After Rumble finished telling Spike his story, both boys had their vision clouded by tears. Spike had never heard such a terrible tale in his life. The boy wanted to become friends with a human and his family killed the boy and his entire family for it?! And to add insult to injury, they tried to force feed Rumble the flesh of his friend?! Rumble's family life sounded horrible! After drying his eyes, Spike spoke to the troubled wendigo.

"No offense, Rumble, but your family sounds like a bottle of dirty douche-water.", Spike said simply. Rumble gave him a small smile.

"It's okay. I hate their guts, too.", Rumble replied.

"So, what happened after that night?", Spike asked.

"They forced me to go to my grandparents' place to 'learn to be a proper wendigo'.", Rumble responded.

"And what did that involve?".

"Learn the proper techniques for hunting humans, how to trap them, and even how to prepare human meat.".

That statement stunned Spike. Rumble was forced to learn how to be a truly terrifying monster. But since Spike saw the other food options available to him in the cafeteria, he decided to probe Rumble for information about monster society and biology.

"Hey Rumble, do monsters need to eat humans to survive?", Spike asked.

Rumble's answer came quickly. "I've never eaten human in my life and I'm fine. Actually, I learned from Headmaster Grogar that the reason monsters feed on human flesh and blood is because of its addictive properties for us.".

"So, it's more like a drug addiction rather than a biological need?".

"Correct.".

"Since I'm new to the existence of monsters, could you tell me more about how monster society operates?".

Rumble smiled. "Of course I'll help, buddy. The last thing I want to see is another human get killed. So what do you want to know?".

"First, what's with the dueling arena I've heard about?", Spike asked.

"Monsters are more prone to fights than most humans are. Monsters will fight for a variety of reasons. Food, territory, status, you name it. Other times, monsters will challenge each other to fight simply just to blow off some steam."

"That makes a little bit of sense. What else can you tell me?"

"Well, monsters conform to a hierarchical structure. Those that are either the smartest or the most powerful tend to lead others and are served like kings. However, generally, you have monsters at the bottom, those that aren't that strong. Then, you have the alphas. The alphas serve as pack leaders, especially for species that live in groups. Above the alphas, you have the Overlords, who unite groups of various species to serve them. And finally, you have the Progenitors. Every monster species has either one or two.".

"The Progenitors?".

"Just like how your species came from Adam and Eve. The Progenitors are the mothers and fathers of their respective species. Wendigos have a Progenitor."

"Are they strong?"

"Dude, they're the most powerful of all monsters. They even have abilities that the rest of their descendants don't have!".

Spike made the executive decision not to piss off any of the Progenitors. Then Spike remembered to ask about arc levels.

"What about my arc level? You said that those with great magical prowess gain status?".

"Oh hell yeah! You'd be on par with most of the Overlords, at least. Your high arc level makes you both a great ally and a terrifying enemy.".

"That sounds like trouble for me if someone wants to challenge me.".

"Well there is a bright side to being so innately powerful: all the lovely female monsters will likely flock to you. Female monsters always go for those that are the most powerful.".

"What?!".

"Yeah. Once a female chooses a mate, it's for life. And since you're so strong, you could potentially have multiple mates. And your offspring could be quite powerful.".

Spike suddenly thought back to Rumble's story. "What about human-monster relations?".

"That's kind of a taboo for us. Those types of relationships are frowned upon among our kind. That's probably what led to my family's massacre of my friend. They especially don't like it when a romantic relationship with a human leads to half-monster offspring.".

"Why?".

"Think about it. Humans and monsters have been fighting and killing each other for centuries. Humans are seen as food and as our sworn enemies. Any relationship with a human is considered repulsive.".

"I see. Do all monsters think that?".

"Surprisingly, no. There are those among the Parliament of Progenitors that wish to bury the hatchet and wish to coexist with humankind. They're simply called the Harmony Faction.".

Spike thought back to the duels. "What about monster duels? Can you tell me about those?".

"Well, once a challenge has bee made, you can't refuse. It'll open you up for other monsters to see you as weak. Besides, you have an abnormally high arc level, so most will not even want to challenge you. Duels are supposed to be hand-to-hand fights. You can be your true form or not. If you win, the loser has to be your servant for a whole month. If the challenger wins, then you'd be their servant for a month. Students aren't allowed to challenge teachers.".

"Do all the students here eat humans?".

"Some do, but most don't. If they do, then the Headmaster tries to wean them off human flesh or blood. We can feed on animals just like humans do.".

"I think that's all the questions I have for now. Thanks for answering my questions, man.", Spike to said. That earned a smile form Rumble.

"You're welcome, dude.", Rumble replied.

After the little "interview", the two boys got down to eating. Spike thoroughly enjoyed his lunch and saw that Rumble had enjoyed his as well. Eventually, Rumble spoke to Spike.

"Don't look now, but you've got some fans coming your way. Spike was confused by what he meant until several of his female classmates were sitting next to or around him.

These were the same girls from his class. They were all sitting by him, the guy with the arc level of two-thousand. Even Twilight was there. She was sitting next to his right side and Rainbow Dash sat by his right. Rainbow suddenly wrapped her arms around Spike's right arm, pressing her breasts into his arm! Spike was shocked by this sudden act of affection. Rainbow looked up at him with stars in her eyes.

"Hey there! I'm Rainbow Dash! That display of raw power back there in Magic Class was totally awesome!", Rainbow exclaimed excitedly.

"Indeed. We've never heard of one with as high an arc level as you, darling.", Rarity said.

"Shoot, that was a mighty exciting time in that class.", Applejack said.

"You must be some walking dynamo of raw power!", Pinkie shouted.

"Are you an Overlord?", Fluttershy asked.

"No, I'm not.", Spike said, trying to distract himself from the small sweater puppies currently pressed into his right arm.

Spike had gotten to know a little bit about them from Homeroom, so he decided to ask.

"What brings you all over here to sit by me?", Spike asked.

Twilight seemed to follow Rainbow's lead and pressed her own breasts into Spike's other arm! It was like electricity had shot up both of Spike's arms!

"Well, it's just that powerful males are the most appealing to us.", Twilight said.

"What?!", Spike whispered frantically.

"That's right. Strong males make for better partners, wouldn't you say?", Applejack asked before winking at him.

"I know people are talking right now, but I can't concentrate with the two lovely pairs of chesticles pressing into me!", Spike frantically thought.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by a scream coming from behind him. Spike and the others looked over to see three guys ganging up on Pipsqueak.

"Come on! Give us your money so we can use the vending machines!", the apparent leader of the three thugs ordered of the boy. But Pipsqueak wasn't backing down.

"Bugger off, you horror movie reject!", Pipsqueak said with a hint of fear in his voice.

That got the bullies' anger rising. "What did you say, you little shit?!", the biggest of the three demanded.

Suddenly, the leader grabbed Pipsqueak by the collar and hoisted him up. "I guess I'm going to have to teach you a lesson about respecting those stronger than you.".

The leader of the bullies then raised his fist to punch the poor lad. As Spike watched this unfold, he could anger rising from the center of his chest. That anger soon turned into rage. The rage seemed to cause something in Spike, as he could feel something weird passing through his body. It started from his chest and extended outwards from there. Spike knew he had to do something to save Pipsqueak.

It was the weirdest thing he had ever done. One second, he was sitting with his new friends, and the next, he was right next to the bully about to punch Pipsqueak. How did he get there that fast? That was a question that could only be answered by what Spike did next. He drew back his own right fist and shot it right into the bully leader's face! Spike could feel the bully's lower jaw disconnect from the rest of his skull from the blow as the bully was sent flying back to crash into the wall, leaving a web of cracks across the bricks! The bully didn't get up. Spike could tell that the guy was still alive. Thankfully.

His two lackeys looked to their leader and then to Spike. He stared at them with a glare. Their resolve disappeared in an instant and the left to check on their fallen comrade. Spike turned around to see Pipsqueak and the rest of the cafeteria staring at him in awe. They had just witnessed Spike absolutely destroying on the school's bullies and make the others back off.

Suddenly, the whole cafeteria erupted into cheers for their new hero.

"Three cheers for Spike!", Pipsqueak shouted.

"Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!", they all cheered.

Spike didn't know what to say about all this attention he was getting. All he did was defend his friend from getting the stuffing beaten out of him.

"Enough!", a new voice called out from among the crowd.

The effect the new voice had on the crowd was instant. They all stopped talking and looked to the source of the voice. From what Spike could see, someone was walking towards him. It was a girl.

She appeared to be a year older than Spike. She was wearing the standard female uniform, but she also had on a black leather jacket. She was slim and curvy with a nice D-cup rack. Her hair was an interesting combination of red and yellow, making her hair look like flames. Her eyes were a nice blue color and her skin was a nice tan. She walked up to Spike with her hands behind her back.

"You the guy who just took out one of my subordinates?", the girl asked.

"Well, one of your guys was about to beat up one of my classmates! I couldn't just sit there and do nothing!", Spike responded.

The girl smiled deviously at him. "Since you're a freshman here at this school, I'll let you know how things work around here: I'm in charge here. My goons act like they normally do, you look the other way. If I need a favor, you do it for me with no questions asked.".

"Well, that sounds unreasonable.", Spike said, earning gasps from everyone in the cafeteria. The girl in front of him looked furious.

"If you have a problem with that, then how's about a duel. Just you and me?", the girl challenged Spike.

The boy considered this. Since he just took out one of her goons with no problem, he should be able to fight her easily enough. Spike gave a smile at the girl.

"I accept your challenge. What time do you want to have it?", Spike asked while accepting the challenge.

"Friday at three PM. Dueling arena. Don't be late.", she said.

"I'll be there. By the way, I never got your name.".

The flame-haired girl gave him a devilish grin. "My name's Sunset Shimmer. And I'm going to turn your ass to ashes.".

Author's Note

Here you go. Quite an eventful chapter, huh? Spike unlocks his powers, punches a bully into a wall, and accepts a dueling challenge. What do you think will happen to Spike. And what of these girls who have suddenly gained interest in the boy? Find out more later on.