"GRRUUUUUUUUBB!! GRRRUUUUUUUUUUUBBB!!!!" Greenskin shouted into the Everfree Forest. He knew them Drukhari Gitz were enjoying the show. Grub was already dead. They were just waiting for Greenskin to go in after him...they always were.

"...Greenskin? Is that you doin' all that hollerin?" The Ork turned to the voice of Applebloom to see all three Cutie Mark Crusaders coming up to him...Scootaloo with her wings pressed against her ears.

"Yeh, dis stoopid bug ran into da trees, an Fluddashoy wantz me ta go get'im." Greenskin groaned.

"Lemme guess, you think the Dark Eldar are in there?" Scootaloo asked while trying to clear the ringing from her ears.

"Course dey are. Dey alwayz are." Greenskin took two steps back as he said this. His Choppa held in two hands like a child's teddy bear.

Sweetie Belle sighed. "Greenskin, I know these things hurt you worse than anypony could ever imagine, but they're still all the way in the Changeling Hive. Besides, I heard Aries, Twilight and the others kicked their flanks."

"Dat'z just wut dey wan'chyu ta fink." Greenskin stated.

"Alright, have it yer way. We were investigatin' some missin' creatures ourselves. We'll just add this'in to the list. Come on girls." Applebloom called, already heading deeper into the forest.

Greenskin watched, jaw agape, as three little fillies walked right into the waiting claws of the cruelest creatures in the galaxy. He watched the shadows leap out to claim them, only to vanish from his sight.

Before Greenskin even realized it, he was following them. The three fillies threw him proud smiles in the belief that he was facing his fear...but some things are stronger than fear.

Cozy Glow was still giggling about how easily that Changeling had trusted her. The Dark Eldar may have been terrifying, but if Tirek absorbed all the energy from these cowering losers, they wouldn't be a match for him, and then they would rule Equestria...until Cozy Glow found a way to get rid of Tirek and rule herself.

She kept grinning about it until she heard a familiar accented voice shouting into the Forest. "GRRUUUUUUUUBB!!! I KNOW YOU'ZE PROLLY DED, BUT IF YOU AIN'T DEN COME ON OOOOUUUUUUUUUUUTT!!!"

Grub? The Changeling? Cozy Glow thought to herself as the green Ape thing that fought Chrysalis came into view.

The Pegasus filly dove behind a bush, ironically the same bush she'd found Grub in, and watched the Ork...and his companions.

Cozy Glow grimaced with disgust at the sight of Cutie Mark Crusaders, even if their gullibility is the reason she got as far as she did in her first scheme, she still hated how stupid they were...it was too easy.

Cozy Glow knew they were looking for a scared foal, so she'd give them one. She took off running, the fools chased after her without knowing who she was, and she made sure not to give them a good look.

"Hey! Wait up!!" Sweetie Belle called. Cozy Glow added to the illusion by whimpering and crying out loud enough for her pursuers to think she was afraid.

After about a half minute of this, she came to the hideout she shared with Tirek: An abandoned Manticore's den.

"Tirek! Get ready! I brought the Cutie Mark Crusaders and that thing that fought Chrysalis when we tried to take Zecora's place." Cozy Glow called out.

Soon after, her pursuers caught up to her. Greenskin came up first followed swiftly by the trio of fillies. "Oy! I know you! You'ze friendz wiff dat 'orsefly!"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders finally got a look at who they'd been chasing. "Cozy Glow!? What're you doin' here?" Applebloom demanded with no shortage of hostility.

"Baiting you. Again." Cozy Glow explained as Tirek made his move.

Greenskin turned to find a much larger Centaur than the one he had seen before. It backhanded him right off his feet, remembering his Amulet of Might.

The Ork landed on a tree, breaking it. Most creatures would've been out of commission after that strike, but Greenskin just shook it off.

The Ork returned to his feet, no longer holding his Choppa like a protective charm, but as a weapon. "You'ze may be da size of a Nob, but you hit loike a grot!"

"Allow me to fix that." Tirex grinned, turning his attention to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

His lava colored magic engulfed Sweetie Belle, dragging the young filly towards him...and something in Greenskin snapped.

"GET AWAY FROM MY RUNTZ!!!" The angry Ork shouted as he charged the Centaur.

Tirek tried to hold Sweetie Belle out as a shield, but an itch inducing buck to his shin from Applebloom distracted him just long enough for Greenskin to close the gap.

The Ork's Choppa struck Tirek in the chest. Unfortunately, the Centaur had absorbed too much magic for an unenchanted weapon to cause serious harm. Though it did break the skin and illicit a reaction from the Centaur.

Most creatures would've seen how little damage they did. But Orks only see the damage they do. The fact that Tirek was bleeding from what should've been a killshot was enough incentive for Greenskin to start clobbering the Centaur with his Choppa.

Tirek braced himself, but the Ork was relentless. He tried to grab the ax with his magic, but Greenskin's amulet prevented this. He tried to grab with his hand, and Greenskin tried to cut it off. When this failed, he grabbed the offending appendage with his offhand and brought it to his mouth.

"YYEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOWWWWUUUUUCH!!!" Tirek screamed when the Orks teeth closed on his hand, several finding purchase in the cut Greenskin made with his Choppa.

Tirek realized that not only were the Cutie Mark Crusaders laughing at him from a safe distance, but so was Cozy Glow.

Infuriated by this, Tirek attempted to jerk his hand from the Ork's mouth, but Greenskin held strong even as he was swept off his feet.

Finally fed up, Tirek punched the Ork with his other hand. Sending him flying and almost crashing into Cozy Glow...two of his teeth were still in Tirek's hand.

Greenskin stood up and spat half a tooth into his offhand. After deciding it was still big enough to be valuable, he stuffed it in one of his pleather jacket's pockets before looking around for his Choppa.

"Lose something?" Cozy Glow asked him while holding the large battleax in her hooves.

"GIMME DAT!" The Ork shouted as he started chasing the filly...right into Tirek.

The Pegasus dropped the ax into the Centaur's undamaged hand. Tirek grinned as he chopped down at the Ork.

Greenskin didn't stop moving, he ran into Tirek's guard and grappled him. Jumping up to grab his shoulders and wrap his legs around the Centaur's waist.

"Gah! Get offa me!" Tirek shouted as he started bucking like a mad bull and trying to swing the ax while his arms were held out.

WAAAGH! Greenskin headbutted the bucking Centaur once, twice, and thrice. Stunning him into dropping the Choppa.

Greenskin leapt off of his opponent and grabbed the Choppa, turning into a lower swing that would've cut his front left leg in half but for how powerful he was...but it still managed to open an artery.

"GAAAAAAGH!!!!" The Centaur howled as he limped away from the Ork. Greenskin pressed the attack, chopping into the horse half of the Centaur's body and striking the spine.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! NO MORE! I GIVE! YOU WIN!!!" Tirek cried out as he fell to the ground. His spine wasn't broken, but the pain was more than the Centaur had ever felt in his life.

Greenskin halted, trying to process what he was hearing. "...Wut?"

"Y-you've won! I'll not harm you or those Ponies with you. Just don't hurt me anymore, please." Tirek whimpered as he tried to reach his feet again.

"...Bu...But You'ze so big...how-how can you be dis scared?" Greenskin asked no one in particular. He couldn't wrap his head around how anything bigger and stronger than himself could be afraid of him.

Fortunately, the Cutie Mark Crusaders knew the answer. "Tirek isn't big. He steals power from other creatures like he tried to do to Sweetie Belle. According to Rainbow Dash, he's just a scrawny old goat." Scootaloo said.

The Centaur in question forgot his pain for a moment. "YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!" Tirek shouted, attempting to rise.

scrack! "GAAAAAOOOOWWWW!!!" Tirek cried out as he grabbed the bloody stump of his left horn before Greenskin grabbed his goatee and forced the Centaur to look into the Ork's red reptilian eyes.

Since coming to Equestria, Greenskin felt safe, he felt happy, and he felt like an Ork again. He had felt these before, until the Drukhari Gitz revealed their trickery, but even then he had only felt despair, disappointment, and sadness. This was the first he could remember feeling angry, but it was also the first time he had ever seen something this UnOrky!

"YOU ROTTEN SQUIG MMEEEEEEAAAAAATTT!!!!" Greenskin slammed his Choppa into Tirek's neck hard enough to chip it's blade. Blood erupted from the wound like a geyser.

Seeing that he hadn't taken the Centaur's head, Greenskin drew back for another strike.

"RUN!!" Cozy Glow shouted as she plowed into the back of the Ork's head.

Tirek used the distraction to sacrifice all the power he had gathered in order to heal his injuries and make a run for it.

"Stop'em!" Applebloom shouted as she and Scootaloo rushed to help Greenskin while Sweetie Belle used her magic to blast Tirek in the eye.

The stunned Centaur crashed into a tree but kept going, his fear of the enraged Ork driving him as far from danger as possible. Cozy Glow joined him before the other Crusaders could reach her, her functioning wings letting her outrun all of them.

"GET BACK ERE YOU GOOD FER NUFFIN GIIIIITT!!!" Greenskin shouted as he gave chase...before catching a sight out the corner of his eye.

Grub, the Changeling he had been looking for, laid on his side in a quickly built cage with other creatures that all possessed lightless eyes and no strength at all.

Any other Ork would've kept chasing Tirek, but the same instinct that drove him after the Cutie Mark Crusaders redirected him to Grub.

The cage wasn't too high and lacked a top, it was only built to contain creatures who didn't have strength to lift their legs over their own knees. Greenskin walked right through it without putting any extra effort into crushing the wooden bars.

"...ey, you okay?" Greenskin asked. Lowering himself to the Changeling.

"...they...they got me...just like you said." The Changeling whimpered. His eyes seeing faces that weren't there as his mind connected this horror to a far greater one.

"No, dis ain't dem. You'll know when it's dem." Greenskin spoke with the sage wisdom of experience.

"...What can I do? I don't want them to get me." A tear trailed down the Changeling's eye.

Greenskin looked to the Changeling, who saw faces that weren't there. Then he looked out into the trees, where every shadow brandished cruel bladed weapons and even crueler smiles. Finally, he looked to Tirek's severed horn, the horn he had cut off.

"...Dey's ain't gonna getcha runt...cause I'm gonna get dem." Greenskin promised. Not for himself, but for the small creature he was inexplicably driven to protect.

Greenskin grabbed the young Changeling and threw it over his shoulder. Putting his Choppa in the loop Rarity added to his pants for the first time since he got it so he could grab other creatures while the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped those that had the strength to stand.

"Come on Runtz, let'z go ome." Greenskin called as he led the way back to Ponyville.

Scootaloo and Applebloom had some choice words regarding the term 'runt', but Sweetie Belle had a very different concern. From her position behind Greenskin, she could see that the Ork tore his jacket sleeves at the shoulders during the fight. Rarity...mismeasured!?

Author's Note

And there it is, Greenskin's long overdue character development. For those who don't know a lot about Orks, he's a Runtherda: An Ork Slaver that raises and educates the grots, squigs, and snotlings as well as non-Ork slaves.

A handful of Runtherdas develope parental bonds with their charges, the most famous being a Runtherda who shoved a Big Mek into his Shokk Attack Gun for using his trained attack grots as ammo.

For anyone who didn't get a visual of how Cozy Glow is holding Greenskin's ax, it's double bladed with curving blades, and Cozy Glow has her hooves right below the blades so it hangs off her hooves.

For those who didn't understand how Greenskin ripped his sleeves, Orks grow bigger as they win fights. (I know most of you got that one, but my mother reads my fics, and she only knows what I tell her about 40k)

Geez lois, did anyone forget that this is meant to be Greenskin's story? You'd think I did for how much I focus on Aries. But the point of the first four Volumes is to establish the setting for the story I've been waiting to write, and I've got big plans for Greenskin...or as he will be known by his own kind: Sovtskin Rodwasta.(though I won't get to use that name till Vol.4)

Alright, that's this chapter written. The next chapter will reveal the fate of the Crystal Empire and position the final pieces for the next battle of Ponyville. If the last one was the Awakening, then this one is a hot cup of black coffee.
Stay tuned.