21 May 2021, 2309hrs, Drake Security Inc. HQ, Canterlot, Equestria

The light of the Moon shone eerily through the skylight of one of the many massive factory halls of the Drake Security complex. A lone figure strolled along an elevated walkway overlooking the vast space, taking in the impressive view of the now dormant production lines below.

He had long appreciated the haunting yet enchanting beauty that nighttime brought to his building, which was part of why he would stay back in his HQ, even after those who stayed themselves to finish any extra work before they left.

Over the past few centuries since The Purge, Spike Drake had grown into a strong, healthy, and devilishly handsome young man. Despite now being 1009 years old, he still appeared to be in his late 20s, wearing his short green hair in what could only be a formal, spiky hairstyle, his smooth locks combed to one side. At full height, he stood a solid 188cm tall, combined with a lean yet muscular figure - a trait he earned from years of combat training in his learning to survive and fight back against the hostile side of Terran society.

Over his figure, he wore a simple, light grey business suit, a plain white shirt underneath, and a satin black tie tucked neatly under his jacket. Wrapped around his waist was a matching black leather belt fitted with a stainless steel buckle that held his pants firmly in place. Rounding off his attire were long, white socks that covered his ankles, over which he wore his polished black shoes. His left wrist bore a silver-plated smartwatch with a single, bright green magic crystal embedded below the face, acting as a control button.

While the green-haired businessman couldn’t help but enjoy the spectacle of the night within his complex, he had remained here for a much more important matter, far from the public's prying eyes. Footsteps echoed across the vast open space as Spike crossed the walkway towards the door and out into a long corridor that interconnected the production halls before turning right and walking straight down to another more enormous doorway, which led into the expansive lobby of the main building.

The lobby floor consisted of polished black marble tiles, and in the large lounging area between the front door and the reception counter, a khaki-coloured carpet lay. Over the carpet stood five glass coffee tables, each surrounded by four light tan 2-seater sofas and a water dispenser. A row of recycling bins was at the corner of the carpet.

Spike walked briskly past the empty reception counter and headed straight towards the lift lobby, located squarely within the core of the building. The area consisted of 16 large lifts, 8 lining each side of the hall, all of which were fit for passengers and cargo. However, Spike’s destination lay behind only one of them, as hinted at when he approached Lift 13 of all places. It was an ordinary human belief that 13 was an unlucky number in contrast to 7 and, by extension, widely avoided for varying reasons. As a result, Lift 13 had become the least used one in the building, as employees and clients alike were worried about getting trapped if they did so much as step inside.

For the above reason, Spike hid one of his biggest secrets underneath that lift. He even decided to play it up further by secretly programming it to stall, shake or drop at random times as it moved to further deter people from using it. Spike admitted to himself that adding such a seemingly dangerous function was extreme. Still, it was necessary to prevent suspicion among users should they discover a hidden, out-of-place control panel right next to the floor buttons.

Lift 13 opened up straight after Spike pressed the call button. After entering, he waited for the doors to finish closing before he could begin the next step. He placed his palm flat against the wall to the right of the button panel, which started to glow green as he channelled some of his magic into it. Light green Demon markings began to spread across his hand as his magic aura seeped into the shiny metal surface. A few seconds later, a hidden panel above his hand flipped over to reveal a secret button. A single Demon rune glowed dimly with green light engraved in its centre. Upon pressing the button, the doors slid shut, the shaft floor beneath opened up, and Lift 13, with its “Faulty Lift” charade now fully disabled, began its steady descent into the depths of the rock underneath Drake Security HQ.

It had been a nightmare for Spike to install that function and extend the shaft deeper into the ground without anyone noticing the additional, seemingly unscheduled construction within the lobby, even with some of the advanced construction technology he had brought from The Underworld to speed the process up. The fact that the installation went completely undetected by the humans was an incredibly close call.

After more than half a minute of descending, Lift 13 finally slowed to a stop. Once the doors slid open, Spike stepped out into a small corridor. Its floor had been carved and smoothed out from the very rock from which it was conceived, its dark, polished surface reflecting the ceiling lights. The walls were thick metal panels enchanted with Demon magic, which rendered the entire place nigh resistant to explosions and invisible to ground detection.

As Spike began to walk further, Lift 13 closed behind him and returned to its spot on the ground floor of the Drake Security main building. The corridor continued in a short, straight line to another door made of the same exotic metal as the walls on the far end. Spike stopped just before that door when a tiny red light flashed briefly from the camera above the door frame, having detected the businessman’s presence within the room. A small black panel with a glowing white outline of a hand in its centre popped out beside the door, after which a computerised voice spoke, “Please present handprint.”

Spike pressed an open palm to the panel. A thin line of light ran across the screen from top down as the device scanned his handprint. The hand outline on the panel flashed green, triggering the next step in the biometric scanning process: A camera popped out of the wall just above the handprint scanner, and the voice spoke again. “Please perform a facial and retinal scan.” Spike turned towards the camera before a bright light swept across his face and eyes, scanning them.

The final step triggered as he blinked a few times to regain his vision. A small microphone extended to the right of the handprint scanner, and the computer spoke its final instruction: “Please present voice print.” Leaning towards the microphone, Spike opened his mouth and said his full name.

“Spike Drake.”

“Access Granted. Welcome back, Spike Drake.”

Both scanners and the microphone slipped back into the wall before the door in front opened. This allowed Spike to finally step through into his secret underground base, the door closing and locking securely behind him.

Beyond the door was a stairway landing wide enough for 5 people to stand side by side comfortably with room to spare, overlooking a massive cave system into which Spike had built his entire base. Down below, hundreds of Demons of various kinds went about their jobs throughout the facility: Construction, combat training, surveillance, weapon testing and upgrading, transporting and storing supplies, all things that kept the base running around the clock.

By sheer luck, Spike found a big enough cave that lay several stories beneath his company complex, which humans hadn’t discovered yet. Combined with reopening the interdimensional gates from The Underworld to Terra 3 years ago, it was far too good an opportunity for him to refuse. One by one, Spike began to hire as many Demons in complete favour of reintegrating with human society as possible to help him build his base and join him in defending Equestria and, ultimately, the entirety of Terra. Now, this grand base of operations and the militia he had striven to build have become his most outstanding achievement yet: The base, which he simply named “The Dragon’s Den”, home to his private, personal militia, “The Demons of Vigilance”.

It had been his father’s last wish for Spike to make him proud, and over the past few centuries following his death, he had proceeded to do just that in the best ways he could imagine. His militia was no exception. Spike couldn’t help but stand there for a minute and smile at the latest fruits of his hard work.

He began to make his way down the flight of stairs to the floor of The Den, his shoes clopping against the steps, the sound drowned out by the activity's noise throughout the base's open floor. As he walked down the centre of the main hall, all Demons within proximity stopped what they were doing, stood at full attention and saluted the arrival of their commander.

“Good evening, Sir!!!” they all yelled in unison.

“At ease, soldiers,” Spike replied. “Carry on.”

Without wasting a second, the militia personnel quickly resumed their tasks as Spike continued down the hall, weaving through stacks of crates, pallets and people who walked back and forth between their workplaces to do their next job. He stopped briefly at a junction to let a golf cart with passengers pass through. Eventually, Spike made it to an expansive wall on the far end of the main cave section, where the central command centre and his base office stood.

The command centre occupied an entire 4 levels. Computers and personnel filled each level to communicate with any deployed team across Equestria and monitor every street and alleyway where human surveillance did not reach. In front of the building was a set of three lift shafts that connected the cave floor to all floors of the command centre and Spike’s office.

The office had a wide overhanging section with a curtain wall window that overlooked the entire base from atop the command centre. All 3 lift shafts entered the floor from beneath, covered with bright green Tron lines that ran their entire height, glowing with the energy that powered The Den nonstop.

Spike called a lift, and as soon as it arrived, he entered and pressed the button for Level 5, where his underground office stood. Once the glass doors closed, they swiftly ascended through the floor and into the centre of a white reception room. It was a stark contrast to the primarily black colour scheme that covered the rest of The Den, fitting for a place where administrative work would take place in an otherwise military organisation. Spike admittedly liked his workplaces to stand out from the rest of the facilities they stood in, partly because it made them easy to spot but more because he liked the aesthetic it brought to the environment.

He strode up to the desk beside his office door, where a young woman was seated, typing away at her laptop. Her neon orange eyes shifted left and right as she followed her typing across the screen, and a stoic expression adorned her otherwise beautiful face.

“Hello, Aphrodisia,” Spike greeted with a smile.

Aphrodisia looked up from her screen to see her boss, handsome as ever, standing before her. A comprehensive, seductive smile instantly replaced her frown as she stood up from her chair and stepped to the side of her desk into full view, propping herself up with one hand on the desktop. She stuck her hip out to the side, posing briefly for him as she returned his greeting. “Hello, Mr Drake.”

Standing around 10cm shorter than Spike, Aphrodisia was a Succubus and, like all others of her race, a sight for sore eyes. Like her eyes, her hair was neon orange, which glowed against the room's bright light. Both features sharply contrasted with her milk chocolate skin, smoother than silk and flawless. To complement her face, she had a pair of horns that curved around her forehead before curling upwards and in on themselves to look like a faux tiara.

However, the most stunning thing about her that night was the clothes she had decided to wear to work. It was an office outfit that was common to see on human women in most businesses, except that it hugged and showed off her jaw-dropping bombshell of a figure: the snow-white blouse underneath her charcoal grey jacket had an extremely low V-cut in the front that fully showed off the cleavage of her vast 179cm breasts. There was no sign of a bra underneath, not that she wanted to wear one.

The black leather belt she wore around her narrow hourglass waist held up her skirt, which matched her jacket and was so short that it barely covered her well-rounded derriere and her lacy black thong when she stood upright. To complete the attire, she wore transparent black pantyhose wrapped snugly around her legs, from her shapely thighs down to her covered black high heels. Her bright orange wings were folded flat against her back, while her matching tail stuck out over the back of her belt and hung freely.

Aphrodisia sauntered over to Spike, her hips swaying with each step and her tail gently swishing behind her. As soon as she stepped within reach, she wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders and pulled herself in, rubbing her still-clad breasts into his chest, softly moaning as she worked her body over his. She snuggled into his shoulder at the base of his neck, inhaling as much of his scent as she could, her smile never wavering.

“Mmmm…” Aphrodisia sighed as she felt Spike return the hug. “You’ve been out stargazing again, haven’t you?”

“Perhaps,” came Spike’s reply. “Starry nights are beautiful, so can you blame me for going out so often?”

“Surely they can’t be any more beautiful than little ol’ me, can they?” the orange-haired succubus playfully pouted as she stared at him with puppy-dog eyes and shook her massive tits against his chest. The meaty pillows seemed to poke out through the opening in her blouse the harder she squished them. “I can show you just how much more exciting a woman’s company can be,” she spoke in the most seductive tone she could manage as she hooked her finger under the side of her blouse collar and pulled it open, giving Spike a generous view of the top half of her breasts.

Spike cracked an amused smile at her adorably childish expression. “Don’t make me choose, Aphrodisia. As much as I love your attention, we have work tonight.”

The buxom secretary leaned in until their noses touched. “Awwwww,” she continued to pout. “Can I at least steal a kiss from my green-haired hunk?” she wrapped a leg around his waist and pulled herself closer. “Pretty please?”

“Alright, go ahead,” Spike sighed.

The Succubus was about to lean in to do the deed when she remembered something. Looking Spike up and down for a second, she spoke up again. “Oh, by the way, you can drop your disguise while you’re down here. There’s no one here but Demons.”

“Wha-oh, right,” Spike reacted sheepishly. Having had to pose as a human for centuries on end whenever he had to run errands within human civilisation, it had become a habit for him to spend most of his time hiding his Demonic features, even now in the presence of his fellow Demons. It had grown to a point where he would forget that he could drop his human facade around his family.

As Spike closed his eyes, his Demon markings appeared across his skin as he channelled his magic to resume his proper form. His purple Dragon scales slowly returned to his hands, and his fingernails morphed into claws. His long, muscular tail sprouted out behind him, cascading over the back of his belt and out into the open, the purple scales and green spines glistening under the room's light. His leathery wings poked through the back of his jacket and unfurled gracefully, stretching the pale green membrane that spanned between each wing digit. Thank goodness he remembered to enchant his clothes to adapt to his form, or he would have ripped clean through them. His now longer horns grew out of the sides of his head and swept back at a steep angle while the pupils of his eyes turned to slits, appearing more reptilian in the process. His Demon markings faded once his transformation was complete, leaving Spike in all his demonic glory.

“Mmm, much better,” Aphrodisia responded with a mischievous grin before she locked her mouth tightly against Spike’s, determined to savour every last second of their kiss. She shuddered and moaned in pleasure as she felt his forked tongue slither its way into her mouth and tickle her tongue and inner cheeks. Their warm, fleshy appendages danced and wrestled in erotic unison as the 2 Demons made out in ways unachievable by humans. Spike decided to up the antic by firmly groping her firm, round asscheeks and rolling them around in his hands.

After half a minute had passed, Spike gently pulled away, albeit reluctantly, with Aphrodisia doing the same. She wore a satisfied grin on her face as she spoke again. “Your suit’s waiting in your office as usual. I’ve added a few upgrades to it while you were gone.”

“Really?” Spike asked, his face lighting up slightly.

“See for yourself, Boss,” Aphrodisia gestured to his office door. Wasting no more time, Spike opened the door and entered, his secretary following close behind.

Near the window of his underground office was a large, curved ebony desk that appeared to wrap around the black leather swivel chair. On top was an emerald green tabletop lamp next to his 60cm desktop monitor, set to the side.

On the far wall, a floor-to-ceiling cabinet held mostly hardcopy folders and a few disc drives on its shelves. However, the one aspect that stood out the most in this seemingly ordinary office lay in the centre of the cabinet. Spike's combat suit was locked securely inside a bomb-proof, human-sized capsule, ready to be worn.

Spike placed his hand over the circular pad on the front of the capsule before a thin band of light ran under his palm, scanning his handprint. Immediately after, the pad flashed green, indicating a successful authentication, and the hatch to the capsule opened to reveal the suit in all of its glory.

It was a state-of-the-art, high-tech military combat suit that was jet black at the base, the gloves and the boots, except for the armour plating on the chest, shoulders, elbows, gauntlets and knees, all of which were dark charcoal grey. Printed over the surface was pixelated camouflage comprised of light green, bright green, light grey and dark grey pixels that peppered the suit. The helmet was primarily a glass faceplate that acted as a tactical visor, set in an exotic alloy frame covered with a luminous green honeycomb film, which would fully conceal Spike’s face when he put it on. Creating this suit had been a team effort between Spike and Aphrodisia, the latter too happy to help him put it all together.

Spike shifted to his office’s window and pressed a button next to it. The glass instantly went from transparent to opaque to give him some privacy to change into his combat suit. With that, he began pulling off his business suit piece by piece while Aphrodisia watched with a sly smirk.

“I’ve installed new dampening pads on the soles of your boots, complete with a powerful silentium enchantment,” she explained as Spike removed his shirt and hung it on the clothes rack, showing his bare, well-toned back to her. “You’ll be able to run, jump and land in dead silence during your missions.” Her eyes travelled down to his underwear-clad butt as soon as Spike pulled his pants down.

“Nice,” Spike remarked with a smile. “What else did you add?”

As Spike put it on, Aphrodisia continued her brief on the suit’s upgrades. “The armour plating has been reconfigured to absorb the force of every hit you take. Punches and kicks will feel no worse than being hit with a pillow, wherever they may land.” She giggled briefly. “Then again, even without protection, it’s near impossible for humans to inflict pain on Demons with bare fists, feet and blunt weapons. I guess I love redundancy too much.”

“Don’t put yourself down like that,” Spike replied gently, slipping on the top of his suit and then the pants. “Adding a few extra layers of protection here and there won't kill. Tell me more instead.”

“If you say so,” the Succubus secretary answered. “I’ve added an app to your gauntlet interface so you can now control your car hands-free. No more using that hand-held remote you so easily lose!” She winked mischievously.

Spike blushed in embarrassment at the mention of his car remote. “Don’t remind me,” he sighed as he picked his helmet up.

He would lie if he claimed he hadn’t lost it multiple times during his missions. Spike had initially kept it in his pocket, only to fly out under the force of his manoeuvres during a fight. It worked when he tried clipping it to his utility belt. However, during another brawl, when he narrowly dodged a thug who wanted to take a swing at his gut with a crowbar, the thug hit the remote instead, and it flew to the far end of the room and lodged itself in the side of a cabinet.

Thankfully, in most incidents, the remote didn’t go too far, and even if it did, it was easily trackable through his helmet. However, it still didn’t make the situation any less annoying.

Spike pushed a button on either side of his helmet, which caused the entire visor to collapse and fold up and over to make it easier for him to strap it over his head and under his jaw. Clicking the last of the helmet clips into place, he pulled his gloves over his hands and straightened his entire suit out.

“Lastly, I’ve altered the enchantment seals on your back armour plates to work in conjunction with the seat of your car,” Aphrodisia concluded. “They will now reflect a repulsion blast generated by the seat. Now, you can instantly launch high into the air and fly away in an emergency, or if you want to recce the area from the sky.”

Spike peered over his shoulder into the mirror behind him. Running a hand over the back of his suit, he confirmed that the seals his magic revealed for a second were notably different than before. Turning down to his boots, the Dragon Demon stomped a few times to test their silencing enchantments. True to her word, his feet made no noise, no matter how hard he stamped them. These new additions would be a game-changer on the field the next time he fought.

With an impressed smile, Spike turned back to face his secretary and asked, “And you did all this yourself in under 1 day?”

“Yup!” Aphrodisia answered cheerfully, popping the “P”.

Spike shook his head in amusement and chuckled. “A Succubus who’s an expert at both administration and gadgets. You are a great woman.”

“You know it. After all, that’s why you hired me for this job,” Aphrodisia stepped closer once again, wrapping an arm behind his back and tracing circles over his chest armour with her finger as she lowered her voice to a sultry tone. “And I’m pretty sure those aren’t the only reasons I’m here,” she giggled.

Spike rolled his eyes at her continued flirting. “Aph, stop that,” he told her gently. “I love talking to you, but remember, we must still get to work. Besides, hiring you as my secretary just because you look hot would be extremely superficial and bad for my image.”

“Well, at least you can consider my beauty a bonus, babe,” Aphrodisia cooed before kissing Spike’s cheek, which he quietly accepted with a small smile.

“Come on. Let’s head down to the Main Control Room. I want to see who’s creeping around Canterlot this time.”

Aphrodisia wrapped her arms around Spike’s left bicep and pulled it into her cleavage, enveloping it entirely between her love pillows. “Right beside you, boss,” she replied.

21 May 2021, 2320hrs, Canterlot Zoological Gardens, Carpark

A bright light shone from the lampposts across the carpark just outside the main entrance to the Canterlot Zoo. The entire area was empty, except for a lone light blue sedan parked near the gate. 2 young women had just passed the entry point from the Veterinary Block and were heading towards the car.

The first woman stood at 149cm and had long, wavy, light pink hair that cascaded halfway down her thighs. Her large eyes shone a deep Persian green, highlighting her adorable complexion. Her fair skin glowed from the light of the lamppost she and her friend passed under.

The khaki safari uniform she wore for work was custom-tailored to fit her head-turning bombshell of a figure. Even then, the top would strain slightly against her 176cm breasts, which were an impressive size for her age, whenever she tried to stretch. Her shorts were no different: The top part was just wide enough to snugly fit her 85cm hips and butt while still allowing her to secure it to her slim waist with a belt. She wore matching boots over earth-brown knee-high socks to complete the uniform.

The second woman, who was the same height, had wavy, 2-toned, cornflower blue hair tied back in a low ponytail and hanging past her upper back. She also had clay brown eyes paired with skin that was a slightly darker hue than that of the pink-haired woman.

Her work uniform consisted of a khaki-coloured polo T-shirt that hugged her breasts, notably smaller at 165cm. It carried the Canterlot Zoo’s logo on the left side of the chest area. Pinned above the logo was a rectangular brass badge with her name etched in its centre. Over her 80cm hips and slender legs were a black belt and long brown pants that hung to her ankles. Finally, she wore black socks and matching brown hiking shoes over her feet.

Both women each carried a large box of folders filled to the brim with the last of several stacks worth of old documents they had picked out of the cabinets in the veterinary office. They had to lean back and prop the boxes against their laps to prevent themselves from collapsing under the weight of all the paper inside. Eventually, they reached the car's boot and lowered the boxes to the curb before standing up and exhaling in relief.

“Ugh, that was heavy!” the light blue-haired girl groaned as she swung her arms around to shake the strain from them. She then turned to her companion, who had to lean against the car to steady herself as she recovered the strength in her arms. “Thanks for helping me carry this all out, Fluttershy. I’m sorry that there had to be so much.”

“Oh, don’t be, Fauna,” Fluttershy assured gently. “I’m always happy to help a friend in need.” She looked down at the boxes of documents while Fauna pulled her key out to unlock her car. “But why didn’t they clear the archives sooner, even before we joined the Zoo?” she asked.

“My best guess?” Fauna answered with a deadpan expression as she opened the boot. “Management was too busy or lazy to get rid of all hard copies of the medical records we had accumulated over the last 2 decades, even after we digitalised all of our succeeding records. I would've brought a trailer if Dr High Dosage had told me how much paperwork we were dealing with.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “I swear if I didn’t know him better, I’d think he was some kind of slave driver. The only reason I haven’t kicked his ass to Saddle Arabia and back by now is that he’s my manager.”

“Fauna!” Fluttershy exclaimed, shocked at her colleague’s last comment.

“S-sorry, sorry,” Fauna pinched the bridge of her nose as she composed herself. “I was ranting. It’s…just been a few long days for me.” Shaking her head, the veterinarian went to pick up the boxes to start loading them into the boot, with Fluttershy lending a hand to help once more.

Once both women loaded all the documents, Fauna closed the boot. “There, that should do it!” she huffed with satisfaction. “Come on, Fluttershy, get in. I’ll drive you home.”

“Huh? Oh no, I couldn’t!” the light pink-haired zookeeper replied sheepishly. “My home’s not that far away. I can just walk back.”

“Walk home? Alone in the dark? Where someone could easily kidnap you on a whim without anyone noticing? No way,” Fauna countered with a slight smirk. “You’ll be much safer in my car. Besides, it’s the least I could do after you helped me carry these dusty old papers all the way here from my office.”

Fluttershy awkwardly shifted her eyes away and twiddled her fingers as she processed her friend’s rhetorical question. Yes, it wasn’t too far to walk home from the Zoo, but it was also close to midnight, and the streets were dark and practically empty. She wasn’t about to risk putting herself in danger just because she didn’t want to feel like burdening her friend by being her passenger.

“W-well…when you put it that way…” she sighed briefly. “Alright, I’ll join you.”

Fauna smiled warmly at Fluttershy’s answer. “That's better,” she said. “Now, let’s go!”

Nodding her head, Fluttershy walked over to the passenger side, opened the door, and slipped into the seat to buckle up. Fauna did the same behind the wheel before pulling out her key again and inserting it into the ignition switch. A thought crossed her mind just before she could turn it to start the engine.

“You know,” Fauna began as she turned to her colleague, her hand still on the key. “You could take up driving lessons yourself if you don’t want others to do it for you all the time. It’ll be a handy skill to learn, too.”

“I would, but…I…” Fluttershy replied nervously, pausing for a few seconds. “I don’t think I can trust myself to drive a car, even if I can afford one. It looks fine at first, but the dangers behind it seem so…scary to me. There’s so much I’ll need to be careful with just by sitting behind a steering wheel. W-what if I end up hurting myself, or worse, dead?”

Fauns lifted her hand from the key to pat her shoulder. “Don’t fret too much about those things, okay?” she spoke gently. “You don’t have to go to driving school immediately, and learning to drive is not a do-or-die situation. That door will be open for you whenever you’re ready. Even then, just take it nice and slow. You’ll get the hang of it in time, and who knows? You might even have fun.”

Upon hearing that advice, Fluttershy found herself relaxing, albeit somewhat. She still had doubts about someone like her being able to drive a car without issue.

“But that’s enough talk for now,” Fauna continued. “Let’s get you home.” She grabbed the key and turned it until the engine started. As the engine hummed lightly, she shifted into drive and disengaged the parking brake before slowly emerging from the parking lot‒

*PSSSHHHHHHHH!* *THUD*

They had barely moved over 30cm from their spot when they suddenly heard a loud hissing sound, followed by a violent jerk as the entire car dropped to the road. After which, the vehicle rocked as it struggled to move further.

The noise caused Fluttershy to jump in her seat, but Fauna, on the other hand, was visibly fuming. Turning off the engine, she reached down and unbuckled her seatbelt. “Oh my Faust, now what!?” she groaned. She flung the door open to get out and check the damage while Fluttershy hastily got out to investigate from her side.

When both women peered down at the wheels, they realised that someone had punctured all 4 tyres on Fauna’s car had been punctured, the rubber now squashed flat under the wheels. It wasn’t 3 seconds after that when a glint caught Fluttershy’s eye. The zookeeper’s eyes widened in shock at what she spotted behind the now-flat tyres. “Fauna, look! Behind the wheels!” she called out. “Someone blew the tyres out with nails!”

Fauna clenched her jaw as her eyes settled on the nails on the road beneath her car. “I swear if this is some kind of prank, I’ll-” she was interrupted when she suddenly heard muffled screams from the other side of her car. Darting her head, she was horrified to find a masked street thug dressed entirely in black, holding a struggling Fluttershy back as he held a cloth over her mouth.

“FLUTTERSHY!!!” she tried to call out. Unfortunately, before she could rush over to help, another thug jumped her from behind, twisted her arm behind her back, and slammed her face-first into the bonnet. She cried out in pain as she felt the cold, hard metal strike her temple. The thug pinned her down before pulling out a wet cloth and slapping it over her nose and mouth, forcing her to inhale the strong scent it emitted as she struggled fruitlessly under his body weight.

In seconds, Fluttershy and Fauna felt their heads getting lighter as their eyes rolled back into their heads, and their consciousness slipped away. Both fell limp in their captors’ arms.

The thug holding Fluttershy scooped her up. “Man, this was too easy,” he told his friend. “2 hot bitches with 2 huge puppies each, and neither of them put up a fight! Oh, I can’t wait to tap these!”

“Talk later, man,” the other thug replied, slinging Fauna over his shoulder. “Let’s get the hell out of here before someone sees us. The other guys at the hideout will want a piece, too.”

Wasting no more time, both thugs hurriedly lugged the unconscious women to their car, which stood just around the corner outside the carpark gate, and stuffed them into the backseat. Unbeknownst to them, a small spy drone slowly poked out from behind a bush as it followed the thugs’ trail.

From the roof of a nearby building, a shadowy, feminine figure had been watching both of them through that same drone, recording their voices and footage of the kidnapping in the carpark while relaying the content to her goggles. The thugs both got into the front seats of their car as fast as they could, slamming the doors shut and starting the engine, still unaware that they were being watched.

Smirking under her helmet, she raised her rifle and aimed through her scope just as the car began to move off. When she pulled the trigger, a tiny tracking device launched from the barrel of her gun with a soft “Pew!” and zipped through the air before landing on the thugs’ car near the rear wheel.

*Tink*

The thug in the passenger seat perked up at the noise. “Did you hear something?” he asked.

“Eh, it must’ve been a bit of loose asphalt,” his friend answered from behind the wheel.

As they continued driving back to their hideout, the tracking device that landed on the side of their car sprouted 8 silver legs. Detaching itself from the metal panel, it silently crawled down to the undercarriage, out of plain sight, before latching on again (This time, underneath the floor panel) and activating its homing signal.

Back on the rooftop, a robotic female spoke through the figure’s helmet, “Signal active. Tracking target now.”

She opened a live map of the city on her HUD, which automatically zoomed in on a flashing dot moving away down the road from Canterlot Zoo, indicating the position of the thugs’ vehicle in real time. She could feel her smile growing wider as she imagined what would come next for them while she recalled her drone from the carpark, which flew back to her at breakneck speed and docked itself in the port on the side of her utility belt.

“Oh, Spike’s going to love this,” she thought as she raised a finger to the side of her helmet and pressed the radio button.

21 May 2021, 2320hrs, Main Command Centre, The Dragon's Den

Spike and Aphrodisia walked through the double doors together into the central control room of the Command Centre.

In the centre of the vast, dark theatre stood a series of 10 long desks, laden in rows of 2 from front to back over an inclined floor. Their arrangement left enough space for 3 aisles on either side of the room and down the centre, wide enough for 3 people to stand side by side comfortably with room to spare.

Atop each desk were 5 sets of high-tech monitors and keyboards, all connected to a massive, high-capacity server in the block's basement level. Staff members occupied all seats to monitor the positions and progress of any deployed units across Equestra’s cities, subduing criminal organisations and activity wherever local police could not reach, let alone in time. A massive projection screen was mounted on the front wall of the control room, showing a live map of the entirety of Equestria, followed by clusters of tiny, luminous dots, each representing an active unit, that slowly trailed throughout the area they were combing.

Spike’s eyes settled on a particular group of 3 Demons standing in a circle, engaged in conversation next to the desk at the back of the theatre, where a Spider Demon was operating the map of Equestria through a set of 3 monitors that stood before him.

“Thorax! Pharynx! Ember!” Spike called out, breaking all 3 Demons out of their talk as they turned their heads in Spike’s direction. Thorax and Pharynx grinned with delight as they jogged over to greet their friend, Ember following close behind.

Pharynx stood at about 170cm, which was not much taller than Spike but still enough to make him look up slightly to meet his eyes. In addition, he was noticeably more buff than his friend, with heavier muscles compared to Spike’s slightly leaner build.

His skin and face were well-tanned to complement his short, dark, bluish-green hair, which ended in bright red highlights, and his medium purple eyes. A pair of matching red antlers, shaped like Stag Beetle mandibles, protruded out from the sides of his head and curved upwards in the vague shape of a crescent. His hard, dark purple carapace, which concealed the transparent insectoid wings, curved smoothly over the upper back of his combat suit, which looked similar to Spike’s, except that the armour plates were dark bluish-green like his hair with red accents. His helmet stood folded around the back of his head.

Thorax stood much taller than his big brother, at 192cm. He was much leaner in build and had a fairer skin tone, which made his purple eyes stand out more. His long hair, which was light green and ended in bright orange, was tied in a low ponytail and hung to his upper back.

Like Pharynx, he had mandible-like antlers that sprouted from and curved over the sides of his head, but they were bright orange and much more prominent. He wore the same suit as Pharynx but with light green armour plates, bright orange accents to match his hair, and his helmet folded behind his head. His carapace was dark magenta at the base, which faded to a vibrant dark purple at the end.

Finally, there was Ember Infernus: A pure-blooded Fire Dragoness who was as tall as Pharynx, with shoulder-length dark blue hair that was swept back over her head in a spiky beehive, complete with a matching set of bangs that hung over her forehead and ended just above her piercing coral eyes. A pair of large, downward-curving, ivory-coloured horns adorned the asides of her head.

Her wing digits and long, muscular tail were lined with light blue scales, with her wing membranes and spade tip covered in deep blue to match her hair. The appendages protruded through specialised holes in her armoured combat suit, which hugged every curve of her athletic yet alluringly feminine figure. Much of her chest plating had to be custom moulded to fit snugly over her 179cm bust. In addition, the skintight undersuit that held her armour highlighted her 55cm waist and 78cm hips, curving graciously over her large, well-toned, rounded butt if one dared to look.

“Hey, Spike! Where have you been?” Pharynx spoke first as Spike broke away from Aphrodisia to pull him in for a friendly shoulder bump.

“Oh, nowhere in particular,” Spike replied as he shook Thorax’s hand. “Just went stargazing to clear my head before coming here. Aph just finished running me through my suit’s upgrades.”

“Was that before or after you made out with her for the umpteenth time?” Pharynx teased with a smirk. Thorax couldn't help snickering at his question while Aphrodisia lightly clasped a hand over her mouth and giggled. Ember simply rolled her eyes.

“She’s a Succubus, Pharynx!” Spike retorted, a slight blush growing on his face. “You know I only do that to humour her.”

“Oh, sure you do,” the Changeling Prince countered. “With how closely you’ve both been working together these days, I’m surprised that’s all you’ve done. So what’s stopping you two from straight-up fucking each other’s brains out on the spot?”

“Pharynx!” Ember snapped. Meanwhile, Spike could only groan in embarrassment.

Although Thorax was not above laughing at some of his brother’s jokes, he too was shocked by the bluntness of Pharynx’s question. He stepped in front to face him. “Ok, brother. Thatwas a bit too personal.”

“Guys, relax! I was just kidding!” Pharynx assured as he raised his hands apologetically. “I’ll stop now.”

“He does have a point, though,” Aphrodisia remarked as she wrapped her arms around Spike again with a smile. “So far, it’s been nothing but hugs, kisses, and the occasional grope between us. So why don’t we take some initiative and start making real love, Spike?” She lowered her voice into an even more sultry tone. “We could have our first official fuck session back at your place, and I’m sure you’ve got the bed for it. Or, if you’re up for a little thrill…” She leaned closer to his face. “We could do it right in your office…with the blinds open…for everyone in The Den to see. Just imagine it, Spike: Both of us, naked as the day we were born, while I’m propped face-first against the window. My big, firm, luscious, milky tits squashed against the glass for our audience to behold, you pulling my arms back like I’m your precious little captive as you rail me from behind like a bull in heat, churning my hot pussy and womb, making me scream for more as your balls get ready to blow a nice, big, fat-”

“Alright, Little Miss Horny, that’s enough,” Ember interjected, grabbing Aphrodisia by the ear and gently pulling her away, which caused her to blush and squeak with pleasure. “Spike here needs to work. You can have some more fun later.”

“Gheeheeheehee, noooo…” The dark-skinned succubus laughed giddily.

“Thanks, Ember,” a now blushing bright red Spike said, visibly relieved that he didn’t need to put up with any more of his secretary’s antics in front of his friends, least of all Pharynx. He swore that the eldest son of the Changeling Queen was way too childish for his age.

“Oh, come on, Ember, you didn’t have to interrupt the story!” A mature female voice playfully told her off with a titter from behind Spike.

“Damn right, Barb,” a 2nd female voice agreed. “I could listen to a good fantasy occasionally, and Aph’s was just getting juicy.”

Spike rolled his eyes as he turned to face his 2 mothers, Barbara and Pyra, who had entered the control room through the front door a minute before and overheard Aphrodisia’s little fantasy. “Not the time, Moms,” he stated firmly.

Barbara entered the room dressed in a dress suit like Aphrodisia’s from her day job. The difference was that her white blouse was fully buttoned up, and her skirt hung to her knees to meet the human regulations at her workplace. In addition, her jacket and skirt were a dark green that emitted a satin sheen under the light of the monitors, and her pantyhose was dark grey as opposed to Aphrodisia’s black. She wore a pair of black high heels on her feet. To complete the look, she had a simple gold chain necklace with a single square emerald hanging from the centre, a matching pair of gold-framed emerald ear studs, and a gold smartwatch with a small green crystal for a button on her wrist. She also wore Spurn’s onyx wedding ring on top of her emerald one in memory of her deceased husband, and her wavy, waist-length green hair was tied up into a large, neat, high bun behind her head.

On the other hand, Pyra wore a backless, baby blue halter top with a teardrop-shaped window in the centre that showed off the top half of her deep cleavage, paired with a blazing orange, yellow-trimmed latex jacket that had an ornamental dragon emblem she had custom-embroidered on the back as a symbol of her heritage, along with light blue and yellow hot rod flames on the ends of the sleeves. On the bottom, she wore a gold chain belt that hung loosely around her waist and over her pearl-white skinny jeans. She stood high on white stilettos to match. Her accessories consisted of a topaz-studded, gold chain choker and matching ear studs, a similar gold smartwatch to Barbara’s on one wrist (Hers had a light blue crystal), and 7 gold diamond-studded bangles on the other, and her turquoise wedding ring. She wore her hair in a modified high-swept pixie cut, with the back of her head close-shaven.

To say that both Barbara and Pyra’s beauty had all but matured to a hellishly erotic level within the millennium after The Purge would be a massive understatement. They now stood at a statuesque 196cm, just taller than Spike, even disregarding their high heels. Their busts had also grown to a staggering 215cm apiece, their tops wrapping snugly around their humongous mammaries. Their hips had expanded to 106cm, which gave more room for their butts to grow and round out even further. The springy flesh of their glutes jiggled and bounced with every sway of their hips as they approached their son while their wings and tails hung and swished respectively behind them.

“Oh, it was just about to get juicy, alright,” Aphrodisia replied with a sly grin. “I’ve also had ideas about throwing in a little…bondage to spice it all up.”

“Stop it,” Spike protested flatly.

“Ooh, bondage? How steamy!” Pyra exclaimed as she playfully fanned herself. “What kind?”

Ahprodisia’s smile widened. “You know, just me being tied down to the top of Spike’s desk, with long, tight straps to squeeze my big, beautiful tits around those thick, meaty serpents of his, my hands tied above my head, and my legs held wide open, putting my tight pussy and ass on full display-”

“Please stop.”

“-and he would plough me harder than a field without a care in the world as he spanks me sore like the slutty little cocksleeve that I am, telling me how mind-numbingly good it feels to fuck me so hard I won’t be able to move for-”

“Enough, Aphrodisia!” Spike snapped. He took a deep breath, calming himself down slightly before he continued. “Look, let me make this clear. I have absolutely nothing against your nature, your advances, or your wild imagination, but please let me focus on my operations for more than 5 seconds before you make me blow a nut on the spot.”

“I wouldn’t mind seeing that,” The succubus thought with a slight blush.

“Aww, don’t be such a prude, sweetie,” Barbara replied, giving her son a brief hug. “You’ve been a grown man for quite some time now, and it’s high time you got yourself hooked up with a pretty girl or two. Surely you’d like to finally experience what happens between a man and woman after putting it off for so long?”

“As tempted as I am by the opportunity, Mom, girls, and dating will have to wait because my job cannot. And if you’re all done, I’d like to get down to business as soon as possible. These missions won’t accomplish themselves.” Spike said before heading for the desk at the back of the room.

“Your mother has a point, you know,” Pyra explained, causing Spike to pause mid-step. “You’ve been working so hard for us for centuries on end. First, as a mercenary, followed by small businesses, your company, and now The Demons of Vigilance.” She couldn’t help but beam inwardly with pride as she mentioned the latter two parts. “Yet despite all that, you’ve never set aside even a little time to mingle with any of the girls in the city, let alone the entirety of Equestria. Sex has been a big part of our nature and culture, and all of those years of repressed sexual tension can’t be good for your health or your sanity, even if you’ve done a pretty good job of doing just that. All Demons have their limits when it comes to inhibition, and Tartarus forbid that you go on a lust-fuelled rampage from holding it all back a moment too long.”

There was a moment of pause as Spike processed his stepmother’s words. Turning his head back, he answered Pyra’s argument with 4 simple words:

“I’ll think about it.”

Spike turned back and reached the desk where the Spider Demon was seated. His 6 arms spread across five different keyboards and three wide touchscreen monitors as he surveyed the data flashing across the thin electronic panels.

“Dusty Cobweb,” Spike greeted.

Dusty looked up from his monitors to face his leader, his eyes taking a second to focus. “Good evening, Sir,” he acknowledged. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of that embarrassing sex talk in just 3 minutes.”

“Don’t be,” Spike assured him. “They can sometimes get annoying, but they’re still my family and friends. Teasing is something that comes with having either of them and something you have to learn to live with, whether you like it or not.”

“Understood, Sir,“ Dusty replied. Standing 13cm shorter than Spike, he had a remarkably lean build, albeit leaning more towards the slender side. His 8 silver eyes stood out against his short jet-black hair and the dark coffee-brown chitin that covered his forearms and hands. He wore a dark bluish-grey shirt modified to have 6 sleeves to accommodate all his arms, which rolled up neatly to his elbows. In addition, he wore black pants and shoes to compliment his shirt.

“Family banter aside,” Spike continued. “What’s the status of tonight’s criminal activity?”

“Let’s see now…” Dusty enhanced all annotations on the massive screen, holding information on their operations throughout Equestria. “So far, this week’s been pretty low on crime, Sir. We have 1 small-scale drug dealership in Vanhoover that we’re tracking right now. On Tuesday, we also had a short series of smash-and-grab robberies across 3 different jewellery stores in Manehattan by the same group of burglars who are now apprehended. On top of that, we located the hideout of a scam call syndicate of 10 people in Baltimare the day after and stormed the entire place in under 6 minutes. No one got away,” he explained with a satisfied smile. “Not to mention arresting 4 vandals in Cloudsdale, foiling a railway sabotage attempt on the line between Canterlot and Appleloosa, and stopping a trespasser at Crystallia Airbase before handing him over to the Shadowbolts.”

Spike decided to return to the first mission Dusty had mentioned. “Any new findings on the Vanhoover drug deals?”

“The unit we sent to investigate has managed to locate one of their main rendezvous points at the docks, in Warehouse 11,” the Spider Demon answered. “They’ve set up temporary surveillance and are lying in wait to capture at least 1 member for interrogation when their next customer comes into trade. Then we’ll need to get a list of their clients to hand them over to the local authorities.”

*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*

As Dusty finished his sentence, the system’s call alert rang out. Everyone in the room turned their heads in time to see a notification flash across the projector screen:

Incoming Call: Lacy Spinneret

Needing no further prompt, Dusty quickly clicked the “Answer” icon, letting Lacy’s voice sound throughout the Control Room.

“Hi, Dusty,” she said over her microphone. “Is The Emerald Dragon there?”

“He is,” Dusty replied. “I have him on the line right now.”

“Lacy?” Spike called.

“Hey there, Boss,” she greeted in a more flirtatious tone. “How’s my little green-haired stud doing tonight?”

Spike sighed in exasperation before he spoke. “Save the pleasantries for later. What did you find?”

“Oh, nothing much,” she replied casually. “Just 2 poor, sweet, innocent girls getting kidnapped by a pair of burly thugs in black. I believe their names were ‘Fluttershy’ and ‘Fauna’ respectively?”

Spike’s expression hardened at that brief description. “What?” he asked. “You mean Fluttershy, the shy, pink-haired zookeeper and member of The Rainbooms and Fauna, the top vet from Canterlot Zoo? Those women?”

“The very ones,” Lacy confirmed in a slight singsong tone. “I’ll let the footage tell you the rest.”

With that, she sent the recording she took from her drone to the main screen of the control room for everyone present in the room to see. The video played back everything that went down during the incident, showing how both thugs had snuck around to the sides of the car shortly after Fluttershy and Fauna had both shut the doors and poured nails under the front of the tyres before sneaking back out of sight and waiting for the car to move off. As soon as the tyres blew and the women got out to check, they were both tackled from behind and chloroformed, their bodies falling limp as the chemical did its work, and the thugs carried them back to their car.

“Man, this was too easy. 2 hot bitches with 2 huge puppies each, and neither of them put up a fight! Oh, I can’t wait to tap these!”

“Talk later, man. Let’s get the Tartarus out of here before someone sees us. The other guys at the hideout will want a piece, too.”

As Spike processed the words he had just heard from that recording, only one expression formed on his otherwise handsome face: Stone-cold fury. He did not need to go on a screaming rampage to make his anger known. The fire in his eyes and his terrifying death glare were enough to send most of his subordinates back away.

He had seen and heard his fair share of rape cases throughout his lifetime, more often than not, with the perpetrators getting away with their crimes because their victims were too terrified and traumatised to speak out, their assailants blackmailed and threatened them into silence, or the perpetrators had enough connections to band the law in their favour. It was for those reasons that such a crime had become so personal for Spike, and he had made it his duty to hunt down all rapists with extreme prejudice and make sure that they answer properly for their actions against society.

“Why didn’t you stop them?” Spike demanded, his voice now heavy with barely restrained anger.

“Because there’s more where they came from. One of them said that the rest of their little gang would want to have a go at the girls,” Lacy said seriously. “I’ve planted a tracking device on their car, and they’re still on the move as we speak. If we can catch them all in the same place simultaneously, our job will be much easier tonight. Besides,” her smirk returned to her face before she spoke into her microphone again. “Where’s the fun in capturing them now?”

Spike took another deep breath to compose himself. “Just send us the vehicle's location,” he ordered.

“Roger that,” Lacy acknowledged. A second later, a secondary map popped up, showing the position of the thugs’ car in real-time, carrying the unconscious hostages as it made its way towards the hideout.

Spike narrowed his eyes at the blip on the screen as it approached the northwest region near the border, approaching one complex in particular. “Sunshine Flats?” he wondered aloud. “No one’s lived in those dingy old apartments for years.” He then turned to his friends. “Ember, Pharynx, Thorax, come with me,” he said, earning their nods before turning to Dusty, who was still seated at his desk. “Dusty, call the Canterlot City Police Department and alert them to the hideout. Remember to scramble the line while you’re at it.”

“Copy, Sir!” Dusty acknowledged as he quickly dialled the anonymous hotline.

Spike approached both of his mothers, giving each of them a quick kiss on the cheek, but before he could turn to leave, he stopped when Pyra placed a hand on his shoulder. Upon turning back to his stepmother, she spoke with a proud smile, “Go kick their asses for us, Kid.”

Spike cracked a small smile through his serious face. “Don’t worry,” he assured before pressing the buttons on his helmet's sides, causing the helmet to unfold over his head and around his face, the curved, dark green panels concealing it entirely. “I will,” he finished, the built-in voice scrambler replacing his natural charming voice with deep, demonic bass. After that, Spike turned and ran with his team out the door towards the vehicle bay.

Barbara and Pyra looked at the door where their son had just run out. “That Spike, always so committed to both of his jobs, yet he doesn’t seem to want to slow down even a little bit,” Barbara sighed. “I can’t help but worry that he’s forgotten what it means to relax now and then.”

Pyra wrapped her arm around her waist and pulled her close. “Don’t, babe. Spike’s grown into a capable man who knows what he’s doing. He’s already done this more than a few times, so he’ll be fine.” She looked back towards the projector screen. “In the meantime, I want to see how this fight goes down. Care to join me?” she asked, turning back to her wife with a smile.

Barbara looked at her for a moment before letting out a gentle sigh. “Alright, Pyra,” she answered, which earned her a loving kiss from the blue and orange-haired Dragoness. Both women pulled out a couple of chairs to get comfortable while they waited for Spike and company to rendezvous with Lacy.

21 May 2021, 2328hrs, Vehicle Hangars, The Dragon's Den

Spike made a beeline towards the door of Bay 1, his friends following close behind, and pressed the button to open it. As soon as the ascending door was high enough, they ducked under it, not wanting to wait any longer than necessary, before continuing towards their waiting vehicles.

Spike pressed a button on his gauntlet to open the canopy to his vehicle: A bulky, partially streamlined 8-wheeled car built like a tank, painted white and transitioned to dark grey, then black towards the rear with lime green and green accents. It was heavily armed with 6 chaser guns mounted at the front, followed by a turret with 4 straight tilting barrels in the rear, flanked on either side by a pair of large, pivoting 6-barrel Gatling guns.

Thorax and Pharynx unfolded their helmets and lept into their armoured trucks, which were both nearly identical except for their choice of weapon turrets: A pair of blocky, rugged 8-wheeled armoured bricks that, while not as streamlined as Spike’s, were still capable of bulldozing their way through even heavy obstacles. They also had weapon turrets attached to their roofs and were painted to match their owners’ colour schemes.

Ember did the same with her helmet before climbing into her jet: An azure and dark blue single-seater fighter with a cockpit raked forward and canards for additional manoeuvrability. On each of its low-angled wings lay 4 chaser guns and a missile pod bolted on the underside that carried 4 missiles. Underneath the wings and the fuselage were a set of VTOL thrusters for lifting the entire craft effortlessly into the air when it wasn’t using its wings to stay airborne.

All 4 of their vehicles sprang to life with a deep humming sound as their crystal reactors started. Now fully seated in her cockpit, Ember pulled back on the control sticks, causing her jet to leap straight into the air and float over Spike, Pharynx, and Thorax. Their vehicles launched from the hangar onto the wide driveway before serving hard to the side and heading straight for the nearest gate.

“Omniscia,” Spike called out. “Open the gate to the northwest region!”

“Acknowledged,” the robotic female voice answered. “Opening northwest region now.”

The enormous metal ring in front of the team began to glow a brilliant white as it began to activate. A second later, a small, bright disc of the same white colour erupted from the very centre of the space inside the ring until it reached its borders and faded to a more silvery shade, creating a large enough gateway to the other side for the 3 ground vehicles to drive and Ember’s jet to fly through simultaneously, with plenty of room to spare, before vanishing in a flash of white light. After a few seconds, the magic field that formed the portal brightened once more and suddenly shrank back into oblivion as the gate shut down.

As Barbara watched her son and his friends leave the base through the camera feeds, she instinctively clutched Spurn’s wedding ring, which still laid on her finger beside hers, in her other hand, silently wishing safety for the young Dragon, as she did every single night since he founded the militia.

21 May 2021, 2330hrs, Northwestern Border of Canterlot

In an instant, the 4 Demons found themselves in a pitch-dark tunnel that appeared to ascend to nowhere gradually. Then, a large door opened ahead of them into a place near the edge of a forested area, under the rich, black, starry night sky. When they reached level ground, the door closed behind them, perfectly concealed by the rocks and foliage.

Ember took off further into the air, ensuring she matched her friends' pace as they surveyed the area they just entered. Northwestern Equestria was primarily a rural area, so few people lived in that region, except for a few neighbourhoods consisting of only a few blocks each. The remaining land not occupied by residential housing was either small industrial buildings or untouched, grassy/forested wilderness.

Thorax decided to speak to Spike over the radio. “So, Spike, what’s with this…Sunshine Flats, anyway? I didn’t think there was such a place until now. You didn’t tell us anything about it, either.”

“No one talks about that complex anymore, so I didn’t think it mattered,” Spike explained. “From what info I’ve gathered on the subject, Sunshine Flats was an overly optimistic attempt to make cheaper apartments a reality. Tin Roof conceived the idea and was determined to make it easier for people to buy their apartments without the hassle of paying monthly rent for as long as they owned them. Unfortunately, cheap isn't always better in the long run, and Tin Roof couldn’t earn enough revenue from its tenants to keep the place running following its completion in 1984. In the end, the residents who owned the apartments were all eventually refunded by the Board of Equestrian Housing Development after moving out, and the complex was abandoned in 1987,” Spike finished. “Nobody has claimed the property since, making it the perfect place for a criminal gang to hide out.”

A minute and a half of driving later, they saw the Sunshine Flats complex straight ahead. Over the decades they had laid unused, the once pristine 15-storey buildings had devolved into rotting husks of their former selves. Algae, dirt, and grime from years' worth of rain stained every surface of the apartment blocks in patches of red, green, and black. The sunny orange and yellow paint scheme against a white background stylised in the form of the midday Sun on the welcome sign and the sides of the buildings, was faded and peeling off in large chunks.

The foundation was severely overgrown, with hundreds of weeds clinging to the bare concrete for dear life. Graffiti had been sprayed over random spots on the walls by vandals who passed by the area, wanting to leave their mark, and there was no sign of light, the buildings having been completely stripped of all utilities by salvagers looking to recycle any materials that weren’t permanently attached to the floors, walls, or ceilings.

“Alright, guys,” said Spike, who had turned serious. “Lights out and cloaks on.”

All of them pressed a button on their consoles, which turned on their cloaking devices, causing their vehicles to fade away in seconds and their lights to switch off as they entered stealth mode. As soon as their cloaks were fully engaged, Lacy’s voice came in over the radio again. “Good, you guys are here,” she commented. “Meet me on the roof of Block 2. I’ll explain the situation there.”

As Spike, Pharynx, and Thorax pulled through the broken gate, they all ejected from their seats, spread their wings, and took to the air, leaving their vehicles to park themselves along the driveway of the carpark. Spike flew straight for the roof of Block 2, the Changeling brothers following close behind. Seeing Lacy waving to them from near the roof's edge, they all landed behind her, nearer to the centre. Meanwhile, Ember had flown up over the roof before ejecting and gently touching down next to Spike while her still invisible jet landed on the roof, albeit a short distance away.

Since no one else was in sight but they, Lacy Spinneret had her helmet folded down behind her neck, allowing Spike, Thorax, Pharynx, and Ember a full view of her face. At a glance, with her heart-shaped face, shiraz-coloured eyes, and wavy, neck-length pink flare hair, her complexion appeared positively human, aside from the extra 6 smaller eyes that dotted her forehead above her eyebrows. Her lips were a soft, healthy pink and held a slightly mischievous smile wherever she went.

Standing 9cm shorter than Spike, Lacy wore a combat suit like the rest. The main difference was that it was jet black, with deep, reddish-pink accents, and custom-tailored to hug every curve of her body like a second skin. Thanks to that, the entire shape of her 181cm breasts, 54cm waist, and 84cm hips was on display for all to see. Her 6 arms were long and slender, ending in a perfect set of long, feminine fingers. Meanwhile, her thighs, shins and butt were lean and muscular, thanks to years of running, jumping, and climbing. She wore a pair of flexible, flat-soled boots to allow her to move her feet and ankles around when crawling around on the walls.

“Lacy,” Spike greeted quickly.

“Good evening, Boss,” Lacy answered with a coy smile. “Did you miss me?”

“Save the flirting for later,” Spike responded thoughtfully. “What are we up against, and where are the hostages?”

Lacy raised her left arm and pressed a button on her gauntlet. Instantly, a holographic screen flashed into view, hovering about 15cm above the projection point on her wrist and displaying an X-ray imaging of the basement level of Sunshine Flats, several skeleton figures moving about the area. “I’ve snuck a few more drones into their hideout under Block 1 to survey their defences. We’ve got 2 guards watching the basement door. Behind that, we have 12 more patrolling the corridors around the rooms. The remaining 11 are inside the storeroom, including their leader.” She zoomed in on the room in question, which showed the thugs roughly pulling something away repeatedly from Fluttershy and Fauna’s still unconscious forms. It was clear that they were stripping them naked and tossing their clothes in the corner.

“It’s a sizeable gang, but nothing we haven’t taken on before,” Lacy continued. “Only the door guards and the leader have rifles, while the rest have light pistols, knives, and clubs. The corridors are only wide enough for 2 people to walk through shoulder-to-shoulder. We can easily cut them off in case they try to run.”

Spike narrowed his eyes at the screen as he watched the thugs chain the women’s wrists and hang them by a pair of long chains from the ceiling in the centre of the storeroom. “Is that all we’re facing for this rescue mission?” he asked.

“Yes,” came the Spider bombshell’s answer.

Pharynx turned to Spike. “So what’s the plan?”

Spike took a few seconds to formulate one before speaking up. “You and Thorax will take out the 2 goons at the door. Then, Lacy will slip in and pick off 2 more before bringing them outside, leaving you both a spot to take their places and neutralise the rest of the patrollers in the corridors. Make as little noise as you can.”

“Done,” the Changeling brothers answered.

“Lacy,” Spike turned to her again. “Once you bind all the guards, head straight to the breaker room and cut the power to the entire level. Subdue anyone they send to investigate.”

“Easy peasy,” the pink-haired spider flashed a thumbs up while she unfolded her helmet over her head and face.

“Ember, you’re with me,” Spike addressed the only dragoness among them. “We’ll handle the rest inside the storeroom once the lights go out. We’ll free Fluttershy and Fauna once the entire place is clear.”

“Copy,” Ember replied.

Spike then turned to face his entire team once more. “Remember, this is strictly an arrest and rescue mission. Turn off those punks as quickly as you all can. Use force if needed, but don’t kill them.” He turned again to look at the ramp that descended under Block 1 to the basement rooms. “We’re bringing those girls out of there alive and unharmed.”

21 May 2021, 2341hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Storeroom

Fluttershy groaned as she stirred on the spot. She was feeling light-headed from that sudden coma as she struggled for a few moments to lift her head and open her eyes, the faint scent of chloroform still lingering under her nose.

As the pastel pink-haired woman opened her eyes, she first saw a blurry image of a large group of black figures standing against a dark grey background, combined with the faint sound of unfamiliar voices. Confused, she tried to focus her vision as she wondered where she was and why, and the voices slowly became clearer with each passing second.

“Holy shit, look at her tits! How has she not ripped her clothes all this time?”

“Never mind how! If anyone has tits that big, it’s always the shy ones! It’s one of the main unwritten rules of anime!”

“Seriously, Dude, you need to lay off those shows if you’re already applying anime logic to real life.”

“Enough about that! The point is, we’ve finally got 2 hot girls in our midst! I’ve waited a long time to fuck a nice big pair of knockers raw, and now I can!”

That was when Fluttershy’s memories hit her like a wall. She and Fauna were about to drive home for the weekend when someone blew their tyres out; then, when they got out to check, someone jumped her from behind and chloroformed her. It was the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.

Snapping her eyes open, she realised she was in the middle of a bare concrete room with no windows. To make things worse, 11 men surrounded her, all dressed in varying shades of black and grey clothes and wearing ski masks (except for their leader, who stood in the centre), who stared at her with what could only be depraved malice. That was when the strain on her wrists and arms finally registered. She looked upwards, only to find her wrists chained to the ceiling. She tried futilely to free herself, but her cold metal bindings rattled and clinked stubbornly.

Fluttershy was interrupted when she heard a low groan from her right side. When she darted her head toward the sound, she saw it had come from Fauna, who was bound in the same manner about 2m away. She, too, was stirring from her coma as she raised her head, initially confused as she tried to blink the bleariness in her eyes away before her eyes popped wide open at the realisation that they had both been kidnapped. Panting with fear, she too spotted the several unfamiliar faces standing before her as they eyed her greedily before struggling frantically against her chains.

“Don’t bother trying to break free,” the gang leader spoke with a sickening smirk. “Those chains holding you back are high-tensile steel imbued with magic inhibitors. You can struggle all night and not leave a single mark.”

“W-who…who are you?” a now pale-faced with terror Fluttershy asked.

“Ah, yes. Where are my manners?” the leader replied. “I’m Rogue Wave, leader of the Canterlot Ravens. And you, Fluttershy and Fauna, are nothing short of exquisite.”

Fauna could tell that Rogue’s compliment reeked of faux charisma. Maintaining as brave a face as she could, she asked, “How do you know our names? What do you want from us!?”

Rogue chuckled darkly. “You two have gained quite a reputation at the Zoo these past few years. It wasn’t that hard. As for your 2nd question, what I want is simple: The boys and I would like to get to know you extremely well. And to start, I thought we’d get rid of all your clothes, just to make things easier.

Both women’s eyes went wide with horror at Rogue’s last sentence. “W-what?” Fluttershy managed to utter before they looked downwards at themselves.

True to Rogue’s word, they were indeed both stark naked, their clothes having been stripped off and thrown aside while they were still unconscious. Now, Fluttershy and Fauna laid bare before their captors. No wonder it felt unnaturally chilly inside the room. Their ankles were chained to either end of a spreader bar, chained to the floor beneath them. The restraints would allow the Canterlot Ravens free reign to violate their lower holes to their hearts’ content with little resistance.

That was when Fluttershy’s panic kicked into high gear, and she began screaming and thrashing against her bindings. “NO! PLEASE! LET US GO!! SOMEBODY! HELP! HEEEEEEELP!!!”

Amused by the scene before him, Rogue Wave stepped forward, grabbed Fluttershy by the jaw and forced her to face him. Tears of humiliation and terror streamed down her face as she met his lust-filled gaze. “Scream all you want, Babe, ‘cause there’s no one here but us,” Rogue responded, his voice lowering to a threatening tone. He leaned in closer to her ear. “And in case you didn’t notice, you’re a very, very long way from help.”

Meanwhile, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Entrance

The 2 Raven thugs stood flanking the basement door from both sides, rifles in hand, staring dead ahead at the car ramp that led outside. They both wore bored expressions on their faces, having been ordered by Rogue to keep anyone who came in from interfering while they had their way with the 2 girls they had brought in from the streets.

The guard on the right side of the door turned to his buddy. “I can’t believe we have to be the ones standing outside while the rest inside have all the fun,” he groaned. “Why couldn’t the boss just let us have a go at a piece of those thick asses?”

“Yeah, I feel you, man,” the other guard replied. “But someone has to keep outside fuckers from walking in on our activities. Unfortunately, we’re working the night shift now, of all times.” he sighed in mild annoyance as he shifted on the spot. “Hopefully, the guys will give us a few turns before the dawn breaks. I haven’t felt up a decent chick in ages.”

“Have you seen the hooters on the pink-haired girl?” the first guard asked. “The other one’s also big, but you could crush a melon between them! When we get our turn, I’m going to be the one fucking those tits first!”

“Wanna bet?” the other guard challenged.

During their conversation, Thorax and Pharynx had shapeshifted into cockroaches and crawled across the ceiling from the ramp until they were positioned directly above them. After sparing a few more seconds to ensure they were still distracted, Pharynx turned to his brother.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready.”

Both brothers dropped silently behind the guards and shifted back into their natural forms in a flash of green light. Before either thug could react and turn around, the Changelings immediately slung an arm around the front of their respective guards’ necks and yanked them down onto their backs, silencing them in the process. Thorax and Pharynx immediately pulled out their tranquiliser pistols from their belts and shot their targets in the neck. The startled guards struggled for a few seconds as the tiny darts did their work until they finally fell limp in their grasp. They wouldn’t wake up for the next hour.

“This is getting too easy,” Pharynx remarked as he laid the thug he held down, sounding almost disappointed. “I need a real challenge.”

“Don’t get cocky, Pharynx,” Spike warned, having walked in alongside Ember and Lacy as soon as the guards passed out. “You just might get one. Lacy, tie them up.” he gestured to the unconscious men.

“On it,” Lacy answered. She picked the thugs up one at a time as she expertly spun them around, thick strings of silk shooting from under her wrists as she used them to bind their wrists and arms behind their backs, as well as their ankles. She finished the job about 12 seconds later.

“Nice work, boys,” Lacy said with a smile under her helmet. “My turn.”

The changelings could only nod in response before turning around and opening the doors, leaving Lacy to skip right in and jump up to the ceiling before the T-intersection of the corridor. The feed from her Drones told her that there were 2 guards on either end of the corridor from the entryway. Smirking, she waited until both guards had turned to face each other. When that happened, she immediately crawled across the ceiling into the intersection. That was when both thugs noticed her as they looked up.

“What the‒?” one of them managed to say before Lacy stuck out 2 of her arms and fired more webbing from her wrists, which landed right over their mouths, thoroughly silencing their voices and catching them off guard. Before either of them could draw their guns, Lacy extended 2 more arms and fired thick ropes of webbing, which stuck to the guards’ chests. She then yanked hard enough to send them flying and crashing into each other, the impact knocking them out cold.

Satisfied with her work, Lacy strung them together and tossed them outside with the other 2 guards by the door. “All done,” she radioed the team. “Pharynx, Thorax, you’re up.”

“On it,” Thorax acknowledged. The brothers quickly swiped the guns and ammo off the unconscious forms of the guards and shifted into their disguises. After slipping the stolen equipment onto their belts, they ran through the door into the corridor, with Lacy temporarily closing the entrance again as if no one had broken in.

Just after she did, 3 more thugs ran up to the still-disguised Thorax and Pharynx, guns in hand, having heard the commotion from the far side of the hall. “Hey, everything alright?” the leading man asked. “You guys sounded like you saw a spider.”

“We did. Right at our feet,” Pharynx answered. “The damn thing was the size of my head. We both stumbled over each other, trying to escape it.”

The 3 men shuddered at that story. “Fucking Faust, that’s terrifying,” the 2nd thug commented as he holstered his pistol. “Is it still there?”

“Thankfully, no,” Thorax replied, managing to sound relieved. “It escaped by crawling out under the front door. I doubt it’ll come back anytime soon. Just head back to your posts. We can take it from here.”

“Alright,” said the 1st thug. “Just be careful, okay? Radio us if you see any intruders.”

With that, the 3-man squad turned to head back down to the next corridor. 2 seconds later, unbeknownst to them, Pharynx had begun to sneak up on them, grabbing the heads of the two trailing guards and smashing their heads together, instantly knocking them out cold.

The guard ahead stopped at the sound and turned around quickly to see what the noise was. The last thing he saw was Thorax taking a running leap off Pharynx’s back as he was settling the first 2 guards down and taking a hard swing at his temple with the end of his pistol grip before his entire world went black.

Both Changelings then hauled the 3 unconscious men near the intersection leading towards the front door, where Lacy was waiting to bind them as usual. From then onwards, taking the remaining 7 guards out in the corridors was smooth sailing, with Pharynx and Thorax taking the right hall and Lacy taking the left. Spike and Ember walked through the corridors a moment later, following the trail of unconscious thugs that Lacy had left behind, all wrapped tightly in thick bands of spider silk, and some even hanging from the ceiling with their bodies encased in thick cocoons.

Lacy stood up, having just finished restraining the last of the guards in the hallways. “Well, that’s got it done,” she said as she dusted her hands off and rested them on her hips. She turned to Spike and Ember. “All clear, Boss. I’ll head down to cut the power now. Stand by!” She waved like a happy little schoolgirl before spinning on her heel and lightly skipping in the direction of the breaker room, her asscheeks visibly bouncing with every spring.

Ember could feel Spike rolling his eyes under his helmet as he turned to the Changeling brothers, who had just come around the far corner. “Move all of these men out the basement door and keep watch there. Don’t let any of them escape,” Spike ordered.

Once Thorax and Pharynx began to carry the bound thugs outside, Spike and Ember both slipped behind the corner near the storage room and assumed a ready stance where the hostages were. “I swear that Lacy enjoys herself too much sometimes,” Spike mused. “I ask myself why I hired her in the first place.”

“Let her be, Spike,” Ember replied. “Lacy may be eccentric, but she always knows how to get her work done and has proven a valuable asset to the militia. For now, let’s just focus on rescuing Fluttershy and Fauna.”

Spike could only hum softly in agreement. Just then, Lacy radioed in again from the breaker room. “I’m in position, Spike,” she said, her tone low yet heavy with anticipation.

“Starting the party…now.”

21 May 2021, 2348hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Storeroom

Keeping his hand firmly over Fluttershy’s jaw, Rogue slowly moved her head to the side and bent down to the nape of her neck, planting rough kisses before opening his mouth a little wider to begin nibbling at it. With his free hand, he began to grope and fondle her ample breasts. The firm flesh rolled and squished in his grip as he went to work on his victim.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy could only struggle in a fruitless attempt to pull away. She mentally prayed to Faust for a sign, even the slightest hint, that this horrible nightmare wasn’t happening, that she had just passed out in Fauna’s car from physical and mental fatigue from staying back with Fauna at the Zoo to sort out all of those archive documents, that all this was just a paranoia-induced hallucination. Unfortunately, her prayers went unanswered, leaving her with the ugly truth that her luck had taken a steep nosedive into the abyss, as well as leaving her and her colleague at the mercy of these crazy bastards, who were all too intent on raping her.

This situation was all wrong. It shouldn’t be happening. Neither Fluttershy nor Fauna should have been here, but they were. Fluttershy could only weep as the terrifying man proceeded to violate her very body as he wished. “N-No! Stop! Please! Get away from me!!!” Fluttershy wailed, still thrashing against her chains. The cold, hard metal rang apathetically without budging even once.

Fauna watched in horror as her close friend got molested by that madman. Then, Rogue gave the other side of Fluttershy’s neck attention while moving his hand from her breast and slowly down to her exposed lower lips. Fluttershy’s screams grew louder, and her flailing was more aggressive when she felt his fingers prod at her entrance. The sight grew too much for Fauna, who decided to attempt one desperate plea to take his attention off her friend.

“Leave her alone!” Fauna cried. “Take me instead!”

“Mmm, tempting, Fauna!” Rogue purred, removing the hand that was holding Fluttershy by the jaw and waving a finger at her in a mocking “Not so fast” gesture. “As hot as you are, your friend here has proven herself a…special kind of beauty to me: A sweet, kind, innocent young woman with a body that any girl would kill to have.” He turned back to Fluttershy. “It’s not easy to find a bombshell as good as you, Toots. You should be proud.”

Fluttershy fought back more tears as she stared back at her captor, fear still rife in her eyes.

“Besides…” the gang leader continued, again turning to Fauna. “I can’t give pleasure to 2 girls at once. That’s why I have the boys with me.” He gestured to the 10 thugs who accompanied him in the room.

When the girls looked, their horror was only further affirmed. Some of the thugs had already unzipped the front of their pants and pulled their cocks out, jerking off to the sight of the girls’ naked forms, wicked grins plastered on their faces, chucking maliciously as they slowly approached. Fauna and Fluttershy did their best to avert their eyes from this shameless display of depravity and perversion as they closed in, waiting for the signal to strike.

“Remember, guys,” Rogue reminded them. “I get first dibs on both of their pussies and assholes. Otherwise…” His grin darkened. “...knock yourselves out.”

That was all his underlings needed to hear, and they instantly dove into the fray, arms and hands extended, to swipe, grope, suck, and bite their way all over both women’s bodies. Fluttershy and Fauna, completely and utterly helpless, began screaming in pure, unbridled anguish as their imminent rape fell upon them.

“NOOOOO! GET OFF ME, YOU SICK BASTARDS! STOOOOOP!!!”

“HEEEEELP! DON'T! LET ME GO!!! HELP MEEEEE!!!”

*Bzzt!*

Suddenly, the Canterlot Ravens’ “fun time” was interrupted when the lights for the entire room blacked out, plunging everyone inside into complete darkness. The 2 women heard Rogue Wave groan in frustration as his flashlight came on. He waved it around for a few seconds before he found one of his goons’ faces in the blackness.

“Batter Up!” he barked. “What happened!? Didn’t I tell you to fix the fucking power!?”

“W-We did, Boss!” came Batter’s frantic reply.

“Well, take your guys and fix it again!”

Nodding rapidly, Batter zipped his pants back up, gathered all 4 of his friends, and bolted off with them to the breaker room as fast as they could, lighting the way ahead.

21 May 2021, 2350hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Breaker Room

A few seconds later, Batter yanked the door open, and his group slipped into the smaller room. As he searched, his light shone upon the breaker box on the far side, opposite the door. They ran up to a large, rusty steel cabinet before Batter reached for the handle and pulled it open.

They were stunned as their eyes met the sight of the several rows of breaker switches—or lack thereof. Somehow, someone had managed to pull every single switch off its mounting points.

“What the fuck???” one thug asked, completely gobsmacked. “Who in Faust’s name did this!?”

“You tell me,” Batter replied. “We’d better find all the switches or get new ones. The boss is going to lose his-”

*BANG!*

The 5 henchmen immediately turned around to find the door had slammed shut, and in front of that stood the one who did it: A slender, voluptuous woman clad entirely in what looked like a skin-tight spandex suit and helmet, both of her hands planted on her hips, which cocked to the side, and her legs crossed, as if she were posing for a photograph.

“Hello there, boys,” Lacy asked in her most playfully seductive tone. “Looking for these?”

Much to their horror, the gangsters watched as she sprouted a 3rd arm, seemingly from behind her back out to her right side, to dangle a large, webbed-up bundle by some of her string from it. It only took a second for all the men in the room to realise what she was holding.

It was the entire missing set of switches from the breaker box.

The now pale-faced from terror henchmen shakily reached for their pistols and aimed them all straight at her, but not without backing away slightly. “G-Give those switches back, you fuckin’ freak!” Batter Up yelled, a slight tremble in his voice. “Or we’ll s-shoot! We have you outnumbered, 5 to 1!”

Lacy tilted her head to the side, almost amusedly, as she processed his words before asking, “Me, a freak?” She let out a chuckle while she slowly began to stroll toward the thugs, the group in question promptly backing away further. “Oh, how adorable. Do you think pretty little insults and a handful of pea-shooters are enough to threaten me?” She casually tossed the bundle of switches aside, which landed with a loud *Clack!* on the floor. “Let me make this clear, Sweetpea,” she continued, pointing a finger at Batter. “Petty little rapist thugs like you are nothing but child’s play in my line of work. I could tear you all apart in seconds, but I have rules to follow. Besides, that wouldn’t be as entertaining as making you squeal, would it?” She giggled like a schoolgirl at her last sentence, the rest of her arms sprouting from her sides.

Batter’s party had now backed up enough to hit the wall behind them, their guns now rattling in their grasp as they tried unsuccessfully to suppress their terrified shaking. Thankfully for them, the 6-armed woman, or…whatever that thing which stood before them was, appeared to stop once she reached the centre of the room.

“But, if it’s a freak you want so badly…” her arms and legs began to stretch and grow in length as she assumed a striking stance. In addition, a large, smooth spider's abdomen burst out of her tailbone area. Her helmet-concealed head twisted and morphed into a matching head, complete with a lethal pair of fangs. 8 dark red eyes opened one by one on her face as her transformation completed. In her full Spider form, Lacy towered over the thugs, her long, gangly legs spread out over the floor.

“...ṱ̸͖͋͑h̸̟͑e̵̬͚͋n̷͉͊̓ ̷̧̗̊̈́i̷͖͆̀t̵͇̻̓͌’̷̬̜̃͘s̸̰̤̀ ̵̛̱͈̂ặ̶̹ ̷̢̪̓f̶̧́͠r̴̖̀̿ę̷̡̛̋a̷͈̬͑k̸̛͍͘ ̵̟̿y̶̛͈͗ͅo̵͙̳͝u̵̖̼͑’̵͕̂̕r̵͙̄e̸̹̭͐͝ ̷͙̇͘ğ̵̡͆ô̶̖̣̓i̶͈͗̌ṇ̴̐̑ĝ̸͇̚ ̸̘̓͆t̵͎͑ǒ̵̝ ̶̺͒̎g̷̼̥͂̿e̴̦̅t̵̖̥͋̚!̴̧̒̅ͅ!̶̰̘̂̚!̴̩̹͊͠”

It was at that moment when girly screams and gunshots rang throughout the room as Batter Up, and his repair team opened fire on the Spider Demon with everything they had. However, the bullets bounced uselessly off her chitin body as she began playing around with her newest toys.

21 May 2021, 2352hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Basement Level Storeroom

“The hell!?” Rogue Wave turned his head in confusion at the sound of muffled screams and thumping coming from the direction of the breaker room. He turned to another group of his goons. “You 3, back them up!”

Nodding, the Raven thugs drew their pistols and ran out the door, only for the rest to hear their startled yelps, the sound of struggling, and the ring of their weapons hitting the floor once the last man had exited the room. Instinctively, everyone in the room, sans the hostages, pulled their guns out and aimed at the doorway.

Fauna and Fluttershy, both still shaken from the brief sexual assault enacted upon their exposed forms before its abrupt interruption, could only look on in a mix of confusion, hope, and renewed fear as they wondered who or what was causing the commotion outside. Had someone come to their rescue, or did they only want to take down the Canterlot Ravens so they could have them for themselves? Whichever way it would go, neither of them knew.

None of the gangsters could see beyond the door in the darkness, but one thing was now clear to them: Someone had broken into their hideout, and to make things worse, they had brought company.

“Who are you!?” Rogue demanded, keeping his arm rigid and his finger hovering over the trigger, ready to pack the first sign of movement from the doorway with lead. About 6 more seconds had passed, yet that time still presented no sign of the intruders.

“SHOW YOURSELF!” he shouted.

In return, the leader of the Ravens got a round, black object flying through the door at breakneck speed and hitting him square between the eyes. It bounced upward as he cried out and stumbled back in pain, clutching the bridge of his nose before landing on the floor and rolling to a stop between Fluttershy and Fauna.

Rubbing the pain away, Rogue turned around to see what had hit him, and everyone in the room had a second to determine the object. It looked like a black metal sphere the size of a baseball, with strange etchings covering the otherwise smooth surface of the plates that made up the shell. After the second passed, the plates suddenly spread apart, and bright green light burst between the gaps before spraying the air with thick white smoke.

Fluttershy and Fauna coughed as the smoke billowed around the room, blanketing them and the thugs entirely. The next thing they knew, they heard cries of terror and saw the flashes from their captors’ gun barrels as they tried to shoot whatever had come in front of them, the accompanying noise ringing in their ears. What shocked them more was the large streams of green and hot pink fire that rocketed around the room, throwing the goons off guard and pushing them back. Those whose clothes caught fire frantically patted themselves out, which left them open to attack by the intruders. As the seconds ticked by, more of them fell silent to their assailants’ hands.

Miraculously, neither woman was hurt in the apparent chaos.

When the smoke finally cleared, the hostages got their first good look at the ones who had just effortlessly taken out the entire Canterlot Ravens gang in just under 20 seconds. There stood 2 tall figures, 1 male and 1 female, masked and dressed in primarily black and dark grey high-tech combat suits. Fluttershy gasped softly as her eyes happened upon the dragon's wings and tails they each possessed. Around them lay the now unconscious thugs that had tried to rape them mere moments ago. All that was left was their leader, Rogue Wave, held by the strange male figure in the air by his neck.

Rogue struggled to breathe in his current position. “Y-You…” he sputtered as he grabbed the man’s wrist in an attempt to take his weight off his throat. “You’re that…Emerald D-Dragon bastard everyone’s…*wheeze*...t…t-talking about!”

The Emerald Dragon answered in his low, distorted voice, “Correct. And you’re a vile, rapist mobster who stalks the streets, stealing weapons and women like it’s nobody's business!” He pulled him closer, his grip still firm around his neck. “You bastards think you can take whatever you want from an innocent woman and move on to the next just because your victims are too afraid to fight back! Well, guess what? Your filthy sexual predations end tonight, for we, The Demons of Vigilance, are here to clean up the mess that people like you create.” He tightened his grasp, causing Rogue to choke harder. “And I’ll ensure all those who follow your example will face due justice for their actions against society.”

“Fuck-ck-k…y-you…” Rogue barely managed to utter. “I-It was only…2…w-women…”

“Tell that to the police,” The Emerald Dragon said before balling his free hand into a tight fist and slugging the gang leader right in the temple, knocking him out instantly. He then let the sorry excuse for a man fall unceremoniously to the floor in a heap.

The demonic figure and his partner both stepped up to Fluttershy and Fauna, respectively, who were both still bound and terrified, and each pressed a finger to the side of their helmets. A bright beam of light sprang from their visors as they ran full-body scans up and down the women’s naked forms. They flinched when the beams passed over their privates.

“No physical injuries sustained,” The Emerald Dragon concluded for Fluttershy. He then turned to his partner. “How’s Dr Fauna?”

“No injuries sustained, either,” she replied in a distorted yet still distinctly feminine voice. “Come on, let’s get them out.”

Nodding, The Emerald Dragon knelt to begin unbinding Fluttershy while the dragonesque woman followed suit with Fauna. They started with the cuffs holding their ankles to the ends of the spreader bars, their hands glowing with some kind of ethereal magic before effortlessly snapping the enchanted metal devices open like glass. They moved on to the handcuffs that chained the hostages to the ceiling and did the same thing. After that, Fauna and Fluttershy collapsed to the floor, finally freed from their torment.

Fluttershy rubbed her wrists for a few seconds before she looked up at her saviour. On instinct, she wrapped her arm over her bare breasts to cover herself up, if only slightly, as she studied the dark figure who kneeled again to meet her eyes. The young zookeeper had only heard various rumours and stories and seen questionable photos of the so-called “Emerald Dragon” and his militia, but to finally behold his complete form, up close no less, was a completely different story altogether.

With trembling lips, Fluttershy asked, “You’re…you’re The Emerald Dragon, a-aren’t you?”

Though she couldn’t see his eyes, the person in question stared back for a moment before he gave his answer in his most gentle tone. “Yes, I am. Don’t worry, you’re both safe now.” He rose to his feet. “Gather your clothes and get dressed. I’ll see you outside.”

“Wait!” Just as he began to turn around, Fauna stopped him. “What about them?” she asked, pointing to the unconscious thugs on the floor.

“We’ll bring them all outside and hand them over to the police when they arrive,” The Emerald Dragon responded. “They tried to rape you, and they will stand trial for that. Now, go.”

As the 2 women started putting their clothes back on as fast as they could, The Emerald Dragon and his accomplice carried the thugs out to the basement level's exit.

22 May 2021, 0006hrs, Sunshine Flats, Block 1, Ground Level Carpark

As if on cue, the police convoy arrived at the scene just after Spike and his team had dumped the last of the gangsters, now fully restrained, onto the pavement next to the top of the ramp. Once each vehicle came to a halt, armed personnel filed out one by one to take the Canterlot Ravens into custody.

Spike walked through the crime scene, watching as the officers split into pairs to pick the still-unconscious thugs up and haul them inside the backs of the vans. Thorax, Pharynx, and Lacy helped out, each carrying at least 2 at a time and chucking them like bags of grain into the holding bays.

“Excuse me, Sir!” Spike was broken out of his thoughts when an approaching policeman called out to him.

“What is it?” Spike asked.

The young officer swallowed nervously before answering, “I want to thank you. You know, for saving those poor women.” He gestured to Fluttershy and Fauna, both seated on the curb, draped in towels to shield them from the cold night air. A few police officers sat or knelt around to console them after the assault. “Are they going to be okay?”

“Physically, yes,” The Emerald Dragon replied. “Emotionally, I don’t know yet. They’re still clearly shaken from the attempted sexual assault, and they’ll feel its effects for a long while, but it’s, fortunately, nothing crippling. We managed to rescue them before the Canterlot Ravens could inflict more damage.”

The officer felt uncertain of their recovery, so he said, “Maybe, but even attempted rape can have lasting consequences for any victims unfortunate enough to experience it first-hand.”

Spike turned to the cop and placed a hand on his shoulder. “They will recover, officer,” he assured. “Have faith in them.”

After receiving a slight nod from him, Spike turned and walked away to regroup with Ember. Lacy, Thorax, and Pharynx joined them seconds later.

“Alright, guys. Is everyone ready to leave?” he asked.

“Yes, Sir,” came the chorus of answers from his teammates.

“Good,” said Spike. “Now let’s go home.” he reached for his wrist remote and summoned his vehicle to his position, his team doing the same with theirs. Looking around, Spike noticed something odd.

“Lacy, where’s your Crawler?”

Lacy perked up at his question. “Oh, I just left it on the wall.” To prove her point, she pressed a button on her wrist, turning off her vehicle's cloaking device. When the rest of the squad looked up, they saw that Lacy’s crawler was indeed clinging to the wall of Block 1, having suspended itself to about 4 stories off the ground.

It was the largest of the 5 vehicles in Spike’s team, with 8 rugged wheels to support its weight high over rough terrain, the middle 4 being larger to spread the centre of mass even further. The crawler was also appropriately armed with 2 double-barrelled chaser guns at the front, 2 single-barrelled tailguns at the rear, and a dual mortar launcher turret mounted on the roof.

All police officers in the area stared in confusion at the seemingly impossible position of the 8-wheeled armoured vehicle. Spike ignored their reactions and continued speaking. “By the way, you didn’t need to scare the goons in the breaker room any more than they already were. We came to arrest them, not traumatise them.”

“Aww, but I’m so good at that!” whined Lacy playfully.

Spike simply sighed at her response. “Just board your vehicle and head back to base. We’ve accomplished our mission.”

Lacy turned to the Changeling Princes and said, “I'll race you there!” before leaping for her crawler’s cockpit.

“You’re on!” Pharynx called after her and ran to his truck. Soon enough, he and Lacy were on the road, speeding back to The Den. Thorax just shook his head amusedly before hopping into his truck and driving off after them. Spike strode quickly to his tank car, and Ember flew up to meet her jet, strapping themselves in for the return journey.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy noticed that her rescuers were about to take their leave. “W-wait-!” she tried to call out, but The Emerald Dragon’s team were already too far gone to hear her voice. She and Fauna could only watch as their vehicles took off into the night at full speed.

The pink-haired zookeeper bowed her head as a small wave of sadness washed over her. She had narrowly missed her chance to ask her saviour for his name and her only foreseeable opportunity to thank him for their rescue.

Fauna quietly hugged her colleague close to comfort her. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. You’ll see him again soon,” she consoled, her voice shaking slightly from their ordeal. “Let’s be happy that we’re both safe now.”

Fluttershy stared at her in her brief moment of doubt before nodding slowly. They spent a few more minutes sitting on the curb, staring at the night sky, until the police called for them to be escorted to the nearest police station to continue their recovery.

Author's Note

And with that, Chapter 1 is finally out after months of delay!

Sorry this took so long, but my final year studies have been a nightmare to put up with. Now that I'm graduating soon, I finally had the spare time to apply the finishing touches to this chapter before publishing.

I can't estimate how long Chapter 2 will take to write and publish, but I'll do what I can to keep this story going. Remember: Quality, not Quantity.

Stay safe, everyone!