Conviction

“Spike knew it all now. Killin’ his best friend in the world who betrayed him for the best of reasons. He destroyed what him and Pinkie built from the ground up. He was a free dragon now. All the bonds that bound him to his old life were gone, up in flames, except for Twilight. She contacted me personally for a ‘favor’. It was too late ta’ go after the other Megaspells, but she told me to get Rarity. Spike deserved to see her after what she put him through. Twilight was goin’ to Canterlot Castle to do whatever the hell she thought she could do. I said yes, without even thinkin’ ‘bout it. No way in hell was I gonna’ let Rarity be down there when the Megaspells went off. And… I would never abandon Spike. Never. Not even when he got violent and started beatin’ ponies for information, but again, that was pure Spike, pure Spike when he was pissed.”

Hoofington Reservoir

The night sky was brighter than usual. Mostly due to the flood lights around the old reservoir that lit up the place like a Christmas tree. Armed soldiers paced around the fenced area. Automatic rifles and bullet resistant armor strapped the ponies from head to hoof. Black balaclavas covered the faces and identities of the mercenaries. They looked just like the ponies Spike had killed in Third Epsilon. Blueblood’s personal army.

“No sign of the target, Spike may be heading our way. Everypony keep an eye open. I don’t want this fucker anywhere near the Megaspell.” Shouted a gryphon. It seems Blueblood was recruiting more foreign agents into his little militia.

Spike was taking the stealthy approach. He knew he wouldn’t survive a firefight with the amount of guards in the small confined area they were patrolling. He had killed five so far and was working on the remaining three. Two soldiers and the officer. These ponies weren’t stupid and took cover by the gryphon forming a circle to avoid being flanked from any side.

What they weren’t expecting was the dragon to have a few nifty gadgets that would come in handy in a time like this. A flashbang grenade rolled in front of the trio and exploded. The gryphon took off flying only to smack face first into the truck that had carried the soldiers there. The two ponies that stood next to the gryphon shot each other in friendly fire trying to kill the assailant who threw the flashbang.

The dragon walked over the delirious gryphon who was still stumbling to her feet. Her paws clenched the metal truck as she scraped the metal making a piercing noise that made the dragon grind his teeth. The foreign agent was raised above the truck held at her throat. She stared into the green slit-eyes of the dragon holding her above the ground.

“Start talking gryphon and maybe I won’t kill you.” said Spike.

“Kiss my ass. I’m not telling you shit dragon!” the frisky gryphon tried desperately to slash and rib at the dragon with the talons on her feet. Her efforts were fruitless.

Spike grabbed her right wing and began to bend it into a contorted position.

SNAP!

The gryphon cried out in again swearing and cursing in a language Spike could not understand. Her wing went limp as the tears rolled down her eyes.

“Wrong answer, bird. Now tell me, there’s a Megaspell inside there. How do I shut it down?”

“Don’t know, don’t care. Wouldn’t tell you if I did anyway lizard.” The gryphon was a tough one to crack, but Spike had his methods of interrogation and he would get the information he wanted.

Another broken wing sent waves of anguish through the gryphon. Her body was wreathing and convulsing in pain. The dragon dropped her and she lied on the ground panting heavily and sobbing profusely.

Spike dragged his victim by her head. Her feathery plumage now soaked in tears, dirt, and mud. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight though and as soon as she stumbled back to her feet she reached behind her grabbing her knife and swung at the dragon.

Spike dodged the blade from meeting with his face by mere centimeters. He swiftly disarmed the gryphon and stabbed her knife into her paw. Blood seeped out from her paw as it covered the wooden bench Spike had drug her over to.

“That was a bad idea. Now how do I shut off the Megaspell,” Spike pressed the barrel of his gun to the gryphon’s beak, “last chance or you die.”

Realizing she had no choice the gryphon finally spoke, “s-scientist. T-there’s one more. She’s inside; she knows how to disable the Megaspell. After it goes off she is going to be executed.”

Spike walked away from the gryphon. He didn’t have to worry about her coming after him. Two broken wings and a knife sticking out of her paw should keep her out the battle for a few months, at least.

The warehouse hummed with a powerful aura of magic. Spike could feel the energy radiating inside. Spike knew they were expecting him through there. He could see two armed ponies through the snake cam he brought. They were pointing their weapons directly at the door waiting for any intruder to make the mistake of entering.

The dragon walked over to the side of the building and saw a window. The fools forgot to close it off or barricade it and now it would be their downfall as Spike climbed up and inside. The catwalk he stood on was a perfect vantage point to kill everypony inside.

Two proximity mines cleared the South office and the remaining guards ran to see what happened. Spike leapt down from the catwalk he was perched upon and silently killed the rest. They were no match for him.

An elevator shaft leading down at least fifty meters was his only obstacle now. He slid down the cold metallic cabling to a small room. A couple voices could be heard. One female, the other male. It sounded like a fight. Spike approached cautiously watching through a drainage system. The iron bars did little to hide his presence. Sticking to the shadows was his best bet.

“Please don’t kill me!” shouted the female voice. It was the scientist the gryphon had mentioned earlier. One of Blueblood’s men was roughing her up.

“Did you really think you could get away with it? Trying to sabotage our plans?” he punched her in the face send her body against the damp brick wall behind her. She slumped down and the fierce pony pressed his gun to her forehead.

“One more fuckin’ mistake. One more reason you give me and I will kill you.” Shouted the pony.

Spike wasn’t going to just sit around and let the only pony who knows how to shut off the Megaspell die. He was going to get some answers, even if he had to beat it out of her.

The dragon climbed out of the narrow passageway and climbed a set of stairs with a catwalk over head of the lab below him. The guards stood by watching the scientist very closely. Any more errors from her and she’d be dead.

The pony who had punched her was walking back. He didn’t know it yet, but once he was under Spike, he was dead. The dragon leapt down and tackled him. A quick turn of his neck and the familiar sound of bones breaking told him his target was dead.

The remaining guards jumped from the sudden surprise and tried to kill the dragon, but he was too good. Too fast for them. They were dead before they even hit the ground. Spike walked over the scientist and leaned down to face her.

“Y-you’re not one of Blueblood’s goons.” She said cautiously.

“No. I’m not. I’m just a good guy. Now how do I shut off the Megaspell.”

“You can’t, well, there are two generators on site. When they’re both fully charged they’ll release their magical energy buildup and it will trigger the Megaspell.”

“What’s the problem?” asked the dragon.

“If one were to be shut off the other would fire simultaneously. Each one has more than enough magical energy to level most of Canterlot and its neighboring cities.”

“So the only way to stop it is to hit them both at the same time?”

“Well, yes, do you have a partner with you?”

“Don’t worry about that. There’s always a way. Now you better get out of here. Shit is going to get ugly real fast.”

Spike walked through the cylindrical opening in the wall. A staircase nearby lead him to the surface. The generators stood tall like the steam stacks of nuclear power plant. The humming of electricity and magic buzzed though the air. Cables and wires lied on the ground all connecting to the two generators that sat on opposite sides of the compound. Both were easily one hundred meters apart.

Spike climbed out of the subterranean complex and inhaled deeply. The smell of fresh air was a pleasant reminder he was back on top and not stuck underground in a rat hole facility that stunk like rat feces and mold.

The guards were none the smarter of Spike’s arrival. They stood around believing that he was dead from the lack of enemy contact they made with him. Some still walked around cautiously checking corners and dousing the area with their bright tactical lights.

Easy kills for him. Bodies lied lifeless and bleeding around him as he stood in front of the first generator.

“Applejack, I’m standing in front of the first of two generators that will trigger the Megaspell. We need to take down both of them at the same time. Any ideas?”

“Yeah, one, link up ‘yer GPS to the controls and send me the coordinates for both of ‘em and I’ll take care of the rest. Oh, and there’s somepony who wants to say hi to you.” Said the cowpony.

“Spike!”

“Rarity! You’re alive!”

“Darling it’s been so long! When will I see you?”

“Soon, hun, soon. I just need to finish up here and-“

“Shit Spike! Look to the East and North! They’ve already detonated two of the Megaspells! Hurry up!”

A gust of wind from the shockwaves blew Spike on his back. The hard ground beneath him uncomfortable and damp. He stood up and a quickly sent the coordinates for the first generator to Applejack. It was now a race of time. He had to reach the second generator before it was too late.

He ran as fast as he could. Killing anypony who stood in his path. The familiar sound of rotating chopper blade ripped through the air. The heavily armed aircraft seemed to speak, but it was only the pilot inside.

“It’s time to die Spike!” roared the voice from the cockpit. A spotlight beamed down on the dragon. He covered his face and slid into cover. A buzzing noise cut the air. Dirt shot up from the ground in a vertical path. Chucks of concrete flew in all directions and the dust particles made the dragon cough.

The heavy Gatling machine gun sounded like a bug zapper, but rather than killing insects it was tearing apart the ground high above the sky. Spike dashed from cover to cover and barged through a cobblestone building. The chopper waited outside at the other door and Spike jumped out the window to the side taking a different path. A few guards were rushing his position. He quickly dealt with them, but gained the helicopter’s attention.

He was only a few feet from the generator. He took his time and shot out the spotlight the gunner used to locate Spike. This was his chance. He slid over the control panel and synced the coordinates and transferred the to Applejack.

“Applejack, I need assistance now. I tagged the generators. But watch out they have a heli of their own!”

“WOOHOO! The cavalry has arrived everypony!” the voice of Applejack shot through the air. The helicopters that was so fixated on Spike was slowly turning around to face the incoming assault, but it was too late. Two rockets had collided with the menacing metallic construct and it hit the ground bursting into flames higher than the generators themselves.

“Get back Spike, this is gonna’ be loud!” Two more rockets shot through the sky. Precisely timed to explode simultaneously as they smashed into the generators. The scorching inferno singed Spike’s scales, but it wasn’t painful. He didn’t even feel it.

The helicopters landed and Spike could not contain his joy. The beautiful mare that stepped out in a Kevlar vest was Rarity. From her pristine white coat to the bouncy purple curled hair she dawned he knew this was her. He ran to her and they hugged for what seemed an eternity. Tears ran down each others eyes and mushy sentiments were said that would make anypony blush.

“Ah’ don’t mean ta’ ruin the moment, but we got bigger fish to fry. Twilight needs your help Spike. She’s at the Canterlot Castle. Shit is goin’ down hard Spike, she needs you.” Said the cowpony.

“I just got Rarity back I’m not going to leave her again!” shouted the dragon.

“Spikey, please, Twilight needs you now more than ever. Equestria needs you. I’ll be safe. You and I know we can trust Applejack. After all, she IS the element of Honesty.” Rarity had a point, Applejack was the most trustworthy pony Spike had every met, and he knew he couldn’t just let Twilight die in there. She didn’t lie to him about Rarity being alive.

“Fine. Let’s go.” The trio climbed back inside the helicopter as it ascended upwards into the sky and began flying straight towards Canterlot Castle.