Judgment Chapter 6: Rise of Equestria

------ “And then I dragged them into my Fun Room. You should’ve seen them crying and begging to anyone near to kill them instead. It was so funny to see the once high and mighty generals and warlords of Dainn acting like that, I enjoyed it quite a bit more than usual; both their cries and the fun we had afterwards.”

*Five second long chuckling*

-I... see-

“BUT if you were to ask me whom I enjoyed killing the most, then that would be Dainn himself. It makes me shed tears of happiness each time I remember the fun we had together. I only regret it ended so quickly.”

*Sigh*

-You call two weeks quickly?-

“For practically four years of torture, desecration, depravity, corruption, rape, enslavement, brainwashing, genocide, misogyny, death and destruction of two entire nations and its inhabitants? I say those two weeks was a kindness compared to that, don’t you think so?”

-.......-

“What am I saying? Of course you don’t think that, you fucking traitors. Although I also have to thank you for standing back while I travelled to Hraljord to give the caribou a little payback, with interests of course.”

*Ten second long pause*

“I’ve been here for almost three hours blabbering on and on but you still haven’t told me what you really want. My patience is starting to run low. Spill it.”

-*Sigh* Spike, you are aware of your charges and current situation, don’t you?-

“Of course. What about it?”

-Then you know your crimes cannot go unpunished-

“Quite.”

-And you know everyone that was foolish enough to follow you also have to answer for said crimes, don’t you?-

*Fifteen second long pause*

“I really don’t like to be treated like I’m stupid. And I know you have no power to act on whatever petty threats your superiors told you to use on me, scum, why else do you think I’m here in the first place? But you’re right on something.”

*Chair shifts*

-What are you doing?-

*Six steps*

-Wait!-

*Glass shatters followed by several gasps of surprise and terror*

“Here’s the deal. I’ll be the scapegoat you so desperately need under three conditions.”

*Twenty two second long pause*

-Which are?- *A feminine voice asked in a tactful tone*

“One. If I’m doing this you WILL summon The Great Tribunal to show the rest of the world my crimes and sins.”

“Two. Only I will be judged while everyone else, including Chrysalis and her changelings, Empress Shifting Sands and her troops and General Sebastian and his troops, will be spared from any and all guilt or sentence.”

“Three. I want one thousand gallons of strawberry ice-cream.”

*Six second long pause*

“In return I’ll turn myself in without a fight and I will make sure that everyone back home will stay put and do nothing to prevent my judgment and will cooperate, for the most part, during your interrogations and all your shit. Deal?”

*Ten second long pause*

-Deal.- ---------

-------------------Spike Solaris ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Reaper’, ‘The Lightbringer’. The First Report.

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

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

Twenty minutes. For twenty minutes the courtroom had exploded into an uproar a few seconds after Spike revealed the glowing blue heart that covered most of his chest. The guards did their best to put the ones present back in order while the judges, excluding Shifting Sands, Chrysalis and Sebastian, looked at the never blinking white eyed dragon staring at them in complete stillness.

Chrysalis could feel all the swirling emotions around her and she herself was struck with shock and surprise at first. But while she didn’t move or say anything, her mind had worked hard for almost the entirety of those twenty minutes; realization and understanding over Spike’s actions, and the now clear lies he had told about his newfound power, since the moment he came back to the Central Hive made sense to her now.

She glanced at the other six judges, all of them silently watching the one she had come to respect and call a friend, something she thought would be impossible just a few years prior to the Fall. She glanced at Shifting Sands and then to Sebastian; the saddle arabian mare had an aura that reflected sadness and blame while the griffon’s showcased anger mixed with pride.

Chrysalis glanced to the still ongoing rabble in the courtroom and decided it was time for them to shut up. Using her magic, being one of the few ones that could do so at the moment, she enveloped everyone with it instantly paralyzing them. Just ten seconds later she let them free and all of the presents limited to whisper something under their breaths for several following seconds.

“Thank you, Chrysalis,” Spike thanked emotionlessly. He closed his eyes for a second or two and re-opened them, revealing they were normal once again. “While the noise doesn’t bother me, I’m sure all of you want me to finish the tale,” he smiled flashing his front fangs. “But before I continue I must tell you something crucial, or else you won’t understand the Heart itself,” as soon as those words left his mouth the room was silent once more; all of them, both judges, guards and present eager to hear him.

“The Heart is sentient, as you might have figured out by now, but it doesn’t give its power to those that try to force it out. Sombra tried and failed simply because he wasn’t strong enough to manipulate the Heart, unlike Dainn whom I’m sure would find a way; instead Sombra decided to lock it up behind several layers of defence because he knew the Heart would be the only thing truly capable of defeating him,” Spike sighed. “But Sombra never understood the Heart completely...like I have.”

“The Heart on its own can barely do anything, at best it can express its power in a very limited way; like the barrier and the illusion that surrounded it when I found it. The Hearts needs two additional elements to function properly: A Conduit and a Trigger. The Trigger is met when an overwhelming wave of emotions and feelings are near it to let it express its power in full. Then that’s where the Conduit comes to play; with the Trigger alone the Heart’s power remains raw and useless but with a Conduit nearby it will allow the power to flow freely and finally be a force of pure light; ready to be used as the Heart pleases or by the will of someone it judges worthy.”

A moment of silence followed.

“The Crystal Palace….is a Conduit?” Shifting Sands asked slowly.

“And the crystal ponies provide the Trigger,” Sebastian said, realizing now the secret of the power behind the Crystal Empire.

Spike nodded to them both. “When we merged together we didn’t become one, the Heart and I don’t share the same mind or body. I’m still me yet I can feel the Heart deep inside my very soul,” Spike slowly began to smile sadly. “My feelings became the Trigger and my body the Conduit,” he looked at his hands for a moment before looking at the judges again. “My strength multiplied several times over, my scales became sturdier, all my senses were enhanced and I feel a limitless supply of energy and power flow through my body at all times.”

“But that still doesn’t answer why the Heart chose you,” the ursa judge said in a worried tone.

Spike chuckled. “As I’ve already told you, I’m dying. Not because of our merge or some agreed time limit, but because of my actions,” a short, cold moment of silence followed. “The Heart is pure, a weapon of light and goodness; it cannot do evil deeds of any kind. How did Dainn planned to use or corrupt it, I have no idea but I’m glad we didn’t have to find out,” he chuckled. “When Twilight tried to retrieve it the first time the Heart rejected her, simply because her heart, at that time, was full of the selfish desire to pass her test. She didn’t care about the Empire or the ponies or anyone else but her own success. It wasn’t until she realized how wrong she was and how selfish her actions were that she allowed me to help her willingly.”

Spike sighed. “I saw it when the Heart and I merged, before you ask. It posses the ability to read the hearts of those nearby, an ability that sadly, at least for me, we don’t share,” he chuckled lightly. “The Heart instead turned to me and allowed me to carry it simply because my heart was full of worry for Twilight, my friends, the crystal ponies and the Empire. After being deprived and sealed away for so long it marked me, turning me into a Carrier; someone worthy enough to use it if danger ever arrived to the Empire or to the Heart itself and the Crystal princess was unable to defeat on her own.”

“But when we merged my heart was filled with the desire to destroy Dainn and the caribou, but a bigger part of my heart was crying out for the freedom of all that I loved and those around me. A chaotic mix truth be told, and for the Heart it was enough to let me use it,” Spike looked at his hands. “But, as I said before, the Heart is pure. And with every life I took, with every order I gave and with every drop of blood I spilled the... let’s call it ‘space’ where the Heart is attached to, shall we?” he cleared his throat.

“The ‘space’ got smaller and smaller, even more so when I enjoyed every single second of what I did, but the power it gave me remained. I abused the power of the Heart in every way I could think of, all of it to bring the caribou and Dainn to their, if able, painful, slow and agonizing deaths,” Spike smiled. “And all I have to lose is a life that was destroyed since the day of their arrival? I call that a fair trade. Gotta admit though, I didn’t realize it was killing me until a week before the fall of Dainn. Not that I cared then or now to be honest.”

The room felt colder and a two inch tall light mantle of mist began to cover the entire floor.

Spike looked at the judges and licked his lips. “Now, where was I?”

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

*The Everfree Forest, Central Hive-A few hours later nearing Dawn-*

Six changeling guards stood in silence near the entrance to their Central Hive, it was unlikely the caribou or some spy would find them but still, orders were orders and after what happened in Ponyville two days prior it was unwise to take any chances. Suddenly a low rumbling began to echo through the forest, seconds later the rumbling began to increase little by little. The six guards assumed positions and used their magic to camouflage themselves with their surroundings. The rumbling soon began to die down until it disappeared completely, in its place whoever the sound of something making its way through the wilderness could be heard, and nearing them fast.

After a couple of seconds of waiting they saw bushes, plants and vines moving; even though they never heard something cracking or being torned away, which was odd to them. The six guards readied their weapons and fuelled magic into their horns, ready to strike down whatever was coming towards them. Then everything suddenly stopped and they heard a very distinct sigh-like noise. The bushes a few meters in front of them began to move and after two seconds a purple dragon without armor, weapons or clothes emerged through them.

Four of the changelings recognized the dragon as Spike, the Marshal of Dainn, and swallowed heavily while gripping their weapons tightly ready to fight the monster. Meanwhile the other two also recognized Spike, but for what he truly was.

“Stand down,” a female changeling said coming out of her hiding spot and revealing herself to the dragon. Spike looked at her, his eyes shining white for a second before returning to normal. “Sir Spike, it is a pleasure to see you alive and well,” the changeling said saluting the dragon.

“What are you doing captain? Don’t you realize who he is?” another changeling buzzed down next to her, worry visible in his face while Spike made his way calmly to them.

“Of course I do, he is Spike the Dragon, one of our best sleeper agents,” the four changelings that didn’t know looked at him with surprise. “The Queen ordered me and Skiak to wait here in case you would return from Solitude, sir,” she said to the dragon.

“Where is she?” Spike asked with concern. “Is Chrysalis alright?”

“Yes, sir. Please, follow us,” the female captain signaled the dragon to follow her and he obeyed. They went through the hidden barrier leading down to their Central Hive, the walls scarcely illuminated by blue lights on the ceiling. Their walk continued for several minutes, the four changelings previously unaware of his role eyeing him with a mix of pride and relief.

“Sir-” the other changeling, Skiak, began but was quickly interrupted.

“Just Spike, if you don’t mind,” Spike neutrally.

“Of course,” Skiak cleared his throat. “Spike, it is my duty to inform you that the Queen, despite her initial anger and doubt, did as you asked of her. Your castle in Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres has been cleared out as per your instructions with no casualties on our side, and all the Shadow Hunters that are still under caribou influence are safely kept as prisoners in our dungeons. Also, the Tree of Harmony and the Old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters are being armed up and their perimeter secured even as we speak.”

“What about Big Macintosh, Soarin and Zecora?” Spike simply asked.

“The stallions are waiting inside the castle...Ex-Commander Soarin is not well, however. He has many psychological scars, more so than the majority, our medics and mind-menders are doing their best to ease his pain. The zebra, on the other hand, expressed her wishes to speak with you should were you to return; she says it’s important.”

Spike nodded. “What about the Collector hives?”

“Destroyed, sir,” the captain spoke. “Sorry, I mean, Spike. Every last one of them has been destroyed and the females rescued. We suffered no casualties but we had some injured, but nothing too drastic.”

“And….the Bearers?” Spike asked creating a several seconds long silence.

“I think the Queen should be the one to tell you about them, Spike,” Skiak said almost nervously. “But lady Applejack and her family are happy to see sir Macintosh again.”

“I see,” Spike said in a low tone. “Where is Zecora?”

“She must be awake by now, that mare works too much,” the captain said with a sad sigh. “And she must be in her tent preparing potions, reading something for the young or preparing to tend some of the most grave refugees.”

“I wish to speak with her, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not, the Queen will need time to prepare to properly greet you, si--Spike. We will send someone to you once the Queen is ready.”

The rest of their walk was spent in silence until they reached the end of the cave, the hidden entrance to the Central Hive. The spell was dropped once the captain hissed three times and the familiar sight of the Central Hive graced his eyes.

“You four go inform the front guard we have a code ‘Blind’ and her majesty that sir Spike is here,” Skiak ordered to the other four guards. They saluted and buzzed down and away to perform their tasks while he and the captain led Spike down the stairway until they reached the bottom and wordlessly Spike dipped inside the nearest pool of green goo.

“Spike,” the captain called while the dragon used the goo to clean away the few dirt marks and leaves hanging all over his body. “Why didn’t you contact one of the teams or any of the other sleeper agents instead of coming all the way here?”

“Because I came directly from the Empire running,” Spike answered nonchalantly.

“You...ran? All the way here?” the two changelings exchanged glances.

“Pretty much, yeah. Remember outside? That was me slowing down,” he said coming out of the pool of goo. Strangely enough, both of them noticed, there was no residual goo attached to him and his scales seemed to shimmer on their own with an unnatural glow. “Can we hurry? I really want to speak with Zecora again.”

The changelings brushed it off as a dragon thing while the captain used her magic to hand Spike a cloak.

“I won’t be needing that anymore,” Spike said walking past the duo. “I no longer have a reason to protect my identity.”

“Sir, almost everyone in the rebel alliance think you are the Marshal of the fucker king, only the leaders and a few trusted troops know the truth. If you go in without your cloak they might attack you.”

Spike stopped and turned to look at the captain. “Does it look like I care?” Spike then turned to the front again. “Besides, I think it’s time for them to the truth behind me, I don’t care if this somehow reaches Dainn himself.”

With that Spike began to make his way down the path while the two changelings caught up with him after a few seconds. After a minute or so the small party reached the small black wall leading to the outer camp guarded by two griffoness guards. Both griffoness, already knowing of his coming, stepped aside to let them pass but that didn’t mean they couldn’t shoot nasty glares at the dragon.

Spike thanked them before entering the outer camp led by the two changelings; looking around the sight was what one could expect. There weren’t many people up and around except for a few guards here and there, all of them staring at him with disbelief or downright skepticism. There were some civilians too, most of them bearing similar reactions that that of the guards and soldiers. Some others, however, stopped what they were doing and ran inside the nearest tent in a hurry and some others seemed to be frozen on the spot while mumbling incoherently.

Not even a minute later more and more began to come from their tents or come to see him but still there were no cries, screams, curses or something louder than whispering around the party. It wasn’t until they reached a rather open area when they finally stopped and Spike saw Zecora, free from the red collar around her neck and wearing a light set of chitin armor and a half-robe, working on a steaming great cauldron while some children, most of them pony and changeling, sat patiently in a nearby table. He smiled and made his way to her.

“Zecora!” Spike called out just teen feet away from her. The zebra stopped her brewing and turn to see the dragon. A smile flashed her for an instant before the two of them met with a big hug. “It’s so good to see you again,” Spike said, fighting back the sudden gush of nausea he felt.

“It’s good to see you safe and sound, my dragon friend,” Zecora said with a bright smile. “When Big Macintosh came to retrieve me a few days ago I feared the worst, I’m glad to see my fears were misplaced,” she ended the hug.

“I really miss your rhyming though,” Spike said offering her a sad smile. “They took everything from you, even your rhyming,” he frowned.

Zecora gave him a smile of her own. “It is not something you should feel sad about my dragon friend, it was my own decision to stay in my hut and pretend,” a short moment of silence followed before a hoofstep broke it.

“You….,” both Zecora and Spike heard someone say near them. “You…..,” the voice repeated.

Spike turned to the right and saw Blossomforth, the mare wearing a thick greyish robe. He saw her neck free from the black collar but the missing fur and exposed reddish and abused skin showcased just how tight it had been. Spike also noticed that behind her were some of the mares and other females he had decided to ‘keep’ once promoted to general; all of them wearing an expression unreadable to the dragon. Blossomforth herself had tears forming and her angry expression made him turn completely to her.

Looking over her shoulders he saw her wings free from the abominable wing-sheaths and were now surrounded by strange green-like bandages; he visibly winced when she moved them in a flapping motion. Her pain obvious but ignored due to her anger.

“You…..,” Blossomforth repeated stopping about a meter in front of the purple dragon. Tears finally began to fall down her face. “Why didn’t you told us!?” the pegasus shouted angrily closing her eyes and her hands turned to fists while her entire body trembled in rage. “Why didn’t you help us earlier!?” Blossomforth practically roared at the dragon.

Spike, for his part, was confused. The moment he saw her and the other mares he used to call pets, make them work tirelessly around the castle and insult on an almost daily basis, he was ready to receive a barrage of insults and death wishes he surely deserved; maybe some of them would try to kill him for all he did to them. But instead she had asked those questions instead even though her anger and borderline hate was tangible to him now. Looking past Blossomforth and the rest of the mares he saw Lightning Dust at the back of the group, the pegasus wearing her chitin armor and looking at him intently. Now it all made sense.

“I was a puppet to them for little over two years, and after I broke free I began to do everything in my power to help females and males alike however I could,” Spike said looking straight to Blossomforth. “Everything I did, everything, was for a good reason,” Spike clenched his fists.

“Have you any idea what we had to endure, you traitor!?” Blossomforth shouted to him taking a step forward. “What reason could you possibly have to excuse yourself and the bitch princesses!?”

“Blossomforth,” Spike said in a cold tone and suddenly the temperature around them dropped a few degrees. “You can call me whatever you want, but never call them that ever again,” he warned with a snarl. “They are puppets to the caribou, except for Luna. Cadance, Twilight and Celestia, along with almost every red and purple collars out there are NOT traitors,” Spike took a step forward, his step loud and clear but most of the present didn’t back away. “I know you’re pain because I’ve seen it and dealt it, I did everything in my power to help those I could, one way or another.”

“All I can say now is that I’m sorry for taking so long and that my search is finally over, my days as the ass-kisser of that fucker of Dainn are over,” his eyes turned white making most that saw the gasp out in surprise and Blossomforth and her little group to actually take a step back feeling a cold shiver run down their spine. “I found what I was looking for and I will do the impossible to free Equestria and the Empire again,” his eyes turned normal again. “Go and spread the word that I’m here for all I care, tell everyone they can try to kill me if they want revenge; I won’t stop them, but do tell them to save that rage for the caribou instead,” he turned to see Zecora. “Let’s talk somewhere private Zecora,” Spike said smiling at the zebra chaman whom limited to nod.

Spike could hear Blossomforth’s whimpering while Zecora guided him. He felt bad for cutting her off and not letting her pour out her mind and heart out, still, he remembered he could at least prove to her and the rest of the group he was saying the truth. He stopped and turned around once again to face her.

“And by the way, Blossomforth?” Spike called making said mare look at him as tears flushed down her eyes. “I would’ve accepted that date,” he stated before turning around again to follow Zecora. Blossomforth, for her part, opened her eyes in surprise before falling to her knees letting warm tears fall to the ground freely.

Spike followed Zecora through some tents until they finally reached her own personal tent; since it was slightly bigger than those around it and had one of her welcoming masks hanging outside. Once inside Spike saw a couple of cauldrons, plenty flasks filled with potions, ingredients, books and many other objects the zebra needed to perform her experiments and tests. What really struck him as odd was a small pot holding a baby rape-vine in it and two sets of caribou armor.

“My guards mentioned you wanted to speak with me about something important,” Spike said taking a seat near the entrance.

“They speak the truth for indeed I do,” Zecora said before picking up the baby rape-vine. “Many discoveries I have made during these past years, sadly a way to revert the brainwashing magic they use I have not found,” she put the pot on the table before grabbing a flask containing a blue liquid. “But important my discoveries are nonetheless, for example these plant monstrosities are infused with their dark magic; without it they stop moving and eventually die,” the zebra poured a few drops of the liquid over the rape-vine. It opened its mouth to swallow the drops and just a few seconds later it began to squirm around and then turn grey and finally stopped moving.

“This potion acts like a pesticide but only for their dark taint, a potion to free the fields without restraint,” Zecora said and then pointed to the armor. “The runes the caribou use are powerful and strange, for they can even change genders in favor of their derange. The runes in their armor and weapons are meant to fight magic in general, but a crucial flaw I have discovered that will turn them useless,” she smiled. “For as you know, my dragon friend, magic dispels before it can touch them, but with enough force the runes will ignore it.”

“These discoveries I have already shared with the changeling queen, scheming and deceiving once she was until her encounter with Dainn the Unclean. Alas, there is one more discovery I have made that only now I will share; the caribou, strong as they are, infertile I believe becoming they are.”

Spike nodded. “I know,” he said making the zebra raise an eyebrow. “I found out that a while back ago,” Spike smiled. “But it’s amazing that you managed to discover so much for us Zecora, I can’t begin to thank you enough for all you’ve done and endured.”

Zecora shook her head. “You have nothing to thank me for, my dear friend, for Equestria is my home and I will not let it fall into the hands of those rapist brutes,” taking two nearby cups she brought them up to her mouth, she blew on them and suddenly tea appeared inside them. “Now tell me, why were your eyes shining white?”

Spike got up and walked over to Zecora, took the cup she was offering to him and drank it in one go. “Because I found what I was looking for,” Zecora sipped her tea whilst looking at him intently. “Hope.”

*An hour and a half later*

After a long and pleasing conversation with Zecora a small group of changeling guards had come to get him bringing the message that Chrysalis was ready to receive him. As of now Spike was walking through the corridors of the castle/fortress guided by Yog, now a commander, to where Chrysalis was waiting for him. The walk had been spent in relative silence, except for a question or a comment here and there, until the small group halted in front of two large doors.

“Her majesty is already inside, Spike,” Yog said signalling the rest of the guards to stand back. “Before you go in, Spike. Are you...the only survivor?” Yog asked with some difficulty.

“Yes,” Spike replied. “I lost four of my friends in that mountain; they gave up their lives just to give me chance to find something to finally start pushing back against the caribou.”

“Did you find it?” the changeling asked using his magic to open the doors of the room.

Spike smirked. “I did. Their sacrifices will not be in vain.”

Yog nodded in understandment before signaling Spike to enter. Once inside he used his magic to close the doors behind the dragon.

Spike saw that the room was dimly lit by small green fires hanging on the walls and a small fireplace with green flames. He took notice that beside the furniture near the fireplace the rest of the room was all but deserted. The sound of something shifting caught his attention and saw a figure raise and walk in front of the fireplace.

It was Chrysalis wearing a long black dress with a breastplate of chitin armor. She walked up to Spike while he did the same, once in front of each other they shaked hands.

“I see you’re tougher than you look, Spike,” Chrysalis said in a low tone, barely louder than a whisper. She closed her eyes for a second while letting go of his hand. “I can...feel something different about you. Does it have something to do with what my guards said you claim you ran all the way from the Empire?”

“Yes, I found something that might give us a chance,” he sighed weakly before his eyes turned white making Chrysalis open her eyes in surprise. A second later his eyes returned to normal.

“I see, but, was the price worth it?” Chrysalis asked with a hint of pity.

“The price to get the...power, if you will, was nothing, the trouble was just reaching it. Now, can you tell me why you never told me you sent search teams to Solitude?”

“It wasn’t necessary,” Chrysalis said flatly. “But after the second team I gave up on finding something in that forsaken mountain. But at least now I know my suspicions that something powerful was there were correct,” she sighed. “Now, can you tell me why you never told us about the Tree of Harmony?”

“It wasn’t necessary,” Spike said with a smirk making Chrysalis hum. “Speaking of which, was everything alright?.....Did it….do something?”

Chrysalis glanced at the fireplace for several seconds before looking at Spike again. “There will be a meeting with the rest of the leaders at noon, be there. We have much to discuss and much to plan,” Chrysalis began to walk towards the doors. “As for the Bearers,” the doors opened. “They wish to talk to you, in private,” and with that the doors closed once again.

Spike stood there petrified for almost an entire minute looking at the doors. Until a voice caught his attention.

“Howdy, Spike,” the voice of Applejack said before her figure raised partly lit by the green fire. “Ah’m glad tah see ya back, and so are the rest of the girls, aren’t yah?”

Suddenly the fireplace grew in size illuminating the room properly as five figures rose up and let Spike see the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony reunited for the first time in years. He felt his heart stop beating.

All of them, with the exception of Applejack, were wearing grey robes while they stared at the ground hiding their faces. Spike noticed the collars were gone and, in the case of his winged friends, the wing-sheaths were gone and replaced by green bandages. Twilight took a step forward.

“T-the Tree,” she began in a quivering, fearful tone. “It...freed us….b...but only….us,” she said weakly. “And…..and….a-a-and…….,” she looked up to him, her face drenched in tears. “I’m sorry!” Twilight brought her hands up to cover her face before she fell to her knees. “I didn’t meant to, I couldn’t stop!” she shaked her head from side to side while Applejack kneeled next to her and hugged her close. “I-I never m-m-meant to….to……”

Spike saw the wailing form of Twilight and his stomach and heart felt empty and void. He knew what she was trying to say and, judging by her reaction, they had already read his farewell letter. While Twilight cried and Applejack tried to calm her down he glanced at the other four mares.

Pinkie Pie’s mane was flat and her face resembling a crude picture of shame and revolt; the seemingly endless tears falling down her eyes only adding to her sorry state. Her eyes were cold, empty and sad; they looked as if the happiness itself near her simply died.

Fluttershy was covering subconsciously her breasts with one arm while her free hand covered her mouth. Her eyes were also an ocean of tears but, much to his dismay, he saw no...light, that perpetual shimmer of gentleness and kindness her eyes reflected at all times was gone, replaced by two empty, emotionless voids.

Rarity was by far the worst looking one, at least in appearance. Her once long and perfectly styled mane was now disheveled, scruffy and messy. Her right eye was swollen while both her hands covered her snout in a pointless attempt to hold back her tears. He grimaced when his eyes landed on her neck and saw the ‘S’ shaped mark showing just above where her collar had been. It was a self imposed brand, a sign to show she now belonged to him and to prove her usefulness and loyalty to him.

Finally, Rainbow Dash. The cyan pegasus was shaking, her face contorted with an expression of absolute hate while she looked at him yet he felt it wasn’t directed to him in particular. But what really stood out was that even now she refused to cry. Refused to show weakness.

And he admired her for that.

Looking back at Twilight he saw she was finally calming down and found the courage deep inside him to take a step forward.

“Twilight---” he began but then saw her freeze completely before looking up to him. Her eyes were wide, full with fresh tears and reflecting a deep, heartbreaking fear towards him. He felt his own heart break even more than what it already was; something he honestly thought was impossible, and winced. “Twilight don’t be afraid of me, please,” he said in a soothing tone even though his throat felt so dry and constricting. The lavender alicorn seemed to relax a little and he decided to take another tentative step toward her, only for her to flinch a little in return.

Twilight closed her eyes letting a few more tears run down. “I-I’m sorry....it’s easier if I don’t…..if I d-don’t see you, Mast--”

“DON’T!” Spike roared causing the mares, including Applejack, to recoil in fear. “Don’t you dare use that word ever again, Twilight Sparkle!” Spike’s eyes were shining with a deep blue light and the temperature in the room instantly dropped a few degrees, meanwhile he bared his fangs angrily and growled every now and then. “The same goes for any of you!” he huffed and puffed for several seconds before closing in the distance between him and Twilight in less than a second and hugged her close. “I d-don’t…..I don’t want to h-hear you say it ever again. I’m Spike, remember? Your n-number one assistant and yo-*sniff*your friend. Nothing else.”

Twilight felt the dragon hug her close. His embrace tender, sweet, warm and caring. She brought her shaky arms up and slowly returned the hug. For the past little over two days the only thing she could feel was...was...she couldn’t even name it. It was an indescribable feeling to her. Never had she felt, not even in her worst moments what she was feeling now. She wanted to vomit her entrails out. She wanted to cry until her eyes bleed. She wanted to rip off her coat and skin because she felt so dirty and unclean. She wanted to shout until her vocal cords exploded. And most of all, she felt like dying, just to make that abominable feeling end.

But now, in the embrace of Spike, arguably her first friend outside her older brother, and long last companion she finally felt safe and calm. And only now did she began to shout and scream in agony while burying her face on his shoulder while gripping him tightly. She started to cry like never before letting her dragon friend hold her with his embrace. An embrace that was rapidly transformed into a seven-way clutch.

The room was filled with their collective cries while Spike remained silent letting only his tears run free. Even Rainbow Dash was crying uncontrollably by now. Whatever they wanted to tell him could wait. Whatever everyone else wanted with him or them would have to wait. The only thing that mattered to him right now were them.

And the boiling hate inside of him.

* A few hours later- Reunion Chamber*

“Are you absolutely sure about that, Blueblood?” Chrysalis asked from her seat while she crossed her arms.

“Absolutely, I saw him leave myself,” Blueblood, wearing a black cloak, said leaning in front of the black circular table. “Dainn left just after dawn to the Crystal Empire in a hurry bringing two of his sons with him and leaving the other two, Rolph and Frost, in charge until his return.”

“What about their majesties, the princesses?” Chief Thunderhooves, a mighty buffalo chief and a leader of the rebels asked loudly thanks to his rumbling voice.

“He took them with him, like always,” Blueblood sighed heavily. “He was frantic after he learned the massive disappearance in Ponyville days ago. Frantic and offended. Even as we speak there are troops slowly amassing themselves in the outer fields of Ponyville ready to strike the forest again. Dainn is not happy and will not stop for nothing this time,” a sudden chill ran up the spines of all the presents except for one. Blueblood turned to see Spike, sitting next to his left. “The army you commanded during ‘The First Invasion’ is nothing compared to what he was planned this time.”

“How many soldiers?” Spike asked in an icy tone.

“There are around two thousand already stationed in Ponyville, mostly light units and skirmishers, and there are another five thousand coming their way in three days. Within a week twenty thousand heavy caribou units and around six thousand air troops will join them. Not to mention the warbeasts and two thousand royal guards and entire regiments of supplies and ‘meat-shields’,” silence reigned for a few seconds. “And that’s the ones I know about, it will get even bigger if Dainn himself is going to command it which, as it turns out, he leaving for some time might work in our favour.”

“But how exactly? Our camps are too scattered and our fighting forces; while eager, brave and most of them thirsty for payback, are no match against the entire armies of Dainn,” a large brown minotaur clad in steel armor said at the other side of the table. “And now there are fresh caribou troops arriving from Hraljord despite the barrier is still up.”

Blueblood closed his eyes. “I frankly have no idea how he can control the barrier but I know it’s only recently,” he opened his eyes again. “But that either means he is planning something massive or he is getting stronger. Now that his eyes are finally away from us we can strike back at him and the rest of his depraved race where it hurts,” he used his magic to lift up a green flag and then to put it on top over a wall map at the side end of the room where everyone could see it with ease. “If we can pull off a wide range attack over Trottingham and disable their armor press we will force them to stand back, at least for a few months.”

“True that is,” a diamond dog female clad in a strange bronze and iron armor said. “But they have vast numbers of warriors on the watch. And Trottingham is far away, my dogs can’t dig that much without notice.”

“Perhaps we can ambush groups of the army amassing in Ponyville?” a zebra stallion wearing a mix of tribal and chitin armor said. “We wouldn’t do much damage but it will certainly put a dent on their numbers.”

“For what?” Spike asked in that same chilly tone. “Everyone in this room knows that doesn’t matter to them. All, except our dear Fakers hidden amongst them, have fanatical devotion to Dainn and his regime; they only bow to death or to him and nothing else,” the room fell silent for a couple of seconds.

“Spike is right,” Soarin said from his seat now clad in black chitin armor for pegasi and the symbol of the Shadow Hunters marked with a green X over his right shoulder plate. “No matter what we plan, no matter how many ambushes or surprise attacks we make it will never be enough….unless we find a way to free the Corrupted and the Enslaved we will always fight in a disadvantage.”

“And we also have to worry about Discord. We must free him first, or at least find a way to stop him because as long as he sides with Dainn our defeat is assured outside the camps and the forest,” Chrysalis said before chuckling. “Funny, if Dainn ever did one thing right was to kill every prisoner in Tartarus that didn’t side with him, included Tirek.”

“Tirek did try to ally himself to Dainn but when he tried to suck away Dainn’s magic for himself Dainn killed Tirek on the spot, I was there when it happened,” Blueblood said. “But the problem is that we don’t have anything to cleanse away the brainwash away and the Bearers....,” Blueblood didn’t finish his sentence. “And those that break free from it are killed on the spot most of the time.”
Spike got up silently and walked towards the map, he grabbed four little red flags and after a few seconds of scanning he placed them in different parts of the map. The he turned to the table where the twenty leaders of the rebellion looked at him and the map with curiosity.

“Attacking Trottingham, or any other major city for that matter, is out of the question but we have to act, now, or else all these years of fighting against that bastard and his horde will be for nothing,” he stepped aside letting the rest see the map. “I suggest that, while the fucker king is away, we take this chance and do a four-way simultaneous attack on Appleloosa, Cloudsdale, Dodge Junction and Ponyville.”

“A four-way assault!? Are you insane, dragon!?” a grey donkey wearing thick leather armor exclaimed before other leaders joined in the protests. Before someone could tell them to shut up or calm down Spike lifted a claw towards them, his eyes turned white and a shimmering cloud of blue smoke emerged from his right hand.

“Blueblood is right, we can’t win unless we free the victims of the brainwash,” the shimmer intensified for a moment. “And with the power I now have, I can free them; I know I can.”

Soarin got up from his seat dumbfounded while the rest of the leaders, except Chrysalis, looked at him in awe. “You actually found something,” he said surprised before his expression turned grimm. “Did they...suffer?”

“....Yes. The Windigo was relentless and merciless,” Spike answered back without batting an eye and a moment later Soarin sat down. “Back to my plan. First things first, we need to spread the word that the Bearers are fine, under treatment, free from the caribou brainwash and will join the fight when they’re ready,” he heard Chrysalis humm. “Secondly, after this meeting I will need twenty prisoners to test my cleansing abilities. I’ll need two caribou stags, two cows, two calf and two doe, the females must be red collars, of course. I will also need another six stallions and six mares, the species doesn’t matter and the females can be red, silver or purple, two of each would be preferable.”

“Thirdly, we will divide our forces into four groups to attack in two days from now,” at his statement some began to whisper. “I’ll let you decide who goes where. And lastly, and this is the most important one, aside from Ponyville the rest will focus on taking as many prisoners as you can and find and rescue as many Fakers as possible.”

“And Ponyville?” a green coated earth pony mare wearing a black chitin armor asked with curiosity.

“The ones going to Ponyville will have the same objectives except for two major differences: One, I will be there to burn the entire fucking village to the ground. And two, to hit Dainn where it hurts.”

“You want to destroy Ponyville?” Blueblood whispered in disbelief while most others gasped. “Just to prove something to Dainn?”

“Except for the castle, yes. That’s where I will make my first hit against that fucking bastard,” Spike replied with his eyes still shining white. “Right now we need two things. Numbers and control. The attacks will provide the numbers since I will cleanse the brainwash out of the victims and Ponyville will provide us control. They’re amassing forces there? Fine, we’ll erase it and break their little plans before they even begin,” he sighed and his eyes returned to normal.

“I won’t force you to accept my strategy but take it from me, this will aid us like never before and in the process make Dainn realise once and for all he isn’t invincible. We are here, we fight back against his madness and we will die before joining his depravity,” the room was silent yet an eerie aura of pride could be felt. “Those in favour of my plan?” he raised his hand and was soon joined by Soarin and the minotaur leader. A few seconds later Blueblood’s hand joined as well.

“I really hope what you’re doing, cousin,” the unicorn stallion said looking at him.

“Dragon, months ago you proposed a suicide tactic just to learn any weakness Dainn could possibly hold in secret. We accepted it at the cost of many lives but it paid off in the long run,” a griffon clad in reddish plate armor said before rising his hand. “You know Dainn the best, so I will trust your judgement once more if it means tearing the fucking bastard limb from limb all the fastest,” the griffon declared and a moment later another hand joined his, and then another and another until only Chrysalis remained with both her hands resting against the table.

“Spike,” she said in a dead serious tone. “Why are you so sure your plan will work?”

“If there’s one thing he hates above all else, that is failure. We make his little plan fail and we’ll buy ourselves the time we need to finally defeat him or at the very least dissolve this attack; it would also mean several weeks before he attempts something similar,” Spike said in that chilly tone. The changeling queen eyed him for a moment before raising her hand up.

“Those against?” all hands went down.

“I guess we have a plan now,” Soarin commented with an eager smirk.

After another half an hour discussing provisions, routes, spy network information, who would go where for the attacks and other smaller topics everyone left the room except for Chrysalis and Spike.

“Why did you do it?” Chrysalis asked once sure they were alone with slight anger and a hint of admiration. “Why did you lie to them, manipulate their fear like that? What was the point?”

“Like you wouldn’t have done the same some years ago,” Spike answered right before turning to his side and catch her hand in mid air. Chrysalis was surprised at his quick reaction but she still glared at him. “If you want to hit me for saying the truth then you better use a weapon or something. I just saved you a broken arm.”

Spike let go gently of her arm and Chrysalis breathed in slowly, realizing his grip didn’t damage her at all. “Yes, I would’ve. But only for the safety and benefit of my subjects, and since the fight began we have all the love we need and more. All of it given freely,” there was a moment of silence. “Now answer me, why did you do it?”

“It’s because I need to do it, Chrysalis. But I did say the truth, partially at least, we need more numbers and I can free victims from the brainwash.”

“How exactly?”

“I just know, alright?” Spike sighed tiredly while Chrysalis shot him an irritated glare. “Look, I can’t really explain it I just know I can.”

“And the test subjects?” she asked crossing her arms.

“I need to….put my mind at ease, if you will. There’s something I must be certain of,” Chrysalis remained silent. “Just imagine, for a second, that the caribou are for some reason suffering from the same brainwash-”

“You seriously can’t be for real,” Chrysalis deadpanned.

“I did say imagine,” he cleared his throat. “I know you and your changelings can feel the taint of their dark magic and now I can too, to some degree, but I will be able to see it inside them. That idea has been plaguing my mind for months and I HAVE to know if the caribou are still victims or….not.”

Chrysalis sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it your way and I’ll humor you this one time, dragon boy. I will never understand heroes in all honesty; always trying to save everyone at the same time,” she turned around and began to walk towards the door. “Follow me, I’ll guide you to the dungeons.”

Spike turned to follow her but not before whispering to himself. “I’m not a hero.”

*Some time later-Dungeons-*

Chrysalis and Spike stood in front of twenty kneeling prisoners separated in three. The caribou stags and calfs on one side, the other males in the center of the room and the females on the other side. All of them were chained and gaged and in the case of the females, dressed, their collars removed and blindfolded. All of them were struggling to set themselves free while the males also shot death glares towards the changeling queen and the dragon.

“Are you sure you can do it?” Chrysalis asked and Spike brought up his left hand up before it was surrounded by the shimmering blue cloud he used earlier. “Before you start, what did you mean by ‘still’?”

Spike made his way to the closest female, a saddle arabian, before answering. “Just a gut feeling is all,” was his answer, even though he knew Chrysalis knew he was lying she didn't push him for another answer.

He stopped in front of the mare, kneeled down and with his right hand unfolded her eyes letting her see his white shining eyes. Spike then placed his left hand over her head and reached into the deepest part of her being.

The feeling was strange, yet oddly comforting, for the dragon even though all he could ‘see’ inside her was a mix of blurry clouds and emptiness. It didn’t take long, however, to find what he was looking for. He saw a black cloud in the shape of the most disgusting and abominable spider or octopus thing he had ever seen. Said cloud was using its tentacles to grip and hold onto the shapeless clouds around it slowly spreading itself on them, just like a disease. Without hesitation he reached out to it until he was able to touch it.

He felt the black monstrosity burn at his touch and tried to squirm away, but it was too late for it. In less than a second Spike saw the cloud disintegrate completely and being replaced by a rosy light, then he withdrew from the mare’s very being.

Spike let go of the mare and she lost her balance for a few seconds. Around thirty seconds later she regained her posture and looked around confused and scared. Her struggling against the chains increased until she focused on the dragon in front of her. Her eyes widened in fear, a tear or two forming on them, and then she fainted.

“She is free from the corruption,” Spike said before taking a glance at the caribou on the other side of the room looking at him in disbelief. “How long did I take?” he asked to Chrysalis whom was mildly stunned at his success.

“You actually did it,” she said in a low tone walking up to him and the mare. “And that didn’t take long, no more than ten seconds,” Chrysalis hissed and clicked loudly and a second later a couple of changeling guards entered the room. “Take this mare to the medical wing and warn them more will arrive soon,” the changelings bowed and used their magic to unchain the mare and take her away. Chrysalis saw her guards leave with the saddle arabian. “Now what?” she asked before turning to see Spike again, only to find him letting go of another two females, a diamond dog and a zebra and his right hand shimmer with the same blue mist. “Not wasting any time, eh?”

Spike didn’t reply and instead took a hold of another two females, a unicorn and a pegasus. A few seconds later he let go of them and moved towards the next and last non-caribou female, an actual cow. Once he was done with her the first two mares began to snap out of their sudden wake. Chrysalis screeched making more of her guards to come and take the newly fred females away.

Spike got up and walked towards the males, all but one of them pony. Two were unicorns (both wearing a nullifier ring), one a pegasus, one an earth pony, one a crystal pony and the last male a donkey. All six of them were shouting muffled curses and struggling desperately to get free.

Chrysalis watched in amusement as Spike took a hold of the donkey and the crystal pony and, much like with the females, just a couple of seconds later he let go of their heads. The two males almost fell to the ground in front of them as they drowse out momentarily. She then saw Spike moved toward the next two males, the unicorns, to see the same scene repeat itself. The dragon let go of them and moved to the last two, the pegasus and the earth pony, now ready to free them.

The crystal pony was the first to snap out of his drowse and when he did he began to look around, confused and slightly frightened, until he saw the caribou stags. His movement stopped, his eyes widened and his breathing increased in both volume and frequency. Suddenly his struggling returned with a vengeance while he screamed through his gag. Chrysalis was surprised because, in almost every case, once someone breaks out of the brainwash it takes a couple of minutes to regain their memories. But after seeing the reactions of the mares and now the rage of this stallion (and resisting the urge to set him free and let him have his way with the caribou) she knew that, whatever Spike did to gain the strange power he now possessed was worth any price; even if she couldn’t understand it. She saw five of her guards come in and take away the enraged stallion away, he would need medical attention right away or else risk suicide once his rage ended.

“No,” Chrysalis turned to see Spike holding the head of the earth pony with both hands, the mist emerging from them three times bigger than before. “NO!” he shouted angrily.

“What’s wrong!?” Chrysalis asked arriving at his side.

“I can’t destroy the taint in him!” Spike answered before his eyes turned back to normal and let go of the stallion’s head. “What is him, Enslaved or Corrupted!? I can sense the taint but I can’t tell the difference!”

Chrysalis closed her eyes and focused. She didn’t like being ordered around but at the moment she could overlook it. That and something in the tone of the dragon made her feel eerily fearful. A moment later she answered. “Enslaved,” she answered before the stallion began to make muffled noises; noises similar to laughter.

Quickly Spike the gag covering the mouth of the stallion letting him laugh out loud for a few seconds. “Fools, traitors!” he shouted to both Chrysalis and Spike while the the guards removed the pegasus from the room. “King Dainn, blessed be his name, will destroy you all! Especially you, the worst of all traitors! But you!” he said looking at Chrysalis. “You, bitch, will have the honor to be his trophy once your pointless ‘rebellion’ is dealt with. Male superiority will prevail and then all will see the light!” his eyes opened wide and a mad grin formed on his lips. “I was a fool and misguided until I saw the light, the truth! Embrace it or be destroyed by it!”

As the stallion continued to shout out gibberish Spike’s eyes widened in terror.

“See the light,” he whispered before taking a glance at the caribou stags. “It can’t be,” he rushed to said stags and grabbed the head of the nearest one with both hands and focused. And he saw the same thing he had seen within the earth pony stallion.

There were no clouds, instead everything was replaced by a grey and black sea. When he reached to the source, the monstrous cloud tainting the minds and souls of its victims he didn’t saw it clinging to anything, rather it seemed to be fused together with the sea. It had truly become one with the mind it had infected; there was no difference between the two of them now. Just like Creslin told him.

He let go of the caribou stag and in an instant he was upon a caribou cow holding her head in between his hands. He let out a pained groan of frustration when, much to his dismay, he saw the exact same thing inside her. He focused and channeled as much purifying energy of the Heart as he could but no matter how much he tried to pour inside, the infection, the disease, the sickness didn’t even flinch. Mainly because there was no infection to purge anymore.

And he realized two things. The Corrupted were the real slaves, not the Enslaved, he remembered now that, aside from the caribou, only the Enslaved ever said ‘See the Light’ in one way or another. Now it all made sense, and he realized just how lucky he had been to be fred the moment he was.

But, his eyes landed on the fanatical stallion once again gaged by Chrysalis. That means if you ‘see the light’ then...you become one of them. The thought made his stomach squirm. Dainn didn’t want slaves, he wanted more loyal subjects that followed his regime like faithful; brainless puppets that would never betray him because they would all have the same wicked mentality.

“Our ancestors were the victims, not us, not the rest.”

“Our ancestors showed mercy to the Horned King instead of crushing him when they had their chance and that was their downfall.”

“We hold no love, not even pity or hope for them because, unlike your people, they’re not forced to do anything against their will; they do what they do with free will. What they say, think and do is their decision alone, both red collar cows and stags, the sickness has spread its roots so deep that even those from the first generations in the reign of the Horned King were already doomed to be as one with it in a single, depraved mentality. They have no salvation.”

The words of Creslin rang inside his head making the fire in him burn like never before. She had spoken the truth, only now he could truly understand. And understanding it made his rage and hatred all the stronger.

“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.”

He remembered his own promise whilst looking at the caribou cow. The mist disappeared and removed her gag and her blindfold. The cow blinked and breathed through her mouth a few times before her gaze set on Spike.

“Punishment over? Master give cock now?” she asked with a dumb, happy smile. For several seconds they stood still simply staring at each other.

“Yes,” Spike whispered holding her head with both hands. “Punishment ends now,” the cow closed her eyes in ignorance. “I’m sorry.”

A sudden cracking noise filled the room and everyone, even the stags, fell silent as the caribou cow landed on the floor, her neck completely broken.

Chrysalis opened her mouth not in surprise but in astonishment and was about to shout at Spike for what he had done. But then she saw him morph before her very eyes and she heard her guards gasp while she, despite her long life and experience, felt her heartbeat increase madly. His scales darkened until they were still purple, but now instead of shining they seemed to suck out the light around him; his claws extended creating sharp, deadly ends, she even heard a distinct *ssshhhrrk* as they grew. He was bearing his fangs that also seemed to grow sharper and deadlier while green fire emerged from between the openings and his nostrils; his eyes glowing with an intense white light.

His tail thinned out and his spines grew and sharpened until they resembled serrated teeth while the tip became pointy, serrated and razor-edged; it resembled a mix between the stinger of a scorpion and a whip.

“They deserve no forgiveness,” Spike said in a tone so cold and devoid of emotion it made her stomach curl and shrink. “They could stop this madness from ever happening but they didn’t; I won’t make their mistake,” he turned slowly towards the petrified stags. “You’re a disease, a plague that needs to be purged or else you’ll infect the entire world,” Spike snarled before dropping on all fours. “AND I WON’T LET YOU SPREAD IT ANYMORE!”

Spike then pounced over the stags and the two calf with unabated bloodthirst.

First he landed on the same stag he had tried to purge the sickness from, digging his large claws on his sides making the stag scream muffled cries of pain. With a swift motion he ripped through his coat letting blood to flow out freely, he retreated his bloody hands only to start punching the face of the stag with reckless fury with light fast strikes; the punches creating sick wet noises each time.

His tail danced on its own until it wrapped itself around a terrified calf and, using its serrated teeth like spines, he dug them deep within the calf and then, with a twisting motion, Spike squeezed the calf so hard that his eyes (and most of his blood and entrails) popped out and most of his bones shattered instantly.

He stopped punching the now deformed face of the corpse and lashed out his right claw in an uppercut motion to the other calf. A second later the calf let out an agonizing muffled scream while his entrails slipped out of his body and onto the ground. Spike ignored the calf and focused on the last stag, the caribou looking at him with open, terror filled, crying eyes. Using his claws Spike snapped the chains binding the stag’s legs and arms to the ground and, before the stag could even realize he was now free to move, Spike grabbed the back of his head, hold him tightly; even digging the tips of his claws in him, and quickly began to smash his face against the ground repeatedly for several seconds until the brains of the caribou were smashed against the floor.

Spike got up with a single jump and pounced against the earth pony. Using his tail Spike pierced the back of his head; the stallion’s body squirmed a little before it went limp. Then the dragon moved towards the two doe and the remaining cow and using his claws and his tail he ended them in a similar way he did the earth pony. Once he was done he slowly turned to face Chrysalis and her changelings looking at him with stunned expressions.

Chrysalis was the first to recover but didn’t shout at the blood dripping dragon. “What was...that all about?” she instead asked cautiously. The eyes of the dragon returned to normal along with his body. “What kind of power is that?”

“Just the power we need to stand a chance,” Spike replied with a heavy sigh. He looked at his hands and smirked. “I actually felt it clearly this time,” he commented to no one in particular. “I’ll need to see the rest of the prisoners, all of them, then the rest of the camps can start sending their own prisoners for me to free,” he glanced at the corpses of the caribou males. “We’re on this fight alone, we’ll need their help.”

“I can understand why you killed the caribou but the stallion and the females?” Chrysalis asked with mild anger now out of her fright.

“The stallion....he became one of the caribou, I couldn’t save him,” there was a glimpse of regret in his eyes. “Instead I did mercy on him. As for the females, they shared the same fate as the males, I just ended their blind suffering.”

“Are you just going to kill off the ones that turn out to be like that stallion like some kind of wild beast?” Chrysalis asked narrowing her eyes.

“Wouldn’t you kill your own changelings if they could be affected by their taint and you were unable to save them? Would you let them be like...them?” silence was her answer. “Would you?” he asked now to the three guards standing behind their queen. Silence was their answer. “Let’s go, we have much to do today,” he said emotionlessly.

Chrysalis nodded walking up to Spike. “But first you’re going to explain me exactly why did you do that,” she said glancing at the bodies lying on the floor. He looked up back at Spike and smirked. “And you’re wrong,” Spike’s expression turned confused. “We are not alone in this fight, not anymore.”

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

*Ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters- Three years, six months and two weeks into the Fall-*

Spike was currently sitting in front of the Tree of Harmony in complete silence. He was mostly in a meditative state while looking at his now clean hands. It had taken him almost six hours to free the one thousand three hundred and seventy two prisoners infected with the dark magic of the caribou. It was heart wrenching seeing their inner pain explode much like his had but now they were free. The hardest part was that there hardly were any happy reunions, most ended in screaming, fainting or crying.

And the thought of how many would commit suicide given the chance flashed across his head, although he couldn’t blame them if some, or most, did it; he himself had entertained the idea before several times. After that he told Chrysalis what he had discovered about the caribou curse and the power he had achieved, without revealing the true nature of said power or the existence of Creslin and the Crystal Heart. The former because of their agreement and the later for fear of someone doing something stupid against the Empire and the Crystal Cock.

Chrysalis, in turn, forwarded the information to the rest of the rebel leaders that took the news with difficulty but still accepted the proof in favor of the cause. Not everyone could be fred and many would die; the least he or anyone else could do for them would be limited to a quick and, if possible, painless death. After that the executions began. There weren’t many caribou prisoners since they prefered to die fighting, and those that survived or were caught during an ambush were killed along the way by their captors most of the time. Less than eighty caribou stags and just over fifty caribou cows were the only caribou prisoners at the time. Much to his joy, however, for what he could tell the curse needed a prolonged time for any Enslaved to ‘see the light’, so there were only less than thirty of those who had been broken by it. Males and females alike, along with the caribou cows and doe were killed fast and painless as possible, most of them with poison, their corpses burn in magical changeling fire and the caribou males remains thrown to the hydra and manticore pens.

After that Chrysalis showed and explained him that she and Empress Shifting Sands of Saddle Arabia had maintained contact through letters for little over four months and, to Spike’s immense glee, she was ready to provide her full support when the barrier finally fell. Immediately after he he insisted on writing a letter to the Empress, mostly to introduce himself and thank her for her support. Knowing that there was someone out there trying to aid them in the fight against the caribou made him cry in joy; they weren’t alone like he had taken for granted months ago and that meant the world to him.

His gaze shifted from his hands to the Tree and he smiled.

“Thank you, for freeing Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Twilight, Tree. To tell you the truth, I half expected everything to be over in an instant with a rainbow colored explosion or something, but I guess that was too silly, huh?” silence met him. “Yeah, I thought so. Still, thanks to you now they are free and I don’t have to pretend anymore for their or anyone else’s sake,” silence met him again.

“I used to love comic books,” Spike said breaking the silence. “Before the caribou turned them into depraved, misogynistic stories like everything else they set their eyes on. Heh, What a sight, in the first week of the Fall tens of thousands, maybe even millions of books, scrolls and any sort of literature was burnt because they claimed it as heresy; then it was replaced by their ‘magnificence’ and their ‘history’,” Spike sighed. “Statues crumbled, theatres were destroyed, music was outlawed, culture smashed into a pulp and well, I guess I don’t have to tell you the rest.”

He closed his eyes and shaked his head a few times. “Sorry, you know how I tend to sidetrack. Anyways, my favorite stories involved the Power Ponies, a group of super heroines fighting against a multitude of villains helped by their faithful, yet slightly dumb, side-kick. In one of their adventures they fought against a monster that turned ponies into mindless zombies but the Power Ponies managed to beat him, free everyone and without harming a single victim,” he stopped talking letting silence sing for several seconds. “It was the last issue to come out before the Fall began, kinda ironic isn’t it? What I’m trying to say, Tree, is that I had hoped that after I gained this power everything would end like in that comic book but,” he clenched his hands into fists and his expression change into one of an angry snarl.

“I know I can’t save everyone…...and I’m not trying to; I’ll try to save as many as I can but I won’t let that distract me from the real threat. I will kill the caribou and that fucker of Dainn for everything they’ve done along with anyone that tries to stop me,” his eyes turned white and the lines between his scales to shine blue. “They aren’t the victims here, Tree. I could see and feel it inside them, there is nothing to be saved, there never was, there never will; they can’t feel remorse or guilt for what they’ve done to us and to their own. But the pain and the agony and the despair they’ve caused is real, Tree,” Spike stood up. “They are sex obsessed, slaving, genocidal, raping, depraved, xenophobic monsters. Every single one of them. They don’t deserve compassion, or understanding or pity or….my mercy,” his eyes shifted from a white light to a blue light as an invisible wind surrounded him.

Spike smiled baring his fangs while drool oozed onto the ground. “I will kill them, all of them to the very last one,” he declared with an icy, dark whisper. “No matter what it takes I will make them suffer for everything they’ve done and I won’t let anyone else out there suffer our fate, even if they backstabbed us,” the wind suddenly stopped and the light emitting from Spike ceased. “I won’t hold back on them for even an instant. I promise you, Tree!” he said loudly. “I’ll become their monster, their nightmare!” Spike shouted one last time and after a full minute of silence his eyes returned to normal and he turned to leave.

“Goodbye, Tree, you were always a great listener but a lousy talker,” and with that Spike left the cave of the Tree of Harmony.

Once outside the cave he was greeted by a group of guards, some pony some changeling, led by Yog and Soarin. The ex-Shadow Hunter took a step forward and saluted Spike before giving him a hug. The hug ended a few seconds later and Spike began to make his way up the dirt/stone stairs. Reaching the top he saw a multitude of people, from all species, working around the ruins doing their jobs to reinforce key positions, stockpile materials, carry out supplies or prepare tents.

“How are the rest of the boys doing, Soarin?” Spike asked whilst walking into the ruins followed closely by the guards.

“It’s tough for them, Spike. No suicide attempts yet but most of them are destroyed.”

“What about Spitfire and the others?”

“Even worse,” Soarin gritted his teeth harshly. “At least Spitfire understood but we almost lost Blaze to a heart attack thanks to the shock; purples always take it the worse. Other than that, what could you expect?”

Spike hummed. “And you, Soarin?”

“I’ll manage. The potion Zecora made for me helps a bunch,” he chuckled. “But right now? I just want tomorrow to begin already.”

“Now that you mention it, commander Soarin, her majesty has sent us to deliver this message,” Yog said handing a scroll to Soarin. The pegasus opened it and began to inspect it, after a few moments he put it down just as the party reached the library of the old castle.

“Queen Chrysalis is going too?” Soarin asked a bit perplexed. It wasn’t often where she took part of some mission, mainly because she was too valuable to her people and the head leader of the rebellion, but he knew she prefered standing in the front lines rather than behind barking orders.

The changeling guards exchanged a surprised and excited glance between them. “If it is what the message says, then I believe her majesty will, commander,” Yog answered with a small smirk adorning his lips. “It’s been a long time since the Queen took up her scythe into battle leading us.”

“Wish I could join you on the battle for Ponyville,” Soarin said to Yog and Spike. “But somepony has to lead the attack on Cloudsdale. Plus it’s a perfect opportunity to show the fucking caribou that their precious Shadow Hunters are free from their domain and if...once the rest overcome the initial trauma we will make them tremble,” he finished narrowing his eyes.

“And so are the rest of our gathering forces,” Yog said securely. “Everyone is ready to strike back at the caribou.”

The group of changelings hissed and clicked several times while hitting the floor with their spears. Soon enough every changeling around that could hear them began to do the same sounds for almost an entire minute. Once the changelings were done with their strange chanting Spike turned to see his two friends and the small group of guards and smiled.

“They will pay in blood,” Spike said in a chilling, dark tone. “For what they’ve done to my people, for what they turn your people into, Yog, and for every atrocity they have committed,” Spike glanced seeing a small crowd of changeling workers and some of other species gather around the group. “Ponyville, before the Fall, was a village of barely fifteen thousand inhabitants. It was the seat of friendship, a place of peace and a golden scene of hope and prosperity for all of Equestria and beyond.”

“Now look what the caribou have turned it into,” his eyes turned white while a frown adorned his face. “What they’ve done to everything they touched; Equestria, the Crystal Empire, even some of your hives, and they will stop at nothing until the entire world resembles them. We are not only the last hope of Equestria or the Empire or even of our species; we are the last hope of the entire world,” Spike’s scales began to shine a blue light and his eyes also turned blue. “And I’ll be damned if I let the caribou and their motherfucking king succeed. They will pay with their blood.”

The moment Spike finished that sentence the changelings revived their chant with twice the intensity while non-changelings shouted to the heavens until everyone in the ruins was doing the same. The sound was borderline deafening but even that paled in comparison to the mighty roar that followed a few seconds later and, just for a split second, every caribou in Equestria felt a wave of fear wash over them for some unknown reason.

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*The Crystal Empire-Solitude Mountain-Expeditionary Force of Dainn---The next day early in the morning---*

Dainn frowned atop his warbeast whilst overseeing several of his soldiers searching for any kind of clue that could tell him what had happened in that accursed mountain a few days prior. And most importantly, what had happened to his dear new son.

When Spike departed for the Empire to fulfill his mission and after receiving the message of Shining Armor confirming his departure he felt a wave of pride fill him. Pride he had never felt with any of his other sons. Then, when the forces of Spike returned almost a week later without him he grew worried, but thanks to the reassuring words of Macintosh Apple, one of Spike’s friends and trusted companion, he sat in confidence planning his next move against the rebels.

Of course, he didn’t believe the horrors the returning soldiers were telling. At first. But when they reached the part exclaiming his son’s exploits and defiance against the ice-demon, the Windigo, he knew they had to be true. And so, confident on Spike’s success, he waited. Two days later a report from Ponyville came in stating that, not only did the entirety of Spike’s castle guards and sluts had disappeared but also the ones at Sweet Apple Acres, several residents of the town along their bitches and half the garrison of Ponyville had also vanished, including the rest of the five national prizes and the Shadow Hunters. All of them like thin air in the midst of the night and with no one noticing it. Enraged, he had decided to accelerate his plans for the ‘Second Invasion’, sure that the disappearance in Ponyville had something to do with the rebels and the bitch of Chrysalis.

That is, until he received an urgent message from Shining Armor claiming that an enormous threat was coming his way and that he feared he couldn’t repeal on his own. Cursing his timing, and fearing for the safety of the Crystal Cock, he decided to venture to the Empire immediately and upon arriving Shining told him what had happened. Now, instead of mad he was truly worried, not for the Crystal Cock but for Spike. And so, Dainn decided to go to Solitude himself to investigate and to find his dear draconic son.

Thanks to pegasi power and the use of his powerful magic he and his party arrived at Solitude in less than a day. Still, the scene of carnage at the base of the mountain managed to surprise him a little; mostly because it proved the tales were actually true. He and his group began to climb up the mountain in hopes to find something that would tell him where his son was, and for almost two days all they found was nothing except abandon supply gear and such. Until two hours ago.

Corpses belonging to his elite guards frozen, impaled or shred to pieces laying around the snow and, thanks to the light wind and calm weather, very visible and clear for them to follow a route. About fifty meters away from them they found the frozen corpse of a bulking pegasus wearing the armor and sign of Spike. Fear struck Dainn and he forced the party to march forward while they searched along their path for anything strange or out of place. Now, just moments ago, they’d found a pillar of ice with a pony impaled on it also bearing the mark of his son.

“Where are you, Spike?” Dainn said in a shaky tone, ignorant of the glares his two sons, Akios and Calvin, shot behind him. Suddenly he heard one of his soldiers call to the closest to him. Dainn looked at them standing still looking at the snow before dropping to their knees and, just a few seconds later, rise up holding something large with their hands. Something large and purple as far as he could tell. “NO!” Dainn shouted with grief before teleporting to where the two were; his sudden reappearance prompting them to let go of the object.

The soldiers moved aside and the rest around stopped their search to see their all-powerful king drop to his knees and pick up the purple object that, much to his demise, was Spike’s tail. While he was holding it he was able to see another purple object just a meter or so in front of him. Using his magic, Dainn lifted the new object and he grunted in pain when from the snow raised a severed and nearly frozen scaly arm.

Bringing the arm close to him, Dainn hugged the tail and the arm of his would-be son tightly. A couple of minutes of long silence passed until the king of the caribou, Dainn, let out an enraged shout to the heavens. Several seconds later his shout ended as he slowly got up, still clinging to the remains of Spike.

“We return to the Crystal Empire,” Dainn ordered with a heavy, mournful tone. “Spike shall receive a kingly burial,” almost every soldier around Dainn gasped in surprise as well as his two sons.

“Father, you can’t be serious!” Calvin snapped at his father. “Even in death you favour that worthless liza--” Calvin stopped talking when a blue aura of magic appeared around his neck, lifted him up and squeezed tightly making the prince fight for air.

“His name was Spike, Calvin,” Dainn said loudly with an expression of pure anger and a tone just to match. “Spike was a thousand times the males you and the rest of your pathetic brothers will ever be!” Dainn snarled squeezing the neck of his son even tighter. “He was meant to be my one true heir! His undying loyalty to me caused his death; I should’ve sent you and your idiotic brothers to die here instead!” Dainn let go of Calvin, whom started gasping for precious air. “And if you value your life, my dear son, you will keep your snout shut or I will switch you and throw you into a dirt farm myself!” Dainn then glanced at his other son and glared him. Akios swallowed loudly and averted his gaze. “Now, let us return.”

I promise you, my son, I shall bring the rebels to their knees for their insolence upon your castle and bring the glory of male superiority to the world. It’s the least I can do for you now.

Dainn thought painfully while he used his wings to fly atop his warbeast and began the slow way back down the mountain. Looking to his left he saw the sun ready to be raised, he focused for a moment, his antlers bathed in a yellow aura and a moment later the sun began to slowly raise on the horizon.

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*Ponyville-East Border to the Everfree Forest--That same morning right after Dainn raised the sun--*

The sudden massive disappearance a few days prior had made Ponyville enter a state of full alert, topped that with the arrival of hundreds of troops in preparation for a great operation had eased the situation slightly. Still, Magistrate Gunne had to keep a tight eye on everything and everyone at the same time. He was certain such an event could only be possible by those damnable changelings and several possible Heretics hiding in the town. He couldn’t fail on his task. Not when king Dainn himself had appointed him in direct command until his return from the Empire.

“Master, look! Pretty white clouds coming from the forest!” a red collared caribou cow on her knees said happily at his left.

“What are you talking about, Ginna?” Gunne said as he shifted his gaze from the group of guards patrolling the area to the borders of the forest and, much to his surprise, there was something coming out between the trees. Not clouds, that much was obvious. “Is that mist?” Gunne asked to himself while he saw the mist coming from the forest increase in volume at ridiculous levels.

“Mare, is the weather patrol working today on a foggy rain day?” Gunna asked to the once proud Mayor Mare, now reduced to a black collar at the service of Gunne.

“No, Master,” she said in a trained, respectful, calm tone. “The weather for today is scheduled as clear skies.”

Gunne didn’t respond and instead eyed the mist now starting to reach the outer buildings of the town.

*Meanwhile in another side of the town*

“Let go of me, you perverted fucks!” Lyra Heartstrings cursed as she struggled against the group of four caribou that were currently groping her ass, tits and teasing her pussy while they laughed darkly.

“Always the feisty one, eh bitch?” one of the stags said in a mocking manner while he pinched her nipples. “I love how much of a fight you always put, slut. Makes me so fucking hard,” he pinched her nipples harder making Lyra scream out in pain and disgusting pleasure.

“Fuck you, asshole!” Lyra managed to shout at them but in response they all laughed.

“No, no, my fuckable little mare toy. We are going to fuck and rape you all day long until our balls are drained,” the guard licked his lips when he saw the eyes of the mare starting to moisten up. “You may have quite a reputation but after we’re done with you, bitch, you’ll be starving for our cocks,” the group laughed before throwing Lyra to the ground and spread her legs open while she screamed and cursed them as loudly as she could. But then she stopped when the caribou suddenly halted their movements.

Opening her eyes, Lyra saw she was now surrounded by some kind of thick fog or mist.

“What the fuck is this shit?” a caribou asked.

“How the fuck should I know? Probably those pegasi idiots of the weather station mixed the fuel with the cum-rain for the dirt farms again,” another one stated.

“Probably.”

Lyra clearly felt the grip on her arms and legs ease up and decided to take her chance. She pulled back her arms and kicked the stag in front of her before rolling to the side, crawl up to her knees and then got up and started to run through the thick mist.

“Fucking bitch! How dare you attack your masters!” she heard a caribou shout behind her and she increased her pace. Her hands were still chained together but she didn’t care at the moment, she was making a run for her freedom and she was not going to waste it. She didn’t knew where she was running to but as long as her hooves could take her away from the caribou and away from Ponyville she would be happy.

As she ran, however, she began to notice the mist was rapidly becoming less and less thicker. Her heart was beating like never before while she prayed to the divine creators to help her escape from the clutches of her captors right before she tripped over a misplaced stone.

“Unffff!” Lyra groaned in pain the moment she hit the floor. Ignoring the slight stinging pain she felt on her face she desperately tried to crawl away.

“There’s the fucking whorse!”

The voice of one of the stags made her attempts at freedom to triple in desperation. Suddenly she stopped when her hands touched something hard, warm and scaly. She froze up and heard the hoofsteps of the caribou a couple of meters behind her come to an abrupt halt.

“Is….is that…..Marshal Spike?”

Lyra felt her heart shatter and the tiny flames of hope she held being extinguished at the incredulous tone of the caribou. Slowly, she looked up from her pathetic position only to find two green, draconic eyes she had known very well from before the Fall looking down at her. Lyra tried to say something but all she could feel in her throat was a knot, that and hot tears forming in her eyes.

Suddenly, and without warning, he kneeled down just enough to offer his hand to her. Against her better judgment she accepted his hand and then she felt his scaly, strong hand help her up in a gently manner. Once back on her hooves she stared at the dragon, her entire body trembling in fear, and then he did the unthinkable. Using both hands he took a hold of the chains binding her hands and with a simple pull he shattered them setting them free. Then he reached to her neck and with a single action her black collar was gone until it touched the dirt below.

“Keep running towards the forest and don’t stop, Lyra.”

Lyra, extremely confused, looked puzzled at the dragon’s eyes and he stared back for several seconds until a loud siren alarm sang through the air. A second later the eyes of the dragon turned white.

“Now.”

Lyra stood still while Spike, the one she knew as the proud and mighty Marshal of king Dainn, the dragon that had betrayed them all now walked toward the town of Ponyville, totally covered by a layer of white mist. She looked back to see the four caribou guards running back to the town as fast as they could before she heard a buzzing sound.

She then saw none other than Chrysalis, queen of the changelings and high leader of the rebellion, land beside a naked Spike while she was clad in a black and pointy looking armor whilst carrying the biggest and deadliest scythe she had ever seen in her life. A completely red curved monstrosity with a green blade and equally green back spikes.

A moment later she felt the ground below her shake and she turned to see the forest. And she gasped taking a step back.

Dozens upon dozens of ponies, stallions and mares alike, on top of manticores coming out of the forest line alongside with even more ponies, zebras, donkeys, bulls, diamond dogs, minotaurs and changelings all clad in steel, leather or that same black armor the queen was wearing came out behind them wielding spears, swords, axes, bows, ballista and whatever weapon she knew of.

But even that was nothing compared to seeing packs of timberwolves obeying the commands of changelings and to the horde of griffons, pegasi, thestrals and changelings taking up the skies; some of them even cavalging bugbears. She also saw minotaurs holding cragadiles on a leash or the three hydras she could see obeying the commands of zebras

The siren alarm sang again only to be replaced by the roar of a dragon. She heard the changelings hiss, the monsters roar and growl and the rest shout or chant something right before charging towards the town. Only then did Lyra remembered what Spike had ordered her to do and ran to the forest, the soldiers letting her pass through without problem. The last thing she heard was the another roar of the dragon before the battle broke out.

*With Spike*

Spike roared in defiance while he used his sharp claws to cut to pieces a caribou guard like butter, his armor providing no protection whatsoever against him. He then turned to face another caribou guard but before he could do anything to him a green blast of energy hit the caribou in the chest shattering the caribou to pieces. He looked up to see a female changeling smiling at him before flying away. He smirked, their runes provided no protection now that Zecora figured the trick out. It basically resumed to focusing a great amount of power into a single strike, and the runes wouldn’t be able to dispel it on time.

He specially liked the colorful side-effect it created upon impact. That was his favorite part.

Spike jumped to the ceiling of a house to take down two griffon archers by simply knocking them out. He then lunged forward to the third archer, a caribou, and used his claws to first cut off both his hands letting the caribou scream in pain as blood spurted out before using his sharpened tail to pierce his stomach and then split him in half.

Twenty four. Spike counted.

He took a moment to look around and see the chaos of battle. Buildings starting to burn, battle on each street and in the sky. Rebel soldiers and monsters killing caribou and their warbeasts left and right, while trying to avoid killing any non-caribou and red collar ‘Guardian’ females. He saw Chrysalis use her massive scythe to decapitate three warbeasts with a single swing. It was to be expected, her darn scythe was twice her size.

Her orders before the attack began were clear. One, Kill every and all caribou except for high ranking officers. And Two, Try to knock out everyone else but never hesitate if it was inevitable. Freeing any and all females was, of course, top priority and an unspoken rule everyone knew.

“Fight whores. Fight! Protect your masters!” Spike heard a caribou shout near him. Jumping to the next rooftop he saw said caribou cracking a whip around while at least seventy females, most of them ripped with muscles and all wearing red collars, surrounded a small group of caribou officers while three unicorn guards protected them with a magic barrier.

“Yes, Master!” all the females shouted in unison while many rebel soldiers tried to find an opening to strike and knock them out.

Spike roared in rage and leaped down right to them; effortlessly piercing the barrier and ripping to shreds the caribou holding the whip with his fangs and claws. He then roared so loud that he forced everyone around him to cover their ears. A few moments later the rebel soldiers began to knock out the females and the cowering caribou officers.

Looking to the left he saw a large group of caribou heavy units coming right to the center of the plaza. Spike jumped to a nearby wall and then launched himself against the first heavy caribou making him and the first two behind him fall to the ground. Without wasting any time Spike started to used his claws to cleave and rip his way across the hulking caribou. Two other heavies charged at him with their warhammers but Spike ducked and used his serrated tail to cut away their legs from their knees. The two caribou screamed in agony while they fell to the ground holding their stumps as blood gushed out.

Spike jumped to the nearest wall barely avoiding a spear. He looked at the caribou that threw it now readying his warhammer to fight him. Spike snarled letting green fire erupt from his nostrils before he lunged forward at the caribou. The caribou moved at the last second dodging the dragon before hitting Spike’s head with all his strength. The caribou smiled in victory before his warhammer cracked and then shattered right in front of his eyes. On its place two shining white orbs now stared at him. Before the caribou could do anything else, Spike moved up to him and wrapped his arms around the stag before squeezing with all his might. The caribou felt his bones shatter instantly and his skin, organs and muscles to either pop out or been turned into a nasty pulp.

Spike let go of the stag and turned to see the other ten remaining heavy units.

“Twenty nine,” he said before leaping at the remaining survivors of the group while the battle unfolded savagely. The air had an awful stench of blood and other bile juices, most of those belonging to the caribou and the poor souls that couldn’t be knocked out. The thought served to anger Spike even further.

Leaving all pretences aside, he used his tail to behead the nearest heavy caribou while he used his claws to crush the skulls of two more with ease. He spun around using his right foot and then kicked the chest of another caribou with enough strength to not only send said caribou crashing a wall, but to also destroy said wall while leaving a big red stain on the borders. Using his tail again he pierced the underside jaw of another heavy caribou until the tip came out of his head and then cut the head in half from the inside out. He opened his mouth wide and bit down the neck of the heavy to his left before ripping it away letting the caribou fall to the ground trying to cover the deadly wound.

Spike felt a sensation course through his body. A sensation of satisfaction, fulfilling….of joy, even. He used both his hands to crush the skull of another caribou letting the blood and the brains of his newest victim stain his hands. And he smiled. He felt...happy.

“It feels gooooood~” he sang letting a dumb smile adorn his face. The last two heavy caribou shaking in fear while they tried to back away from the monster before them. “I feel great!” Spike shouted looking at them. “I feel….I feel…. I feel like singing!” he took a step forward making the two caribou fall to the ground, paralyzed with fear. Taking another step closer he suddenly jumped and then landed on their stomachs letting the laws of his feet dig on their entrails before taking them out, dragging out whatever his feet claw managed to cling themselves at.

“Thirty nine!” Spike shouted again before jumping to a rooftop, letting the beauty of the whole scene unfold in front of him.

“Let’s get out of here!” Spike managed to hear before he grinned and jumped down and landed in front of a group of caribou calf, four to be precise not older than fourteen he was sure. “Traitor!” the tallest and of the group called. “Heretic!” he cursed at Spike.

“Where are you going boys!?” Spike asked in a chilly, yet amused tone. “Don’t you want to stay in the Tartarus you made for yourselves!?” they didn’t respond, instead the calf simply whimpered pathetically. “You think you can run away!? Oh, boys, don’t you see?” Spike clear his throat.

“There’s nowhere to hide, nowhere to run~” he sang as he pounced at the tallest calf grabbing him by the antlers. The calf screamed in agony the moment Spike tore away his antlers right before jamming one in his stomach and the other into his mouth and down his throat. Spike turned to one of the now fleeing calf and breathed out a torrent of green fire upon the calf. Spike spun on his place once hearing the burning calf scream in excruciating agony.

“Your coats will burn like the heart of the sun~” He then leaped to the other two fleeing calf and caught them both by the neck. He grabbed onto one tightly while he tossed the other one to the ground and used his left foot to hold him in place. The calf on the ground tried his best to set himself free but it was futile. He turned completely to the calf currently in his tight grip and held him in front of him, forcing the calf to look at him to his white, shining eyes.

“How can I glare into your eyes and then not-”

“AAARRRRRRRHHHHHHHHH”

“-stab them~” Spike sang while piercing the eyes of the calf with his thumbs.He let the calf scream and try to fight back for a few short seconds before crushing his skull with both hands. Meanwhile his left foot moved upward and then crushed the head of the calf on the floor. Spike them jumped and grabbed a female changeling passing through. The changeling, slightly confused, was even more so when they touched ground and turned her to see a few of the caribou stag prisoners being beaten by rebel soldiers.

“How can I stare at their pain, and then not laaaauuuuugh~” he sang contently. “Forty three, by the way,” Spike let go of the stunned changeling mare.

“With infinite glee, it’s going to be me that slaughters their world!~” Spike sang gleefully before letting out a joyful roar. After he finished, he spun around a few times, almost like he was dancing ballet and then jumped into the fray once more. He was enjoying himself immensely for the first time in his life.

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

“And don’t even start giving me strange looks for enjoying myself like that for killing, and maiming, and burning, and tearing,” Spike smirked at the judges. “You could say it was my first time,” Spike chuckled to himself. “I’m sure you’re all just dying to know what happens next, my dear judges, but before I can continue I need to drain the lizard again.”

There was a ten second long silence before the ursa judge hit the pedestal.

“The court will take a ten minute rest,” the ursa judge declared.

“Thanks,” Spike got up flanked by the minotaur guards. “And if you think that was bad wait until I tell you when my ‘Fun Room’ started,” his eyes turned blue and he gave the judges a warm, sincere smile. “It was pure bliss.”

Chapter 6 Part 1 Ends.

Author's Notes:

Special thanks to allwho read this!

Yes, Part 1. I decided to separate this chapter into two parts because A) It would be freaking huge like the last one; if not bigger. And B) Because of limited time (aka work) I might not be able to write anything for a week or two. (Spoiler: Part 2 contains huge amounts of blood, gore and all that good stuff and will be longer)

*Un-Edited, if anyone whishes to venture on editing this mess I made please PM me*