• Published 8th Nov 2015
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Marks Of Babylon - Phoxjes Rome



My name is Phoxjes Rome. I am a Mark of Babylon, and this is my story. My world... THIS world... Equestria, has fallen into disaster. One pony has destroyed everything, and hurt the ones I care for, so now I will reflect that pain onto her. Twilight.

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Dragolonians Part 2

Marks of Babylon

Chp. 9

Dragolonians Part 2

"Alright Sweetie, this should be far enough." Rarity told her filly sibling.

"So, remind me again, why are we looking for anything valuable to give to them, instead of keeping it for ourselves?" Sweetie Belle questioned.

"Because it's all part of our new plan. If we are able to persuade the Babylonians to not only give back Spike, but to sign the peace treaty, then the less amount of problems we will have. In addition, because of what happened yesterday, we now have a cave all to ourselves."

"Well OK, but I still don't see why finding gems is- oof!" Sweetie then felt herself trip on something small and yet extraordinarily beautiful. She pulled it out after giving a few hard grunts.

It was the most gorgeous and flawless gen she had ever laid her eyes on. It was about the size of an infant's hand. It was intended to be white, but the center was radiating many different colours.

"Wow..." She still gazed in Awe.

"Aww, it's perfect dear sister. It is, however, still your first, so you should keep it for yourself." Rarity then used her special talent to levitate it out, via the already head sticking out.

When they got a closer look at the stone, they saw that it had some very small spikes coming out of the edges of the near end. The glowing heaven was flat on its top, then began to widen at the downward slide, then finally connect at the bottom with a somewhat sharp point.

Conveniently, it also had a long bit of string piercing through the end just below the spikes, perfect for Sweetie's size. She put it on Immediately.

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Later that same day, the two sisters were on their way to the bank in order to keep the gems they discovered a secret from any pony else.

"Are you alright, Sweetie?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"LISTEN UP, PONIES!" A big deep booming voice came across the entrance.

He was on four legs with razor sharp claws on each of them. There was a lump on his back which looked to be almost a shell, spikes sticking out all over. This caught the attention of every pony there.

They all turned their heads to see a dragon, walking on four legs with muscles practically living everywhere.

Naturally, being a dragon, he was expected to be physically stronger than ponies, but he looked stronger than Big Mac, Iron Will and Bulk Biceps combined.

He seemed to be wearing a trenchcoat and fedora hat.

"I... Am Auxron!" He then used some sort of red and white aura from his front claw.

The magic lifted his coat and hat away, revealing that underneath he had on a thin black waistcoat with holes to fit his spikes out of, and bandit mask on his head.

"This is a robbery! I ain't leaving here without the gold!"

"Claws up!" The guard ordered, aiming his horn at the koumori.

"That's not gonna happen." He used his aura on the stallion's horn, and the stallion then found it extremely difficult to stand up as his horn then glowed the same colour as his claws magic, and dropped to the floor by having his horn pulled.

"Now why don't half of you reach for the sky?!" He shouted as he lifted his left glowing claw to the ceiling, and half the ponies in the bank were forced straight up, including the sisters.

"And the other half hit the floor?!" He shouted as he did the same with his right claw, forcing every other ponies weight to intensify.

"As you could probably see I'm into gravity. Well, that and money."

He made his way over to the vault doors.

"Hmm, five hoof thick steel titanium bolt layer bars. Heh heh, hasn't anypony in this world heard of the word challenge?" He chuckled as he aimed his magic claws at the lower bar and watched as it crushed into the floor beneath. He then did the opposite with the top bar, crushing it into the ceiling.

"Ah, there we are."

He looked at his newly found trophy: 10 million worth of bits and gold bars. He levitated it with him as he moved it with his gravity magic. He stuffed it into a bag and made his way out until...

"Hmm, hello pretty, where've you been all my life..."

He flew up to the ceiling when he looked at Sweetie Belle and, more importantly, her gem. He pulled hard at it until it broke off the string.

"Remind me to send a shout out to you for finding it again."

"Hey! That's mine!" She cried.

"Aww, I'm sorry. But every little bit helps." He smiled as he flew back down.

"No don't! Please!" Sweetie then began to cry at this.

"And one more thing..." He shouted as he walked out and turned around to the bank.

He dropped the bag and stood on two claws and lifted the front two up high, causing the magic to reappear. The building then loss balance for itself, and the ponies above fell to the ground. The ceiling was crumbling and fell apart as the whole thing then came down.

Inside of the rubble Auxron reached in side and dug out the still crying Sweetie. He lifted her up by the hind hoof and looked at her.

"...Have a nice day." He laughed and walked off.

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"So what did this particularly "special" gem look like?" Questioned Twilight, as she took notes on Sweetie's dilemma, watching her on Rarity's faint sofa.

"Well, it was white, shiny, glowing, spikey..." She began to sob into a cushion. "And it was MINE."

"Now there there, sweet sister." Rarity patted her sibling on her shoulder.

"We've got to get back at these guys soon." Twilight commented over to Rarity.

"Indeed. Nopony makes my sister cry. What could one POSSIBLY achieve in stealing from a defenceless filly?"

Twilight looked down at Sweetie's state.

'Knowing these guys, probably a lot.'

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"So I get the pink 'un in me dark claws, 'old 'er up to a wall, get the field down, and Spike's the one who gives it to us." Caxpe finished his story in the ancient room from the first chapter with Spike and the other marks, as all but Phoxjes were still talking about what had happened.

They all had their masks on their faces, obviously symbolizing the importance of this room.

"Hahaha, yeah, well, that's coz I thought if you're gonna torture anypony, it should be some one who I hate." Spike replied taking a sip of his Gem related drink that Xervint gave him.

"Ha! Nah it's coz you're a legend, mate." Caxpe replied, sipping his soda.

"It might be 'coz Pinkie's an easy target fer anyone." Roranxoa intercepted the two, walking over a bit. "An' coz this boy's lazy, an' coz the mark o' light o'er there took his keys, Caxpe did what he does best: hurt somepony 'til he gets what he wants."

"I had to do what I had to, alright?!" Caxpe snapped at him, grumpily.

"Caxpe, your answer is usually violence for everything." Xandra told the greaser. "Although, that's not to say that it hasn't been progressive and successful over the years."

"Yeah, innit?"

"Miss Pinkie Pie certainly changed her tune when she saw your powers. despite having them seem absolutely meaningless at the time."

"You what? Pinks should know why I did what I did to her. Soon as I see her again she's goin' right back to her mum and dad on that stupid farm."

"Stupid." Illiux said, staring at the symbols on the walls.

"Eh?" Caxpe said.

"'Stupid farm'."

"What did I say?"

"Shupid." Illiux answered, correcting on his accent.

"Whatevs, right? Me point is, Pinkie's goin' right down when I'm finished with her. What about you then, eh?" Caxpe asked Illiux.

"What about me?"

"What you gonna do to Marshmallow? Why's she got aught to do with you?"

"Miss Rarity has something that I need. That is all you're require to know, Herr Fear. Although, In all honesty, she has more reason to come after me, rather than the other way around." Illiux responded, using his magic to bring up his panels.

"Why's that, money bags?" Xoa asked him.

"Her fashion company pales in comparison to mine, I understand the privilege of having a sister and parents, to which she never uses, I am much more popular than her, gents want to BE me, ladies want to BE WITH me, I have a rather irritating disability that has not stopped me, and I have exclusive access to a huge gem mining complex. Is that a suitable answer, Herr pounce?"

"So yer goin' after HER, 'coz ya want her to come after YOU?" Roranxoa questioned, getting a small laugh from Caxpe.

"it is rather more complicated than that, but I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand that. Please, briefly remind me why miss Applejack and her family are your designated targets, Roranxoa? Herself, I can understand, but her family?"

"Ah already told y'all, those ungrateful apple-suckin' lil vermin cut me off fer the first and last time, after ah worked mah tail off fer them on that pathetic scrap o' land they call home. Now, they're gonna pay fer it." Roranxoa answered, looking up.

"I see..."

"It shouldn't matter, really." Xandra added to the conversation. "All I want is to teach miss Twilight the benefits of helping our Babylon, as well as fulfill my role of being a Mark."

"But you don't feel as though it may be a little difficult, considering that she is the princess?" Illiux questioned.

"Perhaps, but it's still a stronger motivation than Calsuricxs." Xandra replied. "If that truly is the reason why he has chosen to defeat Rainbow Dash."

"It will work!" Calsuricxs shouted up. "Me and her. It's gonna work, I'm telling you all now!"

"If you say so." Illiux responded, turning to see the last Mark in the room. "Which leaves Herr Rome with Miss Fluttershy."

*sigh* "Why are Xervint and Auxron not back yet? Even those reptiles, who I should expect this from, are not usually as late as they are now." Phoxjes finally spoke up.

"Woah... Ah done believe it, but the Foxy can talk to other ponies once in a while." Xoa called back, overhearing him. Before Phoxjes could reply, they heard a door open behind them.

"Auxron, amicco. You doin' alright, man?" Calsuricxs looked over his shoulder.

"Morning, boys. And Xandra." He waved to them.

"I trust you have reason to be late..." Phoxjes closed his eyes.

"Oh, yeah, wait til ya see..." Auxron reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a familiar necklace."...This."

Phoxjes turned slowly and opened his eyes even slower, and suddenly seemed interested as his ruby/emerald eyes widened slightly.

"Hey, innt dat..." Cal looked amazed.

"Indeed it is." Replied Illiux, gazing at the stone.

"Dragon." Xandra said, tilting her glasses.

"You have done well, Auxron." Phoxjes flew over and retrieved the gem. "I am almost happy to see that we can trust you to retrieve what it is that girl has lost."

"She is your family, Phoxjes." Xandra said to him. "Wherever she may be."

"By blood, yes we are still relatives. However, I disowned her many years ago, after she and her own faction had opposed what we are trying to achieve."

"She has the right to disagree with anyone. Everyone does." Xandra spoke up again.

"True." Phoxjes gave the gem back to Auxron. "Give this to your newest recruit, then return for your the initiation of Skixep, Auxron."

"Glad to know you remember I'm still here." Spike cheerfully chirped.

"Got it." Auxron said, grabbing the string again. "Spike, hop over here, mah homie."

Spike went over to the much bigger, stronger and older dragon. The two of them left the room, and headed out to Equestria again.

"So, uh, what's that gem all about?" Spike asked, flying on Auxron's back.

"It's nothin' ya need worry about. Just something that belongs to Virtuoso." Auxron replied.

"Okay." Spike said, as the both sat in silence for a second, before Spike spoke up again. "Who's Virtuoso?"

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"So, any ideas?" Rarity asked, keen on helping her little sister in any way that she could.

"Well, according to what Calsuricxs has loan me, this one is believed to be called Auxron." Twilight read out.

"What can he do?"

"From what you've told me, and the damage in the bank, he looks like gravity's his specialty. The question is, is there a weakness to it?"

"Well yes, I can think of one in particular." Xervint commented hanging from the boutique ceiling.

"Thank you, Xervint, but we are capable of handling thi-AAAHHHH!!!" They screamed in unison to see him.

"How, you were, I mean- you can't- when did, you're-" Twilight tried to figure out.

"Well, remember when I said that you could have me cave if I lost?"

"Um... Yes?"

"Before that, I might have "borrowed" the doggies strength. That's how. Plus, I'm literally twice as old as the chaos dude, so really I hardly needed them mutts."

"Alright, well, what do you want now!?"

"I just wanna help you, babe."

"Do not call me 'babe', darling."

"Don't call me 'darling', sweetness."

"Enough!"

"Happy as ever, eh Zelda(?)" He smiled fiendishly.

"Why are you here, Xervint?" The two backed off a few paces, in case he tried to copy their special talents again.

"Well, I ain't here for your special talents again. Yet. Nah, I'm here for a little "favor" from you, Rares." Xervint stated clearly.

"A favor from moi? How very flattering, but what makes you so sure that I would help YOU?" Rarity looked like she was in complete authority.

"Because if you do I'll give you your element of harmony back."

This brought Rarity to a conclusion. If she got her element back, then would they still have an upper hand in terms of power?

"Are you sure you're not here for my special talent?"

"Yeah, your fashion isn't really my top priority right now. Besides, I already got what I need from you for Xiāoshī."

"Xiāoshī?" Twilight asked. "That's Chinese for Vanish, isn't it?"

"Yes it is. And I got what I need for her."

"Her? Xiāoshī is a girl?"

"If by "a" you mean "my", then..." Xervint then reached to his tail tip and grabbed a small black box with a faint glow radiating from the inside.

"...Yes." He finished with a slight blush.

"Awww." Both girls said in unison while placing their hoofs on their hearts.

Twilight was the first to snap back into reality.

"Wait, so you only needed our special talents just so you can propose to a dragoness?"

"Not quite. If I was worried 'bout the proposal, then I could've done it all by myself. So I did, before you even came in."

"Then why did you need the talents to begin with!?" Twilight asked again.

"For the ritual and the reunion of course!" Xervint replied.

"What ritual? What reunion?"

"I'd like to explain, but we're out of time folks. Here, I'll let Auxron explain, coz I know you two have had such a great start, Rarity."

"I beg your pardon?" She asked. "I don't recall becoming acquainted with any- oh no." She then came to a realization.

"Wait, you mean the one who robbed the bank!?" Twilight asked angrily.

"S'appinin?" A deep booming voice was walking right behind the two unicorns.

"There's my bro." Xervint had a wicked smile plastered onto his scaled face.

"Who these two mules?" He stopped walking.

"Mule!? How dare you!" Rarity turned around and faced the dragon.

"Aw, ya gonna cry like ya did with'em dawgs?"

"Dogs, not 'dawgs'. Twilight corrected.

"Yeah, come on then!" He snarled back to the librarian.

"Where is Sp- oh!" She became startled after turning around and looking at over muscled Drake. Her eyes widened as she saw the living intimidation right in front of her.

She couldn't decide what exactly it was: the black fangs, the excessively toned body, the body-piercing spikes on the back, the grand sized wings. He had the strength of Phoxjes, the fear of Caxpe, and quick wit of Roranxoa.

"You wanna know where ma home boy is? Man, you mules ain't got no respect for keeping a plan together."

"T-tell me where he is." Twilight almost backed off a little bit.

She knew by now that magic wouldn't work on him, his muscles on all four of his legs were over half the size of his head, they were about the same size, and after seeing and hearing what the other Babylonians had done, it wouldn't surprise either of them if he ripped either of them in half.

"Hahahaha. Look at this, a couple of four legged losers, thinking that their strength could do ME bruises.

Your magic don't work, your muscles are too flat. I'm gonna rip you a new plot, coz your old one's are too fat.

Spike hates you and he's on his knee to me. You got some serious guts to mess with MY family.

Step down now, or this is gonna hurt a ton. There's only one who's the best, all hail the Babylon.

You ain't got nothing on me, you're as useless as the sun. You outta know better that to scrap with me. Auxron."

Auxron finished by dropping a figurative microphone on the floor. Twilight and Rarity were staring with their mouths agape, whilst Xervint was laughing on the floor.

Both of the ponies took one line each into serious dedication. The only thing Rarity remembered the most was him calling her posterior fat. She then began to ran into her bedroom with a deep blush on her face and tears in her eyes.

Twilight's line, however, was much more confusing. 'His family'? But Spike doesn't have a..."

The Alicorn's pupils then shrank to the size of peas as she came to a startling realization.

Silence filled the room immensely, as she stood there with her heart skipping beats, and Auxron with spiteful smile on his face.

"Alright Ron, I better get off." Xervint then walked casually towards the door.

"Oh, you leaving then?"

"Yeah, I got to. My Chinese treasure's waiting for me." He finished with a wink and a laugh.

"Heh heh. Alright, see ya whenever bruh."

"Your... Spike is your..."

"My baby bro? Yeah man. What, ya never wonder why he and Xervint look like one another?" Auxron asked while flying on his back with his front arms crossed.

"I had no idea. I thought he didn't have a..." Twilight then looked down with her pupils returning to the original size.

"So you still want him back? You wanna take our family away from us again? Is that what you're saying, girlfriend?" Auxron asked her aggressively.

Twilight then took a deep sigh and turned back around slowly to face him again.

"Listen. Spike is your brother, and it's definitely going to be a while until I accept that. But I have a brother as well, so I understand what it's like to have someone that close to you, and how much they mean to you. And yes, I would never want to see anything happen to him that might take him away from me, for possibly forever."

Auxron time a deep yawn at this speech.

"I think I'm gonna fall asleep in a minute; can ya get to ya point?"

"Alright then. Spike might have been my best friend since he was hatched, but if you really are his own flesh and blood, then..." Twilight felt her tears beginning to stream down her face. "...Maybe you should keep him."

Silence hung in the room for a while.

Twilight felt like this wasn't the best place to allow her sadness to be exposed, so she slowly walked out of the boutique, bringing her tears with her.

Auxron just stood there with a confused gaze on his face.

"Hmm. Weird, honestly. Since when did SHE have a choice in what we do?"

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Twilight stopped walking to her castle, but her trip down memory lane never ended. There was no light at the end of THIS tunnel.

She looked up, although it was tough to see through her tears. The castle was in plain sight. In fact it was the only thing she could see at this point. The castle which used to think she could call her own, never truly realizing that it wasn't, until now.

Now she realized that the one thing that made this castle not feel like an oversized isolation chamber was missing. She continued trotting towards her home.

As she came to open the front door, she decided that she wasn't even going to try to hold back her tears anymore, and used her magic to blast the doors open instead.

She ran inside as the doors closed themselves. She teleported to her bedroom and proceeded to throw herself on her bed in an attempt to cope with what she had recently just learnt.

Her tears were combined with he anger that had erected inside of her, and her magic began to spiral out of her natural control. Beams and blast hit a decent chuck of the bedroom, followed by her carrying a finale by shooting her most powerful magic at the chandelier above.

Eventually, her energy had run out and she was left with heavy breathing on her bed as everything went silent.

Suddenly, to her surprise, there was a calm knock at the door. She was curious as to who this was now.

"Y-yeah? What?" She tried her hardest to remain calm. As she responded, the doorknob had turned slowly, and the door was opened.

Her eyes had widened, then turned to extreme anger at the face of exactly who had come here at this moment.

"Good afternoon, your highness." He lifted his hat to greet her politely.

"Phoxjes...? Phoxjes. Phoxjes! PHOXJES!!!" She became more and more angry with every passing second at the sight of him, until she stopped caring about consequences and let the true beast out.

She jumped into the air, and let out the fire from inside as her body went white, her eyes turned red, and her mane and tail became ignited in flames.

Somewhere, in another part of ponyville, the red light in Fluttershy's chest lit up, and disappeared.

"YOU HORRIBLE EXCUSE FOR A HERO!!!" She charged with all her might at the goth and literally heartless stallion in front of her and attacked him head on. She started by hitting him in the face with her hoof, then by trying to wind him with her other one.

He did look slightly in shock by the assault. However, he continued to keep his expression of constant hatred on his face.

"I am not here to fight you right now." He commented to her. She simply ignored him and continued fighting.

"Last time you were here you destroyed my castle in several places! I won't allow you to do it again!! You're going to pay for what you've done!!" She tried more direct attacks to his face.

This was when he decided he needed to prove his point. He reached for his sword and wrapped it around her front hoof as she attacked again.

She was surprised by his movement, but then she tried using her other hoof, only to have him throw his Eyelander to his other hoof to block that as well.

He then threw it onto the ground, piercing the floor with the handle facing upwards. With her hoof still tangled in his, he slammed her face onto the ground, the launched her into the sky.

When she hit the ceiling he flew up to her and hit her back down using his front knee. She shot straight down and her spine cracked on the top of the handle where she landed.

She gave up already from this. She then reverted back to her original form and she expected to have Phoxjes to finish her here and now.

On the contrary, he instead flew down at a normal pace, and even helped her up from the injury, as he held her in his hooves and flew her over to her bed.

As she was then laying down on her belly, he reached into his lower jeans pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a small med kit and treated the dark purple inwards mark on her spine with some medicine spray of some kind. The majority of her barrel was then bandaged.

"Wait... Why are you helping me?" She asked through her agonizing pain and tears as she turned around.

"I do not harm beings for pleasure. I came here to offer you an opportunity." He remarked as he fixed her up.

"What opportunity? Is it to do with Spike?"

"Indeed it is. The ritual of Babylon, which you are currently invited to see if you desire." Phoxjes then stood up and helped her sit up properly.

"Spike is..."

"The dragon that you once cared for is going to be officially declared a Babylonian, along with his family. I trust you are still coming to acceptance with that."

"Yes." Twilight looked down and remembered the fact at hand. "Yes I am." She almost cried again.

From the same med kit, Phoxjes pulled out a small packet of tissues and passed them to her.

"Thank you." She whispered as she took one.

"I understand what it is like losing family at your age." Phoxjes began to slowly walk towards the exit of the room. "In addition, if you do not wish to attend the ritual momentarily, then that, too, is acceptable."

"You've... Lost family?" Twilight asked, not wanting him to leave yet.

"Correct. My parents became deceased when I was approximately your age. Perhaps older, yet still young."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry for your accidental loss."

"You may find this understandably surprising, but it was not an accident; my mother and father were murdered. Additionally, the murderer was not the one who wished to perform the execution."

"Wh-What do you mean? Who was it?" She asked.

"...Me." He answered.

"YOU!? You killed your own parents?! HOW COULD YOU!?"

"I had no choice in the matter. Back in that time, I was... A different pony. Would you not sacrifice two creatures to save an entire village?" He asked her, remembering his own past.

Twilight thought on the question for a second. Suddenly, a lot more about Phoxjes was understandable to her.

"Do not misunderstand, please. I begged and pleaded to have my own life ended, and to spare theirs. The underworld Babylon god would not approve. I was forced. Tragic, indeed, but alas, such is the way of the world. Especially when you have responsibilities of being a leader. Perhaps in time, you may be faced with a burden such as mine. Would you sacrifice one or more of the elements to save Ponyville, knowing that you can not sacrifice yourself?"

Although her body was nearly physically healed completely by now, Twilight's mental pains intensified with his every word.

"Irrelevant. Your highness, there is another reason for me being here currently. You must go over to Sweet Apple Acres and warn your friends over there that Auxron will be heading to that location in approximately 15 minutes. He wished to not only rob the farm, but also to challenge Mr Macintosh."

"Applejack..." Twilight whispered in concern, as Xandra's light reappeared. "Wait, challenge Big Mac to what?"

"That is not within my knowledge currently, your majesty."

"Hold on! Why can't you just go and warn them yourself?"

"I am a noble stallion, as you may or may not believe, meaning in any other circumstance I would. However, the ritual of acceptance can not begin without all six marks of Babylon. I apologize."

"You'd rather help them than Equestria?"

"As the Famous saying may suggest: the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." He started to head towards the door. "I shall pray for your injuries to cure in time. Farewell." With that, he was out the door.

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Millions of miles beneath the planet's crust, lives the historical, sacred and now advanced ground that is Babylon.

For the majority of time, residents of this forbidden city spend their time enjoying their almost immortal lives attempting to repair what they can.

Right now, however, is an exception to everyone there. At this moment, every creature was gathered in the same room currently witnessing the accepting of the newest Babylonians to their society.

The room was know as the Tribute hall, as was generally unused for a long period of time, unless a sacrifice was required to satisfy the Babylonian gods, so that their rage would quieten. Either that, or today's occasion.

The door at the end of the hall finally opened, revealing Phoxjes as he took his seat next to Calsuricxs on the end of the bench, exclusively for the six Marks.

As every pony and dragon were discussing their own conversations with each other, a cloaked and hooded figure entered the room from the door next to the main podium and cleared their throat, causing the entire room to become silent.

The figure was wearing a clearly expensive silk robe, made from ancient materials from what looked like millions of years ago.

He/she/it was now standing behind the podium. It took off its hood. It was wearing a mask as well.

Their mask had markings on it, similar to the other six Marks of Babylon. However, this one was clearly the most important.

Their mask was bigger than any of the others. That was because theirs had all six of the other marks on it:

Roranxoa's and Illiux's on the top, forming a half brown/half yellow semicircle with three brown spikes facing the top left, and three yellow spikes facing the top right.

Caxpe's and Xandra's in the center, curving the symbol 1/5 of the way in each, carrying a half purple/half blue double lined X in the center connecting to the top on both sides, and the sides touching the edges of the curves.

Calsuricxs's and Phoxjes's on the bottom, making a green and red diagonal line on both of the curves, connecting them to the center bottom. Where the X had finished laid a half green/half red horizontal line, connecting the two.

Noticeably, to Spike anyway, this pony wasn't actually saying anything to anyone. They were just standing there in total silence, very slightly moving about a little as if they really were talking to the ponies and dragons in the room.

Even the ponies and dragons in the room acted as though they knew and could hear what this one was saying. Though the ears and minds of the actual Babylonians, however, what they could hear was along the lines of:

"Babylon. That word brings so much meaning to so many beings, regardless if they are yet aware or if they are still oblivious to their true heritage. Today is a truly pleasing day for us all. Today we welcome three of our newest recruits to join our soon to be perfectly balanced society."

A rather petit amount of applause vibrated through the large hall.

"Now then. Illiux Nusku Lure, will you kindly approach podium, in order to welcome your first member." The figure then stood aside, and raised what looked like a hoof as everyone looked at the posh Unicorn walk towards the stand.

"Good morning, my dear friends." He started. "This will not be the first time that a new member has joined my faction in this Babylon this year. Therefore, I must say how vital this introduction is for me, as it may be necessary to have our new friend welcomed ASAP."

Out of the door on the left of the podium he came.

RayCon.

The stallion walked towards Illiux and stood by his side. Despite the amount of audience members being more than what he would've preferred, he was able to keep his cool throughout the speech.

As expected, everyone in the room had different opinions about the newest arrival.

"(He's hot.)" A mare whispered under her breath to her friend next to her. She simply chuckled lightly.

"Welcome RayCon, to my faction. Do you swear, under the watch and the oath of Tiamat, Mummu and their 47 offsprings, that you will forever accept..."

Whilst this accepting was taking place, from behind the door which RayCon had just stepped out of, Spike and another pony were waiting, sweating, pacing in the small room, knowing one of them was to be next for the accepting.

"Auxron, what if I can't do this?" Spike asked his newly discovered older brother. "What if I embarrass myself? Or worse, what if I make a mockery out of Babylon?"

"Chill, bro." Auxron put a claw on his youngest brother's shoulder. "Ya gonna get though this, ya hear?"

"But what about-"

"Hey, I got through, didn't I? So why can't you?"

"I don't know... I mean I've been in front of thousands of ponies before, and I couldn't have made things worse if I tried."

"If ya on 'bout that Cloudsdale, then lemme just clarify for ya: one, I'm gonna bring that place down with my gravity soon 'nough."

Spike laughed on the inside at that.

"And second, bear in mind, brav, that you were still obeyin' Twily at that point. Just blame her for what happened, ya hear?"

At the name of Twily, Spike clenched his fist and the green flames in his palm were re-summoned.

"Nice... Plus, if I were you, man, I'd be more worried 'bout that brand." Auxron then pointed behind him, and saw RayCon with his front hoof out and Illiux pressing a brand into it, while he struggled to remain still.

"Oh... You... Didn't... Mention that..." Spike was now terrified.

"Heh heh. Man, you don't got nuttin' to be 'fraid of, boy. 10 bits says this ain't gonna even hurt ya. Speaking of which..."

Illiux looked as though he was now finishing his welcoming for RayCon, and Spike was next.

"Now then, upon exiting this hall, your weapon awaits you my friend. A Katana, as you requested. Now, please be seated, as we welcome our second member. Xandra, if you will."

Illiux stepped down from the podium and let the blue mare step forwards to the podium, and it was now her turn for applause. This time, the applause was mainly given by the faction of the hall wearing smart business outfits and glasses, slick hair, etc.

As the two leaders passed each other, they took each other's hooves and gave each other a polite kiss on each check, before continuing.

"Thank you, my old colleague. Yes, it appears as though another fortunate creature wishes to share my dream for knowledge over everything."

A small cheering session took place from the same spot as before.

"But this time, not just any creature! This time, finally, after so long, the dragolonians have their forth and final brother back!" Before she had even finished her sentence, the entire hall started to cheer at this celebration.

Backstage, Spike was blushing and smiling, because he knew that he was the reason that every creature there was happy.

"Transitioning all the way from Equestria to our great city of Babylon, please welcome, Spike the Dragon!"

"Go on then." Auxron shoved him out the door, waiting for him to walk to the podium next to Xandra.

As he showed his face, the cheering began to die down as everyone knew that he had to speak.

"Spike, do you swear, under the watch and the oath of Tiamat, Mummu and their 47 offsprings, that you will forever accept your true heritage to being in our Babylon, and forever acknowledge that you will be forbidden from ever abandoning these grounds in some feeble hope to return to whence you came?"

"I... I do." He promised.

"And are you prepared to provide your fellow historical family with your full and true service, wherever they may be, and whatever they may ask?"

"I am prepared." He stood firm.

"Spike the dragon, once you become an official Babylonian, your memories of you original home with Princess Twilight Sparkle shall fade, and reappear as much more tragic within given time. In addition, whilst you will still chronologically age, your physical body shall forever remain the same, unless you are to change it yourself. Are you ready to begin your new life, my boy?"

"This is my new life, beginning right now." He felt massively confident.

"Then by allowing me..." She used her magic to levitate the hot iron from the hot coal pit. "To forever scald you with this mark, you will forever place your loyalty to me, and the other marks."

Spike then took a deep breath in, then slowly exhaled, giving Xandra his hand. "Do it."

Then, it came, but as Auxron mentioned, it didn't hurt one bit. In fact, all it did was warm him up slightly.

He then remembered the reason why: he had cold blood.

As soon as the ritual was completed, he began to walk out of the room back where he came from.

"Boy, I do believe you currently owe me 10 bits." Auxron greeted his youngest sibling.

"Heh. Great... So what now?"

"Dunno 'bout you, but I'm getting me some hardcore cider."

"Hey, buy me something, yeah?"

"Bruh, I ain't gonna buy you nothin'."

"What? But Auxron-"

"Spike, I ain't gonna BUY nothin'."

"Oh, I get cha. OK, have fun." Spike waved as Auxron left. He then turned round to see Phoxjes take to the stand and began to speak.

"Fare greetings, fellow members of our great garden that is Babylon..."

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"So we gonna scrap then, or just stand here?" Auxron was already at Sweet Apple Acres by the time Twilight had warned Applejack about what Phoxjes had warned.

"Ah shoot, we're too late!" Applejack and Twilight ran to the front of the barn to see the to older brothers squaring off with each other.

"This isn't good." Twilight commented. "This won't end well."

"Y'all done need ta worry, Twi. Ah know may bro can take this lizard out."

"Don't be so sure; this Auxron can be brutal."

The two of the males eventually started the wrestle, with Auxron taking an early advantage already. He had Big Mac in a headlock, and proceeded to body slam him. When they were on the ground, Auxron then grabbed his back hoof and threw him on the ground by lifting him in a circle throw.

While on the ground, however, Big Mac then used his free hoof to buck him in the face, causing him to let go. Mac then spun round onto his back, and the kicked him again with his back hooves. He was then able to tackle him onto the ground and started to beat him whilst on top of him.

This went on for about three seconds when Auxron dug out his claws and used them on his torso. This got Mac off and Auxron lifted him by his head and spun him round and threw him away.

By the time Big Mac had looked back at him, he was gone. Suddenly he heard the sound of tearing behind him, and turned around, only to see a part of the apple treadmill thrown at him as it collided with his face.

More parts were thrown at him, but he was able to avoid every one. This went on until something else caught Auxron's eye: he saw Applebloom and her two friends coming back from their old clubhouse when they were still blank flanks.

Auxron turned to her and smiled, whereas Big Mac had only just noticed what he was now aiming for. With most of his might, he was then about to throw his piece of metal at the filly, whereas her brother was rushing over the protect her.

As he launched, Big Mac was able to save her in time, causing the metal to hit him instead. Auxron then thought of something, and used his gravity intensifying powers to make the metal part float up, then crash down on him again as he still covered his sister. Auxron laughed and did it again and again.

After about seven hits, he flew over to him and lied on his side and grabbed the back of his head and smashed it onto the ground. He then followed up by using his back leg to kick away Applebloom and with his hind leg raised he used his tail to whack away Big Mac.

The stallion was laying down, with his back bleeding, almost unconscious.

Auxron then picked up the same bit of machinery from before and slowly walked up to him, and prepared to smash him to dust one last time.

Whilst walking he thought about what he was once told: "if it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing." He then looked over to the other parts of scrap and used his gravity to bring them over to him. With the parts in place floating right above him, he was about to let them drop, until-

He then felt a presence on him, as it appeared somepony had literally jumped him, as he then felt a filly with her leg around his neck and trying to pull him down.

"Yo kid, what you doin!?!" He asked as he tried to pull her off of him, not realising that as he did, the parts of levitated metal above Big Mac were slowly coming towards himself.

When he did manage to grab ahold of her, he had to release his gravity powers, and the pile of metal fell on his head.

Auxron fell down and had a bad vision because of Sweetie Belle.

Knowing he couldn't fight like this, he simply grabbed Big Mac and used his gravity force to transport into Babylon.