Chapter 4: Climbing Up The Ladder

----- “I ain’t doin this shit.”

-Madam, as I’ve told you several times already, we require your report on---

“The fucking caribou? What do you want me to say exactly? Should I tell you how they raped me several times a day? How they used their dark magic to turn me into a red collar for almost three years? What they did to all those who disobeyed them in any way? How many families were destroyed beyond repair?”

*Loud banging noise*

“Or maybe you want me to tell you backstabbing motherfukers how many suicides we have each day back in Equestria. Perhaps you’re just curious about how hard is for a female to even glance at a male without breaking down crying and screaming. It could be possible you just want to have a reason to laugh even more at our misery; since you did so for so long.”

-That’s not what hap---

“What does it matter now anyways? We won, the caribou are near the point of extinction and in a few years they’ll be. All of you should be thanking us….and him….for getting rid of them.”

*Ten second long pause*

“You want a report? Then here it is.”

*Door opens*

“Fuck the caribou and fuck you all.”

*Door slams shut*---------

---------------- Major Harshwhinny of the ‘Rise of Equestria’ Army, Report on the Caribou------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------- “..........Spike did good.”

-Could you please elaborate?-

“Spike did bad.”

-What do you mean by that?-

“Spike saved me.”

-A….are you alright?-

“Spike saved her.”

-.......Who?-

“Spike did many things. He laughed and sang killing caribou left and right; he was death to them and they trembled in fright. But he saved her and everyone else, me included.”

*Seven second long pause.*

“I don’t know what he did or what price he paid to get his power, but he knew how to use it.”

*Chair shifts*

“I must be going now, Fluttershy is going to wake up soon.”

*Finger snap*------

-----Discord the God of Chaos, Report on Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’.------

--------------------------------------------------------------

*Ponyville, Two years and eight months into the Fall, Castle of Spike*

“Does your useless brains understand what you must do, sluts?” Spike said to half a dozen black collar mares in front of him while Twilight stood at his side.

“Yes, Master,” the mares responded in unison.

“I doubt it, but that’s why my top bitch is here for, to make sure you don’t fuck up,” Spike said while petting Twilight a few times making her smile sweetly.

“You can count on me, Master,” Twilight said eagerly while a dildo shaped like his shaft buzzed between her legs.

“I know I can,” Spike pulled her mane back making Twilight yelp in surprise before leaning and kiss her soundly. After a few seconds he broke the kiss and withdrawing his long tongue from her throat. “Make sure everything is ready once I come back and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you cum more than once tonight,” Spike said before smacking one of her buttocks.

“Yes, Master!” Twilight said with a fierce blush on her face and dumb, eager smile.

Spike pet Twilight one more time before opening the gates of his castle and walk out.

Once he was outside he saw a carriage surrounded by no less than thirty caribou, pony, diamond dog and zebra guards; most of them being heavily armored caribou ones.

He made his way to the carriage and two zebra guards opened the doors for him to enter without problems. “Move quickly, driver, chief Gunne is expecting me in less than three hours,” Spike said once he was inside.

“Of course, sir,” the caribou driver said. “All right, let’s move out!” the driver shouted just before the carriage began to move and the sound of marching guards around him reached his ears.

Spike closed his eyes, leaned back in his seat and smirked.

After about two hours the carriage suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong, scouts?” the driver asked.

“There’s a pile of pony corpses; around twenty, all males, blocking the way just a hundred meters ahead,” someone responded. “All of them fresh. Also, we found this box next to them, sir.”

“Let me see,” the driver said before something was opened. “Damn it all!” the driver shouted just as the sound of a wooden object hit the floor. “Circle formation!” the driver shouted again making the guards obey and take their positions.

Spike smiled internally. “Is everything alright, driver?” Spike asked with a hint of worry in his voice. “Can I help?

“Stay inside the carriage, my lord,” the driver said in an odd mix of anger and respect. “Boleg, move your ass now!”

“Yes, sir!” someone said a few seconds before the doors of the carriage opened and a caribou guard entered it. Once inside the doors closed again and the caribou sat in front of the dragon. “Don’t worry, my lord, I’ll protect you!”

“From what exactly…..Boleg was it?” the caribou nodded. “What’s going on out there?”

“An ambush, my lord. We thought this road was outside the reach of those changeling bastards and heretical rebels, but we were cowardly deceived by them,” the caribou said nervously. “My apologies for putting your life in danger, my lord.”

“They dare to attack us?” Spike asked hearing nothing but an uneasy silence outside the carriage. “Everything sounds silent to me,” Spike said gulping down loudly.

Bolg didn’t say anything and instead sat unmoving and in silence. Spike did the same for ten whole minutes.

“At ease, they must be long gone by now,” the driver said making several sighs of relief echo around the carriage. “Let’s continue,” the driver said making the carriage start moving again. “Boleg, stay with lord Spike just in ca--eerrrllgggh--” the driver was cut off just a moment before loud screeching noises, bolts of magic and shouts of fury emerged from all around.

“Fucking rebels!” Boleg cursed loudly while screams and the clashing of metal began outside the carriage.

“Let’s go and help them!” Spike said trying to reach the doors of the carriage only to be stopped by Boleg. “What’re you doing!?”

“They must be after you, my lord, let us handle them!” Boleg said just as something heavy hit the side of the carriage with enough force to make it sway abruptly. “Damn!”

“Kill those blaspheming traitors and protect lord Spike at all costs!” someone outside yelled earning eager shouts of bravado.

Spike remained still and silent as the battle outside carried on.

Cries of pain, shouts of anger, clashing of metal and flesh being torn or bones being smashed, curses and swearing; all of it drifted through the air and entered Spike’s ear fins.

Boleg, too focused on his task to watch over the doors while gripping his battle axe tightly, never noticed the slight trembling of Spike of the tiniest of smirks on his lips.

The battle raged on for just a few more minutes until the doors of the carriage were opened abruptly; both of them sent flying by something incredibly strong. Boleg lunged the moment he saw two changelings taking a peek inside, but he was suddenly stopped by something wrapping around his neck.

Boleg fell backwards hitting the floor of the carriage with a loud thud; he opened his eyes just a few instants later to find Spike looking down at him with a neutral expression. Before he could say anything three changelings grabbed him by his legs and was harshly dragged out of the carriage. Boleg cursed and shouted while the changelings kept on dragging him to an unknown location.

Moments later Spike step out of the carriage and saw several corpses laying all around, most of them belonging to his previous guards. Taking a quick glance around he saw a zebra, a diamond dog and three pony guards taking off their armor while being checked by some buffalo chamans. They stopped for a moment when they saw him; the five of them shared a look of surprise and disbelief before giving him a faint smile.

Spike smiled back just before a changeling, a male, clad in a very intimidating chitin like armor approached and salute him.

“Sir, on behalf of our queen, we thank you for the information provided onto us,” the changeling said in their usual, strange hissy tone.

“Not a problem, but what took you so long? I was beginning to think something had happened to you,” Spike said handing out his hand before the changeling took it.

“Our apologies, sir, we did not count on their advance party.”

“Any Fakers among them?” Spike asked concerned.

“Negative, all of them were Enslaved and Corrupted; we had no choice but to kill them all.”

Spike nodded. “How many casualties?” Spike asked looking around the corpses, most of them being stripped from their valuable possessions by changeling soldiers and pony rebels. Spike stopped for a moment to see the corpse of a caribou that had an axe, probably his own, stuck in his head.

“Thanks to your information, sir, we only lost eight of our own, two of them ponies and a griffon, but we managed to rescue all of the Fakers in this group. Also, we captured two caribou and made sure to….kill….-- Sir, is everything alright?” the changeling asked noticing Spike wasn’t paying him any attention.

Spike, for his part, brought up his hands and looked at his palms and claws, closing and opening them slowly.

I have yet to kill another caribou since that time and yet. Spike frowned and clenched his hands. I still can’t feel anything. Heck, even killing those damn monstrosities in the forest make me feel something; mostly revulsion at them, but that’s still something.

“Sir?” the changeling asked a bit concerned.

“Tell me, soldier, what do you feel when you kill one of these caribou assholes?” Spike asked in a neutral tone but without looking at him.

“It’s a hard feeling to explain, sir. We changelings are very emotional, as you know, but the caribou are like nothing we’ve encountered before,” the changeling said while Spike just stared at his fists. “I have killed ponies, griffons and even ursas in the past and the wave of pain, desperation, anger and other similar feelings that streams across me when I kill is powerful; sometimes too much to bear for an untrained mind.”

“We are also great warriors, we train from an early age to ignore and withstand that wave of emotions. But with the caribou the feeling I experience whenever I kill one of them is one of….emptiness.”

“Emptiness?” Spike asked still staring at his now unclenched hands.

“Let me elaborate, sir. The feelings are still there but they feel weak and hollow, if you could experience it like we do it might be something similar to cutting yourself, even though you see the cut you don’t feel pain; just a slight ardor at most. That’s what my brothers, sisters and I feel when we kill a caribou, sir.”

Spike finally looked up to the changeling again; his expression and his emotional aura unreadable to the changeling.

“Take me to the prisoners,” Spike ordered.

“Right this way, sir,” the changeling said turning to his right side and walking towards the left side of the road. Just a few seconds later they found the two caribou prisoners, stripped out of their armor and weapons, being bounded without much difficulty. “Here they are, sir,” the changeling said at the same time he made some hand signals making his troops stop and force the caribou to kneel.

“Fucking *cough* t-traitor!” Boleg cursed loudly. “How can you take side with them!?”

Spike kneeled in front of Boleg while the other guard made pained groans. “I’m a traitor alright, but not to you, Harald, Gunne, the caribou or that fucker of Dainn,” Spike said emotionlessly.

“ *violent coughing* C-curse you, you damnable heretic,” Boleg said venomously.

“I prefer Faker, fucker,” suddenly Spike plunged his claws into Boleg’s stomach making him scream in pain. “......Hmm,” Spike drove his claws deeper inside the caribou who tried to free himself but was held in place by three changeling soldiers. Slowly, Spike dragged his claws upward the torso of the caribou; uncaring for his screaming or the blood running down his forearm.

The meat is warm and soft, almost juicy. The blood feels icky but strangely comfortable, just like the mud baths at the spa. And the smell is, what was that word again? Ah, yes, delectable………..I wonder….... Spike thought retreating his claws back, uncaring for the strings of muscle, skin and fur they dragged. He closed his blood stained hand for a few moments before smirking darkly.

“Soldier.”

“Yes, sir?” the changeling behind him responded unfazed by the dragon’s actions.

“What’s your rank?”

“Captain, sir.”

“Are you in direct charge?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Tell me captain, do you need these prisoners alive?”

“No, sir.” the changeling captain took a step forward. “Do you require a weapon, sir?”

“No, but thank you, captain,” Spike got up and took a few steps to his left side to be in front of the other prisoner. “Release him,” the changelings holding the caribou obeyed and the caribou hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. Spike took a step forward before raising his left leg, he then pressed his feet against caribou’s head making him groan incoherently. A second later he rose his leg again; before he stomped the head of the caribou with such force that the ground below formed a small crater.

The awful crushing and crunching noise the head made was soon followed by bits and pieces of it flying and splattering around the area randomly.

Boleg forgot his own pain for a moment while he saw the body of his fellow caribou spasming and twitching erratically. He didn’t even noticed Spike moving in front of him again until he felt his claws piercing the sides of his torso.

“AAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!” Boleg screamed in agony instantly. He kept on screaming for a good long minute before the pain dimmed down enough for him to look directly at Spike’s eyes. “Y-you woarrrg! You won’t defeat our king, the greatest male in the world!” Boleg coughed some blood, some of it landing on Spike’s face, before he gave Spike a crazed smile. “T-there’s nothing *pained groan* that can stop us!”

Spike let go of his sides to then place his right hand oh Boleg’s left shoulder and his left hand atop his head. He tilted Boleg’s head to the right using his left hand before giving Boleg his biggest toothy smile; making Boleg freeze in fear.

“I shall find a way,” Spike said with hatred right before snapping his jaw as far as he could and taking a massive bite at Boleg’s exposed neck and part of his clavicle. Boleg couldn’t even scream and settled for crying out wordlessly. Letting go of the convulsing caribou, Spike got up while he munched on the meat, blood and bone meal that filled his mouth with ease.

Seconds later he spit out the contents of his mouth on top of Boleg.

“Captain, have you ever -excuse me-” Spike opened his mouth letting orange flames cover the insides of it completely for a few seconds, he then spit a few times to the ground. “Sorry, the fur was stuck. As I was saying captain, have you ever heard the byword ‘It tastes better than it smells’?”

“Y-yes I have, sir,” the changeling captain said disgusted by Spike’s action.

“Oh snap, I forgot you changelings don’t eat meat! Sorry,” Spike smiled apologetically. “Anyway, it applies here but playing the other way around. Their taste is awful,” Spike looked down at his blood stained arms, chest and legs and grunted. “Do you have something to wash this shit off in your camp?”

“Of course, sir,” the captain said before pulling out a black cloth from within his armor. “We must depart now, sir, I believe you were informed by Mr. Rich?”

“Yeah, he told me,” he closed his eyes before the captain wrapped the blindfold. “By the way, I didn’t saw a single female in your group, is there any particular reason to that?”

“Just orders, sir,” the captain hissed something out. “Burn the corpses and take everything of value back to the camp, make sure to cover our tracks,” the captain said before receiving a hiss and a ‘Yes’ in response.

Spike felt a chain of magic wrap around on each of his wrists before being lightly pulled; he followed the tugs onward, letting the changelings guide him to his destination. Spike smiled letting the last look of utter fearon Boleg’s eyes combined with his screams of pain sink in.

It felt rather nice, actually.

***Some Time Later***

“We’ve arrived, sir,” the changeling captain said while he took the cloth off of Spike’s eyes.

Spike opened and closed his eyes several times to adjust his vision. A few seconds later his vision had returned noticing that he, along the captain and six more changelings around him, were inside a cave illuminated only by changeling magic.

Before he could ask where he was the captain hissed three times and a nearby wall disappeared in a shimmer of green.

“Welcome to our central hive, sir,” the captain said walking inside the secret entrance along with Spike and the rest of the changelings.

Whoa, now that is seriously big Spike thought seeing the vast interior of the changeling hive illuminated by several green camp fires, tents, some black buildings scattered around and the blue lights hanging from the ceiling and walls. I bet this room alone is half the size of Ponyville, maybe more, this is definitely not a rebel camp.

“Let me guess, orders?” Spike asked.

“Yes, but fear not, sir, you are our queen’s guest and so is your contact,” the captain said leading the way down a series of stairways. Once they reached the bottom the group halted. “You may wash yourself in those pools over there, sir. We will wait for you here, please hurry,” the captain said pointing to a circular small pool of green goo.

Spike grunted before jumping inside the pool. After five minutes or so he came out clean of blood. Two changelings used their magic to pull away the residual goo clinging to Spike. Then he was presented a large black cloak with a hood, Spike sighed and put it on wordlessly.

The changeling captain opened his mouth but Spike raised a cloaked hand in front of him making him stop.

“I don’t want to know what that thing is, I could feel it in places not even water can reach, and I know why I must wear this thing. Just take me to see my contact,” Spike said standing side by side the captain.

The captain nodded and the group resumed their march. While they were walking, Spike began to appreciate the hive he was in before reaching a small black wall guarded by a minotaur cow and a griffon. They stepped aside allowing the party to pass freely to the camp.

Spike saw many species walking around the camp attending to their respective chores, most of them females wearing armor of some kind. Most of them, males and females, were changeling or pony but there were also several diamond dogs, zebras, donkeys, griffons, minotaurs and even some crystal ponies. He also saw a few children playing or helping their parents or guardians with their chores. But what struck a nice warm feeling in his stomach was seeing males and females alike; all working together and even some couples around. He focused for a moment on an earth pony stallion kissing a changeling mare while they hugged each other close.

His lips curled into a smile.

He kept on walking until they reached the biggest building connected to a black shiny wall. Another four changeling guards step aside when they came close; using their magic to open up the gates before them. They entered without problems, a moment later the doors closed behind them. Spike let out a small sigh and took off his hood.

“S...Spike?”

A chill ran down his spine upon hearing, and recognizing, that voice.

Spike stopped dead on his track, turned to his right side and saw no other than Applejack standing a couple of meters away, wearing her traditional stetson hat and a set of black chitin armor, looking at him like she was seeing a ghost.

“Applejack,” Spike said barely louder than a whisper. The two of them stood still like statues looking at each other for what felt like an eternity. Then, with no warning, Applejack rushed forward and gave the dragon the biggest bear hug she could muster.

“Spike!” Applejack shouted happily. “Ah can’t believe it!” she said before she felt the dragon struggle violently against her embrace, she let go only for Spike to fall to his knees before vomiting his stomach out. She took a step or two back letting him continue with a sad expression on her face. A few moments later Spike was done and slowly got up.

“Ah’m sorry, Spike. Ah…..Ah didn’t mean tah…..” Applejack said narrowing her eyes in shame.

“Don’t *cough* don’t apologize, Applejack. At least now I know I still have *cough* a c-conscience,” Spike said looking at Applejack apologetically. “It’s me who should be sorry…..for all I did to you…..for what I’m doing…….for what….for what I didn’t do…..I’m sorry, so, so sorry,” Spike said letting tears form in his eyes.

“It ain’t yer fault, sugarcube,” Applejack said in a low tone, almost whispering. A moment of tense silence followed, broken only by the soft murmurs from those few around them. She glanced for at her sides quickly before looking up to the dragon again. “Can Ah?”

“O-of course, I’m ready this time,” Spike said letting Applejack close the distance between them and hug him. Spike tensed up for a second but soon relaxed, returning the hug with gusto.

“How are the black- Damn it!......I mean, how are the girls you’ve rescued doing?” Spike said still embracing Applejack.

“Good, fer the most part, some can’t handle the pressure or the memories,” Applejack said running a hand across Spike’s spines. “And the guys yall been getting out are also helping out a great lot.”

“What about the re---the other girls?” Spike said holding Applejack closer.

“We keep ‘em inside Chrysalis’s castle, all the way down the dungeons; they can be pretty darn dangerous I tells yah,” Applejack sighed sadly. “At least some have broken free from the dark magic thing and Zecora sends us potions tah try tah remove that darn brainwash, but so far, nothin’,’” Applejack chuckled without a drop of emotion. “Zecora is so brave and so is Cheerilee…...and yah too, Spike.”

Spike pulled away from their embrace softly.

“Me? Brave? I’m everything but, Applejack. If I truly were brave then I should be here fighting the caribou like you; not sitting on a throne fulfilling the wishes of the fucker king,” another moment of silence followed.

“Now listen here mister, yall saved plenty of people doin’ what yah do…….and yah saved me, too,” Applejack leaned in to give Spike a quick kiss on his cheek. “Ah don’t wanna hear yah belittle yerself like that again, yah hear?” Spike darted his eyes downward. “Yah better get going, sugarcube,” Applejack said finally breaking their embrace. “Ah’ll talk tah yah later, alright?”

“Sure.”

Applejack stood in her place as Spike turned around and continue his walk with the rest of his party, whom had waited patiently for him to finish up. The few onlookers, all of them soldiers and guards, around them also began to dissipate, most of them still whispering about what had just happened.

Spike took a last glance at Applejack before reaching the entrance of a building carved into the side wall. The doors opened and the party walked in, moments later the doors closed behind them with a loud *clung*.

“Sir?” the captain said.

“Yeah?” Spike said in a neutral tone while he touched the cheek Applejack had kissed.

“What commander Applejack said is true,” the captain said before moving once again.

Spike didn’t respond and instead covered his head with the hood.

The rest of their trip was past in silence.

*Twenty minutes later*

“Your contact is waiting for you inside this room, sir,” the captain said using his magic to open two black doors revealing an ample room, a large table, chairs and two figures sitting at the far end of the table.

Spike stepped in taking off the hood of his cloak, he instantly recognized the figure sitting in the center as non other than Chrysalis; wearing a mix between a long dress and deep blue armor if he was right. The other figures was covered in a cloak just like his own sitting at Chrysalis left side. Spike made his way until he reached the right side of Chrysalis, the queen of the changelings not even bothering to glance his way, sat down and the doors finally closed.

There was a moment of silence. “You must be Filthy’s contact in Canterlot, right?” Spike asked to the still cloaked figure ignoring Chrysalis all together. “Who are you? Do I even know you?”

“Yes. Yes you do, Spike,” the figure said in a masculine yet prim and proper tone.

That voice, it can’t be, Spike thought recognizing the voice with some disbelief.

The hood of the cloaked figure was pulled back revealing a white coated unicorn stallion with a perfectly brushed yellow mane and baby blue eyes.

“Or perhaps I should start calling you ‘cousin’?” Blueblood said with a faint smile while Spike was seemingly frozen in his seat.

“B--b--but I…..I thought…...you…...Dainn……” Spike mumbled out.

“That surprised, huh? Take your time to calm down,” Blueblood said letting Spike organize his head for a minute or two. Spike finally rubbed his forehead with both hands before letting out a loud, heartless chortle.

“Now I understand why Filthy didn’t told me it was you, Blueblood.”

“Don’t be upset with Mr. Rich, Spike, it was I who asked him not to tell you. It was also I who asked him to appoint this meeting,” Blueblood said neutrally.

“Wait a moment, how can you be here? Shouldn’t you be at Gunne’s party right about now?” Spike asked remembering the excuse he had used to come.

“And I am,” Blueblood used his left hand to point at Chrysalis sitting in between them. “Her majesty, queen Chrysalis, was the one who has made possible this reunion, Spike. One of her best agents has taken my place for the moment.”

“Are you sure we can trust the dragon, Blueblood?” Chrysalis said looking at Blueblood questionly. “How can we be sure he won’t be caught or betray us?”

“Because I won’t!” Spike said slamming the table in sudden rage, making even the changeling queen jump a bit in surprise. “Chrysalis…..last time I saw you was during the wedding and ever since then I’ve held nothing but anger and fear for you and your race.”

“But after I was freed from the caribou hold and learnt you were helping us, even if it’s for your own benefice,” Spike got up, took a step backward and quickly kneeled. “I….I’ve wanted to thank you….t-thank you for fighting th-the caribou back,” Spike said letting his voice crack a couple of times.

Chrysalis looked down at him, savoring his feelings for a few seconds, then she sighed. “Get up already, dragon,” Spike did so, slowly taking his seat again. “Tell me, dragon, have you any idea what you’ve done so far?”

“Besides doing exactly what Dainn wants? I don’t know,” Spike said almost if hurt.

“Exactly that, Spike,” Blueblood said making Spike look up to him in confusion. “I believe you know by now I’m one of Dainn’s trusted advisors, right?”

“Yes, he….he told me.”

“Spike,” Blueblood and Chrysalis shared a short glance. “You may not know it but you’re the first pony, dragon or person to get that close to Dainn, ever, except for Discord but, sadly, he is….Corrupted, just like Shining,” Blueblood said with slight vexation.

“I...I am?” Spike said surprised. “What about others who have ‘proved’ themselves? What about you?” Blueblood’s expression turned sour and sad.

“They are worthless to Dainn’s eyes and, as you can probably guess by now, I’m a Faker, but I…..I….I fake being an Embracer; that’s why Dainn trusts me enough to be one of his advisers,” Spike did a double take. “Have you heard the tale of how Dainn defeated my aunts and Twilight Sparkle?”

How could I not?

“Nothing but lies!” Chrysalis said before Spike could respond. “He ‘defeated’ them alright, but for such a great story of how he fought Celestia, Luna and Sparkle at the same time, beating them in less than five minutes, is nothing but a farce! The fucker never even touched them until Celestia and Twilight succumbed to his dark spell,” Chrysalis said with rage and borderline hate, her wings buzzing rapidly behind her.

“H-how can you know?” Spike asked, still slightly perplexed at Blueblood’s revelation.

Blueblood put his hands together and leaned forward, a moment later Chrysalis put one of her hands over Blueblood’s and smiled at him.

“I was there, Spike. I was there just minutes before Dainn arrived at the castle,” Blueblood went silent for a few seconds. “Aunt Celestia knew from the very beginning she was done for, she was doing her best to fight off the dark spell but it was just too strong. She made me promise to do whatever I could to be safe and…...and block her memories away,” Blueblood’s hands began to tremble. “I just had enough time to block her most crucial ones before Dainn’s forces invaded the throne room; all of our guards either corrupted, dead or being raped, in the mares case.”

“Dainn entered the room with aunt Luna chained and Sparkle crawling behind him. He raped aunt Celestia on her very throne and I was forced to watch…..and join the ongoing orgy a few minutes later, not with her or aunt Luna, thank the divine creators,” Blueblood let Chrysalis take a hold of his hands tenderly.

“....B….Blue…..blood,” Spike said with difficulty. Don’t forget you’re not alone in this Tartarus, idiot. And don’t forget there are those who have it a million times worse than you. Spike thought to himself in shame.

“From that day onward I’ve been searching for a way to kill Dainn, to find any kind of weakness, bucking anything! But so far I’ve found nothing you don’t already know, not even how he can control the sun and the moon.”

“He controls them!?” Spike shouted in surprise. “I thought it was gravity!”

“Don’t be stupid, dragon,” Chrysalis said with a snarl. “The sun and the moon require a powerful source of magic to move around Equis. Gravity may keep them up there but magic is a must to move them.”

A full minute of uncomfortable silence followed.

“Then why am I here?” Spike asked seriously.

“Spike, I know Dainn told you he wants you to be near him in the future, the small tasks he has order you until now are nothing compared to what he may want in the future,” Blueblood said creating an icy silence that fell in the room for several seconds. “Why he wants you or why he is so interested in you I don’t know, but I do know you’re our best chance to find a way to end this nightmare once and for all.”

“Blueblood, several rebel leaders, including your friend Applejack, and I have decided you can’t do what you do any longer. You must do more to gain the fucker king’s confidence,” Chrysalis said dead serious. “Think you can handle it, dragon?”

Spike leaned forward with confidence.

“What must I do?” Spike asked with renewed conviction. There’s still hope.

------------------------------------------------*******************************************

*East Border, Fifteen Kilometers away from Ponyville, -6:49 p.m.-*

“Here you are, sir,” said the same changeling captain while another changeling released the blindfold around his eyes. Spike scanned his surroundings finding it was almost nightfall and that he was somewhere inside the Everfree. “Ponyville is about fifteen kilometers following this path, sir. Don’t worry, there are no hives or other monsters in the vicinity and out the reach of their usual patrol roads.”

“Thanks, captain, but can you and your soldiers do me a little favour before you go, please?” Spike said looking straight at the group of nine changelings.

“Of course, sir.”

“Could you please beat the living shit out of me?” Spike asked, his lips curling up into a sad smile.

“W-what!?” the captain asked shocked while the other soldiers screeched between themselves.

“B-but we can’t, sir, her majesty ordered us to keep you safe!” the captain tried to reason with Spike.

“And if you really want to keep me safe then you’ll do as I say. Remember I live between them and, while Harald is an idiot, ever since Applejack escaped and thanks to all the lost shipments, he will find out I’m lying if I don’t come crawling back to Ponyville. By now there must be several parties searching for me,” Spike explained with naturality.

“But sir, we changelings have encountered dragons before the Fall and I doubt our weapons can do significant damage before they break,” the captain explained, a little taken aback by how calm Spike was acting.

“Then use magic to enhance them. I’m different from others dragons; I’m not resistant to magic at all, in fact, my body actually reacts quite well to it; enough to become Twilight’s ginny pig on her experiments before the Fall and I have been harmed by it,” Spike chuckled. “Now take out your weapons and beat me into a pulp.”

“.....As you command, sir,” the changeling captain said before he and the rest of his soldiers draw their swords and picked-hammers, enveloping them with a slightly pale green shimmer around it. “We’re sorry for this, sir.”

“Wait!” Spike said looking up to the captain. “Now that I think of it, can your horns regrow?” the captain nodded. “If it isn’t much to ask, when you’re done could at least three of you cut off your horns and leave them nearby? It’d made my story that much believable. And don’t worry about me, do it as if you want to kill me.”

The changelings shared quick glances between them, then the captain nodded again.

Spike closed his eyes a moment before the nine changelings began their work.

*Two hours later-East entrance of Ponyville-*

“Did your group found anything else?” Harald asked to another returning search party. The caribou leading the party shook his head in denial. “Damn it! What about lord Spike?”

“Nothing,” the caribou said. “Lord Spike is the only dragon in the entire kingdom, a few rebels and changeling bastards isn’t enough to stop him,” the caribou said, not really believing his own words.

Harald looked around him, several group parties laying all over the place, most of them finding the same. Nothing. He gulped remembering the urgent message he received around five hours earlier from chief Gunne, stating Spike’s carriage and guards were found burning on the road. The product of a rebel ambush, thankfully Spike was not accounted among the burnt remains.

“Those damn rebels must have taken lord Spike as one of their prisoners,” Harald said to himself. “Darn it, Zulf, prepare another search party and…….and…..” Harald began to say when he heard several gasps and everyone staring to the border of the Everfree. Several dozen pairs of eyes looked at a figure making its way out of the nearby bushes of the Everfree.

“Is….is that lord Spike?” someone said outloud.

It took Harald a moment to recognize the figure as, indeed, Spike. A second later he saw Spike collapse and fall to the ground. He got up from his chair and ran toward the coming dragon, followed by several others.

“Quick, take lord Spike to the hospital!” Harald ordered.

“NO!” a brown unicorn stallion wearing a doctor coat arrived at Spike’s side and kneeled down. “We don’t know the extent of the damage, moving him may kill him for all we know. Let me run a diagnosis,” Harald seemed upset but didn’t say or do anything while the doctor checked the dragon laying on his chest. “I’ll need to turn him over,” the doctor said and two caribou guards approach to flip Spike over gently.

Spike let out a pained grunt in response.

“Lord Spike! Lord Spike!.....Spike!” the dragon opened his eyes reluctantly. “What have those scumbag rebels done to you!?” Harald shouted in anger seeing the poor state of the dragon. Hastily a small crowd of concerned males formed around Spike.

“Harald,” Spike said making everyone around him shut up. “Your v-voice is annoying, *cough* shut up,” Spike said before letting out a small chuckle and a loud cough.

“S-sorry *blood filled cough* for b-being late,” he said loudly and with a touch of playfulness. He was drenched in his own blood, luckily not fresh, a large part of his scales were broken or were missing revealing a patch of pink skin below them. His legs seemed to be alright, sadly the same couldn’t be said for his right arm as it was bent in an unnatural way. Some of his back spines were missing too as well as some of his fangs.

“I had a m-minor set-Aarrrghhh!” he screamed in pain when the doctor pressed down his stomach. “--set back.”

“Lord Spike, I’m so relieved you survived the rebel ambush, but, what happened to you? What have those damnable heretics done to you?” Harald asked at his side while the crowd around them cheered and thanked Spike was alright.

“T-they killed everyone *violent cough* it….it happened so f-fast *harsh breathing* They….they dragged me through the forest…..I t-tried to fight but…*violent coughing* they...they used something to sleep me,” Spike suddenly coughed some of his blood out. “W-when I woke up I….I was in the f-f-fore-Yyaaarrgg! Watch the arm, dumbass!” Spike yelled at the doctor.

Spike began to breathe rapidly, effectively calming himself down. “S-sorry, it’s just *cough* it really h-hurts,” Spike apologized. “When I w-woke up, I was in the forest in a small camp of sorts, then three ch-changeling bastards used me like a piñata *violent coughing followed by harsh and rapid breathing* I have no i-idea what they were using b-but it hurt me…..maybe some sort of magical weapon?” Spike offered before coughing again. “W-who gives a fuck, they grew overconfident, forgot I’m a moth- *cough* -motherfucking dragon…..and I,” Spike raised his left hand while clutching at something fiercely. “Returned them the favor.”

Spike opened his hand and three small changeling horns fell to his chest.

Harald laughed loudly. “At least they got what was coming to them, Spike!” many cheered, mainly because just a few had survived a rebel ambush but none had killed any rebels, or liberators for that matter, outside the small skirmishes scattered across the kingdom.

“Indeed, also, now I know *cough* they aren’t as numerous as we…..thought,” Spike rested on the ground while the doctor kept on running his diagnosis.

“Several injuries but it appears most of the damage is only superficial. No internal organs seem to be damaged. Left forearm is broken and twisted on an inverted angle. No concussion present, yet the head received severe trauma, mainly in the lower jaw. Three broken ribs and a few torn muscles. Also, I detect faint traces on magical energy,” the doctor finished with a relieved sigh. “I can honestly say being a dragon saved you, my lord,” the doctor nodded to Harald who, in turn, ordered some nearby guards to fetch a stretcher. They saluted and ran off somewhere.

“Lord Spike, do you remember anything else about the attack? Anything at all?” Harald questioned.

“Only that they brought me *heavy cough* s-somewhere beyond the safe lim-limits *cough*- That one hurt like a bitch!......ooowwwww…….of the f-forest and asked me about my pets and bitches in training,” Spike snarled as best as he could. “Fucking cowards and idiots.”

The caribou guards returned with a stretcher and carefully placed Spike on it.

“Rest now, Spike, I’ll personally take care of your business while you recover,” Harald offered with a sincere smile.

“Th-that won’t be necessary, captain Harald, my dear friend Big Mac *blood filled cough* will take c-care of it. After all *heavy breathing* it takes a handler to k-know a handler. Would you kindly please inform him to come see me at the hospital?” Harald nodded.

“At once, you!” he said pointing to a random guard. “Go and tell Mister Macintosh lord Spike wishes to see him in the hospital at once,” the guard, a griffon, saluted and flew away.

N-not my brightest idea but I think it did the job. Now, I hope it works, Spike thought a moment before succumbing to darkness.

--------------------------------------------*****************************************

*Canterlot Castle-One week later-*

A pair of doors were opened by two caribou guards standing at each side allowing Spike access to the room behind them.

Spike used a crutch to balance his weight since his ribs were still recovering, thankfully his arm fared much better and could use it albeit carefully. There were some bandages covering the parts his scales were regenerating thanks to a potion made by Zecora, same reason for his newly recovered fangs.

Spike made his way slowly inside the room; noticing it was spacious with several windows on the walls, curtains, a line of ten red collar maids wearing their usual attire resting against the furthest wall and a big stone table almost in the middle of said room. The table itself was surrounded by several individuals, although he spotted a minotaur, two zebras, a diamond dog, six ponies (one of them being Blueblood himself); most of the present were caribou including, of course, Dainn.

Dainn, as everyone else, had his eyes set on him as he made his way around the table taking a free seat next to Blueblood who was just three seats away from Dainn’s left. Spike noted that the four caribou sitting immediately next to Dainn were glaring at him, almost like he was worthless.

The doors closed and five minutes of silence followed.

During that time Spike remembered he had received a letter a day earlier from Dainn, inviting him to a reunion of sorts, the reason he was now here, but the letter was incredibly vague as to what type of reunion Dainn had in mind. Looking around the table he noticed that everyone else, except for Dainn and himself, were wearing either some sort of armor or extremely elegant clothes. It took him a couple of minutes but soon he recognized the vast majority of the remaining thirty three individuals, including the four sons of Dainn sitting beside him.

Finally, the silence ended with a caribou at the other side of the table cleared his throat just loud enough to gain attention.

“Your excellency, I think lord Discord won’t be attending, again,” the caribou with a missing right eye said.

“I suppose it was expected,” Dainn said with a heavy sigh. Then he looked directly at Spike and eyed him for several seconds with an almost disapproving scowl. “So, Spike,” Dainn leaned forward just a few inches, his expression never changing making Spike very nervous; that is, until Dainn offered him a weak smile. “Scales tough as diamonds, huh?” then he leaned backward and laughed out loud.

Spike, and everyone else, was stunned but only by a second or two before he began to laugh alongside Dainn. They were the only ones laughing while the rest of the presents only shared glances of confusion between themselves.

“Ha ha ha--awww, aww, awww! P-please, it *wheezing* it h-h-hurts when I laugh!” Spike managed to say while holding his ribcage with both arms. It took almost two full minutes before they finally stopped their laughter. Dainn himself had to wipe away a few tears.

Spike took a deep breath managing to calm himself completely. “But I suppose I got my just desserts for being so arrogant, aww,” Spike said from his seat.

“Perhaps,” Dainn rested on his seat for a few moments. “Spike, do you know who they are?” Dainn asked using an arm to present the rest of the table.

“I’m afraid that, while I have done business with some of theses respectable males, most I know only by name, my king,” Spike leaned in looking directly at Dainn with intrigue and confusion. “Which makes me question why I’m here at all, my king. After all, I’m a female handler; not a general, battlemaster, warlord, prince or adviser,” to put emphasis he scratched his head.

“He is correct, father, why is that lowly lizard present?” a caribou a bit taller than Dainn with red fur wearing a fancy set of armor asked angered. “It’s disgraceful enough to have secondary races in positions of power, but at least I can see the usefulness of their work, but him?” he said pointing at Spike. “What does he have to offer us?” his siblings nodded in agreement along with a few other caribou.

“That ‘lizard’, as you call him, Rolph, has a name, you better use it,” Dainn said angrily. “And Spike is here because he has proven his loyalty to me and I want him to be here, understood?”

“.......” Rolph sent a death glare to Spike. “Yes, father.”

“Good, then we can begin,” Dainn nodded making one caribou use his magic to pull down a map the size of the table on it. It was a map of Equestria and the Crystal Empire. “Status.”

“My liege, we have successfully annihilated yet another rebel camp in the center of the buffalo territory, we captured one hundred and twenty seven bitches and converted over two hundred buffalo bulls with minimal losses,” a caribou general said pointing said location in the map.

“My troops were able to find and destroy the rebels operating in Manehattan, they were led by a minotaur by the name of Iron Will. My troops had no choice but to execute them all, it was a an all male organization,” the zebra warlord grunted in anger. “Such a disgrace to us true males.”

“We lost five small exploration teams on the Everfree Forest this month alone, an entire brigade vanished somewhere in the desert canyons without a trace. And, I’m ashamed to say this, my king, but the squadron of Shadow Hunters sent to the Solitude mountains also vanished, no survivors,” a minotaur battlemaster said.

“There have also been constant hit and run attacks to our supply routes and merchant caravans for the last three months here, here, here, here and here,” a caribou battlemaster said putting tiny flags on the places he marked, including one near Ponyville. “I believe lord Spike made an acquaintance with them not too long ago?” the caribou said earning a few snickers here and there.

“A painful one, battlemaster Zelvos,” he smirked. “But I managed to kill my captors and escape; in contrast, how many of these rebel attacks have your troops stopped, let alone kill, so far?” even more snickers were heard making Zelvos shot a glare to Spike. “You’re making a terrible mistake thinking you’re going to scare them off like you’ve been trying to do. How many more soldiers does captain Harald have to lose for you to understand that?” Zelvos glare intensified.

“Mmmmm, what are you trying to say, lord Spike?” Blueblood asked intrigued.

“I was there first hand. They operate in small numbers, probably no more than ten per group; they also use surprise at their advantage, by using it they can wipe out half a squadron before they know what’s going on, just like they did to my group of guards,” Spike leaned back and sighed. “Sadly, I was inside my carriage for most of the fight, but I can assure you it was fast, less than a minute. The changelings and the rebels, perhaps even the liberators, have become masters in these kind of attacks, thanks to having a lot of practice, I suppose,” Spike smirked again.

“Why you---!” Zelvos began but was cut short by Dainn.

“Go on,” he simply said.

“I suggest that we use some useless sluts, black collars that are usually sent to dirt and fuck farms or are branded to be blanked, as a distraction,” Dainn lifted an eyebrow. “I’ve noticed that the rebels put more effort in attacking those kind of shipments, if we begin sending small groups, say six of those bitches, on another direction from a truly valuable shipment the rebels will focus on the bitches,” Spike grunted in annoyance.

“After all, they want to ‘save them’, I say we use their misguided objectives against them. And while they try getting whores and sows our important shipments will be safe and then,” Spike hit the table creating a loud smack. “They will fall all the faster.”

“Brilliant plan, lord Spike,” a caribou general said impressed. “But we would still lose soldiers and the rebels would gain more cannon fodder, if you can even call a lowly bitch that privilege.”

Spike shrugged. “It’s just an idea, general, I never said it was perfect; I’m a female handler, remember?” the general in question chuckled.

“I guess you’re right. Still, good idea lord Spike,” the general said getting a nod from Spike.

“What else?” Dainn asked in a neutral tone.

“Problems in the borders again, my king. A large group of pony forces led by an adult dragon were spotted trying to disrupt the barrier outside the western border, after several failed attempts they finally left,” a pony general said. “On a related note, the barrier keeps growing as hoped and shows no signs of slowing down.”

The reunion went on for hours, all the time spent on discussing strategies, plans, tactics and other related topics. Spike barely said anything except when someone, specially Dainn, asked for his opinion on a certain matter. Finally, Dainn called the meeting as concluded and thanked everyone for coming, not a moment later everyone began to get up, ready to leave. Spike was about to get up when Dainn spoke to him.

“Spike, could you stay for a moment? I’d like to ask you something,” Dainn said from his seat.

“Of course, my king.”

A minute later everyone left, the four sons of Dainn shooting death glares at Spike before leaving the room. Now alone Dainn got up and walked to where Spike was sitting.

“Walk with me,” Dainn said casually.

“As you wish, my liege, but you’ll have to forgive my walking,” Spike said getting up using his crutch as support. “My current ‘walking’ consists mainly on limping, limping faster and followed by the occasional talk with the floor,” Spike said with a smile.

Dainn simply chuckled.

They left the room in silence and walked through the castle hallways in silence for several minutes. Then, they reached a balcony showcasing a beautiful scenery of the distant mountains, forests and a small part of the city. Dainn clapped twice, seconds later two diamond dog guards brought with them a pair of small but comfortable looking thrones.

Dainn sat down inviting Spike to join him at his side in the free throne. Spike sat down with some difficulty, letting out small grunts and a relieved sigh once he was done.

“Tell me, do you know what male superiority really is, Spike?” Dainn asked looking to the vast distance.

A depraved, ruined version of Tartarus ruled by a bunch of racist, misogynous rapists just like you, Spike thought before responding. “No, my king, I do not know.”

“Male superiority is an ideal of peace and prosperity,” Dainn closed his eyes.

Like shit it is.

“Nature shows all around us that males are superior in every way compared to females. Females that can only prove some degree of usefulness by giving birth to more powerful males. If a female of any kind is left in charge of anything, it is doomed to fall apart, that’s why we, as males, it’s our duty to prevent this and show females their true worth and make them realize this universal truth.”

Dainn opened his eyes and smiled fanatically. “Male superiority ensues order and peace in the chaos that females would bring to the world if they ever rise against their rightful masters. As such we, the Caribou, have taken the burden on ourselves to show this ultimate truth to the world, whether they like it or not is irrelevant, but in the end all will see the light.”

Spike felt a boiling rage inside his stomach but he managed to suppress it, but just barely thanks to repeating why was he fighting for over and over inside his head.

“A most noble and just cause then, my king,” Spike said with some difficulty, he then grunted and shifted in his throne giving out a little sigh of relief.

“Spike, when knowledge came to me about the attack and how you single handedly survived it, escaped and killed three of those misguided fools, I was…...worried,” Dainn glanced at Spike who was glancing at him in return. “I feared you had shared the same fate as many of my soldiers, thankfully, I was wrong and you proved yourself to be strong and capable of taking care of yourself, even during such tight situations,” Dainn praised Spike.

“Your praises honor me, my king,” Spike said bowing his head in respect. “I...I don’t know what to say!”

“There’s a more powerful reason I invited you to this meeting other than see you, Spike,” Dainn leaned back in his throne still looking at Spike. “Your abilities as a female handler are remarkable, matched only by few others but none have the strength and dedication you do. And while your attack was unfortunate it also shows your power to fight and survive, the power of a dragon,” Dainn reached to Spike with his right hand until it lay on his shoulder. “The power of a true male.”

“I…..I….I j-just…..” Spike tried to find the words to say something, but the sudden wave of utter revulsion to himself that hit him was taking most of his effort to keep under control.

Dainn let go of Spike’s shoulder. “I want you to become my newest general, Spike.”

Spike was glad he wasn’t drinking anything at the moment but he still coughed violently in surprise and disbelief, clutching the left side of his chest and torso in pain. Around a minute later, and several attempts to ease his pain and coughing, he was calm enough to speak again.

“My king, you honour *cough* me w-w-with such an offer,” Spike coughed a few more times.

“It isn’t an offer, it’s an order, Spike,” Dainn said in a neutral tone.

Spike coughed for a few more seconds until he took a deep relaxing breath.

“Forgive me, my king, but I know next to nothing about the chain of command. I have never commanded divisions, brigades, squadrons, units or even a single patrol in my life. Nor I know how to fight or use weapons,” Spike saw Dainn look at him with his neutral expression; he gulped and continued. “And where would I serve you? How can I leave my home, my pet collection and my livelihood just like that?........How…...How can I be useful to you, my king?”

“That won’t be a problem, Spike. The local captain in Ponyville will teach you everything you need to know about our military structure as well as teach you how to use weapons; those shall be to your choosing,” Dainn rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Warlord Ulfric will teach you how to command small and medium sized groups of troops; as well teach you how to give orders, make your subordinates respect your authority and might and, most importantly, obey you.”

“You will be staying in Ponyville and will be in direct charge of the town, its surroundings, roads, the bordering lines with the Everfree all the way to borders of Trottingham and Las Pegasus. The crown will fund your expenses and needs so you won’t have to worry about your livelihood. Also, you won’t lose your castle,” Dainn smiled at him. “But, I’m afraid your pet collection will have to diminish. I want you to put in motion the suggestion you made in the reunion and make it happen, as such, you will use your vast amount of pets in training to be the bait. Every single one that lays inside your castle right this instant is your property as of now, even the ones belonging to others,” Dainn said standing up slowly.

“Make me proud,” Dainn turned to leave. “I wish you luck and success in your new role, general Spike.”

Then Dainn left without another word, leaving the petrified and dumb struck dragon sitting in his throne with an agast expression.

-----------------------------------------------*********************************************

*Ponyville, Castle of Spike -5:46 p.m.-*

Spike opened the entrance of his castle and slowly walked in. He was soon greeted by several black collar females still doing their chores here and there. As he made his way to his throne room every female stopped what she was doing for a moment to greet their master; even so Spike didn’t paid them any attention whatsoever, he just kept on making his way to his throne.

Once inside his throne room he saw Big Macintosh and Twilight, whom was crawling at his side, overseeing a few females carrying some bags to the storage room.

“Glad yer back, Spike!” Big Mac said making Twilight turn around, smiled and crawl to meet her master.

“Welcome home, Master,” Twilight said licking his feet a few times.

Spike didn’t said anything and began to walk towards his throne with Twilight obediently behind him. Spike rested on his throne and looked around the room’s ceiling; seeing several posters glued to them, most of them showed phallic pictures or single phrases for females to accept their new and true roles.

At least they’re not as hard to look at like the old ones, Spike thought with discomfort.

“Spike?” Big Mac asked with a bit of concern at his friend’s attitude.

“Master? Is everything alright?” Twilight asked worriedly crawling to his front, resting her chin on his right thigh. “Do you require this worthless sow to please your greatness?” Twilight asked before giving a few licks in the zone her master’s dragonhood rested.

“Leave us,” Spike said, his voice barely louder than a whisper but Twilight heard and looked up at him.

“B-but Master, you look so stressed,” Twilight said before continuing with her licking. “Let this fuck meat please and relieve you,” Twilight purred in delight savoring the idea of satisfying her master.

“Leave us,” Spike repeated now in a louder tone. But Twilight just kept on licking even harder, trying her best to pull his dick out. Spike groaned, letting out a puff black smoke through his nostrils.

“Just relax, Master,” Twilight said now kissing him eagerly in the same zone. “Your taste is so good, my wonderful Master.”

‘You taste so good, my wonderful son’ The voice of Celestia, the one he considered as his mother, echoed inside his head the moment Twilight said those almost same exact words.

“LEAVE US!” Spike roared in rage breaking the throne’s right armrest with a powerful blow. The entire throne room, maybe even the castle itself, trembled and shook for a few moments. Twilight had backed away a few meters trembling in fear; while the surrounding black collar females had already fled or were hiding where they could.

Twilight looked at the face of her master, an expression of pure rage as fire came out of his nostrils with each rapid exhalation. She got up, crying, and walked away quietly.

Spike then turned his attention to the few females still hiding nearby making them leave the room with haste. Once he and the red stallion were completely alone, Spike slumped back into his throne, closed his eyes, sighed heavily and brought up a hand to hold his forehead.

“He…..Dainn……...he made me…..a general,” Spike said before falling silent.

Big Mac just stood in his spot, looking at his dragon friend sitting silently in his throne. Until he heard him start to weep. The red stallion made his way cautiously to the throne, when he reached it he knelt and placed a hand over Spike’s left shoulder. Spike launched himself forward, hugging the stallion for dear life while he began to cry his heart out burying his face on the stallion’s left shoulder.

Big Mac held Spike tightly against him as his own tears began to fall.

--------------------------------------------------*************************************

*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

“And thus my days as a female handler were officially over and my new career as a general for Dainn began. The fucker had it all ready by the end of the day,” Spike chuckled and leaned forward. “Me being turned into a general was a blessing in disguise but that meant our original plan was torn asunder.”

“What was your original plan, prisoner?” the diamond dog judge asked in shaky tone.

“I’ll leave her majesty, queen Chrysalis, the privilege to answer that; after all, it was her idea,” Spike said giving Chrysalis a small respectful nod.

Suddenly every set of eyes in the courtroom were upon Chrysalis. She closed her eyes and rubbed her templates a couple of times before answering.

“The original plan was for Spike to return to Ponyville unharmed, stating he had hid during the attack for several hours, then it was set for Blueblood to vouch for Spike and help him ascend into becoming an advisor. With his title secure, he was meant to inform Dainn the same idea Spike told during their reunion. His advice would prove to be effective and, by letting the caribou feel confident, it would pave the way for an all-out assault to Ponyville in the upcoming months and from there the neighboring large towns,” Chrysalis finished with a small sigh.

“If that was the plan, then why did you tell the changeling soldiers to do what they did, brother?” the dragon judge asked.

“Because I wanted it to be more believable, and because I wanted to see how Dainn reacted. A little better than I hoped, eh?” Spike let out a mirthless chortle.

“That still doesn’t answer why you executed the two caribou prisoners the way you did, dragon,” the cervidae doe judge said in a cold and slightly disgusted tone.

Spike shrugged. “Just curiosity, for the most part.”

“‘Just curiosity’, is that really your answer, savage?” the minotaur cow judge said.

“Hey, in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve killed, maimed, burnt, tortured and done many, many other far more pleasurable things, at least from my perspective, to countless other caribou. You shouldn’t be at all outraged by what I did to just two of them,” Spike huffed in annoyance. “By the way, I still want a copy of that memory, gotta have something nice to watch before I die!”

The judges simply kept silent while the rest of the public whispered between themselves.

“The following four months were intense; each day filled to the brim with lectures, war tactics, strategies of defence and attack, troop formations and all that good shit. Dainn kept his word though, all the females currently at that in my castle were now my official property. All six hundred twelve of them,” a short moment of silence followed. “For weapons I picked the spear and the warhammer; the spear because, well,” Spike giggled his long, powerful tail in the air behind him a few times. “And the warhammer because it’s what the caribou mostly used in combat. I also grew pretty fond of my own natural abilities and weapons; I’m actually thankful I only ever had to try them on corpses.”

“The only exception to my new daily routine was when Dainn summoned me to the castle for a reunion, a party, because he simply wanted to hang out with me for a while or a festive day, like the anniversary of the Fall. I got to sit next to him as his personal guest, and by that point, favorite general throughout the whole fucking celebration. I even got the privilege to rape the princess of the sun once more in front of all Canterlot!” Spike smiled at the judges, his eyes shining white. “Since it was the only day someone of his choosing would have the ‘infinite honor’ of tasting his favorite pet. He usually picked one of his sons or a general; not a surprise when he picked me.”

“When my training was done, and my full status as a general was finally recognized, I began to execute the plan by sending shipments of no more than twelve females guarded only by four guards,” Spike leaned back on his seat, his eyes still white. “Gunne, once a magistrate ascended to a minor chief near Manehattan, made sure that those guards were from the most incompetent soldiers but still loyal to the caribou to a fault, a.k.a Corrupted.”

“At first it was working like a charm. With the plan in motion the rebels didn’t attack their precious cargo shipments just as I had predicted... most of the time,” Spike chuckled loudly.

“Not a single one of those fuckers suspected I was slowly, but surely, getting to safety all the females under my care. First the most violent black collars, then the ones that fought back the most, followed by the young ones and finally ending with the red collars; I even managed to get out some other females, mostly pony mares like Flitter and Cloudchaser. By the end of my first month as a true general I had sent all my pets but fifty of them. The ones remaining were the ones I truly couldn’t part away from; I still had to keep up the appearances, you see,” Spike’s eyes returned to their normal color.

“But it wasn’t enough. Even though Dainn was more than pleased with my results, he demanded a more aggressive action from all his generals, battlemasters and warlords against the rebel and changeling threat. He wanted to attack them beyond the safe zone of the forest,” Spike began to play with his hands. “While it is true several small groups had went inside just a handful of survivors had come back; the caribou were afraid to death beyond that limit of the forest.”

“So, in the next reunion he asked for a volunteer to lead an all out attack and, of course, I offered myself to accomplish such a task, or as it was called, ‘The First Invasion’. Glad it was also the only one because what I had to do…….” Chrysalis looked at him with a sad frown. “........what I asked for was…..it was something only the truly brave could hope to give.”

--------------------------------------------------------*********************************************

*Central Hive/Rebel Camp beyond the safe-zone of the Everfree Forest, Three years and six weeks into the Fall- 2:09 a.m.*

“You want to WHAT!?” Chrysalis shouted infuriated to Spike’s face. Spike for his part didn’t respond. “Well, you can forget about it, dragon. I won’t send my, or any other people for that matter, to die in vain,” Chrysalis said before sitting down.

“And if you don’t everyone will die when Dainn finds a way to come after you here,” Spike responded calmly. “He’s getting desperate, Chrysalis, he wants to destroy you, your changelings and the rebels once and for all!” Spike said in louder tone. “Is that what you want?”

Chrysalis didn’t respond.

“Your plan won’t work anymore, the moment you try an all out attack Dainn will come right after you, all of you,” Spike got up from his seat and slammed the table. “And if you fall then all will be lost for Equestria, for the changelings and probably even the world!”

“.......I know,” Chrysalis said in an angry tone.

“That’s why I volunteered for this mission, Chrysalis, please, I need to get even closer to Dainn, right now he considers me as useful but if I pull this off I might end up gaining his respect and maybe, just maybe, a few of his secrets,” Spike sat slumped back into his seat. “Believe me, I don’t want to do this anymore than you do but I already discussed it with Blueblood and this is the best plan we could muster. I beg you, please, this is the chance we were waiting for!”

Chrysalis grunted as her wings buzzed erratically, she bit her lower lip until blood came out and with a final powerful slam against the table she hanged her head in defeat.

“How many do you need?” Chrysalis said in a low, icy yet angered tone.

“No less than five hundred but no more than seven hundred, doesn’t matter which species they are or their gender; they must be volunteers,” Spike said in a similar tone, albeit his was more darker and sad. “Tell them the absolute truth and don’t sugar coat it, tell them everything they need to know.”

“What should I say to the other leaders?”

“The same,” Spike got up. “I’ll come back in three days to see the volunteers…...I……….I want to tell them the rest personally,” he walked to the doors.

“And risk everything?” Chrysalis glanced at his way.

“If I don’t trust them with my life…..why should they trust me with theirs?”

Chrysalis and Spike were locked for several seconds in a staring contest until the changeling queen got up, too.

“This damn plan better work, for your sake, because if it fails I will personally destroy you……...Spike,” Chrysalis said before said dragon smiled at her, opened the doors of her chambers and left.

*Three days later*

“How many are there?” Spike asked inside his cloak to Chrysalis.

“Six hundred and eighty seven,” Chrysalis responded coming to halt.

Spike looked to the crowd gathered in the most desolate part of the hive. At his right side was Chrysalis alongside some rebel leaders, most of them pony, including Applejack, Lightning Dust (much to his surprise) and chief Thunderhooves, the main leader of the buffalo rebels. Spike nodded and took a step forward alongside Chrysalis.

Chrysalis cleared her throat as her horn came to life with a light green shimmer.

“You already know why you’re here,” she said, her volume enhanced by a spell. “You’ve survived the horrors the caribou have brought upon your land and people, regardless of your species. They have raped and enslaved you for three years now, bringing your princesses down like cowards and they only show signs of getting stronger as if nothing can stop their advance, not even I.”

“But we still fight because we know the caribou aren’t invincible, they believe they are but that blind belief will ensue their defeat and with it, their well overdue deaths,” Chrysalis took another step forward. “You have come here in hopes of forging a bright future, one that requires the ultimate sacrifice, a future held by the claws of one of your own!” the crowd cheered loudly. Chrysalis looked back at Spike and nodded, Spike took a few steps forward.

Spike brought his hands to the edges of his hood but hesitated to pull down.

Until the faces of all his friends and loved ones flashed in front of his eyes.

Spike pulled down his hood letting the crowd see his face. The effect was almost instantaneous.

Several males and females began to shout insults and curses while others tried to get to him, halted only by changeling soldiers.

“SILENCE!” Chrysalis shouted making almost everyone stop. “He has been fighting the caribou for more than a year after he broke free from their control, like many of you here today!” Chrysalis said loudly coming to the defense of the drake. “He is one of our greatest Faker units, has saved hundreds and ensured the painful deaths of many a caribou,” Chrysalis said managing to calm down most of present.

“Her majesty queen Chrysalis is right!” Lightning Dust stepped forward, her volume amplified by Chrysalis spell. “When I first met Spike the Dragon he treated me like any other of those stinking rapists would, I saw what he did and how he did it……….and I held nothing but hate for him,” Lightning glanced at Spike for a moment before continuing. “But in what I felt were my final moments he told me to have hope, to fight against the fucking caribou and their insane regime. HE told me I wasn’t alone! And here I am today, like so many others all thanks to him and his actions!” Lightning spread her regrown wings wide taking a few hoof steps above ground.

“I say we let him speak his part, what say you!?” Lightning shouted before dropping back to the ground, the crowd began to whisper amongst them. She then turned to face Spike completely and shot him a glare. “But while that doesn’t mean I forgive you,” she said quietly to Spike. “It means I can respect your reasons, Spike the Dragon……….and thank you, for freeing me,” Lightning said before returning to her post.

The crowd continued to talk for several minutes until a white griffon male wearing an armor like the changelings stepped forward from the now silent.

“I lost my daughter and my wife to the caribou early on,” he began to say in a strong tone, his volume amplified by a nearby changeling. “The caribou killed them because they couldn’t control them and I was left alone with only my desire to avenge them to keep me alive,” the griffon raised his arms and extended his wings. “All of them, all of us here right now share a similar story or don’t have anything left but vengeance in our hearts.”

“I don’t care for what you did as a Faker or even before that. I’m not here to judge you, I’m here to ask you something as the voice of us present,” his expression turned to one of hate mixed with hope. “If we do it,” he gulped. “Will the caribou fall? Will we have our vengeance?”

Silence followed for several seconds.

“I don’t know,” Spike said sourly, his voice empowered by Chrysalis. “I don’t know if this plan will work or not,” Spike took a step forward. “I can’t promise you’ll get what you want; I can’t even assure you this is our best plan but we don’t have another option,” another step. “But I won’t lie to you either, you know what this is; a true suicide mission,” Spike said in a solemn tone.

“You already know the stakes and that’s why you’re here, YOU! The bravest of the brave, males and females uncaring for your individual species but instead united as a whole against a common enemy we all share!” Spike said with burning rage. “An enemy that thinks the world should be ruled by them, their absolute truth and that everything is meant to serve them!”

“But you have proven them wrong, you have proven that there are those willing to fight back against their insanity and debauchery, that they’re not invincible nor unstoppable!” the crowd began to cheer and chant loudly. “I can’t promise you victory. All I can promise you are three things. The first is that I will not let your deaths be in vain,” the crowd shouted back their approval.

“Second is that none of you will be their slaves, every single one of you WILL die even if I have to kill you myself!” the crowd and even the changeling soldiers shouted almost as if battle ready.

“And third is that I will make sure the caribou pay for their sins and their actions, every single one of those motherfuckers will die a painful, slow and agonizing death until none of them are left over the face of Equis. This, I swear on my life and everything I once held dear to me!” Spike shouted/roared, the crowd, the soldiers and even the rebel leaders were now shouting and screaming on top of their lungs.

“In the upcoming battle I want you all to show the caribou what you are made of! Don’t show them mercy and fight with all your might, make them regret the day they crawled out of Hraljord! For Equestria!” Spike finished by breathing the biggest stream of green fire he had ever unleashed until now.

“FOR EQUESTRIA!” all shouted back in complete unison.

Meanwhile behind Spike was Applejack, looking at him as tears rolled down her face. She had been forbidden to volunteer for obvious reasons, yet she felt it was her duty to talk some sense into Spike. But after hearing his little speech and despite the deafening cheers all around her; Applejack could only focus on one thing.

There, standing in the middle of the makeshift stage looking at the dragon’s back, with tears falling freely across her face; Applejack felt an overwhelming shock of fear. Not about the plan, but instead of how brutally honest Spike’s promise had sounded.

------------------------------------------------------------***********************************************

*Ponyville-Sweet Apple Acres -Two Days Later- Meeting Point for Operation ‘The First Invasion’ Led by General Spike ‘The Dragon’- 6:00 a.m.*

Spike stood in front of a table looking down a map depicting Sweet Apple Acres, the Everfree forest and the possible points where a rebel camp may be stationed beyond the safe limits.

Beside him captain Harald and chief Gunne, a hulking gray caribou wearing a traditional battle armor, stood contemplating the map alongside Spike and his retinue.

“Are my troops ready?” Spike asked, his eyes glued to the map.

“Almost, my general,” Gunne said calmly, his voice gruff and loud. “How will the troops assemble?”

“I want the diamond dog and buffalo units covering our rear; the earth and pegasus pony units will be set in the right flank,” Spike said putting small flags with the symbols of each said unit over the map.

“Excuse, general, but why ditatch the pegasus and griffon units?” Caramel asked wearing a purple and green set of armor picturing a golden ‘S’ in the chest plate.

“Flight support will be minimal, if not unnecessary inside the forest, and just in case those changeling bastards try to surprise our right,” Spike answered neutrally. “The griffon unit will be stationed in the mid for free and quick deployment,” Spike grabbed four more flags. “The minotaur unit will cover our left flank while the donkey, mule and bull units will be right behind to bolster them if necessary.”

“The heavy infantry units will take the first line followed by our ranged and medical-support troops, whom in turn will be supported and safeguarded by the light infantry units,” Spike positioned the flags marking said units before contemplating the map for a second or two. “The unicorn unit will be our advance party, making sure to keep our troops secluded as best they can; once commander Soarin is back he and his Shadow Hunters will accompany me and act as my body guards in the center. Finally, the reserve units will follow closely the right flank,” Spike finished placing his strategy by crossing his arms.

“My general, why are you putting the heavy units in the front?” Gunne pointed out. “Why not use the donkey, bull, mule and diamond dog units as a meat shield?”

“Because, Gunne, we have no idea what we will find in there and I’d rather have my best units ready to strike whatever monster comes our way, and also to break quickly the lines of the enemy rebels if we find one of their camps,” Spike said plainly.

Gunne grabbed his chin for a few moments and hummed thoughtfully. “I stand by my word, my general.”

“You better keep in mind that it was our great king, Dainn, the one who put me in total command of this entire operation. You’re only here to see me and my forces march to victory, but if you don’t like the way I’m ordering my troops then you can lead the assault with your own forces, Gunne. ” Spike said finishing with a snarl, smiling inside his head when he saw Gunne’s left eye twitch a little and turn a bit nervous.

“I retract my objection, my general.”

“Good,” Spike looked up to face his retinue, all of them wearing the same armor as Caramel. “Caramel, you will be in charge of the left while Thunderlane will command the right.”

“As you command,” Caramel said.

“It shall be done,” Thunderlane said at the same time.

“Pokey, you will join the unicorn unit and make sure they don’t fuck anything up. Bulk Biceps, you will lead the heavy units and you, Big Mac, I want you at my side until further notice, understood?”

“Eeyup,” the red stallion answered while Pokey and Bulk Biceps simply nodded.

“It’s such a shame we cannot accompany you, my lord,” Harald said with slight relief.

“I can always make room if you want,” Spike said giving Harald a small smile. Harald cleared his throat nervously.

“While your offer is….tempting, my lord, chief Gunne and I have much work to attend to. Nevertheless, I wish you the best of lucks and hope you destroy the damn rebels once and for all,” Harald said offering a hand to Spike.

Of course you would say that, cowards. Spike took it and shared a short shake; just then, Soarin, flanked by three Shadow Hunters, entered the main tent they were in. Soarin saluted before speaking.

“Commander Soarin reporting, sir.”

“Report,” Spike said looking at him intently.

“The path is clear for the army to pass freely until we reach the limits, sir.”

Spike hummed. “Soarin, you and your Shadow Hunters shall act as my personal bodyguard during this mission, understood?”

“With honor!” the three Shadow Hunters present said at the same time.

“Alright everyone, you know what to do. I want my army ready to move in three minutes,” Spike ordered.

“Sir!” all said at the same time before they began to walk outside the tent.

“Soarin, Big Mac, stay with me for a moment,” Spike ordered halting the march of both stallions. Soarin did a hand sign to his fellow Shadow Hunters who left instantly.

“Spike,” Gunne said standing in front of him. “Good luck,” he said bluntly before making his way out of the tent with Harald right behind him, leaving them alone in the tent.

A couple of moments later a multitude of battle horns echoed throughout the farm. The trio waited until the rumbling noise of the horns ended; only to be replaced by hundreds of hoof and footsteps moving around while Gunne shouted orders left and right ensuring order and discipline.

“Here’s your armor, Soarin,” Spike walked to a nearby chest and pulled out two chest plates exactly like the one Big Mac was wearing and a cape bearing a larger ‘S’ but with the same color scheme as the armor. Soarin accepted the chest plate and with the help of Big Mac he put it on.

“We should be fighting them instead,” Soarin said in an angry tone but still helped Big Mac put on Spike’s chest armor along with the cape. Spike shot him an apologetic glance. “Don’t worry…….I……..I know what to do.”

“The only thin’ we can do now is make their sacrifice worth every life,” Big Mac said in a monotone, plain tone.

Spike walked over to another chest and pulled out six small bottles. He gave Big Mac one and four to Soarin.

“The others already drank theirs; blessed be Zecora, at least the monsters won’t be targeting us,” Spike drank his potion in one go. “One’s for you, the other three are for your escorts.”

Big Mac and Soarin quickly drank their potions. The trio then walked outside the tent; Soarin took flight to rejoin his squadron while Big Mac followed Spike. They walked through the open field littered by several hundred tents to accommodate the small army. Their journey was spent in silence, only interrupted by the occasional soldier or officer saluting their general. Even so the screams of officers organizing their troops and divisions mixed with the marching made it impossible to speak whatsoever.

After a few minutes of walking they reached their destination in the center of the gathered forces. Soarin was already waiting for them alongside his one hundred Shadow Hunters; the elite group conformed mostly by Thestrals or ‘Bat ponies’, although pegasi and griffons were also including in their ranks.

Spike came to a halt, flanked by Big Mac and Soarin at each side, and waited until his entire army was ready to move out. In the mean time he spent his time looking at the forest a few hundred meters in front of him; mainly to keep his resolve high for what was going to happen in just a few hours.

About five minutes later everything suddenly turned silent: the army was ready.

Four thousand and sixty troops under my command, of which two thousand and seven hundred are caribou; against six hundred and eighty seven and a little surprise, Spike thought closing his eyes for a moment. I’ll make sure to get killed as many of these fuckers as I can.

The dragon extended his right arm forward and opened his hand; a second later he was handed a megaphone. Spike raised it to his mouth-level, coughed to bring the attention to him and then began to speak.

“These so called rebels think they can hide forever inside that blasted forest protected by some strange force,” Spike said loudly, practically shouting, to the megaphone. “And they are aided by the changelings; a race of bugs incapable of understanding reason, and what’s worse, they’re led by a worthless bitch! But nothing will protect them today! Today we will show them our power!” the troops began to cheer madly. A few moments later they calmed down.

“They have disrupted our local trade lines and have killed hundreds of our brothers in the past two years; we cannot allow such an insult to go unpunished! Today they will pay in blood!” another round of cheers erupted. “I don’t know what lies beyond the limits of the forest. I also don’t know what we will have to encounter, but no matter what we will surpass it and destroy the rebels once and for all!” the army shouted in unison.

“That’s why today we will not take any prisoners or trophies, let their punishment be a message to the rest of those heretical idiots that dare oppose the Caribou and the great Dainn: Subjugate or Die! Go forth my proud soldiers, kill them all without mercy. For the Fall! For male superiority!”

“For male superiority!” the universal shout of the army was heard just moments before the warhorns sang their song.

Spike gave Soarin the megaphone. “Nice speech, short and to the point,” Soarin said taking the megaphone.

“Thanks,” Spike said calmly while looking at his army. I hope they’re ready, he thought before nodding.

“Onward! To victory!” Soarin shouted using the megaphone. Moments later the entire army let out one final cheer and began to march into the forest as a single, unstoppable force.

*Four hours later- Two hours and ten minutes after crossing the safe limits of the forest-*

To the surprise of everyone, except for Spike and his retinue, the walk through the forest had been almost uneventful. With two Cragadile and one Cockatrice encounters (not to mention only five casualties, all of them pony, so far) after passing the safe limits the forest suddenly felt all the more inoffensive. But the caribou knew better, they could feel the eerie sensation of not being welcome inside that forest; reason why they kept their weapons, and themselves, ready to fight anything that came their way.

Spike was busy checking the unicorn unit in front of their army, all of them linking their magic together to create a stealth spell around his army. He noticed said unit coming to a halt just before three short, rapid whistles was heard making the army come to halt from their already slow advance.

A few seconds later a unicorn came running to meet him. He was about to reach Spike when a couple of Shadow Hunters cut him off with their wings.

“General,” the unicorn stopped and saluted. “Captain Pokey sends a report.”

“What is it?”

“We discovered a changeling sentinel standing guard, we’ve already taken care of him.”

“Very well, return to Pokey and tell him to await the signal,” Spike said plainly. The unicorn saluted again before returning to his unit. “Big Mac, take some light infantry units and move around the perimeter; there’s bound to be more sentinels nearby, take them down.”

“Eeyup,” the red stallion said taking the great warhammer from his back.

“And remember, NO prisoners,” Spike ordered with seriousness. Big Mac nodded before leaving to carry out his orders.

The entire army waited for several minutes trying their best not to make any kind of sound. A sudden distant growl made the army shift in slight surprise but after that, nothing. They were forced to wait for almost half an hour before Big Mac and his men came back.

“Got twelve of ‘em, all changelings, four casualties on our side though,” Big Mac put his green blood stained warhammer down. “Ah don’t like this Spike, Ah think we should turn back, somethin’ ain’t right here,” Big Mac said managing to gain the attention of the Shadow Hunters and a few nearby diamond dogs, griffons and buffalo.

“What do you mean?” Spike asked his friend.

“Ah think we might be walkin’ into an ambush,” Big Mac replied worriedly.

“Calm yourself Macintosh, don’t let their cowardly fame get inside your head. There’s no way the rebels know about this attack,” Spike reasoned and before Big Mac could say anything else he raised both hands with clenched fists and thrusted them forward.

A few seconds later the entire army began to move forward again.

“There has to be a rebel camp just in front of us, there’s no other reason as to why there should be so many sentinels,” Spike clicked his tongue twice, making a loud noise similar to that of a multitude of crickets. The army began to move a little faster while the heavy units and flanks prepared for battle.

The walk continued for little more than ten minutes before the unicorn unit signaled a full stop again. A moment later the same unicorn from before rushed his way to meet Spike only to be stopped once again by the Shadow Hunters.

“General, captain Pokey wishes to show you something,” Spike nodded in response, he extended one of his arms forward, a nearby Shadow Hunter presented Spike with a two meter long spear. Spike took it and turned to see his two friends.

“Soarin, Big Mac, with me. Shadow Hunters, take battle positions.”

“Yes, general,” the Shadow Hunters said perfect synch before flying up into the tree tops.

“Take us to captain Pokey,” Spike ordered the unicorn. The unicorn saluted and turned to guide the trio through the army’s main force and deliver them to Pokey. Once their destination was reached Spike asked. “What is it Pokey?”

“Look, just across the small river up ahead, in the upper right,” Pokey said without turning to see his general. Spike took a knee and focused his superior draconic eyesight in the direction Pokey told him. “Do you see it?”

“Yeah, I see it, the question is, what is it?” Spike saw a small greenish tent-like structure that mixed itself with the surroundings almost flawlessly. He knew it was a changeling tent, which meant the rebels were a few hundred meters behind it. “Looks like some sort of tent from here,” Spike said just before a changeling mare in full armor stepped out of the tent and made her way to the river to drink some water.

Spike nodded to Soarin who in turn made a toad like noise and there was a sudden movement above them.

The noise made the changeling mare raise to her hooves and pull out her chitin serrated sword. She scanned the area a few times until she was convinced she was safe, she sheathed her sword and three Shadow Hunters fell on top of her. There was an almost imperceptible noise of cracking before the mare fell to the ground like a ragdoll. The Shadow Hunters wasted no time and one entered the tent, around a minute later he came out with a few scrolls in his hands. Then they took flight once more.

No more than ten seconds later the Shadow Hunter holding the scroll landed beside Spike, he then kneeled presenting the scroll. Spike took it and the Shadow Hunter returned to the tree tops as fast as he had come. Spike opened the scroll revealing to be a map in which, like he had expected, pointed out the location of the nearby camp and other routes around it in red color and several blue dots surrounding an extended perimeter of the camp.

Around a minute later Spike closed the scroll and turned around. He made some arm signals followed by a few cricket clicks and whistles. Once he was done the entirety of the heavy units, right and left flank began to advance in a slow march while the other units followed in a slower pace. He turned around again just in time to follow the unicorn unit closely as the moved forward.

Crossing the small river proved to be no problem at all, and thanks to the unicorn unit they were safely concealed. They continued their march until they reached what they were looking for: the rebel camp. Spike and the entire unicorn unit saw, several rebels of many species walking around doing this or that not one hundred meters in front of them. There were weapon racks close to bigger versions of the tent they saw earlier. All rebels were wearing armor of some kind and carried weapons of sorts; be it swords, spears, halberds, pikes, etc. The arrange of weapons was vast and numerous.

Many of them were working on producing arrows at the fletcher or armor and weapons in blacksmiths, yet most of them were just doing mundane chores. There were also a couple of bigger, more sturdier looking buildings that Spike didn’t know what contained, but if the faint growls were anything to go by then it meant a surprise for the caribou. The air itself had a tense aura to it and it was noticeable even to the most untrained of soldiers, even though the rebels seemed to be very relaxed from their point of view.

“How many of them are there?” a nearby unicorn asked in a hushed tone.

“Probably around a thousand,” another replied. “Has to be the biggest camp so far, maybe this is their central camp” another one replied. “By Dainn, just look at that blasphemy. Those traitors are letting their bitches cover themselves up and are actually letting the whores hold weapons,” the unicorn snorted angrily. “How dare they spit on the greatness of male superiority like that! They are not males anymore!” the unicorn said again eagerly without increasing his volume.

Spike ignored the comment and closed his eyes.

This is it, the moment of truth……..I’m sorry, but as I promised your sacrifice won’t be in vain, thank you and, please, forgive me.

The dragon thought swallowing down the knot that had formed in his throat. He opened his eyes again followed by making a single loud cricket noise. He raised both arms then he extended them to his sides in a swift rapid motion. Moments later he heard the muffled movements of both flanks moving in position to surround the camp. Spike turned around to see the heavy units just twenty meters away from him with Bulk Biceps leading them, he raised a hand and the units stopped. Looking at Soarin he nodded once and the pegasus joined the rest of his Hunters in the top.

“Big Mac, go back and take charge of the ranged units, tell the captains to be ready to fire on my signal.”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.

Spike waited for a few moments, seeing the red stallion walk past the heavy soldiers; caribou brutes clad in armor carrying their prized warhammers and giant battle axes.

Suddenly two Shadow Hunters landed in front of Spike in a kneeling position.

“Flanks in position, general. Awaiting your command,” one of them said.

“Perfect,” Spike said making the Hunters return to the top. The dragon saw the range units approach and stop a few meters behind the heavy units. Thanks to the foliage and the trees the initial attack wouldn’t do much damage but it would throw the rebels off balance, catching them entirely by surprise.

Spike picked up the battle horn hanging from his side; he was about to give the signal to fire when he heard a loud growl near him. Looking around he saw his army doing the same looking uncertain and frightened. Then a loud scream of pain came from above followed by a Shadow Hunter fall to the ground in front of them, blood flowing from a missing arm and covered by three cockatrices; all of them biting and slashing their victim with untold ferocity.

“We’re under attack!” he heard a shout in the distance, Spike looked forward to see the rebels stop what they were doing to draw or pick weapons. He turned to the dead thestral on the ground a few meters away of the spell influence and the cocatrices scattering to unkwon directions. He looked forward again to find the rebels grouping.

“FIRE!” Spike shouted, his battle horn forgotten, and a second later a hail of arrows rained upon the rebels managing to take down a few of them. “Drop the spell! ALL UNITS CHARGE!” he shouted again.

The battle horns sang for an instant before the heavy units got up and charged their enemy. The unicorn unit ended their unified spell and each fired a bolt of magic against the rebels, almost every bolt stopped by a barrier created by the few changeling soldiers and unicorns amongst them. The heavy units passed them a moment later whilst under a hail of arrows, throwing lances, rocks and magic bolts, the last one proving to be almost completely useless against the enchanted armor and weapons of the caribou.

Spike heard the two sides clash loudly, he got up, ignited his spear with his fire and waved it around the air: the signal for the griffon unit to commence their assault. He saw the griffons take to the air and fly onward to battle. Spike turned to see the ongoing battle in front of him and with a shout of defiance he charged followed closely by the unicorn unit on the ground and the Shadow Hunters above. Before he joined the battle he saw the flanks coming out of their positions to attack the rebels from three different fronts. He moved between his troops, desperately making his way to the heat of the battle.

He had a promise to keep.

*Half an hour later*

The battle had raged on for longer than Spike had predicted as he walked around the battle ground, but it had been just as intense and those brave souls that gave their lives fought with a ferocity that put fear in the hearts of their enemies. He could hear moans of pain and cries for help and saw his troops checking the bodies that littered the ground, trying to find rebels to kill or wounded allies. He could also see some caribou scavenging the corpses of their fallen enemies for some kind of memento, they were almost done, too.

He could also see some manticore and orthros corpses around, all of them kept inside the bigger building he saw earlier.

“Let us go, you assholes!” Spike heard a hissing yet feminine voice scream, if he was right it was coming from his left side. He immediately knew what was going on and rushed to the voice. It took him a few seconds and a turn around a huge tent to see what was expected.

There was a group of fifteen caribou holding three females; a changeling mare without her horn, a cow and a zebra mare, in the air. They struggled against their captors violently, meanwhile the caribou only laughed at their attempts to free themselves from their hold. Their armor was gone allowing the caribou to grope, squeeze and pull their breasts as they pleased.

“Don’t worry, you sluts, my friends and I will fuck you until you understand your proper place,” a caribou said aligning his free cock with the changeling mare opening. “For a bug you look to be very tight and your tits aren’t half bad either!” he licked his lips in anticipation.

“Still, the bug can’t compete with a cow whore! I mean, just look at these beauties!” another caribou said squeezing the ample breasts of the cow aggressively making her cry out in protest and pain. “Now these are some fine tits!”

The caribou laughed darkly, anxious to enjoy the females in their grasp while the three females began to cry out for help. The caribou ready to rape the changeling mare heard a buzzing noise behind him and a second later he screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

“Ggggaaaaahhhh!” the caribou dropped to his knees while his brethren backed away and gasped looking at the spear point coming out of his chest just where his heart was. Before the caribou could do anything, he felt the spear being pulled out from behind only to be impaled again and again until he died creating a pool of blood below his corpse.

The other caribou, some other soldiers nearby and the three females looked at the dragon that had executed one of his own soldiers.

“I thought,” Spike began to say in a loud, distorted and terrifying tone. “My orders where NO prisoners and NO trophies,” Spike looked at the other fourteen trembling caribou soldiers he had caught disobeying his orders. “WELL!?” everyone in earshot stopped to look at their direction. The caribou didn’t reply, too scared to find any excuse. Spike shot a glance at the three females, noticing only the cow was crying but still looked at him with gratitude like her two partners.

“SOARIN!” Spike shouted angrily. A few seconds later Soarin arrived at his side along with twenty of his Shadow Hunters.

He bowed before asking in a neutral. “Yes, my general?”

“Execute these fourteen imbeciles for insubordination along with those filthy bitches. They want them? Then they can die with them!” the caribou in question shouted back at Spike, pleading him for forgiveness and to reconsider while the females simply closed their eyes and smiled. “Let it be a lesson for all who don’t follow my orders!” Spike shouted back at them.

“As you command, my general,” Soarin snapped his fingers together just as the caribou turned tail and ran only to be mow down a few meters away by the Hunters along with the three females.

Spike turned to face the soldiers looking at the execution and yelled. “Anyone else!?” his answer was a pained chuckle coming from the nearby tent. He, along with Soarin and the Hunters, walked toward it while the soldiers, still fearful and nervous, kept on watching their general.

Two Shadow Hunters entered the tent and came out dragging a white griffon, the same griffon Spike had spoken to just days earlier in the central hive. Spike gulped unnoticed by anyone and stepped forward to face the kneeling and battered griffon.

“What’s so funny, traitor?” Spike asked with disgust.

“A...ha….ha….Y--Y---You idiots, you…..*cough*......you killed th-the sentin-nels,” the griffon coughed some blood before laughing and looking at Spike with a small smile on his beak.

“And the rest of your army,” Spike took a knee in front of the griffon held tightly by three Hunters. “But I must admit you put up a challenge to my troops…….at least your males did; you and your brothers even managed to kill a little over three hundred of my own. And for that, I congratulate you, but why were you putting such a fight even though your defeat was inevitable?” Spike heard a few chuckles going around him. “Why didn’t you even try to run away like the cowards you are?”

“We…...weren’t trying to…...to….*cough* …..survive….or...kill as much of you as w-w-we could, *violent cough* we….were…..s-stalling you,” the griffon said with a smirk.

“Stall us?” Spike asked unfaced. “Likely story, traitor, my forces are still eager and strong to raze two or three more of your camps. Admit it, now that we can enter the forest is only a matter of time until we put your stupid and pointless rebellion to rest,” Spike said getting up facing his troops. “We already won! Nothing can stop us and nothing will deny the truth of male superiority!” he shouted out making his troops shout in victory as well. Spike looked down at the griffon and smirked, but instead of seeing a defeated griffon he saw him smiling back at him before coughing loudly moving his head up and down violently, almost like he was nodding.

Already? I just hope Zecora’s potion works as good as the fame runs, Spike thought still looking down at the griffon, he closed his eyes for a second before the griffon began to laugh again, his laughter barely audible. Your sacrifice won’t be in vain, friend.

Spike opened his eyes. “What are you laughing for, filth?”

“You think y-your *cough* victory here means anything, dragon?” the griffon asked coldly. “This camp is n-nothing compared to our *violent cough* r-real forces, this is just one of s-s-several capture and tame camps s-*cough*-scattered through the f-forest,” the griffon struggled to say in between deep breaths.

“Capture and tame camps?” Soarin asked with genuine confusion.

“Small camps set t-to capture monsters and t-train them for labor or war,” the griffon turned his gaze to Soarin. “I’m sure y-your Shadow Fuckers know our beasts v-very well, don’t they?” Soarin said nothing but his expression turned into an annoyed one.

“Hollow words and pitiful lies are the only thing coming out of your mouth. And even if you were speaking the truth, why would you tell me this?”

“Because y-you won’t leave this forest *cough* alive, dragon” the griffon said as loudly as he could, making almost all other chattering die down. Even the Hunters holding him eased their grip on him out of surprise. “I know why th-there aren’t any of your warbeasts with y-you, fucker,” Spike frowned in anger. “They’re afraid of the forest…….of real m-m-monsters *cough*. The forest is dangerous, that’s why we ha-have sentinels…...they make us in-invisible to the monsters,” the griffon smiled broadly, his eyes shining with malice. “But not anymore!” he yelled as loud as he could.

“The monsters are coming to feast on your blood, dozens maybe even hundreds of them,” the smile of the griffon widened seeing the angered expression of Spike. A distant roar followed by howling and growls made the soldiers around uneasy and scared. “Do you hear them, you fucking traitor!? Are you going to fight the monsters or will you try to run!?” the griffon coughed blood, it landing on Spike’s already blood stained feets. Soarin signaled two Hunters to fly to the top.

“Y-you may hide from their eyes *violent coughing* but what about the smell of blood from your wounded!? Die fuckers, DIE! Death to the caribou and death to Dainn!” the griffon shouted using his remaining strength before a Shadow Hunter broke his neck from behind.

Spike saw the body hit the floor with a loud thud, it was soon followed by loud roars and howling. The two Hunters Soarin sent to the top returned with an expression similar of that of seeing a ghost.

“T-there is movement approaching from all directions, general! We’re being surrounded by monsters!”

“Orders general!” Soarin shouted to Spike.

Spike was clenching his fists and was trembling with fury.

“R-retreat! Full retreat!” Spike shouted as loudly as he could. “Back to Ponyville!”

He and his troops waited not a second longer before they ran back to their forces in reserve and the wounded. They arrived just in time to see the first wave of Timberwolves, Cockatices, Manticores, Cragadiles and even a Hydra emerge from the depths of the forest.

The army and the monsters were frozen in place for second or two; the caribou and the rest of the army focused on the unnatural glow the beasts eyes had, almost like they couldn't believe the feast that had come willingly to their table. The monsters pounced barely letting the army take their weapons to defend themselves.

Spike saw the monsters clash against his soldiers hungry for their meat, he allowed himself to cheer for the monsters inside his head for a second when he saw a second, albeit smaller, wave of monsters join the carnage. Spike was about to shout an order when he felt the very ground shake heavily. He, and the soldiers that weren’t fighting already for their lives, looked agape as between the trees emerged a gigantic purple, ferocious looking creature flanked by two giant Timberwolves and surrounded by even more monsters.

“......Ursa….. Major…..” Spike whispered in terror. “Onward! Fight your way through, for male superiority!”

“For male superiority!” half his army shouted back as the monsters charged against them. The battle for their survival had only just begun.

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*Canterlot Castle-Meeting Room- 3:57 p.m.-That very same day-*

The doors of the meeting room opened abruptly forcing the ones inside it look at the entrance to see what was going on.

Dainn got up from his seat (and so did half the leaders sitting around the large table) when he saw a blood (mostly dry) drenched Spike flanked by the commander of the Shadow Hunters and three of its members in similar conditions. The guards outside the room looking at the small group in shock.

“Wait outside,” Spike said in a tired tone, his four companions turned around and left. Spike closed the door calmly and made his way to his seat beside Blueblood, effectively ignoring the baffled stares he was receiving. His cape was now just a ripped shred of cloth and what was left of his armor marked by deep scratches and dents. He sat down, took a deep breath and then proceeded to speak.

“Sorry I’m late everyone, my king,” Spike saluted Dainn with a head bow. “I just got out of the forest half an hour ago and I decided to take the Shadow Hunter express, so I had no time to clean myself,” Spike relaxed on his seat. “I’m assuming you were talking about the mission, right?”

“Spike!” Dainn said with a hint of worry in his voice. “What in Tartarus happened!?”

“Monsters, hordes and hordes of monsters,” Spike said tiredly. “The purpose of the attack was achieved nonetheless, my king. I found a rebel camp, the biggest as far as I know.”

“How many of those bastards were there?” a zebra warlord asked, finally sitting and his surprise suppressed.

“We didn’t have time to count but I can safely say under a thousand, perhaps around eight or nine hundred,” Spike sighed. “Everything was going so well, the surprise was a success, albeit a little accident before it began, the rebels were cut down even though the, ehem, ‘males’ fought back valiantly, in just over half an hour they were all dead,” Spike leaned forward resting his elbows on the table and his head on his hands. “It was after our victory when the monsters attacked.”

“What kind of monsters attacked you, Spike?” warlord Ulfric asked curiously.

“What didn’t attack us is the real question, Ulfric. Timberwolves of all sizes ripping and shredding. Cockatices either taking down my air units out or turning to stone those in the ground. Manticores pummeling down the heavy units. Hydras devouring whatever they saw with all their heads. And an ursa major, a motherfucking ursa major smashing through my troops like they were pesky mosquitos! And many, many other monsters; some I hadn’t even seen before this morning.”

“The fighting was brutal and merciless; we were fighting for survival, the monsters were fighting for their next meal. I personally had to cut down at least thirty monsters. I honestly don’t know how we managed to escape them, especially the damn fucking ursa,” Spike sighed heavily.

There was a moment of silence before Spike leaned back in his seat and looked directly at Dainn, whom had an anxious expression on his face.

“Dainn,” several members around the table gasped in shock and fear. Dainn’s sons were about to say something but with a single movement of their father’s hand they stopped and listened in silence. “That forest is a slaughtering ground,” Spike said in a low, exhausted and uncaring tone. “I lost three thousand one hundred and thirty seven soldiers in total, and that’s just when I left Ponyville; I don’t know how many more will die from their injuries.”

“Then how can these damn rebels survive inside the forest if its as dangerous as you say?” Dainn asked with a hint of anger.

“The changelings use their magic to create some sort of repellent, I’m not sure myself but that would explain why there were only changeling sentinels around the camp’s perimeter,” Spike answered still in the same tone.

“But was the camp destroyed, the rebels were killed by our warriors?” Dainn asked a bit more relaxed.

“Yes my king, every single one of them,” Spike got up from his seat. “Even though we suffered substantial casualties the rest of the rebels will now know their precious little refuge won’t protect them forever. But before we can make a move of our own again, I think it may be wise to quell other safer rebel controlled areas first,” Spike said with a smile.

“Perfect,” Dainn said with a small smile of his own. “While unfortunately you lost most of your army you managed to survive once again, Spike. And not only survive, you completed a task deemed as impossible by most sitting around this very table. I can see my faith in you was well placed,” Dainn leaned back in his throne. “Pray tell, where are you going?”

“If I may, my king, I wish to wash this filth off of me,” Spike said with extending his arms trying to prove his point.

Dainn hummed. “Very well, you may go, but I want you present during dinner to discuss your reward for your success,” he smiled at Spike as the dragon bowed and left without another word.

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*Griffon Kingdom - Outskirts of the Capital city Wind Heaven - Court of The Great Tribunal* Present Time.

Spike stopped his retailing and shifted somewhat uncomfortably on his seat.

“What happened then, prisoner?” the ursa judge asked with politely.

“I’m getting to that, but first, may I use the bathroom, please?” Spike asked with a bright smile.

The judges exchanged looks and nodded.

“The court will take a fifteen minute rest,” the ursa judge declared by hitting the stone pedestal with his claws once.

The minotaur guards approached Spike to escort him to the bathroom, Spike got up and let the guards move and push him forward. Once he was about to reach the main doors he turned just enough to see the judges discussing between themselves on their desk.

“Almost forgot, you better be prepared because it’s almost time, shit is about to get good, my dear Judges!” his eyes turned white just for a second before the doors opened and he stepped out.

Meanwhile six of the judges present felt a strange sensation of coldness run across their entire bodies.

Chapter 4 end.

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to all who read this!

Special thanks to FamousLastWords for proofreading and minor editing. Give him love! Also, he is an awesome writer so go and check his work!