon, but we managed to rescue all of the Fakers in this group. Also, we captured two caribou and made sure to….kill….-- Sir, is everything alright?” the changeling asked noticing Spike wasn’t paying him any attention.

Spike, for his part, brought up his hands and looked at his palms and claws, closing and opening them slowly.

I have yet to kill another caribou since that time and yet. Spike frowned and clenched his hands. I still can’t feel anything. Heck, even killing those damn monstrosities in the forest make me feel something; mostly revulsion at them, but that’s still something.

“Sir?” the changeling asked a bit concerned.

“Tell me, soldier, what do you feel when you kill one of these caribou assholes?” Spike asked in a neutral tone but without looking at him.

“It’s a hard feeling to explain, sir. We changelings are very emotional, as you know, but the caribou are like nothing we’ve encountered before,” the changeling said while Spike just stared at his fists. “I have killed ponies, griffons and even ursas in the past and the wave of pain, desperation, anger and other similar feelings that streams across me when I kill is powerful; sometimes too much to bear for an untrained mind.”

“We are also great warriors, we train from an early age to ignore and withstand that wave of emotions. But with the caribou the feeling I experience whenever I kill one of them is one of….emptiness.”

“Emptiness?” Spike asked still staring at his now unclenched hands.

“Let me elaborate, sir. The feelings are still there but they feel weak and hollow, if you could experience it like we do it might be something similar to cutting yourself, even though you see the cut you don’t feel pain; just a slight ardor at most. That’s what my brothers, sisters and I feel when we kill a caribou, sir.”

Spike finally looked up to the changeling again; his expression and his emotional aura unreadable to the changeling.

“Take me to the prisoners,” Spike ordered.

“Right this way, sir,” the changeling said turning to his right side and walking towards the left side of the road. Just a few seconds later they found the two caribou prisoners, stripped out of their armor and weapons, being bounded without much difficulty. “Here they are, sir,” the changeling said at the same time he made some hand signals making his troops stop and force the caribou to kneel.

“Fucking *cough* t-traitor!” Boleg cursed loudly. “How can you take side with them!?”

Spike kneeled in front of Boleg while the other guard made pained groans. “I’m a traitor alright, but not to you, Harald, Gunne, the caribou or that fucker of Dainn,” Spike said emotionlessly.

“ *violent coughing* C-curse you, you damnable heretic,” Boleg said venomously.

“I prefer Faker, fucker,” suddenly Spike plunged his claws into Boleg’s stomach making him scream in pain. “......Hmm,” Spike drove his claws deeper inside the caribou who tried to free himself but was held in place by three changeling soldiers. Slowly, Spike dragged his claws upward the torso of the caribou; uncaring for his screaming or the blood running down his forearm.

The meat is warm and soft, almost juicy. The blood feels icky but strangely comfortable, just like the mud baths at the spa. And the smell is, what was that word again? Ah, yes, delectable………..I wonder….... Spike thought retreating his claws back, uncaring for the strings of muscle, skin and fur they dragged. He closed his blood stained hand for a few moments before smirking darkly.

“Soldier.”

“Yes, sir?” the changeling behind him responded unfazed by the dragon’s actions.

“What’s your rank?”

“Captain, sir.”

“Are you in direct charge?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell me captain, do you need these prisoners alive?”

“No, sir.” the changeling captain took a step forward. “Do you require a weapon, sir?”

“No, but thank you, captain,” Spike got up and took a few steps to his left side to be in front of the other prisoner. “Release him,” the changelings holding the caribou obeyed and the caribou hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. Spike took a step forward before raising his left leg, he then pressed his feet against caribou’s head making him groan incoherently. A second later he rose his leg again; before he stomped the head of the caribou with such force that the ground below formed a small crater.

The awful crushing and crunching noise the head made was soon followed by bits and pieces of it flying and splattering around the area randomly.

Boleg forgot his own pain for a moment while he saw the body of his fellow caribou spasming and twitching erratically. He didn’t even noticed Spike moving in front of him again until he felt his claws piercing the sides of his torso.

“AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!” Boleg screamed in agony instantly. He kept on screaming for a good long minute before the pain dimmed down enough for him to look directly at Spike’s eyes. “Y-you woarrrg! You won’t defeat our king, the greatest male in the world!” Boleg coughed some blood, some of it landing on Spike’s face, before he gave Spike a crazed smile. “T-there’s nothing *pained groan* that can stop us!”

Spike let go of his sides to then place his right hand oh Boleg’s left shoulder and his left hand atop his head. He tilted Boleg’s head to the right using his left hand before giving Boleg his biggest toothy smile; making Boleg freeze in fear.

“I shall find a way,” Spike said with hatred right before snapping his jaw as far as he could and taking a massive bite at Boleg’s exposed neck and part of his clavicle. Boleg couldn’t even scream and settled for crying out wordlessly. Letting go of the convulsing caribou, Spike got up while he munched on the meat, blood and bone meal that filled his mouth with ease.

Seconds later he spit out the contents of his mouth on top of Boleg.

“Captain, have you ever -excuse me-” Spike opened his mouth letting orange flames cover the insides of it completely for a few seconds, he then spit a few times to the ground. “Sorry, the fur was stuck. As I was saying captain, have you ever heard the byword ‘It tastes better than it smells’?”

“Y-yes I have, sir,” the changeling captain said disgusted by Spike’s action.

“Oh snap, I forgot you changelings don’t eat meat! Sorry,” Spike smiled apologetically. “Anyway, it applies here but playing the other way around. Their taste is awful,” Spike looked down at his blood stained arms, chest and legs and grunted. “Do you have something to wash this shit off in your camp?”

“Of course, sir,” the captain said before pulling out a black cloth from within his armor. “We must depart now, sir, I believe you were informed by Mr. Rich?”

“Yeah, he told me,” he closed his eyes before the captain wrapped the blindfold. “By the way, I didn’t saw a single female in your group, is there any particular reason to that?”

“Just orders, sir,” the captain hissed something out. “Burn the corpses and take everything of value back to the camp, make sure to cover our tracks,” the captain said before receiving a hiss and a ‘Yes’ in response.

Spike felt a chain of magic wrap around on each of his wrists before being lightly pulled; he followed the tugs onward, letting the changelings guide him to his destination. Spike smiled letting the last look of utter fearon Boleg’s eyes combined with his screams of pain sink in.

It felt rather nice, actually.

***Some Time Later***

“We’ve arrived, sir,” the changeling captain said while he took the cloth off of Spike’s eyes.

Spike opened and closed his eyes several times to adjust his vision. A few seconds later his vision had returned noticing that he, along the captain and six more changelings around him, were inside a cave illuminated only by changeling magic.

Before he could ask where he was the captain hissed three times and a nearby wall disappeared in a shimmer of green.

“Welcome to our central hive, sir,” the captain said walking inside the secret entrance along with Spike and the rest of the changelings.

Whoa, now that is seriously big Spike thought seeing the vast interior of the changeling hive illuminated by several green camp fires, tents, some black buildings scattered around and the blue lights hanging from the ceiling and walls. I bet this room alone is half the size of Ponyville, maybe more, this is definitely not a rebel camp.

“Let me guess, orders?” Spike asked.

“Yes, but fear not, sir, you are our queen’s guest and so is your contact,” the captain said leading the way down a series of stairways. Once they reached the bottom the group halted. “You may wash yourself in those pools over there, sir. We will wait for you here, please hurry,” the captain said pointing to a circular small pool of green goo.

Spike grunted before jumping inside the pool. After five minutes or so he came out clean of blood. Two changelings used their magic to pull away the residual goo clinging to Spike. Then he was presented a large black cloak with a hood, Spike sighed and put it on wordlessly.

The changeling captain opened his mouth but Spike raised a cloaked hand in front of him making him stop.

“I don’t want to know what that thing is, I could feel it in places not even water can reach, and I know why I must wear this thing. Just take me to see my contact,” Spike said standing side by side the captain.

The captain nodded and the group resumed their march. While they were walking, Spike began to appreciate the hive he was in before reaching a small black wall guarded by a minotaur cow and a griffon. They stepped aside allowing the party to pass freely to the camp.

Spike saw many species walking around the camp attending to their respective chores, most of them females wearing armor of some kind. Most of them, males and females, were changeling or pony but there were also several diamond dogs, zebras, donkeys, griffons, minotaurs and even some crystal ponies. He also saw a few children playing or helping their parents or guardians with their chores. But what struck a nice warm feeling in his stomach was seeing males and females alike; all working together and even some couples around. He focused for a moment on an earth pony stallion kissing a changeling mare while they hugged each other close.

His lips curled into a smile.

He kept on walking until they reached the biggest building connected to a black shiny wall. Another four changeling guards step aside when they came close; using their magic to open up the gates before them. They entered without problems, a moment later the doors closed behind them. Spike let out a small sigh and took off his hood.

“S...Spike?”

A chill ran down his spine upon hearing, and recognizing, that voice.

Spike stopped dead on his track, turned to his right side and saw no other than Applejack standing a couple of meters away, wearing her traditional stetson hat and a set of black chitin armor, looking at him like she was seeing a ghost.

“Applejack,” Spike said barely louder than a whisper. The two of them stood still like statues looking at each other for what felt like an eternity. Then, with no warning, Applejack rushed forward and gave the dragon the biggest bear hug she could muster.

“Spike!” Applejack shouted happily. “Ah can’t believe it!” she said before she felt the dragon struggle violently against her embrace, she let go only for Spike to fall to his knees before vomiting his stomach out. She took a step or two back letting him continue with a sad expression on her face. A few moments later Spike was done and slowly got up.

“Ah’m sorry, Spike. Ah…..Ah didn’t mean tah…..” Applejack said narrowing her eyes in shame.

“Don’t *cough* don’t apologize, Applejack. At least now I know I still have *cough* a c-conscience,” Spike said looking at Applejack apologetically. “It’s me who should be sorry…..for all I did to you…..for what I’m doing…….for what….for what I didn’t do…..I’m sorry, so, so sorry,” Spike said letting tears form in his eyes.

“It ain’t yer fault, sugarcube,” Applejack said in a low tone, almost whispering. A moment of tense silence followed, broken only by the soft murmurs from those few around them. She glanced for at her sides quickly before looking up to the dragon again. “Can Ah?”

“O-of course, I’m ready this time,” Spike said letting Applejack close the distance between them and hug him. Spike tensed up for a second but soon relaxed, returning the hug with gusto.

“How are the black- Damn it!......I mean, how are the girls you’ve rescued doing?” Spike said still embracing Applejack.

“Good, fer the most part, some can’t handle the pressure or the memories,” Applejack said running a hand across Spike’s spines. “And the guys yall been getting out are also helping out a great lot.”

“What about the re---the other girls?” Spike said holding Applejack closer.

“We keep ‘em inside Chrysalis’s castle, all the way down the dungeons; they can be pretty darn dangerous I tells yah,” Applejack sighed sadly. “At least some have broken free from the dark magic thing and Zecora sends us potions tah try tah remove that darn brainwash, but so far, nothin’,’” Applejack chuckled without a drop of emotion. “Zecora is so brave and so is Cheerilee…...and yah too, Spike.”

Spike pulled away from their embrace softly.

“Me? Brave? I’m everything but, Applejack. If I truly were brave then I should be here fighting the caribou like you; not sitting on a throne fulfilling the wishes of the fucker king,” another moment of silence followed.

“Now listen here mister, yall saved plenty of people doin’ what yah do…….and yah saved me, too,” Applejack leaned in to give Spike a quick kiss on his cheek. “Ah don’t wanna hear yah belittle yerself like that again, yah hear?” Spike darted his eyes downward. “Yah better get going, sugarcube,” Applejack said finally breaking their embrace. “Ah’ll talk tah yah later, alright?”

“Sure.”

Applejack stood in her place as Spike turned around and continue his walk with the rest of his party, whom had waited patiently for him to finish up. The few onlookers, all of them soldiers and guards, around them also began to dissipate, most of them still whispering about what had just happened.

Spike took a last glance at Applejack before reaching the entrance of a building carved into the side wall. The doors opened and the party walked in, moments later the doors closed behind them with a loud *clung*.

“Sir?” the captain said.

“Yeah?” Spike said in a neutral tone while he touched the cheek Applejack had kissed.

“What commander Applejack said is true,” the captain said before moving once again.

Spike didn’t respond and instead covered his head with the hood.

The rest of their trip was past in silence.

*Twenty minutes later*

“Your contact is waiting for you inside this room, sir,” the captain said using his magic to open two black doors revealing an ample room, a large table, chairs and two figures sitting at the far end of the table.

Spike stepped in taking off the hood of his cloak, he instantly recognized the figure sitting in the center as non other than Chrysalis; wearing a mix between a long dress and deep blue armor if he was right. The other figures was covered in a cloak just like his own sitting at Chrysalis left side. Spike made his way until he reached the right side of Chrysalis, the queen of the changelings not even bothering to glance his way, sat down and the doors finally closed.

There was a moment of silence. “You must be Filthy’s contact in Canterlot, right?” Spike asked to the still cloaked figure ignoring Chrysalis all together. “Who are you? Do I even know you?”

“Yes. Yes you do, Spike,” the figure said in a masculine yet prim and proper tone.

That voice, it can’t be, Spike thought recognizing the voice with some disbelief.

The hood of the cloaked figure was pulled back revealing a white coated unicorn stallion with a perfectly brushed yellow mane and baby blue eyes.

“Or perhaps I should start calling you ‘cousin’?” Blueblood said with a faint smile while Spike was seemingly frozen in his seat.

“B--b--but I…..I thought…...you…...Dainn……” Spike mumbled out.

“That surprised, huh? Take your time to calm down,” Blueblood said letting Spike organize his head for a minute or two. Spike finally rubbed his forehead with both hands before letting out a loud, heartless chortle.

“Now I understand why Filthy didn’t told me it was you, Blueblood.”

“Don’t be upset with Mr. Rich, Spike, it was I who asked him not to tell you. It was also I who asked him to appoint this meeting,” Blueblood said neutrally.

“Wait a moment, how can you be here? Shouldn’t you be at Gunne’s party right about now?” Spike asked remembering the excuse he had used to come.

“And I am,” Blueblood used his left hand to point at Chrysalis sitting in between them. “Her majesty, queen Chrysalis, was the one who has made possible this reunion, Spike. One of her best agents has taken my place for the moment.”

“Are you sure we can trust the dragon, Blueblood?” Chrysalis said looking at Blueblood questionly. “How can we be sure he won’t be caught or betray us?”

“Because I won’t!” Spike said slamming the table in sudden rage, making even the changeling queen jump a bit in surprise. “Chrysalis…..last time I saw you was during the wedding and ever since then I’ve held nothing but anger and fear for you and your race.”

“But after I was freed from the caribou hold and learnt you were helping us, even if it’s for your own benefice,” Spike got up, took a step backward and quickly kneeled. “I….I’ve wanted to thank you….t-thank you for fighting th-the caribou back,” Spike said letting his voice crack a couple of times.

Chrysalis looked down at him, savoring his feelings for a few seconds, then she sighed. “Get up already, dragon,” Spike did so, slowly taking his seat again. “Tell me, dragon, have you any idea what you’ve done so far?”

“Besides doing exactly what Dainn wants? I don’t know,” Spike said almost if hurt.

“Exactly that, Spike,” Blueblood said making Spike look up to him in confusion. “I believe you know by now I’m one of Dainn’s trusted advisors, right?”

“Yes, he….he told me.”

“Spike,” Blueblood and Chrysalis shared a short glance. “You may not know it but you’re the first pony, dragon or person to get that close to Dainn, ever, except for Discord but, sadly, he is….Corrupted, just like Shining,” Blueblood said with slight vexation.

“I...I am?” Spike said surprised. “What about others who have ‘proved’ themselves? What about you?” Blueblood’s expression turned sour and sad.

“They are worthless to Dainn’s eyes and, as you can probably guess by now, I’m a Faker, but I…..I….I fake being an Embracer; that’s why Dainn trusts me enough to be one of his advisers,” Spike did a double take. “Have you heard the tale of how Dainn defeated my aunts and Twilight Sparkle?”

How could I not?

“Nothing but lies!” Chrysalis said before Spike could respond. “He ‘defeated’ them alright, but for such a great story of how he fought Celestia, Luna and Sparkle at the same time, beating them in less than five minutes, is nothing but a farce! The fucker never even touched them until Celestia and Twilight succumbed to his dark spell,” Chrysalis said with rage and borderline hate, her wings buzzing rapidly behind her.

“H-how can you know?” Spike asked, still slightly perplexed at Blueblood’s revelation.

Blueblood put his hands together and leaned forward, a moment later Chrysalis put one of her hands over Blueblood’s and smiled at him.

“I was there, Spike. I was there just minutes before Dainn arrived at the castle,” Blueblood went silent for a few seconds. “Aunt Celestia knew from the very beginning she was done for, she was doing her best to fight off the dark spell but it was just too strong. She made me promise to do whatever I could to be safe and…...and block her memories away,” Blueblood’s hands began to tremble. “I just had enough time to block her most crucial ones before Dainn’s forces invaded the throne room; all of our guards either corrupted, dead or being raped, in the mares case.”

“Dainn entered the room with aunt Luna chained and Sparkle crawling behind him. He raped aunt Celestia on her very throne and I was forced to watch…..and join the ongoing orgy a few minutes later, not with her or aunt Luna, thank the divine creators,” Blueblood let Chrysalis take a hold of his hands tenderly.

“....B….Blue…..blood,” Spike said with difficulty. Don’t forget you’re not alone in this Tartarus, idiot. And don’t forget there are those who have it a million times worse than you. Spike thought to himself in shame.

“From that day onward I’ve been searching for a way to kill Dainn, to find any kind of weakness, bucking anything! But so far I’ve found nothing you don’t already know, not even how he can control the sun and the moon.”

“He controls them!?” Spike shouted in surprise. “I thought it was gravity!”

“Don’t be stupid, dragon,” Chrysalis said with a snarl. “The sun and the moon require a powerful source of magic to move around Equis. Gravity may keep them up there but magic is a must to move them.”

A full minute of uncomfortable silence followed.

“Then why am I here?” Spike asked seriously.

“Spike, I know Dainn told you he wants you to be near him in the future, the small tasks he has order you until now are nothing compared to what he may want in the future,” Blueblood said creating an icy silence that fell in the room for several seconds. “Why he wants you or why he is so interested in you I don’t know, but I do know you’re our best chance to find a way to end this nightmare once and for all.”

“Blueblood, several rebel leaders, including your friend Applejack, and I have decided you can’t do what you do any longer. You must do more to gain the fucker king’s confidence,” Chrysalis said dead serious. “Think you can handle it, dragon?”

Spike leaned forward with confidence.

“What must I do?” Spike asked with renewed conviction. There’s still hope.

------------------------------------------------*******************************************

*East Border, Fifteen Kilometers away from Ponyville, -6:49 p.m.-*

“Here you are, sir,” said the same changeling captain while another changeling released the blindfold around his eyes. Spike scanned his surroundings finding it was almost nightfall and that he was somewhere inside the Everfree. “Ponyville is about fifteen kilometers following this path, sir. Don’t worry, there are no hives or other monsters in the vicinity and out the reach of their usual patrol roads.”

“Thanks, captain, but can you and your soldiers do me a little favour before you go, please?” Spike said looking straight at the group of nine changelings.

“Of course, sir.”

“Could you please beat the living shit out of me?” Spike asked, his lips curling up into a sad smile.

“W-what!?” the captain asked shocked while the other soldiers screeched between themselves.

“B-but we can’t, sir, her majesty ordered us to keep you safe!” the captain tried to reason with Spike.

“And if you really want to keep me safe then you’ll do as I say. Remember I live between them and, while Harald is an idiot, ever since Applejack escaped and thanks to all the lost shipments, he will find out I’m lying if I don’t come crawling back to Ponyville. By now there must be several parties searching for me,” Spike explained with naturality.

“But sir, we changelings have encountered dragons before the Fall and I doubt our weapons can do significant damage before they break,” the captain explained, a little taken aback by how calm Spike was acting.

“Then use magic to enhance them. I’m different from others dragons; I’m not resistant to magic at all, in fact, my body actually reacts quite well to it; enough to become Twilight’s ginny pig on her experiments before the Fall and I have been harmed by it,” Spike chuckled. “Now take out your weapons and beat me into a pulp.”

“.....As you command, sir,” the changeling captain said before he and the rest of his soldiers draw their swords and picked-hammers, enveloping them with a slightly pale green shimmer around it. “We’re sorry for this, sir.”

“Wait!” Spike said looking up to the captain. “Now that I think of it, can your horns regrow?” the captain nodded. “If it isn’t much to ask, when you’re done could at least three of you cut off your horns and leave them nearby? It’d made my story that much believable. And don’t worry about me, do it as if you want to kill me.”

The changelings shared quick glances between them, then the captain nodded again.

Spike closed his eyes a moment before the nine changelings began their work.

*Two hours later-East entrance of Ponyville-*

“Did your group found anything else?” Harald asked to another returning search party. The caribou leading the party shook his head in denial. “Damn it! What about lord Spike?”

“Nothing,” the caribou said. “Lord Spike is the only dragon in the entire kingdom, a few rebels and changeling bastards isn’t enough to stop him,” the caribou said, not really believing his own words.

Harald looked around him, several group parties laying all over the place, most of them finding the same. Nothing. He gulped remembering the urgent message he received around five hours earlier from chief Gunne, stating Spike’s carriage and guards were found burning on the road. The product of a rebel ambush, thankfully Spike was not accounted among the burnt remains.

“Those damn rebels must have taken lord Spike as one of their prisoners,” Harald said to himself. “Darn it, Zulf, prepare another search party and…….and…..” Harald began to say when he heard several gasps and everyone staring to the border of the Everfree. Several dozen pairs of eyes looked at a figure making its way out of the nearby bushes of the Everfree.

“Is….is that lord Spike?” someone said outloud.

It took Harald a moment to recognize the figure as, indeed, Spike. A second later he saw Spike collapse and fall to the ground. He got up from his chair and ran toward the coming dragon, followed by several others.

“Quick, take lord Spike to the hospital!” Harald ordered.

“NO!” a brown unicorn stallion wearing a doctor coat arrived at Spike’s side and kneeled down. “We don’t know the extent of the damage, moving him may kill him for all we know. Let me run a diagnosis,” Harald seemed upset but didn’t say or do anything while the doctor checked the dragon laying on his chest. “I’ll need to turn him over,” the doctor said and two caribou guards approach to flip Spike over gently.

Spike let out a pained grunt in response.

“Lord Spike! Lord Spike!.....Spike!” the dragon opened his eyes reluctantly. “What have those scumbag rebels done to you!?” Harald shouted in anger seeing the poor state of the dragon. Hastily a small crowd of concerned males formed around Spike.

“Harald,” Spike said making everyone around him shut up. “Your v-voice is annoying, *cough* shut up,” Spike said before letting out a small chuckle and a loud cough.

“S-sorry *blood filled cough* for b-being late,” he said loudly and with a touch of playfulness. He was drenched in his own blood, luckily not fresh, a large part of his scales were broken or were missing revealing a patch of pink skin below them. His legs seemed to be alright, sadly the same couldn’t be said for his right arm as it was bent in an unnatural way. Some of his back spines were missing too as well as some of his fangs.

“I had a m-minor set-Aarrrghhh!” he screamed in pain when the doctor pressed down his stomach. “--set back.”

“Lord Spike, I’m so relieved you survived the rebel ambush, but, what happened to you? What have those damnable heretics done to you?” Harald asked at his side while the crowd around them cheered and thanked Spike was alright.

“T-they killed everyone *violent cough* it….it happened so f-fast *harsh breathing* They….they dragged me through the forest…..I t-tried to fight but…*violent coughing* they...they used something to sleep me,” Spike suddenly coughed some of his blood out. “W-when I woke up I….I was in the f-f-fore-Yyaaarrgg! Watch the arm, dumbass!” Spike yelled at the doctor.

Spike began to breathe rapidly, effectively calming himself down. “S-sorry, it’s just *cough* it really h-hurts,” Spike apologized. “When I w-woke up, I was in the forest in a small camp of sorts, then three ch-changeling bastards used me like a piñata *violent coughing followed by harsh and rapid breathing* I have no i-idea what they were using b-but it hurt me…..maybe some sort of magical weapon?” Spike offered before coughing again. “W-who gives a fuck, they grew overconfident, forgot I’m a moth- *cough* -motherfucking dragon…..and I,” Spike raised his left hand while clutching at something fiercely. “Returned them the favor.”

Spike opened his hand and three small changeling horns fell to his chest.

Harald laughed loudly. “At least they got what was coming to them, Spike!” many cheered, mainly because just a few had survived a rebel ambush but none had killed any rebels, or liberators for that matter, outside the small skirmishes scattered across the kingdom.

“Indeed, also, now I know *cough* they aren’t as numerous as we…..thought,” Spike rested on the ground while the doctor kept on running his diagnosis.

“Several injuries but it appears most of the damage is only superficial. No internal organs seem to be damaged. Left forearm is broken and twisted on an inverted angle. No concussion present, yet the head received severe trauma, mainly in the lower jaw. Three broken ribs and a few torn muscles. Also, I detect faint traces on magical energy,” the doctor finished with a relieved sigh. “I can honestly say being a dragon saved you, my lord,” the doctor nodded to Harald who, in turn, ordered some nearby guards to fetch a stretcher. They saluted and ran off somewhere.

“Lord Spike, do you remember anything else about the attack? Anything at all?” Harald questioned.

“Only that they brought me *heavy cough* s-somewhere beyond the safe lim-limits *cough*- That one hurt like a bitch!......ooowwwww…….of the f-forest and asked me about my pets and bitches in training,” Spike snarled as best as he could. “Fucking cowards and idiots.”

The caribou guards returned with a stretcher and carefully placed Spike on it.

“Rest now, Spike, I’ll personally take care of your business while you recover,” Harald offered with a sincere smile.

“Th-that won’t be necessary, captain Harald, my dear friend Big Mac *blood filled cough* will take c-care of it. After all *heavy breathing* it takes a handler to k-know a handler. Would you kindly please inform him to come see me at the hospital?” Harald nodded.

“At once, you!” he said pointing to a random guard. “Go and tell Mister Macintosh lord Spike wishes to see him in the hospital at once,” the guard, a griffon, saluted and flew away.

N-not my brightest idea but I think it did the job. Now, I hope it works, Spike thought a moment before succumbing to darkness.

--------------------------------------------*****************************************

*Canterlot Castle-One week later-*

A pair of doors were opened by two caribou guards standing at each side allowing Spike access to the room behind them.

Spike used a crutch to balance his weight since his ribs were still recovering, thankfully his arm fared much better and could use it albeit carefully. There were some bandages covering the parts his scales were regenerating thanks to a potion made by Zecora, same reason for his newly recovered fangs.

Spike made his way slowly inside the room; noticing it was spacious with several windows on the walls, curtains, a line of ten red collar maids wearing their usual attire resting against the furthest wall and a big stone table almost in the middle of said room. The table itself was surrounded by several individuals, although he spotted a minotaur, two zebras, a diamond dog, six ponies (one of them being Blueblood himself); most of the present were caribou including, of course, Dainn.

Dainn, as everyone else, had his eyes set on him as he made his way around the table taking a free seat next to Blueblood who was just three seats away from Dainn’s left. Spike noted that the four caribou sitting immediately next to Dainn were glaring at him, almost like he was worthless.

The doors closed and five minutes of silence followed.

During that time Spike remembered he had received a letter a day earlier from Dainn, inviting him to a reunion of sorts, the reason he was now here, but the letter was incredibly vague as to what type of reunion Dainn had in mind. Looking around the table he noticed that everyone else, except for Dainn and himself, were wearing either some sort of armor or extremely elegant clothes. It took him a couple of minutes but soon he recognized the vast majority of the remaining thirty three individuals, including the four sons of Dainn sitting beside him.

Finally, the silence ended with a caribou at the other side of the table cleared his throat just loud enough to gain attention.

“Your excellency, I think lord Discord won’t be attending, again,” the caribou with a missing right eye said.

“I suppose it was expected,” Dainn said with a heavy sigh. Then he looked directly at Spike and eyed him for several seconds with an almost disapproving scowl. “So, Spike,” Dainn leaned forward just a few inches, his expression never changing making Spike very nervous; that is, until Dainn offered him a weak smile. “Scales tough as diamonds, huh?” then he leaned backward and laughed out loud.

Spike, and everyone else, was stunned but only by a second or two before he began to laugh alongside Dainn. They were the only ones laughing while the rest of the presents only shared glances of confusion between themselves.

“Ha ha ha--awww, aww, awww! P-please, it *wheezing* it h-h-hurts when I laugh!” Spike managed to say while holding his ribcage with both arms. It took almost two full minutes before they finally stopped their laughter. Dainn himself had to wipe away a few tears.

Spike took a deep breath managing to calm himself completely. “But I suppose I got my just desserts for being so arrogant, aww,” Spike said from his seat.

“Perhaps,” Dainn rested on his seat for a few moments. “Spike, do you know who they are?” Dainn asked using an arm to present the rest of the table.

“I’m afraid that, while I have done business with some of theses respectable males, most I know only by name, my king,” Spike leaned in looking directly at Dainn with intrigue and confusion. “Which makes me question why I’m here at all, my king. After all, I’m a female handler; not a general, battlemaster, warlord, prince or adviser,” to put emphasis he scratched his head.

“He is correct, father, why is that lowly lizard present?” a caribou a bit taller than Dainn with red fur wearing a fancy set of armor asked angered. “It’s disgraceful enough to have secondary races in positions of power, but at least I can see the usefulness of their work, but him?” he said pointing at Spike. “What does he have to offer us?” his siblings nodded in agreement along with a few other caribou.

“That ‘lizard’, as you call him, Rolph, has a name, you better use it,” Dainn said angrily. “And Spike is here because he has proven his loyalty to me and I want him to be here, understood?”

“.......” Rolph sent a death glare to Spike. “Yes, father.”

“Good, then we can begin,” Dainn nodded making one caribou use his magic to pull down a map the size of the table on it. It was a map of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. “Status.”

“My liege, we have successfully annihilated yet another rebel camp in the center of the buffalo territory, we captured one hundred and twenty seven bitches and converted over two hundred buffalo bulls with minimal losses,” a caribou general said pointing said location in the map.

“My troops were able to find and destroy the rebels operating in Manehattan, they were led by a minotaur by the name of Iron Will. My troops had no choice but to execute them all, it was a an all male organization,” the zebra warlord grunted in anger. “Such a disgrace to us true males.”

“We lost five small exploration teams on the Everfree Forest this month alone, an entire brigade vanished somewhere in the desert canyons without a trace. And, I’m ashamed to say this, my king, but the squadron of Shadow Hunters sent to the Solitude mountains also vanished, no survivors,” a minotaur battlemaster said.

“There have also been constant hit and run attacks to our supply routes and merchant caravans for the last three months here, here, here, here and here,” a caribou battlemaster said putting tiny flags on the places he marked, including one near Ponyville. “I believe lord Spike made an acquaintance with them not too long ago?” the caribou said earning a few snickers here and there.

“A painful one, battlemaster Zelvos,” he smirked. “But I managed to kill my captors and escape; in contrast, how many of these rebel attacks have your troops stopped, let alone kill, so far?” even more snickers were heard making Zelvos shot a glare to Spike. “You’re making a terrible mistake thinking you’re going to scare them off like you’ve been trying to do. How many more soldiers does captain Harald have to lose for you to understand that?” Zelvos glare intensified.

“Mmmmm, what are you trying to say, lord Spike?” Blueblood asked intrigued.

“I was there first hand. They operate in small numbers, probably no more than ten per group; they also use surprise at their advantage, by using it they can wipe out half a squadron before they know what’s going on, just like they did to my group of guards,” Spike leaned back and sighed. “Sadly, I was inside my carriage for most of the fight, but I can assure you it was fast, less than a minute. The changelings and the rebels, perhaps even the liberators, have become masters in these kind of attacks, thanks to having a lot of practice, I suppose,” Spike smirked again.

“Why you---!” Zelvos began but was cut short by Dainn.

“Go on,” he simply said.

“I suggest that we use some useless sluts, black collars that are usually sent to dirt and fuck farms or are branded to be blanked, as a distraction,” Dainn lifted an eyebrow. “I’ve noticed that the rebels put more effort in attacking those kind of shipments, if we begin sending small groups, say six of those bitches, on another direction from a truly valuable shipment the rebels will focus on the bitches,” Spike grunted in annoyance.

“After all, they want to ‘save them’, I say we use their misguided objectives against them. And while they try getting whores and sows our important shipments will be safe and then,” Spike hit the table creating a loud smack. “They will fall all the faster.”

“Brilliant plan, lord Spike,” a caribou general said impressed. “But we would still lose soldiers and the rebels would gain more cannon fodder, if you can even call a lowly bitch that privilege.”

Spike shrugged. “It’s just an idea, general, I never said it was perfect; I’m a female handler, remember?” the general in question chuckled.

“I guess you’re right. Still, good idea lord Spike,” the general said getting a nod from Spike.

“What else?” Dainn asked in a neutral tone.

“Problems in the borders again, my king. A large group of pony forces led by an adult dragon were spotted trying to disrupt the barrier outside the western border, after several failed attempts they finally left,” a pony general said. “On a related note, the barrier keeps growing as hoped and shows no signs of slowing down.”

The reunion went on for hours, all the time spent on discussing strategies, plans, tactics and other related topics. Spike barely said anything except when someone, specially Dainn, asked for his opinion on a certain matter. Finally, Dainn called the meeting as concluded and thanked everyone for coming, not a moment later everyone began to get up, ready to leave. Spike was about to get up when Dainn spoke to him.

“Spike, could you stay for a moment? I’d like to ask you something,” Dainn said from his seat.

“Of course, my king.”

A minute later everyone left, the four sons of Dainn shooting death glares at Spike before leaving the room. Now alone Dainn got up and walked to where Spike was sitting.

“Walk with me,” Dainn said casually.

“As you wish, my liege, but you’ll have to forgive my walking,” Spike said getting up using his crutch as support. “My current ‘walking’ consists mainly on limping, limping faster and followed by the occasional talk with the floor,” Spike said with a smile.

Dainn simply chuckled.

They left the room in silence and walked through the castle hallways in silence for several minutes. Then, they reached a balcony showcasing a beautiful scenery of the distant mountains, forests and a small part of the city. Dainn clapped twice, seconds later two diamond dog guards brought with them a pair of small but comfortable looking thrones.

Dainn sat down inviting Spike to join him at his side in the free throne. Spike sat down with some difficulty, letting out small grunts and a relieved sigh once he was done.

“Tell me, do you know what male superiority really is, Spike?” Dainn asked looking to the vast distance.

A depraved, ruined version of Tartarus ruled by a bunch of racist, misogynous rapists just like you, Spike thought before responding. “No, my king, I do not know.”

“Male superiority is an ideal of peace and prosperity,” Dainn closed his eyes.

Like shit it is.

“Nature shows all around us that males are superior in every way compared to females. Females that can only prove some degree of usefulness by giving birth to more powerful males. If a female of any kind is left in charge of anything, it is doomed to fall apart, that’s why we, as males, it’s our duty to prevent this and show females their true worth and make them realize this universal truth.”

Dainn opened his eyes and smiled fanatically. “Male superiority ensues order and peace in the chaos that females would bring to the world if they ever rise against their rightful masters. As such we, the Caribou, have taken the burden on ourselves to show this ultimate truth to the world, whether they like it or not is irrelevant, but in the end all will see the light.”

Spike felt a boiling rage inside his stomach but he managed to suppress it, but just barely thanks to repeating why was he fighting for over and over inside his head.

“A most noble and just cause then, my king,” Spike said with some difficulty, he then grunted and shifted in his throne giving out a little sigh of relief.

“Spike, when knowledge came to me about the attack and how you single handedly survived it, escaped and killed three of those misguided fools, I was…...worried,” Dainn glanced at Spike who was glancing at him in return. “I feared you had shared the same fate as many of my soldiers, thankfully, I was wrong and you proved yourself to be strong and capable of taking care of yourself, even during such tight situations,” Dainn praised Spike.

“Your praises honor me, my king,” Spike said bowing his head in respect. “I...I don’t know what to say!”

“There’s a more powerful reason I invited you to this meeting other than see you, Spike,” Dainn leaned back in his throne still looking at Spike. “Your abilities as a female handler are remarkable, matched only by few others but none have the strength and dedication you do. And while your attack was unfortunate it also shows your power to fight and survive, the power of a dragon,” Dainn reached to Spike with his right hand until it lay on his shoulder. “The power of a true male.”

“I…..I….I j-just…..” Spike tried to find the words to say something, but the sudden wave of utter revulsion to himself that hit him was taking most of his effort to keep under control.

Dainn let go of Spike’s shoulder. “I want you to become my newest general, Spike.”

Spike was glad he wasn’t drinking anything at the moment but he still coughed violently in surprise and disbelief, clutching the left side of his chest and torso in pain. Around a minute later, and several attempts to ease his pain and coughing, he was calm enough to speak again.

“My king, you honour *cough* me w-w-with such an offer,” Spike coughed a few more times.

“It isn’t an offer, it’s an order, Spike,” Dainn said in a neutral tone.

Spike coughed for a few more seconds until he took a deep relaxing breath.

“Forgive me, my king, but I know next to nothing about the chain of command. I have never commanded divisions, brigades, squadrons, units or even a single patrol in my life. Nor I know how to fight or use weapons,” Spike saw Dainn look at him with his neutral expression; he gulped and continued. “And where would I serve you? How can I leave my home, my pet collection and my livelihood just like that?........How…...How can I be useful to you, my king?”

“That won’t be a problem, Spike. The local captain in Ponyville will teach you everything you need to know about our military structure as well as teach you how to use weapons; those shall be to your choosing,” Dainn rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Warlord Ulfric will teach you how to command small and medium sized groups of troops; as well teach you how to give orders, make your subordinates respect your authority and might and, most importantly, obey you.”

“You will be staying in Ponyville and will be in direct charge of the town, its surroundings, roads, the bordering lines with the Everfree all the way to borders of Trottingham and Las Pegasus. The crown will fund your expenses and needs so you won’t have to worry about your livelihood. Also, you won’t lose your castle,” Dainn smiled at him. “But, I’m afraid your pet collection will have to diminish. I want you to put in motion the suggestion you made in the reunion and make it happen, as such, you will use your vast amount of pets in training to be the bait. Every single one that lays inside your castle right this instant is your property as of now, even the ones belonging to others,” Dainn said standing up slowly.

“Make me proud,” Dainn turned to leave. “I wish you luck and success in your new role, general Spike.”

Then Dainn left without another word, leaving the petrified and dumb struck dragon sitting in his throne with an agast expression.

-----------------------------------------------*********************************************

*Ponyville, Castle of Spike -5:46 p.m.-*

Spike opened the entrance of his castle and slowly walked in. He was soon greeted by several black collar females still doing their chores here and there. As he made his way to his throne room every female stopped what she was doing for a moment to greet their master; even so Spike didn’t paid them any attention whatsoever, he just kept on making his way to his throne.

Once inside his throne room he saw Big Macintosh and Twilight, whom was crawling at his side, overseeing a few females carrying some bags to the storage room.

“Glad yer back, Spike!” Big Mac said making Twilight turn around, smiled and crawl to meet her master.

“Welcome home, Master,” Twilight said licking his feet a few times.

Spike didn’t said anything and began to walk towards his throne with Twilight obediently behind him. Spike rested on his throne and looked around the room’s ceiling; seeing several posters glued to them, most of them showed phallic pictures or single phrases for females to accept their new and true roles.

At least they’re not as hard to look at like the old ones, Spike thought with discomfort.

“Spike?” Big Mac asked with a bit of concern at his friend’s attitude.

“Master? Is everything alright?” Twilight asked worriedly crawling to his front, resting her chin on his right thigh. “Do you require this worthless sow to please your greatness?” Twilight asked before giving a few licks in the zone her master’s dragonhood rested.

“Leave us,” Spike said, his voice barely louder than a whisper but Twilight heard and looked up at him.

“B-but Master, you look so stressed,” Twilight said before continuing with her licking. “Let this fuck meat please and relieve you,” Twilight purred in delight savoring the idea of satisfying her master.

“Leave us,” Spike repeated now in a louder tone. But Twilight just kept on licking even harder, trying her best to pull his dick out. Spike groaned, letting out a puff black smoke through his nostrils.

“Just relax, Master,” Twilight said now kissing him eagerly in the same zone. “Your taste is so good, my wonderful Master.”

‘You taste so good, my wonderful son’ The voice of Celestia, the one he considered as his mother, echoed inside his head the moment Twilight said those almost same exact words.

“LEAVE US!” Spike roared in rage breaking the throne’s right armrest with a powerful blow. The entire throne room, maybe even the castle itself, trembled and shook for a few moments. Twilight had backed away a few meters trembling in fear; while the surrounding black collar females had already fled or were hiding where they could.

Twilight looked at the face of her master, an expression of pure rage as fire came out of his nostrils with each rapid exhalation. She got up, crying, and walked away quietly.

Spike then turned his attention to the few females still hiding nearby making them leave the room with haste. Once he and the red stallion were completely alone, Spike slumped back into his throne, closed his eyes, sighed heavily and brought up a hand to hold his forehead.

“He…..Dainn……...he made me…..a general,” Spike said before falling silent.

Big Mac just stood in his spot, looking at his dragon friend sitting silently in his throne. Until he heard him start to weep. The red stallion made his way cautiously to the throne, when he reached it he knelt and placed a hand over Spike’s left shoulder. Spike launched himself forward, hugging the stallion for dear life while he began to cry his heart out burying his face on the stallion’s left shoulder.

Big Mac held Spike tightly against him as his own tears began to fall.

--------------------------------------------------*************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“And thus my days as a female handler were officially over and my new career as a general for Dainn began. The fucker had it all ready by the end of the day,” Spike chuckled and leaned forward. “Me being turned into a general was a blessing in disguise but that meant our original plan was torn asunder.”

“What was your original plan, prisoner?” the diamond dog judge asked in shaky tone.

“I’ll leave her majesty, queen Chrysalis, the privilege to answer that; after all, it was her idea,” Spike said giving Chrysalis a small respectful nod.

Suddenly every set of eyes in the courtroom were upon Chrysalis. She closed her eyes and rubbed her templates a couple of times before answering.

“The original plan was for Spike to return to Ponyville unharmed, stating he had hid during the attack for several hours, then it was set for Blueblood to vouch for Spike and help him ascend into becoming an advisor. With his title secure, he was meant to inform Dainn the same idea Spike told during their reunion. His advice would prove to be effective and, by letting the caribou feel confident, it would pave the way for an all-out assault to Ponyville in the upcoming months and from there the neighboring large towns,” Chrysalis finished with a small sigh.

“If that was the plan, then why did you tell the changeling soldiers to do what they did, brother?” the dragon judge asked.

“Because I wanted it to be more believable, and because I wanted to see how Dainn reacted. A little better than I hoped, eh?” Spike let out a mirthless chortle.

“That still doesn’t answer why you executed the two caribou prisoners the way you did, dragon,” the cervidae doe judge said in a cold and slightly disgusted tone.

Spike shrugged. “Just curiosity, for the most part.”

“‘Just curiosity’, is that really your answer, savage?” the minotaur cow judge said.

“Hey, in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve killed, maimed, burnt, tortured and done many, many other far more pleasurable things, at least from my perspective, to countless other caribou. You shouldn’t be at all outraged by what I did to just two of them,” Spike huffed in annoyance. “By the way, I still want a copy of that memory, gotta have something nice to watch before I die!”

The judges simply kept silent while the rest of the public whispered between themselves.

“The following four months were intense; each day filled to the brim with lectures, war tactics, strategies of defence and attack, troop formations and all that good shit. Dainn kept his word though, all the females currently at that in my castle were now my official property. All six hundred twelve of them,” a short moment of silence followed. “For weapons I picked the spear and the warhammer; the spear because, well,” Spike giggled his long, powerful tail in the air behind him a few times. “And the warhammer because it’s what the caribou mostly used in combat. I also grew pretty fond of my own natural abilities and weapons; I’m actually thankful I only ever had to try them on corpses.”

“The only exception to my new daily routine was when Dainn summoned me to the castle for a reunion, a party, because he simply wanted to hang out with me for a while or a festive day, like the anniversary of the Fall. I got to sit next to him as his personal guest, and by that point, favorite general throughout the whole fucking celebration. I even got the privilege to rape the princess of the sun once more in front of all Canterlot!” Spike smiled at the judges, his eyes shining white. “Since it was the only day someone of his choosing would have the ‘infinite honor’ of tasting his favorite pet. He usually picked one of his sons or a general; not a surprise when he picked me.”

“When my training was done, and my full status as a general was finally recognized, I began to execute the plan by sending shipments of no more than twelve females guarded only by four guards,” Spike leaned back on his seat, his eyes still white. “Gunne, once a magistrate ascended to a minor chief near Manehattan, made sure that those guards were from the most incompetent soldiers but still loyal to the caribou to a fault, a.k.a Corrupted.”

“At first it was working like a charm. With the plan in motion the rebels didn’t attack their precious cargo shipments just as I had predicted... most of the time,” Spike chuckled loudly.

“Not a single one of those fuckers suspected I was slowly, but surely, getting to safety all the females under my care. First the most violent black collars, then the ones that fought back the most, followed by the young ones and finally ending with the red collars; I even managed to get out some other females, mostly pony mares like Flitter and Cloudchaser. By the end of my first month as a true general I had sent all my pets but fifty of them. The ones remaining were the ones I truly couldn’t part away from; I still had to keep up the appearances, you see,” Spike’s eyes returned to their normal color.

“But it wasn’t enough. Even though Dainn was more than pleased with my results, he demanded a more aggressive action from all his generals, battlemasters and warlords against the rebel and changeling threat. He wanted to attack them beyond the safe zone of the forest,” Spike began to play with his hands. “While it is true several small groups had went inside just a handful of survivors had come back; the caribou were afraid to death beyond that limit of the forest.”

“So, in the next reunion he asked for a volunteer to lead an all out attack and, of course, I offered myself to accomplish such a task, or as it was called, ‘The First Invasion’. Glad it was also the only one because what I had to do…….” Chrysalis looked at him with a sad frown. “........what I asked for was…..it was something only the truly brave could hope to give.”

--------------------------------------------------------*********************************************

*Central Hive/Rebel Camp beyond the safe-zone of the Everfree Forest, Three years and six weeks into the Fall- 2:09 a.m.*

“You want to WHAT!?” Chrysalis shouted infuriated to Spike’s face. Spike for his part didn’t respond. “Well, you can forget about it, dragon. I won’t send my, or any other people for that matter, to die in vain,” Chrysalis said before sitting down.

“And if you don’t everyone will die when Dainn finds a way to come after you here,” Spike responded calmly. “He’s getting desperate, Chrysalis, he wants to destroy you, your changelings and the rebels once and for all!” Spike said in louder tone. “Is that what you want?”

Chrysalis didn’t respond.

“Your plan won’t work anymore, the moment you try an all out attack Dainn will come right after you, all of you,” Spike got up from his seat and slammed the table. “And if you fall then all will be lost for Equestria, for the changelings and probably even the world!”

“.......I know,” Chrysalis said in an angry tone.

“That’s why I volunteered for this mission, Chrysalis, please, I need to get even closer to Dainn, right now he considers me as useful but if I pull this off I might end up gaining his respect and maybe, just maybe, a few of his secrets,” Spike sat slumped back into his seat. “Believe me, I don’t want to do this anymore than you do but I already discussed it with Blueblood and this is the best plan we could muster. I beg you, please, this is the chance we were waiting for!”

Chrysalis grunted as her wings buzzed erratically, she bit her lower lip until blood came out and with a final powerful slam against the table she hanged her head in defeat.

“How many do you need?” Chrysalis said in a low, icy yet angered tone.

“No less than five hundred but no more than seven hundred, doesn’t matter which species they are or their gender; they must be volunteers,” Spike said in a similar tone, albeit his was more darker and sad. “Tell them the absolute truth and don’t sugar coat it, tell them everything they need to know.”

“What should I say to the other leaders?”

“The same,” Spike got up. “I’ll come back in three days to see the volunteers…...I……….I want to tell them the rest personally,” he walked to the doors.

“And risk everything?” Chrysalis glanced at his way.

“If I don’t trust them with my life…..why should they trust me with theirs?”

Chrysalis and Spike were locked for several seconds in a staring contest until the changeling queen got up, too.

“This damn plan better work, for your sake, because if it fails I will personally destroy you……...Spike,” Chrysalis said before said dragon smiled at her, opened the doors of her chambers and left.

*Three days later*

“How many are there?” Spike asked inside his cloak to Chrysalis.

“Six hundred and eighty seven,” Chrysalis responded coming to halt.

Spike looked to the crowd gathered in the most desolate part of the hive. At his right side was Chrysalis alongside some rebel leaders, most of them pony, including Applejack, Lightning Dust (much to his surprise) and chief Thunderhooves, the main leader of the buffalo rebels. Spike nodded and took a step forward alongside Chrysalis.

Chrysalis cleared her throat as her horn came to life with a light green shimmer.

“You already know why you’re here,” she said, her volume enhanced by a spell. “You’ve survived the horrors the caribou have brought upon your land and people, regardless of your species. They have raped and enslaved you for three years now, bringing your princesses down like cowards and they only show signs of getting stronger as if nothing can stop their advance, not even I.”

“But we still fight because we know the caribou aren’t invincible, they believe they are but that blind belief will ensue their defeat and with it, their well overdue deaths,” Chrysalis took another step forward. “You have come here in hopes of forging a bright future, one that requires the ultimate sacrifice, a future held by the claws of one of your own!” the crowd cheered loudly. Chrysalis looked back at Spike and nodded, Spike took a few steps forward.

Spike brought his hands to the edges of his hood but hesitated to pull down.

Until the faces of all his friends and loved ones flashed in front of his eyes.

Spike pulled down his hood letting the crowd see his face. The effect was almost instantaneous.

Several males and females began to shout insults and curses while others tried to get to him, halted only by changeling soldiers.

“SILENCE!” Chrysalis shouted making almost everyone stop. “He has been fighting the caribou for more than a year after he broke free from their control, like many of you here today!” Chrysalis said loudly coming to the defense of the drake. “He is one of our greatest Faker units, has saved hundreds and ensured the painful deaths of many a caribou,” Chrysalis said managing to calm down most of present.

“Her majesty queen Chrysalis is right!” Lightning Dust stepped forward, her volume amplified by Chrysalis spell. “When I first met Spike the Dragon he treated me like any other of those stinking rapists would, I saw what he did and how he did it……….and I held nothing but hate for him,” Lightning glanced at Spike for a moment before continuing. “But in what I felt were my final moments he told me to have hope, to fight against the fucking caribou and their insane regime. HE told me I wasn’t alone! And here I am today, like so many others all thanks to him and his actions!” Lightning spread her regrown wings wide taking a few hoof steps above ground.

“I say we let him speak his part, what say you!?” Lightning shouted before dropping back to the ground, the crowd began to whisper amongst them. She then turned to face Spike completely and shot him a glare. “But while that doesn’t mean I forgive you,” she said quietly to Spike. “It means I can respect your reasons, Spike the Dragon……….and thank you, for freeing me,” Lightning said before returning to her post.

The crowd continued to talk for several minutes until a white griffon male wearing an armor like the changelings stepped forward from the now silent.

“I lost my daughter and my wife to the caribou early on,” he began to say in a strong tone, his volume amplified by a nearby changeling. “The caribou killed them because they couldn’t control them and I was left alone with only my desire to avenge them to keep me alive,” the griffon raised his arms and extended his wings. “All of them, all of us here right now share a similar story or don’t have anything left but vengeance in our hearts.”

“I don’t care for what you did as a Faker or even before that. I’m not here to judge you, I’m here to ask you something as the voice of us present,” his expression turned to one of hate mixed with hope. “If we do it,” he gulped. “Will the caribou fall? Will we have our vengeance?”

Silence followed for several seconds.

“I don’t know,” Spike said sourly, his voice empowered by Chrysalis. “I don’t know if this plan will work or not,” Spike took a step forward. “I can’t promise you’ll get what you want; I can’t even assure you this is our best plan but we don’t have another option,” another step. “But I won’t lie to you either, you know what this is; a true suicide mission,” Spike said in a solemn tone.

“You already know the stakes and that’s why you’re here, YOU! The bravest of the brave, males and females uncaring for your individual species but instead united as a whole against a common enemy we all share!” Spike said with burning rage. “An enemy that thinks the world should be ruled by them, their absolute truth and that everything is meant to serve them!”

“But you have proven them wrong, you have proven that there are those willing to fight back against their insanity and debauchery, that they’re not invincible nor unstoppable!” the crowd began to cheer and chant loudly. “I can’t promise you victory. All I can promise you are three things. The first is that I will not let your deaths be in vain,” the crowd shouted back their approval.

“Second is that none of you will be their slaves, every single one of you WILL die even if I have to kill you myself!” the crowd and even the changeling soldiers shouted almost as if battle ready.

“And third is that I will make sure the caribou pay for their sins and their actions, every single one of those motherfuckers will die a painful, slow and agonizing death until none of them are left over the face of Equis. This, I swear on my life and everything I once held dear to me!” Spike shouted/roared, the crowd, the soldiers and even the rebel leaders were now shouting and screaming on top of their lungs.

“In the upcoming battle I want you all to show the caribou what you are made of! Don’t show them mercy and fight with all your might, make them regret the day they crawled out of Hraljord! For Equestria!” Spike finished by breathing the biggest stream of green fire he had ever unleashed until now.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” all shouted back in complete unison.

Meanwhile behind Spike was Applejack, looking at him as tears rolled down her face. She had been forbidden to volunteer for obvious reasons, yet she felt it was her duty to talk some sense into Spike. But after hearing his little speech and despite the deafening cheers all around her; Applejack could only focus on one thing.

There, standing in the middle of the makeshift stage looking at the dragon’s back, with tears falling freely across her face; Applejack felt an overwhelming shock of fear. Not about the plan, but instead of how brutally honest Spike’s promise had sounded.

------------------------------------------------------------***********************************************

*Ponyville-Sweet Apple Acres -Two Days Later- Meeting Point for Operation ‘The First Invasion’ Led by General Spike ‘The Dragon’- 6:00 a.m.*

Spike stood in front of a table looking down a map depicting Sweet Apple Acres, the Everfree forest and the possible points where a rebel camp may be stationed beyond the safe limits.

Beside him captain Harald and chief Gunne, a hulking gray caribou wearing a traditional battle armor, stood contemplating the map alongside Spike and his retinue.

“Are my troops ready?” Spike asked, his eyes glued to the map.

“Almost, my general,” Gunne said calmly, his voice gruff and loud. “How will the troops assemble?”

“I want the diamond dog and buffalo units covering our rear; the earth and pegasus pony units will be set in the right flank,” Spike said putting small flags with the symbols of each said unit over the map.

“Excuse, general, but why ditatch the pegasus and griffon units?” Caramel asked wearing a purple and green set of armor picturing a golden ‘S’ in the chest plate.

“Flight support will be minimal, if not unnecessary inside the forest, and just in case those changeling bastards try to surprise our right,” Spike answered neutrally. “The griffon unit will be stationed in the mid for free and quick deployment,” Spike grabbed four more flags. “The minotaur unit will cover our left flank while the donkey, mule and bull units will be right behind to bolster them if necessary.”

“The heavy infantry units will take the first line followed by our ranged and medical-support troops, whom in turn will be supported and safeguarded by the light infantry units,” Spike positioned the flags marking said units before contemplating the map for a second or two. “The unicorn unit will be our advance party, making sure to keep our troops secluded as best they can; once commander Soarin is back he and his Shadow Hunters will accompany me and act as my body guards in the center. Finally, the reserve units will follow closely the right flank,” Spike finished placing his strategy by crossing his arms.

“My general, why are you putting the heavy units in the front?” Gunne pointed out. “Why not use the donkey, bull, mule and diamond dog units as a meat shield?”

“Because, Gunne, we have no idea what we will find in there and I’d rather have my best units ready to strike whatever monster comes our way, and also to break quickly the lines of the enemy rebels if we find one of their camps,” Spike said plainly.

Gunne grabbed his chin for a few moments and hummed thoughtfully. “I stand by my word, my general.”

“You better keep in mind that it was our great king, Dainn, the one who put me in total command of this entire operation. You’re only here to see me and my forces march to victory, but if you don’t like the way I’m ordering my troops then you can lead the assault with your own forces, Gunne. ” Spike said finishing with a snarl, smiling inside his head when he saw Gunne’s left eye twitch a little and turn a bit nervous.

“I retract my objection, my general.”

“Good,” Spike looked up to face his retinue, all of them wearing the same armor as Caramel. “Caramel, you will be in charge of the left while Thunderlane will command the right.”

“As you command,” Caramel said.

“It shall be done,” Thunderlane said at the same time.

“Pokey, you will join the unicorn unit and make sure they don’t fuck anything up. Bulk Biceps, you will lead the heavy units and you, Big Mac, I want you at my side until further notice, understood?”

“Eeyup,” the red stallion answered while Pokey and Bulk Biceps simply nodded.

“It’s such a shame we cannot accompany you, my lord,” Harald said with slight relief.

“I can always make room if you want,” Spike said giving Harald a small smile. Harald cleared his throat nervously.

“While your offer is….tempting, my lord, chief Gunne and I have much work to attend to. Nevertheless, I wish you the best of lucks and hope you destroy the damn rebels once and for all,” Harald said offering a hand to Spike.

Of course you would say that, cowards. Spike took it and shared a short shake; just then, Soarin, flanked by three Shadow Hunters, entered the main tent they were in. Soarin saluted before speaking.

“Commander Soarin reporting, sir.”

“Report,” Spike said looking at him intently.

“The path is clear for the army to pass freely until we reach the limits, sir.”

Spike hummed. “Soarin, you and your Shadow Hunters shall act as my personal bodyguard during this mission, understood?”

“With honor!” the three Shadow Hunters present said at the same time.

“Alright everyone, you know what to do. I want my army ready to move in three minutes,” Spike ordered.

“Sir!” all said at the same time before they began to walk outside the tent.

“Soarin, Big Mac, stay with me for a moment,” Spike ordered halting the march of both stallions. Soarin did a hand sign to his fellow Shadow Hunters who left instantly.

“Spike,” Gunne said standing in front of him. “Good luck,” he said bluntly before making his way out of the tent with Harald right behind him, leaving them alone in the tent.

A couple of moments later a multitude of battle horns echoed throughout the farm. The trio waited until the rumbling noise of the horns ended; only to be replaced by hundreds of hoof and footsteps moving around while Gunne shouted orders left and right ensuring order and discipline.

“Here’s your armor, Soarin,” Spike walked to a nearby chest and pulled out two chest plates exactly like the one Big Mac was wearing and a cape bearing a larger ‘S’ but with the same color scheme as the armor. Soarin accepted the chest plate and with the help of Big Mac he put it on.

“We should be fighting them instead,” Soarin said in an angry tone but still helped Big Mac put on Spike’s chest armor along with the cape. Spike shot him an apologetic glance. “Don’t worry…….I……..I know what to do.”

“The only thin’ we can do now is make their sacrifice worth every life,” Big Mac said in a monotone, plain tone.

Spike walked over to another chest and pulled out six small bottles. He gave Big Mac one and four to Soarin.

“The others already drank theirs; blessed be Zecora, at least the monsters won’t be targeting us,” Spike drank his potion in one go. “One’s for you, the other three are for your escorts.”

Big Mac and Soarin quickly drank their potions. The trio then walked outside the tent; Soarin took flight to rejoin his squadron while Big Mac followed Spike. They walked through the open field littered by several hundred tents to accommodate the small army. Their journey was spent in silence, only interrupted by the occasional soldier or officer saluting their general. Even so the screams of officers organizing their troops and divisions mixed with the marching made it impossible to speak whatsoever.

After a few minutes of walking they reached their destination in the center of the gathered forces. Soarin was already waiting for them alongside his one hundred Shadow Hunters; the elite group conformed mostly by Thestrals or ‘Bat ponies’, although pegasi and griffons were also including in their ranks.

Spike came to a halt, flanked by Big Mac and Soarin at each side, and waited until his entire army was ready to move out. In the mean time he spent his time looking at the forest a few hundred meters in front of him; mainly to keep his resolve high for what was going to happen in just a few hours.

About five minutes later everything suddenly turned silent: the army was ready.

Four thousand and sixty troops under my command, of which two thousand and seven hundred are caribou; against six hundred and eighty seven and a little surprise, Spike thought closing his eyes for a moment. I’ll make sure to get killed as many of these fuckers as I can.

The dragon extended his right arm forward and opened his hand; a second later he was handed a megaphone. Spike raised it to his mouth-level, coughed to bring the attention to him and then began to speak.

“These so called rebels think they can hide forever inside that blasted forest protected by some strange force,” Spike said loudly, practically shouting, to the megaphone. “And they are aided by the changelings; a race of bugs incapable of understanding reason, and what’s worse, they’re led by a worthless bitch! But nothing will protect them today! Today we will show them our power!” the troops began to cheer madly. A few moments later they calmed down.

“They have disrupted our local trade lines and have killed hundreds of our brothers in the past two years; we cannot allow such an insult to go unpunished! Today they will pay in blood!” another round of cheers erupted. “I don’t know what lies beyond the limits of the forest. I also don’t know what we will have to encounter, but no matter what we will surpass it and destroy the rebels once and for all!” the army shouted in unison.

“That’s why today we will not take any prisoners or trophies, let their punishment be a message to the rest of those heretical idiots that dare oppose the Caribou and the great Dainn: Subjugate or Die! Go forth my proud soldiers, kill them all without mercy. For the Fall! For male superiority!”

“For male superiority!” the universal shout of the army was heard just moments before the warhorns sang their song.

Spike gave Soarin the megaphone. “Nice speech, short and to the point,” Soarin said taking the megaphone.

“Thanks,” Spike said calmly while looking at his army. I hope they’re ready, he thought before nodding.

“Onward! To victory!” Soarin shouted using the megaphone. Moments later the entire army let out one final cheer and began to march into the forest as a single, unstoppable force.

*Four hours later- Two hours and ten minutes after crossing the safe limits of the forest-*

To the surprise of everyone, except for Spike and his retinue, the walk through the forest had been almost uneventful. With two Cragadile and one Cockatrice encounters (not to mention only five casualties, all of them pony, so far) after passing the safe limits the forest suddenly felt all the more inoffensive. But the caribou knew better, they could feel the eerie sensation of not being welcome inside that forest; reason why they kept their weapons, and themselves, ready to fight anything that came their way.

Spike was busy checking the unicorn unit in front of their army, all of them linking their magic together to create a stealth spell around his army. He noticed said unit coming to a halt just before three short, rapid whistles was heard making the army come to halt from their already slow advance.

A few seconds later a unicorn came running to meet him. He was about to reach Spike when a couple of Shadow Hunters cut him off with their wings.

“General,” the unicorn stopped and saluted. “Captain Pokey sends a report.”

“What is it?”

“We discovered a changeling sentinel standing guard, we’ve already taken care of him.”

“Very well, return to Pokey and tell him to await the signal,” Spike said plainly. The unicorn saluted again before returning to his unit. “Big Mac, take some light infantry units and move around the perimeter; there’s bound to be more sentinels nearby, take them down.”

“Eeyup,” the red stallion said taking the great warhammer from his back.

“And remember, NO prisoners,” Spike ordered with seriousness. Big Mac nodded before leaving to carry out his orders.

The entire army waited for several minutes trying their best not to make any kind of sound. A sudden distant growl made the army shift in slight surprise but after that, nothing. They were forced to wait for almost half an hour before Big Mac and his men came back.

“Got twelve of ‘em, all changelings, four casualties on our side though,” Big Mac put his green blood stained warhammer down. “Ah don’t like this Spike, Ah think we should turn back, somethin’ ain’t right here,” Big Mac said managing to gain the attention of the Shadow Hunters and a few nearby diamond dogs, griffons and buffalo.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked his friend.

“Ah think we might be walkin’ into an ambush,” Big Mac replied worriedly.

“Calm yourself Macintosh, don’t let their cowardly fame get inside your head. There’s no way the rebels know about this attack,” Spike reasoned and before Big Mac could say anything else he raised both hands with clenched fists and thrusted them forward.

A few seconds later the entire army began to move forward again.

“There has to be a rebel camp just in front of us, there’s no other reason as to why there should be so many sentinels,” Spike clicked his tongue twice, making a loud noise similar to that of a multitude of crickets. The army began to move a little faster while the heavy units and flanks prepared for battle.

The walk continued for little more than ten minutes before the unicorn unit signaled a full stop again. A moment later the same unicorn from before rushed his way to meet Spike only to be stopped once again by the Shadow Hunters.

“General, captain Pokey wishes to show you something,” Spike nodded in response, he extended one of his arms forward, a nearby Shadow Hunter presented Spike with a two meter long spear. Spike took it and turned to see his two friends.

“Soarin, Big Mac, with me. Shadow Hunters, take battle positions.”

“Yes, general,” the Shadow Hunters said perfect synch before flying up into the tree tops.

“Take us to captain Pokey,” Spike ordered the unicorn. The unicorn saluted and turned to guide the trio through the army’s main force and deliver them to Pokey. Once their destination was reached Spike asked. “What is it Pokey?”

“Look, just across the small river up ahead, in the upper right,” Pokey said without turning to see his general. Spike took a knee and focused his superior draconic eyesight in the direction Pokey told him. “Do you see it?”

“Yeah, I see it, the question is, what is it?” Spike saw a small greenish tent-like structure that mixed itself with the surroundings almost flawlessly. He knew it was a changeling tent, which meant the rebels were a few hundred meters behind it. “Looks like some sort of tent from here,” Spike said just before a changeling mare in full armor stepped out of the tent and made her way to the river to drink some water.

Spike nodded to Soarin who in turn made a toad like noise and there was a sudden movement above them.

The noise made the changeling mare raise to her hooves and pull out her chitin serrated sword. She scanned the area a few times until she was convinced she was safe, she sheathed her sword and three Shadow Hunters fell on top of her. There was an almost imperceptible noise of cracking before the mare fell to the ground like a ragdoll. The Shadow Hunters wasted no time and one entered the tent, around a minute later he came out with a few scrolls in his hands. Then they took flight once more.

No more than ten seconds later the Shadow Hunter holding the scroll landed beside Spike, he then kneeled presenting the scroll. Spike took it and the Shadow Hunter returned to the tree tops as fast as he had come. Spike opened the scroll revealing to be a map in which, like he had expected, pointed out the location of the nearby camp and other routes around it in red color and several blue dots surrounding an extended perimeter of the camp.

Around a minute later Spike closed the scroll and turned around. He made some arm signals followed by a few cricket clicks and whistles. Once he was done the entirety of the heavy units, right and left flank began to advance in a slow march while the other units followed in a slower pace. He turned around again just in time to follow the unicorn unit closely as the moved forward.

Crossing the small river proved to be no problem at all, and thanks to the unicorn unit they were safely concealed. They continued their march until they reached what they were looking for: the rebel camp. Spike and the entire unicorn unit saw, several rebels of many species walking around doing this or that not one hundred meters in front of them. There were weapon racks close to bigger versions of the tent they saw earlier. All rebels were wearing armor of some kind and carried weapons of sorts; be it swords, spears, halberds, pikes, etc. The arrange of weapons was vast and numerous.

Many of them were working on producing arrows at the fletcher or armor and weapons in blacksmiths, yet most of them were just doing mundane chores. There were also a couple of bigger, more sturdier looking buildings that Spike didn’t know what contained, but if the faint growls were anything to go by then it meant a surprise for the caribou. The air itself had a tense aura to it and it was noticeable even to the most untrained of soldiers, even though the rebels seemed to be very relaxed from their point of view.

“How many of them are there?” a nearby unicorn asked in a hushed tone.

“Probably around a thousand,” another replied. “Has to be the biggest camp so far, maybe this is their central camp” another one replied. “By Dainn, just look at that blasphemy. Those traitors are letting their bitches cover themselves up and are actually letting the whores hold weapons,” the unicorn snorted angrily. “How dare they spit on the greatness of male superiority like that! They are not males anymore!” the unicorn said again eagerly without increasing his volume.

Spike ignored the comment and closed his eyes.

This is it, the moment of truth……..I’m sorry, but as I promised your sacrifice won’t be in vain, thank you and, please, forgive me.

The dragon thought swallowing down the knot that had formed in his throat. He opened his eyes again followed by making a single loud cricket noise. He raised both arms then he extended them to his sides in a swift rapid motion. Moments later he heard the muffled movements of both flanks moving in position to surround the camp. Spike turned around to see the heavy units just twenty meters away from him with Bulk Biceps leading them, he raised a hand and the units stopped. Looking at Soarin he nodded once and the pegasus joined the rest of his Hunters in the top.

“Big Mac, go back and take charge of the ranged units, tell the captains to be ready to fire on my signal.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

Spike waited for a few moments, seeing the red stallion walk past the heavy soldiers; caribou brutes clad in armor carrying their prized warhammers and giant battle axes.

Suddenly two Shadow Hunters landed in front of Spike in a kneeling position.

“Flanks in position, general. Awaiting your command,” one of them said.

“Perfect,” Spike said making the Hunters return to the top. The dragon saw the range units approach and stop a few meters behind the heavy units. Thanks to the foliage and the trees the initial attack wouldn’t do much damage but it would throw the rebels off balance, catching them entirely by surprise.

Spike picked up the battle horn hanging from his side; he was about to give the signal to fire when he heard a loud growl near him. Looking around he saw his army doing the same looking uncertain and frightened. Then a loud scream of pain came from above followed by a Shadow Hunter fall to the ground in front of them, blood flowing from a missing arm and covered by three cockatrices; all of them biting and slashing their victim with untold ferocity.

“We’re under attack!” he heard a shout in the distance, Spike looked forward to see the rebels stop what they were doing to draw or pick weapons. He turned to the dead thestral on the ground a few meters away of the spell influence and the cocatrices scattering to unkwon directions. He looked forward again to find the rebels grouping.

“FIRE!” Spike shouted, his battle horn forgotten, and a second later a hail of arrows rained upon the rebels managing to take down a few of them. “Drop the spell! ALL UNITS CHARGE!” he shouted again.

The battle horns sang for an instant before the heavy units got up and charged their enemy. The unicorn unit ended their unified spell and each fired a bolt of magic against the rebels, almost every bolt stopped by a barrier created by the few changeling soldiers and unicorns amongst them. The heavy units passed them a moment later whilst under a hail of arrows, throwing lances, rocks and magic bolts, the last one proving to be almost completely useless against the enchanted armor and weapons of the caribou.

Spike heard the two sides clash loudly, he got up, ignited his spear with his fire and waved it around the air: the signal for the griffon unit to commence their assault. He saw the griffons take to the air and fly onward to battle. Spike turned to see the ongoing battle in front of him and with a shout of defiance he charged followed closely by the unicorn unit on the ground and the Shadow Hunters above. Before he joined the battle he saw the flanks coming out of their positions to attack the rebels from three different fronts. He moved between his troops, desperately making his way to the heat of the battle.

He had a promise to keep.

*Half an hour later*

The battle had raged on for longer than Spike had predicted as he walked around the battle ground, but it had been just as intense and those brave souls that gave their lives fought with a ferocity that put fear in the hearts of their enemies. He could hear moans of pain and cries for help and saw his troops checking the bodies that littered the ground, trying to find rebels to kill or wounded allies. He could also see some caribou scavenging the corpses of their fallen enemies for some kind of memento, they were almost done, too.

He could also see some manticore and orthros corpses around, all of them kept inside the bigger building he saw earlier.

“Let us go, you assholes!” Spike heard a hissing yet feminine voice scream, if he was right it was coming from his left side. He immediately knew what was going on and rushed to the voice. It took him a few seconds and a turn around a huge tent to see what was expected.

There was a group of fifteen caribou holding three females; a changeling mare without her horn, a cow and a zebra mare, in the air. They struggled against their captors violently, meanwhile the caribou only laughed at their attempts to free themselves from their hold. Their armor was gone allowing the caribou to grope, squeeze and pull their breasts as they pleased.

“Don’t worry, you sluts, my friends and I will fuck you until you understand your proper place,” a caribou said aligning his free cock with the changeling mare opening. “For a bug you look to be very tight and your tits aren’t half bad either!” he licked his lips in anticipation.

“Still, the bug can’t compete with a cow whore! I mean, just look at these beauties!” another caribou said squeezing the ample breasts of the cow aggressively making her cry out in protest and pain. “Now these are some fine tits!”

The caribou laughed darkly, anxious to enjoy the females in their grasp while the three females began to cry out for help. The caribou ready to rape the changeling mare heard a buzzing noise behind him and a second later he screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

“Ggggaaaaahhhh!” the caribou dropped to his knees while his brethren backed away and gasped looking at the spear point coming out of his chest just where his heart was. Before the caribou could do anything, he felt the spear being pulled out from behind only to be impaled again and again until he died creating a pool of blood below his corpse.

The other caribou, some other soldiers nearby and the three females looked at the dragon that had executed one of his own soldiers.

“I thought,” Spike began to say in a loud, distorted and terrifying tone. “My orders where NO prisoners and NO trophies,” Spike looked at the other fourteen trembling caribou soldiers he had caught disobeying his orders. “WELL!?” everyone in earshot stopped to look at their direction. The caribou didn’t reply, too scared to find any excuse. Spike shot a glance at the three females, noticing only the cow was crying but still looked at him with gratitude like her two partners.

“SOARIN!” Spike shouted angrily. A few seconds later Soarin arrived at his side along with twenty of his Shadow Hunters.

He bowed before asking in a neutral. “Yes, my general?”

“Execute these fourteen imbeciles for insubordination along with those filthy bitches. They want them? Then they can die with them!” the caribou in question shouted back at Spike, pleading him for forgiveness and to reconsider while the females simply closed their eyes and smiled. “Let it be a lesson for all who don’t follow my orders!” Spike shouted back at them.

“As you command, my general,” Soarin snapped his fingers together just as the caribou turned tail and ran only to be mow down a few meters away by the Hunters along with the three females.

Spike turned to face the soldiers looking at the execution and yelled. “Anyone else!?” his answer was a pained chuckle coming from the nearby tent. He, along with Soarin and the Hunters, walked toward it while the soldiers, still fearful and nervous, kept on watching their general.

Two Shadow Hunters entered the tent and came out dragging a white griffon, the same griffon Spike had spoken to just days earlier in the central hive. Spike gulped unnoticed by anyone and stepped forward to face the kneeling and battered griffon.

“What’s so funny, traitor?” Spike asked with disgust.

“A...ha….ha….Y--Y---You idiots, you…..*cough*......you killed th-the sentin-nels,” the griffon coughed some blood before laughing and looking at Spike with a small smile on his beak.

“And the rest of your army,” Spike took a knee in front of the griffon held tightly by three Hunters. “But I must admit you put up a challenge to my troops…….at least your males did; you and your brothers even managed to kill a little over three hundred of my own. And for that, I congratulate you, but why were you putting such a fight even though your defeat was inevitable?” Spike heard a few chuckles going around him. “Why didn’t you even try to run away like the cowards you are?”

“We…...weren’t trying to…...to….*cough* …..survive….or...kill as much of you as w-w-we could, *violent cough* we….were…..s-stalling you,” the griffon said with a smirk.

“Stall us?” Spike asked unfaced. “Likely story, traitor, my forces are still eager and strong to raze two or three more of your camps. Admit it, now that we can enter the forest is only a matter of time until we put your stupid and pointless rebellion to rest,” Spike said getting up facing his troops. “We already won! Nothing can stop us and nothing will deny the truth of male superiority!” he shouted out making his troops shout in victory as well. Spike looked down at the griffon and smirked, but instead of seeing a defeated griffon he saw him smiling back at him before coughing loudly moving his head up and down violently, almost like he was nodding.

Already? I just hope Zecora’s potion works as good as the fame runs, Spike thought still looking down at the griffon, he closed his eyes for a second before the griffon began to laugh again, his laughter barely audible. Your sacrifice won’t be in vain, friend.

Spike opened his eyes. “What are you laughing for, filth?”

“You think y-your *cough* victory here means anything, dragon?” the griffon asked coldly. “This camp is n-nothing compared to our *violent cough* r-real forces, this is just one of s-s-several capture and tame camps s-*cough*-scattered through the f-forest,” the griffon struggled to say in between deep breaths.

“Capture and tame camps?” Soarin asked with genuine confusion.

“Small camps set t-to capture monsters and t-train them for labor or war,” the griffon turned his gaze to Soarin. “I’m sure y-your Shadow Fuckers know our beasts v-very well, don’t they?” Soarin said nothing but his expression turned into an annoyed one.

“Hollow words and pitiful lies are the only thing coming out of your mouth. And even if you were speaking the truth, why would you tell me this?”

“Because y-you won’t leave this forest *cough* alive, dragon” the griffon said as loudly as he could, making almost all other chattering die down. Even the Hunters holding him eased their grip on him out of surprise. “I know why th-there aren’t any of your warbeasts with y-you, fucker,” Spike frowned in anger. “They’re afraid of the forest…….of real m-m-monsters *cough*. The forest is dangerous, that’s why we ha-have sentinels…...they make us in-invisible to the monsters,” the griffon smiled broadly, his eyes shining with malice. “But not anymore!” he yelled as loud as he could.

“The monsters are coming to feast on your blood, dozens maybe even hundreds of them,” the smile of the griffon widened seeing the angered expression of Spike. A distant roar followed by howling and growls made the soldiers around uneasy and scared. “Do you hear them, you fucking traitor!? Are you going to fight the monsters or will you try to run!?” the griffon coughed blood, it landing on Spike’s already blood stained feets. Soarin signaled two Hunters to fly to the top.

“Y-you may hide from their eyes *violent coughing* but what about the smell of blood from your wounded!? Die fuckers, DIE! Death to the caribou and death to Dainn!” the griffon shouted using his remaining strength before a Shadow Hunter broke his neck from behind.

Spike saw the body hit the floor with a loud thud, it was soon followed by loud roars and howling. The two Hunters Soarin sent to the top returned with an expression similar of that of seeing a ghost.

“T-there is movement approaching from all directions, general! We’re being surrounded by monsters!”

“Orders general!” Soarin shouted to Spike.

Spike was clenching his fists and was trembling with fury.

“R-retreat! Full retreat!” Spike shouted as loudly as he could. “Back to Ponyville!”

He and his troops waited not a second longer before they ran back to their forces in reserve and the wounded. They arrived just in time to see the first wave of Timberwolves, Cockatices, Manticores, Cragadiles and even a Hydra emerge from the depths of the forest.

The army and the monsters were frozen in place for second or two; the caribou and the rest of the army focused on the unnatural glow the beasts eyes had, almost like they couldn't believe the feast that had come willingly to their table. The monsters pounced barely letting the army take their weapons to defend themselves.

Spike saw the monsters clash against his soldiers hungry for their meat, he allowed himself to cheer for the monsters inside his head for a second when he saw a second, albeit smaller, wave of monsters join the carnage. Spike was about to shout an order when he felt the very ground shake heavily. He, and the soldiers that weren’t fighting already for their lives, looked agape as between the trees emerged a gigantic purple, ferocious looking creature flanked by two giant Timberwolves and surrounded by even more monsters.

“......Ursa….. Major…..” Spike whispered in terror. “Onward! Fight your way through, for male superiority!”

“For male superiority!” half his army shouted back as the monsters charged against them. The battle for their survival had only just begun.

--------------------------------------------------------***************************************************

*Canterlot Castle-Meeting Room- 3:57 p.m.-That very same day-*

The doors of the meeting room opened abruptly forcing the ones inside it look at the entrance to see what was going on.

Dainn got up from his seat (and so did half the leaders sitting around the large table) when he saw a blood (mostly dry) drenched Spike flanked by the commander of the Shadow Hunters and three of its members in similar conditions. The guards outside the room looking at the small group in shock.

“Wait outside,” Spike said in a tired tone, his four companions turned around and left. Spike closed the door calmly and made his way to his seat beside Blueblood, effectively ignoring the baffled stares he was receiving. His cape was now just a ripped shred of cloth and what was left of his armor marked by deep scratches and dents. He sat down, took a deep breath and then proceeded to speak.

“Sorry I’m late everyone, my king,” Spike saluted Dainn with a head bow. “I just got out of the forest half an hour ago and I decided to take the Shadow Hunter express, so I had no time to clean myself,” Spike relaxed on his seat. “I’m assuming you were talking about the mission, right?”

“Spike!” Dainn said with a hint of worry in his voice. “What in Tartarus happened!?”

“Monsters, hordes and hordes of monsters,” Spike said tiredly. “The purpose of the attack was achieved nonetheless, my king. I found a rebel camp, the biggest as far as I know.”

“How many of those bastards were there?” a zebra warlord asked, finally sitting and his surprise suppressed.

“We didn’t have time to count but I can safely say under a thousand, perhaps around eight or nine hundred,” Spike sighed. “Everything was going so well, the surprise was a success, albeit a little accident before it began, the rebels were cut down even though the, ehem, ‘males’ fought back valiantly, in just over half an hour they were all dead,” Spike leaned forward resting his elbows on the table and his head on his hands. “It was after our victory when the monsters attacked.”

“What kind of monsters attacked you, Spike?” warlord Ulfric asked curiously.

“What didn’t attack us is the real question, Ulfric. Timberwolves of all sizes ripping and shredding. Cockatices either taking down my air units out or turning to stone those in the ground. Manticores pummeling down the heavy units. Hydras devouring whatever they saw with all their heads. And an ursa major, a motherfucking ursa major smashing through my troops like they were pesky mosquitos! And many, many other monsters; some I hadn’t even seen before this morning.”

“The fighting was brutal and merciless; we were fighting for survival, the monsters were fighting for their next meal. I personally had to cut down at least thirty monsters. I honestly don’t know how we managed to escape them, especially the damn fucking ursa,” Spike sighed heavily.

There was a moment of silence before Spike leaned back in his seat and looked directly at Dainn, whom had an anxious expression on his face.

“Dainn,” several members around the table gasped in shock and fear. Dainn’s sons were about to say something but with a single movement of their father’s hand they stopped and listened in silence. “That forest is a slaughtering ground,” Spike said in a low, exhausted and uncaring tone. “I lost three thousand one hundred and thirty seven soldiers in total, and that’s just when I left Ponyville; I don’t know how many more will die from their injuries.”

“Then how can these damn rebels survive inside the forest if its as dangerous as you say?” Dainn asked with a hint of anger.

“The changelings use their magic to create some sort of repellent, I’m not sure myself but that would explain why there were only changeling sentinels around the camp’s perimeter,” Spike answered still in the same tone.

“But was the camp destroyed, the rebels were killed by our warriors?” Dainn asked a bit more relaxed.

“Yes my king, every single one of them,” Spike got up from his seat. “Even though we suffered substantial casualties the rest of the rebels will now know their precious little refuge won’t protect them forever. But before we can make a move of our own again, I think it may be wise to quell other safer rebel controlled areas first,” Spike said with a smile.

“Perfect,” Dainn said with a small smile of his own. “While unfortunately you lost most of your army you managed to survive once again, Spike. And not only survive, you completed a task deemed as impossible by most sitting around this very table. I can see my faith in you was well placed,” Dainn leaned back in his throne. “Pray tell, where are you going?”

“If I may, my king, I wish to wash this filth off of me,” Spike said with extending his arms trying to prove his point.

Dainn hummed. “Very well, you may go, but I want you present during dinner to discuss your reward for your success,” he smiled at Spike as the dragon bowed and left without another word.

---------------------------------------------------------------***************************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

Spike stopped his retailing and shifted somewhat uncomfortably on his seat.

“What happened then, prisoner?” the ursa judge asked with politely.

“I’m getting to that, but first, may I use the bathroom, please?” Spike asked with a bright smile.

The judges exchanged looks and nodded.

“The court will take a fifteen minute rest,” the ursa judge declared by hitting the stone pedestal with his claws once.

The minotaur guards approached Spike to escort him to the bathroom, Spike got up and let the guards move and push him forward. Once he was about to reach the main doors he turned just enough to see the judges discussing between themselves on their desk.

“Almost forgot, you better be prepared because it’s almost time, shit is about to get good, my dear Judges!” his eyes turned white just for a second before the doors opened and he stepped out.

Meanwhile six of the judges present felt a strange sensation of coldness run across their entire bodies.

Chapter 4 end.

Author's Note

Special thanks to all who read this!

Special thanks to FamousLastWords for proofreading and minor editing. Give him love! Also, he is an awesome writer so go and check his work!

Chapter 5: Ascension

Chapter 5: Ascension

----- “My wife and I were the first to fall victim to Dainn’s curse.”

*Snarl*

“We were stupid enough to come and meet him in the borders of Hraljord. In a way we were also ecstatic to hear from the caribou for the first time in over eight hundred years; we thought it was an opportunity to forge a commerce route or even an alliance, something we couldn’t pass. How truly stupid we were to trust Orestes.”

-Prince Shining Armor, you can’t blame yourself for taking a risk at something you had no knowledge of the outcome-

*Strained laugh*

“That’s the worst part. When we arrived to meet Dainn we saw a just a hint of their madness, nothing like what they did to Equestria later on but still I….WE should’ve seen that dark foreshadowing, but we were blinded by the apparent riches, both economic and military, Dainn presented to us. He insisted that we spent a few days with him in his camp; to learn a little of the caribou culture and ease the negotiations later on…….and we agreed.”

* Fifteen-second long pause*

“The first two days were relatively normal and dull, the only thing I noticed was that Dainn spent as much time as he could with Cadance; at the time I didn’t pay it any mind because she is the direct ruler and the Crystal Princess. It was during the third day when our nightmare began.”

*Loud bang noise*

“That fucker summoned me to initiate negotiations on his personal tent, when I got there I found my wife on his lap, completely nude, riding him like a mare in heat. Want to know what I did!? I asked Dainn if he was enjoying her! He laughed, I laughed and then we began “negotiations” or the plan to hand him and the caribou the Crystal Empire and Equestria on a silver plate. My wife, our small escort and I were nothing but his guinea pigs! I fell on his fucking trap…...he…….I changed……..everything inside my head was twisted and turned me into one of them without me even noticing the change.”

*Minute long pause*

-Prince Shining, can you continue?-

“.......We returned the next day and…….and that’s when the madness began, at first it was subtle; change a law here put another one there, tricking Discord to come and perform a chaos parade of his own, covering their tracks and falsifying documents and reports while the caribou forces positioned themselves for the attack. Everything went smoothly except for the agreed day to begin the purge. I don’t know much of the details and Cadance says that’s not for her to tell, but the day was moved by another week and when the time came, the Fall began.”

*Chair shifts*

“When Spike destroyed the Crystal Cock and cleansed the curse from everything that could still be saved I almost went mad; thankfully there were some caribou near me and so…...I went mad over them. Everyone did. Stags and fawns were fair game and the caribou cows and doe that fought to protect their ‘masters’ were also killed, although I like to believe their deaths were quick and as painless as possible.”

*Chuckle*

“I regret nothing of what I did to those fucking bastards. And I would do it again, and more, if I had the chance. After all I did to my country, my people, my troops, all those innocents no matter of their species, my family…….my mother, my sister and…..my wife……..”

*Eight second long pause*

“I was never a fan of killing until I was freed from their control. Heck, Chrysalis’s brainwash seems like nothing but a cheap rip-off compared to the caribou curse. A pony can only handle so much before he breaks and the caribou broke us all without exception. Some more than others…….”

-Are you saying the caribou deserved to be massacred up to the point of near extinction?-

“I don’t know, I don’t care and I don’t give a single flying feather about it. They brought it upon themselves and....”

*Door opens*

“All Spike…….all we did was accelerate their extinction, they were doomed even before the Fall began.”

-What do you mean by that, prince Shining?-

“I’m sure Spike and Creslin will be delighted to tell you everything about it.”

*Door shuts*--------

-------------Prince Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, Report on the Caribou----------------------

--------- “‘The first mare to see the light’, ‘A symbol of obedience to all females’, ‘The prime exemplar of what a female truly is’. Those were some of my titles during the years of the Fall, lovely don’t you think? A cruel reminder of my own weakness and what I did…..So much for being the Princess of Love when all I cared during that time was cock.”

-Princess Mi Amore--

“Just call me Cadance, please.”

-Princess Cadance, may I ask you something rather personal?-

“Of course.”

-When we tried to get a report from princess Celestia and princess Twilight they refused rather violently and princess Luna nearly killed one of my partners. Why are you so open about this whole situation and, more importantly, why aren’t you showing the typical signs other females and males, including your husband and your fellow princesses, display?-

“What makes you think I don’t cry myself to sleep every night? Or that I don’t take several hours long baths trying to clean myself from the guilt? Or that I can barely hold my husband’s hand without trembling in fear, regret, hate and feeling nauseous? I’m here because Spike needs my help. I won’t give up on my cousin just because he handed himself to you, traitors.”

-Princess Mi Amo--

“Just Cadance, please.”

-Princess Cada--

“Just Cadance.”

-............Very well, Cadance. I apologize from my mislead assumption. But you know we are not traitors-

“Of course you are; you betrayed us, your own people that got trapped during the Fall, the ones trying to find a way to break the barrier. And even to the rotten caribou.”

-Princess Mi Amo--

*Breaking noise*

“I TOLD YOU TO CALL ME CADANCE!”

*Twenty second long pause*

“.....Spike sacrificed himself, again, for our sake. He gave you his report, he accepted your terms and he’s going to give you his life in return. What more do you want from him!?”

*Ten second long pause*

“He begged and made us swear not to interfere during his upcoming trial. He said it’s for the best. He said he had crimes to answer for. He…….he…...H-h-he…….”

*Crying*

-He what, Cadance?-

*Eleven second long pause*

“He said……..he said he’s g-going to speak.”------------

--------------Princess of Love, Mi Amore Cadenza (Cadance), Report on Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’.

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

The main doors of the courtroom opened again letting Spike back inside escorted by the minotaur guards. He saw the judges were also coming in again through the door at their side. He sat down on his chair, noticing the new table in front of him. Soon, the judges took their respectives seats and the ursa judge hit the pedestal loudly three times.

“Recess is over; the court will resume the trial of Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’,” the ursa judge said loud and clear.

“Why don’t you use my other two titles as well, dear Judge? I really like them, especially the third one,” Spike said scratching the back of his head.

“Because we are here to judge you, Spike, not your titles; even if they are well deserved,” the griffon judge said almost whispering the last part. “Which begs the question, your third title claims you as ‘The Lightbringer’. On every report we managed to get about you it was never explained the why. Care to explain?”

“Ah General Sebastian! You shouldn’t be impatient for the answer will come soon enough!” Spike said leaning back in his chair. “Now where was I? Hmmmmm….Ah yes, my reward.”

“After I left I went straight to the royal bathrooms to clean myself. Well, not ‘myself’ myself, since there were females in charge of cleaning, entertaining and pleasing you during your bath. Lucky me, that day there were some new small pets working in, take a wild guess what they were doing there?” Spike flashed a toothy smile at the judges who in turn did nothing.

“Anyways, after a two hour long bath; yes, I was that ‘dirty’. I went to the room Dainn had prepared for me and decided to take a quick nap. When I woke up it was almost dinner time, so I got up, brushed my teeth and fangs, trimmed my claws and left for dinner.”

------------------------------------------------------*********************************************

*Canterlot Castle, Dining Room-Three years and seven weeks into the Fall- 8:28 p.m.*

Spike entered the royal dining room and to his surprise only the sons of Dainn and Discord were sitting around the table, all of them chatting between themselves. The table was rectangular and quite large, mostly due because the seats were set apart for about a meter from the others; enough space to let regular size females to crawl underneath them and please their masters. There were red collar maids standing nearby awaiting orders and a few stag guards around the room. When he was just a couple of meters away from the table he heard moans and groans of pleasure coming from below the table. He was about to take a seat in the farthest right side of the table when a guard approached him.

“Excuse me, general, but his majesty king Dainn has prepared a special seat for you at his side,” the caribou guard said before escorting Spike to his seat directly next to Dainn’s left side and in front of Discord; whom was giving him a goofy smile. The guard then saluted and retreated to his previous post.

“Hhnnnng!” the loud grunt followed by a moan and heavy breathing made Spike turn his head to see the origin of it. He saw the caribou sitting next to Discord, Dainn’s second son if he remembered correctly, wearing a satisfied expression. “Fucking whore sure is tight,” he said before letting out a content sigh. “You can come out now, Kassy.”

While it was true the caribou saw all females the same and names were just a way to identify them more easily, they only called their own doe and cows by their names when said female was their property or a worthsome family member.

With that in mind he limited himself to see a young brown coated caribou doe, no more than twelve years old, crawl out at the prince’s side. Her antlers trimmed down nicely in their usual fashion and a red collar adorning her neck. The prince patted her head a few times before speaking again.

“Good job Kassy, you’re learning how to properly please me quite fast,” the doe beamed at the compliment. “Now, what do we say?”

“T-thanks for using my slutty pussy to please your all mighty cock, Father-Master!” the doe said in an almost innocent and sweet tone.

“Very good,” he looked up to see his brothers. “That’s why she’s my favorite daughter pet; obedient, eager to please and loves her master,” his brothers just groaned in annoyance.

“It’s not our fault our breeding sluts can’t deliver good quality material, Frost. I only have one son, one! And my daughter pets are fucking terrible, I usually end up selling them because they can’t do shit right,” the youngest exclaimed.

“You think that’s bad, Calvin? At least you have a son. I’m the oldest and my useless whores can’t deliver me a single son; at least my daughter pets are nice looking and make for good cock sleeves while they’re young. Too bad they usually don’t last much.”

“How many have you lost already, Rolph?” the third one asked. “I know they’re just females but at least try to enjoy them for more than a few rounds. Which reminds me, did you borrow my seven year old daughter pet?”

“The one with that lovely cock shaped mark?” his brother nodded. “Yeah…….and I think I went a little too far. Sorry, Akios.”

“Fuck you Rolph! I was saving her for next year anniversary!” Akios exclaimed angered. “You’ll give me one of your daughter pets in return, but I’ll choose which! I don’t want another near dead and loose cunt like last time!”

“Fine,” Rolph agreed. “Hey, Frost, can you lend me little Kassy over there? She’s a little old for my tastes but I think I’ll manage.”

“Sorry bro, but Kassy here needs to get to her cage and sleep tight. Tomorrow’s gonna be her first fuck-a-hole tournament and I want her in top shape!” Frost looked to his daughter. “You can go now, Kassy.”

“Thank you, Father-Master!” she said before crawling away, cum still dripping from her recently used vagina.

“You, black coated slut,” Frost said making a maid approach. “Clean me and then clean the floor,” he ordered without even looking at the pegasus mare.

“Of course, Master,” the mare responded before making her way below the table.

Spike didn’t clenched his fists or frowned; he had seen this so many times almost since the beginning of the Fall it didn’t even angered him as much anymore. His sentiment was now far more deep than that, and mere anger would not suffice to describe it anymore.

I wonder if that’s a good sign or a bad sign. Spike thought for a moment letting the fire inside his chest burn.

“It’s good to see you back in one piece, Spikester!” Discord called in front of him managing to pull Spike out of his trance while the four brothers kept on talking between themselves.

“Thanks Discord, it’s good to see you again,” Spike said in a neutral tone. “Say, where’s Blueblood?”

“Dunno,” Discord replied before smirking. “Heard from Danny your mission was a success, congratz! Such a shame the monsters kicked your scaly ass at the end, huh?” Discord said picking his nose.

“Many brave soldiers died today, please don’t insult their sacrifice,” Spike said in true nostalgy. Their sacrifice won’t be in vain, I promised them.

Discord stopped picking his nose pulling out a green parasprite, he grunted and breathed silver fire over it, a moment later the parasprite was gone. “But you survived so yeah, silver lining.”

“Tell me, general,” Calvin said gaining Spike’s attention. The last word tainted with venom and spite. “How were you able to lose so many of our father’s soldiers in just a few hours?”

“Don’t be so mean with the dragon, Calvin. At least he managed to destroy a petty rebel camp, so I guess he isn’t totally useless,” Frost said mockingly. “But you’re right, brother, thanks to his ineptitude almost thirty three hundred soldiers died: that’s including those that died from their injuries back in Ponyville so far.”

“Tell us, what’s your excuse, naked dragon?” Rolph said with a smug grin.

“Forgive me, my princes, but I do not answer to you or anyone else but your father, the great Dainn,” Spike smirked. “But you’re right and I don’t have any excuses, all I hope for is to serve his majesty to the best of my capabilities. Maybe during the next invasion into the monster filled forest you’ll lead our troops to glory and show me how successful your majesties are?” at his statement the four princes glared at the dragon while Discord snorted covering his mouth with his lion paw.

“Hey guys, here!” Discord snapped his fingers making a few ice cubes appear in front of the princes. “You’ll need it!” he said before snorting once again.

“Why you insolent--!” Rolph began but was interrupted by the doors of the dining room opening once again. Rolph sat down the moment he saw his father walk inside the room and make his way to the table.

“Hello, father,” the four princes said in unison when Dainn sat down at the head of the table.

“My king,” Spike said giving Dainn a head bow.

“You’re late, Danny,” Discord said with a wide grin. “Spikester here showed your kids just how badly a dragon can burn! Ha ha ha!”

Dainn glanced at Spike and then to his sons, all four of them bearing an angry expression. “Is Discord speaking the truth, Spike?”

“Yes,” Spike gulped. “I beg for your forgiveness, my king, I let my emotions get the better of me.”

“There’s no need to apologize, Spike. I know my sons well enough to know who started it,” Dainn shot a weak glare to his sons. “Now you four, apologize.”

“.......We’re sorry, general Spike,” the four of them said in unison.

“I’m sorry too, your majesties,” Spike said while smiling internally.

Dainn glanced at the side seeing the pegasus maid crawling out below the table lapping the cum stains on the floor. Dainn sighed tiredly. “Frost, how many times do I have to tell you not to bring your pets during dinner?”

“I’m sorry, father,” Frost apologized before gulping loudly.

Dainn turned to see Spike again, he looked him up and down a few times. “Glad you’re clean again, Spike,” he offered the dragon a smile before a slight groan caught his and Spike’s attention. “Is something wrong, Discord?”

Discord was holding his head with his griffon claw in an annoyed if not almost pained expression. “Just those damn headaches again, Danny. Could you, you know?” Dainn said nothing, got up while his antlers glowed with his magic and his right hand was illuminated in a greenish glow, contrary to the blue aura around his antlers. He touched Discord’s head with his right hand and a few seconds later Discord’s eyes flashed a multicolored glow before he smiled. “Thanks Danny, you’re the best!”

“Always glad to help a friend,” Dainn said returning to his seat.

Is Discord being controlled just like Shining was by Chrysalis? It totally looks like it, Spike thought returning the smile Discord offered him. I have to be sure.

“Say Discord, now that I think of it can’t you, you know, make the Everfree harmless?”

“Already tried that, Spikester, the power of the darn Tree protects the forest from anything, even my magic. We already tried everything but no matter what the forest still holds up or it regenerates any damage instantly!” Discord crossed his arms in annoyance. “What’s worse is that I don’t even know where the stupid thing is,” Discord grunted.

“I…...didn’t know that,” Spike said genuinely surprised. That means Dainn has no idea about the old castle or where the Tree actually is! And…...and also that Discord did something similar to what Blueblood did to Cele---mom’s memories. Maybe he knew he was done for too late but was able to hide something from Dainn. Still, the girls would have given that away unless…...unless they forgot about it…... Then Spike coughed violently.

“Is something wrong, Spike?” Dainn asked somewhat worriedly.

“N-no *cough* my king, just a bit of p-pain *cough* the f-fucking ursa hit me almost at the end of the…..battle. Nothing to *cough* worry about,” Spike said quickly. Now I remember, when I was still an Enslaved I too forgot about the Tree completely! But after I broke free I remembered it…...The Tree protected itself…...to give us a chance? If so…….if so, then that means……….I’m the only one who knows where it is.

“Are you certain?”

“Yes, my king, nothing but an uncomfortable cough every now and then.”

Dainn nodded and then clapped his hands. A few seconds several maids came through the doors leading to the kitchens carrying golden enclosed trays. They served each two trays and then used their mouths to pull up their domes. For Dainn and his sons a perfectly made and delicious looking spinach salad and a steaming hot soup laid in front of them. For Discord a plate of spaghetti with meatballs and an odd mix of crackers, cookies and paper bathed in maple syrup laid in front of him. For Spike, however, there was something he didn’t expect.

He knew he wasn’t the only meat eater in the kingdom but to see a plate full of jewels of many kinds and another presenting a big, juicy steak adorned with a bed of lettuce and a side mashed potato salad and some rice made his mouth water.

All of them waited patiently until the maids served them their respective silverware, a glass of wine and another of water. The maid then retreated from where they came from and Dainn raised his glass of wine.

“To my newest and favorite general, may his victories be many,” the rest of the present raised their own glasses of wine in response. “Let us then enjoy our dinner.”

Everyone began to eat their meals and for two or so minutes only the clinging of the silverware, slurping or munching noises were heard around the table. Spike ate all the gems first before moving to his steak, he cut a piece and took a bite. His eyes snapped open and his jaws stopped after the first chews finding the flavor strange and new but still delicious.

“Excuse me, my king,” Spike said after swallowing his mouthful.

“Yes?” Dainn responded before taking a big chunk of spinach inside his mouth.

“This meat is like nothing I’ve tasted before, may I ask what is it?”

Dainn swallowed his meal and looked at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“It is strangely sweet, soft and really juicy; it’s quite delicious,” Spike said before taking another, albeit smaller, piece of meat inside his mouth.

Dainn didn’t respond, instead he signaled for a nearby guard to approach him, he whispered something to his ear and then the guard made his way to the kitchens. “Just a moment, Spike,” Dainn said in an angry tone making Spike stop eating. Half a minute later the guard returned and whispered something to Dainn’s ear.

Dainn turned to face Spike once more. “The chefs say it’s pork.”

Spike looked down at his meal for a second or two and then back at Dainn. “Excuse me, my king, but I’ve eaten pork before and this meat tastes nothing like it. Not even the consistency is similar,” Spike replied calmly.

“Bring me the griffon chef right now,” Dainn ordered making the same guard return to the kitchen in a hurried pace. Moments later he returned alongside a blue feathered griffon wearing a traditional chef attire, judging by the hat and the insignias in his chest he was one of the main chefs.

“My guest of honor says the meat tastes nothing like pork,” Dainn said to the griffon. “Tell me what it is.”

“A zhousand apologies, your majesty, but zhat is the only portion of meat ve had for zhe night. I’m afraid I can’t tell vhat kind of meat zhat is unless I taste it,” the chef answered quickly and politely. Dainn simply glared him. “M-may I?” the griffon asked looking at the dragon.

“By all means,” Spike said as the griffon walked to his side and took a small slice of the steak into his mouth. The griffon chew it twice before freezing in his place and swallowing it whole. Spike noticed the griffon turned eerily nervous before turning to Dainn and whispered something to his ear.

“Are you certain!?” Dainn asked glancing at Spike while the griffon reassured him in whispers. “I want you to find out who is responsible behind this insolence at once, or it will be your head on a pike by morning!” Dainn declared making the chef run back to the kitchen in a hurry.

Spike looked at Discord silently cursing his pranking habits, but much to his surprise the draconequus seemed to be just as confused as he was. Discord looked back at Spike offering him a shrug. Spike gave the brother princes a quick glance, all of them wearing a somewhat confused expression, except for Rolph; the faint smile he flashed told the dragon all he needed to know.

A minute later the chef returned alongside a diamond dog wearing a similar attire minus the hat and the insignias. The griffon pushed the dog forward urging him to move faster. Once they were at Dainn’s side the dog dropped to his knees.

“Well?” Dainn spoke making everyone around him feel an icy chill run down their spine.

“T-the package came f-f-from Ponyville, we received it j-just an hour ago, it came with the other stuff t-the chefs tend to use! That’s all I k-know your majesty,” the dog said trembling in fear. “I didn’t know it was pony meat, I swear!”

Spike felt his stomach do a summersault as he gazed back slowly at the still partly steaming meat on his plate, the smell of his dish betraying his mind horribly. He glanced at Rolph for a split second while Dainn held the dog in the air with his magic, violently shaking him in rage. Spike saw his smile grow just a little bit and then looked back at his meal.

You want to play that way? Bring it on, fucker. I’ve done worse things already, this is nothing to me.

“Pony meat?” Spike said calmly sounding as composed as he could. Dainn stopped shaking the poor dog and looked at Spike, just like everyone else around the table. “I’m eating pony meat, as in actual earth, pegasus, unicorn, thestral or crystal pony meat, not horse meat? And you say it came from Ponyville which means…….I’m actually eating what used to be part of one of my fallen soldiers?”

“Spike--” Dainn began but shut up when he saw Spike, his eyes suddenly morphing into a darker shade of green and his pupils turning into slits. Followed by using his fork to pick the rest of the meat laying on the plate and eat it whole in one bite, fork included.

“Noft bad,” Spike said in between munches. “Ash I shaid, quite delish!” Spike said eagerly before picking the golden plates and eat them in just two bites. Each gnashing creating loud wet snapping noises coming from inside his mouth, after a few seconds he swallowed. “So the plates were really made of gold? Meh, tastes good but I’m not a real fan of it, silver tastes better anyway; the potato salad was a little bland but still fine,” he said before eating the silver knife in his other hand. “Still, I like jewels and gems better.”

Spike smiled showing off his sharp fangs. “My king, I think this is just a big and sad misunderstanding of some sort. I’m sure that poor dog isn’t to blame for this accident, even though I’m grateful for it, too. I’ve always wondered how good pony meat actually is, and now I know!” he liked his fangs, slowly dragging his tongue over them. “Now I just have to find a way to find out how other meats taste like, a good diamond dog friend of mine assures me griffon meat tastes an awful lot like chicken.”

Everyone around the table and around the room looked at Spike mouth agape. Even Discord seemed to be taken aback by Spike’s actions and words.

Dainn saw Spike’s eyes turn to normal before he blinked a few times. “…….I’m glad you…..liked it, Spike,” Dainn said finally dropping the dog to the ground making Spike avoid his gaze in shame.

“I….I apologize that you had to see that, my liege. It’s my instinct, I try to keep it under control but from time to time it slips out; comes with being a dragon,” Spike said in embarrassment. He saw Dainn sit back on his seat and turn to dismiss the terrified chef and the diamond dog. Spike used that moment to casually look around the table, he chuckled internally seeing the four princes looking at him with discomfort and Rolph with a hint of skepticism.

“Think nothing of it, Spike,” Dainn said turning his attention back to Spike. “But I have to ask, does the curiosity of tasting caribou meat ever crossed your mind?”

“.....Yes. And insidently, until today, too,” Spike said looking at Dainn straight in the face. “It pains me to say this, my king, but that’s one of the reasons I was able to survive this day. The carnage was brutal during those dreadful hours that the fight lasted, during the last push an alpha timberwolf managed to stumble me; making me land face first into one of my caribou soldiers corpse, permitting me to taste his meat and blood,” Spike sighed. “After that I went berserk against the monsters.”

“Yeah, that’s bloodlust,” Discord said from his seat while a mouth in his stomach ate the rest of his meal. “A nasty dragon thing; it makes them go all parasprite-shit crazy.”

Spike coughed once. “Yeah, that, thanks Discord. As I was saying, it allowed me to punch a hole through the monsters and reach the safe zone of the forest again, along with the few troops that survived,” Spike gave Dainn an apologetic smile. “You don’t have to worry about me suddenly wanting to eat caribou meat, my king, because, to be honest, the flavour was awful.”

“The monsters of the Everfree seem to really like it though!” Discord said earning a sharp glare from Dainn, the draconequus simply shrugged and chuckled. “Just sayin’.”

Dainn turned to look at Spike again with a pleased expression. “I’m glad you’re so honest and straightforward with me, Spike, makes me feel glad I have a friend such as you close by,” Dainn smiled at the dragon. “Just try to keep that urge of yours in check from now on.”

“Of course my king. You honour me with your trust,” Spike said. He sat in silence while the princes snapped out of their trance and resumed their meal, albeit a bit slower than before.

Ten or so minutes later they were done with their dinner and Dainn drank his wine in one go, sighing contently at the end.

“Spike, I invited you to not only discuss your reward but also because I need a general whom I can trust and, more importantly, is strong enough to handle what I have in mind. Tell me, can I rely on you further?”

“Your order is my command, my king,” Spike answered with a small head bow. “Just tell me what you wish and it shall be done.”

Dainn smiled. “Excellent. Now, tell me my dear Spike, what would you think you deserve as a proper reward for your exploit?”

Spike pondered at the question. What can I ask for? Asking him to tell me how or where he managed to get his power would be too stupid and it would expose me. And for everything else I can possibly want or need I need to gain his confidence and trust. “I require no reward, my king, being able to serve you is rewarding enough.”

Dainn crossed his arms and let out a small chortle. “While I appreciate your noble intentions and humility, certainly there must be something your heart desires?”

Spike closed his eyes, trying to think of something even remotely useful that he could use against Dainn and the caribou in the long run. Suddenly, the smiling faces of his once six best mare friends flashed before his eyes, invading his mind only to be replaced a second later by a blank expression, soulless eyes and dumb smiles. He clenched his hidden hand tightly.

“W-well…..there…...there is one thing,” Spike said slowly, doing his best to ignore the pain in his heart. “I….I….I mean…...if it’s possible, may I be…..given ownership…..of….of……,” Spike took a big breath and exhaled loudly. “My king, I humbly ask to be given ownership of the rest of the Ex-Element Bearers.”

Silence fell around the table for a few short seconds.

“Mmmmm, that’s a rather big reward you’re asking for, Spike. I’m afraid I can’t grant you that as your reward for your successful mission…..,” Dainn brought a hand up to hold his chin, he scratched it once before smiling. “But, if you complete the next missions I give you successfully, I’ll make sure you receive them,” Dainn turned to see Discord. “Would that be fine with you, Discord?”

“Sure, just as long I can still visit my dear Flutterslut!”

*SLAM*

“This is outrageous, father! Why do you always show such favoritism for that lizard!? You grant him the privilege to serve as our principal female handler, then you turn him general, THEN you let him fuck your favorite pet in front of the whole kingdom,” Akios huffed angrily. “And now you want to grant him ownership over the rest of the national prizes when he should be kissing your hooves for having one already, the purple bitch herself!” Akios barked enraged and offended. “But when I asked for the same thing you denied me, your own son, without a second word about it? Why!?”

Dainn sighed heavily. “Akios, what have you done to deliver my will outside the safety of our castle? Have you ever put you life in fatal danger like Spike has to do so? No, you have not. You may be my son but you don’t deserve everything you want just because you demand it. Spike, on the other hand, has fought for everything he has; even before we graced Equestria and the Crystal Empire with the truth of male superiority,” Dainn got up making Akios sit back on his seat. “And his name is Spike; if I ever hear any of you insult him by calling him lizard, or anything similar, ever again I will personally cut your tongues, am I clear?”

“Y-yes, father,” Akios replied barely louder than a whisper while his brothers kept silence.

Dainn sat back looking at Spike. “But why do you want them now?”

“My king, you already know what I had to…..suffer, to put it mildly, before the blessing of the Fall. I have the bitch that dared call me, a male, a simple assistant to her needs and demands. And while I’ve had the pleasure to show the other five sluts who is truly in charge in the past, I…..I want them all under my roof. I want them crawling on the floor while they clean the mud my feet leave behind like the worthless sluts they are. I want to punish them for using me as nothing short of a slave since the moment I was hatched,” Spike let out a puff of fire. “I want revenge. To be able to rape and use them whenever and whoever I want. To show them their so called ‘Friendship’ is nothing compared to the power of male superiority,” Spike got up from his seat, his entire body trembling.

“And even though the apple slut is free for the moment, sooner or later that misguided sow will be captured again and then I’ll be able to crush what little spirit she may have left,” Spike smiled. “That’s why I want them now.”

Dainn gave Spike a broad, approving smile. “Well said, Spike. Well said.”

---------------------------------------------------------****************************************************

*One Month Later- Western End Borders of Equestria -The Wasteland-*

I just have to finish this stinking mission and I’ll get the girls under my care. Just one more mission Spike, do it for them.

Spike thought to himself while he and his troops marched down the empty lands of The Wasteland. The Equestrian version of the Badlands but unlike them, the Wasteland was able to house some plants, mainly cactus, and some animals and insects. Before the Fall it was famous for the strange giant flowers that somehow survived in this land and the Tatzlwurms, enormous snake like monsters living underground, that roamed it; making the Wasteland utterly impossible to settle in.

Recently though, it was famous because of the numerous disappearances of several scout parties and small bands of soldiers that had ventured inside; searching for a supposed major rebel camp hidden somewhere in the vast and numerous canyons. In a way it was similar to the Solitude Mountain on the far frozen and forsaken north of the Crystal Empire, but unlike that mountain not every party that ventured in met a timely demise.

Spike sighed looking to the open, flat and utterly empty lands all around him. But how am I supposed to find a rebel camp here when not even Crysalis or the rest of the leaders know anything about it?

“Spike, the soldiers are tired, they request a short break,” Soarin said landing at his side.

Spike stopped and looked at Soarin, he was wearing another chestplate with his symbol on it much like he was now along with his cape. Soarin signaled with his head to the small one hundred male army behind him. His mission was to confirm the existence of a rebel camp, inform to Dainn about its whereabouts and then lead an all out assault on it. That was three days ago and so far he’d found nothing except dust.

He looked a good thirty or so meters behind him to find out that, indeed, his troops were tired; many of them were already showing heatstroke symptoms, even the caribou riding warbeasts. Spike sighed and nodded.

“We camp here!” Soarin ordered loudly. Moments later the unicorns in the group rose ample tents for the rest to rest under. “It ain’t even noon and it already feels like we’re inside an oven. Are you seriously not feeling this darn heat right now?” Soarin asked while a tent was placed over him and Spike.

“Soarin, I can swim in molten lava. This heat is nothing but a refreshing breeze to me,” Soarin groaned. A second later two earth pony soldiers arrived at their side with two chairs and two gourds filled with water. Soarin took his and took a long drink from it. “The benefits of being a dragon I suppose,” he said before taking a drink himself. “Make sure everyone else gets water and some grub, and tell them we rest here for an hour,” Spike ordered to the two stallions standing nearby.

“Yes sir!” they said in unison before running off to fulfill their orders.

“I so needed that,” Soarin said contently. He looked around finding they were alone and outside earshot. “Our provisions are starting to falter, Spike. Are you sure there’s a rebel camp somewhere around here? And if there is, why haven’t they contacted the other leaders or Chrysalis?”

“I’m not even sure there is a camp around at all, Soarin, everything we know about this place is due to the scouting parties that came back and those that went missing,” Spike glanced back at his troops, mostly ponies with the occasional zebra, a minotaur, twelve caribou, the warbeasts they were mounting (plus the ones pulling their supply wagons) and the ten Shadow Hunters, including his pegasus friend. “Has Yog run the numbers? How many of them are with us?”

“Aside from us and my hunters? The zebras, the minotaur, four unicorns and ten earth ponies; in total we are thirty two. Yog says they’re ready to follow your orders,” Soarin took a quick sip out of his gourd. “Are you planning to do the same thing we did back in Neighpan?”

“If the opportunity arises, although I fear we won’t be as fortunate,” Spike took a sip out of his gourd and then let out an amused snicker. “The rebel camp in Neighpan, the monster rampage in the Winsome Waterfalls, the changeling ‘menace’ in Stalliongrad and, how can I forget, the Rainbow Fall incident. We’ve had a rough month, haven’t we Soarin?”

“When you told me what you asked as a reward I almost didn’t believe you, but, here we are a month later in the middle of nowhere,” Soarin sighed. “Why didn’t you bring Big Mac, Bulk or at least Caramel along?”

“I gave them other tasks to fulfill……..and Big Mac really wanted to visit his family, I couldn’t say no,” Spike took another sip of water. “How’s Rainbow doing?”

“Better,” a moment of silence followed. “I hope you have a plan for them if we actually pull this off.”

“Of course I do but I’m still figuring out how to get them out without raising any questions. That and keeping Pinkie under control is going to be the hardest part,” Spike clenched his free hand into a shaky fist. “The cheerful party pony of Ponyville, the Element of Laughter; reduced to a sex addicted purple collar and the prime milking mare in the ranch of that fucking traitor Cherry Jubilee. Fucking shit-eating, backstabbing Embracers, they’re the only thing I hate even more than the caribou.”

“Tell me about it; at least the added golden ring on the female Embracer’s collars and the insignia the male Embracers showcase so proudly makes them stand out like a sore wound,” Soarin said drinking the last of his water urgently. “I really believed there were more like Blueblood but…..there aren’t. And I don’t give half a rat ass if most Embracers turn out to be nothing more than cowards that were too afraid to fight, perverts like the fucking caribou or assholes that saw the Fall as an opportunity. That makes them even worse and deserve the same fate as the caribou,” Soarin said with spite and hate.

“Hear, hear,” Spike said taking another sip of water.

*Forty minutes later*

Spike was sitting in his chair still accompanied by Soarin. He was busy looking to the horizon trying to plan out what way they should follow next in their search. Suddenly Spike got up from his seat in a jump startling Soarin.

“What’s wrong?” Soarin asked seeing Spike looking around cautiously.

“Do you hear that?” Spike asked making Soarin look around using his ears to try and hear anything besides the blowing wind.

“I don’t hear anything,” Soarin said getting up. “What’re you hearing?”

“Rumbling and it’s getting closer…...it’s coming from that way, listen,” Spike said pointing to the northwest.

Soarin did as told and focused on trying to hear anything coming from that direction but he only heard the wind. He was about to reply when he heard the rumbling noise Spike was talking about. “I hear it, but it’s coming from the east,” he said pointing to said direction. “No, wait, it’s coming from the southeast.”

“Now I can hear it coming from the north and the west!” Spike said hurriedly. “Oh shit, we are being surrounded!”

“MAN UP! MAN UP! We’re under attack!” Soarin shouted as loudly as he could running outside their tent and taking to the skies. The rest of the soldiers got up from the floor and got ready for battle trying to take their positions, the Hunters themselves joining Soarin in the sky. The ones in the middle forming a perimeter around their supply wagons. Just a few seconds later everyone in the party had taken defensive positions with Spike spearheading the front and Soarin and his Hunters watching from the skies for any kind of movement.

“There!” a Shadow Hunter shouted pointing with his sword at a small distant cloud of dust.

“Not just there, they’re everywhere!” another Hunter shouted looking frantically all around him.

“Soarin, how many do you see!?” Spike shouted.

“I only see clouds of dust coming in fast, something around thirty, no signs of what’s causing them!” Soarin shouted back.

Spike looked around trying to count how many clouds there were but at the speed they were approaching made it useless. He then decided to focus his dragon eye sight on the cloud in front of him. He couldn’t see anything moving in it, but he did see something else, something slightly pink coming every now and then out of the ground. He instantly knew what was coming to them.

“Tatzlwurms incoming!” Spike shouted preparing for the worst. He had only heard of the tatzlwurm from Twilight in the past and knew how they looked like thanks to some reports and investigation notes on them. After her encounter with one, Twilight investigated a little on them.

Thanks to that he knew tatzlwurms were solitary creatures, known for their violent and territorial nature, but what he was seeing right now made his blood truly freeze in fear. The tatzlwurms were attacking them as a wolf pack, making the very earth below his feet start to tremble as they approached, and given their size and power he knew this encounter would end up badly for him and his troops.

The clouds of dust were less than fifty meters away from them when he heard a weak distant whistling. Then the clouds and the trembling stopped only to be replaced by slight shifting and rumbling noises and then by the blowing wind.

Spike gulped, claws and spear ready to fight for his life. He could hear his troops shuffle nervously behind him, some of them even cursing their luck. “Hold steady!” he ordered trying to calm them a bit.

He didn’t know how much time passed before he heard the same faint distant whistling making a series of scales and volumes that, under any other circumstance, he would consider as beautiful. The moment the whistling ended, however, the attack began. Spike felt the ground shake violently all around him and had just enough time to turn around to see several black tentacle like snakes emerge from the ground, making most of his troops scream in horror.

The warbeasts pulling the wagons were the first victims of the day, they roared in agony as they were dragged underground, their bones cracking and snapping into pieces to fit the tight holes made by the tentacles. The rest of the tentacles grabbed one or two soldiers tightly, pulling them underground as well; seconds later small geysers of blood and body parts emerged from the same holes they were ragged into. Some of his troops were able to avoid them either by dodging them or by slicing the snake like tongues of the tatzlwurms.

There was a loud crack a moment before a tatzlwurm emerged from the earth breaking one of the supply carts. It opened it’s three-way mouth and let out a loud, deafening screech before coming down with all its might over a caribou laying on the ground. The caribou screamed in terror before he was squashed into a pulp by the worm monstrosity.

Spike looked around trying to figure out what to do, in that instant, however, another tatzlwurm emerged from the ground in front of him. He looked up to it in both awe and fear, the tatzlwurm came crashing down on him or so he thought. Spike dropped to the ground dodging the attack, but he was then stunned to see the tatzlwurm ignored him to go for the earth pony behind him, devouring his upper half in a single bite.

Loud screeches and painful screams echoed all around the field, from his position he saw the Shadow Hunters trying to get the worm’s attention but the tatzlwurms ignored them completely; their weapons proving to be ineffective against the hard exterior of the worms. Only the unicorns seemed to stand a chance, their magic beams being the only thing affecting the monsters enough to push them back momentarily. He saw a group of six earth ponies drop their weapons and run away. They managed to get a few meters away before four of them were pulled underground while the other two were pushed back to the center, alongside others, where the two remaining carts and the forgotten tents laid.

Less than a minute later the attack was over as suddenly as it had started. Spike and the rest of his companions were surrounded by the tatzlwurms that encircled them; all of them unmoving but still using their six eyes to keep a tight watch over the survivors. He heard the distant whistling again for a second or two then it ended. He felt a hand touching his left shoulder gaining his attention.

“W-why did they stop?” Soarin asked confused and scared looking at the over two dozen tatzlwurms surrounding them.

“What I want to know is why they didn’t kill all of us from the start,” Spike said looking at the tatzlwurm in front of him. His eyes locked with a pair of the monster. Something is out of place here. Spike thought as he looked around, his sight set on the distance. His search was rewarded when he saw a shiny object at the top of a distant cliff and then dissapear. So there really is a rebel camp out here after all, still, something doesn’t add up. “Soarin, how many of us are left?”

Soarin turned around for a few moments, whispered something Spike couldn’t hear, then turned back. “Thirty two,” Soarin said nervously whilst a royal guard unicorn approached them until he was next to Spike. A pillar of green light engulfed the unicorn for a second and the next he was replaced by a changeling.

“Yog, any thoughts?” Spike asked to his changeling friend (the same captain he had met the day he met Chrysalis) while still eyeing the tatzlwurm.

“I’m just as lost as everyone else, sir,” the changeling said looking nervously at the tatzlwurm. “They ignored us, that much is certainly true. And it seems they won’t let us go anywhere either. It looks like they were trained.”

“But how and by whom? I’ve never even heard of taming a tatzlwurm being actually possible,” Soarin said. He made a single hand signal making the rest of the Hunters to land. “And how in Tirek’s beard can they tell who’s a Faker and who isn’t.”

“I wonder….,” Spike making his way to the tatzlwurm. With just a few steps he reached the unmoving tatzlwurm and brought a hand up making the monster open it’s mouth a bit. “I won’t hurt you,” Spike said softly before placing his claw over the tatzlwurm’s scale like skin. The giant worm creature gave out a soft screech in return making Spike began to pet it.

Suddenly the whistling returned making the tatzlwurm straight itself up for a moment, then it opened its maw letting the tongues dance around while it approached to Spike.

“Back away,” Soarin backing away along with Yog but Spike didn’t move. “What’re you doing Spike?”

“I think it wants to take me to meet who trained them, I hope,” Spike said without looking back at Soarin. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Spike reassured them while the tongues of the tatzlwurm took a hold of him. Yog was about to say something but Soarin stopped him placing a hand over his shoulder.

“We’ll be waiting,” Soarin said before the tatzlwurm closed its maw and went underground.

*A few minutes later*

The tatzlwurm opened its maw once again letting the dragon inside free.

Spike fell to the ground taking in long breaths. “I….I thought I…*deep breath*...I was gonna die….Oh, sweet air, never leave me again!” with his eyes closed he never noticed the shadow that covered him. He heard a metallic clanging noise forcing his eyes open to see what is was. Spike used his hands to pick himself off the ground, once he was in all fours he looked up, nearly falling to the ground at what he saw.

In front of him stood a caribou cow wearing leather pants and a pair of graves, a brown metallic looking bra across her breasts and a mask with only two big holes for her eyes to see freely. The mask itself had several runes embedded to it, she was also holding a halberd adorned with several runes, silver like rings near where the blade and the hilt met and, if he was not mistaken, a large bluish ocarina in her left side. But above all that what stood out from everything else, even more than the fact that she was a caribou, were two things.

One, she wasn’t wearing a collar.

And two, she had antlers.

Spike could only look up to her in disbelief; he knew there were some black collar caribou cows and doe yet those were far and between. But he had never, ever seen one the way he was seeing this cow right now. She looked down to him, locking her emerald green eyes with his own. There was a moment of silence and insecurity before the cow extended her free hand to him.

Spike took her hand and with a pull stronger than he’d expected she helped him get back on his feet. He threw a quick glance behind her and saw several other cows dressed in the same attire like the one directly in front of him; all of them standing or mounting a tatzlwurm while eyeing him in silence. He also noticed he was in some sort of canyon or grute, is wasn’t bright but it wasn’t dark either.

“You must be the great general Spike, the favorite slave of that mad tyrant? We had you and your troops marked since your entry to the Wasteland. We’re sorry for the abrupt attack but it took us a long time to made sure who was clean from the sickness and who wasn’t,” the cow in front of him said calmly, her voice sounding bubbly but firm.

“Yes, I am Spike, and you have my thanks for that, but I’m not the slave of that bastard,” Spike said with a frown. “Who are you?” the cow used her halberd to point behind him, he looked back to see a symbol he recognized instantly. A black circle with a red antler inside of it and below it a white ‘V’. He turned around with a big smile on his face. “The Liberators!” he exclaimed with a wide smile.

The cow took her mask off and smiled back at Spike, revealing a deep, ugly scar running alongside her right cheek. “In the flesh. Tell me Spike, what do you know about the caribou history and culture?”

“Enough to make me want to kill myself after reading, seeing, feeling, hearing and practicing it for such a long time. Why?” Spike answered with disgust.

“So that you may understand,” she turned around. “Come, we have much to discuss and little time.”

Spike obeyed her without hesitation, following her for two or three minutes until they reached a stone table. She sat down offering Spike the other seat at the other side of the table.

“Before we begin, is there anything you wish to know?”

“......Why haven’t you contacted Chrysalis or the other rebels before? Why now? Why me?.....Where are the rest of you?” Spike asked with just a bit of hesitation.

“Look around you,” she said extending her arms. “We’re all there is to see. We don’t have the numbers to risk exposing ourselves, until now,” the cow sighed. “My name is Creslin, the leader of our little group,” she stopped as another cow came with two wooden cups of water, placing the cups in front of them she turned around without a word. “Forgive the lack of luxury, it’s something we can’t afford.”

“I’d rather be here than in Canterlot drinking the finest of wines in a glass of gold any day of the week,” Spike said taking a sip of water.

“Is that so,” Creslin said taking a sip of water herself. “Spike, we’ve had a close eye on you ever since your first ‘impossible’ task, The First Invasion I believe, and we’ve wanted to meet you in person. I’m sure by now you know you’ve gotten closer to that mad tyrant than anyone else, am I right?” Spike nodded sadly, the guilt in his eyes evident for the cow. “Don’t be sad, it’s not your fault……..it’s our fault for not being able to stop the nightmare before it began.”

There was a moment of almost absolute silence before Spike broke it. “What do you mean by that?” Spike asked with great concern. His tone changed from timid and respectable to borderline spiteful.

Creslin looked down to her cup of water, shame and anger visible in her expression.

“......Over eight hundred years ago there was peace in Hraljord, a fragile peace between the Jarls and the nobles, but there was peace. Stags worked the fields with care and love, they made weapons and armor to protect their families and land and they fought with honor against their enemies. The cows tended the family, assisted the stags in their work, created beautiful and powerful runes to heal and protect; those that wanted to prove themselves took up the sword to protect the land. Life was good and beautiful,” the cow closed her eyes.

“Then, one day, The Horned King came. He came with hate and lies, he plunged our country into chaos and war, turning brother against brother, friend against friend, lover against lover, until he rose from the ground proclaiming himself as their saviour. Some saw him as a sign of power, the greatest caribou to ever live, the one to guide them to glory; others saw him as a monster, a madman that held nothing but the darkest and deepest hatred for females in his heart.”

“‘Male Superiority’ was his norm, his religion and his code; he believed it was the only true way to live and he forced it upon everyone and everything. But he was vastly outnumbered by brave stags and cows that fought against his madness, yet that didn’t stop him and his vision of a perfect world. The fight went on and on for years, the old Jarls and nobles offering the Horned King numerous chances to surrender but he never did. But it wasn’t until he was on the verge of defeat that something happened; ‘The Sickness’, a monstrosity created by his very hand, spread far and wide covering Hraljord entirely. Almost everyone that opposed him now turned to his side and the battle was over in a matter of days, he had won. Male superiority was the new law and he the new absolute ruler of the land; a land he secluded from the rest of the world.”

“The Horned King had a nation to himself but it wasn’t enough. Cows turned into mere obedient objects of pleasure and sex, to be used in any way imaginable by the stags, the same stags that had once held them tenderly and had sworn eternal love for them. All those who spoke against the new rule in any way was either killed or worse. Over the years it was mandated to breed offspring for the great conquest the Horned King had envisioned across the sea. A conquest born from wanton vengeance over the goddess of the sun, the one being that the Horned King hated over all others for she and her nation was the living representation of what male superiority could not allow to exist.”

“When the time was right a fleet was sent to initiate his conquest but was stopped by an enemy he had not foreseen. The Sirens and the Olden Dragons, both powerful and mighty. Blinded by his desire and hate he fought against them but the Horned King was defeated. Mortally wounded by a siren he returned to Hraljord, the Horned King died days later but the sickness remained as well as his desire to claim the ultimate prize, Equestria, just to see the one he despised with all his heart and soul squirm under his hooves. A desire that remained through time. A desire that must be stopped.”

Creslin opened her eyes, finding an speechless Spike. “That is what happened to our ancestors, the only fragment of our history that isn’t a fabricated lie dedicated to uphold and glorify male superiority. A secret that survived for hundreds of years but thanks to our stupidity now lies almost forgotten,” Creslin took a mouthful of water. “It is frightening what one mad tyrant can do, heh?” she chuckled sadly. “‘The Liberators’, I don’t know who came up with such a stupid name. Our cause doesn’t need a name as long as we can stop the mad tyrant from achieving his goal, but we failed miserably.”

“Dainn is a descendant of the Horned King, his hatred and desire to fulfill the promise of male superiority rivaled that of his damned ancestor. So he used prince Shining Armor and princess Cadenza to see if the path was finally cleared from the ancient enemies and once they arrived to the place Dainn had marked for his trap, he somehow infected the sickness without them noticing, turning them into what our ancestors had being morphed into, and they, in return, opened the gates for the nightmare to begin,” Creslin crushed the cup in her hands, her expression showing nothing but hate.

“That was our first failure, we thought he didn’t have the power to recreate the sickness but is all too obvious he does,” Creslin gritted her teeth tightly. “Our group has existed in secrecy for almost seven hundred years; each and every one of those years spent trying to end the madness once and for all. Luckily, only those immune to the sickness can ever find it, just like we did. What you see here today is all that remains of us, there’s no one else! We were supposed to stop the mad tyrant but we failed!”

Spike looked to the other cows slowly, all of them trembling or looking to other way, their guilt and shame was almost tangible. He also took the chance to try and count them, he couldn't be sure, but there were less than fifty of them; far too few to be a real threat but still their name and symbol was practically taboo amongst the caribou.

“But…..they fear you,” Spike said almost in a whisper.

“They don’t fear us, they hate us because our group opposes male superiority and the mad tyrant. When we revealed ourselves to stop him it was all or nothing, we thought we could win, we thought we knew Dainn well enough to actually be victorious but how could’ve we known he was more powerful than the legends about the Horned King ever lead on? We didn’t stand a chance against him,” Creslin looked Spike directly in the eyes. “Dainn hate us because we oppose him…...and because we were lucky enough to escape just a day after he switched us, mostly thanks to you.”

“Switched!? Y-you mean, you were…...stags?” Spike asked, stuttering out the words.

“You’ve seen it yourself, our cows have no chance to fight for themselves, or even survive at this point; of course we were stags, males who committed the unforgivable sin of being immune to the sickness and not treat females like disposable objects with no brain, feelings or heart. Practically all our females are red or purple collars; the almost nonexistent black collars can’t do anything about it either, the most fight they do is talk back or protest when they’re in pain, nothing else,” Creslin said, her voice almost choking with anger.

“When we tried to kill Dainn the day before the Fall began we were confident but he tossed us around like we were nothing, he personally switched us right then and there and sent to us to a prison camp; we had the honor of being the first to use it. Then, when the Fall began, we knew everything was lost, or so we thought in that moment, but thanks to you Dainn forget about us and due to the idiocy of one of those fuckers we were able to escape unnoticed. For some reason he seems to be fascinated with you, maybe because you’re a dragon? I don’t know.”

Spike sat in silence, eyes closed replaying all he had heard in his brain. After a few minutes he opened his eyes looking at Creslin with empty eyes.

“Are you telling me your kind are victims of the same brainwash Dainn is using against us?” he asked in a calm yet cold tone.

Creslin negated. “Our ancestors were the victims, not us, not the rest. Spike, there is a reason we call it The Sickness. Tell me, have you ever seen or heard of a stag impregnating a female that isn’t a caribou or the other way around? And even then, how many of our cows are branded as breeders?” Spike remained silent, his eyes still showing no emotion whatsoever. “That’s because of the sickness; being carried generation through generation has made our bodies static. It’s worse for the switched, any switched female or male can never be impregnated or impregnate; even if one is switched back into their original gender it will remain that way, forever. Those that came before us already tried it,” Creslin sighed heavily.

“Being immune to the sickness just means that we aren’t corrupted by its dark influence, but after so many years living in secluded isolation…..I think…..I think our ancestors knew the side effects of the sickness early on, perhaps even from the very first generation and did their best to keep it inside Hraljord until it died away along with the caribou. But now, thanks to us…..now it threatens the entire world,” she looked up to the sky. “The barrier that surrounds us protects the mad tyrant; ensuring his reign until he gains enough force to act again but it also protects those outside from him and the sickness, for the time being.”

“I won’t take sympathy for your kind if that’s what you’re hoping for,” Spike said in the same tone as before. “I’m sorry, but I can’t forgive the caribou no matter the reason, not after all they’ve done to us, all of us.”

Cresling nodded. “Good, because if you did then everything would be hopeless; our ancestors showed mercy to the Horned King instead of crushing him when they had their chance and that was their downfall,” Creslin said with a hollowed smile. “Now you know the torture we’ve had to endure since we were born; we hold no love, not even pity or hope for them because, unlike your people, they’re not forced to do anything against their will; they do what they do with free will. What they say, think and do is their decision alone, both red collar cows and stags, the sickness has spread its roots so deep that even those from the first generations in the reign of the Horned King were already doomed to be as one with it in a single, depraved mentality. They have no salvation.”

“Then why did you brought me here? I doubt it was only because of the history lesson.”

Creslin got up and turned around placing her arms on her back. “Before I tell you this, you must promise you won’t come searching for us again nor will you talk about what we have spoken or will speak from this point onwards.”

“I have a feeling this also extends to your existence,” Spike said still in the same tone and unchanging expression.

“Correct.”

Spike hummed. “Fine, I promise by my dragon code I won’t speak a word about our chat or you,” Spike said closing his eyes.

Creslin turned around with a smile on her face. “Dainn can produce the sickness by himself but only in small amounts; whether he is aware of the side effects of the sickness we do not know, but what we do know is that in order to spread it the way he is doing it an object of extraordinary power is needed. He found one such object in the Crystal Empire, the one that keeps the barrier up also spreads the sickness all over the land. Destroy it to make the barrier and the sickness stop.”

“The Crystal Cock,” Spike said opening his eyes again. “But what about the Enslaved and the Corrupted? Will they be freed from it?” So that’s how he’s controlling Discord. That son of a Nightmare.

Creslin looked to the ground. “Maybe. I can tell the sickness isn’t as powerful as it should be, yet, and your people is strong enough to oppose it and even break free from it before it’s too late. Even you are an example of that strength.”

Spike nodded. “What will you do now?”

“We will return to the depths of the canyons, waiting and praying for your success and if you achieve it, we will join in the battle to free your land from the mad tyrant and the sickness,” Creslin made her way to Spike, he got up and she pulled him into a soft hug. “Our duty is now yours, Spike, please, don’t let the mad tyrant turn the world into another Hraljord.”

“I won’t, I don’t know how but I will kill the bastard and every single one of those fuckers as well,” he tightened the hug. “I made a promise.”

“Leave some for us then,” Creslin said ending the hug.

“No promises,” Spike smiled at her, his eyes finally showing a bit of emotion.

“Do what you must, find a way to stop it once and for all,” Creslin said although it sounded more like a plea.

“Even if it kills me,” a tatzlwurm appeared behind Spike opening its maw and grabbing him with its tongues. “Shouldn’t be too hard, I’m already dead inside,” once he finished the tatzlwurm brought him inside and closed its maw, retreating underground once again.

“We will see you again, Spike the Dragon,” Creslin said looking at the hole with a sad smile, she then looked around to see her companions. She grabbed her ocarina, the rest of her companions doing the same. Creslin looked around one more time seeing the rest ready to play, they all nodded, closed their eyes and began to play a sad, mournful tone.

*A few minutes later back with Soarin and the rest of the group*

The ground rumbled for a few moments before a tatzlwurm emerged from the ground. Soarin and company looked at it as it opened its maw revealing the purple dragon inside it. Soarin and Yog let out a sigh of relief when they saw their friend step outside the tatzlwurm and began to make his way to them.

All the other tatzlwurms returned underground, there was a slight tremor as they moved away at incredible speed. Moments later only small clouds of dust moving away could be seen.

Spike closed his eyes, taking a long and deep breath of air with his nostrils. He opened his eyes and smiled at his two friends. “Hope I didn’t take long.”

“Not at all, sir,” Yog responded.

“What was that all about, Spike? Where did it take you?” Soarin asked, anxiety noticeable in his tone.

“It took me to meet their trainer, he…..no, It, and it wants us out of the Wasteland, now. There’s no rebel camp in here,” Spike said nonchalantly. He turned to see the soldiers standing up and looking at him with curiosity. “This isn’t good, if we go back like this how we are right now the officers in the garrison might suspect something.”

“And if we said our losses were caused by an attack of sorts, the fucker king will want to launch an attack like the one on the Everfree, only this time I have the feeling we won’t be as lucky,” Soarin said biting his lower lip.

Spike hummed thoughtfully, rubbing his chin for almost a full minute, all the while examining the few remains of the tatzlwurm victims. “I have an idea, follow my lead,” he then made his way to meet the soldiers with Soarin and Yog flanking him, both of them watching his actions silently.

“What are your orders, general Spike?” a royal guard unicorn asked saluting the dragon.

Spike smiled. “Just Spike is fine, guard,” the unicorn visibly relaxed.

“Sorry sir, is just that…..it’s the first time I’m among so many like me before. It feels…..nice,” the unicorn smiled. “One of the earth ponies that was killed was my friend, before the Fall…..before he was Corrupted or Enslaved, I don’t know. I saw him die right in front of me and…..and I was glad he died. Does that make me a bad pony, sir?” the unicorn asked, the rest of the soldiers nearby looking at their general with a similar question on their eyes.

“Of course not,” Spike said offering them a sad, reassuring smile. “Be happy for him, his torture ended as did the rest of the others that died today. I’m sure he’s crying joyful tears for being free once more,” Spike placed a hand on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Just remember you have to keep on living,” he looked up to the rest of the soldiers. “All of you must keep on living until the day comes for the caribou to pay for what they’ve done. Live to deliver the vengeance of our fallen friends and loved ones. Live to demand and shout for justice. And more importantly, live to rebuild our once peaceful and proud home,” Spike ended his little speech in a soft, calm, reassuring tone. Almost like the one his mother used in the past. It pained his heart to use it but it also brought him joy for the very same reason; the memories of happier days.

“What must we do now, sir? Me and the boys are ready for anything,” the unicorn pony said with renewed vigor and judging the expression on the rest of the soldiers, so were they.

Spike looked at each of them for an instant and offered them a slight head bow. “I believe you already are acquainted with captain Yog here?” he asked signaling the changeling, the soldiers responded affirmatively. Spike walked to the wagon in the rear, jumped over it and began to search for something. A few seconds later he jumped down with a thick yellow folder in his claws. He gave it to Yog, the changeling taking it a bit confused.

“Right now we’ll head back to the garrison of Appleloosa while captain Yog will move on ahead. He will meet us in the borders of the Wasteland with enough changelings, mimickers to be precise, to replace those that we lost during the attack, even the caribou ones. Then I will depart with commander Soarin and the rest of the Shadow Hunters back to Canterlot. Everyone with me so far?” Spike asked earning another round of positive answers.

“I’ll make the official report stating that we lost one wagon and our warbeasts to a single tatzlwurm attack with no precious casualties. A few hours later in the night there will be an attack on the apple orchard, all of you along with the disguised mimickers will attend to it and fight off the enemy; where all of you will be sadly taken as prisoners, plus additionals just to spice things up a bit. Don’t worry, captain Yog and the mimickers will be there to guide you all to the safety of a camp or a hive,” Spike stated while the soldiers shared looks of concern.

“But sir, w-what about….you know?” one of the zebras asked trying to avoid Spike’s gaze.

“I’ll make sure to get them out and put them under my care, and if I can I’ll use them as bait in the merchant distractors,” Spike said making the soldiers sigh in relief. “Can’t believe I’m about to say this, but it’s moments like these where I’m thankful for my knowledge as a female handler,” the words feeling like piked wires coming out of his throat. “Any questions?”

“No, sir!” the soldiers exclaimed.

“Yog?”

“None,” the changeling said wings buzzing, he took off the ground and began to fly away rapidly.

“Soarin, Hunters?”

“We know what to do, as always,” Soarin said with pride.

Spike nodded. “Then let’s get out of here,” he said walking towards the last wagon, grabbing an end of it. With a grunt, he began to push it. “We have to go before that thing decides to make us permanent residents of the Wasteland.”

With that said the reduced group began to move out, the unicorns in the group extending the tents over them, effectively protecting them from the sun.

Soarin landed beside Spike, helping him push the heavy wagon onward. “Care to tell me what was it, really?”

Spike grinned. “A secret.”

-------------------------------------*********************************************

*Canterlot Castle-Four days later*

“Interesting report, Spike. But are you absolutely certain there isn’t one of those damnable rebel camps somewhere?” Dainn asked putting down the report of the dragon.

“One hundred and twenty percent sure, my king. While the rebel camps inside the forest, and other similar places, can protect themselves from the monsters, somehow, there’s now way they could protect themselves against a tatzlwurm. We were lucky enough that the one that attacked us was after the warbeasts and not us. I don’t want to imagine what an attack done by several of them at once must be like,” Spike reassured from his kneeling position at the end of the stairway leading to Dainn’s throne in the same spot Celestia’s throne used to be.

“Mmmmm, I will trust your better judgment on this one, Spike,” Dainn left the report on a plate held by an upside down Celestia at his right side, strapped into one living table while Luna was in the same situation at his left side. Dainn got up from his throne and applauded a few times while he walked down to meet Spike. “You have done all that I’ve asked of you without hesitation or second guessing and most importantly, you have succeeded where others have failed, my dear Spike.”

“I live to serve you, my king,” Spike said standing up, lips curling up into a smile when Dainn embraced him momentarily.

“And such devotion has not gone unnoticed. As I promised, you shall receive your long overdue reward; the remaining national prizes will be brought up to your castle in two days notice and shall be off limits from that day onward, aside from your exclusive personal use and permission; except for the one Discord seems to favor, but you already knew about it.”

Spike smiled broadly. “Thank you, my king! You’re far too generous! But….now that I think of it, won’t Shining Armor protest against taking one of his favorite pets away from him?”

“I already forwarded the mandate to him, he was getting tired of that one as it were,” Dainn smiled hearing Spike sigh contently. “But that’s not all. Your current efforts have also proven me that you…..no longer deserve the rank of general,” Dainn saw the pained and shocked expression of Spike for a few seconds as he tried to find any words to say. “I’m removing you from that rank, for you have shown me you deserve an even higher one,” Dainn smirked when he saw the confusion and perplexity reflected on Spike’s face.

“B-b-but my king….th…..there is none,” Spike said, his brain scrambled at the information.

“There is now,” Dainn said before clapping twice. Moments later a caribou guard approached to him, handing him a yellow scroll. “From this moment onward you shall held the title of ‘Marshal’, the head of my entire army force. Your obligations will remain much the same with the addition of being directly responsible, and in charge, of the Shadow Hunter division; they shall act as your bodyguards and elite task force aside from their usual activities, which you will supervise from now own as well,” Dainn chuckled momentarily seeing the gaping mouth of Spike. “Also, you will retain the same privileges as general but you will now held royal command similar to that of my sons, only mine shall be greater and absolute.”

“.........”

“What do you think of your new rank, Spike?” Dainn asked but he got no answer. “Spike? Are you listening to me?” he repeated but still no reaction. Dainn looked to the nearby guards, all of them shrugging. “Spike, can you hear me? Spike!” Dainn said a bit loudly, but still Spike didn’t react. “Spike!?” Dainn asked now a bit worried, shaking the dragon a little.

“........M…...M…..Mar---” Spike mumbled out before dropping to the ground in a loud thud.

Dainn looked down to the dragon in the floor for a few instants, then he began laughing loudly. “H-h-he fainted! Ha ha ha ha!” Dainn managed to say while he made his way back to his throne, signaling two guards to take his new marshal to the infirmary.

--------------------------------------------******************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“I really did faint when the fucker was done, I shit you not,” Spike said while holding his forehead with both hands. After a few seconds of silence he rested his arms on the table and looked at Chrysalis, Sebastian and Shifting Sands, offering them an apologetic smile.

“I never told you anything because it was a promise, not even after the Rise began and the Liberators joined the fight. But Creslin already told you everything you wanted to know, except our little encounter in the Wasteland,” he then looked at the rest of the judges. “Aren’t you going to call me a monster or at least insult me for not trying to save the caribou from that dark magic, that so called sickness when there was still time before the Rise even started?”

“Why didn’t you then?” the doe judge said in a serious manner. “Why instead of having the moral decency to at least try to save the caribou from themselves, you instigated the movement that slaughtered them?”

Spike chuckled darkly. “Moral decency? You want to talk about moral decency?” his voice cold, dark and dangerous, the temperature inside the whole courtroom dropping harshly. “Let’s talk about moral decency then,” Spike leaned back, his eyes shining white but his expression showed only stoicness. Chrysalis and Shifting Sands looked away while Sebastian only stared down at the table.

“Let’s say it’s a beautiful day in Cervidas, you wake up in the morning ready to face another day with a smile. And with good reason! There’s a much awaited planting and flower festival to welcome spring happening today; everyone is happy, in good spirits and getting ready for the party later on. Then, all of a sudden, you see a momentary red bubble extend through the sky but nothing happens. You think nothing of it and go on with your day,” a weak flash of blue light emerges from his chest for a blink of an eye.

“But two hours after that there is an army of invaders coming from every direction, many of them holding some kind of tall banners adorned with a black crystal. The crystal flashes a few times and then breaks, you only get a moment’s notice to see many of those around you, mostly the males, shake their heads for a moment or two and you see the invaders smile wickedly; most of them licking their lips in anticipation. The males around you stop shaking their heads but there’s something wrong with them, they have the same smiles the invaders have. Then they pounce.”

Spike got up from his seat abruptly, using his hands to add dramatic effect. “The males and the invaders attack but they’re only targeting females, uncaring of their age or condition, they rip their clothes away while others put a dog collar around their necks, then the invaders and the males, some of which you came to call friends, begin to rape and beat any female they get their hands on. You try to move but you’re frozen in place, panic running through your veins. You hear the screams and pleas of mercy females let out to their rapists, but to no avail, and those that try to fight them regardless of their gender get beaten until blood comes out, bones are broken or are killed.”

“You feel something heavy hit the back of your head and everything goes dark, your last thoughts a prayer that what you saw is just a horrible nightmare. Sadly, it isn’t, you wake up hours later inside a cage, naked with a black collar around your neck. You’re confused and embarrassed and try to cover yourself until you hear cries and sobbing coming from all around you. You look around and discover you’re not the only one in the condition you awoke to, you hear steps approaching, you turn to see what’s causing them and then you see one of the invaders with his privates exposed smiling down at you with eyes that hunger for your body. Then he smiles.”

“For little over two years the invaders have dominated your kingdom, reducing your rulers to slaves or worse. For those two years you’ve been nothing but a piece of living meat to their eyes, each and every single day spent by getting raped, humiliated in ways you thought impossible, being forcibly indoctrinated to become an obedient servant for their depraved needs, punished, beaten or tortured for talking without permission, fighting back or simply because they feel like it. And every other single female gets the same treatment, at least the ones that don’t subjugate, like you.”

“But it’s alright, because as a female you deserve to be in pain, you deserve your treatment because you committed the stupidity of being born as one. They use your sexual areas as they please and how they see fit, letting any kind of animal fuck and rape you just for their entertainment or shove any kind of object inside for very much the same reason. They piss on you because you’re a ‘filthy worthless bitch’, they force you to eat their shit because ‘even that is superior to females’. Your only consolation being you don’t have family to worry about, your parents died when you were young, you had no siblings and no other living relatives. You’re one of the lucky ones who don’t experience that unique pain,” the entire courtroom was silent, the judges, specially the cervidae, taken aback by his hateful words.

“By some miracle you escape from captivity and for a single, blissful moment, you think of ending your life to make your torture end right then and there but you can’t, the memories are too painful for you to take the easy way out. They hurt so much that the only thing in your heart is hate and vengeance. You pledge to yourself you’ll have it one way or another,” Spike walked beside the table, staring down the cervidae judge. “Some time passes, you manage to form a small but powerful group, all of them having experienced the same things you did and they want exactly the same thing you do. From that point you’ve been doing everything you can to get back at the invaders that turned your country, your home, into a living, constant, ceaseless agony.”

“In that time, however, you learn that the crystals the invaders used were meant to brainwash and control your own males and some females, turning them into nothing short of puppets. Your fury increases and your desire to vanquish them is more intense than ever; the need to free all those who have been so cowardly used by the invaders driving you to the point of madness. But that’s not the only thing you learn; after digging a bit more, and by pure luck, you find out that the invaders suffered a similar fate in the past but that information assures there’s nothing you can do for them or about it,” Spike’s chest flashed with blue once again, the lines between his scales beginning to shine with a white light.

“For a moment you think about it but you dismiss it almost instantly, they’re not the victims here, you are, your people, your kingdom. And the hate in your heart burns with an undying desire to make the invaders pay for what they’ve done; nothing else matters,” Spike kept silent for a few seconds, his unblinking gaze never leaving the poor cervidae judge. “Now, tell me my dear Judge, after all you’ve been through up until that point will you stop for a moment, a single moment to think about the invaders as victims or in a way to help them? The same invaders who took everything from you and turned you into their fuck toy, remembering not even a single one of them came close to show even the least bit of mercy for you or your fellow females? Will you take that single moment to ponder that with your now crushed and twisted morals?”

The cervidae judge remained silent for several seconds until she opened her mouth, lips quivering. “Yes.”

Spike didn’t lash out, shouted or did anything aside from nodding once.

“I did the same, even though I said what I said to Creslin, for three months after becoming Marshal her story plagued my mind in my sleep and for the first time since I broke free from their control I second guessed if what I was doing, what I desired to do, was the right way. I more often than not woke up screaming, nightmares about the caribou not being stopped because of my doubts like Creslin said. Nightmares of caribou screaming and damming my name for not trying to help them get free from their torment. Nightmares of Dainn ruling the world. Nightmares of me…..becoming just like him. And nightmares of freeing the caribou from ‘the sickness’ only to be rewarded by even worse bastards,” Spike looked down to his chained hands and in a single, effortless move the chains shattered into multiple pieces.

The guards at the sides moved in to retain the dragon but Spike extended his arms to the sides, suddenly sending the guards crashing back against the opposite wall. The public began to get up, fearful the dragon was attacking.

“Those cuffs were annoying, hope you don’t mind,” Spike said looking back at the audience, giving them a quick apologetic smile. He then turned back to see the judges. “But since we’re talking about morals, how about we talk about other kind of morals, hmm?” the judges flinched visibly at his words. “Oh yes, I know.”

“Spike, please, you don’t have to-” Sebastian began in a pleading tone looking at the other judges.

“But I need to, general Sebastian, and no one can stop me from saying it, because ‘We, as the Great Tribunal, cannot just jump to conclusions, we are bonded by ancient laws to examine all available evidence, as well as to give the accused a fair chance to defend him or herself with all they can muster’, and this is something I have to say. After all,” Spike glared at the judges, another flash of blue light coming forth from his chest and the light in his eyes increasing. “Truth for Justice is the only rule, is it not, Judges?”

“Yes,” the ursa judge said in a solemn, defeated tone. There was momentary whispering coming from the public and the recovered guards, none of them harmed aside from a few bruises.

“During my time as Marshal,” Spike began. “I found out some very interesting pieces of information. I learned why Dainn kept Discord on a leash, you see, while the Crystal Cock maintained the barrier and the dark brainwash, Discord’s magic kept the magic in the collars active; he was the reason why only a male could take it off and why black collars couldn’t harm red, silver or purple collars as well as males. I also learned the reason why there were more males and initially converted red collars breaking out of the brainwash; the Crystal Cock was growing weaker but not enough to really matter in the long run. Also, Dainn was getting stronger, I watched first hand how he, indeed, controlled the sun and the moon.”

“But most importantly, I discovered why the other kingdoms and nations weren’t trying to help us,” Spike said with venom. “A few days before the Fall began Dainn sent a very peculiar letter to every leader of each nation, a letter saying that if they tried to bring help to Equestria or the Empire or tried to oppose his divine right to rule over them he would severely punish them by bringing upon them and the entire world unmoving celestial bodies, all it took was a small demonstration the very next day and he got what he wanted,” there was only silence in the courtroom. Spike looked at Chrysalis and she nodded once.

“Where were the morals of your rulers when we needed them most? I’ll tell you where, deep inside their cowardly shitters. They don’t even have the guts to judge me themselves, all because they’re afraid of what I would surely do to them if they did,” Spike said in a calm yet hateful tone, each word dragging as much vile as he could muster.

“What other choice did we have? Throw ourselves blindly at him and condemn our countries for the sake of your own?” the ursa judge said with a sad expression.

“Keltu!” The minotaur cow said loudly.

“Let me speak!” The ursa roared at the cow silencing her. “Prisoner, I’m well aware of your rage and I can find it justified at some extent. My queen informed me of said letter arriving to her and of it’s contents a week ago. So did my fellow judges,” he looked at Sebastian, Shifting Sands and Chrysalis, all of them wearing the same frown. “And now I know their majesties Empress Shifting Sands and Queen Chrysalis already knew about it before claw, but you Sebastian?”

“My king told me so, too, but at the beginning of the Rise,” Sebastian replied.

“I see,” The ursa turned to face Spike once more. “My queen also informed me of the motives why the leaders couldn’t ri-”

“Bullshit!” Spike shouted in outrage. “Are you really expecting me to believe their lies!? I know why they didn’t do ANYTHING for almost four years and why they didn’t do anything after the Rise!” Spike took a step forward. “It’s because they’re fucking cowards, that’s why! Cowards that refused to send help to a long lasting ally in their most dire time of need. Cowards that stood by and did NOTHING when I set course for Hraljord to deliver my justice upon the caribou! Cowards that let me kill them off because they were afraid of them! Fucking cowardly backstabbing bastards that were ready to surrender to Dainn just to save their sorry arses! Where are their morals!?” Spike turned his attention to his three judge friends.

“Chrysalis was trapped alongside us and despite what she tried to do in the beginning she and her changelings were key to our freedom and subsequent victory. They held the line when no one else would, THEY! An original enemy of Equestria and ponies!” He said pointing at the changeling queen.

“Empress Shifting Sands of Saddle Arabia risked her own throne when her coward of a husband did nothing. She was forced to send Sultan High Dune into vigilant-exile for treason and then risk her kingdom by preparing herself, her armada and army to come to our aid even if she couldn’t break the barrier!” He said pointing at the empress.

“General Sebastian, sent by King Blood Talons the moment the barrier fell in conjunction with the Empress to aid Equestria with half their entire army. He’s also one of the first to see the remains of the land he was sent to help!” He pointed at the griffon.

Spike took another step forward, this time creating cracks on the floor. “But the rest? Where was the grace of the cervidae? The mysticism of the zebras? The strength of the minotaurs? The power and might of the dragons? The ferocity of the ursa? The trickery of the diamond dogs?” Spike asked while glaring each of the appropriate judge with all his might, his tail dancing behind him from side to side. “Where were all of you when Equestria screamed out for help? Where were your morals then?” Spike snarled and puffed a small stream of blue fire from his nostrils.

“You were so scared of Dainn and the caribou that it never crossed your minds to unite all your strength in a single point and take the barrier down? Dainn was strong, not invincible; he had no hope of success against a force of that magnitude, specially in the early days. But no, you decided to cower behind your couches and inside your closets, just like I did,” Spike said, finally reaching the table of the judges, they only saw him take a few steps but now he was right in front of them. His white eyes blazing with hate and the lines of his scales starting to glow blue instead of white.

“I have less than a month left to live but, might I use it to make your kings and queens pay for their cowardice? A little phoenix told me some of your rulers want to try and take this chance to claim the raped Equestria for themselves. Well, sorry to disappoint them but even as we speak the griffons watch the borders and the armada of the Empress watch the seas until we can stand on our own again, proving who are our real friends,” Spike smiled baring his fangs.

“Or maybe I should make their people pay? With the time I have left I should be able to kill and devour at least a fifth of any given population by myself, even the dragons, and show them firsthand what I did to the caribou inside my ‘Fun Room’ perhaps? Should I go to Minotauria? Or maybe to the Dog Empire? I always wanted to visit the Dragon Lands. Although Cervidas has a nice weather this time of the year,” he finished right in front of the terrified doe judge. He was silent for a few moments, then his smile turned into a smirk, light stopped coming out of his body and his eyes returned to normal. “Moral decency? The caribou raped mine in ways you can’t even hope to begin to imagine, until it became what it is today. What about yours?”

Spike then returned to seat in a slow manner, sat down and sighed.

“Let it be known that while I'm the one being judged here for the unforgivable crimes I’ve committed I will pass my own judgment to your rulers. And I judge them as traitors and cowards that do not deserve the crown, tiara or whatever they wear on their heads.”

A full minute of silence followed his claim, then Spike clapped his hands together.

“Shall we continue? No? Yes? Good!” Spike cleared his throat. “Just as the fucker said two days later Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy arrived at my castle with all the legal documents naming me their new owner and master. Truth be told, I thought keeping Pinkie under check was going to be harder but after the first two weeks she seemed pretty relaxed for once, although she insisted on me drinking her mare milk every morning. Rarity was the real trouble though, going out of her way to show me she was useful and a good pet, her experience in the dumpsters really left an impression on her. Fluttershy just seemed disappointed for not having a chance to ‘play’ with her animal friends anymore. And Rainbow Dash…….I had to force myself not to tell her the truth, for her own sake. Even though she had a reputation for always fighting back and endure any kind of humiliation I could see how much she wanted to cry.”

“For three months I held the title of Marshal and, as I said before, I suffered from nightmares. My only comfort being when they were too much to handle I would grab one of the girls, ordering her to sleep with me in silence, as if they were silver collars. Mornings were the hardest part of the day, my routine expanded not just to Twilight but to the others as well, more often than not I had to force myself to fuck their brains out in an orgy. It was the fastest way. I also went out for quick walks through the rape-park, just to show them off and, of course, have them chained around my throne during visits and the like. All of that just to keep appearances, although I never let anyone else but me use them, except for Fluttershy; even then Discord came once every two weeks at best,” Spike closed his eyes and took a few slow, calming breaths before continuing.

“During that time I performed a few more tasks for Dainn, although not as important as the ones when I was a general. Also, believe it or not, me holding that new title and privileges added nothing new to the rebel efforts, except a missing caravan here and there and the likes. The real change came with Dainn himself; he would mostly summon me to attend a party or a reunion, and in every passing one he grew increasingly more and more informal with me; obviously my new position was the talk of the entire kingdom for the first month and the envy of others since the first day. His son’s really hated me for it, but they never acted on it; they were terrified of their father, no doubts about that,” Spike chuckled. “Dainn seemed to enjoy my new title more than I did, which made me curious but as long as I grew closer and closer to Dainn, it didn’t matter in the end……..or so I believed at the time.”

Spike leaned back on his seat reopening his eyes anew. “It Is at this point where what you really want to know starts. You already know where I got it but you don’t know how or what is it. Finally, you’ll know,” Spike took a deep, long breath with his nostrils; exhaling it seconds later. “It was friday, my day started as usual but I had nothing to do that day. With that in mind I decided to visit Zecora and the Three for the first time ever since becoming marshal, my visits to Zecora, up until that point, were strictly for business. I spent a few hours with her and we had a nice chat, remembering the old days and the like. Now that I think of it, I’ll have to have another chat with her about Zebrica, such a beautiful place from what she told me.”

“Anyway, after that I went to visit the Tree, to talk to it and, as usual from my part, beg it to help us. I didn’t cry that time, I just spent hours talking and letting out my frustration. When I finally returned to Ponyville it was already dark, something around nine or something. I remembered that day was Poker Night so I decided to go straight to Sweet Apple Acres. Harald and the rest of the guard already knew about my monthly ‘Pay of Respects’ to the soldiers that died during the First Invasion; which in part was technically true,” Spike went silence for almost half a minute. “The countdown began when I arrived at our now private gaming cottage.”

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*Ponyville-Three years and six months into the Fall- 9:17 p.m.*

The door to the cottage opened. “Sorry I’m late everyone, I got caught up in the forest longer than I had expected,” Spike apologized while closing the entrance to the cottage with his tail. He looked inside seeing his friends already on their seats but they remained silent, not bothering to look up to him. “I’m a little late and you guys want to give me the ice law?” Spike finished with a huff taking his seat. He looked around to see his friends but they still didn’t seem to respond to him, it was then when he began to worry. “Are you guys alright?” but they didn’t answer. Looking around the large table again he noticed a seat was vacant and his blood turned to ice.

“Where’s Filthy?” Spike asked in a tone barely louder than a whisper.

Big Mac was the first to move, he turned to see Spike with an unreadable expression across his face. “Dead,” he slammed the table with a fist.

Spike glanced around the table, his friends reflecting pain and anger on their faces. “H-how? When!?” he blurted out.

“Around five hours ago,” Cranky answered. “He’d just arrived from Dodge Junction as far as we know, when all of a sudden he attacked a couple of caribou guards killing them for no real reason. The ones that were ‘round when it happened say the caribou were saying something about his dead wife,” Cranky gritted his teeth. “He got home before the guards could caught him and locked himself in his basement.”

“When Harald and his guards finally got through Rich’s basement gate, an hour later, he and all the females he had down there were found dead,” Caramel continued with a scowl. “He poisoned them and himself; he chose to take his own life and that of those mares rather than being captured by the caribou, at least he saved those poor mares, too.”

The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence, no one daring to speak any more. The rest of their night was spent playing in silence, not even when they retired for the night two hours later did they speak.

Spike made his way to his castle in a steady silent walk. When he got there he found a caribou guard waiting for him near the entrance. The stag walked up to meet him and saluted.

“Marshal, captain Harald send you the report file over the incident that happened this afternoon. The captain also ordered me to communicate his utmost apologies for not being able to capture the heretical bastard.”

Spike took the scroll the guard presented him and opened the entry to his castle. He made his way to his room, upon opening it he was soon greeted by four of the five mares resting on their dog beds already. As usual, Twilight ordered Rainbow to greet her master but the cyan pegasus, in return, just cursed at the lavender alicorn. The dragon sat on the edge of his vast bed while the two mares argued, like always. Ten minutes later he finally spoke.

“Shut up the both of you,” Spike said weakly, instantly Twilight shut up while Rainbow just huffed victorious. Spike got up, walking up to Twilight. “On all fours and turn around,” he ordered. Twilight obeyed without hesitation.

“Hhhnnnnngg!” she moaned loudly, feeling the dildos inside her pussy and butt being withdrawn. Once the dildos were out Spike removed the leash attached to her collar. He then got up and moved to Rarity’s bed, giving her the exact same orders. “Master?” she asked in confusion, usually when he did that it meant he was going to fuck her or something similar, but her master didn’t respond, instead he repeated the same actions with Fluttershy and Pinkie whilst only letting Rainbow free of her chains and cuffs while she stared back at her master in silence.

Spike signaled the mares to rise up with his right arm, they all obey his command except for Rainbow, she limited to glare at the dragon with all the hate she could muster. Spike wasn’t nearly as bad as Soarin or the dirt farms or the dumpster had been; even when said pegasus tuned down a little his punishments, and she was silently grateful for it. Spike had raped her a few times, kept her well fed and had punished her just two times for her rebellious behaviour, but the greatest difference was that for three months now nopony had hit her, not even him. But still the fact that Spike was her new owner, the one raping her when he pleased, the one that had climbed so high in the caribou reign; the same dragon she had come to count as one of her best friends made it all the worse.

“Fuck you, asshole,” Rainbow said before spitting on his face. The other four mares gasped at her insolence while Spike used his left claw to wipe it away.

“And here I was planning to let you sleep in my bed tonight for behaving nicely these past days, Dashie,” Spike grabbed Rainbow by the throat, pushing her up until she was kneeling. He then used his tail to separate her legs and with his free hand he grabbed the large dildo stuck inside her pussy and yanked it away harshly. Rainbow stifled a scream, the pain of the large object being removed so roughly soon fading away giving her abused vagina a well deserved rest. “Twilight, take this slut to the black collars room.”

“Of course, Master!” Twilight responded eagerly. “You heard Master, cunt, move it!” Twilight said taking hold of Rainbow’s leash, pulling it carelessly behind her. The cyan pegasus grunted in response, her legs still weakened from the extraction. Moments later the mares were out of the room, Spike sat back on the edge of his bed; using the time before Twilight came back to get his chestplate and cape off; tossing them aimlessly around the room.

He sighed tiredly before looking at the silent, expecting mares in front of him, all of them waiting for his command. They waited in silence until, a minute or so later, Twilight returned.

“I have returned, Master,” Twilight said with a smile. “Master, how can these stupid marecunts serve you this night?”

Spike glanced at each of the four mares, dedicating a few seconds to each of them. Following an audible gulp he got up, signaled Twilight to approach him and, once she was in front of him, he hugged her. Twilight gasped, his tender action still throwing her off balance from time to time.

“Who shall keep you company tonight, Master?” Twilight replied a few seconds later, knowing that the hug now symbolized her master’s desire to sleep with company.

“All of you,” Spike replied. “Keep me warm…….I……..I don’t want to be alone…..not tonight,” Spike said without breaking the hug.

Twilight was confused at his order but she also felt the strange need to do something for her master. She looked to her past friends and saw they all shared the same confusion as she was doing. The voice of her master was sad and lacking the confidence it always had, she felt her arms move on their own for some moments until they finally stopped. It took her a moment to notice she was returning the embrace of her master. For some unknown reason she closed her eyes and rested her head against her master’s shoulder.

Spike felt the warmth of Twilight’s naked body, and for the very first time since he first felt it, he was actually liking it. Suddenly he felt three other similar warmths embrace him from behind and his sides and closed his eyes.

No nightmares would plague his mind that night.

*The Next Morning*

Spike was sitting on his throne reading the report the guard had given him last night. Most of it was just the usual gibberish that came with each report but the bottom line, the part that mattered the most, was that the case had been treated as a secluded incident of yet another undercover Heretic. Harald put the blame of the attacks to the merchant wagons and supply caravans suffered so far entirely on Filthy’s fault; which made sense for it was Filthy whom had to see most of the shipment reports before departure. Still, Spike couldn’t help but feel the weight of losing a good friend and could only guess what really made him snap.

Maybe he was just tired and sick of everything, or maybe his last wall crumbled making him feel like he had nothing else to lose? Kinda makes sense, his daughter and almost every filly that lived in Ponyville are safe in the Central Hive thanks to him, but then what made him lose control like that? Spike thought reading through the report again. Or maybe…….maybe he just gave up? Diamond Tiara is going to be devastated when she hears what happened.

The doors opening in front of him pulled him out of his line of thought, he saw none other than Harald flanked by two guards coming up to meet him. Spike frowned, hoping everything was alright.

“Harald, to what I owe your unscheduled visit, specially one before I even had my breakfast?” Spike asked putting the scroll aside. Harald stopped a few steps in front of Spike and bowed.

“Marshal,” Harald began. “His majesty, king Dainn, sent a letter at the crack of dawn; he wishes to speak with you as soon as possible, there’s a chariot waiting for you outside as we speak.”

“Of course,” Spike got up from his throne. “Soarin!” the dragon shouted, less than a minute later Soarin came running through the right side of the throne room.

“You called, sir?”

“I’m leaving for Canterlot, orders of the great Dainn. You and your Hunters know what to do.”

“Of course, sir,” Soarin replied.

“Let’s go, Harald,” Spike said walking past the captain, the stag following the dragon closely. “Any particular reason why my king wishes to speak with me so urgently?”

“I’m afraid not, my marshal, his letter was short, clear and to the point; no reasons given as to why,” Harald said handing over the letter to Spike. “Must be important.”

“Every reason my king has requiring me to meet his presence is important,” Spike said quickly reading the letter that said, just like Harald told him, that Dainn wanted to speak with him but not why. A minute or so later they exited the castle, the fresh air of morning still hanging around the place. Spike saw the chariot that was indeed waiting a few meters away in the front lawn.

Harald helped Spike board the chariot followed by a respectful bow. “Marshal, I….I’m sorry Filthy Rich turned ou--”

“Not a word about that treacherous bastard, you hear?” Spike said taking a hold of the chariot.

“Of course, I understand, my marshal,” Harald said taking two steps back giving the chariot enough space to take off. Spike nodded to him in response.

“Fly off,” Spike ordered to the pegasi guards. Moments later they were in the air and on their way to Canterlot.

*Canterlot Castle-Forty minutes later*

The chariot landed slowly on one of the multiple landing zones scattered in the courtyard of the castle. Spike jumped down, surprised to see an escort waiting for him already just a few meters in front of him. The leading officer of the escort bowed momentarily as Spike stopped in front of him.

“My marshal, his majesty, king Dainn, is waiting anxiously for you. If you could please follow me?” the stag said turning around and marching off.

Spike limited to follow the caribou while the remaining six guards walked alongside them a good two meters away from their marshal. The walk itself was spent in silence, aside from the occasional respectful greeting of a soldier or a guard upon seeing Spike. For about ten minutes the escort guided Spike through the familiar hallways until they reached the entrance to Dainn’s chambers.

The stag that had greeted him used his magic to open the door. “His grace awaits,” he said presenting the entrance of the room to Spike.

“Thanks,” Spike replied entering the room without care or hesitation. Once inside the door shut slowly, he looked back seeing a blue shimmer covering the door.

“Sorry for calling you so early, Spike, but I need to tell you something…..personal,” Dainn said gaining Spike’s attention, his voice coming from inside his concealed bed. “Don’t worry about the door, I merely made sure no one will bother us for the time being,” the curtains concealing his bed shimmered with blue as they raised revealing a fully clothed Dainn sitting at the furthest end of the bed.

Spike noticed there were no silver collars in his bed nor he could see Luna and Celestia nearby, even his throne was nowhere to be seen. They were completely alone.

“It’s my duty to answer to your call at any moment, my king, I live to serve you,” Spike finished with a low bow. “How may I be of service this day?”

Dainn adjusted his trademark chestplate and got up, but Spike could tell there was something odd about him. His movements were slow and lacking the usual pride and security he bolstered. Still, Spike kept silent watching Dainn walk up to him.

“I got notice what happened yesterday in Ponyville, such a shame you were inside the forest paying your respects to the fallen soldiers of the Invasion; that fucking female-loving Heretic deserved to die at your claws, not by his own cowardly means,” Diann stopped in front of Spike. “How are you feeling?”

“To tell you the truth my king, I feel…….conflicted,” Spike answered with an angered undertone. “Part of me hates that traitor for betraying your might and male superiority. But the other feels sad he was a Heretic undercover; it was thanks to him that I started to climb my way in the world until what I am today,” Spike felt a heavy hand fell on his left shoulder.

“I know how you feel, my dear boy. But you can’t waste time feeling sad for Heretics and traitors,” Dainn said looking at him with a comprehensive smile.

Spike smiled back. “You’re right. Thanks, my king,” Dainn’s expression suddenly turned a bit sour and his grip over his shoulder increased a little.

“‘My king’, ‘My liege’, ‘My grace’. To tell you the truth, my boy, I hate every time you call me by any of those titles,” Dainn sighed letting go of Spike’s shoulder. “After Shining Armor, and the pink bitch, embraced the truth he told me your story. I felt….rage; genuine, absolute rage. I knew males were already blinded and corrupted by the whores that ran Equestria and the Empire, but you were different. You were the slave of not just one but all of them,” his eyes narrowed for an instant, like he was remembering something that angered him. Then he opened them and smiled. “But now they are beneath you, my boy. You hold a seat in the kingdom where all those who treated you like nothing, less than a piece of shit in the past, are forced to look up and be in awe. A place you’ve earned,” his smile faded and he turned around, his back facing Spike now and his wings flapped twice. “But I know it’s not the one you deserve.”

Dainn fell silent for a full minute then sighed, his shoulders moving down is apparent disappointment.

“None of my sons will take the throne; they’re a bunch of weak fools and they lack any sense of authority or devotion, unlike you, my dear Spike,” Dainn looked up to the ceiling. “It’s no secret I like you, Spike, but I must confess I don’t like you as a friend or as someone I can trust. Since the first moment I saw you, I knew how much you could achieve and become with proper guidance and motivation. You became my personal project and you have succeeded in every aspect I desired and more,” Dainn went silent for a few seconds. “I don’t want you to call me by those titles every other lesser being calls me, Spike. It would be my...privilege if you called me by the one thing you never had, the thing you needed the most. And, in return, you shall receive the place you truly deserve at my side.”

Dainn turned around again, his lips forming a wide, happy smile. He then hugged the stunned dragon close to him. “You are dutiful and loyal beyond question, you have not failed me once even when the odds were against you. You never put silly excuses and you take responsibility for everything. You’re strong, committed, cunning and intelligent, but you have also proven to be patient and firm when needed, the marks of a great leader. I could easily order you to accept what I’m about to ask you but I won’t do that, this has to be your decision.”

“Wh-what are you talking about, my king? I don’t understand,” Spike blurted out with some difficulty.

Dainn loosen up the hug just enough to let him look at the dragon dead in the eye. “Spike, I ask you, not as your king but as an equal male. Will you become my rightful son and heir?” Dainn felt the dragon stiffen once his question was made.

“B-but I...I...I’m not even a caribou, I...I ---your sons! I …..I can’t…..I’m not w-w-worthy to--”

“Remember Spike, it is I who decides who is worthy or not. You wouldn’t have to worry about my pathetic sons either, they will accept my command or die if they refuse,” Dainn smirked. “I gave you the title of Marshal to test how accepting the kingdom and my chiefs would be of you, the results were better than expected: everything you’ve done so far for me has been just a big test,” Dainn let go of Spike and took a step back. “I ask you again, Spike. Will you accept to become my son and my heir so that we, together as father and son, may spread the might of male superiority to the rest of Equis?”

Spike looked at Dainn, his mind didn’t go blank or his body being filled by unrelenting rage. He could only smile showing off his fangs while he felt an immense sense of relief and fulfillment coursing throughout his body.

This is it, an opening through your lies, now’s just a matter of time before I discover all your secrets you Nightmare spawned asshole!

“Yes!” he nearly shouted. He saw Dainn smile broadly and coughed. “I m-mean yes, my king, it would be the greatest of honours!”

Dainn opened his arms. “Don’t call me that again, to my eyes you are no longer a simple vassal but now an actual part of a true royal family. Come, my new son, give your father a hug.”

Spike obeyed without question and embraced Dainn as hard as he could, but the stag didn’t seem to be bothered by his strength. I promise you will pay for everything you’ve done, fucker.

For almost two minutes the two of them held their hug tightly. Dainn, reluctantly, broke the hug and stepped back, a few tears clearly running down his face; just like the tears running down Spike’s face, although the reason behind those tears were vastly different.

“I’m happy you accepted, my son,” Dainn cleaned his tears away. “And to think I was ready for you to refuse or faint again,” Spike laughed awkwardly at his statement. “Nothing to be embarrassed, my boy. But that’s not the only reason I summoned you although it was the main one,” Dainn used his magic to open a chest at the side of his bed and pull out a sealed scroll. “A week ago I received this report sent by Shining Armor. Read it,” he said putting the scroll in front of Spike.

The drake grabbed the scroll, tear off the seal and opened it. His eyes scanned the contents of the scroll, everything seemed to be just another report of a scout party lost in the Solitude Mountain,that is until he read who was leading the party. “Ulfric?” Spike asked surprised to see a general, especially one of the best Dainn had at his disposal, be sent to that forsaken place.

“I sent him to put an end to whatever was the cause of the attacks in that mountain a week previous to that report. Keep reading,” Dainn answered.

Spike, now curious, continued to read the report. According to it, Ulfric had departed with almost fifteen thousand heavily armed troops, most of them ponies but there were a few of the other ‘lesser’ races, too. Yet, to the horror and astonishment of Spike, only one had come back two days later; that one being Ulfric himself.

“Why wasn’t I aware of his mission?” Spike asked, his eyes still glued to the scroll.

“Because if you were to know about it you would’ve volunteered to go in his place; I couldn’t afford to send you without a bare minimum of knowledge to what truly lies there,” Dainn said in a neutral tone. “But now I know.”

Spike frowned when he reached the end of the report. The last words of Ulfric before he died in the hospital four days later due to his several, untreatable injuries. “‘The wind blows cold, it comes with piercing eyes. Blood lies white, a death by ice’,...........Wind blows cold? Death by ice?........ Windigoes,” Spike whispered, the scroll falling to the floor.

“Perhaps, but if there are ice demons in that mountain then that means they have the potential to become a devastating threat to us,” Dainn crossed his arms. “And we can’t allow to give them that chance. The ignorant legends of the ponies state that you can only defeat those demons with love and harmony; such stupidity. How do you destroy ice? With fire! And what fire is the most powerful?” Dainn said smiling at Spike.

“The fire of a dragon,” Spike smirked. “......When shall I depart?”

Dainn’s smile grew. “You see, my son? No doubts, no questions, no fear. The essence of a true male, just as me,” Dainn closed his eyes, his smile turning into a smirk. “You shall depart from Ponyville tomorrow at the crack of dawn. I already prepared an elite force of four hundred soldiers, they’re waiting for you at the Crystal Empire as we speak, but you’re free to bring along as many Shadow Hunters, soldiers and prepare as you see fit; you’re in charge of this mission.” Dainn opened his eyes and looking at Spike with pride.

“I know you will be victorious, but if for any reason you can’t defeat whatever creatures lie there, Windigo or not; I order you to save yourself and come back to me. Either way, there will be a crown waiting for you when you come back and then everyone will know that Dainn and Spike shall rule with the glory and truth of male superiority. Go and make me proud, my rightful son.”

Spike did a quick bow. “It shall be done…….Father,” Spike said with a smile; even though he wanted nothing more than vomit his entrails out for regarding Dainn as such.

-------------------------------------------------------------******************************************

*The Crystal Empire-The Crystal Castle Plaza- The next day- 9:35 a.m.*

Spike stood side by side with Shining Armor, both of them watching the small army that was going to depart in the next minutes. Spike could notice Soarin and Big Macintosh coordinating the troops and triple checking they had everything they would need for their trip to the mountain.

“Impressive, is it not? Dainn truly held no expenses on this one, top quality weapons, armor and coats; top of the line provisions and even a warbeast for each soldier. But considering you’re the one going after the things that lies there, it really isn’t that surprising,” Shining turned to see Spike and smirked. “Prince Spike.”

Spike rose an eyebrow. “My ki---My father told you already?”

Shining nodded. “Of course, but only me so far. He wants to wait for your return before making the big announcement.”

“Yeah, he mentioned something about that,” there was silence between them for a few moments. “I never took Ulfric for the poetic type.”

“What makes you say that?” Shining asked slightly confused.

“His last words of course, I mean, ‘Blood lies white, a death by ice’?”

Shining let out a long, loud exhale through his nose. “Those were his first, last and only words after he came back, battered and bloody. His injuries were numerous; a few broken bones, his antlers snapped off, several cuts and bruises, frostbite and frostburn marks and internal bleeding. It was a miracle he survived for an entire day specially when our healers couldn’t do anything,” Shining frowned, clamping his teeth. “The worst part was that he didn’t say a thing up until he died, he showed no pain or reaction to anything. He was paralyzed with fear, to or by what? I don’t think I want to know. Sucks to be you right now, Spike.”

“That doesn’t matter, I have a mission and I’m planning to fulfill it,” as soon as he finished that sentence he saw Soarin extend his wings while facing him, after a few wing signs he returned to his duties. “Looks like everything is almost ready,” he turned around to see the rest of the closed-for-the-occasion castle plaza with the few minutes he had left to spare.

The usual sights were there, fuck-benches scattered around, rape racks here and there, crystal statues glorifying the caribou, a massive phallic shaped statue replacing his own past statue and of course, the deep blue Crystal Cock spinning slowly below the center of the palace and between two crystal like needles. There was also a shimmering red barrier around the corrupted Crystal Heart and the needles. Spike looked up to the palace until he reached the top, seeing small tendrils of red and black coming out of it and reaching to the sky.

He focused his attention on the Crystal Cock again, pouring as much hate as he could to his unflinching eyes; while he didn’t regret doing gis bit to retrieve the Heart, Spike couldn’t help but feel that everything that had happened for three years and a half was, in part, his fault.

We stopped Sombra but he was replaced by the fucking caribou, if I had known back then all of this was going to happen, I would’ve given the Heart to Sombra, personally. And then pledge loyalty to him, all he wanted were his crystals. Spike thought grimly, his face forming a faint frown. Good thing Chrysalis and her changelings already tried destroying the damn thing. The shield is impenetrable and the Palace virtually indestructible, but we’ll find a way, there has to be a way to end the nightmare.

“A slut for your thoughts?” Shining asked at his side.

“Hurrmm?” Spike grunted in response.

“You look like you’re over thinking something, care to tell me?” Shining asked placing a hand over Spike’s shoulder.

“Nothing important Shining, it’s just that this is the first I get to see the magnificence of the Crystal Cock so close, since most of my trips here are quick or purely for business. But now I can see it and feel the energy it emits from here.”

“I know what you mean, a bit overwhelming right?” Shining chortled a bit.

“Yeah,...it is,” Spike replied his eyes still glued to the Crystal Cock. Taking a few tentative steps towards it he could feel the aura of the once Crystal Heart in full force but as he got closer he could also feel something was different. The corruption or ‘the sickness’ of course. He thought immediately.

He stopped just an arm’s reach away from the pillar of energy around the Crystal Cock and the needles, starting from the ground and up to the base of the palace. Now that he was this close he could see the thin streams of dark and red energy flowing up through the top needle. But he could also feel the energy coming from the Crystal Cock head on. He eyed the spinning phallus inside the barrier and raised a hand.

“Don’t touch the barrier!”

Spike heard Shining say behind him but he didn’t obey. With a single movement his hand made contact with the barrier. Then he felt himself being pushed back by an immense force.

“Unnffff!” Spike grunted out the moment he hit the floor. He shook his head a few times before opening his eyes; finding himself about ten meters away from the barrier.

“I told you not to do it!” Shining said angrily. “The Crystal Cock doesn’t let anyone but Dainn himself touch it!”

“Sorry,” Spike said plainly, his eyes turning to see the hand he had touched the barrier with. It was fine with no visible scorching or something similar, but Spike did feel the lingering energy fading away quickly in his palm.

I can feel the energy of the Heart, but it’s not….quite right. It feels weak and rotten, just like Chrysalis describes the corruption. But there’s also another powerful energy, a third. One I’ve felt before the Fall…..but I can’t tell what it is. Just what the fuck Dainn do to the Heart!?

“I was just a bit curious,” Spike said accepting the aid of Shining to get up.

“Serves you right, idiot,” Shining said, signaling the nearby onlookers to go away, all of them obeying instantly returning to their posts or assignments. “You alright?”

“Dandy,” Spike replied dusting off his armor. “Maybe I should begin the march to the mountain, with any luck we won’t catch a blizzard mid-way,” Spike extended his right arm to Shining. “Nice seeing you again, Shining.”

“Same here, Spike,” Shining replied taking a hold of the hand and shaking it a few times. “May Dainn smile upon you on your task, prince.”

“I know he does,” Spike said breaking their handshake. “See you soon, I hope,” he said before turning around to meet his troops and his retinue, all of them already waiting for him.

*Several hours later-Near the entrance road of the Solitude Mountain- 10:21 p.m.*

Spike sat in front of his desk littered by several scrolls and parchments. He and his party had made camp two hours ago and, thankfully, the weather was nice enough to not hit them with a blizzard; there weren’t enough pegasus in his party to hold back one if it presented. But that didn’t meant the current weather outside the tents was welcoming in the least, even without a blizzard it was cold, the winds were strong enough to push you as they pleased if you weren’t careful and one couldn’t see more than two meters ahead. Spike grabbed one of the scrolls and opened it; the contents revealing to him the number of troops he had brought with him.

Aside from the four hundred elite warriors Dainn had sent, all of them caribou, Spike had brought nearly as many from Ponyville and the surrounding garrisons, careful to take only verified Fakers thanks to changeling intel and of course his entire retinue consisting of Big Mac, Caramel, Pokey, Thunderlane, Bulk Biceps and Soarin. The last one bringing all the Faker Shadow Hunters under his command, almost a third of the entire force; around sixty of them. The rest of the Fakers, however, were unaware of his true intentions but he hoped the tables could be turned to his favor somehow if worst came crashing down on them.

Grabbing another scroll this one revealed a map covering the given routes to the search parties lost during the past three years, while also marking the path Ulfric’s army was supposed to take. The warbeasts had proven to be useful, in just one day they had covered the same distance the army of Ulfric had done in three to his best calculations. Scanning the map thoroughly he noticed that, while it didn’t pinpoint an exact route or area of attack, the most probable site for the Windigoes or the creatures to attack with greatest efficiency was on the far, unseen side of the mountain; more precisely near its base, the same spot Spike suspected Ulfric’s army had been massacred.

That thought made him stop and think of something he hadn’t thought before. He began to wonder how many of his troops, or worse, his friends, would survive a battle against whatever was in that mountain. He knew that many would die, maybe even himself, and he doubted Creslin and the liberators had anything to do with it this time. A strange yet funny realization made Spike chuckle. For the first time since he started his charade in hopes to find a weakness to kill Dainn, there was going to be no ambush, plan or help; he was going blind into a mission, his information being only what little was known about the attacks themselves. He had no idea what they would find but he knew that if there were indeed Windigoes involved, then their chances of survival were almost non-existing. And it both scared and excited him.

“Hmmmmm,” Spike hummed, the thought of him not surviving the encounter plaguing his mind. Soon enough he grabbed a quill, a piece of parchment, an ink bottle and began to write while the cold wind blowed restless outside his warm tent.

The next morning came and the small army resumed their travel, thankful that the skies were clear and the biggest weather issue was the chilly breeze. For hours on end they continued their journey safely as a group of Shadow Hunters went on ahead as a scout party. It wasn’t until around two hours past noon that they reached the point of no return, and also got to see Solitude Mountain completely instead of just distant glimpses in between other mountains. Spike signaled a full stop before jumping off of his warbeast, his friends following him soon after.

“T-that’s Solitude?” Caramel asked fearfully at Spike’s left side.

“How big is that thing?” Bulk Biceps asked staring at the strange massive grayish clouds that covered the rest (maybe even most) of the mountain, all the while keeping a slow but steady spinning motion. “I can only see the base of it.”

“No one knows fer sure,” Big Mac said in a neutral tone. “When Ah was in school Ah read that many explorers went up, none came down. Some say that after the clouds there’s some sort of maze, others that there are monsters. Who knows? That’s why the name is Solitude, coz no one tries to go up there fer almost one hundred years,” Big Mac finished with a small worrisome gulp.

“Until now,” Spike said trying to see anything past the clouds, but nothing. “The rest of the way are mostly open frozen fields until we reach the base, then we must circle around it until we find a wa--”

“At long last. You’ve come,” a soft, almost childish voice suddenly said. Its volume barely louder than a tender whisper.

“GrrraaaaAAHH!” Spike reached for his spear, instantly adopting a defensive stance while his eyes scanned the area rapidly.

“What’s going on!?” Soarin said also adopting a similar defensive stance, just like the rest of his friends and a few confused soldiers. For almost a full minute no one moved or said anything, the blowing wind being the only noise around all of them.

“Where did that voice came from!?” Spike asked still trying to find the source of said voice.

“Spike…...what voice?” Thunderlane asked dropping his stance.

Spike looked to his friends looking at him, confused. “I heard some kind of voice, it was like a whisper but I’m sure I heard it,” he replied still holding his stance.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just the wind?” Pokey asked resheeting his sword.

Spike looked around one last time before finally dropping his stance. “Must’ve been,” he turned to the soldiers behind him. “Sorry for scaring you, I guess my nerves got the better of me, he he,” he ended scratching the back of his head.

“Not a problem, marshal,” a caribou, a sergeant given the golden tokens in his antlers, said. “Your orders?”

“Mount up, we must head straight until we reach the base, circle around it and find a way up,” Spike said putting his spear in the hold his warbeast was carrying while he mounted it again.

“Of course, sir,” the sergeant gave him a quick bow. “Mount up, we move onward!”

Spike used the reins to make his warbeast move again. The following two hours of the journey spent in relative silence but he still glanced around trying to find the source of the voice he had heard. It wasn’t until the ten Shadow Hunters he had sent to scout ahead came flying towards him leaving behind black color streaks.

“My marshal!” a thestral pony dressed with a warm coat, just like everyone else, came down next to him,his wings slowly flapping in his back. “My marshal! *heavy breathing* you must come quick to see what we found some kilometers ahead!”

“Calm yourself and explain what did you find,” Spike said in a composed tone.

The thestral breath in and out for twenty or so seconds, once he was calm enough he spoke again, his eyes reflecting fear and insecurity. “W-we found the remains of general Ulfric’s army,” the bat pony swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat. “I-I fail the words to describe how…..unsettling everything is. You have to see it yourself, my marshal.”

“How much further is it?” Spike asked seemingly unfaced.

The bat pony pointed to down the road in the distance. “See that curved road at the west side? At the end of it there’s a somewhat wide canyon-corridor that extends for almost a kilometer, followed by a frozen landscape that stretches as far as the eye can see. There’s a rock road beside the base of the mountain, about ten kilometers further there’s a branching path upward the mountain, next to it…….next to it lies a graveyard,” he ended gulping loudly.

“Anything else to report?”

“Permission to speak privately, sir?”

“Granted.”

The bat pony leaned to Spike’s ear and whispered. “I seriously think we should turn back, Spike.”

“Why?” Spike asked in a hush.

“That graveyard is horrible by itself, all of those frozen and impaled bodies are gross as all shit. But fuck the graveyard. I swear we all felt like something was watching us from everywhere, worst part is the cold; it feels like it’s trying to get to your bones,” there was a moment of silence between the two of them. “I….I don’t want to die here, not like them. M-my sister needs me.”

“You won’t die here, Night Stride, I promise. But we must do it, we’re almost done, just a few more pushes and everything will be fine,” Spike said in the same hushed tone, smiling warmly at the bat pony. “Can you lead the way?”

Night Stride closed his eyes and nodded. “Follow me, my marshal.”

Spike saw Night Stride fly in front of his warbeast maintaining a steady rhythm. He shot out three rapid green pillars of fire followed by Big Macintosh blowing his battle horn for a few short seconds. The speed of the warbeast increased until they were now practically leaping across the snow and ice.

Less than two hours later the group was finally reaching the graveyard Night Stride and the rest of the hunters had found, and just as he had said until now was fitting to his description, including the open fields (even though some distant mountains could be seen in the horizon) and the uncanny coldness. Spike ordered a full stop when they were a hundred or so meters away from where the path splitted in two…..and further down destroyed banners, lances and crimson colored spikes of ice stood against the blowing wind.

Spike, followed by his retinue, the commanding caribou officers and some soldiers, jumped off of his warbeast and walked towards the towering ice stakes. When they reached the border they gasped while others screamed and dropped to their knees covering their eyes. Spike felt the wind around them increase in force for a moment before he spoke.

“What the hay did this?”

He jumped down the border against the protests of his friends and walked among the frozen remains of ponies, caribou, zebras and everything else one could imagine. Most of them were impaled completely by the ice stakes, their blood giving them their crimson shade. But there were some that had been completely dismembered or frozen completely, the look on their eyes reflecting immense pain, terror and desperation from inside the ice, even those that were clearly trying to run away or cover themselves.

“Something’s not right,” Soarin said landing next to Spike.

“Yes, I also noticed,” Spike said touching a spike that had impaled a caribou through his skull and had pierced out his eye. “There aren’t enough bodies……..unless,” Spike stopped before looking back at his companion and the soldiers coming down to see the spikes by themselves. Then back to the spikes of ice and the corpses. “Unless……,” he repeated eyeing the caribou corpse in front of him questioningly.

“.......Unless……..,” Soarin said now noticing the unnatural bending angle most corpses had. He looked down to the snow. He kneeled and used his right hand to clear the snow away until a few centimeters in he felt something hard and extremely cold, the wind seemingly helping him dig out the rest of the snow. When he pulled back his hand there was enough space to reveal him a small patch of ice…..and an eye staring back at him. “FUCKING SHIT!” Soarin shouted jumping back and onto the air using his wings.

Spike looked up to Soarin and then back to the spot he had cleared. “Unless we’re standing over them!” the wind increased its force, clearing our small batches of snow. “Everyone, go up the border!” Spike said as Soarin picked him up, he landed back up the border and used his green fire breath to melt the snow creating a curtain of steam. Seconds later the wind blew away the steam revealing that most of the snow was gone, a vast ice floor replacing it. “..........”

Spike heard curses and gasps all around him while he was speechless. The ground in front of them, now completely transparent, featured several hundreds of bodies buried below the surface. He noticed that below there were several more stakes, giving him the idea that whatever did this to them used that place to put the corpses, or for worse things if the stakes were anything to go by.

“I swear by Dainn’s might I’ll kill the damn monster that did this!” a caribou shouted angrily making most of his comrades shout back in approval.

“Look at that,” Spike heard a griffon say to a unicorn pointing to somewhere below. “Isn’t that...a changeling?”

“Where!?” Spike asked moving towards them. The griffon merely pointed to the spot where, indeed, laid a changeling. Doing a quick scan nearby he was able to find a buffalo, five more changelings, two of them mares and three griffons, all of them wearing the black chitin armor of the hives. “Well, at least now we know the rebels suffered the same fate as our forces,” he said offering his respects in silence but also wondering why they had come here to begin with.

“Come to me,” said the same voice Spike had heard before but a bit louder.

Spike instantly adopted a defensive position, his claws sharp and ready to strike. Again with that voice, I’m sure I heard it this time! He thought looking around despite the odd looks his troops were giving him.

“What’s wrong with you today, Spike?” Pokey asked him walking up to him while Spike dropped his stance slowly.

“I heard that voice again. Didn’t you hear it?” Spike said making his way back to his warbeast. Pokey followed him closely with Thunderlane joining them mid-way

“I didn’t heard any voice except of our own. Did you hear anything Thunder?”

“Nothing,” Thunderlane shivered before exhaling hot breath to his hands. “Good grief, is it just me or did it suddenly got colder?” Spike took his spear.

“Yeah. A bit strange since the wind stopped blowing a minute ago,” Pokey said shivering too.

Spike turned to face the two of them. “Now that you mention it…...wasn’t it brighter, too?”

The three of them looked up to the skies, finding that the strange gray clouds high above them had not only expanded but had also become borderline black, their spinning motion increased.

“Spike?” Thunderlane asked nervously.

“Yeah?” Spike answered similarly.

“I have a very bad feeling about that.”

“No shit, Thunder,” Pokey said suddenly feeling very anxious. “Perhaps we should go back while we can,” as soon as he finished that sentence the wind began to blow once again in a tranquil way and the temperature dropped even more.

*Whhhhrrrrrroooooooaaahhhhhhh*

The entire army felt their very souls turn into ice the moment they heard that unworldly, terrifying and utterly monstrous mix between a pained moan and a screech in the distance. It echoed all around them for almost an entire minute and then, silence.

Spike, like everyone else, was trembling in fear; his legs didn’t move, his breathing was short and hollowed, his lungs felt like they would pop, his blood felt colder than ice and his mouth kept opening and closing trying to say something. A minute later a single word finally came out of his mouth.

“Windigoes.”

“Come to me,” the strange soothing voice said forcing Spike to look around until he focused on the mountain itself, beyond the concealed top of it. There, he saw for a fraction of a second a shimmering white sparkle of light. “Come to me,” the voice repeated.

“What the---” Spike began to say but was cut off by a trembling below them. He watched the pegasus, griffons and Hunters take to the skies and the look of confusion and panic many of the troops had. Then it stopped.

“What in the name of Dainn is going on!?” the caribou sergeant shouted pulling out his warhammer. “Come out you monster! Face your death!” he shouted to the skies in defiance.

His answer came only in the winds returning stronger than ever, forcing the one in the sky to land or risk being blown away. The winds continued and the trembling returned, this time stronger than ever. The warbeasts growled and roared everywhere, obviously scared out of their minds. Then the trembling stopped again but the winds persisted increasing in force, soon everyone was forced to squint their eyes just to see something.

There was a ghostly neigh around them, then a galloping noise followed by another, more powerful neigh. Suddenly a loud, deafening cracking noise was heard alongside the roars and screams of many warbeasts and soldiers clearly falling. The wind decreased enough to let Spike and the others see what had happened. His mouth hanged open when he saw a warbeast trying to hold to the icy border surface before falling into a crack.

“Holy fuck,” Thunderlane cursed seeing a now an enormous gap between them and the way back. It was at least two hundred meters from side to side while it continued into the frozen fields for kilometers to see, and who knew how deep? He saw that while all the carts were safe the rear of the army had fallen. A tenth of their numbers including the warbeasts. The nearest soldiers and warbeasts backed away. “We’re trapped.”

Spike saw four hands clinging for dear life a few meters in front of him, his warbeast had backed away without him noticing. He rushed to help the owners of said hands while Pokey and Thunderlane looked dumbfounded at the new canyon. When Spike arrived he took one of each hand without looking first. Both of them pulled at him, begging to be saved and it was now that he saw the fortunate survivors. An earth pony and a caribou. Spike narrowed his eyes and in a voice just loud enough for them to hear him thanks to the blowing wind, he said.

“Rot in Tartarus, fucker,” Spike then let go of the caribou while he still held his wrist tightly.

“Wha-unnnfffgGAAAAAA!” the caribou tried to say but a swift tail whip to his face was enough to free himself from his grip and send the stag to his death. The screams of the caribou quickly turned into echoes and then into silence.

Spike used both his hands to pick the earth pony up. The stallion was looking at him with both gratitude and surprise, but a quick wink later the stallion understood and both got up, Spike helping the stallion to make it back to Pokey and Thunderlane.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

Spike froze for the second time after hearing the screeching moan of the Windigoes, only this time it was twenty times louder. He felt a sudden wave of coldness so awful he thought he was going to be turned into an sculpture by it. Looking forward he saw the stunned expressions of Pokey and Thunderlane. He knew what it meant; he knew what was behind him; he knew he shouldn’t look back. But despite knowing that he turned his head abruptly just enough to see a ghostly figure; it was around three meters tall with a face resembling a malnourished, skeletal horse with a long neck thin neck. Its eyes glowing with an unnatural silver light, its body a shapeless form aside from two forelegs ending in hooves. It had swirls all over its spectral body while wind, snow and ice-shards danced violently around it. It also had the caribou he had dropped into the abyss in its mouth, although he looked more like an icicle now.

There was no doubt in his mind that the creature in front of him was, in fact, a Windigo. Without thinking he threw the stallion forward as hard as he could to were his two friends stood and turned completely to face the ice demon.

The Windigo bit down on the caribou icicle, shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces, then it let out another of its screeching moans before diving itself into the canyon; making the very ground below tremble furiously. Seconds later ice spikes emerged rapidly and violently from the ground in random locations, impaling without discrimination whatever was unfortunate enough to be on their way. Only then did the screams began.

“Come to me,” he heard the voice repeat. Momentarily surprised that he could hear it so clearly despite the wind and the screams and cries of everyone in behind him. He turned around again and looked up to the mountain, managing to see the same glimmer of light just for a split second.

“Let’s get out of here!” he heard someone shout in midst of the chaos snapping him out of his line of thought.

Spike looked at his left and saw a small group of twenty or so ponies and caribou, all of them atop their warbeasts running to the still present rock-road. Just as they were about to reach it the trembling stopped and the Windigo emerged from the ground, right behind the fleeing group. It screeched at them before letting out a torrent of shining mist out of its mouth. He could hear the faint noise of something freezing extremely fast and then the mist was gone thanks to the wind; it revealed white frozen statues of that entire group.

The Windigo moved toward it and using its forelegs it smashed them into dust. It began to use its ice breath on the road, putting its focus on the road for the time being. Using that momentary distraction he glanced around to find, much to his displeasure, that while the canyon blocked their retreat, there were a forest of ice stakes encircling them, all of them at least two meters high with several smaller thorn-like spines coming out of them.

Even the path up the mountain had them; they were effectively trapped and at the mercy of the Windigo.

Spike frowned and clenched his fangs, feeling a sudden surge of anger and dread rising up from his stomach. He knew this time nothing would save them; the Windigo killed without discrimination. He understood the grave situation he was in and if he didn’t do anything then he and his friends would die.

I’ve not come this far to die like this! I won’t let that everything I’ve done be in vain! Spike thought while his legs began to run toward his screaming, panicked and broken troops.

“Now’s our chance you idiots!” he shouted as loudly as he could casually breaking an ice stake with one powerful punch. “Get up and form up, battle ready warbeasts up front and lancers behind, NOW!” he roared but his troops barely moved. “I SAID NOW!” again practically no one moved, they were too frightened.

Spike roared in frustration and turned to glare at the Windigo still focused on its job. He clenched his spear and his eyes snapped open. He looked down to it and then back at the Windigo, he repeated the motion a few times before taking in a big breath, he put the metallic head of the spear in front of him and then he breathed out a stream of orange fire for several seconds. When he was done the head of the spear was red-hot; making hissing noises and steam when snow made contact with it.

The dragon looked up to the Windigo seeing it finish creating a thick wall of ice over the only escape route. He gripped the spear bringing the handle over his right shoulder, gripping it tightly while he aimed at his target. Then he took three rapid steps forward and released his spear.

The spear soared through the air hissing violently. The Windigo turned to look to the rest of its victims when the spear made contact with its body passing through it effortlessly.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!*

The ice demon let out another one of its screathing moans, this time filled with what Spike could only describe as pain. The Windigo trashed, writhed and squirmed in the air before dropping to the ground; rolling around screeching in horrid agony.

The screams of the soldiers stopped and all eyes focused on their marshal.

“FORM UP NOW! We can kill that thing, your Marshal is with you! Fight onward to avenge all our fallen brothers! For male superiority!” he shouted and several seconds later he was greeted by cheering and shouts of victory. “Form up, warbeast in the front and lances behind, take that bastard out!”

With their spirits back on track his orders were followed without exception. The caribou ridders positioned themselves and the warbeasts while pony soldiers formed behind them. It was difficult to maneuver thanks to the ice spikes that the Windigo had summoned, even more so by seeing the poor unfortunate victims of said spikes, but still they managed to form just in time when the Windigo stopped its screeching and rose to the air again.

It had a hole in its chest that was slowly closing and its eyes were shining even more than before. It was angry.

“FIRE!” Spike shouted, a second later the entire first line of warbeasts let out a stream of fire directly and the Windigo.

It neighed loudly, its mane swirling behind him without control. The wind increased in force before it breathe out a massive ice cloud. The two opposing elemental forces clashed creating steam for the first few seconds before, to the incredulous surprise of everyone that could see it, the ice cloud of the Windigo came through the fire of the warbeasts and in less than five seconds it came crashing down the entire first line of warbeasts and their riders. The steam cleared out quickly, revealing nothing but frozen statues.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

Spike looked to the skies to find the Windigo had already moved above them, it let out another ice cloud that fell quickly over them. Spike clenched his fists, took the biggest breath of air he had ever taken and then let out an equally massive stream of green fire up to stop the one made by the Windigo.

The two streams clashed creating another wall of steam, only this time Spike’s fire wasn’t pushed back. The exchange lasted for several second until Spike fire stream suddenly pushed upward, almost like there was no more resistance. Spike cut out his fire before he heard the Windigo neighing behind the steam cloud their breaths had created.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

It screeched again before a tornado came crashing down the second line of the army. Everyone began to run away screaming their lungs out or was absorbed by the tornado, frozen almost instantly and then shattered into dust. Spike saw as the Windigo descended in the middle of the tornado, its eyes glued on him.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

The Windigo let out the loudest and most powerful screeching moan so far before the tornado stopped and it launched itself towards Spike. Those unfortunate enough to be in its way were turned to ice upon contact with its body, including those that tried to use their weapons against the spectral being. The Windigo was almost in front of its prey when it opened its mouth, ready to deliver an icy end to him.

Spike, for his part, narrowed his eyes, took a relaxed breath of air and then let out a thin but rapid stream of green fire against the incoming Windigo. The ice demon’s eyes snapped open when it saw the fire coming towards it. It moved to dodge but it was too close to the dragon and the fire was too fast.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!!*

The Windigo screeched in pain as it drifted to the sky instead. The fire had hit it in its left foreleg ripping it apart. Spike saw the severed leg of the Windigo twitch in front of him before it turned to ice and then into dust. He looked up to the Windigo wailing around the air before it came crashing down upon the ice stakes it had created blocking the way up to the mountain. Spike smiled and let out another stream of fire towards it but the Windigo dodged it by mere inches. It shot a glare to Spike and Spike shot a glare back at it. The Windigo let out one final, powerful, defying screeching moan and then flew away up into the distant clouds.

There was only wind for almost an entire minute until it began to die down, the clouds became grey once again and the coldness carried by the Windigo dissipated. Spike instantly fell to his knees, his breathing rapid but tranquil.

“Come to me,” the voice repeated yet again. A voice only he could seemingly hear. He looked up to the re-opened path leading up the mountain. “Seek me,” the voice said in the same, soothing tone that filled his heart with something far more precious than all the gems in the world. Hope, true hope.

Spike saw a red hand suddenly appear in front of him, he looked up slightly to find Big Macintosh. He smiled and took the hand that helped him get back to his feet.

“The Marshal saved us!” someone shouted amidst the surviving troops and then the cheering, chantings of victory and thankful prayers erupted all around the place.

“The monster is defeated!” a griffon shouted taking to the air, now calm and quiet. There was more cheering but it was quickly stopped by Spike.

“Shut up everyone!” Spike shouted ordering calm. “The Windigo was not defeated, I was only able to injure it and only because of luck, I had no idea my fire could hurt it! Furthermore, that was just ONE Windigo, what happens if there are more around?” the soldiers merely began to whisper and murmur between themselves, all of them clearly frightened by his statement. “Now be useful and search for survivors and injured before that thing decides to come back and finish us!” with that threat in mind the soldiers began to move around preparing their weapons, checking the carts and the equipment and search for survivors, if there were any to begin with.

Spike glanced past Big Mac and into the distant clouds covering the mountain.

“What are yah lookin’ at, Spike?” the red stallion asked casually.

“.........I’m going up to the mountain,” Spike stated without looking back at the stallion.

Big Mac was agape for an instant. “Are yah crazy!? Why!?” Big Mac shouted in outrage making the rest of their friends approach them.

“What’s going on?” Thunderlane asked holding the stallion Spike had tossed over his shoulders.

“This fool wants tah go up the friggin’ mountain!” Big Mac said angrily making the rest of his friends and the stallion look at Spike like he was stupid.

“Come,” Spike said walking away and towards the mountain path. “Soarin, go and tell the Hunters to come, I need to tell you all something.”

“Right,” Soarin replied before flying away.

“What about him?” Caramel asked pointing at the dazed stallion Thunderlane was carrying.

“Bring him, too.”

Five minutes later Spike was standing about a hundred meters away from the rest of the army surrounded by his friends and the Hunters, fortunately none of them had died. Spike turned to face the stallion he had saved and smiled warmly.

“Don’t worry, you’re among friends,” Spike said calmly.

“S-sir? A-are you like….me? A….a Heretic?” the stallion said in a low pitch wheezing tone of voice.

“We prefer Fakers, if you don’t mind. But yes, I am and so everyone else gathered here; that also includes the rest of the non caribou soldiers,” Spike replied, the stallion began to tear up and his mouth to quiver. “You’re not alone, my friend.”

“B-but you’re the Marshal,” the stallion said back with tears flowing down his eyes.

Spike visibly grimaced at that. “A position I’ve gained with many, unforgivable sacrifices. All in hopes to find a way to kill the fucker king. What is your name?”

“S-steel *sniff* Tree, sir.”

“Can you do me a favor?” the stallion nodded once. “I need you to keep what I just told you a secret for now?” the stallion looked up, laid still for a few second and then nodded again. “Thank you, and don’t fret, Steel Tree, the fall of the caribou is nearing, we just have to be more patient. We will have our justice.”

“For Equestria,” the rest of the stallions present whispered at the same time.

Steel Tree cleaned up his tears and asked Thunderlane to let him stand on his own. “W-what must I do now, sir?”

“For now return and get your equipment ready to leave and remember, not a word to anypony or anyone. I’m trusting you here, don’t let me down.”

“Don’t worry *sniff*, sir. I won’t say anything.”

Spike nodded satisfied with his answer. Steel Tree saluted before making his way back with the rest of the army, stumbling to side to side every so often. Once he was out of ear range Spike turned to see his fellow Fakers.

“Ok, now that that’s over, can you please tell us why you want to kill yourself going up that Tirek damned mountain?” Pokey asked crossing his arms.

Spike closed his eyes and took a slow, long calming breath. “Come to me,” he heard the voice again before opening his eyes with determination.

“I’m hearing a voice calling and urging me to go up the mountain,” he said making his friends look at him confused. “I don’t know what it is or what is making it or why I’m the only one that is hearing it, but whatever it is I have to find it.”

“Why would you risk yourself like that after all you’ve done so far, Spike? Just because you hear something we can’t you want to throw away our best chance to end this fucking nightmare!? Why!?” Caramel asked holding Spike by his shoulders, his expression a mix of hurt, anger and confusion. “Why after all we’ve done?”

Spike placed his own arms over Caramel’s shoulders and glanced quickly at the rest of the group around him. “I don’t know, but now I feel something in my chest pulling me towards the mountain. A sensation of hope,” there was a moment of silence. “What if…...what if up there lies something we can use against Dainn and the caribou? What if the Windigo is here to protect whatever is calling me?”

“Listen to yourself for a moment, Spike,” Bulk Biceps said in a serious tone. “You are putting your hopes in a what if. What if you’re wrong and you end up dying up there? What would be of us and every poor female in your castle?” another moment of silence passed.

“But what if I’m right?” Spike asked to no one in particular. “What if I find something up there that can help us?”

“And what about you?” Soarin asked in a solemn tone.

“What happens to me doesn’t matter as long as we achieve victory, no matter what the price I have to pay is,” Spike smiled. “Besides, I prepared a few things yesterday in case I died today,” he reached the inside of his armor, a moment later he pulled out a couple of letters. “Soarin, back in the Wasteland you asked me if I had a plan for Twilight and the others. My answer lies in one of these letters. Besides, if we all go back now then the Windigo come to attack us, maybe bringing some friends with it and then we will all die.”

“I understand that but we don’t know if the Windigo will come back for us after what you did to it,,” Soarin said in the same tone. “But I still don’t see why are you so insisting on going up the mountain alone.”

“Who said I’m going alone?” Spike replied darkly. “I’m taking around fifty or so of those fuckers with me. They’ll be perfect distractions if anything happens.”

“And if nothing happens? Let say you find something up there, what about them? You won’t be able to fight them all yourself,” Pokey said placing a hand on Spike’s left shoulder. “Spike, you’ve done more than all of us combined. If you want to go up there just because of a hunch…….I won’t stop you, I trust you enough to know you’re doing it for a good reason; even if I don’t understand it,” Pokey smirked. “But what kind of friend would I be if I let you go without help?”

“Don’t be a show-off, Pokey! We all are Spike’s friends!” Thunderlane said hitting Pokey with his elbow in a playful manner. “Besides, if you’re going with him then I will go, too.”

“And so will I!” Caramel said with a bright smile.

“Yeah!” Bulk Biceps eagerly half-shouted while Soarin and the Hunters nodded.

“Eeyup, Ah still think you’re crazy fer what yah want tah do, but I’m with yah,” Big Mac said, his eyes closed in deep thought.

“You guys…...No, I can’t let you throw your lives away like that!” Spike said but no ones replied, the fire in their eyes told him their decision was made. “I….I need you to return to Ponyville.”

“Won’t happen,” Soarin chuckled. “If you’re crazy enough to go up there then we will follow you, as always.”

Spike felt a hot, warm feeling inside his chest that had nothing to do with his fire. He closed his eyes and let out a chortle. “I won’t talk you out of it, am I?”

“You’re not the only stubborn one here, purple ass,” Thunderlane said making the group share a quick laugh.

Spike opened his eyes, his lips curling into a sad smile. “Thank you, my friends. But I can’t risk all of you with me up there,” he was about to continue when he noticed a caribou in heavy, fur armor approaching; once he was near enough Spike turned to face him. “What is it?”

“My Marshal,” the caribou saluted. “I have the preliminary damage report if you want to hear it,” Spike nodded. “We have an estimate casualty count of one hundred and thirty elite heavy units, two hundred light soldiers and about five hundred los warbeasts. Incredibly, there are only three injured with minor wounds and all our carts and provisions have been spared,” the stag finished his report. “Do you have any further orders, my marshal?”

“Tell sergeant Thotkin to gather his fifty strongest and bravest heavies and that they each must carry enough provisions, warmth runes and ; they shall accompany me up the mountain to hunt down the Windigo. The will of Dainn shall be done.”

The stag gulped but saluted in response nonetheless. “What about the rest of the army, my marshal?”

Spike glanced at Soarin. “Tell Thotkin that commander Soarin will lead you back to the Crystal Empire. Soarin will speak with my authority and you must obey all his orders, except if those orders are meant to stop your march in any way. The Shadow Hunters will also return with him; now go and inform Thotkin,” Spike ordered shoving the stag away with a wave of his hand. The stag saluted before running back to deliver the message.

Once the stag was far away enough Soarin spoke up. “That was an unfair move, Spike,” the pegasus said with a hint of annoyance.

“Sorry Soarin, everyone, but I really need you back at Ponyville if…..if I…..if we don’t come back,” Spike said before turning to Big Mac. “Caramel, Pokey, Thunder, Bulk, if you’re completely sure about following me I won’t object, but keep in mind that we may die before we find whatever is calling me up there; if there is anything at all to begin with,” The four stallion shared a look between each other and nodded. “I promise I’ll try my best to protect you from whatever comes at us, even against the Windigo.”

“Don’t worry about us, Spike. Just make sure that if we die you’ll take a few antlers on our names, will ya?” Bulk Biceps said with a broad smile and an almost forced laugh.

“Big Mac, can you please stay with me for a moment? The rest of you can return to check your equipment and prepare for the journey back. Soarin, make sure these four morons have everything ready for the trip up,” nopony said anything and instead made their way back to prepare themselves either for the trip back or the trip up the mountain.

“What do yah want me tah do, Spike?” Spike didn’t respond, instead the dragon handed him a letter with a golden ‘S’ emblem sealing it. “What’s this?”

“Once you get back to the Empire tell Shining that me and some soldiers are hunting the Windigo and that it should take no more than three days to achieve victory. You, on the other hand, must wait for only two days, if by then we’re not back; assume the worst and return to Ponyville with Soarin and the Hunters. Say I ordered it before I sent you back,” Spike said before pointing at the letter. “That letter will grant you emergency forty eight hour long powers entitling you to my castle, all the females residing in it; including the girls and command over the Shadow Hunters until I come back . Once you arrive give it to that bastard of Harald or to Gunne and you’ll have full clearance,” Spike handed him over another letter,this one without a seal.

“This letter is for Chrysalis. Give it to Yog, Cranky knows whom amongst the rest of the Hunters is he; tell him to deliver it as fast as he can to her. Everything inside is invisible unless put against a proper light Chrysalis uses. Inside, it explains what’s going on, why I sent her that letter and the exact location of the Tree of Harmony,” Big Mac gasped taking a step back.

“Y-you found it? For how long and why didn’t yah tell anyone about it?”

“I couldn’t risk it, Big Mac. If my search leads me nowhere or ends up killing me that’s our best hope for freedom,” Spike’s expression turned apologetic. “I’m sorry I kept it a secret, but now that I have the rest of the girls with me and with Applejack already free the Tree might react again, free them from the brainwash and grant them the power they used to defeat Tirek. Do you understand?”

The red stallion remained silent for almost an entire minute before he sighed. “Ah understand,” Spike placed his free hand over his right shoulder for a moment or two before handing him a third letter.

“That’s for you, you’ll know what to do when you read it,” Spike handed the fourth and last letter to Big Mac. “And that one is for Twilight and the girls, give them the letter only if the Tree or by some miracle they’re freed from the brainwash,” Spike sighed slowly, his throat suddenly feeling dry and raspy. “It…..it’s an apology and….and a goodbye…..I….I just…….I….I hope it’s enough but….I….---”

His senseless rambling was broken by the red stallion that hugged him tightly.

“Ah understand, Spike.”

Spike returned the hug, mentally preparing himself for the journey he had set himself just minutes before.

“Seek me. Find me. Come to me.”

------------------------------------------------************************************************

*Three Days Later -Morning-*

“How close are we?” Caramel asked inside the private tent of Spike, sitting alongside his friends eating their dry breakfast. “To the voice, I mean,” he clarified before taking a bite of his small piece of bread.

“Close, I hope. That voice is getting louder and louder each time it speaks to me. I wish it said something beside ‘Come to me’ or ‘Seek me’.” Spike replied casually. “It’s starting to get annoying.”

Pokey huffed. “At least it’s guiding us through this garnish mountain; it’s cold, we can’t see more than a hundred meters in front of us thanks to the clouds or mist or whatever the shit outside is and, of course, those brutish gorillas.”

“Yetis,” Bulk Biceps corrected.

“Whatever,” Pokey said rolling his eyes. “Kinda thankful we brought those fuckers along.”

“Hate to admit it but you’re right; those yetis didn’t stand a chance against them, even with this cold. Not even one of them has died yet,” Thunderlane said from where he was laying.

“Kind of makes it scary to think they were utterly destroyed by a Windigo but held their ground without problems against yetis when you think about it,” Caramel said. “Speaking of which, I’m glad we haven’t come across that monster.”

“Yet,” Spike said eating the last bit of his meal. “I’m certain it will come after us sooner or later,” he sighed. “I hope everything is going well for them.”

“How do you know the Windigo didn’t attack them on their way back?” Bulk Biceps asked.

“I don’t. I just hope they made it back and our friends are safe and sound in Ponyville, at least for a little longer,” Spike stretched his arms until his joints popped. “Thank you, for coming with me.”

Thunderlane chuckled. “Think nothing of it, after all, what are friends for, right?”

“Yeah,” Spike smiled nostalgically before crawling out of his small, private tent. Once outside he was welcomed by steady winds, poor vision, barely any sunlight and five bigger tents at least twenty meters away from his own. He got up, already wearing his fur armor and his chestplate, and made his way towards said tents. Reaching the nearest one he abruptly opened and saw the stags almost set to go,all of them saluted Spike quickly. “We leave in five minutes,” he said before closing the tent.

Three minutes later the tents were packed all fifty five strong group was ready to continue their journey in the ‘hunt’ for the Windigo. Spike closed his eyes, waiting for the voice to speak.

“Come to me,” the voice said as expected. He had figured out that if he relaxed the voice would speak to him, even though it wasn’t the rule it worked most of the time when needed. He also felt some sort of tug inside his chest pulling him onward and a little to the right.

“We go that way,” he half shouted thanks to the blowing, pointing a finger to their next direction. Without anything else to wait for the group began to move once more up the mountain. Getting down is going to be the tricky part, especially with so many of those fuckers around. Spike thought looking glancing back to the caribou heavies just two meters behind him and his friends.

For the next four hours they kept on walking, often changing their direction just a little bit. It wasn’t until Thunderlane came to an abrupt halt that they stopped.

“You hear that?” Thunderlane asked to no one. “Sounds like something’s coming our way.”

“Yeah, I hear it too,” Bulk Biceps said. “Everyone, weapons out,” he said back to the caribou behind him. All weapons thankfully equipped with warmth runes to prevent them from freezing but even then they were still fairly cold yet useful. Seconds later everyone began to hear something definitely coming their way, fast.

Around twenty seconds later a large group of yetis could be seen charging to their direction. Spike shouted to take positions as the first yetis were just fifty meters away from them. He pulled the spear from his back and puffed out a cloud of smoke in defiance. The yetis were about twenty meters away from collision when he noticed two things. One, they weren’t snarling or shouting as the previous yetis that had attacked them. And two, the yetis spread to the sides just enough to pass at their sides without trouble or posing any threat to them at all.

For the longest time the group saw at least a hundred or so yetis run down the mountain, none of them even looking at their way with their ugly faces and three eyes.

Spike was bewildered at the strange behaviour of the yetis. Three and a half meters tall creatures stronger than bulls, their grayish hides thick and sturdy; perfect to camouflage themselves in the snow. Their long teeth resembling more like fangs and their sharp claws that made them a terrifying foe to fight against. The yetis were also extremely territorial and aggressive, but right now they seemed to be running away.

But from what? Spike thought for a moment.

“Curse this damnable weather! It’s colder than just a moment ago!” a stag complained pulling another warmth rune out of his hidden pocket.

Oh…..fuck. Spike thought, a sudden feeling of dread washing over his entire body while his heart began to pump faster and harder. A quick glance to his friends revealed they were pretty much in the same position.

A sudden gush of wind forced them to close their eyes and cover their faces. The wind lasted for just a few seconds but when it calmed down the ambient was noticeably colder. A cold they had felt three days earlier. Spike opened his eyes and focused on the spectral, three meter tall figure floating in front of them about thirty meters away. The silver eyes locked on Spike while the half missing left foreleg danced randomly in the breeze.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

The Windigo let out a powerful and long screeching moan as it came charging towards them. Spike didn’t waste any more time and breathed a thin stream of fire, much like the one he had used to cut the foreleg of the Windigo. The Windigo, in return, moved to its right just in time to dodge the fire stream and dove into the snow, disappearing from sight.

“Spread out!” Spike shouted snapping his troops away from their momentary fear induced stun. The stags obeyed his order and seconds later they had their weapons ready to face the ice demon once again. For several seconds everyone remained still, waiting for the Windigo to re-emerge from the snow. Their wait wasn’t long.

“Arrrggggggghhhh---grulllgg---!” Spike turned around the instant he heard the pained scream of a caribou. He saw the stag now at least four meters in the air held by the Windigo; two small ice pikes piercing through his stomach and mouth. The Windigo loudly, the sound eerily resembling a cold, heartless laugh. Then it tossed the corpse of the stag away before dodging another fire stream coming from the dragon.

It dove right above two stags; the stags themselves tried to move away but weren’t fast enough; the Windigo passing through them turning them into ice statues. Many began to scream out curses or threats of revenge to the ice demon. The entire group felt the snow they were standing on move a little. Almost everyone moved away or ran at the sides spreading themselves further. but four unfortunate caribou were too slow to evade the sudden eruption of icy mist that turned them most of their bodies into white ice.

The Windigo emerged through its most recent victims shattering their white body parts into dust, leaving behind only pieces of meat or one or two appendages.

“You cock-sucking monster!” a stag ran towards the Windigo from behind; his warhammer held high and ready to hit it. The ice demon flexed its entire body back and grabbed the stag by his head with its mouth, then the Windigo flexed again in a rapid motion tearing the now frozen head of the stag away from the rest of his body; the Windigo bit down the head shattering before neighing and flying up just in time to dodge another fire stream from the dragon.

“Dammit,” Spike cursed holding a hand against his chest plate, his breathing shallow and broken.

“What’s wrong!?” Bulk Biceps asked coming to his side as the Windigo created a tornado catching a small group of caribou in it.

“Too cold *heavy breathing* can’t make *heavy breathing* enough fire *heavy breathing* chest hurts,” Spike said with obvious difficulty.

“Then we’ll keep it distracted!” Pokey said shooting a bolt of magic against the Windigo, doing absolutely nothing to it. “Your fire is the only thing that seems to hurt that horrid thing!”

“But-” Spike tried to protest but was cut off by Bulk.

“Don’t care what happens to us! We came up knowing we could die,” Bulk gave the purple dragon a thumbs up. “Let’s show that monster what we are made of! YEAH!” he shouted as he charged to the Windigo and the struggling caribou, his other three friends following close behind him leaving Spike alone.

Spike saw as the Windigo breathed mist over the caribou turning one or two of them into white ice each time, still, the caribou were putting up a fierce fight. They had nowhere to flee and thus their survival depended on beating the ice demon. Pokey kept firing magic bolts at it trying to gain its attention, his response coming in a blast of mist or neigh. Since Thunderlane and Bulk couldn’t fly in these conditions they resorted to taunt and shout at the monster alongside Caramel; Thunderlane went far enough to throw his spear to it but the Windigo didn’t even noticed it. As he saw the battle in front of him Spike focused on collecting enough fire inside his chest to use against the Windigo.

Half a minute passed and another five caribou casualties later he felt he had enough fire to use once again. Spike charged up to the group ready to attack the Windigo, unfortunately for him, the Windigo took notice of him and dove back into the snow for just a couple seconds before it emerged practically in front of him making Spike stop abruptly and fell to the snow.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

Spike heard the Windigo screech before he rolled to the side just in time to avoid the Windigo diving where he had been a mere second ago. He got back on his feet quickly with the aid of his tail and breathed his precious fire below him, instantly creating a cloud of steam.

The Windigo emerged through the steam cloud a moment later, a frozen piece of chest plate held in its mouth. Suddenly a stream of fire pierced through the steam and hit the Windigo in its chest.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!!*

The Windigo whailed in agony in the air with a hole on its chest; the wind increasing in force and speed. It continue to screech to the heavens for a few seconds before diving into the snow while at the same time the steam cleared out revealing Spike kneeling with one leg holding his now bare chest with one hand.

“Why isn’t the armor working!” a stag shouted. “Whatever magic that monster is using should be useless against our might!”

“That’s because it’s not magic, you fucker! It’s a Windigo, who knows what the fuck it’s using?” Pokey shouted back at whatever caribou had said that.

“What did you just called me, you piece of pony shit!?” the stag shouted glaring at the only unicorn in the group.

Before Pokey, his friends or the rest of the caribou could react or move, the Windigo re-emerged behind the group inside a tornado. It neighed loudly at them, the silver glow in its eyes increased as dozens of large, sharp ice-shards formed around it; more and more of them forming as time went on in just a matter of seconds. When the Windigo stopped neighing, less than twenty seconds later, there were so many ice-shards it was difficult to see anything past the curtain of ice it had created; a second or two of silence passed between the group and the ice demon just exchanging gazes. The Windigo let out a low, short screech before the ice-shards were catapulted towards them.

“Oh, fuck me,” the nearest caribou to the Windigo whispered to himself seeing the shards fly towards him and the rest of the group. One shard hit him right in between his eyes killing him instantly.

Spike got up quickly, using the time that had passed to gather as much fire as he could inside his chest. “Get down!” He shouted before he breathed out a cloud of orange fire against the ice-shards, turning them into steam instantly. Faster than he would’ve liked, his fire ran out and he was forced to stop. He saw his cloud of fire extinguish quickly and the remaining ice-shards rained upon them. Spike saw Pokey use his magic to create a small barrier around himself and the rest of his friends while he limited to cover his face with his arms.

Spike felt several shards hit him but thankfully for him his scales were thought enough to stop them; although the force which the shards made impact did hurt him. When the shards ceased to fall he uncovered himself to find the Windigo charging towards the barrier his friends were in.

“Come to me.”

He breathed out what little fire he had gathered at the Windigo, the small stream of fire hitting the ice demon square in its face as it was about to reach them.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!!*

The Windigo let out a chilling screech of pain while it fell backwards to the ground. There it convulsed for a few moments; its screeches never ceasing. Then it got up to the air again, almost the entire left side of its face and mane gone. It screeched directly at him before flying away. As it disappeared the wind finally stopped for the first time since the beginning of their climb.

Spike got up shakily while holding his chest. He looked around finding that aside from him and his friends not a single caribou were still alive. There were no moans of pain or anything of the sort; just the blowing wind and a pile of caribou corpses. He sighed in relief.

“BULK!”

Spike looked at his friends when he heard the scream of Caramel, the barrier was gone and his friends were struggling to keep the bulking stallion on his hooves. No, no, NO! the drake shouted inside his head while he ran towards them. Upon reaching them Caramel took off his back coat and extended it over the snow while Pokey and Thunderlane laid Bulk Biceps carefully on it. Spike saw a shard of ice sticking out of his chest and another out of his left thigh. His breathing was ragged and was getting weaker and weaker.

“M-my barrier wasn’t strong enough,” Pokey began. “Bulk, you idiot! Why did you do it!?”

“W-w-what are friends*cough* for, r-r-remember?” the white pegasus smiled for a moment. “Arrgggg!”

“Bulk!” Caramel shouted again grabbing his right hand tightly. “Hold in there!”

“I...I guess...t-this is as far as I g-go….”

“Don’t speak like that!” Caramel said back, a scowl adorning his face.

“It….it feels cold…….inside….,” Bulk said before coughing a cloud of white dust. “P-promise me….y-y-you’ll free….Fe-Featherweight……..pro-promise me……,” the white pegasus said, his voice getting weaker with each word.

“Of course, whatever you want! Just don’t d-die….please,” Thunderlane said with tears in his eyes.

Bulk Biceps smiled before setting his gaze on Spike. His smile broadened as his eyes turned blue, his last breathe became a cloud of white dust and ice began to cover partially his face.

The four remaining friends wept in silence for a long moment.

“Come to me. Seek me,” Spike heard the voice say in its unchanging tone.

“Let’s go,” Spike said placing a hand over Caramel. “We can mourn Bulk properly when we get back.”

Caramel looked up to Spike. “And leave h-his *sniff* body here to freeze with these fuckers!?” asked angrily.

“There’s n-nothing we can do for him now, Caramel,” Pokey said standing up. “We knew this could happen; now’s not the time to chicken out.”

“I…...I know, I just…..….I know,” Caramel said accepting the hand of Spike to get up.

“Come on, the sooner we find whatever is calling me the sooner we leave if we can even find it,” he said solemnly, saying the last part inside his head. “But you’re right, we can’t leave him among filth,” Spike admitted before ducking down and grabbing the arms of the now frozen Bulk Biceps and pull lightly. His friends quickly began to help him pull up the corpse of their fallen comrade up into the mountain. For more than five hundred meter they pulled. “This is all we can do for you, I promise your sacrifice won’t be in vain, Bulk,” Spike swore to the permanent smiling face of Bulk.

The wind began to blow lightly once more. Making sure their packs were tightly secured the four surviving members of the group continued their path onto the unknown.

*One hour and a half later*

Spike lead the way while his friends followed him close by, neither of them speaking since they left the body of Bulk behind except for the occasional ‘This way’ from Spike.

“Come to me. You are near,” Spike heard the voice say, the pulling on his chest increasing in strength.

“It says we’re near,” Spike said stopping for a moment, looked around and then continued his march changing direction a little to the left. “This way.”

“I was beginning to fear you were just crazy, purple ass,” Thunderlane said followed by a chuckle from his friends.

“To be honest, I was starting to fear the same, señor cough,” Spike replied earning two good laughs from Caramel and Pokey.

“I got sick once, once!” his friends simply kept laughing.Thunderlane grumbled. “I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?”

“Not by a long shot you won’t,” Pokey said pulling the pegasus close. They remained like that for a almost an entire minute. “But it sure brings back good memories, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it does,” Thunderlane replied nostalgically. “Wish we had brought more of those warmth runes, it’s starting to freeze--- OH SHIT!” Thunderlane suddenly shouted making the other three stop dead on their tracks. “That damn monster is back!”

“Where!? I can’t see it!” Spike said while the four of them pressed their backs against it each other forming a square formation facing out; his chest filled with fire and ready to breath it. Eventually, after a minute of nothing but blowing wind and falling snow the group began to relax.

“Sorry,” Thunderlane apologized. “It’s just that it got colder and….well, it showed up when it did,” he put down his warmth enhanced rune sword. “Can’t believe I was so stupid! It doesn’t even feel like my lungs are trying to become ice cubes.”

“It’s okay, Thunder,” Caramel said sheathing his own sword. “I was close to shouting that myself when I felt the air getting colder,” the earth pony sighed heavily. “We’re starting to get paranoid, but then again, it is a real Windigo we are dealing with.”

“Yeah, no kidding. And as you said, Spike, it’s just one of them, can you imagine what a dozen, a herd or a hundred of them could do?” Pokey said looking at Spike. “Would be nice to have something like that on our side.”

“Maybe, but it is too dangerous to try that. Especially after what it did to Bulk,” Spike said sadly. “For now, we should focus on moving on,” the three stallions agreed.

The group resumed their march when after only advancing ten steps there was an explosion of snow ten meters in front of them. They draw their weapons (Spike raised his claws) ready to face their new opponent, but their blood ran cold and their hearts pumped faster when they saw the Windigo floating in front of them once again. It was still bearing the ‘wounds’ Spike had made on it from their previous encounters.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

The Windigo screeched at them before it stomped the ground with its only hoof creating several ice stakes from the ground going directly at them.

The group moved out of their way, dodging them but splitting up by a few meters in between. Spike breathed out a short burst of flames at the Windigo, careful to save his fire this time around. The ice demon dodged it by flying upwards while it neighed, making the wind around them blow with greater force. It began neighed louder as ice-shards began to form around it, only this time it saw a thin stream of fire coming its way; forcing it to dodge it and cancel the attack.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH*

The Windigo screeched once again as it flew upwards and lost itself in the gray clouds.

“Stand next to me!” Spike ordered to the stallions, all of them obeying him instantly. “Looks like you were right for once, Thunder,” Spike said gazing, as well that of his friends, the sky above them.

“What is it going to do now?” Thunderlane said ignoring the comment of Spike.

“Don’t know, but as far as we know it will create a tornado or breathe a cloud of ice,” Pokey answered with his one-handed axe ready on his right hand and his horn ignited with magic. “Or do something new. I really should have learned a fire spell when I had the chance!”

“Whatever it does, it can only be bad news for us,” Caramel said in time they heard an echoing screech of the Windigo. “By Luna, I hate that bucking noise it makes!” Caramel cursed gripping the hilt of his sword tighter. The group remained in silent for the following seconds until the saw white cloud coming down to them. A cloud that was bigger than any other it had made up to that point; big enough to cover an entire stadium with ease.

Spike let out a momentary gasp of both surprise and fear. He clenched his hands, focused, puffed his cheeks and breathed out all the fire he had gathered at the cloud right above them. His fire stream wasn’t nearly as big as the one he had made at the base of the mountain, but it proved to be enough to stop the cloud from hitting them forming a dome of fire just a couple of meters above them.

A short time later Spike stopped, his breathing jarred and unsteady. The fire dome extinguishing, thankfully proving it had saved them from the ice breath of the Windigo. They heard another distant screech echo all over the place, the tone suggesting it was an angered one.

“Spike, you okay!?” Caramel asked seeing his dragon friend holding a hand against his naked chest.

“There’s not e-enough air up here *pant*, and it’s too cold *pant* I can’t make….. f-fire fast enough,” Spike said in between pants. This is bad, I barely have any fire left and this damn weather isn’t making it any easier for me!

“You have any fire left?” Caramel asked.

“A little,” Spike replied with a pant.

“Remember what you did with your spear?” Spike nodded. “Do it with my sword!” Caramel said presenting his sword to Spike.

“It won’t *pant* last long with this cold,” Spike tried to argue back but he could barely talk back at all. Just then they saw the Windigo come down to their line of sight, neighing and moaning at them.

“Just do it!” Caramel pressed the sword against Spike’s chest urging him. Spike inhaled a mouthful of air before breathing out a short stream of green fire over the blade. The Windigo screeched again, launching itself at them. “Hurry!” the stream of fire increased in size in response. A second later the fire stopped and sizzling, red hot blade was left in its place. Caramel moved to the side and ran towards the Windigo with his sword held high with both hands.

The Windigo screeched turning his attention to Caramel, it charged right against him but when it was about to reach him, Caramel ducked while thrusting the sword upward. The Windigo tried to evade it but it was too late.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!!*

The ice demon screeching in pain as it fell down to the snow and thrashed around. Caramel got up and glanced at the big chunk of the spectral body he had cut from the Windigo, almost its entire ghostly tail; it writhed and convulsed for a second or two before it turned to dust. Then glanced back to his friends, seeing Spike not yet recovered he glanced back to his sword, still red and ready for more.

“Why are you guys still standing there for!? Run! Keep going, I’ll deal with that ice abomination!” Caramel shouted to his friends and then screamed to the heavens, charging against the injured monster; eager to finish it while it was still distracted by its new injury.

“Caramel!” Thunderlane shouted looking at his the earth pony charge fearlessly at the downed Windigo.

“Don’t be stupid, Thunder! We gotta move, now!” Pokey said helping Spike walk. “Don’t let his sacrifice go to waste,” he muttered painfully. Thunderlane didn’t respond but instead grabbed Spike’s left arm, helping the unicorn carry the visibly winded dragon easier.

For his part, Caramel reached the Windigo and with a heavy swing of his sword tried to cut off its head. The Windigo, however, was fast enough to roll back dodging the attack, making it hit the snow instead. The sword hissed against the cold snow creating a small but dense cloud of steam. Lifting up quickly Caramel saw the blade had lost a considerable amount of redness to it but still remained red for the most part. He glared the Windigo and attacked again and once more, the Windigo dodge how it could.

The ice demon rolled to the sides or backwards dodging the deadly (at least for the moment) swings of the blade. With a fast attack followed by a short leap and another swing Caramel was able to cut a part of the Windigo’s mane; it didn’t screeched but instead neighed and puffed clouds of ice from its ‘nostrils’. Caramel didn’t care, or noticed, and kept on his relentless assault.

Caramel swung his sword again against the Windigo only for it to dodge his attack by flying up past him,his eyes never leaving the monster, and land behind him; its only hoof hitting the snow and the stone below with an audible *clank*. Caramel moved to attack the Windigo and--

“YYIAAARRGGGH!!!” Caramel shouted in unbearable pain, an ice spike piercing through his stomach covering it with blood, fur and entrails. The ice spike had emerged from behind him and now held him a good two meters above ground. His vision was getting blurry but the adrenaline still left in his body allowed him to see his three friends looking back at him in the border of his line of sight and he smiled. Then he saw the Windigo turn around; neighing to form ice-shards around it. He was still gripping the sword in his right hand and with was left of his strength he tossed it against the Windigo; the sword passing through its neck.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!!*

The Windigo screeched while it fell to the ground, thrashing around, the would be ice-shards falling to the ground.

Caramel looked at his friends and saw they were no longer there with the exception of Pokey, a rose barrier surrounding him. The earth pony coughed some of his blood, his lips curled into a smile and then his body went limp with his last breath.

Pokey stood firmly in his place while the wind continued to blow, the air filled with the pained noises of the Windigo. His horn was flaring with magic and a rose colored barrier surrounded him. His eyes were filled with tears and anger; his mind replaying what had happened moments earlier.

“CARAMEL!” Spike stopped and looked back, shouting when the excruciating painful scream of the earth pony reached them.

“Don’t stop now!” Thunderlane said with a heavy heart. “We can avenge him and Bulk once you get enough fire back and then we can go and find whatever we are looking for!” just then the pain filled screech of the Windigo reached their ears and looked back.

“You two go on ahead, I’ll cover you,” Pokey said igniting his horn and creating a barrier around him.

“Like Tartarus we are!” Spike snapped back at Pokey.

“I said, GO!” Pokey shouted using his magic to push them away. Thunderlane was able to catch Spike and maintain their balance. The pegasus hold Spike tightly and began to walk away even against his protests.

“Spike!” Pokey shouted seeing the Windigo compose itself wrapping its left foreleg around its neck in an effort to seal the gap the sword had left. “When you asked us to join your retinue we swore to help you in any way we could; no matter the price; no matter the sacrifice. As long as it meant we could set our kingdom free from the depraved rule of the caribou, we would gladly give our lives if needed to,” his barrier increased in size and width when the Windigo looked at him, screeched and charged against him. Pokey used every little bit of magic he had on him and pushed the barrier against the Windigo, only for it to pass through like it was nothing while it came directly at him.

Pokey looked to the sky. “Gut the bastards for me, will ya!” he shouted knowing Spike could hear everything he had said. Then the Windigo hit him.

The Windigo passed through Pokey, a second later it stopped and turned back to see the white statue of the unicorn. It quickly used its right foreleg to smash said statue into hundreds of pieces. Then it turned around again, seeing the couple still left alive in the distance and dove into the snow.

Spike had tears clouding his vision and smoke coming out of his nostrils with each exhale of air he did. He had heard all that Pokey said perfectly. He glanced back to see where the Windigo was but saw it wasn’t there. He felt Thunderlane suddenly stop and take a gasp, he glanced at him to see what was wrong. To his surprise there was a large ice stake sticking out of Thunderlane’s stomach held in place by the Windigo right in front of them.

“THUNDER!” Spike shouted before breathing out a small torrent of green flames at the Windigo, managing to hit its chest once more.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!!!*

The Windigo screeched flying up, then fall back several meters away from Spike and Thunderlane.

“Thunder…..” Spike mumbled out holding the stallion in his arms. Thunderlane coughed up some of his blood, a few droplets staining the scales of his chest and face.

“S-S-Spike…...T-tell Soarin t-to *cough* t-take care o-of Rumble,” Thunderlane writhed in pain for a moment, tears falling down his eyes. “T-tell Flitter…..C-C-*cough* Cloud….chaser…... Blossomfo…...forth…..tell them I….I love them…...Tell them…..*cough* I……---” Thunderlane choked for an instant, gurgled some of his blood out and then went limp, his eyes open while they turned blue and small crusts of ice covered his body.

Spike used his right hand to close the eyelids of his friend but he couldn’t, they were frozen in place. Instead he limited to lay his body on the snow slowly and carefully. He heard the Windigo stop its struggling and glanced at its way. Spike got up, turning completely to face the ice demon rising up on its own. Once the Windigo recovered it looked at its next victim, the one that had managed to hurt it so much. They were separated just less than seven meters but it was enough distance to notice something in the eyes of the dragon, they looked different, almost like slits instead of pupils.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOO-----*

*GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOO*

The Windigo’s eye snapped open with momentary fear, his mighty screech suddenly overpowered by the enraged roar of the dragon; it resonated and echoed all over the mountain with enough force to push even the Windigo back. Spike finished his roar by ripping away the rest of his armor and backpack using his claws and tail. Then he charged against the ice demon, naked, on all fours and exhaling a mix of green and orange fire from both his nostrils and mouth.

The Windigo turned to fly up to the skies but the dragon was faster, he breathed out a stream of fire against it. The Windigo barely dodged it and breathed out its ice cloud at the dragon while it flew back and up the mountain. His cloud was surpassed by another stream of fire from the dragon, whom was quickly catching up to it. After a minute or so of persecution the dragon let out another of his powerful roars and breathed out a massive torrent of green fire mixed with orange one against the Windigo.

The fire melted down the snow it washed over instantly, leaving nothing but a clear area of steaming rock below. And there was no sign of the Windigo. The wind calmed down and the cold reduced considerably, and only then did Spike fell to his knees, breathing harshly while he hit the clear ground below him.

Slowly but surely he calmed down and his condition stabilised. He wiped away the tears from his eyes and shakily got back up.

“Come to me.”

Spike heard the voice speak and decided to resume his quest. Until he heard a faint neigh behind him. He only had time for his eyes to snap open and let out a quick, terrified gasp.

“YAAAAAAAAAaaaarrrrrrrgggggggg--!” Spike screamed at the top of his lungs as he was lifted to the air effortlessly by his left arm and the lower part of stomach. Even in his pained state he saw a blood covered piece of ice piercing his stomach, while the Windigo held his left upper arm tightly in its mouth and he could feel something around his tail, too. He tried to breathe fire but he had nothing left and due to the pain he couldn’t concentrate on building up more.

The Windigo bit down harder making him scream again in searing pain. He could feel his scales, muscles, blood and even his bones begin to freeze around the areas of his tail and arm. He screamed out in harrowing, torturous, tormenting pain; his eyes closed while all he could hear was white noise. He felt the Windigo bit down again.

*Trrrchik*

“AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!” Spike screamed for a moment before he fell to his front and the Windigo used its grab on his tail to toss him violently against the exposed rock surface of the mountain; the same his fire had made. Spike landed with enough force to crack his back spines and scales making him vomit out blood thanks to the shock.

He didn’t know how much time passed before the pain subsided enough to take a look from his wrecked state. His left arm was gone just a few inches close to his shoulder, only a purplish piece of ice and a broken bone sticking out. He looked up to see the Windigo spit out his severed arm and drop his tail like it was nothing.

“.......W-why must I always fail!?” he asked to himself and his eyes filling with tears. “Why am I….s-so useless!?” he cried out while the Windigo descended upon him, looking at him curiously. Spike coughed out some of his blood. “I…...it’s now all up to you…...girls…..*raspy cough* I h-hope you can…….s-save Equestria a-a-and the Empire…….I…….I have…...failed,” the Windigo landed on top of him, looking down with its silver glowing eye. “I’m sorry……..I’m……... sorry………,” he closed his eyes while the Windigo began to breathe small bursts of its ice clouds over him, slowly freezing him. Darkness embraced him in cold comfort.

“Are you giving up?” the voice said from the void of his mind. “Are you going to abandon their hope?” Spike didn’t answer.

“Are you turning your back against them?” a flash of a rainbow passed through the darkness. “Will you betray them now?” Spike didn’t answer.

“Can you not hear their cries?” the sound of whips, pleas of mercy, cries of pain and sadness fell into his ears. “Can you not feel their pain, their despair?” the memories of all those he had seen being tortured, switched, used, dumped, hunted, broken, indoctrinated, raped, killed and blanked. Memories of females suffering a continuous torment lead by the caribou.

“Will their sacrifices be in vain?” the grave of those he had asked to sacrifice their own lives, all those who had perished since the beginning of the Fall, the face of Filthy, Caramel, Pokey, Bulk and Thunderlane flashed in front of him. His right hand clenched tightly into a fist. “Will your sacrifices account for naught?” the memories of all he had done in order to find a way to defeat Dainn assaulted him mercilessly making his heart pump with renewed vigor.

“Is the Dark One meant to achieve victory?” Dainn’s smug smiling face flashed in front of him. Spike tried to move but couldn’t. “Is Equis meant to fall under his rule?” the vision of a world ruled by Dainn and the caribou made Spike growl angrily, a burning rage surging from the depths of his very being.

“Don’t you remember the promises made?” Spike moved his right arm to try and get up but failed. “Don’t you remember your friends, your family, your home!?” the voice said in a slightly louder tone than usual. Spike tried once again to get up but failed.

“HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN!?” The voice shouted violently as all the memories of his life previous to the Fall flashed before him, followed by the Fall, what he was forced to do during his enslavement and all he had done after breaking free. The last thing he saw was him laying on a bed cuddling and sleeping next to his six best girl-friends.

His eyes snapped open.

“NO, I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN!” Spike roared right into the face of the Windigo. Using his right hand he grabbed the Windigo by the throat and used it to roll and change positions, destroying whatever ice was covering him up until then.

*WHHHHHHRRRROOOOOAAAAHHHHH!*

The Windigo screeched, surprised by the sudden exploit of strength and movement from the dragon. It tried to free itself but the dragon didn’t let go, then the ice demon looked at the dragon and for the first time ever it didn’t screeched, moaned or neighed; it simply stared at the purple flames forming inside the maw of its would be victim. The Windigo panicked, using its only foreleg to push away the face of the dragon to no avail; he didn’t even flinched or budged when it stabbed his right eye with its ghostly hoof.

The dragon growled and the next moment he let out a torrent of purple flames over the Windigo. The ice demon screeched loudly, clearly in pain but the flames didn’t stop, they just kept on pouring out of Spike’s mouth and it. After what felt like an eternity the Windigo stopped screeching and the flames finally died down.

Spike got up slowly, his breathing harsh and cut. He growled in pain before he grabbed the ice stake piercing his lower stomach and yanked out in just one pull; a bit of blood and some scales following it. He glanced down at the Windigo only to find white dust instead; there was no doubt now. It was dead, for real this time.

“Come to me,” the voice said tenderly, the tug in his chest urging him to move. He turned his attention to the distance still covered by gray clouds and saw a shimmer of light. Holding the hole in his stomach he began to walk again; the absence of his tail proving to be a setback as he stumbled every two steps he took, but still he moved forward despite the pain.

Spike followed the invisible path the tug in his chest indicated. He walked and walked, uncaring for time or pain until he stumbled against a wall of stone. He took a step back to see said wall; it rose up for several meters, the grayish clouds covering its peak.

“Come to me. I’m near,” the voice said while the tug in his chest urged him to go up. Spike looked to the sides to see an alternative pass but found just an extended wall at both sides.

The purple dragon grunted, yanking his claws against the cold stones. He pulled himself up using the claws on his feet to hold his balance by also yanking them in the stone; he climbed up a few centimeters when another problem presented itself. Without his other arm and tail proved to be major dilemma, without an extra point of force or balance he couldn’t keep climbing up. Spike quickly found the solution.

He opened his mouth as much as he could and bit against the nearest exposed piece of stone to him as leverage. With his problem solved he now focused on the task at claw and began to climb up the wall. He wasn’t aware of time or anything else around him for that matter; he just kept going up, determined to find whatever was calling him. Eventually he reached the top of the wall.

Spike struggled to pull himself away from the border, using his arm to drag him up and away from the edge, his feet to impulse him and his mouth to hold his weight. Once his entire body was safely on top of new snow he dragged himself a couple of meters away from the edge. He was beaten and tired, but still he forced himself to stand up and continue on his journey. Stumbling and falling a few times he finally got back on his feet, his breathing steady but slightly forced and jarred.

He opened his eye to see the way in front of him; it took him a few seconds to take in what he was now seeing and when he did, he didn’t gasped, he stopped breathing altogether; his mouth opening in disbelief as well as his eye.

For in front of him, about thirty or so meters, floated dozens upon dozens of Windigoes; all of them looking at him with their silver glowing eyes in disturbing silence, except for an occasional spectral neigh.

“Come to me,” the voice called to him. This time he could hear it all around the place and not just inside his mind.

Spike looked past the Windigoes and saw a distant shimmering white light. I didn’t come this far to give up now, even if it kills me! He clenched his hand and fangs, breathed out a small torrent of green fire from his nostrils and using whatever strength he had left he charged against the Windigoes.

The Windigoes neighed loudly, all of them charging against the stumbling dragon as one.

Spike extended his right arm, his claws ready to strike the first Windigo that dared to confront him. Seconds seemed to stretch into hours…...until Spike swung his arm against the Windigo directly in front of him and passed right through it without any effort or resistance. The dragon promptly stumbled with his own feet and fell to the ground. He groaned while using his arm to push himself up, his hand pressing hard against the soft and warm grass.

Grass?

Spike opened his eye, unsure when he had closed it, and saw that, in fact, he was now laying on lush, green grass. He picked himself up with some difficulty; once he was up he noticed he was in some kind of small barrier, no more than twenty or so meters in diameter, that repelled the harsh weather of the mountain.

“Then the….*pant* Windigoes were an ….*pant* ….illusion?” Spike said to himself, his hand covering the wound in his stomach.

“Yes.”

The voice said making Spike look for it, and it was only then that he also noticed the light similar to the sun inside the barrier. He looked up and found a glowing white sphere of light slowly descending to a stone pedestal in the center of the small field.

“It is my final defence against the Dark One, if he were to find me,” the sphere said. “Come, embrace me.”

Spike frowned. “The Windigo…*pant* ….the real one…..it was…..*pant* your doing?”

“No,” the sphere replied.

“How do I know you say the truth?” Spike asked angrily baring his fangs. “Four of my friends died right in front of me *pant*.....all for me to g-get here. Why? Why did call me? What or who are you?”

“Embrace me and your questions shall be answered,” the sphere replied increasing its luminosity.

Spike glared at the sphere and took a step forward. “Why?”

“To stop the Dark One.”

Spike lost his glare and his face fell. “Dainn.”

“Yes, the Dark One,” the sphere repeated. “He wants my power, you cannot let him use me.”

Silence fell between the dragon and the sphere for an entire minute before the dragon spoke up. “Your power?”

“Yes,” the sphere said. “Come. Embrace me and my power shall be yours to use against the Dark One.”

“..........Will…..Will it be enough…...to defeat Dainn?” Spike asked with a hint of hope.

“.........No,” the voice replied. “The Dark One is powerful. My power alone will not suffice to defeat him.”

Spike frowned again. “Then how are you planning to stop him!?” he shouted at the sphere.

“You are my plan,” the sphere answered calming and surprising the purple dragon.

“Why me?” Spike asked taking another step towards it.

“Embrace me, and you shall understand.”

There was another moment of silence between them, this one lasting several seconds less.

“But…..if your power *pant* *pant* isn’t enough to defeat him…….*pant*” Spikestopped, not daring to finish his question.

“The Dark One is powerful, but he is also naive. He has divided his power in two. The weakest part lies in the Crystal Empire,” the sphere explained, the light around it shifting uncontrollably. “The other is inside him. My power alone cannot defeat the Dark One, but it can weaken him,” the light around the sphere glowed blue for a couple of seconds before returning to white. “Embrace me.”

Spike looked at the ground for a moment. “W-what must I do?”

“You have done enough,” the sphere said in a tone softer than usual. “Come and embrace me. Let my power flow through you and become your weapon against the Dark One,” the glow of the sphere softened, looking almost inviting to those that watched.

Spike began to walk towards the sphere slowly, step by step bringing him closer to it.

It feels…..warm, I can feel the light pass through me. It is…..so very familiar. Spike thought, a smile adorning his lips the moment he reached the sphere and wrapped his arm around it. He felt something solid amidst the light; something smaller than the light it made it seem. Bringing it closer to his chest he smiled warmly, tears falling freely down his cheek. A sudden burst of light forced him to close his eye as he felt waves and ripples of energy surround him.

“Thank you.”

Spike whispered to the thing he was holding before the light banished along with the field. In it’s place now stood a four meter tall ice stalagmite with a purple dragon inside of it covering him completely. The ice itself was completely blue and shinned slightly. A white light flashed for an instant and then the stalagmite darkened to a point that the dragon inside was lost from sight. The wind kept blowing and the snow kept falling, the only company for the pragmatic stalagmite.

*Eight hours later*

The stalagmite was already covered partially by falling snow while the wind broke what would surely be the dullest of silence. For little over eight hours the stalagmite and what it held inside had remained intact and unchanged. That is, until small cracks began to appear all over the stalagmite. It first started with cracks, then with ruptures and eventually to pieces of it falling apart.

The ice began to shine lightly, enough to let anyone trying to see what lied inside it the face of a dragon slowly opening its eyes; revealing two shining blue orbs on their wake. A sudden burst of white light erupted from the stalagmite before it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces of ice. Now, instead of the stalagmite, stood a dragon by the name of Spike.

Spike sighed and breathed calmly; his body adapting to the changes the sphere had made on him. And judging by what he could see and feel, all of them positive. He first brought up his hands in front of him; his left arm regenerated and his injuries healed. He glanced back and wiggled his tail a few times before turning his attention to his hands. Spike closed and opened his hands repeatedly, carefully examining them.

After a while he let them rest at his sides, looked up to the sky and inhaled deeply through his nostrils.

---------------------------------------------------*******************************************************

*Crystal Empire- Crystal Castle- Private Room of Prince Shining Armor-7:32 p.m.*

“Are you enjoying my bitch, Dad?” Shining Armor asked seeing the pink alicorn being pounded mercilessly by Night Light, the alicorn herself moaning loudly through her gag.

“She’s always a A-grade meatfuck, Shining!” Night Light replied slapping the ass of her once daugther-in-law with a wooden paddle. “How about your ‘mother’?” he asked with a sneer.

“Fucking awesome,” Shining said while his mother bounced on his lap, her stomach showing a noticeable bulge. “You think it’s mine or yours?” Shining asked placing a hand over the belly of Velvet.

“Probably yours--FUCK!” Night Light said before he buried his dick deep inside Cadance, coating her inside with his seed. He panted for a few seconds afterwards. “My pet is starting to wear out though. Hey, if the bitch gives birth to another bitch, can I keep it?”

“Sure thing, Dad,” Shining answered grabbing the hips of his practically howling mother and slammed her hips against his, pounding her roughly. “I really want to pay my sow of a sister another visit though; I want that tight hole she calls a pussy around my dick again.”

“You and me both, son,” Night Light replied walking around Cadance until he reached her front and undid her gag. “Clean it, slut,” Cadance obeyed with a wide smile on her face. “That’s it, suck it clean you stupid mare. Speaking of that, you think Spike is going to be back soon?”

“Not sure. Soarin said his orders were to simply come back, wait for two days and then return to Ponyville. Why? Are you worried he won’t succeed?” Shining leaned forward enough to catch a nipple inside his mouth and suckle on it.

“Of course not, but still, they found an actual living Windigo and it has been almost four days. Forgive me for getting a little concern---”

Night Light was suddenly interrupted by an unworldly powerful roar that echoed around the entire Empire and beyond. It lasted several seconds before it ended and everything turned to a lengthy uneasy silence.

Shining Armor felt his heart pump uncontrollably and a surge of fear washed all over him. He got up, uncaring that his mother landed on the floor unceremoniously, thankfully, on her ass and back. “I need to write a message,” Shining said with a shaky voice, his coat whiter than ever.

--------------------------------------------------------**************************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

Spike didn’t wait for any of the judges to react or ask anything and got up from his seat, his eyes glowing a baby blue light instead of white and the lines between his scales also glowing with that same blue tone.

“When I held the sphere in my arm and then embraced it, feeling its warmth and energy, I knew what it was. What I was holding,” a shining bright blue light began to emerge from his chest. “Once we fused I saw its memories and a flood of knowledge entered my brain. And I understood it completely; we didn’t become one, my body turned into a way for it to express its power and at the same time it let me wield it freely and as I saw fit,” the blue light from his chest began to take form.

Shifting Sands and Chrysalis gasped. Sebastian’s beak opened in disbelief. And most of the other judges stood up from their seats or simply stared at the now very distinguishable figure shining proudly in the chest of Spike.

“What called me up to Solitude was something I had come in close contact before, something very familiar. Yet I never imagined,” Spike turned to the public, allowing them and all those who were outside to see the image covering almost the entirety of his chest. The image of a crystalline blue heart. “It would be the real Crystal Heart.”

Chapter 5 End.

Author's Note

Special thanks to all those who read it!

Special thanks to Bennet001 and FamousLastWords for proofreading.

*Some editing might be done in the future*

Chapter 6: Rise of Equestria P1

Judgment Chapter 6: Rise of Equestria

------ “And then I dragged them into my Fun Room. You should’ve seen them crying and begging to anyone near to kill them instead. It was so funny to see the once high and mighty generals and warlords of Dainn acting like that, I enjoyed it quite a bit more than usual; both their cries and the fun we had afterwards.”

*Five second long chuckling*

-I... see-

“BUT if you were to ask me whom I enjoyed killing the most, then that would be Dainn himself. It makes me shed tears of happiness each time I remember the fun we had together. I only regret it ended so quickly.”

*Sigh*

-You call two weeks quickly?-

“For practically four years of torture, desecration, depravity, corruption, rape, enslavement, brainwashing, genocide, misogyny, death and destruction of two entire nations and its inhabitants? I say those two weeks was a kindness compared to that, don’t you think so?”

-.......-

“What am I saying? Of course you don’t think that, you fucking traitors. Although I also have to thank you for standing back while I travelled to Hraljord to give the caribou a little payback, with interests of course.”

*Ten second long pause*

“I’ve been here for almost three hours blabbering on and on but you still haven’t told me what you really want. My patience is starting to run low. Spill it.”

-*Sigh* Spike, you are aware of your charges and current situation, don’t you?-

“Of course. What about it?”

-Then you know your crimes cannot go unpunished-

“Quite.”

-And you know everyone that was foolish enough to follow you also have to answer for said crimes, don’t you?-

*Fifteen second long pause*

“I really don’t like to be treated like I’m stupid. And I know you have no power to act on whatever petty threats your superiors told you to use on me, scum, why else do you think I’m here in the first place? But you’re right on something.”

*Chair shifts*

-What are you doing?-

*Six steps*

-Wait!-

*Glass shatters followed by several gasps of surprise and terror*

“Here’s the deal. I’ll be the scapegoat you so desperately need under three conditions.”

*Twenty two second long pause*

-Which are?- *A feminine voice asked in a tactful tone*

“One. If I’m doing this you WILL summon The Great Tribunal to show the rest of the world my crimes and sins.”

“Two. Only I will be judged while everyone else, including Chrysalis and her changelings, Empress Shifting Sands and her troops and General Sebastian and his troops, will be spared from any and all guilt or sentence.”

“Three. I want one thousand gallons of strawberry ice-cream.”

*Six second long pause*

“In return I’ll turn myself in without a fight and I will make sure that everyone back home will stay put and do nothing to prevent my judgment and will cooperate, for the most part, during your interrogations and all your shit. Deal?”

*Ten second long pause*

-Deal.- ---------

-------------------Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’. The First Report.

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

Twenty minutes. For twenty minutes the courtroom had exploded into an uproar a few seconds after Spike revealed the glowing blue heart that covered most of his chest. The guards did their best to put the ones present back in order while the judges, excluding Shifting Sands, Chrysalis and Sebastian, looked at the never blinking white eyed dragon staring at them in complete stillness.

Chrysalis could feel all the swirling emotions around her and she herself was struck with shock and surprise at first. But while she didn’t move or say anything, her mind had worked hard for almost the entirety of those twenty minutes; realization and understanding over Spike’s actions, and the now clear lies he had told about his newfound power, since the moment he came back to the Central Hive made sense to her now.

She glanced at the other six judges, all of them silently watching the one she had come to respect and call a friend, something she thought would be impossible just a few years prior to the Fall. She glanced at Shifting Sands and then to Sebastian; the saddle arabian mare had an aura that reflected sadness and blame while the griffon’s showcased anger mixed with pride.

Chrysalis glanced to the still ongoing rabble in the courtroom and decided it was time for them to shut up. Using her magic, being one of the few ones that could do so at the moment, she enveloped everyone with it instantly paralyzing them. Just ten seconds later she let them free and all of the presents limited to whisper something under their breaths for several following seconds.

“Thank you, Chrysalis,” Spike thanked emotionlessly. He closed his eyes for a second or two and re-opened them, revealing they were normal once again. “While the noise doesn’t bother me, I’m sure all of you want me to finish the tale,” he smiled flashing his front fangs. “But before I continue I must tell you something crucial, or else you won’t understand the Heart itself,” as soon as those words left his mouth the room was silent once more; all of them, both judges, guards and present eager to hear him.

“The Heart is sentient, as you might have figured out by now, but it doesn’t give its power to those that try to force it out. Sombra tried and failed simply because he wasn’t strong enough to manipulate the Heart, unlike Dainn whom I’m sure would find a way; instead Sombra decided to lock it up behind several layers of defence because he knew the Heart would be the only thing truly capable of defeating him,” Spike sighed. “But Sombra never understood the Heart completely...like I have.”

“The Heart on its own can barely do anything, at best it can express its power in a very limited way; like the barrier and the illusion that surrounded it when I found it. The Hearts needs two additional elements to function properly: A Conduit and a Trigger. The Trigger is met when an overwhelming wave of emotions and feelings are near it to let it express its power in full. Then that’s where the Conduit comes to play; with the Trigger alone the Heart’s power remains raw and useless but with a Conduit nearby it will allow the power to flow freely and finally be a force of pure light; ready to be used as the Heart pleases or by the will of someone it judges worthy.”

A moment of silence followed.

“The Crystal Palace….is a Conduit?” Shifting Sands asked slowly.

“And the crystal ponies provide the Trigger,” Sebastian said, realizing now the secret of the power behind the Crystal Empire.

Spike nodded to them both. “When we merged together we didn’t become one, the Heart and I don’t share the same mind or body. I’m still me yet I can feel the Heart deep inside my very soul,” Spike slowly began to smile sadly. “My feelings became the Trigger and my body the Conduit,” he looked at his hands for a moment before looking at the judges again. “My strength multiplied several times over, my scales became sturdier, all my senses were enhanced and I feel a limitless supply of energy and power flow through my body at all times.”

“But that still doesn’t answer why the Heart chose you,” the ursa judge said in a worried tone.

Spike chuckled. “As I’ve already told you, I’m dying. Not because of our merge or some agreed time limit, but because of my actions,” a short, cold moment of silence followed. “The Heart is pure, a weapon of light and goodness; it cannot do evil deeds of any kind. How did Dainn planned to use or corrupt it, I have no idea but I’m glad we didn’t have to find out,” he chuckled. “When Twilight tried to retrieve it the first time the Heart rejected her, simply because her heart, at that time, was full of the selfish desire to pass her test. She didn’t care about the Empire or the ponies or anyone else but her own success. It wasn’t until she realized how wrong she was and how selfish her actions were that she allowed me to help her willingly.”

Spike sighed. “I saw it when the Heart and I merged, before you ask. It posses the ability to read the hearts of those nearby, an ability that sadly, at least for me, we don’t share,” he chuckled lightly. “The Heart instead turned to me and allowed me to carry it simply because my heart was full of worry for Twilight, my friends, the crystal ponies and the Empire. After being deprived and sealed away for so long it marked me, turning me into a Carrier; someone worthy enough to use it if danger ever arrived to the Empire or to the Heart itself and the Crystal princess was unable to defeat on her own.”

“But when we merged my heart was filled with the desire to destroy Dainn and the caribou, but a bigger part of my heart was crying out for the freedom of all that I loved and those around me. A chaotic mix truth be told, and for the Heart it was enough to let me use it,” Spike looked at his hands. “But, as I said before, the Heart is pure. And with every life I took, with every order I gave and with every drop of blood I spilled the... let’s call it ‘space’ where the Heart is attached to, shall we?” he cleared his throat.

“The ‘space’ got smaller and smaller, even more so when I enjoyed every single second of what I did, but the power it gave me remained. I abused the power of the Heart in every way I could think of, all of it to bring the caribou and Dainn to their, if able, painful, slow and agonizing deaths,” Spike smiled. “And all I have to lose is a life that was destroyed since the day of their arrival? I call that a fair trade. Gotta admit though, I didn’t realize it was killing me until a week before the fall of Dainn. Not that I cared then or now to be honest.”

The room felt colder and a two inch tall light mantle of mist began to cover the entire floor.

Spike looked at the judges and licked his lips. “Now, where was I?”

-----------------------------------------*****************************************************

*The Everfree Forest, Central Hive-A few hours later nearing Dawn-*

Six changeling guards stood in silence near the entrance to their Central Hive, it was unlikely the caribou or some spy would find them but still, orders were orders and after what happened in Ponyville two days prior it was unwise to take any chances. Suddenly a low rumbling began to echo through the forest, seconds later the rumbling began to increase little by little. The six guards assumed positions and used their magic to camouflage themselves with their surroundings. The rumbling soon began to die down until it disappeared completely, in its place whoever the sound of something making its way through the wilderness could be heard, and nearing them fast.

After a couple of seconds of waiting they saw bushes, plants and vines moving; even though they never heard something cracking or being torned away, which was odd to them. The six guards readied their weapons and fuelled magic into their horns, ready to strike down whatever was coming towards them. Then everything suddenly stopped and they heard a very distinct sigh-like noise. The bushes a few meters in front of them began to move and after two seconds a purple dragon without armor, weapons or clothes emerged through them.

Four of the changelings recognized the dragon as Spike, the Marshal of Dainn, and swallowed heavily while gripping their weapons tightly ready to fight the monster. Meanwhile the other two also recognized Spike, but for what he truly was.

“Stand down,” a female changeling said coming out of her hiding spot and revealing herself to the dragon. Spike looked at her, his eyes shining white for a second before returning to normal. “Sir Spike, it is a pleasure to see you alive and well,” the changeling said saluting the dragon.

“What are you doing captain? Don’t you realize who he is?” another changeling buzzed down next to her, worry visible in his face while Spike made his way calmly to them.

“Of course I do, he is Spike the Dragon, one of our best sleeper agents,” the four changelings that didn’t know looked at him with surprise. “The Queen ordered me and Skiak to wait here in case you would return from Solitude, sir,” she said to the dragon.

“Where is she?” Spike asked with concern. “Is Chrysalis alright?”

“Yes, sir. Please, follow us,” the female captain signaled the dragon to follow her and he obeyed. They went through the hidden barrier leading down to their Central Hive, the walls scarcely illuminated by blue lights on the ceiling. Their walk continued for several minutes, the four changelings previously unaware of his role eyeing him with a mix of pride and relief.

“Sir-” the other changeling, Skiak, began but was quickly interrupted.

“Just Spike, if you don’t mind,” Spike neutrally.

“Of course,” Skiak cleared his throat. “Spike, it is my duty to inform you that the Queen, despite her initial anger and doubt, did as you asked of her. Your castle in Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres has been cleared out as per your instructions with no casualties on our side, and all the Shadow Hunters that are still under caribou influence are safely kept as prisoners in our dungeons. Also, the Tree of Harmony and the Old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters are being armed up and their perimeter secured even as we speak.”

“What about Big Macintosh, Soarin and Zecora?” Spike simply asked.

“The stallions are waiting inside the castle...Ex-Commander Soarin is not well, however. He has many psychological scars, more so than the majority, our medics and mind-menders are doing their best to ease his pain. The zebra, on the other hand, expressed her wishes to speak with you should were you to return; she says it’s important.”

Spike nodded. “What about the Collector hives?”

“Destroyed, sir,” the captain spoke. “Sorry, I mean, Spike. Every last one of them has been destroyed and the females rescued. We suffered no casualties but we had some injured, but nothing too drastic.”

“And….the Bearers?” Spike asked creating a several seconds long silence.

“I think the Queen should be the one to tell you about them, Spike,” Skiak said almost nervously. “But lady Applejack and her family are happy to see sir Macintosh again.”

“I see,” Spike said in a low tone. “Where is Zecora?”

“She must be awake by now, that mare works too much,” the captain said with a sad sigh. “And she must be in her tent preparing potions, reading something for the young or preparing to tend some of the most grave refugees.”

“I wish to speak with her, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not, the Queen will need time to prepare to properly greet you, si--Spike. We will send someone to you once the Queen is ready.”

The rest of their walk was spent in silence until they reached the end of the cave, the hidden entrance to the Central Hive. The spell was dropped once the captain hissed three times and the familiar sight of the Central Hive graced his eyes.

“You four go inform the front guard we have a code ‘Blind’ and her majesty that sir Spike is here,” Skiak ordered to the other four guards. They saluted and buzzed down and away to perform their tasks while he and the captain led Spike down the stairway until they reached the bottom and wordlessly Spike dipped inside the nearest pool of green goo.

“Spike,” the captain called while the dragon used the goo to clean away the few dirt marks and leaves hanging all over his body. “Why didn’t you contact one of the teams or any of the other sleeper agents instead of coming all the way here?”

“Because I came directly from the Empire running,” Spike answered nonchalantly.

“You...ran? All the way here?” the two changelings exchanged glances.

“Pretty much, yeah. Remember outside? That was me slowing down,” he said coming out of the pool of goo. Strangely enough, both of them noticed, there was no residual goo attached to him and his scales seemed to shimmer on their own with an unnatural glow. “Can we hurry? I really want to speak with Zecora again.”

The changelings brushed it off as a dragon thing while the captain used her magic to hand Spike a cloak.

“I won’t be needing that anymore,” Spike said walking past the duo. “I no longer have a reason to protect my identity.”

“Sir, almost everyone in the rebel alliance think you are the Marshal of the fucker king, only the leaders and a few trusted troops know the truth. If you go in without your cloak they might attack you.”

Spike stopped and turned to look at the captain. “Does it look like I care?” Spike then turned to the front again. “Besides, I think it’s time for them to the truth behind me, I don’t care if this somehow reaches Dainn himself.”

With that Spike began to make his way down the path while the two changelings caught up with him after a few seconds. After a minute or so the small party reached the small black wall leading to the outer camp guarded by two griffoness guards. Both griffoness, already knowing of his coming, stepped aside to let them pass but that didn’t mean they couldn’t shoot nasty glares at the dragon.

Spike thanked them before entering the outer camp led by the two changelings; looking around the sight was what one could expect. There weren’t many people up and around except for a few guards here and there, all of them staring at him with disbelief or downright skepticism. There were some civilians too, most of them bearing similar reactions that that of the guards and soldiers. Some others, however, stopped what they were doing and ran inside the nearest tent in a hurry and some others seemed to be frozen on the spot while mumbling incoherently.

Not even a minute later more and more began to come from their tents or come to see him but still there were no cries, screams, curses or something louder than whispering around the party. It wasn’t until they reached a rather open area when they finally stopped and Spike saw Zecora, free from the red collar around her neck and wearing a light set of chitin armor and a half-robe, working on a steaming great cauldron while some children, most of them pony and changeling, sat patiently in a nearby table. He smiled and made his way to her.

“Zecora!” Spike called out just teen feet away from her. The zebra stopped her brewing and turn to see the dragon. A smile flashed her for an instant before the two of them met with a big hug. “It’s so good to see you again,” Spike said, fighting back the sudden gush of nausea he felt.

“It’s good to see you safe and sound, my dragon friend,” Zecora said with a bright smile. “When Big Macintosh came to retrieve me a few days ago I feared the worst, I’m glad to see my fears were misplaced,” she ended the hug.

“I really miss your rhyming though,” Spike said offering her a sad smile. “They took everything from you, even your rhyming,” he frowned.

Zecora gave him a smile of her own. “It is not something you should feel sad about my dragon friend, it was my own decision to stay in my hut and pretend,” a short moment of silence followed before a hoofstep broke it.

“You….,” both Zecora and Spike heard someone say near them. “You…..,” the voice repeated.

Spike turned to the right and saw Blossomforth, the mare wearing a thick greyish robe. He saw her neck free from the black collar but the missing fur and exposed reddish and abused skin showcased just how tight it had been. Spike also noticed that behind her were some of the mares and other females he had decided to ‘keep’ once promoted to general; all of them wearing an expression unreadable to the dragon. Blossomforth herself had tears forming and her angry expression made him turn completely to her.

Looking over her shoulders he saw her wings free from the abominable wing-sheaths and were now surrounded by strange green-like bandages; he visibly winced when she moved them in a flapping motion. Her pain obvious but ignored due to her anger.

“You…..,” Blossomforth repeated stopping about a meter in front of the purple dragon. Tears finally began to fall down her face. “Why didn’t you told us!?” the pegasus shouted angrily closing her eyes and her hands turned to fists while her entire body trembled in rage. “Why didn’t you help us earlier!?” Blossomforth practically roared at the dragon.

Spike, for his part, was confused. The moment he saw her and the other mares he used to call pets, make them work tirelessly around the castle and insult on an almost daily basis, he was ready to receive a barrage of insults and death wishes he surely deserved; maybe some of them would try to kill him for all he did to them. But instead she had asked those questions instead even though her anger and borderline hate was tangible to him now. Looking past Blossomforth and the rest of the mares he saw Lightning Dust at the back of the group, the pegasus wearing her chitin armor and looking at him intently. Now it all made sense.

“I was a puppet to them for little over two years, and after I broke free I began to do everything in my power to help females and males alike however I could,” Spike said looking straight to Blossomforth. “Everything I did, everything, was for a good reason,” Spike clenched his fists.

“Have you any idea what we had to endure, you traitor!?” Blossomforth shouted to him taking a step forward. “What reason could you possibly have to excuse yourself and the bitch princesses!?”

“Blossomforth,” Spike said in a cold tone and suddenly the temperature around them dropped a few degrees. “You can call me whatever you want, but never call them that ever again,” he warned with a snarl. “They are puppets to the caribou, except for Luna. Cadance, Twilight and Celestia, along with almost every red and purple collars out there are NOT traitors,” Spike took a step forward, his step loud and clear but most of the present didn’t back away. “I know you’re pain because I’ve seen it and dealt it, I did everything in my power to help those I could, one way or another.”

“All I can say now is that I’m sorry for taking so long and that my search is finally over, my days as the ass-kisser of that fucker of Dainn are over,” his eyes turned white making most that saw the gasp out in surprise and Blossomforth and her little group to actually take a step back feeling a cold shiver run down their spine. “I found what I was looking for and I will do the impossible to free Equestria and the Empire again,” his eyes turned normal again. “Go and spread the word that I’m here for all I care, tell everyone they can try to kill me if they want revenge; I won’t stop them, but do tell them to save that rage for the caribou instead,” he turned to see Zecora. “Let’s talk somewhere private Zecora,” Spike said smiling at the zebra chaman whom limited to nod.

Spike could hear Blossomforth’s whimpering while Zecora guided him. He felt bad for cutting her off and not letting her pour out her mind and heart out, still, he remembered he could at least prove to her and the rest of the group he was saying the truth. He stopped and turned around once again to face her.

“And by the way, Blossomforth?” Spike called making said mare look at him as tears flushed down her eyes. “I would’ve accepted that date,” he stated before turning around again to follow Zecora. Blossomforth, for her part, opened her eyes in surprise before falling to her knees letting warm tears fall to the ground freely.

Spike followed Zecora through some tents until they finally reached her own personal tent; since it was slightly bigger than those around it and had one of her welcoming masks hanging outside. Once inside Spike saw a couple of cauldrons, plenty flasks filled with potions, ingredients, books and many other objects the zebra needed to perform her experiments and tests. What really struck him as odd was a small pot holding a baby rape-vine in it and two sets of caribou armor.

“My guards mentioned you wanted to speak with me about something important,” Spike said taking a seat near the entrance.

“They speak the truth for indeed I do,” Zecora said before picking up the baby rape-vine. “Many discoveries I have made during these past years, sadly a way to revert the brainwashing magic they use I have not found,” she put the pot on the table before grabbing a flask containing a blue liquid. “But important my discoveries are nonetheless, for example these plant monstrosities are infused with their dark magic; without it they stop moving and eventually die,” the zebra poured a few drops of the liquid over the rape-vine. It opened its mouth to swallow the drops and just a few seconds later it began to squirm around and then turn grey and finally stopped moving.

“This potion acts like a pesticide but only for their dark taint, a potion to free the fields without restraint,” Zecora said and then pointed to the armor. “The runes the caribou use are powerful and strange, for they can even change genders in favor of their derange. The runes in their armor and weapons are meant to fight magic in general, but a crucial flaw I have discovered that will turn them useless,” she smiled. “For as you know, my dragon friend, magic dispels before it can touch them, but with enough force the runes will ignore it.”

“These discoveries I have already shared with the changeling queen, scheming and deceiving once she was until her encounter with Dainn the Unclean. Alas, there is one more discovery I have made that only now I will share; the caribou, strong as they are, infertile I believe becoming they are.”

Spike nodded. “I know,” he said making the zebra raise an eyebrow. “I found out that a while back ago,” Spike smiled. “But it’s amazing that you managed to discover so much for us Zecora, I can’t begin to thank you enough for all you’ve done and endured.”

Zecora shook her head. “You have nothing to thank me for, my dear friend, for Equestria is my home and I will not let it fall into the hands of those rapist brutes,” taking two nearby cups she brought them up to her mouth, she blew on them and suddenly tea appeared inside them. “Now tell me, why were your eyes shining white?”

Spike got up and walked over to Zecora, took the cup she was offering to him and drank it in one go. “Because I found what I was looking for,” Zecora sipped her tea whilst looking at him intently. “Hope.”

*An hour and a half later*

After a long and pleasing conversation with Zecora a small group of changeling guards had come to get him bringing the message that Chrysalis was ready to receive him. As of now Spike was walking through the corridors of the castle/fortress guided by Yog, now a commander, to where Chrysalis was waiting for him. The walk had been spent in relative silence, except for a question or a comment here and there, until the small group halted in front of two large doors.

“Her majesty is already inside, Spike,” Yog said signalling the rest of the guards to stand back. “Before you go in, Spike. Are you...the only survivor?” Yog asked with some difficulty.

“Yes,” Spike replied. “I lost four of my friends in that mountain; they gave up their lives just to give me chance to find something to finally start pushing back against the caribou.”

“Did you find it?” the changeling asked using his magic to open the doors of the room.

Spike smirked. “I did. Their sacrifices will not be in vain.”

Yog nodded in understandment before signaling Spike to enter. Once inside he used his magic to close the doors behind the dragon.

Spike saw that the room was dimly lit by small green fires hanging on the walls and a small fireplace with green flames. He took notice that beside the furniture near the fireplace the rest of the room was all but deserted. The sound of something shifting caught his attention and saw a figure raise and walk in front of the fireplace.

It was Chrysalis wearing a long black dress with a breastplate of chitin armor. She walked up to Spike while he did the same, once in front of each other they shaked hands.

“I see you’re tougher than you look, Spike,” Chrysalis said in a low tone, barely louder than a whisper. She closed her eyes for a second while letting go of his hand. “I can...feel something different about you. Does it have something to do with what my guards said you claim you ran all the way from the Empire?”

“Yes, I found something that might give us a chance,” he sighed weakly before his eyes turned white making Chrysalis open her eyes in surprise. A second later his eyes returned to normal.

“I see, but, was the price worth it?” Chrysalis asked with a hint of pity.

“The price to get the...power, if you will, was nothing, the trouble was just reaching it. Now, can you tell me why you never told me you sent search teams to Solitude?”

“It wasn’t necessary,” Chrysalis said flatly. “But after the second team I gave up on finding something in that forsaken mountain. But at least now I know my suspicions that something powerful was there were correct,” she sighed. “Now, can you tell me why you never told us about the Tree of Harmony?”

“It wasn’t necessary,” Spike said with a smirk making Chrysalis hum. “Speaking of which, was everything alright?.....Did it….do something?”

Chrysalis glanced at the fireplace for several seconds before looking at Spike again. “There will be a meeting with the rest of the leaders at noon, be there. We have much to discuss and much to plan,” Chrysalis began to walk towards the doors. “As for the Bearers,” the doors opened. “They wish to talk to you, in private,” and with that the doors closed once again.

Spike stood there petrified for almost an entire minute looking at the doors. Until a voice caught his attention.

“Howdy, Spike,” the voice of Applejack said before her figure raised partly lit by the green fire. “Ah’m glad tah see ya back, and so are the rest of the girls, aren’t yah?”

Suddenly the fireplace grew in size illuminating the room properly as five figures rose up and let Spike see the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony reunited for the first time in years. He felt his heart stop beating.

All of them, with the exception of Applejack, were wearing grey robes while they stared at the ground hiding their faces. Spike noticed the collars were gone and, in the case of his winged friends, the wing-sheaths were gone and replaced by green bandages. Twilight took a step forward.

“T-the Tree,” she began in a quivering, fearful tone. “It...freed us….b...but only….us,” she said weakly. “And…..and….a-a-and…….,” she looked up to him, her face drenched in tears. “I’m sorry!” Twilight brought her hands up to cover her face before she fell to her knees. “I didn’t meant to, I couldn’t stop!” she shaked her head from side to side while Applejack kneeled next to her and hugged her close. “I-I never m-m-meant to….to……”

Spike saw the wailing form of Twilight and his stomach and heart felt empty and void. He knew what she was trying to say and, judging by her reaction, they had already read his farewell letter. While Twilight cried and Applejack tried to calm her down he glanced at the other four mares.

Pinkie Pie’s mane was flat and her face resembling a crude picture of shame and revolt; the seemingly endless tears falling down her eyes only adding to her sorry state. Her eyes were cold, empty and sad; they looked as if the happiness itself near her simply died.

Fluttershy was covering subconsciously her breasts with one arm while her free hand covered her mouth. Her eyes were also an ocean of tears but, much to his dismay, he saw no...light, that perpetual shimmer of gentleness and kindness her eyes reflected at all times was gone, replaced by two empty, emotionless voids.

Rarity was by far the worst looking one, at least in appearance. Her once long and perfectly styled mane was now disheveled, scruffy and messy. Her right eye was swollen while both her hands covered her snout in a pointless attempt to hold back her tears. He grimaced when his eyes landed on her neck and saw the ‘S’ shaped mark showing just above where her collar had been. It was a self imposed brand, a sign to show she now belonged to him and to prove her usefulness and loyalty to him.

Finally, Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus was shaking, her face contorted with an expression of absolute hate while she looked at him yet he felt it wasn’t directed to him in particular. But what really stood out was that even now she refused to cry. Refused to show weakness.

And he admired her for that.

Looking back at Twilight he saw she was finally calming down and found the courage deep inside him to take a step forward.

“Twilight---” he began but then saw her freeze completely before looking up to him. Her eyes were wide, full with fresh tears and reflecting a deep, heartbreaking fear towards him. He felt his own heart break even more than what it already was; something he honestly thought was impossible, and winced. “Twilight don’t be afraid of me, please,” he said in a soothing tone even though his throat felt so dry and constricting. The lavender alicorn seemed to relax a little and he decided to take another tentative step toward her, only for her to flinch a little in return.

Twilight closed her eyes letting a few more tears run down. “I-I’m sorry....it’s easier if I don’t…..if I d-don’t see you, Mast--”

“DON’T!” Spike roared causing the mares, including Applejack, to recoil in fear. “Don’t you dare use that word ever again, Twilight Sparkle!” Spike’s eyes were shining with a deep blue light and the temperature in the room instantly dropped a few degrees, meanwhile he bared his fangs angrily and growled every now and then. “The same goes for any of you!” he huffed and puffed for several seconds before closing in the distance between him and Twilight in less than a second and hugged her close. “I d-don’t…..I don’t want to h-hear you say it ever again. I’m Spike, remember? Your n-number one assistant and yo-*sniff*your friend. Nothing else.”

Twilight felt the dragon hug her close. His embrace tender, sweet, warm and caring. She brought her shaky arms up and slowly returned the hug. For the past little over two days the only thing she could feel was...was...she couldn’t even name it. It was an indescribable feeling to her. Never had she felt, not even in her worst moments what she was feeling now. She wanted to vomit her entrails out. She wanted to cry until her eyes bleed. She wanted to rip off her coat and skin because she felt so dirty and unclean. She wanted to shout until her vocal cords exploded. And most of all, she felt like dying, just to make that abominable feeling end.

But now, in the embrace of Spike, arguably her first friend outside her older brother, and long last companion she finally felt safe and calm. And only now did she began to shout and scream in agony while burying her face on his shoulder while gripping him tightly. She started to cry like never before letting her dragon friend hold her with his embrace. An embrace that was rapidly transformed into a seven-way clutch.

The room was filled with their collective cries while Spike remained silent letting only his tears run free. Even Rainbow Dash was crying uncontrollably by now. Whatever they wanted to tell him could wait. Whatever everyone else wanted with him or them would have to wait. The only thing that mattered to him right now were them.

And the boiling hate inside of him.

* A few hours later- Reunion Chamber*

“Are you absolutely sure about that, Blueblood?” Chrysalis asked from her seat while she crossed her arms.

“Absolutely, I saw him leave myself,” Blueblood, wearing a black cloak, said leaning in front of the black circular table. “Dainn left just after dawn to the Crystal Empire in a hurry bringing two of his sons with him and leaving the other two, Rolph and Frost, in charge until his return.”

“What about their majesties, the princesses?” Chief Thunderhooves, a mighty buffalo chief and a leader of the rebels asked loudly thanks to his rumbling voice.

“He took them with him, like always,” Blueblood sighed heavily. “He was frantic after he learned the massive disappearance in Ponyville days ago. Frantic and offended. Even as we speak there are troops slowly amassing themselves in the outer fields of Ponyville ready to strike the forest again. Dainn is not happy and will not stop for nothing this time,” a sudden chill ran up the spines of all the presents except for one. Blueblood turned to see Spike, sitting next to his left. “The army you commanded during ‘The First Invasion’ is nothing compared to what he was planned this time.”

“How many soldiers?” Spike asked in an icy tone.

“There are around two thousand already stationed in Ponyville, mostly light units and skirmishers, and there are another five thousand coming their way in three days. Within a week twenty thousand heavy caribou units and around six thousand air troops will join them. Not to mention the warbeasts and two thousand royal guards and entire regiments of supplies and ‘meat-shields’,” silence reigned for a few seconds. “And that’s the ones I know about, it will get even bigger if Dainn himself is going to command it which, as it turns out, he leaving for some time might work in our favour.”

“But how exactly? Our camps are too scattered and our fighting forces; while eager, brave and most of them thirsty for payback, are no match against the entire armies of Dainn,” a large brown minotaur clad in steel armor said at the other side of the table. “And now there are fresh caribou troops arriving from Hraljord despite the barrier is still up.”

Blueblood closed his eyes. “I frankly have no idea how he can control the barrier but I know it’s only recently,” he opened his eyes again. “But that either means he is planning something massive or he is getting stronger. Now that his eyes are finally away from us we can strike back at him and the rest of his depraved race where it hurts,” he used his magic to lift up a green flag and then to put it on top over a wall map at the side end of the room where everyone could see it with ease. “If we can pull off a wide range attack over Trottingham and disable their armor press we will force them to stand back, at least for a few months.”

“True that is,” a diamond dog female clad in a strange bronze and iron armor said. “But they have vast numbers of warriors on the watch. And Trottingham is far away, my dogs can’t dig that much without notice.”

“Perhaps we can ambush groups of the army amassing in Ponyville?” a zebra stallion wearing a mix of tribal and chitin armor said. “We wouldn’t do much damage but it will certainly put a dent on their numbers.”

“For what?” Spike asked in that same chilly tone. “Everyone in this room knows that doesn’t matter to them. All, except our dear Fakers hidden amongst them, have fanatical devotion to Dainn and his regime; they only bow to death or to him and nothing else,” the room fell silent for a couple of seconds.

“Spike is right,” Soarin said from his seat now clad in black chitin armor for pegasi and the symbol of the Shadow Hunters marked with a green X over his right shoulder plate. “No matter what we plan, no matter how many ambushes or surprise attacks we make it will never be enough….unless we find a way to free the Corrupted and the Enslaved we will always fight in a disadvantage.”

“And we also have to worry about Discord. We must free him first, or at least find a way to stop him because as long as he sides with Dainn our defeat is assured outside the camps and the forest,” Chrysalis said before chuckling. “Funny, if Dainn ever did one thing right was to kill every prisoner in Tartarus that didn’t side with him, included Tirek.”

“Tirek did try to ally himself to Dainn but when he tried to suck away Dainn’s magic for himself Dainn killed Tirek on the spot, I was there when it happened,” Blueblood said. “But the problem is that we don’t have anything to cleanse away the brainwash away and the Bearers....,” Blueblood didn’t finish his sentence. “And those that break free from it are killed on the spot most of the time.”
Spike got up silently and walked towards the map, he grabbed four little red flags and after a few seconds of scanning he placed them in different parts of the map. The he turned to the table where the twenty leaders of the rebellion looked at him and the map with curiosity.

“Attacking Trottingham, or any other major city for that matter, is out of the question but we have to act, now, or else all these years of fighting against that bastard and his horde will be for nothing,” he stepped aside letting the rest see the map. “I suggest that, while the fucker king is away, we take this chance and do a four-way simultaneous attack on Appleloosa, Cloudsdale, Dodge Junction and Ponyville.”

“A four-way assault!? Are you insane, dragon!?” a grey donkey wearing thick leather armor exclaimed before other leaders joined in the protests. Before someone could tell them to shut up or calm down Spike lifted a claw towards them, his eyes turned white and a shimmering cloud of blue smoke emerged from his right hand.

“Blueblood is right, we can’t win unless we free the victims of the brainwash,” the shimmer intensified for a moment. “And with the power I now have, I can free them; I know I can.”

Soarin got up from his seat dumbfounded while the rest of the leaders, except Chrysalis, looked at him in awe. “You actually found something,” he said surprised before his expression turned grimm. “Did they...suffer?”

“....Yes. The Windigo was relentless and merciless,” Spike answered back without batting an eye and a moment later Soarin sat down. “Back to my plan. First things first, we need to spread the word that the Bearers are fine, under treatment, free from the caribou brainwash and will join the fight when they’re ready,” he heard Chrysalis humm. “Secondly, after this meeting I will need twenty prisoners to test my cleansing abilities. I’ll need two caribou stags, two cows, two calf and two doe, the females must be red collars, of course. I will also need another six stallions and six mares, the species doesn’t matter and the females can be red, silver or purple, two of each would be preferable.”

“Thirdly, we will divide our forces into four groups to attack in two days from now,” at his statement some began to whisper. “I’ll let you decide who goes where. And lastly, and this is the most important one, aside from Ponyville the rest will focus on taking as many prisoners as you can and find and rescue as many Fakers as possible.”

“And Ponyville?” a green coated earth pony mare wearing a black chitin armor asked with curiosity.

“The ones going to Ponyville will have the same objectives except for two major differences: One, I will be there to burn the entire fucking village to the ground. And two, to hit Dainn where it hurts.”

“You want to destroy Ponyville?” Blueblood whispered in disbelief while most others gasped. “Just to prove something to Dainn?”

“Except for the castle, yes. That’s where I will make my first hit against that fucking bastard,” Spike replied with his eyes still shining white. “Right now we need two things. Numbers and control. The attacks will provide the numbers since I will cleanse the brainwash out of the victims and Ponyville will provide us control. They’re amassing forces there? Fine, we’ll erase it and break their little plans before they even begin,” he sighed and his eyes returned to normal.

“I won’t force you to accept my strategy but take it from me, this will aid us like never before and in the process make Dainn realise once and for all he isn’t invincible. We are here, we fight back against his madness and we will die before joining his depravity,” the room was silent yet an eerie aura of pride could be felt. “Those in favour of my plan?” he raised his hand and was soon joined by Soarin and the minotaur leader. A few seconds later Blueblood’s hand joined as well.

“I really hope what you’re doing, cousin,” the unicorn stallion said looking at him.

“Dragon, months ago you proposed a suicide tactic just to learn any weakness Dainn could possibly hold in secret. We accepted it at the cost of many lives but it paid off in the long run,” a griffon clad in reddish plate armor said before rising his hand. “You know Dainn the best, so I will trust your judgement once more if it means tearing the fucking bastard limb from limb all the fastest,” the griffon declared and a moment later another hand joined his, and then another and another until only Chrysalis remained with both her hands resting against the table.

“Spike,” she said in a dead serious tone. “Why are you so sure your plan will work?”

“If there’s one thing he hates above all else, that is failure. We make his little plan fail and we’ll buy ourselves the time we need to finally defeat him or at the very least dissolve this attack; it would also mean several weeks before he attempts something similar,” Spike said in that chilly tone. The changeling queen eyed him for a moment before raising her hand up.

“Those against?” all hands went down.

“I guess we have a plan now,” Soarin commented with an eager smirk.

After another half an hour discussing provisions, routes, spy network information, who would go where for the attacks and other smaller topics everyone left the room except for Chrysalis and Spike.

“Why did you do it?” Chrysalis asked once sure they were alone with slight anger and a hint of admiration. “Why did you lie to them, manipulate their fear like that? What was the point?”

“Like you wouldn’t have done the same some years ago,” Spike answered right before turning to his side and catch her hand in mid air. Chrysalis was surprised at his quick reaction but she still glared at him. “If you want to hit me for saying the truth then you better use a weapon or something. I just saved you a broken arm.”

Spike let go gently of her arm and Chrysalis breathed in slowly, realizing his grip didn’t damage her at all. “Yes, I would’ve. But only for the safety and benefit of my subjects, and since the fight began we have all the love we need and more. All of it given freely,” there was a moment of silence. “Now answer me, why did you do it?”

“It’s because I need to do it, Chrysalis. But I did say the truth, partially at least, we need more numbers and I can free victims from the brainwash.”

“How exactly?”

“I just know, alright?” Spike sighed tiredly while Chrysalis shot him an irritated glare. “Look, I can’t really explain it I just know I can.”

“And the test subjects?” she asked crossing her arms.

“I need to….put my mind at ease, if you will. There’s something I must be certain of,” Chrysalis remained silent. “Just imagine, for a second, that the caribou are for some reason suffering from the same brainwash-”

“You seriously can’t be for real,” Chrysalis deadpanned.

“I did say imagine,” he cleared his throat. “I know you and your changelings can feel the taint of their dark magic and now I can too, to some degree, but I will be able to see it inside them. That idea has been plaguing my mind for months and I HAVE to know if the caribou are still victims or….not.”

Chrysalis sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it your way and I’ll humor you this one time, dragon boy. I will never understand heroes in all honesty; always trying to save everyone at the same time,” she turned around and began to walk towards the door. “Follow me, I’ll guide you to the dungeons.”

Spike turned to follow her but not before whispering to himself. “I’m not a hero.”

*Some time later-Dungeons-*

Chrysalis and Spike stood in front of twenty kneeling prisoners separated in three. The caribou stags and calfs on one side, the other males in the center of the room and the females on the other side. All of them were chained and gaged and in the case of the females, dressed, their collars removed and blindfolded. All of them were struggling to set themselves free while the males also shot death glares towards the changeling queen and the dragon.

“Are you sure you can do it?” Chrysalis asked and Spike brought up his left hand up before it was surrounded by the shimmering blue cloud he used earlier. “Before you start, what did you mean by ‘still’?”

Spike made his way to the closest female, a saddle arabian, before answering. “Just a gut feeling is all,” was his answer, even though he knew Chrysalis knew he was lying she didn't push him for another answer.

He stopped in front of the mare, kneeled down and with his right hand unfolded her eyes letting her see his white shining eyes. Spike then placed his left hand over her head and reached into the deepest part of her being.

The feeling was strange, yet oddly comforting, for the dragon even though all he could ‘see’ inside her was a mix of blurry clouds and emptiness. It didn’t take long, however, to find what he was looking for. He saw a black cloud in the shape of the most disgusting and abominable spider or octopus thing he had ever seen. Said cloud was using its tentacles to grip and hold onto the shapeless clouds around it slowly spreading itself on them, just like a disease. Without hesitation he reached out to it until he was able to touch it.

He felt the black monstrosity burn at his touch and tried to squirm away, but it was too late for it. In less than a second Spike saw the cloud disintegrate completely and being replaced by a rosy light, then he withdrew from the mare’s very being.

Spike let go of the mare and she lost her balance for a few seconds. Around thirty seconds later she regained her posture and looked around confused and scared. Her struggling against the chains increased until she focused on the dragon in front of her. Her eyes widened in fear, a tear or two forming on them, and then she fainted.

“She is free from the corruption,” Spike said before taking a glance at the caribou on the other side of the room looking at him in disbelief. “How long did I take?” he asked to Chrysalis whom was mildly stunned at his success.

“You actually did it,” she said in a low tone walking up to him and the mare. “And that didn’t take long, no more than ten seconds,” Chrysalis hissed and clicked loudly and a second later a couple of changeling guards entered the room. “Take this mare to the medical wing and warn them more will arrive soon,” the changelings bowed and used their magic to unchain the mare and take her away. Chrysalis saw her guards leave with the saddle arabian. “Now what?” she asked before turning to see Spike again, only to find him letting go of another two females, a diamond dog and a zebra and his right hand shimmer with the same blue mist. “Not wasting any time, eh?”

Spike didn’t reply and instead took a hold of another two females, a unicorn and a pegasus. A few seconds later he let go of them and moved towards the next and last non-caribou female, an actual cow. Once he was done with her the first two mares began to snap out of their sudden wake. Chrysalis screeched making more of her guards to come and take the newly fred females away.

Spike got up and walked towards the males, all but one of them pony. Two were unicorns (both wearing a nullifier ring), one a pegasus, one an earth pony, one a crystal pony and the last male a donkey. All six of them were shouting muffled curses and struggling desperately to get free.

Chrysalis watched in amusement as Spike took a hold of the donkey and the crystal pony and, much like with the females, just a couple of seconds later he let go of their heads. The two males almost fell to the ground in front of them as they drowse out momentarily. She then saw Spike moved toward the next two males, the unicorns, to see the same scene repeat itself. The dragon let go of them and moved to the last two, the pegasus and the earth pony, now ready to free them.

The crystal pony was the first to snap out of his drowse and when he did he began to look around, confused and slightly frightened, until he saw the caribou stags. His movement stopped, his eyes widened and his breathing increased in both volume and frequency. Suddenly his struggling returned with a vengeance while he screamed through his gag. Chrysalis was surprised because, in almost every case, once someone breaks out of the brainwash it takes a couple of minutes to regain their memories. But after seeing the reactions of the mares and now the rage of this stallion (and resisting the urge to set him free and let him have his way with the caribou) she knew that, whatever Spike did to gain the strange power he now possessed was worth any price; even if she couldn’t understand it. She saw five of her guards come in and take away the enraged stallion away, he would need medical attention right away or else risk suicide once his rage ended.

“No,” Chrysalis turned to see Spike holding the head of the earth pony with both hands, the mist emerging from them three times bigger than before. “NO!” he shouted angrily.

“What’s wrong!?” Chrysalis asked arriving at his side.

“I can’t destroy the taint in him!” Spike answered before his eyes turned back to normal and let go of the stallion’s head. “What is him, Enslaved or Corrupted!? I can sense the taint but I can’t tell the difference!”

Chrysalis closed her eyes and focused. She didn’t like being ordered around but at the moment she could overlook it. That and something in the tone of the dragon made her feel eerily fearful. A moment later she answered. “Enslaved,” she answered before the stallion began to make muffled noises; noises similar to laughter.

Quickly Spike the gag covering the mouth of the stallion letting him laugh out loud for a few seconds. “Fools, traitors!” he shouted to both Chrysalis and Spike while the the guards removed the pegasus from the room. “King Dainn, blessed be his name, will destroy you all! Especially you, the worst of all traitors! But you!” he said looking at Chrysalis. “You, bitch, will have the honor to be his trophy once your pointless ‘rebellion’ is dealt with. Male superiority will prevail and then all will see the light!” his eyes opened wide and a mad grin formed on his lips. “I was a fool and misguided until I saw the light, the truth! Embrace it or be destroyed by it!”

As the stallion continued to shout out gibberish Spike’s eyes widened in terror.

“See the light,” he whispered before taking a glance at the caribou stags. “It can’t be,” he rushed to said stags and grabbed the head of the nearest one with both hands and focused. And he saw the same thing he had seen within the earth pony stallion.

There were no clouds, instead everything was replaced by a grey and black sea. When he reached to the source, the monstrous cloud tainting the minds and souls of its victims he didn’t saw it clinging to anything, rather it seemed to be fused together with the sea. It had truly become one with the mind it had infected; there was no difference between the two of them now. Just like Creslin told him.

He let go of the caribou stag and in an instant he was upon a caribou cow holding her head in between his hands. He let out a pained groan of frustration when, much to his dismay, he saw the exact same thing inside her. He focused and channeled as much purifying energy of the Heart as he could but no matter how much he tried to pour inside, the infection, the disease, the sickness didn’t even flinch. Mainly because there was no infection to purge anymore.

And he realized two things. The Corrupted were the real slaves, not the Enslaved, he remembered now that, aside from the caribou, only the Enslaved ever said ‘See the Light’ in one way or another. Now it all made sense, and he realized just how lucky he had been to be fred the moment he was.

But, his eyes landed on the fanatical stallion once again gaged by Chrysalis. That means if you ‘see the light’ then...you become one of them. The thought made his stomach squirm. Dainn didn’t want slaves, he wanted more loyal subjects that followed his regime like faithful; brainless puppets that would never betray him because they would all have the same wicked mentality.

“Our ancestors were the victims, not us, not the rest.”

“Our ancestors showed mercy to the Horned King instead of crushing him when they had their chance and that was their downfall.”

“We hold no love, not even pity or hope for them because, unlike your people, they’re not forced to do anything against their will; they do what they do with free will. What they say, think and do is their decision alone, both red collar cows and stags, the sickness has spread its roots so deep that even those from the first generations in the reign of the Horned King were already doomed to be as one with it in a single, depraved mentality. They have no salvation.”

The words of Creslin rang inside his head making the fire in him burn like never before. She had spoken the truth, only now he could truly understand. And understanding it made his rage and hatred all the stronger.

“I will make sure the caribou pay for their sins and their actions, every single one of those motherfuckers will die a painful, slow and agonizing death until none of them are left over the face of Equis.”

He remembered his own promise whilst looking at the caribou cow. The mist disappeared and removed her gag and her blindfold. The cow blinked and breathed through her mouth a few times before her gaze set on Spike.

“Punishment over? Master give cock now?” she asked with a dumb, happy smile. For several seconds they stood still simply staring at each other.

“Yes,” Spike whispered holding her head with both hands. “Punishment ends now,” the cow closed her eyes in ignorance. “I’m sorry.”

A sudden cracking noise filled the room and everyone, even the stags, fell silent as the caribou cow landed on the floor, her neck completely broken.

Chrysalis opened her mouth not in surprise but in astonishment and was about to shout at Spike for what he had done. But then she saw him morph before her very eyes and she heard her guards gasp while she, despite her long life and experience, felt her heartbeat increase madly. His scales darkened until they were still purple, but now instead of shining they seemed to suck out the light around him; his claws extended creating sharp, deadly ends, she even heard a distinct *ssshhhrrk* as they grew. He was bearing his fangs that also seemed to grow sharper and deadlier while green fire emerged from between the openings and his nostrils; his eyes glowing with an intense white light.

His tail thinned out and his spines grew and sharpened until they resembled serrated teeth while the tip became pointy, serrated and razor-edged; it resembled a mix between the stinger of a scorpion and a whip.

“They deserve no forgiveness,” Spike said in a tone so cold and devoid of emotion it made her stomach curl and shrink. “They could stop this madness from ever happening but they didn’t; I won’t make their mistake,” he turned slowly towards the petrified stags. “You’re a disease, a plague that needs to be purged or else you’ll infect the entire world,” Spike snarled before dropping on all fours. “AND I WON’T LET YOU SPREAD IT ANYMORE!”

Spike then pounced over the stags and the two calf with unabated bloodthirst.

First he landed on the same stag he had tried to purge the sickness from, digging his large claws on his sides making the stag scream muffled cries of pain. With a swift motion he ripped through his coat letting blood to flow out freely, he retreated his bloody hands only to start punching the face of the stag with reckless fury with light fast strikes; the punches creating sick wet noises each time.

His tail danced on its own until it wrapped itself around a terrified calf and, using its serrated teeth like spines, he dug them deep within the calf and then, with a twisting motion, Spike squeezed the calf so hard that his eyes (and most of his blood and entrails) popped out and most of his bones shattered instantly.

He stopped punching the now deformed face of the corpse and lashed out his right claw in an uppercut motion to the other calf. A second later the calf let out an agonizing muffled scream while his entrails slipped out of his body and onto the ground. Spike ignored the calf and focused on the last stag, the caribou looking at him with open, terror filled, crying eyes. Using his claws Spike snapped the chains binding the stag’s legs and arms to the ground and, before the stag could even realize he was now free to move, Spike grabbed the back of his head, hold him tightly; even digging the tips of his claws in him, and quickly began to smash his face against the ground repeatedly for several seconds until the brains of the caribou were smashed against the floor.

Spike got up with a single jump and pounced against the earth pony. Using his tail Spike pierced the back of his head; the stallion’s body squirmed a little before it went limp. Then the dragon moved towards the two doe and the remaining cow and using his claws and his tail he ended them in a similar way he did the earth pony. Once he was done he slowly turned to face Chrysalis and her changelings looking at him with stunned expressions.

Chrysalis was the first to recover but didn’t shout at the blood dripping dragon. “What was...that all about?” she instead asked cautiously. The eyes of the dragon returned to normal along with his body. “What kind of power is that?”

“Just the power we need to stand a chance,” Spike replied with a heavy sigh. He looked at his hands and smirked. “I actually felt it clearly this time,” he commented to no one in particular. “I’ll need to see the rest of the prisoners, all of them, then the rest of the camps can start sending their own prisoners for me to free,” he glanced at the corpses of the caribou males. “We’re on this fight alone, we’ll need their help.”

“I can understand why you killed the caribou but the stallion and the females?” Chrysalis asked with mild anger now out of her fright.

“The stallion....he became one of the caribou, I couldn’t save him,” there was a glimpse of regret in his eyes. “Instead I did mercy on him. As for the females, they shared the same fate as the males, I just ended their blind suffering.”

“Are you just going to kill off the ones that turn out to be like that stallion like some kind of wild beast?” Chrysalis asked narrowing her eyes.

“Wouldn’t you kill your own changelings if they could be affected by their taint and you were unable to save them? Would you let them be like...them?” silence was her answer. “Would you?” he asked now to the three guards standing behind their queen. Silence was their answer. “Let’s go, we have much to do today,” he said emotionlessly.

Chrysalis nodded walking up to Spike. “But first you’re going to explain me exactly why did you do that,” she said glancing at the bodies lying on the floor. He looked up back at Spike and smirked. “And you’re wrong,” Spike’s expression turned confused. “We are not alone in this fight, not anymore.”

-----------------------------------------********************************************************

*Ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters- Three years, six months and two weeks into the Fall-*

Spike was currently sitting in front of the Tree of Harmony in complete silence. He was mostly in a meditative state while looking at his now clean hands. It had taken him almost six hours to free the one thousand three hundred and seventy two prisoners infected with the dark magic of the caribou. It was heart wrenching seeing their inner pain explode much like his had but now they were free. The hardest part was that there hardly were any happy reunions, most ended in screaming, fainting or crying.

And the thought of how many would commit suicide given the chance flashed across his head, although he couldn’t blame them if some, or most, did it; he himself had entertained the idea before several times. After that he told Chrysalis what he had discovered about the caribou curse and the power he had achieved, without revealing the true nature of said power or the existence of Creslin and the Crystal Heart. The former because of their agreement and the later for fear of someone doing something stupid against the Empire and the Crystal Cock.

Chrysalis, in turn, forwarded the information to the rest of the rebel leaders that took the news with difficulty but still accepted the proof in favor of the cause. Not everyone could be fred and many would die; the least he or anyone else could do for them would be limited to a quick and, if possible, painless death. After that the executions began. There weren’t many caribou prisoners since they prefered to die fighting, and those that survived or were caught during an ambush were killed along the way by their captors most of the time. Less than eighty caribou stags and just over fifty caribou cows were the only caribou prisoners at the time. Much to his joy, however, for what he could tell the curse needed a prolonged time for any Enslaved to ‘see the light’, so there were only less than thirty of those who had been broken by it. Males and females alike, along with the caribou cows and doe were killed fast and painless as possible, most of them with poison, their corpses burn in magical changeling fire and the caribou males remains thrown to the hydra and manticore pens.

After that Chrysalis showed and explained him that she and Empress Shifting Sands of Saddle Arabia had maintained contact through letters for little over four months and, to Spike’s immense glee, she was ready to provide her full support when the barrier finally fell. Immediately after he he insisted on writing a letter to the Empress, mostly to introduce himself and thank her for her support. Knowing that there was someone out there trying to aid them in the fight against the caribou made him cry in joy; they weren’t alone like he had taken for granted months ago and that meant the world to him.

His gaze shifted from his hands to the Tree and he smiled.

“Thank you, for freeing Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight, Tree. To tell you the truth, I half expected everything to be over in an instant with a rainbow colored explosion or something, but I guess that was too silly, huh?” silence met him. “Yeah, I thought so. Still, thanks to you now they are free and I don’t have to pretend anymore for their or anyone else’s sake,” silence met him again.

“I used to love comic books,” Spike said breaking the silence. “Before the caribou turned them into depraved, misogynistic stories like everything else they set their eyes on. Heh, What a sight, in the first week of the Fall tens of thousands, maybe even millions of books, scrolls and any sort of literature was burnt because they claimed it as heresy; then it was replaced by their ‘magnificence’ and their ‘history’,” Spike sighed. “Statues crumbled, theatres were destroyed, music was outlawed, culture smashed into a pulp and well, I guess I don’t have to tell you the rest.”

He closed his eyes and shaked his head a few times. “Sorry, you know how I tend to sidetrack. Anyways, my favorite stories involved the Power Ponies, a group of super heroines fighting against a multitude of villains helped by their faithful, yet slightly dumb, side-kick. In one of their adventures they fought against a monster that turned ponies into mindless zombies but the Power Ponies managed to beat him, free everyone and without harming a single victim,” he stopped talking letting silence sing for several seconds. “It was the last issue to come out before the Fall began, kinda ironic isn’t it? What I’m trying to say, Tree, is that I had hoped that after I gained this power everything would end like in that comic book but,” he clenched his hands into fists and his expression change into one of an angry snarl.

“I know I can’t save everyone…...and I’m not trying to; I’ll try to save as many as I can but I won’t let that distract me from the real threat. I will kill the caribou and that fucker of Dainn for everything they’ve done along with anyone that tries to stop me,” his eyes turned white and the lines between his scales to shine blue. “They aren’t the victims here, Tree. I could see and feel it inside them, there is nothing to be saved, there never was, there never will; they can’t feel remorse or guilt for what they’ve done to us and to their own. But the pain and the agony and the despair they’ve caused is real, Tree,” Spike stood up. “They are sex obsessed, slaving, genocidal, raping, depraved, xenophobic monsters. Every single one of them. They don’t deserve compassion, or understanding or pity or….my mercy,” his eyes shifted from a white light to a blue light as an invisible wind surrounded him.

Spike smiled baring his fangs while drool oozed onto the ground. “I will kill them, all of them to the very last one,” he declared with an icy, dark whisper. “No matter what it takes I will make them suffer for everything they’ve done and I won’t let anyone else out there suffer our fate, even if they backstabbed us,” the wind suddenly stopped and the light emitting from Spike ceased. “I won’t hold back on them for even an instant. I promise you, Tree!” he said loudly. “I’ll become their monster, their nightmare!” Spike shouted one last time and after a full minute of silence his eyes returned to normal and he turned to leave.

“Goodbye, Tree, you were always a great listener but a lousy talker,” and with that Spike left the cave of the Tree of Harmony.

Once outside the cave he was greeted by a group of guards, some pony some changeling, led by Yog and Soarin. The ex-Shadow Hunter took a step forward and saluted Spike before giving him a hug. The hug ended a few seconds later and Spike began to make his way up the dirt/stone stairs. Reaching the top he saw a multitude of people, from all species, working around the ruins doing their jobs to reinforce key positions, stockpile materials, carry out supplies or prepare tents.

“How are the rest of the boys doing, Soarin?” Spike asked whilst walking into the ruins followed closely by the guards.

“It’s tough for them, Spike. No suicide attempts yet but most of them are destroyed.”

“What about Spitfire and the others?”

“Even worse,” Soarin gritted his teeth harshly. “At least Spitfire understood but we almost lost Blaze to a heart attack thanks to the shock; purples always take it the worse. Other than that, what could you expect?”

Spike hummed. “And you, Soarin?”

“I’ll manage. The potion Zecora made for me helps a bunch,” he chuckled. “But right now? I just want tomorrow to begin already.”

“Now that you mention it, commander Soarin, her majesty has sent us to deliver this message,” Yog said handing a scroll to Soarin. The pegasus opened it and began to inspect it, after a few moments he put it down just as the party reached the library of the old castle.

“Queen Chrysalis is going too?” Soarin asked a bit perplexed. It wasn’t often where she took part of some mission, mainly because she was too valuable to her people and the head leader of the rebellion, but he knew she prefered standing in the front lines rather than behind barking orders.

The changeling guards exchanged a surprised and excited glance between them. “If it is what the message says, then I believe her majesty will, commander,” Yog answered with a small smirk adorning his lips. “It’s been a long time since the Queen took up her scythe into battle leading us.”

“Wish I could join you on the battle for Ponyville,” Soarin said to Yog and Spike. “But somepony has to lead the attack on Cloudsdale. Plus it’s a perfect opportunity to show the fucking caribou that their precious Shadow Hunters are free from their domain and if...once the rest overcome the initial trauma we will make them tremble,” he finished narrowing his eyes.

“And so are the rest of our gathering forces,” Yog said securely. “Everyone is ready to strike back at the caribou.”

The group of changelings hissed and clicked several times while hitting the floor with their spears. Soon enough every changeling around that could hear them began to do the same sounds for almost an entire minute. Once the changelings were done with their strange chanting Spike turned to see his two friends and the small group of guards and smiled.

“They will pay in blood,” Spike said in a chilling, dark tone. “For what they’ve done to my people, for what they turn your people into, Yog, and for every atrocity they have committed,” Spike glanced seeing a small crowd of changeling workers and some of other species gather around the group. “Ponyville, before the Fall, was a village of barely fifteen thousand inhabitants. It was the seat of friendship, a place of peace and a golden scene of hope and prosperity for all of Equestria and beyond.”

“Now look what the caribou have turned it into,” his eyes turned white while a frown adorned his face. “What they’ve done to everything they touched; Equestria, the Crystal Empire, even some of your hives, and they will stop at nothing until the entire world resembles them. We are not only the last hope of Equestria or the Empire or even of our species; we are the last hope of the entire world,” Spike’s scales began to shine a blue light and his eyes also turned blue. “And I’ll be damned if I let the caribou and their motherfucking king succeed. They will pay with their blood.”

The moment Spike finished that sentence the changelings revived their chant with twice the intensity while non-changelings shouted to the heavens until everyone in the ruins was doing the same. The sound was borderline deafening but even that paled in comparison to the mighty roar that followed a few seconds later and, just for a split second, every caribou in Equestria felt a wave of fear wash over them for some unknown reason.

--------------------------------------------------******************************************************

*The Crystal Empire-Solitude Mountain-Expeditionary Force of Dainn---The next day early in the morning---*

Dainn frowned atop his warbeast whilst overseeing several of his soldiers searching for any kind of clue that could tell him what had happened in that accursed mountain a few days prior. And most importantly, what had happened to his dear new son.

When Spike departed for the Empire to fulfill his mission and after receiving the message of Shining Armor confirming his departure he felt a wave of pride fill him. Pride he had never felt with any of his other sons. Then, when the forces of Spike returned almost a week later without him he grew worried, but thanks to the reassuring words of Macintosh Apple, one of Spike’s friends and trusted companion, he sat in confidence planning his next move against the rebels.

Of course, he didn’t believe the horrors the returning soldiers were telling. At first. But when they reached the part exclaiming his son’s exploits and defiance against the ice-demon, the Windigo, he knew they had to be true. And so, confident on Spike’s success, he waited. Two days later a report from Ponyville came in stating that, not only did the entirety of Spike’s castle guards and sluts had disappeared but also the ones at Sweet Apple Acres, several residents of the town along their bitches and half the garrison of Ponyville had also vanished, including the rest of the five national prizes and the Shadow Hunters. All of them like thin air in the midst of the night and with no one noticing it. Enraged, he had decided to accelerate his plans for the ‘Second Invasion’, sure that the disappearance in Ponyville had something to do with the rebels and the bitch of Chrysalis.

That is, until he received an urgent message from Shining Armor claiming that an enormous threat was coming his way and that he feared he couldn’t repeal on his own. Cursing his timing, and fearing for the safety of the Crystal Cock, he decided to venture to the Empire immediately and upon arriving Shining told him what had happened. Now, instead of mad he was truly worried, not for the Crystal Cock but for Spike. And so, Dainn decided to go to Solitude himself to investigate and to find his dear draconic son.

Thanks to pegasi power and the use of his powerful magic he and his party arrived at Solitude in less than a day. Still, the scene of carnage at the base of the mountain managed to surprise him a little; mostly because it proved the tales were actually true. He and his group began to climb up the mountain in hopes to find something that would tell him where his son was, and for almost two days all they found was nothing except abandon supply gear and such. Until two hours ago.

Corpses belonging to his elite guards frozen, impaled or shred to pieces laying around the snow and, thanks to the light wind and calm weather, very visible and clear for them to follow a route. About fifty meters away from them they found the frozen corpse of a bulking pegasus wearing the armor and sign of Spike. Fear struck Dainn and he forced the party to march forward while they searched along their path for anything strange or out of place. Now, just moments ago, they’d found a pillar of ice with a pony impaled on it also bearing the mark of his son.

“Where are you, Spike?” Dainn said in a shaky tone, ignorant of the glares his two sons, Akios and Calvin, shot behind him. Suddenly he heard one of his soldiers call to the closest to him. Dainn looked at them standing still looking at the snow before dropping to their knees and, just a few seconds later, rise up holding something large with their hands. Something large and purple as far as he could tell. “NO!” Dainn shouted with grief before teleporting to where the two were; his sudden reappearance prompting them to let go of the object.

The soldiers moved aside and the rest around stopped their search to see their all-powerful king drop to his knees and pick up the purple object that, much to his demise, was Spike’s tail. While he was holding it he was able to see another purple object just a meter or so in front of him. Using his magic, Dainn lifted the new object and he grunted in pain when from the snow raised a severed and nearly frozen scaly arm.

Bringing the arm close to him, Dainn hugged the tail and the arm of his would-be son tightly. A couple of minutes of long silence passed until the king of the caribou, Dainn, let out an enraged shout to the heavens. Several seconds later his shout ended as he slowly got up, still clinging to the remains of Spike.

“We return to the Crystal Empire,” Dainn ordered with a heavy, mournful tone. “Spike shall receive a kingly burial,” almost every soldier around Dainn gasped in surprise as well as his two sons.

“Father, you can’t be serious!” Calvin snapped at his father. “Even in death you favour that worthless liza--” Calvin stopped talking when a blue aura of magic appeared around his neck, lifted him up and squeezed tightly making the prince fight for air.

“His name was Spike, Calvin,” Dainn said loudly with an expression of pure anger and a tone just to match. “Spike was a thousand times the males you and the rest of your pathetic brothers will ever be!” Dainn snarled squeezing the neck of his son even tighter. “He was meant to be my one true heir! His undying loyalty to me caused his death; I should’ve sent you and your idiotic brothers to die here instead!” Dainn let go of Calvin, whom started gasping for precious air. “And if you value your life, my dear son, you will keep your snout shut or I will switch you and throw you into a dirt farm myself!” Dainn then glanced at his other son and glared him. Akios swallowed loudly and averted his gaze. “Now, let us return.”

I promise you, my son, I shall bring the rebels to their knees for their insolence upon your castle and bring the glory of male superiority to the world. It’s the least I can do for you now.

Dainn thought painfully while he used his wings to fly atop his warbeast and began the slow way back down the mountain. Looking to his left he saw the sun ready to be raised, he focused for a moment, his antlers bathed in a yellow aura and a moment later the sun began to slowly raise on the horizon.

---------------------------------------------------------***********************************************

*Ponyville-East Border to the Everfree Forest--That same morning right after Dainn raised the sun--*

The sudden massive disappearance a few days prior had made Ponyville enter a state of full alert, topped that with the arrival of hundreds of troops in preparation for a great operation had eased the situation slightly. Still, Magistrate Gunne had to keep a tight eye on everything and everyone at the same time. He was certain such an event could only be possible by those damnable changelings and several possible Heretics hiding in the town. He couldn’t fail on his task. Not when king Dainn himself had appointed him in direct command until his return from the Empire.

“Master, look! Pretty white clouds coming from the forest!” a red collared caribou cow on her knees said happily at his left.

“What are you talking about, Ginna?” Gunne said as he shifted his gaze from the group of guards patrolling the area to the borders of the forest and, much to his surprise, there was something coming out between the trees. Not clouds, that much was obvious. “Is that mist?” Gunne asked to himself while he saw the mist coming from the forest increase in volume at ridiculous levels.

“Mare, is the weather patrol working today on a foggy rain day?” Gunna asked to the once proud Mayor Mare, now reduced to a black collar at the service of Gunne.

“No, Master,” she said in a trained, respectful, calm tone. “The weather for today is scheduled as clear skies.”

Gunne didn’t respond and instead eyed the mist now starting to reach the outer buildings of the town.

*Meanwhile in another side of the town*

“Let go of me, you perverted fucks!” Lyra Heartstrings cursed as she struggled against the group of four caribou that were currently groping her ass, tits and teasing her pussy while they laughed darkly.

“Always the feisty one, eh bitch?” one of the stags said in a mocking manner while he pinched her nipples. “I love how much of a fight you always put, slut. Makes me so fucking hard,” he pinched her nipples harder making Lyra scream out in pain and disgusting pleasure.

“Fuck you, asshole!” Lyra managed to shout at them but in response they all laughed.

“No, no, my fuckable little mare toy. We are going to fuck and rape you all day long until our balls are drained,” the guard licked his lips when he saw the eyes of the mare starting to moisten up. “You may have quite a reputation but after we’re done with you, bitch, you’ll be starving for our cocks,” the group laughed before throwing Lyra to the ground and spread her legs open while she screamed and cursed them as loudly as she could. But then she stopped when the caribou suddenly halted their movements.

Opening her eyes, Lyra saw she was now surrounded by some kind of thick fog or mist.

“What the fuck is this shit?” a caribou asked.

“How the fuck should I know? Probably those pegasi idiots of the weather station mixed the fuel with the cum-rain for the dirt farms again,” another one stated.

“Probably.”

Lyra clearly felt the grip on her arms and legs ease up and decided to take her chance. She pulled back her arms and kicked the stag in front of her before rolling to the side, crawl up to her knees and then got up and started to run through the thick mist.

“Fucking bitch! How dare you attack your masters!” she heard a caribou shout behind her and she increased her pace. Her hands were still chained together but she didn’t care at the moment, she was making a run for her freedom and she was not going to waste it. She didn’t knew where she was running to but as long as her hooves could take her away from the caribou and away from Ponyville she would be happy.

As she ran, however, she began to notice the mist was rapidly becoming less and less thicker. Her heart was beating like never before while she prayed to the divine creators to help her escape from the clutches of her captors right before she tripped over a misplaced stone.

“Unffff!” Lyra groaned in pain the moment she hit the floor. Ignoring the slight stinging pain she felt on her face she desperately tried to crawl away.

“There’s the fucking whorse!”

The voice of one of the stags made her attempts at freedom to triple in desperation. Suddenly she stopped when her hands touched something hard, warm and scaly. She froze up and heard the hoofsteps of the caribou a couple of meters behind her come to an abrupt halt.

“Is….is that…..Marshal Spike?”

Lyra felt her heart shatter and the tiny flames of hope she held being extinguished at the incredulous tone of the caribou. Slowly, she looked up from her pathetic position only to find two green, draconic eyes she had known very well from before the Fall looking down at her. Lyra tried to say something but all she could feel in her throat was a knot, that and hot tears forming in her eyes.

Suddenly, and without warning, he kneeled down just enough to offer his hand to her. Against her better judgment she accepted his hand and then she felt his scaly, strong hand help her up in a gently manner. Once back on her hooves she stared at the dragon, her entire body trembling in fear, and then he did the unthinkable. Using both hands he took a hold of the chains binding her hands and with a simple pull he shattered them setting them free. Then he reached to her neck and with a single action her black collar was gone until it touched the dirt below.

“Keep running towards the forest and don’t stop, Lyra.”

Lyra, extremely confused, looked puzzled at the dragon’s eyes and he stared back for several seconds until a loud siren alarm sang through the air. A second later the eyes of the dragon turned white.

“Now.”

Lyra stood still while Spike, the one she knew as the proud and mighty Marshal of king Dainn, the dragon that had betrayed them all now walked toward the town of Ponyville, totally covered by a layer of white mist. She looked back to see the four caribou guards running back to the town as fast as they could before she heard a buzzing sound.

She then saw none other than Chrysalis, queen of the changelings and high leader of the rebellion, land beside a naked Spike while she was clad in a black and pointy looking armor whilst carrying the biggest and deadliest scythe she had ever seen in her life. A completely red curved monstrosity with a green blade and equally green back spikes.

A moment later she felt the ground below her shake and she turned to see the forest. And she gasped taking a step back.

Dozens upon dozens of ponies, stallions and mares alike, on top of manticores coming out of the forest line alongside with even more ponies, zebras, donkeys, bulls, diamond dogs, minotaurs and changelings all clad in steel, leather or that same black armor the queen was wearing came out behind them wielding spears, swords, axes, bows, ballista and whatever weapon she knew of.

But even that was nothing compared to seeing packs of timberwolves obeying the commands of changelings and to the horde of griffons, pegasi, thestrals and changelings taking up the skies; some of them even cavalging bugbears. She also saw minotaurs holding cragadiles on a leash or the three hydras she could see obeying the commands of zebras

The siren alarm sang again only to be replaced by the roar of a dragon. She heard the changelings hiss, the monsters roar and growl and the rest shout or chant something right before charging towards the town. Only then did Lyra remembered what Spike had ordered her to do and ran to the forest, the soldiers letting her pass through without problem. The last thing she heard was the another roar of the dragon before the battle broke out.

*With Spike*

Spike roared in defiance while he used his sharp claws to cut to pieces a caribou guard like butter, his armor providing no protection whatsoever against him. He then turned to face another caribou guard but before he could do anything to him a green blast of energy hit the caribou in the chest shattering the caribou to pieces. He looked up to see a female changeling smiling at him before flying away. He smirked, their runes provided no protection now that Zecora figured the trick out. It basically resumed to focusing a great amount of power into a single strike, and the runes wouldn’t be able to dispel it on time.

He specially liked the colorful side-effect it created upon impact. That was his favorite part.

Spike jumped to the ceiling of a house to take down two griffon archers by simply knocking them out. He then lunged forward to the third archer, a caribou, and used his claws to first cut off both his hands letting the caribou scream in pain as blood spurted out before using his sharpened tail to pierce his stomach and then split him in half.

Twenty four. Spike counted.

He took a moment to look around and see the chaos of battle. Buildings starting to burn, battle on each street and in the sky. Rebel soldiers and monsters killing caribou and their warbeasts left and right, while trying to avoid killing any non-caribou and red collar ‘Guardian’ females. He saw Chrysalis use her massive scythe to decapitate three warbeasts with a single swing. It was to be expected, her darn scythe was twice her size.

Her orders before the attack began were clear. One, Kill every and all caribou except for high ranking officers. And Two, Try to knock out everyone else but never hesitate if it was inevitable. Freeing any and all females was, of course, top priority and an unspoken rule everyone knew.

“Fight whores. Fight! Protect your masters!” Spike heard a caribou shout near him. Jumping to the next rooftop he saw said caribou cracking a whip around while at least seventy females, most of them ripped with muscles and all wearing red collars, surrounded a small group of caribou officers while three unicorn guards protected them with a magic barrier.

“Yes, Master!” all the females shouted in unison while many rebel soldiers tried to find an opening to strike and knock them out.

Spike roared in rage and leaped down right to them; effortlessly piercing the barrier and ripping to shreds the caribou holding the whip with his fangs and claws. He then roared so loud that he forced everyone around him to cover their ears. A few moments later the rebel soldiers began to knock out the females and the cowering caribou officers.

Looking to the left he saw a large group of caribou heavy units coming right to the center of the plaza. Spike jumped to a nearby wall and then launched himself against the first heavy caribou making him and the first two behind him fall to the ground. Without wasting any time Spike started to used his claws to cleave and rip his way across the hulking caribou. Two other heavies charged at him with their warhammers but Spike ducked and used his serrated tail to cut away their legs from their knees. The two caribou screamed in agony while they fell to the ground holding their stumps as blood gushed out.

Spike jumped to the nearest wall barely avoiding a spear. He looked at the caribou that threw it now readying his warhammer to fight him. Spike snarled letting green fire erupt from his nostrils before he lunged forward at the caribou. The caribou moved at the last second dodging the dragon before hitting Spike’s head with all his strength. The caribou smiled in victory before his warhammer cracked and then shattered right in front of his eyes. On its place two shining white orbs now stared at him. Before the caribou could do anything else, Spike moved up to him and wrapped his arms around the stag before squeezing with all his might. The caribou felt his bones shatter instantly and his skin, organs and muscles to either pop out or been turned into a nasty pulp.

Spike let go of the stag and turned to see the other ten remaining heavy units.

“Twenty nine,” he said before leaping at the remaining survivors of the group while the battle unfolded savagely. The air had an awful stench of blood and other bile juices, most of those belonging to the caribou and the poor souls that couldn’t be knocked out. The thought served to anger Spike even further.

Leaving all pretences aside, he used his tail to behead the nearest heavy caribou while he used his claws to crush the skulls of two more with ease. He spun around using his right foot and then kicked the chest of another caribou with enough strength to not only send said caribou crashing a wall, but to also destroy said wall while leaving a big red stain on the borders. Using his tail again he pierced the underside jaw of another heavy caribou until the tip came out of his head and then cut the head in half from the inside out. He opened his mouth wide and bit down the neck of the heavy to his left before ripping it away letting the caribou fall to the ground trying to cover the deadly wound.

Spike felt a sensation course through his body. A sensation of satisfaction, fulfilling….of joy, even. He used both his hands to crush the skull of another caribou letting the blood and the brains of his newest victim stain his hands. And he smiled. He felt...happy.

“It feels gooooood~” he sang letting a dumb smile adorn his face. The last two heavy caribou shaking in fear while they tried to back away from the monster before them. “I feel great!” Spike shouted looking at them. “I feel….I feel…. I feel like singing!” he took a step forward making the two caribou fall to the ground, paralyzed with fear. Taking another step closer he suddenly jumped and then landed on their stomachs letting the laws of his feet dig on their entrails before taking them out, dragging out whatever his feet claw managed to cling themselves at.

“Thirty nine!” Spike shouted again before jumping to a rooftop, letting the beauty of the whole scene unfold in front of him.

“Let’s get out of here!” Spike managed to hear before he grinned and jumped down and landed in front of a group of caribou calf, four to be precise not older than fourteen he was sure. “Traitor!” the tallest and of the group called. “Heretic!” he cursed at Spike.

“Where are you going boys!?” Spike asked in a chilly, yet amused tone. “Don’t you want to stay in the Tartarus you made for yourselves!?” they didn’t respond, instead the calf simply whimpered pathetically. “You think you can run away!? Oh, boys, don’t you see?” Spike clear his throat.

“There’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to run~” he sang as he pounced at the tallest calf grabbing him by the antlers. The calf screamed in agony the moment Spike tore away his antlers right before jamming one in his stomach and the other into his mouth and down his throat. Spike turned to one of the now fleeing calf and breathed out a torrent of green fire upon the calf. Spike spun on his place once hearing the burning calf scream in excruciating agony.

“Your coats will burn like the heart of the sun~” He then leaped to the other two fleeing calf and caught them both by the neck. He grabbed onto one tightly while he tossed the other one to the ground and used his left foot to hold him in place. The calf on the ground tried his best to set himself free but it was futile. He turned completely to the calf currently in his tight grip and held him in front of him, forcing the calf to look at him to his white, shining eyes.

“How can I glare into your eyes and then not-”

“AAARRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH”

“-stab them~” Spike sang while piercing the eyes of the calf with his thumbs.He let the calf scream and try to fight back for a few short seconds before crushing his skull with both hands. Meanwhile his left foot moved upward and then crushed the head of the calf on the floor. Spike them jumped and grabbed a female changeling passing through. The changeling, slightly confused, was even more so when they touched ground and turned her to see a few of the caribou stag prisoners being beaten by rebel soldiers.

“How can I stare at their pain, and then not laaaauuuuugh~” he sang contently. “Forty three, by the way,” Spike let go of the stunned changeling mare.

“With infinite glee, it’s going to be me that slaughters their world!~” Spike sang gleefully before letting out a joyful roar. After he finished, he spun around a few times, almost like he was dancing ballet and then jumped into the fray once more. He was enjoying himself immensely for the first time in his life.

-----------------------------------------------*****************************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“And don’t even start giving me strange looks for enjoying myself like that for killing, and maiming, and burning, and tearing,” Spike smirked at the judges. “You could say it was my first time,” Spike chuckled to himself. “I’m sure you’re all just dying to know what happens next, my dear judges, but before I can continue I need to drain the lizard again.”

There was a ten second long silence before the ursa judge hit the pedestal.

“The court will take a ten minute rest,” the ursa judge declared.

“Thanks,” Spike got up flanked by the minotaur guards. “And if you think that was bad wait until I tell you when my ‘Fun Room’ started,” his eyes turned blue and he gave the judges a warm, sincere smile. “It was pure bliss.”

Chapter 6 Part 1 Ends.

Author's Note

Special thanks to allwho read this!

Yes, Part 1. I decided to separate this chapter into two parts because A) It would be freaking huge like the last one; if not bigger. And B) Because of limited time (aka work) I might not be able to write anything for a week or two. (Spoiler: Part 2 contains huge amounts of blood, gore and all that good stuff and will be longer)

*Un-Edited, if anyone whishes to venture on editing this mess I made please PM me*

Chapter 6: Rise of Equestria P2

Judgment Chapter 6: Rise of Equestria

Part 2

The doors of the courtroom opened once more letting the now very familiar figure of Spike walk inside again. The walk to his seat was slow but calm, as always offering smiles to those that dared to look his way. But there was something different this time; Spike wasn’t wearing his pants anymore, he now completely nude. Not that it mattered much to him or any other dragon to begin with.

Spike sat on his chair and relaxed.

“Prisoner,” the ursa judge called. “Are you ready to proceed?”

“Of course,” Spike cleared his throat. “Now, where was I?”

-----------------------------------------------*****************************************************

*Ponyville-Town Center-Three years, six months and two weeks into the Fall- 7:27 a.m.*

Spike spun around in a swift and graceful motion while at the same time using his extended claws and tail tip to cut the caribou that had surrounded him. He stopped the moment the screams began and the warmth of their blood and meat touched his scales. Spike looked down and around him and saw twelve caribou soldiers on the ground, two of them were already dead; their heads sliced in three or four parts while the rest now laid without arms, legs or intestines. One in particular caught his attention and made him giggle seeing the stag trying to stop the blood gushing out of his neck.

“Three hundred and seventy six!” he declared before using his tail to pierce the heart of one stag that tried to crawl away without both arms, his scream of absolute pain followed by his pathetic whimpers made the dragon feel giddy with joy. “Seventy seven!” Spike sang again before stomping on the heads of another two, uncaring of adding more guts, brains, blood or whatever other disgusting substance onto him. “Eighty one!” he then snarled before breathing out a stream of orange fire onto three stags before kneeling down and grabbing the last two survivors by their antlers and dragged them out of the house they were hiding and onto the ongoing battle outside.

“You-Arrgggg!- You fucking traitor!” one of the stags shouted through his pain, clinging as hard as he could to his stomach trying to retain his insides, well, inside him. Spike didn’t respond.

“Three hundred and eighty four,” Spike said in a tone he could barely hear while he watched the spectacle before him.

The battle had started only forty minutes ago and already the remaining surviving caribou were trying to hide inside the buildings or run away from the battle. Spike knew Chrysalis and the rebels lacked numbers even when attacking a town like Ponyville that barely had twenty five thousand inhabitants, including the garrison and the two thousand soldiers already stationed there for whatever plan Dainn had in mind.

Spike chuckled. Four thousand against twenty five thousand, the odds were not in their favour and he knew they had no hope of winning. That is, if they had attacked blindly.

The dragon looked around seeing the mist he had created remaining strong and cloudy; allowing the changelings and diamond dog soldiers attack freely and unseen most of the time. The small army had taken the town by surprise and attacked as one with brutal, overwhelming force. The hydras, bugbears and manticore tamers had spearheaded the attack against the garrison forces and the army stationed in Ponyville. The result was inordinate and effective. Meanwhile hours before the actual attack, changeling mimickers had infiltrated the town to drug the water supply with a special drug Zecora designed. At least half the town was asleep and would be none-the-wiser thanks to that.

“Zzzzzrrrkkkkeeee!”

Spike turned his head to the left to see an entire division of changelings fight against female guardians while their masters, both caribou and otherwise, tried to flee but to no avail. Timberwolves leaped onto the caribou using their wooden claws; hard as steel and just as sharp, to tear them apart while they screamed. Some unfortunate ponies and donkeys fell prey to the timberwolves but the orders of Chrysalis were clear.

Spike closed his eyes letting the sounds of the ongoing carnage put a genuine smile on his face. Suddenly he felt the caribou on his right start to struggle harder. Opening his eyes he looked down on the caribou trying to pull away with his now only hand. He saw something at the corner of his eye, let go of the caribou on his left, shifted his stance to grab the caribou on his right by his antlers, lifted him up in a single motion effortlessly and then tossed him to the rooftop on the other side of the street. The caribou archer barely had enough time to notice the living missile coming his way before it hit him; knocking them down to the street and letting the timberwolves rip them to shreds.

Without batting an eye Spike grabbed the caribou on his left again, dragged him to the middle of the street and then using the same technique he used previously he tossed the caribou. Only this time higher and stronger. Spike stood still until the stag landed on top of Sugar Cube Corner; impaling himself against one of the phallic pillars that had replaced the candles of the cupcake on top three years ago.

“Three hundred and eighty five,” Spike whispered to himself. He looked to see the changeling division and found they were already taking the surviving females and non-caribou males away to a safe zone. He could see two or three caribou prisoners but they weren’t important. The real important targets were the caribou officers. But even they fell into the ‘Knock out if possible’ rule, mostly to squeeze out any secrets they could possibly be hiding later on.

“And speaking of which,” Spike said to himself before turning his gaze to the town hall, one of the few buildings still intact.

*Inside the town hall*

Magistrate Gunne stood still watching from his window the battle that ravaged the entire town. The moment he heard the initial roar he knew there was no escape, no reason to even try. And so he did the only thing he could do now, wait. And for forty minutes he had done just that, all the while watching his brothers die at the hands of the rebels and the heretics that defied the divine rule of Dainn and the regime of male superiority.

Suddenly the door to his office burst open and he turned back just enough to see the familiar figure of a dragon looking at him through the obscured room with two shining white eyes.

“Where is Mayor Mare?” Spike asked in a dark, icy tone.

Gunne turned his gaze back to the window and sighed. “When the attack began I told her to flee if she wanted to be free again,” there was a moment of silence between the two, broken only by the muffled sounds of the war outside. “It’s….surprising to see you alive, Spike. Care to talk?” There was another moment of silence before the sound of steps echoed inside the room. After a few of them silence reigned once more. Gunne glanced at his right and saw the dragon standing silently at his side whilst also looking the scene outside the window; currently featuring a manticore and a warbeast fighting across the street. After a full minute of silence, and watching the warbeast best the manticore (only for it to be tackled by another two) Gunne sighed heavily.

“I always thought you were just acting. Lying your way to the top,” Gunne put his arms behind his back. “That you were a Heretic, to be precise. Guess this proves I was right, don’t you think so, Spike?” the dragon didn’t respond. Gunne stared in silence while he saw five of his brothers run down the street, a moment later they were jumped by a dozen or so marelings, pony mares and one diamond dog bitch. Moments later the females began to stab his brothers to death while they cut off their members and held them up as trophies.

“Doesn’t matter now I suppose,” Gunne’s shoulders fell slightly.

“Master…” Ginna called sitting quietly until now on the corner.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything, or filed a report then?” Spike asked in a more neutral tone; his white eyes never blinking.

“I did, many times in fact. But I never got clearance,” Gunne sighed again. “You were under the direct protection of Dainn, you were virtually untouchable and as long as you succeed on your missions nothing else mattered,” silence followed suit for a couple of seconds. “It was frustrating seeing you climb up on the social ladder so fast. I fought so hard to achieve the rank of Magistrate but you achieved the rank of General with a mere command, and then Dainn elevated you to a new rank created just for you. All that was left was for him to name you his heir or something,” Gunne joked unnoticing the slight descent of temperature. “All the more reason I had to suspect of you, but I never found anything to prove you were a Heretic in disguise,” Spike didn’t respond for several seconds.

“You do know I’m going to kill you, right?” Spike asked in that same neutral tone.

Gunne sighed again. “Yes, I know. There’s no point in keeping me alive since you already know everything I could possibly know. But before you do, can you tell me when did you turn into a Heretic? Or were you one since the start?”

“I turned into a Faker the day Applejack escaped. Indirectly, I was the one that let her go and that earned me the end of my slavery to your dark corruption.”

“Applejack?....Applejack….Ah! The sister of sir Macintosh; one of the national prizes. That was little over year and a half ago if I remember correctly,” Gunne let out a mirthful laugh. “Mister Macintosh was hard to deal with at the beginning, even before I became Magistrate he was guilty of treating females nicely, especially his black collar sister,” Gunne sighed again feeling the room turning a bit colder. “He avoided re-education, fortunately, it would’ve been a shame to lose him like that. But I suppose that his disappearance means he is also a….what did you call it? Faker?”

“Yes, and Soarin too. Just my closest friends were Fakers like me, some since the beginning of this Tartarus.”

“Ah, I see,” Gunne remained silent for several seconds watching at least thirty of his brothers chained, nude and with their antlers cut off, being forced to crawl through the street while pulling a cart filled with corpses. Meanwhile a zebra wearing caribou armor was hugging a zebra mare wearing a black armor nearby, while two changeling soldiers took away the armor of the zebra stallion. “So this is what father was talking about.”

“Master, please don’t!” Ginna called from her spot but a single hand movement from Gunne made her shut up.

“What do you mean by that?” Spike asked.

“Our father, that is Ginna’s and mine, was an odd one. He believed females should be treated with more compassion and care. He was a stag through and through, don’t mistake that, but yet he always tried to be as nice as possible to females,” Gunne clenched his hands. “I really don’t like calling females bitch, or whore or any of those titles. They may be lowly and stupid females but they have names,” he glanced at Ginna. “Father said, on his death bed, that the caribou would pay one day for everything we’ve done. I never understood what he meant by it until now,” Gunne turned to face Spike, whom was still looking outside the window.

“I always had a feeling that what my people do is wrong, ‘but how can it be wrong if everyone is so happy with the way we do things’. I always told myself that, but deep down I knew there had to be another way to keep male superiority in the power it deserved without treating females like...things. My Ginna is not a thing. She is a female. A stupid, worthless female, but she is not a thing. She’s my sister and my pet...and I love her despite that,” Gunne smiled.

“Gunne!” Ginna called in a whimper.

“Spike,” Gunne ignored her call. “You do realise you can’t defeat Dainn, right? He is too powerful. He is our king and the ultimate male in the world, nothing can stop his might,” suddenly the dragon turned to face him making Gunne jump a little.

“Of course I know,” Spike’s eyes turned even whiter, the light coming out of them increasing in volume and bright. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t try,” Spike snarled.

“Spike,” Gunne swallowed. “Just...just promise me you won’t harm her, please. Promise me you won’t harm my Ginna,” at the mention of her name, Ginna crawled her way to Gunne until she was embracing his leg shakily.

Spike turned his attention to Ginna before pushing Gunne aside. The stag grunted but did nothing else aside staring in worry. Spike knelt down placing a shining blue hand on top of her head. A few seconds later he retreated his hand and glared Gunne making the stag take a step back in fear. Spike then placed his right hand over the slightly bulged stomach of Ginna. Seconds later he gasped sadly and got up.

“Even like that you have no salvation,” Spike said in a chilly tone. The dragon moved to face Gunne and a blink of an eye later he had his left claw piercing the abdomen of Gunne. The attack had been so sudden that Gunne didn’t scream, he simply opened his mouth in shock while blood started to dribble out. Spike’s body began to glow with a white like and for the first time Gunne was able to see the dragon without the darkness of the room partially covering him.

Spike was drenched in blood, his scales were no longer purple but now they resembled a deep red scheme. Not to mention the pieces of meat, muscles and brains hanging from his head spines, shoulders, talons and tail. And the stench was now unbearable. Gunne had barely smelt anything when Spike entered or even when he was standing next to him, but now all he wanted to do was puke. He couldn’t, however, and limited himself to cough some of his blood all over Spike’s face.

“P---Please….*cough*---d--don’t kill….my Ginna,” Gunne gazed into the white orbs of Spike and began to cry. “I...I beg of you--Not Ginna...not….not my babe,” his answer was silence. Complete absolute silence inside that room. “G--arrrggg!--Ginna?....Ginna!” but his sister didn’t answer. He then felt being pulled forward until he was just an inch away from touching the face of Spike.

“I made it quick for them,” Spike said in a cold, heartless tone just a moment before a soft thud was heard behind the dragon. “Your sister didn’t even feel a thing,” using his free arm he pierced the back of Gunne making the stag squirm and shout out in pain. “Unlike you, Gunne. I don’t care what you believe or what you didn’t do. What matters is what you did, and for that, you’ll die right here,” there was a horrible crunching noise followed by a muffled scream of Gunne. “Right now.”

Letting go of Gunne the body hit the floor unceremoniously, an empty and lifeless stare on the eyes of Spike’s newest victim. Spike turned around and made his way to Ginna, once he was close enough he knelt down and carefully lifted her up like she was a bride. Looking down he noticed her breathing was weak but calm, peacefully asleep. Spike walked out of the building and was soon greeted by a small group of griffons and thestrals, all of them doing their best to not look away from his bloodstained form.

“Take her,” Spike ordered giving the cow to a bat pony before placing a hand over her stomach, he focused letting a blue light cover his hand and her abdomen for a few moments; then Ginna grunted in displeasure and pain while she slept for a few seconds. “And make sure the medical bay treats her right; she just had an abortion,” Spike said before he jumped to one of the nearby rooftops and contemplated the battle slowly coming to an end.

“Three hundred and eighty seven,” Spike whispered to himself before spotting a small group of ponies trying to run away from the battle. All of them wearing either caribou armor or royal armor.

*A few minutes later*

“You will pay for this treason, you fucking female sympathizer!” a unicorn guard shouted before Spike slapped him unconscious.

“And I hope you will thank me in a few hours,” Spike replied letting a unicorn rebel pick the group he had stopped up with his magic and take them away.

“Sir?” Spike turned to his left to see a cervidae doe, a rare sight to behold since just a handful of cervidae lived in Equestria before the Fall. She swallowed while trying not to cover her nose. “I bring a report from commander Applejack. She says the fields have been purged of rape-vines, the warbeast stables destroyed and that the south, east and central districts of Ponyville are cleared out entirely.”

“She really does work fast,” Spike said with a smirk. “What about the rest of the districts, the garrison and the outskirts?”

“Commander Applejack is taking charge of the rest of the districts as we speak while her brother, major Macintosh, has formed a perimeter along the outskirts. His last report marked them as secured,” the doe opened the bag at her left side and took out a paper fold. “The garrison was almost completely destroyed during the initial assault and only the central command post remains unsecured. Queen Chrysalis herself is leading the attack but the caribou inside and the remaining Enslaved and Corrupted have taken several females as hostages.”

“Figures,” Spike hummed. “Is commander Yog nearby?” the doe nodded. “Tell him to bring as many caribou corpses as he and his troops can outside the castle and leave them there. I already cleared it myself so they have nothing to worry about,” Spike smiled at the doe making her flinch in reflex upon seeing his fangs. “I’ll head on to the garrison to give Chrysalis a hand in the meantime.”

“R-Right away, sir,” the doe said in a shaky tone before leaving in a hasty retreat.

Spike could hear the doe run away to fulfill her orders while he turned in direction of the local garrison. He crouched for some seconds before giving a mighty jump forward. From his view, forty maybe fifty meters above ground, he was able to see much of the chaos the battle for Ponyville had left despite the white mist; it wasn’t a problem for him since he made it. Almost everything in his immediate line of sight was either crumbling, burning or being cleared out. He could see all kinds of ponies and changelings, amongst some of other species carrying out sleeping or knocked-out victims. Some others were claiming vengeance or prizes from the caribou in the middle of the streets while some others escorted prisoners.

Still, what made him smile were the corpses littering almost every cleared street or open zone; most of them belonging to the caribou and while he was able to see corpses of several ponies and from other species, he knew it was for the best.

I would’ve killed them myself if given the chance, at least they are free once again, he thought grimly. After everything they’ve done the fucking caribou deserve no less than death. Killing them is the right retribution. Killing is so...delectable, Spike grinned for a moment but soon he dropped it. But why...why do I feel like I’m not doing enough?

Spike stopped his train of thoughts when he noticed he was starting to lose altitude and speed, but sure enough he was now able to see the garrison and the central command post. He was still far away to make anything out properly but he noticed a magic shield around the building and several bolts of magic, mostly green, shooting at it. Moments later he landed quite softly in front of the gates of the garrison and scaring the nearby friendly soldiers. Without a word he quickly made his way to his next objective while dodging any soldier or occasional medic in his way; most barely noticed him since he was moving in a speed that could give Pinkie Pie a run for her bits.

It took him about two or three minutes to reach his target and, like he had seen from the air, the central command post was surrounded by a light blue barrier. The building in itself wasn’t all that big, probably fifty meter long by twenty meters wide and just two stories high. The barrier was currently receiving a barrage of magic bolts from changelings and unicorns; meanwhile some pegasi dropped thunderbolt spheres over it and other non-magic users used bows, slings or ballistas to attack it. And despite all that the barrier held strong.

“Spike?” A voice behind him asked in a tone he could only describe as incredulity. He turned around to see Diamond Tiara looking at him with wide eyes while her long time friend (and once a black collar under his care during the first year of the Fall) Silver Spoon at her side giving him a similar look mixed with fear. He noticed both of them were wearing black chitin armor, had their manes cut down to barely touch their shoulders and Diamond Tiara herself didn’t have her trademark tiara from years before. Both of them seemed to be fine, except maybe for the fresh scar on Diamond Tiara’s left cheek and looking a bit tired.

“Diamond Tiara….Silver Spoon,” Spike greeted letting the young mares look up and down on him; Silver Spoon even covered her mouth. “Like my new outfit?” he asked before striking a pose. “I design it myself! I can assure you it is to kill for!” the two mares looked at him directly at his white shining eyes but their expressions never changed. “Man I’ve grown rusty, that was by far the worst joke I’ve come up with,” he commented before sighing. “It’s good to see you two again, I mean it.”

“Thanks, it’s good to see you too, Spike,” Diamond Tiara replied avoiding his eyes. “Queen Chrysalis ordered us a minute ago to go and find you.”

“She sent you and not one of her drones or someone that could fly?”

“The queen needs all her current soldiers firing at the barrier,” Silver Spoon said looking at the barrier. “As long as we keep attacking they can’t harm their hostages or counterattack.”

“I see,” Spike took a quick glance at the barrier and saw some soldiers holding crossbows ready to fire from the few windows the building had while the main door was surely reinforced and barricaded. “Can you guide me to her?” Spike asked before the two mares turned around and Diamond Tiara signaled him to follow her. Spike didn’t said anything to them and paid little care to the soldiers around that saluted him or simply stared.

Less than a minute later Spike arrived at a table with a map on top of it while Chrysalis, five of her lieutenants and Cranky stood around said table; all of them looking down at the map unaware of his arrival.

“Queen Chrysalis, ma'am, we have brought Spike the Dragon as requested,” Diamond Tiara said with genuine respect.

Chrysalis looked up to her and then glanced at the dragon. “That was surprisingly quick,” Chrysalis commented with a stern look. “Good job you two, you may retire and help with the western evacuation of the town,” the two mares saluted before going to perform their new orders.

Spike stared as they left for a few seconds before approaching the table. “Does Diamond Tiara know what happened to Filthy?”

“I told her myself,” Cranky replied, the old donkey wearing his casual janitor clothes and no armor except for a helmet. “She took it well, considering, and is proud to be his daughter after everything he did.”

“Without his help I doubt I would be here like I am today,” Spike and Cranky shared a few seconds of wordless gazing before he turned to face the changeling queen. “Need any help?”

“That’s why I was forced to call you, Spike. Those bastards dug themselves inside before my soldiers could catch them,” Chrysalis hit the table. “There are around two hundred of them and almost a hundred females by our best guess and, according to the scout party, all of them are blacks.”

“The ones in retraining,” Cranky grumbled.

“Precisely. They are the last solid defence in Ponyville, rescuing those poor females is our top priority,” a changeling lieutenant added.

“Right, got any ideas?” Spike asked.

“That’s why I called for you, the only options we currently have are either keep blasting at the barrier until it does down, use a single powerful magic blast or you. For the first time is a luxury we don’t have and for the second we could end up killing everyone in the building; that is something I would rather avoid this time around. In the end calling you is the best solution so far,” Chrysalis explained. “Think you can do something about it?”

Spike hummed nodding once. “I think I could try to force the barrier open, enter the building and kill every caribou inside it while keeping the females and the brainwashed safe. Or maybe I could try to destroy the barrier or disable it long enough for your soldiers to pour in,” Spike crossed his arms. “Although, maybe I could trick them into dropping the barrier for us.”

“How exactly would you do that?” Cranky asked with intrigue.

“By showing their mighty Marshal has captured the changeling queen,” the five lieutenants stared at him with blank expressions while Cranky covered his eyes with one hand and mumbled something that sounded very similar to ‘idiot’. “Think about it, as far as they know I could be doing a mission for the fucker king,” he added making Chrysalis ponder his ideas. “But since it’s you calling the shots here you get to decide, Chrysalis. Follow one of my ideas or come up with another option.”

Chrysalis looked at him straight into his glowing eyes and smirked darkly.

*Inside the Command Post*

Captain Harald was having a bad day. The attack by the rebel forces fell upon them mere moments after the strange mist covered the entire town and beyond and, while he hated to admit it, it had been ferocious, sudden and utterly devastating; most of the troops were either asleep or unequipped when it started. Not only that but apparently the damnable rebels knew where and, most importantly, who to strike, effectively cutting down their chain of command and bringing with them chaos and disorder. All in all a carefully planned surprise assault.

By the blessing of Dainn he managed to set up a defensive perimeter around the central command post before the changelings and the rebels got him and his troops. He was also lucky to bring ninety four black collar sluts for protection. Females were precious to the rebels and as long as they had them the rebels wouldn’t dare to overwhelm them; although he was sure the rest of Ponyville was probably claimed by the enemy (with his brothers either captured or slaughtered) he was certain it was only a matter of time before receiving aid from Canterlot.

“Once reinforcements arrive those fucking heretics will pay for this humiliation! We will show them the might of male superiority!” Harald declared earning a round of cheers from his troops. “We’ll switch those heretical males for aiding the worthless females and then they will join them in their punishment for turning against their rightful masters! We’ll remind those whores their proper place by fucking some sense into them by the end of this day!” Another round of cheers echoed through the command post.

But the cheering didn’t last long when they heard a mighty roar that dared turning their blood to ice.

“HARALD!” A voice shouted his name loudly a second after the roar ended. A voice he was familiar with.

“Marshal Spike?” Harald, incredulous and his knees still shaking with fear, approached the nearby window to peek outside. He noticed the constant attack of the rebels had come to a halt, he also noticed Spike making his way calmly towards the barrier. Harald watched in stunned silence while the marshal approached; his eyes shining with a white unnatural light and a soft blue glow enveloping his hands. What made stunned him, however, was the mostly dried blood covering almost every inch of his scales and the few pieces of meat hanging from his spines and parts of his dancing tail.

“I’m going to say this just one time, Harald. Surrender now, drop the barrier and let the females go and I promise you won’t be harmed!” Spike reached the barrier stopping just half a meter in front of it. “If you don’t then I’ll break this barrier down and I will kill you all,” Spike liked his lips slowly. “Please, go on, make my day all the better.”

“Spike, what is the meaning of this!? What are you doing with those fucking rebels!?” Harald shouted from his spot, his anger able to push away the fear the previous roar had installed inside him.

“I just invited them to a nice picnic!” Spike chuckled for a second or two...then suddenly shouted angrily, “What the fuck does it look like I’m doing!?” Harald glare at him. “Now, do as I say or die, all of you!”

Harald huffed and grunted angrily. He was about to curse Spike and use the females as a shield chip when he noticed the dragon smirk and then wink twice at him with his left eye. Harald’s anger subdued, being replaced by mild confusion. Then he saw Spike make a barely perceptible move with his head to the right. Harald glanced at said direction and saw none other than the bitch queen of the changelings holding an oversized scythe and a few changelings around her; silently watching the scene from a safe distance.

The stag glanced back at Spike now openingly smiling at him before nodding slowly. Then Harald smiled back and retreated from the window.

“You have a minute to decide, Harald!” Spike shouted once Harald was out of his sight.

“You’re a genius, Spike!” Harald said enthusiastically and only loud enough to let those nearby hear him. Harald looked at his fellow males. “Rejoice, brothers, for our marshal has brought the bitch queen of the changelings to us! He has lured her to her death! Our great king, Dainn, may he forever reign, will reward us beyond our wildest dreams!”

“Praise Spike, our marshal, my brothers!” Harald said while the rest of the males around him chuckled darkly, some of them even stroking their dicks in anticipation for what promised to be a great celebration. Harald rose to see Spike through the open window.

I don’t know how you did it, Spike, but you convinced the fucking rebels you were on their side! Now I understand why king Dainn had his eyes on you from the start. Harald thought before holding both arms in the air. I shall put my trust in you from now on, my Marshal. “For male superiority,” Harald muttered, followed by his male brothers. “We surrender!” Harald shouted, a smug smirk adorning his lips. “Drop the shield!” he ordered and a second later the barrier around the building disappeared. “Liberate the whores!”

A full minute of uneasy silence followed until the main doors opened letting the ninety four unfortunate females run towards their long awaited freedom; all of them were either crying or thanking the divine creators.

“Smart choice, Harald!” Spike called still from his spot. “Now, all secondary races leave orderly in a tight Triple Line formation, unarmed and with your hands in the air!” Spike ordered while at the same time watching the females arrive with the changeling soldiers and medics nearby, the males already covering them up and removing their collars. Everything else, like tattoos, piercings, ‘enhancement’ implants and any other perverted thing the caribou might have put on their bodies would have to wait.

A couple of minutes later the non-caribou males walked out like instructed, letting the rebel soldiers that approached them to shackle their wrists and/or wings, and in the case of the unicorns put a nullifier ring on their horns.

“Now you, Harald, come to my side!” Spike ordered smirking while Harald smirked back at him. A minute later Harald was outside the building and made his way calmly towards Spike. “Glad you caught on,” Spike said in a low tone, just loud enough to let the two of them hear it. “It’s good to see you again, Harald.”

“I can say the same for you, Spike,” Harald hummed. “I thought you were at the Empire?”

“Undercover mission with the blessing of our king, Dainn,” Spike smiled wildly. “‘Trick the idiots to their death’ I call it, and it worked like a charm.”

“Most impressive, my marshal, but was it necessary to sacrifice the entire town?” Harald asked with caution.

“Sacrifices are needed to achieve victory; a town and the lives it holds are nothing compared to it,” Spike said as he saw the rest of the non-caribou males be taken away quietly. “How many of our warriors are still in there?”

“Two hundred and twelve, my marshal, all of them ready to follow your lead against the changeling slut herself,” Harald let out a raspy groan. “I can’t imagine being among those misguided insects pretending to be like them.”

“You have no idea,” Spike said in a neutral tone.

“But our victory is nigh and male superiority will show its strength once again,” Harald chuckled. “Although, if I may ask, why are your eyes glowing like that?”

Spike crossed his arms. “Dragon thing,” he glanced at his right to see Chrysalis rose her blood drenched scythe. “It’s time. Here are my orders, Harald,” he turned to face the stag eagerly waiting to take action. “Suffer.”

Harald’s eyes snapped open when he felt a punch to his stomach so powerful that it shattered his armor. He fell to his knees, half conscious, and looked up to see Spike facing to the command post. A moment later the dragon took a deep, long breath of air and then a thick stream of orange fire emerged from his mouth. The last thing that Harald was able to hear before darkness consumed him were the agonizing, pain filled screams of his brothers and the cheering of the rebels.

And the laughter of Spike.

------------------------------------------------------------*************************************************

“Took you long enough,” Chrysalis said crossing her arms. “What exactly were you doing in the castle?”

“As I said, leaving a message,” Spike said landing a meter or two in front of Chrysalis, Applejack, Big Mac, Yog, a few other officers and at least a hundred guards standing nearby. Spike had left the moment the command post began to collapse, leaving the few survivors of the blazing inferno he had created be killed off by some lucky soldier. “Is the town clear, Applejack?”

“Not a single soul is left in it Ah tells yah,” Applejack’s eyes turned nostalgic. “Yah really goin’ tah destroy Ponyville, Spike?”

“Our Ponyville died when the caribou came, A.J. And after this is over we can rebuild the farm, Ah reckon we can make it bigger, maybe raise a barn or two,” Big Macintosh said calmly at her sister’s side. Though the look on his face betrayed his tone.

“Ah know,” Applejack sighed heavily. “Do yer thing, Spike.”

Spike turned back and faced the town he had come to both love and hate for vastly different reasons. He approached the end of the small hill they were in, providing him a clear view of almost the entire town, and a painful direct view to the desecrated remains of the library he once called home. Bowing to reconstruct the town one day, he closed his eyes for a few moments. Then he re-opened them, the white light replaced by a intense blue flow while the lines between his scales started shining with the same intensity. The light emerged from his body uncontrollably for almost an entire minute then, to the surprise of everyone, Spike started to levitate two or three meters above the ground while the blue light was slowly being replaced by green flames.

After almost two minutes of concentration, grunting and snarling finally it all ended with a roar so powerful it made all the presents cover their ears. A moment later Spike opened his mouth and a bright, massive and hot stream of green fire erupted directly towards Ponyville; almost everyone had to cover their eyes and face due to the sheer intensity of the dragon’s fire. The flames danced in and on themselves while they washed the landscape without discrimination like a velvety wave of death. Spike began to move his head from side to side, completely covering the entire town in a mantle of green doom. After almost two minutes the flames finally stopped coming out and the green flames below slowly turned to orange, burning whatever was still left standing; the charred remains turning the earth itself black as coal.

Spike landed on the ground and, while he gasped for breath and held his chest tightly he saw that practically the entire town was no more; only the crystal palace remained intact.

“Just what in the name of all that is holy did yah get, Spike,” Applejack said clearly impressed. Impressed and frightened at his display of power.

Spike looked at her, his eyes finally back to normal. “What I told Zecora. *pant* Hope,” he burped out a tiny cloud of grey smoke. “Pardon. *pant* Also, I lost track of *pant* my kill count before, I’m *pant* certain most died because *pant* of my flames sooooo…..*pant* four hundred and sixty sounds fair?” he asked just as the mist finally began to dissipate.

*Hours later-Central Hive*

Spike, now clean from the guts and blood of battle, watched from the top balcony of the fortress all the activity down below. The sheer number of it had put the entire secluded area into full capacity; especially after he had freed the thousands of Enslaved and Corrupted, at least the ones that could be saved. The rest, less than two thousand counting females and males, were given a quick, painless death. Meanwhile the caribou males remained in tight vigilance in the farthest part of the cave and only the top ranking captured officers were being interrogated.

So far the only ones that remained the same were the blanked ones. But he was sure Zecora and her fellow Mystics would develop a way to bring them back to normal. They had to, for their sake. And of course he couldn’t count out the ones that had tragically died during the assault; although he was thankful only a little over three hundred had perished.

A sudden knock at the door snapped him out of his line of thought.

“Come in,” the door opened and revealed Applejack followed closely by Rainbow Dash (now wearing a chitin armor but her wings still wrapped up in green bandages) and Yog. “Hi.”

“Howdy,” Applejack replied seeing Spike turn to see down again. “Yah should be resting after all yah bein’ doin’ lately, Spike. When was the last time yah had some shut eye?”

“And you didn’t even touch your food,” Yog said eying a plate full of fruit, a couple of gemstones, a bowl of soup and a slice of black bread.

“I’m not hungry or tired. I’m not even thirsty,” Spike said nonchalantly. “Ever since I...fused with this power I don’t have the need for it anymore, I think I can even go without breathing,” Spike sighed and turned to see the trio. “How are the wings coming along, Dash?”

“Better,” she flexed her wings twice. “It feels so good to be rid of those damn wing-sheats,” Rainbow stared into Spike’s eyes for a few seconds then smiled wildly. “But I’ll be back into the air in no-time, ready to make the caribou taste the rainbow!”

Spike’s lips formed a small sincere smile. “I bet you are, Dash,” he then dropped it. “And the others? How are they?”

“Twilight is locked inside the library. Rarity is doing her best in the kitchen while Sweetie Belle watches her. Fluttershy is locked inside her room but she does come out every now and then to help around the hospital,” Rainbow answered before looking away. “And Pinkie Pie doesn’t leave the fire pits, she just stares at them in silence. Sometimes she cries while singing a song.”

“I see,” Spike closed his eyes. “Yog, any news?” He asked in such a tone that it sent chills down their spines.

“Mostly good for once. Blueblood sent a message saying that Dainn has been informed of what happened and is returning to Canterlot in a few hours, maybe tomorrow if the weather is bad enough. Also, the troops gathering in Ponyville have stopped and are now returning from where they came from.”

“That ain’t all, the rest of the attacks did their job mighty fine and say they’ll be sending their Enslaved and Corrupted our way once they can. Chrysalis already ordered the expansion of the camp and the defences of the ones outside.”

“I also have a letter for you, Spike. It’s from Empress Shifting Sands, I decided to come and give it to you personally,” Yog said pulling a paper fold out of his armor and handed it over to Spike.

Spike opened the letter and began to read it. After an entire minute of silence he let out a single victorious laugh. “The Empress has good news for us as well! King Blood Talons has agreed to aid her, not directly in fear of weakening his country and his borders but he has placed his most trusted general, Sebastian Wing Cutter, in charge of half the army; they stand ready to help Equestria if the barrier falls,” at his words the trio smiled and Rainbow cheered loudly in a manner that would make Bulk Biceps proud.

“That’s not all though. Groups of ponies that were outside of Equestria before the Fall are also doing their part trying to hire or establish mercenary groups; they know Equestria needs help and are trying to bring down the barrier from the outside. There are also entire zebra tribes ready to bring aid,” Spike shut up for a moment bringing the letter closer to his face. “And there are also over two hundred dragons ready to fight for us.”

“Dragons?” Applejack and Rainbow asked with incredulity.

“Yes,” his already big smile got even wider. “The Empress says that, apparently, most of them are old friends of Mom and aunt Luna and wish to help them now in their time of need. The rest have been bought as mercenaries by the Empress herself,” The mares hugged and cheered while Spike smiled in a relieved way. Yog, on the other hand, was silent but not for long.

“But they can’t do anything unless we take down the barrier first,” at his statement the two mares stopped and their gleeful expressions dropped a bit before Applejack walked over to Spike and patted him on the shoulder twice.

“Don’t yah worry yer silly changeling head, Yog,” Applejack said enthusiastically. “Didn’t yah see what Spike did back in Ponyville? Ah bet he can take Dainn down on his own!”

“No, I can’t,” Spike said in a serious tone. “Dainn is too strong for me.”

“B-but yah burn the town to a crisp on yer own!” Applejack protested, taking a step back.

“Yes, and it took a lot out of me,” Spike argued back silencing Applejack. He raised his right claw and a second later it began to shine with a blue shimmer as mist came out of it. “Now I’m strong, Applejack, and I would be lying if I told you that thought didn’t cross my mind, even when the power warned me it wouldn’t be enough to defeat Dainn alone,” his claw stopped glowing and he brought it down.

“The power, this feeling of invincibility...now I feel how they all felt,” Spike closed his eyes. “Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, Chrysalis, Tirek. All of them were powerful beyond our dreams and understanding,” he opened his eyes now shining white. “Now I know how they felt having a power to change and dominate everything; power to do anything you want,” His eyes returned to normal.

“But do you remember why they lost?” he asked but didn’t waited for an answer. “Now I understand. They lost because they got cocky, arrogant and underestimated you. They had the power to destroy you but didn’t, because they thought nothing could ever defeat them,” he clenched his fists. “A mistake I almost made. I’m not invincible, but nor is Dainn even if the bastard believes he is and, while he is more powerful than me, he is vulnerable,” Spike turned to see the activity below in the camp.

“Spike?” Rainbow asked taking a tentative step towards him. “W-what do you mean by that?” Rainbow asked with a pang of worry in her voice.

“When I fused with this power I knew exactly everything I could do with it and how to do it, but now I see that knowledge isn’t the same thing as control,” he dug his claws into the black stone-like bars of the balcony. “And I have little control over this power. If I want...no, if WE hope to stand a chance against Dainn and the caribou then I need to control my power to near perfection.”

“How long will it take you to master your powers, Spike?” A new voice asked from the doorway making the ones inside turn to face the owner.

“Chrysalis!” Applejack and Rainbow said in surprise.

“My Queen,” Yog said calmly while bowing.

“I don’t know,” Spike stared at her, his eyes suddenly turning white. “But if you give me four months and I assure you I will master my powers in full.”

“Four months its a long time,” Chrysalis said entering the room. “And how is that fucking bastard, son of the vilest demon vulnerable?”

“The power told me that Dainn has his power divided in two parts, the weakest being the Crystal Cock that powers the barrier and the wide-spread taint of his dark magic. The other is himself.”

“And you didn’t tell me anything about that because?”

“Because I’m the only one capable of bringing the barrier down,” Spike’s eyes shifted from a white light to a blue one. “And I’m the hero of the Crystal Empire, it’s my duty and privilege to do it myself. Chrysalis, give me four months and I will not only bring that barrier down but also destroy whatever that Crystal Cock is; I promise.”

Chrysalis crossed her arms and closed her eyes for a few moments. “Very well, but how will you...train your powers?” Chrysalis smirked looking at the dragon but soon her expression turned into one of worry and soon after into one of consternation; mainly due to the eery glow in Spike’s eyes and the cold, unfeeling smirk he was giving.

“I think the best way is to have something to practice on with, mainly to test my limits,” Spike’s eyes returned to normal. “Tell me, have the officers revealed something important so far?” Chrysalis negated. “Then I think I know where to begin.”

*Half an hour later*

“You will pay for this treason with your lives, scum!” a brute of a caribou said. His antlers adorned by a nullifier ring on the base of them. He, just like the rest of the fifty top officers inside the vast building they were currently in, was chained to the ground forcing him to kneel in front of their enemy. “You female-loving assholes will share their fate, you have lost all right to be called males!” A griffon male punched the caribou drawing some blood out. The caribou spit out some of his blood. “Is that the best you got, our future cockwarmer?” the griffon hit him again meanwhile a zebra guard walked out of the room.

“This is pointless,” the zebra said annoyingly as he stepped out of the building. “No matter how much we hit them, torture them, threaten them or execute one in front of them all they say is that same bullshit over and over,” the zebra sat down on the ground. “Why can’t we just kill them all now?”

“We’ll break them eventually,” a mareling said at his side. “But for the moment we need to make them talk, after that we can move them to public executions. Just be patient.”

The zebra chuckled. “They’re halfway there already,” he said glancing at the gathered crowd in front of the building built specifically to allow everyone to hear the screams of pain and the torture sessions of the caribou. And most were eagerly awaiting for more.

Suddenly the crowd began to split in two. Seconds later Spike the Dragon, flanked by two Elements Bearers and Chrysalis herself approached the P.I.C. (Public Interrogation Center). The mareling rose up and screeched as she saluted, Chrysalis nodded at her before the mareling turned and entered the building once more. The zebra stood up before saluting.

“Any progress?” Chrysalis asked the zebra.

“None since you left, your majesty,” the zebra answered respectfully. “Do you wish to question them again, your grace?”

“Not me, him,” Chrysalis pointed to Spike. “Go on, we’ll wait for you here. The guards in turn are waiting for you inside,” Chrysalis walked up to Spike and placed a hand over his shoulder. “Remember, I don’t care what you do with them as long as you make them talk.”

“Thanks, and about what we talked on the way here?”

“Yog is searching for them, they’ll be here any minute now.”

“Perfect. Well then, if you’ll excuse me, I have to give our audience a good show!” Spike called loudly before making his way inside the building skipping and hopping excitedly. To his surprise the entrance was not guarded but was instead blocked by a thin green barrier. He walked past it with no troubles and the sounds from outside suddenly died down, replaced in full from the curses and hexes the caribou spat out. Travelling through a darkened corridor Spike was soon able to see an ample room barely lit by blue flames on the walls. Around the room he could notice several instruments of torture, such as curved blades, thick ropes, multiple whips, glass jars holding liquids and many devices meant to bring pain to their victims.

He was also able to see at least two dozen guards scattered around the room, most of them males and just three marelings. On the ground, scattered around room, the caribou laid in their forced kneeling position, naked and deprived of their weak magic. The moment they saw him all of them began to curse, shout and threaten Spike for his treason to male superiority. The guards were about to move in to silence them but Spike moved first.

“Shut up,” Spike commanded but the caribou didn’t obey. “I said, SHUT UP!” Spike roared loudly silencing the room in an instant. The only sound that could be heard were the slight clinking noises their chains made as they trembled. “That’s better. Isn’t things so much better when you obey your Marshal? Don’t you think so, Harald?”

“Fuck you,” Harald spat. “How could you betray us, Spike? How could you betray his glorious eternal majesty, Dainn?”

“Well, for starters, fuck you too. Secondly, I didn’t betray you. I was your slave and later I became a spy, sort to speak, for the rebel forces. Thirdly, and most importantly, fuck Dainn and all his stinking race to Tartarus, back and to Tartarus again.”

“How dare you insult his majesty's, dragon bitch!?” a caribou shouted angrily trying his best to get up and confront Spike.

“Dragon bitch?” Spike asked surprised. “Last time I checked I’m pretty sure I was still a male,” he looked down before his dragon phallus emerged from between its protective cavern. “Yep, still a male.”

“Not for long, asshole,” another caribou said. “You will pay for your treason and your insolence, we will switch you and then we will fuck you to death! Just like we will to all these fucking sluts and future cocksuking bitches.”

“How threatening, I’m trembling, ohhhh~” Spike scoffed retracting his penis. “But in all seriousness now, why don’t you just give us the information we want? It would end your pain and humiliation you know. How many more of your brothers have to die in front of your eyes for you to finally talk?”

“We will never betray his supreme majesty, we shall never say anything you want, fucking heretical bastard!” the biggest caribou of them all said full of pride. “Do your worst, traitor, we won’t talk!”

“Oh?” Spike said in a dark, icy tone and in such a way that the caribou that defied him lost his smug grin. “Do my worst you say? Do my….worst?” Spike smiled. “As if I could do anything worse than everything I did as your slave and thereafter. No, my dear fucker, I can’t imagine myself doing anything worse than that. But, I do believe I can come to a close second,” he put his arms behind his back. “You see, I’m not interested in what my dear friends want from you, oh no, I’m interested in something much more valuable.”

“I’m interested in one subject in particular, you see. I know for a fact that Dainn was never as strong as he is now, not even close. So, the only logical conclusion is that he gained his power from somewhere else. That’s what I want to know. And now a perfect opportunity has presented itself for me,” Spike crouched to be at eye level with the caribou in front of him. “Only a few caribou took part on the convoy that tricked Shining Armor and Cadance into your trap, but who are they is surprisingly a well hidden secret. I wonder why,” Spike scoffed again.

“But, as fortune has it, one of you was part of said convoy, wouldn’t you say agree,” Spike turned to see a white caribou with brown spots on his chest kneeling beside Harald. “Therkin? Or should I say, Sergeant Therkin?”

The caribou in question looked at him with wide eyes. “How did you--”

“Dainn himself told me all about you and a few others, but I only need one so you shall do nicely,” Spike said getting up and walking up to Therkin, once in front of him Spike crouched. “It’s surprising how much of a blabber mouth Dainn is with a few cups of wine on him. Sadly, he only really talks about the not so important stuff, but still, important to those who know what they’re searching,” Spike suddenly grabbed Therkin by his throat pulling his face mere inches in front of his own. “Tell me how did Dainn gain so much power.”

Therkin didn’t say anything, he simply stared at the dragon for several seconds before spitting him in the face. “Fuck you, asshole.”

Spike got up, not even bothering to clean the spit away. “Guards, would you be so kind to leave me alone with these fine gentleman?”

The guards glanced at each other before a mareling stepped forward. “The Queen ordered us to stay put, sir.”

“And now I’m ordering you to leave,” Spike said without looking at the mareling. “But if you want to stay, then by all means stay. But it will be under your own risk,” Spike said in that same dark, icy manner as before. The guards glanced at each other once again and a few seconds later they began to leave. “Oh, and by the way, could you take down the barrier on the way out? I want everyone outside to hear completely and not just the screams.”

“......As you command,” The same mareling said before leaving.

A few moments later Spike could hear the barrier pop out of existence and his attention turned fully to Therkin.

“I studied a lot during my time as General and Marshal. I studied things I never even dreamt of studying before you and that fucking bastard of Dainn came.”

“You dare to-!”

“Yes I fucking dare, what are you going to do about it?” Spike cut off the threat of Therkin making the temperature of the room drop several degrees. “I began to study anatomy, warfare and logistics. My favorite read was ‘The Proper Way to Humiliate a Fucking Slut’, such a great book and, contrary to what the title is, it’s about anatomy. Stag anatomy. The book goes on and on about how great caribou stags are, how many bones and muscles you have, where you are more sensitive, where should a female lick or suck,” Spike’s voice turned even darker. “Where your joints are, where is….hurts,” Thorkin’s smile started to drop at that word. But his eyes widened in terror once the eyes of Spike turned white in front of him. “If you don’t tell me what I need then I’ll just have to find another who can, and I know who they are,” Spike said in the same tone while Therkin stared at him for almost an entire minute.

“Do you have any idea how sensitive your skin and coat can truly be? Of course you don’t. But don’t worry, I will show you,” Spike licked his lips in anticipation. “First I’m going to pierce your abdomen with my right claws. Then I’m going to pull out whatever I can grab before I plunge my hand inside you again and drive it up inside you until I reach your heart,” Therkin paled and his mouth opened in disbelief. “At this moment the pain will be so great you won’t be able to scream or hear anything else but white noise. THEN I’m going to rip out your heart and show it to you while it still beats before I crush it.”

“After that I’m going to pull you up while you bleed out and I bathe with your blood. The world will turn grey for you at this point and you will be in such unbearable pain that you’ll wish to die, but unfortunately for you, death will look you dead in the eye and wait patiently for a bit longer,” Therkin began to sweat and his breathing turned erratic. “Finally I’m going to drop you just enough to grab your head and take my sweet time to crush your skull, allowing you the unique opportunity to hear it crack and in those final moments of unworldly pain and suffering you will welcome death with open arms; right before your brains splatter the faces of your brothers.”

After Spike was done talking silence, only disturbed by Therkin’s breathing, met him. For ten seconds Spike stood still and then he brought up his right claw.

“Wait, wait! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” Therkin said with panic. “I’ll talk! Wait, please….please…..I’ll….talk,” Therkin breathed out seeing the dragon standing still as a statue. “I...I don’t...I don’t k-know how our king gained so much power…but….but I know he found something….I...I think it was a….a horn, yes! It was a horn! Our glorious king found a horn before he grew stronger. He said...He said the time had come to fulfill the ancient promise!” Therkin said as fast as he could despite his stuttering. “Please….I swear by Dainn t-t-that’s all I know….please...d-don’t kill me,” Therkin begged with tears running down his eyes.

“See, was that so difficult?” Spike said without a trace of emotion. “Now you’re useless to me.”

“What-?” was all Therkin could say before the right hand of Spike impaled itself inside his stomach. “AAARRRRRRGGGGGGGG!” Therkin let out a tortuous howl of pain feeling the fingers and claws of the dragon pierce his entrails like they were butter. A second later the pain he felt escalated to untold levels when, just as Spike said, he felt his intestines and vital organs being pulled out by his draconic might.

Suddenly he felt his hand pierce his inside once more, uncaring for what was in the way of his hand until he reached his heart. Therkin was able to feel the hand of Spike wrap his heart in a strong grip right before he pulled it out; skyrocketing his pain to dimensions he never even dared believe could exist. He tried to scream or say anything as he felt his blood flow freely everywhere, even to his lungs and throat.

Spike paused for a moment seeing the heart in his hand, then he forced Therkin to see his own heart beating a few times in his hand before the crushed it in a single mighty motion. Using his tail he cut the chains pinning the caribou to the ground before he brought Therkin up and held him above his head; uncaring that the entrails, blood and other vile juices of the caribou ran down on him, the only sounds Therkin made were those of choking and forced grunts that told just how much pain he was really in.

A couple of seconds later Spike let go of Therkin and grabbed his head, pressing a hand at each side of his head where his antlers were. He pressed his skull slowly, the entire room echoing with the sound of breaking and splintered bones. With a sudden press the head of Therkin exploded sending pieces of his brains, skull and face flying forward to stain his brothers.

Spike let go of the remains in his hands, letting the corpse fall to the ground while it twitched every now and again. The purple dragon breathed out a sigh of utter and unrivaled satisfaction before turning his gaze to the rest of the caribou officers, all of them looking at the white, piercing, cold, emotionless voids he currently called eyes.

He stared at them.

They stared at him.

The two parties stared at the other in a room devoid of sound for the longest time.

--------------------------------------------------**************************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital City Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

The entire room was silent once more; all gazes fixed on Spike.

“I don’t know how much time passed while I stared at them and them at me. They were like statues, never moving, never blinking and I bet they even forgot how to breathe,” Spike leaned in into his desk, silently watching his hands. “They did nothing for what felt like millennia. They did absolutely nothing.”

Spike slowly rose his head to see the judges in front of him. His expression one of seriousness.

“They did…...nothing,” the judges saw the corners of his lips beginning to curl up into a smile while his eyes shone with pure white light. “Nothing,” the smile forming in his lips widened and morphed into something they hadn’t seen before. Not even Chrysalis. His lips arched up and down so much that it let his fangs exposed in all their deadly glory while his spittle and saliva (now looking more like slobber or slime) clinged to his fangs and drooled down to the table. Meanwhile his eyes snapped open to the max. Everyone gasped.

“They did nothing…...until I smiled,” the judges stared at him with terror at his horrific excuse of a smile. And then the room fell silent again. At least, for a couple of seconds. At first there was a faint sound but it quickly escalated. The source of the sound all too obvious when Spike’s body started to tremble.

“.......Ha…….Mhahaha…….Mhahaha hahaha!” Spike threw his head back. “Mhahahahahaha! HAHAHAHA! MHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Spike laughed hard and long. His maniacal laughter full of cold mirt and dreadful joy. Suddenly he got up from his seat sending the chair tumbling back to the ground and the small desk to flip over. His arms held up to the sky as he laughed without remorse or guilt.

“MHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! It was glorious!” he suddenly shouted. “I discovered what I was missing! It wasn’t just about killing them, it was about killing them as painfully or as violently as I could! It was a marvelous experience!” Spike shouted at the judges with borderline fanaticism. “Seeing the dread in their eyes, hearing them begging for my mercy, their screams and howls of agony like a choir of heavenly sirens to my ears!”

“You bloodthirsty barbarian!” the minotauress judge shouted with indignity at the laughing dragon. “Honorless brute! They were your prisoners, not your playthings!” Spike kept laughing. “Stop laughing! I command you to stop laughing this instant, monster!”

“Silveria!” Keltu, the ursa judge, shouted her name in protest. “Retake your seat this instant!”

“It doesn’t matter to me, dear judge!” Spike called. His laughter coming to a halt and his smile dropped. “Bloodthirsty barbarian? Undoubtedly. Honorless brute? Why, yes. Monster!? You bet your ass. But here’s the thing, I was a monster only to bigger monsters. They deserved what I did to them and more, I pray to every divine creator that their suffering in Tartarus, or wherever the fuck they are, be a hundred times worse! And I pray that when my time ends they send me with them as their eternal punisher!”

The minotaur judge glared at him along with half the other judges not because of what he said, but because of his sincerity. Silveria sat down on her seat reluctantly while Spike picked the chair and the desk up and then sat down.

“But my dear judge, Silveria is it?” the minotauress glared him harder. “You did brought up an excellent point. We already talked about morality, but what about honor? Well, let me answer that with this. I dare you, all six of you, to go to Equestria after this is over. Take a nice trip through all the crumbling cities and through the Crystal Empire. Go visit the rehabilitation centers, the medical centers, the orphanages and, above all, go visit the cemeteries and graveyards housing millions of our fallen brothers and sisters,” Spike glared at them. “I fucking dare you to have the guts to stand amongst the ashes of all who died during the regime of the caribou as their slaves, their playthings, their property….and ask them if honor matters,” the judges didn’t answer. Spike then turned his focus to Sebastian.

“Sebastian, I know why King Blood Talons sent you in his regard,” Sebastian was taken aback at his declaration and saw the dragon look up to the crystals in the ceiling. “I know you must be somewhere out there, Blood Talons, and I understand. I’m not blaming you for anything, don’t be ashamed or guilty,” Spike finished his little speech with a sincere smile before looking back at the judges.

“Shall we continue?”

-------------------------------------------------------************************************************

*Central Hive- P.I.C*

“NO! NO! PLEASE, DON--Argggggghh”

“LET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“HE’S KILLING EVERYONE!”

“MY EYES, MY EYES!”

“I DON’T WANT TO DIE! FATHE---*Srrlcchhhhh*---UUUhhhhgdgdaaaaaaa……”

“MY KING! SAVE ME, PLEASE!”

“*GGRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOO*”

Applejack and Rainbow stood frozen in place like everyone around listening to the carnage going inside the P.I.C.

Spike had managed the impossible, scare a caribou half to death and get the information he wanted with a threat that sounded so very convincing. The caribou spilled the beans and Spike congratulated him; right before killing him in what she guessed was the same way he had threaten the caribou in the first place. A scream of sudden, unbearable pain started it all. Everyone cheered, at least at the beginning. Then the sounds of bones breaking, howls of pain and gurgling sounds came out, finally ending with the horrible crushing sound of the caribou’s skull. A body hit the floor, a sigh was heard and then, silence.

Applejack, Rainbow and Chrysalis stood there waiting for the silence to end. One minute, two minutes or maybe five, they didn’t know how long it lasted but when it ended everyone, including the veteran changeling guards and Chrysalis flinched at the sudden cries and screams of horrific panic; followed shortly by the roar of a dragon. Then the massacre began. Meat being ripped apart, bones breaking against metal or the chitin material. Cries for mercy filled the entire area only to be silenced quickly and replaced, in most cases, with screams of pain. Objects shattered, wood splintered and constant banging against the solid walls created a dark, morbid rhythm along with the shouting of the caribou.

For several minutes it went on, the screams slowly turned into utter crying while the crashing and banging was also coming to a halt. Suddenly a caribou without his left arm and drenched in blood came running through the entrance before he fell to the ground. He looked up at the crowd and tried to use his right arm to crawl to them, his eyes full of tears and his expression one of panic and terror instead of pain.

“Help me, please! Don’t let him get me!” the stag managed to say before a white mist emerged from the entrance and soon reached him. “GAHH! NO! NO! Please, you worthless whores, save your master! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOooooooo!” the stag cried whilst the mist carried him back inside the building. He shouted, begged and cried for a few seconds before ripping noises ended his pleas and replaced them with screams of pain. About fifteen seconds later the screams ended with a loud cracking noise followed by a heavy sigh.

“Yog,” Spike called from inside, the building getting the attention of everyone present and said changeling. “Bring them to the front, I have a very nice gift for them.”

Halve a minute later Spike walked out of the building holding a chained up, gagged and naked caribou. He heard many gasps once he came into light revealing his blood stained scales and still dripping fresh droplets of it in most places. There were pieces of meat, bone, brain and even an eye hanging all over his body. Meanwhile his walk reflected security, satisfaction and fulfillment.

With a forceful pull he tossed the caribou, Harald to be precise, in front of him and at the hooves of three mares.

“I didn’t kill him because I thought you deserved that pleasure. Rose, Lily, Daisy.”

At the mention of those names Harald looked up to see that, in fact, the three flower sisters, his favorite and personal pets, now stood wearing a grey robe while they looked down at him with nothing short of pure hatred.

“Thanks...Spike,” Rose thanked the dragon before looking down at the bounded caribou at their hooves. “What do you think sisters, should we show him our love and gratitude?”

“No, I think we should use him to pull our wagon with his teeth!” Daisy said with a glimmer of tears clouding her eyes.

“Better yet, let’s stick an oversized dildo up his asshole and show him who is Master!” Lily shouted while clenching her hands into fists.

“No,” the three sisters stopped to look at Spike once more. “I said kill him, not do to him what he did to you.”

“What!? After everything he did to us! WHY!?” the three of them protested at the same while some other females from the gathered group began to protest as well.

“Because I won’t let you degrade yourselves to their level!” Spike said loudly for all to hear. “Don’t give them the satisfaction to see you crawl down and do to them what they did to you! I’d rather kill you all myself than see you behave like these fucking bastards even if they deserve it!”

“You want pay back? Then KILL THEM! Make them suffer,” Spike glared down at Harald, the caribou trying his best to crawl away from the dragon. “Break their bones, pull out their nails, cut down their fingers, skin them alive, bathe them with acid. Smash their testicles, cut off their cocks, rip out their antlers, take out their teeth one by one, gouge out their eyes and cut out their tongues!” Spike kicked Harald once making him wince and cry in terror.

“Throw them into the manticore and timberwolf pits, impale them, burn them, drown them, bury them alive, boil them, crush them. I don’t care what you do to them but never do to them what they did to you. And don’t let them live, show them pain, make them pay for what they’ve done and at the end of it all kill them all! Don’t give them a chance to turn the tables or take revenge!”

The crowd suddenly exploded in a wave of cheering and screeching. Spike turned to see the three sisters looking at him with vivid fire in their eyes. And he smiled at them.

“I’m sorry for everything I did to you three, I hope this gift is enough to start making amends,” Spike said in a tone full with remorse. “Now go and have some fun,” Spike said to them before the trio dragged Harald to his certain death.

“Consider yourself forgiven, Spike, and….thank you for freeing us,” Lily said with a small cute smile before she and her sisters disappeared into the crowd.

“Everyone!” Spike called. “There are at least three thousand of them ready to receive your justice, more than enough for everyone to enjoy a good show! Go and get them, kill them all!”

“KILL THEM ALL!” the crowd cheered.

“For Equestria!” Spike shouted.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” the crowd cheered again as they went to fulfill their justice upon the caribou. And not only them, but everyone in the Central Hive.

Spike turned to see the only four figures still standing nearby. “Ah, that felt good.”

“Spike…..what the hay happened to you?” Rainbow asked with genuine fear in her voice. “You...the Spike I know would never harm a fly! I mean, sure they had it fucking coming but...you enjoyed it….you enjoyed killing them.”

“The Spike you knew died the day of the Fall, Rainbow,” Spike grinned at her showcasing his bloodstained fangs. “Now only I remain. A monster that won’t stop until the caribou are dead and Equestria and the Empire are free once again,” Spike sighed. “Now, how about we go back to your castle-fortress-stronghold thing, Chrysalis? I suddenly have this urge to bake something. Ah! I know, I’ll bake some of my famous triple chocolate fudge cookies! They are delicious~”

Applejack, Rainbow, Chrysalis and Yog watched in silence as the dragon hopped his way to the fortress. The two mares let their tears fall freely, finally seeing in full what the caribou had done to their long time dragon friend. And they knew things would never be the same again.

---------------------------------------------------***********************************************

*Remains of Ponyville- Crystal Tree Castle- Two days later*

Dainn stood in front of the closed gates of the castle in Ponyville, practically the only building still standing in the entire town and literally the only one without a scratch over it; even the flags and banners with the mark of his would-be son were still dancing in the wind.

He watched in silence and with a frown as some of his soldiers tried to open the gates. Dainn considered himself very patient and understanding, but with all the events that had transpired in the past few days it had drove him to the very edge. The moment he returned to the Empire from Solitude there was a report from Equestria already waiting for him. His initial burst of rage after reading its contents claimed the lives of at least twenty soldiers and some cunts.

Suddenly the gates of the castle cracked open and a second later a foul smell reached his nose, any other lesser male would cover their noses (just like his soldiers and two sons did) but not him; Dainn frown hardened instead before making his way inside the castle with his two sons close behind him and a handful of royal guards.

“By all the….,” Akios managed to say when he saw a pile of bodies scattered around the entrance. Dry up blood, entrails, body parts and shit coating the floor around them.

“Look at the walls,” a guard behind him said while they kept following Dainn.

Akios looked at the walls and his eyes widened with fear. “What the fuck did this?” he asked in a tone barely louder than a whisper.

“Look at those holes, Akios. Whatever did this had the strength to cling to the walls with ease,” Calvin said with more composure. “That’s not what worries me though, look at the bodies. All of them have been beheaded.”

“What!?” Akios shouted while the guards began to murmur between themselves. Looking around he noticed that, in fact, the corpses were headless. He also noticed a second constant. All of the corpses were caribou. He was pulled from his line of thought, however, when the rotting smell of the corpses worsened. “What the fucking shit is that smell!?”

His answer came quickly when Dainn used his magic to open the door leading to the throne room.

Upon opening it even Dainn stopped and flinched at what he saw. Akios and at least half of the guards lost the control over their stomachs and puked all over the corpse littered floor.

The throne room was flooded with the heads of several dozens, perhaps even hundreds of their caribou brothers, stacked into several small mountains with the largest of all covering the central throne. The walls were also adorned with impaled heads all made to stare down at the entrance while messages written with blood littered the free spaces:

‘Fuck Male Superiority’

‘Death to the Caribou’

‘Revenge and Justice’

‘Equestria Will Rise Again’

Those were some of the most prominent ones. Still, Dainn stepped forward uncaring that the heads of his late subjects and caribou brothers looked directly at him in silent dead. He clenched his fists and his antlers ignited with magic seeing the biggest written message of all. There was a big ‘S’ drawn with blood with an X over it; below it the words that read:

‘I’m Coming For You, Dainn’

“I lost Spike. Ponyville suffered a massive disappearing spree. A few days later Ponyville gets attacked by those fucking shit-eating rebels and is completely burnt to the ground crippling the ‘Second Invasion’. Three other settlements are attacked the same day and suffered heavy casualties and plentiful kidnappings,” Dainn said in a tone so full of contained rage that it threatened to choke even the dead. “And now the rebels dare to insult me further by threatening me? And what’s worse, they use the castle of my one true son and heir to deliver their petty ditch challenge?” Dainn asked to no one in particular. A few seconds of silence followed before he spread his wings and let out a dark chuckle.

“I will kill them all.”

*Central Hive*

Spike sat on a chair in front of his six mare friends, all of them taking a seat on a large U-shaped sofa.

“Are your horns regrowing well?” Spike asked breaking a five minute long silence. For the past two hours that’s what they were doing; stare at the other, he would initiate conversation, they would talk for about ten or fifteen minutes then fall silent for five or ten minutes.

“Yes, although they’re starting to hurt,” Rarity answered softly, giving Spike her best forced smile. “They’ll be back in a couple of months.”

“Good to hear,” Spike nodded. “Have you tried the nachos or the cookies I made?” he asked seeing the now cold dishes sitting in the middle table. “Well, not those, they’re already cold and probably taste awful by now, except the cookies, my cookies are always good,” Spike ginned with pride. “I remember you all loved them, especially you Fluttershy.”

“........” Fluttershy didn’t answer for almost thirty seconds. Slowly she began to reach for a cookie, taking one with her left hand she brought it to her mouth and took a tiny bite out of it. A few munches later she swallowed, the hint of a smile appearing on her lips. “They’re good,” she whispered.

“What did I tell you? Even Chrysalis loves them now!” Spike said enthusiastically. “Don’t you want a cookie, Pinkie Pie?”

“I’m not very hungry,” Pinkie said emotionlessly. “But thanks, I’m sure you worked hard to make them,” she said looking at the cookies.

Spike noticed the longing reflected in her eyes and leaned in slightly. “If you want we can bake some later. Perhaps a cake or some cupcakes?” silence met him for the longest time.

“...E--Even….vanilla cupcakes?” Pinkie asked with tears forming on her eyes.

“Yes, even vanilla cupcakes,” Spike reassured seeing the silent tears of the mare fall from her eyes, and feeling a knot form in his throat. “What about you, Twilight? Found anything interesting?”

“Not much,” she said trying to sound convincing. “Although I was able to find a very interesting book on Windigoes. Did you know changelings also fought against them thousands of years ago? According to their legends, when the Windigoes mysteriously vanished a few managed to survive and escape to the coldest and loneliest corners of the world!” Twilight said with genuine happiness. “You said you fought against one right? Then that means there must be more out there somewhere. I’ve always wanted to study one!”

“I promise I’ll capture one if I ever come across it,” Spike answered happy to see a small fraction of the old Twilight come to light even if for a few short seconds. He glanced at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, both of them looking at him warmly. Spike was about to say something else when someone knocked at the door softly. “Who is it?”

“It’s us, Spike. Can we come in?”

Spike smiled widely before looking to the mares in front of him, all of them looking at him. A couple of seconds later one by one gave a nod.

“Come in, but keep your distance,” Spike said and a second later the door opened letting three figures walk inside. “How did it go?”

“As good as it could,” Blueblood said, now wearing a black chitin armor, while he made his way to Spike careful to keep a minimum three meters space between him and the Element Bearers until he took a seat next to Spike. “The leaders have agreed to let you train your newfound powers. They do had a condition, they want to send you on some missions if the situation calls for it.”

Spike chortled. “I was planning on it anyways, I do need to test myself as time passes to notice my progress,” Blueblood nodded. “How is Mister Cake? I haven’t heard of him since I arrived.”

“Better now that Miss Cake is free and his twins are with them,” Big Mac said crossing his arms behind Spike before looking at Pinkie. “They miss yah, Pinkie. They want tah see yah,if yah can.”

“That would be….nice,” Pinkie said with a monotone voice, but the small smile on her lips was enough to put his mind at ease.

“Rainbow Dash,” Soarin began looking at her. “I know I’ve said this said so before but...I’m….I’m sorry, for everything I--”

“And I told you every time that I forgive you,” Rainbow Dash said in a serious tone. “You weren’t yourself back then and when you broke free you did it to protect me and the others. Trust me, I understand, at least, now I do,” Rainbow smiled at him. “It takes more than that to take the Dash down. But, are you okay Soarin?”

Soarin stiffened for a moment but then relaxed while his hands formed into shaky fists. “I’ll be when this is over.”

“Well said my friend, well said,” Blueblood congratulated. “But back to the reason we’re here. Spike, do you think you could use your power to cleanse….him?”

Spike crossed his arms while glancing at Fluttershy, her eyes widened a bit and her posture stiffened. “I’m not sure, as far as I can tell his corruption is unique or at least it doesn’t work the same as the rest. And honestly, I think I have a better chance going one on one against the fu--that king bastard than going against Discord.”

“Can you free him!?” Fluttershy suddenly asked getting up from her seat. “Please, Spike, help Discord! He’s hurting, he….he needs me! Please!” everyone was perplexed at her sudden outburst.

“I promise I’ll do what I can for him, Fluttershy,” Spike promised. “But right now I don’t know how can I help him. And speaking of,” Spike turned to see Blueblood once Fluttershy sat back. “I can’t go on cleansing the curse of everyone like I’ve been doing. The camps outside are expanding to accommodate the new integrants but there are still hundreds in chains and more will arrive.”

“Not to mention the camps across Equestria are too small or are not as well protected as the ones inside the forest,” Soarin said crossing his arms. “And I think you’re right, Spike. It took you four days to free over twenty thousand from their enslavement. And there are millions more in Equestria and the Empire.”

“Yah have some idea inside that noggin yah call head?”

Spike shook his head. “I’ll figure something out,” Spike stared at Blueblood for a few seconds. “What’s with the armor, it suits you by the way, aren’t you returning to Canterlot later?”

“I’m not returning to Canterlot. Afterhe arrived I gave my reports on the attacks shifting the blame to one of those traitors, but it’s only a matter of time before they realize it was me who altered the reports before the attacks,” Blueblood leaned to Spike placing a hand over his shoulder. “I can finally join the fight at your side, cousin,” Spike placed his hand over Blueblood’s while they stared at each other for several seconds. “Don’t worry about my dear aunts, I have friends on the inside that will keep an eye on them.”

“We will free the princesses as well,” Soarin said with a dark smile. “My Blood Hunters are ready to strike on them.”

“The leaders agreed tah continue the attacks all over Equestria and the Empire. We won’t give ‘em time tah prepare another attack,” Big Mac said while his eyes narrowed.

“He is going to attack, he is angry and won’t be able to focus on everything at the same time,” Spike’s expression turned grim. “Thousands will die once he starts, but that will give us an advantage.”

“Time,” Blueblood completed. “While we attack randomly he will want to track us down and won’t be able to put up a large scale force at the same time. Just out curiosity, what was your message?” Blueblood asked making the mares look at Spike questioningly.

“Simply put? That I’m coming for him,” Spike said in a cold, emotionless tone. “He will pay, I promise he will pay for everything he’s done.”

“And we will help you,” Twilight said softly. “We will fight together.”

“No, you won’t,” Spike commanded. “I won’t risk you and I will not lose you again, any of you.”

“But-”

“I said. No,” Spike’s eyes turned white. “If we fail….if I fail you’ll be the only hope left for everyone and everything.”

Silence roared. After about a minute Spike got up from his seat and made his way to the exit followed by his three stallion friends.

“You’re the most precious gems of my hoard….and the last. I won’t lose you again. If I have to give my life to save you, I’ll gladly do so...I…..I love you all, my dearest friends,” Spike opened the the door letting the three stallion walk out first. “I’ll be back later with more cookies and maybe a cake. For now I have training to do.”

And with that Spike closed the door leaving the six mares on their seats, all of them trying to hold back their tears. Trying.

Outside on the hallway the four friends walked in relative silence. Until the red stallion broke it.

“Yah mean it?”

“Of course I do. I’ll arrange it with Chrysalis, they won’t be near the fighting.”

“Then what are we going to do now?”

“I have no idea, all I know is that I have to master this power and I’ll need a lot of practise dummies,” Spike snarled excitedly. “Everyone deserves their chance to take revenge and justice on the caribou. I’ll be sure to give them that chance, but Dainn? Dainn is mine,” light began to emerge from his chest. “I was a brute and a sex starved idiot for over a year raping everything that had a hole and breasts. We all lost love ones and what’s worse, we even saw many fall to their corruption. We lost our homes and our families, we were forced to do unspeakable things to all those we loved and cared; we even did it to complete strangers. All thanks to Dainn.”

“The caribou will pay,” Soarin said with clear rage staining his voice. “I will hunt them down until they’re all dead.”

“For Equestria and The Crystal Empire, for us, for everyone. Equestria shall rise again,” Blueblood commented with an icy tone.

“And the caribou will Fall,” Big Macintosh completed in a similar tone like Blueblood.

“I will kill them all,” Spike finished at the same time the four friends turned on a corner, eager to bring freedom and justice to their lands.

Chapter 6 part 2 End.

Author's Note

Special thanks to allwho read this, you are all amazing!

Special thanks to FamousLastWords for his up-coming proofread version!

Anyone that wishes to be my editor for this chapter or more please PM me, your help will be most welcomed.

*I know I said this would be longer but I decided to, instead, add some bits originally planned for this part into the next chapter.*

Chapter 7: Revenge and Justice P1

Judgment Chapter 7: Revenge and Justice

“Where is Master?” Ginna asked behind the bars of her small cell.

Sitting in front of her was Spike, his legs crossed while he looked at her in relative silence. His eyes scanned her cell once more.

Small, barely twice the size of a usual pet-cage. Spike frowned. Fucking caribou and their fucking corruption, we can’t even treat them like real people anymore, if we try they get mad and aggressive.

Spike smiled at the naked Ginna. “You mean Gunne? He is gone under a special mission, he’ll be back later.”

“That good!” Ginna clapped her hands happily before her expression turned a bit sour. “I had a very bad nightmare last night, Master-Spike.”

“Did you now? What was it about?”

“Heretics attacked the town, even mares and stupid cunts rebelling against our rightful masters! They are very, very bad and must be punished. When I do something stupid Master punishes me by denying me orgasms, but I deserve it since I’m a stupid bitch-slut!” Ginna said eagerly.

“How....fascinating, but what about your nightmare?” Spike’s expression reflected neutrality but inside he was boiling with hate and disgust.

“Huh?.....AH! Then Master-Spike comes and...and...I don’t remember…,” her right hand moved to her stomach. “My belly hurts, was I punished?” Ginna asked innocently.

“No,” Spike lowly. “You just slept for a few days, maybe you’re hungry?” Spike pointed at the fake mare kibble in the right corner of the cell. “Gunne asked me to take care of you until he is back, you have a very caring brother,” just saying that made his throat burn.

Ginna smiled cutely. “Master is very good with me and is very loving.”

Spike nodded. “Gunne told me that your father was also very caring and loving,” Ginna’s smile faded at his statement and her expression turned to one of confusion. “He also told me some personal things your father shared with him before he died.”

“That’s strange, Master-Spike, Father-Master tragically died during a hunt and he was never kind like Master is with me,” Ginna said before smiling dumbly. “But surely I’m wrong; I’m just a dumb, worthless female after all.”

“Perhaps,” Spike stood up.

“Master-Spike, can this stupid cunt ask where is my collar?” Ginna asked touching her exposed neck.

“Gunne ordered a new one for you, as a gift you see,” Ginna giggled happily. “If you keep behaving maybe I’ll reward you.”

“I’ll be a good pet!” Ginna said happily right before driving two fingers inside her pussy. “H-have a good day, Master-Spike.”

Spike didn’t respond and instead left Ginna to pleasure herself inside her cell. A few seconds later he reached a door and was quickly opened revealing a white earth pony mare with pink mane and tail wearing a white robe and holding a grey folder. Beside her Big Macintosh and Soarin stood silently.

“Anything new?” the mare asked while the dragon walked past them and closed the door with his tail.

“Nothing Redheart,” Spike snarled letting a small burst of fire come out of his nostrils. “And as I suspected, Gunne lied about his father and everything he said.”

“Ah told you he was lying, but maybe that’s what he thought?” Big Mac expressed.

“My bits are on him trying to save his sorry ass or the unborn abomination,” Soarin said crossing his arms. “Either way it doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I do wonder why he was demoted to Magistrate again,” Spike said neutrally. “I remember he was a Minor Chief before I left for Solitude.”

“He asked for it, surely to keep an eye on yer things after Ah gave him the letter,” Big Mac answered.

“Well, at least that was true,” Spike whispered to himself. “Are the shots ready?” Spike asked to Redheart.

“Almost, we have ten thousand ready and five thousand more will be completed tomorrow,” Redheart glanced at the closed door that held Ginna and about two hundred more caribou cows and doe in separate unique cells. The ones that were less aggressive or more stupid and naive. “Do we really have to...kill them?”

“You know we have to, Redheart, most of their females are no better than their rotten stags; well trained guard dogs at worst and stupid simpletons at best,” Soarin gritted his teeth. “There are thirty four Ex-black collar caribou cows with us right now. Thirty four out of almost ten thousand! And even they are questioning why are they free or why aren’t they being punished! They are so indoctrinated they can’t even shit without vigilance,” Soarin pointed at Spike. “For fucks sake, Spike says we can’t even spare their unborn monstrosities because they are like them already. Good riddance I say!”

“Yes but--”

“And what about our own people!?” Soarin stated now clearly enraged. “How many more have to suffer because of them!? How many more must die, how many more must turn like them, Redheart!? It doesn’t matter if they are elderly, adults, teens, kids or fucking babies; they don’t fucking deserve our pity or sympathy! They sure as Tartarus didn’t have any for us or anything else!”

Big Mac placed a hand over Redheart’s left shoulder. “Ah don’t like it eitha’, but we hafta do this. Least we can do for ‘em is tah make it painless,” then he turned to see Soarin. “And yah better calm yerself down, Soarin.”

“I...I know….I’m sorry for yelling at you, Redheart, it’s just that….,”Soarin began but was cut short by the white earth pony mare.

“I understand,” she smiled at him. “It’s just that it seems harsh and unfair to me to punish all their mares like that.”

“Not all of them. Their black collars and the more docile reds will be spared and maybe we’ll be able to give them a comfortable life when this is over,” Spike said without facing them. “But now’s not the time for that. We can think about it when Equestria and the Empire are free again and Dainn is dead.”

The group of four didn’t talk for the rest of their walk through the dungeon hallways. Eventually they reached the exit and both Redheart and Soarin bid their farewells. Spike and Big Mac continued to walk in silence through the hallways while soldiers and guards saluted them. After a few minutes they reached Spike’s room and entered. Once the door close behind Big Mac, Spike sat on the edge of his bed breathing out a heavy, tired sigh.

“I wonder if I can make my promises come true though,” Spike said letting the red stallion sit beside him. “What do you think, Big Mac? Do we really stand a chance?”

“Ah say things are pretty bad fer us. Honestly? Ah think makin’ zap apple jam without zap apples is a piece of cake compared tah what we are up against.”

Spike let out a mirthless chortle. “Only if it is apple cake,” Big Mac chuckled heavily. “Big Mac, tell me the truth….what do you think of me?” Spike shifted just enough to look at Big Mac. “Do I...frighten you?”

Big Macintosh was taken aback by his question for a moment. The red stallion hummed. “Eenope,” He said flatly.

“Ah’m not afraid of yah, Spike,” letting a hand rest over Spike’s left shoulder he gave the dragon a big and sincere smile. “Ah think yah’re one of the bravest and selfless stallions Ah’ve ever met. Yah’re one of mah best friends and someone Ah can trust. And Ah admire yah.”

“Admire me?” Spike asked with difficulty. “I don’t think I’ve done something worth admiring since this fucking nightmare started.”

“Spike, listen tah me closely ‘cause Ah’m only sayin’ this once, alright?” the two of them exchanged silent gazes for a couple of seconds. “Soarin, Mr. Cake, Cranky, Filthy, you, me and many others have done horrible things tah survive and keep others safe. We have tah live with that and try tah do what we can tah get our lives back. We can’t change the past. We might not even win. But we ain’t gonna go down easily. Yah taught us that.”

“Ah admire yah because yah stood up and did what was necessary. Ah admire yah because yah fight against the caribou with all yer might. Ah admire yah because yah’ve done more than anyone else. Ah admire yah because….because yah give me hope,” Spike was seemingly stunned at his revelation. “And not only me. Have yah seen what everyone see yah like? They see yah as a hero, our hero. They are going out tah fight the caribou with you in their minds. Yah give us all the hope we thought we lost. Yah give us the strength we need tah stand up and say ‘No More’.”

“You’re wrong,” Spike practically hissed. “I’m not a hero. A hero doesn’t let his friends die! A hero never turns his back against those that need them! A hero does not enjoy killing!” Spike stood up. “I too want things to go back the way they were. But I can’t do that and I know things will never be like before the Fall again even if we win,” Spike turned to face Big Macintosh completely letting his old friend see his blue shining eyes crying crystalline tears.

“I want to kill them. I want to make them scream and bleed. I want to make them suffer,” his lips slowly curled up into a sadistic and twisted smile while tears kept on falling. “I’m not a hero! I’M A MONSTER!” Spike roared at his friend. “I enjoy killing them! My claws tremble with joy when I tear their muscles and bones apart. My body shivers with pleasure when I hear them cry out for mercy! Stag or cow, calf or doe, children or elder. It doesn’t matter to me, I just want to kill them all!” impossibly Big Mac look aghast as Spike’s maw opened up to the point he could hear his jaws snap before letting out a guttural groan. “All I care about is getting my hands on Dainn….and make him pay; everything else is pointless to me at this point,” Spike said without moving his maw.

Slowly, Spike returned to normal while his gaze was locked with Big Mac’s. After ten or so seconds his eyes stopped shining despite his tears never stopping their fall. Then he smiled making the stallion suddenly realize the nearly freezing temperature inside the room. It was a sad, mournful smile.

“I know true heroes, six in total. I am no hero.”

Big Macintosh looked at his friend breaking down for perhaps the first time ever since the day in the farm. He saw his friend shatter in front of him letting out his pent up frustration or at least a small fraction of it. He saw the boiling hate that laid deep inside the dragon; realizing what he had seen so far until now was but a fragile mask his friend wore at all times, even in the times he saw him cry and devastated. Big Macintosh was scared. Truly scared of the...thing in front of him. That was not the Spike he remembered. That was not the Spike he thought he knew up until mere minutes ago. That thing was not his friend. That thing, the monster in front of him was everything he had wished to unleash upon the caribou in his deepest and darkest desires.

That thing was not Spike, instead it was indeed a hero in his eyes. The Hero he had wished for.

-------------------------------------------------------*********************************************************

*Ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters- Three years, seven months and two weeks into the Fall-*

“Spike?” Twilight called to the dragon floating in mid-air a meter above ground with a blue shimmer enveloping him. “Can you hear me?”

“Of course I can,” Spike declared whilst descending. “I was just doing some post-training meditation,” Spike touched the ground and turned to face her and was quite surprised to see her alone, with the exception of the four mareling guards standing twenty meters behind her. “Anyway, what’s up?”

Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, she then let out a sigh and reopened her eyes looking straight up to him. “Soarin….Soarin and his group have returned. They have them.”

No later did those words leave her mouth Twilight felt herself being pulled into a tight embrace while moving at great speeds. A couple of seconds later she felt herself stopping, she shooked her head to regain balance, and her vision, and found herself at the entrance of the ruins along with the rest of her friends and at least a hundred or so soldiers looking at the arriving group.

Searching for Spike she soon found him standing still at her right side, his gaze fixed to the front while his left hand held her right one tightly. She felt a creeping fear rising up inside her but she was able to fight it back. She, alongside Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have been taking special sessions with the best mind-menders at Chrysalis’s disposition; meanwhile Rainbow Dash was limited to regular psychology sessions and the occasional solitary talk with a zebra or buffalo chaman. The progress was slow and hard; the pain to see and, in some cases, re-live the horrid events being the most difficult part of all. Yet they served the purpose to strengthen their minds, solidify their resolve and remind them what they lost and what to live for with their regained freedom.

After a few weeks of treatment, Twilight now felt a great deal better than when the Tree ended their slavement. For once she didn’t feel like dying all the time and was actually looking forward to their little daily group talk with Spike. She could also notice the great benefit it made for her friends; especially Pinkie Pie. At least now her mane wasn’t downright flat, some of her bright pinkness returned to her coat and she sometimes saw her dear friend flash a sincere smile, especially around the Cakes.

Still, the fear and hate mixed with revulsion towards herself made Twilight close up and retract to her initial fearful self from time to time; more so when someone touched her without permission. She breathed in deeply and held Spike’s hand tighter. She would learn to overcome her fear and guilt and move forward; to be ready to face the great bastard that had turned her life, her friends, her family and her home into a living nightmare even if Spike said otherwise.

Glancing at Spike again she noticed Rarity had made her way to his right and was now taking his hand with one of her own; their fingers intertwined tightly. Beside her she saw Fluttershy and next to her Rainbow Dash probably holding hands, too. She felt someone grabbing her free hand and turned her head to see Pinkie Pie now at her side while Applejack stood next to Pinkie. Tightening the hold on her left hand Twilight turned her attention back to the front just before a rosy shimmer erupted through the treeline revealing a group of roughly a hundred pegasi, changelings and griffons; with the exception of the two unicorn mares behind the blue pegasus in the front.

Commander Soarin, leader of the Blood Hunters, lead his group with pride and professional seriousness. His armor tainted with spots of dry blood (just like almost every other soldier) while his comrades carried a large object (covered by a thick black mantle) and forming a square formation around it for protection.

Twilight felt a gentle pull on her right hand noticing Spike had taken two steps forward.

Soarin smiled at the seven of them and breathed out a tired yet relieved sigh remembering his most recent mission.

************** *A couple of hours earlier* ***************

Soarin watched in an uneasy calm the enemy directly below them. A large group of at least three hundred of Dainn’s elite personal guards. He could see the fucker king himself giving orders to his commanders and captains while the full force of his relatively small army attacked one of the changeling hives near Las Pegasus. A decoy constructed with haste by orders of Chrysalis herself to lure Dainn into a trap.

Resisting the urge to leave his concealed position up and above the clouds Soarin breathed in and out remembering the lessons from the zebra chamans. He reached to his right and into his small pouch taking out a small blue flask before quickly gulping down its contents. A few seconds later he felt himself begin to calm down and his mind to clear enough to think straight once more. He couldn’t allow himself to be hot-headed. Not when his mission to retrieve the two royal princesses of Equestria hanged in the balance.

He had to give credit to Chrysalis and Blueblood for their plan though, luring Dainn out here had been an amazing task built on lies, false information and sacrifice. The only reason Dainn was leading such an attack was because he believed Chrysalis was hiding there at the moment, taking charge of the attacks dealt to Las Pegasus these past two weeks herself.

Just like they feared the caribou had lashed out against the rebel forces after the fourway attack and the destruction of Ponyville (more like burning the town to ashes in his book). The fucker king finally graced them with the ‘honour’ of being called an actual threat. And just like Spike predicted Dainn ordered his entire forces to attack them whenever they could, for the first time taking prisoners becoming a secondary objective whilst extermination became the priority. Bounty’s were placed on certain known rebel leader figures (such as himself), Fakers were being hunt down without restrain; many already caught and executed or, in the worst cases, switched, raped for days and then blanked for their sins and anti-changeling detectors were tripled while security measures tightened everywhere. All in all, he was sure things would get even worse after this mission. He was aware of the risk; reason why he had volunteered to lead the mission a day after the massive attack.

Failure meant Dainn would feel exposed and directly threaten, yet it would boost his own stinking ego.

Success meant a kick in the balls.

“Success it is then,” Soarin whispered to himself before a thestral pony, also an ex-Shadow Hunter, tapped his shoulder catching his attention. He glanced at him pointing at something below. Soarin looked down and saw a purple dragon making his way calmly towards the camp, still unnoticed by the caribou sentries.

“Be ready,” he said loudly enough for his troops to hear him. “The moment she gives us the signal we’ll move in. Remember, go straight for the princesses, secure them and retreat. Do whatever it takes to rescue them.”

“Huu!” his troops replied softly at his command.

Soarin watched carefully the dragon, a mareling mimicker in disguise, approach to the camp carefully. He noticed a few caribou guards moving and shouting something before one of them ran towards Dainn while seemingly shouting as loudly as he could; they had finally noticed the dragon walking their way. Dainn took notice of the guard, exchanged a few words and then teleported near the post where the fake Spike was just arriving to.

Soarin, incredulous and surprised, saw Dainn open his wings and leap towards the fake Spike before holding him in a tight embrace while they spun around in the air a couple of times utterly rejoiced. ‘Spike’ returned the hug as they landed back on the ground. They stood still for about twenty seconds, perhaps chatting while they embraced; meanwhile the guards began to approach at them leaving the tent of Dainn (and their posts) unguarded thanks to the commotion. Then he saw ‘Spike’ glow with an intense green light before dropping the illusion spell revealing the mareling’s identity. A second later a green flash of light erupted and then the mareling and Dainn were gone from sight.

“NOW!” Soarin shouted before dive bombing from his cloud followed by two hundred of his troops. A mix of griffons, thestrals, pegasi and changelings following him closely at near supersonic speeds directly at the stunned and confused guards. In less than five seconds he reached a caribou guard clad in golden armor and hit his head with his spiked mace; practically destroying the head of the caribou along with his helmet. Soarin did back flip in the air before landing on the ground with his hooves whilst spinning slowly until he stopped.

He noticed the caribou were already shooting their petty excuses of magic bolts to the air, barely doing any damage to his comrades. The real fight began seconds later after his landing and already he could hear the war cries and the clashing of steel all around him. He dropped his mace and pulled out his favorite twin swords right before launching himself at the back of a caribou fighting a thestral mare. He easily pierced the exposed neck of the caribou with his left sword while his right stabbed one of his eyes. He flapped his wings twice pulling himself back before slashing his swords forward decapitating the already mortally wounded caribou.

Turning to his left Soarin faced the tent of Dainn right before a huge explosion came from the decoy hive’s direction.

“Move in!” Soarin shouted leading a charge against the tent. They had seconds, a minute at most, to secure the princesses and be gone before Dainn could return. Soarin entered the tent and instantly ducked barely dodging the swing of a warhammer, the griffon behind him not so lucky or fast, screaming in pain from a certain fracture. A changeling and a pegasus mare entered the tent and together charged at the hulking caribou blocking their way.

Soarin heard the stag fighting madly against his two opponents before a thestral stallion entered the tent a second later and charged in aid of his two comrades; the three of them easily overpowering the stag before driving a spear through his stomach and then slicing his throat. Looking at the end of the tent he saw princess Luna and Celestia looking at them, both sisters chained to a golden pillar in the shape of Dainn. Luna with tears falling down her once perfect and gorgeous face while Celestia looked confused and fearful.

“Get them out, now!” Soarin commanded moving towards Celestia, whom was now screaming for her master to help her. Soarin, regrettably, hit Celestia’s stomach with the pommel of one of his swords as hard as he could knocking her out. The changeling used his magic to melt her chains before moving to Luna’s, then he moved to pick Celestia up alongside Soarin and with a mighty blast from his horn the changeling destroyed the top of the tent creating an exit.

With both princesses secured Soarin and his troops took to the skies. “RETREAT!” Soarin shouted making his surviving troops pull away from the fight and follow him as quick as their wings could take them. About fifteen seconds later they reached a couple of unicorn mares clad in chitin armor waiting for them. Soarin landed next to them and waited for another ten seconds for his troops, especially those carrying wounded or some lucky female prisoners found in other tents.

“Do it now!” Soarin shouted at the unicorns and turned to see some of his troops coming his way diverge their route and head to the skies and scatter with haste. Looking down he saw a bright flash of blue light and saw Dainn himself appear not a hundred meters away in front of him. Dainn looked at his way, his expression one of pure hate and his eyes reflecting the promise of unbearable pain and torture…. right before the unicorns teleported him, the princesses and his small group of troops away.

************** *Present time* **************

After their escape Soarin and the rest of his surviving troops gathered in the predetermined rendezvous point near the northwest borders of the Everfree; the first thing he did was to take those horrendous fucking collars out of the princesses and rescued females necks. Another small group of medics and the especial cage they were carrying were already waiting for them, ready to treat any and all injured. After an hour he signaled the retreat and the walk back to the Old Caste. His best wishes to those that didn’t arrive on time.

“Carefully, your majesty,” Soarin shot a glance behind him seeing at least six of his soldiers; two thestrals, a griffon and three pegasi, gently holding a barely standing Princess of the Night coming out of the protective cage. She was wearing a grey robe that covered her entire body with the exception of her hands, her head and her bandaged wings.

Soarin turned his attention back to Spike and the Element Bearers. Spike had his eyes wide open while the Bearers seemed ready to cry. Silently he thanked that they didn’t saw Luna crying happily with what little strength she had once finally secured, before practically choking herself with water and some real food after years of abuse, humiliation, degradation and rape. Behind the seven of them the rest of the expectators kneeled down upon seeing the princess; he knew most did it to cover their tears and hide their shaking rage, still the respect they showed to his princess warmed his heart; even the changelings were kneeling when they didn’t have to.

The six soldiers busy themselves to guide the princess until she was in front of the dragon. They shared a silent staring contest for about a minute; the eyes of Luna moistening up with fresh tears.

“We are glad to see you safe, dear nephew,” Luna said offering a weak smile, her voice sounding hoarse and raspy; yet strangely soft, caring and sincere. “We...I wish to express--”

“Luna, don’t,” Spike interrupted shaking his head twice side to side. “Please….don’t. I don’t deserve your gratitude, not after….,” Spike went unnaturally silent.

Luna nodded once a few seconds later, both of their eyes reflecting a tremendous pain. “Help her, please,” she begged.

“I will...one way or another, I will help my mother,” Spike said to the princess of night before the six soldiers guided her out of the scene, surely taking her to the medic bay for further treatment. The Bearers limited themselves to simply stare in silence their brief exchange of words.

“Bring them out, slowly,” Soarin commanded to his troops and an icy silence filled the entire place. One by one the soldiers brought out of the cage females covered with a grey robe in a similar fashion like Luna. The females, nine in total, were mostly pony; two earth ponies, a unicorn, one crystal, one thestral and one pegasus, the other three females were a diamond dog, a saddle arabian and, of course, princess Celestia. All of them were gagged and restrained with ropes and chains; magic included in Celestia’s case. They squirmed violently as the soldiers made them walk outside the cage.

Forcing them down, or actually letting them fall on their knees, their squirming turned less violent, but still the fear, anger and confusion in their eyes was clear. They didn’t know what to do, all they wanted was to go back to their ‘Masters’.

Spike let go of Twilight and Rarity’s hands walking up to the eight poor females and Celestia. His gaze glued to her eyes while hers were glued to his, silently imploring him to free her from her restraints. Spike, with the six Bearers close behind him, took a series of heavy, slow steps towards them but suddenly stopped when Celestia gave out a loud, lewd moan; her spit falling around the gag in her mouth, her squirming shifting from violent to borderline erotic. Her eyes still glued to his while a rosy blush adorned her cheeks.

She was giving the usual signs of a red collar eager to please. A scene he was all too familiar with thanks to all the summons made by Dainn.

Spike snarled angrily letting a small stream of blue fire leave his mouth and nostrils. His eyes turned white and his hands became engulfed with a blue shimmer. He then moved to the captive females touching the heads of two of them and, just a few seconds later, removed his hands and moved to the next two. Once the eight females were free from the brainwash they were moved away by two soldiers each; they would need help soon enough.

Now only Celestia remained.

“Mom…,” Spike whispered painfully.

Spike stood in front of the one that had cared for him during his first years of life; the one that to his eyes was a princess second and his mother first. The mare that had given him her unconditional love and her time whenever she could and had kissed him goodnight and consoled him when scared or sad. His mother in all aspects but blood. The one he was forced to rape and abuse several times. His mother reduced to a willing slave; a red collar, and Dainn’s greatest trophy and pet.

I will fucking kill you, Dainn.

Rising his right hand high and above his head allowing everyone to see the intense blue shimmering mist surrounding it. He slowly reached down for her head while looking her straight to the eyes; eyes reflecting little fear, more so she looked excited. His hand stopped mere inches away from her.

What if….what if the corruption took a hold of her already? Spike thought darkly, the shimmer of his hand losing brightness and volume. I promised aunt Luna I’d help her no matter what, but...I already failed to end her suffering once, his entire arm began to tremble. I...I don’t think I--

His line of thought was broken, however, when he saw a lavender hand land over the back of his right trembling hand. His eyes widened in shock before looking to his left to see Twilight smiling up to him. A moment later he felt another hand take a hold of his wrist; looking down he saw it was white. Then another hand landed a bit above his wrist clasping its yellow fingers around it. Then an orange hand place itself above Twilight’s touching his fingers, followed closely by a pink hand landing and grasping his thumb. Finally a cyan hand wrapping a pair of fingers around his pinkie.

Spike looked at each of his six closest mare-friends, all of them smiling warmly at him. The trembling stopped and the shimmering mist returned in full, even covering the six hands placed upon his own. A moment of eery silence followed, Spike closed his eyes sighing lightly and his hand traveled the few inches separating him from his adoptive mother.

Soarin, like everyone else, looked attentively for the final result ready to accept whichever one was it. He felt a clutch in his heart and a lead ball on his stomach seeing the glow on Spike’s hand rapidly disappear. About ten seconds later Spike removed his hand leaving Celestia in her kneeling position like a statue for several moments, then she suddenly closed her eyes and fell forward but before she could hit the ground the two pegasi soldiers behind her caught her by each shoulder.

The next moments felt like an eternity for everyone watching. Everyone, except for Spike, gasped when they saw the mane and tail of the sun goddess start to shimmer and glow, followed quickly by it’s unnatural movement aided by some sort of invisible force. Her robe expanded a bit letting a few rays of light emerge causing the pegasi to release her. Instead of falling to the ground, Celestia returned to her previous kneeling position showcasing her beautiful purple magenta eyes. Then she simply stood still without moving an inch, her face a picture devoid of any emotion and her eyes lacking the sparkle they used to have.

“She is free,” Soarin whispered to himself. “Princess Celestia is free!” he promptly shouted leaping into the air a second before an onslaught of cheering echoed all around them. His cheering died out quickly though when he saw Spike kneel down and with great care picked Celestia in his arms bridal style. “Oh….no…,” Soarin whispered to himself before landing in front of Spike, the Element Bearers standing next to him all of them with tears in their eyes; except those tears weren’t completely happy ones. The cheering around died as quickly as it began, too.

“I’ll take her to my room here in the ruins, send the mind-menders when they have the time. Princess Celestia is in cold-shock,” Spike said to Soarin with his white burning eyes and a neutral tone in his voice.

With that said Spike turned around and made his way slowly to the ruins; the gathered crowd splitting in two allowing the dragon an easy passage to his destination.

Once Spike was out of sight Soarin gave out a heavy sigh.

“At least the princess is free from their clutches,” he said with a heavy heart to no one in particular.

-----------------------------------------****************************************************

*Caribou Main Camp outside Las Pegasus-*

Dainn sat on his throne, his expression unreadable, looking down to the only three rebel survivors; all of them earth pony stallions, two of them were adolescents while the third had to be fifty something at least.

The three stallions were forced into a kneeling position, their armor discarded leaving them in the nude with their coats stained with mud, bruises and blood. Still they managed to glare up to him with a hate so deep any other day Dainn would’ve chuckle and let them attack him just to crush them like the traitorous insects they truly were.

“They won’t talk, my king,” a brutish caribou royal guard said kneeling at Dainn’s left side. “These three traitors to male superiority won’t break or accept your divine might,” the guard looked up to see his king but saw he was practically petrified aside from his slow, calm breathing.

Dainn stared at the three stallions in cold, dead silence and closed his eyes for the first time in minutes.

A week prior Spike’s kingly burial took place as a private ceremony, honoring his severed arm and tail. To say he was sad would be an understatement, it was the first time in recorded history anyone saw Dainn shed tears of sadness. At the very least he had something to bury. After that his campaign against the rebels continued just like it had after the events on Ponyville. At first he believed, as well as his generals, battlemasters and warlords that by being superior in every way to the rebel forces victory would come easily.

But the rebels proved him wrong.

The attacks to the caravans, supply routes and even the bold attacks of the past years were nothing in comparison to what they did now. They always attacked quick and retreated just as fast, only this time their targets were directed to factories and forges, dirt farms, rape-vine fields, collector hives, slave markets and even garrisons. But the worst came to the armies out on the fields. Their supplies would often be stolen or burnt; that or packs of well trained monsters such as timberwolves and manticores would attack the smallest settlements and the advance posts; leaving just a handful of survivors in the best cases.

Not to mention they did a fantastic job at avoiding direct conflict with his armies, now scattered all over Equestria to hunt down rebel camps and defend key positions. There had been a few skirmishes here and there and one or two major battles in Manehattan and Neighpan; all of them resulting in total caribou victory. What was more troubling for him was the fact that for every rebel they managed to kill he lost five of his soldiers, be them caribou or some other inferior race; most of the former were killed in action while the later would instead go missing, no doubt captured by the rebels. Not to mention the hidden Heretics all over his kingdom feeding information to the rebels.

Another shock came to him when Blueblood disappeared, his escort slaughtered while he was captured by the rebels. Dainn never really liked the stallion much, but he as useful and knew Equestria inside out, his loss, while regretful, meant nothing to him. Still, the war against the rebels took his full attention and his focus was on eliminating the changeling queen bitch that had escaped his grasp the day after his glorious Fall began.

Thanks to the intelligence network he managed to get the location of Chrysalis near Las Pegasus, apparently they were going to repeat what had happened in Ponyville albeit in a much larger scale, but were still gathering their forces while she lead them personally. With that in mind and his heart determined to bring the slut to her knees in honour of his fallen son, Dainn set out to lead a direct attack against the bitch-queen herself. The siege against the hidden changeling hive had just started the night before.

His hands turned into fists making loud noises as his joints and knuckles cracked. It had all been a trap...and he had fallen right into it. Worse was the real objective of it, not his life but to take away his two great trophies.

But all of that was nothing in comparison to the greatest insult of all, that cowardly trick to use a changeling bitch to impersonate Spike. They had dared to play with his emotions and managed to hit his heart with a spearpoint.

“My king! My king!” a guard shouted from the distance catching his attention. “The Marshal is alive!”

“WHAT!?” Dainn shouted back as the guard arrived in front of him. “What did you say!?”

“Lord Spike, the Marshal is making his way from the west entrance!”

“Are you certain it is Spike!?” Dainn asked feeling a glimmer of hope erupt from his heart. Had he survived somehow? If so, why appear now and not sooner or travel to Canterlot?

“Yes my king, the changeling detectors didn’t work. It really is our marshal Spike!”

Without another word Dainn teleported to said entrance and, despite his initial doubts and disbelief, he saw his rightful son walking towards him just a few meters in front of him. He leaped closing the distance between them using his wings and embraced the dragon taking him to the air whilst spinning a couple of times.

“You’re alive, my son,” Dainn whispered feeling overjoyed. “You have come back to me.”

‘Spike’ returned the hug and whispered. “Of course I have, Father, I promised I would come back to you, didn’t I?” just then they touched the ground still embracing tightly. “Bastard was tougher than I thought but I managed to kill it.”

“I thought I’d lost you, I even arranged a funeral for you,” Dainn embraced Spike tighter letting a few rebel tears escape his eyes.

“It’s alright, Father, I’m here now.”

“Yes, you are,” Dainn felt Spike’s embrace tighten. “And so will the damnable rebels and soon the world. All shall worship the divine might of Dainn and Spike; our divine might. But tell me, my son, how did you survi--” a sudden flash of green light engulfed him for a second. “--ve?” It took him a fraction of a second to notice ‘Spike’ was now replaced by a mareling.

A sudden flash of green light blinded him for a split second and the next moment he was now inside the changeling hive surrounded by several rebels soldiers from all angles.

“FIRE!” the mareling shouted never releasing her embrace.

Rage and hate filled Dainn in less than a second, realising it was a trap just before a barrage of magic bolts, magic beams, bolts, arrows, spears and even rocks flew his way.

“GRAAAAAHHHHH!” Dainn shouted with all his might while at the same time crushed the mareling in his embrace. His antlers ignited with magic as the barrage landed on him. The arrows, spears and bolts bounced right off of him while most of the magic attacks dissipated before touching him and those that did hit him seemingly did no damage whatsoever.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Dainn shouted again before a thick beam of magic shot out of his antlers forward, turning those unfortunate enough to be in its way into ash. Suddenly he felt something grab him from behind and had enough time it was a minotaur before he tossed him to the side and against a nearby wall.

Dainn saw the minotaur, easily twice his size and clad in iron armor, charge against him with all his might. Dainn greeted him by grabbing his horns and tossing him to the side with such strength that the wall fifty meters away shattered upon impact. Before he could do anything else another barrage of attacks landed on him with the same results as before. Dainn shouted again before launching another beam of magic only this time he kept going annihilating the soldiers all around him. Still the rebels kept on fighting, there were some even bold enough to come charging at him head on only to be turned to ash by his magic.

“Retreat! Retreat!” he heard someone shout.

“RETREAT!?” Dainn shouted angrily. “Your insolence only deserves DEATH!” Dainn leaped into the air ignoring the attacks of his enemies all together. His beam of magic stopped and now instead created a massive sphere of blue energy above him that grew by each passing second, he could barely hear the horrified gasps of the rebels; it only served to anger him further. Once the sphere had at least twelve meters of diameter Dainn tossed it to the ground below.

Upon impact the sphere exploded creating a massive explosion while at the same time creating a barrier around himself. The sound of the blast was deafening and the amount of light made him squint his eyes. After a few seconds later the explosion ended and he used his magic to clear out all the smoke around him. Soon Dainn took notice that his camp was under attack.

“Fucking shit!” enraged Dainn shouted before teleporting away.

Appearing outside his own camp he looked all around him seeing a few of his royal guards fighting against rebel soldiers and several corpses lying around. He noticed there were rebels flying away in all directions, he turned around and saw Soarin surrounded by several other rebels and much to his surprise Celestia and Luna at his sides. Dainn shot him a death glare before they teleported away.

“GRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” Dainn shouted in pure rage before falling to his knees and hitting the ground with his fists with enough force to create a small earthquake around him.

After that he couldn’t remember what exactly happened, for starters he seemed to have ordered to search for any rebel survivors and torture information out of them or just kill them; he wasn’t sure but his commanders told him those were his orders. Also he had killed anyone stupid enough to approach him in his enraged state, similar to what happened in the Empire after receiving the news of the attacks in Equestria.

Now here he was sitting in his throne, humiliated by the rebel deception, insulted by taking away his two prized trophies and disgraced by using the image of Spike to lure him into a trap. All of that had happened barely a few hours ago. Dainn opened his eyes seeing the three stallions still glaring at him in silence.

“I tried to be just and….tolerant towards you damnable Heretics, but you have tested my patience and my mercy. Although I have to admit it was my mistake for not taking care of your pitiful ‘rebellion’ sooner,” his antlers ignited with his magic and a blue aura surrounded the three stallions. “You have managed to insult and humiliate me personally, and for that you shall pay with your lives. You and every rebel and Heretic bastard shall pay for this ultimate insolence, your bitches shall be properly punished for daring to oppose their masters and the changeling slut will become my pet just like your useless and pathetic princesses did. But you three?” Dainn got up and turned around before a loud and awful crunching noises followed by the chuckles of his fellow caribou echoed around the tent. “You three will service my men.”

The three stallions, now mares, could only scream in muffled pain and hate. Dainn made his way outside his tent before his troops grabbed the switched mares and began to have their way with them.

His pets could wait. Avenging his and Spike’s humiliation could wait. The entire world could wait. For now Dainn decided to focus his full attention on not stopping, but instead destroying any trace of rebellion, current or future, and he knew exactly how to do it. He turned his gaze to Las Pegasus as the switched mares inside his tents began to cry out, their gags removed and his guards laughing while they raped them to death.

Dainn decided an example was the first step to regain control and order.

-----------------------------------------------*****************************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital City Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“A condition in which the subject cannot react, think or move on its own. A state similar to what the silver collars show but worse since their minds are still trapped in their torment. That is cold-shock,” Spike said calmly before drinking the rest of his water.

“Brother, if a mission was issued to rescue the Royal Pony Sisters, why wasn’t one made to rescue princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” the dragon judge asked tentatively. He didn’t wished to provoke the ire of Spike once again; he had seen it enough already and had no desire to see him in personal action.

Spike put his glass back on the table and sighed contently. “Of course we did, but there was a major problem with making it work, Cadance rarely put a hoof outside the Crystal Palace and when she did it was always alongside Shining Armor for a very important contest or a festivity. A rescue mission for Cadance was virtually impossible. There was one attempt made by some crystal pony Fakers independent from us but they failed and they were all switched and then blanked.”

The dragon judge shifted in his seat knowing what it meant.

“What did Dainn do after the rescue of princess Celestia and princess Luna?” the doe judge asked.

“Are you really that misinformed or just plain stupid?” Spike replied coldly. “Or are you simply trying to make me say it?”

“Why you insole---”

“There’s no need for you to say what happened in Las Pegasus, prisoner,” Keltu interrupted the doe judge. “The reports are...quite clear on it.”

“Indeed, I can imagine them to be,” Spike added with a smug smile. “But I’ll answer the real previous question with a ‘No’, what that bastard did in Las Pegasus to show us an example didn’t anger me more or provoque me. Oh no, that was impossible at that point.”

“Then what did you do?” surprisingly it was Shifting Sands who made the question in a soft tone.

“I spent the next two months training and taking care of my mother. I did attend to a couple of missions and spend some time in the Fun Room. The battle against the caribou continued as expected; basically just hit and run battles, several raids and some skirmishes. The boost in morale for having Luna and Celestia with us again helped out quite a lot, with Luna herself starting to take part in the fight leading some missions here and there; she can be quite stubborn you see. We did suffered casualties, however, and lost seven camps across Equestria during that time; the captured were publically executed or blanked. Some were lucky enough to be rescued days later.”

“That’s not what the reports say, prisoner,” the diamond dog judge said. “Yes, you lost several camps and took heavy casualties,” the judge glanced at Chrysalis for a second. “But the so called ‘rescue’ missions were anything but, am I correct?”

“You are. I personally led all those missions. My rules were clear, get our brothers and sisters out alive and leave no caribou alive, with the cows being the exception as always,” Spike grinned. “Those were quite fun! Especially since I could test the product of my training.”

“Which was?” Keltu asked.

“I could control my speed better, the amount of energy I could draw from the Heart and how much I could handle at the same time. Also my strength, my perception and my reflexes increased along with my scales becoming even sturdier. Not to mention the Crystal Regeneration turned faster, sadly it didn’t turned out less painful,” Spike turned his head to face Chrysalis. “I never really thanked you for our little sparring sessions, Chrysalis, so, thank you.”

Chrysalis simply nodded.

“That’s how you recovered your eye, tail and arm, am I correct?” the zebra judge said.

“Yeah, each time I took massive damage or lost a limb, like in the sparring sessions I mentioned, a regeneration process began to heal me up, usually taking a few minutes. You should’ve seen the face of Chrysalis the first time she tore my right hand with her scythe! I swear she almost had a heart attack,” Chrysalis glared at him. “But I guess it was my own fault for testing just how much punishment I could take. The regeneration is great, but it hurts like all fucking Tartarus,” Spike chuckled loudly while his tail danced behind him from side to side.

“All kidding aside,” he said a couple of seconds later in a chilly tone. “One afternoon after my training I went to the kitchen to prepare Celestia’s favorite soup, peas and carrot soup. I made it the way she likes it best and then went to my room to feed her, when I opened the door I was met with the scene of her sitting on the bed staring into the void. I feed her, I told her how much I love her and how sorry I was for not helping her sooner. I sang to her while holding her hands like I always did,” Spike closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

“When I was done I tried to release her hands and found out she was holding mine. I looked up to her and saw her crying whilst a small smile adorned her beautiful face. Next thing I knew was me taking her to the medical bay to start the healing process. I was so happy to see her out of the cold-shock, like everyone else, but my happiness was short lived,” he opened his eyes shining with an intense baby blue light and the Crystal Heart appearing in his chest once more. “That same night I….felt, for lack of a better term, that my time was running short.”

“What did you next, brother?” the dragon judge asked.

“I focused solely on my training and just two weeks later I felt strong and in control enough to actually stand a chance against Dainn. The next two weeks I spent them coming up with a strategy to destroy the Fake Crystal Heart and kill Dainn once and for all. It was mad, risky and suicidal; victory or death. The plan had three major parts: First, inform Empress Shifting Sands to move her armada to block the Siren’s Pass while her army, alongside with the griffon army, prepare to invade once the barrier fell. Meanwhile our forces would move up to every single city, village and town and wait for the barrier to fall as well. Second, destroy the corruption and free everyone affected by it and at the same time our forces would invade and attack, their objective to either take over or secure their objective until reinforcements arrive. Third, once the barrier fell Chrysalis and her most powerful changelings would consume as much love as they possibly could and create a shield around Canterlot castle, trapping Dainn inside until my return,” Spike got up and let out a long, tired sigh.

“The problem was, I had no fucking idea if I could even destroy the damn thing at the time, in theory my powers could but I had nothing to practice on before hand. That and the fact that I was going to do it on my own. Needles to say,” his eyes increased in brightness. “I was successful and that meant the beginning of the Rise.”

-----------------------------------------------------***********************************************

*Crystal Empire Train Station- Three years, ten months and three weeks into the Fall-*

“Now arriving at the Crystal Empire, please check your luggage and pick your whores in the unbording area once you leave your cabin. The train will depart for Manehattan in half an hour. Thank you all for using the Crystal Express services,” the voice of the announcer echoed across the station while everyone was going back and forth doing their own things paying no mind whatsoever to a cloaked figure walking shakily and slowly out of a train cabin, aided only by two walking staffs.

The train engines let out a loud whistling noise followed by a cloud of white smoke covering part of the platforms. Meanwhile the cloaked figure continued to make its way out of the station peacefully until a pair of caribou royal guards stopped him.

“Could you please show us your papers, sir?” the bigger one on the left asked.

“Of course,” the cloaked figure answered in a low, almost broken tone. “Could you hold my staff for a minute, youngin’?” the figure, an old male for the sounds of it, presented with a slightly trembling arm to the guard in the right. The guard took the staff letting the old man reach for his papers. Twenty seconds or so later the old man pulled a stack of papers out of his cloak and handed them over to the other guard, meanwhile the the one in the right returned him the staff.

After a minute the guard inspecting the papers used his magic to move them to a nearby desk.

“Everything seems to be in order, my good sir. Could you tell us the motive of your visit?”

“Before his majesty, King Dainn, blessed us with the truth of male superiority, I lived serving the sun bitch. Sadly, I’m far too old to enjoy the pleasure of teaching the bitches their proper place but I have travelled all over Equestria to witness its new glory *cough* *cough*....Oh…*cough*....I-I’m terribly sorry *cough*.”

“Are you sick, old man?” the guard in the right asked with concern.

“S-sadly, yes. It seems I d-don’t have much time left in this world *cough*” the old man pulled a hand covered in blue bandages making the two caribou guards take a step back and their expressions to show revulsion. “But before I die, I want to see the *cough* the glory of the Crystal Cock with my own eyes *cough*”

“D-do you require any assistance?” the taller guard asked keeping his distance.

“I doubt anyone would want to help*cough* an o-old infected fool like me, but you *cough* have my thanks, youngin’. Just point me in the direction of the *cough* Crystal C-Cock and I will be on my way,” both guards pointed to their backs where in the distance the Crystal Castle stood mighty and proud. Without another word the cloaked man began to make his way again and once he was far away enough the tallest guard picked his papers and set them on fire.

For several minutes the cloaked man walked slowly and in calm, paying no attention to the debauchery taking place all around him with females being raped, beaten, humiliated, treated like merchandise or used in the public stocks. He did, however, show his hands covered in the blue bandages creating an immediate circle and free pass for him, more out of fear to get infected with whatever disease the old man could be carrying, the blue bandages both marking him and stopping said sickness from spreading.

Before long the old man reached the Crystal Cock and the barrier protecting it and only stopped until he was in front of the off limits circle around the Crystal Cock. And then he stood still.

A couple of seconds later his cloak began to move on its own while at the same time a gush of wind emerged around him. Around five seconds later the ground below him began to freeze and gushes of violent wind emerged from within the cloak catching the eye of nearby bystanders. Suddenly the old man lifted both staffs and threw them to the sides now standing firmly in two feet. An intense blue light suddenly emerged from the cloak; temporarily blinding everyone staring at his direction.

The cloak erupted in white flames consuming it in seconds, followed by blue bandages falling to the ground also burning and revealing a dragon engulfed in white flames as ice spread over the ground around him.

Spike glared at the Crystal Cock while he prepared himself to attack it. He had no idea what to expect or the reaction it could possibly cause to Dainn, all he could focus on was in his hate, his desire to make the nightmare come to an end and to kill Dainn. He felt the energy of the Heart reaching its peak when he heard the guards approaching from all side to him.

“Is...is that Marshall Spike!?”

Spike heard a caribou shout in astonishment before he opened his maw letting a thick stream of blue flames against the Crystal Cock. The moment it made impact a huge shockwave made every nearby window and glass explode and created an earthquake strong enough to send everyone to the ground. The flames engulfed the red barrier around the Crystal Cock creating red lightnings to shoot in all directions. Spike let out a roar seeing the barrier hold up against his attack and diverted his attention to the sky for a moment, seeing the stream magic coming out of the Crystal Palace, the same keeping the barrier active thin out. Still, the power he was using was not enough to destroy the Crystal Cock.

For almost four year we have lived under the rule of the fucking caribou and that son of a thousand demons of Dainn. All that we lost, all that we still have to lose, all those who had died and worse at their filthy, stinking, rotten hands. And I don’t have much time left to spare…..no…..NO…...FUCKING NO! Today we will be free, today I shall break the caribou for all they’ve done and they’ll see the rage of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. Today I will kill Dainn! I won’t let this madness go on any longer! I will not fail again!

Spike shouted to himself in his mind drawing even more power from the Heart. Then, combined with a mighty roar, the stream of fire grew three sizes in thickness and was now completely covering the barrier of the Crystal Cock.

The barrier began to crack as the red lightnings became more violent until, with a loud bang and another shockwave, the barrier shattered allowing the flames to hit the Crystal Cock directly. Spike was able to see the Crystal Cock inside his flames starting to crack and then it completely shattered accompanied with a huge explosion of magic that sent even him to the ground ending his attack.

Spike got up quickly and ran to the pillars below the Castle; the ground around it and a hundred or so meters behind it was on fire. Spike saw a couple of dark and red bolts coming out from an object near the base of the lower pillar. He reached down for it and took it with his right hand, pieces of the Crystal Cock still clinging to said object, still he recognized the object perfectly.

“So that’s why you felt familiar,” Spike said angrily. “The fucking Alicorn Amulet,” he glared at the object, cracks adorning its surface. “No one will use you again,” his hand erupted into flames before he closed his hand turning the Amulet into pieces. The pieces themselves turned into ashes as they landed on the ground whilst covered in blue flames.

With no more time to waste Spike made the Heart present itself on his chest. A second later he felt himself being pulled in between the two pillars; focusing on the energy he used to cleanse the brainwash and into his very own being.

“Be free and take your vengeance!” Spike shouted before the pillars illuminated themselves with white light, followed by the entire Castle and then shoot out a beam of pure magical white light to the skies obliterating the already shattering barrier and sending a huge, massive wave of white energy in all directions.

All the while Spike screamed in constant, unwavering pain.

Part 1 end.

Author's Note

Special thanks to everyone that read this!

I know this is a huge tease and not what was promised but I have had some hectic things happening to me lately, including the fact that my new job forces me to have 5 days without internet and my two days off are spent on other projects.

I did cut this into 2 parts because I wanted to add more for the second part (chapter 7 was going to be originally 16 k words in total, but I decided to make it around 23 divided into 2 chapters, so don't hate plz)

Chapter 7: Revenge and Justice P2

Part 2 Begin

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” Spike screamed at the top of his lungs feeling the cleansing energy of Heart flowing through and out of him. He could feel his scales burning and his muscles being torn apart at the sheer amount of energy escaping from his core. The pain was intense, to the point of making him unable to think or focus on anything beside it; despite that Spike knew this pain was worth it and enduring it was child's play compared to all he had to suffer during the Fall.

A little more pain was nothing in exchange to save those that still could be saved and grant them the chance to take revenge for their own torment. Many would die and many more would probably be driven mad, but it was all worth it. Everything he had done and sacrificed would finally pay up shortly.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Canterlot Castle--Same time--

“My King!” a caribou guard exclaimed worriedly. “Are you alright!?”

Dainn said nothing and instead pressed his left hand upon his chestplate, the cup he was previously holding forgotten on the ground below. His breathing forced and pained. He looked up to the sky from his spot in the garden balcony and saw his almost invisible barrier crack followed by it shattering into millions of pieces.

“How--” Dainn managed to stammer out before several green beams of energy shot from all around his castle only for them to create and sustain a green barrier around it. He looked in the direction of the Crystal Empire and saw some sort of light coming his way just before the sound of fighting and explosions of magic erupted all around the city.

Ha glared at the barrier as his expression turned into one of pure rage. “Who did this!?” He shouted while purple shadows emerged from his eyes. “Who dares defy my power!?”

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Outside the walls of Canterlot

Chrysalis and her most powerful changelings charged their magic ready to fire a united spell. She had spent the previous days consuming all the love energy she could be given, just like her changelings. The amount they received was something she had never even dared to hope seeing one day previous to the Fall. Still, the corruption of Dainn hanging in the air turned it less powerful than it should but it was enough. She felt stronger than the time of the wedding, but their reserves were limited unlike then not to mention their current numbers were lacking at best. She could only hope Spike’s plan would work.

Her answer came when a scout signaled the sky and she saw the barrier crack and then shatter.

‘Begin the attack!’ She shouted in her mind ordering her subjects around the city to start the assault. At the same time she shot a thick beam of pure energy at the castle from her hidden position followed by the ones made by her subjects.

She focused solely in maintaining the barrier up and strong, meanwhile her soldiers would attack the city with all their might. Spike’s plan seemed to have work. Now she only had to hold on, hope the best for the rest of the attacks around Equestria to be successful, beg for the soon arrival of the reinforcements of Shifting Sands and Blood Talons and most importantly, maybe even the most important part of the plan; the liberation of Discord.

“You better come back soon, Spike,” Chrysalis whispered to herself the moment the faint sounds of battle around the city reached her ears. She then felt an absolutely powerful beam clash against her barrier from the inside making her, and her changeling, double the power put onto the barrier. Her only goal was simple.

Keep Dainn trapped inside the barrier at all costs.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Somewhere in the Desert

“Creslin, look up to the skies. The barrier has fallen,” a caribou cow told to the leader of the ‘Liberators’.

Looking up Creslin found the words of her sister-in-arms to be true. The barrier shattered into dust right before her eyes. Creslin got up and threw her mask away letting a broad, proud smile adorn her lips. “The time has come. The Mad Tyrant shall be no more! Brothers…. no. Sisters, today we fulfill our promise, we shall aid the one that has made our chance for redemption possible, for Spike!”

“Death to the Mad Tyrant!” the rest of the Liberators shouted in unison.

Creslin reached for her ocarina and began to play the same song she had played during her time with Spike. A few seconds later several tatzlwurm emerged from the ground, ready for the attack and hungry for caribou meat.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Ruins of the castle of the Royal Pony Sisters

Twilight and the rest of the mane six sat quietly outside the cave that held the Tree of Harmony. The castle was practically empty, except for a few guards and some medics and shamans. Everyone else was out ready to fight what they hoped would mark the end of the Fall. They knew every other camp around Equestria was in similar conditions. And they knew all they could do was wait and hope for the best.

“We should be out there helping,” Rainbow snarked. “We should be fighting.”

“Ah agree with yah, Dash, but Spike made us promise tah stay here,” Applejack said while she checked the razor sharp blades of her stetson. “If he fails….we might just be the last hope fer our home.”

“But Spike won’t fail….right?” Pinkie Pie asked timidly.

“Our Spike will never fail,” Rarity said sure of herself. “His plan will work, he is going to defeat that brute that dares call himself king and make everything right and then all will be like this nightmare never occurred,” silence followed her remark. “And...and Spike will be our cute, adorable and dependable Spikey-Wikey again, right?.....Right?” silence met her again.

“Y-Yeah,” Rainbow Dash replied hesitantly. “No way purple-ass is gonna let us down!” she exclaimed with a bit more sentiment.

“The barrier…..look,” Fluttershy whispered looking to the sky. Her friends looked up seeing that, in fact, the barrier was now falling apart. “Spike...did it,” her lips curled up into a small smile.

“Good luck, Spike,” Twilight said. Meanwhile her friends celebrated and the few guards in the castle shouted in victory. But she knew better. She knew victory was still far from their reach and she had to find a way, any way to help her number one assistant, her little brother in all but blood. There had to be a way, she just had to find it.

A flash of light caught her attention. She turned her head to see the source of the light.

Twilight Sparkle smiled.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Saddle Arabian Main Camp

“The barrier has fallen, all units mobilize!” Empress Shifting Sands declared.

“At once!” several mares and stallions around her clad in armor said in unison before leaving to lead their troops.

Shifting Sands, clad in a red and golden half-armor, stared in silence while her ground troops made their way inside Equestria, she could see her mounted scouts already storming into the distance and her air units right atop them. Looking down from her spot she saw her main army, roughly three hundred thousand troops in total divided in several companies; each led by one of her trusted generals marching to their destinations ready to help liberate the land of her dear friends.

Meanwhile her armada was already blocking all the ports around Equestria and were now moving towards the Siren’s Pass to destroy any caribou naval power and block any possible reinforcements they could have.

A loud collective roar came from the skies before several dozens of dragons flying towards Equestria, all of them carrying some of the ponies-turned-mercenaries that were outside Equestria when the Fall began. The rest of said mercenaries, including some zebra warriors and shamans, already merged with her armies.

She saw in the distance a faint white light approaching at incredible speed allowing herself to smile.

“Celestia….Luna….I’m here my dear friends. May the divine creators bless Spike and grant us righteous victory.”

Shifting Sands said just before the light reached her and her troops.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Griffon Frontier with Equestria

“General Sebastian, what was that light?” a griffoness asked the slightly confused general.

“I do not know, but it made us no harm; that is all that matters,” Sebastian answered maintaining his route towards Neighpan and Prance, the two nearest major cities. “Tell lieutenant Marcus to take his troops and scout ahead, we need eyes on Stalliongrad. And while you’re at it, tell sergeant Buckbeak to take his squad and head for the Crystal Empire.”

“By your command,” the griffoness said before flying out to carry on her orders.

Sebastian, the greatest general of the Griffon Empire, trusted advisor and personal friend of King Blood Talons, stared down to the land of Equestria. Knowledge of the events inside the barrier were limited at best for these past years, and what little he knew was thanks only to his king and the insulting and demented letter from Dainn, the caribou king. He didn’t know how bad things could be in Equestria, but if the desperate cries for help from Empress Shifting Sands and the ‘rebel’ forces lead by the changeling queen and Spike The Dragon were anything to go by, he knew he had to help them and prevent the madness of the caribou king from ever reaching his home.

The horrors that awaited him and his troops would prove to be far worse than he ever imagined and at the same time prove him right.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Manehattan- Private Penthouse-

Discord laid on the ground suffering from a monster headache while the sound of nails against a chalkboard echoed in his ears.

With great effort he rose himself from the cold floor and opened his eyes. At first everything was blurry but by each passing second the images began to make sense. He was in some sort of room, surrounded by what appeared to be guards of some kind. He blinked twice trying to regain his sight when the painful headache turned even worse. Taking his lion paw to his head he rubbed himself trying to ease the pain a little, thankfully his sight did return to him.

The armored figures were indeed guards, but they were not pony guards, they were…...What are they? And why do they look so familiar? Discord asked himself. Soon after that the noise turned into actual sounds and then into words he could understand.

“---glad you’re alright, Lord Discord! The rebels are attacking the city and the barrier fell just moments ago. When that strange light past us you fell to the ground, we feared the worst,” the nearest guard said to him.

“What are--you-- talking about?” Discord said as his headache finally began to subside. He had no idea what the guard meant by that. Looking around a bit he saw a few mares naked on the floor and two more hanging from the ceiling by some ropes, their nether regions exposed for the world to see. Not exactly my thing, I admit. Discord thought before a small pang of pain made him rub his head once more. All I remember is a white light and then the mother of all headaches….but before that everything is black. Darn, how much did I drink? Oh man, I can’t remember anything, it must’ve been a very big, very naughty party! I just hope Fluttershy won’t be mad wi---.

In that instant almost four years of memories came back to him in less than a second. Everything he had done in that time starting from his delusion and slavement up to this very moment and everything in between. Discord’s eyes went as wide as they naturally could and he stood there frozen in place like a statue.

A few seconds later screams of guilt, madness, despair and regret echoed all over the city, effectively silencing the sounds of the starting battle.

“What in the name of Tartarus is going on!?” the commanding guard shouted in desperation.

“I-I don’t know, sir!” another guard answered gripping his warhammer tightly.

Soon enough those screams started being replaced by pure shouts and screams of anger and hate, followed shortly by the calling of warhorns and a renewed and invigorated battle.

“We can worry about that later! We must take lord Discord to a safe place!”

“....Nowhere is safe….” Discord said loudly but not yelling gaining the attention of the present guards. Pure chaotic energy poured out from all over his body. His dragon talon turned into a dark green color and the claws sharpened. The claws of both his griffon hand and lion paw grew and sharpened while his coat turned darker and every hair stood up defying gravity.

Discord turned only his head to face the caribou guards. His fangs had grown and his tongue lolled out of his mouth salivating a green, acid-looking liquid. His expression was unreadable yet it was horrifying; it was like looking into the face of an emotionless demon. And his eyes, wide and unexpressive, shining with an unnatural white-blueish light reflecting an empty void within them. Discord brought his lion paw up pushing his middle finger against his thumb.

“Nowhere is safe…..from my wrath, caribou,” Discord’s expression turned into one of pure madness; his lips forming a curved, deformed smile. “Let’s play, shall we?” his tone calm and neutral, betraying the aura around the draconequus. The guards took a step back in panic, but it was too late. For everyone.

Discord snapped his fingers.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Outside South Borders of Manehattan

Doctor Oscar Hackett Brian Whooves, or more commonly known simply as ‘Doc’, watched in disbelief as a gigantic purple dome suddenly appeared around the city of Manehattan.

“Great whickering stallions…,” he whispered to himself upon seeing in the distance rebel forces fighting with all their might against caribou soldiers….and they were winning. “Can it be possible? Could this reign of debauchery and perversion finally come to an end?” turning around he looked around his ‘Laboratory’.

His old laboratory, back in Ponyville, had become his safe haven and a place he could call home. A place where he could run his scientific experiments and mathematical equations as much as he desired. But with the arrival of the caribou he was forced to act like he approved the new regime and then thrown into this abomination the caribou dared to call a laboratory; every day filled with tests devoted to come up with new sexual toys, sexual drugs, mind-controlling drugs and other even more depraved methods dedicated only to humiliate and torture females even further.

He was no coward, not by a longshot. But still he decided to play along, to be a Heretic or one of those so called Fakers, to protect his closest and dearest friend and her daughter. A sudden ‘Boom’ of thunder, or something really close to it, travelled across the air making the twelve year old Dinky cry out in surprise and cling to her mother.

“Shhhhh, my dear muffin, everything is going to be alright now.”

Doc turned to face the window again, unable to face Ditzy Doo and her daughter Dinky. He had been forced to do….things he would rather forget about to both mares over the years, all in the name to keep them safe from a much worse fate. And while Ditzy, or ‘Derpy’ like she was usually called, and even Dinky had told him time and time again that they held no grudge or hate against him for his actions, he couldn’t stop feeling like scum ever since he himself put the black collars around their necks.

He was an ever optimist even in these dark times, but despite the rumors and all the fighting done by the rebels during the past months it never gave him much hope. And now, seeing through his window a bunch of caribou soldiers being butchered by rebel forces, the barrier shatter, the strange white light passing a minute ago and the new dome around Manehattan he allowed himself to smile for the first time in years.

Doc took off his long coat and walked over to Ditzy and Dinky. Upon reaching them the mares looked up to him before her covered them with it while they embraced. Before Doc could move away he felt the mares grab his right hand and slowly pulled him down to kneel beside them. Once he was in reach both mother and daughter pulled him into their embrace.

“Maybe…..maybe we can be a real family now?” Dinky whispered hopeful.

“That sounds nice,” Derpy replied in the same tone.

“.....,” Doc felt hot tears falling down his cheeks. “That’s a crazy idea, Dinky,” he allowed himself to hug the mares close to him, truly enjoying their warmth and presence. “Crazy enough that it might actually work,” Doc said before another round of thunder made itself present through the sky.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Trottingham Main Plaza

“That’s the moon-bitch! Capture her for the glory of his majesty, King Dainn!” a caribou soldier shouted pointing his lance at the lunar princess.

The soldier was immediately silenced not by the rebels or the princess but instead by five pony soldiers behind him. They dragged him into the ground before stabbing the caribou relentlessly; all the while the stallions shouted obscenities, curses, hexes or simply screamed out their new found rage. Just like practically everyone in the city.

“Free the captive females and localize the foals, evacuate them.”

“As you command!” a group of officers answered in unison before taking their troops to fulfill their orders.

Luna, clad in a purple chitin armor similar to her personal war armor, watched the chaos field that Trottingham had turned into. To the left she saw her soldiers liberating the captive females usually put in the public stocks, some of them still having the energy to fight the caribou once their collar was removed despite their nudity. To the right she saw a group of caribou being overwhelmed by a shower of arrows; behind them diamond dogs dragged others below the ground or hold their ankles tightly allowing others to kill the wretched caribou with ease.

In front of her she saw a large group of previously brainwashed males, most of them ponies, turn against the few caribou among them. The caribou were quickly overpowered by sheer numbers and the fury of their up until now brainwashed slaves. And all around her the screams and sounds of battle rang; the screams for justice and revenge resounding with the same intensity.

Luna flexed her wings, now fully healed but she couldn’t fly as of yet. Instead she settled for spreading them. Some of the previously brainwashed males turned to see her and quickly fell to their knees; most of them begging for forgiveness or crying in desperation.

“Rise! Rise, all of you!” Luna shouted without using her royal voice volume. “Rise against those depraved monsters that had enslaved us and turned us into less than animals! Rise, all of you, sons and daughters of Equestria! Rise against the caribou and against their mad king!” a loud roar made her turn to see at least fifty caribou mounting the abominations they called warbeasts coming out from the main street and into the main plaza.

“Rise against them! Rise, for Equestria!” Luna draw her twin swords and pointed them against the warbeasts. “Rise, for thine princess is with you today!”

“For Equestria!” someone shouted.

“For the princess!” another one shouted.

“Kill them all!” another shouted.

“ATTACK!” Luna shouted before charging against the warbeasts with her personal guards and the crowd she had encouraged behind her.

The warbeasts roared before spitting out a torrent of flames from their maws. Before the fire could reach Luna and her group a blue shimmering barrier appeared in front of the flames making them bounce back confusing the warbeasts. Five seconds later the barrier was gone and with it the flames; replacing it with charging ponies, zebras and three minotaurs.

“Fight on my brothers! Let’s show these damn heretics and their sluts the might of male superiority!”

The caribou and the warbeasts prepared to attack again when out of nowhere something big and heavy landed between their group crushing one caribou and his warbeast.

“What the fuck now!?” the nearest caribou shouted with more anger than surprise. He saw a bulking figure clad in yellow and blue armor rise up. The figure was completely covered by armor, the only thing he could distinguish was a white horn, a pair of cold blue eyes looking at him behind a Windigo shaped mask and a massive, thick sword swinging his way.

The caribou and those around the figure were quickly sliced up in two just as the night princess and her group attacked the ones in the front.

The fight was frantic and messy, the released males and the rebels led by Luna hacked and slashed at the warbeasts trying to reach their caribou masters. Meanwhile the warbeasts crushed one attacker after another with their front legs using their weight; the caribou thrust their spears or used their whips to attack the rebels managing to take down one or two each. And despite their casualties neither side backed down.

The minotaurs charged against a warbeast tackling it down using their combined strength, allowing the princess of the night free pass to decapitate the caribou rider and then pierce the eyes of the warbeast; blinding it and making it spit out fire in anger around managing to hit another two behind it.

Meanwhile the figure clad in armor wracked havoc in between the main force of the warbeasts. For each swing of the heaping piece of iron that disguised itself for a ‘sword’ two or three warbeasts fell. The caribou and the warbeasts however fought back against the armored figured but their attacks proved to be futile; either the armor bounced off their weapons and magic or the fire of the warbeasts didn’t even touch it.

After two agitated minutes the battle was over and the surviving rebels turned to the princess and the figure now standing next to her. Luna looked at the armored figure before seeing a group of forty or so rescued females being cornered at the other side of the plaza by an entire battalion of caribou guards. Luna pointed her blood drenched swords at the new enemy that had, in turn, notice them now, too.

“Fight onward, my fellow ponies and friends. Fight against the caribou! We shall mourn our dead later, but now fight to avenge them!”

“Raaaaaahhh!” all of the presents shouted in unison as they charged at the caribou guards moving into a new formation.

“Good to see you’re enjoying yourself, nephew,” Luna said at the same time Blueblood put his ‘sword’ over his right shoulder.

“I’ve been waiting years for this moment, auntie,” Blueblood replied to Luna seeing their forces charge against the caribou from the front while a platoon of thestrals descended upon them and an entire pack of diamond dogs snatched those they could from below the ground; both surprise attacks absolutely breaking their foes block formation. Looking down he saw the corpses of the fallen from both sides and frowned. “I really fucking hate the caribou, auntie. For every of our own that dies this day I’ll kill twenty of them; they owe us for years of their terror.”

“Worry not, Blueblood, there are plenty of them to take revenge upon,” Luna said walking towards the ongoing battle with her nephew at her side. “But thou shalt find much competition, we also desire retribution for what was done to us.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad you’re here, auntie Luna,” Blueblood took his sword with both hands. “You’re a beacon of strength to our people since you were…….you know…”

“A false and unworthy title. We--I was only lucky enough to be immune to their thrall. I spent too much time controlled by the Nightmare; I wish not to be controlled again,” Luna said in a neutral tone despite gripping her swords tighter. “Enough chat, my dear Blueblood, battle and victory awaits us!” she said before running towards the battle.

Blueblood watched Luna leaping over her troops, swirl around in the air and then land somewhere in the midst of the battle followed by three caribou heads flying up for a moment. The regal unicorn prince took a stance ready to charge before looking back seeing in the distance the flag of Equestria held by his other aunt. Celestia was still weak but she desired to help in the fight however she could. Chrysalis knew Celestia was pretty much the symbol of Equestria and her mere presence would bolster up the morale of their troops, and she was right.

Spike argued against Celestia’s wishes for days but in the end he accepted her involvement in the attack under two conditions; first, Celestia would stay close to the fight but only to be seen by others while being guarded at all times and second, if somehow the battle would turn bad for them she had to be evacuated immediately.

He didn’t know who or how Spike was convinced but it didn’t matter, the effect of having both the princess of the sun and the night fighting against the caribou was clear and thanks to whatever Spike had done in the Empire victory was all but assured in Trottingham. Blueblood could only hope the same outcome for the rest of Equestria.

He was about to charge when another battalion of caribou and corrupted males alike entered the plaza from the left side. Behind them he could see several females still wearing their red collars, almost all of them desperately trying to free themselves.

Blueblood snarled angrily, his horn ignited with magic and teleported high above the new enemy. The fight was far from over and he was more than willing to show the caribou what the prim and proper prince was really capable of.

Besides, he thought reappearing in the sky. I have a lot of catching up to do. Soarin is in Cloudsdale, Macintosh is in Canterlot, Yog is doing his special mission and Spike is doing his thing, the prince chuckled while descending upon the ignorant caribou. I wonder who’ll get the biggest kill count.

Blueblood landed.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

Crystal Empire-Below the Crystal Castle- ‘Beacon of the Crystal Cock’-

Spike coughed violently, barely staying up on all fours. He could feel an intense pain coursing inside his entire body alongside with the regenerating energy of the Crystal Heart healing him. After a good thirty seconds or so the pain finally began to ease up and allowed him to not only think straight again but also stand up.

Once he was standing on two legs again he checked his arms and front noticing several cracks running across his scales and many of those same scales missing or being regenerated. He also noticed the Crystal Heart symbol gone and that all he could hear was a strange mix between white noise and static; certainly not something pleasant.

After ten more seconds he began to walk forward, only now noticing the ice on the ground and the white mist around him forming a diameter of eight meters by his best guess. He paid it no further mind and made his way outside; his vision completely functional and his hearing returning to normal since he could now hear some very disrupted whispers.

Stepping outside the mist the scenario that awaited him was enough to shock him momentarily.

He saw several caribou soldiers either running away or trying to fight off crystal pony guards. But there was something rather particular about the crystal ponies, or rather on almost everyone, and that was that they were fighting the caribou like nothing more than rabid animals. Some stallions instead of fighting were freeing captive mares and females to then take away their collars. Allowing those that had enough strength (or hate) to join the fight.

The caribou (and regrettably those that were already completely corrupted) were pushed back and attacked from all sides. Those that tried to flee were soon persecuted and caught by a flock of rage-filled females and quickly beaten to death; even while they were still naked. He saw a caribou raping a crystal pony mare on the ground, shouting while punching her violently. Spike took a step forward to stop the caribou when he saw two stallion guards tackle the caribou before using their short swords to stab him several times.

Suddenly the noise in his ear-fins was gone and it was suddenly replaced by those of screams, shouting, weapons clashing, meat ripping, bones breaking and skin being torn asunder, glass shattering and beams of magic shooting through the air. The stench of blood and other more vile odors also reached his nose making him snarl with joy despite knowing some of that blood belonged to those the caribou managed to kill.

A great tremor caught his attention right before at least thirty caribou, or what was left of them, landed a good ten meters to his right followed by a very familiar unicorn enveloped in his own magic. The stallion looked at his way and instantly charged screaming like a mad demon at the same time. Spike simply took a sidestep allowing Shining Armor to hit his real target; a small group of caribou dragging young colts and fillies away from the battle.

Spike, almost fully healed, watched in awe how Shining Armor rammed himself against the biggest caribou sending him flying a few meters. With his next move he pulled into the air the other six remaining caribou and crushed them without a second thought; their anti-magic armor proving useless against the enraged stallion’s magic power. He then threw the crushed bodies of the caribou together; hurling them at the caribou he had sent flying. The caribou cried out trying to pull himself out from the remains of his brothers only to be stopped by a kick from Shining, sending his head flying to the left.

Shining Armor looked around before launching himself at another, bigger group of caribou giving fight to his guards.

“I’ll let you take care of them, Shining,” Spike whispered feeling himself completely healed up. “This is, after all, your home,” Spike looked up to the window the caribou and Shining Armor had come through and saw Cadance, her form wrapped around a curtain, her eyes filled with tears and looking down at him. His eyes turned white before letting out a mighty roar that both terrified the caribou and the corrupted and invigorated all others.

Spike and Cadance looked at each other for a few more seconds. Cadance blinked twice and her eyes turned white for a moment before the look in her eyes changed from desperation and pain to absolute horror. Covering her mouth with both hands she nodded twice closing her eyes. She heard another great roar; once it ended she reopened her eyes to find that Spike was gone from his previous spot replaced only by a thick line of icy mist pointing to Equestria.

------------------------------------------**************************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital City Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“Before I continue, I must warn and confess something to you all, my dear judges,” Spike said calmly. “Which would you like to hear first?”

The judges took a glance at each other a couple of times before Keltu let out a sigh. “The warning.”

“The moment where my sins are to come to light is near,” Spike looked up to the ceiling. “Remember what I said at the beginning of this trial? You know, the part about lollygagging? Though I joked at the time I really mean that is one of my worst crimes. I believe you can come to a conclusion as to why if you have been listening for the past few hours,” a mirthless chortle left his mouth. “My real sins are something far much worse though.”

“Real sins, brother?” the dragon judge asked with concern.

“Oh yes, plenty of those. What I did to the caribou can be labeled as ‘sins’ but for me is more like justice, revenge, retribution or just crimes. And don’t you worry, you’ll hear all about them shortly.”

“And your confession, murderer?” Silveria asked with annoyance.

“Why do you think I agreed to be put in that cell in the first place? Why do you think I gave you my report? Why do you think I proposed and agreed to this bullshit trial?” Spike looked at the Keltu and smiled warmly. “Normally the judges sitting in the Great Tribunal must be the current rulers of the nine most prominent nations in the world, for they have the duty and honor to speak for the entire world in this unique occasion. Said rulers can, however, send the highest justice figure of their own country in their place. Look around you,” Spike spread his arms. “There are only two current rulers here and let’s be honest, Sebastian shouldn’t even be here to begin with. That leaves the six of you as the proof of what I stated before; your rules are nothing more than backstabbing cowards.”

“Why you-”

“I WASN’T FINISHED YOU FILTHY PIECE OF SHIT!” Spike roared at the cervidae judge making the entire room shake and the temperature to drop a few grades. A few seconds later he cleared his throat. “As I was saying. Why do you think you’re here in the first place? And I mean why are you really here,” the judges didn’t respond. “That’s because they’re cowards and are scared of me. They thought I would use the Great Tribunal as a chance to kill them all, that’s why they sent you here. You are their little scapegoats as I am now for everyone else back home, the only difference is that I came willingly,” the crowd began to murmur in between themselves. “Blood Talons is the only one that didn’t come out of shame or guilt, why else would he send his best friend in his regard?” Spike breathed in deeply.

“Funny though... they were right,” the crowd gasped and Shifting Sands, Chrysalis and Sebastian were taken aback. “It was my plan all along to use the Great Tribunal to reunite those six assholes in one spot, just a few feet away from me and in a confined location. Certainly far easier and quicker than hunting them down one by one,” Spike let out a heavy, tired sigh. “Relax, I won’t go after them after we’re done. If I wanted to I would’ve simply left the moment I saw you come out of that door. I gave up on that idea a few days ago. Glad I did, this is….far more pleasurable and I won’t waste time or effort on them, they’re not worth it. Not anymore.”

“After that revelation you expect us to believe you!?” Silveria shouted enraged.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Spike curled his lips into a cocky smile, much to the anger of four of the judges. “You can always try and lock me up; key word being ‘try’.”

“You barbaric, blood thirsty, insolent monster! What makes you think you can threat us in such a way!?” the zebra judge got up slamming the desk with his hands.

Spike turned to face him, his eyes turned white and began to levitate in front of them while a barely noticeable shimmer emerged from the rest of his body. His smile turned into a smug one.

“Tirek is dead. Sombra is dead. Dainn is dead and has no chance to come back again; I made sure of that. Chrysalis is sitting right there. Celestia, Luna, Twilight and Cadance are in Equestria and do I have to remind you they are my mother, aunt, best friend and cousin respectively. Discord is my friend and is not as reasonable as I am. The Element Bearers are my best friends, not to mention one of them is Twilight Sparkle,” Spike landed but the shimmering and his eyes didn’t stop their glow.

“Right now I’m pretty much the second most powerful being in the world and the other top five beings are my relatives, friends or allies. Riddle me this, scum, what makes you think I can’t threat you or do whatever the fuck I want? I could kill you in a second and no one could stop me. But why I don’t do it? Simple, you’re not a caribou or a caribou supporter despite betraying Equestria and the Empire. That betrayal was made out of cowardice, not sympathy. My actions look monstrous to your eyes, and they are, oh yes, they are. But I know all of you are thankful for my actions de-e-e-e-e-ep inside~.”

The zebra judge glared Spike for twenty full seconds until he sat down silently. The rest of the judges were silent as well unable to look his way, except for Silveria whom instead had her eyes shut tight. Spike turned around to face the attending crowd.

“I apologize if my actions so far have caused you to be uncomfortable with my presence; it was not my intention and I want to assure you that I won’t harm you in any way even if you decide to attack me. Because trust me, you’re going to absolutely hate me after I finish if you don’t already,” Spike turned around again to face the judges and sat on his chair and set his gaze on Chrysalis, the changeling queen looked at him and nodded.

“It took me two hours to reach Canterlot. In that time most cities and towns were already under perimeter-control of the rebel forces with the exception of Manehattan that was under the dome of Discord. Appleloosa and the Buffalo Plains under the control of Creslin. Stalliongrad, Vanhoover and Fillydelphia were sadly under caribou control along with a few villages and small settlements. Thankfully they would be soon liberated by the Empress and Sebastian in less than four days meanwhile the dragons, both the ones that came willingly and the mercenaries, hunt down any caribou forces on the fields with the help of changeling mimickers. The saddle arabian armada blocked all available ports.”

Spike closed his eyes. “Canterlot was yet to be taken when I arrived.”

------------------------------------------------------------*********************************************

Canterlot - Two hours later-

“ARRRRGGGG--”

Chrysalis closed her right eye feeling another one of her changelings break the barrier union. She re-opened it just before another mighty beam of magic from Dainn hit the barrier.

This isn’t good, Chrysalis thought feeling yet two more of her changelings break down thanks to the latests attack. That fucker has been at it for two hours without rest, how much power does he have!? She screamed in her mind as yet another beam clashed the barrier.

“Asshole!” Chrysalis shouted feeling the barrier finally starting to shatter and another of her changeling fall. Out of the three hundred changelings, she included, that were tasked to maintain the barrier up only twenty remained. The first hour wasn’t so bad but the sheer amount of power that Dainn launched against it with each attack drained their love reserves far quicker than expected, not to mention the massive mental stress it put after enduring more than an hour of his attacks. The second hour though, that was another story on itself.

The battle on the city was nearly done, just a few places still remained in caribou control but not for long she hoped. The worst came with the newly liberated victims of the caribou, there were too many of them and not enough hands to tend them once the caribou were dealt with and their rage partially subdued.

Chrysalis look up to the barrier knowing that behind it Dainn and the rest of his forces were preparing to crush her and her army. And with the power he had shown so far victory would be his without a doubt. Still, she had to hold on.

“Captain, reunite all available forces and prepare to storm the castle once the barrier--” another beam hit the barrier. “DAMN HIM!” she shouted feeling five of her changelings break down. “Once the barrier falls.”

“Our troops are already gathering near the gateway, your majesty, we are all eager to end this madness,” the changeling captain bowed before buzzing off to fulfill his command.

Another beam clashed against the barrier almost breaking Chrysalis out of her concentration. Chrysalis grunted painfully, the barrier would fall in the next three or four attacks by her predictions. A few seconds later she felt another beam hit the barrier breaking down another seven of her changelings. Almost ten seconds later another beam hit breaking three more of her subjects, now only she and four other remained.

Chrysalis lost part of her concentration when she heard a mighty, powerful and chilling roar all over, around and through her. She felt it, everyling around her felt it and she was sure Dainn and the rest of his wretched caribou inside the castle felt it, too. She felt a cold wind passing right next to her and sighed in relief, finally signaling her changelings to drop the barrier. It would take a few minutes to recover her strength using the last love reserves, then she’d join the final battle. She had fought against this madness for far too long and she would be damned before not being there to see the end of it personally.

---With Spike---

Spike saw the barrier disperse freeing the castle. He roared again and at the same time draw energy from the Heart whilst slowing down. He could see changeling, rebel and liberated troops marching into formations ready to assault the castle. Spike jumped from the edge of a nearby waterfall all the way past the outer walls of the castle thanks to his speed.

The dragon landed with such an impact that he created a crater around him sending pieces of rock and dirt flying all around him. He roared again making the heavy dust cloud that formed around him to disperse. He saw a large group of elite heavy and royal guard caribou standing ground near the entrance of the second inner wall around the castle entrance itself, all of them looking at him with shock and terror due to his roar.

Spike snarled angrily and then breathed a thick stream of orange fire their way. After that Spike turned his focus to the gateway handle and with a single swing of his tail he destroyed it making the bridge fall. Spike roared again whilst changeling and pegasi forces arrived from above the walls and the first wave of his troops marched down the gateway, shouting and crying out either the name of one of the princesses, Chrysalis’s name or even his own. An impressive sight taken into consideration the timberwolves, manticores, orthros and the two tamed hydras among them.

Spike turned around to face the caribou finding his fire dying down and a magic shield in front of them. He crouched down allowing his troops to run past him for a moment before running past them and into the caribou formation.

Spike slammed himself against the spear of a heavy caribou breaking it upon contact with his scales, he grabbed the caribou by his left antler and made him kneel before him. The caribou, too shocked to move or respond in time, focused on the white, empty eyes of the dragon and the strange white light that also emanated from his mouth and scale lines.

“Die, you fucking traitor!” another heavy shouted using his warhammer to hit Spike on the back of his head. The warhammer shattered upon impact but Spike didn’t even flinch; instead Spike smiled.

Using his tail Spike impaled through the stomach of the caribou that hit him, piercing the armor like butter, while he snapped the antler of the one he was currently holding down making him scream in pain. He then used the antler and jammed it in the eyes of the caribou making him cry out in pain even louder. He retrieved his tail and spun around slashing down with his claws and tail all surrounding caribou guards. Once he stopped Spike jumped behind the lines of the caribou letting the rebel soldiers to charge against the caribou and the changelings and pegasi to attack from the sky.

Upon landing he grabbed two caribou guards by their throats and tore them away. He threw their throats to the ground before breathing a thin of green fire from left to right moving his head rapidly. The fire hit those that were not quick enough to dodge it and instantly the flames erupted and consumed them.

At least fifteen caribou guards attacked the dragon at the same time. Their weapons raised and ready to strike him down. Spike snarled angrily and dropped to the ground before using his tail to grab one of them with his tail bringing the caribou to the ground. The other caribou hit Spike at the same time wherever they could only for their weapons to meet the same fate when they hit the scales of the dragon. All of them shattered.

Spike got up from a single movement dragging the caribou he trapped with his tail. Lifting his tail up he allowed the caribou to shout at him once before slamming him against another so hard that the hit created a small shockwave. Spike lifted his new favorite club but only lifted a mangled leg. He suddenly felt himself being tackled down to the ground while a flurry of punches hit him all over his back.

Quickly more and more caribou surrounded him trying to get a piece of him. A few seconds later a massive burst of purple fire made all the caribou above and around the dragon being blown away, except for those that split into several pieces and were burning in agony. Spike stood slowly in the center of a burning crater surrounded by caribou corpses and body parts lifting with his right arm a caribou guard.

“You--You won’t get away w-with your treason, Spike,” the caribou managed to say while kicking the dragon trying to free himself. “Male superiority will not be defeated! O-our glorious king will---”

Spike interrupted the caribou by tightening his grip around the neck and brought him closer to his face.

“I’m not trying to defeat you, oh no, I stopped trying a long, long time ago. I’m going to annihilate you all,” with a single slash from the claws of his free hand he cut the caribou in two without effort letting his lower half to fall to the ground. Looking directly into the eyes of the caribou Spike could see the intense pain he was enduring. Without tearing his sight away from his victim, Spike moved his free hand behind him grabbing another caribou by his head and crushed his skull making crunch noises and splatter around in a gory display.

*GRRRAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOO*

Spike roared madly and loudly in the face of his victim. The light coming out of his body changed from white to blue and ice began to form below him. Spike tossed the upper half of the still living caribou and with a single uppercut slash of his left claws he cut the body into six different parts. He then lunged himself forward against the caribou guards in front of him and began to hack and slash aimlessly at any caribou near him tearing them to shreds.

“Break their lines, slaughter them all!” a pegasus shouted.

“Don’t let those damn rebels through until the great Dainn arrives!” a caribou, probably the captain, shouted not to far away from Spike.

“Shhrrrrraaaak!” a changeling shriek in his own language.

After about a minute Spike suddenly stopped and turned his attention back to the castle, uncaring for the fairly even battle between the rebels and the caribou forces. He snarled with absolute fury before charging against the entrance of the castle and with a single punch brought it down. As the pieces of the destroyed doors, Spike saw at least half a company of armored caribou elite brutes using females as shields in the front lines along with any other fully corrupted males and females. He could also see Dainn, high and mighty sitting on his throne with his four sons at his sides, looking at him with a look of absolute shock and unbelief.

“DAINN!” Spike roared the name before charging at said caribou king with all his might and his speed. Spike moved so fast that no one saw him tackle Dainn from his throne, destroying it in the process and scattering the four horns that adorned it. The two of them travelled for a few seconds in the air until they reached the gates leading to the throne room itself; the impact of Dainn’s back upon it didn’t destroy them, instead it cracked a hole in the doors.

Spike made Dainn take the full front of the impact against the ground and at the sametime used his momentum to do a mid flip, grab Dainn by his left arm and throw him with all his might against the marble throne he loved so much only second to his previously destroyed trophy throne. Spike landed two meters after the initial impact using the claws in his feet to anchor himself to the ground before breathing out a massive stream of purple fire towards the destroyed throne.

Suddenly Spike stopped, ducking at the last moment before a hand passed where his neck used to be. Detaching himself from the floor Spike used his tail to support his weight and deliver a double kick to Dainn’s face. The hit connected directly in his face but didn’t sent him flying or shatter his head, instead the impact created a loud *thunk* noise. Dainn grabbed Spike’s right leg, pulled him up and smashed him against the floor

“This childish trick won’t work again on me, insect!” Dainn declared angrily before Spike grabbed his ankles and pressed his claws against his skin. “AAARRRRRGGG!?” Dainn let go of Spike teleporting two meters back before kneeling down to see his own blood dripping from his injuries. Dainn’s hands trembled in shock while his eyes turned to face the rising dragon in front of him. The familiar figure of Spike met him but it was different. First of all his eyes, mouth and scale lines were emitting a blue glow, there was also a cold aura around him and the scales were also darker and the claws bigger and definitely sharp enough to pierce anything; including his own invulnerable coat. The dragon-like creature brought his hands up just enough to admire the stains made by his blood; the creature then smiled widely showcasing several deadly and very sharp looking fangs.

“What the fuck are you?” Dainn asked while a purple mist began to emerge from his eyes.

“Don’t you recognize your own son, Father?” Spike said with a deep, cold, ghostly voice. “I can...finally…,” Spike took a step forward. “Harm you, you sick depraved motherfucker.”

“Spike?” Dainn whispered as he got up, his wounds already healed. “W-what have they done to you, my son?” Dainn asked with great concern taking a step closer to Spike. “What has that insect bitch done to you!?”

“I can make you pay for everything you’ve done,” Spike said uncaring for Dainn’s words. “For everything you forced me to do,” now there was also a bluish mist forming just above the light coming out of his scale lines. Taking a difficult step forward the floor cracked and some of his scales fell off; the sheer amount of energy flowing through and escaping from his entire body was also destroying him from within, not that it seemed to matter to the hate driven dragon. “For everything you did to them.”

Spike slashed down the face of Dainn using both his hands. There was a sudden shock wave and Spike saw with absolute astonishment how Dainn held his arms still by his wrists; a shock that lasted only a second. Spike pulled back bringing Dainn with him and used his feet to hit Dainn square on his stomach. The impact made Dainn grunt for a moment before he spread his wings, pulled up about two meters and then landed against the ground creating several cracks. Dainn planted both of Spike’s arms above his head while using his magic to keep his feet and tail extended and in place.

Spike growled opening his maw and a second later Dainn’s magic shut his maw down rendering the dragon helpless in his grip. Dainn closed the distance between their faces until they were only a few inches apart, the bright, pupiless eyes of the dragon reflecting an infinite amount of hate.

Dainn smiled broadly. “Whatever they have done with you, my son, I can fix and revert. This pathetic ditch effort from the insect bitch herself is....daring, for a slut, but in the end she will fail. I will recover my trophies and she will join them,” a dark purple mist started to come out from his antlers and slowly made its way down to Spike. All the while the dragon struggled and tried with all his might to set himself free.

“You will rejoin my side and then we shall show the world the might of male superiority, together, as father and son! I shall save you from whatever curse you are in, my dear child, my rightful heir,” Spike struggle increased while the mist poured down his face. “And once I fix this little problem no one will ever doubt our power! Although,” Dainn’s expression turned serious and stoic. “I do wonder what power has allowed you to harm me. No matter, I suppose, for that bitch has equipped you with an outstanding power,” the mist began to enter through Spike’s eyes and Spike squirmed like a mad pony. “One that will now serve our goals and no-AAARRRRGGGG!” Dainn shouted in pure agony while using his wings to pull himself away and into the air while he used his hand to hold the base of his antlers.

Opening his eyes he looked down at Spike and saw the power of his great ancestor, The Horned King himself; the ultimate source of truth and a blessing to all, burn into nothingness by a blue flame coming out of Spike.

Spike got up and shot a glare at Dainn, seeing his pained expression and absolute confusion brought him immense joy.

*GRRRAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOO*

Spike roared with all his might before crouching and leap forward against the still stunned caribou king. Spike hit Dainn with both fists against his chestplate sending small pieces of the armor flying around. He then grabbed the antlers of Dainn and pulled at them as hard as he could but aside from a pained grunt from Dainn he achieved nothing more.

“I will never be your slave again, willing or otherwise,” Spike said before he used his fire breath upon Dainn’s face. A thick stream of blue flames creating a pillar of fire that hit the ceiling high above them.

“IT BURNS!” Dainn screamed madly while also igniting his antlers with pure raw magic.

Spike felt a powerful punch in his stomach making him stop his attack followed by a full on magic punch on the back of his head that sent him crashing against the floor. With a swift swing of his tail the dust cloud around Spike disappeared in time to let him see Dainn’s face, a little singed from the fire and looking absolutely furious. Spike also noticed his two hands still attached to Dainn’s antlers quickly turning into crystal-like dust. Bringing up both arms Spike confirmed that his hands were missing from below the wrist but despite the pain the augmented regeneration his current state provided he paid it no mind.

Snarling, Spike ran to the nearest pillar at blinding speed and used his claw feet to climb it without slowing down until he reached the same altitude Dainn was at. Dainn looked at Spike, focused his magic and shot a thick blue magic beam, easily five meters in diameter, at the dragon. Spike jumped to the nearest wall dodging the beam by mere inches; the beam itself destroyed the pillar, the wall about forty meters behind it and whatever it touched until it disappeared in the horizon.

Dainn grunted in annoyance before launching another beam against Spike. The dragon dodged it again by running alongside the wall; his speed saving him from the devastating attack of the caribou king. Spike spit a blue fireball at Dainn, it impacted against an invisible magical shield around Dainn, growling Spike spit another six fireballs at Dainn, these fireballs green in color. Five of the six fireballs hit the shield of Dainn while the sixth went past a little over him impacting on the far wall behind Dainn.

Spike stopped letting the beam of Dainn catch him.

“Spike!” Dainn shouted stopping his attack and looking attentively for any signs of the dragon. He was, however, hit in the back and felt something pierce his skin for a second time. “Son of a--!” Dainn was interrupted by something that spun him in the air around four times before sending him crashing against the rubble that used to be a throne.

“I was never your son!” Spike half roared landing in front of Dainn and before kicking Dainn in the face with enough force to make the caribou king spit a couple drops of blood. “For almost two fucking years,” Spike kicked him again. “I was trying to find a way to kill you!” Spike felt Dainn stop his next kick and in a flash movement Spike used his tail to grab Dainn by his neck, bringing him up and then spun around round-kicking him with his free leg.

“The things you made me do before that!” Spike spun around again, this time hitting Dainn’s face with his tail. “The things I had to do during that time!” Spike punched Dainn with his newly regenerated left hand. “All I have done until now, are your fault, Dainn!” he punched Dainn with his right hand making him spit even more of his blood. “What I did to them, all of them!” Spike punched Dainn in the gut so hard his armor finally shattered. “I WILL KILL YOU, DAINN!”

Spike threw his most powerful punch yet at Dainn’s face but before he could hit him Dainn stopped him with his left hand. His expression was stoic and emotionless.

“Is that so?” Dainn said calmly before punching Spike in the face and sending him all the way to the other side of the room, almost hitting the doors of the room.

Spike got up quickly, practically half of his face disfigured thanks to the powerful hit he had just received. The healing process already fixing the damage done to him followed by its burning pain. Looking to Dainn Spike saw for the first time ever the nude chest of the caribou king.

It can’t be, Spike thought as his face regenerated and his eyes turned back to normal for just a moment.

For Spike saw exactly in the middle of Dainn’s chest, a very familiar red horn engraved in it with several red, purple and green veins pulsating with dark powers around the horn. But what truly horrified him were the four symbols around the horn. The symbols of a magnificent sun, a crescent moon inside a dark cloud, a crystal heart adorned with two golden handles and a lavender six sided star; the four cutie marks of the four alicorn princesses.

Dainn suddenly teleported in front of him and picked Spike up using his magic, Spike struggled against it managing only limited movement.

“It seems that bug bitch managed to remove my blessing from you, my son,” Dainn smiled darkly. “Not to worry I suppose, whatever that strange power is and why it can hurt me will mean nothing once I make you remember who you really are and where you belong,” Dainn stepped closer to Spike. “Whether you want it or not, I’ve already decided it and so it shall be as I say.”

“I….r-r-rather…die….,” Spike managed to mumble out despite his best efforts.

“Don’t worry my son, you will see the light,” Dainn gloated. “Rejoice, Spike, for I shall see that your six pets will return to you,” Spike stopped. “After I’m done with them, of course,” Dainn’s antlers began to emanate the dark purple mist once again when something caught his ear. “What the fuck are rebels doing inside my castle? Those stupid sons of mine, they can’t do anything right without me guiding them.”

It was faint, only the echoes could reach the very depths they were now in, but by the sounds of it his troops were being pushed back meter by bloody meter. He could barely hear screams and curses, deafen by the clashing of weapons, the explosions of magic beams and the roars of several warbeasts and monsters. Returning his attention to Spike he saw the dragon with his disjointed maw open.

Dainn couldn’t even gasp in surprise before a thick stream of blue flames emerged from Spike’s maw. The flames hit his face once again and destroyed the dark purple mist at the same time.

“URRRRRGGGGG!” Dainn backed away from the flames while using his magic to slam Spike against the ground to stop the torrent of flames.

Spike coughed violently the moment he hit the floor but he was able to feel Dainn’s magic hold on him weakened. Wasting no more time Spike roared breaking away and getting back up in time to see Dainn extinguishing the last of his fire. Spike breathed out another torrent of flames at Dainn.

“Enough!” Dainn shouted angrily while his magic caught Spike’s fire and launched up to the already half destroyed ceiling. As the fire hit the ceiling Spike took the moment to run at Dainn using his fire as a cover, delivering a powerful knee hit to Dainn’s right side, right in his lower ribs making the caribou king grunt a little in pain and send him two good meters away.

Spike charged again ignoring his almost broken knee and went to strike Dainn again, this time against his exposed chest. Sadly for him Dainn caught him by his arms and sent him sky high with a magic blast.

“RAAAAAAGGGGH!” Spike roared in pain before hitting the ceiling. The impact wasn’t strong enough to bring the crumbling roof down, thus allowing Spike to cling to it using his right foot claws. Before Spike could counter attack he noticed another beam of magic coming his way. Letting go of the roof he also breathed out a torrent of flames that pushed him away from the magic blast just in time.

This time the magic beam not only destroyed the ceiling but it also managed to hit and destroy a nearby tower and one of the top levels of the castle; sending countless pieces of rubble flying out on all directions, most of them landing somewhere around the city. Now without a ceiling the rays of the sun washed inside the half standing throne room.

Spike landed on the ground a good couple of meters in front of Dainn. His jaw was healed and his knee almost fully recovered. He growled and snarled before charging against Dainn but before he could hit him Dainn teleported. Less than a second later he felt Dainn grab his tail,a moment later Dainn began to slam Spike against the floor over and over using his tail as some sort of handle.

After the eleventh his Spike roared and cut off his own tail with his right claws, using his elevated momentum to anchor himself to the ground with his left leg; rotating on itself to face Dainn. Stunned for a moment by his action, Dainn was unable to properly react when Spike used his claws to slash his chest. “FUUUUUUU-!” Dainn shouted in pain before he was silenced by a powerful uppercut that sent him flying a couple of meters.

Spike landed harshly on the ground, his left leg, right below the knee, was twisted and broken thanks to his little trick. Not to mention his tail was gone and he had several other injuries and his right arm broken thanks to Dainn’s beating. Unable to move Spike decided to prepare himself for whatever Dainn could throw at him.

Meanwhile Dainn looked at his chest and then to Spike’s left arm and noticed his claws were engulfed in blue fire; the same fire that had managed to hurt him thus far. Dainn’s eyes widened and his mouth slack opened slightly when he noticed something rather peculiar.

“The...Crystal Heart,” Dainn said while the corners of his lips morphed into a dark, greedy smile and began to descend upon Spike.

Spike glanced down to his chest and saw that, in fact, the symbol of the Heart was present and pulsating in his chest. B-But I didn’t summoned it! Spike screamed inside his mind whilst using his left hand and right leg to back away from the approaching caribou king. Looking directly in his chest he noticed that the cutie mark of belonging to Cadance was shimmering just enough for him to actually see it. And thanks to the Heart itself he knew what was happening now, and he also discovered the secret behind Dainn’s overwhelming power.

“THERE’S THE FUCKING BASTARD!” a female voice shouted from afar.

Spike lost his focus on Dainn as he landed a good ten meters in front of him. Spike saw two figures flying towards the caribou king; one from the left and the other from the right. It took him two more seconds to make sense of the two figures. On the right a thestral mare wielding a long two handed battle axe and on the left a changeling wielding two estocs, the two of them wearing black chitin armor. And they were charging against Dainn.

“DON’T-” Spike tried to shout but it was too late.

The mare and the changeling attacked Dainn at the same time from each side; whom had paid them no mind until now. Dainn stopped for a moment, brought up his arms and let their weapons hit his exposed skin; the two estocs and the battle axe shattered upon impact stunning the two attackers. In the blink of an eye Dainn grabbed the changeling by his neck while he hit the back of the mare sending her to the floor at his side. Dainn then turned just enough to face the changeling and fired a beam of magic reducing him to less than ashes; then he turned his attention to the downed mare and shot her a single blast of magic making suffer her the same fate as the changeling.

Dainn returned his attention to Spike and his smile returned while the mist coming from his eyes increased in volume. “You found the power that has eluded me for so long, my dear son. And now I know it was you who destroyed the Amulet.”

Spike, with his leg and arm healed got up but kept backing away, without his tail he couldn’t move fast enough to escape much less attack Dainn. Instead he snarled at Dainn baring his deadly fangs.

“And I finally figured what you did to achieve such power,” Spike smiled cockily. “You stole it all,” Dainn stopped, his smile was replaced by a neutral expression and a frown. “None of that power belongs to you,” Spike snarled again feeling his tail almost completely regenerated.

“IT ALL BELONGS TO ME!” Dainn shouted, his expression one of pure anger, madness and obsession. “I took the power that rightfully belongs to us males, and who better to wield such burden but me!? I control the sun and the moon now! The power of the four alicorn bitches is mine! Discord and Shining Armor are my puppets!” Dainn pounded his chest with his right hand. “The horn of Sombra came to me, it chose me to make the old promise true gifting me with its powers! Soon enough the power of the bug whore will be mine as well,” Dainn teleported in front of Spike making him gasp and grabbed him by the neck before he could move away while his magic held him still.

“And now you have delivered the power of the Crystal Heart to me. Once you see the light again we will dominate everything and all those filthy bitches will learn their proper place under our hooves,” the antlers of Dainn began to emanate the now familiar dark purple mist. Spike struggled with all his might, but it was of no use, Dainn’s hold on him was too strong; he was not going to let him escape his grasp again. The mist touched Spike’s face burning upon contact. “ARRRGGG--” Dainn grunted but didn’t stop, instead he poured even more of his evil taint over Spike.

Spikecould feel the dark magic trying to penetrate him and dig deep burrow inside his soul like some horrible, life consuming parasite. Spike gagged and growled as much as he could fighting back against Dainn’s attempt to corrupt him or steal the Heart; either option was equally horrifying to him. They went on for about two minutes with Dainn growing increasingly angrier and angrier with Spike’s resistance.

“See the light, my son!” Dainn half-shouted to Spike’s face. “Accept the truth and together we will bring proper and everlasting order to this world!”

“F--fuggssk y..ye-wwhu,” Spike managed to gurgle out looking at Dainn with absolute hate. Dainn snarled and grunted angrily increasing the amount of energy he was pouring into Spike. There was a sudden explosion behind Dainn and Spike was able to see green like smoke coming from his back. “WHO DARES!?” Dainn glanced behind him without breaking the mist’s contact with Spike. His answer came in the form of a massive green magical blast that hit him square in the face making him stumble to the side.

Spike felt the magical grip around him weaken and while it was not enough to let him move freely it did let him use his favorite appendage.

“AAAARRRGGGG!” Dainn shouted in pain feeling his left arm’s wrist being pierced by something incredibly sharp forcing him to free the neck of Spike.

Spike, free again, let out a torrent of blue flames at Dainn forcing the caribou king to shield himself from the deadly fire.

“ENOUGH!” Dainn screamed while at the same time he created a magic pulse all around himself pushing back Spike’s flames and stopping another blast of green magic coming his way. “This nonsense has gone on for far too long!”

Spike lunged at Dainn through the small dust cloud the pulse created with both of his hands engulfed with blue fire. Dainn turned to face Spike when he heard a deep and loud screech behind him. The caribou king stopped Spike’s assault with his right hand while his left an oversized scythe covered with a deep green magic aura, stopping it an inch before the blade touched his antlers. Dainn’s expression turned into one of pure hatred while his eyes turned from a metallic blue to a dark, unnatural purple color; even more so than the shadows coming out from them.

With a simple spin Dainn threw Spike away, making the dragon crash against a collapsing pillar, and turned his attention to this new attacker finding none other than the changeling queen, Chrysalis, herself wearing a full body blue-chitin armor holding the scythe with both hands and her eyes and curved horn ignited with a green aura. And her expression was one of pure hate. Grunting, Dainn charged a magic beam but before he could fire it something tackled him, or at least tried, hitting him in the chest.

Spike dug his claws as deep as they could go on his chest, focusing on Sombra’s horn. Dainn yelled out in pain firmly resisting Spike’s tackle before Chrysalis shot a beam of magic against his face whilst trying to retrieve her scythe. Spike then bit Dainn’s neck now that he was temporarily blinded by Chrysalis’s attack but his fangs barely penetrated his coat at all. A moment later Dainn punched Spike with his free hand making him free his neck while he used his magic to push back Chrysalis’s beam back.

Chrysalis dodged the rather small attack from Dainn just before he threw her scythe, along with her, across the room and crash against the incredibly virtually undamaged doors. Dainn hit Spike’s stomach with his knee creating a small shock wave and sending the dragon crashing against a pile of rubble. Spreading his wings he flapped them until he was a good four or five meters above ground before shooting another magic beam at Spike.

The beam hit the pile of rubble before something grabbed his ankles and at the same time a blast of magic hit his left wing. Instead of looking down, Dainn did backflip avoiding a torrent of blue flames coming from below and pushing Spike up. The new view allowed him to see Chrysalis coming from above before hitting him in his face with her scythe. Impossibly the scythe didn’t break and instead sent Dainn and Spike crashing down to the floor again.

Dainn suspended himself in the air a few inches before hitting the floor but Spike did hit the ground piercing it with his tail and anchoring himself yet again before smashing Dainn face first against the floor making a small crater around them. Dainn teleported out of his grasp and reappeared behind him before Chrysalis attacked him against; this time Dainn dodged it backing away. Chrysalis, using her wings to keep a slight advantage over Dainn, attacked the caribou king by unleashing a flurry of slashes with her scythe; Dainn dodged every single one of her attacks while he covered his chest with his right hand, she noticed there were was a bit of his blood dribbling down behind his hand.

Spike went on all fours and ran below Chrysalis adding his own claw slashes to attack Dainn’s legs and lower abdomen. All the while Dainn just kept backing away and dodging all their attacks. It went on for about fifteen seconds until Dainn smiled darkly.

Dainn suddenly teleported making both Spike and Chrysalis stop their attacks. Chrysalis landed and Spike got up and pushed their backs against the other; the two of them silently searching for the fucker king.

The familiar *pang* of someone teleporting sound near them.

Thanks to his heightened senses Spike was able to react in time, he moved to the left grabbing Chrysalis by her waist with his tail and pulled her with him. Spike then spun over his spot just enough to get Chrysalis completely out of Dainn’s reach before receiving a devastating punch to the chest creating the biggest and loudest shock wave in their entire fight up until this point.

Chrysalis saw Spike being sent away by Dainn’s attack and a second later crash against a statue of himself, the only thing that was still intact in the throne room followed almost instantly by a massive blast of magic hitting that same spot.

“BASTARD!” Chrysalis shouted, leaped in the air, did six frontal flips in rapid succession making the tip of her scythe hit the floor just enough to create a few sparks. Dainn turned to face the changeling queen, his expression one of stoicness. Quick as a lightning Dainn caught the scythe by its blade with his bare right hand. Chrysalis felt herself unable to move by a powerful magical grasp.

“You managed to escape from my grasp that day; you won’t have such luck this day,” Dainn pulled Chrysalis closer to him ignoring the blood running down his hand. “And while I admit your rebellion has slowed my plans you had no hope of defeating me from the very start, changeslut. I will enjoy breaking you into a proper bitch, whore. Once I’m done with you you’ll be obedient, thankful and eager to please me, your owner; your Master. Just like all other lowly, useless, worthless females in existence will,” Dainn licked his lips seeing Chrysalis struggle against his almighty power in an useless effort to free herself. “But your insolence cannot go unpunished any longer,” the mad caribou said while charging a blast of magic in his antlers.

Dainn released Chrysalis and her scythe right before he shot his magic blast right in her face.

Chrysalis didn’t have enough time to escape or create a magic shield before the blast hit her; thus it sent her flying back against the doors direction. The queen of the changelings hit the ground, hard, only to bounce off and hit the ground again a few meters back. The process repeated itself four more times before she finally came to a loud, unceremonious halt. Half of her armor was in tatters, her left breast exposed to the world, blood dribbling down in most of her exposed parts and her scythe nowhere to be seen. Miraculously, Chrysalis only grunted and screeched in pain before standing up aided by her wings, a moment later Chrysalis fell to her knees panting harshly.

Dainn frowned and his expression turned sour. He took four good steps towards the unmoving Chrysalis before stopping abruptly, turn around and shot a sustained magic beam. The beam clashed against an unending torrent of blue flames creating a powerful gush of wind followed by constant weak shock waves. Both deadly pillars of pure energy shared a similar width and neither of them seemed to gain terrain.

Spike, missing his entire right arm, focused all his attention, rage and power on his attack and by the looks of it so did Dainn if the struggling expression on his was anything to go by. Their struggle lasted for about half a minute until Dainn shouted madly followed by his beam’s width grew enough to practically swallow Spike’s flames. Slowly, Spike’s flames were being pushed back much to his dismay.

Similarly to his struggle against the Crystal Cock, or actually the Alicorn Amulet, Spike roared like never before making everything around him tremble while also creating a floor of ice that turned into fire just a couple of seconds later. His torrent of flames grew enough to match Dainn’s beam in width once more and began to push it back.

“YOU WILL COME BACK TO MY SIDE, SPIKE!” Dainn shouted making his beam grow a little. “MALE SUPERIORITY WILL BE TRIUMPHANT!” Dainn shouted once more but this time his beam of magic not only grew in size by at least a third of its own size, but it also changed from blue to a dark purple tone with black lightnings coming out of the beam every so often.

Spike felt his flames being pushed back once more. This is it, I have no more power to spare and I’m already at my limit; I did my best but it seems that wasn’t nearly enough. Spike thought darkly whilst a few rebel crystal like tears fell from his eyes only to be sent away by the strong winds and shock waves the clashing of the beams created.

Spike chuckled mentally. I’m pathetic and useless and disgraceful and a coward and nothing I ever do seems to work out, huh? Spike thought closing his eyes feeling the beam of Dainn coming close and his fire dwindling down. Everyone…..Mom…..Girls…...I’m….I’m sorry, it seems….it’s up to you now. Spike closed his eyes completely and for a second, just a single solitary second, he accepted his defeat.

An image of himself sleeping and cuddling next to the six mares he called his best friends flashed in his mind; the same he had seen time and time again and had marked itself as his best memory. With a flash that image was replaced by one of him sitting on a throne holding six leashes with his six mare-friends kneeling in front of him; a black Crystal Heart glowing on his chest and Dainn sitting next to him with Celestia, Luna, Chrysalis and Cadance in the same situation. And the two of them were watching an army marching towards the unknown.

Spike’s eyes snapped open and he roared.

*GRRRRAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOO!*

Spike’s flame beam expanded three times its previous size, virtually swallowing the entirety of Dainn’s magic beam. The flames consumed the magic of Dainn while at the same time pushed back against it.

Dainn saw the flames of Spike push back in defiance against his superior power, the sheer force of the flames pushed him back making his hooves drag back against the floor.

“RAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHH!” Dainn shouted with all his might, his magic beam’s width quadrupling in an instant. The beam, now bigger than the beam of flames from Spike, began to push back before Dainn shouted once again sending an overpowered wave of energy through his beam.

Spike felt the weight, for lack of a better term, of the new wave of energy clashing against his flames before it tore them apart; allowing the beam of Dainn to hit him in full.

“NOOOOOOOO---!” Spike managed to roar out as the beam passed through and around him with ease. The following explosion shook the entire mountain for an instant, also creating a huge and thick cloud of dust from the castle’s stone and marble walls and floors the beam hit.

Spike just laid there in the ground, surrounded by his fading fire, completely motionless. He was still alive and conscious yet he couldn’t move; he had used at least five times over the energy he used back on the Crystal Empire. Most of his scales were gone replaced only by a low bluish light, his two legs were gone and his right arm was still missing. Most of his fangs were gone as did his left eye along with his left ear-fin and almost every one of his back spines. The only thing remotely intact were his left arm and tail; his left hand was only missing his index and middle fingers and his tail the tip.

Without any hold of time or sense over his surroundings, Spike felt something grab him by the neck and pull him up. He forced himself to open his eye whilst his body slowly regenerated. He saw Dainn, panting slowly yet each pant was hard and long.

“You see *pant* my son? Nothing can stand *pant* in the way of male superiority,” Dainn used his free hand to cover his snout for a moment, after a second or two he swallowed and smiled. “Now *pant* come back to me, Spike,” Dainn said before the dark purple mist once again emerged from his antlers.

Spike looked at Dainn and spat on his face. “Y-You won’t...win,” Spike declared. “I-I failed….to...take..*wheezing* ...you down...b-but there are….those...that will….*wheezing*....defeat you…..,” Spike said feeling his fangs recovering and his legs and missing arm regenerating centimeter by centimeter while his scales and back spines grew back.

Dainn didn’t bother to clean away the spit from Spike nor was he showing anger or any emotion aside from a cocky, smug smile. “Your six pets? *pant* They were powerless when I arrived and they *pant* will be powerless after I’m done with them. I have won, my son,” Dainn said as the mist touched Spike’s face. “And you will be at my side soon enough to celebrate!” Dainn said despite the burning sensation the power of Spike held against him. “And this time, I’m not letting you go,” Spike gagged and snarled fighting back against his blessing yet again.

“Neither will we!”

Spike gasped in horror recognizing that voice and by the look on Dainn’s face so did he. The dark purple mist died down as Dainn frowned and several pulsating veins appeared on his forehead.

Dainn turned around to see the dust cloud parting away allowing Spike to see six mares, all of them wearing using the clothes they had earlier in the day. They were holding hands inside a giant bubble of light while their manes and tails were longer, flashier, sparkled and had a multicolored fashion (and in the case of Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy that also applied to their wings). And all six of them were looking at Dainn with nothing short of a death glare before the bubble of light expanded and a swirl of colors surrounded the mares.

Dainn’s mouth went agape for an instant, then he frowned and charged his antlers, ready to telep-- “AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGG!”

Spike, using what little strength he had, cut down Dainn’s right antler with his remaining claws prompting the caribou king to drop him; without his right antler Dainn found himself unable to call upon his magical powers. Upon hitting the ground Spike instantly grabbed Dainn’s right ankle and held on to him tightly keeping him in place and preventing his escape.

“LET GO OF--” Dainn began to say, unable to move or use magic at the moment, when he heard a gentle whistle in the air that sent a cold sensation down his spine; he turned to see the six mares a good ten meters in front of him suddenly disappear behind a curtain of light. “--me?” Dainn whispered, his voice cracked by fear, before a magic white lasso shot out of the bubble of light and attached itself to his chest making him scream in pure agony; giving a burning sensation far worse than the ones Spike had dealt to him thus far.

Then another lasso followed suit, this one blue. Then a purple one, an orange one, a pink one and finally a yellow one attached to his chest in under two seconds. All of them combined into one unique lasso making Dainn suffer a rather unique kind of torment. A few moments later Spike let go of his ankle and Dainn was lifted off from the ground inside a shiny bubble of light.

It went on for several seconds until the bubble of light exploded showering everything with light and dispersing the remaining clouds of dust around them, in it’s place a smoking crater remained were Dainn used to stand and then everything went silent.

Chrysalis, using her retrieved scythe to support herself along with her wings made her way to the descending group of friends. The six mares landed softly and their rainbow powers dissipated. The seven mares watched in silence at the smoking crater for any signs of Dainn. Unfortunately the answer was not the one they were hoping for.

“You DARE...attack your Master!?” Dainn shouted before walking out of the smoking crater. “I will te-teach you some manners, sluts!”

The six mares huddled together closer with Twilight taking the front. Chrysalis frowned and grunted before moving in front of the six mares barely holding up her scythe and charging her horn with whatever magic was still left inside her.

Dainn grunted with each step he took. After a couple of meters he coughed, took three more steps towards them and he fell on his right knee while panting erratically. There was smoke coming out of him, parts of his fur were missing and his chest was completely dark and charred except for Sombra’s horn. Dainn coughed violently before he brought both of his hands to cover his snout. His eyes were open to the point that it seemed they would pop out at any moment and the purple mist coming out of them subdued, his eyes also returned to its original metallic blue color.

Dainn coughed once more before his hands fell down to his sides and a golden ball of light emerged from his mouth quickly followed by a dark blue one, a lavender one and a pink one; when the last one came out Dainn fell forward; only his arms saved him from hitting the floor. The four balls of energy danced in circles above Dainn, all of them sharing a very similar size. Dainn looked up to the balls and tried to reach them with his right hand.

“My…..my rightful...power,” Dainn got up shakily trying to catch the balls that were out of his grasp.

Without warning the pink ball shot itself to the distance disappearing from sight in just a couple of seconds. The golden and dark blue balls followed suit travelling together towards the opposite direction. Finally the lavender ball floated peacefully for three seconds before it shot itself at Twilight and hit her in the chest.

Twilight closed her eyes and her coat began to glow slightly. She inhaled deeply allowing her wings to stretch out, her few missing feathers returning quickly and her horn growing the few inches it had still left to go. Twilight opened her eyes revealing them shining white for a moment before they returned to normal.

“Give me back my power, bitch!” Dainn shouted at Twilight, his expression one of rage and madness.

Twilight was frightened for a moment but soon frowned and charged her horn, no longer hurting and feeling her full power once more. She was about to tell Chrysalis to get out of the way when she noticed something behind Dainn. That something made her and the rest of her friends and even Chrysalis gasp, whether in horror, relief, surprise or all three things at the same time was unknown.

Dainn stopped his advance when he felt an icy chill behind him. Slowly, he turned around to face none other than Spike the Dragon standing on the crater. Or maybe it was some sort of demon that took the flesh and scales of Spike and used them as a suit. The upper half of the body seemed to belong to Spike but the legs were two pillars of blue fire that were somehow solid enough to hold him up. His left arm was covered in a thin layer of blue flames while the right was made of some sort of ice or crystal that burn with that same blue fire. The tail wagged behind him from side to side also covered in a thin layer of blue fire up to the tip, which was made of pure blue fire. His maw was filled with blue fire while he smiled widely showcasing white, burning fangs. And his eyes, the right eye was a shining blue orb while his left was nothing but flames were devoid of any other emotion aside from hate.

But the unnatural glow coming out of the scale lines and the image of the Crystal Heart on his chest confirmed that the creature in front of him had to be Spike.

In the blink of an eye Spike closed the four meters that separated them and punched Dainn with his left hand. Dainn was sent to the ground where he curled up and brought his two hands to cover his injured jaw. Dainn squirmed for a few seconds before he got on all fours and spat out a glob of his own blood along with two of his teeth.

Before he could register what had just happened he felt Spike grab him by his left antler, turn him around with a single motion and then ripped his wings off.

“YYYYYAAAAARRRRGGGG!” Dainn screamed at the top of his lungs as he fell to the ground while trying to reach his newest injuries with his hands in a pathetic attempt to ease the pain. A few seconds later he looked up to Spike holding his wings before he reduced them to less than ashes. Dainn, despite the unbearable pain in his back, rose up on his own accord while the purple mist returned to his eyes. With a battlecry he punched Spike in the face making the dragon face to the right.

Dainn almost instantly pulled back his hand back. The flames had burnt him slightly but that wasn’t his biggest concern. Hitting Spike felt like punching a brick made of steel; puzzled, Dainn stared at the dragon while holding his pained hand.

“Scales as tough as diamonds, remember?” Spike said turning to face Dainn again, his voice carrying a dark, icy, soul wrenching tone. He spit out a flaming fang along with some of his blood.

Dainn took a step back. “No….NO! This can’t be happening!” Dainn punched Spike again sending said dragon to the ground and started to kick him repeatedly. “I’m Dainn, the heir of The Horned King! The king of the caribou! The Alpha Male! The great conqueror! The ultimate--” Dainn was about to kick Spike again when said dragon stopped him by grabbing his leg with his right arm. Dainn yelped feeling both a burning cold and a scorching heat crawl up his leg.

“You are Dainn, the king of a depraved, corrupted race beyond any salvation,” Spike said letting the leg of Dainn go before standing up. Spike then smiled stunning Dainn with fear. Spike lunged for Dainn digging his claws on his sides making Dainn grunt and squirm in pain. They landed on the ground with a loud *thud*, Dainn began to hit Spike wherever he could reach but soon found himself immobilized by the dragon. Spike forced Dainn to look him directly eye to eye before he roared in his face.

Dainn screamed in terror, only now realizing he was at the mercy of the crazed dragon. Spike got up using his tail while bringing Dainn up with him. Dainn struggled, trying to free himself from Spike’s vice grip but it was useless. Spike turned Dainn around holding his arms behind his back, he let go of his right arm only to wrap his left leg around Dainn’s right one and use his right leg to stumble Dainn into a kneeling position. Dainn punched Spike in the face with his free arm, he tried to punch him again but instead of his face he met Spike’s tail before he dragged it down to the side.

Using his free hand Spike grabbed the lower jaw of Dainn and applying a little force Spike forced Dainn to open it wide. Dainn couldn’t move, he was completely incapacitated, his eyes darted in all directions searching for something to help him get out of the mess he was currently in. His search stopped, however, when he heard the dragon gurgling. His eyes darted to focus on the dragon looking up to the blue sky. After around fifteen seconds Spike looked down with blue flames and an intense blue light coming out the sides of his fangs, nostrils and maw. Dainn froze realizing what Spike was about to do.

“You’re Dainn,” Spike said with some difficulty. “And you will taste my light.”

Wasting not another second Spike breathed out a thin yet intensely bright stream of blue fire right through Dainn’s open mouth and down his throat. It only lasted around five seconds, once done Spike let go of Dainn letting him hit the ground without any grace or care.

Dainn squirmed around, his entire body spasming and twitching with intense pain for several seconds, all the while he screamed at the top of his lungs spewing blue flames of his own all around him. Finally Dainn stopped for two full seconds laying on his back before he brought his hands to his chest, convulsed for about ten seconds and the the horn of Sombra turned into smoke along with the pulsating veins that surrounded it.

Spike breathed a blue fire stream at the mist, it burned in the air for a moment or two and then it simply vanished. There was nothing left.

“No…..i...it chose me…..I’m…..I’m the...Alpha Male!” Dainn managed to say from his spot before Spike walked over to him. The flames finally vanished, the Crystal Heart on his chest was nowhere to be seen and the light that emanated from him was gone. Now he stood fully healed and looking like his true self once more. “H-help me…Spike….my...my son,” Dainn mumbled out making Spike the only one that heard him. “P-please,” Dainn begged with tears forming in his eyes.

“.....” Spike didn’t reply and instead grabbed Dainn by his left ankle and began to drag him away. After a couple of meters he turned to face the seven mares that had watched him from the sideline and gifted them with a joyus, Spike-trademark grin.

“If anyone needs me I’ll be in the lowest part of the dungeons playing with the fucker king. Be sure to send kibble and water soon for this bastard to eat! We’ll be down there for a while!” Spike shouted at them before turning around. “OH! And Chrysalis, tell Yog to follow plan C, alright? Alright! Alright? Alright!” Spike shouted while dragging Dainn alongside him.

“As for you, you have no idea of the fun games I have planned just for you, motherfucker. Trust me when I tell you I will be the one enjoying our time together. That reminds me, ----first things we’ll play is-----and then----”

The seven mares simply stood there watching and hearing Spike talking to Dainn while he dragged said caribou king until both were out of sight and hearing range. An entire minute passed with none of them moving or saying anything, they didn’t reacted when the cries of victory over the caribou echoed around the entire city. There was a sudden flash at their left side, the sound and the light finally got them to react.

“WHERE IS HE!?” Discord roared looking around for something. He stopped, however, when his search made him look at the group of mares, his gaze landing on Fluttershy right away. “F-Fluttershy…,” Discord whispered with his rage forgotten in favor of the mare, his wild, beastly appearance fading away in a matter of seconds. “I...I...I’m sorry,” Discord managed to say before looking away. “I---”

“Come,” Fluttershy said warmly extending her right hand to him. “We have, um, much to talk about,” Fluttershy smiled as best as she could at the draconequus.

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*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital City Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“Had I known Dainn was going to kick my scaly ass around so hard I would’ve prepared more, but as you already know time was of the essence,” Spike chuckled. “After that I spent two entire weeks, day and night, torturing Dainn; I never allowed him to get used to the pain and I used my healing powers to patch him up just to start over with a new game; my personal favorite was when I watched his testicles and dick slowly dissolve in acid, he cried and screamed the hardest with that one. Although impaling him and ripping out his eyes, fingernails, ears, teeth, tongue and fingers ever so slowly one by one comes to a close second. Ah, those two weeks passed so quickly!” Spike sighed happily. “Eventually though it was too much for him to handle and he went mad. How mad you ask? Enough to make him worship females while singing the joys of breathing rainbows.”

The entire court room was eerily silent.

“There was no point in going on if the great bastard wasn’t himself anymore, so I decided to finally end him. I set him on fire and watched him be consumed until only ashes remained, then I burned the ashes with my cleansing fire, you know, the blue one? Until those ashes turned to nothing more than dust, THEN I set the entire dungeon section with cleansing fire and finally end it all with a cleansing wave of pure energy straight from the Crystal Heart,” Spike relaxed on his seat and eyed the judges. “Isn’t this the point where you start calling me a monster or something like that?”

The judges finally reacted but didn’t reply.

“Anyway, in those two weeks the Empress, Sebastian and all those that followed them saw first hand what the caribou had done to Equestria and the Empire; the, shall we say, explosive results speak clearly for themselves don’t you think so? The caribou had retreated back to their last stronghold in Equestria; a great fortress built near the shores of the Siren’s Pass with Frost leading them. So, with the caribou dug up in there, Equestria and the Empire retaken, the population secured and the joint forces of Saddle Arabia, The Griffon Empire, Equestria, the changelings, the rebels and Creslin on the march against the caribou that only left a few issues unresolved.”

Spike smirked.

“There were quite a number of caribou prisoners to throw around. That was one the the issues, what to do with them? Weeeeeell~” Spike teased. “Public executions were in order, even the vast majority of the newcomers were okay with it and some of them quite eager to attend them....either to watch or to be the executioners themselves. Then was the issue of the warlords, battlemasters, generals and two of the sons of Dainn that were captured; Rolph and Akios to be precise. Like I said during my report I dragged them into my Fun Room, except for the two idiot princes; I treated Akios like any other bastard yet I made it public for everyone to see. But Rolph? I ate him in front of the remaining prisoners while he was still alive as a very personal payback; I had to force myself to not vomit, they really taste that bad.”

Spike’s expression turned into something hard to read, it was a mix between regret, pain and seriousness.

“Then there was the issue of all those that died during the attack and during the regime of the caribou,” Spike locked gazes with Keltu. “Tell me, how many females older than fifty gave their reports?” Keltu closed his eyes for a moment.

“Less than thirty,” the ursa judge responded.

“And one of those reports belong to Granny Smith, the oldest living mare in Equestria at the moment. But why? Well, you can thank the caribou for that. In their eyes any female over fifty five years is nothing more than garbage, can you guess who the first victims of their regime were?” Spike allowed a few seconds of silence fill in for him before continuing. “It was...hard to keep track over those that were executed and those that were ‘improved’ or ‘modified’ to be fuckable once more. Then how many foals, how many civilians and how many soldiers followed suit,” Spike snarled. “How many were blanked, how many went crazy, how many committed suicide, how many were switched, how many families were destroyed, how many……*sigh*.....How many of our people, our love ones, we lost. All of us.”

Spike snarled again.

“On the other side there was the issue of the foals born during the regime. The thought of just one of them being tainted with that curse like any other caribou was frightening; thankfully, even though so many were born, just under one percent had the taint in them. I made sure of it personally during the following week,” silence once again reigned for about ten seconds. “And about those that were tainted; stallions, mares and foals alike. All we could do was to give them mercy.”

Spike closed his eyes, swallowed and exhaled a pained moan.

“Then there was the issue of the captured female caribou. There were mixed opinions on the matter but in the end we allowed Creslin to decide their fate,” Spike opened his eyes again. “But even so there was still two issues left unresolved,” Spike took a moment to watch each of the other six judges in the eye for a moment. “The few caribou survivors, including those I intentionally let live after witnessing what I did to their brethren in my Fun Room, began to call me ‘The Reaper’, hence the title. But my other title, ‘The Lightbringer’ , it may sound glorious and even heroic, but the truth is that it’s at the same time worse and more sinister than the one the caribou gave me. Kind of appropriate considering what I did to earn it.”

Spike took a glance at Chrysalis, Shifting Sands and Sebastian, the last two trying their best not to look away while Chrysalis held on strong.

------------------------------------------------------*************************************************

*Ponyville -Castle of Friendship- Three weeks after the defeat of the Caribou*

“Spike, Empress Shifting Sand had just arrived. She asked to speak with you,” Lightning Dust said entering the large tent outside the castle where Spike used as his central command. “What should I tell her?”

“Tell her I’ll be there in a moment, I just need to wrap up things here first,” Spike said without looking at the mare; his full attention glued to his central map.

“Very well,” Lightning Dust replied leaving the tent.

After a few seconds Spike spoke again.

“Are you absolutely sure you got them all, Yog?” Spike asked with a neutral tone.

“Every single one last of them,” Yog replied.

“How many suicides?” Soarin asked angrily.

“Just twelve. All of them committed before we got to them,” the changeling replied making the Soarin hum and huff. “They’re in Canterlot and everything is being prepared as per your instructions, Spike.”

“Good,” Spike replied finally looking away from his map and around the room seeing standing around his map table Yog, Soarin, Blueblood, Creslin, Big Macintosh, Chrysalis and Shining Armor. “What about the Fortress?”

“Celestia, Luna and Sebastian are already there leading the attack. After what happened in Stalliongrad the griffons have been the most eager to kick the caribou out of Equestria once and for all; especially Sebastian,” Soarin replied glaring the last brown flag in the map.

“What about Discord? I haven’t seen him in three days,” Spike asked with concern in his voice.

“He’s been takin’ it pretty hard,” Big Macintosh replied. “After Manehattan he doesn’t want tah talk tah anypony except fer Fluttershy. Ah think they’re helping each other out, Ah even saw her smile fer real this morning.”

Spike nodded before looking at Shining Armor. “And how is the Empire doing, Shining?”

“Better thanks to you and the Saddle Arabian forces. We even got some support coming from the Yaks,” Shining replied with a voice full with resentment. “Cadance is still being treated by the mind-menders, she sent me a letter yesterday saying she’s improving. Me? I just want to make those bastards pay for what they did to us; it’s the least I can do for my own stupidity,” Shining said while his horn sparked with angry, raw magic.

“You’ll get your chance, big bro, you’ll get your chance,” Spike said to Shining offering a weak smile. After Shining returned the gesture Spike turned to face Chrysalis. “How are you holding up?”

“Fine,” Chrysalis replied dryly.

“And the rest of our forces?” Spike asked looking at Blueblood.

“Gathering in Canterlot as we speak and eager to hear your victory speech,” Blueblood answered with a smirk.

“What about you, Creslin, anyone giving you or your sister's any trouble?”

“No,” Creslin replied behind her mask. “They’ve been very nice and cordial with us to tell the truth.”

“Not many would ever trust a caribou after what they’ve done, but you and your group got the worst of it,” Soarin said looking at the cow. “Spike trusts you and after you told us what happened I know I can trust you and,” Soarin extended his right hand to her. “Properly thank you, for retaking Appleloosa and standing beside us in the end.”

Creslin extended her own right arm to grab Soarin’s and shake them. “The honor is all ours, for letting us make amends for our failure.”

“Aiding us to properly understand the runes and help us revert their effects is more than enough,” Blueblood said while Soarin and Creslin ended their shake. “Speaking of that, are you sure you don’t want to be stags again?”

Creslin nodded. “We are sure.”

“Very well then,” Spike said. “Soarin, Blueblood, Mac, go and prepare for departure, we leave in thirty minutes,” the three stallions nodded before leaving the tent. Shining Armor said his goodbyes and left after the other stallion. “Yog, you know what to do.”

“Of course, it will be ready before your arrival,” Yog replied with an eerie grin.

“Creslin?”

“We’ll be on our way and ready to leave by the time you arrive,” Creslin said before leaving the tent.

Once Chrysalis and Spike were alone the changeling queen sighed heavily.

“Are you absolutely sure you want to do this, Spike?” Chrysalis asked tiredly.

“This isn’t about being sure or not, Chrysalis. I have to do it or risk this ever happening again.”

“Then let me help you, dammit!” Chrysalis said punching the table.

“You know I can’t let you,” Spike said walking up to the mareling, once they were face to face Spike suddenly hugged her. “This is something I have to do, why do you think I didn’t allow the girls, Cadance, Luna and Celestia to join me? Please understand me,” Spike hugged her harder. “And if you do then please, just stand down.”

Chrysalis sighed and hugged Spike back for about half a minute. “Fine,” Chrysalis said ending their hug. “Now go see what Shifting Sands wants.”

Spike nodded and walked outside the tent. To his left the Castle of Friendship stood tall and proud while to his right a group of around thirty saddle arabian warriors wearing beautifully crafted armor, turbans and most of them holding halberds, sabers and a short bow with a quiver of arrows. All of them surrounding a tall pink coated mare with, light blue-silver eyes and a purple like mane and tail while wearing what appeared to be leather or light chainmail armor with three daggers at each of her sides.

Spike looked at her directly in the eyes and she froze for a moment. Spike suddenly realized she surely was Empress Shifting Sands and smiled warmly.

“Empress Shifting Sands, your majesty,” Spike bowed his head before walking up to her. A good two meters before he could reach the group all of her guards prepared to draw their sabers.

“Stand down,” Shifting Sands said and her guards instantly obeyed while also parting letting her a free path to Spike. The Empress smiled and walked towards the dragon. “You’ve grown a lot, Spike,” she said offering him a tender, motherly smile.

“Empress, I welcome you to Ponyville and I personally thank you for aiding us in our war against the caribou,” Spike invited the Empress to walk with him, she accepted and with a movement of her hand her guards walked away.

“Nonsense my dear boy, rather it is I who should be asking forgiveness for not coming to Equestria’s aid sooner.”

Spike chuckled darkly. “My mother, aunt and especially I don’t blame you for it. You came, that’s all that matters. It’s a shame king Blood Talons isn’t here with us.”

Spike and the Empress walked through the camp around the castle with Spike showing her some of the remains of the caribou reign. Shifting Sands took particularly hard their stop at the tent were the Blanked females were while Zecora and other zebra, minotaur and buffalo shamans treated them trying to find a way to reverse the process with the help of a caribou cow wearing a Liberator armor.

They talked and discussed for about ten minutes until they reached an open field with only a handful of guards, two chariots and a few Blood Hunters standing near them.

“Empress, I must leave for Canterlot, you can find Chrysalis in her tent along with the Element Bearers and princess Twilight,” Spike said respectfully.

“I understand, I wish you farewell and if you need anything just ask it of me and I shall concede the best way I can,” Shifting Sands offered watching Spike walking towards the chariots.

“Actually, about that,” Spike stopped turning around to face her. “There is one thing you can do for me, if you agree that is.”

--------------------------------------------------------*************************************************

*Canterlot- Central Plaza- Around one hour later*

“Everything’s ready, Spike,” Yog said while walking alongside Spike and the rest of his friends climbing up the stair of a low stage. “Should we start?”

“Bring the bastards in and drop the front curtains,” Spike ordered. Yog flew away while screeching something out to other changeling soldiers. Two large curtains covering the stage fell down and soon disappeared in a flash of green magic. Spike stood proudly in the middle of the stage with Big Macintosh, Blueblood, Soarin, Shining Armor and around twenty female and male guards and Blood Hunters standing behind and at his sides.

In front of them thousands of soldiers of varying species with males and females mixed together stood with most of them turning to the stage. There were also several clouds hanging around and even a five grades stadium like seatings with pegasi, thestrals, griffons and changelings occupying them. In the back he could see two adult dragons sitting peacefully letting others sit on their heads and shoulders.

“My friends!” Spike said loudly at the same time his eyes turned white. “I have gathered you here today for a very special reason,” there was a collective cheer before Spike continued. “You know who I am and what I did, you know I gave that bastard; that absolute asshole of a king what he deserved!” Spike shouted making the entirety of all the presents, including those standing next to him, shout in approval while cursing and name calling Dainn and the caribou. “We have made the caribou in Equestria and the Empire pay for what they’ve done, for everything we lost…..and everything we still have to lose,” Spike stopped letting the crowd cheer and start calling his name in unison a few times. Spike rose his hands slowly making the crowd go silent.

“Brothers and sisters all, we must not forget those that are worse than the caribou themselves,” Spike’s scale lines began to shine before he turned and waved his right hand from side to side twice before turning to face the crowd again. “We must not forget the traitors that willingly sided with the caribou bastards. Brothers!” the males shouted. “Sisters!” the females shouted. “I give you, the Embracers!” the crowd roared.

In between the cursing and shouting of the crowd several changeling soldiers came down carrying tied, gagged and naked. The males had their insignias engraved into their chests while the few females were only wearing a red collar with a golden ring instead of the usual silver one every other collars had. They also seemed to be very clean and unharmed. Spike gave another signal and the curtains in the back dropped revealing a series of cauldrons big enough to fit three warbeasts at the same time. The changelings carrying the Embracers slowly descended them inside the cauldrons with some of them squirming as much as they could but to no avail.

The cauldrons revealed to be filled with water and also be divided into fifteen sections, each section big enough to fit a pony without problems; all the while the crowd shouted obscenities at them or down right demanded their blood for their treason. When the changelings were done they cast an immobilizing spell on the Embracers allowing only their head to be out of the water. One by one the cauldrons, twenty eight in total, were filled with the Embracers. Most of them were ponies, yes, but there were also zebras, diamond dogs, griffons, donkeys, bulls, buffaloes, minotaurs and even one ursa. Spike was able to identify just a couple of them, mainly because he had the infinite displeasure to make bussiness with them at some point, such as Cherry Jubilee, Flim and Flam, Hoity Toity and Pony Joe. The last one a personal stab in his back, since before the Fall the donut making stallion was a close friend of his...or so he thought.

“Here they are, four hundred and twenty traitors and backstabbing motherless fucktards that sold themselves out to the caribou for personal gain, welcoming the depravity and destruction they brought with them! THEY are worse than the caribou for they accepted them with open arms, and for that they deserve to pay in a way most fitting for what they have done. Their motives doesn’t matter, they lost all rights to defend themselves when they betrayed not only their home but also their friends and families!” the crowd cheered in agreement including his close friends.

Spike turned to face the cauldrons, all his friends and guards stepped aside and then he breathed out a stream of orange fire below the cauldrons. After a few seconds Spike stopped when all the fireplaces below cauldrons were now properly ignited. Now it was only a matter of time. Spike turned to face the crowd again, all of them cheering out loud in approval for their particular method of execution.

Spike rose his hands again, about ten seconds later the crowd went silent enough to allow Spike’s words to be heard clearly. “They don’t deserve to be killed by you, they won’t have that honor. Instead, they will suffer a slow, agonizing death that befits scum such as they,” Spike shouted before he began to levitate and the light emerging from him increased in brightness. “But don’t forget the real enemy is still out there; plotting, planning and readying themselves to try and force us to our knees once more!” Spike growled loudly. “I, for one, will not allow them the chance!” this declaration was enough to confuse most of the crowd.

“As all of you already know princess Celestia, princess Luna and the great general Sebastian Wing Cutter are assaulting their last stronghold in Equestria right this moment. Yet I see that driving out the caribou back into their shithole is not enough. Why should I wait their imminent return when I can go to their own homeland and deliver righteous retribution and justice upon all of them!?” Spike, levitating a good four meters above the stage, looked down to the crowd, everyone looking at him intently. “That’s why, three days from now in the shores near the Siren’s Pass, I shall set sail to Hraljord itself to bring death to the caribou. I will welcome anyone that wishes to join me.”

“BUT, make no mistake, if you join me there will be no going back. I don’t want to take revenge for what they did,” the light coming out from Spike changed from white to blue. “I want to exterminate them until every single caribou in Hraljord is reduced to ashes! I will lead this attack and I will be entirely responsible for it. It shall have no retaliation against any of your countrys or rulers. If any wish to join me bear this in mind; You will answer only to me, you will obey my every command and you will renounce every relationship, oath of allegiance and loyalty for your rulers until the task is done; in return you shall become the hammer of justice that will destroy the caribou once and for all and prevent another Fall from ever happening again!”

Spike finished his speech and descended until he reached the stage once more, with the light radiating from him never diminishing. A wave of whispers resounded all over the crowd for a few seconds until several dozens of changelings began to screech with all their might.

-screeh--shrrrrakkk--shkeerrrr-

The changeling repeated over and over with many more of them joining in until practically every changeling was screeching at once while everyone else looked at them with confusion.

Yog landed at Spike’s right side smiling. “They’re chanting, for you,” Yog began to explain. “They’re calling you ‘Lightbringer’,” Spike turned to see Yog before the changeling stepped forward and shouted. “LIGHTBRINGER! LIGHTBRINGER!LIGHTBRINGER!”

Soon enough the changelings opted follow Yog’s path, promptly encouraging other to follow suit. In the span of thirty seconds the word ‘Lightbringer’ resonated throughout all of Canterlot and beyond.

Spike roared, mighty and powerful, breathing out a thick stream of blue fire to the sky. The two adult dragons present followed suit adding their own mighty roars with Spike’s own.

Forgive me, Spike thought regretfully.

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*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital City Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“And that, my dear judges, is how I gained the title of Lightbringer. It is also the moment I committed my gravest sin of all,” Spike said closing his eyes. Silence followed for about fifteen seconds until a snarl caught his attention.

“You manipulated them,” the dragon judge said with a tone of pure revulsion. “You used their collective hate and fear to make them follow you,” he turned to see Chrysalis. “And you knew he was going to.”

Chrysalis simply replied with a dry ‘Yes’.

“The word was spread throughout Equestria and three days later, in the ruins of the last caribou fortress, five hundred thousand brave souls were there waiting for me along with half the Saddle Arabian armada and enough supplies for a million strong army to last three months. Ponies, griffons, saddle arabians, changelings; soldiers, mercenaries, guards, civilians. I welcomed them all. All of them having the same goal in mind. The goal I put in their minds; the annihilation and extermination of the caribou,” Spike sighed heavily. “Yes, I manipulated them like...like ‘he’ did, or something close to it maybe even worse, to get what I wanted,” Spike chuckled darkly.

“Soarin, Yog, Creslin, Blueblood and Shining followed me because I told them my plan before hand and all of them agreed. But Big Macintosh? He followed me for an entirely different reason,” Spike chuckled again. “Not to be a moral guide or something like that. He was trying to, I don’t know, I guess I can say he followed me because he wanted to save at least a little bit of my old self,” Spike voice was cracked while he spoke. “Poor Big Mac,” Spike turn his head from side to side three times before letting out an icy, mirthless laugh. “If only he’d realized there was nothing left to save to begin with.”

“You are nothing but a heartless monster,” Silveria said full of spite.

“That I am,” Spike laughed again. “Before my departure I said my goodbyes to my mom; she...didn’t oppose my decision, she just asked me to spare as many innocents as I could. The girls were also there to say their goodbyes, I lingered a bit with them until Cadance came. She and I had a private talk in which I told her what happened in Solitude and afterward. After I was done she hugged me, I vomited and after cleaning it I set sail to Hraljord,” Spike smiled widely. “And that bit of art all of you already know quite well.”

“Do I regret anything? Yes, but only what I did to my own people. Would I change it if I could? Not a chance,” Spike admitted. “And with that my story concludes, you got the answer you wanted, you know what I did and how I did it and I had a pretty fun time while doing so; showing everyone what an absolute assholes your rulers truly are is a nice bonus soooooo…..any questions?”

The diamond dog judge leaned back. “What happened to the Embracers?”

“Boiled alive, weren’t you paying attention?” Spike’s answer was cold and uncaring. “Only the guards assigned to make sure they wouldn't escape witnessed their full torment; everyone else went off to prepare for the trip to Hraljord or to spread the word. The guards say it took three hours or so before their fur and skin began to peel away from their meat. After they were all dead, I’m not quite sure actually, I think they incinerated the remains.”

The judges exchanged glances for several moments until a yawn was heard.

“Can you please wrap it up already and declare my execution already? I don’t have all day,” Spike said before yawning again.

Keltu stood up followed shortly by the other eight judges and left from the same door they had entered. Spike was left sitting in place without moving much. The minotaur guards never approaching him.

Not ten minutes later the nine judges walked in through the door once more, sat down on their seats and stared at a smug looking Spike.

“Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’, we, as standing judges of The Great Tribunal, have decided your sentence and punishment for your numerous crimes,” Keltu said unfolding a parchment.

Spike closed his eyes while his lips formed a little, happy smile.

Chapter 7 part 2 end.

Author's Note

Finally, after a long overdue part 2 of the last chapter of Judgment is complete!

Special thanks to all that read, like and enjoy this story!

Special thanks to Ebony Stallion for proofreading and minor editing!

Only the Epilogue is left.

Epilogue

Epilogue

Canterlot Castle-Six months and one week into the Rise of Equestria-

“Are the terms satisfactory for everyone?” Blueblood said standing behind Celestia looking at all the attending members currently sitting around a large table.

“Terms agreeable. Yaks proud to have many friendships,” prince Rutherford proclaimed loudly.

“I believe so,” a veteran looking griffon with red, gray and brown feathers wearing a red toga adorned with various gold and silver medals and a large crown said. “The Griffon Kingdom accepts this newfound alliance with spread wings.”

“So does the new Saddle Arabian Empire,” Empress Shifting Sands said with a warm smile sitting next to Cadance.

“As well as the Crystal Empire, of course,” Cadance said weakly.

“The Buffalo Tribes shall stand in this alliance with the greatest of honours,” Chief Thunderhooves said whilst holding the hand of his daughter.

“The Changeling Swarm agrees with the terms and finds them acceptable,” Chrysalis said sitting next to Luna.

“Equestria finds this terms to be beneficial for everyone involved. I, Princess Luna Solaris, accept the formation of this alliance,” Luna said before looking at her sister.

“I, Princess Celestia Solaris, accept the formation of this alliance,” Celestia said looking at everyone present before looking at the last member of the attending council. “Twilight?”

“.....,” Twilight sighed heavily.”I...Princess Twilight Sparkle, accept the formation of this alliance,” Twilight said loud enough for everyone to hear.

A moment later Blueblood levitated a golden parchment and placed it in front of Celestia alongside a golden quill. Celestia took the quill and signed the parchment, then both items levitated towards Luna with her repeating the action. After a minute all the presents had signed the golden piece of paper until only Twilight was left.

With a shaky hand Twilight grabbed the quill and signed the parchment. Blueblood levitated the parchment in front of him, scanned it for a few seconds and then rolled it up before placing it inside a silver urn. A moment later the nine figures sitting around the table got up at the same time, they all bowed at the same time in a signal of mutual and collective respect and then Blood Talons, Shifting Sands, Rutherford and Thunderhooves left the room escorted by their own personal guards leaving only the four alicorn princesses, Blueblood and Chrysalis in.

“Where is my son?” Celestia asked suddenly.

“In...in Ponyville,” Twilight answered not daring to look at her former mentor. “Spike said he was needed more there than here. I couldn’t convince him to come.”

“....” Celestia didn’t answer immediately, instead she seemed to be meditating her next words. “Will he have time tonight?” Twilight didn’t answer.

“Who knows?” Chrysalis said with a frown. “Maybe, if he feels like it. Knowing him though? Don’t count on it,” the six in the room went into an uncomfortable silence.

“Hhnnnnggg!” Cadance suddenly slumped back in her seat holding her chest tightly.

“Cadance!” Blueblood rushed to his sister. “What’s wrong!?” The commotion brought the departing leaders back into the room, concerned and ready to fight if necessary.

Cadance groaned painfully before her eyes turned white for a couple of seconds. She blinked three times before tears began to fall, she brought a hand to cover her mouth as she began to whimper, with only one name leaving her mouth. “S..Spike….”

Not a moment later the word was uttered a collective teleportation was made and then the room was empty.

------------------------------------------------******************************************************

Ponyville-Half an hour prior-

“Put the wood over there.”

“I need seven packs of hay in sector F.”

“We need more nails, around two hundred meters of rope and a few extra hands over sector K!”

“Put the paint buckets over there...and there, thank you.”

Spike was currently sitting on a timber beam watching silently at the activity all around him. He glanced up to the sky seeing the blue sky, his mother’s sun and a swarm of pegasi, griffons and changelings matching the activity in the ground. He smiled contently knowing Ponyville was well on its way to a complete reconstruction, just like the rest of Equestria and the Empire were.

Speaking of which, Spike thought pulling up a bucket of large nails with his tail; grabbing one in between two fingers he pressed it against the wood and with a slight push of his thumb the nail went in without any hassle. Spike repeated the motion parallel to the previous nail before moving a few inches forward and did the same with two more nails. He went on for several minutes performing the same task over a few more timber beams. Once he was finished he got up seeing his work.

The main skeleton is done and all the support beams are in place, just a few touches here and there before they can put the walls. I bet Lyra and Bonbon are gonna love it! Spike thought happily while he took a deep breath and watched the activity all around him once again. Looking slightly to his left he saw the Castle of Friendship being guarded by a couple of Blood Hunters while Pinkie Pie, Rarity and the Cutie Mark Crusaders handed over some delicious confections. Behind them he could see Fluttershy and Discord sitting in silence sharing a warm cup of tea while Angel rested on Fluttershy’s lap. He knew Rainbow Dash was somewhere up in the sky leading weather teams and Applejack was probably lending a hand on the farms along with her siblings.

Spike closed his eyes enjoying the warmth of the sun for upthenth time that day while his left hand reached up to his neck and grabbed a thick shining iron collar.

/////

“Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’, we, as standing judges of The Great Tribunal, have decided your sentence and punishment for your numerous crimes,” Keltu said unfolding a parchment.
Spike closed his eyes while his lips formed a little, happy smile.

“Your proper and due punishment is a public execution, the method befitted by the severity and nature of the crimes. However,” Keltu unfolded the parchment further down. “We have also considered the crimes presented to us by the late King of the Caribou, Dainn. Realising your actions; abominable, monstrous, unforgivable, unmoral and driven by blind hate and bloodthirst as they were, prevented Dainn from unleashing his crimes upon our countries and its populace. We, Judges of The Great Tribunal, cannot condemn you to death by our own hand; your death shall be delivered by the same power you admittedly over-abused to satisfy your own selfish goals.”

Keltu unfolded more of the parchment. “But we cannot let you walk away without punishment of our own. Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ’The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’, We condemn you to live the remaining days of your life in incarceration in Equestria,” the dragon judge pulled out of his robes a thick iron collar. He got up and walked over to a seemingly immovable Spike. The dragon put the collar around his neck and then breathed a thin stream of fire over it; the collar began to shine weakly and continued to shine even after the flames were gone and the judge returned to his seat.

“This special collar shall ensure to maintain you within the borders of Equestria, preventing you from leaving ever again. If you foolishly try to cross them the collar will immediately teleport you by dragon fire five kilometers inside Equestrian territory,” Keltu explained unfolding the rest of the parchment. “If it’s removed or destroyed the collar will simply reconstruct itself around your neck,” Keltu hit the pedestal with his claws heavily. “The Great Tribunal has spoken, the trial has ended.”

There were no shouts of victory or nonconformity. No one made a sound, not even a whisper or a cough.The room was completely silent until Spike himself got up from his seat.

“Very well, I accept my joke of a punishment,” Spike said in a tone that reflected disappointment. “Allow me to say something before this thing finish charging,” Chrysalis chuckled while Keltu and his fellow judges stood still and turned a little pale. “Oh, c’mon, you’re still afraid? I told you if I wanted to you’d be dead already,” now it was Shifting Sands and Sebastian who chuckled. “You six do disappoint me though, you were oh so high and mighty during the entire trial and in the end you already had this set up,” he said pointing to his collar. “I know what it is and it takes quite a while to make one, Tirek himself had an entire cage made for him and then tossed into Tartarus, so I feel honored, in a way, you prepared one for me,” Spike smiled.

“I’d call you cowards but I think ‘mindless puppets’ fits you more. Just let me give you one final warning,” the collar around his neck began to let out tiny sparks. “Equestria and the Crystal Empire are not weak,” Spike’s eyes turned white.

A second later Spike was engulfed in flames and in the next one he was gone.

/////

That was a month ago, Spike thought placing a hand over his chest.

“Careful!” somepony shouted before a loud thud was heard. Spike searched for the source of the noise, soon enough he saw half a dozen earth pony stallions trying to move a giant square shaped boulder, the damn things height a good two heads above the stallions. Apparently the modified and reinforced wagon they were using to carry it broke down and they were now trying to move it out of the way.

Spike, standing on the timber beam, leaped over to where the stallions, a mare leading them and the boulder were. He landed softly a meter away before he called to them.

“Did you hit rock bottom, Carrot Top?” Spike asked to the earth pony mare overseeing the accident. A collective groan followed suit with some chuckles mixed in together.

“That pun was so bad I almost thought it to be funny,” Carrot Top answered looking at his friend. “Mind showing us some of your dragon might, Spike?” she asked smiling sweetly at him.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Spike replied eagerly. He walked over to the boulder, crouched down, dug his right hand below the boulder and closed his eyes. He grunted a little before his eyes snapped open shining white and lifted the boulder up. “Uffff, heavy,” Spike said letting a side of the boulder rest against his shoulder and the side of his head. “Where to, Carrot Top?”

“Just follow me,” the mare said without any surprise, already familiar with Spike’s feats over the months made sure of that; besides, carrying a seventy ton boulder with one hand could be considered a minor feat compared to what she had seen him do in Hraljord. “Say, you weren’t invited to that alliance meeting going on today?”

“They did invite me but I didn’t felt like going,” Spike huffed following Carrot Top closely. “Why would I anyways? I’m not even a real prince to begin with.”

“Aren’t you princess Celestia’s son?”

“Adoptive.”

“Still a prince.”

“Maybe, but Blueblood’s already there and one prince is more than enough. Not to mention I just...really want to be here today and help around.”

“Sure glad you did then!” Carrot Top said cheerfully. “You just saved some unicorns or changelings a magic workout.”

“I bet,” Spike grunted. “Okay, I have to ask, what’s with the boulder?”

“Not really sure actually, all I know is that they need it down in sector B. I think they want it to rebuild the fountain or something.”

“Wouldn’t it been easier to break it in pieces first?”

“I thought the same but they requested the whole thing complete, something about ‘artistic measures’ or some nonsense like that,” Spike hummed in response. “I see you’re almost done with the new house for Lyra and Bonbon, I’m sure they’ll appreciate you making it for them,” Carrot Top commented seeing the work of Spike. “Oh! Before I forget, Rose, Lily, Daisy, Colgate and I are planning to make a flower party next sunday, you’re invited to come if you want, Spike,” Spike didn’t reply with words, instead he simply hummed again.

“Noteworthy found himself a nice mareling it seems,” she giggled. “I think her name is Skiak or something, changeling names are weird like that but they do look adorable together; I think I saw him earlier in the morning working on the fields with his marefriend,” she giggled again looking at her clipboard. “Blossomforth, Cloudchaser and Flitter are in the hospital taking care of Rumble, he almost lost an arm and he’s still recovering from Thunderlane’s--”

*THUD*

The loud noise behind her made her stop instantly and turn to see what is was. She saw Spike a good three meters behind her on one knee with the coulder at his side laying on the ground while his left hand over his chest. His breathing was irregular and pained with his expression reflected fear and pain. His eyes, whoever, were flickering in rapid sequences changing from shining white to his normal green ones. He suddenly coughed violently painting the ground with a glob of his blood.

“SPIKE!” Carrot Top shouted on the top of her lungs gaining the attention of practically everyone in Ponyville. She rushed to him throwing away her clipboard and kneeling in front of the dragon. “Spike! What’s wrong!?” Spike coughed again letting the boulder rest on the ground completely and bringing his right hand to join his left.

“Spikey Wikey!” Rarity screamed arriving at Spike’s side along with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Discord. “What’s wrong!? What’s happening darling?” she asked placing her hands over Spike’s shoulders, silently grateful that Carrot Top moved to give her the space.

Spike coughed again, sending another glob of his blood to the ground, before he let out a soul wrenching scream of pain. Rarity, shocked like everyone else, began to tear up when Spike fell on his back and began to scream his lungs out. The screams of the dragon soon attracted everyone that didn’t heard Carrot Top’s scream the first time.

Everyone made a circle around the screaming, convulsing Spike incapable of understanding what was going on. There was a sudden flash of light behind Fluttershy and Discord but no one paid it attention.

“SPIKE!” Twilight and Celestia screamed at the same time making their way to where Spike was. Reaching him the both kneeled at either side of him whilst he kept on screaming and digging his claws into his own chest. Rainbow Dash and Applejack arrived just in time to see the Crystal Heart appear in his chest with it shining brightly.

“Do something!” someone shouted desperately amongst the crowd.

“We’ll take him to Canterlot!” Celestia said but before she could charge her horn Spike grabbed her hand tightly and his screams stopped yet his body was still twitching and convulsing from the pain.

“DON’T,” He roared while his tail hit the ground creating small dust clouds. “Please, don’t,” Spike begged in a softer tone. “I..I.-ARRRGGHH!-I didn’t---couldn’t tell you….t-today’s the day--YYYAAAAAARGGGGG!--” Twilight reached out for his free hand while pretty much everyone began to cry. “I...I want to d-d-dieeeeRRRRRGGGG….Here...in...in the place I …..call home,” Spike’s eyes began to tear up before his hands started to shake from an entirely different reason.

“I--I’m scared,” Spike said in a whimper while cracks began to form quickly around the Crystal Heart and spread out all over his body. “W-What if….What if is this isn’t real? What if this just an illusion created by Dainn’s brainwash to make my mind content? What if...What if---” Spike couldn’t say more as he started bawling. “W-whad ifsh dis ish a-a-ll a dre-e-eam,” Spike closed his eyes letting painful tears pour out of his eyes before he let out another long scream of pain.

“And---and I wake up to that shithole!?” Spike said loudly. “And I’m his right hand?” Spike whimpered in agony. Meanwhile everyone around him was crying their hearts out seeing,and hearing, the pain and fears of the one that had spearheaded the end of the caribou’s regime.

Celestia leaned in and kissed his cheek tenderly. Spike froze and the pain he felt stopped for a moment; he didn’t even felt the cracks had now reached his face and even his back spines and ear fins. That scent of sunflowers mixed with sweet frosting and of freshly cut grass he was so familiar with filled his nostrils again. He looked at Celestia, his mother in everything but blood, and saw her face ruined by tears but with a smile wide as she could manage and shining more than the sun itself.

“M-Mom,” Spike whispered before she leaned again, this time to kiss his forehead.

“This is real, my little baby,” Celestia said almost choking through her sadness. “You saved me. You saved us,” Celestia kissed his cheek again,this time lingering a bit letting Spike feel the softness, warmth and love of her lips. “I’m so proud of you, my little baby, so, so proud.”

Spike smiled at her before he looked around seeing his friends and family smiling at him with tears on their eyes; even Chrysalis was in the same boat. His six best friends, his six closest mare-friends looked at him with the same look Celestia did, especially Twilight. Spike closed his eyes, sighed contently letting a couple of tears fall and then whispered. “I love you all.”

Then he screamed once again throwing Celestia and Twilight to the sides. Landing on their backside they watched helplessly as Spike began to thrash around like a madpony. His screams of pain only surpassed by the cries of despair of his friends and the onlookers. He threw his legs, tail and arms around aimlessly for over half a minute. His scales began to fell off and turning into crystal dust the moment they hit the ground while the cracks increased in width and number at a frightening speed while a blue shimmer emerged from them.

“RRAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!” Spike screamed in pure agony and his eyes turned blue. “AAAAAAAAAAGGGGG------”

Spike suddenly shut up and his body froze in place. His left hand dug in the dirt while his right hand was reaching for the sky, his legs were pushing against the dirt and his tail twisted and curled around his right leg. His mouth was wide open showcasing his deadly fangs and his expression frozen in pure agony and pain. The shining Crystal Heart on his chest faded away along with the blue shimmer of his eyes.

After a few seconds his body began to crack. First his tail slowly fell off turning into crystal dust, followed shortly after by his left arm, then by his legs, then by his right hand and finally ending his his head and torso. From the dust the Crystal Heart emerged shining proudly and slowly spinning around; once it was a meter of so above the dust it shot itself away in the direction of the Crystal Empire. The dust set itself in blue fire the moment the Crystal Heart left and burned until there was nothing but a small scorched area and an iron collar remained. The iron collar itself cracked and fell apart turning into worthless pieces of metal.

Celestia began to cry her heart out with Twilight quickly following suit hugging her fellow princess, former teacher and second mother. Fluttershy hugged Discord crying on his chest while the God of all that is Chaos let sincere tears rain down. Rarity was being hugged by Pinkie and Applejack while Rainbow hugged herself trying her damn best to not fly off and cry into oblivion; instead Scootaloo walked up to her allowing Rainbow to hug her instead.

Shifting Sands, Thunderhooves, Rutherford and Blood Talons cried in silence while Chrysalis allowed Cadance to cry on her shoulder, gently patting her back. Blueblood and Luna were nowhere to be seen but if the angry shouts and sounds of things breaking in the distance were anything to go by they were coping with it in their own way.

That day many would cry as one at the loss of one regarded as nothing short of a monster to his enemies, a hero to his people and a friend to his allies. But most importantly, those dear to his heart would never forget him and his sacrifice.

Spike Solaris, ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’ had died.

--------------------------------******************************************

*Crystal Empire-Crystal Palace-*

The Crystal Heart arrived below the palace and stopped in between the two needle pillars confusing and surprising everyone that saw it, especially the Saddle Arabians. It took the crystal ponies a few seconds to realize what the presence of the Crystal Heart meant. Slowly all began to weep and bawl for the death of their saviour and greatest hero. The Crystal Heart spun slowly in its place, shining brightly.

No one noticed the Crystal Heart shine with a purple and green light.

End.

Author's Note

Special thanks to all that read, like and enjoy this story!

Special thanks to Ebony Stallion for proofreading and minor editing!

And with this Fall of Equestria: Judgment has come to an end. Everyone that has read and enjoyed it, I thank you.

Chapter 1: Innocence Lost

Spike's voice

Fall of Equestria: Judgment

The room was bursting with activity, from journalists to scribes no one was still. How could they be since that day marked the biggest criminal case in nearly two hundred years? And even that pales in comparison to this one. For the second time in the history of Equis, the Great Tribunal had been summoned to action since it’s creation. Naturally, this made up for a world-wide event.

Zebras, Griffons, Minotaurs, Ursas, Cervids, Buffalo and even Changelings were present at the great courtroom built specifically for such an occasion. After several minutes the chaos that was the courtroom slowly but surely began to die down, everyone taking their seats or positions leaving only ten spots free. The nine seats of the Judges and the single chair in front of them. For several minutes everything remained silent and calm save from the occasional cough or sneeze.

A soft blue shimmer glow suddenly covered the entire room for a second or two, nullifying all magic users inside the room. Moments later five crystal-like spheres shot out a weak glow as they hovered peacefully near the ceiling. Murmurs erupted just after a few seconds of silence, which were silenced at the sound of opening doors. Everyone present turned their heads around to see seven figures enter the room. Six of them were minotaurs wearing guard armor and in the center a purple scaled dragon with green spikes walking at the guards' pace.

The dragon was slim and not very muscular, he was also tall, not as tall as the minotaurs around him but tall enough to notice him effortlessly. He was also wearing nothing but a pair of ragged gray pants. That and a pair of thick black chains in his wrists and ankles. But what earned the stares of everyone that could see his face, was his expression. Calm, collected and even happy. The dragon even gave a silent hello to anyone he caught looking his way through the guards with a small nod and a smile on his face.

The guards and the prisoner soon arrived at the lone chair, two guards placed a massive hand over each shoulder of the dragon and with a push made him sit on the chair. A third guard waved for a moment in the air, a few seconds later two griffons, also wearing guard armor albeit different, approached with a small desk placing it in front of the dragon.

“Thank you,” said the dragon politely as he rested his arms on the desk.

The griffons said nothing and walked away. The minotaur guards walked to either side of the courtroom, three at each side, never tearing their gaze from the dragon.

Another door behind the judges' seats opened revealing a female changeling wearing their traditional black armor.

“All stand up to greet the honorable Judges,” the changeling said loud and clear, everyone obeyed and just a few seconds later nine black-cloaked figures walked through the door the changeling had come through. Once the judges took their seat the changeling bowed and took her place in one corner near the judges.

The nine judges took off their cloaks revealing their faces to the dragon prisoner. The dragon smiled as he recognized three faces in front of him.

“The order is now in session,” the judge in the center, a male Ursa, said in a grave voice. A second later everyone took their seats again. “We are gathered here today to lay judgment to prisoner 092889, Spike Solaris ‘The dragon’, adopted son of Princess Celestia Solaris, Scribe-Assistant of Princess Twilight Sparkle and former Hero of the Crystal Empire. For crimes against an entire race which include and not limited to: Terrorism, Genocide, Murder in all degrees, Mass Murder, Torture, Vandalism, Destruction of private property, Culture and Landmarks and…,” the judge look to the dragon in the eye, who in turn was smiling at them. “...The extinction of an entire race.”

“Nice record, but you forgot my most grave crime,” Spike smirked evilly at the judges. “Lollygagging,” the dragon stifled a laugh that no one else shared.

“Amusing,” a female Cervidae said in an unamused tone. “Spike Solaris ‘The dragon’, you are here, in the presence of The Great Tribunal, charged with crimes I can’t even stomach to mention, much less comprehend your motives. In all of my years as Prime Judge of Cervidas I've never thought that The Great Tribunal would be summoned for its second time since its creation to judge, yet another dragon for crimes even worse than that of your predecessor and, dare I say, every other criminal in the entirety of Equis.”

“Oh, you flatter me, miss Judge! But we know full well I’m no match in comparison to another. A certain king, perhaps?” Spike said with faint amusement. The judges remain silent for several seconds before the Zebra judge spoke.

“Mister Spike, do you think this is some kind of game?” he asked glaring at the dragon.

“Perish the thought, of course not! It’s just that I find myself here, surrounded by those that know little to nothing of what’s really going on. So forgive me if I'm feeling quite irrevocably…..bored,” Spike said nonchalantly. “C’mon, we all know what this is about. You’re even broadcasting the trial!” he said pointing up to the five crystal spheres above them. “Tell you what, I’ll make it fast for you.*Ehem* I, Spike Solaris 'The Dragon' hereby plead guilty with and in all charges. See? Court‘s done. Let’s move out with my execution, please.”

The courtroom erupted in outrage screaming and cursing, while the guards tried to appease the public.

“Order, order I say!” the ursa judge roared as he used his claws to hit a stone pedestal in front of him. It took a few minutes but the guards managed to calm the present public down. “Prisoner, we are here to dictate a sentence that befits your crimes properly, you have no right or place putting one on yourself.”

Spike cocked his head to the side a bit. “Dear Judge, why must we then delay the inevitable result?”

“Because, dear Spike, we, as the Great Tribunal, cannot just jump to conclusions, we are bonded by ancient laws to examine all available evidence, as well as to give the accused a fair chance to defend him or herself with all they can muster,” the Griffon judge said as he shot a weak smile at Spike.

“It doesn’t matter to me, in all honesty. I’m going to die in less than a month anyway,” a collective gasp echoed in the room as murmurs and conversation erupted. A few pedestal hits later from the ursa judge the courtroom was silent again. “Did I forgot to mention that little detail before?” Spike said smirking making the judges shoot glances between themselves.

“You certainly did, my dear Spike,” a sweet and soft as silk voice said. “Why didn’t you said so sooner?”

“And risk the safety of everypony else, Empress Shifting Sands? Nah, I see it as my last service to Equestria and its ponies, cows, donkeys and all those who live and try to rebuild it,” there was silence in the room for a few seconds.

“That still doesn’t answer why you embarked a crusade to exterminate the Caribou, brother,” a dragon barely bigger than Spike said in a low raspy and demanding tone.

Spike looked down at his hands, playing with his claws chuckling as he did so. “So,” he said in a very serious tone. “This is what all this is about, huh?” he looked up at again, straight at the ursa judge. “Alright, I’ll play. You said I had a fair chance to defend myself, right?”

“Indeed,” the Minotauress judge said sitting at the right side of the ursa judge. “But not before we present the charges against you. We were able to obtain evidence of your carnage against the caribou,” making a signal with her hand two cervidae guards walked through the main entrance holding a crystal big enough to be mistaken for a small pillar.

The guards walked until stopping right in between the judges, placing the crystal-like pillar on the ground letting it rest peacefully. The guards bowed before retiring, once they were gone the changeling judge, none other than Queen Chrysalis herself, shot a beam of magic to the crystal pillar making a crack in the middle. After a few seconds, the crystal pillar split in two leaving behind a thin shimmer of white. The two halves of the crystal pillar at each side began to rotate as the thin shimmer began to glow showing a static view of a green field with some trenches and several spears, swords, flags, hammers and whatnot.

But what stood out were the horns of hundreds of caribou and a thick white fog in the distance in front of them.

“What all of you are about to see, both here and outside this building, is the last memory of a dead caribou soldier recovered from the massacre of the ‘Red Fields’. Normally this kind of evidence would never even be considered in any trial, but since we are bound to follow the only rule of the Great Tribunal. Truth for Justice, we are forced to present it,” the ursa judge ended with a sigh. “Most of the present know what happened in the Red Fields, that’s why I’ll ask. If any of the present, here and outside, know you can’t handle such brutality, please leave.”

There was silence for a couple of seconds before some of the audience, and even one of the minotaur guards left the room without a word. The ursa judge nodded to Chrysalis making her shot another short beam to the left half of the crystal. Seconds later the image began to change, slowly gaining movement. After a couple of seconds, the image flickered as sound emerged from the crystals.

Many of the present gulped and sweated in anticipation but yelped as sudden whistle echoed in the distance. All eyes were now glued to the shimmering screen in front of them, silently thankful that the dragon didn’t hinder their vision.

“-they come,” a voice said and the vision was suddenly turned to the left focusing on a gray caribou. “Only to die, quite a shame, really.”

“Ha ha ha! Yeah, there must be some pretty nice cunts in there,” another voice said to the right said but the vision returned to the front. “Can’t believe those lowly bitches dare to rebel against their superior male masters.”

“You think that’s bad? There are ‘males’ that support them and respect them. How low can they fall to even consider that?” a voice behind him said with hatred. “Not to worry I suppose. If they love stupid cunts that much we can always turn them into one of them.”

“Eerrmmmmm,” the owner of the vision mumbled, seeing as the fog came closer and closer, the sun above them blocked by thick passing clouds. Looking back and to his sides in rapid successions, he could make out dozens of ballistas and thousands of his caribou brothers. “Are you sure we’ll win?” the owner blurted out, fear noticeable on his young sounding voice. Looking around he saw many of his comrades looking at him like he was stupid. “I-I mean, they killed King Dainn.”

One caribou in front of him turned around with a huff. “Don’t be stupid, it’s obvious the king is planning something. Our king is the ultimate male in the world, there’s no way he can lose. Even the bitch sisters fell in just minutes against his might,” he turned around with another huff. “Besides, most of their army is made up of useless sluts and sows. After this battle is over we’ll fuck some sense into the survivors and teach them the strength of male superiority!” the caribou shouted earning a round of shouts, whistles and loud snort-like sounds all over.

“Yeah, but they have…..The Reaper,” the owner said in an unheard whisper.

“Archers, ready your bows! Ballistas, ready to launch!” the owner shook his head a few times closing his eyes after hearing those orders being shouted behind him. Opening his eyes and blinking a few times he focused his vision to the fog once again. Everything was silent except for the occasional shift of armor, clang of weapons, stringing of bows and that annoying whistle in the distance, which was getting closer and closer to them along with the fog.

“Steady,” said the commander, almost whispering behind him. “Once that damned fog passes the mark, rain arrows on those filthy whores.”

Suddenly the fog stopped, just a few feet away from some conveniently placed mounds of rocks. Silence reigned again for a few seconds before the whistling stopped two replaced by even more silence.

“I don’t get it, what’re they waiting for?” said a caribou in the distance, the owner barely able to hear him at all.

“Shit. Shit. Shit! SHIT! It must be the Reaper, it has to be him, no mare or worthless female could plan anything!” another one said way behind him.

“Shut up, idiot. So what if the Reaper is with them? They’re still just dumb bitches and sluts!” the caribou at his right snapped back.

The owner's eyes never lost focus on the front regardless of the shouting and arguing his fellow caribou had entered in. He focused his vision, narrowing his eyes as he saw a shadowy figure walk out of the mist. Without thinking he took a step back. “I-I-I-It’s him,” he said with a shaky voice, making those around him fall silent and look forward again.

The silence returned in full force, meanwhile the figure, still partly covered by the fog, stepped out. He was less than two hundred feet away from them but did nothing else but standstill. The owner gasped the moment he saw the figure rise his gaze to the heavens, for a few short seconds, before raising his right arm as much as he could only to wave it down in a single movement.

The moment he did so the mist began to dissipate extremely fast. Many caribou, him included, gasped and gawked at what the dissipating fog revealed to them. Not even twenty feet behind the now very visible dragon an army, easily five times bigger than their own, came into view, not to mention the hordes of pegasi and griffons in the sky. His vision, however, was focused on the several catapults lined up perfectly behind the dragon ready to fire.

“Shi--” the owner said before the catapults let fired upon them. His gaze followed the huge boulders fly through the sky before ducking and closing his eyes. The screen was black as loud thuds and squashing noises, followed by shouts and screams filled the air. The owner opened his eyes again, gasped in horror and fell back, there was a boulder right in front of him drenched in blood and pieces of meat and brain, belonging to the caribou in front of him.

“Fire the Ballistas!” he heard the commander shout angrily before turning his gaze to the sky to see several hundred ballista bolts shot out to the opposing army. His gaze shifted quickly to their enemy, hoping to see a carnage, but instead, he saw several different glows, definitely unicorn magic, and just a second before the bolts reached them they stopped mid-air surrounded by a magic aura, those that didn’t stop crashed against an invisible wall, rendering them worthless.

The ones still suspended by magic turned around and shot back to the caribou, most of them not even reaching the first caribou line, but those that did impale the fools that didn’t dodge them in time. The owner began to panic, his breathing turning fast and harsh. Looking to his left he saw his fellow caribou snarling before getting up, his warhammer raised defiantly.

“Is that all you got, bitch--arrrggg!” the caribou tried to shout as an arrow pierced his throat clean, followed by another directly to his chest.

“Arrrgg!” the owner groaned as an arrow landed over his armor covered shoulder, he took the arrow out quickly, its tip barely covered by his blood. Looking up he saw several pegasi and some griffons fly over them firing arrows or dropping small black round bombs over them.

“Archers, fire!” he heard the commander shout just before a reign of arrows shot out to the skies, landing and taking out many of their attackers, but most arrows missed their targets completely. Then he gasped in terror as many of the arrows that missed began to fall directly over the first line. He yelped in fear as an arrow landed just inches in front of him and into his fallen comrade. “Retreat to the second line!” the commander shouted again.

The owner got up from his spot in his trench as he stole a glance of the army in front of them, seeing them advance at a slow steady pace, he could barely make out a line of unicorns shooting light to the ground and every few steps many of them would pull out strange-looking devices. “The traps,” the owner whispered before turning around as a gryphoness landed next to him covered in arrows.

Taking out a battle axe he used it to climb out of his trench quickly. In front of him, he saw several dozens of his brothers running at full speed while arrows and bombs rained upon them. He heard many arrows sizzling as they passed close to him, screams of pain and agony taking the vast majority of everything around him, it only made him run even faster to safety. After a couple of minutes, the arrows and bombs stopped and he reached the second line where his brothers awaited.

Turning back for the first time since leaving his position in the trench what he saw made him gasp in horror, his vision glued to the once green fields were now covered in red and corpses, or what remained of those hit by bombs.

Someone in the audience barfed before getting up and running out with haste, several others gasped horrified while others simply covered their eyes. Spike, for his part, just smirked silently.

“It’s about to get even better,” the dragon whispered as he saw the vision of the caribou shift from the fields to the front once more.

The owner saw the dragon climb the first line of trenches with ease, it was hard not to focus on the beast as it was practically directly in front of his line of sight. The dragon began to walk calmly towards them, suddenly a single ray of sun came through the cloudy skies, right above the dragon. He was too far away to notice any real details but from what he saw he could tell the dragon wasn’t wearing any armor nor was he holding any weapon. The ray of sun was soon blocked again by the clouds above just a second before his army came out behind him, a far stretched line just like when the fog was gone.

“Now we have them where we want,” a caribou said with glee in his voice. “As much as it pains me to say this, but they fight well in forests and ambushes, but now we will fight in an open field!” several other caribou began to laugh and joke about it.

“My fellow brothers!” the commander shouted behind him. “Today we will crush this so-called rebellion and retake Equestria for ourselves once more. Rejoice, as all of you will bring the new golden age of truth, male superiority cannot be denied!” chants and cheers erupted everywhere, but the owner didn’t lose his focus from the slowly approaching army. “Remember, capture as many as you can but don’t hesitate to kill anyone in front of you, my brothers. For the Fall!”

The dragon stopped for a moment, turning around to face his troops. The owner saw the dragon making some signs with his arms, his tail wagging from side to side slowly. A great chant and cheer, far greater than the one made by the caribou, was suddenly heard. He gulped slowly and he saw the dragon turn around again before letting out a loud, soul-chilling and utterly terrifying roar. He backed away a little upon hearing it and judging by the gaps, clanging of metal and rapid breathing around him so did his comrades.

The dragon roared again, this time with greater force before the army behind him charged as one against them. Screaming, shouting and cursing as the did, but even then the owner’s eyes remained glued to the dragon. Before his troops were able to pass him the dragon crouched down for a second, then, to his utter surprise and terror, the dragon began to run at them at an almost blinding speed.

“Release the warbeasts! Release them now!” The commander shouted fearfully, clearly seeing the dragon coming at them.

The sounds of chains being released way behind him echoed before, just moments later, horrible, unproportionate and almost disfigured beasts, that resembled a strange combination of a huge buffalo, a bull and a dragon entered his line of vision. The beasts were fast for their huge size, a caribou mounting their back guiding them as the beasts growled, snarled and spit out fire as they charged against their enemies.

“Charge!” the commander ordered making all caribou shout and run towards their enemy.

The owner followed suit alongside his caribou brothers, shifting his vision to his hands gripping his weapon tighter. He let out a loud shout as he charged following behind a mighty warbeast. Shooting glances everywhere as he ran to meet the charging army he got a glimpse of the dragon just before the warbeast in front of him got up to its hind legs and spit out a torrent of fire towards the dragon. The owner cheered redoubling his charge.

After a loud ripping noise, his vision became a mist of red, the warbeast split in half alongside its rider. He stopped dead in his track, seeing the dragon turn around mid-air to grab the upper body of the rider, only to toss it with unbelievable strength against another rider, effectively knocking him down the warbeast. He landed gracefully and then turned to the still living upper half of warbeast and torched it with his fire. Two caribou charged at the dragon by both sides, their weapons raised and ready to strike him down.

The dragon turned around swiftly grabbing the two-handed battle axe of the caribou of the left while the other caribou suddenly stopped, a second later the head of the caribou fell to the ground followed by his body a moment later. A loud clash of metals echoed near him, for a moment his gaze focused on the clashing armies just a few meters in front of him.

“Gaaaaaahhhhhhhh!” They scream made him focus again on the dragon, the tip of his tail covered in blood while one of his claws pierced side to side the other caribou by his chest. The caribou dropped his two-handed battle axe behind him. Retreating his claw the dragon then punched the caribou’s face with such force it ripped it from his shoulders sending it away.

The owner took a step back only to fall back on his ass. The dragon turned his gaze towards him and his vision filled with tears just as the dragon began to walk calmly towards him. The owner tried to back away but the dragon kept getting closer and closer to him, the fact that the only thing he could hear were screams of agony, curses, the clash of weapons and the sound of meat being ripped wasn’t helping him at all. Even so, he was unable to take his gaze away from the dragon. His tail was seemingly dancing in front of him, his claws darkened and dripping with blood, his purple scales partly covered in blood as well, his steps slow and calm and his eyes. Eyes as white as the purest of milk that seemed to emit a strange light off of them.

“S-stay back!” the owner shouted but the dragon didn’t stop.

Out of nowhere, six more caribou came charging against the dragon in all directions. The nearest caribou swung his sword against the dragon, ducking down the dragon dodged it as he used his sharp pointy tail to pierce the caribou through his heart. The two caribou at his left brought down their warhammers upon the dragon who caught one with each hand. Pulling at the warhammers with massive strength the two caribou fell forward, one of them was crushed against another warhammer belonging to the caribou on the right. The other one landed on the ground soundly.

The dragon got up using his tail while taking both stolen warhammers on their bases. He turned around quickly tossing one out to the sky. The owner followed the hammer long enough to see it hit a caribou, trying to bring down a pegasus, right in the back of his head. Returning his gaze quickly he was just able to see the dragon using the other hammer to smash the skull of the caribou on the right, while he squashed the head of the one in the ground with one of his feet making a sickening gurgling noise.

The last two caribou charged at the same time now that the dragon was giving them his back. But the dragon turned around just in time to catch both of their battle axes, he growled loudly before spitting out a thick stream of fire on one of the caribou right over his face. The caribou let go of his weapon and ran away screaming in agony. The other one let go of his weapon in fear, the dragon dropped both axes before starting to punch the other caribou randomly. After a few dozen punches the dragon hit the caribou with his backhand making the caribou turn around to face the owner. The face of the caribou was filled with cuts, bruises, and blood.

Suddenly out of the chest of the caribou burst out the tail of the dragon, the caribou didn’t even scream, he just looked down to see the tail piercing his chest. A moment later the tail retreated leaving a very visible hole on the caribou’s chest. The hole was filled a second later by something, then agonizingly slow, as the caribou wore an expression of utter pain and suffering, something else came out of his chest. The claws of the dragon.

The sickening sound of flesh being ripped apart and bones being broken filled the owner’s ears. Then, with a bloodthirsty roar, the caribou was split in half by the dragon, the organs of the caribou fell to the ground unceremoniously, splashing the feet of the dragon with blood and bile juices. The dragon huffed letting a small stream of fire leave his mouth. His gaze focused on the owner again for a split second.

“That’s the Reaper! Kill him now!” the commander shouted making the dragon look past the owner, then, with a single leap, the dragon left.

After the dragon leaped the owner saw how their enemies pushed against them with what could only be described as bloodlust. Earth pony mares hitting, cleaving, smashing and cutting his caribou brothers to a pulp. Unicorn ponies using their magic to torture, morph, crush or tear his brother's limb by limb. Pegasi and Griffon grabbing a caribou to take them to the sky only to drop them without care or grabbing them by his extremities and pull on them until the caribou was split up. Zebras chanting and using their strange rituals and magic to do the same equivalent as what the unicorns did, but with more gruesome results. Hydras and Manticores were being used to break havoc upon their ranks and destroy their prized warbeasts. Orthros, Timberwolves and other strange creatures leaping at his brothers ripping them to shreds in a matter of instants. This wasn’t a battle, it was a massacre. And he was next in the chopping block.

The owner got up with haste, dropped his axe and turned around to run away.

For the next couple of minutes, all that could be seen were tears and a thick forest in the distance.

“Turn around! Those Saddle Arabian whores and Changeling cunts are coming from behind!” a caribou shouted at the top of a rocky mound.

The owner stopped dead in his tracks as another powerful roar echoed the ‘battlefield’, looking back he saw the dragon, not fifty meters away from him, holding the head of the commander while standing over a mountain of corpses.

“Kill! Kill! Kill them! Slaughter them all! Leave not a single one of those insane bastards alive! Let’s take our vengeance and make justice, for Equestria!” The dragon shouted/roared as he tossed the head of the commander against the fleeing caribou soldiers.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” the whole army shouted almost in unison.

The owner looked around and saw a small series of bushes. He ran to them as fast as he could, but before he could reach them something grabbed him by his neck.

“And where do you think you’re going, fucker,” the dragon said in a low, dark tone.

“P-p-please, I-I-I don’t want to die! I-I p-p-promise not to touch a-another female in my life!” the owner begged.

The dragon turned him around, the owner noticing the surprise in his face. “Wow, that’s the first time I’ve actually heard one of your kind use the word female,” his expression turned softer as a small smile formed on his face. The dragon put the owner down slowly, even dusting him off a bit.

“What’re yah doing, Spike!? Kill that bastard!” said a big earth pony stallion came into view wearing a standard royal guard armor, he also wielded a massive spiked mace with ease.

“Now, now Big Mac, that’s no way to speak to our new friend here,” the red stallion opened his mouth in shock. “Can you believe he used the word female instead of, well, you know?”

“Really?” the red stallion asked glaring at the owner.

“O-of course I did! I….I always thought it was wrong to treat females the way my brothers do!” the owner replied eagerly to the glaring stallion.

“.........Fine,” the stallion finally said. “What should Ah tell them troops now?”

“Tell them to proceed as planned and kill every single fucker they see, search for survivors, if they’re caribou, kill them. And while you’re at it, tell our allies to corner and capture those that try to flee,” Spike smiled at the owner as screams and cried of pain and agony were heard in the background. “Except him, I think I misjudged them as a whole. Who knows, maybe there are more like him in their hidden cities. Caribou tired of living in debauchery and idiocy.”

“Yes! Many of us hated King Dainn for dragging us with him and his horrid plans!” the owner replied excitedly.

The dragon turned to face the red stallion. “See, Big Mac?” the dragon turned back to face the owner again. “I’m sorry about your brothers, but I can’t let them live. But your cities are another story. If more are like you, then I’m certain we can come to a peace agreement and leave all this nonsense behind us,” the red stallion neighed before turning back to fulfill his orders.

“Ah hope ya know what yer doin’, Spike,” the stallion said walking away.

“Peace is what I’m doing,” the dragon whispered. “I have a bit of a problem, you see. I can’t seem to find your hidden cities or your capital, might be a sign that what I’m doing is wrong. No matter how much I torture other caribou they don’t speak and when trying to read their minds, dead or alive, that knowledge is always blocked,” Spike sighed sadly. “Just now I see that I’m wrong and that this isn’t the way. If you could point me where your capital is I can speak with those in charge and arrange something up,” the owner looked at him narrowing his eyes. “I promise I won’t do anything against them or your people, I just want this damn struggle over. I swear it on my dragon honor.”

The owner sighed with relief. “I don’t know much about dragons…...but I know that they keep their promises if they swear it by their honor,” he said happily. “Maletopia is hidden by a potent illusion spell in the western mountains, can’t miss it, it looks like an immense forest at the base of the Calingou mountains,”

The dragon smiled at the owner. “Thank you, my friend. Thanks to you peace is now a possibility between our countries,” the dragon turned around, in the distance screams and other similar noises could be heard. “I think you don’t want to go that way, though,” Spike said as he began to walk away.

“Thank you so much, Reaper!” the owner turned around with haste, starting to run away from the field. “I’ll tell my friends that you’re an honor---aaarrrggggg!” the owner stopped suddenly as he looked down to see the tail of the dragon piercing his chest. “B-b-b-but…..d-dragon….h-honor.”

Spike used his tale to turn the owner around to face him. “You’re right. But it just so happen that I lied. Also, I made a more powerful promise some time ago,” the dragon's eyes turned white as he grabbed the owner's head with both hands. “I swore on my life and everything I once held dear to me, to destroy your entire fucking race and wipe you motherfuckers from the face of Equis,” there was an awful crunching noise before Spike let go of the owner’s head.

As the head fell the vision was quick and blurry but once it landed on the ground everyone saw Spike standing with the body of the owner still impaled by his tail. In a swift movement, Spike tossed angrily the body away. The image began to darken as the last images were of Spike walking away. Then the crystals stopped spinning making the shimmering die out.

All of the presents were silent, trying to figure out what they had just watched. After a few seconds, the dragon broke the silence.

“C….Can you repeat it, please?” Spike asked with eyes open in shock. “I…..I…...I don’t…..” several of the present began to make noises, trying their hardest not to vomit. “I don’t….remember……...how could I forget…...something like that!?” the dragon asked loudly and almost angrily. Suddenly getting up he turned to the audience. “Was that amazing or what! HA HA! I mean, I ripped a caribou apart like he was an automatic door!” the audience was speechless as well as the judges.

Spike turned around to face the judges again. “Please tell me you can make a copy of that! I do NOT remember splitting that fucker like that! It was freaking amazing, how could I forget that!?”

The judges were left speechless, even Chrysalis. “H...have you no regrets, monster!?” the Diamond Dog judge snarled angrily. Empress Shifting Sands covered her face with her hands, knowing the diamond dog judge had said something very, very stupid.

“Regrets?” Spike asked calmly as two minotaur guards sat him down. “Yes, I have regrets. I believe everyone has at least one thing they regret,” his expression turned somber as he looked at the cervidae judge. “You said you didn’t understand my motives. And you,” he said turning to see the ursa judge. “You said I had the right to defend myself, right?”

“That….is correct, yes. But we have more evidence to go through first,” the ursa judge said.

“With all due respect, Sir. But both of us know it’ll only get worse down the line. And I don’t plan to defend myself, I’m as guilty as bright the sun of my mother is,” Spike looked down to the table. “Besides, I don’t think they can handle so much death, blood, and entrails,” he said pointing behind him.

“Then what do you have in mind then, brother?” the dragon judge asked.

Spike smirked “I’m going to tell you what you, all of you, really want to know. But first, allow to tell you a little story. Oh, and don’t worry, I’m not going to tell you about how the Fall began, all of you already know it by now,” the judges remained silent while the present behind him began to whisper, some even with fear.

Spike sighed. “After Nightmare Moon I knew my friends, the Element Bearers or Mane Six as some call them, were destined to greatness. After Discord I knew my place was with them and with Twilight, to help them as much as I could. After you, Chrysalis,” he smiled at the changeling queen. “I realized there are other heroes waiting for their chance to shine. I knew after Sombra that I could actually help all of them more than what I thought was possible of me. And after Tirek I knew they could face anything and any odd, and win,” Spike dug his claws against the desk.

“I regret being so stupid as to think everything was always going to be okay, that nothing could compete against them. I regret doing nothing to improve myself, to become stronger in any way. I regret not doing something, anything the day the caribou came. I regret running to my room and lock myself in the closet, crying for being a coward and being so weak. I regret so, so many things you have no fucking idea,” Spike took a deep breath.

“I don’t know how much time passed, but when a caribou came to my room and found me it was almost nightfall. He pulled me out, saying everything was alright and that things were now as they should be. And I believed him, somehow I believed him even though I wanted to run away,” Spike locked gazes with the ursa judge. “I walked outside the castle only to find caribou and stallions raping mares of all ages all over the place, other caribou were busy putting those damned collars around their necks. It was disgusting, I wanted to vomit, curl up and die right at that moment but something, a whisper in the back of my head told me it was alright. So I kept on walking to where the caribou was taking me.”

“The screams of mares filled my ears and the scent of sex, blood, and cum filled my nose. I almost barfed for real that time, but I grew accustomed to it in just a few minutes. Soon it didn’t bother me at all, in fact, it aroused me,” Spike clenched his fist effectively destroying a good portion of the desk. “When we finally arrived at where he was taking me, the center of town just outside Mayor Mare office, I saw for the first time the one that had turned my home into a place worse than Tartarus. That motherfucker of a king, Dainn.”

Spike snarled letting fire escape from his nostrils. The minotaur guards moved but stopped as the minotaur cow judge raised a shaky hand.

“He was sitting on his throne, the top of the damn thing adorned with four horns, the horns of the Alicorn princesses of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. And between his legs was Twilight, naked and sucking on his cock as if life itself depended on it. A red collar adorning her neck and wing-sheaths covering her wings, with the lovely words ‘Bimbo’ and ‘Slut’ written on them, alongside her name. Dainn lifted her by pulling harshly against her mane. Twilight moaned loudly in pleasure, she looked up to Dainn and he only pointed at me. Twilight turned around and smiled,” Spike unclenched his fists letting what little remained of wood escape from in between his fingers.

“I don’t remember if I said or did anything as Twilight crawled to me, everything turned black for a moment or two. Next thing I know I’m kneeling on the ground, grabbing Twilight’s tail with my left hand and a leash with my right one. Twilight moaning loudly as I fuck her harshly against the ground in front of Dainn, he smiled at me and said:

‘Take good care of your new pet, Lord Spike.’

After that he left, his throne carried away by half a dozen mares on their backs. I continued to fuck Twilight until I came inside her, and I enjoyed every single moment of it.”

Spike closed his eyes and gave his biggest and most sincere smile to the judges.

“And that’s the wonderful story of how I lost my virginity. Romantic, wasn’t it?”

The judges and everyone else looked at Spike in disbelief. No one knew what to say or do after hearing that. But Spike was not quite done yet.

“Nothing was sacred anymore since that day onwards. If you saw a pair of caribou having their way with, say, your daughter, you had no right to say or do anything against it. In fact, it was expected of you to join them. If you, as a male, fought back they turned you into a female and raped you too on the spot. Brother raping sister. Father raping daughter. Son raping mother. Male Superiority was the law, marriage was outlawed, mares and females were now things, objects, property to be owned and tossed away freely. They had no rights, no ownership, no nothing. Their new and sole purpose was to serve males and more importantly, the caribou, in any and every way they demanded.”

Looking up again to the judges with pure hate in his eyes, Spike let out a loud chuckle that froze the back of the judges. “I know what you really want to know. Oh yes, I do. You want to know something even worse than Tartarus, don’t you? In that case, as I said before, I won’t bore you with the beginning of the Fall. Let’s move to two years into the Fall, the day when I broke free from the caribou brainwash,” His eyes flickered for a moment with white. “Get me a glass of water, this is gonna take a while.”

Chapter 1 End. Innocence lost

Author's Note

Thanks to everyone who read this, you're amazing!

This chapter is now edited.

Also, I HATE everything Fall of Equestria is and stands for. Don't be mistaken, this is a hate fic, but I will make it a good fic to read, at least, I hope