Fallen Flames

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Chapter 1

'Many ages ago, long before the crowning of the Two Sisters, Equestria was ruled by a mighty sorcerer. But unlike the Sisters who united the three tribes of ponies with friendship and understanding, Grogar the Cruel ruled purely through fear and force. The Father of Monsters, he created many creatures whose descendants still plague Equestria to this day.'

'Eventually Gusty the Great of the Unicorn Kingdoms, led her warriors against the sorcerer, defeating him and taking from him his bell, the source of the ram's powers. But Grogar could not simply be executed, for the ram had long sacrificed his soul in exchange for the mastery of the dark arts. So Gusty chose instead to banish him to another world, one where he could do no harm. May the Elements have mercy upon him, for no pony alive could'

Excerpt from the original writing of Clover the Clever...please return it to the Royal Archives, Princess Twilight, it's been 7 years'

October 23rd, 2077

Earth D-107

The dark-skinned man sighed, sitting on a bench in one of Chicago's parks, watching as people ran back and forth in a panic. Sirens sounded from all around and helicopters and vertibirds circled away from buildings.

The world was ending today, a flash and boom on the horizon turning into a tiny mushroom cloud, sprouting even more panic. "Fools," the man sighed, before pausing, hearing panicked cries for help, a woman screaming for help in front of a car crash.

Frankly, he had no reason or inclination to help the woman. What's one less life compared to all the others who were about to die? But he heard the sound of a mother crying for her daughter.

He sighed and walked towards the crash, ignoring the other people bustling around in panic, yet somehow never getting knocked over. "Your child is in there?" he said calmly when he reached the crash. Most of the people having ran by that point, leaving the street deserted

"You have to get her out, please!" said a distraught woman.

"Why? A warhead will hit here in less than a few minutes. You aren't exactly going to reach a safe distance on foot," the man said calmly, peering in to see a dark-haired child...probably 16 or 17, out cold, a dead man in the driving seat.

"The Vault is still open!" snapped the woman. The man gave her a blank look. "You know, the Vault that was built by- Oh, there isn't time! Please get her out!" begged the woman.

"As you wish," sighed the man, trying the door.

The woman snapped, "It's jammed from the crash. You'd need one of the rescue protectrons or a jaws of life to-" before the man tore the door off like it was nothing.

"But...how..." started the woman.

"As you've said, there's no time," said the man, extracting the teen from the car. The woman just stared in fear before the man said, "This...vault. Where is it?"

Vault 5 had been placed in the Chicago subway system, and like all current vaults, had a US army presence, making sure only people on the list got in. Captain Parker, the soldier at the gate, looked up as a small family approached. "Crap, if you're not on the list then fuck off," he snapped, the man giving him the creeps. How could he see through those shades down here?

"My name's Angela Lynch. My family's in the Vault 5 program," the woman said, panting, the tunnel shaking. Parker looked at his clipboard, his hands shaking. That blast had been close.

"That's not your husband. You don't get in. Piss off, Brit." Parker said, turning to leave. Maybe he could get the Lynches' place?

A hand grabbed his shoulder and span him, Parker's practice having him reach for his pistol, before everything went green. "The names are on the list," said the man in a low voice, "You've just overlooked them in your haste."

"The...names..." said Parker, slowly stepping aside, Mrs. Lynch and her kid staring in terror at Parker's now glowing green eyes and slack expression.

"And afterwards...go for a walk," said the man, Parker nodding weakly. Mrs. Lynch didn't know what to say. This was...like something from the 'Tales from Appalachia' horror series...but he'd helped them. "I would not wait. It looks like they are preparing to close," said the man calmly.

"But what about you?" asked Mrs. Lynch.

"I'll be fine..." said the man calmly, bowing politely to the two, before turning and proceeding away from them.

Two Vault Tec security noticed the two and ran up. "You're the last two? We gotta go," one snapped.

"But there's still him! He-" Mrs. Lynch turned to point at her daughter's savior. But he was gone. She didn't even see him walking away. It was as if he was never there.

"Come on...we're sealing up," said the security officer. The teen with her was sure she saw a pair of green eyes with reptilian slits watching.

Equus

D-106

200 years later

"So there really was a Grogar? It wasn't something Discord made up?" asked a young changeling, holding up a hoof.

"The Bewitching Bell is proof of that," said Twilight, pointing at the iron bell. Despite the small cracks on it, it remained as indestructible as ever. Some have advocated throwing it into a volcano, though Twilight just had a feeling that would just put it out of reach until the next eruption.

"Where do you think Gusty sent him?" asked another student, a griffon this time.

"I do not know," said Twilight, "Gusty was before even Starswirl's time. Unicorn magic was different back then."

"How come the Bell's so indestructible?" asked a diamond dog.

Twilight paused. "It's...wolf magic. The wolf kingdoms were masters at totemic magic, perhaps the best," she said carefully.

"Wolves have magic?" asked the griffon.

"Of course, they were our ancestors," said the diamond dog, "They were a proud and mighty race."

"I'm hearing 'were'," said the changeling, "What happened to them?"

"They were also warlike...understandable. In the time of the Three Tribes, war was unfortunately common. Grogar destroyed them as part of his first conquest," said Twilight sadly.

"So why was the Bewitching Bell made with wolf magic?" asked the griffon, "Wasn't Grogar a goat?"

"He was a ram," said Twilight, "And much of Grogar's early life is unknown. There's no telling where he learned his magic."

"How'd we know all this? I've read the story of Grogar but the wolves aren't even mentioned," said the same diamond dog kid.

"Because a lot of wolf history has been lost...until today," said Twilight, "Remember, tomorrow's field trip will be to the apparent wolf kingdom capital, Albion."

The students were excited about that. Only because of the international trust and cooperation that has formed after the final battle with the Terrible Trio has archeologists been able to expand their searches this far.

There were murmurs and smiles at that, the students filing out, as a lanky dragon that was Twilight's fur shade and a light green made his way in. "Hey, Twi. You ok?" he asked.

"I'm just nervous about this trip," said Twilight.

"Because it's in such a remote area?" asked Spike.

"More like what it could mean about Grogar's origin," said Twilight.

"You know that Discord made up a lot of stuff about Grogar," said Spike.

"No, he didn't," said Twilight, "Albion wasn't abandoned, it was destroyed."

Spike nodded at that. The discovery was amazing, and the diamond dog tribes were eager to discover their cousin's heritage, but it also meant some darker things too.

The Calfkill Mountains are a pretty remote mountain range, mostly because few ponies have the leg strength to climb the incredibly steep cliff sides. Flyers of different species found the wind patterns here too unpredictable and unmanageable to make any permanent settlements there.

All in all, it was perfect for a race that liked its privacy, and the wolves had been one of those. Hidden paths allowed their raiders to have harassed Earth Tribe and griffon towns in the valleys far below till they'd met their match.

The city itself was, of course, a ruin. Races from across Equestria were going back and forth, collecting artifacts and the like. A yellow-furred pony trotted up, a blue griffon in trainee royal guard armor beside him. "Princess. I'm honored. Golden Karat, from the Royal Archeologists Guild. I believe you know the trainee the royal guard sent me," he said cheerfully.

"Gallus, it's been a while," said Twilight pleasantly.

"Hi, Professor Twilight. It's Private Gallus now. I saw some of the others from the old gang around. I think Smolder's down in the square, catching up," said Gallus cheerfully.

Golden Karet nodded, "There are some...things I'd like to show you first, princess."

"I'm sure there's quite a lot to see," said Twilight.

Golden Karet nodded, leading towards a tent, where several tables had some strange things, armor plates with badly corroded paint being restored with spells, weapons of some kind as well, and what Twilight spotted as a human skull.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" asked Golden Karet, "So far, we haven't been able to even tell what type of skull it is. Our closest guess is some kind of monkey. Perhaps it's a relative of a yeti."

Twilight nodded. There was no doubt, it was a human skull. Humans had somehow been to Equestria in the past...with weapons and armor by the look of things. "Where was this found?" she asked.

Golden Karet caught her tone. "In the main square alongside what we assume were members of the city guard and army. They were most certainly fighting alongside one another," he said calmly.

"What sort of weapons were found?" asked Twilight.

"We managed to restore one. Mr. Gallus tested it," said Golden Karet.

Gallus nodded, "It's like something from Power Ponies, a laser gun."

"A working laser gun?" asked Twilight.

"Yes. Whoever these people were, they were extremely advanced but none of the items recovered indicate equipment for long distance travel. I suspect they were located somewhere close by...maybe even in the city," said Golden Karet.

"Have you been able to date anything?" asked Twilight.

"Almost certainly from around the fall of the city," said Golden Karet.

"Do we actually know when that was?" asked Twilight, "How many centuries ago?"

"A long time ago...definitely Before Harmony," said Golden Karet calmly, adding, "Once we realized these sticks were such powerful weapons, I had the restoration on them stopped. If griffon raiders got them..."

"Indeed," said Twilight. While the world was mostly peaceful for now, there were always a few fringe troublemakers. But that wasn't her greatest concern. Her main concern was what were futuristic weapons doing so far in the past?

A griffon ran in, "Professor Karet, we've found something."

Spike, meanwhile, had headed to the fountain once Gallus had said that was where the others were. He smiled as he spotted Gallus's friends, Smolder waving.

"Hey, guys," said Spike, walking over, "It's been a while."

Sandbar nodded. "Yeah. I'm helping Professor Karet."

Smolder rolled her eyes. "Cause this place is so close to the Dragon Lands, Dragon Lord Ember sent me to 'oversee' things," she said, doing air quotes.

"Well, it's nice seeing you," said Spike. Smolder had grown a bit since he had last seen her. She was objectively prettier, though not as pretty as Rarity. Part of him knew the thing with Rarity wouldn't work out in the long run, but Spike wasn't someone to give up. However, he'd be blind to not admit that Smolder was growing into quite the dragoness.

"It's been a long time...heh, seems like yesterday we were rallying your country to deal with three villains. Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm relieved or disappointed that there haven't been any major villains since then," said Spike.

Smolder nodded. "Yeah, shame the rest of the gang are all busy. It'd be nice to have a reunion. If only to catch up," said Sandbar as the dragoness leaned on the ruined fountain in the square, a faint 'beep' heard.

"Uh, was that-" started Spike before a clank was heard under their feet.

The trio looked down before a click was heard and they fell down a hatch...about two feet as a lift was whirring its way up. "Nice discovery, Smolder," groaned Sandbar.

"Yeah, how long would it have taken for anyone else to find it?" asked Smolder.

"Probably in a less painful way." said Sandbar

Once Twilight had been told, the whole group had headed down the lift, Twilight recognizing the human world's flag, though it seemed...off. As Twilight recalled, there were a lot more stars in the blue square and they weren't in a circle, nor were any of them bigger than the others.

There were also more skeletons, some covered in arrows and others with magical damage to their armor. "What were they doing here?" she commented.

Golden Karet said, "Well whatever this place is, it's clearly deserted. No offense but diamond dog tribes of the time would have cleared this place of gear like this if they could get in."

"The Calfkills have no gems in them," said Twilight, "The diamond dogs looked and found nothing that interested them."

"Hmph, rather short-sighted of them," said Golden Karat.

"Not everyone values old history," said Twilight.

"Just be careful," said Golden Karet, as Smolder, Sandbar and Spike went down a side corridor.

A voice said calmly at that, seemingly from the walls, "Auxiliary power at 2 percent. Please restore main power."

"What kind of power do you think this place runs on?" asked Sandbar.

"Just be careful. If this belonged to their guard..." said Twilight.

Golden Karet nodded, "We do not know these people and caution in tombs is always recommended."

Smolder shrugged, "Might be something interesting..."

30 LOOOOONG minutes later…

"This is so BORING!" groaned Smolder as she, Sandbar and Spike turned another corner, following faded arrows.

"If we knew there was going to be a big maze, we would have brought a minotaur," muttered Sandbar.

"Critical warning: Auxiliary power at 1 percent. Please restore main power or commence evacuation protocol 3." said the voice.

Smolder growled, "And I wish that voice would SHUT UP!" before lights flickered on.

"Main power restored. Rebooting Prometheus Base operations."

"That's all you had to do?" asked Sandbar.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" asked Smolder sarcastically before she looked around "Better be something good in the next room." she growled, the last door being a set of heavy-looking vault doors, a glowing button next to them.

"I'll get this one," said Spike, pushing the button.

A klaxon began to wail at that, red rotating lights over the doors coming on before the door slowly opened, revealing even more skeletons, crouched behind barricades, and behind them, a vast metallic ring, covered in cables and...setting the magical sensitive trio's teeth on edge, like the room had a hum.

"I think I have a good idea what that thing is," said Spike.

"Spike...what is this thing?" said Sandbar nervously, a trio of royal guards running in.

"Sir Spike...message from the Princess. We have to leave," said one of them before a faint hum got everyone's attention, the hum getting louder and more high-pitched.

"Yeah, I think we really need to leave," said Sandbar.

Anything else anyone wanted to say was drowned out as everyone clutched their ears as the sound got earsplitting, before the inside of the ring got a familiar glow. Spike had last seen it inside Starswirl's mirror, though happily the sound stopped with the opening.

"Yep, that's a portal," said Spike.

"Where does it go?" asked Smolder.

The portal rippled before a humanoid, hulking shape, covered in black, almost insectoid looking armor strode through, a rifle similar to what had been in the tent in its arms, followed by three others. Its helmet had simple golden glass optics, its mouth some sort of filter, as it looked slowly around, two more coming through, holding two gigantic cannons, more royal guards teleporting in at a flare from the lead guard's horn.

"You think they're bad guys?" asked Sandbar. "Kinda hard to think of them as anything else," said Smolder.

The royal guard captain used a sound spell before calling "Drop your weapons." The humanoids looked at one another before the lead took aim and fired a green bolt into the captain who glowed a second before exploding into green goop around empty armor.

"Ok, definitely bad guys," said Smolder before breathing fire at the humanoids.

One of the troopers took a step back before continuing to fire, stun spells bouncing off the attackers' armor as they systematically returned deadly fire.

"Spike, we need more fire!" snapped Smolder.

Spiker glared, spitting a fireball that hit one of the troops, a metallic 'oof' heard as it was knocked over, two of its compatriots covering a third as it helped him up, their fire taking out two more royal guards, one of the intruders tossing a orb into the middle of the room.

"What's that?" asked Sandbar. "Probably more trouble," said Spike before breathing his transporting fire at it.

It was unfortunately too late as the orb exploded, arcs of electricity earthing in everycreature in the room, the remaining royal guard, and the trio shuddering before falling, except Smolder who stared. Spike had thrown himself in the way. One of the troopers saying, "Grab the orange one...seems a good subject." in the same metallic tone.

"What? You aren't- HEY!" snapped Smolder as she was roughly picked up, slashing out and kicking up sparks from the creatures face..

One of the troopers responded by cracking her across the head with its rifle before they turned to leave, Spike managing to force himself to his claws, the leader saying "Kill the others...no survivors." One of the troopers aimed its rifle at him before a purple beam sent it flying back through the portal, the others turning to see a glaring Twilight and more royal guards. "Sigma...fire at will!" yelled their leader, the group firing as they backed towards the portal, unconscious Smolder in hand.

"They're getting away with Smolder!" yelled Spike, getting to his feet unsteadily.

"Spike." cried Twilight as Spike ran, tackling the last attacker, sending them sprawling through the portal, before sparks flew from it and the portal cut out

"Uh, you can get that portal open, right?" asked Sandbar.

"Oh no...Spike." said Twilight weakly.

Spike shot upright, sweating, looking around blearily. He was in some sort of white room, wearing a black jumpsuit of some sort, Smolder in the same outfit, sat opposite. "Welcome back." she said sarcastically, Spike realizing some sort of clamp around his waist stopped him spreading his wings.

"Smolder, we gotta-" started Spike as he tried to sit up only to feel something tighten around his waist.

"Yeah...that thing stops us moving too far. Who are these guys?" snapped Smolder, sitting back with a grumble

"I don't know," said Spike, "They might have been humans, but I've never met any that aggressive."

"Spike, you've barely known aggression," said Smolder flatly.

"Hey...I faced down my fair share of villains." said Spike accusingly, before a crackling whine was heard and a voice snapped "Knock it off in there, freaks."

"Though these may be the rudest ones," said Spike.

"We could pull these things off in a hot minute." muttered Smolder.

Spike nodded before saying, "But they'd just shoot us."

Smolder sighed. "So, any idea what they want with us?" asked Smolder.

"No idea," said Spike.

"Say, you think they might be aliens?" asked Smolder.

"Uh, possibly," said Spike.

"I've read about alien abductions in comic books," said Smolder, "They grab random ponies and then they experiment by sticking-"

The voice from the wall said in a panic "STOP!"

"Yeah, I'd think I'd rather not hear the end of that sentence," said Spike.

The door opened at that, one of the armored figures there. "You...orange one...get out here," it said.

"Gee, I'm not sure if I can get very far with this clamp," said Smolder.

The figure tilted its head before firing a green blast into the ground at her feet. "Next plasma shot goes through your head. Now move." the figure snapped.

"Ok, ok," said Smolder, getting up stiffly.

The figure grabbed her and pulled her out at that, Spike growling, the figure looking at him and, even through that featureless helmet, Spike got the idea it was smirking. "Go ahead...see how far a punch gets you," it sneered.

"Fine," said Spike before kicking the figure's leg. He stared before yelping, hopping back, clutching his foot, before he was kicked into the far wall, the door shutting to the figure's laughter.

Smolder was dragged down a long metal corridor. She was starting to think she was right about the alien abduction theory.

After a few minutes, she was pushed into a well lit room, more of the troopers at the walls and a, she assumed human in a white suit, an orange dome obscuring its features. "Get on the table, please." said the orange domed figure

"Why should I?" asked Smolder defiantly.

"Because the colonel's men will kill you if you do not." said 'dome' calmly

Smolder grumbled before trying to get on the table. "You know, you could at least lower it if you're going to keep my wings clamped," she said.

"Yes, but then you might do something like claw through the restraints. I said to use tempered steel, colonel." said 'dome'.

An unseen voice said, "I supposed you did...but command wants this second attempt to have results before they send more resources."

"At least this one has a humanoid shape," said 'dome', "Much easier to work with."

"Yes. Not as much work to do. Now show this virus of yours works." snapped the colonel's voice, dome sighing and walking towards Smolder, clamps shooting up to hold her down. "Now then...relax..." said Dome, Smolder sure she saw a green glow behind the glass, before he said "I'm a doctor." as he held up a syringe.

1 hour later...

Spike jumped as the door to his cell opened and a limp Smolder was pushed in.

"Smolder? Smolder, are you alright?" asked Spike, rushing to her side.

The trooper chuckled before locking the door again, Smolder mumbling, "Ow."

Spike helped her up onto one of the bunks. "What did they do?" he cried, noticing a metal dot behind her ear.

"Kept...giving me shots...was worse than vaccination day at...school," Smolder joked weakly.

"Did they say what they were doing?" asked Spike.

"Nothing that made sense," said Smolder, "Except I wasn't the first one they've tried this on."

"Wait...there's other people here?" said Spike, getting a horrible vision of Twilight being poked and prodded by these creeps.

"No...they said...she ran off…" mumbled Smolder before falling asleep.

"Ok, well, at least we know this place is escapable," said Spike.

The door opened at that, the trooper aiming at Spike. "The doctor will see you now." it sneered

Smolder winced as she came round, her head aching before she sat up. "Dumb humans." she muttered, starting to stand up and pausing...was she taller?"

That table seemed lower than before. Did the doctor listen to her or were they changing the furniture around to mess with her head? Spike wasn't around, that was for sure. Damn, probably took him...wait, was something wrong with her chest? For some reason, she looked a little puffy. Maybe she was having some kind of reaction to whatever they were injecting her with.

The door shot open at that, Spike being tossed back in. He'd definitely grown over the years, going through the annoying stage where adolescent dragons looked like they'd been stretched a little...still. "Ow." groaned Spike.

"You gotta love the acupuncture in this place," said Smolder dryly.

"We gotta get out of here...were you always that tall?" groaned Spike.

"Uh, I don't think so," said Smolder, "Unless they're trying to trick us."

"Oh, you won't be going anywhere, Gamma and Delta...you're going to be most useful." sneered the dome's voice.

"Which one of us is Delta?" asked Spike.

"Does it matter?" snapped Smolder.

"Well...this sucks. I don't think we're near Canterlot High...or even the same world, given I'm not a dog at the moment. I can't breathe my messenger flame with this damn clamp on...and I swear something's happened to Smolder. We've been here a week and something's happening to us both."

"By this point, I think it's clear that we're both growing bigger. Even if they were moving furniture around, we've definitely grown taller in comparison to our so-called 'host'. And yet, I don't think we're growing the way dragons are supposed to grow."

"Spike...are you still writing? We can't send it anyway." said Smolder's voice, Spike looking up from the grease paper he'd been writing on.

It was hard to deny the changes to Smolder's shape now. Her waist has been getting thinner as her hips were getting wider. And the puffiness of her chest was gaining a distinct shape. Right now, she was reminding Spike a lot of the shape Twilight took in Canterlot High along with all the other girls there.

"I swear, if we get out of here, I'm gonna rip Dome's head apart." snarled Smolder, Spike twitching. It didn't help Spike's attention that their jumpsuits were skintight.

Of course, Spike's shape was changing too. He was losing his lanky look as he started filling out more, namely getting broader shoulders and a more defined chest.

He was still pretty thin, but it was more the 'thinness' of a dragon athlete, or reminding him a little of Smolder's brother.

The room shook for a second at that, the lights flickering. Smolder grinned. "Bet that's Ember and a load of dragons from Equus kicking the walls down," she said.

"I wonder how they got here," said Spike.

The door opened at that, several humans with plasma rifles aiming. "You, Delta, move it!" snapped one of the troopers, aiming at Smolder.

"Hey, I don't anywhere with-" started Smolder.

One of the troopers pressed something on her wrist, Smolder's expression going slack before walking out with the troopers. "I'm taking her to the evac transport. Take the other one to disposal and join us there." said the trooper leading Smolder

"Wait, disposal? Smolder, wait for me!" called Spike.

Smolder didn't react, Spike noticing the small metal dot blinking before she went out of sight. "Bad luck, Gamma...your control implant got held up." sneered one of the troopers, Spike noticing movement behind them, what looked like a badly-emaciated human coming into view.

Spike really didn't like the green tinge to his skin which just barely covered his bones. Actually, it put him strongly in mind of a zombie. His potential executioners had noticed it, as several more came in behind it, one snapping "Ghouls on the prisoner level!" both of them forgetting about Spike.

The ghouls let out raspy cries, which sounded rather hungry to Spike. Spike just ran, the gunfire behind him turning into agonized screams, no doubt as the ghouls reached their dinner

Spike wasn't sure what the difference between a zombie and a ghoul was. But the difference seems arbitrary considering how much the ghouls wanted to eat flesh.

He ran out onto a catwalk to see a lobby of some sort below, a hole in a wall and the ghouls pouring in, dead and bits of dead kidnappers around...and crossing it, armored figures, the almost zombie-like herself Smolder with them.

"Smolder!" cried Spike running along the catwalk. He strained against his harness, but his wings were still pinned. The guards had heard him, firing at him and forcing him to duck down "Smolder, answer me!" called Spike.

Smolder actually turned to look at that, though there was no recognition in those eyes before she was led on, into one of two lifts, Spike growling, growling more when the clasp squeezed.

"I've had enough of this thing," snarled Spike, grabbing the clasp and pulling. The metal gave way, a little to his surprise at how easy it did, Spike sighing with relief as his wings came free for the first time in days. His wings felt a little weakened from the prolonged confinement. He wasn't sure if he could fly right now, but he could at least manage a glide.

A quick glide down to the lobby later and three ghouls were running at him with unearthly shrieks "Hope these things burn easily," said Spike before spitting fire at them.

One of the ghouls got hit and flailed on fire, one of the others pushing it aside and tackling him, trying to bite his shoulder. However, the ghoul's decayed teeth cracked on Spike's hard scales, which caused the ghoul to shriek with pain and frustration.

Spike glared, a sudden burst of anger overwhelming him before he swatted the ghoul so hard it was torn in half before grabbing the other flailing ghoul and tearing it in half. Spike grabbed the ghoul halves, breathed more fire on them, and then flung them into the middle of the ghoul swarm below him.

Part of him wanted to rip these things apart, but the other half managed to steer him into the elevator, pressing the highest button. It opened up onto cracked concrete, two aircraft getting ready to take off, Smolder seen on the one taking off

"SMOLDER!" roared Spike before taking off at her. At least that was the intention. Anger-fueled strength doesn't really apply to flight capabilities and his wings were still weak.

He slammed into the concrete with a wince, the aircraft preparing to fly off, Spike turning to see the other one getting ready to go and growling. "You're not leaving me behind," snarled Spike.

The chopper lifted off just as he reached it, Spike grabbing on and climbing in, a trooper trying to grab his pistol before Spike's claws flashed out, the trooper falling out, gurgling before he turned to the pilot

"Take me to Smolder, now!" snapped Spike.

"Who?" snapped the pilot.

Spike grabbed his throat, "Follow that other plane." The pilot nodded weakly.

Colonel Andies glared, looking at the doctor, then at Gamma. "This is a fucking disaster." he muttered to the doctor, adding "And trust me...it won't be my head on the block."

"It is not beyond salvage," said the doctor, "We still have a viable female to work with. All I need is another lab, one that's not so close to ghoul territory."

"Sir...problem..." said the pilot at that.

Andies muttered "It never rains but-" before he snapped "What?"

The pilot said urgently, "Lone Star 2's coming up on us fast...pilot won't respond."

The doctor closed his eyes for a minute before saying, "Gamma has control of that bird. Well, well, I was starting to think he lacked the spirit."

"Pilot...swing us around and arm a missile," Andies said coldly. No mutant freak was going to show him up.

"Keep going." snarled Spike.

The pilot snapped, "They'll blow us out the sky, you idiot!"

"Just get me close enough!" snapped Spike.

The aircraft ahead was swinging around though, something trailing smoke leaving a pod on its wing, the pilot snapping "Oh shit." as the controls wailed.

"This is where I get out," said Spike, wrenching open the door. The missile slammed into the front of the aircraft at that, the explosion threw him out.

Spike didn't quite take to the air as smoothly as he hoped. Mostly, he was sent tumbling. The last thing he saw was the ground running up to meet him and the last thing he thought was 'sorry, Smolder'.

So it was a bit of a surprise to wake up on a mattress, a wooden ceiling staring at him.

The stark contrast to what he remembered made Spike briefly wonder if that whole thing with the lab was just a vivid dream. But he felt a soreness as he got up. And he noticed his body was definitely bigger, his chest firmer than before. So no, he was not dreaming and he wasn't home either.

"Call the Alpha...he's awake." said a gruff voice.

"The who? What?" asked Spike. His brain wasn't quite catching up to where he currently was.

"And make sure he stays here." said the same voice at that, Spike seeing what, though his still blurry vision, he thought was a minotaur leaving.

Spike rubbed his eyes and muttered, "How long have I been out?"

"You were found last night, mighty one, in the marshes," said another voice, Spike turning to see what he thought was some sort of cat.

Spike rubbed his eyes and asked, "You didn't give me any funny-tasting water, did you?"

"The water is the same as it has always been...faintly tasting of mirelurk," said a third, female voice, a chorus of laughter heard.

Spike massaged his temples and said, "Maybe I should take another nap."

"You must be awake when the Alpha of Alphas comes," said the female voice.

"What does that mean?" asked Spike.

"You will know." said the 'cat' though as his vision cleared, it seemed to be a human in ragtag furs, a rifle on her back.

"Where exactly am I?" asked Spike.

"The warcamp of the Blackwings clan." said the woman

Spike gave a blank look. "The Alpha said that some things might be unknown to you," said the woman, "She'll educate you on what you need to know when she sees you."

Spike sighed, his side ached, probably where he landed and these people, weirdly dressed as they were, weren't trying to kill him or experiment on him...a step up.

"Do I need to be dressed for this?" asked Spike.

"There's clothing for you in the chest." said one of them

Spike looked around and noticed a chest at the foot of his bed.

He gave them a look, one of the guards saying "We are not to leave."

"Uh, can I have some privacy?" asked Spike.

The guards looked like he'd just asked them to do a tapdance and then try to explain Pinkie Pie.

Spike said, "Could you at the very least turn around?"

The guards rolled their eyes before walking out the door, though a click indicated it was locked. Spike got up and checked himself. Dirty bandages were around his lower chest and the top half of his jumpsuit had been removed, happily leaving him some modesty. The chest's contents were...not nice. The shirt inside had blood for a start.

Part of Spike wondered why he asked them to leave. After all, he rarely wore clothes at all back in Equestria. Even most ponies don't bother with much clothing.

The rest of the chest was...slightly better, armor plates that seemed to be made of wagon bits, rusty bits, and a sword made from some sort of machinery.

Spike held up the shirt and looked it over. He wasn't sure how he could twist it in order to not show the blood stain. He would need to make some slits in any case for his wings. He highly doubted these people would have any soda water he could use to get rid of the stain.

"You could just wear the armor without the shirt," said a female voice, "But it would chafe after a while."

"Did I ask for some..." started Spike as he turned around. His complaint tumbled off the tracks as he saw who walked in.

He was certainly not expecting to meet another dragon here, especially not a dragoness. Like Smolder, she had a taller, humanoid frame. But unlike Smolder, there was no real questioning about the nature of the orbs on her chest. She was currently wearing a jumpsuit similar to what Spike and Smolder had been forced to wear, but she had some alterations done. Part of it was the shoulder armor she was wearing. Another was that the upper chest was unfastened and allowed a good view of her cleavage... How did Spike know that word?

"You can talk, you know." said the dragoness, in amusement.

"I, uh, buh, er, ah, buh," stammered Spike. He hadn't felt this flustered since he first met Rarity. Was this dragoness really that pretty? With some effort, he tore his eyes away from her chest and focused on her face.

She had ebony-colored scales, though they looked dark purple under certain light angles. From what titillatingly little he could see of her front, she had a red underbelly. Her wings also had a red membrane. She had at least six white horns on her head, though they looked more like spikes. Her tail ended with a bladed tip that was also white.

"Hi there." the dragoness said in teasing amusement. "My name's Cynder. From the sound of my scouts you dropped in, literally." the dragoness said, noticing his look and zipping up the suit, which appeared to be covered in flexible armor, lines of light barely visible

"Oh, er, I'm Spike," said Spike. He was starting to think his name didn't sound very impressive or properly draconic.

"Spike...and you're a purple dragon, I see." she commented to herself

"Oh, well, I guess so," said Spike nonchalantly.

"You could be just what we need...but you must be tired. Get some sleep and I'll give you the tour tomorrow." said Cynder

"Yeah, I think my head isn't quite all here yet," said Spike.

"Like I said...recover then I'll show you around." said Cynder politely, turning to leave, before pausing and saying "Unless you want some company tonight." smirking as a thud and gargling noise was heard. "Still got it." she muttered to herself, leaving the fainted Spike

She walked out of the room and found the fur-wearing woman outside it.

The woman gulped and ran, a man and woman, dressed in leather armor and well-armed. "William...Mags." Cynder said.

"Ma'am...I assume we're not shooting the newbie." said the man

"Shoot the only dragon who's appeared here? A purple dragon no less?" snapped Cynder.

The two exchanged looks before the woman asked, "What's so great about him being purple?"

"Back in my world, purple dragons could devastate armies. This little dragon could deliver us the entire Boston Commonwealth." said Cynder with an evil grin, "He just needs some...persuading."

Author's Note

Here's the first chapter in a new story that's going to be a lot more experimental than my other stories. This one is a few years in the making so some parts may be a bit odd at first. This is going to be rather different from the usual MLP/Fallout stories, not the least being because it'll also include a crossover with Spyro the Dragon. I ask that you bear with me through at least the first few chapters. I haven't played Fallout myself, though I've studied the lore and my co-author has played it. There is going to be a lot more development going on even before the story fully hits its stride. The first batch of chapters will be posted close together so keep an eye out and please review.

Chapter 2

"Each day I wake up, I need to remind myself of what's happened so I know it's not a dream. Me and Smolder were abducted by humans. I'm pretty sure they were humans. Smolder thought they were aliens, and I can see why they might seem that way. They've changed us, made us bigger, maybe older."

"But then they left in a hurry when these ghoul things attacked. They only took Smolder and left me behind. I think they did something to Smolder because she started obeying them and didn't recognize me."

"The world here is definitely not the world Sunset lives in. It's...in ruins. I saw a city in the distance today. It reminded me of Albion. There's scorched ruins...bones...the place we are in. It's made of metal...scorched black on one side."

"But people still survive here. Not just the ones who took me and Smolder. After I lost her, others found me. They are...a very strange lot. I'm having trouble understanding them. But then there is their leader who's unlike everyone else."

A knock on the metal door got Spike's attention. He'd moved into the main building at Cynder's insistence, Cynder's voice calling "Spike...you in there?"

"Yeah, not much else to be," called Spike.

Cynder came in at that, smiling. "Spike, you're already up. You still need to get some weapons training, you know," she said in mock scolding.

"Weapons training?" asked Spike skeptically.

"You need to know how to use guns. It's not that hard. There were no guns where I came from and it was easy enough to get the hang on," laughed Cynder in a tone that made Spike get a tingle up his spine.

"Trust me, not everyone's going to come close enough to be hit by your breath attacks," said Cynder.

Spike sighed, "Ok...might as well."

Cynder smiled, "Ok, let's do this."

Mags Black raised an eyebrow as Spike came in. "So you're our second lizard," she said calmly, Spike glaring. He didn't like the Blacks especially...they reminded him a little of the old Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara before they'd given up bullying.

Of course, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon could only hurt people emotionally with their words. Spike was quite sure that the Blacks would be very happy to hurt people physically with their fists.

"Miss Cynder wants me to teach you how to last longer than ten seconds in combat. She has something in mind for you...so I volunteered to give you a crash course," said Mags with a smirk that made Spike a little concerned.

Spike said, "I thought you'd teach me how to shoot?"

Mags chuckled. "Guns are just pieces of metal and wood if your enemy gets into stabbing range. The Mi-one of our enemies taught his men how to disarm people at close range. So..." she said, tossing a pistol over to Spike. "Try and hit me before I can disarm you," sneered Mags. Spike raised an eyebrow. Mags said, "Paintballs. Oh, and no breathing fire or anything. We're working on your basics right now."

Spike rolled his eyes, taking aim and firing, Mags dodging to the right, a black splat appearing on the wall, Spike barely having time to aim again before he was swept off his feet and a knife was pressed to his throat. "You're dead," said Mags calmly, stepping back, spinning the knife in her hand.

"Ok, so now you start giving me pointers," said Spike.

"No...now we do it again until you manage to stop me getting you in a kill position. You're lucky Cynder wants you alive otherwise I'd treat you like any other recruit," said Mags calmly, before stepping back, "Again."

William Black glared at Cynder. "The guy's softer than a week old donut and you want him to come with my men on the Vault 95 operation?" he snapped.

"One of the best ways to learn is by example," said Cynder.

"He'll get my men killed. These aren't settlers. These are Gunners and Minutemen, trained professionals and heavily-armed!" snapped William.

"A perfect source of experience," said Cynder.

"You're starting to think like a video game again," said William, "I dunno what it was like where you came from but here, bullets kill and that rookie will die in about ten seconds vs Gunners. Back when we were based out of Nukaworld, our outfit gave the Gunners a wide berth."

"Has anyone been able to make him bleed yet?" asked Cynder.

William glared, "A knife isn't a bullet."

Cynder smirked, taking William's pistol and shooting herself, her eyes spinning for a second as the bullet bounced off her head. "See, just make sure he's holding an Exp. Share or a Lucky Egg and he'll be leveled up in no time," said Cynder, slightly dizzily.

William chuckled. "Oh lord. That is always worth it," he muttered, retrieving his pistol and walking out. He had an assault team to prepare.

Spike was starting to not like Mags very much. Even the strictest trainers in Equestria would at least try to tell their students where they're getting things wrong. Mags was just attacking him again and again.

"You won't even survive one battle if you can't shoot one knife-wielding warrior." sneered Mags. Spike glowered, that anger he'd felt fighting the ghouls rising again as Mags charged. Her arm was grabbed and she was sent sliding across the floor. "Ok...now that was good." she admitted calmly as Cynder walked in, her eyes crossed. It seemed her brother had tricked the dragoness into dazing herself with the party trick.

"Ok, Spike, ready for your first mission?" asked Cynder a little too giddily.

Mags's smile faded. "No...this guys a worse fighter than those morons in the pack," she snapped.

Cynder said loudly, "No, it's an Ice type so you use Flamethrower!" Mags sighed, walked up and slapped the back of Cynders head, her eyes focussing. "I do want him to get some field experience," said Cynder.

"Then have him go on a milk run," said Mags, "He's way too green for the Vault mission."

Cynder's eyes narrowed before she picked Mags up by the neck. "Who's the leader here?" she growled showing her teeth.

Mags gulped and said, "You are."

"You're going to take Spike on this mission so he can understand the monsters we're fighting against and if he doesn;t come back alive I will be VERY angry. Understood?" Cynder snarled, a red mist engulfing them.

"Ok, ok, I get it!" yelped Mags, trying to wriggle loose.

Cynder huffed before throwing her down. Spike stared before Cynder's anger vanished like it had never happened, Cynder smiling, "Shall we go?"

"Uh, you never did mention who it is we were fighting," said Spike.

"Murderers and killers. They control Boston and enslave their people," said Cynder dramatically, Spike noting a couple of guards trying not to grin.

"You haven't actually given a name," said Spike.

"They are an alliance of groups." said Cynder dramatically, Spike getting a feeling this was an act...and her acting was no patch on Rarity in one of her meltdowns.

"And what do they call themselves?" asked Spike flatly.

"No idea, they've attacked my people for years for no reason," said Cynder.

Now Spike was absolutely sure she was covering something up. And if it weren't for all her minions standing around, he'd refuse to go along at all.

He was about to speak before a radio in the corner, previously on static began playing a crackly classical song, the light also starting to flicker. "Uh, is someone getting ready for a party?" asked Spike.

A second later, there was a blinding flash of light. Spike rubbed his eyes to see some sort of plastic, skeletal human, looking around before aiming a boxy pistol, firing a blue beam that incinerated one of the Blacks' men into ash, a half dozen more beginning to fire the same weapons, sparks flying off them as the guards opened fire.

"Sound the alarm!" yelled Cynder, laser bolts hitting her, yelping from the burns

"What's going on?" asked Spike. However, that outburst only drew the plastic man's attention towards Spike.

A hail of blue beams narrowly missed him at that, before he charged the bot...and was knocked flying. The bot was quite strong.

Spike growled before charging back at the plastic man again, this time with claws bared. The bot aimed its blaster before a slash took its head off, the bot falling sideways.

Spike turned to see some sort of human, wearing a white leather overcoat and shades. It seemed to be directing the attack. "You next." he snarled, charging the human who turned...and had him by the throat, lifting him up with ease.

"New target...hmm...another mutant," the human said, not even looking as it blasted a charging member of the Pack, blowing her head off.

"Let go!" snapped Spike as he tried to grab his arm.

The arm was solid though, the human raising an eyebrow. "Interesting...this changes things," he said, squeezing harder, before Spike managed to cough some flame. The flames burnt the guy's arm, but it burned off a lot more than Spike expected. Enough to see the machinery under the surface.

"Oh...boy..." gagged Spike, yelping as the...thing plucked a scale off of his arm before throwing him into the charging Cynder, taking a step back before "SRS Control IL-14 ready for transit."

The radio kicked off again before the human and the remaining robots vanished in flashes of light, Mags yelling "Get some damn stimpacks in here."

Cynder glared, saying, "The face of one of our enemies."

"What just happened?" asked Spike.

"Those were some of who we're fighting against. They're getting desperate," snapped Cynder angrily.

"I didn't know you guys had teleportation here," said Spike.

"It's new, that's for sure. Miss Black, tell the other clan leaders, triple the guard and issue EMP grenades," Cynder snapped, Mags rolling her eyes before Cynder said, "Now you see what we're up against."

"But why would they attack us?" asked Spike.

"The same reason as anyone: resources," said Cynder, "Everyone wants to get as much as they can, even from someone else."

"They sound like bandits," said Spike, most of the guards getting coughing fits at that.

"Yes, well, greed's a big motivation," said Cynder, looking away from Spike, "Tomorrow, you're going on a mission with some of my men. The enemy has a secure outpost north of us and if we don't take it, we can't liberate the people of Boston."

"Uh...can't I start with a supply run first?" asked Spike.

"NO...I mean, no...I have people already doing that." said Cynder, "Besides, look at you. You're a purple dragon. You can handle those, er, bandits easily."

"So? There's dragons stronger than me." said Spike defensively

"Nonsense, you're just inexperienced," said Cynder.

One of the Pack warriors leaned in. "When the Great One's like this, it's better to just say yes and go with it," he whispered to Spike.

"Uh, ok," said Spike.

William Black chuckled, "You are so dead."

4 hours later...

"Ok, men...we got a rookie with us today. The overboss wants us to make sure he survives the experience." said William calmly, the group of operators, gas masks over their faces all turning to look at Spike.

"So, what if I just watch from the sidelines..." started Spike.

"Sorry, she wants you to be part of the action," said William.

"Aw man…" grumbled Spike, an operator pushing a pistol into his hands.

"We're not up against regular militia here, men. Today we're up against the Gunners. You've heard of them and know we usually give them their space but this time they've got something we want and need," William continued.

"Uh, I haven't heard of them," said Spike.

"Just leave the actual fighting to us," said another operator.

"Remember...surprise." said William, the operators nodded and headed out. Spike gulped...this wasn't going to end well...

"This isn't going to end well, overboss." said Mags in annoyance.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to throw away my best soldier over something risky," said Cynder.

"That's if he is a soldier." said Mags calmly, adding, "He's got no killer instinct."

"I'm sure being in a real fight will bring it out," said Cynder.

"Really? He was useless in that last fight." said Mags pointedly.

Cynder sighed. It was true...this purple dragon had clearly never seen combat. "Well, we can't let him hang around our base all the time," said Cynder, "He has to make himself useful."

"Then make him useful. I can keep my men in line and the new Pack leader is falling over himself to get on his good side...but the disciples' leader, Xander and the other clans...if they decide he's weak..." warned Mags.

"Dragons are not weak," said Cynder. However, there wasn't any frustration or even concern in her voice.

"You've got something in mind?" said Mags.

Cynder smirked. "Just a little pick-me-up I gave to William for spike. Should help him fit in," she sneered.

"We're fighting for a hole in the ground?" whispered Spike in annoyance, a large hole in a dirt cliff seen, abandoned construction equipment and rusty walkways...and armed men covered head to toe in green plate armor and masked helmets, heavy weapons in their hands.

"Lotsa guards...someone warned em again." said one of the operators quietly.

"We'll sweep the base for spies later," said William, "We've got a mission here."

"Is there a back way or something?" asked Spike with concern.

William rolled his eyes, before taking a canteen off his belt, "Oi, lizard boy, take a swig. It's...for luck."

"Uh, I'm not-" started Spike.

"You need to stay hydrated," said William before pushing the canteen to Spike's lips.

Spike rolled his head before taking a swig of the surprisingly sweet-tasting liquid "Huh, tasty," said Spike.

"Ok, don't drink it all at once," said William, taking the canteen back.

Spike twitched at that, his mind...boiling and the operators backing off as he felt...angry...feeling like he when under greed growth and the wonderbolts had attacked his horde. William's voice, echoing, said "The enemy...over there..." pointing at the gunners.

"Then what are we waiting for?" snapped Spike, giving a roar at that, charging the now-very aware and surprised gunner guards, laser bolts and bullets ricocheting off him.

"Not so useless after all," commented an operator.

Another operator gulped as Spike reached the Gunners. "Man, I've seen deathclaws make less mess," he said weakly, another operator tossing up into a bush.

Even William seemed a little...pale. "Ok...looks like this is easier than it seems. We sweep behind him and deal with survivors...and for god's sake, keep out his way," he ordered, the operators nodding weakly, more so as a severed arm flew through the air and landed at their feet...and was on fire.

Spike came to his senses some time later. He felt like he had been on an energy rush...and been through a red haze. What was he just doing?

His head was aching, feeling like it had been broken and put back together again. "Urgh...my head." he grumbled, raising a hand and pausing, seeing his reflection in a window across from him.

He was taller now. Probably taller than Cynder. Maybe taller than some of the other operators. But he wasn't as muscular as he sometimes imagined himself when he was older. His wings had grown a little and looked more capable of flight and his claws seemed...sharper. "Wow..." he muttered, flexing his arm. Despite his somewhat lanky appearance, he didn't feel that weak. In fact, he had a sort of athletic/wiry strength.

"What the hell was in that drink?" he muttered, noticing his voice sounded more...adult too...deeper, also noticing his tail had a sharp bone point at the end now.

"Huh, I wonder what Smolder will think of this?" asked Spike. He recalled how Smolder looked last and felt a sudden rush of warmth through him.

He shook his head...no, he had to focus. He got up, seeing some new armor set out for him, the same grey suit that Cynder wore, though clearly for a male this time.

As soon as it was on he stomped out into the corridor. William had poisoned him...and one of the guards said "Hey...Spike...nice work with those Gunners." cheerfully, another whistling cheerfully as he went along.

"What the hell did you give me?" snapped Spike.

"Oh, look who's got his big boy pants on," said an operator in a condescending tone.

Spike found himself lifting up the operator, his hand gripping the operator around the chin. "What did you say?" he snarled before he realized what he was doing. Spike hastily put the operator down before turning to William, "That juice is messing with my head."

William shrugged "Orders from on high, little man." before he walked off, Spike growling.

Cynder looked at the faded map. "Ok...we move several squads into vault 95...and that will block overland supplies from Fusion City," she said.

Xander said, "Yeah...except they can just send stuff via that subway."

Cynder smirked, "Spike can easily collapse that tunnel."

"I think you're overestimating him," said Xander.

"You saw the report. He slaughtered those Gunners almost single clawed," said Cynder.

Xander snapped, "That's not the point! You're relying on the Blacks and their stiff collars. I took over the disciples' remnants after Nuka-World cause you promised we'd get to skin the Sole Survivor and our blades haven't even tasted a drop of anyone's blood."

"Have patience, we're going to-" started Cynder.

"I don't think you really get how this is working," said Xander, "The only reason we're all even standing each other is because you promised us the rest of the pie. If you can't deliver, they will all turn against each other and then you."

Cynder's eyes narrowed at that. "That sounds like treason, Xander," she snarled.

Xander smirked. "Just a warning of your shortening future, Overboss." he said, before muffled yells were heard outside before Xander continued "And for all I know this Spike did nothing. Where is he anyway?" before a disciple guard was thrown through the door. Cynder turned to yell and paused, her mouth open.

Spike was at the front of the group, having put on some more height and was wearing the silver jumpsuit she had provided. Small sections of her brain for some reason were going 'woof'. "Er, behold...this proof enough, Xander?" she said a little weakly. Was it suddenly hot in here?

"Ok, so he had one successful raid," said Xander, "That doesn't make him a juggernaut."

Spike just looked angry before he snarled at Xander "Get out."

Xander glared and drew his knife. "Like hell I-" before Spike grabbed him and threw him out the doorway.

"Oh, that's a big improvement," said Cynder.

"What did you do to me?" snapped Spike, advancing on Cynder (though unfortunately all she heard was static over the angelic music behind Spike).

Eventually, Cynder blinked and asked, "Didn't you get a successful raid?"

"You did something to me! Tell me what you did!" snarled Spike.

"I just loosened your inhibitions a bit, just a mix of buffout and psycho." said Cynder, "Surely you saw they were hampering your progress."

"I...killed those people," said Spike, pushing Cynder back.

"And they would have killed you if they had the chance," said Cynder, "The only real difference is who struck first."

"You turned me into a monster!" snapped Spike.

"Then you must have a very narrow margin for monsters," said Cynder. Spike snarled at that, Cynder raising an eyebrow. "So...what element did you use?" she asked.

"What do you mean what element?" asked Spike.

"You did gain access to other elements before, right?" asked Cynder.

"Well...Twilight kinda made me the Element of Loyalty for a little bit, but that didn't work out," said Spike.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," said Cynder flatly before snapping, "I mean real elements! Did you breathe ice? Did you unlock electricity?"

"No...There's some dragons over the eastern sea who can breathe lightning but I can only breathe flame...and do dragon fire mail." said Spike, Cynder glaring.

"Don't talk nonsense! You're a purple dragon!" snapped Cynder.

"So?" asked Spike.

"'So'? What do you mean 'so'?!" snapped Cynder, "You were born to control all the other elements like the purple dragons that came before!" Spike thought back to the purple dragons he already met before saying, "They didn't seem to have anything special."

Cynder growled, clutching the bridge of her snout before saying, "Lets try again. Where on Avalar are you from?"

"Where's Avalar?" asked Spike.

"Excuse me?" asked Cynder, "You know, Avalar, our world."

"Uh, I don't know about you, but where I'm from, we call it Equestria," said Spike.

Cynder paused before she thought, remembering something. "So they went to other worlds...and they grabbed the one squeamish dragon in the multiverse!" she snapped, advancing on Spike, "Then the only thing you're good for..."

"Hey, wait a minute," said Spike, backing up a step.

As Cynder was readying claws, his eyes went into slits and a single swipe knocked her over, before his eyes went back to normal.

Cynder growled a bit as she sat back up. "So, there is some fight in you for that stuff to enhance," she growled.

"Who are you?" snapped Spike, glowering.

Cynder laughed, "You're just what we need to defeat our enemies after all." before she calmed down, "I'm...sorry...but our enemies will slaughter you unless you know how to fight. That potion just accelerated things."

"If you think I'm going to help you with-" started Spike.

"You don't understand. They'll kill us all," said Cynder.

"Haven't you ever tried to talk it out?" snapped Spike.

Cynder stared before laughing, adding "The Blacks were in charge of a settlement 30 miles east. Our enemy invaded and murdered half her men and ruled it with an iron fist. There's no talking to people like that."

"But-" started Spike.

"I don't know what kind of sugary world Equestria is, but apparently it didn't have real evil on it. Even Avalar had true villains. And villains don't give quarter," said Cynder.

"Hey...we had villains!" snapped Spike.

Cynder laughed her head off at that. "I'm sure...how many wanted to wipe your people out to the last man?" she managed.

Spike paused. "Fine...I help you...then what?" he asked.

Cynder said, "When you were unconscious, you talked about a friend. I can help you find her."

"Can you?" asked Spike skeptically.

"I have someone I need to find too." said Cynder

Part of Spike told him that he shouldn't trust her. But did he really have any other option? "Fine...but if this is a trick…" he growled.

Cynder shrugged, "It's not," she said smoothly, "Now then, you've had an eventful day and I'm sure you could use some rest now."

Spike glared, before walking out, Cynder breathing a sigh of relief. What Spike lacked in elemental powers, he apparently made up for in brute strength.

Xander stomped back in at that, rubbing his head. "He needs to go. He's dangerous and how long before he realizes he's working for raiders?" he snapped.

"All we have to do is keep blinders on that bull and he'll charge where we tell him to," said Cynder.

"We're a week out from the most crucial part of the plan according to the Blacks. if this goes wrong, overboss..." snapped Xander.

Cynder cut him off, "Don't finish that sentence. Your group's managed just fine changing groups before. It'll manage it again."

"You better tie down that loose cannon before he ruins everything," snapped Xander.

Cynder glared as Xander walked out. "One day, you won't be useful." she growled

That night...

The old facility was on the south end of the mire that Boston was north of...a natural barrier of hidden underwater pitfalls and mutations and after a few losses, guards stuck to makeshift watchtowers.

The figure currently there though, a normal-looking raider, was looking around nervously when he saw a figure in the mist. "Who's there?" he snapped, raising a pipe pistol.

The figure said in a British tone, "Easy there...you said you have information...talk."

"First give me the sign," said the raider.

"Is that really necessary?" asked the figure.

"Can't be too careful," replied the raider.

A bag was tossed forward, splashing into the water, the raider picking up the bag of bottle caps. "Fine...the mutant Overboss? Another of her kind turned up...took part in that raid on vault 95," said the raider.

"We were wondering what happened there," said the figure, "Describe this new mutant."

"Same as the Overboss...some kinda humanoid lizard...wings included." said the raider.

"I've heard some people describe her as a dragon. Would you agree?" asked the figure.

"Yeah...fire and everything...like something outta Grognak" said the raider.

"Interesting. And this one's male?" asked the figure.

"Yeah...look. That all? I'll be missed." snapped the raider, making a note to tell the Overboss to change her plans now he had his cash.

"Sure...one more thing." said the figure, a red dot training on the raider's chest before there was a 'fwip fwip' noise and the raider crumpled, the masked figure talking the bag. "I don't think you'll be missed that much," said the figure.

Author's Note

There's the next chapter. It's shorter than the previous one, but I think it does a good job of establishing Cynder's character. Or at least her current character. And while Spike is among bad guys, that's not going to last very long. The next chapter will be longer and it will up tomorrow. Keep an eye out for it and please review.

Chapter 3

"Ok, I've gotten a small taste of how hostile this world is. First we had some guys teleport into our base. I think they were robots. They attacked, but they then retreated pretty quick.

"Then Cynder sent me with some other guys for a raid. I didn't like that, especially after William gave me something to drink."

"I wish you girls were here...no...no, I don't. The further away you and your friends are from here, Twilight, the better. I'm going to find Smoulder and get us both back...somehow."

Spike clicked the book closed, putting it into a pocket on his armor. He'd gotten rid of most of the spikes, leaving just smooth metal. Some comedian had also painted a crude drawing of a dragon with stretched wings in purple paint on the chest plate too.

Part of him still wondered why he needed to wear armor. But then again, there's a chance something might be tough enough to penetrate his scales. Also, it would feel weird to be less dressed around Cynder.

Today though, he wanted to take a look around. He had a feeling the Blacks and Cynder were hiding something. Also, he was finding himself growing a little bored. There wasn't anything around her to do for entertainment.

To that end, he was going to sneak out and head north...just for a couple of days. First he'll need to get some food and water for the trip.

Some might think putting the Pack in charge of the base food supplies would be like putting Pinkie Pie in charge of a fat camp, but amazingly, it worked. The Pack, according to Cynder's orders, were sharing out food and water fairly and surprisingly nutritiously.

Luckily, at least in Spike's opinions, the Pack were the human equivalent of diamond dogs, albeit ones who could speak clearly.

Spike approached the current distributor and said, "Hey, somebody hasn't given me my rations for today."

The guard, wearing a plastic deer mask, tilted his head. "You sure?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Of course I'm sure! I'm hungry!" snapped Spike.

The Pack member yelped, falling backwards before running towards a old fridge, taking out cases of snack cakes and ready meals of some kind, as well as bottles of that Nuka-Cola stuff.

"Well, it's about time you- Hey, what's that?" asked Spike pointing.

The Pack trooper turned, raising a pistol, before frowning, and turning back to see the food gone as well as the dragon. "Oh, not again." he moaned.

"That was almost too easy," muttered Spike as he put the provisions in his backpack. The fence of the Blackwings base was already behind him, a map in front of him that clearly marked an apparent safe path. "Shouldn't have to go too far," said Spike, "Just a little light exploring."

3 hours later

"I AM SO LOOOOST!" yelled Spike in frustration.

Spike had no idea how he could have gotten turned around. It should have been easy to find his way back. But then again, these ruined buildings tended to blur together after a while.

It had taken him less than an hour to get up to the south of the city, though a nasty bog, and about 5 minutes to get lost, the sound of gunfire sometimes heard echoing.

The thought of simply flying up and getting his bearings before heading back occurred to him, but he would be easily spotted and shot out of the sky.

He ducked into an alley on reflex as several figures walked past, chatting amicably and wearing what looked like baseball umpire armor, though the machineguns were definitely not for baseball.

"Ok, how do I find my way back?" muttered Spike.

He looked around, before picking a direction and walking onwards, eventually ending up in what must have once been a nice pond, a strange sign saying 'Beware Of Swan'.

Spike had heard that swans could be aggressive and one blow from their wing could break a pony's leg. But this pond looked far too dirty for a swan to consider swimming on.

He also saw some sort of bot walking around, blocky, and a pointed glass head, and it seemed to have noticed him, lumbering towards him. The bot didn't seem to be armed, but Spike wasn't sure he wanted to take any chances.

"Er...hey...I'm just lost." he said, unsure as the bot walked stiffly towards him.

Mechanical parts rotated and lights blinked inside before it said in a mechanical, stiff, but somehow cheerful voice, "Lost? A...friendly...police officer...can help you."

Spike looking around. "Er...there's no guards around...can you help?" he asked, the bot making clicking and whirring noises, which Spike assumed was an affirmative to ask. "Er, I don't suppose you know where the Blackwings are, do you?" asked Spike.

The bot made several clicking noises before saying, "Sor-ry. I do not know that band."

"Ah, of course," said Spike. He tried to think back to any particular locations that Cynder or the others might have mentioned.

He remembered the sign outside the Blackwing base. "I'm looking for Federal Storage Site, 411-D," he said carefully.

The bot clicked before saying "I'm sorry...that site is off limits to the public."

Spike sighed, before throwing a stone in annoyance into the pond as the bot waddled off slowly. "I just wanted to do some solo exploring. Is that too much to ask?" grumbled Spike as he tossed in another stone.

The pool began to bubble faintly at this, more so when the second stole hit one of the half-submerged swan boat, which began to slowly rise behind Spike

"I just want something to go right here, even if it's a small thing," grumbled Spike.

A very deep voice said at that, "Who throw rock at Swan?"

Spike went stiff and turned slowly and looked up at a wall of green muscle to see a towering green human, wearing the swan boat as a hat, holding an anchor as a hand mace in his right hand and wearing a canoe as a arm shield...and looking rather annoyed.

"Oh...you're Swan?" asked Spike with dreadful realization.

"Who you? Why you in Swan home?" snapped the hulking...thing.

"Uh...would you believe I kinda lost my way?" asked Spike.

The creature's eyes narrowed before he roared "SWAN SMASH INTRUDER!" raising its anchor above its head and swinging at Spike.

Spike gave out a short scream before running. Tough scales or not, he doubted he could stand being hit with an anchor.

Another swing barely clipped him but tossed him off his feet, dazed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" yelped Spike.

Swan raised his anchor before a hail of red beams hit his side, swan turning with a growl to a gas masked figure firing blasts from a boxy looking energy rifle. "Don't just sit there! Run!" snapped the figure as Swan turned to glare

Spike quickly got to his feet and ran. He was pretty sure that rifle wouldn't hold off Swan for long. The figure ran after him, catching up fast and pulling Spike into a ruined building just in time, Swan swiping at the wall.

"You're lucky Swan doesn't wander too far from his pond," hissed the figure. Spike just stared as the figure continued. "You must be new to the area. People know to avoid the commons." said the figure, taking off the mask to show a black-haired human

"Yeah, haven't been here very long," said Spike. He was a little bit suspicious. This guy didn't seem surprised at all to see a dragon.

"Now then..." said the figure, aiming the laser at him "Let's talk about why a Blackwing's so far north, shall we?"

"Uh, who said I'm a Blackwing?" asked Spike.

"The fact that you've been seen in their company." said the figure calmly

"Uh, would you believe I just went out exploring?" asked Spike.

"Not really. Raise the hands please." said the figure with a grin.

Spike raised his hands and asked, "I don't suppose you could point me in the direction of their base, could you?"

"Not really. Not in the habit of helping raiders...come on." said the figure, gesturing to a door on the opposite side of the vast room.

"I'm not a raider," protested Spike.

The man chuckled, "Yeah...funny how they say that when they're caught."

Spike sighed before asking, "Can I at least send a message?"

"No...come on," said the figure, pushing open the door, "It's a long walk to Sanctuary."

Spike glared before sighing. This was obviously just some misunderstanding...maybe propaganda by these 'Minutemen' and Gunners but a fight wouldn't convince this guy.

The two had stopped at an old campsite, Spike noticing to his chills that there were still some skeletons at some of the park tables. His captor's name was Alex, and he was apparently some sort of wanderer, one that was very well armed and at this moment he was setting up a campfire.

"Is it really that late out?" asked Spike, looking up at the overcast sky.

"Better to set up now then in the pitch black." said Alex, trying to get the fire to stay lit. "Bloody, wet wood," he muttered.

"Let me try," said Spike before taking in a deep breath.

Alex yelped as a blast of green flame hit the wood, turning it to charcoal in seconds, before he glared "Little warning..."

"Well, you knew I was a dragon, didn't you?" asked Spike.

"Didn't think you were a real one," snapped Alex.

Spike glared at him and asked, "And why wouldn't I be a real dragon?"

"Because they don't exist?" said Alex.

"Maybe not in your world," said Spike.

"Great...aliens." muttered Alex, before glaring "And hanging out with those raiders down south?"

"They rescued me," said Spike.

"Yeah, I bet." snapped Alex, before snapping "Get some sleep and if I smell even a bit of burning rope..." before he settled down on the ground

Spike glared back at him. Obviously, this guy wasn't the hero type.

As the two slept that night, a small group, clad in robot parts approached.

"Well, well, look what we have here," said one of them.

"One of em's a mutie," hissed another.

A third said, "Maybe he's Canadian?"

"Check him for any faction ID," said the first, "No telling who he might be with."

"I'm tellin' ya, he's Canadian," hissed the third, the others groaning.

Alex mumbled and turned over, the group froze. "Ain't he the guy who went through the boys at HQ like a deathclaw through molerats?" the first said weakly.

"This is the guy that killed Ivey?" asked the third.

"Nah, that guy that did in Ivey had a Pipboy," said the second. Alex mumbled, showing said Pipboy, the second muttering, "Ah scrap...Jones? Maybe this ain't the best guy to rob?"

"Or maybe this may be the only chance we'll ever get to slitting his throat," said Jones, pulling out a knife.

The other two looked at one another before running for it, Jone scoffing as he heard their running footsteps vanish into the distance. "Cowards," he sneered, leaning forward, before hearing a click

He looked down before Alex, in a tired voice, said "You shoulda joined your mates."

All Spike could see at first was green flames burning everywhere. Then he got to see what was actually burning. To his horror, he realized it was Ponyville.

The sky was green, faint flashes seen, sometimes highlighting airships of some sort in the air, hulking figures like those who had taken Smolder in the streets, stepping over burnt charred bones as they led shackled ponies and other lifeforms he knew.

Then he saw a new group of soldiers marching in. And to his horror, he realized their wings and tails must mean they were dragons.

More precisely, he recognized the leader.

Spike jumped upright at what sounded like an explosion, hearing a crash and looking to see a figure wearing heavy metal plates, Alex lowering a weapon he'd seen some of Cynder's troops use...a 'sawn off'. "Morning, kid." said Alex with a yawn, going over to the body and petting it down, holding up a knife before turning the body over.

"Um...why..." started Spike, his brain not fully together after just waking up.

"He was going to slit my throat," said Alex.

"So you shot him?" said Spike in horror.

Alex took out a blue metal pistol, yellow bulbs on the barrel. "Recharger pistol, these things are rare. Hey kid, you got an actual gun?" he said.

"Why would I need a gun?" asked Spike, "I'm not looking for a fight."

"Yeah, but these guys were." said Alex, tossing the recharger pistol to Spike. "Laser weapon, self-recharging. Hasn't got the best punch in the world but it's a good starter," Alex explained.

"You know I can breathe fire," said Spike.

"Ok, how much range have you got?" asked Alex.

Spike glared at that before relenting. He'd never really had a reason to practice his offensive firebreathing despite (to his annoyance) Smolder's insistence. He took the pistol, noticing a 'stun' setting.

An aggressive thought came to him. He could stun Alex and take him back to Cynder. Of course, Spike would need to figure which way her base is.

Alex had turned his back and was taking what looked like food, a frying pan and kindling out his pack. Spike made sure it was set to stun, a click as a blue lens went over the business end (obviously blue laser meant stun) and aimed, the gun making a feeble click. Alex held up a small battery. "Yeah, not exactly gonna give you a working gun, kid. Bacon?"

"You have bacon?" asked Spike. He remembers that most flavorful treat from when he and Twilight went to Canterlot High. Of course, he was a dog at the time, but his sense of taste hadn't been diminished.

"You don't?" said Alex, unwrapping a slightly dirty wrapper and tossing some thick meat onto the now hot pan. "Ok...so...while we wait, where were you heading?" he asked.

Spike paused. If this guy was Cynder's enemy then he had to say nothing. On the other hand, if he didn't say anything, he might not be able to find his way back.

"I'm headed west." said Spike finally.

Alex nodded, "Nice...that's something..."

"So, you know what places I should avoid?" asked Spike.

"Now why would I help a Blackwing? You people have been burning settlements and killing people across the south of the Commonwealth for months," said Alex calmly, turning back to his bacon.

"They're not that bad," said Spike.

"I've seen what they've done to farms down south." said Alex in a slightly darker voice

"I've had nothing to do with that," said Spike, "I'd never burn down a farm. One of my closest friends is a farmer and I know how much farms mean to people."

"You know? I actually believe that. You must be a newbie. Trust me...raiding is a dead end career," said Alex, using a knife to flip one of the rashers.

"Look, I don't plan on staying long here. I need to find my friend and get home," said Spike.

"A friend that needs you to join up with raiders is either super important or not worth it," said Alex calmly.

"Look, it's complicated," said Spike.

"No it's not. Raiders kill and main and steal, sometimes cause it's fun," said Alex calmly.

"They found me after I was left out in the wastes," said Spike, "I'd be dead if it wasn't for them."

"Even though you'll need to be a monster to pay it back?" said Alex harshly.

"Look, I need to find Smolder and I don't think it's going to be easy. For all I know, they've taken her to yet another world," said Spike.

Alex turned his head at that. "Now I know you're pulling my chain," he said, taking out two pieces of surprisingly clean-looking metal, putting one of the slabs of cooked meat onto one and sliding it to Spike.

"Look, I'm obviously not from this world," said Spike, "And I have a feeling that Cynder is from another one too."

"I've seen weirder." said Alex calmly, using his knife as a 'fork' to cut off and eat some of the 'bacon'. "Gonna ask you again, why go west? All that's there is Rust Devil territory, Blackwing. Look, you're young and clearly an idiot. You have a chance to not be a raider idiot but I can't help you unless you come clean."

"I was honestly only exploring," said Spike.

"Well I'm headed that way anyway. The Rust Devils are up to something screwy and the pump station that purifies water for the region's gone dark." said Alex, "Guess all I can do is drop you off with Diamond City security. They'll probably hang you as a raider."

"Hang?" asked Spike weakly.

"Well, they can't waste valuable ammo on every criminal," said Alex.

"I'm not a criminal." snapped Spike.

Alex said in a 'talking to idiots' tone, "Blackwings are raiders...you are a blackwing...ergo you are a raider."

Spike sighed and said, "You know, we're not just getting anywhere with this."

"Right, so how about-" started Alex before Spike swung around and whacked him with his tail.

Spike didn't bother to see where Alex landed, just running for an alley, even as a 'brakka brakka' was heard, bullets zipping past him before he managed to duck into the alley, turning a corner before Alex could catch up. He remembered the name 'Rust Devil'. Cynder had mentioned them once as allies, meaning he could probably count on them...after all, he thought, the dizzy feeling returning, Cynder wouldn't lie.

Spike headed east, keeping an eye out for anything that looked like water. The woods out here were just as dead, a large river with a damaged bridge the only way across.

"Ok, the purifier ought to be upriver, right?" muttered Spike.

He looked upriver, his gaze following the dead forest before seeing in the distance, several small buildings that reminded him of a facility attached to Ponyville Dam. That had to be it. He turned back to see on the other side of the river, the same side as the apparent purifier, a half-flooded town.

Fortunately, the bridge wasn't too dilapidated that Spike couldn't cross it, but it would definitely collapse under a vehicle or a large crowd.

He paused though when he got to the other side. Some sort of two-headed cow, boxes on his back lay slumped, one of the heads torn off and some of the box's contents spilled could be seen. Some weird guns...pipe rifles, could be seen scattered around but no bodies. He started to get an uneasy feeling. The kind of feeling where there were predators lurking nearby.

He looked at the road, one went through the half flooded town, the murky water down in the dark streets at least waist high. The other went through the even darker woods...well, almost dark, several pairs of yellow reptilian eyes watching from the woods, almost as if daring him to enter the woods.

Well, it didn't take a genius to decide which was the better road. Spike turned towards the half-flooded town.

The sense of being watched didn't go away as he splashed through the streets, in fact, more than once he paused cause he was sure the splashing was...off. If his wing wasn't still healing, he'd have just flown over the town. He couldn't get the thought out of his head that he'd be grabbed by the ankle and dragged down under.

He stopped again, this time hearing a single splash after he'd stopped. Ok, maybe he should risk the strain on his wing after all.

He heard more splashing coming closer from ahead, Spike slowly raising one of the pipe rifles, before a panicked woman wearing a shirt and trousers made out of linen, pausing, bloodied and looking terrified.

Spike sighed and said, "You nearly scared me out of my skin."

The woman seemed almost catatonic, Spike slowly walking forward and gently shaking her before she said "The...they...they..."

"They who?" asked Spike.

The woman however was staring straight ahead, before she seemed to stare past Spike and she screamed. Spike gulped before turning around.

The creatures behind him had probably been human at one point. Now however they looked withered...rotted, yellow eyes staring madly and cracked, bloodied teeth in their mouths. Some still had rags on, some were naked, some still wore armor and a few were bloated. One was even glowing bright green, his skeleton faintly visible.

The way they were crouched, armed outstretched and fingers hooked like claws, was clear they were nuts...or worse

"Those are ghouls, aren't they?" asked Spike, not really expecting any response as the woman seemed to prefer to scream now.

The ghouls seemed to respond, all of them howling before charging, Spike firing. They clearly weren't like in his comics as headshots weren't needed, though the woman wasn't helping, clinging to his arm and slightly throwing his aim off...and still more joined the horde.

Spike took a deep breath before breathing flames at the ghouls. They didn't catch on fire as readily as he hoped. It was mostly their clothes that burned. But at least it seemed to deter them some.

The woman however, seeing that screamed and ran, splashing towards one of the ruined buildings, Spike turning to yell at her to get back, before four of the ghouls tackled her, the girl screaming as two grabbed one end of her...and pulled her in half before they descended on her

That was more than enough to make Spike's courage give out. This was definitely not a time for fighting, it was a time for flying.

He began splashing through the water towards the clear end of the town and freedom, the water too deep to go fast, though luckily the ghouls were going slower for the same reason. One leapt, latching around his neck and trying to bite him before Spike threw him off. He flapped his wings to give him a little bit more speed, though he wasn't sure if it really added anything.

Another two of the pursuers tackled him, one trying to bite through his scales, tough given dragons could swim in lava, their biting wasn't much good. Spike punched that one in the jaw. He grimaced in disgust as the ghoul's jaw completely collapsed under his fist.

He also saw the horde closing in, more than enough to get even him, before a roar of gunfire was heard, rounds and laser beams smashing into the horde, mowing them down like wheat. Spike turned to see a group wearing the same armor as the people who had tried to rob him and Alex in their sleep, several ramshackle robots also firing, and from the cheers and whoops, these people were enjoying the shooting. The horde were already falling over each other to scatter in an animalistic panic.

Spike sighed in relief. "Thanks a lot," he said, "I thought those things were gonna-" He paused when he saw the gunners were now all aiming at him now. "Oh," he said flatly.

"It's always more fun when they think we're gonna save em," laughed one of them, his voice tinny behind the robot head turned helmet.

One of the others said, "More fun if they run." firing a burst into the water at Spike's feet, the dragon just narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, come on, I just got out of the last peril," said Spike, "Besides I need to see someone."

The first speaker splashed up to him and aimed a large revolver between Spike's eyes, Spike getting the feeling the sort of bullets it fired would go through even his scales. "Did I say you could-" he began, pausing as he noticed the black dragon wings on Spike's armor and the gun actually starting to shake a little.

"Oh, sorry, sir, didn't know she sent you," he babbled.

"What are you doing? Shoot him!" snapped another gunner.

"He's with the Blackwings, you idiot!" snapped the first speaker.

The others paused before one snapped, "Bullshit. There's only one of those lizard freaks."

Spike felt a bit of anger flare up. Not at being called a 'lizard freak' himself, but them calling Cynder one. How dare they speak of a great lady like that?

His hand shot out and grabbed the first goon by the armor, lifting him up, the others backing up. "Boneyard, take it back! TAKE IT BACK!" snapped the goon he was holding up.

"Ok, ok, I take it back!" snapped the goon, apparently named Boneyard.

Spike glared, before the feeling of anger went away and he realized what he was doing. Why did he get angry like that? Sure, it was bad manners to be insulting ladies, but since when did he care that much about Cynder? It wasn't as if she was Rarity or-

He looked down at that. Not many on Equus knew (indeed Spike didn't until Dragon Lord Ember had told him) that dragons could sense magic, Spike even more so thanks to living with the Element of Magic for almost all his life, and he could sense something on the painted icon...so that's how Cynder got such loyalty.

That said it wasn't a badge and Spike didn't feel like not wearing armor and these guys seemed to be backing off...did his scales look a darker purple? Spike was beginning to wonder if he should go back to Cynder at all. Maybe that Alex guy was right about...

He winced as the icon glowed. Crud, so much for that idea. "C'mon, 'sir'. It's not safe. The horde'll regroup soon and they like to roam at night. We should head to the pump station," said one of the Rust Devils in a dark voice.

"Uh, yeah, sure," said Spike distractedly. Yeah...his scales were definitely darker. Maybe he shoulda stayed with Alex?

The pump station had a fence made out of what could only be described as junk, tyres, wood, rusted cars, though towers of wood were placed there too. The other...decorations almost made Spike throw up. The only gap in the fence had two large metal pipes, each with a dead human impaled, smaller ones with just heads. The entrance itself was covered by two manned mounted guns manned by Rust Devils and some sort of robotic turret, though they seemed to be being repaired.

"What exactly is your group?" asked Spike, "I've not heard much about you."

"We just allied with your pals," said Boneyard.

Spike tried not to look at the bodies before asking, "So those are the guys we're trying to free this place from?"

The two Rust Devils started to laugh. "Free? Hah. Cynder's gonna help us rule this place," laughed Boneyard, adding, "These idiot Minutemen never even expected us and once we had everything set up, we shot those weakling wastelanders keeping this place going too.

"Kneecapped em and fed them to the mirelurks," laughed one of Boneyard's friends, saying in a mocking voice, "Oh please, I have a family. Priceless."

"Then what are you after here?" asked Spike.

"We're gonna win this little war of Cynder's in 3 days," said Boneyard, "This pump supplies half the drinking water for the commonwealth and we're gonna add a little radioactive extra to it."

One of his friends said, "In 3 days, the ones who aren't dead'll be in no state to stop us taking over."

Spike froze in horror. "But that'll give everyone...everything..." said Spike, "This place would be uninhabitable for years."

"We got the antidote too. We found it in the med tek labs in the north," laughed Boneyard, angry howls heard at that.

"Better get inside, kid," said one of the goons, the voice tinny.

"You're going to destroy the whole ecosystem," said Spike.

"Not like there's much of one anyways," said Boneyard. The howls sounded closer, the guards tensing up and the Rust Devil robots marching to cover the entrance and into the towers. "Everyone who's not a robot, inside," called Boneyard.

"Move it, kid," said the goon in armor, giving Spike a push.

Spike turned to snap and noticed something, a small tattoo visible, that of a skull above two crossed knives, before one final howl was heard and he ran up ahead to another goon, "Look, I need a radio."

Cynder was concerned...concerned for Spike though not for the reason you'd think. She was spending alot of her limited magic to slowly transform him into a more suitable purple for her and then he'd gone and caught wanderlust...into the middle of Minutemen territory no less. And there were more dangerous things out there. Even a dragon would struggle with a deathclaw or a pack of feral ghouls.

"What a waste," she muttered before a Pack member ran in.

"Er...alpha? We know that you are sad that your mate got lost...but..." he began before wilting under Cynder's glowing eye glare, whimpering "He's on the radio."

"He's what?" asked Cynder flatly.

"He's on the radio. He's with the Rust Devils," said the Pack member. Cynder pushed him aside and ran to the radio room. Maybe it wasn't a loss?

The radio setup, like everything, was a mess, the voice crackling, definitely Cynder's. "Spyr-...Spike, are you ok?" said Cynder's voice.

"I'm fine, but Cynder, we've got a big problem over here," said Spike.

"What's going on? Tell me where you are and I'll have the Blacks send a team," said Cynder with concern.

Spike said "I'm at the west pump station. Cynder, these people are insane. They fed unarmed humans to mirelurks, whatever they are, and they're gonna poison half the commonwealth."

"Poison half the commonwealth?" asked Cynder.

"Yeah. Their leader, Boneyard's, gonna live up to his name with a poison from somewhere called med tek," said Spike, adding, "You gotta get the Blacks team here to stop em."

"Stop them?" said Cynder in surprise, her voice starting to echo weirdly, "Why would I stop him? My men got the poison for Boneyard."

"Excuse me?" asked Spike.

"Look, if you're worried about getting poisoned, relax. I have power over poison. I can keep the farms and stuff from getting poisoned. It's only our enemies who will be getting it," said Cynder.

"And who isn't our enemy?" asked Spike in a tight voice.

"Our enemies are anyone not on our side, my love," said Cynder, her voice echoing harder, Spike glaring. "Spike...I'm going to need you to do something for me…" before the radio went to static.

"Cynder?" asked Spike before tapping on the radio.

A second later, something pressed to his throat and a familiar voice said, "I'm sorry, the broadcasting day has ended...not a word, kid."

"Alex, how did you catch up?" asked Spike.

"I was headed this way, remember? I thought I dealt with the Rust Devils last time...talk about a bad penny. These idiots don't even ask people to take off helmets for ID checks. Also I believe I said, 'not a word'. There a reason you're hanging out with people willing to turn the commonwealth into a mausoleum? You may speak now," said Alex's voice in the sort of voice indicating that, if provoked, he'd just cut Spike's voicebox and go on with his day without even a twinge of guilt.

"Hey, I had no idea this was going on, let alone Cynder was supplying them," said Spike.

"Bullshit. My lads told me Cynder had a new friend she was grooming...makes sense. Where there's one dragon, there's another one," said Alex coldly, before kicking Spike forward into the desk, Spike staggering forward before turning to see an old-looking revolver aimed at him.

"Hey, I want nothing to do with this," said Spike, raising his hands, "I don't like how these guys are trying to poison everyone and I don't like how Cynder's been getting in my head."

"From what I hear she has a habit of doing that," said Alex calmly, not lowering the pistol, "Fine, let's say I believe you had no say in this. What would you do if I gave you an opportunity?"

"For starters, I'm going to destroy that poison before it's dumped," said Spike.

"Good start, but not what I was thinking," said Alex, adding, "I'm gonna give you a chance to make up for Vault 95. Some of my men were helping the Gunners there." He unclipped something from his belt with his free hand and tossed it over, looking similar to the device he wore on his wrist. "Pipboy...put it on," he said.

Spike looked at it uncertainly. "It's not an explosive leash, if that's what you're thinking," said Alex, "And they're very rare so I wouldn't pass on it if I were you."

Spike slowly put it on, clicking the lock on and pressing what looked like the on button. He jumped as he felt a series of pinpricks in the skin under the gauntlet before his vision blurred a second, a bar appeared in the lower left of his screen, a smaller one appearing to the right alongside a 0/0, before he looked down to the screen, the words, 'HUD loaded'. Biological calibration complete. Pipboy 3000 Mk IV loaded.'

"It's also slaved to mine so I'll know exactly where you are and comes with a comm radio...useful for the job I'm offering," said Alex.

The door opened and a Rust Devil walked in. "Jacko, Bonesaw wanted to know what's taking-" he said, before seeing Alex "Shit!" he snapped, readying his rifle.

Alex spun his gun around and fired, the raider's head twitching before he started twitching, skeleton appearing with brief flashes and his skin turning pale and white before he fell forward. "Great...wasted one," grumbled Alex, grabbing the goon's rifle, which was covered in wires and capacitors.

"Ok, kid...Spike, if you wanna help, you got your chance. None of these raiders leave alive," he snapped, angry yells heard.

"But-" started Spike.

"No time to be a pacifist now," said Alex, "You want those townspeople to live, they have to die."

Three Rust Devils and an almost feminine robot came in at the far end of the room beyond. The robot sprouted swords from its arms and charged while the others began firing laser rifles. Alex used the weapon to fire a blue bolt that blew the robot's head off before ducking behind an ancient desk, the raiders focussing their fire. "SPIKE!" yelled Alex, Spike peering before a beep and a voice said "V.A.T.S active" before time slowed to a crawl.

For the moment, Spike's mind felt clearer. He didn't seem to be able to move any faster than everyone else, and yet he was able to think and react quite clearly. The first thing Spike did was head to that robot. He grabbed the robot's wrists and bent them until they snapped off, leaving them with a pair of swords in his hands.

A second later, time returned to its normal speed, the raiders looking surprised before aiming at him. Spike responded by grabbing the disarmed robot and holding it in front of him as a shield.

Alex's rifle boomed and one of the raider's head exploded, his body falling, the others backing up before a second shot sent another flying to crash into the wall.

"Not bad, but this isn't a sword fight. Everyone's going to be shooting at us. There's at least 6 more," Alex said, treating Spike as if he'd agreed.

"Shouldn't we focus on the poison?" asked Spike. "They're going to be between us and the poison," said Alex.

The last raider though glared "You little traitorous..." began he charged them. Spike instinctively reacted by throwing the robot at him.

Alex whistled as the raider was knocked senseless before walking towards him, kicking his rifle away. "Good news...he won't kill you if you tell me where Boneyard is," he said jovially, drawing a different pistol.

"Fuck off, 'general'," the raider snapped before howling as Alex shot a round into the raider's knee, raising a hand to signal Spike to stop as he took a step forward.

"Let's try again...where's...Boneyard?"

The raider managed, "Soon as the alarm went, he and the rest of the boys...ran...he's gonna dump the poison in Diamond City's water supply."

"Where at?" demanded Alex.

"Their...water supply...we got...a spy...there…" managed the raider as Alex stepped gently on the shot knee.

"I'm not sure if we can catch up in time," said Spike with worry.

"They'll be on foot." said Alex, looking at the raider who was pulling himself to his feet. "And where are you going?" he asked.

The raider said "You said you wouldn';t kill me."

Alex shrugged "I said he wouldn't kill you...buh bye." firing the rifle point blank into the raider.

Spike opened his mouth to yell at Alex about killing him. But a less-emotional part reminded him that this man was helping to destroy the commonwealth. And Spike didn't feel like giving any pity.

"Come on, consider this chase your job interview. Grab a gun, knives never work well against bullets unless you're in power armor," said Alex calmly.

"I have a tough hide," said Spike.

"Really? Care to test how tough?" asked Alex. Spike backed up...was this guy insane? "Thought so. Come on, we need to get to Diamond City fast. I know the city better than some Rust Devil."

"It's a baseball stadium," said Spike skeptically, Alex having pointed it out as they got closer, walking towards a half-raised mechanical bridge, a boat tug wedged in its gap.

"You have baseball where you come from?" asked Alex dryly.

"Yeah...though it's mostly played with hooves," said Spike.

Alex raises an eyebrow, "You aren't from Canada, are you? Heard the place is a bit cuckoo."

Spike said, "Why does everyone ask me that? And what's a Canada?"

"Never mind for now. We need to find those Rust Devils," said Alex.

"Why didn't they just dump the poison at the reservoir?" asked Spike, "Cynder said she could stop the poison from getting to the farms."

"The Rust Devils don't believe she can do that," said Alex simply, "They may spend their spare time looking for the screws that fell out of their heads, but they aren't that self-destructive."

"Hey, Alex, meant to ask, what are these red lines on the compass thing in the vision?" asked Spike as they walked along what had used to be a river side road in the city towards the bridge.

"Just one? Got an arrow pointing up above it?" said Alex. Spike nodded. "That's Kenny...raider, but mostly harmless. He probably has an anti personnel rifle trained on us right now," Alex added, spike jumping and looking around.

"Where? Where?" asked Spike before he heard a loud 'crack'.

Spike ducked, before a faded green bag bounced off Alex's head harmlessly, Spike picking it up to see it was a bag of peas. "Yeah, he'd be alot more dangerous if he had ammo and wasn't blacklisted by every weapons trader in the commonwealth. He's actually a nice guy if you get him drunk...which is usually most of the time. It's Friday so he hasn't made his resupply to Goodneighbor yet. I honestly haven't the heart to shoot back. It'd be like kicking a puppy. He puts so much effort in."

"So, he just shoots harmless things?" asked Spike.

"Mostly harmless," said Alex, "They still hurt if they get you in the eye."

"In the-" started Spike before another 'crack' was heard. Spike was immediately knocked sideways as a decent-sized rock bounced off him.

"And he's a little jealous...and sometimes has rocks," said Alex.

Spike groaned from foot level, "So noted."

Considering how big baseball stadiums are, it wasn't that much of a surprise that a lot of buildings could be set up inside one. It reminded Spike like a somewhat more cluttered Ponyville. The guards were easy to spot, using modified baseball gear, holding some sort of energy weapon. Some people waved cheerfully to Alex, though most people just were just going from A to B.

Spike noticed that few of them gave him leery looks, though he wondered if that was mostly because he was in Alex's company.

Alex though was headed for a building next to a doorway turned shopping front, though the woman in the doorway aimed the sort of glare Spike would have expected from Trixie when the staff coffee ran out. "Hey, Myrna, any new synths around?" asked Alex humorously.

"Not funny," said the woman icily as Alex put a key into the door, opening it into a darkened room.

"By the way, did the new shipments come in?" asked Alex.

"Yes...it was hard enough to find the parts for that junk in there," snapped Myrna.

"Good, I'll get you your caps in a minute," said Alex.

"That's what they all say," grumbled Myrna.

"Make yourself at home. I'll be back in a minute," said Alex, closing the door and lights coming on to show Spike was in an insanely well-furbished room, and, at the back, hanging from a yellow frame, was a hulking suit of armor.

Spike walked up to the armor. It was clearly not knight's armor. It reminded him a little too much of what those people who kidnapped him and Smolder were wearing. It was clearly a different model though. The respirator wasn't armored and the plating looked slightly heavier, though the diodes were strange.

Spike paused a moment. How did he even know all these technical terms?

Alex said behind him, "Grab a Nuka Cola. I've informed security and they're gonna up security round the water supplies."

Spike yelped and jumped. "Oh, and I wouldn't mention this particular armor to the Rust Devils, not unless you want to make them really mad," said Alex, "But then again, fuck em. They were slaughtering trader convoys coming into the commonwealth." He wiped some dust off the armor before setting a duffel bag of parts down.

"Now then...about what I'm offering. You're a leering was only cause I was with you. They're assuming you're what I'm offering you to be," said Alex, calmly.

"And what would that be?" asked Spike.

"To be a spy. You've seen what the Blackwings and raiders will do to win. You really wanna be a part of that, or do you wanna do some good?" said Alex, taking a bottle off a shelf, popping the cap off and taking a swig.

"Uh...it's not like I don't want to help, but I'm not sure if I can help," said Spike.

"Look, whatever you owe Cynder, it does not mean sticking up for whatever she's doing," said Alex.

"That's not it," said Spike, "I think she's got some, and you're going to laugh, control over me. Like some dark..."

"Dark what?" said Alex calmly.

"I know you're not gonna believe me, but dark-" started Spike before he found himself unable to speak. He started fumbling at the Blackwing insignia, but his head was starting to feel like it was going to crack in half.

"Ah crap...definitely dragons," muttered Alex, walking towards, opening and walking through a sliding door.

"Wait, she's got-" started Spike before his own hand grabbed his throat.

"Sounds like a post-hypnotic suggestion…a geas to me. You're lucky. Last raider from Blackwing I questioned snapped his own neck when he tried to talk," called Alex.

"Ackleck!" cried Spike in a strangled voice.

"Don't worry, I know the odd trick," called Alex, walking back with a large glass of something glowing and blood bag full of orange goop marked 'radaway'. "Glass first, radaway second, every last drop," he said.

Spike wheezed as he pointed at his rogue hand.

Alex passed the first glass over. "Do it or the geas will make you crush your own windpipe. Saw it happen to a friend in 2062" Alex said sternly. Spike wheezed before taking the glass. "Do it slowly," said Alex, "You want it get down your esophagus, not your windpipe."

Spike nodded, slowly downing the goop and hearing his Pipboy start to click rapidly like crazy, a small warning in the top right of his vision says 'minor radiation poisoning detected' though his rogue hand almost immediately fell back under his control.

"Good, now the radaway," said Alex, handing over the blood bag, "I don't think your system is meant to handle radiation any better than mine." Spike took the small straw in the bag and took a suck, gagging on the incredibly sour taste. "All of it," snapped Alex, grabbing the bag and squeezing. Spike gagged, but he was able to keep it down...just barely. "You let too much radiation build up, you start falling apart at the molecular seams," said Alex.

"Then what happens?" said Spike weakly.

Alex said "Remember those rotting people?" Spike looked ill. "Now then, you were talking about her dark magic?" asked Alex.

"You believe in that?" asked Spike.

"I was...well-traveled before everything went south with the world," said Alex, adding, "Now then...my spy offer..."

"Well, I mean, I'd like to, but Cynder has control over me," said Spike.

"Not anymore," said Alex. Spike looked down to see the Blackwing patch was bleached. "Now then, me and my friends know she's planning something big, but we don't know what. So, when you and me leave the city, you're gonna leg it back to this Cynder gal, find out what she has planned and call...this frequency," said Alex, writing something down.

"Frequency?" asked Spike.

"Don't tell me they didn't have radio where you come from," said Alex.

"Well...yeah..." said Spike, looking down to see a toggle switch, with the option of radio.

"Dial turns frequencies, use this frequency and listen to the music when you need to tell me something. Make sure you are alone and the doors locked," said Alex.

"Ok, I think I got it," said Spike.

Good...now for your grand escape..." said Alex with a grin.

"You let him go all the way to Diamond City?!" snapped Cynder, "Do you know what they do to mutants there?!"

"Our team also found what was left of Boneyard and his men and we have word our spy in Diamond City was apprehended by city security," said William, calmly, the two acting the professional.

"Well, so much for poisoning the rat's nest," grumbled Cynder.

Mags said calmly, "We warned you that the Rust Devils were unreliable and you lost men breaking through the ghouls in Med Tek too."

"Ok, maybe the Rust Devils weren't the best choice for that mission, but who else was going to go?" snapped Cynder.

"Our men could have done the job much better," said Mags smugly.

Cynder growled at them, before hearing clicks, seeing the other operators getting tense grips on their guns before calming down. Of course the Blacks had suspected her little geas. It was only her success that had so far kept their loyalty, but if the next...

A raider ran in at that, "Ma'am...it's the other mutie..."

Cynder flew up to get a birds eye view the second she was outside to see Spike running through the wetlands towards the road and the base, laser bolts shooting past him from a dozen Minutemen.

"You know, that busted wing is getting to be a real disadvantage for us all," grumbled Cynder. Then she took a deep breath and let out a fear scream. She smirked as the Minutemen, probably volunteers, ran for it, Spike reaching the gate and being pulled through the gate by an operator, the Blacks aiming at him.

"Hold fire, you idiots!" snapped Cynder as she landed.

"He's got a Pipboy. They have tracking devices," said William coldly, adding, "Our new little dragon's turning out to be a rat."

"And you want to get rid of a valuable commodity?" snapped Cynder.

"We should take that hand off at least. It's the only way that thing comes off," said Mags with a smirk, some of the disciples' raiders grinning at the thought.

"Ok, that's not even a suggestion worth considering," snapped Cynder, "Nobody touches him unless I say so." The Blacks looked to see all the marked raiders aiming at them before they lowered their rifles, stepping back.

Cynder landed on one of the sheds, her eyes and the icons on the armors glowing. "We're this close to the final battle to take this dump for ourselves. Our enemies seek to drive us apart. But we won't let them. The commonwealth will be a raider kingdom that will put Caesar's Legion to shame," she called, cheers heard, Spike pretending to join in.

"And let's not forget the queen and king who will be making this kingdom possible," added Cynder.

"Uh, what king?" asked Spike.

Cynder laughed, doing a flip jump down to land in front of Spike, "Oh, Spyro...so silly."

"Uh, it's Spike," said Spike.

"Spike...of course," said Cynder, shaking her head, before saying, "You must be tired. Your room's still as you left it."

"Yeah, good, I need some alone time anyways," said Spike.

"Good...good. On Monday, we're flattening those Minutemen for good," said Cynder. Spike nodded, backed up and almost ran away.

2 days later...Sunday

Spike fiddled with his Pipboy, wincing as Diamond City Radio played what reminded him of Manehatten nightclub music, trying to find the right signal. "I think Alex forgot about half of the instructions," grumbled Spike, "What am I supposed to do? Being the Blackwing's DJ?"

Finally he got to the right frequency, frowning as classical music came out the speaker. "Ok, so now what?" asked Spike, "Am I supposed to sing along?"

The air began to taste tinny like that, like a thunderstorm starting. "Now what?" snapped Spike before everything went white...and he found himself overlooking the river at a ruined farm of some sort. "What is this?" asked Spike.

He turned as he heard footsteps to see Minutemen, holding zap rifles, walk into view, all aiming, followed by Alex. "Hi...thought I wasn't gonna hear from you," said Alex cheerfully, waving to the Minutemen to lower their rifles

"What is this?" repeated Spike.

"Teleport array, I know some people and they agreed to be your taxi service. So, what have you got for me?" said Alex before frowning, putting a hand on top of his head before sliding it over to Spike, "You;re taller."

"The Blackwings are going to attack tomorrow," said Spike.

"What?" said Alex.

Spike nodded, "They've got enough explosives to flatten Diamond City 3 times over and enough bullets for everyone."

"Ok, gonna need some more exact details, like what direction are they coming from, what's the main target, how many raiders can we expect," said Alex.

"Everyone," said Spike in a small voice, "Cynder's nuts and not Pinkie Pie nuts. She keeps calling me Spyro."

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" asked Alex flatly.

"It means something to her and it's creepy as all hay," said Spike.

Alex said, "Do you know where?"

Spike said, "Milton..."

Alex nodded. "Good...very good...tomorrow when the shooting starts. Keep your head down and dodge west towards the river. There'll be some men waiting for you." He petted Spike on the shoulder. "Just one more night before we send Cynder running and you're a hero..." before he stepped back, the air starting to tingle again.

"Wait, I need help with something else," said Spike, "I have to find someone."

"Tell me tomorrow," said Alex, before the world flashed and he was back in his room.

"Just one more night," he said to himself, not seeing something walking out of his shadow.

"Going somewhere?" asked a voice, "Or have you already went?"

Spike spun to see Cynder, with a cold look in her eyes, though she was still smiling. "It seems I've been going too slow with you," she sneered, walking towards him.

"I know you've been using dark magic on me," said Spike, "But it's not going to work anymore."

"Oh, you must mean the geas mark. I wasn't using that on you," said Cynder coyly, grabbing his wrist and his purple scales turning darker from her touch's contact. "I was being more direct, and yet not enough," said Cynder.

"What are you doing...let go!" snapped Spike, trying to get his arm back, though he was having trouble moving it...and now his shoulder, the numbness spreading, a pain in his elbows signifying yellow bone spines coming out his elbows.

"Relax, enjoy the ride," said Cynder.

"No...what are you..." managed Spike, the color change spreading down his body, causing more changes.

"We're going straight to the top," said Cynder. All Spike could do was shake as the color went up his head as his horns twisted into dark yellow ram horns, his eyes turning yellow, Spike shaking before calming down. "Feeling better?" said Cynder, letting go.

"Yes..." said Spike in a deep, guttural voice.

"Good...tomorrow, we take over the commonwealth. Won't that be fun?" said Cynder evilly. Spike grinned and the two started to laugh maniacally.

Author's Note

There's the third chapter which has a bit more world-building and introduces our version of the Lone Survivor. This fic is set after the main story is completed so I'll let you see for yourself which choices were made. The fourth and final part of this opening arc will be up tomorrow so keep an eye out for it and please review.

Chapter 4

At sunrise, the people of Diamond City were gearing up for an assault. The Blackwings will be showing up today and they won't find a settlement of helpless people to mow over.

This was a big day...in more than one way. The end of over a year of assaults by the mutant-led raider alliance. Of course, there were some sacrifices to make, such as the person in front of him.

Commander Jakobs was the current leader of the Gunners, a group Alex thought was a step above raiders only cause they sometimes helped people who brought their services. Alex hated them and the feeling was mutual given the repeated engagements he'd had with them after leaving Vault 111. Jakobs had only agreed to help the Minutemen cause the Blackwings had attacked the Gunners as much as the Minutemen.

"My men can cover the left flank easily enough. Plenty of rooftops near the hospital there," Jakobs said, all business.

"You do realize there are some people who would object to you being anywhere near the hospital," said Alex casually.

"It's just ghouls there. One good thing those Blackwings did was chase off the super mutants in that area," said Jakobs, before smirking, "Now...we need to discuss payment..."

Alex sighed. He always hated the haggling part of this business. "You really want being paid to be a hero?" Alex said icily

"Listen, hero credit is fine, but it's not actual currency," said Jakobs, "Besides, if people hear that we do the 'right things' for free, we'll lose business."

Alex glowered at that, "I repeat...you're low enough to want payment?"

"Not a high price," said Jakobs, "We'll discuss how much this job is worth after these raiders are dealt with."

Alex glared at that. That all depended if there was an attack. His spy had been cut off and so far was impossible to reconnect to. He was starting to fear the worst; that Cynder found him out and did something to him…

Cynder smirked, looking at the plans laid out.

"Uh, you really sure about this?" asked one of the Blackwings.

"Why shouldn't I be?" asked Cynder.

"This is literally an all-or-nothing plan," said the Blackwing, "As in we'll lose it all if we lose."

Cynder glared at the Blacks, several of their operators behind them. "And what would you know?" Cynder snapped.

Mags Black smirked. "This plan could backfire badly. It's close to several Minuteman outposts," she said, pointing.

"Then we can take out a huge swath of them," said Cynder.

"I think you're seriously overestimating us," said Mags.

William said, "Our operators can do it but we're about a tenth of your force. The rest are lunatics or drug addicts or both."

Cynder snarled, "Are you disobeying me?"

"We're pointing out your 'army' is a less cohesive force than you think," said Mags.

"Fine...if I can't trust you, you and the operators are on reserve," said Cynder icily.

"We've got plenty of might to finish this anyways," said a dark voice. The operators gave Spike an annoyed look. Whatever Cynder did to him, they didn't like it. It took away his common sense. It was pretty clear Cynder had done something to him. Not only were his scales a darker purple, but he had yellow spikes on his elbows and yellow ram horns on his head. The yellow eyes were pretty obvious too.

The Blacks looked at one another before at Cynder. "You know, Cynder. If there's one thing we learnt from the Nuka World fiasco...it's when to cut our losses," said William.

"And if there's one thing I've learned from leading the Blackwings..." said Cynder before suddenly pinning him against the wall, "It's that people listen better to threats."

William gagged before Mags said in an urgent tone, "Fine, fine!"

Cynder released William who coughed and said, "Fi-fine...we'll be as reliable as you." before he was helped out by Mags.

"You know we'll have to kill them, right?" said Spike.

"Oh, in due time, but the Minutemen go first," said Cynder.

Milton was a small hamlet south of Boston, home to an old automated hospital as well as, till recently, dozens of super mutants. Now it was a staging post for the Blackwings, where Cynder had her army preparing to sweep into Boston. Cynder and Spike were sitting on the steps of the town's department store. "Think...in 24 hours we'll rule this dump," sneered Cynder.

"If it's such a dump, why do we want to rule it?" asked Spike.

"Because take a look. These humans wrecked their world. We can do a far better job," said Cynder.

"'We' as in 'just us two'?" asked Spike.

"Oh no, I had the operators play with the programming in the hospital," said Cynder, a few panicked yells heard.

"What programming?" asked Spike.

He turned and jumped to his feet as a humanoid...lizard man walked into view, twice as tall as a normal human. "What the hay's that?" snapped Spike, he and several raiders aiming at the smirking mutant.

"My secret weapon," said Cynder smugly.

"What did you make him from?" asked Spike.

"F.E.V., a DNA sample, I learnt alot from the people who dragged me to this dump of a planet," said Cynder calmly.

"But that's...that's..." started Spike, twitching.

"Spike? Spike, are you ok?" asked Cynder, shaking Spike a little, before a whistling noise was heard. A second later, an explosion went off in the middle of a cluster of raiders.

"Artillery fire!" yelled a raider. Another shell fell at that, before a hail of laser and bullet rounds shot from the north, scattering Cynder's forces

"What? Now?" snapped Cynder.

"Ambush!" yelled a raider before a bullet went through his head. Spike's Pipboy was pointing out dozens of new hostiles. They must have been hiding in the ruins...in the long grass. The raiders were fish in a barrel

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" yelled Cynder at Spike.

"At who? I can't see anyone!" snarled Spike, yelping as a small caliber bullet bounced off his scales.

Cynder turned to her dragon-man and snapped, "You! Get them!"

The dragon-man let out a loud, ferocious war. The whistling scream of the shell could still be heard before it landed on him. Cynder and spike were tossed backwards by the explosion, the smoke clearing to show not even a bit of the dragon man left, figures seen at the edge of town, Spike frowning. One of them looked familiar.

"We can't let them get the rest!" snapped Cynder.

"Rest?" asked Spike.

"Just run, you meathead!" snapped Cynder, pulling Spike along.

The other raiders were getting over their shock and had picked up their guns to start shooting in the direction the shells were coming from. However, they were clearly outgunned as more fire came from the roof, green armored humans raining down fire.

Cynder glared back at the shooters before shooting several gobs of poison towards them. One of the shooters screamed, clutching his face before falling from the roof, the others firing before Cynder yelled in pain, a shot having gotten her in the shoulder.

"Cynder, we have to go. The battle's lost," snapped Spike.

"I'm not giving up my- HEY!" snapped Cynder as she was suddenly picked up and thrown over Spike's shoulder.

"Sorry, Cynder, but this is a battle we can't win. We fall back and wait for the operators," said Spike, before their radios buzzed.

"Having trouble?" said Mags Black's voice.

"We're being attacked!" snapped Cynder, "Where the hell are you?!"

"At this point? Approaching the western mountains. I warned you that this plan was dumb and me and William aren't in the mood to lose what's left of our gang on a fool's errand," said Mags.

"What?" asked Cynder flatly.

William's voice spoke next, "What my sister's saying is, we quit, mutant."

"You can't quit on me! Do you know who I am?!" snapped Cynder.

"You're a shortsighted raider who's too obsessed with their self-perceived superiority to recognize the flaws in your own plans and has only held your so-called army together by a combination of charms, threats, and exploiting a small niche of zoophilic fetishism," said Mags.

"When I get my claws on you-" snarled Cynder.

The Blacks' laughter cut her off before William said, "Oh we think you got your own problems." before the line went dead.

"Uh, now what?" asked Spike.

"We fall back, rebuild. The rest of my creations are back at the base," said Cynder.

"Is it safe to return to base?" asked Spike. "Are you questioning me?" snapped Cynder.

"No, but-" began Spike before Cynder snapped "Just fly."

Spike sighed before taking off. Cynder was hot, but her attitude was starting to outweigh her sex appeal.

Alex walked down the street, gunners and Minutemen checking bodies. Spike's info had paid off...using Milton as a staging ground was sneaky...military sneaky. This Cynder had skills. There was also something...else.

At first look, it might have been mistaken for a deathclaw. But a closer look at the body revealed something unsettling.

"Never seen a mutie like this before," said Jakobs, the commander having joined his men in attacking.

"I don't think this one was made by conventional means," said Alex, looking at stubs that might be vestigial wings on the back. Alex frowned before yelling "JONES!" A Minuteman ran up. "Take men, sweep the hospital, top to bottom for any sign the stuff there was used...and wear hazmat," he said, muttering, "Of all the time for Preston to be up at Nuka World to train their security."

"So then, about my fee," said Jakobs, "Considering all the difficulty my men went through..."

"What are you talking about?" asked Alex, "This was a rout and you know it."

Jakobs glared, his hand going to his holster, both sides aiming at one another before he smirked. "Maybe another time...plenty of ways to claim payment. Gunners, move out, drinks are on me in Goodneighbor." The other gunners cheered.

"Fucking mercs," muttered Alex, before seeing a raider playing dead. He could tell by the way he twitched. "Ok...up you get," he said, aiming, before firing a shot into the ground next to the guy's nuts. Needless to say, the raider jumped up to a sitting position with a scream.

"Now then, we're going to have a civil, coherent conversation about your boss," said Alex. The raider gulped before Alex said, "I won't ask again. You'll get 24 hours headstart if I like what I hear. Let's start with where Cynder's main base is..."

The two dragons landed in the courtyard in what Spike couldn't help but think of as a superhero landing. There was already a difference, a machine Spike knew in the courtyard, a vertibird with a very familier symbol...oh and alot of dead raiders. Every raider Cynder had left to guard the base it seemed.

"I don't think this place is safe anymore," said Spike.

The loudspeakers came on at that, a young voice saying, "Would Cynder and Spike please report to Cynder's throne room please?"

"Who's that?" asked Spike.

"No idea but I'm going to snap them in two!" snarled Cynder, walking into the main building.

Cynder was not happy when he found the intruders in her office. She was less happy when their apparent leader had her feet on Cynder's desk. Spike came in behind to see it was some human teen, wearing black tactical armor and smiling like Opal with a bowl of milk. "Subject Beta...you've been a naughty girl," she said.

Cynder glared and snapped, "Who do you think you are?"

"You've been ignoring our calls, Beta," said the human, ignoring Cynder's question.

"I don't answer to any humans," snapped Cynder.

The girl smirked, jumping to her feet. "And you brought the new kid too, Gamma. Delta talked about you all the time," she said cheerfully.

Spike tensed. "You know where Smolder is?" asked Spike.

"She couldn't be with us today but if you surrender you'll see-" began the girl.

Cynder snapped, "Spike...rip her apart."

"But-" started Spike.

"I said do it!" snapped Cynder.

Spike seemed to be struggling, just as compelled to obey Cynder's order as much as he wanted to resist it. "Hmm...you really need to treat your boyfriends better," said the teen. "This is gonna be fun,". Cynder glared and her eyes and the Blackwing mark on Spike glowing before he charged, only for the girl to roll to the side and chop him in the back of the neck.

Spike fell limp to the floor. "The doc wants you two back as unharmed as possible," said the teen, "But I know which parts of you aren't vital."

Spike snarled, getting to his feet again and slashing, the human ducking under it and spinning to kick him across the snout, followed by several rapid blows to his stomach. Spike heard his Pipboy complain of broken ribs. "It's all in choosing the right pressure points, kid," she sneered before dealing one final blow across the snout.

Spike staggered before falling flat on his chest with a nasty crack. The teen's smirk dropped and she muttered, "Uh oh, didn't mean to hit that hard."

She paused before her smile returned, "Oh well...he was just a backup anyway. Now then, Beta. Are you going to surrender or should I do to you what I did to him?"

Cynder snarled, "I'm never going back there."

"Hmm...'never' is such an ugly word, not as reliable as it used to be," said the teen.

"I killed every other agent that your Enclave sent after me. You're no different," Cynder snarled, running and aiming a blow that would take the human's head off, only for the girl to grab her wrist and hold her blow back.

"I'm sorry?" said the girl, Cynder noticing a small Omega symbol on her armor where the nametag would have been. The teen followed Cynder's gaze and grinned. "Ah, heard of my exploits, have you? Oh, wait, they were all covert or had no survivors. Kinda hard to spread a rep like that."

With that, she pushed Cynder's fist back into the dragoness's snout, pushing her back. "I was made to be the Enclaves best agent, designed to deal with troublesome vault dwellers, tribals...and escaped freaks," 'Omega' sneered.

"Oh yeah? Then how comes the Enclave fell?" asked Cynder.

"Blame upper management," said Omega, "That's what happens when a democracy's run by the best liars."

Cynder snarled, readying a blast before Omega punched her in the throat before headbutting her, Omega smirking as she collapsed. "Better make sure I didn't kill this one," she muttered before kneeling down and feeling for a pulse in Cynder's neck. It was a little to tell through her armor plating, but there was a pulse. "Good, the doc would be ticked if I lost her," she said before glancing over at Spike. It was quite likely he might still be alive too.

The door opened at that, a black power-armored trooper walking in, a sledgehammer-like weapon across his back. "Rachel, half the Minuteman army's on the horizon. Command wants us gone before they arrive."

"It's gonna be hard enough to drag her off as it is," said Rachel with annoyance.

"They can't get a lifter here in time. Orders are to leave em for now. Doc said they're too valuable to kill," said the trooper.

"It would be easier if he could take a DNA sample and clone what he needs," said Rachel.

"Yeah, because cloning is so reliable," said the trooper dryly.

"Bite me. I'm not in the mood to fight the Minutemen today," said Rachel, looking at the two dragons.

Spike hurt...inside and out. Every bone in his body felt like it had been run over by a yak and his head...felt wrong. His arms felt particularly sore at the elbows. He reached over and rubbed his right elbow. He was suddenly aware that the elbow spike was gone.

He also realized he could think clearly again, a small part wondering if this was how Luna had felt after being released from Nightmare Moon, before someone injected him in the chest and his eyes shot wide open, a human in a stetson and long duster, combat armor underneath coming into his vision.

"Who are-" said Spike before gasping in pain.

"Don't try to talk," said the guy in the duster, "Your ribs are reknitting."

"I'd listen. Jones is a decent medic but terrible bedside manner," said a familiar voice, Spike turning his head to see Alex sat at the room;s console.

"Where-" started Spike.

"You're in the base. We're clearing the place out. Cynder had some serious firepower," said Alex calmly, standing up, "And her journal is...a mark of a seriously messed-up mind."

"Though arguably brilliant," said Jones, "Assuming that any of her projects were her own work."

"She was mind-controlling almost everyone. She even got me," said Spike with a wince.

"I suspected as much," said Alex, "You're lucky you didn't get more involved than you did."

"What happened to Cynder?" asked Spike with a wince.

Alex shrugged, "No clue. We only found you."

"There was...there was someone else..." said Spike.

"I told you not to talk," said Jones, "I'm going to have to sedate you if you don't quiet down."

"Jones..." warned Alex.

Spike said weakly, "She was just a kid...younger than you...but she was strong...and fast...real fast."

Jones pulled out a syringe only for Alex to grab his wrist. "Wait a moment," he said.

"She took me out in a few blows...almost..." began Spike weakly.

Jones snapped, "He needs rest now...and a proper doctor."

"Ok, fine, give him his nighty-night shot," said Alex.

Spike gave Alex an incredulous look. "Nighty-niiiii..." Spike's indignity petered out as the morphine entered his system.

"What kinda human could take down a mutant like this?" asked Jones.

"She sounds like a badass," said Alex.

"And not someone any of us want to meet," said Jones.

Vertibird V-631A

Status: In Flight

Rachel frowned as she looked at the new orders before at her team. There was 'Jackal'. The guy was all that was left of the Sigma team assigned to the DC operation and had been the only survivor of an encounter with the local 'hero' there. Then there was Sigmund, who Rachel was sure was a rogue courser, a combat synth.

"What are the orders, omega?" said Sigmund in a emotionless voice, her eyes hidden behind her preferred shades.

"The doc says that Beta is a lost cause," said Rachel, "But Gamma is still valuable to him."

"So we gotta go back in?" complained Jackal, his voice distorted by his helmet.

"Gamma's with the Minutemen right now," said Rachel, "We have to wait for our chance to snag him."

"Like hell. We're Omega Squad. We don't 'wait' cause our target's hiding behind some tribals," snapped Jackal.

"It isn't just tribals there," said Rachel, "The Sole Survivor of Vault 111 is there. And apparently he has some connection to the Institute."

"Crap...I hate dwellers," grumbled Jackal.

Rachel said, "We do this smart then..."

"What about the Institute?" asked Jackal.

Sigmund said calmly, "They have little interest in the surface. They will not interfere unless we directly impact their leadership."

"How would you know?" asked Jackal, accusingly.

Sigmund just smirked at that, Rachel snapping, "Enough. We'll just have to play this smart. Get the pilot to set a course for Jamaica Plains. We'll head north from there."

Author's Note

And there's the last chapter of this opening arc. It's shorter, but it's more action-packed and it sets up things for later. And believe me, Cynder's story doesn't end here. From this point on, things are going to be getting stranger and certainly longer. I'm not sure how often updates are going to be, but this is definitely worth waiting for. So keep an eye out for more updates and please review.

Chapter 5

Cynder ran round a corner, slipping on some rubbish before scrambling back to her claws, the few raiders with her firing as they ran, before a green blast turned one of them into similarly-colored goop "I should have invested in better armor," she growled to herself.

She scrambled on as another blast turned two more raiders into dust, Cynder yelling at the last few raiders to attack her pursuers, before she was tossed off her feet as a wall exploded outwards, a black power armored figure blasting her boys.

"Good help is so hard to find these days, isn't it, Subject Beta?" taunted the figure.

Cynder glared at that, growling, "That's not my name." before lunging with a roar, only to be backhanded into an old fuse box.

Now one would expect, in the apocalypse, for electricity to be a thing of the past, especially in the old mall Cynder and her pursuers were in, but the US had installed fusion generators in almost all public buildings, and most were still online, which meant the fuse box was live. As a result, Cynder screamed as electricity arced over her before she slumped down, the power armored trooper grumbling as his team surrounded her. "Omega, bad news, Beta's a barbeque," he said.

"Is she charred to a crisp?" asked Omega over the comm.

"A little hard to tell. She was already black," said the armored trooper.

"If she hasn't been dried out, she still has useful genetic material," said Omega.

"You got it...one finger coming up," said the trooper, turning in time to see Cynder's scales fade to a dark purple and magenta.

"Ok, that's not what dead bodies are supposed to be colored," said the trooper.

Cynder's eyes shot open at that, before a wave of energy shot out...and the screaming started

Spike opened his eyes before sitting up before stretching and sighing. Another day in a new world. He had to admit, there were some advantages to this world compared to Canterlot High. For one thing, he wasn't a dog and people could take him seriously. Not to mention he had a bigger and stronger body. Of course, that's where the positives started to end.

This world's humans had managed to somehow blow up the world and turn into something from one of his comics back home. The city he'd seen on the way in with Alex had been...a wreck. This small piece of society he was currently living in may have established itself about over a hundred years ago, but the entire city hadn't been restored. There wasn't enough electricity to keep the entire city powered, not to mention all the damage to the infrastructure. Also, there were no working vehicles as far as Spike had been able to see.

Spike made his way to the kitchen area. "Morning," said Alex as Spike walked in, "How are the elbows today?"

"Still sore," said Spike, rubbing his right elbow.

"I bet, what with growing bone spikes," said Alex conversationally, turning several rashers of meat.

"Oddly, losing them hurts worse than gaining them," said Spike.

"I bet. I can only imagine. Bacon?" said Alex.

"If I can ask, where did this bacon come from? I haven't seen any pigs around here," said Spike.

"Brahmin...2-headed cows," said Alex, using a knife to flick some meat onto a brownish plate, passing it to Spike.

"But doesn't bacon come from-" started Spike.

"Look, if you want pork, you're free to go out and hunt a feral pig," said Alex, "That is if you can handle it."

Spike paused before trying to beef rashers. They weren't bad. "So, what's on the agenda today?" asked Spike.

"Oh, the usual; scavenge, look for raiders, keep the mutants away," said Alex. Alex paused before adding, "Oh yeah...run to Goodneighbor. They lost a scav team across the river so they want me to check it out."

"How far is Goodneighbor?" asked Spike.

"About an hour's walk west in the main ruins," said Alex, munching on his brahmin bacon.

"So towns aren't too far from each other here," said Spike.

"They used to be much farther," said Alex, "But that's back when we had transportation like cars and horses."

"No horses?" said Spike in a small voice.

Alex shrugged, "I hear there's some out east but I'm not so sure."

Spike was about to ask more before he stopped himself. The horses probably weren't anything more than animals, as hard as that was to imagine.

"First things first. We get you outfitted and teach you how to shoot. No offense but if you were given any training by raiders then you'll have trouble hitting a barn while inside it," said Alex calmly.

"Er..." started Spike.

"And maybe you can breathe fire, but I bet there's a limited range to that," said Alex. Spike was about to say something when Alex said, "A good sniper could ventilate you before you knew if it was bum or breakfast time from a thousand meters away. A mine could take your arm off. I dunno what sort of weapons you and yours use but gun trumps claws."

"Well, we had archery back where I came from," said Spike.

"Hmm...seen a few people use bows. Those bomb arrows can be nasty, but give me a machine gun any day," said Alex to himself.

"But-" started Spike.

"Do you even know how to use a bow?" asked Alex.

"Well-" started Spike.

"That requires a lot of muscle-training. Meanwhile, anyone can just pick up a gun and fire it," said Alex, "Ok, first I'm gonna show you how to use a gun and get you a decent one."

Alex looked at Spike's hand. It was thicker than his own and only had four fingers. That was going to keep him from using the smaller guns. "Or maybe a rifle," he finished.

Then he looked back up at Spike and said, "Also, we need to get you some new clothes. Something that's doesn't say 'raider' so much."

Spike looked down, Mrs. Fallion looked up before she said confidently, "Alex was right. Yer a big one alright. I can see why he didn't go to crazy myrna with yer." She looked at Spike's folded wings and the tail behind and said, "Turn around and let me see the back of you."

Spike paused before slowly turning, Fallion pulling out an old tape measure. "Can't say I've seen your type in Boston before," she said conversationally.

"I'm from a very different land," said Spike.

"Canadian, eh? I heard a few stories from traders who made it there and back," sad Fallon, walking over to a cupboard, pulling out a old button shirt before shaking her head and taking out a second, larger one.

"I've never been to Canadia," said Spike.

"Urgh...guess you call it something different now. Try this," she said, passing a large black button shirt. Spike pulled the shirt on. The sleeves were longer than his arms, but the back was baggy enough to have room for his wings.

"Hmm...that won't work," said Fallion, walking over to the cupboard again. She took out a pair of scissors and asked casually, "So, those things on your back work or are they vestigial?"

"They usually work," said Spike a little offended, hearing scissors behind him before Fallion walked back into view, holding up the brown leather jacket she'd taken, two neat cuts in the back.

"Try this on," said Fallion.

Spike nodded, gently slipping it on and spreading his wings comfortably. "Er...thanks," he said.

"Not sure what I can do with that tail though," said Fallion, looking at Spike's tail.

Spike sighed. The pants he'd gotten with the raiders were at least ok. "I'll be ok with what I got," he said politely.

Fallion nodded, "2000 caps."

"Uh...you can put it on Alex's tab," said Spike.

Fallion frowned at that before Alex walked in, "It's fine, Mrs. Fallion. I got him covered." He was carrying a large sachel.

Spike looked at the sachel and said, "That seems to be a rather inconvenient way of paying."

"Sorry, I don't take credit cards," said Fallion dryly.

Alex shoved the satchel into Spike's claws, "Go wait for me back at home plate."

As it turned out, Alex wasn't referring to Spike getting new casual clothes. He had something else for Spike to wear for more serious occasions. He looked at the chest plate, made of welded together scrap metal, though he'd seen shining repairing his own guard armor to spot where someone had recently repaired several holes. Similar gloves and leg armor was seen inside, as well as a metal helmet.

"It might need to be let out in the back," said Alex, "And obviously we're going to need to fashion some armor for your tail. No sense in leaving it exposed." He fished into the bottom, pulling out a bulky-looking assault rifle. "Gun runner traders from the west passed through...meet the bozar," said Alex cheerfully.

"Bozar?" asked Spike.

"You don't get to rename it until you've done something reputable with it. Now then, I know a place to test your shooting," said Alex with an evil grin.

"Uh..." said Spike.

The ''location' was an alley, a 10 minute walk from the city but close enough that raiders and the more sentient creatures kept clear. Alex finished balancing an empty Nuka bottle alongside a row of them before walking back to Spike who was holding the rifle uncertainly "Ok...take aim...shoot the bottles," Alex said calmly.

"Oh, is that all?" asked Spike, "This isn't rigged, is it?"

"No...something like this could save your life. Just be careful cause the bozar rifle's an automa-" began Alex.

Spike was already pulling the trigger and ended up shaking in place as the rifle went off repeatedly. Alex yelped as Spike dropped the gun before looking to see the holes in the bricks behind the bottles, which were all intact before he picked the rifle up, pointing out a switch on the side before clicking it. "Now try...single shot," he said in a semi-calm voice.

"Uh, right," said Spike a little shakily.

"Just a sec," said Alex, "I need a little distance." He took a few steps away from Spike and said, "Ok."

Spike growled to himself before concentrating, aiming and firing, the shot missing again, though this time he was ready for it. "It's fine...it's fine. It takes practise," said Alex.

"This isn't an easy thing to use!" snapped Spike. "That so?" asked Alex before taking the bozar. He turned and in the space of a few seconds had fired a shot into each bottle, before looking at Spike. "Practise makes perfect," he said. He handed the rifle back to Spike and said, "Let's try and adjust your grip."

Spike looked at the gun before saying, "I'm still not comfortable with them..."

Alex looked at him, before finally nodding, "I've worked with melee'ers before."

Goodnieghbor was certainly not Diamond City, consisting of walls, several blocked off streets, a building having been opened up into two side-by-side shops. That said, Spike was only focussing on one thing...the ghoul.

There was no doubt he was a ghoul. The sunken face, the triangular hole where the nose should have been, the shriveled skin that looked like old leather. He also stood out for wearing a tricorn hat and a red jacket.

"Alex...yer never call, yer never right." the ghoul said in a gravelly voice.

Alex grinned. "John, sorry, duty never takes a rest, man," he said, shaking the ghoul's hand, who turned to look at Spike, as if sizing him up.

"This is the ex-raider? Weird mutie," said John.

Spike just took two steps back. "Spike, don't be rude," reproved Alex.

"What, the kid never saw a ghoul before?" asked John jokingly.

"I have, I saw a hoard of them tear people apart," said Spike darkly.

"Ah...ferals. Not the best first impression to my condition," said John sympathetically.

"You don't have to worry about John," said Alex, "He's as trustworthy as a person can get."

"Ah, don't put me down. I'm as trustworthy as anyone here. That said, you're welcome in Goodneighbor," said John cheerfully.

"So, anything new going on around here?" asked Alex.

"Trouble across the river. Some kinda new freaks moved into the mall. Raiders ran scared and Bunker Hill lost some scavenger teams there," said John.

Alex said to Spike, "Go see Kl-e-0. She can get you set up with a good weapon." pointing to the left store

"Cleo?" asked Spike.

"Kl-e-0," said Alex, "She's particular about that."

A sultry female voice from the store said, "And don't you forget it."

Spike turned. From the voice, Spike was half-expecting a human version of Sassy Saddles. He was surprised (and oddly disappointed) to see a robot behind the counter. However, the robot had an oddly feminine build to her frame.

"What's wrong, scaly? Never seen a woman before?" said the bot smugly.

"Uh, not your kind of, er, woman," said Spike.

"Maybe I can be your kind of woman," said the bot suggestively.

Spike stared and took a step back before Alex glared, saying in a warning tone, "Kl-e-0...leave the kid alone and dial it back."

"Oh, can't a girl have some fun?" asked Kl-e-0.

"I can and will install a dial if I have to," said Alex.

"Fine...come on, lizard. Let's get you kitted for murder," said Kl-e-0.

"Spike's got a different set of hands than the rest of us," said Alex, "He'll be needing a different grip and trigger."

Kl-e-0's featureless optic seemed to look closer at Spike before she said in a business-like voice, "I have something I can modify. I'm guessing with claws like those you've never actually fired a gun."

"We don't have guns where I come from," said Spike.

"Urgh...a tribalist. Let me show you some selections," said Kl-e-0.

Alex said, "You'll be fine, Spike. I gotta go talk to Hancock." before he and John walked off.

"So then, any particular kind of gun strikes your fancy?" asked Kl-e-0.

"What kind of guns are there?" asked Spike. Kl-e-0 gave him a look that Spike was pretty sure was contempt.

"Perhaps I could offer you a slingshot," she said sarcastically.

Spike glared before Kl-e-0 showed a rack of rifles, ranging from pipe rifles like raiders preferred to more sophisticated ones, Kl-e-0 lifting a boxy rifle off the rack and passing it over to Spike. "Don't worry, it's unloaded," said Kl-e-0, "Just see how it feels in your hand."

Spike held the rifle, finding it light enough, looking down its barrel like he'd seen lex and the raiders aim. "That a good fit for your hand?" asked Kl-e-0.

Spike nodded before Kl-e-0 passed him a yellow cylinder battery. "Now load it and see if it still feels right," she said.

"Load it where?" asked Spike.

Kl-e-0 pointed a claw to an empty spot in the barrel, before taking the rifle and clicking the battery in, the rifle humming. "About 30 shots per cell but they're small and easy to store," Kl-e-0 explained.

"What kind of gun is this?" asked Spike.

"AER-9 Laser rifle." said Kl-e-0.

"Er, you sure about giving me a laser rifle?" asked Spike, "I'm not a very good shot."

Kl-e-0 said calmly, "I'm never wrong about my weapons. It's you."

Spike carefully picked up the rifle before aiming it at the barrel. "Just not in-" began Kl-e-0 before a red beam lanced out briefly, burning a hole in the far wall. Unlike Alex's gun though, there was hardly any recoil.

"Ok, that's a little better," said Spike.

"Alex has a tab so this is technically on the house," said Kl-e-0, aiming her optic creepily at Spike, repeating "Technically."

"How bad?" asked Alex.

Hancock said "Bad, bud. Bunker Hill is our main trading partner and they think we're responsible for that trouble at the mall. It needs cleaning up but if I send my boys..."

Alex finished, "It'll look to Bunker Hill like you're removing evidence."

"Right, but you're trusted in Bunker Hill. I think they'll see you as an unbiased ally," said Hancock.

"Great...it never rains but it pours," said Alex glumly.

"Oh, you've handled worse," said Hancock amiably.

"Yeah...like what nearly killed with Piper," said Alex glumly.

Hancock sighed, "Hey...what happened wasn't your fault."

Alex holding up a hand. "I do this...I'll need a special order of metal armor," he said, taking out a holotape, a copy of Spike's profile from his Pipboy, "To these specs."

Hancock looked it up and down. "Not many folks around here with tails," he commented.

"Just do what you can," said Alex, "Even if you have to use a deathclaw for reference."

"Uh, that was a joke, wasn't it?" asked Hancock.

Alex grinned before saying, "I'll try and get it done. Get a message to Bunker Hill while I'm gone. I'll bring the proof to them no matter what when I've dealt with the mall troubles."

"You know what you're getting into?" asked Hancock.

"If I stopped to worry about that, I wouldn't have left my Vault in the first place," said Alex.

Spike gulped, backing up from Kl-e-0. "I really don't want grenades," he said nervously.

"There are some things that can't shot down fast enough with bullets or lasers," said Kl-e-0, "You'll need something that can get through thick armor."

"Stop trying to make Spike explode when he sits down," called Alex, walking into view.

"I'm just trying to properly outfit him," said Kl-e-0.

"And drain me dry of caps," said Alex.

"A girl's gotta run her business," said Kl-e-0.

"There are cheaper ways of blowing things up. Spike, do you want grenades?" asked Alex in an annoyed tone, glaring at the bot, her expressionless face somehow giving off an air of smug.

"Well..." started Spike.

"And yes, you do need some kind of weapon," said Alex.

"I think I'll just take the laser rifle for now," said Spike finally.

Kl-e-0 pausing before she said, "Fine...on your tab, alex?"

Alex sighed and said, "Fine, just make sure you give him one he can wrap his fingers around."

Once Spike had been outfitted, the two headed east, towards the river. "Ok, so we're headed to an old mall. Usually it's a good little trading post between Bunker Hill and Goodneighbor...but teams have been vanishing," Alex explained.

"Does anyone know why?" asked Spike.

"No, because they've been vanishing," said Alex, a little condescendingly.

"So I assume there's a plan?" said Spike a little sarcastically.

Alex said, "Yeah...probably a nest of something or other. We go in, kill it dead, and go home for Nuka-Colas."

"That sounds...fun," said Spike, thinking more about the Nuka-Colas.

The two turned a corner to face a large bridge, several holes chipped into it. "Ok, stay alert, gang likes to demand tolls here," said Alex. Spike hesitated at the bridge's edge. "What's the matter? Think there are trolls here?" asked Alex jokingly.

"Can't you smell the blood?" asked Spike.

Alex frowned, before clicking his rifle's safety off as they went past a primitive barricade...and found a massacre. A dozen or so dead raiders were slumped or in bits, casings everywhere. Spike winced back at that. "Yeah, not a good sign," said Alex before looking around. There didn't seem to be any footprints.

Spike was more than a bit concerned, Alex finally finding some footprints that seemed to go into the water. "We'll check this later. Grab their ammo and stimpacks," he said.

"Wait, what?" asked Spike.

"Look, it's not going to do them any good anymore," said Alex meaningfully, "We might as well use them." Spike frowned as Alex checked a body, taking out a revolver and pocketing it before checking its pockets, before Alex said, "Hey...don't just stand there. Get looting."

"But-" started Spike.

"Look, someone else will be looting them eventually. No one's just going to leave their pockets unchecked. You have to be pragmatic out here," said Alex.

"And I suppose we'll be taking their clothes then," said Spike scornfully.

"Of course not. Their armor's crap and their clothes would stink," said Alex.

Spike realized something at that, noticing that Alex's armor had what looked like a patch that might have covered a bullethole at one point. "Of course, their armor could be recyclable, but it's too heavy to lug around," added Alex.

Spike gulped before he checked one of the bodies, finding a handful of bullets, presumably for the rifle weapon the raider had in his hands, and a couple of ammo capsules for his laser rifles. The last one was some sort of grenade, marked with green lines. "Is this some kind of special grenade?" asked Spike.

Alex walked up, taking the grenade and examining it. "Plasma grenade...wonder how this joker got one?" he muttered, passing it back, saying, "Green and blue buttons there...press em and then throw it at whatever you want to make vanish."

"Uh..." started Spike.

"Kl-e-0 was right about one thing: some things take a lot more than a rifle to put down. A grenade will save your life if you're up against a monster that can tank rifle shots," said Alex, "Though you don't have to use expensive grenades all the time."

"So...where's this mall?" asked Spike, trying to ignore the mind's image of the sort of things that would be gun proof.

"Just up the road. We'll sweep the place. If we can't find anything, we'll at least find proof so Bunker Hill knows Goodneighbor has nothing to do with their teams vanishing."

Spike nodded. He just hoped they wouldn't end up vanishing too.

The mall must have been nice once. The windows had long since lost their glass, but there were still various posters, advertising sales for products Spike didn't know. It was also cooler inside than Spike expected. Being out of the sun was nice, but it was a fair bit cooler than it should have been.

He walked forward, pausing as he saw a backpack of some sort on the floor. "Alex!" he called.

Alex walked up. "Hmm...Bunker Hill's scavs," he muttered before both of them heard a faint beeping coming from Alex's own backpack.

"What's that?" asked Spike.

Alex opened his backpack, taking out a small handheld device, an arrow flickering. "Trouble...might also explain what's going on," he said.

Just then, they felt a wind, or at least a rather strong air flow. And it was chillingly cold as well. It felt like it was either pushing them forward or pulling them in.

"We're leaving," said Alex, looking at the device, to Spike's surprise, turning to head back down the atrium they'd entered by.

"Just like that? We're not even gonna start?" asked Spike.

"We're too under-equipped for something like this and you don't nearly have enough experience," said Alex.

"What's going on? Alex!" snapped Spike, running after Alex only to find him staring at a brick wall where the door had certainly been before.

"Shit." muttered Alex.

"How is that possible?" asked Spike. He had seen such things before, liking that moving door in Sombra's castle. But this world didn't seem like it would have that kind of magic.

"Trouble," said Alex darkly, a click making them turn to see a wooden door, Alex's device going insane, the beeps so fast it was an almost constant noise.

"Was that door there a second ago? I wasn't paying attention," said Spike.

"No..." said Alex carefully, walking carefully towards the door.

"Uh, you sure you want to open that?" asked Spike.

"I think it's going to get opened one way or another," said Alex.

Spike gulped before nodding, walking up and opening the door...and frowning. On the other side was a dark wooded area...definitely not one from the local area.

Alex peered past him. "Yeah...I think we can assume this is where the scavengers went," he said sarcastically.

Spike sniffed the air. This forest...he could smell magic here. He couldn't really say why it smelled like magic. But it was more like Equestria than Alex's world.

There was a click behind them, turning in time to see the door fade away. "Aw crap," muttered Alex.

Spike ran over to the tree that was there and desperately felt over the trunk. Nothing so much as hinted at a door, not even a knothole which could be a doorknob. How were they going to get back? Were they trapped here?

He turned back to see Alex frowning. "That didn't happen...tell me that didn't happen," Spike exclaimed.

Alex snapped, "Calm down, we're not stuffed yet."

"But there's no way back!" snapped Spike.

"True, but there's a way forward," said Alex, "Rifts like these always come in pairs: an entrance and an exit."

Spike paused, "How the heck would you know that?"

Alex said, "Some things are better left unanswered, trust me. Come on, I can see lights over there."

The small hamlet had seen better days, attempts at barricades blocking the streets and discarded weapons seen. There was an inn just off the square, its doors shattered. Whatever had happened had clearly not happened long ago, embers seen in the fireplace.

"You sure this place is safe?" asked Spike.

"Not completely," said Alex, "But it's as safe as anything we're going to find."

"I'm just a little concerned of staying the night at the site of a massacre," said Spike.

"Oh, there wasn't any massacre," said Alex, "Have you seen any bloodstains? Any human remains? Well, any kind of remains?" asked Alex, "Either the predators are unusually tidy or the people were able to escape."

"Or they were carried off to be eaten later," said Spike with worry.

"Sounds like the plot of an old comic," muttered Alex, vaulting over the bar and taking out two bottles, the language on the labels unknown. "Might as well," he said, popping the corks out and offering a bottle.

"Uh, do you even know what's in that?" asked Spike.

Alex sniffed the neck and said, "It's liquor, probably some type of wine."

He peered through the door behind, some sort of kitchen. A cooking pot sat over a stone, whatever was in it having long burnt away from the smell. There was however a loaf of bread, still pretty fresh. He grabbed it and walked back to Spike who was trying the bottle. "Bread, it'll do. I saw some waterskins too. This world musn't be pretty advanced," he said, before a thud was heard below them.

Spike and Alex exchanged a look. "I've read enough comics that it's usually a really stupid idea to look in the basement," said Spike.

"Yes, but it might not stay in the basement," said Alex.

The two exchanged looks before walking into the kitchen, stairs at the back going down into the dark, a flickering light seen.

"This has got to be the worst idea I had since challenging Pinkie to a cupcake-eating contest," muttered Spike, the two turning the corner, rifles ready to see a figure, crouched at the far end, muttering something about monsters in a mad tone.

"I think we can relax now," said Alex.

"No...no...get away." gibbered the figure, twitching and making jerking motions...was he getting bigger?

"You sure about that?" asked Spike.

"Well, I've been proven wrong before," said Alex.

The thing that lunged out of the shadows wasn't human, though it was wearing human clothing. It resembled what someone would call a werewolf, sans tail...it was also pretty intent on disembowelling Alex as it pinned him, Alex using his rifle to hold it back. "Spike...shoot it!" He rasped.

Spike's hand shook as he aimed. But his finger seemed to freeze on the trigger. "Spike! This is no time to lose your nerve!" snapped Alex.

Spike stared as the creature raised its head to snarl at him, before stepping on Alex to lunge, Spike firing on reflex.

His rifle spat a red beam that went through the wolfman's chest, the wolf collapsing and sliding to a halt at his feet.

"Well...that was a little too close for comfort, but at least you got him," said Alex.

"I...I..." said Spike faintly.

Alex said softly, "Easy...if you hadn't that thing would have torn you apart."

"What...was it?" asked Spike.

Alex kicked the creature over to look at it, checking the belongings and only finding a few copper coins and a dagger. "I'd say it was a lycan but I've never seen this breed," he said calmly, before a chorus of howls was heard, running footsteps heard. "And he may not be the only one around here," said Alex.

The two aimed at the doorway before someone they didn't expect ran into view. Cynder, wearing a weird mix of leather and pauldrons, yes but still, Cynder.

The guns didn't lower though. "Well, well, look what we have here," said Alex.

Cynder gave them a look of disbelief. "How did you get here? No, wait, let me guess, you found a magic door in the mall," she said.

"Er...yeah," said Spike in confusion.

Cynder sighed, "Please tell me you jammed it open. I've been stuck here for months."

"Months? We last saw you days ago," said Spike.

"I've been all over this damn continent. It;s a mess. Those wolf things almost grabbed me a dozen times," snapped Cynder.

"What?" asked Spike.

"Spike, we're clearly in another world, right?" asked Alex.

"Yeah," agreed Spike.

"Then it shouldn't be much of a surprise to you that time appears to pass faster here than on Earth," said Alex.

"Oh, yeah, now I get it," said Spike. There was a pause before Spike said "Don't want to know?"

Alex nodded. "Don't want to know. How'd you end up here and why shouldn't I blow a hole in you?" he snapped, aiming Cynder.

Cynder sighed "Well..."

Cynder was dizzy with pain, focused on her neck. But she had to keep moving. That agent wasn't going to leave without her, dead or alive.

Agent Omega...she'd done this...woke up her dark side and turned it loose on Boston for some sick reason...now she wanted to drag Cynder back to that den of horrors… She needed to escape, she needed to go home, she needed to find...find...

Spyro...she needed to find Spyro. She could almost put a name to face, the two of them fighting to stay together...something else Omega had taken from her.

"Oh Subject Beeetaaaa...this'll be better if you come quietly. Subject Alpha's waiting for you. He misses you," taunted Omega's voice, echoing off the street walls. Cynder turned a corner and ducked back. Two of Omega's troopers, power armor and all, could be seen at the far end of the street, gatling lasers at the ready.

Cynder glanced upwards briefly. But she knew better than to try and fly. She'd just be an easier target. However, across the street was a mall of some sort, one of the doors open. It was already getting dark...she could hide there. She inched out and was halfway across before a hail of laserfire shot past her, one of the troopers firing its gatling laser.

"Crap!" yelped Cynder before diving for cover. She peered out before realizing she was behind a car, a rising whine heard before she ran for the mall, making it in just as the car went up in a miniature mushroom cloud

"Gotta hide, gotta hide," she muttered, looking around the abandoned mall.

She could hear Omega ordering the power armor troopers to sweep the area. Surprised voices were heard, probably scavengers, which were cut off by gatling laserfire.

The heavy clunks of power armor could be heard getting closer...closer. She looked around before seeing a surprisingly-clean wooden door. She glanced around. None of the other doors matched this one at all, the few that were still there.

That said it was the only door to take. She threw the door open and ran through, a few laser bolts narrowly missing her before she slammed it...and the door vanished.

It was then that Cynder noticed she was most definitely not in the mall anymore...or anywhere like the part of Earth she was at. This forest seemed a whole greener and cleaner than that. She paused for a minute before saying "Oh bugger."

"I ran into the wolves during my first scavenge. Looks like they overran the entire continent apart from a couple of fortified towns past a jungle to our east. Too hot for them."

"No other people?" asked Spike.

"No, I'm pretty sure they've turned all the other people into more of their kind," said Cynder.

"Interesting story, if a word of that was true," said Alex.

"Hey, I usually avoided deserted towns. I headed here cause apparently this place was a hold out. Guess I missed the party," snapped Cynder.

"Yeah, not really trusting anyone who tried to attack my town with raiders and monsters," said Alex.

"That wasn't me," napped Cynder angrily.

"Then it must have been your evil twin," said Alex dryly.

"Look, they forced me to do that," snapped Cynder, "They put something in my neck to make me act that way. Check it yourself if you don't believe me."

Alex frowned, before Spike walked forward, looking at the back of Cynder's neck to see a small silver chip there, a scorch indicating it had been burnt out.

Spike frowned. He had seen chips like that before. He touched the side of it only for Cynder to jump. "Please...don't touch that," she said, "It's sensitive."

Alex took a look too, frowning. "Fine...but you so much as look at me funny..." he said.

Cynder sighed and said, "Look, I know you two don't trust me and you have plenty of reason not to. I have a lot to make up for, but I need the chance to do it."

"Fine...did you see anything...unusual on your travels? It'd be small things, places where time seemed to go faster, or where the sky seemed red," said Alex.

"I'm assuming you don't mean sunrise and sunset," said Cynder.

"No..." said Alex.

Cynder looked thoughtful, and took out a notebook. "I kept notes...but I think I might know somewhere," she said, before howls were heard and she said, "I have a hiding place. It's safe."

"Can we fly there?" asked Spike.

"Hey! Not all of us have wings!" snapped Alex.

"We could carry you," said Spike.

"Yeah, I don't trust her enough not to drop me," said Alex.

"And he's probably too heavy to lift anyways," said Cynder.

There were more howls, sounding closer. "Fine, let's just go!" snapped Alex.

The 'camp' was an old farmhouse, this one apparently alot more ruined then the other areas. Cynder had clearly lived here a while, a sleeping roll in the corner as well as a campfire and several bags of food.

"There's plenty of men's clothes here," said Cynder, "Feel free to change into something clean."

"I'll keep my armor," said Alex, Spike sighed and chewed on some cooked meat.

"Look, they don't come near here. After I deep fried the few that tried. We can at least get some sleep," Cynder said.

"Fine, but we're taking shifts," said Alex.

"I'll take first." said Cynder, adding, "I gotta prove myself somehow."

After Cynder walked out, Spike said, "I think she is trying to make amends."

"I'm sure you'd believe anyone if they said they were doing that," said Alex dryly.

"Back home, second chances count," said Spike.

Alex glaring at Cynder before he said "Well, that level of naivety won't last you long here."

"I'm not stupid. I can tell when someone obviously doesn't intend to reform," said Spike, "But Cynder is trying."

"Well here, I've been stabbed in the back too many times, sometimes literally. She didn't tell us everything, just how she got here. There's 6 months missing from her timeline," snapped Alex.

"You think it'll take us that long to get back?" asked Spike.

"No...maybe she couldn't find the rift? But you saw that thing...a world of those and she's unharmed, or didn't fly overseas?" snapped Alex.

Spike sighed, "Look...you gotta have faith."

Alex sighed and laid down. "I take next shift," he said, setting an alarm on his Pipboy to wake him up.

Both of them shot upright as a deafening boom was heard. "The fuck? That was one of the mines!" Alex snapped, another boom heard. The two jumped up, Alex tossing Spike his laser rifle.

"Wait...where's Cynder?" Spike said.

"I think I can guess," said Alex darkly.

They both headed out and soon spotted Cynder, holding a large rock in her hands. She tossed it out several feet away, only for the rock to explode. "What the hell are you doing?" snapped Alex, raising his rifle to aim at her. Cynder turned to look at them with a wide grin before the boys noticed the wolfmen and women coming out of the treeline. "Ok...ok...clearly you've had a funny turn...walk towards us," Alex added carefully.

Cynder grinning wider before stepping back towards the wolves, who parted, before she started to...shift Cynder's scales softened before they changed into hairs. Her wings dwindled before disappearing into her back. The blade at the end of her tail seemed to slide back in as her tail became bushy. The horns on her head shrank into her scalp as a pair of pointed ears grew out. Her muzzle shifted, her nostrils becoming more obvious as the area around them became black and moist. When Cynder finished shifting, she still looked a lot like herself but was clearly one of the wolves, even if she had a tail while the others did not.

"See? I told Alpha someone would come. It's not who I intended, but they'll do," she sneered in a sultry voice.

"Ok, I'll admit I'm a little surprised," said Alex, "Not by your sudden and inevitable betrayal, but the fact that you became one of them."

"They spotted me when I slept, months ago, helped me see Alpha's truth," said Cynder with a mad grin.

"Is this alpha present?" asked Alex, looking around at the wolves to see if any of them looked likely to be the leader.

"He's around. You'll see him soon," said Cynder, nodding to the wolves, "You have your orders. Alpha wants any newcomers alive...especially if they know where the rift is."

"Cynder, I'm just assuming right now that this alpha is controlling you," called Spike.

"Spike, stop being chivalrous and shoot the damn bitch!" snapped Alex.

The wolves howled and charged, some with armor and weapons...that said, it was swords to a gunfight. "Back up!" yelled Alex, shooting a mine Cynder had missed, throwing a cluster into the air.

Spike responded by breathing out some fire, making a wall of green flames that gave the wolves some pause. Alex frowned, seeing the wolves prowling, before Spike grabbed him.

"Spike, what are you doing?!" snapped Alex.

"Hang on!" yelled Spike before flapping his wings. He did manage to get them about six feet off the ground, but that's as high as they went. "Cynder's...right...you're...heavy..." said Spike through gritted teeth.

The fire was already dying down. Alex fired a shot at a wolf that tried to leap over, causing it to flip in the air before he pressed a few buttons, Spike's Pipboy saying "Program downloaded."

Alex said, "Listen...that thing'll help you find the rift. You need to go...now." before firing another burst.

"I...can't...leave...you..." strained Spike.

"Either you let me go or they get us both," said Alex. Spike looked at Alex, who snapped "I SAID GO!" pushing Spike back, Spike reluctantly taking off. He readied another fireball, only to see the wolves charging Alex, too close to burn before he flew off.

Alex glared as he was held down, two of the wolves using their knees to pin him, one holding his arms. Cynder was looking down at him. "You know, if you'd arrived a few months ago, I really would have helped...but then Alpha helped me," she said happily.

"Yeah, yeah, all I'm hearing is that you handed your leash to somebody else," said Alex.

"Oh, you're trying to get me angry. Maybe get one of us to kill you. You know what we are, don't you?" Cynder smirked.

Alex growled, "Bunch of fleabag lycanthropes."

"Hey, we do not have fleas!" snapped one of the wolves.

"Speak for yourself," said one glumly, causing the other wolves to step away from him.

"Maybe what you need is a change of perspective?" sneered Cynder before a deep cultured voice said "I certainly hope you're not overstepping your bounds."

Cynder had a terrified look as the wolves parted to let a larger one, a scythe of some sort in his hands as he walked forward.

Alex rolled his eyes. All this big one was lacking was a crown and a cape. "Let me guess, you're the alpha of this pack?" asked Alex.

"I am the alpha of all packs," said the big wolf, "I am Alpha Prime."

"Tell your mutts to get off of me," snapped Alex.

One of his captors said, "He has strange weapons, alpha. It would surely not be wise."

Alpha smirked, "Let him up. I want to see if he's worthy."

Alex was a little surprised that this overgrown spaniel would be so sporting. But then again, he's dealt with plenty of overconfident egomaniacs before. His captors backed off as he got up. "So you're this world's big bad."

Alpha smirked. "I spread a gift, nothing more."

"Yeah, I'm sure people like their white elephants," said Alex. Alpha gave him a confused look. "You don't have elephants here? You look like you could easily eat one," said Alex.

"You're proud...a predator. I can respect that," Alpha said calmly, circling Alex. "That said, if you can kill me you may simply wa-" before Alex drew his sidearm and fired. It was a perfect shot...and the bullet stopped at an energy field.

"Really? You think I wouldn't prepare for weapons? And yes, we do have guns here," said Alpha. He closed the gap between him and Alex in a blur, biting Alex's shoulder before throwing him back, Cynder giggling.

Alex winced before saying, "Ok, Round 1 goes to you. I've still got plenty of fight left."

"I'm sure you do," said Alpha, "But there are no more rounds necessary."

Alex clicked at that, looking at his bit shoulder. "Oh shit," he muttered before he felt like someone had kicked him in the chest.

What took only a few seconds felt a lot more drawn out and protracted. Alex cried out in pain as it felt like his skeleton was trying to burst out of his body. His muscles soon felt too big for his skin, but he could feel his skin stretching to cover his growing frame. His gloves were the first casualty as his darker, sharper fingernails poked through the tips before the rest were shredded as his hands became thicker, pads appearing on his palms. His boots didn't last much longer as his feet became much too large for them to contain. They split asunder as they stretched fully into digitigrade feet. If it weren't for the fact that Alex preferred keeping his gear a little loose, he'd have lost a lot more clothing than that.

He felt his skin burn as dark gray fur sprouted all over, his ears pointing and growing before his skull felt like it was shattering. The screaming mouth was pulled further away from his face as his teeth grew sharper, his nose becoming more sensitive as it darkened. The human screams were replaced with the roaring of something more primal. The worst was feeling...something clawing at the back of his mind.

Alex fell forward onto his hands and knees. In his dazed state, he was still dimly aware that his hands looked like he was wearing very realistic wolfman gloves and his legs stretched out a lot further behind him than they used to. He could also see the muzzle just below his eyes.

He could also feel how...great he felt. He felt stronger than he ever had. He also felt like he was back in his prime. The old armor fit him like a glove. He felt like he could run a marathon. He could also feel a bit of hunger gnawing at his stomach. He hadn't had breakfast yet. He could really use some meat...

"Get him some food," said Alpha, offering a hand.

Alex growled at the hand, baring his new fangs. Alpha frowned before holding up his scythe. The blade gleamed like the crescent moon. Its silver light had an oddly soothing effect on the other wolves.

Alex blinked as he was helped up, another offering a chunk of cooked meat, which he devoured. No...Alex didn't seem a suitable name...riplash...perfect. Riplash spared a glare at Cynder who smirked. "Scalepaw, my old name's kinda pathetic," she sneered.

"Only because you're all soot and no sizzle," sneered a female wolf. Scalepaw growled at her.

yes, even female werewolves can be catty with each other

Riplash smirked. "I don't know. She brought me in, didn't she?" the other females glaring at Cynder/Scalepaw.

"That she did," said Alpha, "I think Scalepaw has earned the first shot with our newest recruit."

Riplash blinked before smirking at Scalepaw who yanked him away. Alpha smirked before he glared at the others, "Find that dracthyr...NOW!"

Spike kept flying forward, putting some distance between him and the pack. Only when he thought he was far enough away did he stop and look at his Pipboy. There was a new app marked 'gravity scanner', the words 'property of D-31' seen before it showed a compass, a red dot flashing in the east part.

Spike looked in that direction. He didn't see anything obvious, but it probably wouldn't be until he got close. He was tempted to fly over there, but he couldn't leave Alex. He didn't like the idea of leaving Cynder either. A more cynical part of his mind said that she deserves being left here. Though Spike wasn't a particularly cynical guy. Not to mention even Alex had thought she was under some sort of mind control

Spike needed to stop and think this out. Not to mention he had a pretty big strain in his back from when he tried to lift Alex. "Not to self: exercise wings more," he said.

He glided down to land, looking around, before something tackled him. He heard his rifle clatter away before a metal barrel was pressed to his head. "Don't move," snarled a voice in his ear.

"Could you please not press on my back?" asked Spike, "I have sore muscles there."

"Vertox, get off him before he deep fries you. He's a bloody dracthyr," snapped a female voice.

"But Loona, he's-" started Vertox.

"You dimwit, I'm stopping you from self-incineration," snapped the female voice.

Vertox got off of Spike, who stood up unsteadily to see two wolf beings, one a male, the other a female in...well if it was armor it wasn't gonna defend much, a staff in her hand.

"My eyes are up here," said Loona in annoyance.

Spike frowned...his eyes had been. He also noticed they seemed...young. "Er...thanks...I'm a little lost."

"Gee, you don't say," said Vertox flatly.

"I thought all you dracthyr were up defending the dragon homeland. They all ran there when Alpha infected that black dragoness who was wandering around," said Vertox.

"Ah, yes, I actually know her," said Spike.

"Great...your girlfriend gave Alpha an excuse to turn the eastern kingdoms into his own little fiefdom," snapped Loona with a glare.

Spike held up his hands, "Hey...I just got here...wait, how come you aren't following him?"

"Because we're too cool to run with the rest of the pack," said Vertox.

"Cause we didn't listen. We tried to defend Duskwood against his goons but his second-in-command, Scalepaw, sneaked some worgen in," said Loona, rolling her eyes.

"Let me guess, the former dragon?" asked Spike.

"Yup," said Vertox cheerfully.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't how she naturally would behave," said Spike.

"She's a crafty one, that's for sure." said Vertox.

Loona got a brief tic before walking towards Spike. "So then, dracthyr..." she started.

"It's Spike," said Spike.

"You know...up close, you're-" she began, sultry before a waterskin exploded on her.

Vertox called "You're welcome." before Loona yelled "YOU'RE DEAD!"

Spike sweatdropped as the two started fighting. Spike knew they weren't seasoned adults. They couldn't be more obvious teenagers if they wanted to hang out at the mall and look at their phones all day. Something Spike never could understand when he was in Canterlot High.

"Look, I need to find my friend. The Alpha guy probably caught him..." he began.

Loona and Vertox looking at one another before Loona said, "Then he's probably a toady. That scythe thing Alpha has does a number on any worgen."

"Except us, of course," said Vertox.

"I can't just leave him!" snapped Spike.

Loona sighed, "Look, if Alpha says so, your friend'll tear you to bits and eat what's left if you're lucky. If you're unlucky, he'll just bite you."

Spike thought it over. If Cynder was turned, it's likely he'd be turned too. Of course, he had much tougher scales, but Spike wasn't willing to gamble on that.

"I'd say run...er, can we come too?" asked Vertox.

"Do you think Alpha is going to stop here?" asked Spike.

"They can't swim too well. Trust us, we tried," said Loona.

"And you're saying they can't build boats?" asked Spike.

"The army destroyed all of the docks before they were wiped out," said Vertox.

Spike sighed, "Look, I can't leave him here. If I do, he could let Alpha spread."

"He's just one man. Well, was one just one man," said Loona.

"And he's a very smart man," said Spike, "He could create more destructive weapons for him and build efficient vehicles."

"A mage always theorized if we could separate him from that scythe..." said Loona thoughtfully, adding, "That said he might be able to control us if we're that close..."

"But not me," said Spike.

"Uh, did we not mention the 'tear you to bits' part?" asked Vertox.

"I've faced worse," said Spike confidently, remembering Sombra, Tirek, all the monsters he'd met. He just hoped Alex was ok.

Riplash climbed out of the river and shook himself off. He really needed that dip. It made things a little clearer for him. He went over to where he left his clothes. Hopefully, he can put them back on without tearing them apart. He was lucky he could get them off.

"Aren't you coming back in?" Riplash looked behind him. Scalepaw was floating in the river, just high enough in the water to keep the top of her chest out of it. He paused, Scalepaw smirking. "Aw...are you shy?" she teased in a sultry voice.

"We have...things to work on," said Riplash.

Scalepaw smirked, swimming over and walking out of the water, naked. "Aw...are you sure?" she said, walking towards him, hips swaying.

"We've wasted enough...time as it is," said Riplash. The way Scalepaw's wet fur clung to her was rather distracting.

"The Alpha said we could take as much time as we wanted," Scalepaw smirked, putting her arms around Riplash's neck.

"The Alpha also said that you had the first shot at him, and you're squandering it with this stupid flirting." Scalepaw turned with a snarl at three other female wolves.

"Ladies, a little privacy, please?" asked Riplash as he struggled to get his pants on.

Scalepaw turned back to Riplash. "Well, you heard them. I'd best not waste this," she said in a low, sultry voice before pulling him into a kiss. The other wolves growled and Scalepaw snapped, "The line starts behind me, wait your turn!"

She turned back to Riplash, smirking as the others left. "Now then," she smirked, pulling him down into the grass, saying breathlessly, "Where were we?"

Meanwhile, Spike was doing his best to devise a strategy. The main goal was getting the scythe away from Alpha Prime. But that was not going to be easy. Especially if Alpha is always at the center of the pack.

"This is a dumb plan," said Loona flatly, having heard Spike's latest plan, "Pretending to surrender won't work. He sees people who surrender as food."

"Well, surely something can lure him away from the pack," said Spike.

"The pack will follow anyways," said Vertox.

"Unless...Alpha Prime's talked about invading other worlds, looking for ways to open the old dark portal..." Loona said thoughtfully.

"Let me guess, he'd want to be first through the portal?" asked Spike.

"No, he likes to play the world like chess," said Vertox darkly.

"So he sends the pawns first," said Spike. Finally, watching Twilight play all those chess games was going to pay off.

"What's your plan?" asked Loona.

Spike grinned, "Ok, here's my plan, but it has to go off perfectly."

Scalepaw was rather annoyed with the Alpha summoning them back so soon. Not that she'd ever actually object to him in person. She'd at least had her moment with Riplash, and he'd certainly enjoyed it. She'd made sure of that.

The two walked into the clearing, Alpha Prime smirking at the two, "I hope you two are rested. I have a task for you."

"What would that be?" asked Scalepaw, keeping her tone civil.

"Riplash's companion escaped...find him," Alpha ordered, looking at them closer, adding, "Or maybe Riplash deserves a more competent mate?"

"He does have wings," pointed out Scalepaw.

"So do you," said Alpha.

"But the longer I stay in that form-" protested Scalepaw.

"Nonsense...unless you're questioning me," warned Alpha

Scalepaw growled a little before hunching over. Her back bulged before dragon wings started growing from them. If only she could stop at that, but the rest of her body had to follow. Quite soon, silky fur was replaced by dry scales again. 'Cynder' stretched her wings and looked at herself with disdain.

Riplash nuzzled her, whispering comfortingly to her, "You're still my beautiful Scalepaw..."

Alpha narrowed his eyes. "Go with her. If she fails, kill her," he ordered. Riplash paused. "The proper response is 'Yes, my alpha'," said Alpha impatiently.

"Surely he'd be more useful as part of the pack..." began Riplash before he and Scalepaw gripped their heads as the scythe;s blade glowed.

"I'm the one who decides who joins the pack," snarled Alpha, "I'm the one who makes the plans. Your roles are just to follow." He glared before snarling, "I can reduce you to nothing to beasts. Is that what you want?"

Scalepaw managed, "No...my...alpha..."

Riplash glared defiantly at Alpha. The scythe's blade glowed brighter before Riplash was forced to say, "We...shall...obey..."

The glow vanished, before Alpha smirked. "Good...now go," he said, walking off.

Riplash growled at that, snapping to Scalepaw, "Drop that form. Spike will already know you're one of us so hiding as. That will do nothing."

Scalepaw shook herself, her dragon features disappearing as she resumed her true form. "Much better," said Scalepaw, "I was starting to feel the claws in the back of my head again."

"You never told me how Alpha found you," Riplash said as they headed for the treeline.

"It was...a few months ago..." said Scalepaw, "I...I remember better in my other form."

3 months ago...

Cynder was not in the best of moods. She'd been trapped in this dump of a world for 3 months now and her mood had not improved. Most towns she'd found had been flattened or were deserted.

It was hard to say if this was better or worse than the wasteland she had left behind. On one hand, food and water weren't as hard to find here, even if the food was mostly berries and what she could catch. And she learned quickly which berries cause digestive problems. On the other hand, in the wasteland, there were tools that she could scavenge for her use. There wasn't much of that here.

There was also the fact she still had her blaster and armor. The few people who'd tried to rob her had been easily scared off. Sadly, at the moment, it was pissing it down. Cynder shivered, feeling the coldness seep into her bones. It was times like this she wished she could actually breathe fire. The closest she could get were shadow flames and that didn't provide any real heat.

A light could be seen ahead, a campfire of some sort. Hunger and cold overrode her caution and she headed for it. She wondered how she would explain her appearance to whoever was at the campfire. But then, maybe dragons like her weren't out of place in this world.

A hooded figure was sat by the fire, roasting what smelled like...like...mutton. Cynder's stomach gave a fierce growl, loud enough for the figure to notice.

"Come...sit by the fire," said the figure in a low gravelly voice.

"I hope you won't mind," said Cynder, walking closer to the fire.

"Of course not. It is unusual to see a dracthyr so far from the islands," said the figure, Cynder noticing a scythe leaning on the log he was sitting on.

"Uh, sure, too many tourists," said Cynder.

"Hmm...I am Alpha. These are my small lands...and you are?" asked the figure.

"Cynder," said Cynder, "And as you can guess, I'm from a far, far away place."

"You seem...lonely," Alpha said, taking out a small dagger and cutting some mutton off the roasting meat and passing it over.

"Yeah, I lost someone...close to me some time ago and I haven't been able to find him," said Cynder.

"Hmm...maybe you need a new family?" said Alpha.

Cynder gave a mirthless laugh and said, "Unless there are a lot of dragons like me here, that doesn't seem likely."

"Hmm...not dragons," said Alpha, lowering his hood as rows of yellow eyes lit up the surrounding trees.

Cynder stopped eating as she looked around. "Don't tell me I'm the second course," she said.

"Not exactly," sneered Alpha, his claws flashing out and scratching her arm. Cynder hissed in pain as she clutched her arm. "I'll have to admit, I've never tried to change a dragon before," said Alpha, "I may require some extra effort to make sure the gift works on you." He held up his scythe which started glowing.

Cynder glared before she felt a pleasurable tingle in her scratched arm, which began to spread. She looked down to see that the scales on her arm were changing into hairs. "What is...what..." started Cynder, but the tingle was starting to get numbing.

"You're becoming something better. You asked for this, don't you remember?" said Alpha's voice, which seemed to echo into her head.

"I..." Cynder's head swam. It felt like something was massaging her brain, making it harder to think. The fact that her horns were being replaced with wolf ears didn't register to her.

Alpha, a large wolf...man walked towards her, cupping her snout in his hand as fur began to cover it. "Hmm...you're actually resisting," he said, impressed.

"Not...wolf..." said Cynder numbly. She tried to spread her wings, but Alpha put a hand on her back.

"Useful as those might be, I think they're a little too distracting for you," he said. He squeezed the wings into her back, which soon started to melt in.

"N...no..." she began, gasping as the pleasure spread across her, Alpha pulling her up as her tail covered in fur.

"And things became hazy after a while. But I've been in a good position in the pack since then," said Scalepaw. It was only then that she noticed that Riplash had been silently snarling.

"And he calls himself our alpha, taking advantage of you. At least we chose our coupling," he snapped, a smaller part, of his human side, demanding he rip the alpha apart.

"He has taken care of the pack," said Scalepaw.

"And how many other women did he coerce while they were still changing? That's not the act of a hunter, that's merely a predator," growled Riplash.

"What's the difference?" asked Scalepaw.

"A hunter at least gives his quarry a sporting chance to get away," growled Riplash.

"Then what were we?" said Scalepaw.

Riplash kissed her cheek and said, "Willing."

The lack of willingness also bothered a small part of Riplash. The wolf wasn't too concerned about how new members were added to the pack. But his persistent human side didn't like how Alpha was forcing them to join without so much as offering a choice.

"You're worried. Please tell me you aren't going to challenge him. The last one who did was reduced to a wolfhound," she warned.

"Don't you think I would be a better alpha?" asked Riplash.

"Hmm...maybe you should show me your...qualifications," said Scalepaw seductively.

The two leaned in, reaching for one another's clothing before they heard a polite coughing and a click, the two turning to see their quarry, aiming a laser rifle, with two young worgen behind him. "Oh smeg," muttered Riplash.

"This really isn't necessary," said Riplash, Spike having known him from his Pipboy. He and Scalepaw were tied to a tree.

"Better safe than sorry," said Spike. He might have been a little gruffer than necessary, especially with the two of them tied at opposite sides of the tree. There was a small part of him that felt hurt by what he had seen. He told himself that the two weren't acting like they normally would and it wasn't like he and Cynder were a couple anyways. So why was he feeling so jealous? Or was it envy?

"You couldn't have waited 10 minutes?" snapped Scalepaw.

Riplash nodded before he shook his head, "Look...why are you even here? I told you to find the rift."

"Oh, so you remember that?" asked Spike dryly.

"Of course," snarled Riplash.

"I can see that you were trying to head home as soon as you could," said Spike meanly.

"Of course not. Why would I give this up?" snapped Riplash.

Spike sighed. He could almost smell the mental soap. "Ok, you two obviously aren't in control of yourselves," said Spike, "But we're going to get that fixed. And then we'll get Alpha fixed."

"Could you please not say 'fixed'?" asked Riplash.

There was an awkward pause at that, Spike looking to see Vertox also say "Seconded." Loona and Scalepaw giggled.

"Look, I'm sure at some level, you don't want Alpha pushing his 'ideals' on any more people," said Spike.

"No, worgen are meant to be free, not ruled by some despot," snapped Riplash.

Loona nodded, "At least not all of you kiss Alpha's paws."

"Though as long as he's holding that scythe, it won't make a difference," said Vertox.

"Yes...wait, why were you headed for him?" said Riplash, stretching, the ropes holding him and Scalepaw snapping as he stood up, before politely helping Scalepaw to her feet, kissing her hand briefly.

Spike suppressed a twinge of irrational jealousy and said, "To free you, of course. And Cynder as well. Even she doesn't deserve being with him."

"Scalepaw told me her story. She never asked for this," snarled Riplash, towering over Spike angrily.

"I figured as much," said Spike, trying to keep his voice steady, "And that's still more reason to take Alpha's stick."

"Yes...without that scythe, they'll all turn on him," sneered Scalepaw, before leaning into riplash, "Then Riplash can take over." Riplash rolled his eyes.

"Let's...see if we can get that far first," said Spike, "But taking away that scythe won't be easy."

"Of course not. He can drain our minds with it till we're just feral beasts," snapped Scalepaw.

"But he wants more than just wolves for his pack, right?" asked Spike.

"He uses it as a punishment," said Scalepaw.

Riplash nodded, "We felt it. The only one who could get close is someone who isn't a worgen."

"And I'd rather not have to fight my way through the whole pack to get to him," said Spike.

"We work together then," said Scalepaw cheerfully.

Spike gave a frustrated sigh and said, "I'm glad we all agree on working together. Now how about figuring out how I can actually get to Alpha in one piece?"

"Easy enough. He was asking directly for you," said Riplash with a grin.

Spike paused. "I'm guessing he's not asking me over for tea," he said nervously.

"Nope," said Scalepaw with a grin.

"You guys do have tea here, right?" asked Riplash, "I haven't had a good cuppa in...probably don't want to calculate how long."

"What's tea?" whispered Scalepaw.

Alpha Prime meanwhile was thinking. Riplash wasn't the first worgen he'd turned to show too much...independent thinking… That was the problem with finding good betas. Most of them start thinking they should be alphas. Female betas were at least easier to keep submissive.

Scalepaw was a problem though. Two of his betas that had challenged him in the last three months were, he suspected, inspired by her. He was kind of hoping Riplash and Scalepaw had eloped somewhere before one of his guards ran up. "My alpha, Scalepaw and Riplash are back," he panted.

"Do they have anything worth reporting?" asked Alpha.

"They brought that other dragon," said the guard.

Alpha's eyebrows rose. "Well, that was fast," he said.

He grabbed the scythe and walked out to see Riplash and Scalepaw looking smug, two sullen-looking young worgen seen as well as the purple dracthyr, tied up. "There we are, my alpha," said riplash smugly.

"Well, well, you two have been productive," said Alpha.

Scalepaw bowed, saying, "You did order us to capture him."

"And you manage to capture a pair of rogues as well," said Alpha, "I'm sure there's an interesting story behind that."

"I'd say bite me but one of your buddies already did," snapped Vertox.

"Ah, headstrong youth. I remember being like that...a few hundred years ago," said Alpha wistfully. He walked towards Vertox at that. "However, I don't like it here," he said, tapping Vertox on the head with the scythe.

Vertox screaming as his form cracked and shifted into a feral wolf with a surprised expression. "I still remember how to cast polymorph," he sneered, walking towards the shocked and horrified Loona. "Are you going to be like your brother?" he sneered.

"Leave them alone!" snapped Spike.

"My, my, such altruism for someone not even your own species," said Alpha with mock admiration.

"I know a bully when I see it," growled Spike, Alpha's eyes narrowing.

"I am a liberator. I free people from the trappings of civilization that separate them from the natural world," said Alpha.

"You can't have freedom without free will," said Spike, "And you're not even giving them a choice."

"They thank me later, as will you...and the land you came from..." sneered Alpha.

"There's no justification for conquest," said Spike defiantly.

"It's for their own good and yours. Scalepaw, turn him," Alpha ordered.

Scalepaw took a step forward and hesitated. "Uh...are you sure I have the power?" asked Scalepaw.

"You and he were of the same kind, were you not?" asked Alpha, "Now BITE HIM!"

Scalepaw didn't move. "I...I won't," she said in a scared voice.

Alpha glared and snapped, "That was an order!"

"No!" snapped Scalepaw before screaming as the scythe burst to life

"I am the Alpha Prime! I am the originator and leader of all packs! You will obey my commands!" snapped Alpha. The other wolves were forced down to their knees. However, Spike slipped out of his ropes, which weren't as tightly bound as they appeared. With one swipe, he knocked the scythe out of Alpha's hands, sending it flying until it landed blade-first in a tree.

"No more toys!" snapped Spike, "If you're a real leader, lead them yourself!"

Alpha spun, grabbing Spike by the throat, effortlessly lifting him off his feet. "How dare you," he said in a low voice.

"What's the matter? Don't have the charisma to lead without a remote control?" asked Spike.

Alpha glared before heard growled and mutters, his 'faithful' worgen glaring or looking like they were waking up from a trance.

Alpha hesitated a moment before suddenly dropping Spike and leaping towards the fallen scythe. However, Riplash was faster. He grabbed the scythe and yelled, "You heard the dragon. No more toys!" With that, he threw the scythe back to Spike. Instead of catching it, Spike breathed out green flames that engulfed the scythe. There was a green flash and the scythe was gone.

"What? How? You don't have the power to destroy the scythe!" snapped Alpha.

"Maybe I don't, but I didn't destroy it," said Spike, "I just sent it somewhere you'll never find it."

A few realities away...

Princess Luna said calmly, "Wherever Spike is, he's definitely having an interesting time."

Celestia stared numbly at the large scythe embedded in the back of her throne, an inch from her head.

"Well, I rather like the design of this one. I think I may keep it," said Loona.

Celestia blinked out of her shock, "And what makes you think you can claim this weapon?"

"Because I call dibs," said Loona.

"I- ooh, cursed sister code," grumbled Celestia.

The rest of the worgen were advancing angrily on Alpha, several of his more loyal members deciding to seek employment elsewhere.

"Don't even try to challenge me," snarled Alpha, "I'm sure still stronger than any one of you curs."

"Maybe, but are you stronger than all of us together?" asked Riplash.

Alpha growled, as the worgen group advanced and they started jumping. Spike winced as he managed to knock down a couple before the sheer numbers dragged him down. This time, Spike turned away. He didn't want to watch the pack as they tore Alpha to bits, nor see what they did with those bits.

It was later...and according to Loona the entire country was going to put itself back together. There was talk about finding old allies in the mountains. For the gang though, Riplash had quickly found the rift, a small clearing near a destroyed bridge, overgrown farmlands seen in the distance...and a strange...ripple in the air, one of several around a large one which Riplash said was the one. Vertox had thrown a few apples into a smaller one before a rock had been thrown back and knocked him out, a note on it saying 'stop throwing apples into our dimension'.

"Are you sure you don't wish to stay?" asked Loona, "You could easily be a better alpha than the last one and you won't need the scythe to have their loyalty."

"Well, I'm not a worgen," said Spike

Loona said jokingly, "Easily solved."

Spike gulped, before looking at Riplash and Scalepaw...no...no they were Alex and Cynder dammit. Even if they were still a bit nuts. He couldn't leave them here. It was bad enough Alex's rifle was somewhere in that damn forest, forgotten. Not to mention, the two of them flirting was really making him feel uncomfortable. Not in an envious way, as he kept telling himself.

Loona was already leaving, dragging her unconscious brother along before he looked at the two. "Are you sure you wanna stay?" he said carefully

"We could do so much good here," said Riplash, "We can help rebuild their society, make it a better one than before."

"It'll be a much better place to raise our pups," said Scalepaw.

Spike sighed. If this failed, he'd probably end up part of this brave new world… "I dunno...maybe if there were some cats?" he said, hoping that some cliches were multiversal, and was rewarded with death glares from the two worgen

"Why would you say that?" asked Riplash in a stern tone.

"Oh, you know how much smarter cats are than dogs," said Spike.

Scalepaw snarled, "Riplash, dear, I vote we show him firsthand why we're best."

Riplash grinned toothily, "Oh, I heartily agree."

"Uh, you are going to give me a headstart, right?" asked Spike.

The two smirked, saying in unison, "Nope!" Spike flew for the rift with them in pursuit...

...and all three falling out in a heap in the mall, Riplash and Scalepaw writhing as they rapidly shifted back. Alex blinked. "I had the weirdest dream," he said in a dazed voice.

"Yeah, I bet it was," said Spike.

Alex sat and looked about. Then he looked down and asked, "What happened to my boots?"

Cynder blinked, sitting up, wincing, before she frowned...dragon minds are far more capable of keeping memories...and the cinema of embarrassment was replaying the last day or so as Scalepaw...and her little...flirtation

Cynder blushed so much her face almost went totally red. That was worse when she was General Cynder with Spike and...and... Now her face was completely red. In fact, her whole head was turning red.

Spike was walking towards her...now what? She winced before seeing him offering a hand. "You coulda doomed me, and Alex, but you didn't," he said with a smile.

"Uh, you're welcome?" squeaked Cynder.

"No, I mean it," said Spike, helping her up.

Alex blinked. "Yeah...yeah...I think I remember that," he said a little dizzily.

"It was nothing," said Cynder weakly.

Spike meanwhile was looking at Alex who finally snapped, "Fine, I won't shoot her...clear she's turned over a new leaf."

The blush drained from Cynder's face. "You mean it?" she asked.

"Would you rather be on parole?" asked Alex.

"Parole?" asked Cynder.

Alex nodded. "An idea from Bunker Hill: we tie you to a pole and roll you down a hill into the river."

"Uh...that's a joke, right?" asked Cynder.

"Not from what I heard. Come on, I need to buy some new boots from Bunker Hill," said Alex.

Cynder sighed as she followed...pausing as she looked at her reflection in an old mirror, a smirking Scalepaw giving her a mock salute. Cynder blinked and rubbed her eyes, seeing her normal reflection.

"Uh, Alex, about what happened back there..." started Cynder.

"It stays back there," said Alex firmly, "We got a bonding experience out of it. As in, we came closer as companions. Platonic companions."

"What he said," said Spike.

"Yeah, of course," said Cynder. There was definitely nothing between her and Alex. Though she wondered how handsome Alex would be as a dragon. No, she pushed that thought to the back of her mind with the others. She still needed to find Spyro. She wanted to face him with as clean a conscience as possible.

Author's Note

There's the next chapter just in time for Halloween. This is where things start taking strange turns. Such as this short crossover into World of Warcraft. Of course, this is not the same timeline as the main game. This is an alternate timeline in which Alpha Prime, aka Ralaar Fangfire, was able to dominate the continent. An interesting note is that this chapter is partly derived from me and my co-authors' multiple attempts to write a WoW story. Though the problem with writing one featuring worgen is that there is very little to work with as Gilneas ceases to be of any importance after the opening arc.

Anyways, there are many changes that are the result of this chapter, not the least of which being that Cynder joins the heroes. Though if you've played the Legend of Spyro games, you'd know it was inevitable. Things are still going to be sporadic for a while, but the next chapter will come eventually. Keep an eye out for it and please review.