Hello Mares and Gentlecolts and welcome to my story…

Chapter 14: Spiked

Darkness, all he could see was a void of blackness, Carnage was lying on the ground on his side, he didn't know where he was as he looked around some more but he knew what was around him, just more blackness.

He gave a large sigh as he was still clueless to where he was exactly; it was hard to tell when you were surrounded by nothing but blackness with no distinguishable landmarks around him, he entertained the idea of actually getting up and taking a look around but then he remembered that there would probably be just more blackness.

He tried to draw his mind back to what he was doing before he got here but he got here but he kept drawing a blank, he remembered a lot of books and purple but that was about it, he figured that he might be here for quite a while with no escape but then he started to hear voice from beyond, "Look at you, your just like us."

As he looked up above him he saw to his horror his three siblings standing above him, they were all talking in unison in a rather creepy way, "Kelly? Melissa? Jack? What are you all doing here?"

The eldest sister had blonde hair and was the only one to get this from their father while the others had black hair from their mother, he could see his brothers shaved head and his sister pigtails and noted that she was in a straightjacket while his brother was wearing prison clothes with his glasses and his eldest sister was wearing a very colourful outfit that could hurt the eyes, they spoke again, "You tried so hard not to end up like us but look at you, your pathetic."

"Well it's nice to see all of you to."

"Why do you pretend, you've failed as a detective and you also managed to push away the only thing you've ever truly loved."

"You know I don't know what you're doing here but I don't need to take this shit from you, why don't we point out your drug addiction Kelly, how about we talk about how you took out your last boyfriends eyes out Melissa or what about how you murdered an innocent father of five children Jack? None of you have any right to judge me so if you'll excuse me…"

Carnage turned around only to end up facing his Father, he was sitting in a wheelchair and was hooked up to a life support machine, he struggled for breath as he took his oxygen mask and spook in a very croaky voice, he looked worse than Carnage remembered, "Son? Why didn't you visit anymore? You were always my favourite child but look at you, why did you not see me anymore? Not even once did you come."

Carnage was shocked; this was different as he always had trouble facing his own father, "D-d-dad? God I'm s-s-sorry I just… it was just…"

"Do you hate me son? Do you blame me for what happened to your mother?"

"What! No! It was just… it was just that I…"

Another voice called out from beside him, "That's right isn't it son? You blame him for my death don't you? My how much of a disappointment you have become."

He recognised that voice, it was all too familiar, he slowly inched his neck towards his side and saw his mother before him, "Mother!?"

"Oh yes my child, you couldn't solve the case and you've let an entire world down, you pretty much got yourself killed and you were fucking a pony, you were meant to be the one to drag our name out of the mud but instead you've pushed it down further."

Then one final voice called out to him, "Why can't you love me?"

Rainbow was now in front of him wearing what looked like a torn up wedding dress, "Why do you have to leave me? Without you I'm now useless, I used to be so strong, I was the element of loyalty but then I started to betray my friends for you, because of you I was even willing to let other ponies die just so I could keep you here, what have you done to me?"

All the memories came flooding back to him and he remembered what happened with Spike and before what happened with Dash, "God Skittles I'm so sorry…"

"Shut up! You don't get to call me that, I hate you!"

He was now surrounded; they were all beginning to close in around him, he could feel their breath against him as they completely invaded their personal space, Carnage had no clue about what was going on or how to combat this but then he could hear a voice behind him and for some reason it was singing the Time Warp.

"I remember doing the time warp,

Drinking those moments when,

The blackness would hit me,

And a voice would be calling…

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!

LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

The people surrounding him turned towards the direction of the voice and they started to back away from Carnage, this allowed him to see exactly who it was and it nearly blew his mind, it was him, him as a human being but he looked the same as he did in the reflection a while back, the other Carnage stopped singing and spoke just like the pony Carnage used to, always with a joke, "Alright folks let's not let this turn into an episode of the Jerry Springer show, skedaddle on back to crazy town all of you."

They did as they were told, they seemed afraid of this Carnage, human Carnage approached Pony Carnage, "Wow those people were crazy, man I remember when I was a pony, damn Rainbow Dash was hot, trust me bro I've seen as a human and believe me you will be thanking god she's straight I mean holy shit bro she is beyond hot, also her cutie mark turns into the hottest little tattoo on her but."

This human Carnage seemed to be a lot like what pony Carnage used to be even the singing was down to key, "This isn't an important question but why were you singing the Time Warp?"

"Well why not? It is kind of appropriate since I am kind of from the future and all but you know it was either that or the Doctor Who theme song and you can't really sing the Doctor Who theme song you would just really be making noises and…"

"Hang on there; did you just say you are from the future?"

"You are correct good sir! Here's your prize… OXYGEN!"

The human Carnage attempted to hand pony Carnage air which didn't really seem to work, pony Carnage was now completely lost at this point and couldn't seem to get anything coherent out of his human counterpart, "Alright let me ask you one question, where are we?"

"Well that's rather difficult to explain but I'm talking to you on an astral plain in your sub-conscious, this was the only time I could get to you."

"But why would you even be here and what the hell was that back there?"

"Well you were having a nightmare and me being you I understand that it must have been a hell of a scary but you see…"

"Wait, hang on a second, your eyes and your teeth, what happens to us?"

Human Carnage's teeth were razor sharp and his eyes looked like a pair of crocodile eyes, "I can't tell you all, all I can tell you is to trust your instincts but listen closely, I need to tell you something."

The human Carnage got down on his knee to face his past counterpart, "Look this whole broody thing and having trouble letting people in thing is something you're going to seriously regret, this isn't the real you."

Pony Carnage steeped back a little and gave human Carnage a funny look, "What do you mean, this is the real me."

"No it's not, I'm you remember so don't try to kid yourself, look we make a lot of friends down the road but they all die because we can't accept who we really are, you have to embrace you and stop pretending to be someone you're not."

Pony Carnage started to shake his head trying to block out his other self out, "I can't… I just can't."

"I know why you do this, it isn't really about us believing that we should have died there, it's really because we don't know if we deserve the honour to be the kind of hero this power grants us, we think are silly and fun loving personality just doesn't work but I know that are personality doesn't hold us back, we are a hero because we embrace us and now you have to do that to stop Spike."

"But how, how do I stop Spike?"

"The Doctor said I couldn't say too much but I believe in me and the people I love around me and now you have to do the same."

"Wait, the Doctor?"

"Whoops spoilers, sorry I can't say anymore but trust me that if you embrace yourself then you'll be fine, oh and by the way don't worry about never finding that special someone, there's a wonderful blue haired woman waiting for you my friend and trust me when I say that she's a keeper."

Human Carnage gave his pony counterpart a wink and got right in his face, "Now that's enough sleep from you it's time to wake up… wake up… wake up… wake up…"

---

"Wake up… Wake up Carnage!"

Carnage was finally fully awoken by a slap to the face, standing above him was a much larger Spike who seemed to be enjoying his growth, "Well your finally awake, good I'm getting hungry and I wanted to talk you before I went to the gala."

Carnage tried to get off the chair he was sitting on only to find that he was tied to it, he struggled a little but quickly realised that there was no way he could break free from his binds, his only reaction to this was, "Meh, I've woken up in worse situations before."

Spike let out a low threatening chuckle, "Heh, glad to hear it, then I can make it worse."

"You know I must say that you seem very different from the helpful little dragon that I met, what changed?"

"Oh trust me I've been like this for a little while now, my original craving that turned me into a massive dragon in the first place and meeting other dragons has helped with my new outlook.

"Oh really? Well please do tell I'm all ears but first where is Twilight?"

Spike stepped out of the way and now Carnage could see Twilight who was also tied to a chair opposite him, she didn't look great and it appeared that she couldn't even use her magic so she couldn't be any help in getting out that's for sure, she talked in a quiet tone and she looked somewhat abused, "Spike, how could you? It was you all along I thought…"

"Oh get off your high horse Twi, you could have made this so much easier for yourself but no, you had to go and say stuff like 'I would never betray the princess' well where did that get you, a load of pain that's what."

Carnage was cross but didn't show it, he wondered if this new personality was taking over already, "And what exactly did you do with her?"

"Patience Carnage, I'll tell you soon but first I thought you wanted to know what led up to all of this, well I've got a minute or two to kill so why not."

Carnage didn't respond he just waited for Spike to get on with what would most likely be a very self-absorbed tale, "As I said I had a major growth spurt because of some apparent greed crap which was stopped by Rarity, it seemed afterwards that me and Rarity could have been something…"

Twilight spoke up, "Um spike, you do remember you're still a baby dragon don't you? Technically that would be kind of creepy."

"Hey shut up! No it wouldn't it… anyway I thought me and Rarity could have been something you know, me being the dashing Dragon I am and I decide to pop over there one day and confess my love to her but guess what I found…"

Carnage spoke "Probably Rarity and Fluttershy making out or something like that."

"No your wrong that's… actually right, how did you know that?"

Twilight spoke up to, "What Rarity and Fluttershy are together?"

Carnage explained, "I thought it was obvious, when I first met Rarity she had a very tiny yellow feather in her hair, it wasn't visible to anypony unless they were looking, and no I didn't think she planted any evidence as it appeared she would have to roll around in feathers to get it stuck like that… if you know what I mean, also when Fluttershy and Rarity met at the hospital they seemed… closer than anypony else."

Twilight looked visibly shocked, "I can't believe it and this whole time I thought Dash was the fillyfooler."

Spike continued his rant "You were all so easily fooled by the innocent little dragon act, even that stupid owl with his who this and his who that, all of you thought I was always just a helpful guy."

Carnage interrupted him during his tirade, "I was always a little suspicious but to tell you the truth I dismissed it because you are a child, you see Twilight children can't really comprehend death and I bet you Spike still can't, this is all a game to him because he's trying to play big adult dragon, now I can also ascertain why you killed Owloysius, it was purely personal unlike the others who were needed for your spell."

Spike continued, "I remember meeting the other dragons, I tried to stay good and return the phoenix egg but what did that get me, I realised that after I left, the only reason I put up with the owl was because I couldn't survive on my own at the time and I needed a place to stay but when I got the chance I knocked him out of the equation, anyway I stumbled across the book two days before I killed Bon-Bon when doing a stupid dusting job for Twilight, the idea of all the gems I could ever eat was intoxicating and then I accidentally came across a crying Bon-bon at night when I was trying to clear my head, I remembered one of the ingredients and I spontaneously killed her, it would have been a waste if I didn't take the hoof and an even bigger waste if I didn't finish the potion. "

"You mean you were competing for mommies love with an owl, although your still a child you have lost your innocence, I should've learned to not take your age into account like that, lessons from my world show that you're never too young or old to be a killer."

Spike ignored Carnage but something about what Carnage said set Twilights brain off, "Wait did you say my world, you're not from our world?"

"It's a long story Twi, you see…"

Spike was the one with the interruptions this time, "He is from another world and was given an offer to jump from world to world or die, he's a human isn't that right Marty?"

Carnage didn't react in the way Spike was hoping for, Carnage just simply nodded with a smile on his face, "He's right, I was never a pony until I got here so we can add eavesdropping on conversations to your list of offensives, so let's get to the point and tell me what you forced poor Twilight to do against her will."

Twilight looked down in shame, it clearly wasn't something she wanted to do, Spike just laughed at this but Carnage pressed him for info, "I've already figured that the final ingredient involves an Alicorn, they're the only type of pony not accounted for in the ingredients but why did Twilight need to cast a spell."

Twilight spoke up, "He told me, he's blended the body parts down and he forced me to cast the spell but the final step is to have an Alicorn drink it, their horn will start to blast magic involuntarily and anypony caught by the magic will gain the ability to turn anything they want into gems by a single touch, he says that he's going to give it to Celestia and claim that its wine and…"

Spikes brain had caught up to him and he slapped Twilight across the face, "That's enough from you; I had to torture you to cast that spell, don't make me do it to teach you some obedience."

The thought of Spike torturing Twilight was not a pleasant one in Carnages mind and he thought it must have involved Twilights horn but he cast this thought a side and focused on the elephant in the room, "The one thing that's now sticking out in my mind Spike is why you haven't killed us yet?"

Spike gave a devious grin, he clearly was not the dragon he once was, Carnage imagined he might have genuinely been there just to help Twilight who he most likely saw as a mother but it appeared that his innocent mind started to deteriate since the arrival of Owloysius and now he was most likely a shell of his former self, "Actually I was going to kill you Carnage but then I got the brilliant idea of devouring you once I turn you into gems, call that my own little personal thank you for making this all so difficult for me, as for Twilight I guess I could always use an assistant."

Carnage fired back, "You really mean a slave."

"What's the difference; I was treated the same way."

"Don't kid yourself Spike, you were given chores like a mother would give her child to teach them hard work, at the end of the day you're an ungrateful little shit whose let down his mother, that's what this really is isn't it, ever since you killed Bon-bon in a random passionate moment you knew you let Twilight down, the mare that's raised you all your life since the day you were hatched according to Dash and you know you've let her down so to block out the pain you try to fill it with gems and that's what this is, she may not be your mother biologically but she is spiritually and that's what really matters."

Twilight spoke with tears forming in her eyes, "Spike is that true?

For a moment Carnage could see the old Spike return in his dragon eyes but he knew words wouldn't work, Spike shook his head and screamed, "Screw all of you, I'm now in charge and it's about time I show you that Carnage!"

Spike grabbed a book off a bookshelf close to him and started flicking through it, "You know ever since I heard that you were this thing called a human when I overheard your conversation at Dash's house and I remembered a little spell I once came across."

Spike found the page he was looking for and showed it to Carnage, it was a spell entitled 'Re-morphing' , Spike explained, "You see this spell reverts anypony who has changed into something else however its only intended for ponies so let's see what it does to a human."

He put the book down in front of Twilight and commanded her, "Cast it."

"No Spike I can't, I'm still hurt and I don't know what it will… AHHHHHHH!"

Spike got one clawed hand and started to cut lightly the base of Twilights horn and pressed his other claw into her spine which looked like a brutally uncomfortable position, Carnage called out to her, "It's alright Twi, just do it okay."

Twilight didn't need any more convincing, with that she cast the spell which immediately hit Carnage, he blacked out for a moment and when his eyes readjusted he suddenly felt… bigger, he got a small look at himself and saw he now had hands and he was a pink colour like before, Spike grabbed a mirror and practically shoved it in Carnages face, he was human again for the most part, his eyes looked like lizard eyes and his teeth were defiantly sharper but the thing that fazed Carnage was the fact that he wasn't just wearing his hat, he was also wearing the clothes he had before he arrived at this world, "The hell, why am I wearing my clothes?"

Twilight sounded weaker than before when she spoke, "They must have morphed with your body when you arrived here."

Spike looked disgusted, "Eugh, humans are ugly."

Carnage retorted, "You're not exactly a catch yourself, you manage to turn ponies into lesbians just at the sight of you."

Spike looked genuinely annoyed but then he saw the time, "Well I can't waste any more time, I'll return once I've taken over Equestria, if I get big enough and takeout the princesses then there will be nopony to stop me, oh and Carnage, I'll be sure to tell Rainbow Dash hi from you."

Something in Carnage finally snapped at that comment, "Don't you touch her you fucking piece of shit!"

Spike just laughed and knocked off Carnages hat, he then took his leave from the library, Carnage waited till he heard the front door close and then he started to laugh to himself, Twilight was upset by this, "How can you laugh now? Spike's going to gain immense power, likely turn the princesses into gem statues and devour them and take over Equestria, why are you laughing?"

"Because Twilight, were going to stop him."

"But how, were tied up and I can barely do a levitation spell right now."

Carnage didn't say anything, all he did was stand up and the much smaller chair crumbled into pieces, Twilight realised that Carnage was now much bigger as he broke her binds and set her free, Carnage said as he picked up his hat, "Wow, it appears I'm stronger now too, anyway lets be off, we have a planet to save from an incredibly greedy dragon."

"But how, Spike now has wings and is flying there while we can't take the train."

"Well we do have the balloon outside, c'mon Twilight we have no time to lose."

With that the two of them headed off towards the balloon which Carnage parked next to the library, both were hoping in their minds that they weren't too late.

Next chapter the final showdown!

Again say what you liked and what you didn't like, it will only help me get better as a writer ;) and a like would also be greatly appreciated, thank you.