One day and seventeen hours later, Sunset woke up from the heavy beating she took from Spike. As she got up, she coughed up blood from the massive blows she received while she fought the evil dragon. Sunset looked around the circle and she saw Grogar in that same pose. Only his heart started slightly glowing and something slowly started crawling out of the ground. Upon getting a closer look, Sunset noticed the Ooze approach the dragon, griffin, and hippogriff corpses and bond to their bodies. Knowing that this spelled trouble for her, Sunset immediately booked it and proceeded to run away from the circle. But because of her wounds, she could only get so far until the corpses slowly rose up from the ground with their flesh, feathers, and scales getting restored to their bodies.

“Whatever it is that Spike did to me, I hope that I can teleport!” Sunset shouted as she limped away in a panic.

But when the newly-resurrected corpses got up, they immediately spotted the damaged unicorn and chased after her. Like before, Sunset faced forward and continued to run away. However, they were completely gaining on her and she had no hope of defending herself against her attackers. So in her last ditch effort to avoid being potentially eaten alive, Sunset looked up and said,

“Horn, don’t fail me now…”

With one final chance given to her, Sunset flashed her horn and magically teleported out of the cave back into the forest. Looking around to see if there were any monsters around for a moment, Sunset let out a sigh of relief upon realizing that the forest was completely empty. However, this emptiness was what bothered her. There was no creature or monster in sight around the forest. Not even the Ooze was visible from her position. If anything, it was mostly likely an ambush before she could get mauled to death by anyone inside the forest. But before she could think over her situation some more, Sunset smelt something in the air.

“What in Equestria…?” Sunset said before figuring out what she just smelled.

She looked up to the sky and there was smoke floating in the air. It was coming in from the front left-side of her position. Not having much of a choice and already developing a bad feeling, Sunset decided to follow it over to where the source was coming from. She spent an hour tracking the trail of the smoke. Right now, Sunset was going through a marathon. Because of her injuries, she had a hard time running and keeping herself quiet while she moved. Should a creature or monster find her, she would already be dead before she could run. Not helping the fact that she just used her horn to cheat death before getting killed. But as she kept moving through the forest, she immediately spotted a tower from the distance.

“Oh no… please no…” Sunset muttered as she got closer to spotting the source.

But when she got through the forest, it was just as Sunset feared; the Crystal Empire was completely decimated and everypony was massacred one after the other. Ranging from adults to foals, every single pony was exterminated and brutalized while the creatures and monsters did away with them. Sunset kept herself hidden out of fear that she could be spotted and killed on sight. But while she was keeping safe, Sunset spotted Starlight outside of the Crystal Empire, carrying a foal. She looked closer and spotted Flurry Heart in her grasp. While she was slightly relieved that the foal princess was safe, nothing could ignore the fact that the Crystal Empire was completely destroyed and Sunset was powerless to do something about it.

But the next part was what made all her fears come to pass: she saw Cadance, Shining Armor, and the rest of her friends captured and ensnared while Spike observed them. But while she watched them get put on trial and imprisoned, Sunset suddenly noticed that Twilight wasn’t among her friends. And she didn’t even see Luna anywhere when the Crystal Empire was being destroyed. However, she saw a vague silhouette up in the sky and it seemed to resemble an alicorn. Upon getting a closer look, Sunset saw Twilight flying away. But before she could say anything, she looked closer and saw that it was a different form of Twilight. A different form that Sunset was very familiar with: it was none other than Midnight Sparkle.

“Oh no…” Sunset murmured before lowering her voice.

Sunset kept herself hidden underneath an uprooted tree base and remained silent while Midnight passed by her without batting an eye. As soon as she was gone, Sunset got out of the tree base and looked towards Midnight was flying. She had no idea what this sinister alicorn was planning now, but one thing was for certain; something went incredibly wrong back at the Crystal Empire. And if the Twilight she reunited with was anything to go by, she must have done something to instigate her transformation. But there was another pressing matter: Spike was the source of all the mass Corruption that continues to plague Equestria and he has seemed to accomplish his goal of defeating her friends. Plus, Starlight had just escaped with Flurry Heart before either of them could be potentially killed. There was always the chance that they learned about Spike’s identity, but there was also the other chance that they have no idea he is the reason why Equestria is ending and he has already finished what he set out to do.

Sunset felt the urge to tell them if this was the case. However, there was also the premonition that they wouldn’t believe and just carry on without her. While every part of Sunset believed that it was wrong to deceive them, the situation that she was placed in time and time again was far bigger than her and she needed to set aside her emotions for the mission. A fact that absolutely disgusted her, but knew that was right nonetheless. But if Starlight figures out that it’s Spike, she will have no idea what to do should this fact come to light. But deciding to set that aside for now, Sunset decided to mentally pull herself together and teleport close to where Starlight was without giving away her position. Sunset had no idea what would happen next, but there was one thing that she knew; if this threat were to be eliminated, she would have to remain silent until the time came where Spike would have to be killed. And that was a fact that Sunset found absolutely corrupt.

Author's Note

But sadness aside, I'm glad that you've read this story. It was long overdue that I finish it and I've been wanting to get back into it, but I didn't find the motivation for it until I've put it into a vote. As for Spike's Polygamous Marriage, I'm about a chapter and a half so far, but it might take me awhile to write the entire story. I am also working on my Tails x Rouge story on A03 while coming up with more ideas for Spike's Polygamous Marriage. However, I will do everything I can to publish content for all of you and my work time will not affect my activities. Anyway, take care and enjoy the final chapter of Corruption.