//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17: in ténebris 
// Story: Equestrian Doom 
// by tankmanbrony 
//------------------------------//

Spike looked around him, mounds of bodies littered the battlefield, uncountable thousands. He looked at them, a few were raging infernos from the hellfire that had consumed their once lively forms, others in pieces from the brute strength of a Hell Knight. He shuddered, having nearly been crushed by the massive Guardian, the only body left by the demons, frozen midswing. looking at it you could see the surprise in its eyes as it was turned to stone.

Looking down, he saw a soldier holding the battered and broken body body of a mare, her hind legs were missing and intestines were spilling from her gut. With a closer inspection he reconized him, he was Captain Stahl, his orange fur stained with so much blood it was a patchwork of orange, red and black. 

Spike walked on, leaving the captain to his grief and tried to fathom how many ponies and demons must have died here. the ground, which had been dry before was muddy from the storm, the pegasi had created to deprive the demons of their air support. He knew that if they hadn't the ground would be stained from the rivers of blood. He had pushed them hard, charging after the demons and straight into the rear guard, which was composed of Hell Knights and Demons. He had ordered a shield wall and they advanced under it, until they collided with the Hell Knights, he saw all of the surviving Black Hell Knights and Gorrog himself holding the lines each covered in slash marks and wounds, yet they held. 

Only twenty five thousand ponies had survived the battle, a quarter of their strength. nothing could have prepared them for such a death toll, yet he knew that more poines were being sent into this... meatgrinder. The horrors he had seen on this battlefield would haunt him, and yet he knew worse awaited him as they pressed forward towards Gorrog's fortress. prelimenary scouting runs by pegasi, had given them a good picture of its size. it was very strong, made of a black granite and was heavily defended, very little else was known as none of the scouts had dared venture closer.

"Spike, we won, we drove Gorrog back, but we need to continue the push."
Turing he saw Luna standing in full battle armor, a long rent in it clearly visable. 
"We'll need at least two weeks to prepare a strike force, along with the weapons we'll need to assault it." 
"By a general estimate we out number them still and Gorrog is in no fit state to fight anymore, thus with him weakened we have no better time to strike, essemble your forces, find out how many survived, we have a lot of burying to do."


One week later, the burials had been compeleted and the ponies had rallied an additional fifteen thousand soldiers to their army, increasing its strength to over fourty thousand. Shining had at first thought this was insufficent but it was most of what they could get. 
"Spike, we are moving out, I've been assigned to fight the Black Hell Knights"
"Twilight, when do we move out"
You have a few hours, the demons have had a full week to rebuild their strength and fortify their citadel."
"Don't worry, i'm certain that they won't been able to withstand the assault, I mean you saw them turn tail and run from the battle."
"Spike that is because of the sacrifice of seventy thousand ponies, who gave their lives to drive them back, remember the toll that took, and that was a pitched battle, this time we'll be fighting on their terms, and in all honesty that terrifies me."

He hadn't actaully thought of that, the various traps in wait for them, the very portal to Hell, the home of the demons. he jerked upright, something was brushing his back, and Twilight was on the other side of the room. The tempurature rose, and the lamps started burning a lot hotter, the brass slowly turning red. 
The ground fell away and he was falling, around him he felt a fleshy tube and if he wasn't a dragon he would have been uncomfortly hot. 

The light returned but this time, flickering, and dark. He looked around, all around him rose columns of stone, and a mounted on them were torches, burning red, green and blue.

"Pleasure of you to join me, Commander. I hope you have considered your options Spike, right now, your in my power and I assure you, neither of us can be hurt by the other. As in all of your previous visits, I will show you something."

"Gorrog, even as you wast your time playing with me, my armies are ready to strike, how much time do you think you really have Gorrog before we drive you back into Hell.

"A lot more than you think, and while you may hold the numerical advantage, I'll be on the defensive, also you will have to fight you way through every single passage and room in this fortress, this time I'll be on my home turf, I BROKE YOUR PRINCESS CELESTIA HERE, HOW LONG DO YOU THINK YOU WILL LAST"

"This time you'll have three alicorns and an army to contend with, and once we have crushed your demons, I will toss you back through, into your Hell."

"I'll go back, but not willingly, problem is what will chases me back out."

"Wait chases you back out" Spike was surpised by the sudden change in the demon, but he had little time to think about it as the room faded away, the last thing he saw was Gorrog bending over as if in pain clutching something sticking out of his chest, and the red glow of his eyes.

"Twilight, what just happened?"