After regaining his composure, Alfonz quickly got back to work; remaining on the outskirts of Ponyville, he began to circle around the town in the direction of the manor. Naturally, he would check the dragon's home first; he would avoid entering Ponyville itself if he could, especially if the entire situation was a misunderstanding. Once he was sure his friend was in danger, he would brave the pony populace.
The approach of night was quite motivating for Alfonz. Although it meant a certain alicorn deity may be out for blood, it also meant that most of the town's denizens would be indoors. But with at least another hour or two before the sun completely disappeared from the sky- and also assuming Luna would not delay it further to get more rest -the chances of evading contact completely, should he need to enter, were slim.
As the man fought internally about the next phase of his plan, he almost didn't realize the swift appearance of the manor and its lonely, distant neighbors rising before him. In a few yards, he entered the sparse woods that surrounded the dreary, abandoned outskirts of Ponyville. The depressing old buildings were like a monument to the disappearance of one half of the Equestrian race, forever immortalized in their forgotten homes. So far from town, they were slow to repopulate, it seemed.
Alfonz had wondered numerous times about the future of Equestria. With their stallions dead or fleeing, how could they hope to sustain a population? He guessed, from what little he knew about the Equestrians' anatomy, that their life spans were fairly large. As a race of fictional equines in a cartoon universe, it was not outside the realm of possibility for them to live hundreds of years on average. But that would only slow the decline of the population; eventually, they would die out, should they do nothing to solve their situation.
So lost in thought, he almost fell flat on his face as he reached the staircase leading up to the imposing front doors of the manor. Initially, the man frowned, noticing the building's abandoned nature, before he remembered what it was like inside. Even while the dragon was staying there, it appeared like this on the outside; for good reason, no doubt. Few ponies would want to enter a creepy old mansion, after all.
Ascending the stairs after dusting himself off, he approached the doors and gave them a few forceful knocks. Although he would normally not expect a dragon in hiding to come to a knock at the door, he knew that, if Spike really was inside, he would at least see who it was that had come knocking. Hopefully, once he saw it was Alfonz, he would reveal himself.
No such revelation came, however. After twenty minutes and numerous knocks, Alfonz had his answer: the manor was empty, and Spike was no where to be found. He had no choice: he had to enter Ponyville and find him.
As for where, exactly, he was, Alfonz wasn't sure, but had some ideas. The Mane Six were a good starting place, considering his own encounters with them, and their proximity to the manor at times. Normally he would fear seeing them again, but with his new enhancements, he was almost eager to find them, especially if they had anything to do with Spike's disappearance.
Giving the manor one last lingering look, Alfonz set off down the road, toward Ponyville. The evening glow of the sun at his back, the man was prepared for a tough time; perhaps, he even hoped for one.
The outskirts of town were completely still by this point in the day. Only a few ponies lingered in the distance, usually on their way home. Few paid him any mind, but those that did were quick to follow, muttering to each other as they had done when he first arrived. By the time he reached the more active parts of town, he had a sizable crowd around him, watching his every move. He couldn't help but smirk.
"Hey, mister!" one pony spoke up, approaching him eagerly. It was a unicorn, light blue in color, with a blue and white mane.
"Fuck off," Alfonz replied bluntly, pleasantly, without even looking at the mare who spoke. The pony recoiled at the harsh response, confused. It had to be this way; he had tried the gentle method far too much, with little to no results.
With the crowd muttering around him, the man turned and set off toward the library. A horde of ponies stood in his way however, and did not disperse as he approached.
"Move," he commanded, giving them a deadly glare, as if daring them to disobey. The ponies hesitated, but eventually all of them complied; all, except for one: an older, dark tan mare with a grey and white mane.
"Excuse me sir, but as Mayor of Ponyville, I would like to-" she began with a grin, gesturing to the crowd, shortly before being hoisted into the air. "What are y-" she asked, but was interrupted by the roaring air around her, suddenly airborne. The Mayor screamed in surprise as she shot through the air, crashing into the side of the town hall with a loud thud.
"Anyone else?" Alfonz called, looking around at the assembled ponies. All of them, despite their murmurings of disapproval, took a large step back, giving him a wide path to the library. "Smart choice."
Although gushing on the inside at his own form of revenge, the man kept his cool as he walked, noticing quite quickly that he was no longer being followed. The display had warded them off for now, it seemed; he knew that, should he remain in Ponyville, even with the attitude he was carrying now, it would not be a permanent solution. Twilight was living proof of that, with all her encounters with the bookcase.
As Alfonz approached the library, he thumped loudly on the door and waited. It wasn't long before the door opened, first a tiny crank, then opened completely. Rarity stood before him, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.
"Evening," he said lowly, cracking his knuckles. "You wouldn't happen to know where my dragon went, would you?"
"Uh..." the unicorn stammered, clearly searching for an excuse. "TWILIGHT! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!" she screamed suddenly, slamming the door in his face. Catching the door with his foot at the last moment, the man forced it open with a bang, watching Rarity huddle against the opposite wall, near the staircase leading to the basement.
"Just give me Spike, and we won't have any problems," Alfonz warned, his smug smirk quickly turning into a manic grin. Revenge was a dish best served cold, after all; he hoped they would make things difficult.
Suddenly, the door to the downstairs was thrown open and the remaining five ponies poured in, assuming combat stances. Their battle-ready expressions quickly shifted into confusion as they saw their would-be attacker, though.
"Alfonz?" Twilight asked, disbelieving. The man simply scowled at her, his arms at his sides. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here for Spike," he replied with a growl, eyeing Rarity as she slowly inched toward her companions.
"How do y-" Twilight began, before silencing herself. "S-Spike? I haven't seen him in almost sixteen years!"
"Cut the bullshit," Alfonz snarled, glaring. "I'm not an idiot. Hand him over and I won't open up a can of whoop-ass."
"...Do you know what this means, girls?" Twilight said suddenly, relaxing. The rest of the assembled ponies did the same, causing the man's fury to shift into confusion. It was like they completely forgot he was a threat! "We won't have to wait as long with two of them going around!"
The other ponies voiced their joy, and Alfonz's rage was quickly beginning to boil. Just before taking a step forward, he found himself shrouded in Twilight's magic. Immediately, the man froze, his eyes wide.
"It was so nice of you to drop by, Alfonz!" Twilight cooed as she circled around him, her horn glowing brightly. "We thought you were gone for good!"
"Wee! This is ganna be fun!" Pinkie cried, joining Twilight in circling him, though with frenzied hops instead.
"Was a pretty dumb move, coming back here," Rainbow commented as she hovered by, chuckling. Her tail cracked against his nose as she passed, causing him to scowl. Twilight ceased her pacing, slowing to a stop in front of Alfonz. Her eyes hungry with anticipation, she drew very close to him.
"Oh yes...this will be fun..." she purred, her eyes closing as she drew in for a kiss. Alfonz's horrified visage immediately turned into a manic grin, drawing his arm back, despite the unicorn's magic binding him, and smashed his fist into Twilight's cheek, causing her face to contort in pain and surprise. Launched away by the force, the unicorn collided forcefully with the nearby bookshelf, causing a torrent of books- and almost the shelf itself -to crash down onto her.
"Twilight!" Applejack cried, rushing to her friend's side as the magic disappeared from around Alfonz, who was looking quite satisfied with himself. Pinkie stopped her bouncing, and soon all of the ponies were staring at Alfonz, either staring daggers at him or fearing for their safety.
"Get Spike, unless you wish to join her," Alfonz warned, trying to quell his righteous fury. Although entirely motivated to continue his rampage, he still felt a twinge of guilt at the idea of laying the smack down on a bunch of pastel ponies.
"How dare you!" Rainbow Dash yelled in response, hovering in front of his face with her front hooves raised.
"Am I fucking mute? I warned you all, she didn't listen, she paid the price. Get the dragon."
"I don't think so, chump!" Rainbow growled in response, lashing out with her hooves. Alfonz swiftly ducked, reacting faster than he could have imagined, and grabbed the hovering pegasus's legs, pulling her down to slam her back against the floor. Momentarily stunned, Rainbow Dash quickly regained her composure with a shake of her head and launched herself at the man with reckless abandon.
Colliding with his chest, Alfonz was floored almost instantly, though he managed to grab the pegasus's waist in the process. Despite the extreme strength of his foe, the man was able to force her off of him, his arm muscles pulsating with renewed strength, growing larger as he called upon the power of Luna's spell. With a cry of surprise, Rainbow Dash was hurled into a nearby table, knocking it over in the process.
"This is your last warning!" Alfonz snarled as he stood, his shoulders, legs, and chest growing in size to match his arms. A thin vapor began to rise from the man's shoulders and back, as if he were melting. His muscles were large enough to seen quite clearly, causing his shirt to stretch and almost tear under the transformation.
"'Ave had just about enough of you!" Applejack yelled, charging toward him. Rainbow had since recovered from his latest attack, and swiftly joined in from the air. With the earth pony trying to take out his legs, and the pegasus trying to attack his head, the man was in quite the bind. Despite his increased size, however, he moved with an incredible swiftness, leaping above the charging Applejack and, at the same time, catching Rainbow's hooves in his palms.
With a surprised "woah!", Applejack narrowly avoided colliding with another bookshelf, while Rainbow Dash struggled in vain against the man's intense grip. Pulling his head back, Alfonz brought his skull forcefully against the pegasus's own, the two colliding with a loud crack. At the same time, he released his grip, causing Rainbow to jerk back in the air, bumping awkwardly into a nearby vase.
"Why are you hurting my friends?!" Pinkie cried as she appeared on the man's back, flailing her hooves around to no real effect. Jerking himself forward, Alfonz caused the pink pony to tumble down into his arms, where she looked to him with wide eyes. With a sigh, he dropped Pinkie onto the ground; she landed with an anticlimactic thump.
A sudden force connected with his back almost immediately after the pink pony left his arms, as if struck by a car. Despite the force involved, he barely felt the pain, turning to see Applejack's hindquarters before him, the earth pony's head looking back expectantly. At the man's lack of reaction, her face contorted in confusion, her brow furrowed. He was quite impressed with himself, too.
As Alfonz grinned manically at Applejack, Rainbow Dash slammed into his back, barely moving him as she once again became the focus of his anger. Swinging around with an arm outstretched, he swatted Rainbow from the air like a fly, knocking her into a wild spin before she slammed into the bookcase emptied earlier by Twilight, collapsing down onto her unicorn friend with a dazed look in her eye.
"Stand back, girls!" Rarity declared suddenly, stepping forward. She had, up until that point, been cowering in the corner with Fluttershy. Her horn began to glow brightly, and her light blue magic flooded over Alfonz, trying to hold him in place. With a content smirk, he walked through the field of magic, bending down until he was eye-level with the frightened, confused unicorn.
"Boo," he growled, flicking Rarity on the nose. Suddenly, her nose grew painfully red, and she let out a pained cry, her magic ceasing as she returned to the corner covering her face.
Fluttershy, looking from Rarity to Alfonz in horror, slowly went from a terrified, timid creature, to an extremely angry force to be reckoned with.
"DON'T HURT MY FRIENDS!" she roared, launching herself at Alfonz. Colliding with his stomach with a hoof outstretched, the air was forced from the man's lungs with the impact, causing him to double over in pain. He was more than a little surprised at the pegasus's strength, that was sure!
Fist clenching, Alfonz lashed out with incredible swiftness as Fluttershy prepared for another attack, catching the pegasus in the stomach. Almost instantly, the fight was drained out of her as she was sent careening into the bookcase, collapsing on top of Rainbow Dash and Twilight shortly after. Alfonz frowned as he righted himself, feeling particularly bad about hurting the normally gentle pegasus.
Looking around, the man observed the tattered library, the stunned Applejack, the cowering Rarity, and the three unconscious (or very nearly so) ponies before him with considerable distaste.
"I'm done," he declared, still frowning, as he made his way to the staircase. He was almost too afraid to descend into the darkness; afraid of what he might find. With a deep breath, and a burning desire to leave the library as soon as possible, Alfonz swiftly descended the stairs into the library's basement.
What he found there was almost as bad as he expected.
Dimly lit, the basement was devoid of the usual lab equipment he had seen in the show, and instead had a number of floor pillows, with bits of food and drink scattered around the floor. At one end of the room, Spike, in his larger form, was bound to the wall by large metal restraints, keeping his hands, feet, tail, and neck completely still. He was not moving as Alfonz approached, and for a time the man feared that he may be dead.
"Oh god..." Alfonz breathed as he neared, looking over the dragon's tattered form with horror. He had been like this for at least a few days, that was sure. They hadn't exactly given him proper hygiene either, and to make matters worse, Alfonz could see a few stains on and around the dragon that did not seem to be made by food or drink.
"They got you," Alfonz observed in disbelief, kneeling mournfully before the bound Spike. "They finally got you..."
"...A-Alfonz...?"
The man's head jerked up as the dragon spoke. Spike seemed to be struggling to stay awake, his eyes half open as he stared at Alfonz weakly.
"Oh thank fuck you're alive!" the man cried, rushing over to the dragon's restraints. Pull as he might, the heavy metal would not be loosened. "Damn it!"
"Alfonz...did they get you too...?"
"No, Spike. I'm here to get you the fuck out've here."
"...Oh..." the dragon replied, his eyes shutting for a moment as he drifted out of consciousness. "I'm...glad you came then..."
Alfonz poured more of the magic's power into his muscles, trying to summon enough strength to free the dragon's limbs. The metal began to groan and creak as the man's muscles bulged, burning intensely as he struggled. With a loud crack, the metal restraint exploded into pieces, freeing one of the dragon's arms. Despite the incredible pain radiating from his arms, Alfonz repeated the act with each of Spike's restraints until he was completely free.
Falling forward, the dragon barely managed to stop himself from colliding face-first into the floor, barely conscious. Almost at the same time, Alfonz staggered into a kneeling position, crying out as he cradled one arm with the other as his muscles returned to their normal size. The man could feel nothing but pain in his arms, along with a searing pain radiating from almost every other part of his body, and with Spike barely functional, all he could do was pray the ponies upstairs hadn't recovered.
"Spike..." Alfonz began, his arms hanging limply at his sides as he hobbled toward the dragon, who was still staring at the floor. "Spike, we need to go."
The man's words seemed to spark something in Spike, snapping him out of his trance. Instinctively, the dragon shrank back into his smaller form, much to Alfonz's dismay. Although he probably wasn't fit to fight anyway, the baby dragon was of little use to them, should they meet resistance.
"Come on," Alfonz called, gesturing with his head toward the stairs. Spike nodded, weakly climbing the stairs as the man followed behind him, hobbling as best he could back to the ground floor.
To their horror, they discovered Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all crowded around their incapacitated brethren. Upon reaching the landing, all three ponies immediately looked to them, and the five of them shared a few tense moments staring at each other in silence. Alfonz tried to raise his arms to hide his weakness, but they were completely unresponsive at this point, and continued to hang limply at his sides.
Their eyes locked on the ponies before them, Spike and Alfonz slowly inched their way to the door, their foes' eyes never leaving them either. Without a word, the two left the library and shut the door behind them, both sharing a sigh of relief as they did. The success of the moment did not last long, however.
They were out of the library, but still inside Ponyville; out of the frying pan, and into the fire.