(I apologize for taking so long! School, then Family caught my attention, followed by me getting awesome games on Steam, followed by me getting some drawing commissions, as well as me starting two tumblrs. Hope you all like it!)
Fury.
The air shuddered with the force that was emanating off of the rapidly blackening dragon. His mouth hung open wide as a raspy breathing came from his form. Every muscle in his body constricted and relaxed all at once, as if everything in his body was in sync. The whites of his eyes showed, an unnatural glow to the pupil-less sclera. The earth trembled at the sudden surge of power from an usual controlled source. An aura-of-sorts came off of the dragon, black strands coming off of the scales of the young one as he stood stone still, his body trembling as much as the earth below his feet, maybe even more-so. His form was hunched over as he stared more and more at the older, fear-stricken red dragon, venom dripping out of his voice whenever he managed a word. But, every time he spoke, he uttered the same phrase over and over again.
"You...You hurt Rarity..."
He muttered it loud and clear as it gained intensity, the other two dragons feeling the malice that came off of Spike even in their unconsciousness. Spike approached Garble, glaring claymores, the red dragon gulping in fear as he began to feel hot under the collar. Coming here was a bad idea. should not have listened to that...stranger who told them where the runt was. Somewhere inside of him, Garble knew it in the first place. But his greed and his desire to get back at these stupid ponies and that little runt for humiliating him all those years ago overcame his common sense and drove him to this worthless little pony town. Just the idea of coming into Equestria threatened to make him lose his lunch. But he did it anyways, fueled by the prospect of slaughtering some ponies, regardless of the trouble.
But he didn't want this kind of trouble. This malevolent aura. This killing intent that was coming off of this dragon. For what? Wrecking a few homes and giving a pony a little cut on the neck? Even as a pony-dragon, this guy made no sense. And how did he get so strong? He was still in the early phase of his maturation cycle, by his size. But this power and speed...it was not normal! No dragon should be that strong at his age. He glanced over to the two female dragonnesses. They must have had something to do with it. He kept backpedalling, managing to find his bearings on a tree and get back to his feet, his body shaking uncontrollably in fear. He growled at himself and at the fear he was feeling, rage coming into his mind. How dare this little runt make him afraid!
He stared right at Spike with the utmost contempt, but did something fatal. Very fatal. His body froze with fear when he saw those soulless orbs. His breathing became difficult, and then he felt pain through his body, then coldness as he looked around in horror. Time felt like it had stood still just for this moment. He felt something running down his body. Hot yet cold. Wet. Then he looked down and saw his lifeblood leaking out of two giant wounds in his vulnerable underbelly. Two unmistakable wounds. One...there was a bleeding hole where his heart and ribcage were supposed to be. Secondly...his entrails were pouring out of him from a huge gash in his belly. The organs that kept his body functioning were on the ground or splattered in blood-soaked patterns across the nearby trees. He could've sworn he heard a splat as what he assumed was parts of his heart hitting a tree. He felt nothing but fear. No pain...no blood anymore, just crippling fear. Then he felt time resume, a pained gasp coming from his body as he stumbled backwards, having felt his body move forward to meet hostility with hostility. Now, he just leaned against the tree he brought himself up with, his heart pounding madly in his chest as he checked his underbelly. No holes or gashes. Was it...a premonition of death?
Not even the ponies he saw were prepared for such a malevolent presence to come out of the young dragon, all of them frozen in the utmost fear, especially the six whom were considered his best of friends, as well as the two tall, regal-like ponies that were in the background. However, he noticed something about the dragonnesses. They were shocked, but they were considerably less shocked-looking than the rest of the ponies. They seemed more worried than anything. Even pensive. But he couldn't focus on them long enough, his concentration being broken by the sound of movement from Spike.
Garble's eyes narrowed as a deep snarl came into his throat, a deep shiver still in his form, but the frozen state being gone. He was angry. He was scared, but he was immensely more furious. He was a damned dragon! He wasn't supposed to be afraid of anything! Especially something smaller than him. This was against nature! He was the alpha predator! Him! He wasn't gonna let some runt from some backwater pony country make him any more afraid. He wasn't going to back down. After he slaughtered this runt, he would kill all of the ponies in the area. There's no way that purple pony could teleport them all away in time. His knees buckled under him as he tried to walk, but he forced himself to do so. His diaphragm and lungs expanded as he took in a deep gulp of air, letting out an earth-shaking roar to both calm his nerves and frighten everything else.
"BACK OFF!"
It worked. The young runt was startled enough for to break that malicious grimace of his, and the rest of the ponies flinched, some of them running out of fear. It calmed his nerves to see the ponies fall and try to get away from his terrifying visage. He wasn't as afraid of the specter in front of him, though this nagging fear told him to just run. He wasn't going to do that. He wouldn't leave his bros behind, nor would he become a coward. Madness was tinged in the eyes of Garble as every muscle in his body contracted and coiled, building up the potential energy in his muscles. In a final roar and grunt of exertion, he took a heavy running start, his eyes narrowed as he grit his teeth, ramming his shoulder right into the midsection of the used-to-be green dragon.
A grunt of pain came from Spike as he was pushed back a couple inches, the initial surprise having worn off as his predatory instincts and defensive instincts kicked into gear. He flexed the muscles in his legs and dug the claws on his feet into the ground to stabilize himself, glaring at Garble as he swiped his claw at Garble. It missed by a small margin, but it gave him enough time to close in on the opposing dragon as he ducked and jumped back to make space. His claw closed into a tight fist as his muscles expanded quickly as he flexed them, gaining more and more power as his fist went up and into the ribs of the opposing dragon.
Garble considered himself a rather durable dragon. He was blessed with the ability to take a lot of hits, which showed in his numerous fights with other adolescent dragons. And as such, he grew to become the 'boss' of the teen dragons because of his fighting prowess and his durability. But not even his durability could stand up to such a heavy hit. He felt the cage of dense bones underneath his scales bend and groan, cracking heavily at the force of the blow as his pupils shrunk in pain, feeling himself being lifted off of the ground. His maw opened as he let out some saliva and a cough of pain as his body moved in the way of the force, making an awkward C-shape. He couldn't react fast enough to block it with his arm, but he had a feeling he would still have some broken bones by the force of the punch.
"Grit your teeth."
Was all that Garble heard before everything went white for a second, feeling the force of another punch against his jaw as he was sent flying back by another punch, skipping across the ground like flat rock against a pond. He went crashing through a tree, blood flowing freely out of his mouth as he puked all over the ground, pain seeping its way throughout his body. He tried to stand up, but could not. His legs had been affected by the punch to the head too much. Every time he got to his feet, his legs would wobble and he would fall right back on his knees in defeat, blurry eyes staring at the intimidating presence.
"GAH! Let me go!"
Garble said feebly as he was picked up by the head by Spike, the glowing, pupil-less eyes staring right at him as he was flung like a broken toy, the red dragon going through the forest, crashing into the same tree he had used to prop himself up and begin his 'assault'. He didn't even get a moment of rest. As soon as he was back to his feet, a flurry of blows were rained upon him. His scales cracked and his skin bruised under the blows. They were no where near as heavy as the two blows he received earlier, but the speed more than compensated for the lack in of power. He couldn't do anything except for using his forearms to block the multiple punches in an attempt to protect his face. He was knocked back after his strength waned for a bit, his snout broken and bleeding, his arms bruised to all hell with some scales bent and blood coming from the flesh underneath, he appeared broken, battered, and beaten.
Yet Spike continued to advance, the emptiness in his eyes changing to an immense bloodlust as all of the muscles in his body moved as one, contracting and relaxing as they got closer and closer to the source of misfortune that caused this usually peaceful dragon to become so consumed by hatred and maliciousness. He got closer and closer to his target, Garble's eyes flashing with fear once again as adrenaline pumped through his veins, every cell inside of him telling him to run like hell. But he couldn't. His own stubbornness wouldn't allow him to do it. He just growled in challenge, his eyes narrowing as his stubbornness spoke for him again. "Do your worst, you runt."
Spike was upon the dragon, pinning him to the ground with a claw, growling loudly as he drew back his fist, ready to deal the finishing blow to this waste of space. Every muscle in his body was clenched, his mind so far gone into the darkness that he didn't care if he killed this blemish on the face of the world. His fist came down hard, cutting through the air like a blade, waiting to meet the scale, bone, and grey matter of the dragon below him.
All the ponies looked in shock at the ghastly spectacle before him. Well, the ones who stayed which included the aptly named 'Cutie Mark Crusaders', the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the two rulers of Equestria, a couple nurses who came to check up on Spike, and Pip. Poor Pip had fainted due to the sight of blood. Poor kid. Twilight could do nothing but look in shock, disgust, and awe as she saw her number one assistant brutalize the jerk dragon. Sure, she thought he deserved it for all the destruction that Garble and his thugs did, but not this much! She didn't even think that Spike had it in him to do such a thing.
Rarity was off to the side, on the border between consciousness and unconsciousness. She was being fanned by her little sister, who just watched the ghastly spectacle in awe. Rarity tried to cover Sweetie Belle's face, but was too weak from the shock of being close to death and the other shock of seeing Spike thrown into such a spiral of rage from it.
Celestia couldn't take this anymore. This helplessness she felt from just watching a dragon she raised from birth turn into some...monster was making her heart ache. She had already sent Luna to go and get a medical corp to tend to the dragons. Now all that was left to do was subdue Spike before he became a murderer. She planted her hooves firmly in the ground, summoning up her ageless power, concentrating it to her horn, the white appendage of sorts glowing with a bright yellow-white aura.
But he felt nothing of the sort. He felt himself hitting what seemed like a net, that same feeling spreading throughout his forearm. Every time he tried to move his fist forward, it felt as if he was punching through jello and all of the force was just being pushed in every direction instead of roaring through the air to the target he oh-so wanted to finish off. He kept trying to punch, but he couldn't get any force or acceleration behind his punch.
When he looked over to see what was holding him back, he saw that his claw was covered in a yellow-white aura, being stopped in full by the powerful magic. He just grunted a bit as he was stopped by whomever was getting in his path, starting to feel more magic bonds hold him down and drag him away from his enemy, loud roars and curses coming from him. He wanted that jerk to die! He hurt Rarity! He tried to hurt and kill every single one of the ponies he called family! He deserved to die!
Wait...what was he saying? No one really deserved to die. Sure, he tried to kill his pals, but no one got hurt really badly. Not even Rarity, who was near the big moron when he was about to go crazy. No one was too brutally hurt. He deserved to be sent packing from Equestria or have a fair trial to determine his punishment. He knew he didn't have a right to choose who lived or who died.
"But these ponies will just let him off easy! He'll do this again and he'll make you regret not killing him!" A voice within him said, making a bit of sense but the young dragon not listening to it...almost. It was a very tempting offer to play judge, jury, and executioner, especially since this is not the first time that this guy had threatened him and his family's life. But, unlike before, he was not some weak drake searching for his origins. He was a strong young dragon protecting his home from danger.
Before he could finalize his answer, he felt a familiar hoof on his face. Gentle, soft, and soothing. His bloodlust-fueled haze started to lift as he felt the lips of the pony he loved against his lips...and also the feeling of two dragonesses holding him down and kissing his cheeks. Three kisses, but the one he was focused on was the one on his lips. He could slowly feel that want for death fading away, the tide of hatred ebbing to go with the flow of love. He soon found himself mostly back to normal, his eyes still holding some of that glow and his body still having some of those shadows on him, but both were starting to fade from his form.
He saw tears in Rarity's eyes. Why was she crying? Did she get hurt? Did he do something wrong? He couldn't understand. He moved a claw up to tenderly stroke her mane to show that he was all right. He felt the magic bonds loosen and the dragons holding him down retreat, both of them having a blush on his face. He slowly started to get up. His head hurt something fierce, as Applejack might say. Rarity just embraced him and sobbed, and he sat there, taking her tears and her sadness, a small smile on his face.
Garble was barely conscious. He could barely register what was going on. Everything was numb with pain. He could barely tell what was what anymore. Tears of pain blurred his vision as he slowly got up, surprised by his own shook his head a bit, coughing up blood, checking his body. 5 of his ribs were broken, the rest were just fractured. He had no internal organ ruptures, but he knew a lot of his nerves and blood vessels were horribly damaged. He glared at his target, his mind starting to be overcome with rage. But he wasn't stupid. Well, that stupid. He wasn't going to attack the runt head on. He learned his lesson from his last beating.
He growled at that word that echoed in his head. Beating. It made him feel like a weakling. And he didn't like being a weakling. He despised it. It made him want to go into a rage. That one word. But, he needed to be calm. He only had one shot to at least take down one of these damned ponies before he passed out. He knew exactly which one to do as well. A deep inhale of air sunk into his lungs rather quietly as he blew it out, the air mixing with the flammable gas that a secret organ within dragons secreted, his inner flame combusting the breath as it started to mold slowly in his mouth before culminating into a large breath of fire, threatening to engulf all of the ponies in its path. But its focus seemed to make a roasted marshmallow out of the one holding Spike.
No one expected the fire to come. Everyone was surprised, including the tired Spike. But...somewhere deep down, he knew what he had to do. He focused magic to his claw and balled it up into a fist, moving Rarity aside and punching the flames. The force from the enhanced punch caused the air to shift and cut through the flames. But, due to the intensity of the flames, it veered off from its direction to cut the dragon in half. Instead...it just dismembered him. It cut clean through the collarbone and shoulder, leaving nothing but a giant circle of red flesh and and white bone to be seen. Garble yelled in pain, clutching his arm, tears flowing from his eyes as he managed to stifle his yells. Blood spurted from the open wound, painting the nearby trees in the red liquid. The fire spread harmlessly around the ponies thanks to the efforts of Twilight and Celestia.
But then...he felt something warm. All over his body. Then tingly. Then an immense amount of pain as his body seized up. He finally realized why his body was so warm. It was leaking out blood from every crevice. His eyes went white. This time, because he was starting to go unconscious. And his body was starting to go into shock.
"I'm here, sister! Who needs medic?" She asked, late to the party once again as she saw Spike making a puddle of blood on the ground. "Paramedic Ponies! Get Spike! NOW!" She yelled the last word in the Ye Olde Royal Canterlot Voice, or as it was known by the youngsters, Ye Olde Caps Lock Voice. There would have been a couple flinches if not for the fact that a savior of Ponyville was losing his lifeblood and going into shock.
Celestia looked worriedly at Spike. Surely he could pull through this? He had pulled through that coma...though this was different. He was losing blood at too rapid of a rate to be anywhere near the safe zone. His body seemed wrecked as well. When she used her magic to scan over him, something had gone wrong. His muscles were tearing themselves apart and his muscles were cracking as if they had taken a meteorite to them. She just hoped her young dragon would be okay. He meant the world to her...
"Scalpel!"
The sound of metal cutting tissue filled the room filled with the sound of magical machinery and doctors and nurses rushing to and fro to save this young dragon.
"Make sure he's drugged up! I don't want him feeling any pain while we do this or waking up during this procedure!"
A dragon doctor said, working his claws expertly as he drained the blood that had accumulated in Spike's lungs and organs. They needed to drain him or it would get worse and worse.
"Resin!"
A pony doctor said, adding the adhesive healing concoction to Spike's skeletal structure so that it would act as both a healing and bonding agent to reinforce and heal Spike's skeletal structure.
"This kid is in bad shape...just what the hell was he doing!"
A few days of intensive surgery later, Spike was body was healing with magic and he was breathing normally. No one was allowed to see him. Not even the Princesses. He was in that bad of a shape. The doctors were afraid any slight agitation would send him back into a horrid state.
"That's the worst case i've seen since the war..." A rather veteran doctor said, wiping some sweat from his head, having checked on the young dragon every so often to make sure he was all right. "It's a wonder he survived. His internal organs were in shambles, his nervous system had shut down, and his bones were almost completely crushed." The doctor said, to the horror of the eight ponies and two dragonnesses who had taken the time to check in on him. "He's stable now though. He's healed at a rather rapid rate."
A collective sigh of relief came from the group as Rarity, Vera, and Princess Celestia rushed in to check on Spike when they were allowed. Their faces were a mix of worry and relief on differing scales. Celestia's worry was more of a worry for a son from a mother, tears glistening in her eyes from seeing Spike hooked up to so many machines. Rarity's gaze was more that of one lover to the next, tears already spilling down her cheeks as she forced herself to look away from her love being in such a pained state. Vera's look, however, was the most puzzling. It combined attributes from both Rarity and Celestia's eyes, but also something else. Fear and seriousness. She felt some apprehension from seeing that violent show that Spike put on. It felt familiar. Too familiar for comfort. She just shook her head and then walked out first to let Twilight check up on her little brother.
"Oh, Spike dear, please be alright!" Rarity said in a soft tone, her voice cracking a bit from her voice straining itself to stay steady. She didn't want to lose him so soon after getting him back.
Celestia stayed quiet, keeping her royal visage. Inside, she was a wreck. She wanted nothing more than to hug and assure her young dragon that everything was going to be all right. But she had to remain strong. For everypony's sake.
"C'mon Spike! You got through my magic hitting you! You can get through this!" Twilight said, desperation in her voice. She was going more hysterical than her unicorn friend. Which was to be the caretaker of the one now laying in a hospital bed once again literally only after a couple hours of being out. She was biting her lip to stop herself from crying, the purple coated mare just staring at him.
"Mph...quiet it down...I need more sleep." A soft voice said from the bed, the dragon shifting a bit to try and find his comfy spot.
All the ponies and dragons present, including the ones out in the halls, perked their assorted ears as the rumbling voice wafted through the halls softly, The one who looked most in shock was the doctor when he heard Spike's voice. He just looked at the young dragon in surprise and wonder. He had to take a seat and regain his bearings as he just shook his head a bit. "One helluva kid..." The doctor murmured, hearing the fashionista of Ponyville burst into tears and embrace the young dragon, the rest of the group coming in as well, just like a month ago.
Calm.
Ever since his release from the hospital, Spike had been on a rather odd training regiment. Instead of his usual magical or physical training, he was training his 'spiritual and mental prowess." Which meant studying and meditation. He was studying dragon culture with Vera and doing meditation exercises with Sindria. They seemed to be worried about something. While he knew the dragonnesses well enough that he knew they would not spill anything that made them have concern, it didn't keep him from being concerned.
He made the connection between his sudden burst of power (from what he gathered from eyewitness reports), and some research that the incident between Garble and Rarity caused him to have an adrenaline rush and temporarily take off the bodily limits that every being had on their body. But, since his body could not handle his magic at the time, there was a negative reaction when his body over-exerted itself. Well. That's what Twilight said anyways.
Though...everything was calm. The ponies of Ponyville went about their daily lives. Aside from the usual drama and gossip that circulated around town, nothing big had happened. Twilight was doing more studies on dragon culture as well and talking to Vera more, while Dash did some flying drills with Sindria when Spike had his downtime.
Celestia had gone back to Canterlot, having told Spike with strict orders to give her a status update every other day She didn't want him to go and do something that would cause him to be in the hospital again, or even worse. She didn't want to lose him. She made that very clear. Spike had to admit; this was the first time he had EVER since Princess Celestia so adamant on something He put his word and his honor as a dragon on the line for that promise.
And what did Spike do on his downtime, one may ask? Well...he had a beautiful mare waiting for him every day with her soft, luscious smile and her loving demeanor. Though they had yet to do anything really intimate (thanks to Twilight, Sindria, or Vera calling for him), the usual hugs or kisses they shared held them over for now. The lust of ones in love could not be smothered for long, however.
"Spiiike~" He heard a voice say, the alluring quality of the voice driving him to go to a place he knew very well: Carousel Boutique. Since the incident 3 weeks ago, Spike finally had his first full day off. Rarity had been dropping him hints ever since he knew he was getting a day off. Usually it was the certain way she walked when she walked away from him. With that sensuous sway of her flank and that playful glitter in her eye when she looked back every so often. Or the way she batted her eyes whenever she talked in that seductive voice of hers when they were out in public, or even more so when they were in private.
As soon as he got into Carousel Boutique, he heard the door shut. In the air he smelled the sweet ozone of Rarity's magic being worked behind him. He smirked a bit and sighed, calling out. "Rarity! I'm here!" He said, having a moment of silence before he heard a melodic voice call out.
"Come upstairs Spikey-Wikey! I have something for you!" Rarity said with a certain inflection in her voice He walked slowly up the stairs, wanting to savor the moment before Rarity showed him...whatever she had to show him.
As soon as he got in the room, he felt the scales on his cheek turn red from firey passion and childly bashfulness. On the grand spectacle she had as a bed lay Rarity, wearing a sexy black garter belt with black stockings, black panties, and this certain black dress that sent shivers up the young dragon's spine. Usually, ponies were nude. Especially in Ponyville. So logically, clothes shouldn't affect him. But these clothes...had something special about them. He couldn't explain what it was, but it just lit a fire of lust within stared at his mare with a rather deep blush on his face, standing still in shock before he was snapped to attention by her seductive, melodic voice.
"How does it look, Spike? A good friend of mine helped me pick this out." She said, a small tinge of a blush on her own face as she smiled at Spike, hoping to get his approval. Spike had to take a second to stop fumbling over his words to speak in one coherent sentence, stuttering all the while.
"I-It l-looks fantastic~" He said, that lovestruck tone working its way into his voice before he walked over to her, laying on the bed with her and cuddling with her for a moment, enjoying the silence with his lover while everything was still calm. But it wasn't long before Rarity made her move, unable to hold herself back any more. These years, months, and days had been agonizing for her. She had to wait until the one she loved matured...and now that he was mature, he was in and out of the hospital. She had to capitalize on her chance now or it would never happen again for a long time...or so she thought so because of recent events.
"Now Spikey-Wikey...lets see how far we can go together~"
Deep in the everfree forest, two dragons were supporting another, one-armed dragon, the one-armed dragon being in rather horrible condition, on the border between life and death, though fighting hard for life. His breathing was ragged, and it was unsure if he could move by himself without the two dragons supporting him. One was holding him by his good arm while the other teenaged dragon held the one armed dragon on his back while they walked.
The worst thing about this was not the physical injuries, but the mental injuries as well. Fear, rage, sorrow, and hate all swirled inside of the dragon, having broken his mind and left him a husk, muttering one phrase. "Kill the runt...Kill the runt..." His boys had to admit...their boss was broken. Maybe they should just leave him here...
"My My...What do we have here? A couple of lost little dragonlings~?" A rather seductively sinister voice said, a deep purple dragonness appearing from the undergrowth, seemingly out of the shadows themselves. Her eyes were a rich black. No pupils, save for a red dot that one could consider to be a pupil. She was viciously beautiful, easily ranking within the top beautiful dragons in the world. Fully-figured (even for a dragon), and with a gorgeous face to match. She just shook her head.
"My...isn't this sad? Such a proud young dragon becoming such a wreck at the hands of that pony born dragon...?" She said, circling around the trio, the two other dragons not in delirium having the deepest sense of fear and respect for the woman.
She cupped Garble's cheeks, looking him in the eye. "Don't you want to crush him? To crush that entire village~" She said, a wicked grin on her face as the young dragon nodded, his repeated phrase changing to "crush them all."
"Oh~ But you won't be able to in the state you're in...a pity. I could help you...but you'll have to wager something~" She said, he grin turning maliciously sinister as she looked to him. Garble just nodded. He did not care anymore. She could have whatever of his she wanted.
She just grinned a bit and floated the dragon over, lifting the half-dead carcass of the once great Garble off of his 'friend's' shoulders. "You belong to me now..." She said, pressing her claw to his forehead, a mark appearing on his head. At once, Garble was engulfed in purple and black flames, his screams and the screams of countless others echoing throughout Everfree as he was transformed into something twisted. His maniacal laugh could be heard after his screams, power coursing through his veins.
She soon set her sights on the other two, wrapping her arms around their necks so she was comfy with them while they couldn't escape.
"Now then...do you boys care to make a wager~?"
