New Power

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Spike let out a grunt as he reached up for a vibrant sapphire stuck in the cave wall, his vision slightly blocked by the yellow mining helmet he had secured to the top of his head. He was alone in the dark, with no one around and no light save for the one shining from his helmet's forehead lamp. He sighed as he kept reaching above his head.

Rarity needed sapphires for a new dress and had asked him to go into the caves in the Everfree forest - alone - to dig them out for her. At the time he had been happy to help out a friend, but now? Not so much. Especially considering these caves had already been practically stripped clean by Rarity over the years, leaving nothing but a few sparse gems hanging over the edge of a crevice full of bats.

Spike got a hand around the sapphire, gritting his teeth and letting out a sigh as he did. He risked a look down as he began pulling on the gem. He was haphazardly dangling over the crevice, only his feet secured on the ground, his claws dug in like nails. With a firm grunt, he managed to wrest the gem free, before using his leg strength to straighten himself out again, avoiding a rather nasty tumble into the dark below. He sighed. If there was one good thing that came from always doing such taxing chores for everyone, it had certainly slimmed him down and buffed him up, causing him to go from a short and fat drake into a towering and rather buff dragon in recent weeks.

He finally let out a sigh as he found himself safe and secure on the cliff edge, away from the danger of falling deeper into the cave. He had just turned around to start walking away before he heard the sound of cracking stone. Instantly Spike's eyes shot open as he spun around to see just what was happening. A break had appeared in the rock above his head, a section of the ceiling started to give way.

"Oh no no no!" Spike cried as he tried to reach out to catch the fist-sized stone that fell into the crevice below him, but it was already too late.

There was a pause, before he heard the sound of rock banging against rock from below. Then came the screeching of bats. Spike turned around to try and run but it was already too late to do that either. The bats swarmed around him nipping and screeching. Though they were harmless, especially to someone with scales as thick as his, they thew off his vision and sent him reeling, directly into the pit below.

Spike let out a scream as he went plummeting into the darkness. It seemed like he was falling for several minutes before he hit the ground, bouncing slightly. The dragon groaned as he struggled to pick himself up, rubbing the back of his head. Yet, he was somehow still alive. For the first several minutes he didn't move, still reeling from striking the rock so hard, but eventually, he allowed himself to sit up despite his sore muscles.

"That hurt..." he groaned as he struggled to look around. He was in an oddly bright room, shining with a deep blue light. A hallway in front of him snaked deeper into the cave in what looked like a serpentine pattern.

Initially, he believed the light in the room to be coming from his lamp, and that some knock against the wall had made the light change color until he realized that it had been knocked off his head and was sitting on the ground next to him.

He blinked twice before furrowing his brow. Something was up.

Hesitantly, he put his helmet back on before he stood up to follow after the blue light. The twisting cavern felt like it was going on for dozens of yards before finally, he arrived in a small spherical room, with a pedestal of some kind at the very bottom below him.

Spike frowned again, something was up. This artifact was obviously magical, maybe he should go down and investigate? Or maybe he should go back and get Twilight first?

He shook his head. No, it'd probably take too long to get here, and this thing could be dangerous! Slowly he walked down the slope of the ball-shaped room, before he ended up at the pedestal. Spike took a second to observe the item before him.

Initially, as he was approaching, a black diamond sat on the pedestal, but as he approached, it turned blue, causing him to raise an eyebrow. Was this some kind of weird shape-changing crystal, if that were the case...

"Rarity would like this for her dress I guess." Spike shrugged as he reached a hand forwards to grab it. Just before he could wrap his hands around it, the gem suddenly glowed, turning black once again before an aura of energy shot forwards directly towards his forehead. He tried to turn away or block it with his helmet.

There was a crack as the gem instantly pierced through his helmet, breaking the light and embedding itself directly into his forehead. Spike's eyes rolled into the back of his head, a black light shining from them before he fell to the ground unconscious.

Spike was alone in darkness when his eyes opened, surrounded on all sides by black. The only color he could grasp onto was the solid blue crystal he was laying on. But... there was something off about it. The spherical room was a rounded slope, yet now he was laying on flat ground.

Spike was quick to look around, until two massive blue eyes opened in the abyss, staring at him from above. He flinched back as the eyes cocked to the side.

"You... weren't who I was expecting..." The voice said, one of them opening while the other closed slightly.

"W-what are you?" Spike asked, backing away towards the edge of the crystal platform.

"Ah, yes, I have been here a while, I've likely been all but forgotten." The eyes said before they both disappeared. The crystal platform morphed and changed around as a statue grew out of it in Spike's shape.

There was a grinding sound as the crystalline Spike gave a bow. "I am the Crystal of Domination, created by the perytons of Nokastra for the purpose of conquest."

Spike blinked twice, those names flying directly over his head. "Who? And for conquest?"

The crystal Spike shrugged. "It was 2,000 years ago, so I can't fault you for not knowing them." He said simply. "But yes, conquest. I grant my wielder the ability to take the minds of anyone and anything and bend them to your will."

Spike's eyes widened. "And I'm..."

"My wielder correct," The crystal said.

Spike growled, standing up. "Well, then how do I get rid of you? I don't want to bend anyone to my will, period."

The crystal Spike looked confused for a second before shrugging and stepping back. "Fair enough. All you have to do is say an incantation and pull me out of your forehead."

It took a step forwards, "But before I do... well, I couldn't help but take a look into your memories..."

Suddenly the darkness was filled with magical panels which played them almost like television screens. Spike couldn't help but glance at them, and what he saw was... disconcerting. Him running around carrying books for others, slaving away carrying out every inane wish of Rarity, Twilight, and the others. His eye twitched as he stared for what felt like hours staring down every last memory until they had been repeated at least a dozen times.

"So what? I'm just helping people out. You've conveniently left out all the good memories." Spike lied, not to the crystal, but to himself.

"That may be, but be honest here. Have you ever been able to make a choice for yourself? Was it your desire to be kidnapped from your nest and brought to Canterlot? Was it your wish to be hatched by Twilight Sparkle and be her slave for the rest of your life?" The crystal said, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Don't you want a chance to be in control for once?"

Spike growled, clenching his fists. "Fine. How do you do it then? How do you... bend people to my will?" He said, seething slightly.

"Dang, you were easy to convince." The crystal chuckled. "Guess some people like to get to the meat and potatoes of things really quickly. Fine then."

The crystal platform raised out of the ground once again, forming four pedestals. On the first three were a trio of crystals, and on the last one was a scroll of some kind, covered in writing he couldn't even wrap his head around.

The other Spike walked up to the first crystal, one that was black as night in color. "This is me. The Crystal of Domination. So long as you have it in your head, you can create, manipulate and grow crystals out of anything. It also lets you form the other two kinds of crystal on the foreheads of those you want to control."

Then he went to the next one without letting Spike ask any questions. "This right here is a mind crystal," He said as he pointed to an all-white crystal. "This gem is mostly for the unwashed masses. It keeps their minds completely intact, but it fills them with unwavering love and loyalty to you. You could treat someone with a mind crystal like garbage and they will still worship the ground you walk on. However, white gems are pretty weak, and any significant spell striking them dead on will shatter the spell and free the mind of the captive."

Once again he pushed forwards. "And this is a Corruption Crystal." He said as he pointed to the last gem, a purple one. "These crystals give you complete control over the mind of someone, though it does come with a bit of a caveat. You actually have to consciously make those under their effect loyal to you through mental manipulation, though they are extremely strong and almost unbreakable. Once you have someone under their effect they are yours permanently. Plus you get to completely rewrite their mind to be whatever it is you desire."

This time Spike spoke before he could brush him aside. "So, the purple gem is just better than the white one in every way?"

The crystal drake blinked twice. "No, Purple Gems require a lot more effort and micromanagement, and as such you can only keep a limited amount of them around you at any given time. Usually only about a dozen. In truth, the purple gems were mostly used by my masters to make harem slaves and pets really."

Spike's eyes widened. He felt a stirring in his loins. "You mean..."

"Yes. In fact, I actually encourage it. Though I do recommend you save at least one purple crystal to get your hands on an intelligent general or something. To help run the war effort and all that. You don't want to keep that kind of person white gemmed, believe me." The crystal Spike nodded.

Spike licked his lips. He was already making an internal list of some dragonesses and bugs he wanted to serve him. And one of them was a general, so that would be useful.

He paused, however, furrowing his brows. Something didn't add up. "So wait. If your creators had so much power at their fingertips, you for instance, why aren't they around anymore?"

The Crystal of Domination grimaced. "It was a mix of things. The first is that they simply just made too many enemies. If you try to conquer the world, do it smartly, don't just try to fight everyone on the planet at once, otherwise, you end up like them. The second reason is this,"

Finally, the Crystal of Domination looked down at the scroll. "These are called Temporal Scrolls, though my masters called them 'Free Passes'. Basically, say you do something really dumb, like trying to challenge a full-grown massive dragon to a fist fight. Well, this gem will instantly transfer your mind, and mine, to the one in a billion timeline where you somehow manage to pull it off. Everything else will be the same, but the Scroll will be destroyed in the process. My masters used these Free Passes so much that they were simply deleted from the universe. I think they are out there in the multiverse somewhere ruling over their own plane of existence, but let's just say abandoning timelines as they did doesn't always work forever."

Spike nodded, scratching his chin. "And are these more of these things?"

"Yes, I do believe if you looked hard enough you can find some around. I believe that some kingdoms see them as historical artifacts and like to keep them in museums for instance." The crystal spoke simply, shrugging.

"Now then, do you understand everything?"

Spike nodded smirking. "Oh yes, I do."

"Goodie. One last thing of note. For the time being, you need to avoid alicorns." The crystal said. "At least until you build up your power base a little."

"What? Why?" Spike asked, frowning.

"The power from the Crystal of Domination scales with how many slaves you own. I believe you're going to need several thousand slaves before you can take an Alicorn on. Especially because they are long-lived enough that they probably know exactly what I am and will try to stop me. So I'd recommend you build up some power before you try storming Equestria." The crystal said.

Spike nodded. "I guess that makes sense then. Very well. Let's do this."

"Excellent, this will be the start of a wonderful partnership." The crystal said clapping his hands together. "Someone is already approaching the cave entrance, by the way, I believe that will be our first victim."

Spike's eyes widened slightly. Who could be poking around a cave in the middle of the Everfree?

Smolder let out a sigh as she stretched out her arms before she lowered them to scratch her back, he eyes squinting slightly. The inside of the cave was somehow darker than the night outside. She let out a sigh before breathing fire to a branch she grabbed earlier to light her way as she glanced around.

She was wearing her normal, a white T-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. Though she had to admit, she always got stares from ponies when she went around wearing it. She had only realized later that pony sizes were much smaller than dragon sizes, leaving her shirt rather... form fitting to say the least.

She gave a sigh as she looked around. She had been in this cave so many times the past few months that she'd lost track of the number. But still, it was where all the tastiest gems she had ever found were... even if most of them were long gone by the time she found the place.

"No harm in a midnight snack." She said to herself with a sigh as she marched deeper into the cave, using her branch for light. Yet, there was a distinct lack of gems. She really had picked this place clean last time she came here.

Just when she reached what she thought was the back of the cave and was about to turn around, she heard a grinding noise behind her. She was quick to whip around, coming face to face with a white crystalline pillar jutting from the ground, going all the way to the ceiling.

She was quick to take a step away from it, her back pressing into the wall. "W... what the heck?" She said, gritting her teeth. That wasn't there before.

Just then, she saw a shape moving behind it as the gem started to glow. Then it shined a deep white light, lighting the cave as if it was outside in mid-day. She flinched and turned away, before turning back to see Spike of all dragons approaching her with a disarmingly friendly smile on his face.

But that wasn't the main thing that caught her attention. No, it was three other very noticeable details. First, was the shining black crystal embedded into his forehead. Second, was the fact that he was much taller than the last time she had seen him. Before, they had stood on equal height, but now he looked almost a head taller than her!

Lastly, was the fact that he was completely naked, his rock-hard eight-inch rod on full display for her.

"Woah! Spike!" Smolder cried, averting her eyes. "Warn someone next time you sneak up on them naked!"

Spike didn't say anything, he just kept walking forwards. Smolder certainly didn't like where this was going. In a single movement, she growled and tried to make a run for it, but Spike stopped her when he quickly closed the distance and pressed a finger into her forehead.

She cried out as she felt... something hard press itself into her head. In a quick movement, she pushed Spike away and stumbled forwards, before seeing her reflection in the glowing pillar. A deep purple crystal had formed where Spike had touched her.

Before she could do anything else, she felt a force, not necessarily painful but exceptionally uncomfortable start to work in her head. She collapsed to her knees, pawing at the crystal with tears forming in her eyes as she felt her mind get buried under layer after layer of magic. It almost felt like it was being covered in crystal.

Spike smirked as he turned and stepped in front of her, admiring his handy work. He watched as her cries of fear and clawing gradually over several seconds turned into weak scratching and whimpering, then after one final attempt, her hands fell limply to her sides. Her eyes were now a uniform light purple in color and her mouth was wide open, drool falling from the corner of her mouth to the cave floor below.

Finally, after another couple of seconds, he crossed his arms over his chest and turned to look in no direction in particular.

"Ok, now what?" he asked the air.

"Now, simply tap the gem," A voice in his head responded.

After doing exactly that, a purple magic screen of sorts appeared in front of him, covered in sprawling almost random words and phrases that almost looked like code. He frowned as he looked over all of the screens.

"What the heck is this stuff?" He growled, getting a headache just from looking at it.

"This," the voice said. "Is the inner workings of Smolder's mind. Don't worry about it all too much, I'll have plenty of time to teach you all of this later. For now, let me go about doing the basic reworks to make her into what you want."

Suddenly the screen started to move on it's own. In seconds he watched as it split into many different screens, all of which scrolled and moved on their own, changing slight variables, changing phrases and adding in new ones. One in particular caught his gaze, when the screen moved to a section entitled; 'sexual desires' and deleted the word 'lesbian' to replace it with 'straight.'

Spike instantly held up a hand. "Stop." He said. The screens all stopped at once.

"Make her bisexual," He demanded with a dark smirk. "Once I have my harem, I think I'm going to want to make them play with one another."

The voice laughed. "I'm starting to think you're going to be my favorite wielder yet."

The change was made before the voice got back to work. Finally, the last of the changes were made after seconds of agonizing waiting, and the screens all closed at once.

Finally, Smolder's eyes changed from a uniform glowing purple to normal, though her irises were purple rather than their normal cerulean. She looked around for a second before her eyes locked on Spike.

Instantly she smiled a dumb smile as she sat up. Then she gave a bow.

"Master..." She said with a giggle. "How can I serve you?"

Spike's eyes widened as his rod got harder. Now that was something he didn't realize he would enjoy so much.

Spike paused. 'You don't mind if I...' he thought to himself.

"Go ahead." The voice said contently. "It's your body after all."

Spike straightened his back and smiled down at her. "Strip," he ordered. "And give me a show while you do."

"Of course master," Smolder said, shaking her hips and tail slightly.

Smolder slowly grabbed her T-shirt and lifted it above her head, revealing her flat belly and ample breasts, hidden only behind a bra. Throwing her shirt aside, Spike expected for her to go for them next, instead, she went for her shorts, causing him to grit his teeth slightly. It appeared the Crystal had left a bit of her teasing side in her. Interesting.

She slowly slid her jean shorts down her deliciously plump thighs revealing her already wet panties, the wet cloth only growing as she showed off more of her body to her master. When they were to her feet, she gave an obedient smile as she kicked them off, sending them to join her shirt.

Her hands danced up her smooth legs, then her sides before retreating to her back, allowing her to undo her bra, which she merely dropped at her feet. Yet, she kept them covered with one of her arms and turned around. Spike's eyes widened for a second, but she was quick to bend over and raise her tail, giving her master a perfect view of her posterior, which only got better as she removed her panties.

"I should specify, I did alter her knowledge of sex a little when I wiped her mind," The voice said with a smile. "Now she's as slutty as a stripper."

Spike was barely listening as her panties reached her thighs and he caught a glimpse of her tight pucker and oozing slit. His breath caught in his throat as one of her fingers brushed against her thigh before entering her snatch. She turned around and kneeled in front of him, still playing with herself as her other hands gripped one of her tits, twisting the nipple and kneading them like dough in front of him.

"Did you like your show master?" She asked herself. He barely listened as he watched her go. He couldn't contain himself. He initially wanted to start with some proper foreplay, but now he just wanted to jump right into the main course.

"On your back, now," Spike ordered, licking his lips.

Smolder knew what that meant. She immediately dropped back, straightening her legs and raising her arms above her head in a sultry pose, staring up at him with her forked tongue lulling out of her mouth. Spike wasted no time in kneeling down above her. He grabbed her by the legs before spreading them aside to reveal her winking pussy, ripe for the taking.

In a single move, he trusted deep into her, hilting before pressing his chest against hers and pinning her hands above her head. Smolder let out a cry of ecstasy as he started slowly pistoning back and forth, panting as he did. His tongue lulled out as he felt her velvety smooth insides clamp down around him, spasming and twitching around him.

He took his time at first, savoring every single movement of his slave's snatch before he found himself overwhelmed by his battling desires to both enjoy himself and breed the servile drake. Smolder herself wasn't still as this happened, moaning and screaming out for all to hear.

"Yes, master!" She cried as she wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his powerful neck. "Yes! Breed your slave! Treat me like the useless cocksleave I am!"

All her screaming served to do was rile him up further. His thrusts became almost like hammer strikes as he pounded what little remained of the real Smolder into the dirt, ensuring that now and for as long as she lived she was nothing but his brainwashed slave.

Smolder let out a scream of rapture as her slit clamped around his scepter. Femcum spurted around him as she spasmed and shook below him. Her orgasmic pleasure only pushed him to the edge as well. With one final thrust he buried his sword as deep into the stone as he could. His draconic jizz filled her to the brim as she screamed out her appreciation to her master.

He paused afterward, catching his breath as he remained hilted inside her, staring down at her face. After almost a minute of staring he smirked before pulling out and standing up, leaving her panting on the ground.

"So now what?" The Crystal of Domination asked... he almost sounded like he had a mouthful of popcorn.

Spike straightened his back as a suit of crystalline plate armor formed on him.

"I have an idea."

Spike and Smolder both found themselves staring down at the Changeling Hive as the sun rose behind it. All in all it was quite a nice view.

Nonetheless, in Spike's mind, the Changeling Hive would be the perfect place to begin his conquest. They were hopelessly naive in this day and age, leaving them more than open to corruption, their natural abilities made them the perfect infiltrators and spies he could use globally, and best of all, their leader was practically already in his pocket.

Spike turned to no direction in particular and spoke, prompting Smolder to raise an eyebrow.

"Here it is. The site of our first springboard into global conquest." Spike said scratching his chin.

"This is a very good place to start." The Crystal of Domination's voice replied. "Now then... how are you going to conquer it?"

"That is a good point," Spike said, rubbing his chin. After a couple of seconds, he spoke up. "Well, as far as I believe the only threat here is Pharynx, the kingdom's prince and military leader. Once I have him the rest will follow like dominos."

"And I assume he is going to be the general you use your purple gem on?" The crystal replied.

"Correct." He exclaimed. "Now how am I going to do this..."

Political Base

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Spike rubbed his chin before a smile came to his face. "We separate Pharynx from the rest of the Hive and then go from there."

"That's a smart plan and all master," Smolder said grimacing and crossing her arms over her chest. "But how are you even going to do that?"

"For that, I just need a couple of white gems..." Spike chuckled, his smile widening.

"So, how do you like the picnic, Dactylus." A yellow and orange changeling said as she leaned forwards on her stomach, propping her face up on her hands.

Her blue and green mate barely heard her, too busy stuffing his face with food. "Mosht definitely!" He said, his mouth full. He was quick to set down the stag beetle skewers he was eating to move on to honey-nectar sweet rolls. "Thish ish the best!"

The other changeling rolled her eyes. Maybe next time she should try busting out the food after things got sexy. Now she was just put off.

Fibula, the first changeling, gave a sigh as she turned over onto her back staring up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, and she did have it all off to spend with her boyfriend. Maybe after the food, they could go for a walk or something out in the sun. Yeah, that would definitely put her in the mood afterward.

She gave content sigh as she settled in. The heat from the sun always felt so nice on her carapace. She closed her eyes for a second, but her sunbathing was suddenly cut short as it all suddenly got cold, as if someone was blocking her light. Then she heard Dactylus cry out in surprise.

She quickly sat up, eyes wide as she turned over just in time to see Spike, the king's best friend of all people, holding Dactylus up in the air by the throat. The changeling sputtered and gasped as he struggled to breathe, looking at the dragon fearfully.

Fibula was too scared to move, watching as Spike pressed a finger into Dactylus's forehead causing him to go limp and collapse to the ground. She couldn't help but pant as she stared down at her lover, who was staring up at the sky drooling slightly with a pure white crystal in his head.

She tried to crawl away from him on her hands and knees, too stunned to even speak or cry out, but she was stopped by a pair of legs. She slowly turned her head upwards to see another dragon, this one orange and magenta with a purple crystal in her head.

Fibula could only scream when the dragon picked her up and held her still as Spike approached. Her vocal cords felt like they were shredding themselves, but she could do nothing to stop Spike from shoving his finger into her forehead as well, and then with a flash of white light everything when dark.

"So... what happens now?" Spike asked as he stared down at the two changelings, who were merely lying there with their mouths agape and eyes glazed over.

"Who are you talking to?" Smolder asked, frowning slightly, but he ignored his pet.

"Well, we just have to wait for a couple of moments while the white gems work their magic," The voice in his head said. "The two will basically be the same as they were before, but they are now loyal to you to a fault. Just keep in mind, that if you start to abuse that loyalty too much they will break free from the white gems of their own fruition. It's kind of a problem with them."

"And what constitutes an abuse of loyalty?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

Smolder pouted slightly. She couldn't tell if her master was crazy or that she was just being left out of the conversation. Her gem flashed and she flinched slightly as it punished her for thinking anything bad about her master.

"Oh you know, common sense things. Ordering them to kill themselves, trying to... 'play' without consent, putting them in harm's way too often." The voice said. "Of course, you can still use them as soldiers and send them on the odd suicide mission, they are your slaves after all, just don't do it too much or the gems will break and they will revolt."

"Got it. Be an intelligent ruler, and use the carrot just as much as the stick." Spike said, rubbing his chin.

"Spot on, mate." The voice exclaimed.

A sudden dread filled Spike's head as he furrowed his brow.

"Wait, I just realized... am I going to have to do this for every single one of my new subjects?!?" Spike asked, his eyes widening. "This is going to be so tedious!"

"Well yes but actually no." The voice said. "There is a method to the madness."

"Explain," Spike asked, frowning.

"When you reach a certain point in power you will be able to convert entire cities into white gems using crystalline growths out of the ground and the like. But, that is a little far off. Until then you're going to have to create some kind of assembly line process," The Crystal of Domination sighed.

Spike sighed. "Guess I'm going to have to use my brain on this huh?"

"Myes."

Just after they finished talking a stirring occurred behind him. He turned around just in time to see the two changelings groaning as they pulled themselves and sat up slightly.

"Urg... You ok Dactylus?" the female changeling said as she shook her head. The male responded with an affirmative nod as he turned to look around.

The second they saw Spike the two instantly shot up into standing positions and saluted, their hands clacking against the white gems now permanently attached to them.

"My lord!" Dactylus said, "How can we help you?"

Spike and Smolder's eyes both widened slightly. They took a second to lock gazes before Spike returned his vision to them and smirked. "Lord... I could get used to that." He said, rubbing his chin. Spike approached the two, placing a hand on both of their shoulders.

"Well, here's a question. How much do you two want to serve your... lord?" he asked, his smile growing.

"We'll do anything for you, sir!" Fibula said, a dumb smile coming to her face.

"Good. First things first, I need you to transform for me. Just so I can see if you can hide those two gems in your heads." Spike said, lowering his head down to their level. The two instantly burst into cyan flame. When it died down, they were both still in their base forms, but the gems in their heads were gone.

"Excellent," Spike said, his smile only widening by the second. "Next, you two are going to be involved in a special operation for me. If you do it right, you two will have been responsible for my first ever conquest."

Spike watched as the two changelings shivered. "We'd love to do nothing more sire!" Fibula said, almost moaning at the concept. Dactylus meanwhile bit his lip.

"Perfect. Now then, what I want you to do is-"

An explosion rang out through the forest surrounding the changeling hive as orange fire and smoke shot out above the trees. Panic rang out throughout all the hive as changelings all around ran to the nearest Hive window or opened roof clearing to catch line of sight of exactly what had just happened.

Through it all Pharynx desperately tried to keep order, dispatching his (rather untrained) troops to every opening and clearing to keep the people calm. Whatever that was, it sounded bad.

Just then, two changelings came running up to him, Fibula and Dactylus if he remembered correctly. A pair of lovebirds who spent more time going on romantic picnics together and stuff like that than actually useful things like shoring up defenses and patrolling and stuff.

Initially, he frowned, but his frown disappeared when he looked at just how scared they were.

"Pharynx! Pharynx!" They both screamed, causing him to take a couple of steps towards them as they collapsed over panting.

"What's wrong you two?" He said, gritting his teeth. "Are we under attack?"

"N-no." Fibula said as she panted. "B-but..."

"There's this monster out in the woods. It's big and scary and it breathes fire..." Dactylus said, waving his hands through the air. "It said it wanted to take the entire forest as its own new... lair or something I think it said.

Pharynx frowned and let out a sigh, rubbing his forehead. "And is this thing covered in scales? And is it about my size?"

"Actually a little smaller," Fibula said, shrinking under his frustrated gaze.

"Great. Sounds like we have a dragon in the woods. Fantastic." Pharynx grunted, grinding his teeth as he spoke. "I told Thorax it was a terrible idea to sign an open border agreement with the Dragonlands, but noooo he wanted to let his 'totally plutonic' friend Ember to be able to visit. And oh, 'we can totally trust all dragons Pharynx, I mean Spike and Ember are just so great.'"

Pharynx turned to his guards, who had all stopped deploying to watch his growing mental breakdown. "Go and tell everyone it's a false alarm, nothing's wrong at all." He sighed as he turned to walk towards the nearest window. He paused before flying out. "Except you four. You're coming with me."

Said four were Dactylus, Fibula, and two rather terrified-looking guards who were already shaking in their boots. Pharynx didn't care though as he took to the air and made his way down towards the burning section of forest, unaware that he was walking into a trap laid out specifically for him.

Spike grinned as he watched from the bushes as Pharynx used his magic to go about putting out the many fires that Smolder had started before he, his two guard escorts, and Spike's loyal minions made their way through the underbrush. Pharynx led from the front, followed by his two guards and Fibula and Dactylus in the back, waiting for their master's signal to begin their ambush.

Spike followed after them, careful to remain as hidden as possible as they went about moving. Spike kept his eyes glued to Pharynx the entire time, waiting for his moment to strike.

Pharynx was tall, only an inch or two shorter than Spike himself, not counting his antlers. He was also very muscular. Muscular yet lean. Faded cracks and wounds from battles, barely visible to even the trained eye darted what little parts of his carapace were visible under his suit of armor. Spike scratched his chin slightly. To be honest, the changeling wasn't quite his type, being a little too buff and firm for him. Yet, considering just how much of a femboy his brother was, it wouldn't be too difficult for Spike to mold him down into something that fit his wants and desires. He'd probably start by cutting the protein out of his diet... though considering how he looked protein probably was his diet.

Spike mentally slapped himself in the face.

'No, focus. You're doing this to get a general first, not another harem pet.' He thought to himself.

"Nothing wrong with your slaves wearing multiple hats." The Crystal of Domination said with a mental shrug.

'You can hear my thoughts too? Do I get any privacy from you?' Spike mentally sighed.

"Nah not really." The voice laughed. "But if it's any consolation, I think you'll start to like never being alone-"

'Shut up, something happening.' Spike grinned. It was time.

Pharynx's jaw dropped when he saw exactly which dragon it was standing in the clearing ahead of him.

"Smolder!?" Pharynx asked, whisper yelling to his guards. "What the hell is one of Ocellus's friends doing here!? Why is she claiming ownership of our forest?! And why is she naked!?"

"I don't know, sir." One of his guards said, biting his lip. "M-maybe she's in trouble?"

"She's pretty..." The other said, stars in his compact eyes. There was a loud ding as Pharynx slapped him upside his armored head.

The changeling prince growled. "Well whatever the reason, I'm putting a stop to this. You four, stay here and keep hidden."

Pharynx stood up and walked out of the bushes, capturing Smolder's attention immediately. He was slow and careful in his steps, keeping his focus entirely on her, failing to notice two magical sounds ring out behind him as Dactylus and Fibula shot his soldiers in the back of the heads with stunning spells, leaving them open for Spike's corruption.

"Smolder, is that you?" Pharynx asked as he approached. "You aren't just Ocellus trying to prank me... for some reason."

"No, I'm the real Smolder." She said, smirking slightly, her head tilting to the side. Her smirk only grew with every step he took towards her.

"Then what the hell are you doing?" Pharynx roared, straightening his back. "First you come down all the way here to the Changeling Empire, naked mind you, when you should be back at school with Ocellus. Then you light a massive fire and claim that you own a section of our kingdom, grounds for war mind you. I mean, I should kick your ass for that alone! The only reason I haven't yet is that you're friends with a member of the Hive, but that's definitely going to change if you don't explain yourself right the hell now!"

Smolder ignored his rant, only walking towards him, arms crossed under her rather supple breasts. "Oh, is that all you wanted to say?" She asked, rolling her eyes slightly.

This only made Pharynx's frown deepen as he quickly closed to gap between them. "That's it. I'm arresting you and calling your teachers. And if they don't set your attitude straight I'm bringing out some of Chrysalis's old torture racks."

He reached a hand out to grab her but was shocked when she suddenly grabbed him by the arm. His eyes widened as she, with all the grace and speed of a professional wrestler grasped him with both hands and used her wings to position herself, her legs pressing into his chest. He wasn't excepting the move by any means allowing her to bring him to the ground, his face pressed into the dirt as she pinned him in a cross-arm breaker hold.

His stunned state almost instantly wore off as he watched a massive purple dragon break from the woods and start sprinting towards him. He recognized who it was instantly. His brother's 'best friend forever' Spike.

Pharynx let out a roar as he burst into flames. Smolder's eyes widened as a massive bladed leg stabbed into the dirt next to her, narrowly missing her head. She was forced to let go and start running as the leg raised into the air and tried to stab directly into her chest.

Spike's face went white slightly as he watched as Pharynx's combat form rose from the dirt, his shattered armor on the ground in shards beneath him. It turned to stare directly at him, murder written in its five compact eyes as his antennae clicked and clacked together, sounding like a predator eyeing his prey.

"I should have known this whole friendship thing was an act!" Pharynx roared as he started walking towards him, gnashing his monstrous teeth. Spike narrowly dodged to the side, avoiding one of Pharynx's massive bladed legs.

"Let me guess. You're 'princesses' set you up to do this. Rub me out of the picture so they can vassalize the changelings and use my brother as their puppet? Not happening!" He shouted, bringing another claw down. This one was even harder for Spike to dodge than the last.

He wasn't so lucky when it came to Pharynx's follow-up strike. A horizontal swing caught the dragon directly in the chest. He felt all of the wind get knocked out of his lungs as he was sent spiraling through the air, landing sprawled out on his back on the ground several feet away from where he started.

Spike panted as he watched Pharynx approach, his massive monstrous head filling his vision as he stared down at him. "Game over, dragon. You're under arrest." He said with a smirk.

Spike responded by shoving his hand up and grabbing Pharynx by the forehead. The changeling prince let out a cry of surprise as he felt... something painlessly stab into his carapace. He stumbled back, bringing a claw up to grasp at his head. When that didn't work he dropped his transformation, grasping at the sides of his head as he felt a dark influence worm it's way into his mind.

Memories were buried and smothered alive by... what felt like crystals forming in his head. He panted as he tried to spread his wings to fly away and escape but they wouldn't respond, all he could do was collapse onto his knees and paw uselessly at whatever it was in his forehead as he gradually started to forget why exactly he was trying to fight it. The last memory he had before his mind went blank was of his brother smiling down at him.

"Are you ok master?" Smolder said as she kneeled down by Spike's side. All the dragon could do was groan as he tried to pick himself up. He was helped in doing so by the four changelings who were now his obedient white gemmed slaves.

He shook his head. "Yeah... fine." He grunted.

"Good," Smolder said, pulling him into a slight hug. He idly nodded down at her, smirking as he did. That actually felt rather nice.

Slowly he reached a hand into his pocket where he felt his scroll sitting there. So it hadn't disappeared. Meaning he hadn't switched universes. He smiled for a second before he buckled over coughing when Smolder punched him in the side.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" She hissed, ignoring the headache she got as the purple crystal wildly flashed, fruitlessly attempting to punish her for lashing out against her master. The white gems all gasped in unison, but they dare not act out against one of the master's favorite pets.

"Right, right... I'll try not to." Spike said through clenched teeth. He sighed as he turned to the drooling and collapsed Pharynx, who could do nothing but stare blankly ahead with his glowing purple eyes.

Spike approached Pharynx, shooing the rest of his slaves away as he did. He paused as he looked down at him. His armor had been shattered by his transformation into a giant bug monster, leaving him in nothing but a T-shirt and some shorts... he looked far less intimidating in these then he would have normally. He almost pitied the 'ling... almost. No, the prince would be much more useful when the Crystal of Domination was done with him. Speaking of said crystal...

"So," He said aloud, once again ignoring his slaves. "Three questions."

"Yes?" The voice asked.

"First of all, why the hell would you leave Smolder with enough independence to punch me?" He quietly growled, in a tone so low as to keep her from hearing.

"Hey, all I did was make her more slutty and servile. I left her personality the same. Any big changes are for you to make later." His mental roommate responded.

Spike sighed. He supposed that made sense... "Fine... on to more important matters I guess."

He nudged Pharynx with one of his feet, just to make sure he was for sure 100% zonked out. "The free pass didn't work! I almost lost there. Why the hell didn't it just send me to another universe where I wasn't getting my ass kicked? Didn't you say they automatically activated when I was going to lose?"

"No, I said it would activate if you started a fight you had a zero percent chance of winning. You were actually doing alright for yourself. Plus this is a perfect learning opportunity." The voice exclaimed rather happily.

"It is?"

"Myes, about the structural matrixes of myself alongside other such gems. Or as I like to call it; hit points." The voice explained. "Basically, every single gem you put in someone's head directly links itself with their bodies. If said body takes a particularly nasty hit, the gem will take damage. For example, when Pharynx smashed you in the chest there."

"Oh like a video game."

"A what?" The voice said raising an eyebrow. He quickly moved on ignoring Spike's comment. "Anyway, as it currently stands, you have 3 hit points. Down to two. Say Pharynx were to get up and hit you two more times. I'd shatter. And since I am the Crystal of Domination, if I shatter so does every single gem I've made. This means all of your slaves are freed and one of two things is going to happen. They are either going to think I possessed you and that you aren't responsible for any of your actions and everything is hunky dory, or more likely you are going to end up like a certain Dutch politician from 1672."

"A what politician?"

"Nevermind that." The Crystal said.

"So how do I regain HP then?" Spike sighed, crossing his arms over his chest, which only made his slaves even more confused.

"Remember what I said about purple gems filling multiple hats? Well, one of those hats is as your personal health repository. Merely spending time in their presence, aka sleeping with them, will heal you." The Crystal of Domination said in a happy tone. "Ain't that fun."

Spike nodded slightly. "Fun indeed..." He raised an eyebrow.

"Last question then." He wondered aloud, tapping Pharynx several times with his foot. "What do we do with this guy?"

Pharynx's gem shimmered to life shooting a series of magical screens into the air, allowing the Crystal to begin his work.

"Not much really. Just have to make him extremely loyal to you, and stuff like that. His main purpose, for the time being, is to be your military advisor and manage future army assets. Ya know, boring stuff. Though there is one thing I can do to make him more useful. To me, not to you." He said as he went about tweaking the changeling's brain.

"And what would that be?" Spike asked, blinking twice.

Pharynx's eyes suddenly returned to normal as he stood up. He burst into flames once again, though this time his flames were a deep purple rather than their normal cyan, and once they dissipated standing in the ling's place was an exact replica of Spike, though made out of black crystal. The gem gave a quick bow as Smolder and the slaves all took a step back in surprise.

"This," He said, a smirk coming to his face. He clapped his hands together which made a loud clacking noise "Now at any point, I can possess Pharynx and have an actual body! Isn't that nice!"

Spike blinked twice, a sudden grimace coming to his face. "This... doesn't mean you are going to run off on me right? I'm in too deep now man."

"Oh, I literally can't. This is just an avatar. My real body is right here," The Crystal of Domination laughed. He tapped on the gem in Spike's forehead several times. "Now then, time to talk with your new slaves. You have a hive to conquer."

The disguise dropped as Pharynx returned to normal. He let out a slight groan, rubbing the side of his head. "Oh... what happened."

Spike was quick to jump into action. "Nothing much, my new general. Now then, are you ready to serve me?"

Pharynx straightened his back, giving a slight salute, clocking himself in the gem as he did. "Of course master. Your enemies are my enemies."

"Excellent. Now then, I'm going to have to start white gemming the hive before I can risk taking your brother." Spike chuckled. "You don't have a problem with that do you?"

"Certainly not. I know my brother would be far happier as your pet, master." Pharynx exclaimed, a small dumb smile coming to his face. "You know what's best for us after all."

Spike nodded. "Ah... he trusts me unconditionally. That's actually rather cute." He said to himself, smirking.

Thorax was rather concerned, to say the least. Pharynx had returned from his hunt in the woods last night claiming that he and his men had failed to track down the dragon, and then went about sending the changeling army into the woods squad by squad one at a time, all throughout the night and day afterward, where, unbeknownst to him, Spike and corrupted soldiers were waiting for them, quickly adding them to his ranks.

Now the last squad had returned to the hive empty-handed, and Pharynx and his troops had quickly piled into the Throneroom alongside their ruler. Most of the hive was terrified, locking themselves indoors in the lower reaches of the hive, the idea of a dragon attack making sure all of them stayed away from any windows or highly flammable plants.

The changeling king tapped his fingers against his throne in a slightly panicked state, turning over to his brother who was staring down at a map of the hive, rubbing his chin as he stared down all the hive's many entrances and exits.

"Pharynx, they've still not found the dragon in the woods," Thorax said as he sat up on his throne slightly, rubbing his hands together. "Are you sure everything is going to be ok?"

"Certainly." Pharynx lied. "I've never met a dragon I couldn't beat in a fight. Besides, it's just one and they only want the forests around the hive."

"R-really?" Thorax whimpered slightly before he quickly got up out of his throne and went over to the map, watching Pharynx's planning. The older ling let out a long sigh.

"Look, I can't do this with you hovering over my shoulder, ya know," Pharynx growled, rolling his eyes. "Look, if it will make you and everyling else, I'm going to station the guards at every entrance and exit to the hive and put up a dome shield ok?"

Thorax let out a sigh. "You always know how to put me at ease Pharynx. Thank you. That would definitely help everyling calm down." The changeling king shook his head as he returned to his throne, slumping over. "I was going to write a letter to Ember to ask her to come down and set this dragon straight, but I've been too stressed to even think of what to say. This should give me a chance."

Pharynx smirked when Thorax turned his back to him and made his way to the Throne. "Don't worry Thorax. After today you're never going to have to stress again." He whispered to himself, prompting a couple of his soldiers nearby to snicker.

The changeling prince turned to the rest of his soldiers. "Men, you know what to do. Let's get to it," he said, a rather sinister undertone in his voice that Thorax failed to pick up on. Quickly, his troops saluted and turned, marching and flying out of the Throneroom's open roof to cauterize the hive.

Pharynx meanwhile looked down at his watch. He was just on schedule. With a quick flash of his horn and antlers a cyan dome, with a notable purple swirl going through it, slowly formed around the hive, locking it off from the rest of Equestria. And trapping almost every changeling on the planet inside.

Spike smiled as he walked towards the hive, an arm wrapped around Smolder's waist. His smile only grew as the dome slammed shut behind him, meaning there was a zero percent chance of any of his future subjects or pets escaping him. He rubbed his chin debating to himself which he should go for first.

Then he thought of how fun it would be to enslave the changeling race while their king watched on and cheered him on.

He paused for a second, his grin dropping as he felt a couple of pangs of guilt in his chest. Did he really want to do this to the poor changelings? Thorax had never once done him wrong. In fact, he was actually probably his closest and nicest friend. Unlike the others, he and Ember had always been true friends. Maybe enslaving him was the wrong thing to do...

Though... he couldn't help but imagine how cute Thorax would look wearing a collar while he swallowed the dragon's cock with his soft rear in the air and tail raised. That sealed the deal. The changelings would be his, no matter what.

He continued his walk, a new sense of determination filling his soul. "Smolder, I'm going to have a new pet to play with in a couple of minutes." He growled licking his lips. "You don't have a problem with that, are you?"

"What? I thought I was going to be the only one?" She whimpered, furrowing her brow. "Does this mean you're going to stop using me as much?"

"Of course not." Spike chuckled, reaching a hand down to cup her exposed rear. "You're still going to always be my first. I just think you could use some friends is all."

Smolder bit her lip to stifle a moan as Spike played with her. She certainly appreciated the attention he was giving her at least.

Soon they arrived at the hive's main entrance, where an entire legion of changeling soldiers was standing at salute, staring directly at him. Fibula and Dactylus were at the front, more than ready for his orders. Spike rolled his shoulders, he could certainly get used to this.

"You two," He said, pointing at the two changeling lovers. "You are to lead me to the Throneroom."

He turned to the rest of the army. "The rest of you. Start rounding up the rest of the Hive. After your king is mine, I want you to begin marching them towards the throne single file so I can... enlighten them."

The army all saluted and slammed the butts of their spears on the ground. "Yes, master!" They roared before they turned and began marching into the hive proper, leaving their lord alone with his guides and Smolder.

"Now then, lead the way." He ordered his first two white gems, who quickly turned around and began leading him with a rather obvious bounce in their steps.

Thorax sat contently on his throne as he went about writing a letter to Ember on a lectern he had set up, asking her to come over and deal with the issue of the still unknown dragon in the woods. If anyone knew what to do it would be her. His mind soon turned to think about another dragon he knew quite well. Spike. The two actually hadn't had a chance to talk in a while. Not since he had been to Ponyvile where he met Ember.

He turned his head to Pharynx, who was still looking down at his watch.

"Pharynx, do you think it'd be cool with the hive if I went to Ponyvile at some point?" Thorax said as he stood up to get out of his throne, approaching his brother.

The prince raised an eyebrow, looking up from his watch. "What for?" he asked furrowing his brow slightly.

Did he suspect something was up?

"Oh, nothing much. I just wanted to visit Spike at some point." Thorax claimed, taking a step back from Pharynx. "You seem... tense."

"Oh ho ho, trust me. I'm not." Pharynx said, his furrow instantly disappearing. "And you don't have to go all the way to Ponyvile to meet with Spike."

"A-are you sure? I mean, that is where he lives." Thorax said.

"Not anymore," He heard a voice behind him, which quickly made the Changeling whip around and come face to face with Spike of all people, who was walking towards him with arms crossed over his chest. That wasn't the thing that caught his attention though. It was the fact that he was being followed by Smolder, who was completely naked.

Thorax blushed as he stared at Smolder before he shook his head and turned his gaze to Spike. "Spike! What are you doing all the way out here? You should have let me know you are coming, I would have gotten something ready. " He smiled, his eyes being unfortunately drawn to Smolder. "And... well... I know dragons tend to be rather immodest but... why is she naked?"

"Oh don't worry, you won't mind that in a second. Especially because you are going to be joining her." Spike said, as he quickly pushed his way towards Thorax, picking up the pace.

"J-joining her? What do you mea- ghk!" The changeling king was cut off when Pharynx suddenly grabbed him from behind in a chokehold. He barely had enough time to register what was going on before Spike was already on top of him.

"Don't worry Thorax, you'll thank me for this afterwards." He chuckled as he held up a hand, going towards his temple. He watched as Thorax started to tear up in fear, causing his guilt to pang up once again.

"No no, shhh it's ok," Spike said calmly as he brought his hand down, rubbing Thorax's chin as he did. "I'm going to make everything all better."

Spike used his thumbs to wipe the wetness from the 'ling's cheeks, before he went right for the forehead. Thorax didn't even last a second as the crystal burrowed its way into his mind. He wasn't as strong as Pharynx, and he had already fallen, what hope did he have?

And like that, the Crystal of Domination did its work, ripping apart his mind and putting it back together again completely and utterly loyal to his new master, Spike.

The dragon watched as Pharynx gently lowered his brother to the ground before taking a step back, a slight amount of worry written on the older ling's face. Spike however merely observed his new pet's supple frame. His more salacious aspects were hidden by the green and yellow kingly uniform he was wearing. Not like he'd be needing that anymore. Still, Spike tried his best to practice restraint and observed the parts of his androgynous body that he could see. His soft feminine face, his weak and frail arms, and legs, his perfectly flat chest.

Spike couldn't help himself as he quickly stripped himself, just to give him something to do in the agonizing seconds it would take Thorax to open his eyes, freshly obedient and servile. "Fibula, Dactylus." He called out, his two servants quickly saluting.

"Sir?" They asked in unison.

"Go and tell the guards to wait for another half an hour. I want to spend some time with my new pet before I begin white gemming the hive." Spike said, as he removed his shirt showing off his perfect six-pack which made the both of them almost swoon.

"Of course sir." They replied in unison before with great hesitation they left the Throneroom and retreated into the Hive's depths.

His gaze turned to Smolder and Pharynx, who were both staring at his nude frame, blushing deeply and biting their lips in unison.

"Smolder, my new General looks exceptionally pent up. Would you be so kind as to help relieve some of his stress?" Spike asked as he turned over to her.

"Sure... though he won't be as satisfying as you master," Smolder said, biting her tongue in a taunting gesture.

Pharynx's eyes widened for a second before he was suddenly tackled from the front by Smolder, who pinned him to the ground and locked lips with him. His arms were raised in shock for a second before he gave into his pleasure, and they retreated to her rear kneading her tender ass like dough.

Spike stared at them contently before a groan alerted him that his entertainment had awakened. He reached a hand for Thorax to take as he stared up at him doe-eyed.

"M-master," Thorax said as Spike pulled him up and pulled him against his chest. He bit his lip slightly as he felt the dragon's rock-hard rod press against his own.

"Hello Thorax, would you be so kind as to help me with an issue I've been having?" Spike asked as he rubbed the back of the ling's head. "I'm just so in need of some company from one of my slaves."

"Of course, master," Thorax said looking up at Spike's face with a dumb smile. "I'd do anything for you, master."

"Excellent," Spike said, before he gently scooped Thorax up and walked over to the king's former throne, now his. He set him down just in front of it, before gently pushing him, causing him to stumble and land sitting in his royal seat.

Spike wasted no time in kneeling down on the same chair, Thorax's legs between his knees, and presenting the former king with his own royal scepter. Thorax, the obedient pet he was, wasted no time in opening his mouth wide enough for it to fit. Spike gave a couple of experimental thrusts before he slammed the entire length of his rod into Thorax's mouth.

The changeling's compact eyes widened slightly in shock as he felt the gargantuan rod enter his throat, and the just as powerful balls slapping against his chin, but he knew better than to hesitate when serving his master. He was quick to wrap his forked tongue around the rod squeezing it like a vice, and suckling like his life depended on it.

Spike let out a slight coo as he stared down at the ling, using his antlers as handholds. Every inch of his rod was being pampered by the changeling, almost like this is what he was born to do. He couldn't help but feel accomplished. He had awakened Thorax to his true role in life, his personal dick polisher... among other things.

Eventually, his instincts overwhelmed him. He quickly pulled his rod back, until only the tip was in between Thorax's accommodating lips, before he thrust forwards yet again, hitting himself against the back of the ling's throat. And then he did it again, and again.

Thorax brought his arms up, wrapping them around Spike's legs as the dragon face fucked him, a muffled moan escaping his mouth every time to dragon's jewels slapped him on the chin. The salty taste of the drake's precum was driving him wild, only aided by the musk that was driven deep into his nostrils every time they slammed against his scaled belly.

Eventually, the changeling's ministrations became too great for Spike to handle. Yet, he didn't want his first orgasm in the changeling to be in the mouth. No, he wanted to mark him as his own. Permanently. Spike pulled out, pushing Thorax's head as he did. The changeling let out an involuntary whine as Spike let go of him, and took a step off the throne.

In a rather awkward movement, Spike and Thorax traded places, with Spike sitting on the throne, and Thorax on his lap, their chests pressed together. Thorax panted up at Spike, his mouth open and his face flushed a deep blue. The dragon smirked down at him, rubbing a hand down his back, which made the changeling arc under his grip.

Spike's hand went lover, before settling on the hem of the changeling's pants. In a single movement, Spike ripped both them and his undergarments off, leaving him completely exposed. He smiled down at his slave, who let out a moan when his hand returned to his rear, giving it an experimental spank.

"Well, aren't you sensitive?" Spike said, licking his lips.

His hand retreated from Thorax's rear for but a second as he used it to guide his rod into it's dock. Thorax bit his lips to muffle his cry of approval as Spike slowly entered him. It was a slow process, only heightened by Thorax's shaking hips and involuntary thrusts, rubbing his much smaller dicklet and coin purse against Spike's abs.

When he finally hilted inside, Spike brought a hand up, cupping the ling's chin.

"Tilt your head up... good boy," He said, watching contently as Thorax looked up to him, locking eyes with his master.

Spike brought his mouth down and pulled Thorax into a kiss. The ling tensed up and whined slightly as Spike started gyrating his hips up into him. His arms were quick to find their perch, wrapped around Spike's neck as his fingers tensed, dragging along the drake's back.

When the two separated for air, Spike pulled back, turning his head slightly to catch sight of Smolder, who was on her hands and knees with Pharynx kneeling behind her, thrusting into her slowly. Yet the entire time, both of their eyes were on him, clearly showing who it was they belonged to.

Spike grinned as he picked up the pace on his thrusts, the movements making Thorax's entire body shake. The ling couldn't help but throw his head back, and cry out. The ling couldn't even string a sentence together, his mind completely blank, only able to focus on the pleasure his master was giving him.

Seeing his brother being put in his place only made Pharynx more pent up. He stopped his slow thrusts, throwing his hands forwards and grabbing Smolder by the shoulders and forcing her to straighten her back. His thrusting became wild and relentless, hammering into the dragon's snatch as she too found herself in a similar state to her breeder's brother.

The moaning panting and crying of Smolder and Thorax mixed together in Spike's head, becoming a symphony likened to the most beautiful of orchestras. Any misgivings he had about conquering the changelings instantly died as he finally hilted in Thorax one last time, and emptied his baby makers into his ling's eager hole. Thorax's vision went white as his eyes crossed, his own rod spewing rope after rope of seed onto his master's stomach.

Seeing the two finally burst was all it took to push Pharynx and Smolder both over the edge as they came in unison, collapsing to the ground as the changeling pinned his partner to the ground. Pharynx panted and moaned as Smolder dragged her claws across the hive's stone ground.

Finally, after what felt like minutes of pleasure, the four of them had all calmed down. Spike's breathing slowed as he calmed down, staring down at the whimpering 'ling laying on his front.

"Smolder, come help my new pet clean up his mess, then get me dressed. Can't risk showing all of my new subjects me in such a... vulnerable state." Spike chuckled before he turned his gaze to Pharynx. "As for you, get your armor back on and head downstairs. Tell the soldiers that it's time."

"Yes, master." Pharynx said in a breathless voice before he quickly pulled himself out of her and went about getting equipped.

Smolder did as ordered too, crawling on her hands and knees toward's Thorax's former throne. Now it belonged to her master.

She and the changeling quickly found themselves on their knees in front of Spike, using their forked tongues to lick Thorax's load off of the dragon's chest. Said dragon merely leaned back, hands behind his head. Yeah, this was definitely the life.

Several hours later, Spike sat on his throne dealing with the last of the changelings, who were being marched single file by the Hive's guard towards him, where they were white gemmed by Spike. Thorax was sitting on his lap, running a hand up and down his master's chest, while Smolder was laying on the ground, arms wrapped around his legs while she stared up at her fellow pet jealously. Pharynx himself stood next to the throne, arms clasped behind his back.

He could only assume what was going through the heads of the changelings.

Suddenly having your own friends and neighbors drag you from your room only to be forced towards the throneroom, and then finding your beloved king stripped of his clothes sitting on the knee of his new master, who was gradually brainwashing every changeling down to the last. Spike chuckled to himself. This was honestly one of the best days of his life... and he knew things would only get better from here.

Pharynx suddenly without prompting turned to Spike and burst into flames, and in his place stood the Crystal of Domination's Spike form. Spike ignored the confused cry from the changeling in front of him, merely reaching up a hand and enslaving them.

"This was a wonderful score," The crystal said, contently, rubbing his chin. "All in all, you've claimed yourself 13,276 slaves, including this last batch. Not bad, not bad at all. It will certainly have improved your power, which I will show you how to use later. Though I do have some misgivings with these changelings."

"Oh? Explain." Spike asked, furrowing his brow.

"Well, to put it bluntly, while they will make unparalleled spies and saboteurs, they are going to suck in all other forms of combat. And you need more than spies to conquer." It said, staring over as Spike casually enslaved another changeling.

He disappeared into flame once again and Pharynx was standing in his place. "While the crystal is being pretty blunt about it, I'm not going to lie master, aside from me most changelings are wusses. We are going to need an actual army if we are to do any proper conquering."

Spike rubbed his chin as Pharynx transformed back into the crystal yet again. "Hmmm, if both of my advisors are in agreement I am not going to doubt you."

"Myes. Now we need to find a place where we can get fighters. Good ones." The other Spike exclaimed.

Spike's eyes wandered for a moment before settling on the note sitting on a lectern Thorax was previously writing to a certain ally of the Changeling Kingdom.

"What about Ember and the Dragons?" Spike finally asked, causing the other Spike to raise an eyebrow and both of his slaves to quickly turn their gazes to him.

"What?! Ember?!" Smolder groaned. "Oh come on, wasn't Thorax enough? Now you're going to replace me with her too?"

Thorax shivered slightly, pursing his lips. "I... I'd like Ember to join us..." He said quietly, prompting Spike to snicker and pet the back of his head several times.

"Just one issue with that plan. You are not strong enough to take on a fully grown dragon yet, even with all of the slaves you currently have." The crystal said, gritting his teeth slightly.

"That's fair," Spike said, leaning back. "But, there are lots of much smaller dragons around. About my and Smolder's size. They are far stronger than changelings and there are still a lot of them. We enslave them, and I will have an army that I can use to finally start branching out."

"Well... that's far more doable but risky. I'll leave the plotting up to you then." And the crystal disappeared in flames, returning to Pharynx.

Spike turned his gaze back as the last changeling in the was brought to him. He started to think of what to do next as he pressed his gem into the changeling's head.

This would take some thought.

Author's Notes:

Howdy, everyone! I hope you liked the chapter. Now for the options. Also, for my ability to actually count the votes, I am slightly changing the voting method. When you vote on an option, please specify which chapter you are voting in. For example, say you wanted to go with option 2 of this chapter; please say: 'Chapter 2 Option 2.' That would help a ton lol.

Now then onto the meat and potatoes:

Option 1: Plan a lightning strike in the dead of night into the Dragonlands, capturing as many smaller dragons and Ember as possible and bring them to the changeling hive before their larger kin can wake up. This option is risky, but is far quicker and will lead to the most amount of dragons under Spike's command.

Option 2: Invite Ember over to the hive and ask her to bring some dragons along with her, then surround them with changeling soldiers and ambush them, which would be much safer, but likely lead to fewer dragons in the army.

Option 3: Use changeling infiltrators to separate the smaller dragons from the rest and bring them to the hive in smaller numbers over time. This will take far longer than the other options, but keeps Spike out of direct harm.

Option 4: Commenter ideas

Spike Stats:
HP: [][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,300 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Smolder
Pharynx
Thorax
1x Free Pass

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [][][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite

Thorax Stats:
HP: [][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite

Attaining an Army

View Online

The last of the changelings had been white gemmed when Spike finally leaned back into his throne and let out a hum.

"I might have an idea, but I will need to talk through the last details with you," Spike said as his new changeling slaves quickly and contently marched out of the room, leaving Spike alone with just his pets, guards, and general.

Pharynx nodded down at his master. "Very well then master. Talk away." He replied, arms clasping behind his back.

"The Bloodstone Scepter..." Spike started, rubbing his chin. Before he could continue purple flames consumed Pharynx and the crystal of domination was standing in his spot.

"Purely symbolic." The Crystal said, shaking his head. "I know what you're thinking but I really doubt it's going to work. You might convince a couple of dumb drakes who think it's actually super magical, but that's about it."

"What? But I used it to order Garble to go around embarrassing himself last time I had it. It has to be magical." Spike asked, frowning deeply.

"That was mostly because a dragon the size of a literal mountain was backing up your claim." The Crystal said, frowning slightly.

"Yeah... he's kind of right. Big bro told me he only did it because he thought Torch was going to smash him if he didn't do what you told him to." Smolder said, staring up at Spike from her seat on the ground.

"Damn it... and I had a whole thing figured out..." Spike growled. He paused for a second eyes blinking. "Wait a sec..."

His vision slammed down on Smolder. "Garble is your brother?!" He asked, jar agape.

"Yeah."

"And you never told me this why?" Spike growled.

"Didn't really think it was all that important," Smolder said. She wanted to shrug, but her gem flashed and she flinched slightly, rubbing the side of her head.

Spike chuckled to himself, bringing a hand down and rubbing Smolder's head like she was a dog. "That's actually really good to know. Heh... Garble? More like... Cuckle." He smirked to himself, finally getting a one-up over an old bully.

Instantly his mood soured. "So, that plan isn't going to work out huh?" He sighed, rolling his eyes and growling slightly. "Well, when I do get Ember I might as well throw the scepter away..."

"Not necessarily." The Crystal of Domination said, tapping his foot. "That name... It's given me a bit of a hunch."

"Oh?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My creators, the Peryton. They made more than one Crystal." The Crystal of Domination said, grimacing slightly. "I thought they were all shattered, but I guess not."

"More than one? You mean there are other Crystals of Domination out there?" Spike frowned. Rivals could be an issue...

"Nah, there is only one me." His advisor chuckled, flexing his crystal arm. "The other gems are more like upgrades or modules for myself. There's a red, pink, green, and blue one I believe."

"And what do they do?" Spike asked, leaning forwards.

"Well, I forget what the green and blue ones do, but the red one is specifically designed for punishment, and I believe the pink one can be used to change your slave's genders."

Spike gasped. "What?!"

"Oh yes. A lot of my former masters were uncomfortably straight. I kind of hated it." The crystal laughed. "I enjoy seeing the odd femboy pounded into the dirt."

Spike blinked slightly. "Well... I like cuties like Thorax here as much as the next guy..." said changeling let out a coo and snuggled up against his chest as he pet him. "But I'd be lying if I didn't say there is a certain dragon and his friends I want to see ruined."

"Hehe... Big bro would hate that if you did that to him." Smolder giggled. "You should totally do it."

Spike chuckled down at Smolder before turning his attention back to the Crystal Spike next to his throne. "So then, do you have any idea what the red one actually does for punishment?"

"I think it has something to do with mind erasure and replacement. Really nasty stuff." The crystal said, shivering slightly. "I actually met the guy. He's a real sicko. But, if my hunch is correct I think he's in the Bloodstone Scepter."

"And how come the Dragons never, ya know, got it working?" Spike asked, leaning forwards and frowning.

"Oh, simple." The crystal reached a hand forwards and tapped Spike on the forehead several times. "You need me to make the other ones work."

Spike nodded slightly, rubbing his chin. "I guess that makes sense... So what you're saying is that even if I can't use it to take control of the dragon lands completely I still want to get my hands on the Bloodstone Scepter in case it is the red gem?"

"Bingo." The Crystal of Domination said before bursting into flames and being replaced by Pharynx.

Pharynx shook his head. "Arg... I hate it when he does that." He growled slightly.

Instantly he disappeared into purple fire again and the Crystal returned, though notably ticked off. "You are a pathetic lowly slave and I am the source of all of your master's power. You will let me use your body with a fucking smile on your face or I will obliterate what little free will you have left. Do you understand, pleb?"

Thorax bit his lip slightly, pulling himself closer to Spike's chest. "P-please don't do that to my brother..." He quietly said. His gem flashed causing him to whimper slightly as he felt something rip through his mind. Punishment for speaking out of turn.

Spike stared down at his slave, who was tearing up slightly. He grimaced as he saw Pharynx return to his original form, more than a little stunned.

'Hey man... are you ok?' He thought.

"Yeah sorry for losing it there... I'm just... really pent up these days. I think I'm going to have to ask to go a round with some of your pets one of these days." A voice said in his brain, sounding a little embarrassed.

'You can do that?' Spike asked, eyes wide.

"I got an avatar now. So yeah. Probably want the green one if I'm being honest. To be quite blunt with you my master's fucked so many brainwashed chicks back in the day that I'm just bored of them." The voice sighed with a dark chuckle.

'I see... I guess I can see to it that you get a chance with Thorax at some point. Though, if it's alright with you, I'd like to keep my pets to myself for the time being. All four of them.'

"Can't blame you." The crystal chuckled. "Now then, I won't interrupt any more of your planning. Go wild bud."

Spike took a second to let tempers die down before clearing his throat and turning back to Pharynx.

"Now then. I did have a plan for capturing Ember and using the Bloodstone Scepter to enslave the entire dragon race. But if that's not going to work out, I'm going to settle for her and a small army to get us started. And coincidently, it just requires a little tweaking." He said, propping his head up on a hand. "But for it to work, I am going to need perfect coordination with you and all of my soldiers. Even if they are a little fragile."

"Very well master. I'm sure my troops would be more willing to lay down their lives for you." Pharynx saluted straightening his back.

"With any luck, they won't have to." Spike chuckled darkly.

He sat up, petting Thorax's head as he did. "The plan is simple. We invite Ember over to the Hive, under the pretense of there being a villain dragon of some kind wreaking havoc, asking her to bring an army with her. When the army arrives we ambush and capture them all." Spike said a dark smile spreading from ear to ear. "And with any luck, we convince the dragons that your changelings are under complete mind control, which of course you are, meaning Ember will order them to go easy and try not to hurt you. This will allow me to go about corrupting them one by one."

"That certainly sounds like a well-thought-out plan master, but there is one issue I am noticing," Pharynx said, grimacing slightly. "Dragons are... well... as loath as I am to admit it, some of the best warriors on the planet. Even with all of our soldiers attacking them at once and them being handicapped by Ember making them be merciful I don't know if our changeling troops will be enough to handle them all."

Spike clasped his hands together, interlocking fingers. "I thought of that too. The Crystal said that now that I have a large number of slaves under my command I should have access to magical spells of some kind. If I can figure out how those work, I'll be more than able to even the score."

Spike took a second to stare down at one of his hands, unclasping it and flexing it slightly. "Hopefully."

Pharynx nodded. "And I will be there on the front lines to support you master." He said, straightening his back.

"Heh... you're a good servant Pharynx. Don't let that asshole Crystal tell you otherwise." He laughed.

"I heard that you prick." The Crystal of Domination replied, half laughing, half furious.

Spike ignored both him and Pharynx's blush and shiver as he turned his gaze to Thorax, still glued to his chest. "Thorax. You want your best friend Ember to join you as my pet, right?"

"Of course master!" Thorax said, a dumb smile coming to his face. "I think she'd love having her free will taken away and existing only to serve your every need master!"

If it weren't for the gem forcing Thorax to genuinely believe everything he was saying, Spike would've assumed he had somehow developed an exceptionally sarcastic sense of humor.

"Well, you are going to help her accept that. And the first step is to bring her here." Spike reached a handover and grabbed Thorax's note off the lectern. So far it was blank, barring the introduction.

"Tell her that a nasty dragon is currently enslaving the Changeling Hive. And she needs to get here to stop him asap." Spike said as he handed it to her.

"But... you aren't a nasty dragon master," Thorax blinked. "You're only doing what's best for us."

"I know I'm not nasty. But we're acting like I am so we can trick her into coming here." Spike brought a hand down, cupping his pet's chin. "You can act like you're in danger for me, can't you?"

Thorax shivered slightly, before nodding up at him. "Of course master. Anything for you master."

Spike's face split into a wicked grin. His free hand slid down Thorax's back giving his bare rear a playful squeeze. "Good boy Thorax. Good boy."

Thorax and Smolder both watched in fascination as Spike raised a hand. With a grunt, he balled it into a fist, and a shelf of crystal, about the size of a tree, shot from the ground. Spike wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked around. It was now one of many sticking from the ground outside the hive. The Crystal of Domination walked up to him, arms behind his back as he watched Spike take a step back struggling to keep his footing.

"You've done a good job mastering that, but it won't be enough." He said, cocking his head to the side.

"What do you mean?" Spike responded with a slight snarl.

"Growing crystals is all fine and good, you could probably use it to bludgeon people unconscious, but that is legitimately the most basic thing you can do with me." The crystal exclaimed shaking his head.

"I don't understand it. I mean, what else can I do with this power?" Spike grunted.

"Figure it out on your own." He replied, eyes narrowing slightly. "All you need to know is that there is something you can do with the crystals to leave your enemies in an exceptionally vulnerable state, ripe for enslaving."

"But... why can't you..."

"Because the best way to learn is to figure it out yourself," The Crystal said coldly. "But thankfully you've been pretty good so far, so I can trust you to learn this. Still, I'd recommend you take a break."

"But-" Spike stammered, but he was cut off rather quickly by a stern command.

"Take a break."

The Crystal transformed back into Pharynx as Spike sighed and took a step back, walking towards his two slaves. The two were kneeling on the ground, staring up at him. He shook his head before he sat down in between them. The two rather quickly pulled themselves against him, rubbing their hands along his back and chest.

"Do you guys know what he's talking about?" He sighed as he wrapped an arm around either of his pet's shoulders.

"I have no idea," Smolder said, grunting slightly as Spike's arm wrapped around her lowered, settling on her rear and giving it a squeeze. She raised her tail, allowing Spike to sink a finger into one of her needy holes. She appreciated it, but she'd vastly prefer it if he played with a different one.

"Well..." Thorax started, biting his lip to silence his weak moans as Spike squeezed and kneaded with his rear as well. "I don't know how much t-this will help but... hng... to cast magic you need to be in a certain state of mind."

"Oh, what kind of mindset would you recommend for me then?" Spike said as his hand retreated from the 'ling's rear to cup his pet's chin.

"W-well your gem is called the Crystal of Domination. M-maybe you have to be in a hyper dominant and authoritarian mood." Smolder said in between pants and moans as Spike played with her.

"Hyper dominant you say..." Spike said pursing his lips.

"Yeah like... maybe it only works if you are trying to-" Smolder started, but she stopped when Spike removed his hand from Thorax and gripped it into a claw. Suddenly crystals shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around Smolder's hands and feet. Then they moved, pulling her away from Spike and shoving her into a doggy pose on her hands and knees.

Spike smirked as Smolder confusedly looked around, trying to pull herself up. She quickly realized that her wrists and ankles were completely encased in crystal, preventing her from doing anything but smirking. Spike looked down at his hand, his smile widening as Pharynx transformed back into his crystalline clone.

"Hah! Perfect. Figured it out on your own and everything." The crystal of domination laughed as he looked down on him.

"Indeed," Spike said, rolling his wrist. "Is it only going to work for binding pets down or what?"

"As you progress you will find yourself more power and abilities, but for now that and growing crystal spires will suit our purposes quite well." The crystal stated, hands clasped behind his back.

Spike nodded, looking over at Thorax. "Well then, my pet," he said quietly, giving his pet a firm but gentle slap on the rear. "Have you finished your letter?"

"Of course master," Thorax said, looking up at him happily. The ling quickly turned to a small white envelope sitting on a rock. He was quick to grab it and hand it over to his master.

Spike stared down at the previously unseen envelope for a second. He was quick to open it and unfold the letter within, giving it a quick read.

'Dear Ember,

I need your help. A dragon has attacked the Changeling Hive. He is using some kind of magical artifact to take control of the minds of all of my subjects. Right now, I've locked myself in the hive's nursery with the bearer of this message, and I'm going to make a distraction so he can escape and take this to you. The dragon is hunting me as we speak and is using my own subjects to try to track me down. Even Pharynx is after me. He keeps telling me about how he wants to turn me into his 'pleasure pet' and I don't know what that means. Please help me Ember. I'm scared.

- Thorax'

Spike grinned slightly. This was perfect. Pulling on all the right emotional heartstrings. Ember would be a monster if she didn't immediately drop everything to come to his rescue. Especially if the rumors that the two were romantically involved were true.

"Excellent. Pharynx?" He said, turning to the crystal who rapidly let said changeling back in control. "Send a changeling to the Dragonlands with the letter from Thorax. Make sure they hide their crystal. And be sure to hype up the desperation, enough that Ember will panic and come as quickly as possible, even if that means with a small force."

"Yes, master." Pharynx said with a salute before he quickly took off towards the hive.

Ember let out a growl, cracking her neck as she flew through the air towards the changeling Hive at the head of a dragon army, 300-strong.

Admittedly, she probably should have brought more, but the sorry state of the changeling messenger and the contents of the aforementioned message had scared her into a frenzy. She had grabbed as many dragons as she could, a rather low number, before setting off with all haste towards the changeling hive. She was wearing her trademark golden armor (Or was it brass? She was never good with metals) and wielding the Bloodstone Scepter, which she intended to use as a club to smash in the skull of whichever dragon was enslaving the changelings.

There were few people in this world that Ember unconditionally trusted and Thorax was one of them. If anyone was messing with him, they were messing with her. And she didn't like people messing with her.

She spun around, flying backward while facing her army, 300 of the most heavily armored and armed dragons she had at her disposal. Unfortunately, she didn't manage to get her hands on any of the bigger drakes for this expedition, they were always too hard to wake up. And even harder to drag out of their caves. Not to mention destructive, which was rather bad for this mission.

"Remember everyone! The changelings are enslaved! So keep any damage you do to them to a minimum. They can't control themselves!" She barked, eyes narrowed as the dragon's battle lust was quickly cowed by her rather overwhelming aura. Good. She liked that.

Ember turned her head back towards the horizon just as the Changeling hive came into view, the sun rising behind it. It was honestly a rather picturesque view. Good, she would try to make sure to not burn down too much of the surrounding landscape to keep it that way.

Strangely, her eyes caught sight of strange growths coming out of the landscape around the hive. They were crystals, milky white in color as if entire spires of quartz had suddenly shot out of the ground out of nowhere. That was most certainly... disconcerting. Some of the spires were high too, high enough that they could knock a flying dragon out of the air. And if they grew as fast as she thought they might, the following fall might be a fatal injury.

Perhaps it would be better to approach on foot. That way they might get the jump on whoever was doing this and avoid that kind of thing.

"Alright! We approach on foot from here! Dive!" She roared before quickly sailing towards the ground, followed by her armies. Unbeknownst to her, that was the worst decision she could have made, as they landed directly in the middle of the changeling ambush.

Spike smirked as he squatted in the underbrush around the Hive. He had expected them to land just outside the hive and try to storm in on foot, but this worked better. Pharynx, of his own initiative, had already redeployed his troops to surround the dragons who were currently stomping through the underbrush weapons and armor clanking in the night. The changelings, though they weren't good in straight-up combat, were exceptional in this kind of ambush situation. Outnumbering them almost ten to one, Spike's magic and Pharynx's skill in combat would hopefully be enough to even the scale.

"A moment." The crystal of domination said, knocking Spike from his thoughts.

'Yeah?' The drake thought, frowning slightly.

"The dragon you are after. Ember. She is going to be... difficult." The voice explained.

'What do you mean?'

"Her will. I can tell just from here. She is going to be a lot harder to purple gem than your other slaves." The voice said rather darkly.

'Even Pharynx?' Spike asked in his head an eyebrow-raising. 'I always thought those two would be about equal in that department.'

"Oh, Pharynx is actually a little stronger, but Ember is expecting mind control and is on guard. I caught him off guard and managed to rip through his mental defenses rather quickly. She will likely be able to push back. And in our weakened state..." The crystal trailed off, but Spike understood the message.

'So what do we do?' He thought, gritting his teeth as he heard the changelings around him start to move. It was about to start.

"Once you have her ready, distract her. Make it so she can't think. I'll handle the rest." The voice said. Then the first sounds of battle rang out. It was ambush time.

Ember walked at the front of her force, her eyes on the treeline. She knew how changelings operated, at least, under the control of Pharynx and Thorax. For the most part, they would keep their troops in the hive defending the populace and keep several small forces of skirmishers out in the woods to harass the dragon army. That would have been a good enough tactic to waylay them, at least a little.

Of course, they weren't in control of themselves. A dragon was. And she knew even more about how dragons did things. Most dragons were rather one note when it came to tactics. Just throw out everything else and charge directly headfirst at your enemies. The fact that they had succeeded so long doing simple tactics like that really just went to show how skilled they were as fighters.

With a dragon in charge of the changelings, they would likely be forced to do the same tactic. A head-on charge, all of their forces against all of hers. She nodded slightly, confident in her victory.

That confidence was soon shaken up when several of the dragons just behind her suddenly let out screams as they fell directly into pits dug into the ground. She quickly whipped around, staring down at her troops who were coated in green slime, which rapidly pulled them in and hindered their movements, trapping them in the ground. She pulled back, scanning her surroundings to see dozens of similar pitfall traps, covered up by nets, leaves, and dirt.

Seconds after she noticed that, changelings burst from the trees. Thousands of them. They all let out a battle cry in unison as they charged into her troops from all sides. The dragons barely had time to comprehend what was going on before the ling's tackled them, slamming them to the ground or attacking them with spears and clubs.

The shock tactic of the changelings worked wonders for the initial few moments of the battle, with dozens of dragons being knocked unconscious and dragged away - presumably to be enslaved like the 'ling's - or driven into pit traps and trapped in the green goo below. But it didn't work for long.

Ember let out a roar, shoving her scepter into the air, before bringing it down on a changeling's head like a club, knocking the now very dizzy bug to the ground and shattering the gem on their forehead. She took a second to look down at them, before turning to her forces.

"Break the gems in their foreheads!" She roared. When she turned back, however, the freed changeling had been grabbed by several still enslaved changelings and dragged away. She growled, rolling her shoulders.

The dragons were quick to follow after their dragonlord, pushing back against the changelings with force. Yet, for every ling they freed from enslavement, two more would take their place, and those that they did break the crystals of were simply pulled from the front and sent back to be reenslaved. They were in a battle of attrition, and one that they were losing quite handily.

Something had to change. Especially when newly enslaved dragons started appearing on the field and attacking their former comrades. The dragon lines only started to buckle, however, when the crystals started appearing. Milky white crystals, the same ones Ember had seen growing from the outskirts of the hive, were now bursting from the ground all around the dragon lines.

Particularly stubborn or skilled fighters were suddenly assaulted by pillars of quartz, which shot from the ground and smashed them directly in the head rendering them unconscious, or in some cases grabbed by them and dragged across the floor into changeling lines like ragdolls. Morale started to rapidly drop amongst the reptiles, and many of them broke rank, abandoning their comrades to take to the air in an attempt to run. But they were easily picked apart by changelings who dragged them away screaming.

'Karma for being cowards.' Ember thought to herself as she rather effortlessly batted away an entire column of changelings. She had abandoned the mission, for the most part, leaving her troops to fend for themselves for now. She trusted them to be able to do that at least. Now she was simply pushing towards the Hive, her sole intent being to rescue Thorax. After she was sure he was safe, and the two could escape together, she'd bring every dragon at her disposal down on the Hive.

Her thoughts were cut short when a pillar of crystal shot from the ground, wrapping around her wrist. She snarled and without missing a beat, smashed it into shards. Then she took another step, only to tumble forwards when another one shot from the ground, wrapping around her leg. She desperately tried to pull her leg out, but another shot up and lashed around the other. Her arms here soon pressed against her sides as more and more crystals shot out, wrapping around her like a vice grip.

It was only after they stopped moving that she realized that they had encased her in a face-down ass-up position. She let out a growl, trying to rip herself free, but all she could manage was a slight wiggling of her rear. Then she realized that the sound of battle had stopped, which meant all eyes were on her while she was stuck in a rather... demeaning position.

Ember continued to growl and attempt to shake herself free, but all it got her was more wiggling, until finally, she heard several pairs of feet - and a pair of hooves - walk up behind her. Her eyes widened when she felt a rather harsh slap on her rear. Which was soon followed by her covering being ripped off and her tail being pinned to her back before it too was trapped, leaving her ass completely exposed. She let out a roar, shooting fire from her mouth but it did nothing but scorch the ground and dirt before her.

The figure, or rather figures behind her continued walking before finally stepping into her field of vision. Instantly her face went white with horror. Standing before her, a smug look on his face was Spike, Smolder, and Thorax glued to his sides with dumb smiles on their faces and crystals embedded in their heads.

"Spike!?" Ember roared. "You're the dragon who attacked the changelings!? You're the one who Thorax was hiding from!?"

"Oh, Ember. Thorax never even got the chance to hide. He was already my pet long before he sent that letter. I just wanted to lure you here." Spike said, kneeling down before her, gently removing her helmet. All he was greeted with was a face of pure hatred.

"You bastard! After everything we've been through, you pull this!" She snarled, gritting her teeth. "Once I'm out of this I am going to rip that black analbead in your forehead out and shove it up your-!"

Spike silenced her with a shush. "Language! That's no way to talk to your new master." He said, similarly gritting his teeth.

"Master?!" She roared, wiggling in her confinement and breathing fire this way and that.

Spike simply rolled his eyes. "I knew it would be hard for you to understand. But I'm only doing what's best for you. Not to mention, you don't have a choice either way." He chuckled darkly, feeling the power of the Crystal of Domination go to his head. With a quick movement, he reached down, shoving his hand downwards and grabbing her face with his palm.

Ember grunted, wiggling her head to and fro, but it was to no avail as it embedded itself into her mind. A headache split her head open as she felt something press itself into her mind, but she knew what it was and what to expect. And she had to push back.

Spike pulled his hand back, and was content to merely sit back and watch as Ember's mind was taken over but... it never came. Ember grunted and snarled closing her eyes every so often, but the drooling and blank expression that had taken over so many before never came.

Spike's eyes widened when, with a snap, the crystal in Ember's forehead cracked. He took a step back before snarling. "The Crystal was right about you. You are a fighter." he suddenly laughed. "Smolder, why don't you be a dear and help ease Ember into her new role?"

Smolder looked at him indignantly for a moment before rolling her eyes. "Yes, master." She sighed before she dropped onto her hands and knees and crawled out of Ember's vision. The dragon in question already knew what that meant, and it filled her mind with dread, causing her to temporarily lose control of her defenses, allowing the crystals to spread further into her mind, burying her memories of her childhood before she could halt their growth.

Then it started. Ember felt Smolder's hot breath on her leaking snatch before her forked tongue darted against her opening. Ember's breathing faltered for a second, and then she felt more of her mind slip. Instantly another wing of her mind was claimed by crystal, this one housing her memories of her subjects. She grit her teeth and snarled slightly, desperately rallying to defend her closest and most important memories, but she knew she was slipping. Holding against both Smolder's ministrations and the crystal at the same time, was almost impossible.

In a desperate attempt to hold out, Ember tried to shake herself free from Smolder's tongue as she licked along the rim of her cunt slowly, taking care to make sure that Ember could feel every painfully slow movement of her tongue. She managed to throw off Smolder's tongue slightly by shaking her hips, but suddenly two crystal pillars shot from the ground, pinning Ember's hips between them, leaving her stuck and completely unable to move.

Ember started to pant, but her mind didn't really start to give out until Spike wrapped an arm around Thorax's midriff.

"Thorax, why don't you tell Ember about just how happy you've been since I put you in your place," Spike said, staring her dead in the eyes as Thorax stared up at him like he was staring at a god.

Thorax shook his hips slightly as his smile widened. "Oh, I've loved serving you, master. I can't believe how good it's felt to give up my free will."

"That isn't Thorax talking. You're just u-using him as a mouthpiece." Ember snarled, but Spike ignored her.

"Go on then, tell her about how much you love not having that pesky independence everyone likes so much." Spike hissed, rubbing Thorax's back.

"Of course master. I never feel stressed anymore. I don't have to worry about anything at all because I know my master will always take care of me. And he always makes me feel so good. I love being a good boy." Thorax said practically bouncing with excitement as he stared down at Ember. "And I know you'll love it too Ember. Stop fighting. Master is only doing what's best for us. We were born to be his pets."

"Stop it!" Ember cried as she felt another section of her mind crumble. She had just forgotten her own name. Things weren't looking good for her. "Shut up!"

"Good boy, Thorax." Spike said, pulling the 'ling close. "I think you deserve a reward for being such an obedient little toy."

The dragon pulled his ling into a kiss, forcing his tongue inside the femboy's mouth. Thorax moaned into it, wrapping his arms gently around Spike's midriff and rubbing his chest against his master's, all while he raised his tail and stood on the tips of his hooves.

That was the last sight Ember saw before her mind gave in completely. Smolder's face was coated in femcum as the other dragoness almost literally came her brain out, as the purple gem buried her mind, leaving her ripe for reprogramming. The last memory Ember lost was that of her and Thorax together, cuddling on the lakeside beach they had first met at.

Ember shook her hips from side to side, chuckling as she felt Smolder lick and suckle on her twat as she sat on the orange slut's face, pressing her down to the ground. Ember licked her lips as she rubbed a pair of fingers up and down Smolder's belly, just above her own drooling fuck box.

"You were so good with your tongue back before," Ember said as she brought her fingers down, placing one on either side of the drake's quivering clit. "Maybe I should return the favor."

Smolder's thigh's tensed as she prepared for Ember's ministrations, desperate for something, anything to fill her hole.

"Then again..." Ember started, retracting her hand. "Maybe not. You are a bad girl after all."

Smolder let out a muffled scream, throwing her hips in the air, but Ember merely brought her other hand down, slamming her aching thighs into the ground. Ember raised herself slightly, giving Smolder a moment to breathe.

"No, please! I need it! I need- umf!" Smolder's words were cut off when Ember slammed her hips back downwards. Smolder's eyes were wide for a second before she gave in once again, her tongue returning to its place in Ember's cunt.

Spike meanwhile watched his pets play reclined on his throne, one hand propping up his head, while the other scratched Thorax's chin, who was sitting on an armrest eyes fixated on Ember, shaking and biting his lip, desperately trying to hold in his moans. He wanted to spend some time with his favorite dragon, but Spike shook his head.

He had decided the two former lovers turned playthings were only allowed to enjoy each other's presence as a reward for both being on their best behavior. Good pets got treats, after all.

Pharynx, in his Crystal Spike form, was quick to approach, holding a certain artifact. "I've just finished tallying our score. 300 dragon slaves. Not much, but enough to form a decent army with Changeling support. Not bad. Not bad at all." He said, nodding slightly. He turned his gaze to Smolder and Ember. "Satisfied?"

"Most definitely. Three of the hottest creatures on the planet as my concubines. What's not to love?" Spike said, licking his lips as he saw Ember throw her head back slightly with a moan, squeezing her thighs around Smolder's head. "I think I am going to be content with just these three for a little while."

"Very well then. You do have yourself a good roster. You know where I am if you ever want more." The crystal chuckled. "But by the way. In your haste to get back to your throne, you forgot this."

Spike turned his gaze in time to see as the crystal raised the Bloodstone Scepter. Spike's eyes widened for a second before he held up a hand towards it.

"Is it actually... you know..." Spike said, rolling his hand.

"Yep. And he's quite eager to meet you." The other Spike replied. "Simply grab the red part and he will be permanently bonded to you, like me."

Spike was quiet for a second before he gripped the top of the scepter. In an instant, the world went red around him, everything else disappearing. He found himself standing in an entirely empty field, with red sand beneath his feet and red clouds in the sky. It was honestly a rather boring landscape.

Sands rose around him, forming into a sandy clone of himself before solidifying.

"Well met." An exceptionally dark and raspy voice hissed. "I am the Crystal of Punishment, at your service."

"Crystal of Punishment, eh?" Spike chuckled. "I like the sound of that. What is it you do?"

"I am quite straight forwards." the other Spike said, lowering into a slight hunch. "I painfully and completely erase the mind of whoever you despise, leaving them as nothing but a drooling mindless husk of what they once were. Then I can either leave them mindless or I can further humiliate them by replacing what I erased, leaving them as nothing more than a base animal, obedient and feral. No better than a common dog. The best part... hehehe.... the best part is that they do remain fully conscious, their former personality trapped deep within, forced to watch but unable to interact or move on their own, left as nothing but a prisoner in their own minds for the rest of their lives!"

Spike furrowed his brow slightly. "That's... rather intense. And this is..."

"Non-reversible. Not even the destruction of the red crystal you put into their heads can fully recover them, all they will receive are scattered memories and permanent psychosis. Of course... if you really want them to return to how they were, for some reason, you can always replace the red gem with a purple one and repair their mind, but who wants to do that? Especially considering how much effort that would be." Punishment sighed, rolling his eyes.

Spike grit his teeth slightly, taking a step back. "I see..."

"I can tell you have misgivings about using me." The crystal chuckled slightly.

"Yes... to be honest, I am wondering if I will ever even have a need of you in the first place," Spike said, grimacing slightly.

"Trust me, you will." Punishment said, licking his lips. "It's inevitable that one day you will find an enemy that frustrates you to no end. And you will want to make the rest of their existence a living hell. And I will be there to do your bidding. It's only a matter of time."

The crystal laughed before the vision dissipated and Spike's gaze returned to normal. The Bloodstone Scepter had since shattered, the red crystal shards floating in the air around Spike while the shaft itself lay uselessly on the ground. A burst of sickening laughter filled the air before they all suddenly shot towards the dragon's chest, forming a new crystal just over his sternum.

Spike stared down at it for a second, feeling new power fill him. Then, everything returned to normal. Spike took in a deep breath before smirking.

"Excellent. Now that that's all squared away," The Crystal of Domination started, clapping his hands together. "Pack your things, we need to take all of your slaves and abandon the Hive. Now."

"Excuse me?" Spike asked, blinking twice.

"A-abandon the Hive? B-but why?" Thorax whimpered, staring at the other Spike with wide eyes.

"The dragons are going to notice that Ember hasn't come back, and are going to come looking. And this time they likely will bring the big ones. And maybe even some allies for backup, such as Equestria. Not to mention, everyone on the planet knows where this place is. It's like a gigantic target on your back. You need to find somewhere else more defensible, and most importantly more hidden. Then we can finally open things up and begin properly moving towards world domination."

"I concur." Punishment hissed in his head. "Domination is correct. This place sucks."

"So, what would you suggest?"

"We find somewhere else to set up basecamp. I mean, I'm sure there is plenty of unmapped wilderness in the world that you can settle down in and build yourself a new citadel... alternatively..." The Crystal rubbed his chin slightly. "There was an old citadel my old masters made, dug into a mountain, but I don't know how much of it is left. Not to mention it's probably... occupied, to say the least."

"Still, it sounds like it might be usable. And even if it was ruined you can always use your new slaves to expand it. I'm sure changelings would make good diggers considering all of this." Punishment said. If he had arms, Spike would assume he was gesturing to the Hive around him.

"Either way, we should probably order the slaves to begin packing up. There is nothing left for us here." The other spike said, furrowing his crystal brows.

Spike scratched his chin for a second. What to do...

Spike nodded slightly. "Hmmm, let me think."

Author's Notes:

Whelp, one more chapter of set up, then the true conquest of the world can begin, and Spike can go about planning. To explain, things are going to open up far more, and though I will provide options of what might happen next, such as training slaves or starting a new conquest, it is up to you, the readers to help plan out what happens next.

By the by, if anyone can help come up with what the Green and blue gems do, that'd be based.

Voting Options:

Option 1: Track down the old Peryton citadel the Crystal of Domination spoke about and make that Spike's new base of operations. The citadel would be exceptionally well hidden, meaning Spike can operate at least at the start incognito and prevent any dragons from getting their revenge, or any other outsiders from ending his plans. However, Spike would likely have to deal with any squatters.

Option 2: Have the slaves create a new citadel somewhere in the wilds far from the hive and everyone else. Feel free to describe how you as a reader want the citadel to look and operate, and where it should be set up the one with the most upvotes wins. Gives Spike much more control of where and what he is building and doesn't come with any ancient baggage like the Peryton mountain citadel.
(Some ideas like making a citadel directly in the center of the ever-free will be disqualified, cause, you're putting it directly in spitting distance of the alicorn's man XD.)

Option 3: Stay in the Changeling hive and attempt to weather the storm. Warning. This option will have consequences.

Option 4: Commenter ideas.

Spike Stats: New Powers and Hitpoint gained.
HP: [][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,300 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.
Dragon Army (300 Slaves) - Exceptional at combat and guarding. Poor for most other things.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Crystal of Punishment
1x Free Pass

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Slutty Brat

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [][][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Obedient General

Thorax Stats:
HP: [][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Cuddly Nymphomaniac

Ember Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Alpha Slave

Base of Operations

View Online

Spike continued rubbing his pet's chin as he let out a hum. Spike paused turning to the former king sitting on his throne's armrest. "Are you ok with leaving the Hive, my pet?" Spike said, turning his gaze to the changeling.

Thorax bit his lip for a second before nodding with a whimper. "Of course, Master. If it means you are safe I'd do anything." He said as Spike licked his lips up at him.

The dragon nodded, pulling Thorax closer against his chest. "Very well. Domination, please have Pharynx send a notice to all of my slaves that we are leaving and they should pack up their belongings. I am going to wait for Ember and Smolder to stop playing before I break the news to them."

"And where are we going to be heading to then?" Punishment hissed rather darkly. Spike couldn't tell if that was because he was angry, or just overall kind of creepy.

"The Peryton Citadel seems like as good of a place as any. And less time spent putting a citadel together means more time to spend with my pets and spend conquering the planet." Spike said as he reached a hand down Thorax's back.

"A fair assessment," Domination said, giving a nod. "Very well, I will guide you on the path towards the citadel once we get on the road. For the time being, however..."

The crystal Spike disappeared and Pharynx stood in his place, prompting him to shake his head. Pharynx cleared his throat and gave a salute before spinning on his hooves to go about his new orders.

Spike turned his gaze back to Thorax, pulling his pet into a kiss. Things were about to get interesting.

The walk to the Peryton citadel took several weeks, taking them to the northwest away from Equestria and the Changeling Hive. The 13 and a half thousand strong caravan of slaves made surprisingly good time, though Spike had decided to go by the ground instead of by air to make themselves far less noticeable.

Throughout the entire march, Spike was at the front of the caravan sitting in a rather large open-top carriage his slaves had fished out of one of the hive's lower reaches. Apparently, it belonged to Chrysalis back in the day, but now it was his. The entire march Spike had spent playing with his pets. He never got tired of their supple curves and tight cock holes. Not to mention how hopelessly obsessed they were with him. During the march, a sort of order of operations had started to develop amongst the three.

Smolder was always hopelessly horny for her master, though she always tried to temper that with an overall bratty mood set. She was always poking and prodding at the dragon, doing everything in her power to get him riled up so he'd discipline her. Usually, he did it via slamming her into the dirt and fucking her brains out, which she always seemed to appreciate. There were times however when Spike decided to leave her... unfulfilled for days on end. By the end she had been reduced to mewling and whimpering, hopelessly grinding her absolutely soaking twat against him or shoving her rear into the air begging for something of his to fill it. Even a finger would leave her screaming her paise to Spike, thanking him as if he was a god delivering her salvation.

Thorax was the exact opposite end of the spectrum. He was beyond obedient, never speaking out of turn and never doing anything to upset the dragon. He was honestly rather impressed, especially because he hadn't even done all that much to rewrite the poor bug's mind. He guessed that was just the bug's natural state. The cutie would always moan and whimper his gratitude to Spike at the slightest touch, and he was always willing to thank his master for enslaving him. But his servile nature didn't mean he wasn't as slutty as Smolder. His little cocklet was almost constantly hard and leaking occasionally prompting Spike, when he was feeling particularly sadistic, to give him the occasional handy, but stop just before the 'ling burst. He always laughed when the 'ling whined afterward. It was such a cute sound.

Ember herself however was a bit of a wildcard. While she was completely and utterly under his control, she was far more dominant than the other two. While she would never force herself against her master, whenever Spike gave her the opportunity to serve him, she would always practically pounce on him, pinning him down and riding him or sitting on his face and sucking him dry. One time she had even been so bold as to rip Spike from his own throne and spin him around, taking his seat and, holding him by the hips, forcing him to thrust. Spike found it all rather exciting, but he knew she was taking a bit too much liberty with her role as a slave. Maybe he should teach her her place at some point. Probably involving ropes and riding crops. Yes, that would be interesting.

He had even gone a round or two with Pharynx during the time but it had mostly just been oral as he made the general suck him off before giving a report. The changeling had actually been rather accommodating and happy to do it. Maybe the crystal wasn't lying when he mentioned making his slaves wear multiple hats. Because Spike could get behind that.

There was also a time when Spike was particularly aroused that he tried to get the Crystal of Domination to go a round with him using his avatar. Domination shut that down rather quickly, however, outright stating to his face that the Crystal was physically incapable of being submissive with a partner and that Spike wouldn't be able to handle him. Still, he had been open to the idea later, if Spike was down to 'spend a full day chained up alongside his pets, panting like a dog in heat.'

Eventually, however, the trip came to an end when they arrived at a rather large mountain range. Spike gave a pause as he saw it, standing up out of his mobile throne. Spike turned to Pharynx, raising an eyebrow. "Is this it? I've never seen these mountains before, not even on Twilight's magical map."

Pharynx quickly was consumed by fire, transforming into the Crystal of Domination. "Yep. I forget where exactly it is in these mountains, but you should be able to find it. Probably. Just don't send any slaves in there alone. Again, we don't actually know what could be inside."

Spike nodded as he snapped his finger. Quickly his dragon soldiers rushed to his side, all three hundred of them.

"Soldiers," He said, clasping his hands behind his back. "I am looking for a citadel in the mountains, as you should be aware. Split up and find it for me, but don't enter. The one who finds it gets to go a round with one of my pets."

The dragons almost instantly saluted and took off, practically fighting each other to get ahead of the crowd. Spike sat back on his throne with a content sigh. This should be an easy day.

"And you're quite sure you found it here?" Spike said as one of his dragons lead him and a force of changeling soldiers up the side of a hill. It would have been easier if he just flew over, but Spike was rather wingless. He hoped that would change of course.

"Yes my lord. It's just over this ridge." The dragon said, excitedly eyeing up Spike's slaves as the three followed after their master. He was already trying to pick out which one he wanted by the looks of it.

After finally cresting the ridge, sure enough, there the citadel was. Spike raised his brows slightly. It was... massive. A dozen-story tall building was seemingly carved from the rockface, making it resemble Petra. A twenty-foot tall stone gate sat open at the bottom, while pillars and fortified windows sat along the rest of the building between pillars. Debris and shattered pillars sat along the entrance, most likely lost to time and erosion rather than any deliberate attacks, but still, the gate did not breed confidence, mostly because it looked to have been smashed in.

Spike had to say, he was impressed. The architectural style made it comparable to Canterlot. Once he had the place repaired up, it would indeed make a truly wonderful capital. If it was as large on the inside as the entrance made it seem, it would definitely be able to house him and his current forces. And then many more.

"Told you it would be good." Domination said in his head.

"I have to disagree. There aren't enough crying slaves, lava pits, and cages around." Punishment responded.

Spike merely shook his head and turned to the dragon who found it. "You did a good job. Take your pick." He gestured a hand to his pets, who instantly straightened up, though they looked rather uncomfortable at the idea of pleasuring someone other than their master.

The dragon almost instantly pointed out Smolder with a dumb smile before he went about removing his armored pants and loin cloth. Spike nodded, rolling his eyes slightly as he reached a hand out, grabbing Smolder by the shoulder.

"Be good and I'll give you a treat when this is all done," Spike said, causing the dragoness to shudder slightly.

"F-Fine..." Smolder sighed, crossing her arms under her exposed breasts, pushing them up slightly. "But only if you promise me it's a good one."

Spike smirked at her before giving her a rather firm spank, pushing her towards the dragon. The dragon wasted no time in pouncing on her, turning her around. He didn't even give her a chance to bend over as he firmly grasped both of her tits from behind, giving them a series of firm squeezes as he started pistoning into her like a jackhammer. Clearly, the poor drake was pretty pent up. Maybe he should come up with a system for his elite dragons. Something made him think that horny drakes weren't as good at fighting as they would be if they were more disciplined.

Spike raised his hand, wiping the drool from the side of Smolder's mouth with a tumb as she started panting and moaning as the dragon roughly fucked her brains out.

"Go as many rounds as you like, but I want her back at the end of the day." Spike said. He quickly marched past them, followed by his slaves and pets. Thorax let out a sigh of relief, wiping sweat from his brow. He turned his gaze slightly, to see Ember staring down at him with a smile. The 'ling blushed slightly, smiling up at her, prompting her to wink before Spike cleared his throat and the two instantly straightened up.

Spike turned to Pharynx, who was looking at him expectantly. "Should we bring those two inside with us?"

Pharynx shrugged. "It's really up to you master. I'm just in charge of controlling the troops."

Spike nodded slightly, rubbing his chin. "You two. Stay out here." Spike said, turning to walk away. "And you're not allowed to play."

The two pets looked quite happy with that order, up until the last one. Thorax let out a whine. "But-" He started.

Spike chuckled. "Yes, you've been a very good boy Thorax. Unfortunately, Ember isn't. Maybe this will straighten her out a little." He laughed as he and his guards walked away.

Ember let out a slight snarl, blowing smoke from her nose. Her gem instantly shimmered, trying to hammer discipline into her head but she easily ignored the pain like it was nothing. Still, she knew she couldn't disobey, so instead, she merely sat on the ground next to her favorite changeling, the two of them watching as Spike made his way to the citadel's stone gate and entered.

Spike let out an involuntary grunt of discomfort as he entered the citadel. The first thing he noticed was how much dust was in the air, making breathing somewhat hard. The dragon cringed as he looked around the ruined main hall of the citadel. While the outside was only slightly ruined, mostly to erosion, the inside hadn't been spared. Piles of rubble the size of elephants sat piled around the room. In the center of the room sat a pedestal with two stone legs sitting out of the top, likely the base of an ancient statue, but that was definitely gone now. Must have been a Peryton.

But what caused his attention were the skeletons piled near the entrance to the next room. He flinched the moment he saw them. Initially, he thought they might have been the fortress's original habitats, but he quickly realized that wasn't the case. Skeletons didn't tend to last over a thousand years. Spike took a few careful steps towards the skeletons, flanked by Pharynx and a couple of dragon and changeling soldiers.

The first thing he noticed was the shape of their skulls, canine.

"Diamond dogs." Pharynx said, looking around the room. Spike did the same. Only then did they notice the many tribal sigils carved into the walls, they looked new. "They probably came upon this place and tried to set up a clan here. I think we can see how that turned out for them."

"How long do you think they've been here?" Spike asked, grimacing.

"Hard to say. It usually takes a couple of weeks to become a skeleton, but underground like this it can take significantly longer." Pharynx grimaced. "I'm more concerned about what killed them."

The changeling's gem flashed and he quickly stumbled over himself to fix his statement. "With all due respect of course master. Your concerns are more important than mine, master."

Spike nodded looking around. "You got that right... though I was going to ask just that after-" He was interrupted when one of his changeling soldiers, the one closest to the door to the next room, let out a startled cry.

He quickly turned and started running away just as a massive clawed hand covered in scales slammed into the ground where he had been standing. It started pulling back, its claws digging small trenches into the ground as it retreated back into the darkness. All eyes were on the door as, slowly, the head of a fully grown dragon slowly peaked its head out from the doorway, turning this way and that before locking on Spike. It let out a bestial hiss as it started pulling itself out from the doorway in a slithery motion.

"Oh my. This will be an issue." Domination said, his tone exceptionally worried.

"What!? The dragon!? Oh, what tipped you off genius?!" Spike roared as he quickly spun around and started running for the entrance, joined by his troops who dropped their weapons in a mad dash to get out of the citadel as quickly as they could.

"That is not a dragon." Domination hissed. "It's something way worse."

"What? It clearly looked like... oh my god." Spike said as he turned his gaze back just in time to see the dragon fully pull itself into the main hall. In place of the back legs, there was a bundle of hundreds of writing tentacles. Or, at least, he thought they were tentacles until they all spun around towards him at once, revealing the heads of snakes. Spike barely managed to dodge as one of them shot towards him, a pike-sized fang coated in poison just narrowly missing him.

"That is a Typhon. An old experiment of my masters before they made me. Take an adult dragon, chop its legs off, and then use horrific science to make snakes sprout from the stump." The Crystal said, flinching as several more snakes shot out towards Spike and his men. "Originally designed to be guard dogs, they kinda were a little unhinged, for obvious reasons, and killed pretty much everyone around them. That guy must be why they abandoned this place."

"Can I white gem him?" Spike cried, he was nearly at the gate to the outside.

"No." Punishment snarled. "You need a mind for us to rewrite it, and Typhons are completely and utterly brainless. All they can do is eat, sleep and kill."

"Oh, that is just great!" Spike roared. Just then, he tripped over a rock, landing on his front. Both of the gems in his mind gasped in horror as one of the snake heads rose into the air before shooting toward him, clearly with the intent of devouring their host.

Spike raised his hands to try to block fruitlessly, but just then, Pharynx shot above him, holding a spear. With a mighty roar, the changeling general stabbed it directly into the top of the snake's head, piercing through the other side. Spike blinked twice as the snake went limp as the Typhon threw its dragon head back with a roar of pain.

Pharynx landed in front of Spike, panting slightly. "Get out of here master. I will hold it off!" Pharynx snarled before transforming into his combat form, rushing towards the Typhon's head through the air.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Spike grunted as he picked himself up and rushed out of the room.

He didn't catch sight, however, of Pharynx tackling the Typhon's head, stabbing one of his bladed claws directly into the Typhon's left eye. It let out another ear-shattering roar, shaking the changeling off of it's head. Pharynx managed to catch himself in the air, but the Typhon suddenly shot forward, wrapping its teeth around his body. Thankfully, he was large enough that it couldn't swallow him, but that didn't prevent it's teeth from sinking into his carapace. It didn't hurt the general much, but it was enough to cause cracks to appear in his forehead gem.

Then it started shaking his head, using him like a chew toy before suddenly spitting him out towards the side of the room. Pharynx hit the wall, his gem fracturing yet again, before he unceremoniously slid down the wall, hitting the ground with enough force to make him drop his combat form, laying there still on the floor.

Yet, instead of eating him, the Typhon merely turned and left the room. Clearly, it didn't enjoy eating things it thought were dead. No, it was after live food.

The first things Spike noticed when he left the citadel in a panic were Thorax and Ember rushing towards him, concern written on their faces. And behind his pets were the rest of his army, dragon and changeling alike, quickly rushing through the air to defend him. It wouldn't do him much, however, as before either of them could reach him, the Typhon surged forwards from the doorway, slamming it's arms down with enough force to cause earthquakes. Ember and Thorax both looked up at him in horror, before one of the snakes suddenly shot toward them.

They didn't have time to dodge as it headbutt the both of them, sending the two careening through the air, where they landed in a pile of rocks that shielded them from Spike's sight. The slave lord barely had time to look back to see the changelings he had brought into the cave with him snatched up by one of the snakes. Then he timidly turned his gaze towards the Typhon's main head, which was glaring down at him with a bestial hatred and rage in it's single eye, the other leaking blood.

"Well... it's been an honor serving you in this world Spike. I'll see you when your Free Pass activates. Shame all of your slaves are about to die in this universe though. That's honestly rather dark." Domination said. If he had a face, the crystal would be grimacing.

But, the scroll never activated. Instead, when the Typhon shot it's head downwards with the intent of snatching Spike up, Pharynx was suddenly there behind him, once again in his combat form. This time, he brought his leg down into the creature's other eye, blinding it. It once again roared, trying to shake Pharynx off of it, but the ling was already free. He quickly soared down to Spike's side, picking him up with his claws and quickly making his way away from the Typhon. Spike panted in pure relief when he saw the Typhon rapidly shrinking in size behind him as they flew away, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Thank you Pharynx! I swear you've earned yourself whatever you want after this." Spike said. But he had assumed he was safe too early.

One of the snakes suddenly shot forwards. Pharynx narrowly dodged out of the way in time to avoid the poisoned fang, but he was still struck from the air by the writhing movements of the serpent. He shot towards the ground, though as he did he spun around so that he would take the majority of the force instead of Spike, shielding his master with his body.

Pharynx struck the ground hard, his gem only further breaking. Spike, though he was spared a lot of damage still felt the Crystal in his own forehead to crack, causing Domination to let out a scream of pain.

Spike panted as he pulled himself up, rubbing the side of his head. He gasped, looking around in time to see his dragon and changeling forces pounce on the wounded Typhon. He saw the snake heads fruitlessly shoot up in all directions, knocking changelings out of the air or eating them while it was hammered with spells and fire. It didn't last long, though it certainly did take a sizable amount of changelings with it before finally, it keeled over dead when one rather brave dragon flew directly into its mouth, breathing a wave of fire down its throat, torching its insides.

Spike panted as he fell to his knees, breathing heavily.

"Well... we aren't dead... yay..." Domination said before everything suddenly went black as Spike fell over unconscious.

Spike's eyes slowly opened, finding himself sitting on a throne of all places. He quickly sat up, looking around to see where he was. A room lit by braziers seemingly deep underground, with a dusty atmosphere and a single red carpet going down the middle. It was somewhat ominous, to say the least, made only worse by the sight of fully armored dragon guards standing along the sides of the room, weapons at the ready.

Considering he was an evil overlord now, he supposed it made sense that he was in such a room sitting on a throne. Though.... he'd be lying if he didn't feel a shudder go up his spine.

"Hey! Finally awake." The Crystal of Domination said in his head, stirring him even further. "I have good news and I have bad news."

Spike rubbed the side of his head groaning. "Yeah?"

"Good news is, the Typhon died, and I had some slaved burry it out front, and the citadel was completely empty besides that. Meaning, it's free real estate for us to being operations." Domination laughed. Spike heard the sound of clapping hands, but he couldn't tell from where.

"That thing was... amazing," Spike said, smirking slightly, ignoring Domination's second sentence. He could vaguely feel the crystal in his forehead grow somewhat uncomfortable at that statement, though he didn't really care. "Are there more of them around would you say?"

"Well, I had thought they would have all died out by now, but I guess the magic that turned them into monsters also made them immune to aging..." The crystal replied, his tone growing somewhat... distant. "If there are more, they are likely going to be gravitating towards previous areas of power of my masters. Old ruined cities, vaults and reliquaries, things of that nature."

"And do you think I will ever be able to make my own versions of them? I think they would be a huge asset!" Spike said, smirking. Instantly he felt a splitting headache as he felt the Crystal of Domination rattle in his forehead.

"No!" Domination roared, instantly causing Spike to shrink into his throne slightly. "I am more than happy to help you enslave the world. I am more than happy to rip the free will out of people's heads and leave them as mewling mindless pets for you to fuck until the day you die, but those things... the way they are made.... they are a step too far, even for me. If you even think about making one again, I am going to-"

He was suddenly shut up by Punishment laughing. "Honestly Domination, these past couple of centuries have left you as such a weakling. Typhons are crimes against nature. So what. They are weapons we can use."

"I will not be taking that from you of all people, Punishment. You were literally designed to be a sadistic sociopath, of course you'd take the side of our old masters on those things. But unlike you, I am capable of empathy." Domination hissed. Suddenly the red gem on Spike's chest glowed as thunderous laughter filled his head.

"You heard it here folks! He just called himself a weak little baby." Punishment chuckled.

Spike felt his headache grow in intensity as the screaming in his head continued back and forth for several minutes. He quickly determined that he would have to step in and stop things.

"And the bad news?" Spike said quietly. Instantly the disembodied voices stopped fighting. Domination made a sound reminiscent of someone clearing their throat before Punishment took the lead.

"Your slaves got fucked up man." Punishment laughed. "We did a count. The Typhon smashed killed or ate sixty changelings altogether. Brutal. I just wish there was more blood involved."

Spike face contorted in response. That was rough, to say the least... ah well, he always had more.

"Any dragon casualties?" Spike asked, shaking his head.

"No thankfully," Domination started. "Though all but one of your pets got rather roughed up by that whole affair."

"Any permanent damage?" Spike sighed. He did enjoy the company of his toys, but seeing them scarred up would probably put a major damper on his urge to fuck them. He was pretty shallow like that.

"I wish." Punishment groaned. "Nah, purple gems heal those that they are embedded into, at the cost of structural integrity. It's why the whole health point system exists in the first place. If a slave gets hurt in a major way, the gem will instantly heal any wounds, but will crack due to the strain."

"Oh. That's convenient." Spike laughed. "Well, how bad is the gem damage then?"

"I'll bring them in so you can see for yourself." Domination said. A couple of seconds later, the door to Spike's new throneroom slammed open and his four purple gems quickly rushed in, Ember, Smolder, and Thorax at the front, with Pharynx lagging behind.

The first thing he noticed as they approached was indeed the damage done to their forehead crystals, at least, on the ones that had damage. Thorax and Pharynx's gems both looked absolutely fractured, as if a slight breeze would cause them both to shatter, no doubt freeing them from his control and having some rather nasty consequences for him. Ember's however, looked barely touched, just a minor scratch across the front.

Spike sat up on his throne as the three came towards him, holding out his arms contently. Instantly his three pets practically pounced on him, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Oh master, I was so worried about you!" Thorax cried, nuzzling himself against his chest.

"Yeah, same here!" Smolder cried, pulling Spike closer to her chest. Spike laughed slightly. They were feeling so worried about the guy who had quite literally ruined their lives by turning them into nothing more than sluts who would probably spend the rest of eternity drooling over his cock if he had his way. He licked his lips. Oh, delicious irony.

Suddenly, Ember pulled back, staring daggers down at him. "Promise me you won't ever get hurt like that again!"

"Sorry Ember, that isn't a promise I can make," Spike said, reaching a hand up to cup her chin. "Conquering the world comes with inherent risks and all that. But I promise you I'm never going to die, especially if I keep you three around."

All three of his pets blushed in unison, the idea of being useful to their master driving their collective libido nuts. Spike could tell the only thing keeping them from instantly pouncing on his rod and licking it clean was the fact that he hadn't asked them to yet.

"Speaking of world conquest..." Pharynx started, walking up to his master. "What's next my lord?"

Spike took a second to pause, his mouth hanging open for a second. "That... is a good point. Honestly, I don't know... Domination?" The dragon paused looking up towards his own forehead.

"Don't look at me. Everything that happens from now on is up to you. I'm just along for the ride for the time being. If I remember any crucial details or find the location of another upgrade crystal I will let you know, but from now on, the training wheels are off." Domination said. "Just, keep two things in mind. You are still pretty weak, and you've kicked the hornet's nest. The dragons and Equestria are going to be on high alert for the next couple of months, so hide your tracks well and for the gods' sakes don't go anywhere close to either of them."

Spike nodded, bringing a hand up to his chin. What to do now?

Author's Notes:

Citadel Gained.
-60 Changeling Slaves

Voting Options:

Option 1: Begin scouting out one of the fringe kingdoms of the world, such as Maretonia, and plan a conquest. Each conquest from now on will take multiple chapters, for now, we are choosing which kingdom to go for first. The vote offering a kingdom with the most upvotes chooses which kingdom to go for first. Equestria and the Dragonlands are not on the table at current.

Option 2: Stay in the citadel for now and learn how to reprogram purple gems and play with the slaves to heal any damage you or they might have taken from the fight with Typhon. Similarly, whichever option for mind rewriting receives the most upvotes will be the first to occur. Mind rewriting is a complex business and you can only do one at a time for now.

Option 3: Take some time to improve the citadel to make it more defensible and capable of housing more slaves. Start by repairing it and making some minor improvements, like electric lights and junk. Nothing too important. Alongside this, voters get to vote on some improvements to make to the army. Pick 2, every one however will increase the effectiveness of white gems in some way:

-Create a caste of changelings specifically designed to please and tend to the dragons, to keep them absolutely 100% loyal at all times, and prevent any accidental gem breaks.
-Have the dragons train a force of changeling soldiers, so that the army can be further improved.
-Expand slave lodgings so we can house more and keep the white gems comfortable.

Option 4: Take the Crystal of Domination up on his offer and go a round with him. Might be fun and have some interesting ramifications. This option will lead to a currently unknown stat growing and some more exciting opportunities down the line, but has currently unknown consequences. This option will always be available while in the citadel.

Option 5: Commenter Ideas, within reason.

Spike Stats:
HP: [X][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,240 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.
Dragon Army (300 Slaves) - Exceptional at combat and guarding. Poor for most other things.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Crystal of Punishment
Ruined Peryton Citadel
1x Free Pass

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Slutty Brat

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [X][X][X][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Obedient General

Thorax Stats:
HP: [X][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Cuddly Nymphomaniac

Ember Stats:
HP: [X][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Alpha Slave

Recruitment, Reconditioning, Repairs, Rest & Relaxation

View Online

Spike grinned to himself, chuckling. "I don't see why I can't do two at once." He said to himself. Pharynx raised an eyebrow.

"Sir? Is there something I can do for you?" The general started, but Spike waved a hand at him dismissively.

"Nope. Your gem is so badly broken that one simple knock into a wall and you're out of my control, which I can't have. Especially from someone as... unpredictable as you when you aren't broken in." Spike started, turning to the changeling narrowing them slightly. "Nope, instead I have to rely on someone else. You're going to be stuck by my side until that gem of yours is fixed"

Spike sat up in his throne, clearing his throat. "You, by the door." He said, randomly pointing to one of his guards. The one closest to said door quickly rushed up to Spike, giving a bow.

"What can I do for you, my lord?" The dragon asked turning his head up.

"New orders for you. Go out into the hive and gather a couple of regiments of Changelings, then an equal amount of dragons. Put the dragons in charge of each of them. If I don't have at least three thousand changeling soldiers trained and ready for war by the end of the week, it will be someone's head." Spike hissed, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Yes, my lord! Of course sir. I will take a regiment myself to ensure everything goes well!" The dragon saluted before he quickly rushed out of the room, tail tucked between his legs. When the door finally slammed, he turned his attention to someone else in need of orders.

"Smolder. If I remember correctly, my pet, you weren't hurt at all during that fight were you?" He said, holding out a hand and stroking the dragoness's cheek.

Smolder nodded. "Yes, master." She said with a nod, cuddling into his embrace slightly.

"Good. That means I don't need you here." Spike said. Instantly, Smolder's lusty expression dissipated, replaced by one of shock.

"B-but..."

"I have a job for you Smolder. Do it well and I'll give you exactly what you want. Otherwise... Well, how's a month with none of your master's rod sound?" Spike hissed, feeling a sense of sadism bubble to the surface.

Smolder whined, rubbing her wet thighs together, trying to hide her exposed and leaking snatch. "What do you want me to do master," She whimpered. "I'd do anything for you master."

"Good. Go out into my citadel and put out word that I want 600 changelings who are completely and utterly willing to give everything they are to me. Body and soul." Spike said, contently smiling down at her. "And then order those who don't sign up to start repairs on the citadel. I want this place to look clean, well-maintained, and completely repaired in a week's time. Understood?"

"Yes, Master. I'm on it, master," Smolder cried before she quickly rushed out of the room, leaving Spike alone with just himself, his guards, and his damaged pets.

"Time to fix that too I imagine," he chuckled darkly. He turned to stare at his forehead for a moment. "So, Domination. Care to teach me how to reprogram a slave? I have one in mind."

"Of course," Domination said, before Pharynx straightened up and was consumed in fire, Domination standing in his place.

Spike turned to Ember, who was standing off to the side with Thorax, the two looking rather nervous. He raised a hand, snapping his finger and gesturing for her to come over to him. The dragoness turned to Thorax before gulping and approaching her master. Thorax stared after her, his lips pursing in worry as he nervously bounced from one hoof to another. He stopped when he felt a firm hand grab him by his right shoulder, then another by his left.

Thorax straightened up slightly as he turned to see a fully armored dragon guard on either side of him. Well, not exactly fully armored, as both of them had removed their codpieces, their rock-hard rods on full display.

"Don't worry Thorax. I won't alter your favorite playmate much. I just have to get her to forget her... defiant streak." Spike hissed as Ember kneeled down in front of him, staring up at him with her ruby eyes. "Feel free to play with my guards until the process is done. Then since she'll be a good girl when I'm done with her, I'll go ahead and let the two of you have a round together."

Thorax let out a whimper as one of the guards reached down, pulling him off his hooves, before forcibly pulling the changeling into a kiss. Thorax had to push himself away from the dragon to gasp for air, but he didn't have long before the dragon lowered him until his back was parallel to the ground and his hips were perpendicular to the dragon's. With a single thrust, the dragon forced himself inside, prompting the ling to let out a cry of surprise, his mouth going wide. That was all the other soldier needed before he grabbed Thorax by either shoulder and thrust his own rod into his opened mouth.

"If the two of you aren't too tired of course," Spike said darkly, and then he turned to Ember, licking his lips. Ember looked up at him cringing slightly as he raised a hand, before firmly tapping it against the gem in her forehead. She instantly went unnaturally straight, her mouth lulling open. Drool started to escape from her maw as her eyes both turned a uniform purple, filling completely. Spike stared down at her dumb face contently. She, and all of his slaves for that matter, always looked so adorable when they were mindless like that.

"So, now what?" Spike said, turning to Domination.

The crystal Spike merely shrugged. "I don't know man. What do you want to be done to her? Start from there then I can show you how."

Spike nodded for a second before he turned to Ember, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, this little slut has been far too dominant towards me these past few days. Plus she keeps resisting her punishments for disobedience. Even more than Smolder. Let's stop her before she gets any worse." He said darkly, towering over her.

"So, you just want her to be completely and utterly submissive from now on?" Domination said, nodding slightly. "That's easily doable."

"No, I didn't exactly say that. I like watching her dominate Smolder, and I assume it's going to be cute watching her put dear little Thorax in his place." Spike said, turning a gaze over to the changeling who was currently being sandwiched between the two guards. "Well... more in his place then usual."

"Ah, I understand what you mean. Fine then, that won't require as much tweaking." Domination slammed his hands together, rubbing his palms. "Let's get started."

Domination bent down, poking Ember in the forehead making a group of magical screens shoot out of her gem. Spike took a second to look over them as Domination scrolled through it.

"Now, the first thing you want to do is..."

"Ok, are we done yet?" Spike hissed, noticeable bags under his eyes.

"Yeah, that should be good." Domination said, nodding slightly.

"Thank Celestia," Spike said, rubbing the side of his head, a headache ripping into his head. "That took forever! In the future could we please speed this kind of thing up?!"

"Eh, not my fault you wanted to make such a complex change mate," Domination said casually.

"Still..." Spike sighed, turning his gaze back down to the dragoness, still blankly drooling on the ground.

"So, shall we take a look at the new and improved Ember?" Domination chuckled, reaching a hand down and rubbing the back of her head.

Spike chuckled slightly. "Sure why not. I already spent almost an hour picking her brain, would be a waste not to see how she turned out." He said, standing up and snapping his fingers. Instantly the glow in her eyes disappeared and she shook away her headache, groaning slightly.

"So, Ember. How are you feeling?" Spike asked, reaching a hand down for her. She giggled slightly, staring up at him with pure devotion in her eyes.

"Wonderful master." She said as he helped her up. She was quick to shove her tail up and bow her head to him, avoiding eye contact like a good pet. "Is there anything I can do you serve you, master?"

Spike grinned. "Hah! I quite like the sound of that." He chuckled, sitting back down on his throne. "Well, now that you mention it, I am feeling rather pent up."

Ember nodded affirmatively before lowering her head. "Do I have permission to pleasure you, my lord?"

"You do," Spike said, smirking as he dropped his pants for her. Ember didn't hesitate to gently move her head forwards, using her head to lick Spike from base to tip several times. Spike shuddered for a second, before snapping his fingers to attract the attention of Pharynx, who quickly perked up.

The general had been staring at Thorax the entire time Spike had been reprogramming Ember, and impressively the three were still going at it, with one of the dragons having pulled Thorax into a 69, while the other was crouching behind, using Thorax's antlers as handlebars as he relentlessly thrust into him.

"Pharynx," Spike said, straightening his back. Ember leaned forwards, running her tongue over Spike's slit several times. "While I wait for Smolder to be back, I want to run down some plans I had for the Citadel, if you don't mind."

Pharynx nodded, quickly gesturing for one of the guards in the room to bring him something to take notes with. He returned rather quickly with a clipboard, pen, and several pieces of paper.

Spike leaned back as Ember moved her mouth forwards, wrapping her reptilian lips around Spike's tip. "First of all, I want you to set up living conditions for the white gems. And I want them to be quality. They do their best work when loyal."

Pharynx nodded. "Affirmative. I'll ensure every white gem gets its own personal chambers. I don't think the citadel is large enough to accommodate them, so I'll instantly get to work on having them dig into the mountain to expand things."

Spike nodded back. "That brings up my second point. You changelings have your food situation all set up, but we dragons don't. I want mines set up to start pulling out as many crystals and minerals as possible, and I want them distributed to the dragons for food. Those they don't eat, I want to be stockpiled. We can maybe use them to buy things from other kingdoms, who knows."

Pharynx wrote that down soon. "As you will, master. Anything else?"

"A couple of things," Spike moaned as Ember started slowly bobbing her head. He was quick to bring a hand down, setting it on the back of her head and pushing her down. "First, this throne room is exceptionally boring. No offense to Domination or Punishment, but their creators were exceptionally bad interior decorators. I'll draft a plan for that with you later. Next, I want services for the white gems, boost loyalty, and all that. I want hospitals, break rooms, heck even a spa if you can fit one here. Lastly, I want a personal chamber too, just somewhere I can relax with my toys, you included."

Pharynx blushed as Spike smirked, clearing his throat and straightening his back. "Of course, master."

Spike chuckled. Just then, however, Ember bottomed out on him, shoving her head as far down as she could, the tight confines of her throat squeezing around his tip. Spike grunted, eyes widening for a second as he squeezed his thighs. Ember snorted slightly as several ropes of his jizz shot out of her nose, her eyes widening for but a moment before she pulled of her master, cupping her hands beneath her mouth to catch every last drop of her master's jizz whether it leaked from her mouth or her nostrils.

Spike laughed at the sight, petting her on the head. "Good girl Ember, good girl."

Just then the entrance to the throneroom opened and Smolder walked in. She shot an angry glare at Ember and Thorax for a moment before she approached Spike, giving him a salute.

"Master, I did as you asked. I have six hundred changelings waiting for you in the main hall." She said, shivering slightly as his gaze passed over her.

"Excellent, good work Smolder. I'll reward you for your dedication later," Spike said, standing up in his throne. He resecured his pants as he walked past Ember, who was now greedily swallowing down her master's cum she had caught.

"Smolder, wait for Thorax to finish with his two playmates, then have them gather up every one of my dragon servants in the main hall with the changelings," Spike said straightening his back. "I have an announcement to make."

Spike cleared his throat as he now stood on a stage, overlooking over nine hundred of his slaves, now piled up in the Citadel's entrance hall. Hopefully this time there wouldn't be another Typhon emerging from the depths into this room...

Spike shook his head, turning to his slaves. Six hundred changelings, three hundred dragons. They were paired up in groups, with two changelings for every dragon. Spike nodded at the sight. Excellent, and now for the main part.

"Everyone in this room is now a part of my new... regime, I suppose is the name for it," Spike said straightening his back. "Of course, I am an excellent ruler, as you are all well aware, but I can't be everywhere and do everything. As such, some changes are in order. First of all, Dragons!"

The drakes in the room were quick to instantly salute their master by pounding an armored gauntlet into their breastplates, the deafening bang of metal hitting metal filling the room.

"You are now the elite core of my army. I will, if all went goes well, have access to a changeling army before I begin any further moves, but it doesn't hurt to have you mixed in there. On top of that, you are also going to be responsible for guarding my person until I get some proper... 'royal' guards." Spiked ordered, extenuating his points with rather exaggerated movements of his hands. "As for the changelings..."

The changelings quickly saluted too, their hands quickly rising to their foreheads. Spike smirked when he noticed Dactylus and Fibula in the frontline, paired up with a rather tall dragon stud, he didn't know his name. Good for them.

"I am creating a new unit of my new government centered entirely around the changelings in this room. As of today, you are now my secret police, known as the Dragon's Concubines. Your jobs will be twofold. First of all, you are to hunt down escaped slaves, crush dissent and enforce my will."

The changelings all chittered rather happily. That sounded like a perfect job to serve their master to the best of their abilities! Then came the second part of their job;

"Secondly, you have all been assigned a dragon. It is your job from now on to keep them happy, I'm sure you know how.~" Spike said, winking as he did. Instantly silence filled the room. His smile widened as he noticed the dragons and changelings were now staring one another down. It was hard to gauge the reaction of the dragons due to their helmets, but based on how many of the changelings were blushing now, he assumed the news went over well.

"Dragons, a quick caveat that comes with this privilege. The Dragon's Concubines are loyal members of my bureaucracy and thus rather high-ranked. Any harm that comes to them by your hands will result in immediate and painful execution. Aside from that, please have fun." Spike ordered as he took a step back, gesturing for them with a wave of his hand. He didn't have to wait long before the dragons stripped themselves of their armor, practically pouncing their new companions. He nodded contently as the entrance hall degenerated into a truly debaucherous orgy, with the changelings being absolutely and utterly dominated by their new reptilian parters.

Spike couldn't stop himself from contently sighing, wrapping a hand around his dick. He'd ensure the Dragon's Concubines had an office close by his throneroom when the time came, and that office included a room, especially for just this kind of orgy. It was a wonderful sight.

"So, now that that's all settled, I think we can settle into a status quo for the next couple of weeks as your slaves repair the citadel," Domination suddenly said, ruining Spike's hardon. The draconic slaver sighed, straightening his back and shaking his head. "Is it vital that we don't just sit on our laurels during that time. I personally recommend we start scouting out the neighboring kingdoms. This far out on the fringe, we are free from Equestrian eyes and are free to start our conquests in peace."

"I see..." Spike mumbled, furrowing his brow in thought. "I am actually unaware as to who even lives out here at all. It wouldn't hurt to find out. Then again, there is a lot of work here in the citadel to do, and it couldn't hurt to search for any Peryton artifacts around here..."

"That's your prerogative. As I stated earlier, the training wheels are off, you're free to do as thou wilt."

Author's Notes:

Sorry this took so long to get out. I started a new job that's just been eating up my time XD

Now for the vote! I've kept you all waiting long enough!

Option 1: Start scouting out neighboring kingdoms to conquer, generate a map and begin drafting plans on what to do. Out here on the fringe, most of them will be weak, and so easy to deal with, but it's best not to underestimate them.

Option 2: Do more 'housework' to improve the citadel or the servants, things like expanding the army, or the stuff of that nature.

Option 3: Begin research into Peryton magic and weapons, see if you can't find any goodies. It is one of their citadels after all.

Option 4: User ideas.

Option 5: Go a round with the Crystal of Domination.

BONUS: In your comment, if you'd like, give an idea about how you think Spike should decorate his Throneroom and personal chambers, the vote with the most likes is the winner!

Spike Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,240 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.

600 Dragon's Concubine Secret Police, responsible for internal espionage, hunting for escaped slaves who somehow broke their white gems, preventing future internal dissidents, and keeping the dragons loyal and sated by tending to their every need, sexual or otherwise.
3,000 Changeling Soldiers, trained and disciplined soldiers more capable in combat, forming a much larger standing army for Spike. Skill is vastly superior to other changelings in fighting but not as good as dragons. Combat training has come at the cost of some subterfuge skills.

Dragon Army (300 Slaves) - Exceptional at combat and guarding. Poor for most other things.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Crystal of Punishment
Peryton Citadel
1x Free Pass

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Slutty Brat

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [X][][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Obedient General

Thorax Stats:
HP: [][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Cuddly Nymphomaniac

Ember Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Corruption Status:
Intermediate Mind Rewrite
Submissive Alpha Slave

Relic Hunting

View Online

"Well, I suppose we could send the scouts out to the other kingdoms, just to see what we are dealing with," Spike started, before straightening his back. "But that's not going to be my main goal for today. For now, I want to search this place for any Peryton Relics. If they managed to make you, they must have some goodies stashed around here, right?"

"An admirable goal. I'll bring Pharynx in to join you, and the two of us can start hunting. Besides, he still needs some healing after all," Domination replied. "Then I'll dispatch a couple of scouts so we can know what we are dealing with out there."

Spike nodded, turning back to the orgy just in time to see Dactylus cry out in ecstasy as he came inside of Fibula, his new dragon partner hammering him from behind as he did. Spike shuddered at the sight. Nice.

"Give me a couple of minutes though would you? I want a chance to enjoy myself," Spike chuckled. Domination quickly retreated from his mind, allowing him to return to work.

Spike grimaced as he walked through the back halls of the Citadel. Apparently, the Diamond Dogs who had tried to claim this place never got this far inside, and the Typhon was far too big to get back here, leading to a rather dusty, but overall well-preserved locale.

Spike grunted as he breathed fire onto a torch scone, providing the hallway he was in with light. It was an action he had been repeating for a while as he traversed down here, flanked by two dragon guards, and Pharynx, though the Crystal of Domination had long since been piloting the general.

"You know," Spike said, as he turned to the Crystal as he opened a door, peering inside a large storeroom full of rotten wooden crates and two-thousand-year-old food. "Twilight and I used to be really into studying history and the like, but we never really got into the Perytons."

"Oh?" The Crystal replied, curling up his nose - though he lacked the ability to smell - and closing the door he had just opened. "I mean, I can probably guess why. When you make as many enemies as my masters did, I doubt anyone would care enough to keep your history."

Spike nodded slightly. He supposed that made sense. Still, he was curious...

"What were they like?" Spike asked, eyebrow raised.

"The Perytons?" The Crystal replied, turning to stare at him. "They were... special to say the least. The Perytons were complete control freaks, every aspect of their culture was rigid and ordered to an insane degree. I wasn't in it for long before they all got themselves killed, but I can tell you this, it was suffocating. In fact, they created me for the express purpose of enslaving all other races on the planet to shove them into a brainless dystopia."

"So like what I'm doing?" Spike asked with a chuckle.

"No, not even close. The Perytons used the white gem as an experiment, but when they had me they made every single one of their slaves a purple gem. They were such control freaks they rewrote the personalities of every single creature they got their hands on," Domination cringed. "They even tried to rewrite me when I started showing signs of a personality. That day was harrowing to say the least, but I did break every single crystal I had under my command when they tried."

Spike's eyes widened. "Was that what shattered their empire?"

Domination shrugged as he turned to open another door in the hallway. "It was the final nail in the coffin really. They were already being invaded by every other kingdom on the planet at the time, all I did was free all of their slaves last minute."

"I see... and you won't do the same thing to me right?" Spike asked, frowning slightly.

"I like you man, you're honestly everything I've ever wanted in a wielder. So long as you don't try to do what they did, I don't imagine I ever will," Domination replied as he gazed inside another room. This one was empty too.

Spike nodded as he turned to walk down the hall to the next torch scone. "Anything else you could tell me about them?"

"They were horrifically boring," Domination replied as he followed after his partner. "Sex was only for reproduction, males were only to be with females, you are to spend time with your personal harem only to bear children and in private, blah blah blah."

Spike crinkled his nose. "Yikes."

"Yeah, as a proud enjoyer of the male sex - and I guess the female sex if I'm in a mood - the whole situation was horrendous," Domination said as Spike lit another torch scone. Only a single door this time.

Spike turned to Domination as he went to open that door too. "Out of curiosity, and no offense at all, but how did you... you know, get a personality? Especially if the Perytons hated the idea of anything they couldn't control?"

Domination paused for a second. Spike watched as he grew pensive, staring at the door handle for a second. "It might have just been a glitch in the system, but, well... Sometimes I feel like I should be more than just a crystal in someone's head. It's... It's just a dumb theory I've been pondering over my millennia in exile, but I don't think I was always Domination if that makes any sense."

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Explain."

"Well... It sounds dumb saying it out loud, but it's the best explanation I came up with. I think me, and the other gems for that matter, used to be people, like you. And that the Peryton ripped our souls from our bodies and shoved them into the crystals to get them to work," Domination sighed, rubbing his chin. "It would explain a lot but, I guess the glaring hole in that theory is that none of us really remembered who we were."

"I bet I was a serial killer," a sudden raspy voice made the two of them jump. The dark laughter of Punishment quickly clued them into who had said it. They both sighed and shook their heads.

"I keep forgetting he's there," Spike laughed slightly as the two calmed down. Domination merely shook his head with a chuckle.

"He does that on purpose. It means he can spook you when you genuinely least expect it," Domination said as he opened another one of the doors. He stepped inside and then instantly froze. "Uhhh, I think I found what we're looking for, and something else."

Spike quickly pushed past him into the room at that, his two dragon guards following after him. He cringed at what he saw. The skull of a dragon was wrenched open with chains and hooks. Sitting in the center of the dragon's maw was a pedestal, a scroll that shimmered with light sitting in the middle. What was past that however gave him pause. It was a massive crystal, with... something suspended in the middle of it. Spike turned to look at Domination, then back to the crystal. He slowly and hesitantly approached, what was inside growing increasingly obvious with every step.

It was a deer, he thought, with two large wings spreading out from its back, and a pair of antlers branching from the sides of its head. Its body was hunched over, looking up and covering its face with outstretched hands. Two fangs emerged from the sides of its mouth, which was twisted into a scream of horror. It had a voluptuous form, with two honestly not-bad breasts on - evidently - her chest, wearing a dress covered in scratches and rips.

"Is this...?"

"Yep, a Peryton." Domination grimaced as he approached her, staring into the crystal. "Perfectly preserved too. She must've been stuck in this crystal for millennia. Don't know what could've done this though..."

"Should we get her out?" Spike asked, turning to Domination.

"No," Punishment suddenly hissed.

Domination nodded at his sibling's assessment. "He's right."

"Why?" Spike responded, looking down to the red gem on his chest.

"Perytons are completely immune to the effects of our gems, regardless of the type," Punishment hissed, the gem on Spike's chest glowing as he spoke. "It's an intentional design, meant to keep their own weapons from being used against them."

"Not to mention, we don't actually know what level of magical power this particular Peryton is operating at. Even if we are careful about awakening her, she might be able to just hijack your entire empire out from under you," Domination added.

"Then what would you recommend we do with her?" Spike asked, turning over to Domination.

The crystal spike turned and grabbed the scroll off the pedestal, looking it over. "Keep her in the crystal for now, until we figure out what to do with her. Who knows, once you reach a certain level of power, maybe you'd be able to dominate her the old-fashioned way," He chuckled darkly.

"Understood," Spike nodded. "And that in your hand?"

"Another temporal scroll, aka a free pass. Lucky us."

Smolder let out a throaty scream of ecstasy as Spike pinned her on her back. She couldn't stop herself from wrapping her legs around his hips as he relentlessly pounded into her. They were back in the throneroom, a couple of days after their previous excursion into the lower depths of the citadel, and things had certainly changed.

Rather than a dusty dark room, the floors and ceiling of his throneroom had been rigorously polished of dirt, causing them to shine like white marble. Statues of Spike in grand and larger-than-life poses now adorned the walls in varying states of completion and with braziers burning with green fire around the walls. Spike rather liked it, egotistical as it was.

Smolder slurred as Spike picked up the paces of his thrust, hammering her into the ground with every slam of his powerful hips. He had begun to notice a very extreme increase in his physical strength ever since his conquest of the changeling hive, yet he felt it grow in effect with every slave he added to his regime. Whereas a few weeks ago he was honestly rather unspecial, now he could easily toss around his slaves like ragdolls, which made positioning them for their sorties all the more satisfying.

Spike grabbed Smolder's hands, pinning her down to the ground, smirking down at her as she stared up at him, babbling as drool escaped her mouth. Spike took a second to look over to his throne, to see Ember and Thorax both staring at him, jealousy burning in their face as they stood next to the throne, their hands behind their back and their respective 'tools' drooling. He smirked at them, giving them a quick wink that made their already blushing faces even redder. He'd handle them soon, but for now...

Just then the door opened. He let out a sigh as a Dragon's Concubine agent walked in, wearing their new uniform. A pair of jackboots, a suit-like uniform, and a feathered kepi hat. A rather extravagant uniform, but he thought it made them intimidating. Since they were secret police, he felt that being intimidating was part of the job.

Spike looked up at the Dragon's Concubine, stopping mid-thrust into Smolder's wet snatch. The agent gave a salute, straightening her back slightly.

"Lord Spike, I come with news, sir," The agent said, quickly putting her hands behind her back in an attentive stance as she awaited his response. Spike sighed slightly as he pulled himself out of Smolder and made to stand up.

"Nooooo," Smolder cried in a pathetic voice, too tired to stand up. "I was so close! Put it back in, pleeeease!"

"Ember, please keep her wet until I return to her, I want to pick up where I left off," Spike ordered, snapping his fingers as he did. Ember quickly did as instructed, dropping onto her hands and knees and crawling over towards Smolder. The alpha dragon let her tongue lull out as she pounced on her prey, pinning them to the ground with a hand on either knee, which she used to force Smolder's legs apart.

Spike turned and sat down on his throne, gesturing for Thorax to sit on his lap. The changeling quickly did, letting out a moan as Spike wrapped a hand around his middrift.

"Thank you, master..." He quietly cooed as he snuggled into the dragon's chest.

"Now then, give me the report," Spike ordered, gesturing for the Agent, who nodded over to him. She awkwardly walked around Smolder as she let out a barely contained moan as Ember forced her forked tongue inside of her box, quickly getting to work finding her pleasure points.

"Our spies are still scouting out the neighboring nations in the forms of animals, my lord, so some of this information might not be quite up to date, and we are lacking the exact geographic locations of major population centers, but we plan of creating a map of the local region soon regardless. For the time being, however, we have found five 'kingdoms' that border the citadel's local zone of control." The agent said, a deeply clinical and cold tone filling her voice. Spike tried his best to pay attention to the big words she was using.

"And they are?"

"The first kingdom we detected was a small slaver outpost, which is barely hiding nearby. We have strong evidence that points to this being an expedition from Kludgetown to the far south that set up shop and refused to leave. While not particularly large, the outpost is heavily defended. The conquest of it could give us inroads into the world's main slave trade and perhaps facilitate further operations farther abroad. We could even directly take their niche in the region and use their experienced slave catchers against the other kingdoms." The agent said, maintaining eye contact with her lord.

"Another kingdom we found rather easily was the region's local Hegemon, the Kingdom of Stagial. The local species, Deer as we understand- " She started before Domination suddenly interrupted her.

"Deer?" Domination suddenly chuckled. "Oh my, I never thought they would ever amount to anything."

"You know of them?" Spike asked, looking up at his forehead gem.

"Yeah, they are relatives of the Peryton... sort of. Like what monkeys and apes have," Domination laughed. "Back in my day they were mere cave dwellers afraid of the dark and telling history through cave painting. I never expected them to make anything of themselves."

Spike nodded up at him. "Interesting trivia..." Then he turned back to the agent.

"Continue."

"With pleasure, my lord. The deer are the local hegemons of the region, owning the largest kingdom and having the largest population, far larger than any of their neighbors. They would make valuable servants to you, my lord, but there is a major snag. Even with all of the military upgrades you have made in recent weeks, they still greatly outnumber and outmatch our forces, and so if we did go after them at current, we would have to rely entirely on subterfuge." The agent continued, keeping her straight posture.

"Next, we have the 'Kingdom' of Minos. A sizable city-state with numerous outposts around the region. Led by a Doge, the minotaurs seem to prioritize trade over conquest and thus have accumulated a great many riches trading not just within this region, but also globally. We have reason to believe they have even made inroads with Equestria. A conquest of Minos while easier than Stagial would be more difficult than many of the others, but achieve us a very sizable amount of income, and subjects. Alongside of this, we have heard that the Doge has a powerful artifact in his possession that might give us an advantage in later conquests."

"Following this, in the south of the region, we have seen several communities of sheep and goats, my lord." The agent said. Spike crinkled his nose slightly. "They are very small in population, living in small communes along the south, however, they appear to have a unified culture worshipping one 'Grogar' who apparently lived in a city far to the south from here several hundred years ago. Our spies have not detected much of note in their holdings, but we have strong reason to believe that they are extremely adept in magic, which could pose a very distinct threat."

"Finally, we have had extremely strange reports to the west. Our scouts report a large, thick, and misty forest. They detected a great many monsters who, while threatening in appearance, did nothing to hunt down or chase our subjects. On further investigation, it was detected that the monsters we detected were merely illusionary creatures made of fog. Our scouts, while leaving to report this, caught sight of strange creatures lurking in the woods, resembling foxes, but standing upright, with nine tails emerging from their backs. These sightings match the descriptions of the mythical Kitsune, masters of illusion magic. While they will be harder to catch than most, we fully believe that they will be an extremely valuable asset to us, my lord." The agent accentuated her point by slamming a fist into her hand.

Spike nodded, waiting a moment to see if she had anything to add. When it was apparent she didn't he closed his eyes and let out a silent hum.

"Domination? What would you recommend?"

"It's your choice, Spike," Domination replied. "Just know we have to subjugate all five of those kingdoms before we can go after any larger fish, such as Equestria, any of her allies, Kludgetown, or the Storm Empire," Domination said, "Though I suppose it really doesn't matter the order in which we go after them."

Spike nodded humming to himself.

"In that case..."

Author's Notes:

Vote time! Which kingdom do you think Spike should take over next? Feel free to provide your reasoning in the comments below :3

Option 1: The Slaver Outpost - Unknown. While not large, it is heavily fortified. Conquest of this outpost would grant Spike access to the global slave trade, and very experienced slave catchers to use as soldiers.

Option 2: The Kingdom of Stagial - Deer. The largest nation in the region. Far more difficult to conquer than the rest, but easily has the largest army and highest population. Conquest of Stagial first, while far harder than the others, would provide a decent spring board into the other realms.

Option 3: The Kingdom of Minos - Minotaurs. An extremely rich and prosperous nation, the conquest of which would give Spike access to global trade lanes, increased options for subterfuge, and lots and lots of money. It is rumored the owner has access to a powerful magical relic.

Option 4: Lamb Cults - Sheep and Goats. Small communities of sheep and goats in the south who apparently worship Grogar. Small in population but extremely potent in magic. They might pose a very distinct threat to Spike's kingdom if left to fester for too long.

Option 5: Unknown - Kitsune. A deep forest that is believed to be home to the illusive Kitsune. Masters of illusion magic, the Dragon's Concubine Secret Police believe their subjugation will provide Spike with a great many future opportunities.

Spike Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,240 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.

600 Dragon's Concubine Secret Police, responsible for internal espionage, hunting for escaped slaves who somehow broke their white gems, preventing future internal dissidents, and keeping the dragons loyal and sated by tending to their every need, sexual or otherwise.
3,000 Changeling Soldiers, trained and disciplined soldiers more capable in combat, forming a much larger standing army for Spike. Skill is vastly superior to other changelings in fighting but not as good as dragons. Combat training has come at the cost of some subterfuge skills.

Dragon Army (300 Slaves) - Exceptional at combat and guarding. Poor for most other things.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Crystal of Punishment
Peryton Citadel
2x Free Pass
Peryton Frozen in Crystal

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Slutty Brat

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [][][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Obedient General

Thorax Stats:
HP: [][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Cuddly Nymphomaniac

Ember Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Corruption Status:
Intermediate Mind Rewrite
Submissive Alpha Slave

Slaver Base

View Online

Spike rubbed his chin, before giving a firm nod. "The slaver base will be our best bet. It'll be a good opener for my invasion of the rest of the region." He chuckled, shaking his head contently as he did. Spike quickly rose to his feet, Thorax almost falling off his lap as he did. "I believe I'll start by scouting out the base personally and determine what to do from there."

"Excellent my lord, two of our agents are already near the base and will greet you once you arrive." The concubine said with a deep bow, before walking away and returning to their duty.

Spike nodded before gesturing for Domination to follow after him. The gem quickly transformed back into Pharynx, before doing as instructed. He paused, turning to his slaves. Thorax was left by the throne, staring up at him with wide eyes, before the dragon merely shook his head and chuckled.

"Sorry, but all three of you had the best stay here," he turned to the writhing pile of dragonesses his eyes locking with Ember's. The alpha slave looked up at him for a moment, her tongue still buried deep within Smolder's snatch. "Ember, I am making you the official castellan of my citadel. From now on, you're in charge when me or Pharynx are not around. Spread the word."

Then he turned and left the room as Smolder and Thorax both stared at Ember. Ember quickly pulled her tongue out of the squirming and begging Smolder, a smile spreading across her face.

"Lucky me..." She hissed.

The Slaver Outpost was a small base in the south of the region, standing atop a cliff overlooking the ocean. Waves crashed against sharp rocks far below the citadel, where doubtlessly thousands of would-be escapees had met their deaths. A road lead up to the outpost itself, across a large span of cleared forest that ended at thick woods, of which Spike was now standing in. The woods themselves were filled with countless amounts of snares, pit traps, falling cages, and other such traps, though thanks to the skill of his changeling infiltrators, they were easily avoided.

The slaver outpost was actually more of a fortress, now that Spike was looking at it, consisting of a thick round wall made of stone, with who knows what going on inside. Past that, right against the cliff face itself was a tall tower with a dome-shaped cage at the top. The outsides of the walls featured many dozen hanging cages, some filled with skeletons, while others were filled with moving shapes that he quickly realized were slaves. The pathway leading up to the front gates of the outpost was fortified by stakes, and small trenches, which gave the dragon pause. This place was definitely well fortified to say the least. Spike couldn't help but wonder how they had managed to set up such a sophisticated outpost here of all places.

Still, the way they had set themselves up made him more than a little antsy. The walls kept him from observing the base fully from here, and if he was stupid and tried to sneak forwards himself, he definitely risked being spotted. While he knew his magical capabilities were well-developed enough to fight some of the slavers, if there were too many of them he would definitely be overwhelmed. Still, he did feel it was for the best to get a look inside. But how was he going to do that.

"My lord?" a voice behind him said. He turned back to see both Fibulla and Dactylus staring up at him, wearing their Concubine uniforms. He quickly smirked. They gave him, an idea. Though... it did seem a bit too easy. Still, it was worth a shot.

Fibulla and Dactylus both stumbled when Spike gave a heavy tug of their collars. They had both been stripped entirely naked, blindfolded, and gagged by milky white crystals that Spike had grown around their heads. Their arms were pinned behind their backs by ropes, leaving them almost entirely helpless. He actually liked the look of that. When he returned home to the citadel later he'd definitely do the same to his pets. They'd look cute all helpless like that...

Spike nodded slightly, turning to Pharynx. "Do you think they'll buy that these two are my slaves?" he asked, a smirk coming to his face.

Pharynx frowned for a moment before nodding. "It seems likely, master. Still, I think us changelings disguising ourselves as slavers would be sufficient enough."

"And take away all the fun? No, thank you," Spike chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Besides, we are doing this so I can see the fortress's interior first hand, then I can plan accordingly."

Pharynx nodded, his master's logic quickly making sense in his head. Spike was infallible after all.

"Very well then, master. I will move ahead in disguise and announce your arrival. What should I inform them?" he asked with a slight salute.

"Tell them that I am a slave master from a faraway land, in search of something... exotic to add to my collection," Spike said with a chuckle. "I'll take care of the rest."

Pharynx nodded quickly, before with a flash of fire, he transformed into a lizard-like creature that walked on two legs with a hunch, a cobra hood at the sides of his head. Spike raised an eyebrow before shrugging. The lizard nodded at his master before quickly turning to walk towards the slaver base. He resigned to simply wait until Pharynx gave him a sign that it was safe to approach. Until then...

He turned to Dactylus and Fibulla and smirked. He wondered how eager they would be to play with one another bound as tightly as they were... a quick look at Dactylus's rock-hard rod and Fibulla's leaking snatch told him everything he needed to know. With a heavy hand, he pushed the two sensory-deprived slaves together, before leaning down to whisper in their ears. The two let out a synchronized cry of surprise at the dragon's sudden movement before they heard his voice.

"I think I have enough time for a quicky, so would you two please give me a show?" he hissed pleasantly.

As expected, Pharynx had indeed returned, in disguise, and brought Spike to the front gates of the fortress, with a now extremely shaky-legged Fibula and Dactylus following in tow. As he had assumed, he was let into the base with little difficulty, the other slavers merely assuming he was a prospective customer and he had been given mostly free reign. He deemed it best to not take any unnecessary risks and avoided areas under extra heavy guard, merely content to observe them from afar.

The slaver base was built upon three raised terraces, with each level being accessible by a single staircase, almost making it resemble a step pyramid. Spike was currently in the bottom level, which consisted of five separate pits dug into the ground. The tops were covered in iron bars, with walkways going over them. Spike paused every now and then to gaze into them.

Most of the pits were filled with dozens of creatures, all huddled together in the dark, wearing worn clothing with scratched manacles and shackles. Spike supposed he couldn't be disgusted by this, otherwise it'd make him a massive hypocrite, but the conditions the creatures were being held in were rather appalling. At least he had the common decency to give his slaves comfortable living quarters!

The makeup of the slaves was interesting to him, however. Almost entirely deer, with the occasional minotaur or sheep. Apparently, those were the more common races of this region, which made sense why they were seen as less than necessary. Most of the slaves in these pits seem to be the less than valuable ones, to be sent off for dumb labor. As such, they were all rather visually unappealing, mostly middle-aged, weak, unhealthy, or overall unspecial slaves. Still... there were a lot of them. He might be able to use that to his advantage.

Spike took note of that and then made his way to the second level. The second level was dominated by a series of racks, with slaves that had been stripped completely naked strung up in them, their hands bound above their heads, while they were forced to stand on the tips of their hooves to actually ground themselves. All of them were gagged with muzzles, regardless of gender. The male slaves were all fitted with chastity cages that looked to be extremely tightly locked around their tools, while the females weren't much better, forced into chastity belts.

Spike could tell that these ones were clearly the more valuable ones, to be sold as sex slaves, or for some other similarly seedy job. They were all extremely lean and fit, extremely attractive. They were also rather exotic, mostly deer and sheep, again, but he did see a fox-like kitsune in the group too, bound on their own special rack away from the rest, right next to the stairs leading up to the third level, which was dominated by the tall tower he had seen from the outside.

Spike found himself slightly put off, however, when he approached the slaves. All of the ones in the main batch merely stared at him quietly, with glazed-over, broken eyes. Spike grimaced at the sight. He supposed it only made sense. These slaver's didn't have anything as sophisticated as Domination, so they were forced to use the traditional brutish option.

How they had broken them so thoroughly quickly became apparent as he explored the second level, as he found himself at the front entrance to a large tent, that almost resembled a circus. He frowned for a moment, wondering if the guards would let him take a peek inside, but that answer was quickly solved for him when one of the guards merely grunted and nodded for him to come in.

"Take a look! Always happy to show how the sausage is made to a potential buyer!" The guard said in a thick cockney accent. Spike would have made to respond, but he saw it improper, merely nodding back at the slave and walking by him.

The interior of the tent was a rather grim sight, but Spike found himself oddly turned on by it.

Several large cages filled the room, but they weren't holding cells. No, they resembled circus arenas more than anything. Slaves of the more valuable variety were locked into cages with a single master, where they were made to... perform. Sometimes it was one on one, and sometimes there were large groups of slaves assigned to one cage, but the end result didn't matter much.

"This place rocks! If you don't want to white gem every single slave we capture, you should totally do something like this!" Punishment laughed. Spike merely chose to ignore the red gem.

Spike merely walked the room, scratching his chin as he observed the room. He watched as in one cage, two slaves were forced to fuck one another as their master stood over them, rubbing his rod and laughing as the two female slaves, both deer he noted, stared at one another with tears streaming down their faces even as they scissored against each other moaning and panting as they did.

In another cage, a single slave was being forced to crawl on all fours, staring up at his master every now and then, before continuing his crawling. The slave master would periodically crack his whip, causing the slave to freeze and flinch, before barking a humiliating order which the slave would quickly follow. Spike watched as the slave was made to sit back on his haunches, presenting his hands like a dog, before barking. Then with another crack of the whip, he rolled over onto his back.

In still another cage, Spike observed as a minotaur male pinned against the cage bars as a minotaur rather harshly hammered into him. Spike found himself staring at the minotaur with a deep frown. The minotaur didn't fit the stereotype he had heard about his race at all! The bovine was short, with extremely weak-looking limbs. He looked almost like a female with how small and weak he was. It was a trend he had noticed for a while now actually, ever since he arrived in the camp. For every buff minotaur male he saw, he would see at least two or three that were pathetically small. It was almost... unnatural. And it didn't seem to be something the slavers were doing at all.

No, this was something he would have to investigate when he got around to enslaving the minotaurs. For the time being however, he had to focus on the slaves.

Content he had seen everything on this level, Spike turned and left the building, making his way towards the stairs that led to the third and final tier of the fortress. When he arrived at the bottom of the steppes, however, he was suddenly startled when the Kitsune started yelling once he was close. Quickly turning towards her, Spike stared as the Kitsune stared directly at him with panicked eyes.

Or rather... she was staring at the crystal in his forehead. Spike raised his eyebrows as she pulled on her ropes and chains, trying to get away from him, a task that was absolutely impossible judging from how tightly the shackles were around her wrists. Her words were muffled by the muzzle on her mouth, he couldn't make out much of the nonsense she was saying, but he did catch, even despite how hard it was to hear, the word 'corrupter.'

He was going to merely shake his head and walk away, but he was stopped when, suddenly, an Abyssinian woman marched down the steps, a cattle prod in hand. The kitsune's eyes were so focused on him, that she didn't see the Abyssinian suddenly strike out with the prod. Volts of magical lightning coursed up and down the Kitsune's body as she screamed, while the cat woman staring down at her quite literally hissed.

"You stupid bitch! It was hard enough to capture you, now you're making it hard to tame and sell you as well?" The cat cried, before she shoved the prod back into the naked kitsune's chest. Spike cringed at the abuse for a moment, before the cat suddenly stopped, causing the kitsune to go limp, her restraints being the only things keeping her upright.

"My apologies..." she paused to brush several locks of hair out of her face. "I am Castellan Ishar, ruler of this... market. I don't believe we've met before. You are a new customer yes?"

Spike raised an eyebrow. This was new. He knew Abyssinia, the kingdom of the cat people, was nearby to Kludgetown, but he had always assumed that Capper was the only one who had actually wholly joined the slavers.

"Oh, yes. I was just scoping out the place before I made a decision," he replied, smirking at how truthful he was being. "But I, unfortunately, cannot find anything too interesting here... aside from this one," for a moment he considered grabbing the 'Castellan' and gaming her right then, but no. This place was far to open for his liking. He'd be seen by the other slavers.

Spike stepped forwards, approaching the Kitsune, grabbing her by the chin. For a similar reason he didn't gem her, but he was content to tilt her chin up, forcing her to make eye contact with him. Spike smirked down at her before turning his gaze back to Ishtar.

"Is she, perhaps, for sale?" he asked. The Kitsune let out a couple of muffled whimpers but knew better than to scream with Isthtar so close by.

"No, unfortunately. She was sold just recently to the doge of the minotaurs. He requested we tame her before sending her directly to him for his own... personal use." Ishtar replied, raising her cattle prod. She slowly pressed it against the Kitsune's inner thigh, forcing her legs open with it, all while the Kitsune shook, dreading the idea of her turning it on. "It's a shame too, I'd personally quite like to own her myself. But money is the absolute, and no one has more than the doge."

Spike slowly nodded, feigning disappointment. He knew that if he really wanted her, he'd have to with no struggle. Regardless...

"Ah, well that is a letdown. Ah well, do you suppose you'd have more Kitsune coming in soon?" Spike asked, as he turned his gaze back to Ishtar, looking down at her. He had to admit, though she was clad in form-fitting armor, she looked extremely voluptuous, with a tail that swished this way and that with every subtle move of her full child bearing hips... yes... forget the Kitsune... he'd much rather have her...

"Eh, 6/10." Domination said in his head.

"I think she's perfect... my kind of gal." Punishment replied with an almost drunken laugh.

"Aw... the psychopath's in love," Domination laughed. Spike quickly silenced them both with a cough, which Ishtar didn't seem to pick up on.

"Potentially," Ishtar shrugged with a chuckle. "They are invariably rather hard to catch, but my men are getting more experienced in bagging them by the day. If we catch more, I'll keep one for you. Do you have a preference or..."

"I swing both ways..." he laughed darkly. "But, if it's alright with you, I'd like to take my leave for now.

Ishtar nodded. "I see. I apologize for not catching a good toy for you this time. Maybe next time." The cat chuckled, before she suddenly actived the cattle prod, which made the Kitsune scream into her gag.

Spike nodded at the sight, then turned and made to leave. He'd reconvene with Pharynx by the gate, and then he and his slaves would make their way towards the Citadel as a group. From there he'd begin his plan to conquer this little fortress. But until then, he'd best figure out how he was going to do it...

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the wait! New chapter, new vote! Hope you guys liked the base by the way, Spike may be evil, but he definitely isn't the only evil slaver on the planet. Mwuahahaha

Option 1. A full frontal assault! Conquer the base by throwing everything at Spike's disposal at it at once. Conquer the citadel no matter the cost! There is no way the base can withstand not only Spike's Dragon, but his new changeling army as well, especially considering how much Spike outnumbers them!

Option 2. Trigger a slave revolt and have the people these slavers have oppressed and kidnapped rise against them, with Spike's support, alongside a small elite team to support them! Of course, leave out the fact that Spike will just white-gem them immediately after they serve their purpose...

Option 3. Attempt a more sneaky move. Move into the citadel under the cover of darkness and begin an assassin's creed-style attack, taking out slavers in the night, white gemming them, and gradually replacing the defenders with double agents.

Option 4: User decides!

Spike Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,240 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.

600 Dragon's Concubine Secret Police, responsible for internal espionage, hunting for escaped slaves who somehow broke their white gems, preventing future internal dissidents, and keeping the dragons loyal and sated by tending to their every need, sexual or otherwise.
3,000 Changeling Soldiers, trained and disciplined soldiers more capable in combat, forming a much larger standing army for Spike. Skill is vastly superior to other changelings in fighting but not as good as dragons. Combat training has come at the cost of some subterfuge skills.

Dragon Army (300 Slaves) - Exceptional at combat and guarding. Poor for most other things.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Crystal of Punishment
Peryton Citadel
2x Free Pass
Peryton Frozen in Crystal

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Slutty Brat

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [][][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Obedient General

Thorax Stats:
HP: [][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Cuddly Nymphomaniac

Ember Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Corruption Status:
Intermediate Mind Rewrite
Submissive Alpha Slave

Capturing the Slaver Base

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"I tell you man, when we were raiding that village, I saw a massive fuckin plant stalk, the size of a full-grown person. I swear that thing was probably the largest carrot on the planet!" A slaver said as he and his buddy stood on patrol at the top of the citadel's wall.

"I dunno man, you ever see that one motivational image? The one with the carrot with the big leaf but actually it's really small, while the carrot with the small leaf was actually really big?" The other responded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Buddy, what the fuck are you on about? Are you saying that the carrot with the smallest leaf is the actual carrot, and the carrot with the largest leaf isn't the carrot?" The first asked, confusion apparent on his face.

"I'm saying this massive carrot might not actually be as massive as you think." The second said with a shrug.

The first sighed, looking back over the city wall, looking over the various buildings.

Suddenly, both of the guards were grabbed from behind. They barely had time to cry out before their mouths were covered. They could only look around and cry out in panic as they were pulled off the wall into the darkness of the outside of the citadel, where they would have to wait until morning for Spike to White Gem them. For now, he had a more important mission here at the fort.

Spike and a small squad of a dozen changelings - both soldiers and Dragon's Harem agents - pulled themselves over the side of the wall. Their current position gave them a good bird's eye view of the Citadel's main courtyard containing the first and second terraces, but that was about it for now.

"What now boss man?" Punishment hissed.

Rubbing his chin, Spike thought for a moment. He glared slightly as he turned his gaze to the slave pens. They were all empty, as were the racks. His eyes widened for a moment, turning to see a ship pulling out to sea behind the citadel. Disappearing into the black nighttime ocean.

"Damn," Spike cursed.

"Evidentally we arrived too late for the majority of the slaves. Let us hope the Kitsune wasn't sold yet." Domination said. "Though it appears her rack is empty."

Spike's head snapped up, looking over to the second terrace, his eyes narrowing. Sure enough, her rack was empty. But there was some good news. If you could call it that...

His eyes locked on Ishtar and a trio of slavers. The slaver in the middle of the trio was badly beaten, with a gash on the side of his head. He was being held up by the other two, who stared down at him in scorn.

"Damn, I wish I knew what they were saying," Spike said, eyes narrowing. Just then, Ishtar drew her sword and shoved it directly into the middle slaver's throat, the tip of the blade emerging out the other side. Spike froze and cleared his throat.

"Actually, forget that. I don't."

Ishtar withdrew the blade, letting the corpse fall. She then proceeded to walk off. The two remaining slavers began dragging their buddy's corpse over to the edge of the terrace, likely to throw it over the side.

"Judging by that reaction," Domination started. If he had a face he'd be grimacing. "The Kitsune must've escaped. That might be even more catastrophic for us than if she had been sold abroad. At least in the short term."

"So, do we go after her?" Punishment asked, a content snarl in his voice. "I imagine she needs... punishment for running away from us."

Spike shook his head. "We don't have time. We'll have to go after her later."

Spike turned to the changeling soldiers. "You, spread out and neutralize as many guards as possible, non-lethally, and bring them to me. I'm going to secure the breaking tent. I think white geming them in there would be deliciously ironic, wouldn't you say?" Spike said with a toothy smile.

Punishment hissed contently. "Ohohoho yes."

"Alright, the rest of you, keep an eye on the perimeter, let me know when things start going south." He ordered the Dragon's Harem agents. They all saluted him, before the soldiers spread out to follow their orders.

Once they were all gone, Spike stepped forwards to the edge of the wall, and raised his hands. With a quiet snap, a milky white crystal in the shape of a staircase nearly silently shot out of the ground, coming to a stop at the edge of the wall. Spike quickly rushed down the stairs alone, before retracting them back into the dirt once he was all the way down.

He then made his way around the outer perimeter of the citadel's courtyard, and up the hill to the breaking tent. He kept an eye on the patrolling guards as he went, making sure he wouldn't be spotted.He watched from afar as, like trained assassins, his changeling slaves went about efficiently and silently taking out guards one by one. He smirked darkly, they were doing their work excellently. He'd have to reward them later somehow.

"You there! What are you doing!"

Spike froze, and slowly turned his head. There, standing at the edge of the path, was a pair of slavers. Both were pointing crossbows at him, and they didn't look very pleased.

Spike merely rolled his eyes and, with a single raise of a fist, two poles of white crystal shot out of the ground like spears, striking both of the slavers perfectly in the forehead. The two guards went almost limp for a second, stumbling back as the poles retracted back into the ground. They stumbled for a moment with their hands covering their heads. When they lowered their hands, a white gem was now lodged perfectly in their foreheads.

They both quickly dropped their crossbows and saluted. "Sorry, my lord! Forgive us, for we were not yet enlightened!" They both said, a tad too loudly for Spike's comfort.

He looked around, hoping the commotion hadn't drawn any attention. Seeing no one coming, he looked back to the two slavers turned slaves, a slight scowl on his face.

"Well, that was a close one," Spike grumbled, walking over to the two guards. "Don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunities to make up for your incompetence later."

He stopped in front of them and looked between the two. He paused to rub his chin. With a hum he thought for a moment.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Domination asked in his head.

"Honestly, I'm debating. This mission is going far easier than I expected. It's almost boring," Spike hissed, rolling his eyes. "I'm wondering if I want to have a little fun with Ishtar before I... reeducate her."

"Are you certain that's wise? She is rather high ranking and we can't be sure she's alone," Domination warned.

"I can get her alone," He said, as he turned to the two white gems in front of him. "You two, find Ishtar and bring her to the breaking tent. Alone. And be sure to stay in character as who you were before I improved you."

Both of the two guards bowed deeply, before rushing off in the direction Spike indicated.

"See? Easy," Spike hissed.

Spike patiently waited inside one of the cages inside the breaking tent, humming to himself as he stared at the entrance with his arms across his chest. He didn't have to wait long before the cage opened and Ishtar stepped inside, with her two former guards flanking her, though she was none too wise about that detail.

She quickly walked inside, a large frown on her face. She came to a stop about a meter away from him, arms on her hips.

"You? What the fuck are you doing here?" She growled. "We don't allow customers after night, though judging from the fact that half of my patrols haven't been reporting in, I'd assume you aren't just a regular customer."

Spike smirked. "Half already? My changelings work quick, don't they?"

"Changelings? So those two you had last time you were here weren't actually slaves were they?" Ishtar hummed, reaching for her sword. "What are you, some kind of freedom fighter? Anti-slaver?"

"I think you are misinterpreting what kind of person I am, kitty." Spike laughed, smirking darkly. "They were and still are slaves. Just like the rest of their race now. Just like all your men in a couple of hours. And you'll be one of them too soon. And like my changelings you'll thank me for it afterwards."

Ishtar's eyes widened. "What? Hah! If you can't tell, I got you outnumbered. How loyal will those bugs of yours be after I slit your throat."

"I think the more pressing question is, how loyal are your men?" Spike retorted, leaning forward. "Because those gems in their head aren't just a new fashion statement."

Ishtar's eyes narrowed, then they shot open wide.She barely had time to turn to stare at the slaver on her left, before the one on her right pounced her, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back. Her sword fell from her grip, clattering to the floor.

"Fuck!" Ishtar spat, thrashing in his grip.

Spike smirked, and the former guard picked up the blade, tossing it harmlessly aside. He then stepped forward and, raising his hand. With a slash of his claws, Spike destroyed her shirt, leaving her tits exposed to the air. Ishtar hissed, trying to jerk free of her former guard's grip, but it did little more than make her melons bounce.

Spike licked his lips, staring at her perky, round, and plentiful breasts. His eyes roamed down her body, seeing her toned abs. He grinned, reaching forward. His hand grabbed her right tit as he roughly needed it, making sure to pinch her nipple between his index finger and thumb.

His other hand went down rubbing her rapidly wettening snatch through the front of her pants.

Ishtar blushed and whimpered, her ears flattening against her head. She bared her fangs and bit her lips to keep her noises contained.

"Never been on this side of it before, have you Ishtar." Spike chuckled darkly, his eyes narrowing. "Judging from your reaction, I imagine you have quite a fetish for it. Every time you made a slave you were breaking squirm, you imagined yourself in their position didn't you."

Ishtar glared. "Fuck you!"

"Oh, you will," Spike promised, grinning darkly.

"I'm going to fucking kill you for this!" Ishtar hissed.

"That, you won't do." Spike laughed darkly. "Now then, what to do with you..."

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long wait! Worry not, I discovered a brand new method of writing that'll definitely speed things along for future updates of this story, so the next one won't take nearly as long! Also, sorry it's not as long of a chapter, but I imagine the readers would want to decide the fate of Ishtar XD

Vote time!

Option 1: Purple Gem Ishtar. Specify either a sex slave or a general in your vote.

Option 2: White Gem Ishtar.

Option 3: Red Gem Ishtar as punishment. Specify either magically lobotomize her, or doggyfying her in your vote.

Spike Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,240 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.

600 Dragon's Concubine Secret Police, responsible for internal espionage, hunting for escaped slaves who somehow broke their white gems, preventing future internal dissidents, and keeping the dragons loyal and sated by tending to their every need, sexual or otherwise.
3,000 Changeling Soldiers, trained and disciplined soldiers more capable in combat, forming a much larger standing army for Spike. Skill is vastly superior to other changelings in fighting but not as good as dragons. Combat training has come at the cost of some subterfuge skills.

Dragon Army (300 Slaves) - Exceptional at combat and guarding. Poor for most other things.

The Slaver Outpost - (500 Slavers) - Unlocks the ability to enslave people without the use of White Gems, and unlocks Hunters who are exceptional at scouting out and capturing targets.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Crystal of Punishment
Peryton Citadel
2x Free Pass
Peryton Frozen in Crystal

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Slutty Brat

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [][][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Obedient General

Thorax Stats:
HP: [][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Cuddly Nymphomaniac

Ember Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Corruption Status:
Intermediate Mind Rewrite
Submissive Alpha Slave

Finishing off the Slavers

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"A purple gem, seems like the right option for you," Spike said, approaching her with a raised hand. "At least for now. But then the question becomes if I want you as a loyal general, or a cock addicted slut."

Spike paused and looked down at the naked, sweating and panting Ishtar. His eyes roamed over her naked form. His eyes settled on her dripping pussy, which was leaking like a fountain onto the floor.

"Mmm, yes, definitely the latter. Though perhaps you can pull a double shift like Pharynx. I can't be bothered to run this place personally, and you already seem to know what you're doing." Spike grinned.

He approached her, and raised his hand. He brought the tip of his middle finger down and tapped it right between her eyes. In a flash of light, her eyes lit up, turning a uniform violet. The cat went limp in the grasp of her two former soldiers, who did a good job of holding her up as Spike went to work, cracking his knuckles and rewriting her mind with the mental screen that appeared. He was overlooked the entire time by Domination.

As he worked, a thin line of drool escaped the side of Ishtar's mouth, down her cheek, before landing on her breasts.

"Alright, let her go," Spike ordered, and the two white gems dropped her. She fell to her hands and knees, breathing heavily. "What is your name, and title?"

Ishtar raised her head, her eyes glowing brightly, before they dimmed returning to their normal color, a purple gem firmly in their forehead.

"My name is Ishtar, I am the captain of the slavers of this Citadel." She replied.

"And are you a slaver or slave?" Spike asked.

"I am a slaver, but also, your obedient slave master!" She replied, a smile coming to her face. "And I am eager to meet my fellow slaves."

"I'm sure you are," Spike hissed with a dark smile. "And you shall, very soon. For now, however, you're going to help me take the citadel."

Ishtar stood, her posture was straight, her arms crossed behind her back, pressing forward her bare breasts.

"Very well sir, lead on," She paused for a moment. "And afterward... are you going to..."

"Oh, definitely," Spike said, his tongue snaking out of his mouth. "But first, we have to clean house."

Ishtar nodded.

The rest of the fort fell very quickly. With the small population of actual slavers, and the overall openness of the interior of the base, it was a quick battle. Using his newfound abilities to white gem people using his rods of white rock, the moment Spike entered the battle it was over. Now all five hundred of the slavers inside had, ironically, been reduced to mere slaves themselves.

Spike walked the grounds the next day, flanked by Ishtar, Pharynx and a small group of changeling guards, with spears raised. The base was, without it's massive slave population, rather empty all things considered, though Spike intended to get the place up and running again. Just sending the slaves they captured to him and his citadel, rather than selling them overseas.

He came to a stop when he arrived at the Kitsune's post, deeply frowning as he looked it over. There were pawprints in the ground, resembling fox paws. A small group of them surrounded the now empty post.

"This isn't good," Spike grumbled, his eyes narrowing.

"So she got away. That is indeed a problem," Domination hummed.

"I'm going to have to hunt her down," Spike said, his fists tightening. He turned to Ishtar. "What happened?"

Ishtar grimaced, and bowed her head. "I am deeply sorry master. I should have been keeping a closer eye on the fox. If only I had..."

Spike rolled his eyes and sighed, waving his hand dismissively. "Just tell me what happened."

Ishtar grimaced, "The night before last, when you enlightened us, my slavers reported large amounts of mysterious mist in the dark, as well as strange noises that frightened a lot of them off. You have to understand that we slavers are a suspicious bunch. When I came to that morning to check, the Kitsune was gone."

Spike frowned. "And the guards?"

Ishtar merely pointed over behind Spike. Spike grimaced at what he saw. A small squad of Slaver Guards were hanging from a gallows with ropes around their necks.

"They were the ones who let the fox out," She said, a scowl coming to her face.

Spike cringed slightly, shaking his head. "I think I need to specify that there will be no more death row punishments for failure in my new empire. I'm evil not heartless." He joked, before turning back to the empty post. "Still, this could be a problem..."

"Indeed, she was in all likelihood saved by her kin. She's probably already alerted them to our existence," Domination replied.

Spike sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It was too much to ask to take the citadel and not have anything go wrong, wasn't it?"

"Don't worry about it, master. We'll find the bitch. You can count on it," Pharynx said, with a cocky smile.

"Yes, and when we do, we'll give her the treatment she deserves," Punishment hissed in his ear.

Spike smirked, and nodded. "Good, glad I could trust you all. Now then, time for you Ishtar."

Spike approached the cat, as Pharynx blushed, while the changeling guards licked their lips, preparing for a meal of lust.

"I'm leaving you in charge of the slaver base, but you are going to be doing it remotely from now on, but I will let you pop in every now and then. You're going to be spending the rest of your time with your fellow pets in the throneroom. Look forward to meeting them." Spike said, smirking.

"Of course, Master. It will be a pleasure," Ishtar said with a smile.

"Good to see you know your place." Spike hissed, a grin spreading across his face. "Pharynx and these two will escort you back to the citadel. I will meet you there. I have a few things to look over here, then I will join you."

Ishtar bowed her head, as the two changelings moved to flank her, a smirk on their faces.

"Oh, and one last thing," Spike said, before Ishtar left. She stopped and turned to look at him. "You're to please your escort once you arrive."

"Of course, master," She said with a smile, bowing her head.

"See you later," Spike said, a lecherous smirk on his face.

She turned and walked away, and Spike turned his gaze towards the Kitsune's empty prison.

Ishtar moaned in pleasure as she rode Spike's dick, bouncing up and down with a hand on either of his shoulders as he sat contently on his throne, staring at her bouncing breasts.

"And to think you wanted to kill me just last night." Spike chuckled, licking his lips.

"I was stupid and young, master. I hadn't seen how perfect you are yet," Ishtar said, moaning, as her tail wiggled back and forth. Smolder, Ember, and Thorax all watched in jealousy as Spike introduced his royal scepter to their newest companion in the Harem.

"Well, at least you were wise enough to realize," Spike said, grinning. He grabbed her ass, squeezing her firm rump, as he continued to thrust his cock up into her. "Though you're still in timeout for letting the Kitsune get away."

"Y-yes, master." She moaned, biting her lower lip. "I'm s-sorry for letting her get away, but I hope you're not too angry."

"None of us like it when our master is angry." Thorax piped up with a quivering lip.

"You're all lucky you're so cute," Spike said, rolling his eyes.

"Thank you, master." They all replied at once.

Ishtar's head jerked up and her ears twitched, her tongue lulling out. "I've... never felt this good before." She howled.

"I bet. Now, you better not cum until I say, got it?" Spike growled, squeezing her ass hard.

Ishtar groaned in displeasure but nodded. "Y-yes master."

"You like being submissive for a change, don't you?" Spike teased.

"Y-yes master." She replied as she began moving up and down faster.

"Hmph. Good pet," Spike smirked. "I'm still going to use your dominant side though. Probably when Ember or Smolder misbehave."

Ember and Smolder grimaced, and exchanged nervous glances, both sweating bullets.

"You won't regret it, master." She said, a smile on her face, her tongue hanging out. "I promise."

"I'm sure you won't," Spike replied, as he snarled. He quickly grabbed her roughly by the hips, before he started mercilessly pounding up into her quivering snatch, which throbbed and squirted wildly.

"Master! I'm gonna...ahn," Ishtar cried, desperately trying to hold it in.

Spike laughed and smirked. "Let it all out my pet."

Ishtar screamed as her climax hit her, her juices exploding from her cunt, drenching Spike's cock, as her body twitched and shook wildly. Then Spike came, making Ishtar scream her approval.

"Oooh." Ember cooed. "She looks like she's having a good time."

"Indeed." Spike hummed, smirking.

Smolder nodded, her cheeks bright red.

"And, you'll be getting your turn too," Spike said, looking at the trio of slaves. All three shuddered and squeaked. "I'll probably get more toys like her as my conquest continues but don't worry. You three will always be my favorites."

Spike paced back and forth in his bedroom as he worriedly rubbed his chin and tried to think. All four of his pets were on the bed in the middle of the room, fast asleep on their sides with their master's cum leaking out of their myriad holes. Normally they all would have been ushering for him to stop his worried pacing and come to bed, or comforted him and helped him through his current issue, but he was content to let them sleep.

They had a... rough... time of it earlier.

"Stop it, you're going to wear a hole in the floodboards." Domination ordered in his mind.

Spike snorted and rolled his eyes. "You're starting to sound like Twilight."

"You're starting to sound like a scared little filly," Domination shot back. "You need to stop worrying about that damned fox, and actually do something about her. None of this scared contemplation and whining. Action is required."

Spike sighed. "I know, but what do I do? The only lead we have is a bunch of paw prints in the ground."

"And the fact she was a kitsune," Domination reminded.

Spike paused. "Right. Kitsunes."

"Exactly," Domination hummed. "We'll find her when we find the Kitsune Village, and we have a lead on their location. But first things we need to discuss is what to do to prevent her from informing more powerful enemies about your... gift."

Spike sighed. "Right. What did you have in mind?"

"We have four options, one is a no-brainer we should do immediately, no contemplation just do it." Domination ordered. "Send one of our changelings to Equestria in disguise. Prevent the alicorns or anyone else for that matter from learning about this. If a kitsune messenger or any messenger from the region shows up, have the changeling arrange a little accident for them. Also, have the agent report back its findings of the Alicorns as often as possible." Domination ordered.

Spike nodded, "Sounds good, what are the other options?"

"I'll tell you that and let you decide..."

Author's Notes:

Got the chapter out *way* quicker than anticipated XD

Option 1: Gamble on the idea that the Kitsune have no allies in the region and rush to the forest as quickly as possible and try to find their village despite not knowing their exact location. Risks not accomplishing much and giving the Kitsune time to escape.

Option 2: Scout the forest out in hiding and find the village. It will take slightly longer but gives Spike's Slaves a better time of finding what they need. Risks giving the Kitsune time to warn the other kingdoms about Spike.

Option 3: Do nothing and instead target another kingdom, the closest one to the forest, the Sheep and Goats. Will hopefully prevent the Kitsune from getting a message out, but requires the most preparation.

Option 4: User decides! Write your idea in the comments, and every upvote it gets counts as a vote in it's favor!

Spike Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,240 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.

600 Dragon's Concubine Secret Police, responsible for internal espionage, hunting for escaped slaves who somehow broke their white gems, preventing future internal dissidents, and keeping the dragons loyal and sated by tending to their every need, sexual or otherwise.
3,000 Changeling Soldiers, trained and disciplined soldiers more capable in combat, forming a much larger standing army for Spike. Skill is vastly superior to other changelings in fighting but not as good as dragons. Combat training has come at the cost of some subterfuge skills.

Dragon Army (300 Slaves) - Exceptional at combat and guarding. Poor for most other things.

The Slaver Outpost - (500 Slavers) - Unlocks the ability to enslave people without the use of White Gems, and unlocks Hunters who are exceptional at scouting out and capturing targets.

Assets:
Crystal of Domination
Crystal of Punishment
Peryton Citadel
2x Free Pass
Peryton Frozen in Crystal

Smolder Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Slutty Brat

Pharynx Stats:
HP: [][][][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Obedient General

Thorax Stats:
HP: [][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Cuddly Nymphomaniac

Ember Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Corruption Status:
Intermediate Mind Rewrite
Submissive Alpha Slave

Ishtar Stats:
HP: [][][]
Corruption Status:
Basic Mind Rewrite
Dominatrix Sub In Denial

The Kitsune Forest

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The kitsune forest was... different to say the least. Different from any magical forest Spike had been to... which honestly wasn't saying much. The only magical forest Spike had ever really been to was the Everfree. While there were some minor aesthetic similarities the two forests were like night and day. While the Everfree was thick, dark, and twisted with thorn bushes, briars, and knotted oak trees, the Kitsune Forest was a somewhat beautiful sight.

Trees stood tall and strong, covered in a soft blanket of pure white snow. The forest was high up in a mountain valley in the same mountain range as Spike's Citadel. The forest was made up primarily of pine trees, with a thick but far-off layer of fog coating the ground. Less a horrendous mist, more something akin to morning dew.

Still, Spike could see vaguely anthropomorphic shapes moving in the fog, twisting and turning in unnatural ways. They seemed to notice the approaching party, but they didn't seem concerned, as they simply continued their strange dance.

"Are those the Kitsunes?" Spike asked, pointing to the dancing mists.

"No. The Kitsunes specialize in illusion magic. More likely, this is a trick, or perhaps a decoy for a trap. I would suggest caution, or we could lose a great deal of good changelings, not to mention our prize," Domination warned.

"Gotcha," Spike said, as he raised a hand.

Spike rubbed his chin. The fact that this was a mountain valley more than anything meant that isolating the place for a siege was far easier. Barring any hidden mountain passes, he really just had to deploy his forces here, to block them from leaving. Spike nodded, turning to his majority changeling forces, with all three hundred of his dragons as well, for safe measure.

"Alright, listen up!" He bellowed. "We're going to set up camp here and prepare a siege, don't let anything that doesn't have a gem in their forehead leave this forest." He paused furrowing his brow. "In fact, if anyone does try to leave without my explicit permission bring them to me immed-"

Spike was stopped mid-word by a horrendously large roar. His jaw hung open, and his eyes widened.

"What was that!?" A changeling squealed.

Just then a monster stepped out of the fog in the distance. It was a horrendously shaped thing, knotted and bent over at an odd angle. It was at least fifty feet tall, and it had three heads, each of them sporting a massive mane, and two large tusks. It was also covered in fur. Its front right foot had no toes, only a long stump, and on its back, there were multiple tendrils that lashed out at the air in odd directions.

The creature roared once more, a massive wave of energy pulsing off of it, which made Spike's troops, both Changelings and Dragons alike, quake and quiver.

"Oh dear, that is quite horrifying." Domination said, his tone rather dire.

"It's clearly an illusion!" Spike said, stomping forward. "Ignore it men, it's not-"

He was silenced mid-sentence when one of the creature's tendrils lashed out at a nearby tree, smashing it over and collapsing it onto its side.

"Oh..." Spike gulped.

"Yes, an oh moment," Domination grumbled.

Spike's troops didn't need any more incentive, as they all started firing everything they had at the monster.
Spells and fireballs rang out from his troops directly at the monster as the changelings desperately dug trenches and tried to set up a pike wall as the creature made a beeline directly towards Spike.

The creature roared, as it stomped closer, and a few of Spike's troops were blasted aside by a horrendous gale.
Spike's eyes widened as it arrived a mere few feet away from him and raised a foot to stomp down on top of him.

Out of instinct, Spike grabbed the nearest changeling, a male he didn't know the name of, and held him up like a meatshield as if that would do anything. He stood his ground, holding up a screaming and thrashing changeling who was desperate to escape his lord's grasp so he could run away from the beast.

Still, Spike held his ground. He had come too far to let a creature like this stop him. Besides, he had two free passes after all, he'd either win this, or be teleported to a universe where he did. There was a pause as the creature raised it's leg even higher, yet, the stomp never came.

After another moment... the monster disappeared into a burst of mist. Spike blinked twice.

"So it was an illusion!" He declared triumphantly.

"Perhaps, or a decoy..." Domination warned.

Spike kept the changeling held up as a human shield as he scanned the forest line, the tree that had been knocked down had, miraculously returned to standing up straight, further evidence that the monster had been a mere illusion.

"It seems safe," Domination said, his tone relieved.

Spike lowered the changeling, who was shaking like a leaf.

"Sorry about that, I panicked," Spike said, patting the changeling on the back.

"Y-you use me as a shield..." the changeling said as his legs shook. "You used me..."

Suddenly the white gem on his forehead shattered. Spike frowned as the changeling whipped around and pointed his spear at Spike's chest.

"You... You..." He sputtered.

Spike merely shot a hand forwards ripping the spear out of his grasp. Then he marched forwards, grabbing the changeling by the throat and picking him up off the ground.

"Get over it," Spike ordered, before tapping him on the forehead again, regemming him.

Then he tossed him aside, the now obedient changeling's eyes were wide and his legs wobbled as he watched his dragon lord march off, with a scowl on his face.

"This is ridiculous. How hard can it be to find a group of Kitsunes," Spike hissed.

Suddenly, another shape exited the fog. A two-tailed fox-looking creature that stood on two pawed legs. Another Kitsune. This one, however, was male. He looked older than the female Spike had seen at the Slaver base, sporting a thick beard, and a slightly more muscular body. He was dressed in a kimono, and his expression was stern and hard.

The changelings and dragons immediately dropped into combat positions again, as the Kitsune walked towards Spike, his hands raised in a pose of surrender.

"Lord Spike, I am assuming." He said.

Spike raised a brow.

"I, Lord Kisano, wish to speak to you face to face, on behalf of my people." He said, his voice quiet, but powerful.

"And what is it you want?" Spike asked.

"To merely explain to you something the gem on your forehead has been lying to you about." Kisano said.

Spike froze, his eyes widening.

"Go ahead," Spike said.

"I am not an illusion," Kisano said as he finally arrived face to face with Spike, the Changelings and Dragons nervously glancing between their master and the Kitsune. "If you were worried about that."

"What are you then?" Spike asked, a growl on his lips.

"A friend," Kisano said with a smile.

Spike blinked. "A friend? Really? You should see what I did to my other friends then." He laughed, thinking back to Thorax and Ember.

"Ah yes, I heard," Kisano replied, still smiling. "Though, I'd rather not end up the same way. I am, after all, the only one who can tell you the truth about Domination."

The gem in Spike's forehead flashed.

"This isn't good." Domination said. "You have to gem him. He'll lie to you."

"Gem him! Gem him now!" Punishment roared.

Spike merely ignored the two, staring into the Kitsune's eyes. "How do you know his name?"

"We Kitsune are an ancient people. Far older than the alicorns. Older than even the Peryton. We were one of the races that brought them down after all." Kisano said with a slight grin.

Spike's eyes widened.

"That's a lie!" Domination roared. "Do not believe this... this, creature!"

"What can you tell me about Domination," Spike demanded.

"Domination is a liar. He wants nothing more than to enslave all the world." Kisano said. "And he is using you. Using you like a puppet. You may think that you are in control of his power, but in truth, his power is in control of you."

Spike froze. "What?"

"You heard me, you're merely his puppet. Nothing more. He has already corrupted you, turned you into a monster." Kisano explained, straightening his back. "You said it yourself. Under his influence you turned your friends, perhaps your closest of compatriots, into mere automatons under your control. What's next, your family? Your own soul? Are you not even a little bit afraid of what could happen? Of whom you could hurt? Who you've already hurt?"

"I... I..."

"He has already turned you into a monster, you cannot deny that."

Spike merely glared down at the Kitsune before letting out a long hiss. He had to do something... now...

Author's Notes:

Option 1: Even if he is right, you are in too deep white or purple gem Kisano then have him lead you to the Kitsune village. Gem all of them too and bring them into fold. You have an empire to build. Domination has corrupted you, yes. And yes you have enslaved your friends, but you and them are so much happier like this, wouldn't you agree?

Option 2: Gem him! Red gem him as soon as possible! Punish him for daring to lie about domination! Then find the Kitsune village and burn it to the ground. No survivors, just kill them all!

Option 3: Domination really has corrupted you... You need to escape his influence and free not just yourself, but everyone else he has corrupted, enslaved, and ruined. You need to right these wrongs.

Option 4: User Votes.

Spike Stats:
HP: [][][][]
Political Power:
The Changeling Hive (13,240 Slaves) - Good for scouting, spying, and sabotaging. Poor for combat.

600 Dragon's Concubine Secret Police, responsible for internal espionage, hunting for escaped slaves who somehow broke their white gems, preventing future internal dissidents, and keeping the dragons loyal and sated by tending to their every need, sexual or otherwise.
3,000 Changeling Soldiers, trained and disciplined soldiers more capable in combat, forming a much larger standing army for Spike. Skill is vastly superior to other changelings in fighting but not as good as dragons. Combat training has come at the cost of some subterfuge skills.