Home far away

Ducking as a clawed paw ripped through a tree behind him Spike gave a small outcry in shock. Diving to the side he barely dodged a snap of jaws at his head. Scrambling back up he looked just in time to see Applejack collide with the alpha that was taking shots at him. He knew before the fight even built up that Applejack would lose what with all of her fur covered in blood from the large slash across her shoulder. Around him he could hear Twilight and Rarity fighting off the other ferals around them. "What do I do? What do I do?" He thought in a panic. A scream broke his thoughts as the alpha bit down on Applejack's wound. His mind emptied again like it had when he decided to rush in the first time. Panicked breathing escaped his lungs as he sprinted across the small distance, climbing on top of the alpha. Gripping the edges of its mouth he worked with all his strength slowly loosening its grip on AJ's shoulder.

Once she was able to yank her shoulder back out Applejack nodded towards Spike. "Thanks Boss!" She said, stretching her good arm back before shoving into the open jaws of the wild enemy. Forcing her hand down it's throat to scratch and tear at its insides. As it squirmed from the attacks AJ laughed out. "What? Didn't you like my taste just a moment ago?" She goaded.

Spike strained to keep the monster's mouth open through this exchange. "Applejack, pull your fist out now!" Spike shouted as he felt himself losing his grip. Just as she pulled her fist back out he lost ahold, instead shifting his hands around the neck of the monster. "Where the hell are Fluttershy and Pinkie pie when you need them!?" He shouted in annoyance, being thrashed around on the back of the large werewolf.

A large cat-like body was thrown through the air just past his body causing Spike and the monster to stop for a second to look in the direction it came from. Standing in the Morning rays of sunlight a furious and slightly smoking Fluttershy stood bent slightly over. Her horn curved outwards with a large pink flame bursting from the tip. She seemed to suck in the air around her as if to let none exist before billowing at the top of her lungs “I'LL SHRED EVERY ONE OF YOUR BASTARD THAT LAY EVEN A HAIR ON MY MASTER!!!" Before diving into two ferals that had been pushing Rarity back. They stood no chance as she gored one with her horn, scorching it to cinders while the other was crushed between her enlarged hands.

The alpha Spike was awkwardly riding start to shake and whip itself around to get him off faster as Fluttershy tore her way closer and closer with each feral. Spike held on for dear life until he noticed the alpha angling himself a certain way. "Oh god please no..." He muttered as the alpha threw itself towards a tree to crush Spike between it and the monster.

Spike closed his eyes ready for pain to shoot through him but instead found himself striking something soft and malleable. Peeking with one eye he found a pink shifting smile aimed back at him. "Hiya Spikey! I didn't know you liked rodeo?" Pinkie Pie said, shifting her body around Spike and pulling him away from the alpha. Setting him to the side Pinkie adjusted her position to be between the enemy and her master. "Let us handle things now. Thanks for looking out for Applejack by the way." She thanked, shooting a hand outwards into the monster's face, covering its mouth and nose. As it struggled to tear off the slime she smiled again at the shaking young man. "I'll make a nice big cake as a proper thanks after we clean this all up. How's that sound?" She offered. Without waiting for a reply she moved closer to the feral, slowly working her body into surrounding the creature as it struggled to breath.

"Be careful!" Spike called after the energetic slime girl, a hand raised in concern.

Twilight watched from her position above as she noted the turning of the battle. "Ok, things are going our way now." She thought to herself. Spotting Spike off to the side she shifted her broom to dive for the frozen man. A rush of air pushed her off course. "What the heck?" She questioned, looking around.

A small group of harpies with some missing feathers snickered in her direction. They circled her and with each passing closing the circle further. A grunt behind Twilight made her turn to see Rainbow Dash raising her head. "Damn chicks... Think they're hot shit for ganging up on me." She grumbled, dropping off Twilight's broom to hover next to her. "Hey Twi, help me fry these chickens up so we can help the others faster." She ordered, lightning sparking from the tips of her feathers.

Twilight didn't answer as she summoned fireballs to float around her. The two flew in opposite directions each taking half of the circling harpies. Twilight sped her fireballs into rotating wheels of flame. Chasing after her group she couldn't help enjoy the squawks of fear they gave off at her flaming image. "Take this you shit birds! Attack my home will you?" She cackled, engulfing the fleeing monsters. With torched feathers they each quickly fell to the earth.

Bolts of lightning leaped off the rushing Rainbow Dash as she charged into the first harpy. It's form lit up and one might even see it's skeleton underneath from the energy being shoved into its body. As it's smoking form dropped she flew feet first into the next harpy, sending it rocketing into the tree line. The third one flapped its wings at a furious beat to escape from the grinning Outer girl. "What? Not feeling like the hot shit you thought you were a second ago anymore?" Rainbow boasted, lightning charging above her head. With a flap she shot her wings forward at the fleeing target. The held lighting lashed out, arching through the air at blinding speed into the back of the monster. An outcry cut short as the body fell down.

The two gathered back together as they looked to the battle on the ground. They could see Rarity standing on a pile of ferals, each chirping or whimpering in submission to her. The Alpha had fallen thanks to Pinkie Pie's work but a new problem had risen.

"Raaaahhh!" Fluttershy shouted, ripping a tree from the ground to get at a cowering feral. Her form had warped and changed into a darkened black shell over her normally yellow fur that her oni form had. The pink fire at the tip of her horn had roared into a raging flame, igniting the tree line above as she tore through the landscape.

Applejack stood nearby trying to calm her but to no avail. "Girls! She's going feral!" She yelled at the others, a swing from the raging oni sending her flying through some trees. "Ah, fudge sticks that hurts." The southern girl groaned, lifting herself from under a tree.

Spike's heart dropped at the statement. "Feral? But I thought that only happened when Outers didn't get ether. Why would she go feral?" He asked in confusion looking to Rarity and Pinkie Pie nearby. When the two looked away his mind raced for an answer, finding one rather quickly. "My grandfather passed away long enough that you guys didn't have anymore to get." He said, his form drooping. "No, they would have told me that if it were the case." He tried to reason with himself. "Plus I'm the new contract holder so shouldn't ether have been produced by now?" He added, his thoughts running wild. Until one thought struck him. "Wait...how is ether even made? Do I need to know magic to make it happen?" He questioned himself, realizing that his inability to listen during the magic lesson earlier this morning probably would have touched on the ether problem. He also remembered he had been out cold after the attempt at his removal thus spending even more of the already low remaining ether storage.

Fluttershy gave another outcry as she slammed the feral she had been chasing into the ground, cratering the ground. Tossing the body to the side she seemed to sniff at the air, whirling her attention towards Spike. "Feeeeeeed!" She roared, rushing across the ground on all four.

"Please stop!" Spike begged, holding his hands outwards towards the charging rabid woman. As she bore down on his position, swinging a massive hand at him he felt a cool rope wrap around his waist. A tug followed sending him into the air and away from the attacking oni. "Whoooaaa!" He cried out as he flew through the air. The rope left his body as he sailed through the air, allowing him to see it had been Pinkie who had pulled him from the danger.

Rainbow dived at his flying form, grabbing his arms with her talons. "Gotcha boss. Lets get you away from here before you get into more trouble." She coached, turning her form to fly them away from Fluttershy.

Spike squirmed and thrashed. "No, we have to try and stop her before she hurts herself or others." He countered, struggling in her grip.

"Hey, hey, easy Boss. I'd be in pretty hot water with the others if I accidently dropped ya." Rainbow warned before continuing. "Besides there's nothing you can do. Once an Outer goes feral they can't be turned back. Best thing we can do is put her down quickly so she doesn't suffer." Rainbow's voice sounded matter of fact but Spike felt her talons squeeze a little tighter on his arms. "Even your grandpa couldn't figure out how to reverse the change and he was the top dog in terms of magic." She tried to reason.

"I don't care! Take us back right now. That's an order from your Boss." He shot back. "Out of all of you she tried the hardest to patch things up so the least I can do is try the same. Even if it's just calming her down." He explained. When Rainbow continued in the direction they had been flying he begged her one last time. "Please." His voice was soft.

Rainbow racked her mind for a counter but couldn't think of one without insulting the young master. "Rahhh fine! But you better tell the others this was your idea so they don't yell at me." She finally agreed in annoyance, shifting her wings to circle back the way they had come.

After Spike had been taken away Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the rampaging Fluttershy. "Fluttershy darling, I'm so sorry you had to turn while trying to protect the master. Please don't hate us for what we have to do." Rarity apologized, thrusting her whip forwards to wrap it around Fluttershy's throat.

Fluttershy grabbed the whip, yanking as hard as she could. As Rarity flew towards her she shot a fist forward meeting Rarity's stomach with a small shockwave. Rarity couldn't help vomit over the outstretched arm as her vision blackened briefly. "Feed!" the crazed oni roared once more, stepping on to the prone succubus in the direction of Spike's last direction.

Pinkie Pie rushed in, repeating what she had done with the alpha. Her mouth had twisted into a frown as she felt her friend choke from the forced feeding. She felt Fluttershy swipe at her form, forcing her to open her body to make the strike miss. "Please Shy. Just go to sleep." She begged sadly. She could feel her friend's actions slowing down until with a groan she felt the larger woman fall to her knees and collapse. Pulling herself out she watched as AJ and Twilight moved to stand next to her. "Well... she's unconscious now." She stated coldly, shifting into her human form. Her hair had basically deflated into straight length.

Applejack looked to the barely moving oni then to the other ferals scattered across the area. "Why in tarnation did they arrive here? The barrier shoulda still been good for at least a few more days. We shoulda been warned if they had gotten in." She questioned, her teeth bared in annoyance.

For Twilight things were hard to fully accept. One of her oldest friends was gone. "It has to be the transfer of ownership. Maybe it used up the last of the energy faster than what was thought left over." She reasoned. "If we can teach him magic then we can put up a new barrier to keep things out." She added.

Rarity's hand gripped over Applejack's using it to pull herself up from the ground. Wiping the stomach acid from her lips she spat out some blood. A Itch at the back of her mind that she fought to keep it down. "Might have a problem with that since Darling doesn't want to learn magic thanks to us scarring him. On top of that we don't have any ether left to keep people calm." She countered. "I can feel the itches now as I'm sure you all are feeling as well. If things don't turn around or we get a solution we'll have to shut down and evacuate everyone back to the other side before things get worse." She warned.

The others couldn't help look everywhere but at her as they couldn't argue back. The itch to just go wild had been growing for each of them and this fight didn't help the situation. Clearing her throat Twilight stepped forward with a hand raised towards Fluttershy, a light flashing in her palm. "Well either way we need to get rid of any threats to the master before he can get hurt." She was distracted. Her hand shook as she slowly pulled the magic in her palm. "Come on. Just get it over with. We all knew the risks picking this line of life." She coached herself, trying to let the magic shootout but finding it a mountain to get over.

Closing her eyes Twilight gritted her teeth as she finally started to release the magic built up. "Stop!" A voice ordered from her left. Reacting to the shout she raised her hand straight into the air making the shot go harmlessly above. Her eyes snapped open to see Spike descending from above with Rainbow holding on to him. When they got close enough to the ground Rainbow let go allowing him to drop nearby. Rushing forward Spike slid to kneel next to the unmoving Fluttershy. "I don't know what you idiots are thinking harming a friend but clearly we have some different ideas on helping." He jabbed at the stunned women.

The girls slowly reverted into their human forms after his appearance. "Spikey what are you doing here. It's not safe for you. What if more ferals show up." Pinkie Pie worriedly spoke up. Tugging at his arm to pull him away from Fluttershy she found him firmly planted. "Spikey...?" She quietly questioned.

Jerking his arm free Spike looked at the girls with a glare. "I already know about the situation involved if you all turn but I'm not one to just take the cookie cutter answer to things. Twilight, give me a crash course on how to use magic." He ordered, turning his attention to the witch.

"Master..." Twilight started but was silenced when his eyes sharpened at her. "Magic is a universal power everything has inside. Some races or things have more than others. Some even feed on magic as a main form of sustenance." She explained, her gaze held at the ground.

Spike looked over Fluttershy's injured body, taking in the cuts and bruises visible on the surface of her skin. Some looked serious enough that he knew if he didn't do something soon she'd die from the injuries alone. "Crash course Twilight Crash course. Just tell me how to use it." He commanded, whipping his hand in a circle.

Reaching a hand out Twilight drew a circle in the air where Spike could see. Etching in runes of different types into the center soon the circle looked like one would imagine a magic spell. "All spells require a magic code of sorts. Many people have different ways of casting or drawing them. Some use blood, components, or even their souls as well." She listened in a quickened tone. "Some have spirits that help list them. From what I remember the old master saying the Drake bloodline had a guardian spirit that could have helped draw power or write codes for them. How they contact it though is something only a Drake knows." She explained.

"Spirit that helps? Where or how could I contact it then?" Spike mumbled to himself. Thinking he started to try different things. Flicking his wrist he shouted various words that old magicians would say. Each time failed causing his anger to grow further.

The girls watched from behind unable to find any humor in his attempts due to the situation. "Poor Darling." Rarity mumbled.

"I'm sorry Boss." Rainbow and Applejack apologized, hanging their heads at his growing frantic attempts.

Pinkie and Twilight just held their tongues as Spike began to pound his fists into the ground.

"Damn it." Spike muttered quietly. "Damn it." He said louder, striking his fist into the ground. A heat building in his chest. "Damn it!" He shouted, a spark launching off his fists as they hit the ground once more.This caught the attention of the girls as he raised his hands above him. The heat in his chest grew uncomfortable as if a fire was being held against it. "DAMN IT!" He roared, striking his fists once more to the earth, a flame appearing in his hands.. The heat in his chest swelled and what felt like the weight of a mountain slammed onto his shoulders but he wouldn't let himself bend. "JUST FUCKING WORK YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" His voice deepened, taken over by something else. When his hands collided with the rocks beneath him a wave of purple and green fire erupted from his knelt form.

The girls gave outcries at the sudden appearance of flames, covering their faces to block the element. Their concern and fear turned quickly into confusion as they felt no pain from the sudden burst. Instead as they lowered their arms they found that they felt no pain or rather more like they felt good. Really good, as if receiving the best treatment possible. All around them the strange flames lashed out but nothing burned. In the center of it all was Spike with a strange twisting armor made of the fire covering his body, looking more like a humanoid dragon than a man.

Before any of them questioned what was going on the flames extinguished themselves in a flash leaving no trace of it behind other than a crystalized shimmer they knew very well. "He... He just made pure ether." Twilight whispered in pure wonder.

A groan came from the prone Fluttershy causing the others to go on guard only to find her scratching at her head as she raised herself from the ground. After shifting into a kneeling position Fluttershy's body changed back into that of a humans. "What's going on?" She asked, looking around confused. She gave a small start as Spike's kneeling form fell forwards into her chest. "Master? Are you ok?" She asked, getting no reply.

Other groans filled the area as the ferals they had taken out slowly woke up and stood. all of them complaining and wondering where they were before outcries replaced their confusion. "I can think again!" One shouted. "My bodies back to normal!" Another yelled in joy.

The girls looked on in confusion before snapping back to the present. "Quick, Pinkie and Rarity. You two gather everyone here and get them into the manor's guest hall to be questioned. Applejack and Rainbow, look around for anyone not close by just in case some didn't get affected by whatever the master did." Twilight ordered, the others nodding and launching into the work given to them. After that was handled Twilight turned to Fluttershy. "What's the last thing you remember Shy?" She questioned, a serious tone heavy on her words.

Holding Spike close to her Fluttershy looked at her friend. "I-I was fighting to get at the alpha that Spike was latched onto but before I could get to him things started to blur and then everything went red." She answered, stroking the spiky head of hair her master had. "Did I do anything bad?" She inquired innocently.

Giving a heavy sigh Twilight helped her friend stand up while they cradled Spike. "Let's get you and everyone inside. I'll explain as we go ok?" Twilight offered with a tired smile.

The two made their way as the others rounded up the other Outers. Questions rising faster then answers could cut down. This was definitely not a normal day that Spike's grandfather would have had. But then again he wouldn't fully know that till he woke up once more.