Death Likes me Rough

by Star_Draco

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, Ember, Dragons, Profanity, Death, Alternate Universe, Anthro, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Spike, Comedy, Other, Romance
Length: 62074

Spike is living on the edge, bridging the world between life and death... including being watched over by 'Death' herself and experiencing her odd plans for him.

Spike had lived a better part of his life, knowing that death would always be waiting there for him. How true that would be, is that every time he dies, he comes back to life. Every time he dies, he sees 'Death' herself, waiting for him, testing him and giving him an odd view on life of how the world around him works.

A dark comedy, commissioned and paid by 'Anonymous' and was worth every minute spent outside of the normal routine. Also to contribute, Inspired by the works of Christopher Moore.

Now featured!!!! 5/18!
Refeatured 7/16/19!!!!!!!!!!

Published 2018-05-18 13:00:07 UTC
Last updated 2022-11-08 03:47:32 UTC

Death's Chosen

Author's Note

So a couple things.
1. this aint dead, just had to work out the kinks and original plot for this.
2. this is my series from here on now, now the commissioners for he has chosen to abandon it. I will update on my time and mine alone.
3. The work will change oddly enough because of how I wish to incorporate it to my ways so it maybe a bit confusing so just give me time.
4. No editor in time so im just winging it on a few sites.
5. Inspired by one of my favorite bands ever and title for chapter, I leave it to you to welcome Dimmu Borgir into your music lifes!!

Death's Chosen

Death Likes Me Rough

Death’s Chosen

A cold, misty haze surrounded him.

“Hello?” he called out. Silence echoed around him and he whimpered.

“Anypony there?”

“…Hello dear Spike.” A genderless voice spoke out.

Spike encountered a tall, looming figure, wearing a black cloak, that struck out more than the surrounding around him. The face was pitch black, so he couldn’t see inside the hood. Looking up, he tried to look up only to find himself levitated off the floor and up to the mysterious person’s face.

He… was afraid, yet he could not express his fear. It was as if his emotions were being suppressed. Yet, he could express his vocal expressions.

“Why am I here?

The figure tilted its head, before lowering itself to his level. Bringing its cloaked arms and palm, it brushed it against his cheek.

“You are here… my dear Spike because you have passed from the mortal plane to the next.” A cold puff of air left the hooded void. “You are dead.”

Sadness had overwhelmed him yet, he could not cry, nor could he shout out his sadness. He could only think of that of his mother and what she would think. He had died and he was only ten years old.

A small sniffle left him.

“Wh-what’s going to happen to me now?” he asked, looking up at her.

It didn’t respond right away, yet it continued to brush its black coated palm across his cheek. It then stopped before reaching up to its hood and pulling it back.

Again, his emotions suppressed now, for good reason. A skull of a dragon revealed itself. No eyes, nor flesh was on the skull A soft glow came from the back of its cloak and it traveled up to its neck to its head. Behind the glow, flesh formed followed by pale white scales that continued to run up to its head.

Spike watched in awe as the face formed, with beautiful pale scales that seemed snow white. Finally, the eyes formed along with the horns bent back and down at the tips. What he saw was a dragoness now and the eyes were light blue that carried a feminine touch to it.

It now she, gave a soft sigh and the voice matched the gender.

“Now my dear Spike… you will return to the mortal plane. You will wake up, as if you had a terrible dream, nothing more.” She once more reached up, this time, the cloaked claw was also revealed to be dragon scales too, brushed his face. “You are not ready to step into my realm yet. At least… not until you passed. You will see me many times in your life. I will always be there when your life seizes, and I will always watch your life as you grow and change.” A soft blow of cold air blew from her mouth and caressed his face with a cool gentle touch. “You have a bright future, one that will expand thousands of years and it will influence the world. Then, the day comes when you take you final breath, you will will join forever.” She paused, leaning in and brushed her cold scales against his cheek. A small tingle went through his spine and a second later, a small symbol, the size of bit appeared on his cheek.

“That is my gift to you, my love. You will not remember why you always return here, that is my penance for now, you will understand why you are to be with me.”

A small wisp of air left her over his face, causing him to fall over and his body began to vanish.

“You will die, you will live. You'll endured the trials of the world, through pain, through pleasure, agony and dismay, to bliss and valiance. You will see many die before you and move on, but you will see lifes touch your heart. I will see from here how you will be the one meant for me because I see your future.”

The last of his body disappeared back into the real world and ‘Death’ was alone.

“I see not my future, but I know… I am alone.”

Spike’s eyes opened. His green eyes came to focus, seeing that he was still in the hospital room. Though as his eyes adjusted, he saw no signs of Zecora nor anypony else. He then focused on his body, expecting to find pain or lingering ache but to his somewhat surprise, he found none.

Zecora’s antidote must’ve work, though if he was quite honest, he had no doubts on it. Especially since he fell asleep as he had the greatest climax in his life. It was a blissful way to go out. Speaking of out, he wondered if he could get out. It was no fun being in a hospital, let alone by yourself

As if to answer him, a nurse came inside. Spike blinked his eyes a bit, trying to see her from the haziness of waking up. It was a short mare, tan body with a brown mane. Her movements were almost hypnotic as she came in and closed the door. His eyes caught her pushing the button on it, locking the door.

‘Oh Celestia… here we go again.’ He thought. He pretended not to notice as she turned to him and let out a startled gasp.

“Oh, you are awake?” Good acting so far, so he worked with it. He gave her a small smile and a nod.

“Yeah, right now. Uh… where is everypony at? My mother or Zecora?”

“Your mother got called away while the shaman was taking a small break.” Quick and on the spot responses. That might explain how she got past the guards. Still, he wanted to know how far they would go on. “I’m here to make sure that you were well taken care of.” Ah, there it was. Added dialogue to reassure him, but wasn’t necessary.

Certain questions tended to let you know of their intensioDo you mind going to retrieve them? I wish to let them know that I am doing better.”

She gave a strained smile.

“Worry not, I will get them as soon as I check that everything about you is alright.

Next question.

“Alright well then, you mind telling me what time it is? It feels likes its been a couple of hours.”

She glanced towards the clock, off to the side wall. She didn’t know if he knew about it being there but this seemed to give a small hope in her eyes. They squinted, and a small smirk formed on her mouth.

“It’s only been two hours dear, though it seems that you are still somewhat out of it. Perhaps a remedy that may help you?”

And so he knew that is where the treat lied in. Though he was already poisoned before, he was not sure how much would be painful or pass through him. It was then that he smelt it. His nose might be a bit lagged due to the weakened body of his, but he could still smell it.

Acid. Something that stuck with him when Twilight had her experiments. He watched as she reached over a pitcher of water, left onto the table. He heard the gentle hiss of a container opening and the full smell of the acidic and bitterness filled the air. The nurse had yet to breathe in, so that let him know it was a strong dose. Problem was, he knew there might be something else more.

Acid was a general treat for dragons, something nopony knew of. The nurse brought over the bubbling drink and he half wondered if it would affect him in anyway.

“Ugh… why does it smell like that?” he asked, feigning a gag reflex.

“Oh, something that would quench your stomach. A bit of antacid, citric acid and sodium bicarbonate.” It was a long way of saying Alka-Seltzer. Though she not wearing a mask meant that it enclosed until it settled in his stomach. Great more, magic.

She brought it to him though not without a firm but steady hand. Mentally shrugging, he leaned in and took the cup from her. He did it, almost forgetting his act and drank the whole cup down.

The nurse grinned like a Cheshire Cat and mentally laughed at her success at the gullible drake. Still, he humored her and finished it all. He sighed, somewhat content at the bubbly, out feeling going down his throat.

He then gave her a cheeky smile.

“Thanks!”

Her grin dropped and she waited, seeing if anything would happen. Then, 30 seconds go by and she became confused.

“Uh… you okay?” She wanted to reply but then she watched as he heaved a bit, regaining her grin back. Yet, he smacked his chest with his fist. “Sorry, I need to burp real soon.

That made her angry and she immediately screamed out.
“You should have been real dead soon!” She reached for the glass and began to pour over his body. Spike flinched at the act but didn’t feel much. The droplets that fell on him, landed on his clothes and blankets where they began to eat away at the material. She watched, wide eyed as the drops of acid ate away at the sheets but left his scales unharmed.

“B-But how?!” she half questioned, half yelled.

At this point he stopped playing his act and sat up straight.

“Um, hate to tell you this but I’m a dragon. Whoever sent you to kill me, didn’t read much on dragon biology because A, we breathe fire and despite acid not being fire, it doesn’t damage our bodies. B, it’s like a strong mix of carbonated soda after you shaken it to much, with a bit of hard liquor for ponies but for dragons. C, I drink acid daily when my nerdy sister whom forgets where she leaves her ingredients around the house.” He gave a somewhat huff. “She’s lucky some of her acids could smelled before somepony or someone drinks it.”

The fake nurse was in shock and fearful at what he had to said. So much so that when she realized she had failed her mission, she would suffer for it. Spike then heaved once more, though some worry filled his voice. “Oh boy, here comes that burp. If I were you, I would stand back.”

Before she could say anything or do anything he belched . A greenish gas left his mouth and in a hazy mist, filled the surrounding area. The fake nurse inhaled, eyes going wide as she began chocking and gagging, as the acidic cloud filled her lungs. Her eyes turned bloodshot and she held onto her throat, as if the air was leaving her. She fell to the floor, chocking and gasping, trying to inhale air or cough out the gas.

“Uh… whoops?”

Ten minutes pass by with Twilight, Celestia and Zecora all bursting into Spike’s room. Yet, inside the room a trio of ponies were in gasmasks and white biohazard suits. The three of them watched as they carried a nurse maid, where she covered with a breathing mask, out of the room. She was still twitching and staring wide eyed. All three shuttered at the poor mare, despite what they told of her.

Casting a shield over them, Twilight, Celestia and Zecora pushed into the room, where Spike laid in bed with a comic in claws. The room lingered with a visible haze of leftover acidic gas in the air. Around them, some of the metallic materials had rust while a few other materials corroded.

Looking up, he gave his mother, Twilight and Zecora a smile.

“Hey mom! Hey Twi! Zecora!”

His mood seemed pretty cheery for another assassination attempt.

“Spike! You okay?”

The trio moved closer to Spike, albeit cautious.

“Yeah, I’m good. Though I kinda feel sorry for that fake nurse.”

“You… you feel sorry? For the mare that tried to kill you?” Twilight asked, trying to comprehend what he had said.

“He is still under some influence of the poison she tried to give him.” Celestia said as she worried over her son's mentality.

Spike shook his head, before giving another small burp, allowing green mist of acid to leave his mouth.
“Nah, she tried to kill me with acid, so whom ever sent her to kill me didn’t study on dragon biology. I'm just gassy from it.”

Both mares relaxed while the shaman zebra seemed a bit peeved. She wanted to see if he was well but couldn’t leave the safety of the shield. Turning a crossed looked towards Celestia, she crossed her arms.

“Spike has been nearly killed once more, what would it take for you to find the enemy core? A strain on his young mind is taking its toll, unless you hide him in some deep hole.” The words stung at Celestia and Twilight couldn’t help but feel bad for her.

“Well, its not like its Celestia’s fault,” Twilight countered. “They’ve trained at this for a year now. Who knows how far this will go?”

“Not to mention that they don’t know about enough about me to know what will work or not. I mean, they knew dragon’s bane and coolant would weaken my immune system but acid?”

The trio seemed to agree on his logic but remained fearful about the whole experience. They needed to take extra effort to ensure his safety. Despite the attack meant for both him and his mother, Celestia had demi-goddess status. Who knows if Princess Luna or Cadance or Twilight were on the list.

“Was there anything that the nurse said to you before she tired to… you know?”

Spike shook his head. “She was a good actor. Its how she got passed the guards. Though the acting couldn’t save her from the acid though.”

Something struck Zecora and she turned to Twilight.
“How were they aware of dragon’s bane? Knowledge of dangerous plants are only allowed to those who are high arcane.”

Both Twilight and Celestia went wide eyed. This caused Zecora to eye them once more with a bit of anger. “Young Twilight is a high arcane close to paragons, with one of few whom befriended dragons. Any information you have learned of dragon vulnerability, has been secured to prevent future hostility?”

Twilight rubbed her arms and her head fell.

“No… With the school that I had opened up years back, I have written about dragon biology but other races too. Changeling, Yax, seapony or hippogriff and others. I put them in books so everyone has a chance to learn about other species.”

Zecora wanted to slap the mare upside the head but withheld her anger. Years of meditation and control had prevented her from letting her emotions best of her. Inhaling deeply before releasing, she then turned to Celestia.

“May I ask, what is the plan and task? To deal with this foe, that wishes to harm the lot of you so? I cannot always be there to prevent his death, they will get close and seal his last breath. You cannot search them out, if you have Spike to worry about.”

Twilight and Celestia felt guilty at not having a full plan yet. It was true that they couldn’t keep Spike save and search for the assassins. They had to figure out a way to prevent another attempt.

“Um,” Spike broke the silence with a raised claw. “You think we can clear this room out? I don’t think the nurses want to deal with more… uh melted or rusted things with the acid air.”

Celestia lit up her horn and a small vortex formed in the middle of the room, where all the acidic mist got sucked in, removing all traces of the lingering mist. Once the room cleared and the air was breathable, the shield dropped down and the mares to their thoughts.

Celestia sighed.

“Well, first we must deal with were to send you to be safe. Then we will deal with the assassins.”

At the train station, a group of train guards waited as Spike and the others stood in the platform.

“So, the dragon lands?” he asked, though he wasn’t sure either. Twilight nodded.

“We’ve already sent word to Lord Ember, so she should be expecting you. The train will take you half way to Applelossa. From there, a chariot will deploy and take you to the edge of the dragon lands.”

“Right,” he then turned to the guards whom were waiting on him. “And they can be trusted?”

Celestia placed a hand on him. “They were hand picked by me. And,” she leaned down to him. “A few of them are changelings. Sent from King Thorax, so they can sense any hostile intentions towards you. Stay close by any of them and it might even help root out who I can and cannot trust?”

“Using your son for bait, how much more agony must he endure until its to late?” The zebra shaman growled. Once more, Celestia felt struck as if hit but she didn’t fight it. “I am only doing… what may be done to prevent anymore harm.”

Zecora snorted before turning to Spike. She then reached into one of her bags before pulling out a vial with a swirling green mist inside. “If you feel once more in harm’s way, throw this at your foe to keep them at bay. Immune you are to this repellant, should ponies be around, it would make them feel unpleasant.”

He took the vial, looking at it once before nodding.

“Thanks Zecora, I’ll keep it close.” She smiled and leaned him to give him a hug. Once more her giant bossoms crushed his face but he gave a sight at feeling them in his face. As she pulled away, he heard one of the guards saying, ‘lucky bastard.’ He gave an inward cheeky grin.

Celestia than dropped to his size before grabbing him in a tightening hug, something he was used to. “I failed you before,” she said softly, almost sniffing in sadness. “I’ll try not to fail you again.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“You didn’t fail me,” he reassured her. “You can’t be everywhere. You are not a god, you are a mother.”

“A mother whom…”

“Did her best.” He pulled away, giving her a big smile. “Something most never get.” He then gave her a quick kiss to her muzzle and that brought a smile to her. Turning towards Twilight, she gave him a small, sad smile.

“We will get to the bottom of this. Then you can return home and never have to worry about this ever again.”

“Sounds good, I’m getting tired of dying.” The words slipped out but Twilight seemed to understand.

“Yeah, I can only imagine.”

‘No you can’t, big sister.’ He thought.

With a quick hug, Spike separated and made his way towards the train.

“Bye Spike! Have fun with Ember!”
Now there was a thought. Having fun could mean all sorts of things. And only a few were actually more fun. With a smile, he gave a way as he boarded the train.

“Bye girls! Stay safe! Catch the bastards whom ever they are!”

He watched them wave back with the group of pony soldiers following through into the cart. Seeing the last of his family, he moved his way inside where the soldiers followed and the doors shut. Soon after, the train whistle was wrung , followed by the screeching of the wheels as they progressed onto the train tracks. With the train in motion and his destination set, he was making his way towards the dragon lands.

Unlike his first couple of trips to the dragon lands, he would arrive there in hours, rather than the day or so it would take to travel there on foot. The train traveled through the iron rails with the savannahs and the desert making their speedy passes.

The whole time yet, he was in a separate car where he only had access to and with a guards in front, only he could get in and out. Turns out, they were the changelings. With his close relations with Thorax, the King of the Changelings had sent his best two guards to protect Spike(having a few changelings already working for the palace guards, he was aware of the situation) and making sure he arrived there.

Though bored, he knew that interacting or trying to have some amount of vulnerability towards the guards, could spell disaster. As such, left to his own devices for the hours.

Until the final hour, was there a knock on his door.

“Prince Spike! We are arriving at the departure and ready to leave.”

“Great, was starting to get bored back here!” he joked. “You guys have been quiet so I had to entertain myself by myself!” A dirty joke here would let him know that the guards had some humor. A few chuckles echoed the cabin and soon the guards began to get ready.

As he was getting ready… Then here were shouts, as guards began yelling at one another. Then and explosion.

Spike was launched back into his personal cart as the explosion took place. Landing towards the back end, he hit with a heavy thud, and a painful grunt as he landed at the edge of crate before slumping onto the floor. He knew something had broken and he hoped that it wasn’t his head. Groaning in pain, he tried to sit up, only to fail. His eyes in their hazy state, with ringing ears, saw the train cart on fire, and separated from the main train.

He painfully tried to stand but whatever caused his injury, it prevented him from using his whole body. Most likely a spine muscle had been damaged or a muscle torn. Either way, he was not going anywhere which worked for three ponies, dressed in black silk ninja looking clothing had entered the cart. Well… he was screwed now. He couldn’t reach for the potion Zecora had just freckin given him, so yeah, screwed.

One of them, the closest one, held out a handed weapon, pointed at him. Staring at the barrel, he half wondered if it would reflect or at least damage him severally.

“No, not here!” One of the masked ponies yelled. “The boss wants him alive so he could do it himself! Take him out and lets go!”

The pony that held the gun turned the barrel around and with the blunt end of the handle, smacked Spike on the temple and knocked him out.

He regained focus and consciousness, as distant voices and echoes of laughter scattered all around his head. From all that, a dull throbbing pain burned throughout his body. A nasty headache vibrated in his head, to his spine that ran down his tail, to his arms stretched and… he had no control at his claw tips.

His haze clearing a bit more, he raised his eyes to see himself in a cave or bunker somewhere, with a single light hanging from the ceiling. He looked at himself and saw large pikes imbedded into the wall, with his arms held by said pikes… and buried into his wrists where crimson red blood dripped from them.

A look down had him staring at his legs, that they were also nailed to the wall and spread. Off to his side, his tail held with metal chains with metal pikes surrounding it. All in all, he looked like shit. And he felt like this was just the beginning.

He knew it would be useless to call for help. His guards were either dead or part of the group that kidnapped him.

“Loyal my ass, mother.” He said out loud.

“Indeed, your mother has such easy trust issues that many of us loved to exploit them.” A heavy male voice echoed.

From the darkened corner of the area, a pony was waiting by. Despite his painful state, Spike still had enough sense in him to groan.

“Oh gods. Please tell me you’re not going to do the villain shtick and slowly reveal yourself to be some… foe or enemy I faced in the past and is finally seeking vengeance. Come on mare, at least give it flair!”

The pony seemed to hesitate and a growl left them. Slowly and surely, he moved out of the shadows to reveal himself to Spike. Spike looked at said pony, still somewhat out of it but held a face that didn’t show surprised, instead he looked at the pony and gave a small nod.

“No yeah, that actually makes sense.” Spike made it clear that he was not surprised.

Chancellor Neighsay growled once more but he approached to the hanging dragon. A thick red cloak surrounding his tall form and he somewhat towered over the dragon, if he was at level.

“You will stay quiet dragon! I have you in…!”

“In your grasp… yada yada… and you captured me to get revenege… yada yada… against me or Twilight for getting you getting kicked out of the board of my mother’s school.” Spike openly and sarcastically mocked at him, despite the pain that inhabited his body.

Growling with anger, Neighsay lit up his horn and large nails imbedded in him began glowing, where they began to pull away from his body. A painful scream left Spike at they stretched across his body. He could feel blood began to pour out of his body and muscles begin to tear at him. The chain around his tail began to crush, breaking scales and beginning to penetrate the outer layer.

Neighsay didn’t hold back against the pain, grinning as Spike struggled in pain that wracked his body. After a full minute of enjoying his screams, he let his magic stop and Spike slumped against the walls. Blood ran down his body and the walls, creating a small but growing, puddle of red upon the floor.

A soft sob left his mouth and Neighsay took it all in with glee. He then used his magic to lift the head of the fallen drake to meet his eyes. Spike’s eyes saw that dark look of the unicorn, seeing nothing but pure hatred and evil in his eyes.

“You will not speak again, lizard! As I have said, you are in my grasp! I will torture you, make your life a living Tarturas and make it so that your last moments spent in agony! Because of you and that false mistake of an alicorn that you live with, I have lost everything! I was humiliated and expelled! All because you wanted to create schools for lesser beings that are not intelligent enough to function properly.”

Despite the agony that filled his body, Spike looked at him , struggling weakly but still managing to speak in a raspy voice.

“Wow, you are a racist pony! No wonder you had no friends. Anyone not a pony or a unicorn, was probably a nuisance to you. We did good then.”

Lighting up his horn once more, he growled and held onto the face of Spike as he screamed in agony at the nails pulling at him. This time, Neighsay yelled at him as he tore at Spike.

“All who are not unicorns are nuisances! Everything below at unicorn, even other ponies are the dirt we stand on! We have magic! We have power! We have control! No other races surpasses our levels! Once we get rid of you, your mother will have no choice but to step down from her ruling. Then, we will over throw her, her demon sister, the pink princess and the false alicorn and we will regain what was ours! A pure unicorn paradise!”

He continued to pull or push at Spike’s ligaments, enjoying the screams of the dragon. Blood continue to pour out of him, increasing the size of the puddle and Spike falling into a worse state.

His mouth ran dry, his heart was beating in his chest, which only served to pour more blood out his body. His voice was rasp and almost gone. The haze filled his vision and mind continued to grow to the point where he was fading in and out of consciousness.

Neighsay stopped, leaving Spike to slump over more with his dead weight pulling on the nails. The unicorn sneered over the fallen drake. He then used his magic to reach into his cloak and pulled out a pure silver dagger. Grabbing it with his hand, he placed the blade on Spike’s neck.

“I will cut your throat open, leave you here where I will send the location to your mother! She will weep and break as she sees your body hanging like a lab rat! I will make sure she knows that where you stand in this world. Nothing more than a lizard raised as a house pet that should have died when they found your egg!”

Spike’s vision faded in and out, his voice still raspy and dry. With a lick of his muzzle, he looked up at Neighsay.

“Revealing your plan to your enemy? How clique. First off, you never do that! Typical lesson 101 you dolt. Second, off if you send the location to mom, she will find you too, moron. Lastly, how did you know they found my egg?”

Despite the insult, Neighsay spoke in a dark manner.

“Regardless of what I tell you, you will die here and now without anyone hearing about it. Your mother will learn of the location long after we have moved on, with your corpse cold and lifeless when she arrives. As for your egg,” he sneered and scoffed. “Something that shouldn’t have been touched! Regardless, you will die knowing that you were as worthless as your parents when they abandoned you!”

He then pushed the blade close to his neck where the edge met his scaless.

“Any last words reptile?”

Spike gave him a soft, defiant smile.

“Yeah, pure silver aint shit on dragon scales.”

Nieghsay paused at that and with a growl, he leaned in.

“We’ll see when I cut upon your throat!”

With that, he pushed hard against the throat on Spike and began to slowly slice against it. But, no blood or pain ran out of his neck. To Neighsay, it was like he was sliding his blade against a rock. He looked down at his blade, to see that Spike’s scales at caused it to become warn. The drake continued his smile against him.
“Told you. After I broke my neck landing on a rock, I kinda grew thicker scales there.”

Neighsay growled.

“You broke your neck and lived? Impossible!”

Spike cocked a lazy brow.

“Right. That is why I also survived your dragon’s bane and coolant? Your spy’s acid attempt?”
Neighsay realized that he had indeed survived many attempts on assassinations. In his arrogance to try and get revenge against the dragon, he learned from small resources on the false alicorn’s notes on other species. He cared not for them, which is why he failed to properly study on how to kill them.

Growling out loud, he then held the knife and reared it back.

“Then perhaps a stab to your heart would do!”

With the force of all his might, he brought down the knife directly where Spike’s heart was in his chest. But, the tip of the knife bounced off his chest, like if it were rock and caused the knife to break in half, where it bounced on the floor.

Spike grunted at the impact but felt not pain from it.

“Yeah,” he rasped in a cocky attitude. “My chest plates grew stronger after getting trampled by group of Yaks on Maredi-gra! Tarturas of a party!”

Neightsay yelled in anger and began to wildly stab in random stops on Spike’s body. From his neck, to his chest, around his rip and lower abdomen. Meanwhile Spike felt the need to allow the pony to try his best, all the while giving him reasons why he gained extra layers of protection on his body. The amount of times he has nearly died, to events where he gained stronger, flexible armor around his body. His wrists and lower ankles were probably the last ones that remained which is why Neighsay found it easier to penetrate them.

Neighsay finally stopped when the knife had dulled and damaged so much, he tried once more against Spike’s heart that the remaining silver broke from the handle. Neighsay stood there panting but filled with absolute rage and anger that Spike had ever seen on a pony. He wondered if he would die out from bloodless first before the mad unicorn would find a proper way to kill him.

Spike wished he could say a snarky remark at him but with the amount of blood he was losing, he knew it would be soon before he would die from the drain.

Taking in a deep breath, he grabbed Spike’s head with his magic and gave him a deathly glare.

“Fine! Your body make protect you for now, but I still have you on the walls! I will let the blood drain from your body and you will die a slow death! But I will spend my lasting efforts to make your last few minutes unbearable that you will beg me for death! I wil…”

A large boom shook the area around them, causing pieces of ceiling to fall near them. Not to long after that one, came another boom where this time, the light shook and more ceiling fell over them.

“What in blazes is going on!” he roared.

One of the ponies that worked for him, came in running with frightened eyes.

“Sir! Dragons have found us and are looking for their own here! They found us!”
Growling, he looked at the pitiful servant.

“And how did they find us!? I teleported us to a remote location!” Another boom caused the area to shake once more. Neighsay created a small personal shield over himself. “They should have no way of knowing where we are!”

The pony servant shook his head.

“We think that maybe one of the ponies that were guarding him may have tracked us and alerted them or they may have tracker dragons.”

Spike shakenly raised his head. “D-Dragons have a-a good sense of smell.” He said weekly. Both ponies turned to him. He gave a painful grin. “W-we could smell b-blood miles away. E-Especially if its one of o-our own. And since I-I am the dragon lord’s favorite dragon…” he chuckled. “S-She’ll be coming here with an army.” With that, his strength left him, and he slumped once more.

Neighsay smacked the dragon with his magic but Spike remained unresponsive. He snorted before turning to the pony. “Secure your routes and prepare to leave. Burn anything that ties us anything. If any of your ponies captured, leave them! I have no need for stragglers and ponies revealing my plans! The dragons could enjoy their meals from those useless dirt ponies.” Turning to Spike, he gave him a quick scoff. “He’ll be dead before they reach him, so leave him be. My work here is done. Hurry up now and move on with or without those stupid ponies.”

The other pony looked offended but didn’t comment. Without another word, Neighsay created a portal spell and made his way through before it collapsed behind him. The pony then left, leaving Spike alone in the room as the hysteria continued on.

The room continued to shake around him and the distant screams of ponies getting caught or killed by dragons echoed all around him. His mind was fading and he felt so numb now. He could feel that his blood had created a lubricant that was making his arms and legs fall through the pikes. He felt his body continuing to slump forward until at last, his legs and arms fell through the pikes and making him land on the floor. His tail was the only thing that still remained bound.

He felt his chest rising and falling , his breath coming in short, heavy rasps and his body beginning to shut down. It was black for a moment, but next thing he knew, his body was being lifted. His vision faded in and out, he heard screams of anger and sadness, sounding like a female. He recognized it well enough through the haze to know it was Ember.

They found him. They found him and were rescuing him, but they were too late.

“Spike! Spike! SPIKE!!!”

Death's Lesson

Author's Note

Thanks to my wonderful editor Tide Hunter for the edit and all! I know it is a bit of a bland chapter but this was just mostly to get out the rough dialogue before the main events.
Now, something to note as I am getting bombarded with the Deadpoolish thing over in comments... Death being female is been around through most religions, especially since I am Hispanic and death is depicted as female. To worship death is not an evil or bad ideal but to worship that life and death are beautiful in their own ways and should be respected.

As a person whom has brushed with death so often, I respect her, in everyway. You never curse death, but accept it. You never hate it, but understand its purpose. You never seek to stop death, but embrace her gift. She to us, is our savior. She helps us sleep when our bodies have lived and she guides to the after life. Peacefully and without hesitation.
Never fear her, instead understand that she is without end, she is without rest. Until time finishes, she must do the work that no one will ever understand.

Death's Lesson

Death Likes Me Rough
Death’s Lesson

Ember, Spike and Peewee all reached the dragon lands before nightfall. The various dragons out and about were either just turning in for the night or finishing up their daily activities. Ember flew past them all without a second glance, not even when a few dragons called to her.

Spike saw that they were approaching a large pointed mountain where a small cave opening was located on the top. He thought that this might be her private quarters and that it may have belonged to dragon lords prior to her. They flew in the cave, with a big enough of an entrance to allow her wingspan and a bigger inside, where it lead towards the center.

Here, Spike stared in awe as the cave was large, with the center point being the peak of the hollowed mountain. Landing, Ember created a heavy gust as she hovered on the ground and gently landed. She then slowly lowered Spike onto his legs. He shakenly stood on his two legs, with Ember supporting him. Peewee landed right beside them and looked towards his master.

Spike stabilized himself on his two feet before looking around in awe at the cave. It was as big as the room where the map of Equestria and the seats are in the Castle of Friendship. Off to the wall were collected relics of various items including pony, gryphon, dragon and other species relics. Next to them was a large hill of gems, gold coins and other various treasures. The middle held a giant pillow, easily big enough to hold three or four ponies, or two dragons like him and Ember. At the back, a large bowl or tub that was carved of rock, which held rainwater, was under a hole to the outside. At the very center of the ceiling, a hole the size of himself was from where the starry night sky was viewed.

“Wow,” was all he said. Ember gave him a smile.

“Not bad for a dragon lord, huh?”

He looked at her and gave a small chuckle.

“Not bad at all, though maybe I shouldn’t have given you the Scepter if I had known I would be getting this cool set up here.”

Ember snorted and gave a grin.

“Sorry, no giving back what was recieved. At least, not until the next Gauntlet of Fire.”
“And when is the next one?”
“Hmmm… in about 1000 years from now.”
Spike faked gasp and mocked out loud.
“But that’s forever from now! I can’t wait that long!”
Ember tsked and before approaching and place her head near his. “Well, we are everlasting, so maybe while we wait we can… enjoy each other’s company.”
Spike’s face grew red and Ember began to brush her muzzle to his, her eyes becoming a seductive half-lid. As she began to press her body against his, a loud ‘caw!’ disrupted them.
Both turned to looked down at the phoenix who seemed irritated by their display in front of him. Spike gave a snort this time.

“What? You don’t even know what we were about to do!”
The phoenix covered his face with his wings, telling them they were about to do something he didn’t want to see. Spike rolled his eyes.
“And like you would understand it.”
Peewee ‘cawed’ in anger once more, hoping on his feet.
Spike gave a cocked eyebrow.
“Since when have you seen dragons going at it?”
“Caw, aroo.” Peewee said.
“Really? That close?”
Peewee nodded.
Ember, who was just next to them, looked peeved at the interruption but also seemed confused as the two conversed.
“You… understand him?”
Spike gave a small nod.

“Uh, a few things come through, and something that mother taught me with Philomena is that they are more intelligent than you know. They can be extremely smart but their vocabulary is limited to roughly 500 words,” He paused. “Any new words have to be burned into their psyche after several ‘rebirths’. Peewee lived with me for three seasons before I had to send him back to the wild.”

He then turned to his little friend. “Thanks for your help again Peewee! I wouldn’t be alive without you.” The phoenix gave a happy ‘caw’ of love, rubbing his head against his master’s leg. Ruffling his head feathers, he slowly made his way past him towards the pillows.

“I think that… after a day like today, I would like to rest now.” Ember walked by his side with Peewee doing small hops next to him. She allowed his weight to rest on her and guided him to the pillow pile. Once there, she eased him onto the pillows, a grunt of discomfort left him as he settled onto the pillows where the cushions compressed around him.

Once his full weight was on the pillows, a sigh left him. He then looked at his wrists and legs where the holes were once gaping open. What was there now was skin with small tiny scales beginning to form around the patched wound and a numb itching that had taken over ever since Peewee saved him.

“I didn’t know these fire birds could heal wounds,” Ember said, easing herself next to him. He shifted and allowed her to come close. Peewee also came though when he felt himself sinking in, he settled on Spike’s knee and stood there perched.

“Yeah, they have magical tears that can heal all wounds. Open wounds, burns, poisons, broken bones though take a bit longer, and even life threatening wounds can still be healed. Though they can’t heal you if your heart is destroyed or your brain is gone. That’s impossible.”

“Yet their magic worked on a dragon?”

“I didn’t even know it would work,” he answered, reaching a claw and rubbing the underside of Peewee’s neck. The phoenix happily ‘purred,’ which was a soft growl in the back of his throat. “Dragon magic is unaffected by pony magic, yet I hatched from it. I saved Equestria from an evil tyrant king, made of crystals and magic that varied from that of regular ponies, and got transformed by it. Twilight used magic that allowed us to travel through time, which allowed me to see different versions of Equestria and I came unharmed from that. I saved and raised Peewee from an egg, he imprinted on me and after he grew, I set him back to the wild. Now, years later he returns to rescue me.” He then looked towards her with a smile. “I don’t think you and I fully know how magic works but we can acknowledge that it works in mysterious ways.”

“It sounds like something to come out of a stupid pony book,” snarked Ember.

Spike gave an ‘oooooh’ sound.

“Your lucky Twilight didn’t hear you say that.”

Ember snorted.

“What would she do if I said to her, huh? Pony magic don’t work on dragons, remember?” she playfully mocked.

“True, but she wouldn’t need magic to make you regret your words.” He then smugly crossed his arms. “Take it from a dragon whose lived with that mare for 16 years, if you diss her, you better hope the dragons will protect you until the bitter end.”

Ember rolled her eyes at his remark. She however saw his eyes drop, and his mood seemed to drop as well. An inevitable question was about to be popped up and she felt his eyes lock onto hers.

“Please don’t,” she almost whispered.

“If not now, when Ember?” Still in pain, he grunted as he tried to sit up right. Peewee ‘cawed’ at him in worry. He pushed his arms, hissing in pain, to hold himself before turning to Ember. “I want to talk about it.”

Ember growled internally before sighing, smog leaving her nostrils. With an angry grunt, she jumped to her feet. She walked away from him, beginning her rant. “There is nothing to talk about. Those ponies deserved to die. They tried to kill you, they nearly took you away from me… from us. Your family, your ponies, dragons and all others who depend on you.” She then snapped her attention back towards him. “They needed to understand that no one messes with dragons.”

“B-But to slaughter them like that? To kill them so… violently.”

Ember held in the worst of her anger towards him.

“It was a message! A message that should be spread! We are only doing to them, what they did to you!”

“Then will it always be like that?” he half mumbled, looking down. “Will ponies and dragons always be at each other’s throats if it means that if one messes with the other, we should always turn to violence?”

Ember didn’t respond, and instead she huffed, allowing more smoke to leave her nostrils. “I can’t believe you would think that ponies like that deserve to live for what they did to you, for what they planned to do to…”

“So should I tell Twilight to get revenge on Garble for attempting to attack them and nearly getting them killed? Should I allow Garble to suffer for that?”

Ember snorted. “He probably deserves it. Especially after the Gauntlet of Fire.”

Spike sighed in annoyance. “You’re not listening.”

“Doesn’t matter. What’s done is done, Spike. They are gone now, your friends are going to look for the pony who planned this, and if he steps a single hoof in dragon lands, he will suffer more than those ponies ever did.”

Silence followed soon after. Spike tried to look at Ember but her back was turned to him in defiance. Meanwhile, despite not fully knowing the full situation, Peewee felt awful for his once-master’s predicament. Spike was now emotionally in pain, with his physical still lingering on him, making him look half dead. Which in truth, was not far off from where he was earlier.

Spike knew that this was not going to go anywhere. Ember was dead set on hurting or killing anyone or anypony that was going to go after him. More so, he knew that despite his love for her, and her love for him, they would always be worlds apart on certain views.

When he confessed his love some time ago, she hadn’t fully returned it but held him close. Then, as time would go on, their letters to each other became more personal. His growth with wings and body helped improve his stature and image. She began to slowly realize that it was his pony side that made him a wonderful dragon. One whom was strong but caring to those around him. Assertive but protective if need be. Putting others above before his needs, essentially making him less greedy than most dragons. The fact that he gave her an amber gemstone, the size of her head, which sparkled when in the light of the sun or fire, made her realize that he was truly special.

“It matches your eyes and it’s bigger than anything I have ever given to anyone.” He told her that, when he finally built the courage to finally ask her out. It wasn’t a traditional way of doing things, but it certainly got her attention and her love. Soon, they officially hit it off with Ember proclaiming her love for him… only between the two of them and his friends.

“And what happens a day where someone else causes me pain or kills me? Will you burn Equestria to get them?”

“In a heartbeat,” she growled. Her anger lingered a bit more before she sighed heavily and shook her head. Turning away, she brushed her right arm with her left. “You mean more to me than any other dragon or pony in the world. You’ve shown me kindness I never knew existed. I can’t afford to lose you if you d…”

“And that is not something you can control,” he stated in a harsh tone. “Death will always surround me and I will always be around her. In truth, the amount of times me and my family have encountered death, are probably in the double digits.” There was no lie there, yet he also knew he was treading on dangerous territory with his words, letting slip that death was female, but he felt that this was the only way to get Ember to listen. “Me personally, I have been at Death’s door so many times, we are practically best friends.” Again, really stepping into dangerous waters. “But you shouldn’t allow that to turn you into some… monster who goes around killing ponies because they tried to kill me.”

“Your own mother nearly got you killed Spike!” She half screamed. “Your own mother practically made it so that you could be captured!”

Spike paused at that, before shrugging causing Ember to growl.

“Who hasn’t?” he said evenly.

Ember blinked at that.

“What?”

Spike slowly raised his claws and counted with each claw digit, his arms protesting as he held them up.

“I mean, who hasn’t tried to or just nearly got me killed? I was raised by a scientist with OCD and been subject to many tests. I have been at the end of dangerous sports with pegasi, been at the barrel of a party cannon loaded with solid candy…”

“And those were caused by ponies!”

With his other claw, he counted.

“I was nearly killed by another dragon when I was still a baby,” This caused Ember to hesitate, with Spike continuing on. “Got nearly ripped to shreds by a giant Roc when I molted, nearly died when a draconequus turned Equestria upside down, got captured by Storm Creatures…” He paused and gave her a look. “Should I go on? What about the time during the Gauntlet of Fire, you left me to go after the Scepter? I could of died then and there.”

“You were safe in that area!” she argued.

“Was I?” he countered.

“Ugghh! What would it take for you to understand that there should be a punishment for those who have literally tried to kill you? Yes, those other things happened but these ponies tortured you! They enjoyed doing so and it nearly ended you!”

“Yeah, but…”

“But nothing Spike! Please… just drop this,” she begged. He watched as her face cracked with more emotions. “Every time you bring it up, I want to go back and make sure they are dead, and if not, to do it myself. I made the others do it so you don’t see me do it.” Her claws tighten in her palms, she held back a half sob. “I wish to see the one that hurt you against your will burn to ashes by my flames! I want to eat his heart in front of him because he nearly took mine away!” That was the tipping point and she dropped to her knees. Peewee jumped in surprised with a squawk and Spike’s eyes widen at seeing the strongest dragon he had ever seen break so completely apart. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. “I-I-I can’t lose you to them!” she softly sobbed. “I can’t! Y-You were raised by them! They were supposed to be better than us!” She then made a half crawl towards him. In arms reach, he painfully reached out and grabbed her, pulling her on top of him.

Despite his body protesting in pain, he hugged the weeping dragoness. His arms groaned as he held her tightly, while his body fought to keep him from blacking out as she crushed him with a tight hug. A soft ‘caw’ came from Peewee. Spike saw his friend was feeling uncomfortable in this situation. A small turn of his head to the outside, was all he gave Peewee. Without hesitation, the Phoenix took a silent exit, leaving the two dragons to themselves.

Ember continued to cry over and over again how she ‘couldn’t lose him, when she just got him.’ He felt an inner turmoil as he wanted to assure her that he wouldn’t leave her but at the same time, he wasn’t even sure himself. Nothing was assured and despite him dying and coming back in the amount of times he has, he was sure that even he had a limit. Would there be a day where his head was severed? His heart ripped from his chest? A magical spell that would obliterate him? Death planned for him a life to live, but how long was yet to be said.

At one point, he remembered she said it was a thousand, then his future was altered and maybe his life as well. Who's to say that tomorrow would be his final day. He lived everyday as such, even when he felt that Death would return him; he made sure that those around him saw his joy for life and those he cared for. His friends, his family, and the world around him saw him for it. So he felt that now, he had to enjoy the other aspect of life and that was love.

Ember and he were together but they have never been ‘together’. Maybe this was a change in his future. He was to be with Ember more, the ponies that died, they were his fault for not stopping her and that this was just the small alteration. Regardless Spike made sure that even if he lived to be a thousand, he would make sure that the one he loved would hear him pronounce his love to her, every day.

Once more, he groaned silently in pain, gently removing Ember from him and looking into her amber eyes. Her eyes were still filled with tears, but she finally seemed to settle.

“I can’t promise that I will live tomorrow,” he stated. “No one knows the future, but I will do my best to make sure I spend as much time as I can with you, if you give the chances I want for others. Ponies may have flaws but they are still entitled to live and make their mistakes. The same goes with any creature.”

“Neither can I promise that I won’t take the lives of those who try to kill you, but I am willing to listen before I do,” Ember replied back. She then began to gently rub herself on him. “What happens next, I hope that I will have you to guide me.”

“Until the end.” She continued to grind on him and he grunted when he realized that she was trying to arouse him.

“Uh… Ember?”

“Hmm?”

“I know that… we are having a moment, but uh… if we do go at it, I don’t think I will survive and I really doubt you would get anything out of me with no blood going below.”

She paused.

“Not even a little?”

“… I’m a little low… not size wise, but the blood that may go there might be all that I have left and I need what’s left to go to my heart.”

“… You nearly dying is the best excuse you got. Cherish it, because when you get it all back, you’re going to be in the same position, but I will use you until I am content.”

“Duly noted.”

Death's Practice

Author's Note 1 of 2. This chapter is not clop. It is a bit darker and especially about my own well being prior to2016. Along with that, the bottom author note will get dark so be captioned. No editing was done, I just needed to get this out quickly.

Death Likes Me Rough

Death’s Practice

The dawn breaks next day since Spike’s rescue by his lover and current Dragon Lord, Ember. He slowly but surely, gained a little of his health back, albeit through a difficult process. Gems helped keep his belly full and water clenched his dehydration but a large part of his health to be regain had to be by drinking lots of fluids. Water was only available in the dragon lands, so in order to compensate, Ember would bring him ‘fresh kills’. The idea of eating another animal made Spike feel worse, which only irritated his lover. His first day was the most difficult.

“I can’t believe you won’t eat meat.” she half growled. By her feet, lied a dead elk, with its throat ripped. Now, this was a ‘non-sentient’ elk, which was allowed in the dragon lands and in parts of Equestria(away from crowds or pony invested lands) to hunt and eat. “You need to regain everything that you lost.”
“By replacing blood with others?” he asked, a bit glumly.
“Yes!”

His eyes looked at the dead elk and he felt the dead eyes looking at him, as if guilting him on his choice. He sighed and shook his head. “I-I can’t Ember. I was raised by ponies, to respect all life…”
“Then respect yours!” she growled. “Respect that you need to survive by consuming flesh! Replace what you lost and guarantee you will be better for it!” She then rubbed her temple as Spike remained indigent and silent, refusing to go for it. She then turned around and headed for the exit. “I have to go deal with some council stuff. That will be a couple hours, so you have until then to eat that! Your to weak to leave, your to weak to get rid of it, so your only option is to finish it.” She paused and her voice lowered. “Please.”
Spike looked at her, with a sadden eyes. Not waiting for a response, Ember took flight and left Spike alone.

Spike didn’t eat nor touched the dead elk. The eyes still haunted him. His gut gnawed and growled at him to eat, to regain energy. Jewels and gems were good for food, but actual nutrients and irons, only available in creatures was needed to help him. Yet, he couldn’t bare the thought of consuming flesh. Only when Fluttershy had been willing to give him some fish bait before, did he take it. He refused however, when his mother invited Royal Gryphons and was serving cow and pork. The smell itself had his mouth drooling, but refused, even with his own mother trying a few bites herself. The sick and emotional feeling of eating a life… had him in knots and it worsened when his own life was at ends.

Three hours pass and Ember returned. He didn’t acknowledge her arrival, nor did he meet her eyes when she came in. Ember saw that he had not moved from his spot and the elk remained untouched. The carcass began to smell and a few flies flew around the corpse.
“Y-you didn’t eat it.” She stated. Her amber eyes looked at him, waiting for an explanation. He didn’t look at her.
“I-I’m sorry… I-I can’t.”

Silence followed between them, the only sound being the flies around the dead body. Then, a low growling emerged from Ember. Spike knew what was coming, though his eyes remained glued to the floor. Ember stomped her way towards him, around the carcass and standing in front of his view. He tried not to meet her eyes but with a growl she harshly, grabbed his head and forced him to look at her.
“Your sorry?” she half asked, half growled. “Your sorry!” she asked again. Before he could respond, she grabbed him and forcefully pulled him to the dead elk. Spike had no energy to fight her but he whimpered as he was then forced to the ground in front of the body. “Why are you sorry? Why did you not eat! You are weak and starving yourself! What is so hard that you can’t do anything about it!” Then tears formed at her eyes. “Why can’t you just fucking save yourself!” She shoved him until his head was on the belly of elk, shoving his head on it. “I am trying to keep you from suffering, from dying, yet you won’t take it! Why?!” she yelled.

Spike inhaled and exhaled loudly, the smell of the rotting carcass filled his nose. His eyes remained on the body, not looking up from it. He didn’t want to look at her, he did not want to eat the body before him, and he did not want to suffer anymore. Yet, his moral was so consumed with guilt and sadness. Visions of his family or friends being consumed by dragons filled his mind and even if they were sentient, what would be the day that someone he knew of or loved was eaten? His own eyes watered, he shook his head, and sighed.
“I can’t.” He whimpered. “I can’t… Please don’t make me.”

Ember continued to half growl, half sob, seeing him so torn about a carcass. Finally she stopped and for a second, Spike thought it would end there but it didn’t. Instead, she moved away from him and walking away from his form. Heavy sobs echoed around the cave and Spike felt his heart ache at hearing her torn voice.
“I-I can’t f-force you to eat…” she whispered a bit away from him. “I can’t. But you are suffering!” She emphasized, digging her claws into her own palms. “Your body needs this and you won’t take it!” She gave a shaky inhale then released. “I worried that you wouldn’t make it before and now you're worrying me again. Whatever moral… code you have in your brain, you have to let it go! Please! You have to let it go! Your in pain and I can’t stand to see it. Your being selfish and your letting me get hurt because of it! Are you trying to prove something? To me? To your family?”
No response from him, he shifted slightly to push himself a bit away from the dead elk but remained facing away from her. She sniffed.
“I won’t judge you Spike! I would never judge you for this.”

“But they will.” he said softly. She blinked at his response. “They will. I can’t touch this because if I enjoy it, if I want more… I fear what I will do to get it.” He sniffed slightly. “My mom has chefs that prepare meat for ‘special guests’ with meat in their diet. She could serve me that for a bit, but then what happens when ponies find out? What happens when they find cattle missing? What happens when I have to start hunting by my home? When i grow and seek more? If I kill one of my friends’ animals?” He shook his head in denial. “I can’t be that dragon.”

Ember looked at him, his back still hunched over and his body weak and paler than most dragons. The body just inches from him, continued to torment the both of them. She knew that being raised by ponies really corrupted his moral sense on taking lives. Yet, from that moral sense, he saw the good and the wellness of other creatures that made him so desirable. His visits when he hit his growth, had not just caught her attention but the attention of other dragonesses. Most were willing to fight each other, even testing their strength against Ember.

He cares so much for others, in his eyes that any creature can be redeemed, that even those who have hurt him, didn’t deserve to suffer. He doesn't see the world as black and white as most, but he understands that he does have to play by a set of rules to continue on. The situation before them is a rule set, in which he was ignoring. It tore her heart to see that he would never go after another animal, if it meant knowing he would lose himself to that inner dragon within.
She huffed hotly, her tears still in her eyes but she held her voice strong.

“I love you.” she stated loudly. “No dragon has ever really been close to my heart, not even my own father. But what you're doing, by not allowing yourself to become better, I cannot stand by it. I need you to be better. I want you to be stronger. I want you to be there for the trial of the pony who nearly took you away from me, from your friends and family. I want you to be there when we look at our hatchlings and give them their first meal.” She let out a small puff of smoke leave her nostrils. “And if i have to rip chunks of flesh and shove them down your mouth and hold it closed until you swallow i will!” In angry tears, she yelled. “So you better take a bite of that soon or I will do it for you!”

Spike didn’t answer,nor did he make an indication he would. He knew she would, with how weak he was. Worst part, he couldn’t choke on the food since he already died that way before, so he would end up swallowing it either way. Instead, he sighed and placed a palm on the dead elk and began to softly mutter to himself.
Meanwhile Ember’s anger was flaring dangerously close to carrying out her threat. Her emotions were in flux and her heart was working against her. Just as she was about to make her threat real, Spike spoke out softly.

“Did you kill it quickly?”
Ember paused, looking at the back of his head.
“What?”
“Did you kill the elk quickly? Did you… make sure it didn’t suffer?”

Ember noted his tone, a small bit of hope that the creature didn’t suffer from her hunt. In truth, Ember had always done quick kills, making sure the creature was dead before it had a chance to suffer. If there was something she learned about life and the practices of the hunt, is to respect it. Your kills should never suffer when being hunted for food. Your kills must also bare to the balance of the nature it resides, never killing or taking more than the environment provides. And lastly, your kill must have a spawn to continue on the life of its predecessor.

“I would never make an animal suffer, Spike. I learned that before you came into my life.” Her voice remained even. Spike gave an appreciative nod.
“... When I grew up, I used to read stories of how the old gryphons and other species that hunted, would respect the dead by giving them prayers of thankfulness and peace.” He then reached over to the elk’s wide eyes and closed them. “They thanked them for their bodies that would be consumed to give them energy to march on into war. They would pray that the creature they hunted, sentient or not, that it would have an easy after life or a better renewed one. I always enjoyed knowing that no matter the predator of the species, they would always have some sense of respect for the dead. I just had hoped i would never have to do the same.”

He then gave a small wheeze as he tried to spit fire onto the elk. What left him was just a thin smog line from his mouth, nothing else. He tried again, only to wheeze and inhaled only to swallow his own smoke and began to cough harshly.
“What are you doing?” she asked a bit angrily. She was hoping he wasn’t trying to burn it so he didn’t have to eat it. He regained his breath and turned to her. “I’m trying to cook it.” He paused. “I’ll eat it but only if its properly cooked.”
“Cooked?”

Spike created a pit off to the side of the room, away from anything catching fire. He slowly but surely dug the pit, with Ember’s help, about four hooves down and six hooves across. He then looked at Ember’s hoard where he saw a large grey spear that he felt would easily do the trick.

Grabbing the spear, he limped his way towards the elk and brought it over to her. Once more, emotions fluxed in him and he handed the spear to her. She looked at it in confusion and he clarified with a dry mouth.

“In order to properly cook this, the spear needs to go from one end to the other.” He licked his dry chops, trying hard not to visualize it. “That way it can cook all around as we slowly turn it. We hang it over the pit where we will fill it with fire… or lava, whichever is easier and then it will be cooked.”

She understood and grabbed the spear. His reaction was too walk a bit away and not look at her actions. She looked at him then at the elk with the spear in claw.

‘Morally different, not Spineless. He will come to shed blood one day,’ she thought. With that, she prepared to spear the elk.

Spike inwardly flinched and nearly shuddered as he heard the sound of flesh and metal grinding together. It was not quick, for he still could hear the tiny squelching of Ember shoving the spear through the body, piercing through organs and bone. A small grunt left her as she shoved the spear tip to the mouth, down its gullet and forcing her way through the body. A second later, the end tip came out the elk and she sighed.

“There.” she stated.

He nodded but still didn’t look towards her.

“Then, we just need to start the fire.”

Ember had gone and quickly gathered wood from dead trees in the area. She brought a large bundle and set it deep into the pit. A harsh puff of flame set the dead trees ablaze and she set the elk over it. Then they waited.

The dragoness sat near the fire watching at the elk’s body slowly cooking. She realized that she should have skinned it, remove or even burn the fur. The cave smelled of horrible burnt fur, much to her chagrin but did bring him a smile as she tried to fan the smell with her large wings.

Once the fur and most of the top skin had burned off, the elk finally began to cook properly. Spike saw that most of the distinguishing details of the elk was gone, he eased his way back to her and sat by her. Silence lingered between them, other than the sound of the cracking wood and the soft hissing of meat slowly cooking.

A small sigh left him and he laid his head against her shoulder. “You did all this for me.”

She gave a nod, her eyes not leaving the elk.

“I would do a lot for you, if it meant keeping you alive.”

“I know you would.” He then lifted his head slightly to look up at her eyes. “I don’t think I deserve you.”

She used her left wing to wrap around him and hug him closer to her.

“No, its I who do not deserve you.” She brought her claw to his and held it, while he didn’t let go. “You are to good for me. Your heart… is too good for me. You have no greed to consume your heart, not even when your in need. You carry no great malice, even to the ones who hurt you greatly.” She paused and looked down to meet his eyes. “You stole my heart and I didn’t think it was possible. If anything, you deserve someone who can match your heart, your mind and your relentless disregard for your own life at the happiness of others.”

He leaned up and brushed his snout with hers, causing a deep, warm rumble to vibrate from her chest. Something he learned from her, meant that she loved it and he loved her.

Almost a full head and a decade apart, the two have never been closer. Spike knew that his world and Ember’s would never truly merge. But, they would find a common ground to work on and go from there.

“I’ve never had cooked meat.” she commented, noting the wonderful smell coming from the elk. The sizzling and small smoke coming from the cooking flesh. “I had tried to roast a fleeing buck once, ended up black and had to throw it away.”

Spike shifted slightly and used his tail to touch hers.

“Yeah, uh usually the ponies either raise the cattle but if you want to properly cook meat, you skin the top layers. Remove fur, skin, and when you are only eating certain parts, make sure to remove any harmful bacteria. After, you roast it over a fire. Not to high for it will burn. Not to low, and it will take to long to cook.”

Her own tail twitched then wrapped its longer form around his.

“So you never once had meat?” she asked.

“Fish…” he said off handedly. Then paused. “I’ve only ever had like a few a month, just to keep me satisfied or when I went on adventures with Twilight and the others. If there were no gems available, usually I would find fish to eat.”

“I would have to get you a large net full of fish just to compensate what you have lost.” she said ideally.

“Probably… but I could never eat another living thing, sentient or not. Fluttershy, the one whom have given me the first fish, showed me that she would catch a few fish for her animal friends. One of them was a bear and…”

“Wait, a pony is friends with… a bear?” she asked, almost as if that is the most oddest thing she had ever heard.

“She is friends with a bear, a manticore, and the living embodiment of Chaos himself.” He gave her a look and smiled. “She could make friends with anycreature… even dragons.”

Ember didn’t comment but remained skeptical about it. He continued on. “Anyways, so it was her that would get fish for her friends, the ones that were predatory at least, and she was okay with me eating fish. While fish where animals, she knew that there had to be a balance in life. That there were things out in the world where she had no control over. You can’t force a bear to eat only vegetables, because you only eat vegetables. No, you had to let nature be nature. Don’t force its change, or it will come back to get you.”

“So why do you fight your nature?” she asked softly. “Why do you ignore your need for meat?” He opened his mouth to comment but she quickly cut him off. “Gems, jewels and other small things like your pony food, will only get you so far, Spike.” She then separates herself from him and reached out to the cooking meat. With her claws stronger than diamonds, she easily sliced a large chunk of semi-cooked meat. It was still deep red in the middle with only the outer layer slightly cooked. She then popped it in her mouth, causing Spike to inwardly flinch as she swallowed with ease. “Flesh is needed to give us the nutrients we need to keep our fires burning, our blood with iron to heal and our savagery from losing control.” She paused and saw his confliction, yet she pressed on.

“The first time I have ever killed and eaten when I was younger than you, was a rabbit.” He tried not to think of Fluttershy’s pet rabbit when she said that, even if he was a demon from Tartarus. “My father showed me how to hunt, along with teenages who have exprience but could show me how, in my size. I still remember the first time I tasted it, the blood pouring into my mouth and that it was the most amazing taste I could ever imagine, even more than rubies.” Spike squirmed a bit against and she stopped. She sighed and moved away, leaving him to himself. She stood up and spaced herself from him. A sadness overwhelmed him and he felt cold.

“Ember I-I’m sorry…”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” she said sharply, keeping her distance.

“I’m sorry that I’m not the dragon you wanted.”

That struck a nerve and her head snapped towards him. A deep growl came from her and she made her way back towards him in angry stomps.

“I know I am flawed and am not much of a dragon and I Mmphff!” She held his jaw shut, preventing him from talking. Her glare was intimidating but he also saw her hurt and her tired eyes. She then relaxed her grip and dropped to her knees to meet his eyes. Her amber eyes met his green, elegant colors dancing in their eyes from the fire. She shook head head, moving her snout close to his.

“You are not the one I wanted… at first. You are the dragon that I needed. Here. Now. More than ever do I need you!” She sniffed, trying to stop herself from growing emotional once more. A small laugh left her. “You’re the only one who has ever made me feel emotional, you know?” she smiled and shifted so she was closer now. Her body heavily leaned on him; he used his tail and one shaky arm to hold himself up as she moved forward. “You might be flawed, you might not be like other drakes, but you sure know how to mess with a heart.”

He couldn’t respond to that. And she did allow him too, so she pushed him slowly on his back. She then crawled on top of him, with a look of pure love… and passion. She straddled his waist and looked down at him. He looked so meek, so small and innocent, yet she knew that he was stronger than he gave himself credit for, smarter than most of the dragons in the valley combined and had the mind of a mature adult.

Lowering her head to his, she brushed her snout to his.

“Your everything that I need. Your heart is more powerful than most elders and lords that have come.” A small bit of seriousness then slowly came into her tone. “So, don’t you ever think your not a dragon worthy of being with me. You are more than just a normal dragon. You are something better. A creature from two different worlds, yet you alone are bringing them that much closer.”

Her words echoed into his head and he stared deep into those amber eyes, that only glowed brightly from the fire. Her form was ever radiant on his eyes. He felt truly blessed to know that he had fallen for her. A true beauty in dragon form.

However it was than that he noticed how she was on top of him that he realized what her attention really sought. His heart first and foremost sure, but a little action as well.

He gave a small smile but a bit of hesitation left him.

“I-I am still not there yet Ember.”

She looked down between them and sure enough, he was still ‘unresponsive.’ A look of confusion passed through her before she saw his face.

“Its only been a day.” he stated. “Give me a few more.”

“I feel like a got the nicest dragon in the world but that fact that he can’t be aroused, even when he is given the chance to be, is a great show in your character.”

“Yeah, well losing a lot of blood can really stop you from being aroused. I’m not even sure if I could recover what I lost in a week.”

She paused and looked towards the cooking elk. It was almost done. She then turned back down at him.

“Well, you better.” she paused and lightly rubbed her belly. “I’m going to heat soon and I want you to rut me.”

He gulped a bit, swallowing his saliva a bit and looking a bit fearful at her.

“Uh… are you sure that we are ready?”

She lowered her head to meet his eyes, their snout tips touching.

“More than anything, I want you to know that if you were ever to be a great dragon, you would give me eggs to bare and whelps to raise.”

He looked a bit uncomfortable. “I-I’m only sixteen Ember. I don’t know much about raising young or anything.”

“I’m not going to lay eggs this soon, you dolt.” she paused, brushing his snout. “I’ve got another few years before my body can grow to lay an egg.” She grabbed his palm and gently laid it on her belly. “I want you to be there when my belly is big. When you are… a bit larger and ready to handle a dragoness whom will grow with your eggs.”

The thoughts warmed his body with a quick mental image of her with a large belly. Her belly expanded, her body looking a bit ragged but she managed to hold her overall shape. He wasn’t sure if it was a deep personal feeling for him to be aroused by the idea of a swollen dragoness or it was instinctual. Either way, it kicked off a certain reaction.

“Huh.” Ember thought. Spike blinked and saw that Ember was looking between them. He looked down and saw just a slight bump of red flesh protruding between his slit. Despite it not fully in mass, Ember felt its warm surface touching her scales near her own neithers.

“That’s what got you aroused? Me being full of eggs?”

“I-I-I…” He couldn’t find a good response, feeling vexed by his own arousal, yet Ember didn’t seem to mind. Rather, she looked flattered and actually amused by it. She leaned in, licked his muzzle, a shade of red tint coloring his facial skills and more warmth spread across his body as she gave him a sultry look.

“I’m glad to know that that is one way to get you going.” Just as she was about to push more, grinding her hips on his, with her own vent secreting her own fluids, leaving a small, visibly string, he gasped out and stopped her.

“The food!” He managed to say, causing her to stop. She turned and saw that the carcass was now almost black and sizzling loudly. She looked down at him and saw he was not trying to go at her but trying to save the food… and maybe what blood he could.

She sighed and got off on top of him.

“Right, the food. Then… then we wait.”

Author's Note

So this chapter was... a small added part that wasn't intentional but morally obligated for a few of us. Me personally. So back 2016, I had tried to commit suicide and my recovery wasn't that great. I didn't want to do anything because well... I had no reason to do so. I didn't eat and thought nothing else. Not only that but I didn't want to eat meat because my thoughts were why did I get to eat another life but not take my own? (Not a vegetarian just didn't want meat at the time)
I had slit my wrists and lost some blood but not enough to warrant hospital situations. My family didn't help the situation so, I tried again the next day and felt so weak.
The reason for this chapter is because I didn't really have a person to back me up or really stop me from trying again. I ended up just watching Zootopia and that's what saved my life. A female character from a fictitious movie helped a male deal with his past and mistakes. I didn't have that and I wrote this one because I wanted this help.
In the end, I have Ember as more of a reason for Spike needing to be pushed on. To have practice with his morals and to understand him more. Hence the title name.

Again, thank you all for sticking by this. I apologize with no edit. If you see mistakes Ill correct them from your help.

Death's Patience

Navigate all alone
On this tempestuous sea
To ride with me
To ride with me
Don't you forget about dying
Don't you forget about your friend death
Don't you forget that you will die

Link below...

Death Likes Me Rough

Death’s Patience

A solid week passes for the two. Spike recovered his energy within the first two days and for the fourth day until he was fully recovered with healed but scarred scales.
Ember had made it an absolute pain to really let him do any excess work, at the same time scolding him if he complained about eating more meat. If and when she did bring fish, he was content and even split it with her.
The fifth day had him stepping out of the cave and enjoying the fresh, hot air from the desert plains of the Dragon Lands. He stretched his limbs, softly popping cramped bones and aching joints. He was mobile inside but he was too weak to really move out and about. Not to mention that the air inside became stale of coins, cooked meat… and needy dragons.

He still couldn’t coax out ‘Little Spike’ but it did help to know that he had an interest in the physical part of the relationship. In truth, prior to the capture, he and Ember had never have gotten anything more than physical rubbing or grinding on one another. Spike was still a gentledrake, trying to keep himself in check, and Ember was oblivious to his upbringing that it clashed with them both. It left them both in off putting moods.
Today however, he had the chance to really let loose. With the hunt for Chancellor Neighsay and his followers, he was going to be stuck in the Dragon Lands for Faust knows how long. Days, weeks, months… anytime. He had no problem with that, other than he was going to be missing several comics and movies coming out, and since Ember was his lover, he practically had safety and free reign through the lands.
His reputation was noted here, with few dragons hearing of his deeds, but many never cared, nor looked passed it. In truth, his friends here were almost none. He was acquaintances at best with a few and Garble being a sorta of… rivals of the past but doesn't hold a grudge anymore. He in fact took a small liking to Spike just because he was relentless on proving himself to try and be a ‘normal’ dragon, according to Garble, though his sister had some part in that. The teenage dragon also had a key to being Ember’s demolisher if push came to shove with hostiles. She didn’t bring him along when Spike was supposed to arrive because she felt at the time, it was unneeded. She regretted it now and realized more than ever, she needed to have Spike surrounded with her toughest dragons.
Spike was still morally delicate, but he also would be held back by harming anything living. She knew Garble would make fun of him for that, but she also knew that if she tried to get Garble to work on Spike to teach him how to be a better dragon, that it would backfire.

For now, it was her duty to take care of one of the kindest dragons she has ever had to deal with, along with one of the most hard headed ones. It didn’t help that he also got attention, aside from the usual trouble, from other dragons and creatures. And not just that they wanted to kill him either.
Ever since he hit a growth spurt, he was a big target. The first time he ever stepped into the dragon lands, he was regarded as a weak, unassuming hatchling that wouldn’t last long. When he came back years later grown, the teenage dragonesses and dragons that wrote him off all but jumped at the chance to get back into his good gracious. Flirting, teasing, raising tails in submissions and even had some… leavings of theirs on his body. He kindly and politely rejected them which… made it worse when he was still be followed around and being begged to be with them.
He actually tried to play himself off as not being anything special or grand. Again, that did not help his situation as the dragons had almost orgasmic levels of love and attraction for him. He was almost killed just by them fighting over him, as he laid in a dog pile. Ember quickly intervened and finally snapped, triggering her to use her Scepter and demand all the dragons to back off. She then declared that Spike was off limits and was only here for diplomatic missions. After that, he would still get offers from passing dragons… both males and females alike.

For now, his mind was seeking the pride that is the Dragonlands. Desert plains with high plateaus being scorched by the sun and hot winds. The smell of dry earth, with old and new volcanoes releasing out brimstone and ash.
In truth, this is one of the highest qualities of scents he enjoyed. Living the better part of sixteen years with ponies, he had enjoyed over there. The adventures with him, Twilight and Co. lead him to exotic places and even stranger lands. Once his molts kicked in and had him grow to a height passed Twilight and nearly meeting Ember’s own, Spike utilized the fact that he was able to deal with a lot more in life.

His fire breathing was stronger than ever before. His claws could carve his name in solid diamonds with ease. His scales were more durable, having managed to withstand a direct kick from Applejack. He knew that she could kick boulders and trees hard enough to sent them flying.

He went flying, but had no major damage done to his scales or organs, though the wind was knocked out of him. Lastly, his wings had help him in the long run. The ability to fly let him experience freedom and growth he never had before. That is what it truly meant to be a dragon.

As of now, he didn’t nor could he fly. He was still weak and his last few days were hectic. He also didn’t want to have Ember be angry with him if he were to drop out of the sky.

Taking on a walking path, he made his way down from the top of Ember’s cave through a path designed for flightless dragons. He saw as hundreds of dragons filled the skies and lands with their daily lives. Some seemed simple, while others didn’t seem simple enough.

Reaching the bottom, he made his way towards a center arena where he had his encounter with teenage dragons the first time, years ago. The walk helped gain back feeling to his legs, as did moving his arms.

He saw dragons near the top, adults merely laying around lazily and watching the younger ones for entertainment. Though he paid them no mind, they on the other claw seemed very interested in him. He moved passed them, hoping to make it through without much incident, he did however heard their comments as he moved on.

“... Lord Ember’s mate?”

“He is the one that changed her…”

“...The dragon that saved an Empire and the ponies…”

“Gave up the Scepter and gave it to her…”

He moved on with a smirk but not before hearing a bit of the better parts of their passing gossip.

“Is that who my daughter wants?”

“If I were that young again, I would totally hit him up again… nah maybe even now…”

“My son wants him to be his dragon lord…”

Spike blushed and quickly made way towards the center of the area, where the cheers of teenagers were as they held their contests. He tried not to make himself known, as he knew that there might be dragons that will seek him out. Instead, he remained on a high ledge away from the action, but had a great view of the dragons and their activity. He took a seat at the ledge and silently watched as dragons of all kinds tried to fight, wrestle, charge, run, fly or do other various activities to win against one another.

He still felt the eyes of the older dragons looking at him intently, especially since he could still hear their words on him. He ignored them mostly because some of the activity down below got intense. Newcomers, such as whelps already becoming teenagers, where trying to face off against pros or the experienced. He saw that there were also many young that were idolizing some of the older ones. His emerald eyes tried to scan for a particular set of dragons. Last he heard, she returned back home.

“Well, well, well, look has decided to bless us with his presence and grace.” The tone was unmistakable and undeniable. The snarkiness was always there but it was less hostile and even less prideful.

Sighing, he turned slightly to view from his eye to see the tall, imposing figure of Garble. Behind him was his crew of dragons that always hung around him.

“Hey Garble. It's been awhile.” As he knew before, Garble wasn’t aiming to get revenge for the years prior. He did still come off as a bit arrogant and cocky, but his attitude towards Spike was rivals with mutual respects and small likings to one another.

“It sure has been, Little Spike,” This got several chuckles, but to Spike, he shook his head. Despite his height being short of Garble by almost a full head, he still regarded him as little. “So, word around says that you had issues with your pony friends and now sticking around here for awhile?”

Spike nodded, then focused on the roars below as a new winner had just been announced. “Yeah. One of the unicorns we had a run in with years back tried to kill me. He tried to poison me with dragons bane, then acid.” The teenagers flinched at hearing dragons bane. Garble brushed that part off.
“What kind of idiot doesn't know that dragons are immune to acid?”
“He was arrogant in his ways,” Commented Spike, still watching the arena down below. “But then he got serious. He captured me, killed a bunch of ponies and nailed me to the wall. He drove metal pikes into my wrists and my ankles.”
An uncomfortable silence happened between the dragons, all taking pity on the younger drake. Even Garble couldn’t say anything, as he stared at the dragon below him.
“Your scales…” was all he manage to say.
Spike slowly rose from his seat, taking it slow as he rose to his height. His back still turned to them. “I can tell you that he found a way, Garble. He drove them in until I was nailed to a wall.” He rubbed his wrists with each claw, still feeling the phantom pain that coursed through his body. “I guess that was the part where dragon scales were weakest.” Turning around, he looked at the them, seeing guilt or sorrow for him, something he was used to, but hated seeing on other creatures. Garble just looked upset. Despite their mutual and odd relationship, Garble still didn’t like the idea of a pony doing this to another dragon.
“That ain’t right,” he said darkly. “That ain’t right, especially if you are young.” Spike gave him a shrug.
“He was desperate, he wanted revenge. How far does anycreature go for revenge?” This was a small stab at Garble’s past but Spike also meant for it to be a reminder that it lead to nothing good.

Spike then softly chuckled which got him odd looks. “The funny thing is, the one who actually saved me, wasn’t just Ember. It was actually Peewee, my pet phoenix that saved me.” Garble gave him a look between peeved and disbelief, however Spike pushed on. “Yeah, turns out that phoenix have the power to heal wounds, including dragons. I saved him before and now it was his turn to save me. Maybe if you guys stopped destroying phoenix nests, they may end up saving you.” He then paused, looking at Garble. “Is your sister still here?” Garble didn’t respond right away but he gave a small shrug.
“She is doing her own thing.” Spike asked no more. He moved passed them and made his way out. He left a confused set of dragons and one annoyed Garble.

Spike spent the rest of the day aimlessly walking the lands, no real particular heading. He just wanted to gain feeling back into his legs and arms. They may have healed but he was still slow and careful with his movements. He also wanted to see if he could find her. Supposedly she came back not to long ago, to try and teach her own here, though he wasn’t sure if she was successful.
He had searched around, trying to find any traces of her but to his chagrin, he found no area designated for teachings or learning for dragons. He wondered if maybe dragons didn’t want anything to do with pony knowledge or friendship and forced her to abandon it. Though how hard was it to find an orange dragoness among other dragons?

He settled upon a flat boulder where he took his seat and looked over the vast expanse of the dragons lands. More and more dry lands to the north and east of him. West held the ocean and pony lands and south was the dragon lands. He managed to wonder out of their lands and was now just in a part of the lands left unclaimed.

He enjoyed the silence here at least. Nothing but heated winds blew past his ear fins and he reveled in it. Basking in the sun’s hot rays and inhaling the dry desert air that actually made him feeling happy in a long while. He laid upon the boulder with his back against the rock, which was cooked by the sun, no issue for him and he smile as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

He felt like he could stay like that forever, but all good things come to end. His ears were tickled by the silence that surrounded him, including the wind, which turned chilled. Instantly, his eyes snapped open and he saw Death standing over him. No sun was over her, just a low white light surrounded in blackened void.
“You look quite astonishing when you have your body displayed like that.” She spoke softly.
He sat up and he found himself transported into Death’s Realm and the cold that surrounded him. He grumbled lightly to himself. “I was enjoying myself for the first time in a long while and now… I'm here. I didn’t even feel myself die this time so how am I here?”
“You are not dead,” she answered. “I merely brought you here because I will not be seeing you for some time.”
“Is… that a good thing?” He wasn’t sure. Death did like his company and he liked hers, but it could get unnerving you keeping jumping back to the land of the living and the dead at a constant rate.
She cocked her head slightly before turning away. “I believe that you will enjoy more of your life if you stay away from mine.” She then motioned with her boney claw. “Time is quick or slow, depending on my mood here. But I will feel the indifference of you not being for awhile.”
“Ahh, your gonna miss me.” He teased. But then, he felt something lingering from her. He wasn’t sure if it was possible but Death slummed a little and her voice was low. Lower than usual. It unnerved him more then ever that he was looking at her. Her overall tone was that of a friend not going to see their other friend for a long time. In which case, he realized that she sought companionship and she wouldn't be seeing him for awhile. He moved closer to her, trying to see in her cloak. Her hollowed sockets of her skull remained voided. With his approach however, she formed her disguise as the pale dragoness. Her body had quickly filled over the skeletal features, filling her role as the female. His eyes saw the white, iris-less eyes, did hold sadness, despite her features almost as stoic as a rock. Bringing his claw up to her face, he placed them upon her cheek, where he felt ice cold upon his scales. She leaned in and brushed her scales against him before she warmed her cheeks and gave a soft coo.
“You… are the only I allow in my realm.” She spoke in whisper that still echoed lightly. “Many lives have come and passed, many I have tried to speak or bond with, but they leave just as quickly. To Salvation or Damnation. The very idea of being near me, none have liked the idea of being close. They repulse the idea they have passed or wish to move on with their others.” She then pushed herself against him and just as quickly as he found himself in her realm, Death shifted the scenery to a new place.
Spike found himself on a tall mountain, inside of a palace suite where blue and white flame torches surrounded the interior. Outside, there was a balcony, where the night was shown. Luna’s moon was bright and he saw distant fires and buildings, indicating occupants. It was a reminiscence of ancient times, where temples were lined with gold and jewels. He had fallen backwards onto a bed that was made of the finest silk, the comfort of a cloud and the heat of lava. “Yet you stay with me.” she continued.
“Yeah, well you keep bringing me back.” He stated lightly. She had straddled his waist, cloak covering her body but he could feel her scales and legs on top of him. They were as warm as his.
“But you never beg to return.” She responded, hot air now blowing at him. “You never beg to be released, you never asked to move on and you never ever deny my company.” She then used her white claws to run them across his chest, all of his scars glowing a orange. Each one caused him to hiss slightly in pain but also moan in pleasure as it triggered certain parts of his anatomy. “Many I have tried this with and they would rather move on. Pony, gryphon, cats, dogs, other dragons, and countless other species of intelligence through the history of the cosmos. Yet all of them have denied to be with me, all of them have moved on to stay away from me.” Her head then leaned and hovered over his, he saw her blank white eyes slowly fill in with a beautiful sky blue irises. “You, as a hatchling, came into my realm early and never feared me. That first time you came here and understood the meaning of what it is to die, you didn't show fear. You were more concerned that you left your family, then be afraid of me. That is why I sent you back. When you came back, you were upset that it was your fault and didn’t wish to bother me. I sent you back because it wasn’t your fault, but you showed sympathy for me.
A soft burst of gasps left her, which from what Spike could interpret were sounds of chuckling. He never heard her ever chuckle. Emotions were useless here… unless she allowed them. He forced a smile to himself and found emotions were now easier to show. With that, he actually chuckled with her. “I guess, I felt that you would be annoyed with me, as I keep coming back. Though I always thought you suppressed my emotions.”
“I had done so because I couldn’t replicate them. I have tried and tried with many others but they only showed fear or anger. You have come to my realm so often, I’ve understood your emotions now. I understand loneliness, I understand sadness, I understand frustration…” She paused and leaned forward to touch her snout with his. “The way you care for your friends, your family… your lover.” She brushed her snout with his and he did so back with her. A soft growl filled her throat, once more escalating and demonstrating her use of emotions. “She is so lucky to have you. Your care for her is undeniable.”

“She is something,” commented Spike. “I would do anything for her, even if she is a bit hard headed at times.”
“Something I know of you all to well.” Death answered with mirith. “You put others before yourself, you have sacrificed your personal life on multiple times to help others with theirs. You show compassion and even mercy to your enemies.”
Spike suddenly groaned again as all her constant rubbing had finally allowed him get hard and for his organ to slide from his slit. He was wondering if this was her doing or his own.
Just as his cock had managed to harden half way, Death slowly rubbed her legs on his, where he felt her own slit rubbing ontop of his. He shuttered at feeling her slit rub over his, still reveling in the fact that not only could he feel details on her body but the fact that she was able to be wet as well. Fluids secreted from her and it slowly cascaded over his raging organ.
“H-How are you d-doing this?” he managed ask.

She continued to rub herself over him, feeling her labia rub over his organ. Her cloak prevented it from being seen but their fluids had mashed together and most of it was on Spike’s lower area. “I can do many things in my realm, Spike. I can do many, horrific or wonderful things. But this is the first time I have wanted to do something wonderful for someone.” His organ continued to be taunted by her hips, the rough scales she had placed on her body made his rigid dragonhood so much harder. He was at full mass now and her own labia finally took his inside of hers, where both dragon and the deity of death, sighed in euphoria.
“Never have I experienced this,” she said. She sat up and straddled him on the bed, sinking deep upon his rod and letting the drake fully enter her with no resistance. “I have learned all I can from your memories on how you’ve been pleased, how the ones you love been pleased, and the feeling that can be expressed. I may not know not how to fully project emotions yet, but I hope you will be patient with me.” She rolled her hips and squeezed her walls around his shaft, causing him to groan again.

“This is… your domain,” he struggled to say. “You move time at your own here, so we uggh! ...have all the time?”

“But I want to make sure to do it right! I want to know if I can ever have a someone worth it, even if it's but a brief moment in your time.”
He grabbed at her waste, holding her steady as she began to raise and lower herself onto him.

“So far so good-ugh!!” She squeezed him tightly her walls. “Too tight!” She released him.

“Isn’t that how it goes?” she asked, slowly rising once more.
“Not if you can’t move,” he moaned a bit painfully. “Or if you are being gripped hard.”

She settled for just allowing him to be gripped with enough force to allow him to get pleasure but also free movement. He sighed once she had settled back down. She released her own sigh and looked down at the drake before her.

“Eons without a lover, eons without pleasure…”
He looked back at her eyes.
“That is too long to be alone,” He then began to thrust into her, her body almost weightless. “For someone as beautiful as you.”

“You know what to say…” She gasped, feeling his body exiting and entering. She made the natural secretions that the female body resonates when in arousal, creating a running flow of fluids around his shaft. Despite the cloak, Spike could feel each and every detail of her body.

Being young, he had stamina and energy, no less when the partner on top of him weighed nothing. But the fact breathing was not a contributing factor, something he should have realized right away, he felt like he could do this forever.

Grabbing her waist, holding on even the cloak, he began to build a steady rhythm of thrusting into her, form. It was really hard to say what turned him on the most of this. The fact that he was fucking Death or the fact that he was fucking the perfect body, personified by Death. Either way, it felt wonderful. He would never think that Ember would be any less than her. He loved her with all the passion he could.
Death however was an untouched… deity… whom never had the chance of making love or being loved. Left wanting for eons. That made him mad and filled with purpose. He would make sure that this would be her greatest feeling to date.

He didn’t know how long he was there for, thrusting in and out of Death, making odd, satisfying moans for her. Puffs of cool air leaving her mouth as she bounced up and down his shaft. Spike noticed that she went all out with this form, this scenery and the way she made sure that everything was to his perfection.
Her walls would adjust around him, squeezing or moving around his organ and making him moan in total ecstasy. Her breasts held a certain firm that he could squeeze tightly without fear of hurting her. The echoes of her moans filled the low lit room with her beautiful voice, adding to the flair.

Hours had passed and Spike was no closer to his climax. He knew because that edge has yet to come, but his pre-cum and her juices continued to flow without cease. The bed they laid on was wet beyond belief but they did not care. He knew that she was holding them both back, wanting to enjoy their experiences as long as possible. He had no need for air or energy or anything… he was in perfect harmony of absolute pleasure.

Then… much to his surprise, he felt a gush of fluids immediately leave her body, with a moan that echoed loudly through the walls, in his ears and his whole being. But it was a wonderful wail, one of pure ecstacy, pure bliss, something she had never had before and for once since her existence, felt happy experiencing it… with some creature.

Spike hadn’t felt his orgasam hit him but he felt joy seeing her face, her emotions play out, as she experienced her’s. The way her head shot up, her breasts bounced, her body spasmed and quaked as she climaxed. Her claws squeezing his own as she rode it out, trying to prolong the sheer pleasure of experiencing something reserved normally for mortals. Something SPike felt he would always appreciate for the rest of his life and perhaps… eternity.

Once her high came back down low, she finally met his eyes with his own, seeing a stupid grin on his muzzle but pride and happiness plastered with it.

“So… how was it?”

She slowly laid her body on top of him, the palace around them immuninating her features and the warmth that permeated on her face. She gently brushed her muzzle across his, a soft groan leaving her as she did.

“Eons, eons of watching mortals experience pleasure like no other deities. I watched in jealousy, in envy, as they loved one another, experiencing pleasure through bodies and mind.” Her voice was silk and warm as she talked envious about mortals. “But experiencing it now, for the first time… I knew no other pleasure.” She then licked his cheek with her tongue. “I am more happy now than I have ever been since my existence came to be.” She then sighed. “It does sadden me a bit now, that I must return you back to your world.”

In a blink, their area changed around them and Spike once more found himself in the void, standing alongside Death whom once more adorned her cloak. “You will not be returning here for at least two years.”

Spike blinked. “That’s… good, is it not?”

She nodded. “Enjoy it. When you return, enjoy your life as much as you can. Love her, with all your heart. Spread your life, you care onto others. Send a message to those that dare hurt you, that their time will come, but you shall not fall easily. You will rise above and beyond.” She then leaned in, brushing her head against his. “Make life.” Was her final words.

“I…” He was suddenly jolted awake and found himself back where he was. He shot up from the lying rock he was on and saw that time had not moved without him. He hadn’t lost any in fact. His scales were barely warming up from the sun and the footprints that he left on the ground hadn’t been corroded in any way.
Sighing, he raised himself, expecting some resistance to his body. Instead, pain was absent and tiresome was gone. He found energy where there was none before, he found strength when it was absent and his confidence was all but restored.
He slowly spread his wings, allowing them to stretch, hearing cracks of bones. He inhaled, feeling the warm air fill his lungs and exhaled. He was… healed now. He felt rejuvenated and now, he felt like he could do anything.

There was only one thing to do and that is all he wanted.

Bending his knees, he flapped hard once and shot himself into the skies. He soared fast and hard, enough to make Rainbow Dash proud as he flew high in the sky. He laughed loudly, cheering as the winds blew past his face and over his features. He flexed himself in the air, spreading every inch of his body over before twirling in the sky. He laughed as he felt more energy, more hope than ever before. And with all that, to his task.
“Thank you, Death.” He said out loud. He then pointed himself to the Dragon Lands and made full speed there.

He approached at nearly high speeds, using his draconic vision to find his prize. Almost immediately, he saw her, oversing a wrestling match. “Ember.” He took a dive and took at an angle to reach her.

Ember blinked, something in her eye. From the corner, something was moving towards her. She turned and saw purple and green approaching her at high speeds.
“Spike?” She didn’t have time to question it. For in a moment, he flew at her. She was afraid he might crash do to his weakness, but… she saw no flaw in his flight. He moved with purpose and precision. His eyes were focused on her, his flaps in tune and syncing with his body. His arms ready to reach for her. Something in him changed and she barely had time to see it all.
He did almost a complete stop in front of her, using his wings to airbrake, skidded a few feet and grabbed her in arms by picking her up, almost instantly launching himself hard in the air once more.
Ember was held in his strong arms, the same way she held him almost a week ago. As she was lifted, she saw that there was something vastly different in his eyes. Something she hadn’t seen in a long time from him and that was pure love. His emerald eyes met her own amber ones and she saw love. Lust was the secondary factor but his eyes were focused on her, seeing through them and into her soul.
“I love you,” he said to her. “I love you so much.” His voice was strong. It wasn’t the weak, almost painful voice he had this week. There was an edge to it, strong but still caring. His body posture also showed there was no pain in him. What changed?

She didn’t know, nor did she care. He carried her with purpose and she knew that when they made it back to their home, he was going to show her how much he truly loved her.

Author's Note

One of my favorite songs from Ghost's Prequlle Album, this band has been a lot of inspiration for the darker themes in my stories and I love them to death. I actually seem them everytime in concert(California only) and love what they inspire to me. I can't recommend them enough and ask that you give their music a shot. A lot of it is inspirational and I would love to meet more fans here!
Now, on to the actual story, I apologize for taking so long on this one but my options were limited on how to approach this chapter. After that, it will be easier on me.
Thanks to my editors, there are a few things off here and there, so let me know so I can fix them. Thank you all for your support, expect the next chapter sooner than this one!

Death's Gift

I know your soul is not tainted
Even though you've been told so
Can you hear the rumble?
Can you? I can hear the rumble that's calling?
I can feel the thunder that's breaking in your heart
I can see through the scars inside you

Link below...

Death Likes me Rough
Death’s Gift

Ember grunted as she collided with the wall in front of her, palms up and claws dug into the rock wall. Her tail was forced up and out of the way, revealing a wet, dripping slit that practically poured her secretions from her. Her mouth was slightly hanging open and her eyes were half lidded, but held the lust she has been holding to since Spike came here. And now, it was being fully realized.
Spike held her one of her palms with his claws, while shoving his body against hers, pressing her against the wall of their home. She huffed as she was squeezed, his other arm wrapping around her midsection, with her tail being off to the side between his chest and her back.
He moved his head, close to the right side of her face, growling lightly. He gave a long lick of her face, bringing it from down under her jaw to up her face. Her body shuddered, moaning as more of her fluids dripped from her vulva.
He knew she liked it rough, yet she never knew he could be this rough. All of a sudden, his hips pushed hard against her, his throbbing organ pressing right against her cheeks near her anal hole. She hissed as he firmly squeezed it against her, forcing her body hard against the wall, smearing his own dripping tip on her body.
He didn’t want to enter her… not yet at least. Since he got here, she has been wanting to fuck him, and has been agitated for not getting any. Well, now he was ready. He had been aching too, but the near death and blood loss didn’t help either of them. But thanks to his renewed energy from Death, he was ready, but he wanted her to know that. He wanted her now, more than ever. They hadn’t mated before so this was new to both but now this was pure lust. Passion, loving lust that was not going to be quelled by anything. He scooped her, took her to their home and made sure that nodragon would dare disturb them.
“I love you,” he growled lightly to her ear, blowing hot musky breath across her. “I love you with every fiber of my being.”

She panted, her own hazy lust eyes meeting his. “I-I love you too! P-Please Spike… I need you! I need you!”
He wrapped his arms tightly on her midsection, pulling it close and pushing his organ down between her cheeks and near her dripping slit. He lifted her lightly, letting the tip of his ridged throbbing cock brush against her slit, smearing her fluids over his organ, creating a wet cocktail of juices on each other. The cave floors echoed with their fluids dropping heavily upon the floor, with the drips echoing in their home.

He continued to rub his organ under her slit, teasing her and making her moan. Something he dreamed of hearing before. When they fore-played way back when, it only teased their sense, driving them mad. Now… now he could enjoy it. She had already enjoyed it after he just finished getting her ready. His tongue still carried her taste, her unique and highly addictive taste. He ate her out before they got to this point, but she wanted to climax with him.

Not trying to prolong either of them too much, he pushed forward, allowing himself to brush her slit with organ, smearing more of their fluids together. She moaned hotly, trying to push back and spread her lips on his pointed tip. Ridges of flesh ran down his shaft, from near his tip to the base where it went into his own slit. Each few contained strings of pre-cum from Ember, the firm shaft scratching her sensitive opening, causing more of her fluids to smear on his cock.
He continued to growl lowly, vibrating against his throat. His pointed tip finally pushed against the opening of her labia, slowly spreading as he began to shove himself inside of her. Ember let her own growl of pleasure, with a week of pent of frustration and need, was she getting what she deserved.

Nothing was going to stop her from receiving him and his seed. She used the Scepter to make sure no one would bother them. Any and all complaints were sent to her father. No one dared to come near this place. And lastly, no fear of getting impregnated because she was not in heat. Nothing was going to stop them.

With a grunt, he pushed his organ up and inside her dripping lips, feeling more of her juices come cascading over his red flesh, and providing smooth and silky access to her tunnels. By no means, he was not small, but he wasn’t huge either. He easily slid himself all the way up and perfectly sunk into Ember’s wet depth and docked with her womb, where his hips met hers.

Both dragons moaned as they hit their limits; Spike finished putting his whole cock inside of Ember and Ember feeling Spike’s shaft deep inside of her, almost completely filling her. Her walls hugged his cock tightly, squeezing and unclenching around him with each beat of her heart. Squelching and soft burst of fluids could be heard between the two, as their moments to enjoy each other was about to start.

Giving her another lick across her face, he pulled her tightly, slightly slouching forwards on her and bringing her down a bit against the wall, he began.
He pulled out slowly, allowing air to expose the lingering juices between the two, creating a large wet heap of secretions to fall onto the floor. Once he was almost completely out of her cave, he paused, letting it sync into both of them. He was about to mate and fuck… the most beautiful creature on this planet. Her beautiful amber eyes that held love and passion like never before. The sapphire sky scales that covered her body gleamed brightly when in sunlight. Her slender body that moved gracefully when in motion. Lastly was her soul, bright and strong, strong and light, powerful and loving.

He chose to spent every second with her for as long as he lived… however long that lasted… and make sure that she knew that he loved her with all of his heart and more.

With a growl, he slammed back into her, causing a yelp from her but from it, a deep and heavy moan to leave her mouth, feeling his powerful tool deep in her depths. A torrent of juices sprayed from her labia, squirting onto both of their legs and the floor. He lifted her, both arms now wrapped around her waist and her feet leaving the floor. A new sense of strength formed in him. A desire to make sure that she receives most of the pleasure and do none of the work.

He was going to make this their most memorable experiences and make sure it wasn’t their last. He then pulled out completely and was about to shove himself back in but Ember cried out. “W-Wait Spike!”
He froze and looked up in surprise. Did he hurt her? Did she want him to go slow?

She turned her head to meet his and from his eyes he saw love now, not lust. “I-I want to s-see you… as you mate me.”
That made his heart soar to new heights, as he realized that she wanted this moment to be special. In a way that none of them have ever done, Spike and Ember were going to be loving couple, for as long as possible.
He pulled away as she turned around to face him. She may be a foot taller but he felt her equal, he felt that they were the same in every way and that no matter what, they would always share the same love for one another until the end.

With a growl that vibrated in her throat, she jumped at him, latching her arms around his body and her legs around his waist. That is where his strength came in. He caught her, with ease and with purpose, holding her up in the air and making sure no part of her would need to be used to enjoy this.
He brought her down onto his shaft, pressing and probing her labia once more, smearing their juices together once more. With no further delay and words, he pulled her back down on top of his tip and spreading her walls, earning a half roar, half moan to escape from her. He drove it back into her depth, creating even louder squelching noises as her organs mashed together. He pulled her up and off his cock, letting his tip stay inside her, before he brought her back down again, making her repeat herself.
He continued this on and on, trying to bring the most amount of pleasure to his mate, to his life, and to his soul. Hearing her moan made him growl in approval. Feeling her tight walls hold and release him as he moved in and out of her, made his body pushed his body to continue. Feeling her claws dig into his scales, adding fuel to the fire in his soul, driven with the pain to continue on.

Pure ecstasy was on her mind and no coherent thought was in her head. Spike’s ridges scrapped her walls and touching every sensitive area inside of her. The tip alone kept hitting her womb, with a small amount of pain at the end, only fueled her fires with each thrust into her hole.

In the countless times she has pleasured herself, bringing herself to many orgasms, none were as ever as good as this. Ascending to a new level of high that she could never do to herself. Claws, tongue, rocks or tails would ever be as good as feeling a powerful cock inside of her body. It was a perfect match for her, as her walls always wanted him to come back, wanting him to keep him inside of her deep depths. SHe absently dug her claws into his shoulders, breaking through scales and starting to open old wounds.

Spike growled at that, sending shivers down her spine and spasms too began to quake her body, as blood slowly began to seep from them. Neither of them noticed, for their euphoria was their only incentives. Her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, almost preventing him to fully leave her hole. The strength he put on with the tighter constraints, just made him work hard, thrusting faster now and with rigor.

The sudden shift in speed in his trusting finally caused Ember to experience her first orgasm ever, with a partner and with a real cock inside of her. She cried out in ecstasy as her walls clamped onto his cock and sprayed a torrent of pussy juices at his cock that fell like waterfalls onto them, expanding the large puddle below them. At this point, the cave floor was staining with their juices, almost echoing as large amount of fluids dropped onto the stone floor.

Spike reeled in the fact that he made his mate, his love, have an orgasm on him and feeling the almost thick juices that resonated from her body, pour on his scales. The wonderful sticky feeling of her secretions on his body all but fueled him, as he ravished her own and fucked her through her orgasm.

Ember screamed as her lover pushed through her orgasm and fucked her harder now, not holding anything back. She slumped a bit, her body’s energy degrading fast as Spike pushed on with almost a real prowess. His thrusting was fast and deep, his ridges now brushed her walls with incredible speed and power, and his own claws held her hind legs, not digging into her softer scaled area.
She couldn’t believe that he was like this, just recently recovering from a near fatal blow. But she knew that he would feel it after words and that he would definitely be in pain. He knew that, she knew that but he pushed on, hoping to bring as much pleasure to her as possible.

He was getting close though, that tightening in his inner sac was starting to happen. That tingling at his base began to form and having his mate continue to moan, encouraging him to finish was his driving force.

He began to hunch over, letting Ember to slightly fall back a bit. She held herself tightly, holding to him with what energy she could as her secondary orgasm began to approach quickly. She knew that this was the real blast, the one that would take her to new heights. Just like a volcano, she had only experienced the tremors and the loud shaking that came, but it was only a matter of time before the main eruption, and she was going to share that with Spike.

As his thrust became feral and fast, he felt his cock began to swell at the base at the impending burst. He growled at his mate, nipping her neck and now digging a bit into her scales.
Ember’s moans began to ascend once more as her orgasm began to spasm in her body. More juices began to flood from her body, as Spike’s shaft began to grow a bulbus at the base and flow up.

He let loose a powerful growl and shoved himself deep inside of his mate with deep thrusts, as his final climaxing began. Thick streams of white side began to shoot inside of Ember, filling her chambers and coating them white, before the main eruption as he shoved his organ deep in her vents.
Instincts kicked into both dragons and both bit down hard onto one another’s shoulder. Ember screamed as she bit down onto Spike’s right shoulder and Spike did the same to hers, both marking each other forever that they belonged to one another.
Their orgasms, like a volcano, was a force of nature, as Spike flooded Ember’s womb and painting it with white hot seed. Ember moaned onto his shoulder, her body spasming as one of the most powerful orgasms she has ever had ripped through her. Her legs clamped tightly around his waist, holding his cock deep inside of hole and making sure not to let go.
While his claws didn’t dig into her scales, hers definitely did and they really tore into scales. The blood began to run down his back, which only caused him to fire more shots of seed into her already full womb. A slight bulge began to form in her belly, his cock acting like a plug to prevent what seed it could inside.

His strength was fading and he knew that he would collapse at any moment. Still holding his mate in his arms, he began an awkward but blissfully trudge to their pillow beds. Large amounts of cum streaks followed behind them with Ember twitching as each time he moved, his cock continued to scrape her walls and make her whimper in ecstacy.

His fading strength came and with a grunt, he tossed both of them onto the pillow. They landed on their sides with Ember gasping, as his cock slipped from her tight confines and out came out a burst of fluids from her pussy hole, letting his seed and her juices to flood outside of her hole and staining their pillows. Neither of them cared that they were dirting the pillows, nor that both of them were covered in their own juices.

Spike liked feeling both of their juices on his body, feeling the stickiness of his own seed and her thicker fluids mingled with his on his scales. Warm and wet, spreading strands and strings between their bodies that wouldn’t be too difficult to get cleaned.
Their hearts began to slow their pace, as did their energy. Ember was still fading in and out of consciousness, her eyes becoming hazy and unfocused. Spike was not to far behind, as he was starting to also fade away.

Making sure that they were really set, he pulled her in close and wrapping his wings around her. A hiss left him, feeling the holes that she dug into his, but worked through it as he pulled his lover close. The dragoness murred at feeling the heat of her mate, the close comfort and the wings around her back. She allowed the bliss to take her and pull her from the world.
“I love you.” Was her final words to him before she fell asleep.

Despite the growing he did, despite the strength he had and despite all that has happened to him, he hadn’t really shared much of tear that he could have lost it all. Every chance that was nearly taken from him did make him said but never broke him down.

This moment however, this brought him a few tears. Tears of joy, tears of happiness and tears of pure love. Their mating was loving, not just pure fucking. It was unbridled, unplanned and unrecorded, but it was their first time, their first beginnings together as a true couple. This is what he wanted to live for, this is what he would live for and this was how he chose to spend his life with. The beautiful dragoness by his side, forever.
“I love you too, now and forever.” He whispered to her, giving her lick across her face. A sigh left her and a smiled adored her face.

This is what he chooses to do with his life, live.

Author's Note

Just a quick clop. Many have asked. This was supposed to be the next chapter with dialogue but needed more time with it so, this is the filler for now.

The theme for this song was actually on par with what I wanted with these two, so it works! :pinkiehappy:

Lastly.... Yes, that new art work is safe! I made sure of it... plus its the closests to the depiction of death that I want(Outside of commissions!) and it was worth spending an hour to find on the internet! Enjoy!

Death's Pastime

You have never stood this close to where you want to be
You have always waded in the shallows between me and the deep blue sea

You'd never want me to appear
You never want this to be over
You never want it to reach out to the edge of time

Death Likes me Rough

Death’s Pastime

Spike awoke with wide eyes. His slit green eyes looked from his laying position and towards the outside. Night time had come and judging by how low Luna’s moon was, it had just started. The stars were starting to shine, the sky was going from pinkish hues to indigo blues. The air took on a cooler tone, though not by much since they were still in volcanic areas.

Still, he felt aware, he felt awake and more than that, he felt… complete. He shifted, feeling the form of his beloved on top of him, with half of her body and wing dropped on him. She slept soundly and with a smile on her snout. It was a peaceful one, something he rarely saw and one that always warmed his heart.

However, he was now with energy and had a need to go out now. Carefully, he removed his mate’s wings and arms that surrounded his body. He tried desperately to be slow and careful to not wake her. As he moved her away, she murred in her sleep in some discomfort at him pulling away but remained asleep.

He slowly stood up from his pillows and away from his mate. However, he was aware of the feeling of stickiness that enveloped his body. He stunk of his dried seed and Ember’s fluids. Any other time, he wouldn’t mind being covered by it, but he felt the sudden need to clean himself. Maybe a nearby lava pit would help clean and dry his sticky situation.

From the top of the mountain, he saw the night had basked the dragon lands in moon light and darkness. Lava flows and pits however lit up the lands here and there to give a low glow in the lands.

He saw active dragons in a few spots here and there. Some were lounging in the lava pits while others were still playing their games here and there. Life and activity here, reminded him much like Manehattan. Deciding that he wanted to be presentable, he at least wanted to clean up before showing up. He opened his wings and with a single leap, he jumped down from the cave, dropping downwards alongside the side of the mountain. He had no real need to fly since there are a few active pits near Ember’s base to bathe in, so he would use those for now.

Landing near a molten magma pit, he inhaled the toxic and dark fumes of sulfur and brimstone. Something that when he first arrived here all those years ago, had found soothing and relaxing. According to Ember and other dragons, its the smell of home and its supposed to signify that all dragons crawled from the depth of lava. Birthed and created by the planet’s central core, anytime dragons are near volcanoes or lava, they immediately smell home.

His feet reached near the lava pit, feeling the hot, loosened earth and allowing his scales to touch the tip of it, feeling the density of it. To thick and it would harden in a matter of hours and he did not want to be stuck again. Too thin and he may sink too quickly below or be carried off if the pit burst through and ran off.

Feeling the right amount of molten earth as well as thick layers, he found himself sighing as he slowly moved in the pit, allowing his body to slowly sink and feeling his hissing and bubbling of his body soaking into the fiery pool. Any and all moisture sizzled and dried in an instant. Already, any secretions and fluids left on his body burned away. As he lowered himself up to his neck, he felt relaxed and happy.

Closing his eyes, he dug his tail into the earth behind him, pushing as deep as he could. If there was no solid earth below the dragons’ feet, they would dig their tails into the sides of the pit and remain near the walls, to keep them close to the surface. Something he learned from Ember.

He remained in a semi floating state, the magma bubbling and turning, that being the only sounds around him. It was peaceful, it was nice and yet… For him it unnerved him, hearing nothing but the magma around him. Years living in Ponyville, he was used to the quietness of total silence from the castle walls, or the crickets that surrounded him, along with the peaceful cool air of the night. Here, the quietness was… unique and homely.

Home… Something he thought of. In the week of being here, he had never called his place home. Not when the scents and feelings of volcanic ash filled his nostrils and caused him warmth. Not when he felt welcomed by dragons who treated him friendlier and a bit more with respect due to his status. Not when Ember took him a week ago and forced him to recover.

Home… just became this place when he made love to Ember. It became home when he felt his life return and his energy being surrounded by the activity here, renewed him. Home became here when Death herself, told him, he would be here for awhile.

Equestria would survive without him. Twilight, Starlight, his friends… they would survive without him. His mother, his aunt, his brother with Cadence and his niece, they would thrive without him. Thorax and the changelings, they too would survive. Twilight’s school and the additions of various creatures… their lessons will continue on.

He had no role to play in Equestria. He had no influence. He had no responsibilities that kept the country from falling. None of that was him.

So why did he feel okay with that? Why did the first time in his life, did he feel like his life was set and that… he would be fine if he were to stay here? Did acknowledging this place at home do this to him? Was the volcanoes, the unending streams of magma the source? Or was it something else? Something he could not explain?

Ember? That was probably his best explanation.

A nagging feeling at the back of his head told him his peace was about to end. Opening his eyes, he turned his head to the side and saw the beautiful and almost godly form of his beloved standing near him with a smile on her face.

“Enjoying yourself without me?” she asked teasingly.

He returned the smile. “I didn’t wish to wake you. You looked… lovely there.”

Ember snorted but a small blush formed on her cheeks, her tail gave a swish in admiration. “You trying to get under my tail again?”

Spike shook his head and gave a genuine response. “If I were never to get under your tail again, if only to wake up everyday in your arms, it would still be close to Elysium.”

Her face went completely red and for a moment, her heart stopped. His words made her melt, like coins and metal in a magma pit. She would never get used to the words he would say to her, mostly because a few did fly over her head but she still liked hearing of them.

Not choosing to disregard them or ruin the moment, she instead decided to join him. She lowered herself into the pit, pulling close to him and sliding into his opening arms. His tail was strong enough to support them both, so he pulled her in close and tight. The fluids from their earlier activities also sizzled and evaporated quickly. She sighed, inhaling deeply the rich brimstone from the lava and exhaled the toxic fumes that filled her lungs with hot relief.

He brought her in close, letting her head rest against his scaled chest. No words were needed to go between the two, for they had all that they needed here and now. Spike had Ember and she had him. Nothing else was needed.

For like like five minutes…

“Okay, this is nice and relaxing..” Ember sighing in boredom. “But… I want some entertainment now.” she looked up at him.

In truth, he just wanted to rest here forever with her, but he knew that she was impatient and easily bored. She didn’t have a short attention span, she just… was very active.

Nodding, he rubbed her arm in comfort. “What do you wanna do?”

She thought for a moment before she moved away and began to exit. “Lets go see how the late night mosh pits are. Its the first week of summer and the dragons are more active this week.”

He didn’t understand the entertainment of watching other dragons stomp around and throw themselves against other dragons before a brawl would start, but he did want to see some action. “Lead the way.

Both dragons flew towards the arena were hundreds of teenage dragons were at the center arena. Already they could see that many had already began to stomp around, banging their heads and shoving each other. Spike knew that if they had been introduced to heavy metal music from ponies, the mosh pits would be legendary.

They landed close to one of the ridges that served as seating views. The older dragons watched with interest as the teenagers had their fun. They gave a quick bow or just gave a knowing glance to their passing dragon lord… and his consort. Spike actually had to look behind him to see the older dragons looking at him, looks that he knew of anywhere. Choosing not to indulge in their fantasies, he shadowed close to Ember.

Ember seemed to really get into it quickly, her tail wagging like Winona receiving a treat. She began to pick her favorite dragon as the brawls began, trying to find a victor. A large grin etched into her face as her body jumped and cheered in joy. Spike liked seeing her like this, he liked seeing entertained and with a smile that would burn into his memory.

After ten minutes of fighting, a victor stood among the dragons, where a mighty roar was unleashed. Ember couldn’t sit still any longer and stood up. “Ohhh Im gonna go join them!”

Spike agreed without hesitation, because he knew she would. “Great but don’t you think there gonna go easy on you or back down since your dragon lord and all?”

Ember paused and thought for a moment before her face quickly brightened up. “Ill just wear my armor and change my scale colors again!”

“Hey… I was wondering, what did you use to change your scale colors during the Gauntlet of Fire way back when?”

Instead of answering, she flashed him a grin. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” With that, she took off in a powerful launch.

Spike grumbled a bit. “Actually… I would like to know.”

Alone now, he decided to stretch his legs a bit, he stood up from his sitting position and began to stretch himself. He stretched and twisted his body, his ligaments and wings. The drake had a good return to health but didnt mean he regained his full strength properly. Death gave him something small, it was up to him to do the rest.

Unbeknownst to him, however, his actions did have a reaction. His stretches began to catch the attention of all the dragons nearby. Large dragons were eyeing the teenage drake and slight growls of admiration began to echo around.

Spike began to slowly walk in his area, stretching and cracking his bones. For some reason, his confidence in what he was doing was really high right now. He cared not that he was showing off. Maybe the brawl was him itching for a bit of action too?

At least a few teenage dragonesses were watching from afar, as one of the most sought after males in the lands, was showing off what could be great considered great assets to the lands. And many would agree. Some even began to make their way down to him.

Spike came to the edge of the ridge, seeing a good view of many dragons down there. He stretched his wings, expanding them as far as he could, releasing any pent of tension in his joints. He let out a load groan of exasperation before inhaling deeply and finally, let loose a giant, powerful flame into the sky with a roar that wasn’t meant to signify anything. At least to him…

He let the flame die and began to turn around, only to be instantly surrounded by at least two dozen female dragonesses, all staring at him with hungry eyes. Some were trying to climb over one another to see him. From the higher ridges, he saw that a few of the adult dragons themselves had moved closer.

Judging by the looks he was receiving, it looked like his stretching had caused some unwanted attraction or in his case... their wanted attention.

Gulping, he gave a small casual wave. “Um… hello ladies?”

Ember came into view of the pit, wearing her armor, including her helmet along with a green dye she used to cover her scale color. He wings flapped hard to reach her target sooner. She just hoped Spike watched with interest as she took on other dragons.

Approaching the arena, she saw that there was still plenty of action still. However, a certain part of the ridge had a particular action piece going on. She saw a bunch of teens and adults in one area… right where she had left Spike.

“Oh Draco fuckin….” They were after Spike again! Damn… now she had to go and get her Scepter to get them to back off again. Her voice would have to be enough.

Spike realized that he was about to die… again. Now… Death said she wouldn’t see him in two years, but she also said that fate changed and… she could be wrong. He was going to die either being smothered to death by horny dragonesses or killed by snu-snu.

As if to put himself more into a difficult situation, he could see Ember above and she did not look happy. He had to think of something quick. A roar by the pits showed him that a dragon had won the rumble again, but judging by the lack of cheer, they looked crestfallen. Most of the action was around him.

Turning back to the dragonesses, he had no choice but to bail before something happens. “Um… ladies. I hope you realize that I am taken… by Dragon Lord Ember and she might be a bit… crossed if she finds you all surrounding me.”

That spurred only a few. “Oh come on,” whined one of the needy teens. “You are the most sought after drake here!”

“Yeah,” continued another. “Besides, no drake knows how to treat a dragoness like you.”

“From the rumors we’ve heard,” another added with a hint of lust in her voice. “You don’t mind getting down on a ‘ness’, right?”

Even from this height, Ember could tell that they were about to do something that will not please her. Growling, she was about to charge down right in front but saw Spike take a dive and glided over to the arena center where most of the males. Immediately, the others followed and Ember decided then and there that she should just brawl with the females. Teach them a lesson on how not to fuck with her mate. She took a steep dive to follow them.

Landing near a giant pile of hoard from the latest rumble, Spike saw that it was none other than Garble whom was on top again. Below, other teen dragons were in the area also part of the action.

Garble watched as Spike had come close, with his tail being followed by a large portion of the female teen populace that many of the males wanted. He snorted in anger as Spike pushed them away. The green and purple drake then looked towards him. “Garble!”

Did he come to shove it in his face and the others that he could get any tail he wants? This boiled the older teen dragon by a lot, quickly forsaking his current victory. “What do you want?” he growled harshly towards him. “Come to gloat?” He growled at Spike.

Spike realized what it looked like but he knew that if he was ever to get rid of the posy that followed him everywhere in the dragon lands, he would have to make himself unworthy. But he also had to be less humble about it. He had to make them follow a target… or targets in this case. Turning around, he faced the dragonesses that all surrounded him. With a clear loud voice, he spoke out to them.

“Ladies! Look, I know that you want me as your potential mate and all but, clearly you girls haven’t thought of other options, other choices.” He then looked to Garble and pointed. “Surely you want to be with some drake as great as Garble?”

Now this actually threw off Garble and confusion etched his face. Meanwhile, the dragonesses looked up to the red drake on top of the hoard. Deciding not to let them quickly lose interest, he took to hovering towards the red drake, making sure that they followed his eyes.

“I mean look at him!” He boasted, trying to make Garble grand. “This drake has been King-of-the-Hoard so many times, its a wonder he’s still single.” Garble turned to the approaching drake, giving him a confused look.

“What are you doing?” he asked him.

“Play along!” Spike winked at him before landing on the pile next to him but standing to the side and lower. “This is the drake you want to protect you, no? The dragon in which might always have the bigger pile, the most in a hoard, the one that would be willing to share?” Garble was about to deny it but a quick jab to his side, made him glare at the small drake. Spike leaned in a bit. “You want them off of me, then you play game!” He harshly whispered to him to the side. Garble blinked then looked towards the group of dragonesses. Yeah, he wanted a mate or two, but the fact that Spike was helping him, made him feel weak. Still though, it couldn’t hurt to try. Leaning down, he grabbed a fist full of gems and tossed them to the group of dragonesses. A few actually cheered and even gave a new look towards the red drake. Interest.

Spike had the train rolling, smiling towards him. Nodding, he continued. “But that’s not all. Did you know he has a sister?” A few dragonesses leaned closer to this bit of information. Even from up here, Garble saw a lot of interested eyes. Spike continued. “Yeah, he has a younger sister named Smolder whom he loves to death. He helped protect her from other dragons, play together when they were young and be the best big brother any hatchling could ask for.” He paused then sank himself a bit more into the hoard to make Garble look taller. “I think that if any of you girls wanted to know if a drake is worthy of being a good sire or father to your young, few could make it to the top the Garble here.”

Garble smiled at that. He didn’t like the idea of being a father yet, but he felt a bit happier knowing that some drake actually might think him worthy as one. Already two dragonesses of different colors stepped closer and their eyes all but betrayed their adoration for him. Spike grinned at the victory for Garble, whom looked very pleased. He then moved past him and opened his wings to glide over to the other teens, whom wanted a bit of praise as well.

Approaching Billy, an orange dragon with a huge mouth, considered a silent type, he pulled up close to the dragon as the other dragonesses moved in closer to Spike.

“Billy here, with his big mouth, is actually a silent type, and loves to listen to your woes, girls.” Billy somewhat froze at the words but remained silent, as this was true. “If you allow him a bit of your time, he might even impress you with his own mouth.” Daring to cross the line, just to please present company and get Ember from killing the dragonesses that were after him, he went a bit more mature for the audiences. “Imagine with a mouth like this though,” he pulled slightly on his large mouth, ignoring the small glare from the dragon. He pulled a bit down showing his large inner jaw along with a giant tongue. “He could surely do things with that tongue of his that perhaps no other dragon can. Things even I can’t do.” This really perked up a few dragonesses, seeing the large red tongue inside of Billy. A few just got hot from seeing his large organ.

Billy saw few dragonesses with lustful eyes and he was happy. “Stick out your tongue to show them,” Spike whispered quickly to him. Billy had no reason not too, so he did. It looked like a large red snake where it was thin in the front but thick in the back, sticking out almost five feet. Mustering some courage, he flicked at them, wiggling at the dragonesses. A few swooned at the large organ, with one or two falling over in amazement at the thoughts of what he could do to them with that tongue of his.

Spike saw a few approach the orange dragon and continued on, moving to the next drake. Ember had been watching from the side, seeing Spike work to get other drakes the attention that was directed at him. He surely had a way with words and to be giving towards others. He could have easily taken any of the dragonesses and made them his own. Instead, he made others look better than him so that the drakes could have a chance to be with some dragon instead of being alone.

Garble already had two ‘nesses’ laying by him, as he gave them both each a piece of his hoard and they both seemed to enjoy the giving drake. This was probably the happiest she has ever seen Garble.

She watched as Spike move onto the next dragon, which happened to be, Clump. Oh Draco, she doubted even Spike could ever get any dragoness to fall for the big fat turd looking dragon.

“I know what your thinking,” began Spike, as a few dragonesses didn’t like the idea of being near the large, chumby brown dragon. He looked a bit crestfallen when a few made audible disgusted noises. “Why him? Why Clump?” No responses, no remarks, which Spike preferred. “I’ll tell you why. How many of your actually hate sleeping your head on the hard floors? How many of you hate rock pillows?” Clump looked up at this and wondered where Spike was going. Spike then patted the large belly of the dragon, making a soft patting noise with his whole belly shaking. This dragon seemed more confused then ashamed at with Spike poking his belly. Spike gave him a confident smile. “What if he was your personal pillow? What if you go to sleep, lying against his soft but cushy belly? Wouldn’t that be awesome? Not to mention that he’s big enough to support at least one of you, so you could actually sleep on his belly, not on the hard floors and know that you could get a good night’s sleep.” He paused, then added. “Maybe with a few of you laying around him, he could even feed you while you rested, like if you were royalty yourselves.”

This actually promoted a few dragonesses to move in closer, staring a the pudgy dragon. The idea of not sleeping on a rock pillow or a hard floor peeked a few of their interests.

Both Ember and Clump couldn’t believe that it worked as the dragonesses surrounded the brown dragon and began to press their heads around his belly. He felt a bit of confidence grow in him, so he growled lightly and his belly vibrated, causing the ‘nesses’ to growl in delight at the idea of a vibrating pillow that was heated.

Moving on, he came to Fizzle, a pink and white dragon many confused as a sissy dragon, but Spike knew he could use it. Even Fizzle seemed doubtful, but remained hopeful. “Fizzle here actually doesn't mind a few feminine things. He is a bit shy but I think that if you really get to know him, you might be surprised to find out he can be a really caring and thoughtful dragon with your hearts in mind. Like me.” He leaned in and laid his head rest on the shoulder of the drake, promoting both males to blush a bit but Spike pushed on for him. “I know that if I was female…” he paused, licking his maw a bit before leaning in a bit more and really pushing the boundary. “Or interested in males, this is the drake I would want in my life to be caring.”

Enough said, as three dragonesses immediately reached for the white dragon, Spike pushing himself away quickly as they began to ask him, feminine things he enjoyed. Almost immediately, he began to stutter and started naming a few things. This caused the trio of dragonesses to squeal and hop on him, promoting him to fall with them on top as they began to name other things.

Spike did this for several other males in the area, trying to get more and more hooked on the others instead of himself. His final one was a bit of a dozy and she was not part of the group that had fallen for him. Maar actually looked a bit intimidating as he approached with the other dragonesses. At first Spike was hesitant, not sure what was Maar’s interest was, but she placed her fist on her hips and glared at him.

“I ain’t interested in you in any way.” she allowed a burst of smoke to leave her nostrils. “Im only into other dragonesses.”

Without missing a beat, Spike turned to the remaining dragonesses whom followed him into the end. “Ladies, if you wanted to be pleasured like no other, than whom better than another lady?” He pointed to Maar. “Only a dragoness could truly please a dragoness. She might actually be change your views and interests because she knows what you want and she know how you may like it!” Maar snorted at that with an affirmative nod. Pushing on, Spike then added. “I think that if you were to choose between me and her, I would honestly have no way to be as good at pleasing another female than a female. More so, one whom is so great, she is one of the few females to be Queen of the Hoard for a time too.” He wan’t sure if that was true or not, but this seemed to please Maar. With a grin, she stuck her tongue out and stuck to claw digits in a V shape between her tongue and wiggled it at the remaining females.

That worked all too well and the remaining females decided experiment with a stronger female. And that was it. All the dragonesses that followed him were all already paired with other dragons. He felt proud, seeing the few drakes he once called ‘bullies’ be happy with the help they received from Spike. Only one female remained and the way she was looking at him, he knew that this would only end in one way.

Approaching Ember, he gave her a tired smile at her. “Well, that takes care of the ‘nesses’ here.”

Ember had removed her helmet and gave him a pleased look. “Gotta admit, that is probably the most selfless and caring thing I have ever seen a dragon do. Not to mention that you have set your mark here in the dragon lands for sure now.” She looked at the drakes, surrounded by their females. “They will come to like you.”

He snorted. “Isn’t that the point?”

“Yes, but now you have influence. Now you have a voice and more so, you may even out roar me.”

Spike wilted at that and he actually looked apologetic to his mate.

“E-Ember… I’m sorry, that wasn’t my intentions.”

“Of course not, you dolt!” She chided with a grin. “You made a name for yourself without using my name to do it. I am Dragon Lord Ember, they have to listen to me regardless of what I say. But you, now thanks to all this, give them a reason to listen to you, to be heard, without my command. Sometimes that is more powerful than what a dragon wielding scepter could do.”

They watched from a distance as some of the teen dragons were almost immediately hitting off with a bunch of their companions. It also seemed that Spike got in a few silent ‘thanks’ from them as well. He noticed though, Ember looked a bit disappointed.

“What’s wrong,” he asked, pulling her close.

She sighed and crossed her arms.

“Glad this is over with the fucking herd of dragonesses going after you but now… I hope it doesn't mean that all these brawls are going to stop because everyone is hooking up.”

Spike shook his head. “IF there is one thing I know, teens will always be rowdy and ready for some action, no matter the species. Though it might die down a bit more thanks to this.”

Ember nodded softly. “Yeah, we need to find a way to bring a bit more flare to these things that would make everyone, including their mates into this mix.”

Spike thought about it. How did you bring in your mates or lovers into your brawls? It had to be something that would get them rowdy but also bring in the mood. What could he think of? If only dragons here could enjoy music from Equestria, then he could have shown them some good stuff to listen to. Heavy metal was a popular trend now and if he could show dragons that in Equestria…

Or bring Heavy Metal to the dragon lands.

“That’s a dumb idea.” he said outloud to himself.

“What?” she asked, looking at her mate strangely.

Spike shrugged. “I was thinking...what if I bring music here, to the Dragon Lands?”

Ember cocked her head slightly. “I don’t know if the dragons are going to listen to some silly pony music.”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, normal pony music, but over the decade, some new music has come out called ‘heavy metal’. Actually, most of the music involves thrashing and screaming, it might even give a higher boost in moral to go harder into thrash.” He paused, placing a paw under his chin, shook his head. “Um… on second thought… that might end badly. Pony mosh pits leave bruises and injury, so I can’t imagine what a dragon most pit would do.”

Looking towards his mate, there was a grin on her snout that he knew, would spell trouble. He just unveiled something he had no idea, would spell disaster to the dragon lands… and possibly to Equestria.

“I don’t want too!” He whined to her, after she half dragged, half flew him back home to get a letter ready to be sent to Twilight. “It would be very bad for the dragon lands if we brought heavy metal here!”

“Exactly!” She said, carrying him with her superior-strength-than-his-own, as she almost threw him towards her scrolls to make him write one. “If what your telling me is that this ‘heavy metal’ would make the dragons thrash harder, well that would mean things might get more interesting around here! Not to mention, imagine what it could bring to the dragons lands!”

“But that would mean dragons getting hurt… like me!” He sluggishly made his way to her empty scroll pile, trying not to be rushed. “Ponies have broken bones in these things, so imagine dragons!”

This only made Ember grin more with a sinister smile that would put Discord to shame.

“Oh! The carnage! The fact that dragons will be tossing one another! These brawls will be legendary!” She paused from all her excitement. “Though… if what you're saying is true, than it might scare or hurt these ponies…”

Spike nodded. “Right.” Though he knew that Ember didn’t want to hurt ponies, it wouldn’t stop others from doing so, especially if things got out of control. He knew that in order to get some music out and get it loud enough so that dragons could hear from all over. The pit would greatly echo the speakers and if need be, they would be crystal powered to operate without electricity, but it was a matter of getting them mobile over here and…

He immediately grabbed a blank scroll. He then moved over to the pit they had created and reached for a twig that was black at the bottom. This would have to do.

‘Hey Twilight. Hope you are okay along with everyone else. Sorry if this is late, but I need a favor asap. If possible, could you go down the street and get the DJ who lives there. Her name is Vinyl Scratch or DJ PON-3 as her stage name. Her is wife to Octavia. I'm not sure if she is there or not, her schedule is sporadic but I wanted to see if I could reach out to her and ask her if she could send her giant speakers to the Dragon Lands. I want to introduce them to the dragon lands and bring some… Equestrian influence over here.’

Along with that, I may need to get some giant crystal batteries to keep them running for awhile. No electricity out here and what not. Along with that, maybe see if she could include my records and maybe a few of Starlight’s, label ‘metal’ and ‘heavy metal’ so I could add them to the bass. Let me know as soon as you get there. Thank you.’

With that, he rolled up the scroll and with a light blow of flames, he incinerated the scroll and it blew into a green burst of flames before flying off towards Equestria.

Ember meanwhile was still impressed at Spike’s trick, despite years of seeing and receiving them herself, though she could never send them herself.

“You gotta teach me that trick one day.”

Spike nodded. “Though you're gonna need a bit of unicorn magic and a bit of patience. The spell to cast it is about six hours.”

Ember grimaced. “On second thought…

“On second thought, it would be great to have, for any emergency contact.” He affirmed her, tapping the stick on crossed shoulders. “Whether its for me, Princess Twilight or… if need be other dragons.”

Ember cocked her head to the side. “That’s… why your here? To do that?”

He shook his head and approached her. “What if I’m not? What if I am somewhere else and you need to reach Twilight or my mother?”

Ember snorted. “Your not going back to Equestria.”

He gave a small shrug. “Not yet, not until the get Neighsay and his followers.”

Ember wanted to counter, to affirm that he would never return to Equestria by himself. However Spike’s cheeks swelled a bit and turned away to let out a burping fire, poofing up the scroll with flames. The scroll dropped and quickly caught on his claws.

He opened the seal and began to read the letter.

“Ok Spike, ‘Ill head over right now, so give me a couple of minutes to get there. Though I'm glad that you want to share some Equestrian influences in the Dragon lands, I hope you are aware that ‘metal music’ over there might not be the greatest thing to involve over there.”

He looked up smugly at Ember whom rolled her eyes. He then looked back down to finish.

“As for the batteries, 'I'm gonna say it will be a hassle to get some big enough to last you for speakers like what I've seen Mrs. Melody and Ms. Scratch use for their concert. It will be pricey. But ill let you know when i'm at their home.”

He nodded to himself and waited. Ember however kept a small glint in her eyes that Spike took notice. “What?”

She crossed her arms across her chest. “You are not going back to Equestria.” She stated, a small bit of edge hit her voice. “Its bad enough that getting here nearly got you killed.”

Spike could already feel her tension but he held firm. “Yeah, I won’t return to Equestria until Neighsay and…”

“No!” she snapped sharply. “Ever! The ponies are the reason your in this mess. No need to return place where ponies hate you.”

“Im not going to let a few ponies let me rule my life in fear, Ember. Besides if those bad ponies are locked up, then what is there to fear?”

“How about when you get older?” she huffed, her tone increasing in anger. “What about when you reach twice the size, the weight, and more? What then?”

He had never seen her like this, especially when it comes down to his other family. He tried to approach her with open arms but she took a step back. “No! I won’t have it, Spike! Your too important and I won’t have more harm done to you!”

Spike couldn’t get angry at her, it wasn’t his nature. Shaking his head slowly, he spoke dryly. “I… will always have a home here. But… Equestria, my mother, Twilight, the others and everyone there; they are my family too. Ember you have to let me go back home. I love you… with all my heart but my heart is both here with you and the ponies. You have to understand that.”

The Bloodstone Scepter glowed in the corner of the room and with a lifted hand, the scepter magically flew to Ember straight into her claws. She then pointed it at him. “If I have to force you to stay, I will.”

That physically struck as he took a small step back with sadness in his eyes. What brought this one? Why the hate? Why the anger?

“Ember… I dont understand? Why are you like this? We were fine this whole week! What happened?”

She growled, still holding the Scepter. “This week! This week you did not once bring up Equestria or the stupid ponies! This week, me and you have been together as a couple and I have never felt happier because of it! You managed to get on the good side of dragons here! You have already begun to act like one. All this week, I have loved every moment that we were together, every time I woke up and you were right there!” A tone of sadness could be heard cracking through her voice. “Now that you are better and we fucked, now you want to return to Equestria!? Even after everything they did to you, you want to go back?” The Scepter shook in her claws.

Spike was having a hard time understanding her. Her anger towards his other family was undoubtedly strong but, she must’ve understood that he had a life over there too. But the fact that she had the Scepter pointed at him, as if to use against him, to listen to her commands, it broke him. It physically hurt that she was being so… much like her father.

A tear ran down his face and Ember actually looked shocked as he shed his tears. Shaking his head, he rubbed it away. “Ember, I love them. I love all of them. They are… part of my life. I know its hard to understand, but they are my family. They are not at fault for those other ponies. They do not want to hurt me and I know you may not like them but they are the reason I am the dragon that you see before you now. Without them,” he pointed outside the came entrance towards. “I would just be any other dragon like them and you wouldn’t even know I existed.”

The scepter shook more in her claw, but she still had it pointed at him. This point her own eyes began to water.

“I… I don’t want you to go back.” she said, her voice breaking. “I can’t lose you to them. I’ll make you stay...”

Spike realized this was a losing fight. This was her week, not just his. She had someone to love, someone to care for and she was afraid to lose it if he went back. His near death, after spending a lot of time with him, had spooked her and she was vulnerable with him. But she also was desperate, lost without him if he left her.

With a heavy heart, Spike pushed his chest towards the tip of the Scepter, causing Ember to blink tears in confusion. His face betrayed his sadness and pity for her but his eyes bored into her soul. With a shaky voice he spoke to her.

“Ember… I can never, ever forget the ponies. Not now, not in a thousand years when Im as big as your father. I love them. I love you too.” He sniffed. “But… I will return to them. I will return to visit them and I won’t stop. However, I can’t stop you…” He lifted a claw and pushed the Scepter directly over where his heart would be at. “If you try and stop me, you can. You… are… the… Dragon Lord… Every dragon is forced to listen to your command, even me.”

It was a bite, a sharp one. Stronger than any dragon teeth, more painful then any wound and Ember was struck hard. Her body shook, trembling with ice cold fear and shock. Had… it gone too far?

Spike still held the scepter pointed at him. “I will never step a foot in Equestria if that is what you demand. But… I don’t think I could ever trust you again.”

That was enough. Her will broke and she dropped the scepter onto the floor. It landed with a thud next to her. Her own knees shook, struggling to keep her up. Spike immediately threw himself at her and catching her before she dropped. He brought her into a tight embrace and held her as she tried hard not to sob from her flux emotions. Wrapping his arms around her, he calmed her down. He began to say he ‘forgave her’ and ‘he would stay for her’.

“They will never stop hating us.” She whimpered through his chest. “They will always want to hurt us… especially you.”

He nodded. “And I will always love my ponies more than I will hate the others.” He allowed that to sink in before continuing on. “What is it that brought this on? Please tell me Ember..."

“...I...I have never been more sure of my life with another dragon than you…” She looked up at his green eyes with her amber ones. “I… love you so much… but its more than that. I actually… dream of us, with hatchlings, with a large cluster of them.” she half sobbed, half chuckled at that. “Never… would I have ever say that to any other dragon but with you… I feel like you make me feel anything I want to and not be ashamed. I’m afraid of dragons seeing their Dragon Lord as weak, if I were to show my emotions. With you… I’m not afraid, I am not scared and I know that if I were to tell you all of this…”

“I would never, ever judge you,” he finished, with a smile on his snout. The same smile that made her fall for him every time. “I love you Ember, I truly and honestly do. I will spend every moment that I can with you. But… I need you to understand…” He grabbed her claws in his own and squeezed them. “That Equestria is my home, that the ponies are my home and that… I am a dragon, but I was raised by ponies. That will never change.”

Ember was to weak to fight it again. Not for the third time… Instead, she let out a half chuckle through her tears. “It sounds so weird when you say it like that.”

He flashed her a grin. “I am weird dragon and that’s okay. I was raised by the princess… Princesses… of Equestria. One of them is my sister, the other is my mother.” He then looked up in thought. “I am the savior of the Crystal Empire! Twice!” He emphasized by putting up to claw digits up, earning a small smile from her. “I am also friends with the changeling king…” His grin turned a bit into a teasing one. “Whom… last I checked told me that you had some feelings for.”

“I did not!” She half yelled in anger, thought a blush covered her cheeks. She tried to pull away from him but he quickly held her tight and brushed his snout against her head. Her sadness had quickly diminished a little.

“Such tiny lies,” he half whispered, musing to her, which only caused her to flush more. “He is a changeling Ember, he can feel your emotions…” He chuckled lightly, stopping as he felt the inevitable return of a letter. He quickly moved his mouth away before allowing a huge burp and flames to shoot from his mouth. It wasn’t a letter but a post it note. Spike realized why waste paper on a short response?

‘I’m here. She’s asking what exactly you need?’

Spike softly removed himself from Ember, heading back over to get a blank scroll while he pulled on his stick, licking the black tip of it before responding.

‘Hey Vinyl, sorry it's been a while. Listen, I told the Twi to get you because I need to borrow… or rather buy some bass cannons from you or your portable bass player over here in the dragon lands. Trouble is, I can’t return back to Equestria do to ‘reasons’.

No need to involve her in any of this, he thought.

‘So I need them because I figured that I get dragons introduced into some Equestrian influences. First, since they are rowdy, rash and violent, I would like to introduce them to heavy metal. Twilight’s got access to my lists, so if you can shove as much as you can into one setting, that would be great. Also… ask Starlight for her music. She’s got a hidden playset too. I’m gonna need battery crystals, huge ones that will last me for a long while, not sure how long I’m gonna be here for. Finally, I kinda want to introduce them to other things too, but its got to be a slow transition. If you need bits for everything, I've got funding Twi can access to. Tell her how much its gonna be and she’ll get it to you. If this works out, it might mean a bigger audience outside of Equestria, including hitting some creatures with your wubs!

Let me know what can be done!”

With that, he rolled up the scroll and sent it off to Twilight. He sighed and returned to Ember. At this point, she had settled down to the pillows. The night was getting late and he knew that Ember was up, but the emotional drain had her exhausted. In truth, this week was really amazing, spending time with one another despite his injury being the reason. Perhaps then… that even if he were to return to Equestria, he would do so to visit.

Dragons here needed to learn about friendship and caring for one another. There was supposed to be a small set up here to teach dragons here but it fell through. Perhaps, with the right motivation, with the right words and maybe even the guts to say that dragons could be better with it, life here would become just like Equestria.

He didn’t come back to Ember, though he stood by the edge of the cave entrance, watching the distant fire rivers and remaining dragons. Caves filled with possible mates or loved ones, perhaps in the future, families. The caves could also hold future places were dragons could learn, not just friendship, but music, art, history and more. Shops, homes, and more could one day fill these lands to grand statues.

Maybe one day, ponies and dragons could live along aside next to another and live in simple harmony.

Author's Note

So this one is also a bit rushed, so expect a few mistakes though I had cut this done from its original long chapter to this. Actually Im very excited for next chapter! :pinkiehappy:
So... not to spoil to much on it but I plant to throw a lot.... of heavy metal music in there. Reading this chapter should give you an idea of what will happen!!!

Inspirational music for mosh pits will include from the best bands out there that I listend to including SLAYER, LAMB OF GOD, GHOST, METALLICA AND MORE!!!!! Anyone whom wants to throw in a song or two for reference that dragons would love to listen to as a mosh pit song, give me some ideas!!

Again sorry for the lack of edit but wanted to throw this out quickly as well. But expect an update soon!

Death's Pastime Pt. 2

Death Likes me Rough

Death’s Pastime Pt. 2

The next day, had Spike and Ember watch as a large carriage being flown in by eight pegasi, with a large container tied down in the back. They had flown it all the way from the train station as to not strain completely on the weight of the container.

In truth, Spike had no idea what Vinyl had stored in the giant box; He assumed her bass cannon on wheels or some other party device. Either way, he hoped that this might boost the moral and spirits of dragons whom ever thought ponies were lame.

The pegasi landed not far from them, bringing the large container down with ease. Spike eyed the large box in the back with eager eyes, while his beloved stared at the large item with confusion.

“How… exactly is this going to be good for the dragons?”

Spike flashed her a wink.

“Like I said, if we can get dragons more into Equestria culture, it might bring us closer together. Plus… you said you were afraid that the couples might lessen the mosh pits and what not, this is guaranteed to make it memorable!”

One of the pegasi detached himself from the reigns of the carriage. Ember was about to stand in front of Spike, but he quickly pushed past her and came up to the pegasi.

“Star Stratus!” he yelled in excitement!

“Spike!” The pegasi and the dragon met in the middle in a big hug, somewhat confusing Ember. The Pegasus, who looked exactly like the others, almost identically, how the hell did Spike tell the difference?

The two males separated while the others began to unbuckle and detach the container.

“Its great to see you!” Spike chatted with excitement. “I haven’t seen you in a year!”

The pegasus, white colored coat, wearing traditional armor by their Princesses, responded with the same merit Spike had.

“Yeah! I had asked for a transfer upstate in Manehattan. However, when it turned out their was an attempted assassination on you and the Princess, I quickly asked for my old post. Which was great because they also were finding out there were a lot of agents within the castle!”

His mood dimmed and he seemed distraught about. Spike nodded with a bit solemn.

“Yeah, turns out Neighsay and a group of followers wanted to create some anarchy with everypony. Tried to turn Equestria into a Unicorns only paradise.”

Star snorted in disgust. “Yeah, what good that would do to Equestria?”

Spike shrugged. “And he might have had a bit of vengeance on me and Twilight for him getting kicked out of the school years later for his specism.”

The pegasus shook his head in disappointment, though a small smile took his face. “Somehow you and Twilight get into trouble where no pony else could or ask for.”

Spike chuckled at that. “Yup! That’s the daily lives of Spike the Dragon.” He then motioned for the crate behind him. “Speaking of, thanks for bringing this to the dragon lands. I can’t imagine being easy.”

The guard nodded. “Yeah, I was wondering why they had us bring something the way out here. I didn’t volunteer at first but when they said they needed trusted guards to deliver to you, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to say ‘Hi’.” The pegasus then looked back past Spike to see a blue dragoness behind him. “Hey, that your girl?”

Spike nodded. “Yep, though don’t let her hear you call her that. She is the Dragon Lord here and she is not your typical girl.” He warned with a smile. “But yeah… Anyways, thanks for bringing this. Good to see you again!”

“Yeah, bro. Anytime! When you gonna return back to Equestria?”

Spike was about to answer but paused. In truth, he was happy here, with Ember. Equestria would grow without him. But… he could not forget everyone he ever cared for there. So, he responded with a shrug.

“Not sure. Mom… err Princess Celestia and Twilight are on a hunt for Neighsay. So once he's captured, I could return. Though don’t expect that anytime soon.” The last part he emphasized with a bit of a louder voice so Ember could here.

His friend nodded. “Don’t worry, your folks and Equestria are looking for his ass. He ever gets caught, I’ll be sure to come get you myself so we could cheer as he is dragged away in cuffs!”

Spike smiled. “That would be great!”

The pegasus then reached and pulled the dragon into a hard hug. Spike returned and then let go.

“Thanks for coming then. I really hope to see you again!”

“Likewise, Spike.” He then turned around to whirl his hand up, pointing at the sky to get the pegasus ready to take off. “Well, I hope you the best here. Hopefully it ain't too tough for you.”

Spike shook his head and pointed with his claw towards Ember behind him. “Trust me, she is the toughest thing out here. Anyone messes with me, they have to go through her! And I ain’t afraid or ashamed to say that.”

He swore that despite his back turned, he could feel the face of Ember displaying the ‘damn straight!’ look at him. He could even tell her arms were crossed with satisfaction.

Star’s eyes confirmed what he had just said and he nodded. “I… can see that.” He shrugged. “Either way, good luck out here. Hope to see you soon!”

“Likewise.” With that, the pegasus returned back to his troops where they had finished unloading the crate. Then they all harassed themselves to the chariot and with a few flaps, they were airborne.

Spike gave another way as they flew overhead before they turned back north east towards the train tracks, watching them disappear in the distance. Ember moved up to him, pulling into his arm.

“How could you tell them apart? They looked exactly the same.”

Spike’s eyes crossed for a moment before looking at her in disbelief. “That’s racist… err spiciest, Ember.”

Ember crossed her arms, anger flaring. “They looked exactly… the fucking same! They wore the same armor, they had the same white… feathers… coat, whatever! They looked exactly the same!”

Spike shook his head, feigning disappointment. “Wow, and here I thought you were trying to be better with ponies for my sake.” He moved away from her and towards the container. Though in his mind, he was grinning like an idiot. “I would hate to bring you to Equestria anymore if all you see is ponies that look the same.”

Smoke left her nostrils as she growled. “They looked exactly the same, Spike! I can tell the difference in ponies now!”

Spike winced at her voice, matching almost exactly like her father’s, though for humor sense, he kept it up, reaching up to the container. “Right… and yet, why is it I could tell them apart, Ember? Why could I… a dragon… see the difference?” he asked her, giving her the best, straight look as possible. He was visibly cracking though, as small wisps of merit left his mouth.

Ember wasn’t dumb, nor was she close to fully understanding ponies and their weird looks and what not. But this was starting to piss her off and she could tell that Spike was messing with her.

Feeling the end of the joke, he quickly focused on the giant container, wondering what he received from Vinyl. Whether it was a bass cannon or just a large bass player, he hoped it would be enough.

“Now, we need is a group of dragons… or one big one to bring into the pits or something.”

“Why didn’t you ask them to bring them in?” asked Ember. “They had clearance to go all the way through.”

Spike nodded at that, not looking away from the crate. “Yeah, but they have feathers, Ember. And feathers burn up near volcanos and spewing lava pits. Not to mention that they don’t do well in heat.” He paused. “How many dragons would have thought they were here to invade before you told them to stop attacking?”

Ember grunted in agreement. “Right. So, we need a big dragon to carry from here to the pits…”

“Without them breaking it or holding it wrong!” Spike quickly emphasized, patting the container with light taps. “This is very delicate equipment and we need somedragon who is big but wont crush it.”

Ember snorted, a small puff of smoke leaving her nostrils. “That's like asking a dragon to sit still for five minutes without breaking something in boredom.”

Spike nodded, agreeing with that sentiment. “Yeah…” There was a moment of silence before he thought of one and looked towards her. “Your father…”

Ember blinked, not sure if she heard him correctly but seeing his look confirmed it. “My father?” He nodded. She thought on it and in truth, her father was probably the most reliable dragon in the lands. “Okay,” she agreed before adding. “Where are you going to keep it where it won’t get damaged and destroyed by dragons? Or be damaged or destroyed by volcanoes?”

“The pit?” he asked, as if that wasn’t the answer. “I mean, it’s nowhere near the lava lakes or rivers and we could set up a sort of… stage with overhead protection to it.” He then looked around the crate to see if Vinyl put in instructions or something. “While I read this, can you go and try to convince your father to do this?”

Ember gave a shrug. “I’ll try, but usually he wants compensation.”

Spike paused, hearing that. He looked at her. “Your father ever heard of Equestrian music?” She shrugged again. “Well, maybe him hearing this would be compensation enough. Unless he wants some other form of payments?”

“...Sunken ships.” Was the answer he got.

Spike blinked, wondering what that meant or if she was being serious. She was.

Torch looked at the crate, about the size of his palm, carrying an untold piece of Equestrian technology that could deliver sound and music to the dragons here. Yet, it was the size that really confused him; which according to Spike, could deliver said music to thousands around the system.

He looked down to his daughter and her mate. “And… you wished to bring Equestrian influence here?”

Spike nodded timidly to the giant, dragon that stood many times his size, as well as being the father of the dragoness he was currently in love with.

In truth, Torch knew of their pairing. He also surprisingly approved of their pairing, and that had nothing to do with the fact that his daughter was Dragon Lord or the fact that she obtained the Bloodstone Scepter. Spike’s intelligence made him the most assuring candidate to be Ember’s mate. Where he lacked in strength and draconic prowess, he made it for intelligence, emotional support and surprising will to see the good in others.

“Why?” Was his simple question, still looking over the crate. Spike prayed that everything inside was tied down and not going to break.

“Well, uh… Mr. Torch, I just want to bring something to help bring up the mood around here.” Torch merely blinked, waiting for him to continue, so Spike did. “Plus, I think that you may like Equestrian music if you give it a chance.”

The giant dragon snorted, which sounded like a volcano rumbling in the distance. “I somehow doubt that, young Spike. Last I heard of Equestrian music, it was nothing but ponies singing at the top of their lungs with that Draco-awful crying. What is so musical about a pony screaming at the top of their lungs in high pitched tones?”

Spike blinked, having a vague idea of what Torch was saying. “Uh, how long ago was this?”

“Does it matter?” Spike nodded. Torch rolled his eyes to the top of his head, shaking it left to right, trying to think on the exact time period before giving a small grumble and looking down at him. “I’d say about two or so centuries before.”

That all but confirmed it. “Yeah, you probably got the renaissance era of music or opera music, one of those. They were not the best of times for music.” He pointed at the container. “But that is wayyyyy better than that crap!”

Torch gave him another glance before looking at his daughter. She gave a shrug, pulling close to him. “I think it’s worth a try, father.”

The giant of a dragon, relented and began to move over, carefully carrying the giant crate. Ember and Spike took wing, following him towards the pit.

The pit was currently unoccupied, save for a few dragons lazing around. This was fine for Spike, for he would be able to set it up in peace without interference. Not to mention, he wanted this to be a bit of a surprise.

Arriving at the pit, other dragons that were around, watched as former Dragon Lord Torch hovered with heavy gusts of wind, landing near the center of the pit. Here, he set the grate down.

“Gently!” Spike yelled, almost with much dread, both at the delicate placements of the crate and the fact that he just yelled at Torch.

Torch snorted, landing with ease and then slowly lowered the crate. Once done, he moved away, allowing Spike to quickly exam the crate to make sure no signs of damage. “I know how to handle things carefully, whelpling. My intelligence is not that of your average dragon!”

Spike flinched at that, nodding. “Sorry, sir.”

Hearing his apology, let alone ‘sir’, actually put a grin on his face. “You are very respectful, young Spike. Truly rare to find a dragon with your kindness.” This earned a small blush from. “Its a wonder why my daughter is so smitten with you!”

Said daughter, looked bashful, embarrassed with her father’s tease. “Father!”

He kept his grin. “Now now, its the duty of every parent, be it Dragon, Pony or otherwise to embarrass their younglings.” Unfortunately, that was true, regardless of species. “Now, if nothing else, I will take my leave.”

Spike blinked. “Aren’t you going to ask for compensation, sir Torch?”

Torch loved hearing that, made him sound more formal, even intellectual, though he didn’t show it directly to them. “You bringing something new to the Dragon Lands here, maybe beneficial, but… you’ve made my daughter happier in years with you being here. Not to mention that you both have given me some form of entertainment here. Ember said that this music will encourage brawls that would be well remembered?”

Spike feared that, but he nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, I have a few songs in mind.” A pause. “Um, I can see dragons leaving here battered up or worse.”

Torch’s grin turned a bit more, worrying Spike. “Make it so and I will call it even.” With that, the giant of a dragon, made his way back home or his ideal area of rest. As they watched him go, Spike turned to his beloved.

“So… he collects sunken ships?”

She nodded. “Honestly it was one of the weirdest things I have seen him doing. He would be gone for hours as well, finding them either crashed ashore or deep in the seas, especially near pony territories. He could hold his breath for a few hours and come back up with broken ships.”

Spike thought it was actually pretty cool, especially if it meant recovering lost artifacts.

“He must’ve found like a lot of treasure and such down there, right?”

Ember scoffed, as if that wasn’t obvious. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Half if not more, of his hoard is treasure he has scavenged from the ships. If it weren’t the fact that he spends his free time doing something productive instead of lazing around, I would have called it a ‘stupid’ hobby.”

Once more, the dragon ideology of just being lazy or being covered in bruises and broken scales was the norm for them, while having particular hobbies was considered abnormal; Any hobby for that matter. Still, Spike felt that Torch would like to have an easier time enjoying his hobby if he knew where to look.

“I still want to pay him back. Maybe if I can send a pony to the ports of Equestria, they could bring back the logs of all the missing ships throughout the history, it may be easier for him to find and collect them.”

Again, he astounded her with his kindness and care for others, that set her heart aflame. Truly, he was a drake among drakes. Even when nothing is asked in return, he still pushes past the normal boundaries of what defines a normal dragon. Perhaps in the future, normal would be, being like Spike. She would hope so… for any future family in mind.

Spike went to work on setting up the bass cannon. Now, when Ember saw the opening of the crate, she wasn’t expecting to see what she saw. Two giant towers of white ‘speakers’, as Spike called them, standing taller than both of them. In between them, sat a metal area of knobs, lights, switches and such that flew over her head. Yet, Spike looked like a hatchling seeing their first hoard. His mind portrayed youth and innocence, yet he immediately began to play and mess with the knobs and buttons.

Other dragons in the area, gazed from a distant at the odd contraction set up in the middle of the pit. Two particular dragons came into view upon seeing the machine in the middle of the pit, along with Ember and Spike.

Hearing their wings, both Ember and Spike looked up to see a familiar dragoness descending down upon them, accompanied by a brown dragoness that matched her in height.

“Smolder!” Spike waves towards the teen. Smolder had grown, just like Spike had, albeit her height matched Ember’s. The orange dragoness waved as she landed along side the other dragoness.

“Hey Spike, Lord Ember!” Ember gave a small nod before looking towards the brown dragoness.

“Is she the one your currently dating then?”

Smolder paused and looked towards her partner, who gave a shy nod. “Yep! Left Ocellus for a real dragoness, one that could keep up with me and match my gruff!” She stated, almost boastfully and pulling in the dragoness tightly to her. The brown dragoness, gave a shy wave and blushed at the sudden tight squeeze from Smolder. Smolder gave her a quick lick to her cheek, causing her to squeak.

Ember and Spike both looked unconvinced, knowing that Smolder was full of herself, their half lidded stare stating it. In unison, both turned to the brown dragoness and said, “Hi Ocellus.”

Smolder expelled the pride she had, letting out a groan, while the shy brown dragoness shyly waved before a flash of ice blue flame surrounded her and she transformed into her changeling form.

She was shorter than Smolder still, but she too had grown. Now she was as tall as most ponies and had a perfect figure that most ponies found attractive in the changeling. Average size B-cups with a neat hour-glass figure.

“What did she do to convince you to play along this time?” asked Spike, as he went back to the turntable.

“Well… she thought that if-”

“My brother might get me killed if he told my parents I was dating outside my species. So I told her to play as a dragoness.” She snorted, wrapping a supportive arm around the changeling. “I am not sure I could handle getting disowned.”

Ember crossed her arms, snorting a puff of smog from her nostrils. “Not if I have anything to say about it. If I have to convince them to support you, I will, just say the word and my word is law!”

Smolder gave a half measured smile. “Thanks, I appreciate that but I uh… don’t want them to fully hate me.”

“I’m surprised that you both have been together for years now that they still don’t know.” Spike pointed out as he rummaged around for his music. “Ocellus, was Thorax mad with you when you told him?”

The changeling shook her head, giving a genuine smile. “No, in fact, he was supportive of cross-species dating and courting. He wants changelings to be with whoever they want to be, as long as through love and support.” Her smile somewhat dropped to a tired one. “Though Pharynx was a bit more, threatening to rip Smolder’s scales if she ever betrayed my trust.” Ember looked ready to explode with rage but Smolder quickly put her claws up to calm her before she did.

“I told him he didn’t have to worry about a thing. When it comes down to life mates, we treat them better than our hoards. So I told him that ‘if you don’t back off, your brother is only going to have ashes to remember him by, because I care for Ocellus more than anyone else, and I will incinerate anyone who tries to her hurt’, including him.”

Ember actually grinned at that. “Damn straight, we will fuck with anything that tries to mess with our mates.”

“I take it he loved that?” Spike asked in obvious sarcasm. He pulled out a booklet that contained all of his CD’s marked with his name, a smaller one marked ‘Starlight’s and then pulled out box full of Vinyl’s vinyls, called funnily enough, ‘Wubs for Everyone’.

The changeling nodded, grumbling a bit, while Smolder puffed her chest in pride. “He thought Smolder would make a good protector for me, as well as telling her she’s got the ‘nads’ to talk back to the most ‘dangerous changeling’ around.”

Spike nodded and smiled as he began to look through his CD case. Both Smolder and Ocellus stared at the base station in the middle of the pit in the Dragon Lands. “Spike, why is that thing here?”

Ocellus quickly reverted back to her dragoness form as dragons saw the addition of something here that wasn’t there before.

Spike gave a wave with one of his Cd's in claws. “I kinda screwed up the brawls here by hooking a bunch of dragons with each other. So I thought I could bring a little Equestria influences here to start some new trend.” He paused and began to scan his library. “Mostly to bring ‘metal’ to the dragon lands.”

Smolder’s and Ocellus’s eyes went wide at the implications, earning a smirk from Ember. “So you know what this means, right?”

Smolder looked astounded and somewhat ecstatic at what she was told, while Ocellus looked worriedly and somewhat scared.

“What you are about to unleash-” she began frightfully.

“-Can be the greatest brawls and mosh pits in the history of the Dragon Lands!” Smolder all but screamed that out loud. Any nearby dragons caught it, soon began to talk among themselves.

This seemed to please the three dragons minus the changeling disguised as one, though she remained silent upon hearing it.

“They will be legendary!” Stated Ember, grinning madly. “If we can get this loud enough and for them to understand it, these things could go on forever!”

“Yep!” Agreed Spike. “But we need to find a way to amplify these things. There loud enough as is, but we need for them to be heard for a large crowd.” He waved it off for now. “We’ll figure it out later, but for now, I need to see what I can play that dragons may enjoy. If you girls want, you can help me choose what may sound good. Smolder, you generally know what good metal is. Ember, you could be the test and see what makes you riled up! Ocellus…” The three dragons looked at the disguised changeling, wondering what she could do.

She looked meekly, even in her dragon form. Un-intimidating and soft, something not seen in dragons. “You want to keep track of power levels and system? I know your starting to get into Equestrian tech.”

This pleased her and she nodded eagerly, approaching the turntable and began to look over the equipment. Spike and Smolder began to look over the collection to see what would work.

“Let’s see,” Spike began, checking each disk. “Maybe we could try… Maretallica?”

Smolder rubbed her chin. “A good start, but only a few songs would be good to play at. We’ll keep that as a few starters.” She then looked at other labels.

“Hey, what about Dragonforce?”

Spike gave a small grimace. “A little too on the nose, no? Besides, they’re power-metal. I think we should start on a bit heavy, then slowly show them other types.”

Smolder nodded in agreement, she moved over to Starlight’s albums. She saw a bunch of unique bands on here. “Woah, Starlight listened to some really intense shit here. Huh… ‘Aroo Enemy’?”

Spike thought on that one, giving a have shrug. “Female vocalist might be good to influence for the females. Put that to the side.”

Smolder did so, before pulling another. “Powerwolf?”

Spike shook his head. “Good band but they appeal to the ‘Diamond Dogs’ more. Same with ‘Disturrrbed’, ‘Lamb of Dog’, and ‘Bad Wolf’, though we could choose a song from each.”

She pulled on another one. “Panthera?”

“Absynnians.”

“Chimaira?”

“Griffins.”

“Slaying?”

Spike nodded at that. “Bunch of good ones.”

“Rammstein?”

“I could barely understand ‘Germaren’, so it might fly over their heads.”

She flipped through more. “Ghost B.C.?”

“I love them to death, yes.” He answered enthusiastically. He pulled out one and showed it to her with a glint in his eyes. “Dimare Borgir!”

Smolder blinked. “Haven’t had a chance to hear them.”

The rest of the time, the two went back and forth, trying to pull songs from their list. Ember looked at them with confusion, wondering what they were saying. Ocellus meanwhile pulled in close to her, still intimidated by the Dragon Lord, but stuck close.

“They are… uh, setting a list of songs to play.”

“I get that-” she answered evenly. “Just the names are more odd then anything. I mean, ‘Slaying?’ ‘Chimera?’ ‘Ghost B.C?’ What does the ‘B.C.’ even stand for?”

Ocellus thought for a moment, trying to remember this particular band since it was on Smolder’s list to listen too. “I think that it meant ‘Before Celestia’ though I could be wrong.”

“The band was around before Princess Celestia? I thought she was thousands of years old?”

Ocellus shook her head. “No, it’s just their title, kind of like a fancy name.” She paused hearing more of the list of bands being named. “They are mostly just titles, just to draw attention.”

“So… different names attract them to their music?”

Ocellus bobbed her head to the left and right. “More or less, but it also has to do with the type of music they are playing. There are a lot of bands that play different types of music, different types of rhythms and so on.”

“Alright, I think that’s it.” Both turned to see Spike and Smolder finished with their music lists. They had satisfied grins on their faces, both giving each other a fist bump before turning to Ember and Ocellus.
“We’re about to rock these Dragon Lands!”

Set up in the middle of the pits, Spike began to light up the speakers, linking them up with the batteries. Hopefully they would last the next couple of nights. He wanted to really show off to the dragons and hopefully bring the lot of them closer to Equestria.

Smolder would be his backup, Ocellus would be the one to help him with the technical aspect and Ember, would be the one he would be impressive to the end.

“So what’s the first one we want to draw in the crowd?” Asked Smolder excitedly.

Spike looked from his list. He looked up and saw that there were already a bunch of dragons in the area. Many pulled up and looking at the odd end of the machine, looking at it with a curious looks. Some came close enough to smell it at the odd device. They scurried around, kinda reminding him of-

Smiling, he thought of something that made him snicker. “I got the perfect one.” Dials turned up to eleven, bass on max and with perfect timing, he threw down the beat.

The music instantly blew from the giant speakers and blasted the eardrums of every living thing within two hundred foot radius with the surrounding area being filled with the sound of music instantly. Drums played hard with the first drop.

The dragons closed by jumped in surprise, roaring in confusion or shock. It was instantly followed by the heavy strung of the guitar playing. The blend of the music began to reach a high, with ears still ringing with the sudden explosive music shock.

Ember’s ears were ringing a bit, trying to shake it off. She felt like she was at the center of a volcano exploding and that the epicenter was… melodic. As her ears began to focus, she heard the clarity and loud vocals of a male singing.

‘In times of turmoil, in times like these. Beliefs contagious, Spreading Disease! This wretched mischief is now coursing through your souls! Never to let go! Never to let go!’

‘Rats!’

The dragons recovered from their initial blast of the music, slowly regained their senses and learned a new one. As Spike and Smolder bobbed their heads at the music, a few began to slowly raise their heads up and down. Ember felt a wave of something coming to her. She felt… energy, she felt loud, she felt power through this.

As the music continued with a high note, dragons from the area began to circle the little group.

‘Into your sanctum, you let them in! Now all your loved ones and all you kin! Will suffer punishments beneath the wrath of god!’

‘Never to forgive! Never to forgive! Them Rats! (Aaah - Woah!)’

The music station began to flash random lights, almost blinding, even in the day time. Music began to really reach many, soon, others began to sway to the music, like some invisible force moving their bodies. Dragons, at least the teens or young enough to be in the pit, began to move in tune with the music.

The older, larger dragons that watched or heard from the distance, moved their larger heads to the sides, slowly becoming part of the rhythm.

Ocellus, who had first held her ear holes tightly against the loud music, had slowly adjusted to the music. Her form loosened and only until she felt the warm claws of Smolder, did she find that the music was actually nice.

‘Rats! Aaah - Woah!’

‘Rats! Aaah - Woah!’

‘This devastation left your cities to be burnt! Never to return! Never to return!’

As the music slowed a bit, more and more dragons moved into the tone, even though a few could barely understand the fast pace of the vocals, many were bobbing their heads or swaying side to side.

Ember didn’t really understand them herself but again, the tempo, the way her body swayed and moved, it felt right. Where has this been all of her life? Among the dragons, the couples that had formed the day before, were joining together with the music. Garble himself, along with his friends, had moved towards the near center, along with their newly acquired mates.

The music reached the ears of many, with many slowly starting to hum or growl to the tune. Ember know knew why these Equestrians like their music. Nothing compared to what her father described, yet infinitely better.

‘These filthy rodents are still coming for your souls!

Never to let go! Never to let gooooooo!

‘Rats!’

In a scattered form of unison, the dragons roared, ‘Aaah - Woah!’

‘Rats! Aaah - Woah!’

‘Rats! Aaah - Woah!’

As the final vocals died, the rhythm lowered but still kept the energy, the dragons in the area bobbed their heads, swayed and turned, flapping their wings, swinging their tails and roaring in approval. Ember saw joy in many dragons faces, but she saw something else with them. She saw a unison, a way for them to move around together and with purpose.

The music died and silence followed, though not eerily. Instead, a left a lot of dragons wanting. Spike pulled into the mic.

“Hello my fellow drakes and nesses! I hope you all enjoyed that!”

Many dragons roared in agreement, though a few were still unsure of what they heard. Continuing on, he gave a way to the speakers. “What you just heard is a little bit of Equestrian influences! That’s right! Ponies made this!” This threw many dragons off, not believing what he said.

“Ponies made this?” Yelled one in disbelief.

“This was way to strong for them to handle, there is no way!” Screamed another.

“Is there more?” asked one right in front. Spike saw that it was Garble. It seemed that he didn’t mind it, in fact his mates seemed even more into it then he was.

“Well then, if you guys don’t mind that it was made for Equestrians then?” He got no denial or negative feedback. “Are you ready for more!?” Spike roared into the mic.

A near deafening roar was his answer. His grin remained and he slapped down another song from a different label.

Once more, the intense blast of the speakers hit the audiences, but this time, they were prepared for it. An almost immediate hit of guitars and drums tore through the speakers, with an eerie stream of base that gave a high tune of epic proportions. Spike felt his heart light up, as he saw what could possibly the best part of his life here, now in the Dragon Lands.

This was just the beginning!

Author's Note

So sorry this took me awhile. A couple of things I wanted to see was how the ending of MLP was gonna happen and what did they leave out.
Apparently, they left a lot out, so I just had to make sure. Now, I know the ending is not specific here, so I still have it the same, with the shows original ending still gonna happen just not in the same way.
Anyways, the music I will be putting up here and the next chapter, will have meaning for the story later on, so if any of you truly pay attention to the lyrics of the music I choose, you may even find some foreshadowing that may lead you to a surprise!
Now, you can still throw in a few bands to list in here, but majority of the music will carry meaning and notes that I think dragons would enjoy. As for now, Lamb of God, Metallica, Ghost, Dimmu Borgir and a few others will be used in the next chapter. Details will be given then.
Lastly, Death likes me rough will begin to take influences from you. There will be actions in the future where you the reader, will decide how this story goes. It may lead to interesting conclusions. Thank you all for reading this and I hope you enjoy the series more!
(Sorry no editors were used in making of this fic)

Update: The reasoning for Torch's love of boats comes from QueenColdArt. I recommend that you check them out! I actually will be using more of their work(Already asked for permission) for later on. The work done there is so on point with the show!

The Begining of the End Pt.1

Death Likes me Rough

The Beginning of The End

Pt. 1

The music died down and the dragons cheered. Spike could feel the energy from them, feeling like he had just brought a sense of justice here. “Did you all like that?!” He asked through the microphone. The roars of approval were louder than the actual speakers themselves. Grinning, he yelled back. “Great! Because tonight, we will be going at it until dawn! The music is just a a taste of what is to come! So, spread the word! Bring every dragon you can and make sure you have energy to burn! This will be the best night you will ever have! So for now, enjoy some easy tunes that ponies play and well save the best for the night!”

With that done, he got off the microphone and bega to play regular metal that had a list of songs considered softer in standard but will amp up some dragons.
The list included artists like Maretallica, Iron Mareden, AC MC, and so on. The music was kept low enough so the batteries wouldn’t run dry but loud enough to be heard.

Jumping from the little booth, Spike was instantly approached by a bunch of dragons, asking or demanding more about the music.

From the sides, Ember watched as the one she loved had made an impression just by bringing something new to the Dragon Lands. While he didn’t personally make it himself, the ideals and the radical new concept of music would surely get him noticed.

Even Garble, whom she watched from the side with his new mates, seemed to have been in shock and awe at what Spike had brought. He even cheered with the music.

The adoration he was receiving made her a bit jealous but she knew that he was just adhering to the crowds. The day was just starting and so many dragons came to see the new contraption out in the middle of the pit. However, Spike saw a small dilema and that the speakers were loud but not loud enough to make it to the larger dragons in the back.

So, he kindly asked the larger dragons for help. In which case, it would seem insane to her to get the adults to contribute in any way, to get off their fat lazy tails and actually help a younger dragon.

“Whelp, do you realize what you're asking of us?” A large red dragon by the name of Magmarus answered, speaking for the large group of dragons currently nesting nearby.

Spike just nodded. “Yeah.” He paused then added. “Please?”

Ember wanted to slap her palm against her face, but resisted. She knew that any moment the adults were just going to start laughing at his plea. However, before the first dragon could even start to laugh, Spike quickly added in. “It will keep the teenagers and a lot of dragons busy for a while. That means they can be stuck together and mosh pit amongst each other and leave you all alone.”

Magmus glared/stared at him, most elder dragons have that look, and he turned to Ember. “Is that your command, oh Dragon Lord?”

Ohhh, she could have made him do something else with that snark he just said to her but she held her cool. Instead, she shook her head and pointed at Spike. “He’s asking as a request and while I normally would ‘command’ it, he is asking because he respects the decisions of elders.”

One of the other elder dragons, a yellow female by the name of Caldera which Ember knew as Smolder’s and Garble’s mother, spoke with a sharp laugh. “And while that is amusing that you respect us, again what are you offering in return?”

All the focus of the elders turned to Spike, who remained cool despite the pressure of their looks at him. He waited for a moment before responding. “You get to hear the best of Equestria’s music and maybe enjoy what it has to offer?” They remained silent, waiting to see if he had more to offer. He did.
He sighed. “I have music that could keep the teenagers occupied or send them into a massive fighting frenzy.” Still more pause. Spike shivered and sulked more before adding. “I also have music that could… set up the mood for possible orgies or love making?”

This caught their attention and a wave of unnerving arousal hit the elders, as well as sending shivers of grossness towards Spike and Ember, but he needed to get on the side of many dragons, so he did what he had to.

“Love making?” One asked. “Orgies?” Another asked. Most of the dragons leaned in deep interests.

Spike gulped and nodded. “Eeyup.”

Half an hour later…

“Okay, now a little deeper and carve it out so it looks like a half oval!”

Dragons of large proportions were excavating parts of the pit to amplify the sound of the giant speakers. Hopefully, the little holes and large curved parts of the ground were being dug to evenly distribute it. Spike sent a letter to Vinyl to see if she had anything to amp up the speakers or make it sound louder for a bunch of dragons since he had to have the smaller ones in the front and larger ones in the back. He told her he had dragons carving the ground to have the speakers echo louder.

He also sent a private letter to Cadance to see if she had any music that could possibly help set up the moods for adults(Making clear clarification that this was to help set the mood up for love making or orgies for older adults, not his love life.)

A few hours passed and the dragons had built a half stage with giant oval carved ground and rocks while also setting up stands from small to large where dragons could set themselves up. A huge large pit had been created to allow the rowdy ones to mosh pit. He also got letters in return along with bright yellow crystals, via dragon mail.

‘Scatter these babies in random directions(Make sure those dragons don’t eat them!) and the crystals from the speakers should connect magically and spread the music! Tell me how well it works and it could boost my cred!’ - Vinyl

And so, he and Ember spread out to distribute the crystals throughout the stage and areas. They carved out holes against the walls, placed them on the ground, using boulders to cover them and hopefully not get them eaten.

Once they set up, they had a few dragons volunteer to see if they could hear the music loud and clear. Confirmation was given when dragons heard the music and began banging their heads with enthusiasm. Once each one was established, Spike knew that he would have eager dragons excited for the prospect of hearing more music, now he had to create a set list that would last for hours.

He allowed Smolder and Occellus to add their input though Occellus recommended perhaps a metal love song for the late night while Smolder thought of ones that could lead to heavy mosh pits. All was said and done, they still had hours until night time and not much to do. Dragons were starting to show up but many were just interested in the device that was at the center.

“So what now?” Ember asked, sitting casually by giant speakers. She issued a small command that dragons were not allowed to go near the speakers or eat the crystals scattered around that rang out through the Dragonlands.

Spike was about to answer until he let out a large belch of flames which created a scroll, followed by another belch that brought up a package. He caught the box first, while Ember caught the scroll. On the box, it contained a bunch of pink heart stickers with the box being overall wrapped in a pink bowtie and red velvet covering. A kiss was placed at the top corner, causing him to blush.

“Faust dammit Cady, what did you give me?” He half mumbled. He reached for the scroll Ember had and he tore open the crystalline seal.

‘Hello Spikey!’ He inwardly groaned, feeling the giddy and joy radiating off this note to make a changeling full of love.

‘So glad you finally asked me for love advice! I was wondering when you and your dragon girlfriend were gonna start working on your love life! While I know you both have been intimate before, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to make commitments or make your love life spicer!’

“What does ‘spicer’ even mean?” Ember asked. He hadn’t realized he had been speaking out loud, but he noticed that she was leaning in to try and read the letter. He sighed but smirked inwardly. “I’ll tell you later and when you're older.” He continued on without giving her time to respond.

‘But we'll focus on your stuff later. While I packed something for you and your… I believe you said they were called, ‘Dragoness’, I have something for the elder dragons that you were trying to entertain. You said that you have speakers borrowed from a DJ pony and that you were trying to bring music to the Dragonlands, so I tried to see if I can imprint a few ‘love spells’ to these records as well as put a few more ‘raunchy ones’ for the others.(Don’t tell Shinny since I use some of these when we want to fuck like-)

He shook his head, not needing to read the rest of the details and moved past it, despite Ember’s grunt of wanting to know more. ‘So, when you want to keep the older dragons busy, play these songs and unless you and Ember want to go at it, cover your ears and these should work almost right away. The raunchy ones might trigger an orgy like they want(or you wanted ‘kissy face’) and should keep them happy for hours.’

Hope this helps and remember, if you need anything else, you can always tell me what you need to help your love life!’

‘With much love, Princess Cadence.’

There was a giant wet kiss placed at her signature along with a ‘p.s’ at the bottom.

‘P.S. If possible, record how dragons mate or make love so I can have a better understanding on how to make them more intintimate or perhaps improve upon their lives. Details would be greatly appreciated!”

“Hmm,” Ember hummed in curiosity. “So this princess doesn't mind talking about sex or fucking?”

Spike shook his head. “She is the Princess of Love, though sometimes I think that’s a cover for her being the actual ‘Princess of Lust.’ She denies it though.”

“Love cannot be the same as lust?”

Once more he shook his head, saying. “If you lust after someone but they have no interest in you, then go out of your way to force you to love them, is it still love?”

“Right,” She answered mootly. There was silence for a moment before she turned to him. “So, are you gonna do it?”

“Do what?”

“Share details on dragons fucking or mating? Maybe we could record our sessions?”

Spike looked at her incredulously. Ember gave a snort of amusement. “Don’t give me that, you know you would love to tell details of the hard fucking we do! Plus, you might even show other ponies how much better we are at it then ponies!”

Spike still didn’t like sharing his sex life to others, let alone his sister-in-law. Still, it would be cool in that he would be in like a porno of sorts, those magazines that Shinny had hid under his bed when they were younger. The only problem was who was going to record them.

… He can’t believe he was agreeing with the idea. He didn’t like it but he did want to make Ember happy. Giving a shrug, he looked at her. “I guess, though I am just wondering who would want to record this or write this down while it was happening. Still I want to make you at least happy. If I’m gonna be stuck here for a while, I might need to find a way to keep us both happy.”

A pleased grin came to her snout and she gave a lick across his snout. “Anything to keep me happy?” There was a sudden increase in her tone, though he really didn’t see it. He just nodded.

She then turned to Smolder and Occellus. “Hey you two, down for a foursome?”

Spike and Occellus froze upon hearing the words. Occellus turned immedately red while Spike looked at Ember indictnitly. Smolder had the look of thought, looking at her blushing madly, mate before looking at rhw duo and gave her a shrug. “I’m down.”

“S-Smolder?” Occellus tried to but in, but was held tightly by her and gave a grin. “Don’t worry, Spike won’t fuck you unless you want him to. Maybe bury his tongue in you but he wont shove his dick in you if you don’t want it.”

Spike turned his head towards Smolder, now really not sure what was going on here. Ember just accepted the invitation with ease and pulled Spike up. “Come on Spike, we’re gonna go set up the place. See you two in like… thirty minutes?”

Smolder gave her a thumbs up while Occellus was still blushing madly red and trying to speak properly. Smolder began to speak to her lightly about the benefits.

Spike meanwhile was half-dragged by his mate and found himself in a delma of shock and slow curiosity. He had never had been in something of a foursome, only just imagining himself with Ember and that is all…

Okay no, that was a lie… Maybe Rarity and Ember too but… well Ocellus was a changedling so… No wait, only if she allowed it… But would she? Probably if Smolder convinced her… No! Stop thinking about other females! It was difficult… he had options now but… there were standards and his love for Ember waas loyal! He wouldn’t betray her… but she was asking?

“Well… if I would have thought more females got you more aroused, then we should do this often?”

… huh? “What?” he asked, he managed to slow down long enough to really evaluate his situation and Ember just grinned and pointed at his crotch with ‘showed’ his situation. He looked down and saw his spire already half massed and erect out of his slit. He quickly covered up and shame took over him. “Ember I’m sorry, I would never-”

“I know,” Her smile was eased and understanding. “You are loyal and I appreciate that. Not many males are and it helps that you are so hesitant because you care about how I feel. And it warms my heart to know that you try so hard…” She grinned and grabbed his half mass erection, earning a yelp but shivered as she gave it a few strokes and playing with it. “-very hard,” she joked. “And that is why I will allow you to get fucked by three females.”

“I-I-I don’t know about Occellus though… I-mhmm!” She ran a single claw from his base to his tip. “-might not want to and I r-r-respect her c-choice!”

Letting his shaft go, she gave him another lick across his snout. “Good boy, that is the best answer you could have given me. Now, while this is your first, I don’t want you to think that you have to do all the work, I do want you to let them lead.”

A small shaky nod was given. “But… I always let you lead…”

“Except yesterday when you fucked me like we were in heat and slammed me against the wall.” A cocky look was on her face and he wasn’t sure if he should be happy or concerned. She quickly turned around and pulled him close, their snouts touching a sudden look of intensity quickly took over her. “Don’t you dare apologize. Don’t! In truth, that was the best that you have given me and while I know that your kind nature makes that a rare instance, I want you to know that you can do that to me whenever you want and whenever you feel the need to breed me.”

He blinked hard, not really sure where this was coming from. Spike tried to respond but she quickly stopped him. “I just want you to know that… I love you so much, that with everything that may happen from here on out, whether we do orgies, are laying with other dragons and such, that as long as you come back to me or I return to you, that you mustn't feel that you belong just to me-”

She was instantly silenced as he placed a single claw upon her snout. She blinked. “And you should know that I will only stay with you, know one else. If you are there with me, along with others, that is fine but I will never go for anyone else.” He gave a small smile. “Though to be honest, with the world trying to kill me and what not, I think that it would be best that I stick to the creatures that I know of before I trust anyone else to lay with.”

Ember felt her heart give out once more at his words though she had to quickly add. “You know that most of the dragons don’t care about you… well not anymore but that none want to kill… intently.”

“Maybe accidently,” he added in his humour. She half chuckled.

“Maybe accidently, but you are safer here than anywhere else.” While that was true, he was hoping that she was not trying to just keep him here forever. He gave a nod and left it at that.

“Come on then, let's go to the cave so we can prepare for our guest…”

Ember gave a sultry grin. “Oh, now you're eager to have two others join us.”

“Okay now you are just teasing me…”

The duo made it to the top of Ember’s cave and while they intentionally had no mess to clean up, they did have a pit to refill, though Spike said that perhaps they could have a bite to eat afterwards. Ember thought that perhaps a large bass or a sea snake or some other creature from the ocean. Though she did have to ask about Ocellus.

“What about the changeling? Does Ocellus eat meat or is it something else?”

Spike gave her a small bounce of his head side to side. “Eh a little bit of everything, she is an omnivore. Emotions is her primary source of food, but because her species had evolved to blend in with their former hosts, they had to eat. Food carries some nutrition but not enough to survive on, maybe at best snacks for them.”

“Good to know, though it will be difficult to try and keep a changeling in the Dragonlands.”

“Why? I thought you were okay with having other creatures here?”

Ember gave a half shrug. “I don’t have a problem with other creatures Spike but the other dragons might. It’s already difficult enough to try and tell dragons that we have a peace treaty with ponies.”

Spike snorted and laid upon her pillows, pulling her in close and on top of him. “Well maybe tonight music could change that, especially since most of that music is made by ponies.”

“Most?”

He nodded and started counting with his digits on top of her leg. “Some of that music has creatures like Diamond Dogs, Abssynians, Minotaurs, Kirins, Griffins, and believe it or not a few dragons too.”

This was news to Ember, for she had never heard of dragons working with ponies on anything, let alone music.

“I… didn’t even know that there were dragons that made music with ponies.”

Spike gave her a look, wrapping his arm around her midsection, pulling her on top of his legs, letting his crotch right underneath hers and letting her tail off to the side. “Ember, there is a whole town with just dragons.” He brushed the back of her neck with his snout, rumbling as he did so. “Dragons that are not held back by greed, dragons that live and work like ponies. A few even share spaces and homes with ponies, some even have families.”

He then brought his claws lower to her thighs, rubbing them in soft circles. He could feel Ember’s heart beat quicker, along with her scent slowly filling his nostrils. “Some even have families that have come from mated ponies, adopted or born.” His claws slowly made his way between her legs where the area near her neithers was warmer than the rest of her body. Short quick breaths left her.

“H-How… h-h would t-they be able to have h-hatchlings?” She asked, struggling to keep her composure as her mate slowly began to rub his claws upon her slit. He ran his middle digit at the top, near her entrance and slowly began to press her labia apart.

“You should know this by now-” he gave a soft growl at the back of his throat, causing shivers to run down her spine. From below her, she could feel right at the base of her legs, his shaft slowly pushing his own slit opening and releasing his organ. It was slow to rise but eager as it pressed right at the base of her tail and between her legs. “-how dragons mate. With ponies… it’s no different.” A paused and he licked the whole side of her face. “Well… maybe size wise they might be different.”

“S-Size? Mhmm!” He pressed right at her entrance, feeling her walls spread around his claw, trying to stimulate her arousal while not doing to her hard as she was still dry.

“Yeah… males tend to be a bit… thicker around the base while taller in length, at least a full sized stallion.” He teased her, not fully penetrating but just causing her to have tingles in her body. “Almost as thick as my arm,” Squeezing her midsection for emphasis, earning a small gasp from her. “-And perhaps even bigger on zebras.”

Small questions formed at the back of her mind but they surfaced all too quickly. “H-H-How do y-you know that?”

Spike growled lightly. He used the claw tip to play with her outer labia, sending sharp shivers on her body. Small dribbles of her fluids began to leak from her.

“Ponies have books, Ember; some with pictures, or stories and more of ponies with their sizes and lengths shown.” He rubs her fluids around her mound, trying to coat her in her own secretions. He then slowly pushes a single digit in, spreading her gently, because she hates teasing and he loves it. “Lastly, Ember… Magiiiiiiiiic!” He hissed into her ear before pushing his digit all the way through and causing her to moan loudly.

His organ pressed against her tail, trying to push in between right up to her tail hole, smearing his pre near her entrance. Meanwhile he wiggled his digit inside of her, causing her to squirm on top of him.

He used his other digit to slowly spread her so he could slide in another, giving in two claws and slowly working them in and out of her. Spike spent the next few moments fingering Ember while holding her on top of him. He grinded himself against her flanks, smearing himself on her(sneakily to lightly mark her) and getting himself ready, without completly cucking himself. Her moans were the sweetest music he could ever hear, the smell that flooded his nostrils overpowered any sweet scents and the fluids that dripped onto his body, were like oils of the purest of sources.

He lightly nibbled on her neck, rubbed her belly with the arm that held her and used his embedded claws to really scrape her walls. He knew her well enough, but didn’t know her all, so finding her sweet spots played into his mind for later, especially knowing that she had a thing for females too.

Her fluids now dribbled in large globs of thick clear secretions, almost coating his claw with syrup like quality of juices. The differences between him fucking her and fingering seemed different but he had no complaints.

Spike went as far as stopping, pulling his drenged digits out and bringing them up to his mouth, slurping them from his digits. Pure sweetness mixed with an earthly cooper flooded his senses, the small salty aftertaste only fueled his ecstasy. His moan vibrated near her ear canal and she saw his eyes glass over at her taste.

“Fuck…” She moaned, “That is hot!” Before she could say anymore, he shoved the remaining fluids in her own mouth! She gave a small ‘oomph’ before sighing at tasting herself. It had been a while and while she was not too found of tasting herself, it made it worth knowing that if she got her stuffed with his cum, it would taste way better. Still, she suckled and lapped her own secretions.

Seeing this Spike purred and shoved them back in her, carefully but just a bit more experienced. She cried out as he continued his physical pleasure on her, causing her to spasm harder and make her cry out.

He continued this relentless assault on her private region, making it his only goal to get her to climax faster. He figured that if he can make her cum already, it would be easier later when Smolder and Occellus join them. Even he had to admit it would be a bit tedious to try and fuck two females, let alone maybe three. He had stamina, he had will, but even his body was alicorn levels.

Spike’s legs were coated by her fluids now and his organ demanded release, but he forced himself to slow his rubbing against her, focusing on her more than himself. He went back to her neck, nibbling between neck and shoulder, finding it easier to her spots. He bit down right between the socket and where her neck joined…

“Fuccccccc….” She climaxed hard and began to spasm violently on him, causing her to squirt hard on him and the floor. Her walls hugged his digits hard and he felt them getting clenched, he pushed in as hard as he could, trying to prolong it as long as possible.

She continued to climax heavily and slumbed when she did, allowing the full adrenaline of her ecstacy to tap out. He smiled, knowing he did well, though it took a moment for her walls to let his digits out and a small numbing feeling took over. He did like her taste and whatever he had on his claw, he brought them back to his mouth and began cleaning them.

He suckled them loudly and near her ear to prove that he enjoyed her taste… very much! She laid against him panting heavily at her recent orgasm but loved hearing him sucking on her juices, still feeling his stiff pride against her tail. Fuck she needed him inside her now!

Before they could continue however, they heard wings and the sound of feet landing near the entrance. From the light, Smolder and Occellus popped in and immediately saw the two already in post-coitus states. Well… at least from Ember. Occellus had arrived still blushing madly red while Smolder held a smirk and… already seemed ready with how he saw a small amount of moisture from her nethers leaving already.

Spike still couldn’t believe what was about to happen but nonetheless hoped that he could try and prepare himself for the foursome he had never dreamed of but welcomed.

Slowly he pushed and set Ember aside, showing his large organ standing loud and proud. Smolder’s and Occellus’s eyes went wide upon seeing it.

Spike, feeling their eyes on him and seeing no looks of disappointment gave a small shrug. “You girls ready for this or what?”

“Dibs!” Smolder shouted out before tackling him into the pillows next to Ember, leaving her marefriend standing awkwardly but also showing some signs of arousal too. Lazily but happily, Ember waved her over to come join them.

The changedling nodded and wasn’t sure what she had just walked into

Author's Note

HOLY SHIT LADIES AND FUCKING GENTLEMEN!!!!! 1 YEAR AND MONTHS AGO WAS THE LAST CHAPTER!! And for that I apologize!! While this was meant to come out way before, I have a couple of things with it.
I will be brief here on the progress and such but know this, it teared at me leaving this untouched for so long. I will explain everything on the next chapter for this is the first of two parts.
Covid killed the original story line(something with dieses and such, hinted out with Spike's and Celestia's poisoning.) along with a ..... sigh global pandemic.... I shit you not....:ajbemused:
Now... I had family affected and killed by covid and it caused major delays because I was not sure where to continue. I mean, the closest this was for like the black plague and worse. It bugged me to a point where I might have cancelled it because I did not want to cancel my most popular series. So in the end, it took a year but I worked a story around the original.
Now, this is 1 of 2 with 2 going to be a bit longer, starting off with the rest of the clop and leading into the focal point of the story. The 2 is the first half of the series.
Along with the plot changed, same had to do with length and unfortunately, same with chapters. At most, this will have maybe 5 more chapters. Along with a corrupted data transfer, it did n't help.
The rest will be explained on the next installment(PLZ don't quote me on date!) and more will be added.

Thank you all for sticking with this for the worst part of the year and a half and I hope that I can make it up to you all soon!

The Begining of the End Pt. 2

Death Likes me Rough

The Beginning of The End

Pt. 2

Spike had not been prepared for having to deal with two dragonesses and a changedling. What came more of a shock was how willing and unfazed by the two extra guests, Ember seemed to be. This gave Smolder the impression to not hold back on him.

His face was licked and kissed by the orange dragoness, grinding her already wet thighs against his own. Her scent was already flooding his nostrils with the smell of a needed female.
Unlike his mate and the love of his life, Smolder oddly smelled of essential oils, charcoal and a bit of lilies. Her time with Occellus or perhaps she has become used to pony culture fully?

Speaking of the changedling, while he was getting dominated by the horny Smolder, Occellus was getting groped and rubbed by Ember while they watched them both. The features between pony, changedling and dragon were not so vast that Ember easily had already had one claw nestled between the baby blue legs. Occellus had come in wearing nothing but a skirt and a loose shirt(something that was only worn since she did carry some assets unlike dragons) and since she was in the most flammable area, it would have been instantly burnt off.

Ember cared none of that, sticking a digit in between her slit, and holding her against her. Her cheeks blushed bright red, her soft muffled moans became more audible and her secretions dribbled past Ember’s claws and down her legs.

“I-I-I’ve n-never i-imagined that Smolder would-d do something like this- ohmp!” A digit pushed into her slit, creating a reaction that slowly started the fire of an inevitable climax.

“I am not surprised,” Commented with a soft blow of air to her ear. “She was always shy here in the Dragon Lands herself,” She licked her sides, playing her outer digit on her labia while still keeping her middle claw nestled within. Smolder had managed to secure herself fully as the dominant partner and now, had grinded Spike’s shaft across her sex, smearing their fluids together across their bodies. “How is she with you?”

Occellus shivered as Ember’s claw reached a particular part of her inner slit, one of many that changedlings had but not other creatures. “R-Rough…Mmpphh!!” A small gush of fluids left her. “I-I-I have t-t-to change into a d-dragon-nn-aah! I-I’m less-s bruised and sore that way ahhhh!”

Ember blew a small bit of hot air into her ear before she gave a small nod and pulled away. “Then I think it's best if you change into your dragon form now… because I am pretty sure by tonight, you’re definitely going to be sore. You got three dragons to deal with and one of them has a spear that will penetrate you… if you want and that thing is strong.”

As if to prove a point Smolder had finally had enough and decided to press her dripping slit down on top of Spike’s hard and strong shaft. Wide eyed, Ocellus watched her lover almost cry out in surprise and moan with an intensity she never would have… unless Ocellus did something truly kinky and outside their normal play.

Spike groaned at how tight Smolder was, her body almost not used to receiving such a prize within her. Despite the age difference, the height difference didn’t seem too vast, only their regions were way off. As each ridge passed into her soaking lips, it sent wave after wave of powerful spasms and pleasure to her body. The squelching sounds that left her body indicating what fluids tried to leave her tight hole and what fluids were mixing with his.

“Fuck your huge!”

“Fuck your tight!” Both dragons moaned their own chant on one another. And to fully emphasize their own points, a visible bulge formed on the lower abdomen of Smolder, as Spike’s spire slowly slit up into her. Ocellus was staring wide-eyed at the display, awe mixed with fear consuming her heart at the thought of having to take something like that into her. In panic, she did transform rapidly into her brown dragoness form, she aptly named Kindle, which steadied her a bit due to her thicker scales, but the pleasure was almost pushed harder now that Ember didn’t have to hold back. Two digits sunk into her slit, morphed into a dragoness’s and it further induced Ember’s need to fully go all out on her.

Smolder was on top of Spike, having fully taken his shaft into her hole, moaning as loud as possible at the feeling of his tip breaching her womb. Spike was also in an euphoric high for how tight she was, but it also felt different and even odd knowing that the female before him was not his mate.

She met his hips when she settled down on his shaft. These pillows provided little leverage since she sank in a bit but that didn’t stop her from rising up once more, leaving herself half way in, before bringing herself back down on him, trying to get used to his body.

With a few shifts, grinds and adjustments, the duo began their fun with slow and deliberate humping into one another. Spike thrusted while Smolder lifted and fell. Soon, the two dragons began a rhythm and with it, came the dance that warranted the other’s to join.

Ember half dragged, half carried Ocellus/Kindle to the pillows to join the others. She pulled them both to the side of the pillows, laying down first before bringing Kindle on top of her. In this form, Ocellus was physically tougher than before, but the fact that Ember could still make her squirm and buck and twitch against her body was surreal. Her digits hadn’t even left her slit as she had brought them over, her claws full coated in love juices from Kindle. Curiosity had her and Ember wondered if there was a difference between her changedling form and her dragon form.

She stuck the fluids into her mouth, earning a wide eyed gasp from her. Ember instantly moaned at the taste, noting that there was a huge sweetness that emanated from her while a bit of ivory was added into the mix, a sort of odd blend you wouldn’t get from a dragoness’s snatch.

Kindle practically was in euphoria upon seeing that and even knew that… changedlings did carry sweetness to their biology(according to a few changelings with non-changeling partners and mates) and that it was a sure way to-

Ember replunged her claws back in her, causing her to cry out as claws spread her labia open, creating a powerful pulse of euphoria to wrack her body. She let out a faux burst of flames to leave her mouth, as Ember ruthlessly clawed her.

Smolder was already slamming her form down ontop Spike, with enough to shift the mass of pillows around them. Poor Spike, while enjoying himself, was unfortunately at her mercy and couldn’t much but be swallowed by pillows while his mate was busy handling Smolder’s mate.

The differences between the two were adaptable but still welcoming. Their combined juices began to pour from her groin and coating his waist. As he continued to fuck Smolder, he was suddenly covered by a shadow, a brown shadow and then… someone with a wonderul sweet smelling vent sat on his face and he was flooded with a unique florescence scent and taste that soon spread across his mouth.

Kindle was now in full bliss as she was shoved down onto Spike’s face and his snout was pressing against her gaping labia. It had taken a moment between her being shoved onto his face and his hot breath inhaling her fumes before his tongue had reached out and lapped her juices.

Ember watched the spectacle of two females fucking her mate and while that would normally irratate most, it turned her both on and off. Turned on, because no matter the female, Spike would always be on bottom… at first. The fact that he seemed to have no idea how to please two females at the same time but was still making an effort, also elated her desire to try and bring others. The only off part was that he wasn’t one of the few dragons who had two appendages so she could join.

Instead, the dripping from her slit would have to be satisfied with his tail, which she promptly grabbed from between his legs. She then lined herself right behind Smolder, holding onto her, while she used his tail to slide the tip into her own snatch. Her moan is a needed vocal piece for Spike as if instinctually or not, began to push his tail into the love canal of his mate, knowing that it was her using his tail.

Never had there ever been such a higher state of ecstacy… no wait. He just achieved that the other day earlier but this was more. This was a physical and an emotional part that existed here and now for him, not on an astral plane. This was his reality, his current situation.

The one that flooded his mouth with such sweet tasting fluids, the other that took his pride on such a wild ride, and his heart that took his tail. The trio of females that he was pleasing, doing everything and anything he could to make them happy, that was his reality.

Kindle/Occellus was the first to cum, the changedling in dragon form, flooded his mouth with liquid sweetness. Like liquid sugar pouring from her slit, he was doused in her flood of secretions. He half choked on her release, not really prepared for the sudden gush that left her sweet tasting snatch.

He inhaled through his nose, keeping his tongue swirling within her hole and prolonging her orgasm. Meanwhile south of his face, Smolder was held by Ember, who rode alongside her. The blue dragoness rubbed the upper lip of Smolder's, increasing her impending climax. Spike had quickly grown accustomed to them and promptly doubled his efforts.

His tail pistoned or twitched inside of her making her really spill her juices on him, while he thrusted up into Smolder with much vigor. He could feel himself getting ready for his climax and his mind hadn’t registered if it was okay to cum inside of Smolder or not.

Occellus was done cuming but she still sat on his face while he continued to drink in her bodily fluids. She slumped forward onto Smolder, who caught her. The orange dragoness looked at her pleased mate who had half lidded eyes and a stupid smile, she managed to line her mouth with hers as she was being thrusted in.

In that moment that she did, she moaned deep into Kindle’s mouth as a powerful orgasm left her body and her walls squeezed tightly, on Spike’s dick. She held onto her mate as their tongue met in each other’s mouth, mixing their oral fluids. At the same time, Ember watched the action and leaned in so that her face could be near their own to join.

Spike gave a deep grunt as he managed to push up on Kindle’s hindquarter’s up, getting some air. His face was coated in a sticky, stringy mess of secretions that lingered on her lower legs and his face. His trusting was less but now both females that rode him were pushing themselves as he slowed down. His phallus began to twitch inside of her, already feeling the imminent pleasure ride up from his internals to his base.

The drake focused hard enough to speed his tail thrusting inside of his mate, hearing her moan behind Kindle and Smolder. His tail then was clamped on tightly by her vent, earning a prompt growl of pleasure and knowing that she was cumming, he focused on his. Whether he could cum inside her or not, he didn’t care.

He went back into Kindle’s lips, just as his dick throbbed, twitching wildly inside of Smolder which also caused his tail to twitch inside of Ember’s body. A moan left him as his tip began to fire shots of thick dragon seed into Smolder’s womb. His tail tip pushed into Ember’s womb, penetrating it and wiggling madly within her. Both females cried out in total orgasmic bliss as one was flooded with seed, while Ember came hard on his tail, clamping down on it. Occelus had a smaller second orgasm when Spike’s moan vibrated against her nethers and once more flooded him with her sticky honey.

The four dragons rode out their individual but near synced climaxes, coating Spike in at least three different secretions of females on him. The pillows were also in a messy state of fluids, though none of them seemed to care.

Ember pulled Smolder back, giving her a lick across her face, whispering to her, “You did great with him.” She brushed her claws around her chest.

Smolder gave a groan and looked down at herself. Her belly was slightly bloated with his seed and it was being held closed by his still hard phallus in her. She shuddered as he shifted and spilled some of his seed out of her gut. He pushed aside Kindle, allowing her to fall on the side of the pillows.

A content and stupid smile was plastered on him, along with having a face full of stringy secretions from Kindle. Both of them laughed as he looked so disgustingly silly like that. However that didn’t deter them from leaning down and laying with him. Smolder laid on top, still trying to remain with him while Ember laid to his other side. Pulling close, they began to clean his face from the fluids, not minding at all.

Cleaning his face was the best part for him, as he got to open his mouth and let their tongue’s invade his own, trying to comb up the fluids from the changedling. Even in her dragoness form, she still tasted just as sweet, something all know knew that most changedlings had a sweet taste to them.

He in turn began licking back, causing a swirl of saliva and juices to blend, spreading the fluids in their mouths. One would lick his face, the other would clean his mouth, then they would switch roles.

About five minutes of cleaning and trying to coax one another a bit more, the four dragons let their energy and bodies cool down to rest. Spike held onto the two females to his left and the one on his right, feeling content with what just happened and perhaps… maybe perhaps hoping for something like this again one day.

He even found out a bit more of Ember, a side he didn’t get to see before and same with Smolder and Occelus. What did this mean to them in the future?

Night came and so did the anticipation. Not just the thrill or the anxiety, but the sheer fact that something new and big was going to be introduced to a place that has never experienced something as unique and as powerful as music, let alone metal.

When the trio of dragons and pseudo-dragon had flown over to where the pit was, every dragon that was ever alive in the lands, young to extremely old, was present. Every color of the rainbow could be seen with dragons and including exotic looking ones, many in which Spike has never seen before. Word must’ve traveled beyond the Dragon Lands to other areas with dragons to come here.

Yet despite this, the only thing that went through his mind and he had accidently said out loud was, “Wow, I’ve got a lot of dragons to disappoint… or please.”

Instead of denying or disagreeing, like Ember was about to, Smolder nodded and spoke right alongside him. “Yeah and the worst case being that you actually have to stay here until those idiot ponies are caught, so your options of hiding out here or anywhere is pretty limited.”

A growl left Ember while Spike, somehow in the middle of flying slumped in form. Still, he put on a brave face and pushed forward.

The booth that contained the source and possible all power to change the dragon lands forever, now lied in his claws.

...This was going to be fucking epic or suck so bad.

Dragons that knew who was in charge of the new technology and about to bring something different, all began to cheer and roar in anticipation. The four dragons landed near the stage dome built, having many dragons already up close and nearly personal. The cheers and roars continued, with Spike feeling really excited and nervous at the same time. With everything going on in Equestria and here, he hoped that his time here would be spent trying to build relationships both healthy and friendly.

Whether it's with the teenagers that once bullied him or the adults that paid no mind to a young one like himself, he hoped that after tonight, it would be a change for the better.

Landing directly on the micro stage, Spike and company were instantly sent almost backwards at the cheers and roars.
He quickly ran up to the deck and as he looked down at the console, he quickly flipped on the switches. The whirring of magical electricity and hums could be heard coming to life. Lights, low hums from the bases could be heard and the stage began to warm up with everything planned.

He looked over and saw the many dragons that filled the area. Swallowing, he hoped that with what was about to happen, this would allow living here to be a bit easier. He picked up the mic hanging on the corner, flipped the switch for the gems scattered throughout the lands and the main switch for the giant speakers.

Licking his chops, he took a deep breath… and let everything fall away.

“GOOD EVENING EVERY DRAGON!!!!!!” The power in his voice amplified and almost shook the foundation of the speakers.

But the attitude worked no less, for a near deafening response was given of cries and roars from many dragons came back at him. Young and small, big and old, he heard their cheers.
That was enough.

He gave a grin. “We are here today, because you wanted to hear something good, something new! Something… that will make you bang your head and roar with excitement!”

More roars and cries of approval were given. Nodding he then looked over the sea of dragons and didn’t want to delay much longer. Giving a final look over his controls, the lists, the plays made and so on, he took in more confidence.

“Many of you once believed that ponies, diamond dogs, griffins and other species were weak, nampy pampy mammals and such and could never be as hard core as us dragons, right?”

There were a lot of certain roars and growls of approval, though a small portion was divided and that was what he wanted more of. He gave a final grin before pulling up a track one of the devices usbs, highlighted it, then hovered over the play button.

“Well… I’m gonna prove you wrong!” He pressed play.

The heavy strum of violins was the first thing they heard, nearly causing many to jump that were nearby the speakers or the amplified gems, before the heavier part of the music really slammed down.

Many dragons were instantly blown away by the heavy drums and beats, even scaring a few of the larger ones at the intense noise. Those near the gems could feel the vibrations through the floor.

Stroke lights of red, dark blues and even a low gray began to flash all round the stage as the music began its first lyrics.

‘Mired in illusion, Lost in the Masters game!’
Silenced by the idea of time, Nurtured with lies and deceit!’

Dragons began to slowly grow accustomed to the loud noise, their heads slowly bopped to the music.

‘The silent seeker, the seer, Travels beyond the veil!
The silent seeker, the seer, Fleeing the dense womb of ignorance!’

While they didn’t know the lyrics right away, some began to really listen and pay attention, trying to find the words and sing them

‘To the trained eye, there are no coincidences!
The more you see, the less it makes sense!
To the trained eye, there are no coincidences!
If you can not see, You can not truly know!’

The music continued on and the dragons began to jump or cheer, or even begin some form of hitting one another, especially towards its peak. With a part of the song vocales area, the dragons banged their heads and began chanting with the song. They didn’t know the lyrics but they repeated what they heard.

‘We are the current sum of all the ages
Leaving a trail of burnt pages, Thrown into darkness as stars. We travel alone as one’

As the song continued with more vocal, Spike saw from the distance the elder dragons getting into the tune and it pleased him to know a few did enjoy it. In fact… he saw not far from it, Torch himself slowly bobbing his head. This really was a good look. The dragons in the area continued to bang their heads or each other in joy and were even trying to move with the music's tone. With heavy tones, they bounced or moved just as heavy.

The song was reaching its peak with the final heavy bass playing and the song going all out in its pitch in volume, the dragons were getting pumped and energetic. The vibrations were from both the music and the dragons stomping on the floor, slowly added to it by the bigger and older dragons.

The song hit its final notes, with arena fully blessed by its powerful intrsutrments, voices and the metal that it unleashed.

‘The silent seeker, the seer, Travels beyond the veil!
The silent seeker, the seer, Fleeing the dense womb of ignorance!!’

He flashed the lights to a dark red, matching the team of the song and the lava around them just as it dropped.

The cheers and roars overshadowed their arrival, practically even making his ears ring a bit. Ember and Smolder seemed to lavish in the cheers, but poor Occellus in her draconic form had to shield her ears with claws. Still, this was a success but he still knew that there was more.

Without waiting for anything else, he played the next song.

This one had a weird instrumental sound that no dragon, not even Ember, Smolder nor Occellus could identify. Spike just gave a grin and spoke through the microphone. “This… is dedicated to us dragons!”

A cheer rang through the pits, with stroke lights beginning to flash in dark colors of gray, deep blue and purple. Normally such colors would be terrible in such areas of night but the hazy glows of the nearby magma flows and rivers somewhat uplifted the lights. Suddenly the heavy rift of the guitar and drums began to play and then, the start of the song. Instantly, the dragons began to bang their heads.

‘Nomads plunging into the vast abyss, Unattached, Fleeing through the chasm!
Naked in pure darkness, embracing the new dawn!’

A weird nomadic chant played for a moment.

‘We are gods! Here for the taking!’
‘Yield to the Dragon's embrace!’ A powerful roar of approval and cheer came over them upon those words sung. ``We are Wolves, and snakes!
‘Yield to the Dragon's embrace!’

‘As pawns in this secret game, No one knows nothing!’
Yet, in the realm of sacred play, everyone knows everything!’

The music took a small dip in play, then it was instantly hit by a heavy blast of music and a cord that seemed to send a shockwave throughout the surrounding area.

‘A winged and secret flame! Leaving this paradigm, A dimension we are set to flee!
A winged and secret flame! Leaving this paradigm, A dimension we are set to flee!

Then the music shifted and became calm with the piano in play. Spike took the opportunity to speak as the slow segment of the song played with lights deeping a low blue and purple.

“My fellow dragons!” He said evenly, speaking into the microphone. A wonderful cheer of roars and approval greeted him. “This is a wonderful time to be here, to bring you something new and exciting, to fill your hearts with music and power!”

More roars and cheers greeted him, even by the adults. The music was pushing his confidence and while he knew that he could fail at it, they would all still love the outcome of what he would play for them.

As the music took on a sharp tone with the classical instruments, he spoke with the song then against.

“There will be a day where I hope that dragons and ponies and other creatures can come together to work in unison, and while I know that there are many who disagree, I know that if that day comes, we all come together and bang our heads in unison. If and when it comes, I ask that you join me, join them to make even more awesome music together. To sing, to dance and to become more than what we are now!” A roar of approval.

“So I ask, if that day comes, will you join me!?”

A loud roar of cheer greeted him.

“I SAID… WILL YOU JOIN ME!?”

The roar was deafening once more and every dragon joined in chant. With a grin, he yelled, ‘Then sing it with me!”

Then as if one, every dragon sang what they could remember.

‘WE ARE GODS, IN THE MAKING!

WE ARE HERE, FOR THE TAKING,

YIELD TO THE DRAGON’S EMBRACE!!!!!

WE ARE OF TRANSCENDENCE!

WE ARE… WOLVES AND SNAKES!!!!!!!!’

Grabbing the mic once more, Spike chanted into and pumped his fist up and down.

“Aye, Aye, Aye!”

Every dragon in return did the same, chanting in unison.

“AYE AYE AYE!” Matching in tandem with the beat.

Then the music slowed, in which a small dip would pause, but Spike purposely slowed it to a complete stop, along with lowering the audio and lights, giving a somewhat dramatic and uneased pause.

Then… he flipped everything to an eleven and the music blared out insanely high. It practically sent a musical shockwave throughout the area. Everydragon jumped up but with joy and energy as the song continued with full force.

‘A winged and secret flame! Leaving this paradigm! A dimension we are set to flee! The arrival is in the departure!
We are sculpted into life, by the hands of DEATH!!

“Once more, chant with me!” Spike demanded into the mic, pointing it out towards the crowd.

“We are gods! Here for the taking!
We are wolves! And snakes!
YIELD TO THE DRAGON’S EMBRACE!”

The song ended, but the cheers and roars practically vibrated him and his eardrums to almost defining levels. Like a volcano exploding, Spike endured the full power of what dragons were like when they really liked something and would do anything for more. Many seemed to have forgotten already that he was a pony raised dragon and that while he was nothing grand nor amazing, he brought this music to the lands. He knew that this was not a quick fix to a lot of things, it would probably start the process of dragons accepting ponies for more than what they were.

He turned to Ember, Smolder and Occellus. Ember and Smolder were proud and while the changedling had her ears held tightly with her claws, there was a somewhat approving smile on her. Feeling the support, he turned back to the mic and with a lick of his chops, he spoke to his crowd.

“You dragons want more!?”

The approval shook the stage once more. Spike didn’t hesitate and set the speakers to play the list of music he and Smolder set up.

The evening was in for a treat.

Four hours had passed, Spike played various songs, artists and more. Each one had varying tones of metal from heavy, to death, to black and so on. A few left dragons confused, while others left them wanting more and even the adults seemed to enjoy the odd song here and there.

The mosh pits that had begun in slow and low numbers, scattered here in there but over time, a huge pile of dragons began to slam and hit and ram into one another, grew to almost half the size of a hoofball field. A giant swirl of dragons, young and old enough to fit in it, where they banged and roared their heads at the music.

Ember felt like this was a mission success and even the adults that normally enjoyed watching the younger ones scuffle or fight, were now chearing over their brood in fights or others. Suffice to say, the music made the pits the most dangerous but most sought area to be in. Spike cringed at some of the violence before him but it seemed to make everyone around him happy.

Luna’s moon had risen high in the sky, indicating that it was near the middle of the night and perhaps time to put in a song that Occellus thought might be good to hear.

This was a song he actually felt was the most romantic metal song out there and he wanted to dance to it with Ember. However Ember saw that a massive brawl had suddenly involved teenagers and elder dragons together in the distance and she had to sort that out before others got killed.

“I'll be back, gotta fix this.” She took off without another word.

“Ember wait!” Spike tried to call out but it fell over the cheers of dragons wanting another song. This one he really loved and he wanted to dance with Ember to it. Still, he didn’t want to make the dragons more restless and many seemed to be hanging on just a bit longer. With a grunt, he turned to the Smolder and Kindle. “Looks like we got a nice song to end the night with. What say you two make this last one special?”

Both females regarded him for a moment and Smolder grinned. “Fuck yes!” She pulled up to the Mic using her tail to pull Kindle to her side. Grabbing the mic in claws, Smolder picked up on Spike’s uplifting vibes and added her own.

“Dragons and Dragonesses! This will be one of the last songs of the night!” A few cried out in dismay or annoyance but seemed to be happy getting a few more. She turned to Occellus and pulled her close so that others could see them closer together. She gave the brown dragoness a quick kiss on her face, earning a few cheerful chants or whistles and a blush from Kindle. Her brother giving her an encouraging nod too. Turning back out to the crowd, she set up for the next song.

“This one goes out to all the couples, hoards and pairs in between! For the love is out tonight!”

The song began with an upbeat tune, rather than the heavy metal ones they had been listening to all night. The rhythm was different and so was the synthesizer until the intrustments began to play the joy and the excitement returned.

The dragons that had couples, or in hoards or just mingling with others, began to jump into the tune with one another.

‘You’ll soon be hearing the chime! Close to midnight!’
If I could turn back the time, I’d make it all right!’

How could it end like this? There’s a sting in the way you kiss me!
Something within your eyes said it could be the last time, Fore it’s over!’
‘Just wanna be, Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight`!
‘Just wanna be, anna bewitch you all night!’

Spike quickly left Smolder and Occellus handled the booth as he took wing up and out to the sky to search for his heart.

‘It keeps on giving me chills, But I know now!
I feel the closer we get, to the last vow!’

‘I don’t wanna end like this(Like this, yeah)
But the sting in the way you kiss me!
Something within your eyes said could be the last time,
Fore’ it’s over !’

‘Just wanna be, Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight!
Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you all night! (All Night!)
Just wanna be, I wanna bewitch you one last time with me tonight!
Just wanna be, I wanna bewitch you all night!’ (All Night!)

Spike searched high and quickly for his beloved, his heart buried in a sea of dull colors and scattering of dull sparkling rainbows.
As he searched and searched, his heart ached, trying to find his sapphire amongst the rest of the lands and as he began to feel fear; he finally saw her.

She was amongst a group, trying to get away from them but was trapped and almost being buried by their dancing. Fear turned to determination and want to turn to need as he sought for his other half. Taking a swift dive down, he angled himself to come from the side under a larger and taller set of dragons.

He came fast and hard, focused and clear to help her and when his sharp eyes saw an opening, he shot forth, half skidding on a clear pathway. Ember barely had time to register his arrival when he scooped her, arm around her back and another under her legs and with a powerful gust of wind and force behind his wings, shot out and up into the sky.

He flew high enough up to be away from the crowd but low enough to hear the music, just as their forms were highlighted brightly by Luna’s sparkling moon. It was here that his dance and his love for him flourished for her, using the heated thermals to keep them high in the air.

‘Just wanna be, Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight!!!

Their eyes met, like two star crossed lovers, with smiles forming on both.

Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you all night! (Whoa Whoa!)

Ember and Spike twirled, as their love and wings help them dance in the air.
‘Just wanna be, Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight!!!
Just wanna be, wanna bewitch you all night! (All Night!)
They danced high above the others, their love blooming the world with moonlight.

Wanna bewitch you in the moonlight!(Moonlight)
Just wanna be, I wanna bewitch you all night!!!’

As the song began, Spike knew that this was the beginning, their beginning of a beautiful life here with her, the dragons… and perhaps something far more. Regardless of what happened to those who wanted him gone, he was happy here.

‘Woh-woh-who-wohh!
Woh-woh-who-wohh!
All night!
Woh-woh-who-wohh
Wanna bewitch you all night!!!’

Two hearts merged and the end of the night was just the begining of their lives.

Author's Note

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a BLAST!!!!! This chapter sat unoutched for a year while the others worked on. And so happy that this is the end of the first half of Death Likes me rough. Yes I know, first half and with the other half, it will be the end. Now, to clear a few things up.

Those who remembered in my blog post (here) may remember why I delayed this but for those who don't... well you can read it but Ill give short answer here.
My first intial debate for Death Likes me Rough was that it was going to tackle a global virus and infect Equestria. It honestly would have played out liek Covid, but... because real life covid happened, the story almost got canned and deleated. However, it was such a highlighted story and even begged on PMs and such to continue, I had to spend a good portion of time to revamp the story and mix things around. I didn't want to offend anyone with the original plot, especially those who have passed due to this virus(including family of my own) and make this hated. Now that covid is somewhat dying, I still feel uncomfortable to going back to the original plot. I even had to cut the story down by half.

With that issue, also came with my blog on how I felt on MLP. Now read it or not, I am still with what I said but since this is a Spike based story, I will focus on this one to finish it. The cut half is sadly only going to be five chapters. Again, I really wanted to write more but I refuse to use the original plot.
Next, there will be an interlude next after this a short one, followed by focuses on Spike ONLY, no one else. So if motives and all that will not be explained in the back, Spike is my focus and I chose to leave stuff in the back.

For those of you who are interested on how the original plot was going to be, the songs here and in the last chapters, hint at what was going to take place. Each song I chose specifically for what might have happened in the plot and what might still happen in this one. The song carry meaning and that is why I also wrote down the lyrics. Hell, I put in a few secrets in here for it! Listen to the songs, I hope you get hooked on the artists and listen to their amazing work!

Lastly, the clop was meh... sorry but written by rush so I apologize. If you got this far, yes I will try to get more SmolxCellyxEmbxSpi in future chapters. The next chapters will try to have a bit more clop.
Thank you all for understanding why this took awhile and I hope that I can update this with a bit more clarity and speed. Thanks also for sticking with me during these weird times in the world.

The Gods hide in Shadows

Death Likes me Rough

The Gods Hide in Shadows

Somewhere in the Outskirts of Equestria and Dragon Lands, Unknown region of the World where no laws and rules apply…

A portal opened up with a single whinte unicorn wearing a cloak walked out of the portal. The chancellor gave a grunt as he closed his portal behind him, appearing inside of a dimmly lit cave of torches and glowing rocks.

He paused as he looked around, giving a few careful glances before he spoke out. “My Love? I have returned!”

His words bounced around in the cave, echoing loudly until silence. After that silence, a laughter came and soon from the shadows of the cave, his beloved came. His heart melted and he approached his lover. From the shadows, a mare in white with pink bubblegum mane and tail came out. Her figure was tall, skinny and stunning with such radiating beauty that he had no idea how she fell for him.

Perhaps it was the fact that they shared a hatred for non-unicorns or perhaps that she was such a diviant in bed and treated him like such a ruler. Or… perhaps he was an old fool who fell in love with a beauty like her.

Either way, Fluer De Lis was his lover, a secret to high and above that she deserved to be a Princess far more than the other unholy abomination that currently rescided in Canterlot. He almost ran towards her, practically skipping to her. At the last moment, he was going to reach for her, kiss her and make love to her until she begged him to stop and…

“Sleep.” Was all that she said. Her voice going from sweet, to dark then… sinister. The command was quick and Neighsay almost ran face first into the ground as he collapsed, skidding right to her hooves. His gentle snores filled the cave and she half snorted with laughter. “And yet again, this gullible idiot thinks I would ever let him touch my body. Pathetic!”

From where she stood, a flash of green fire consumed the mare, covering her in a bright blaze then… where once stood a beautiful mare, now stood a taller insectoid-pony hybrid in black chinitn. Covering her form was a thin green dress made of silk that showed signs of wear and tear. It barely covered her dark green nippes or pussy, not that she cared.

Chrysalis, former changeling queen stood tall, proud and menacing. She gave a look of disgust to the pony that has been under her hypnosis this whole time. “I wouldn’t even urinate on you, if you begged.”

“Ohhh, sounds like something of a ugly fetish, don’t you think, former Queen!?” Chrysalis snapped her head to the voice and from the shadows emerged King Sombra. The black unicorn with a red horn, sturdy armor that surrounded his body and red cape, mockingly stroded forward. “I wonder what your subjects would think if they saw you do something like that?” A mock pause, then a grin. “Oh that’s right, you have no subjects.”

A growl/hiss left the queen as she charged up her horn and fired immediately at him. Sombra turned to mist, the beam harmlessly passing through him before he reformed. He cocked an eyebrow. “Touchy subject then?”

“I’ll kill you enough times where you’ll beg to stay dead, you souless husk!”

A sharp bark of laughter came from him. “Is that your best insult?”

A snarl left her but before she could launch herself, something flew into her vision. “Oh, hiya Chrsy! You remember, lil ole me?!” A pink pegasus hovered in front of her with baby blue curls and a matching dress.

Chrysalis gave a harsh snarl at her as well, trying to swap at her but the filly ducked and hovered a few feet away. “Hey! That’s not nice! Why would you try to hurt, lil me?!” She fauxed a pouting face.

“Probably the same reason she tried to hurt you the first time.” A red centaur came walking in. Lord Tirek, came stodding in bored tone. “Last I check, you grew and are likely a bigger target now and move slower?”

A big gasp left Cozy Glow. “Are you calling me fat?!”

The adults rolled their eyes but Sombra gave a grunt. “Why is this insufferable child with us, once more? You figured the ponies would have released her from stone to try and reform her or something?”

“Well duh, Sombrero!” A sharp ‘Ha!’ came from Chrysalis at the nickname and Tirek smirked at this. Sombra was not happy. “Why do you think I aged up?” She mockingly stated. “They brought me out, tried to reform me and then… I tried to take over Equestria again.” She looked down at her form with a still thin frame but decent breasts and a longer body. “Though one of the magic doohickies I used, made me older temporarily. But when they took my magic away, I didn’t revert back and got sent to jail this time because I physically had aged like… five years.” She then gave a soft groan. “I hit puberty like a train and it sucked.”

“Enough!” Barked Chrysalis. “How did you free us from the prison?”

“She didn’t!” A deep, menacing voice emerged from the shadows. Yellow piercing evil eyes glowed as with each step, a sense of dread came upon them. Unlike Sombra, the shadows didn’t cover him, he was the one who created the darkness and from the darkness, a ram standing almost as tall as Tierk emerged.

“Grogar!?” Each villain exclaimed. The ram with two long horns, body muscular and rigid, with a toned body that makes Tirek envious stood out from the shadows.

A pause for everyone before three of the four let out growls. “Discord! You are not pulling this off, again!” Chrysalis snarled, her horn charging up.

“We don’t need your hijinks to mock us!” Tirek exclaimed, his body ready to fight once more.

“Yeah, what they said.” Gozy stated, though she stayed her distance.

Meanwhile Sombra looked at them in confusion. “Why are you saying its Discord?”

Rather than respond, Grogar merely lifted his hand and with the magic and power he wielded, wrapped all three who spoke out against him by their necks. Each one was choked, lifted in the air gasping for breath as held their breathes in his palm.

Sombra looked mildly surprise at the notion, not really caring for their well being. Grogar held them like that for a few moments, waiting for them to understand that this was not Discord. That this was the real Grogar and he is not one to take jokes likely.

Finally, when their bodies strained for air, he dropped them all to the floor, letting their bodies land harshly. Each one took a deep breath, trying to regain their air and feeling so weak all of a sudden.

With a growl to match a dragon’s, the true Grogar moved towards them. “You do not dare mention, that idiots' names around me! Do you hear?!” He barked. While in recovery, they managed weak nods, while Sombra looked passively. “He played you like the toys you were and even when you had all that power, all that strength, you all,” He even glanced at Sombra. “-lost! How pathetic and weak you spineless creatures are!”

When the trio managed to regain their breathes, he remained glaring at them as he walked towards the center. With his hand, he conjured a stone chair from the very floor and sat down.

With a growl, he continued. “He soiled my name not just in front of you pathetic lots but in front of the world! They think now that I am just a name or tale that has been forgotten! That useless chimera will rue the day he even thought of disguising himself as me!”

Chrysalis worked her vocal cords until she managed to speak up enough, though she remained steady and choice with her words. “So… if you are not Discord, and you know we have failed in the past, why bring us here?”

For a moment, Gorgar gave a small silent glare at them and registered the information. “While you have failed, I will admit that you had come close,” A small snarl. “The good that did any of you. But with my bell destroyed, I have a new goal in mind and it involves each of you. This time, you will work together and you will followed my rules. If there is any attempt to try and overthrow me, just know,” The air grew deadly cold and the very walls trembled at his tone. “Death will be a mercy compared to what I will do to keep you alive as I torture you endlessly for eons! Even then, your souls will be mine as I will burn your life force until you fade from existence! DO NOT TRY ME!!!”

The ground shook, the air quaked and their hearts were beating heavily in their chest. Even Sombra was fazed by this but didn’t show it.

An unspoken agreement was made and he snorted. “You all had your chance to take over Equestria and you failed miserably. Even combining your forces, they still ended up beating you all and I find that pathetic. However-” He conjured up a projection that displayed a giant tower of sorts with a giant center piece surrounded by petal of metallic arches. “this is where you had merely adopted some passible details in your attempts.”

“This tower will be constructed and it will do what you idiots could never dream of. It will drain the magic of everything and channel it into a single place where I will be able to control it.”

Cozy gave a small snort. “I tried that already! Your just taking my idea and-” Grogar eyed her and she ‘eeped’ before hiding behind Tirek in fear. The centaur gave a grunt to get her off him.

The ram gave another snort. “You attempted to gather all the magic in Equestria, but this will gather all the magic in the world!” The projection showed the tower drawing in all the magic and creatures from all over will falling over. Not just ponies, but dragons, changelings, griffins, even monsters he had created and other magical items!

“Everything, every little creature, every annoying little amulet, will be drained and pulled into here. Once this is done, I and I alone will contain the world’s only source of magic.” He then eyed them all with a small snarl. “Only and only if you prove your loyalty to me, will I share it enough to allow to rule your own areas and slaves.” He stopped the projection. “You will each have your own tasks and within time, your powers will grow as I grow with it.”

Sombra, for the first time eyed the ram with unconvinced skepticism. “Do you think we could hide something like that from the world?” He asked truthfully. “Surely a structure that grand will be notice, either by the ponies or other creatures.”

“I have to agree with Sombra on this one,” Tirek added with crossed arms. “To erect it would draw unwanted attention, not to mention the materials to bring it all together.”

Grogar gave a small wave of his hand. “That is where you all lack insight. Each one will take on a task to bring my project together. You already started it when each of you were given a task when you were freed.”

Chrysalis gave a small hiss of annoyance. “So you were the one who told me to manipulate this idiot,” she pointed behind her at the unconscious form of the Chancellor Neighsay. “-into a racist extreme rant on Celestia, her lizard son. He's either dead by now or weak. Though why ask me to kidnap the scientists?” She crossed her arms under her massive breasts. “Last I checked, they are still looking for most of them.”

Grogar snorted. “That is why I need you to infiltrate the castle and manipulate as many of them as possible. They will construct my machine under the guise of a new project. Canterlot will think it something for their benefit when it reality, it will destroy them.”

The ram turned to Cozy. “Despite your first attempt to take all the magic, I will say you were within adequate standards of using relics to aide in doing so. I will provide you with the materials used to make it happen once more.” Gozy slightly beamed at the minimalist praise but remained silent.

“Tirek, you are the expert of manipulating fields and drainage of magic. Your task will involve to bend and mold those materials to withdraw all forms of magic. Whether it be pony, creature or even a blade of grass, that machine will take everything.”

He then settled on Sombra. “As for you,” Sombra gave a raised eyebrow. “You will hide the machine when a section or piece is done in your shadow realm. No creature will know it is there and will not attempt to think you are alive once more to aide us.”

Sombra stayed silent but gave an optimistic shrug. “I will do it, but only if I can keep my Crystal Empire to me and control those who live it under my rule, no one else.”

Grogar gave a glare. “Do not test this alliance with patience. You aide in this, you will get what you desire. But cross me, and not even the shadows and death will protect you from my wrath.”

Both opposing forces stared at one another, trying to out glare one another and make the other flinch. It almost seemed at a stalemate but Sombra lost, though he passed it off as a scoff.”Very well, when a piece is complete, it will remain hidden.”

Grogar gave snort and stood from his chair. “Once more, this will require patience and unity through our common goal to control the world, will we remain victorious. If you follow my law, you will become gods! If you remain loyal to me, your life will remain unchallenged! And when the time comes four our foes, our enemies and every single creature who stands in our way, will feel the might of our power!” With that, he looked at each one of them. “Now, who is ready to watch the world burn?!”

Author's Note

The darkness is coming, no one sees it coming and it will be so hard to stop them.

This is nothing short of a filler and I apologize. Now, the real story has been cut down again and it will now be a three to four chapter that will time skip alot. I apologize but this story needs to end for something much more different. The characters are now going to stay on Spike and Spike alone. This is just to let you know of the plot behind the scenes and what will cause a stir in the world.
The long delay, despite covid changing its outcourse has ruined what would have been a long grand story. But I still thank you all for staying with it.

Death's favorite

Death Likes Me Rough

How often do you think of death? Every second? Every day? Does it cause you fear? Do you avoid it in every way? How much does it really affect your life? To the point where you know that any given moment, it could be your last breath of air, and you will not ever, ever breathe life again?

All of that… really didn’t register to him, at least, not fully at first. But when you have the literal incarnation of Death staring right at your face, you tend to ask those silly questions. Now, Death staring at you was one of many ways one realizes they are dead, but it could also symbolize that you are about to die or very damn near it. So of the three possible scenarios, he wasn’t sure why he was staring at it.

Skeletal features were the obvious factor in knowing you were staring at Death. The boned face with no eyes, no skin of any features on it. Black, empty, void filled eyes stared at you with the unease of lacking any sound, even breathing. No rise or fall of their shoulders to showcase their signs of air intake. The standard cloak that masked the rest of the body, giving the impersonation of a body underneath but knowing full well, there was nothing. However, what truly made this an epidemic of odd situations is that A, the face of Death was formed into that of a dragon head, with horns popping out the top of its head and wings of bone along with a long tail. B, that despite the lack of facial features, it was looking right at him with a somewhat pleased look, seeing the tapping end of its tail, as if expecting him to finally take into account why he was here. And finally,… Death was in fact… female. The cloak masked all features of its body, but that didn’t stop if from creating the illusion of breasts lying underneath it. That was the odd part… which he could not help at stare at it… until the said incarnation of death had moved right up to his face.

It… or she was now right up to his face, standing not a foot away with her bone face right in front of him. He was sure that if he was alive… he would have been scared to death… no pun intended… or maybe it was? He didn’t know, but either way… Death being right in front of him, didn’t scare him. Rather it seemed oddly natural for it… her to be right there.

Neither of them said nor made a move towards one another and despite them being in some odd void, Spike felt comfortable here. It felt almost… familiar. Him being surrounded by nothing but standing in the presence of Death herself. As if to assure his awareness of his presence in here, he slowly leads a clawed out towards her.

She copied his movement and brought her boned clawed hand to meet his and both hands hovered in front of each other. Slowly, contact was made, and Spike didn’t experience cold or bone, rather he felt like if he was touching against scale, if a bit cooler but not icy like he expected. Their claw digits then split and both hand moved into intertwine with each other and Spike sighed with some content.

“So…” he began, his voice finally catching up to him. He carried his voice with some disappointment but held back some enthusiasm. “Is this finally it? Am I dead?”

Death remained silent, only slowly cocking her head but still enjoying the feeling of his claws against her boney clawed hand. The textures were in detail that she could feel on his scales. The way her own digits slightly pulled or brushed up his palm, she enjoyed having him touch her.

“No,” she answered. Her voice felt somewhat heavy and cold, with the end of her words leaving with a small hiss and echo. Despite having no physical voice box or vocals, her words came directly from her mouth and small hints of air, left it, which felt just a tad bit cold. “You are just going through the motions again.” As if to clarify, she rejumbled his memories and he gave a soft gasp. Yes, memories of the amount of times he has visited her… were in high double digits. All the clear times of his… near demise searched back into his head. He remembered everything now.

He sighed once more and finally looked at her with solemn eyes.

“How close this time?”

She cocked her head a bit to the left, her palm separating from his own claws. Bringing them towards his face, she gently caressed his snout, running her digits across his face.

“A high dosage of poison had coursed through your system. An assassin was sent to kill your mother and yourself. You took the first sip from the glass and it sent you into catatonic state and when you fell, your mother did not drink. Luckily, you are highly immune to it but they slipped something else into it.”

“Hmmm, Dragon’s Bane?” he asked.

A small nod came from Death. She continued to brush his muzzle until she slowly ran it down his neck.

“Dragon’s Bane and a mix of magical coolant to kill your heart’s fire, would leave you in state where your body’s immune system would fail and leave enough of the poison to kill you off.”

He shook his head in disappointment.

“How did it get pass my nose, I wonder? I could smell what a pony had for breakfast the morning before on his breath. I could smell the Sweet Apple Acres’ trees from Canterlot. How could I have missed something as potent as Dragon’s Bane and coolant?” Emotions were useless down here, where it was just him and ‘her’, but he did voice his disappointment.

A soft ticking sound came from Death, as if she was clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Tsk, tsk, dear Spike.” She chided in a soft manner. “These assassins are extremely patient, up to the point where they have been planning this for a year. Every time you ordered a drink, they slipped in a small amount of it, barely noticeable, along with adding high amounts of sugar, as if not to disturb your sense of smell. After which, your nose became accustomed to it and Dragon’s Bane was also spread throughout the castle to lower your immunity. The rest… well, you wouldn’t be here if your guards were better.”

Her boney hand reached up to his chest, where old scars flashed across his chest, before fading into a clean body. He felt the old wounds and felt her own hand. He had reached out and touched her skull. Once more, he expected cold or hard surfaces but felt gentle scales run through his palm. He remembered she would create a small illusion through her body to make herself a little less… colder. Hence the reason she could make herself feel like she had on scales, as well as give the illusion of a female body. Speaking of female, he brought his claws from her face, trailing them down her cloak from the neck like she did, and landed them on her breast.

“Never understood why you still have breasts. I know your female. I know you know that you don’t need breasts to be female. Just your voice enough is clarify your female.” And with those words, Death’s breasts became suddenly flat and Spike let out a small whine from his mouth.

In a simple voice, she answered. “That’s why.”

“Sorry,” he said, bowing his head in shame. Though he couldn’t help it, he still held his hands were her breasts were. As if waiting for them to return. A short pause with no motion and they returned, almost like a party balloon, they inflated into his palms, earning a big cheeky smile from him.

“So, do you wish to know what happens next?” she asked, in her cold gentle voice.

Letting his palms drop from her chest, he shook his head.

“No, I got a general idea of what’s happening now or next anyway. Mom is freaking out, Twilight is crying, and right now there is a nationwide ponyhunt for the ponies that tried to kill me and mom. Or if Ember hears of this, there would be a small army of dragons scourging Equestria for these ponies too. And… I think that if I return, I would probably be sending them your way.”

Another pause filled between them before Death gave a small shake of her head.

“You are not that heartless. If anything, your mother might do it first.”

Spike gave a small snort.

“You sure about that?”

“… No, not her either. Emotions… to controlled.” A small wave of her clawed hand, she manifested a scroll in front of her.

“… The princess of the Moon and Stars on the other hand…”

“Wait, really?” he asked in surprise. “She is the one that kills them?”

Looking up from her scroll, she stared at him.

“Indirectly. In their dreams, she haunts them until they die of a heart attack. Not all of them. The others die… much worse and from the hands of others.” She paused and a small nod from her scroll, she looked up at him. “You will be there to witness it.”

“Brutal,” he winced at that thought. Aunty Luna was never above putting a pony down for crimes against other ponies but her last execution was well over a thousand years ago. As for him being there when they all die, it … unnerved him. Yet you cannot change fate. Shaking his head, he looked towards Death. “Can I get some info on who ordered the hit on me?”

The scroll in her claws disappeared and she cocked her head to the right.

“Now if I did that, wouldn’t you hate to be spoiled by the surprise? Besides… you are still young and ambitious, a future unset to anyone outside of the realms of normality. Would you wish to deal with everything so easily?”

Spike sighed.

“I guess not. Though, this begs the question… why do you still allow me to return? I have died so many times now, only to return. You’ve never answered my question before and it's not like there’s….”

In a flash of light, he returned to the world, taking in a huge gasp of air and grunting. His eyes blurred, with bright lights over head and the loud ringing in his ears muffled voice of ponies around him.

His mind was foggy but he began looking around, seeing the blurred images of his mother and Twilight. A burning, pain-filled sensation formed through his stomach and he moaned out a bit of pain.

A gentle magical aura formed around his chest and belly, easing his pain. With a soft grunt, his vision cleared, and his mother looked at him a bit worried.

“Are you okay, Spike.” Sweet Celestia’s voice, something he will never, ever forget, nor hinder. As his mother’s hand roamed across his muzzle, Twilight also voiced her concern.

“Oh Spike,” Twilight said, through sniffles and tears. She quickly but gently reached around to give her ‘brother’ a hug. “We were so worried for you! As soon as you screamed in pain, we just knew something was up.”

He knew what had happened, but Death herself explained that if he were to tell what he knew, it could change the course of history and the line in which a pony or creature was to die. And Death hated being cheated.

“W-What happened?” he feigned ignorance. “I remember drinking and then… it felt like my stomach was burning me? Burning me!” He exaggerated. Though, his stomach did continue to cause some burning.

With a growl that could match his own, if not more, his mother responded.

“Assassins!” She hissed. Even though he knew of them, he still shivered, only because his mother was a lot more scarier than any other creature in Equestria when she is pissed. “They poisoned your drinks. Mine too. Had I drunk it first, it would have been merely agony for hours but it would have faded. They used strong concoctions. But to poison a sixteen-year-old dragon, my son nonetheless!”

“B-But I would have smelled it. I could smell anything.” He continued to play his part. “How did they get past me? Not to mention, I have been poisoned before. It was never this strong.”

“Whoever they were,” began Twilight. “They were extremely patient. Not long after you…” she couldn’t say it but continued on. “Well, I ran a test on your drink and found that it was an extra concentrated dose, but they have been using sugar or even gem dust to cover up the smell.” She paused and looked at Celestia before turning back to him. “Also, we started finding Dragon’s Bane around the castle walls. Your room, my room, Celestia’s… All in tiny forms but masked with other flowers and painted walls.”

He was still severely dazed, not to mention that despite coming back from the dead, his stomach continued to ache terribly, though he wondered why Death hadn’t cured his ailment there. Trying to sit up, he pushed himself up, only for Celestia to gently ease him back down on the bed.

“Relax, my son. We don’t need you to exert yourself.”

He grunted, shaking his head in denial.

“We ha-have to catch these bastards!” He growled. “What if somepony else drank that stuff instead of me? Twilight? Another noble? …a foal or a diplomat?”

Just the thought of somepony or somecreature else getting hurt by ponies made his blood boil. Death was right, he would never kill; not because he was a coward to do so but because he was regarded as an Equestrian Icon and Hero. From ponies, to changelings, dragons and more, a lot of creatures looked up to him in a positive light. He brought some of them so close together. If he were to fall to dark, even a little, it would all be undone. He was still young, but his destiny as an icon had to continue.

“We have already caught the two that had poisoned your drink in the kitchen,” remarked his mother. She continued to caress his head. “Once we interrogate them, we will find the others whom have been planning this.”

Nodding, he sighed and relaxed a bit. However, his stomach turned and groaned at him. “Still hurts a bit,” he said with a soft groan.

Twilight nodded.

“Turns out, they have been using really strong stuff. The poison we found in the drinks and in you could have really done some damage. Though the poison was traced back to a certain plant located in the Everfree.”

That was news.

“Everfree?” He paused then a thought popped up to him and Twilight thought the same. “Zecora?” they both said out loud.

Celestia keyed in.

“We sent guards to retrieve her. We had sent for her as soon as we found the poison. Not much could harm a dragon but if something did, no normal hospital would carry the necessities to treat you. But now we may find out if she had supplied these would-be assassins after us.”

“Mother you couldn’t possibly think that…”

“Whether she knew it or not, we still have to bring her here. She is the only one that knows how to deal with your ailment.” Moving away, she sighed in exhaustion. “For now, I must go and deal with the court. I had to cancel any courts until I knew you were alright.”

Spike paused at that, before looking up at his mother.

“Wait cancel courts? We were eating dinner last? How long was I out for?”

An uncomfortable silence passed between the three and a tensed glance between Celestia and Twilight was caught. Trying to dissuade him, Twilight spoke.

“Spike, for now you just need to rest and get better. Don’t worry about…”

“How long was I out for?” he asked firmly.

“… five hours. You were dead when we reached you fell to the floor. As we tried to revive you, Celestia and I, we poured all of our magic in to you as best we could. Your heart didn’t start pumping until an hour or so ago.”

“So during those five hours…”

Celestia spoke evenly, though she held in a harsh tone..

“In a fit of rage, I went searching through the castle to try and find the… ponies who poisoned you. While Twilight was taking care of you as best she could, I was using every resource and magical resource to find the ones responsible for this. I managed to track them down for a bit but they had me on a wild goose chase for several hours. When I did try catch them, I wanted nothing more then to hurt them the way they hurt you…”

She stopped, took in a deep breath and exhaled. She was used to wearing a strong mask in front of ponies… but never in front of Spike nor Twilight.

“… I nearly did, but Twilight informed me she managed to jump start your heart. It’s only because of that they are in cells and not six feet under.”

He dared not look his mother in a different light, nor would he judge her ever, if she had proceeded through with their execution. Motherly instinct was a powerful thing and if it was anything that Fluttershy had taught him, is that Tarturas held no fury like a mother’s wrath.

As for his death…

He has died on multiple attempts prior, but rarely when another one was around or unable to reach him in time. A claw full of times, they were accidental from friends. Hell, even his mother accidentally killed him twice. Once accidentally overfeeding him with gems as a hatchling. He choked on a huge piece and managed to turn blue, if only for his mother to manage to get him to gag out the piece. The other time was when she fell asleep on top of him after breast feeding him.

Twilight used/volunteered him for her experiments. He had been blown up, electrocuted, poisoned from inhalation, drowned in chemicals. The list went on.

The first time he had encountered Death was when he was 12. She was tall, she was imposing but yet, Spike saw her as beautiful. When she first spoke, it echoed like a dark cold cave where hope seemed absent and light was vanquished. When she showed herself as a dragoness but cloaked, he was enthralled by how real and warm she could become. Though it felt like hours or minutes, he would return to living, within that moment or hours later. Death had an odd sense of time manipulation and she had her reasons why. He never got the answers then, nor would he ever get them when he would visit her over the many years after.

The rest of his life was being, what it threw at him and he would be dead for a couple of minutes before miraculously coming back from the dead. Though… every time he did die from said ‘way-of-death’ he was either immune to that way of dying again or he would miss an accidental death by an inch or two from it.

After dying the tenth time in his life, when he drowned in a bathtub, he had found himself inhaling water once more, but it really didn’t have the drowning affect on him right after, though it got uncomfortable not long after.

Same with being electrocuted; that turned into a tingling sensation. Twilight’s chemicals just made him sneeze now. He could hold his breath for about 30 minutes now. If he ate too much and something got stuck in his throat, he just coughed instinctually, and it would go to his stomach. He once fell hard on his neck enough to crush his windpipe, but after ‘recovering’ from it, he tried to choke himself, but his neck grew thicker scales and muscles.

So now came the next question and that is, if he were to swallow the poison again, would he be immune to it? Or would he just expel it from his mouth or… probably a lethal gas blast from his ass?

Yeah… silent but deadly… literally. He prayed no one was around when it happened. Though he guessed the reason for Death not healing him would be a tad suspicious from the others.

Though it felt like hours, Zecora came in about half an hour, not only with a large bag full of her remedies, but her odd but welcomed loving and carrying nature. She was a little taller than Twilight but still smaller than Celestia and a bust to match hers. She walked in, seemingly a bit discomforted, by no doubts the tale she was told. Though it showed that she was rushed, only carrying a robe on her back and her hand stitched clothing.

“Zecora!” Twilight warmly greeted her. “I am so happy you came!” She gave the large zebra a warm hug.

A small smile formed on the zebra’s muzzle, enjoying the hug before separating.

“When urgent soldiers came to my door, I was at once aware, my services were being asked for. A quick tale was told to me, about young Spike I need to see. For evil and ill has been casted on him, by assassins who are quite grim.”

Celestia gave the zebra shaman a quick nod.

“Indeed and I wish to apologize if my soldiers seemed a bit rushed, but we needed you. No hospitals in Canterlot carry any remedies for poisonings, especially on dragons. The hospital in Ponyville, thanks to Twilight’s school and needs to help any creature, might have helped but we feared moving him over there might had been… lethal. Not to mention that some of the ingredients were plants only seen in the Everfree.”

She gave a nod to her, understanding their suspicion, before moving to Spike, who was excited to see Zecora. The large zebra made her way to him, giving him a comforting hug, one Spike liked very much with her breasts around his head. “Hi Zecora,” he said, a bit weakly. “I guess you heard the bad news?”

A small frown formed on her face. She brushed her hand over his head and seeing small residue where parts of his scales had turned pale.

“A crime most heinous and vile, I would wish these ponies fed to a cragadile.” Wow, even Zecora had a mean streak too, he thought. “I would ask, why Dragon’s Bane do you bask?”

“They had placed those in places all over the castle,” pipped in Twilight. “They tried to weaken his immune system.”

Zecora gave an unruly grunt. Bringing her bag with her, she began to set up herbs and liquid vials around the counters in the room.

“Monsters in the Everfree, less violent and evil than I see. Poison the royals in their drinks of glass, if I cross their paths, I would really like to kick their---”

“We have two in custody,” Interrupted Celestia. “Worry not, for the others will be apprehended soon.”

Zecora gave a small grunt of acknowledgment before turning to the two royals.

“For peace and quiet, is what I need. To heal his body, is a great deed. Meditation, relaxation, detoxification, I will help him beyond normal medication.”

Celestia nodded.

“I understand, though you sure you do no need other doctors or nurses to aid you?”

Zecora shook her head, already mixing her brews.

“I work better all alone, so not to be messed within my zone. Treachery already exists in your castle walls, trust and integrity will cause some falls. Seek the evil ponies who cause this tragic, least I find them, and show them the shaman’s magic!”

Both Twilight and Celestia knew of Zecora’s alchemy and potion magic. She might not be a magic user, but she could whip up a potion that could either paralyze, maim, distort, alter, or even kill a pony. There have been times when Zecora had demonstrated her skill in not only her magic potions but that she could defend herself from harm, knowledge that ponies in Ponyville have gained when she goes through the Everfree.

“Very well, though please allow some guards to be by the door, as a safety measure in case they want to try and…” Twilight didn’t finished but Celestia gave her a small hug.

“He will be fine.” She gave her son a warm smile. “He always comes out of it.”

A small weak smile formed on him and he nodded. As Zecora prepared her work station, Celestia moved to him, gave him a quick kiss to the top of his head and rubbing his face with her gentle palm.

“I love you, Spike.”

“I love you too, mom.” She moved away and Twilight quickly took her place, giving him a quick hug before smiling.

“You take care Spike. Everypony is cheering for you.”

He gave a nod and a smile. Ushering their ‘goodbyes’, the two royals that he loved walked out of the room and closing the door, leaving Spike alone with Zecora. Knowing he was good in Zecora’s hands, he tried to relax a bit more, settling in a comfortable position despite the pain raging in his gut.

For several minutes, Zecora was moving around her little makeshift workshop. Spike tried to retain some level of comfort despite the pain that gnawed in his gut. He instead tried to focus on the soft humming and mumbling of Zecora’s voice as she worked around. He however didn’t notice that she took a swig of one of her own viols or that she was squeezing her breasts every now and then.

The next view moments had Zecora finally mixing the last of her ingredients into a single potion, where a distinct smell soon tickled his nose and he wondered what she had created just for him. He hoped it was nothing nasty.

“So… what will help poor old me out?” he painfully asked. “Though with you here, I should have nothing to worry about?”

Zecora’s eyes crossed for a second, cocking her head to him and she wondered if Spike was teasing her rhyming. Seeing that his pain still carried across his face, she mumbled something in her native tongue before sighing and turning to him.

“My dear child, what I must give you is nothing mild. The poison that runs deep in your blood, I cannot afford to make a dud. While a dragon’s biology is quite queer, my remedies shall do their job, have no fear. But while I have the remedy ready, what must be done now, might make you unsteady. For me now, I need to be only half dressed, for you to drink from my breast.”

“Uh… what?”

Under no circumstances, had he been prepared for what she did next. She removed her cloak, leaving only her upper and lower clothing where her belly was exposed. Zecora didn’t carry the normal, hourglass figure most mares sought out for, but Zecora had a firm body that matched her large bosom and flank. So, when she removed the top half of her stitched clothing, Spike’s mouth dropped, despite the heavy pain in his gut and he watched as Zecora revealed her giant bust.

Despite being smaller than his mom, Zecora still carried a rack that matched his mom’s C-cup. Nothing to big that seemed outrageous, but something that any male would happily bury his face in. Not to mention that at sixteen, his hormones were still kicking in.

Seeing his gaping stare, the zebra gave a small wiggle, causing her breasts to jiggle and she squeezed her black nipples, managing to make milk seep from her tip! That really made Spike stare in great awe at them.

“In order to aid the pain in you, you must be fed milk daily, until you feel good as new. Natural body milk, perfect for detoxification, smooth as silk, that feels like powerful medication. I have drank part of the cure, mixing with my milk to help you endure. With my milk, your body will begin to heal, so please take a suckle for it is now your meal.”

She leaned forward and brought Spike’s head to her breasts. Spike was still too stunned to move but when he felt the zebra brush his jaw unto her breasts and the nipple brush against his mouth, instinct kicked in and he opened his mouth to allow her nipple in. Just a small amount of pressure around her nipple and milk began to flow into his mouth.

Rich, warm taste and texture filled his mouth, silky like she said and tasted so heavenly. He remembered when his mother had breast fed him, especially since he continued to do so until he was seven. And it was heavenly to say and all Zecora’s milk was bring those memories back. However, there was a distinct after taste, he guessed it was the remedy she had swallowed, though it didn’t delude the milk taste. Not to strong but blended nicely with the sweetness that rushed into his mouth.

Meanwhile Zecora had let out a sigh, of relief from the sound of it and she actually enjoyed as Spike relented, giving in while suckling from her like a newborn foal. His teeth just gently scratched her tits, making small, gentle scratches across. Spike was very careful with his teeth so it was something they both managed.

At some point, Zecora moaned and Spike looked up, without taking his mouth completely out of her breasts. Seeing the zebra with her eyes closed, mouth open and seeing her in an ecstasy type of state, he knew she was enjoying this.

A small sniff from his nose did confirm it. Though in truth, he was too. The milk was easing the pain in his belly quickly and though there was a small throbbing, he continued to suckle to ease it quickly.

Who could blame the sixteen year old dragon, leaving his hatchling hood and becoming a pre-teen drake. Pony years, he was a teenager heading to adulthood. Dragon years, barely dropping his metaphorical nutsack. Though it didn’t help that beautiful mares had surrounded him all his life, including his own mother. Yet here he was, in a recovery room, drinking milk straight from the tits of a beautiful mare. Pre-teen or not, his dragonhood was starting to show, judging by the tint forming underneath the blankets.

Zecora finally noticing this after feeling her own pleasure starting to rise, she gave the dragon a small smirk.

“Ah, I see, the dragon’s quirk comes to me.” At this, Spike blushed and tried to force his throbbing hood from peeking up. He had a pair of shorts and the blanket to cover but it still didn’t hide the obvious growing size. “Worry not about your shame, I understand my breasts are to blame. A drake growing day by day, has little control what his body will say. A little hatchling, you still are, but your adolescents is not too far.”

Pulling her nipple away from him, Spike let out a small whine of complaint.

“Worry not, my little one, the feeding you enjoy is not yet done. My need to help you, will remain true. However, I must now prepare, a drop or more of your essence I hope to snare.”

“My… what?” His stomach was settling now, with the amount of milk he had suck almost dry from one of her breast. However, the need for more was warrant and he was a bit dizzy from it. Not in a bad, nasty feeling dizzy but where a light warmth had surrounded him, with a gentle caress running inside of his head.

She had brought over an empty vial, somewhat bigger than her palm, with a thin plastic top. Removing the top of it, she brought the vial close to his crotch, rubbing the clear vial across his organ through the layers between the two.

“What I ask from you is a need, a great amount of your dragon seed. A very potent ingredient I want, to search for other ailments that warrant gaunt. Continue to drink from my breast, until you feel ready to rest. While you finish that last of your milk, provide a huge load famous from your ilk.”

Was he sure that he wasn’t dead and ‘Death’ wasn’t messing with him? Was he being punked? Did he get sent to Elysium and was being rewarded for his brave deeds?

No… he was sure he was alive and maybe dreaming. However, the feeling of Zecora’s hand on his dragonhood, despite the layers between her palm and his, was still a great feeling. He however had no experience whatsoever. He had only started masturbating the last few years and the closest he ever got to rubbing another female was… well his mother, although she never seemed to mind his odd groping of her breasts.

But now here he was, being rubbed through blankets and shorts by a beautiful mare that he had known most of his life. Still, he warranted some cation and hoped not to go to fast. He began to remove the blanket above him, using his feet and tail to pull it down, all the way to the bottom where only his grey shorts with a pitched ‘tent’ was seen.

He then began to unzip his shorts, slowly and carefully not to get caught in the zipper line as he pulled it over his hill, exposing the black underwear beneath his shorts. His face was flushed with embarrassment at the thought of exposing his rod to another female. Zecora however, seemed quite amused.

“Worry not, my little Spike. Be not ashamed of being still a tyke. Years from now, you will grow to the point where this here will be bigger than a cow!” She said, pointing at his cock. He was already at full mass and she seemed pleased at least, at the size. It was true, he was still young but maybe in the future he would grow and it would get bigger. Though at seven inches, it seemed big enough. He was still young and small compared to a lot of stallions. He barely towered over Twilight so he wasn’t really sure what his ‘status quo’ would be at a normal size.

Regardless of his size, the zebra shaman took it with a firm grip, causing Spike to gasp. Feeling her firm fingers through the cotton of his underwear made him feel static. She managed to slowly stroke his pointed staff, through the bottom and moving to the top in a slow stroking motion.

She then began to ease her way onto his bed, trying to lie with him. Seeing this, he quickly made room, still trying to maintain contact through his cock and her hand. The bed slightly protested at the extra weight but settled as Zecora lied to her side with her breasts once more pressed against his face and her hand firmly stroking spike.

Not needing to be told twice, he latched on to her nipple, this time taking the other one to begin draining it. Meanwhile, Zecora removed pulled down his underwear and manage to get hold of his hot cock. The sensation was better without the fabric in the way and he moaned through her breast.

She began slow, gentle strokes on his flesh, rubbing up and down his organ. Spike gave a soft moan as the zebra stroked his organ, moving his hips as the zebra hummed in her own language, turning Spike into a sleepy horny, giant toddler and drifting off to sleep, nursing from her wonderful bust.

Author's Note

Thanks to the wonderful RomeoDkat for the editing on this story.
Now as for this story, this comes with a story and i will tell it here.

So, i am an Uber driver in Los Angeles and i am a unique one in that i have furry/mlp pins on my ceiling that establishes the kinda person i am. One day, i get a passenger, that happens to be a fan and asked(by some fucking chance) if i read/write on fimfiction. I said i am a writer and they loose their shit! There and then, i told them my name on fimfiction and they asked if i can commission for him a story. One that made no fucking sense at the time but who the hell am i to refuse stories?

So they told me to write this fic, but with Zecora being the biggest challenge ever. Now, what i am saying now is a quote they told me and i am just repeating it.
"I Hate fucking writers whom are to fucking lazy to write a zecora fic without her rhyming and don't even try!" I kinda have to agree with them but moving on from that.

After we keep contact, they paid me... roughly a lot of money, just to make this story but also, to make sure that Zecora rhymed when ever she spoke and paid me a little extra to keep it that way. 'Rhyming is an art and it should be treated as such." I was told.

To be quite honest, Zecora's rhyming is actually easy... really easy. It was fun trying to rhyme her in this story and i feel as though not many people try to make her rhyme so they just give lazy or bad excuses to not have her rhyme. Hell, you give me a story where she is involved, i will rhyme any word you can throw at me and make sure it is good... for free!
Long story short, i got paid to do this story and if it does well, i will continue you it... when they get back to me on how the reviews are and will send me the rest. I don't know it this will make sense but i hope that this story is decent to a point where i can continue to edo something this fun.

Death's Alteration

Author's Note

Another song inspiring this chapter, this one you have to pay attention to the lyrics. It actually is on par with this chapter. If you don't get it, its fine but I really enjoyed being inspired by this song to put it in.
As for the chapter itself, it was more of a real life scenario that happened to me at point so I included a bit of my life into it and wondered if I will come across a scenario like this again.
I posted the next chapter right away because I have at least 55 pages and longer going with this. So I pass a certain one and keep going from there.
No editors were used except Hemingway Editor and that's about it... so... yeah.

Death's Alteration

Death Likes me Rough

Death's Alteration

A soft clicking sound echoed. Like a tongue against the roof of the mouth, it bounced in the void around.

“Hmmm… something has changed.” She commented outloud.

Spike found himself once more in front of death, whom seemed a bit more active than before.

“What has changed?” he asked in a monotone voice. “Is it a bad change?”

She was in her cloak, yet her skull only provided the blank feature that all skulls carry. Yet, he could tell that some sort of excitement has her buzzing around. “You have changed. Rather, your history, your future that is too come, has change.” Her voice blew misty cold air around and he could tell that she captivated by this. Was it a good sign?

“How?” Was all he asked. She didn’t reply. Instead, she turned her head away from him. He heard her muttering off to herself. She was in conversation, but it was as if someone was in front of her, rather than her mutterings being to herself. After a minute, she stopped and turned to him.

“A temporal time displacement has occurred and despite its natural course of self-containment over itself, the temporal shift in your reality has altered the alignment of your current heading.”

He blinked once, looking at her before sighing.

“Uh… in Equish please?”

She moved closer to him, where her head was close to his. He starred at the void eye sockets where he swore he saw a glimmer in there.

“Something has changed your future. Time tried to correct itself and was successful but not without a small missed step. Your future has changed a bit, but it is still on the same path.”

“Is it a bad change or will I even be aware of it?”

She shook her head, reaching over with her bone claws to brush his face. “The change is how you and I see it. For you, it could be bad, but for me, it means more souls will pass on then the previous set course.”
He cocked his head a bit.

“More souls? Like more… ponies will die? How?”

“That is what your future has changed to, dear Spike.” She leaned in and brushed her boney features across his muzzle. “You are responsible for it.” She then pulled back. “But I ask that you forgive my actions that may cause it.”

“What?”

He was then yanked back hard into the living world once more.

A brushing feeling came across his muzzle. He felt the caress of hard hands brushing over his face and he could hear the voices that surrounded him. They were loud and plentiful. He then felt more hands on his body. Two of them seemed to be holding down his arms while another larger set of hands or claws in this case held his legs.

It took him a second before he felt an extreme burning sensation on his arms and legs where he had the pikes inserted. That itself, got a reaction out of him but his body was still to weak to protest, so all that left him was a painful moan of agony.

“I know, I know,” came a sweet angelic voice. “But we have to heal your wounds so you didn’t lose anymore blood.” Lose anymore? How much more did he have to spare? If he would be experiencing more pain like this, he should have told Death to wait until after they finished it.

Whatever they were using to heal his body, burned hotter than anything yet, he knew it was some kind of magic. After an agonizing few minutes, the pain stopped. A soft ‘caw’ was heard and he wondered who had said it. Whatever had been used on him, was a ‘miracle’ as his body was slowly gaining strength and feeling. He felt his wounds tightening, almost healing themselves and could feel function returning back to ligiments.

He wasn’t restored but he felt better than before. Opening his eyes, his vision filled with odd shapes, few being dragons while others were hard to distinguish.

“W-Wh-wha…” He felt something press against his muzzle.

“It’s water, drink.” The voice, he recognized instantly. He knew that voice and he never had felt so much safer. With a lean forward, the contents were spilt unto his muzzle and he felt the sweet nectar of life, enter his body. One never really appreciates water until they go on without it. His body way drained with all the blood lost and he knew that despite his wounds healing, it would take time before he would be back to normal.

He drank until the last pits of water dropped onto his muzzle and a satisfying sigh left him.

“Thank you, Lord Ember.”

A small chuckle left her and his vision was soon filled with her beautiful face. “Now is not the time for formalities. Besides, it we rescued you, but he was the one whom healed you.”

She helped him lean up a bit, where he saw not just other dragons around him but a non-dragon right in front of him. With a bright fire colored feathers and standing almost two feet high, was his old phoenix and best friend, Peewee.

“Caw!”

“Hey Peewee!” His voice croaked but still held mirth. “You’re the one who healed me?” The phoenix nodded before taking a few hoping flaps and landed near his head. The fire bird brushed his head against his former owner, cawing in sadness for his pain. Brushing back against him, he felt joy for his buddy’s return. “Hey, its alright now. I’m still alive.”

“Barely,” commented Ember. “I couldn’t feel your heart beat for a bit.” A grimace past over her. “I wasn’t even sure if we were too late.”

You were, but it wouldn’t have matter. He wished he could say it to her but… rules were rules. He dared not break ‘Death’s rules’. Off to the side, he saw a bunch of ponies on the floor, secured by dragons.
They were all unicorns and he wondered if they were his loyalist or henchmen. He wondered what happened to the non-unicorns.

“I’m surprised you found me quickly,” he said. “I thought I would have been dead long before.”

Ember nodded though she looked tired.

“One of the scouts that were waiting to report to me on your impending arrival, saw the explosion. When he went to report back to me, we quickly tried to make our way over. But by the time we got there, the… uh, transport?” She gave a questioning look to him, which he nodded to. “Yeah, so we saw that part of it had been separated. Any of the ponies that were around were saying how you got separated back there. We went to go look for you but they were gone.”

She paused and he watched her eyes shimmer. He knew she was trying to remain strong, not for him but in front of her dragons. He didn’t blame her.

“We tried to find any traces but it seemed as if you disappeared by magic.”

“Literally.” He said with a chuckle. “The pony who took me was a unicorn.”

Her eyes narrowed and she looked over to the ponies that were caught.

“Are they here? The pony that took you?!”
There was a growl in her voice and her claws balled tightly in her hands. He knew that she wanted revenge and to hurt the ponies responsible. But he also knew that there were some innocent ponies here. At least, he hoped.

He gave a another glance at them before shaking his head.
“No, the one who did this me is long gone. He teleported and left any stragglers behind to slow you down, so it would be too late.” He then turned to Peewee whom was checking his work on his body. “By the way, how did you get here Peewee?”

The phoenix pulled from underneath his wings a small rolled up scroll with his beak, and dropped unto Spike. The dragon weakly pulled on the string and saw that it was a map highlighting his route and rendezvous point. He then looked towards Ember, whom gave a small shrug.

“I didn’t know the phoenix was yours until one of your guards that we met said that you had a pet phoenix. The bird was already circling around the entrance and when we got you out, he kept trying to get on top of you.”

Spike smiled, brushing his claws over the large fire bird. “Wow, you heard me get into trouble and decided to team up with some dragons to save me, huh?” The phoenix nodded with another ‘caw!’ and brushed his head against him once more. Returning it, he gave him an affectionate growl. “Thanks buddy. I owe you.”

A clear of several throats had him look up towards the other dragons surrounding him, including Ember whom gave a cocked eyebrow and smirk.

Rolling his eyes, he gave a sheepish grin. “And thanks to the wonderful dragons that also rescued me. Though I figured I would have been away from prying eyes.”

Ember snorted, a bit of smoke leaving her.
“We were expecting you. The letter said that you were being targeted for death. Anyone whom dared tried to take on me…our own, would have to deal with us all!” Spike gave a grin at her words and he knew what she meant. Ember saw his grin and growled. “You know what I mean!”

After Spike had rested well enough, Ember had decided that it was time to heads towards the dragon lands. The day was already shifting towards evening and the sun was setting.

As the dragons readied to depart, the site of three alicorns had appeared over head. Ember and the dragons watched as Princess Celestia, Luna and Twilight all landed a few feet away.

“Spike!” Twilight yelled as she quickly rushed to her younger brother. She gripped him in a tight hug, receiving a yelp from him.

“Watch it, princess!” Ember growled in warning. “He is still recovering!”

Twilight pulled away sheepishly as she apologized.
“Sorry Spike. We received word on what happened and we came as soon as we could.”

He winced at the pain the swelled with her hug but smiled nonetheless.

“Yeah, it was a pain trying to get through this.”

It was Celestia that approached but she carried a look of sadness and pain. “Oh son, I failed you yet again.”

Spike was about to comment on how she didn’t but Ember came forward.

“Clearly its not the first and it won’t be the last.” She half growled. “You already were planning to give him to us and yet we could have met him back in Equestria and taken him from there. Why did you sent him on something he was targetted from?” Ember was clearly peeved and it only made her angry on Celestia’s poor planning.

“We had no interpretation that he would be ambushed on the train.” Countered Luna. “We sent out most trusted, including a few changeling guards in disguise.”

Ember cocked an eyebrow. “And they couldn’t deal with or even be aware of ponies amongst your own trying to kill him?” she snorted. “Pathetic.”

“Ember…” Spike tried to defend them.

“No Spike! Its bad enough you can’t trust the ones that surround you but they didn’t even put proper measures to care for you. We are proud, strong creatures and if one of our own is being threaten by damn ponies, then we share as Tarturas will be making sure they are stopped the first time.”

“And at what cost?” asked Celestia. “We have tried every measurement to try and protect him. We are still unsure who’s behind this.”

“I do.” Spike said softly. Looking up to his mother, he wore of face of hard resentment. “It was Neighsay, former headmaster at your school.”

“And it will be he that will return us back into perfect glory!” One of the unicorns finally spoke out. “He will finish the job and lead us unto a path where only unicorns will lead this country into greatness!”

All three princesses gave looks of shock or dismay. Though Spike gave a soft groan of disappointment.

“Really? None of you saw this coming? At all?” He exaggerated. “I mean, how many ponies and non-ponies have we turned into villains and then seek revenge later on? Come on!” If it weren’t the fact that he was still in pain or dizzy from the blood loss, he would be yelling and screaming at this.

All three looked at each other with concern before looking at the pony prisoners. “We will take the ponies and we will integrate them, so we can gain info on Neighsay.”

“Go ahead, take us to the prison. We have spies hidden all around and…”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen. You ponies are going to be killed off for what you have done.” Ember interrupted with a loud voice.

Every pony, including Spike turned her head towards Ember. Shock or fear entered their minds. It was princess Twilight that spoke out first.

“Ember, you cannot do…”

“I can’t do what?” she growled at Twilight. At this point, the dragons around them all took stances of aggression towards the ponies. “I can’t do what? Kill the ponies responsible for getting Spike killed many times? Kill the ones whom almost took a loved one away?!”

The captive ponies screamed in fear and began begging towards the princesses.

“Please don’t let them kill us!”

“We will tell you anything!”

Princess Celestia stepped forward, trying to keep them civil.

“I am aware of their actions, Lord Ember but I cannot in good conscious let ponies die for this reason.”

Ember let a fume of smoke leave her nostrils. “Well, it’s a good thing its not your conscious, it will be mine.” She then motioned for her dragons. “Besides,” she gave a dark grin. “You have no jurisdiction here. You are in dragon land territory. They committed acts of torture, attempts at murder, taking a hostage, and participated in acts of aggression towards dragons for targeting a dragon of high estate.”

Spike listened and couldn’t believe that Ember was throwing so much at his mom. It was difficult to believe but she had gone all out, just for him. She threw everything she could at Celestia and it would be at the cost of ponies, that he would cause their deaths. He tried to find words, but Ember pushed on before him or even his mother could.

“Since they all did this in dragon territory, my lands, they will be punished according to my laws. And my laws say, for the multiple attempts at targeting one of my own, they are sentenced to death!”

“But Spike is an Equestrian citizen!” Twilight tried to counter.

“But their actions were done in my land, Twilight! Spike might be your dragon but their actions were still towards a dragon.” Ember then focused her gaze at Celestia. “You want to take them from me, it will be an act against my ruling and my ways, and there by you are provoking a Lord on their land. If you choose that way, then you will be declaring war!”

Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all looked at Ember wide eye, Spike especially. He was so confused and so shocked at the words of Ember. She wasn’t just saying nonsense and spewing words that normal dragons would. She was putting forth the ultimatums for what the actions of ponies whom tried to kill him, in front of them. It hurt to know that the one dragon he loved, could be this menacing and brutal that she was willing to put ‘war’ into the fore front. History would remember them all if the princesses declared war for a few ponies, especially ones that killed… well ‘almost’ killed him. They wouldn’t follow Celestia or any of the princesses because she couldn’t leave her good nature be for pony kind.

And this clicked for Spike, realization slapping him in the face.

“This is what he wanted.” Spike said outloud. All eyes focused on Spike, with Twilight recovering from her shock.

“What? Who?”

Spike swallowed, he pulled Peewee, bringing his claws to gently pet him. Looking up towards his mother, aunt and sister, he answered.

“Neighsay. This is what he wanted. He wanted me to die so that if mot… if Princess Celestia and Twilight were too distraught at my death, then they would seize control under them and take over, thereby getting his revenge. If that failed, then… than he knew that your kind nature wouldn’t allow ponies to be killed by dragons. You would do whatever you could to make sure that they would be in your hands. Even if they were to be put to death, it would only martyr them. At which point, Neighsay and his followers would strike once more. War with the dragons for a few ponies… would make you look unfit.” He paused and sighed. “That’s his game here. We choose to sacrifice a few, or you risk rebellion and being overthrown.”

All three took in Spike’s words and finding truth to them. It was true, that all three of them would do anything to protect their ponies, even ones as dangerous as the ones that tried to kill him. The ponies would be in prison cells yes, but they would be treated with care and maintained. But, if they were to go to war, just for a few supremacists that tried to kill him, the populace wouldn’t follow their princesses anymore. That left the ultimatum to Ember.

“As you can see, this is why I will deal with it.” Ember spoke evenly. All eyes went to her. “If I deal with them, its out of your conscious and you don’t have to worry them trying to escape or finishing the job.”

“Princesses please! You can't let them kill us! They are monsters! They will…” A large whack came to him as one of the dragons backhanded the talking pony, knocking him out. All three princesses wanted to say something but couldn’t. Ember snorted.

“If anymore try to come attack Spike, then we will consider it an act of aggression thereby triggering a war.” She then gave them a steady look. “Give that speech to your ponies. No other way to flush out your enemies than the threat of a war. A war that… in all honesty, we know who would win.” Crossing her arms across her chest, she stared at the Princesses. “Make your choice.”

“Ember…” Spike called out. Yet, Ember ignored him and moved to the prisoner ponies.

“If you want, you can at least keep one so you can interrogate them for anything you want but the rest is ours.”

Twilight was the most distraught by this situation, having never come across it before. Yet, Luna and Celestia remained silent and their faces were very stoic. Their eyes met behind Twilight and a silent agreement was quickly formed. But it was Luna that would deliver the speech.

“We only need one for integration,” spoke Luna. Twilight and Spike looked up at her in shock. “But we need one whom was more closely associated with Neighsay than any others. Once we have them, we will… take our leave.”

Ember nodded while Spike and Twilight looked gapingly at Celestia. She continued to remain emotionless but her eyes betrayed the sadness in her heart.

Then Luna turned to the ponies. Approaching them, she counted 8 bounded ponies. With her approach, they immediately began to shout and beg for their lives. Ignoring them, Luna lit her horn and magic wrapped around their throats, which quelled their voices.

“None of you are to speak. You are all receiving your punishments here because you decided to follow a mad unicorn with ill-intents towards Royalty and the usurp of the nation of Equestria. You are all charged with these crimes, but the crimes are outside of Equestrian soil. Instead, your actions are in dragon lands. This gives us no jurisdiction to dictate your punishment. Instead, it will be dealt with by the dragons.” This caused complete fear to run amongst, most trying to scream at her, but their voices remained absent. Moving on, she stood over them with a stern look. “This is, fault of your own and nopony else’s. But, one of you will be spared from their punishment, in exchange for everything and anything about Neighsay’s plans, future actions and goals for any further attempts at assassinations at royalty or if any other Equestrian citizens. The magic I have placed you with, will only allow you to speak if I allow it. But, I made sure only the truth leaves your mouth, nothing more. So, whom amongst you have worked alongside or is aware of the entire operation of Neighsay?”

Despite the magic and fear, none of them said nothing at first. It stayed that way for a few moments. A small bit of irritation passed her, and she looked to one of the dragons. A big brown one full of spikes, caught her eyes and with a grin, he growled at them, making each one of the silently scream. He took one big step that caused the ground to shake and one of the unicorns finally screamed out.

“I have been at Neighsay’s side for the last year and a half! I don’t know much of his future plans but I know where he has bases and hideouts in Equestria! Please don’t let the dragon kill me!”

The rest looked absolutely betrayed and horrified as they realized then and there, they were about to die. With a small nod, Luna wrapped the unicorn in binding magic and levitated him towards Celestia and Twilight. Both eyed him with suspicion but the fact he was almost wetting himself, lead them to believe that he would tell them what they needed to know.

Ember looked satisfied.

“With that taken care of, you may take your leave. Spike can return once we receive word that the pony attempting to kill him is dealt with.”

Twilight was still unresponsive with what just happened in front of her, witnessing the harsher elements to being a princess. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Celestia tried to give her a reassuring smile before dropping it and looking towards Ember.

“We will send when we put a stop to his evil schemes.”

“Be sure that you do,” growled Ember. “I’d rather not hear that anymore dragons are being targeted or attacked for this.”

All three princesses hesitated to leave, with Twilight still in dismay. Struggling up, Spike finally managed to stand on his two legs and slowly and painfully make his way towards his sister. Seeing her vision clouded by him, she carefully hugged her brother. A soft sob left her and he knew it wasn’t for him.

“It’s alright,” he whispered to her. “Mom will take care of you and you can forget all about today, ok? I am fine, I am alive and if you can find Neighsay quickly, I can return home soon.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. She separated and stood by Celestia. The older alicorn gave her son a small sad smile.

“I love you.”

“Me too.”

“Take care, little nephew.” Spoke Luna.

“I will and you care for them, aunty Luna.” He said, motioning towards Celestia and Twilight.

After another moment, both Luna and Celestia with Twilight and their captive, the two princesses lit their horns. A flash of blue and golden yellow, they teleported and disappeared.

As soon as they did, the bindings on the ponies disappeared, allowing them to scream in fear. Spike couldn’t bare to look at them. He also knew talking to Ember was out of the question, but he still had to try. Turning to her, his eyes where met by his. A small, stern expression was present on her face. Spike opened his mouth to speak but Ember held it shut with her claws.

“Not here, not yet.” Despite their almost similar sizes, she reached underneath him and picked him up with ease, carrying him bridle style. She then turned to the dragons that remained. “After we are gone.” A simple command which received various evil grins and nods. She then turned south and with a few flap of her wings, she was airborne. “Don’t forget your bird.”

Forgetting almost all about Peewee, Spike called him out. “Come on Peewee, follow!” A short ‘caw’ was his reply before the bird took flight and followed Ember and Spike, side by side. As they headed south, Spike tried to look Ember in her eyes but her focus remained on their flight, carrying them both towards her home. He wanted to speak but no words seemed to come out.

As they flew towards the southern desert to the dragon lands, he wished they had flown farther down, for he still heard the screams of the prisoners being killed.