"This isn't goodbye; it's' just goodbye till next time. Ready?" Twilight asked as she finished saying her goodbyes to the girls.

The battle against the Dazzlings was an intense one; Spike had to admit that he was not much help to Twilight having stacked on the pressure for that counter-spell but, looking back he genuinely thought she could do it on her own. It all stemmed from watching her over the years and being witness to her coronation and her part in the fight against Tirek. He couldn't help but feel as if there was something he should have done something differently back then. The thought always came during a lull in any of his many activities.

"Ready." The dragon turned pup responded as he stepped into the portal seconds before her, thinking nothing of it. He believed that she was right behind and looked forward to seeing their pony friends. He never could figure out what the cause was at the time. Whether it was the magic of the book wavering or a side effect of opening the portal manually. It was something that went unsolved, even seven years later.

Seeing a flash and being temporarily blinded by the light, he thought Princess Celestia was outdoing herself with the brilliance of her sun. When his eyes had adjusted, however, he found himself located on a mountaintop overlooking a forest so dense with nature that the Everfree would pale in comparison. Looking around as panic took hold of his senses he saw nothing but rocks and sparse vegetation.

"Twilight? Twilight! Where are you?!" were all that was echoed as his stubby legs propelled him around the area. Thankfully, he had arrived in his regular form and not a dog, so that was one less worry. The search for his caretaker had him looking around every rock that could hide anything in his immediate view. After a couple of minutes, the young drake stopped and realized he was alone. Alone on a Mountaintop, whether it was in Equestria or not, he would not find out for quite some time.

He cried that night until his eyes were red and dry curled up in a ball with nothing but a giant boulder guarding his back and the moonlight shining down languidly on his shivering form. Spike stayed there for what seemed like a week with only the sun to help keep track of the days. He knew that there was magic in the air but, it was severely different from what was usually in Equestria. Having learned the feel of such things due to being around the Elements of Harmony themselves it was one thing he was grateful for having asked Twilight to hone such senses. He had thought to send a letter in case this was just a different unexplored part of the world he knew only to have the small hope disappear when the only thing his fire did was burn it, leaving ashes in its place.

"I… I don't know what to do…" The week came and went sitting on the mountain top, and the dog biscuits he had brought through the portal (despite Twilight's warnings of other world objects) were almost spent. Not to mention that all he had in the dimensional pocket Twilight had awarded him after the events of the dragon migration were quickly being depleted in lieu of few sources of nourishment. It was to solidify the position as her number one assistant, and despite the strange magic in the air, it appeared to be stable.

"This way, we can always be ready in case we need to message Princess Celestia." Was what Twilight had said the day he received it.

It had to be the only time Spike was glad he used it as a personal storage of sorts regardless of Twilight telling him it was for work only, still, he did regret not having more than just pen and parchment in it.

"One Ruby, three emeralds, five dog biscuits, quill, ink, a ten pack of parchment, and sixty-seven bits...” Sighing, he realized that staying in put (as per Twilight's instructions of emergency situations) would be disastrous as he would run out of food soon. He turned from the scenic view of the dense forest beneath the mountain and faced towards the foreboding trail that was seemingly spiraling down towards possible death.

"I need to find a village or town. Maybe, with luck, somepony would be able to help me figure out where I am."

Putting the items away except for a biscuit he tore in half. He began down the path slowly nibbling his breakfast toward the journey of what would hopefully be salvation. It was cut short, however, as rounding the corner had him meet with a pack of what could be thought as fellow dragons to any other dragon. They were speaking a foreign language, but somehow, it was familiar. It sounded like common draconian with an emphasis on the S of every word.

"Uh… Hello?" he said, waving slightly at the pack trying to figure out who or what they had encountered.

"Ssso it ssspeaksss." The one that seemed to be the leader of the small group by the default logic of being in front said. He seemed every bit draconic and even resembled Garble (if somewhat taller and a shade of green) except for the language and the way his eyes were clouded with uncertainty.

"Hail brethren, it sssseemss to usss that you are sssomewhat lossst. Which tribe do you hail from?" The leader asked taking a step forward still slightly wary of the purple dragon. Spike may have been small, but even small creatures had their dangers.

"I don't know… I was just here. I don't remember much." He lied not wanting to say anything about stepping through a portal in a statue which was located in a world in which he was a dog.

"Sssshame. Perhapsss the ssscholarssss dumped you after their experimentsss, or you might be sssuferring from lossst brain imagesss." Said the leader looking at Spike with a mixture of pity and excitement.

"Come brethren, we sssshall take you to the village. Thisss is no place for one sssso young." He beckoned, and turned to the other four dragons?

"Ok." Spike looked back at that moment and realized that had he left sooner, or even a day later many things would have been different, whether it would have saved him grief or not was something he'd never know. Though the time spent with what he later came to know as the Gecklings were equal parts brutal and mind blowing. It helped shape who he was now. It also helped Spike forget the various attempts at contacting Twilight and the girls and days of failure in searching for a way to contact any of them.

Now, where once he was known as a number assistant, he became known as a competent (if reckless) scholar studying the central role of laws in creating a just society through any means necessary. Even after seven years in this new world, his feelings always remained wholly unchanged as he kept searching for a way back through the portal. A way back home to Equestria, back to the girls, and back to Twilight. Unfortunately, time was starting to take its toll on memories, and soon he found himself not remembering their faces. He could remember their names and the feelings he shared with them, but recalling more than that took serious effort.

He stood up from the boulder he’d chosen to sit on as the small band of Gecklings under his charge continued to hack and loot the scholars they encountered. It was a profitable outcome for them as they were starving for fresh meat and Spike got a hold of more books and various equipment the scholars had on hand. Standing at a height of 6'4 wearing a set of void-black paradox armor that sat tight on the body. He held a longsword now clean of blood and shining in the sun; he put on the helmet that hid the solid, and rough face due to scars and a half missing ear fin. His tail trailing behind as it had fresh burns and blood from the battle leaving splotches of red on the dark purple scales and forest green spikes gleaming as the blood was only beginning to dry.

"You lot almost done?!" He yelled sheathing the longsword and packing away his share of the loot into the now seemingly endless dimension pocket. He never did quite figure out how much would fit as it just kept accepting everything put into it.

"Jusssst about ssssir. We are putting the meat on the cartssss, and that sssshould be it for the harvest." Answered one of the lackeys, Spike never bother to learn their names, settling on just "You" when addressing them individually.

"Fine. Two of you spread out and search the area for any stragglers. Bring them to me before you kill em, I want to know if there are more of them heading this way." he set about organizing the rest of them to start carting the spoils back to the hideout.

It wasn't long until a shriek through the air was heard, and he turned towards its direction. It seemed as if the scouts had caught a female. It would be all right. Usually, he chose to slaughter them instead of keeping them alive as the Gecklings practiced some very unsavory acts towards all women they found.

"Bosssss! We found one! Sssshess a keeper ya, flaming hair and all." Said the head scout as the brush was pushed away by the other scout shoving the prisoner to the ground.

Spike’s eyes went wide as he took in the sight of black leather, blue jeans, light blue top and hair a dark red shade with streaks of yellow. Having nearly lost all forms of thought at the image of her face come into view with rebellion in her eyes.

"Stop it! Let me go you scaly freaks!" she said as her voice seethed anger over every word and trying her best to resist her captors. He took a moment to take the sight in and felt something he thought lost. Seven years of a void that couldn't be sated, seven years of torture when he thought a way was found. Seven years of nothing but, hollow dreams and never ending nightmares. All of it, gone once he saw her.

"Sunset?" Asking her cautiously as if acknowledging her would result in her disappearing. Having thought that if something like this had ever happened, he would be ecstatic was vastly incorrect on his part. Thus, due to all those years of hardship and experiences, his tone betrayed emotions and hinted at nothing except ice-cold indifference. She stared at the figure clad in black armor, not knowing how to answer. It was no surprise as being surrounded by lizard-like monsters speaking a foreign language would make anyone tense.

"How do you know my name? Who-"

Spike took off the helmet and knelt down in front of her. They stared into each other’s eyes, and a gasp could be heard from her at a sudden realization. Her face went through several emotions at once, the ones Spike could recognize were elation, fear, and hope. She was about to speak up before a rag was shoved into her mouth and tied in place with a second one.

"Alright lads, I’m claiming this one as a slave. That means if any of you touch her I'll personally see to it that the rest of us have extra meat tonight." Spike yelled grabbing Sunset by the arm and pulling her along.

"Now, lets' go home." The usual response of cheers and hissing and they started the journey back could be heard in response. Sunset was kept in front of him and pushed forward at different intervals to assure her of his presence. A feast was promised tonight, and this would be the first time, in a long time, that he would partake in the celebration that usually went on after such a haul. Tonight would be a night to remember as he hauled his trophy with them.

Author's Note

This is the mark of the edits that will go on for this story, they will continue until I finish editing all of the chapters that are currently out. I will not give up on this story and I plan to see it through to the end. These edits will just make it easier for me to pump out chapters as I'm not experienced enough to continue the previous way. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope you don't abandon this series.

As always, thank you for reading my story, please leave a comment or critique as any critique is good critique. Have a great day!