Four hours, it had taken four hours to return to what would be considered home to the gecklings and a lesser extent Spike. Halfway through it though Sunset had fallen on her knees so instead of pressing the matter Spike decided to just pick her up and threw her over his shoulder. It was a task in itself to adjust her enough to be comfortable but, give the impression of carrying a possession. He would have rather had her ride in one of the carts, but considering that they were either filled with fresh meat from game and humans, he decided to forgo the latter.

Of course, there was also the fact that even if that were not the case, the gecklings would consider it an act of weakness for showing a slave some form of compassion. It also didn't help that said slave was a human and a female at that. Throughout the years he spent around the monsters known as gecklings, Spike found that the practice he came to hate the most was their use of the female slaves. It took a while for him to get used to the slavery but, even longer to stomach the gecklings using them for relief. Nothing he did could change their way of doing things since it was deeply ingrained in their minds of slaves being less than even the weakest of them.

He did, however, change some of the ways they were treated, and at any possible chance would demand a slave or two. During this time, Spike would pack a bag full of supplies for a week and stashed it where he kept the girl/s. Once a sufficient amount of time had passed he would feign anger and make a show of reducing them to ashes, always in the same spot so as to catch the supplies in the fire. It displayed not only his power and dominance but would also send the girls to a place that was far enough away from the encampment so they could run. What they did after that would be up to them to decide. Not a single one ever came back, and he could only wish they made it somewhere safe.

"Alright, take the carts to butcher hut and leave the ones with the loot outside of my hut so I can check if there are any traps on them. Once you're all done doing that rest a while, you lot earned it." Spike yelled at the party; it was mostly formalities now but, it never hurt to be consistent.

"Welcome back bosss, would you like me to take thiss ssslave with the ressst?" asked a gecklings slightly different from the rest as he reached to collect Sunset.

Gecklings were not known for being unique, and by that, it meant that they all looked the same. Despite that, every so often, one or two of them would have some unique striking feature that separated them from among the rest. This one's unique feature was the fact he had a larger physique than the rest of them. If he were to wear Spike’s armor, he could easily pass as for him if not for the color of the tail as his was always showing. That wasn't the only thing that made him different, though; there was also the fact that this geckling had a name.

Names to gecklings meant reverence; not one geckling except for those chosen by the Mad God's counsel had a name. It had helped Spike immensely upon his first encounter with them that he had a name. Never was he as happy to have a name then when the first time he was with the gecklings as they did not resort to slaughtering him for failing to be a true geckling.

"No, this one is mine. Tell the rest not to touch this one Aposte, and prepare the feast. I'll join the rest after I get… better acquainted with this one." he said moving past Aposte and adjusting Sunset on his shoulder.

"Yesss, bosss." Aposte replied as he wandered away to oversee the rest of the place.

Home for the past year had been this place, the abandoned village of Marx located near the border of the lush expanse of green that Spike had seen when first heaved into this world. He had always kept near the mountain that had been the place of his arrival; silently wishing something would happen to give him a sign that the portal had appeared. It was naive, to say the least, but it filled him with a strange sense of comfort. Comfort in knowing that the mountain was the closest to Equestria that he could ever be.

Upon his first arrival to this village, it only had about four houses and a larger building that was a kind of inn which seemed strange for such an out of the way place. Bodies were scattered about, and blood was still drying throughout the street as he explored around. Apparently, from what could be gathered from reading the diary of an outraged farmer, was that the villagers were not content with how the chief was conducting everything. Taking everything that the villagers had and distributing it evenly between everyone. All of this resulted in bitterness as the chief would do nothing except laze around and take anything he sought was "fair". So the villagers did the only thing they could think of and slaughtered his family, gruesome yet effective.

Long story short, it was a bad idea on their part as the chief came from a long line of scholars. In the end, he died but, not without taking the rest of them with him. Made apparent as Spike found a pile of corpses in the basement of the inn. Regardless, he set about moving them out and cleaning what he could, and eventually established one of the bigger abodes as a base. The gecklings came later as he found most of them stalking around for food a week later. Having convinced them to stick around by giving them what meat was left and telling them it would be warmer to stay in the houses than the regular cave as their norm. More of them arrived soon after, but the fact that they came made it a village of sorts and meant order was needed. They elected Spike as their boss but, he always had Aposte delegate more once he began to settle there. It helped keep his distance emotionally and let them be more independent regardless of his presence.

Throughout the walk back and the delegation of duties Sunset was relatively calm. Thinking it was weird for the girl he remembered to have a rather rude demeanor. Of course, she was in a different world than Equestria and that of the high school where she had spent several moons. Not to mention that her first contact with any form of sentient beings were the geckling scouts that, by the looks of it, had roughed her up a bit before bringing her to Spike. They reached his place without much problem as most of the gecklings knew not to bother him unless it was important. Closing the door and lighting the lamps near the doorway he took amount to look the place over. It was larger than the rest, except the inn, with a typical fireplace and dining table in the middle. A rather large bed facing the door made by combining the two that were originally there when he took residence towards the upper right corner along with a bedside table on its left. To the right of the dining table against the opposite wall was a chest next to a small desk and two bookcases that lined the rest of the walls. It smelled of ink, blood, sweat, and paper throughout the room which was typical these days but, to Sunset, it seemed to unnerve her as she made an audible noise of disgust.

"Let me put you down, and then we can talk after you clean the blood off your face." he told her walking towards the bed and undoing the bonds and gag.

Immediate regret came once he did as she kicked his leg; it was regret on her side though as Spike still had the armor on which resulted in a rather nasty thud.

"Ow…" she said holding her boot.

"What was the gag for?! And who are you? You can't be the Spike I know… at least, I don't think so. I've only ever known your dog form and can't be too sure." She barked as she tried to clean her face with the small towel handed to her.

"It is you, right? Spike?"

He brought a chair from the table over to sit in front of her after lighting the fireplace. Having left the helmet on the table, he stared at her. She had asked all of it with fear still in her eyes. Fear all too familiar, the kind that meant having someone familiar near yet somehow unfamiliar. Her eyes burned to the core as he took the towel and gave her a cup of water, leaving the pitcher near her.

"Yea. It's me Sunset."

Whether it was because she was glad to see the dragon or because she felt safe in this new world, she lunged with a hug. Ignoring the water spreading from the knocked over pitcher he had just set down, Spike returned the hug with caution as using his full strength would result in broken bones. She continued to sob quietly but, eventually pulled back from the uncomfortable feel of the armor.

"Sorry, it's just… I never thought I would see you again. No one did, not after you disappeared. Especially not looking the way you do now." She said, trying to wipe her tears and compose herself once more.

That caught him by surprise; it was as if she thought he had changed much too drastically. Then again, it has been a long time since the last time they spoke. Spike had mentioned that he was a dragon in Equestria in passing but, he guessed seeing it be genuine and in full armor sans the helmet was certainly not something to take lightly.

"It's been a long time Sunset; I've changed. Whether or not it was for the better doesn't matter. I was never given a choice all these years; it was either adapt or die. I have spent too much time trying to survive the days in hopes of going back home. Giving up... dying was not an option." he put down the refilled pitcher by her again and handed her a napkin.

"Spike, I don't understand… How long have yo…" she asked with a confused look on her face, or, at least, she would have if Spike hadn't interrupted her.

"Listen to me Sunset; I get that you aren't exactly ecstatic with the situation right now but, we don't have much time. I'm planning on leaving within the next few days, its spur of the moment but, you showing up destroyed everything I had planned."

"Leave? As in leave for Equestria?" she asked, the excitement apparent in her voice.

"Sunset… If I had the luxury of getting back so soon, do you think I wouldn't have jumped at the chance by now? Do you honestly believe that I love being here? Away from everyone? Not having anyone to talk to except those monsters?! Do you think so little of me that you consider my being here for so long my choice?! Are you honestly saying I wanted to be away this long from my home?! My friends?! Twilight?!" He was yelling, Spike hardly ever yelled when he was younger and certainly not at a friend. The question threw his emotions into disarray as it felt like a knife plunging itself deeper into his heart.

He watched as she was stepping away hesitantly from the intense look in his eyes. Spike had apparently crossed the small distance between them and was staring her down. It had made her move away and pin herself against the wall on the bed. Her eyes full of fear, something he would have never imagined a friend would have directed at him. Not again, not since the events of his greed exploding and taking over his actions.

"So… Sorry Sunset, I… I don't know what came over me. You asking those questions just brought up too many bad memories."

He backed away and moved across the room to the chest on the opposite side. Spike started to take off the armor and put on a shirt and trousers. It wasn't as imposing as the armor, but it provided his body with warmth and let the aura of intimidation disappear. The shirt being a pure tan color that sat somewhat loosely on the dragon, and matched the brown trousers that he had put on in the same fashion. The clothing would have matched too if it wasn't for the fact that Spike went without footwear. It was to be expected though as anything he had tried on besides the greaves would be torn through with ease.

"Spike… I'm sorry too; I didn't mean to bring those up for you. I was just…" Sunset said looking gloomy after realizing how her words had affected the towering dragon. "Spike, I have to know. What did you mean by being here for so long?"

He looked at her with confusion before sitting back down pouring a glass of water for himself.

"I mean, you also said that you weren't given a choice after all these years… Spike, how long have you been here?"

"What do mean how long? Sunset I've been gone for seven years. I don't understand." Dread was creeping over him as the question was not something he had expected.

"Spike… you've been gone for a year and a half…" She said, her eyes were not lying as the words left her mouth.

Author's Note

Ch.2 edited and out. Again, I apologize to anyone waiting for more chapters. I'll try to have these all done as quickly as possible.

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