"We're leaving. Come on Sunset."

"What? What do you mean? What about Bix?"

The dragon stopped halfway towards the alley that led them to the orphan's base and turned to face the girl.

"What about him? We got the book. He gave me what we agreed on and now he's back here safe. That was the deal and anything else after that is his problem to deal with. We've spent far too much time doing this shit and not enough time on what we came here to do."

Sunset looked over her shoulder at the boy once more to see him unmoving as the woman at the door simply cried and hugged him. His expression was pure shock whether by something the woman said or something he realized she didn't know. Whatever was said between the two was lost to the her as she could barely hear above them mumbling.

"Come on! We're going to an Inn and we'll talk about this there." Spike turned once more and entered the alley as Sunset followed hesitantly.

Following the towering reptile and keeping silent as she didn't even expect of herself. Her thoughts kept returning to their fight in the dungeon and what he had said about their relationship. Did he truly not see her as a friend or was it just a spur of the moment comment due to being angry? His eyes seemed sincere as he shouted the words and nothing about his demeanor changed since he said it. She couldn't tell what he was thinking at all and it worried her.

They reached a tall building after many twists and turns that had a sign with a picture of some form of animal she'd never seen before. The words were still a mystery to her and now that Bix was no longer with them she had no one to ask what anything was other than Spike. He didn't seemed to be in a talking mood at the moment as she witnessed him speaking to a stout man behind a counter and dumping coins onto it.

She followed once more staying close as the other patrons seemed to be eying her with something other than just curiosity. It sent shivers down her spine as she noticed they had been going up for some time. As they reached the top they descended down another set of stairs and into a room with more stairs leading up. They crossed a hallway devoid of doors except for the one at the far end which opened to more stairs leading down. At the end of the stairs was yet another door which Spike knocked on four times and opened.

The door revealed two small steps to a door similar to the first one. He used a key, which he more than likely got from the stout man, and opened it. Beyond the door was a room with a fireplace towards the back. A table was by the fireplace big enough for six people with a pitcher of water in the center. A book shelf on the right side with only a few books in it and a window right next to it. The left wall held hooks on it for their belongings and a door that, when Spike opened it, led to a room with a large bed. A small table could be seen on the right side and small counter was located across from the door that held a large bowl of water with a mirror hanging above it.

"Get some sleep. We'll talk about what we're going to do tomorrow."

"I'm not tired. You said you'd tell me why you're the way you are now. I want to know."

"I lied."

"W-what?!"

Spike turned from putting away the packs and hanging up his leather jerkin to look at the her. "I said, I lied. I'm not going to tell you about it because I don't want to talk about it. Now get some sleep. We've got a lot of stuff to do tomorrow and I'd rather not have you too tired for anything."

"No! You said that you'd tell me after we got through all of that! I deserve to know!"

"You deserve to live!" He shouted as he slammed the wall with his fist.

"You got lucky back there Sunset! I told you that I had a handle of it and yet you put yourself in danger after I specifically asked you to trust me! I had everything under control!"

"You were going to get hit with that spell! What was I supposed to do?!"

"You should have left it alone! That spell wouldn't have work on me anyways!"

"That doesn't make sense!"

"Dragons here are highly resistant to magic! If it had hit me there was a chance it wouldn't have done a thing!"

"A chance? A CHANCE! You risked your life on a chance?!"

"Yes, I did and I'd do it again if it meant keeping you safe you fucking idiot!"

"I'm not a child that needs looking after!"

"You could have fooled me with how you've been acting lately! Not only did you decide to join the dive, you also ignored my warnings in favor of doing whatever it was you wanted! I wanted to be out of this place within a week and now thanks your need to help people we've ended up staying for four years!"

Sunset took a step back as Spike calmed down and sat down at the large table and poured himself a drink. The silence grew between them as she crossed the room and took a seat opposite of the drake.

"Why did you say we aren't friends?"

"Because we aren't." He sighed before downing the drink in one go.

"I thought we were. I've considered you a friend for a long time now."

"No. You've considered Twilight your friend. You've only ever talked to me when she was around we aren't friends. Acquaintances maybe but not friends, not in the slightest."

"But-"

"Sunset, I'm not saying we'll never be friends and I'm definitely not saying I won't look out for you. You're the only thing spurring me on to try and find a way back anymore. I think if anything happened to you then I'd finally just give up."

"Give up?"

"I know that I've been touched by the Mad God. That crystal with part of my soul is proof of that and the only thing keeping me sane. I'm tainted Sunset, I've been tainted for a long time and I've fought it for just as long hoping for a sign to return. You just happened to show up the moment I truly felt like I'd done enough."

Spike rested his hand on his arm and wiped his face with his other hand as he turned to stare at the fire. When Sunset first reunited she realized he had changed but now she took a good look at him. His expression alone told of someone who had been close to breaking several times. The scars lining his body told of hard won battles and a deep mark on the right side of his chest meant he had experienced being close to death more than once.

"What... what were you going to do?"

"What do you mean?" he asked looking at her once more.

"When we were at the village; you said that you had plans to leave within the next few days. What were you planning on doing?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Spike, tell me. If you won't tell me about your past then at least tell me this."

"I was planning on going into the jungle and smashing the crystal." he sighed pouring another glass. "I was prepared to turn into a paradox beast or whatever he wanted of me."

It was hard to take in and believe what Spike had said. It had to have been a cold and harsh life the drake experienced for his usually optimistic demeanor and innocence he had when was younger. Was this world truly so bad that he'd be willing to give up on his life so readily?

Then again, did she honestly think it wasn't with everything she had seen and heard from both Bix and Spike? Was she truly just naive to think that it couldn't be that bad? No, she knew what she was up against with everything she'd experienced. The Mad God's agent was clue enough as to what this world was capable of and yet, she felt that if she acknowledged it she'd begin to lose something important.

"Fine."

"Fine?" mimicked the confused the dragon.

"Yes, It's fine. I'm starting to understand what it is I've been put into. I'll listen to you from now and stop treating you like the baby dragon I remember. As long as you stop treating me like a child."

A nod as a reply was all she needed to turn and try to sleep. It would be a long night for both of them.

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"I'll be out here don't worry about me and sleep."

Her immediate thought was to protest and yet she shut it down just as quickly and closed the door to the room. Spike was left alone and soon the noises of rustling about couldn't be heard from the other room. He sat in silence for another hour before getting ready to go out. As he wrote a few lines stating he'd be back in a while he closed the front door as Sunset peeked on him leaving.

A thought came to follow him but his voiced echoed in her head about trusting him. She put the thought aside and returned to lay on the bed. Her mind racing with a thousand different questions as she stared at the ceiling. She reached for her jacket and took out the stone once more and moved it around in her hands.

"Four years... I can't believe four years passed while we were in that place. It can't have really been that long... could it? If this is a normal thing then does that mean I've been gone for months now back home?"

She wondered if they would ever find a way back. Spike had been here for seven years of his life without finding a way. Would her sudden arrival change anything? Then there was the Mad God's agent. He had transported her back to Equestria when trying to bribe her away. If they had that kind of power then what was to stop them from actually taking over Equestria. They didn't even consider Discord much of a threat.

"Fuck it. I'll think about all this tomorrow. It's getting late and Spike wouldn't just leave me alone without making sure I was safe. I'll ask him where he went in the morning."

Her eyelids closed as she yawned and buried herself deep into the covers of the bed. The exhaustion, both mental and physical, hit her as her head hit the pillow. Soon she found herself dreaming of better days. Days filled with laughter and joy brought to her by her friends, which, included Spike whether he saw them as friends or not.

"Give me another one and leave the bottle this time." Spike said as he caught the attention of the bartender before the portly woman could ignore him once again.

"I'll do so when I see if you have the coin for it." Her look of disgust turned to one of comfort as Spike produced a small bag full of coins and placed several on the counter. She grabbed them and set down a large bottle of his usual drink.

To say it was his usual was just him thinking it was as he had never been to the bar before tonight. The drink itself was the cheapest and lowest quality alcoholic drink anyone could afford. While others drank it because they had little choice due to being low on coin, he drank it because he'd gotten a taste for it due to years of human hunting.

He took the bottle and his glass to a small table near one of the open bar windows. The other patrons ignored him as their attention was directed towards a pair of cats arguing over who's fur was softer. The white hair had a point that, since his fur didn't have any stains or indications of dirt, her fur was softer. To which, the tabby smeared some dirt on her chest and a fight broke out.

"What do you want?" Spike directed towards a figure that stood on the other side of the wall.

"I've a message to deliver."

"Well, send it back. I don't want anything to do with you lot."

"Not happening I'm afraid. You've taken an oath and it's time to uphold it. You are needed at the border of the Domains within three weeks. There's a war going on and you'll be taking part in it."

"I'm not fighting in any wars. Tell them I'm not moving unless I get what I want."

"You aren't fighting in the war. You're ending it."

"How does he expect me to do that?"

"You'll know when you get there. Just a warning; in case you refused or had thoughts of not going they told me to give you this." A pale hand stretched itself inside the building through the window with a small sack.

Spike snatched the sack and dumped it's contents to see a bundle of red and gold hair tied together with a small string. He picked the bundle up and sniffed it which resulted in him immediately reaching outside. He pulled the messenger inside only to find an empty cloak.

"Why does every one think to make me angry lately?" He stuffed the tuft of hair away and drank the rest of the bottle before chewing on the glass. "Let me get six more bottles and a barrel of water." He yelled over the roar of the crowd that was still watching the cat fight going on.

The bartender tapped the counter and Spike produced coins for the wares. He packed the bottles away in his pocket and carried the barrel back to the room but not before collecting the empty cloak at the table he was sitting.

The click of the lock echoed through the room as Sunset woke from her short slumber. She got out of bed and wrapped one of the blankets around her as she walked and peeked into the next room. She saw Spike coming in carrying a barrel of some sort with an extremely sour look on his face as he shut the door. He set it down by the table as she opened her door.

"Where were you?" She asked stepping out of the bedroom and walking towards the dragon.

"I thought you were sleeping." Spike sighed as he let himself fall onto one of the chairs.

"I was sleeping. It just wasn't as deep as I would have liked."

"Try get some more then. I'll wake you up in a few hours. We need to visit some shops before we leave in the morning."

"Where are we going? Did you find some kind of lead? What about Bix?"

"What about him? He's lived this long without us being around. As for where we're going, well, I have to go towards the northern border of the domains and I'm not leaving you behind."

"I wasn't planning to stay put either way. Why the border though?" Sunset poured herself a glass of water waiting for an answer but nothing came. "Spike?"

He pulled a bottle out from nowhere and started to take long swigs of the drink. He wiped away the excess that slipped from the sides of his mouth before putting it down and burping a slight puff of fire.

"There's a city close to the northern border that works as a hub for any thrown into the Domains. If there are any clues as to how we can get back to Equestria we can start there."

"If that's the best chance then why haven't you tried it before?"

"I have, but I haven't been there in years so it has to have something new. There's also the fact that we've wasted an entire four years because of the dungeon." He drank some more as he answered never meeting Sunset's eyes.

"I'm sorry alright!" Sunset yelled at the mention of the time wasted.

"I'm not angry about that Sunset. I get that you just wanted to help them out. It just didn't end the way either of us wanted. Now go to bed. You need some rest and I want some time alone."

"I don't need to sleep. I can stay and help-"

"Sunset, please. I just need some time alone and if I can't get it here then I'll get it somewhere else. Either way, you still need sleep."

"Fine. Good night, Spike." She huffed stomping back into the bedroom.

Spike watched the door slam and sighed before finishing the bottle he'd taken out. He made a note to buy some more before leaving the town and took out another one. They needed to buy Sunset some decent armor. Enough supplies to last for two weeks or more for two. Gems for Sunset's spell to work; cheap ones as the barrel of water had been a bit of a drain. Then...

"Then what? Fuck, what am I even doing anymore? Nothing is going the way I want it to at all." He slumped down onto the table and put his hands on his head trying to figure out where everything went wrong. "We were only supposed to supply here and get some info before going to the border town. Four years... four more years spent here without my knowing."

Grabbing the bottle again and draining it; he groaned in frustration. "What should I do? Twilight, tell me what I should do. I'm tired Twilight. I'm so so tired." He laid his head down and closed his eyes as the fire started to grow dim. A new day was slowly starting to rise and with it new problems. For now, he them pass over him as he dreamed of still being the number assistant to the Princess of Friendship. He dreamed of being home.

Author's Note

The title of this chapter, for those of you who don't get the meaning, is "What Would Twilight Do?" get it? Huh? Huh? No? I'm awful? Fuck. Anyways, new chapter is out and I'm a bit burned out as I had several ideas for this one but kept revising due to not liking the flow.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please leave a comment or critique below as any critique helps me grow as a writer. Have a wonderful day!