//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Mass Surge 
// Story: The Spread of Darkness 
// by The Grimm Reaper 
//------------------------------//

	Out  in Equestria, the war waged on. Celestia and Luna had once again come to terms with the situation and were now working together to fight for the continued safety of the civilian ponies they were charged with. The two sisters walked briskly through the corridors of their castle, headed to the front gate.
“I can’t believe it’s come to this. I should have told Spike my plan. Perhaps it would have saved us all this turmoil.” Celestia said, shaking her head with regret plastered on her face. Luna nodded.
“Not to mention Mother’s throne.” the dark blue alicorn used her magic to force the large doors that blocked their path open. Guards stood ready to take their positions around the princesses in order to protect them.
“So, what has Twilight’s research into this natural oil the Gryphons possess uncovered?” Celestia asked, changing the subject.
“It’s not much to go on. I believe she was preoccupied with another project at the time, but it appears that the Gryphons developed this immunity after the last war. That is to say they’re not totally immune, but highly resistant. Further studies show that it is only high ranking Gryphons who possess this oil.” Luna replied, levitating a report from the unicorn.
“She makes it sound like Gryphons have developed their own magic.” Celestia commented, taking a deep breath as she entered the carriage that would take them to their next destination. Luna stepped in after her and sat opposite her sister.
“Or they’ve borrowed magic from the dragons.” Luna suggested. This caused Celestia to shudder.
“A dreadful thought. But no, dragons aren’t the type to loan magic to creatures who have no prior experience with it. They might loan it to ponies, but certainly not Gryphons.” Celestia concluded, but Luna didn’t sound very reassured.
“Doesn’t rule out the possibility it was stolen. Immunity is basic dragon magic, take their love of lava for instance, they adapted the immunity for lava into their evolution.” she said. Celestia looked at the dark alicorn with a slightly bemused expression.
“Have you been hanging around those evolutionists again?” Celestia asked. Luna didn’t respond, but simply looked over the notes.
“The elites shouldn’t be a problem for us, but I worry about the king. If his subordinates have this kind of magic protecting them from our own, then he must have something much stronger protecting him. He struck me as the high and mighty type, a bit like Trixie mixed with Chrysalis.” Luna said. Celestia tried to put two and two together.
“A crude, but accurate comparison.” she commented. “You said Twilight was busy with another project. Do you know what it was?” Luna examined her paper for any indication.
“It mentions Spike and resurrection, but nothing else.”
“Spike died? How?” Celestia urged.
“Cadence mentioned in her letter that he…” Luna flicked through the pages, coming across one of her letters from their niece. “I can’t read that, what’s it say?” she revealed the letter to her sister.
“Crapped out? What does that mean?” she asked.
“I believe it means he over exerted himself in some way, causing his body to fail.” Luna replied.
Celestia frowned at the letter. “Shining Armour might be a bad influence when it comes to Cadence’s vernacular.”

Twilight awoke a few hours after her tension relief session with Spike, feeling refreshed and… surprisingly chipper. She saw him sleeping peacefully beside her, his arms wrapped around her in a loose embrace. That made it easy for her to slip out of the bed and sneak out of the room. She’d planned to make him breakfast in bed, since the first time she’d done it since seeing him was a huge cock-up. She closed the door and made her way to the kitchen. With the war still raging on throughout Equestria, Twilight and the others had taken the time to rebuild the necessities of the ancient Castle of the Pony Sisters in the Everfree forest, where they now resided.
The lavender mare was surprised to see all her friends present, including Cadence, Big Mac, Cheerilee and the Cutie Mark crusaders. Her circle of close personal friends had widened since the war. She considered that the silver lining.
Every pony turned to see her enter the room. “Good morning Twilight.” they all said in unison. Twiight smiled, and chuckled nervously as she walked into the kitchen area to prepare breakfast.
“Are you alright, darling? You seem rather… clumsy this morning. Everything alright with Spike?” Rarity asked. Twilight tripped and went head first into a few pots and pans.
“I’m fine! Fine!” she said. Her hindquarters were burning, but she liked it. It proved to her that is wasn’t all a dream. Rarity entered the kitchen and leaned against the entrance.
“Twilight, dear. I do believe you have a certain glow about you. Could it be that our little bookworm has finally… forgive my pun… lost the plot?” Twilight smiled sheepishly and giggled with foolish enthusiasm. Rarity gasped in glee as she found herself correct about her intuition.
“Ooh, give me the details. I want to live vicariously through you when it comes to Spike.” she said. Twilight took a moment to process the statement before shrugging off the last bit as harmless.
“Let’s just say that if I don’t get pregnant, I’m infertile.” she giggled at Rarity afterwards. The white mare wore a look of pride as she flung her hoof over Twilight’s shoulder.
“That’s marvellous, Twilight. I’m so proud of you. What was it like?” Twilight knew Rarity was trying her best to be subtle, but her loins apparently wanted her to rush the job. Twilight indulged her and explained in detail every sensation she got from the experience.
When she’d finished, Rarity was staring at the other unicorn with dopey eyes and one ear lower than the other.
“Whoa…” she said, trailing off as her imagination took her. Twilight lifted a brow.
“I hope you’re not daydreaming about sleeping with my coltfriend.” she threatened. Rarity snapped out of her trance and blushed at the lavender mare.
“So where is he now?” she asked. Twilight giggled once more.
“Asleep. He was a busy boy after all. But it’s funny, he has the most vivid dreams. I remember he told me about this one dream; he was being chased around the library by a large pair of horse shoes.” Rarity laughed as she followed Twilight back to the room with Spike’s breakfast.
The two crept into the room, being careful not to wake the subject of their talk. Twilight placed the food down on the bedside table and smiled at Rarity. To their laughter, Spike awoke with a fidget.
“I’m drownin’ in footwear!” he mumbled as his mind began to work around the reality.
“Weird dream.” he said before noticing the ponies in the room with him. “Rarity, darling! It’s been far too long.” he began, holding out a claw to the mare. Rarity took it happily and shook it.
“Well he’s certainly an improvement on the ass that came back to us. Boy never had an unexpressed thought.” she said to Twilight.
“Actually, I’m having one right now.” he replied. Rarity smiled at him and patted his head.
“Welcome back, Spikey-Wikey.” she said, leaving Twilight alone with him again. There was a moment’s silence between them. Oh Celestia! It’s weird. They thought to themselves.
“Got you some breakfast.” Twilight mentioned, offering him the tray. Spike thanked her and patted the bed next to him. Twilight obliged and leaned into him.
“I suppose you should know, the war’s still ongoing. Both sides are losing numbers, but it’s too many one our side and not enough on theirs.” she said.
“I wasn’t aware that by the end of the war, there had to be an even kill count.” he said sarcastically as he kissed her on the head and took a bite of his breakfast; waffles, his favourite other than gems. Twilight huffed.
“Oh, by the way, how did you figure out how to bring me back?” he asked with a mouth full of waffle. Twilight ignited her horn and a book appeared in a flash. She levitated it over to Spike who took it with interest. His eyes widened.
“Wingblade’s Grimoire?! Twilight, where did you find this? Wingblade was like the dragon’s Starswirl the Bearded.” Spike opened the book and read the first few lines in his head.
“The book was in the castle. He’d hidden it here after the fall of Luna over a thousand years ago.”
“She.” Spike interrupted. Twilight looked at the dragon inquisitorially.
“Pardon?” she asked.
“She; Wingblade was a female.” he replied, flicking through the pages. Twilight watched him with mild amusement as he seemed at peace with himself, even after hearing about the war and its condition.
“Can you understand the language?” she asked, looking at him with great enthusiasm. Spike smiled and looked back at Twilight.
“Let’s find out.” he hopped off of the bed, downed the rest of his breakfast and rushed out the room with Twilight close behind. They ran together through the recently kempt corridors of the ancient palace until they came to a clearing. To their surprise, a Chimera was grazing down below. Spike grinned at the creature as it looked up at them.
“Alright, let’s see how this works… Here! A spell to improve magical intensity; I’m assuming that could be displayed mostly with shielding and attack based spells or possibly allow temporary self-sustainability.” he said. Twilight went over the script as Spike showed her the passage and nodded.
“Looks legitimate. How are we going to test it?” as she spoke, another chimera entered their line of sight. Now with the attention of both chimeras, the couple smiled to each other.
“Daguam!” Spike said. A barrier appeared around the area the chimeras were in, preventing escape. “Okay, now you fire a spell at that one on the left, just enough to graze him.”
Twilight complied with his command, her eyes shifting to the darkened and corrupted appearance that she had recently grown used to in her latest researches. Twilight then pointed her horn towards the chimera on the left and fired a single bolt of dark magic towards it. The bolt struck true and bowled the creature over. Spike then held the Grimoire in his hands and recited the incantation with Twilight in mind.
“Tairais wer arcaniss di nomeno drekim ini asildk.” he commanded. Twilight’s body grew darker and her horn became sharper. She tried the spell again and she almost ended up hitting the other chimera as her attack blast forth in an energy wave with an arc wider than the circumference of the palace’s towers.
As the smoke began to clear, the chimera that was the primary target lay there as a husk of burned flesh and bone. It’s body had been so badly destroyed that it couldn’t even be recognised as a Chimera. Spike smiled as he watched the reactions of the others. Twilight was surprised by her own power, while the remaining Chimera looked at what remained of its fallen comrade with terrified eyes. Spike snapped the book shut and chuckled. He then handed the Grimoire to Twilight who opened it again and searched for another page that could improve upon the dragon’s magic.
“Tairais wer arcaniss di nomeno darastrix ini asildk.” she chanted. Spike grinned as he felt the energy within him surge and flow faster than his own blood. His body ached slightly as he leaned forward and extended both of his hands and opened his maw.
Twilight watched him with fascination clear in her eyes. To her, he was starting to look like a charging Velociraptor. She began to think about how much he had changed over the years. Once a goofy baby dragon with a crush on an unattainable pony, now the love of her life who both scared and excited her more than anything in Equestria. His change forced her to look back on how different she had become.
She knew she lost her sanity a few months back, just after he’d died, but it hadn’t affected their relationship in the slightest. If anything, it brought them closer; for the darkness that Spike was revealing at that moment resonated with the dark magic Twilight had willingly adopted to bring him back. She knew that she would love him no matter what the outcome was. She was devoted, completely and utterly to him. And it showed in her eyes when Spike’s energy flayed the ground beneath them, ruining the chimeras both alive and dead. The energy glowed with a dark violet that reflected in both their eyes.
“The Gryphon king can’t stop us now.” Spike said as the heat rose from beneath them, creating that rippling effect in the air. Twilight smiled at him as she closed the book and kissed him with the affection she felt for him at that moment. The scenery was perfect; two evil lovers kissing with a fiery background that physically showed their joint love. It was a marvel to behold; one which the others revelled in as they stood in the shadows, smiling at the happy two. Gilda and Dash stood closer to each other as they empathised with the scene before them, Scootaloo sitting between the two. Fluttershy stood beside Big Mac, slightly afraid of the picture before her, yet still proud of her friends nonetheless. Rarity and Sweetie Belle looked at each other and smiled as if they were match makers and had successfully brought a couple together. Applebloom stood on Applejack and simply watched as she found the scene cooler than anything she’d read in any book. Cheerilee stood in the background of the group, watching carefully. While she knew everypony besides Gilda well, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she may have been better off with the Gryphons that surrounded her the day the war broke out.
Twilight broke away from the kiss and stared into Spike’s moss green eyes.
“Nothing can.”