Spike exited the portal and found himself in the midst of a forest, with what appeared to be a small cabin ahead.

“What the? I was expecting a candyland or factory or something. Why is it a forest and a cabin?” Spike asked

“I’m not sure, but tread carefully. If the Shadow hid them here, then he must trust whomever is here to keep them hidden,” Star said.

“Ok,” Spike was about to go when he felt a sudden change in the atmosphere. “Something’s wrong.”

“Spike! Hide!” Star said frantically and Spike wasted no time diving into a bush.

Spike looked out and saw another portal open up and The Shadow exited, with a sack full of something in his hand.

“What is he doing here?” Spike asked.

“Shh. It seems we conveniently arrived in time to see something important. Stay hidden, Spike. We may learn something.”

“Ok,” Spike said.

The Shadow walked to the door and knocked on it, the door opened up revealing-

“Mrs. Cake?” Spike said with surprise. What shocked him more was her appearance. She looked visually the same and her shape was pony-like but he could tell that her skin was made of a burlap-like material. Worse, her eyes looked like they were made of glass as they sat unblinking in her head.

“Shh!” Star said which silenced Spike.

“How sweet, you came to visit, Dear Shadow,” Mrs. Cake said with a bow.

“What have I told you about that name?” The Shadow said, sounding annoyed.

“But I enjoy calling you that, so what can I do for you? Me and my babies are currently preparing for the invasion of the mortal realm, as ordered,” Mrs. Cake said.

“That has been put on a temporary pause due to… unforeseen interferences.”

“The baby dragon, Spike?” Mrs. Cake guessed. The Shadow growled but continued.

“As I was saying, I have reclaimed the souls but their nightmares are still being reconstructed. I need you to watch them.”

“Can’t you hide them in your own dimension?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“No! They will dissipate if I do that. I’m not wasting prime material,” The Shadow growled.

“Very well then. You can trust me to watch over them until you get the other nightmares functional again,” Mrs. Cake said, her stitched lips curling into a smile.

“Let’s hope so, and I must warn you, as puny as this dragon is, he has an absurd amount of luck and an annoying talent for finding souls. He will come and try to take them away. Do NOT let that happen!”

“Wow, it almost sounds like you admire him.” Mrs. Cake chuckled.

“...Dare to make that joke again and I will tear your home apart with my bare hands...” The Shadow growled.

“You really aren’t good at taking jokes…” Mrs. Cake sighed, the Shadow then handed her the bag.

“Hide them well and have your ‘babies’ on high alert. I want that dragon in pieces next time I see him, Mother,” the Shadow sneered

“Mother?...” Spike whispered.

“It will be done Dear-” She paused when she saw the Shadow deepen his glare “-’Master’ Shadow, He won’t leave with a single soul,” The being called Mother said with a bow.

“He’d better not.” The Shadow got in her face. “As motivation to not disappoint me like the others, if you fail, the next time I recapture the souls, your husband’s soul shall be personally purged by me!” The Shadow growled.

“Y-you wouldn’t!” Mother gasped.

“I would so kill that dragon, or your loved one will suffer for it!” The Shadow said before turning to walk away back into the portal.

“I won’t fail you, master,” Mother said before turning around and giving a whistle.

Spike heard baby sounds and saw eight small pony-like creatures crawl out of the cabin.

Like their Mother, they were wearing full-body burlap outfits but still looked like the cake twins, Pumpkin and Pound Cake.

“Do be a dear and help your mother hide these from the mean little dragon, would you?” Mother asked her offspring.

“Naaa!” The babies coo’d before taking the sack and dragging it indoors.

Then Mother did something that would give Spike nightmares. She turned and looked him right in the eye from where she was standing and grinned before walking inside.

“...I don’t wanna go in there…” Spike whimpered.

“Very well,” Star said.

“What? Really?” Spike said

“Sure, let’s just wait for the Shadow to come back and steal away the souls once more…” Star said probably with a sarcastic expression.

“Fine,” Spike sighed, not liking the sarcasm. Spike snuck between bushes and performed an action roll up to the door. When he checked in the window overhead to see if Mother was still there and saw she wasn’t, he was more surprised to see a second floor and a surprising amount of space.

“Great, it’s one of those bigger on the inside things isn’t it?” Spike sighed, having hoped this would be easy. He inched towards the door and cracked it open, his eye darted from left to right keeping an eye peeled for the creatures, but didn’t see anything.

Spike crept in and found himself in a much bigger cabin. He looked around and saw the same little creatures that look like the Cake twins in multiple rooms.

They were thankfully sleeping at least.

“I can sense a soul. Go upstairs,” Star said.

“Ok,” Spike responded while making his way upstairs, moving quietly so as to not disturb them. As Spike made his way to the bedroom he saw multiple beds with more of the sleeping creatures.

“Quietly,” Spike said tiptoeing through the room

Spike saw the door and he made his way to it. Opening and closing the door carefully Spike found himself in a hallway. After following it to another door, Spike entered and was surprised at what he saw, because it looked like a bedroom.

But what disturbed Spike was the multiple suits that looked like Mrs. Cake hanging there on the wall.

“Seriously, I had enough confusion as to why Fluttershy’s nightmare was a sewer, but what’s with the cabin environment?” Spike asked.

“Perhaps this is somehow connected to her desires and future plans. Nightmares can twist those too,” Star guessed.

“I guess,” Spike said before making his way through the room and finding himself in a series of hallways. As he turned a corner, he paused when he saw one of the baby creatures, just sprawled out on the ground sleeping.

Spike carefully walked around it and moved on, but once he was past, he looked around and found he was lost.

“This area is a maze. Where’s the exit?” Spike said before hearing a yawn and he turned to see a baby waking up. Spike dove behind cover as it looked in his direction.

The creature got up and used its wings to hover slightly off the ground before approaching the corner.

It turned the corner and saw nothing.

The baby monster yawned and flew back to its resting spot before going back to sleep.

Meanwhile, Spike peeked out from behind another corner, having hidden there to avoid an encounter.

“Whew…” Spike said before continuing on

“I think I can sense another door nearby. Keep moving forward.”

Thankfully none of the babies were guarding the door when he arrived. Spike went into the next hallway and made his way upstairs until he found himself at another door, and upon entering he found himself in an attic, but right in front of him was another of Mother's babies, a Pumpkin Cake model it seemed.

“What do I do?” Spike whispered.

“I do not know,” Star said honestly.

Spike thought about it for a moment and got an idea. Sneaking up on the baby, he got to just the edge of the baby’s vision and tapped its shoulder.

The baby turned to the right while Spike ran around her left, then hid behind some boxes when she looked back.

“Whew, glad that worked.” Spike sighed before noticing something that made him happy.

“Pinkie’s soul!” Spike approached the pink soul and collected it. The ring reappeared on his hand and Pinkie reappeared next to him, although she was crying.

“Pinkie,” Spike whispered, not wanting to alert the baby nearby.

Pinkie stopped crying for a moment and turned to see Spike

“SPIKEY!” Pinkie cheered and she leaped to give Spike a hug, but Spike put his hand over her mouth.

“Shhhh!” Spike said looking back and seeing a shadow and hearing creepy baby noises.

“Oopsie,” Pinkie said.

“Gotta hide!” Spike said before activating Pinkie’s power and bouncing onto the support beam above with a jump he couldn’t manage on his own.

The baby came around and looked before going back to her spot and Spike jumped back down.

“Whew, that was close,” Spike said.

“So it seems he got in.” Spike overheard Mother’s voice coming from a hole in the floor and Spike saw Mother conversing with a baby.

“You saw him enter the attic? I see, then alert your fellow babies. Master Shadow wants him dead, and I want as few babies to blow themselves up to achieve that,” Mother said before trotting away.

“Ulp. did she just say ‘blow up’?” Spike said.

“Yup, looks like we gotta make like ninjas and sneak our way through this,” Pinkie said.

“Ok.” Spike waited a moment for his Pinkie Power to recharge before using it to jump into a pail nearby and reappear behind the baby that was guarding the entrance.

“Thank goodness I got the most useful power,” Spike said before running down the hall and hearing foal sounds from the small labyrinth from before.

Spike entered and peeked around the side and was surprised to see a soul shard.

“These weren't here before,” Spike said.

“Collect them regardless,” Star ordered.

“Alright.” Spike collected it and made his way through the halls, grabbing the occasional shard… before running into a baby who was supposed to be asleep

“Uh, oh,” Spike said, backing away.

“Hm?” The baby tilted its head curiously.

“M-maybe it’s-” Spike began before the baby’s eyes turned red and it hissed at him.

“MAYBE NOT!” Pinkie shouted as the two turned and ran from the baby unicorn.

Spike ran around avoiding it, but the more he ran around the more he alerted and the more pursuers he gained.

“IT’S A BABY STAMPEDE!” Pinkie screamed as the two ran from at least fifteen babies who were making angry gibbering noises.

“Don’t let them near you! If what Mother said is true they’re likely to detonate,” Star warned.

“I know!” Spike yelled before running into a wall.

“Spikey!” Pinkie called.

The babies surrounded Spike and before he knew it he saw a flash.

---

Spike woke up next to the door he entered from.

“Whew, that was close,” Spike said before getting up and sneaking to the spot he was nearly blown up. Turns out Mother wasn’t lying. There were now gaping holes in the wall and floor, and burn spots everywhere.

“Wow, they really do explode… noted.” Spike focused on the remaining shards, something he noticed was the absurdly low amount here. Thankfully, there were only one or two patrolling babies left.

Spike turned a corner, avoided another baby, then ran over and grabbed the last one.

“That’s all in this area,” Star said.

“That’s it? Psh, this nightmare is easy so far,” Spike said.

“Even though you were nearly blown to bits?” Star teased.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Spike made his way to the door, then walked down to the room with the suits. He wasted no time and opened the door to leave.

He IMMEDIATELY regretted it…

A giant version of Mother’s face was there staring down at him…

Spike and Pinkie stood there stiffly and slowly he closed the door.

“I think I just pee’d a little…” Spike whimpered.

“I actually did…” Pinkie admitted.

The two needed a few minutes to work up the courage to open the door again and blessedly, the face was gone…

“Oh thank Celestia… I thought she was still there…” Spike said.

“Let us move on before she comes back,” Star said.

As scary as it was, the two moved on through the halls and entered the baby room. Spike saw there were no babies there so he exited and went down to the ground floor.

“Go down to the basement. I am sensing there are more in a lower place,” Star informed them.

“The basement? Seriously?” Spike complained.

“Go on,” Star said.

“Ok…” Spike said before looking around, Star was thankfully able to give directions and Spike made his way down to the basement and found himself at a hole in the wall.

“Where does this lead?” Spike asked.

“Beats me but I bet this is where we need to go!” Pinkie said.

“I don’t want to go in there!” Spike complained yet again.

“You must Spike, if you want to save your friends,” Star oh so helpfully pointed out.

“I know I know…” Spike said before entering the hole.

---

Spike found himself wandering through tunnels, stalactites, and boulders everywhere. As Spike made it about five hundred feet he stopped to take a rest.

“Don’t rest, Spike! Remember what happened last time?” Star said

“Nopony is chasing me right now. I think I've earned a rest,” Spike said, lying down.

…Until a wall broke down and Mother came through.

“Ah, there’s our uninvited guest!” Mother said jovially.

“Ah! Not you!” Spike said getting up.

“Don’t be rude, young man, or Mother will have to discipline you,” Mother said with her chillingly calm voice. As she spoke, a horde of babies poured from the hole she made and they ran after him.

“AAH!” Spike yelled as he ran for his life. The babies were slightly faster than their mother who was simply trotting after him.

“I might actually get away,” Spike said slowing a little to conserve stamina

Once more he regretted it...

Mother suddenly sped up and her eyes began to glow.

“OH CRAP!” Spike yelled running faster.

“Mother is coming!” Mother said picking up speed.

“LEAVE ME ALONE YOU CREEP!” Spike said sprinting now.

“Such a rude child. Perhaps somepony needs a hug?” Mother was galloping now, and she was surprisingly fast now despite being twice the size of a normal mare.

“Pinkie! Do something!” Spike said.

“Uh… what kind of something?” Pinkie asked.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Spike cried before noticing something up ahead. He couldn’t believe his luck. Fluttershy’s soul was drifting near a set of planks blocking the exit.

Wasting no time Spike grabbed the soul and it became a ring again. Fluttershy appeared to Spike.

“Huh? Spike?! How did-” Fluttershy paused when she saw Mother gaining on Spike and she screamed and ran with Spike.

“Is that Mrs. Cake!?” Fluttershy asked.

“Not at the moment!” Spike said before reaching the wooden planks and breaking off the lower ones.

“Spike! They're getting closer!” Pinkie called out

“I’M HURRYING!” Spike yelled back. Finally, he made an opening and crawled through to the other side and found that he was in some kind of connected cave system.

Turning, he saw that the babies were crawling through the hole he made, he raced his mind for an idea.

Lightbulb

“Fluttershy!” Spike called out and Fluttershy’s stare came to him. Focusing his stare, the babies froze up and screamed.

“Haha! Now while they're stunned, I can-” Spike said before being launched backwards by an explosion.

Spike groaned and sat up “So… Stare equals explosion… noted…” Spike coughed some smoke as he got up and saw that the cave collapsed where Mother was about to enter.

“You may think you’ve escaped me, but you won't escape him…” Mother’s voice on the other side of the rubble chuckled for a bit before he heard her steps going away.

“Him? What’s the implication there?” Spike asked, feeling worried.

“I don’t know, Spike, but thank you for saving me.” Fluttershy gave Spike a hug and he returned it.

“We should get moving before she finds a way through,” Star reminded them.

“Yeah, where are there more shards?” Spike asked

“In the cave to your left,” Star replied.

“Hmm? Where’s Luna? That doesn’t sound like her?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s a long story. I'll explain after this,” Spike said as he went into the cave.

It took some trekking, but he found more shards, as he was about to collect he saw a baby run past him holding a soul in it’s mouth.

It was one with triple colors… colors like-

“The Crusaders!” Spike ran after the baby who refused to slow down, although he made sure to collect shards as he ran past.

He was about to catch the baby when more of them suddenly came out of the tunnels to the sides and Spike had to pause.

"Oh, no." Spike turned and ran as the babies swarmed after him, the closest ones blowing up like bombs and Spike stumbling as the explosions nearly knocked him over.

"Should I use the stare?" Spike wondered.

"If you want to bring the caves down!" Pinkie cried.

"True…" Spike said. "Well, we need to do something! Pinkie!" Spike said using Pinkie’s power to jump into a hole and pop out another one.

Spike watched as the babies crawled into the hole after him and detonated.

Spike ran on as they attacked the wrong spot. It was a good thing babies are easy to trick.

Spike ran around and collected more shards on the rim before moving into the maze. Just when he was sure he’d make it through, he saw babies heading towards him from another tunnel and he had to change direction. Spike paused as he entered an area with rock bridges and a strange green liquid.

“I don’t even want to know what that stuff will do to me if I fall in.” Spike ran around the side, grabbing shards as the babies flooded into the room.

Spike ran on but saw babies coming in from the other entrance.

Spike looked from side to side on the bridge and saw babies swarming from both sides.

“Spike! The stare!” Fluttershy called.

“Right!” Spike used the stare on the babies to his left and they screamed and blew up.

What Spike wasn’t anticipating was a chain reaction to occur and a series of explosions to go around the room and the bridge he was on was starting to crumble.

“Ack!” Spike ran and jumped just in time to latch onto the side of the broken bridge. As he crawled onto the ledge, he turned to see more babies entering the room.

“How many are there?!” Spike demanded before getting up and running out of the room. As he made his way through the middle part of the zone, he saw a strange area with fires and tents, but he didn’t get to stare for long because he heard loud hoofsteps and turned to see Mother on the other side of a hall.

“Mother’s coming, little Spike,” Mother said before she ran towards him.

“Nope!” Spike yelled running as fast as he could down another hallway and collecting shards. He risked a glance behind him and saw Mother gaining ground.

“I gotta lose her!” Spike said before activating the stare and using it on Mother. Thankfully, she flinched and slowed down, allowing Spike to escape her clutches but as Spike rounded a corner he ran into a baby and it exploded, sending Spike flying back. Spike skidded to the ground and got up weakly.

“Spike? Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“Ugh, man that hurts,” Spike said before noticing Mother had turned the corner.

“You hurt my babies!” Mother growled.

“They blew themselves up!” Spike said as he got up and ran from Mother once again.

Spike ran around the edge of the zone and thankfully he managed to get some distance from the psycho pony.

Spike went on to run through an area that had holes in the walls and when he hitched a right he ultimately found himself in a room similar to the one with the green pools. Spike wasted no time collecting the shards and thankfully he got out before any of those little… Terror Tykes got in…

“Hmmm not a bad name for them,” Spike said to himself before stopping to catch his breath. “How many shards are in this place?!” Spike asked while panting for air.

“Many, but you're almost done,” Star said.

Spike carefully peeked around a corner to keep an eye out for Mother and he saw more babies grouped together.

Spike also noticed the one holding the soul

“It’s a soul, Star. Can I use the stare on them and not destroy my friends' souls at the same time?” Spike asked.

“It’s too risky. You’ll have to trick them,” Star said.

“Ok,” Spike said before getting down low and sneaking over to the babies. Spike picked up a rock and threw it to make a noise, a noise the babies noticed, and ran off to investigate.

The one that had the souls as Spike predicted, ran away from the noise. As the baby passed, Spike leaped forward and pulled the souls from the baby's mouth.

The baby gave a screech and Spike knelt and covered the souls as the baby blew up.

Spike tumbled against the ground but held onto the souls as they became a ring.

Spike shook off the pain and ran, putting the ring on as he went.

"What happened? Spike?" Scootaloo said, noticing Spike and the other CMC galloping over.

"Spike! You're here!" Sweetie Belle said cheerfully.

"We thought the Shadow had us fer sure," Apple Bloom said.

“Glad to have you girls back too. Come on, we have to go.” Spike went back the way he came, thankfully finding the last few shards along the way. Then after some searching, he found his way out of that particular cave and back to the main cave connection area.

“Go to the middle one, Spike. There are more shards down there,” Star said.

“Seriously? I collected like a thousand in that last area!” Spike said, sounding exasperated.

“We got this, Spike,” the CMC said and Spike went into the next cave. There were ladders there, which he descended and hurried along a corridor until he found himself in a room full of holes and craters filled with green liquid.

“I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach,” Spike said before purple barriers appeared over the exits and Spike turned to see Mother standing there.

“Now I have you!” she said cheerfully. “I leave him in your hands, dear. Remember, apart from the soul, no leftovers.” And with that, she left.

“Ulp, what did she mean by dear?” Spike said before the room rumbled and something shot out of a crater.

“DINNER TIIIIIIME!” a familiar voice said.

Spike spun to see Mr. Cake, but unlike Mrs. Cake, he looked radically different.

His body was snake-like and his arms were long and ended in claws, his face looked like some kind of mix between his face and a snakes but he still had his mane.

“AAH! MR CAKE!?” Spike said backing up.

“Call me Daddy! So nice for my dear to bring me dinner!” Daddy growled.

“Any chance we can talk this-” Spike attempted before yelping and dodging as Daddy swung his arm down to crush him.

“Guess not!” Spike said before running away from the creature as Daddy went back into his pool. After a short run, Spike stopped and turned to look around for his foe's location.

Daddy burst out of the crater behind Spike and swung his arm which whacked Spike, sending him flying into a wall. Spike looked up and saw Daddy vanish into the liquid and pop out another one and drive his clawed hand forward. Spike dodged it and ran for his life as Daddy drove his hands forward, punching holes in the walls as Spike leaped and ducked under the strikes.

Spike finally got out of swinging range when a large rock fell from the ceiling and onto his head.

“OW!” Spike said before noticing the rock. “Hang on, I got an idea!” Spike said as he ran over and grabbed the rock and waited for Daddy to pop up again and when he did Spike beamed him in the face with the rock.

“AAAGH! YOU LITTLE-!” Daddy growled before opening his mouth and lunging forward, Spike twisted his body and dodged several bites before backpedaling away from the Snake pony.

Daddy lunged forward and Spike dodged again, this time using multiply to spread out while Daddy flailed his arms around to nail the copies.

Spike pulled another rock out of the wall and when Daddy went back into his hole and came out again Spike nailed him once more.

“Ooof!” Daddy grunted and retreated

“Did I get him?” Spike asked.

Suddenly the ground beneath him erupted and Daddy launched out grabbing Spike and slamming him into a wall.

“AGH!” Spike grunted before Daddy pulled him in closer.

“Bon appetit” Daddy grinned before chucking Spike into the air and Spike fell into his mouth and had to hold it open to avoid being eaten.

“I’m not your snack!” Spike yelled, breathing fire into Daddy’s mouth.

“GYAAAAH!” Daddy roared and grabbed Spike out of his mouth before throwing him, Spike saw he was flying towards a hole in the wall and so he activated Pinkie's power and went in one hole and came out another with a big rock in hand. He smashed the surprised monster in the face and Daddy cried out before hitting the ground and slumping back into the pool.

“Never throw someone who has Pinkie powers,” Spike said before high-fiving Pinkie.

Suddenly souls floated out of the green liquid, which was what Spike hoped. He collected them all, and the ponies that appeared were Trixie, Cheese Sandwich, and Derpy.

“Spike! You're here!” Trixie said.

“He saved us again,” Derpy said, looking happy.

“Focus, you three! Spike needs to save the remaining souls!” Star said.

“Sorry Luna, or wait, who is that?” Cheese asked.

“Later! C’mon,” Spike said, running into the next cave.

---

When Spike arrived, he honestly felt terrified of the whole place.

It literally looked like hell! Cave structures and bridges, holes in the ground, pillars, and the outside exuded a red light, bathing the environment in an eerie ambiance.

Spike looked around wondering where the souls were when he saw several souls floating in front of several sleeping babies. Spike was about to sneak up on them when suddenly they jumped up and removed their masks.

And what he saw horrified him, their faces looked like dolls but all cracked and worn and maneless, they were each missing an eye and their teeth looked rotten.

They hissed at him and then grabbed the souls in their mouths and proceeded to flee.

"Here we go again," Spike said before running after the one that ran to the left. Spike chased the freaky little guy only to have him take to the air and try to flee onto another path.

"Oh no you don't!" Spike shouted as he used inheritance to sprout a pair of wings and he flew after the baby.

Spike managed to out fly the small pony thing and he swiped the soul and he flew away before it could explode. Spike flew to ground level and waited for the soul to turn back into a ring but it didn't. Instead, it turned into a bouncing ball.

"What the?" Spike said incredulously.

"It was a fake," Star said.

"Those fiends!" AB said.

"Great…” Spike said before starting to collect shards again.

Spike ran around searching for the babies who took the souls but he couldn't find them so he instead focused on soul shard collection.

When Spike rounded a corner, several babies came running at him, so he used the stare to blow them up while they were a good enough distance from him.

Spike moved on and collected more shards down the path he was on and eventually caught sight of another Soul carrying baby and so he changed directions.

“Give that back!” Spike yelled as he chased the creature, unfortunately, his yelling drew the attention of nearby babies and when Spike looked behind him he saw several in pursuit of him.

“Uh oh!” Spike hurried along the path, looking for a way to get out of this when an idea came as he saw a long stalactite.

“Gotcha,” Spike said before jumping off the edge.

The babies all went to the side and peeked over to see where he was when Spike hopped down from the pillar and landed behind the baby that was holding the soul. With one motion, he grabbed the soul and kicked the creature at the others, resulting in a big explosion.

Spike examined the soul, but it turned into a pile of bugs in his hands.

“AH! Ewewewew!” Spike said, dropping the bugs.

“Another fake? How many fakes are there?” Star asked.

“Can’t you sense the right ones?” Spike asked.

“No, this ‘Mother’ is clever and disguised the aura the spheres give off. They all look like souls,” Star said, sounding upset at her inability to help.

“Alright, we just gotta keep trying!” Pinkie said.

“Ok,” Spike said and he ran off collecting more shards, running around a hole in the ground carefully so as to not fall in.

Spike continued down a slope and saw babies charging at him, some in the air, some with horns lowered.

“Take this STARE!” Spike said, detonating them before they could close in. Spike made it over the crest but paused when he saw Mother.

“You. Hurt. MY. HUSBAND!” she snarled, somehow she looked scarier in this light.

“Inheritance!” Spike said sporting wings and flying above Mother.

“Can’t get me up-” Spike never finished taunting as she unexpectedly jumped up to meet him and she struck Spike sending him flying into a giant floating spinning stalactite with weird writing on it.

“Ok, she can reach me… good to know…” Spike got up and darted away as Mother pounced, but he used multiply to confuse her.

“You won’t escape Mother’s wrath!” Mother said as she took out one clone at a time while pursuing.

Spike ran as fast as he could, but Mother wasn’t letting up. When his last clone was taken out he managed to regain Inheritance and used it to take off before she could grab him.

“Why do you flee from Mother!?” she called out as Spike flew higher and higher into open space.

“That should be obvious you creepy mare!” Spike said before swooping beneath the zone and flying to another platform before his power timed out.

“Oh man… that was close,” Spike sighed.

Spike heard gibbering and he turned to see that conveniently a baby holding a soul had come around a corner. With a screech, it turned around and ran.

“Get back here!” Spike yelled before chasing the baby. Not leaving anything to chance, he picked up speed and tackled the baby and pulled the soul from it’s mouth before chucking the living bomb off the ledge.

Spike sighed from his exhaustion but looked at the soul and was happy it turned into a ring.

“You found a real one this time,” Star congratulated. Spike put the ring on and Applejack appeared.

“Huh? What's goin-” Applejack asked, looking dazed.

“Later, come on!” Spike said, running off and collecting shards despite Applejack's confusion.

“Hold up!” Applejack shouted running after Spike, only to be replaced by Pinkie.

“Don’t worry, AJ. I’ll fill you in,” Pinkie said before they returned to their rings.

Spike ran around for a while collecting shards, managing to avoid the demonic babies but keeping an extra sharp eye out for Mother.

“Spike, if what Pinkie told me is true, then we’re in a lot of trouble if we don’t get the souls back,” Applejack said.

“I know,” Spike replied as he ran into a crossroads area.

Spike looked from side to side wondering which side he hadn't finished yet when he heard gibbering noises and saw babies swarming from both sides.

“Uh oh!” Spike said and he ran down the middle and fled from the babies surging after him.

Spike ran down a spikey path collecting more shards along the way. As he managed to lose the swarm, he was blindsided by Mother who was hiding behind a boulder. Before Spike could get up, she firmly planted a hoof on his stomach and glared at him right in the eye.

“I hope you realize your defiance won’t go unpunished,” Mother growled.

“GET OFF!” Spike used his strength boost to try and pry Mother off of him, but she continued to hold him down with a single hoof.

“I’m one mare you won’t want to mess with!” Mother said before applying pressure. Spike gagged and when he looked around he saw babies had gathered around the two.

“Time for punishment!” Mother said before raising her other hoof and Spike knew he only had one chance.

“Star!” Spike called out and before he knew it he was back at the entrance and he gasped for air.

“I can’t… do that again,” Star said sounding tired

“I understand,” Spike said before hitching a right and locating a few more shards hidden along the way. When Spike collected the last one he paused and looked for a second before speaking to Star.

“Hey Star! Did I collect all of the shards here?” Spike asked

“Yes, but there is one other soul in this area,” Star said

“Point the way” Spike offered

Star directed Spike to the nearest soul but when he got there he was surprised to see the baby just standing there, soul in mouth, there were a few others patrolling nearby.

“How stupid does she think I am? This has booby trap written all over it!” Spike said.

“Her intention may be to make you think that so you’ll be hesitant to go after the soul,” Star said.

“Well, I still have to go after it, but I wonder…” Spike considered how he was going to pull this little heist off.

“Spikey, I have an idea,” Pinkie said.

---

The baby stood there as instructed, waiting for the dragon.

Then suddenly it heard a noise and turned to see Pinkie Pie on a rocky platform.

"Hey there little babies, gather round!" Pinkie cheered and the babies did so. Pinkie glanced around and didn't see any more hiding among the tunnels, which allowed Spike to sneak behind the group.

“Time to play our favorite game!” Pinkie cheered before reaching into her mane and pulling out a door, which surprised even Spike.

“Wheeeeere's Pinkie Pie? Here I am!” Pinkie said jumping out from behind the door. “Wheeeeere's Pinkie Pie? Here I am! Wheeeeere's Pinkie Pie? Here I am!” Pinkie repeated the action again and again and eventually, the babies began to coo and squeal with laughter as Pinkie continued.

“Wow, I guess they are still babies after all,” Spike said with a shrug. He got low and snuck up to the one with the soul while Pinkie continued to entertain the babies.

Spike was about to snatch the soul when he looked up and froze as he saw a figure standing behind Pinkie.

“Hello Pinkie” Mother’s calm voice came.

“One second!” Pinkie said before pausing and looking back at Mother. “Oh…”

“I know there’s nothing I can do to hurt you, but if you’re here, then he must be here too. Babies, playtime is over. Go find the mean dragon,” Mother ordered.

Spike hid behind a rock, panting because he had nearly been caught. Taking a peek around the corner he saw that Pinkie was unsuccessful at stopping the babies from dispersing. Seeing his chance slipping away Spike had no choice.

“Why does doing the right thing always have to hurt!” Spike said before running out and swiping the baby with the soul.

“There he is my children! Get him!” Mother shouted as the babies took notice and began to converge.

Spike knew that he only had one chance now. He pried the soul off of the little creature and chucked the baby like a grenade at Mother.

“Oh dear…” Mother said as Spike used the stare on it. The baby screeched before detonating and sending Mother flying.

This caused Spike's worst fears to be realized as the other babies began to blow one after another and Spike had to turn and run amidst explosions.

“Hold on, Spike!” Pinkie said as she ran alongside him and the two were consumed by flames.

It seemed that that was it, but then the two were launched through the air and they tumbled across the ground and Spike landed against another rotating stalactite.

“Ugh…” Spike coughed some blood as he watched that part of the area plummet into the abyss below.

“Spike! Are you okay?!” Pinkie said before being replaced by Applejack

“Stay with us Spike!” Applejack shook Spike to keep him from passing out.

“I-i’m good… that just... did I get a real one?” Spike asked.

They all looked to the white glowing sphere and to their relief it turned into a ring.

“It is,” Applejack said.

“Good,” Spike said. He reached over and put it on, making Nurse Redheart appear.

“Huh? Where am- Spike!” Nurse Redheart galloped over to him.

“He took a very bad hit,” Star explained.

“Is he going to be okay, Mrs. Redheart?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“He's showing signs of internal injuries. I’ll activate the healing power,” Nurse Redheart said and Spike glowed green as his injuries began healing.

“Sweetie, was that any way to treat someponies mother?” a familiar voice came. They all turned to see Mother approaching amidst the flames.

“How did she survive that explosion!? Or not fall off the platform?” Applejack said, sounding surprised.

“Get up, Spike!” the CMC said.

“I’m trying,” Spike groaned while getting up. He still coughed blood but he was more stable now.

“Mother’s coming!” Mother laughed and began to pick up speed.

“Spike! Hurry!” Trixie said.

Spike used multiply at the last second and they all scattered just before Mother reached them.

“You can’t hide from me!” Mother said and she did something that scared Spike.

She grabbed the zipper on her chest and unzipped all the way down to her stomach, then the babies began crawling out of her.

“I’m gonna puke!” Scootaloo said in disgust.

“What? Don’t you find the miracle of birth beautiful? After all, where do you think you all came from?” Mother said before pointing at the four Spikes.

“Go my babies and kill that dragon!” Mother said, and the babies went to do just that.

Spike scattered with his copies and he ran back down the path that led to the exit. Looking behind him, he saw the babies swarming after him.

“The copies didn’t distract enough of them!” Spike said as he ran along the paths leading to his way out of here.

Spike could see it from where he was but he also saw a swarm of babies cutting off that area. Thinking fast, Spike jumped off the ledge and the babies gathered around there only to see Spike use inheritance to fly outside the paths and fly into the cave exit.

---

“I can’t believe I got out of there!” Spike said as he flew through the acid crater room.

“You’ve done very well, Spike. There’s just one last soul to collect,” Star informed him.

“Rarity,” Spike said as he landed due to his power timing out and he climbed the ladders.

When he got back to the connecting cave system he went towards the only cave he had not gone into yet.

As Spike got to the end of that cave, he looked down and saw a very steep drop.

“No way I’m jumping down that far. I’ll break my legs.” Instead, Spike used inheritance to fly down, and once he landed, he proceeded through the rest of the cave. Once he made it to the other side of the cave he saw Mother standing in front of a giant green pool.

“Uh oh,” Spike said, trying to hide.

“There’s no use hiding. I saw you,” Mother said.

“I can just fly back up. You can’t catch me!” Spike said.

“True, but after the cave-in you caused, the only way out is in this room,” Mother said.

“I’m getting through then!” Spike said, walking out in front of Mother.

“So much bravery… for such a foolish child!” Mother said with a glare before she jumped backwards into the pool.

“Now what?” Spike was ready for anything. He wasn’t as ready as he thought when Mother emerged as a giant with a massive tear in her stomach, a writhing swarm of babies in the tear, and one of her hooves had transformed into a monstrous mouth.

“Wow…” Spike said, backing away as she loomed over him.

“By the way, aren’t you looking for this?” Mother said, showing Spike the white soul.

“Rarity!” Spike called but she brought the soul to her mouth and swallowed it.

“Too bad. The Shadow is the only one getting her soul,” Mother said before narrowing her eyes “Your more trouble than I initially thought, I believed letting you come onto my turf would make things easier but you’ve not only stolen the souls back, you’ve destroyed many of my precious babies! You little abomination! You will learn to respect Mother! UNTIL YOU DIE!”

Spike tried to turn and run but a purple barrier appeared blocking his exit. “Hey! That’s not fair!” he said before a swing of a massive hoof caught him off guard and nearly hit him.

“Life isn’t fair,” Mother dragged her hoof back across the ground and knocked Spike off his feet.

Spike tumbled across the ground before getting to his feet and rolling to the side to avoid the second mouth that tried to eat him.

Spike used multiply to scatter himself around but Mother put her hoof on the ground again and dragged it along the ground, knocking Spike against the wall and destroying his copies.

“Agh!” Spike grunted and he looked up to see Mother actually leaving the green pool and she began waving the mouth around and snapping at the air trying to hit Spike.

Spike got up and tried to run but she was gaining on him and so he used inheritance and took to the air. Spike dodged and weaved through the air as Mother snapped her second set of jaws at him.

“Come back or you're grounded!” Mother swung her hoof at Spike who swooped low to avoid being crushed. Spike got lower to the ground and as he flew he looked back for a second before looking forward and saw that several babies had crawled out of the pool.

“Oh crap!” Spike said flying higher to avoid having unwanted hitchhikers.

The babies chased him again and just as Spike was starting to lower himself, his power timed out and he tumbled along the ground.

“AAH!” Spike yelped as he hit the ground.

“Babies, KILL HIM!” Mother shouted and the babies obeyed, closing in on all sides.

“Stay back!” Spike said as he used the stare and the babies blew up, Mother cried out because the explosion was close enough that it knocked her over.

“Hey… that could work!” Spike said before Mother climbed back into the pool.

“Naughty children get punished!” Mother growled as she swung her hoof at the running Spike, who ducked and jumped around her swings.

“Lady, you can’t touch me, I’ve had plenty of practice dodging monster attacks!” Spike taunted

“Do you treat your own mother with such disrespect?!” Mother said as she slammed her hoof down and created a shockwave that launched Spike into the air.

“WHOOOOAAA!” Spike yelped as he flew through the air and tumbled along the ground.

Mother took this opportunity to jump out of the green pool and she suddenly sprouted blades out of her body.

“What the?” Spike said while getting up.

“I’ll shred you!” Mother shouted as she curled into a ball and spun after Spike with the sharp sound of blades against the stone.

“OH CRAP!” Spike yelled as he ran. He could see she was faster so he used his regenerated inheritance and took to the air, despite his airspeed she was still gaining on him.

“There’s gotta be something I can do!” Spike said before glancing at his horn.

“Oh please work,” Spike said before turning midair as she was about to reach him. Flaring his horn, he unleashed an uncontrolled blast that propelled him away as well as knocking Mother off balance and back into the pool.

“You annoying brat!” Mother rose out of the liquid before climbing out again as Spike landed, his power exhausted again.

“Not good,” Spike said before noticing babies coming out of the pool, and he found himself between two dangers.

“I won’t fail my master! You will die here!” Mother shouted.

Spike was thinking at max speed for a solution when a baby hopped onto his back. He pried it off with his tail and threw it into the pool where it exploded.

Hang on…

When Spike saw the approaching babies and the mass of babies in her chest cavity and stomach… an idea came.

“Your babies can’t kill me! They're too lame!” Spike shouted.

“You dare insult my children!? Babies, teach him a lesson!” Mother said as she approached.

Spike heard the babies charging him from behind.

Perfect.

Spike spun and grabbed one of them before using AJ’s strength boost to hurl the baby into Mother's chest opening. Then he used the stare.

“NO!” Mother cried. The agitated baby exploded and set off a chain reaction from the other babies in her, causing a huge explosion to blast a hole in her.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGH!” Mother screamed in pain before toppling into the pool.

“Dear Shadow… Forgive me, I failed you…” she said as she sunk into the pool.

“HAH! And that’s one more win for team Spike!” He was feeling pretty good until Star called out a warning.

“Do not linger, Spike, or have you forgotten these creatures can never know death? She will be back soon.”

“Got it,” Spike saw Rarity’s soul, as well as another soul, floating out of the pool. Using inheritance, he quickly flew over the pool and got them.

Spike made it to the ground and put the newly formed ring on as Rarity appeared.

“Spike? SPIKEY!” Rarity cried running over to him and scooping him up in a hug.

“Heh, it’s nice to see you too, Rares,” Spike said, blushing a little.

“You’ve saved me yet again. If there’s ever a way to thank you, just say it!” Rarity said.

“Well-” Spike was about to take advantage of that when Star gave a sharp ‘ahem!’ “Oh yeah! We need to get out of here before you know who wakes up!” Spike said as Rarity set him down.

“Who are we talking about?” Rarity asked.

“You don’t know? It’s-” Another sharp ‘ahem!’ got Spike’s attention. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s move!” Spike said before running out of the room with Rarity.

Spike ran into an area with stony platforms, waited until inheritance was available again, and then used it to cross the gap easily.

When Spike got to a tunnel, he heard another rumble.

“What now?” Spike groaned.

His answer came in the form of Daddy smashing through a wall and climbing down the tunnel after him.

“YOU HURT MY WIFE! I’LL KILL YOU!” Daddy roared.

“Why am I getting blamed for this stuff all the time?!” Spike yelled as he ran up the tunnel from the monstrous snake pony.

Spike noticed a baby up ahead and a red wall. He avoided the baby and smashed the wall with his strength boost and ran forward, narrowly avoiding Daddy’s snapping maw. He ran up a long rocky corridor and saw two more closing in on him, using the stare he took them out and ran on until he found himself at a hole that was big enough for him to crawl through and crawl he did.

---

Spike found himself in the cabin once more and exited a door to find himself at the hole he used to get into the caves in the first place and he sighed.

“Never thought I would be so happy to be back here” Spike admitted before the whole place shook and a feminine roar could be heard.

“She’s coming, Spike! RUN!” Star yelled. Spike needed no further incentive and bolted for the stairs before going upstairs. When he got upstairs he saw the wooden floors splinter and break as Daddy’s claws tore through.

“They're gonna bring the whole house down!” Spike yelled.

“YOU!” Spike heard a voice and turned to see Mother, only her glassy eyes were gone. In their place were smaller but eerie-looking eyes glowing red with hatred.

“You’ve wrecked my beautiful home! You won’t live to see another day!” Mother snarled as her babies swarmed around her legs and charged at Spike.

Spike looked around and saw the roof cracking and he had an idea. He waited until the babies were beneath the crack and he used the Stare. The babies shrieked and exploded, causing a cave in from the roof.

“NO!” Mother cried as the wreckage blocked her, and Spike turned and ran out into the living room.

“HONEY! DON’T LET HIM LEAVE!” Mother cried.

As she said this, the ground repeatedly exploded around Spike as Daddy forced his claws through the floor, again and again, trying to grab Spike and pull him under.

Spike deftly weaved through the onslaught and made his way to the main room just as Daddy tore through the stairs and crawled out.

“COME BACK!” Daddy bellowed, swiping his claws at Spike as he ran out the door.

---

Once outside, Spike ran for the exit portal but he found himself cut off by several babies. He used the Stare to destroy them, but to his horror, more replaced them. Most of them formed a crowd in front of him while others formed a line in front of the portal.

“YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE!” Spike turned to see Mother standing there in front of her doorway, glaring at him with her freaky red eyes and with her babies crowding around her.

She then grabbed the bottom of her face mask, and tore it off… revealing her face… oh sweet Celestia… her face… Spike would never unsee it.

Her face was skinless and rotting with black tendrils writhing out of various parts of her face.

Spike had seen a creepy anatomy model once. This put it to shame in an instant.

She turned her skinless face towards Spike and laughed dementedly, having clearly lost her mind at this point.

“Babies cut off his escape! Dear, he’s all yours!” Mother said as the cabin's roof behind Mother broke apart and Daddy came out of the hole.

“Thanks hon! And don’t worry. I remember, apart from the soul, no leftovers!” Daddy said as he approached Spike with deliberate intent.

Spike’s mind raced on what he could do.

Then he spotted one of the holes the babies made to get in front of him and block him off… an idea came… he didn’t like it and it was going to hurt a lot but he had no choice…

“YOU’RE MINE!” Daddy roared as he swung his claw down to crush Spike but he jumped away and into the hole made by the babies, avoiding it.

“Get back here!” Daddy growled and shoved his arm into the hole after Spike… but he wasn’t there.

"What?" Bellowed Daddy. "How did you...?"

"Ahem."

All of the babies and Daddy turned around to see Spike standing behind them, giving a little wave... while Staring.

"Bye!"

Exploding babies detonated in a chain reaction that sent Daddy flying into the house, demolishing it flat. Spike had measured his distance well enough that the blast sent him flying in the other direction, over the remaining babies and into the portal.

"NOOOOOOO!!" Mother cried.

And thus the level we all waited for is completed, Spike escapes with the souls and defeats Mother, Daddy, and their dangerous offspring.

And yet, the danger will only continue to build... after a news update in the next chapter regarding how the rest of the series will go.

Have a good day everyone.