Spike groaned in annoyance, he tried to swat away the single beam of sun light that was hitting him in the face. Spike turned to his side and the light followed. Spike groaned again and turned onto his other side, and again the light moved to his face. Spike groaned as he opened his eyes. "Fine I'm up, I'm up. Your lucky I love you mom." Said Spike. He sat up and yawned. "I feel like I could of slept for a month." Said Spike.

"I know, It took a lot out of me to constantly swap with you. After this I'm only going to be that weird little voice in your head. Tell mother and our sister, I say hi. I'm going back to bed its still to early for me." Said Mal using Spikes body.

"Fine, get some rest." Said Spike as he got to his feet and started to stretch his body. The sound of Spikes joints popping echoed through the castle.

Once Spike was all loosened up he walked out of his room and headed for one of the bathrooms for his morning shower.

One 30 minute shower later. Spike walked out of the bathroom, only wrapped in a towel. He started to walk back to his room, so he could grab all of his gear that wasn't destroyed while he molted. "So all I have is my crossbow, my bag, and my hat." Spike groaned. "Well that's great." Said Spike a little saddened that he lost most of his gear.

Spike looked down at his body and sighed. "Well I used to walk around town naked, so this shouldn't be any different." Said Spike, but then he looked at his big chest scar. "Oh who am I kidding, the ponies are going to notice the scars and more importantly their going to notice the wings." Spike thought for a moment. "Wait, I can use my wings to get around town, less ponies will stop me in the streets that way." Spike smiled.

"I'll head over to the castle and do some early morning training. Then I'll head over to Rarity's for the final fitting, assuming she has it done today. After that, I'll head over to the Cake's place and visit them after the lunch rush is over. Then its back to Rarity's, before the dessert seekers show up, to pick up my new duds. Head home, make dinner, then pack my stuff for the trip." Said Spike happy that he has created his daily mental calendar.

Spike walked back into his room, he quickly grabbed his crossbow, hat, and strapped his backpack on to his back being careful not to damage his wings. Now that he was 'dressed', he walked out of his room. Spike walked down the hall of the castle and down the stairs heading for the kitchen. Once Spike reached the kitchen, he smiled and opened the door. Spike greeted his mother, sister and friend, all of whom were enjoying the morning. Twilight was talking with Starlight, as Celestia was using the stove to make breakfast. "Good morning, Twilight, Starlight." Said Spike as he walked to the table.

"Hey, what about me, don't I get a good morning?" Asked Celestia a little saddened that her son forgot her.

"Depends, was it you who moved the sun so the light would wake me up?" Asked Spike already knowing the answer.

"Depends, do you want my special good morning pancakes?" Asked Celestia knowing that her son is unable to say no to her special pancakes.

Celestia smirked in victory when she felt her son hugging her from behind. "I'm sorry mom, Good morning." Said Spike with a smile. Celestia giggled and levitated a plate stacked with pancakes over to the table.

"Works every time." Thought Celestia as she was cheering for herself on her victory.

The moment Spike noticed the pancakes on the table, he made a b line for them. In a fraction of a second the pancakes were devoured, and in their place was only the syrupy remains of the poor defenseless pancakes. Spike leaned back in his chair and gave a hearty pat to his stomach. "One day I tell you, one day, I will figure out what makes your pancakes so great." Said Spike content.

Celestia giggled at her sons satisfied expression. "I will tell you, if you do one of two things." Said Celestia.

This caught Spikes attention as this was a golden opportunity to learn one of Celestia's greatest secrets. "I'll do anything."

"Either wait until I'm dead." Said Celestia.

Spike shook his head. "Nope that will take to long."

"Or get married and have kids." Said Celestia. "Besides I'm not getting any younger, I want to at least see some grand children, and I don't see little miss Princess of Friendship, moving on to the next step of friendship any time soon." Said Celestia.

Twilight blushed and yelled in embarrassment. "HEY!" Yelled Twilight. She then looked to the ground and grumbled. "I could find a special sompony any time I want, I'm just to busy is all."

Everyone gave her 'a are you serious face'. "What?" Asked Twilight.

"Twilight, you are many things, busy is not one of them. Most of the day you spend in your study practicing new magic spells." Said Starlight.

"On occasion, you will be called by a giant crystal map to fix a friendship problem somewhere in the world, but that only happens like once a month now if that." Added Celestia.

"And, you can't cook, are too obsessed with books, and lets be honest, are related to not only the prince and princesses of the Crystal Empire, but are a element of harmony, and the alicorn princess of friendship. And as of a few days ago has an over protective little brother again, who will flambé anyone who makes you cry. Am I missing something?" Asked Spike.

"Yeah, not to mention five great friends who will hunt them down at the drop of a hat." Added Pinkie who suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

Spike looked at the mare and just sighed as she handed him a cup of coffee. Spike took a long sip and smiled. "Thank you Pinkie, for the coffee and your input, care to join us this morning?" Asked Spike.

Pinkie giggled and shook her head rapidly. "Sorry Spikey, I'm running around town inviting everyone to your, 'YAYSPIKESALIVE,YAYIMNOTDEAD,IWENTTHROUGHHELL,GOTCOOLSCARS,FOUNDANOTHERFAMILY,WELCOMETOPONYVILLE,MOLTING..." Pinkie took a breath and continued. "...YAYIHAVEWINGS,GOTREVENGEONMYBULLIE,METMYPARENTS,SURVIVEDAROCATTACK,SAVEDAPPLEJACK,NEWARMORGETTING,BIGREVEAL,YAYWEBEATTHEBIGMEANNY..." Another breath. "TURNSOUTIMOLDERTHENMYMOM,STOPPEDCHRYSALISFROMKIDNAPPINGFLURRYHEART,NEWASSISTANTGODOFCHAOS,COMINGTOTERMSWITHMAL PARTY." Said Pinky holding out a banner with the title of the party, but the banner was over 400 feet long and still fit in the 60 foot wide kitchen.

"Wait, what did you say?"

Pinkie then took a gasp of air and was about to start saying the name of the party again. But she was stopped by a sudden Discord popping into the kitchen, he used his lion paw to close her lips. He shook his head. "Don't ruin the surprise. Where's the fun in that?" Said Discord as he poofed out of this reality leaving everyone confused.

Spike sighed. "Don't question it." Said Spike.

Suddenly one of Discords Arms reappeared holding a large ink stamp. The arm then stamped Pinkie's side and then disappeared. Spike sighed again, and looked at what his new boss just stamped on Pinkie. "It says, 'Hi my name is Pinkie Pie, I can do a lot of things, don't question it or you'll go insane, please see 'Feeling Pinkie Keen for only known case of Pinkie induced crazy'". Said Spike who just shrugged it off and took the final sip of his coffee. "Well I've reached my limit for Discord influenced crazy for the day, I'm out." Said Spike as he walked to the kitchen door.

Once Spike reached the door he looked at everyone and smiled. "I'm heading to the castle to start my aerial training, be back in a while. Love you." Said Spike as he waved and walked to the front door.

Spike opened the front door and smiled. Spike smirked, unfurled his wings and started to fly towards the old castle.

Once Spike reached the old castle, he used one of the holes in the ceiling to fly into the main hall. There he started to land, but unlike the first landing that ended in a crash. Spike used half the night talking with Mal in his mind. They talked about what he was doing wrong when it came to landing, they used the memories of all the dragons Spike has seen, and copied their motions.

Spike landed perfectly on the ground, this time. It was unlikely that anyone was going to come into the main hall for a while so Spike decided to wait. Spike decided to light the campfire and take a seat in the stone chair that his mother made.

A few moments later Spike noticed a single Stingbee drone flying past. Spike gave a short whistle to catch its attention. The moment the bee saw Spike it flew down to him. It landed on the stone table and waited for orders. Spike looked at the bee. "Tell Queen that I have arrived and I want her to gather everyone, you have ten minutes, buzz once when ready." Said Spike. The bee buzzed once and then flew away.

Ten minutes later the room was now filled with all of the ammo. All the leader's moved over to the table and waited for Spike's orders. Spike smiled and gave a pat to everyone. "Thanks for showing up, now who's ready to start some training?"

The room was filled with cheering. Spike smiled as he looked at Wallop. "Wallop I need a few of you guys to act like our targets, you are used to hard landings, but I'll make sure to keep it to glancing blow's so no one gets hurt." Said Spike, Wallop nodded. Spike nodded and smiled as he gave the order to get ready. "All right, we are going to start some new training, so all fliers are to report in right now, as for the ground troops your getting the time off. Also everyone, we are leaving tomorrow morning and your all coming with me so plan to be in the tubes for at least a few days." Said Spike as all the ammo nodded at the information and started to pile in to their tubes.

Once everyone was inside of the tubes Spike walked out of the castle and equipped Wallop and the Thudslugs. Spike launched 12 Thudslugs into the air, they started to hover in the sky as they were awaiting their orders. "Today is the beginning of our aerial combat training, you 12 are to spread out around the castle and hold position, I will fly around getting used to the movements and learning to adjust for everyone's flight paths, move out." Said Spike as the Thudslugs dispersed.

Once Spike knew all the Thud slugs were ready, he unfurled his wings and took flight. Spike started to fly around the castle to locate all of the slug targets.

Spike circled the castle from the air and after the 5th fly around, he had located all of the slugs. As Spike was flying he equipped the stingbees next to the thudslugs. Once Spike was near the first slug target Spike shot one of the stingbees and completely and utterly missed. It was an overshot. Spike groaned. "Damn, it looks like this is going to take a while."

It took Spike nearly two hours to hit all 12 targets. It turns out that Boombats don't do well with high altitude flight, thudslugs are much heavier then they look, but now the castles grounds had 12 new holes in the ground. But Spike knew this was going to be difficult at first and aside from nearly crashing twice, it went well. As Spike was flying back to Ponyville he went into auto pilot and started to review his training today with Mal.

Inside of Spikes mind Mal was watching a replay of what Spike was doing during training. Spike walked over to Mal and let him finish the review. Mal sighed. "You need a lot of work It seems."

"What was your first clue?" Asked Spike.

"Instead of your normal 95.67% accuracy with Queen and her hive on the ground, today your accuracy was shit, at 15.78%. You need more training with your aerial stability. Imagen that your just standing on the ground but over a hundred feet in the air, that's your first goal, once you feel comfortable hovering in the air, start moving slowly and then speed it up. That's when we will need to take into account, leading like you do with Blink. So I'm recommending similar training for all the fliers. Its a opening if you miss the target the first time. Don't assume that they'll miss you."

Then we need to take into account your strategies. Thanks to those upgrades that we still have we can keep track of how many of them we have left. But from what I saw, it takes about 2 seconds longer for you to swap out and to reload them when you try and gain altitude. So if your swapping or reloading either stay still and get shot or do a dive bomb and let the air help you. Lastly now that you have wings doesn't mean you will be unstoppable. You still need to train with out them. On the ground, in enclosed spaces, or if you hurt your wings, you will need to rely on your training for survival."

"I agree, can you pull up a image of what we're seeing right now?" Asked Spike.

Mal nodded an pulled up a window of what Spike's eyes were seeing, but all it was gray and yellow. Mal was confused. "Um, what the hell is that?" Mal took a sniff of the air and became even more confused. "And why do I smell muffins?"

Spike sighed. "Its the mail mare, I'm going out, see you soon." Said Spike as he returned to the real world.

"Um....Sir, would you please stop for a moment and let me go?" Asked Derpy as she was struggling to get free of the dragons hold.

Spike was now fully in control again. He looked down at the mare in his arms and became embarrassed.

Spike slowed down to a hover as he released his hold on the mare. For the first time in ten years, Spike has reconnected with one of his old friends that would stop by the castle to talk with him. Derpy, a gray coated mare with a blond mane, her eyes were a yellow that matched her hair. She is Ponyvilles resident mail mare. But she wasn't always in that position, she started out as part of a local moving company, it didn't end well. Then she joined the weather team for a day, that did not go well. But she needed a job so she could support her daughter, Dinky. She joined the REMS (Royal Equestrian Mail Service) and she was stationed in Ponyville. Despite her impaired vision, she is still considered one of the best mail mares in the business, and from the looks of it. She was doing her rounds. On her head was a mail mares cap and hanging on her side was a large mail mare messenger bag.

Spike smiled but looked sheepish. "Sorry about that Derpy, are you ok?" Asked Spike.

Derpy looked at the dragon that was holding her and looked confused. "Um sir do I know you?"

Spike sighed in annoyance and was starting to think that he needed to start wearing a sign. "It's me Derpy, its Spike."

"psh, no your not Spike disappeared two years ago and he hasn't gotten any mail in just as long." Said Derpy waving off the statement.

Spike sighed and facepalmed. "Your real name is Ditsy Doo, you have a daughter named Dinky, who you had when you were a teenager. The fathers name is Dusk, but currently your dating a brown stallion named Time Turner, but everyone just calls him The Doctor. But if all that's not good enough. Your favorite type of muffin is a chocolate chip, blue berry muffin, that you make yourself, but only you and I know the secret ingredient, which is orange extract."

Derpy Gasped and slammed herself back into the dragon as she hugged him. "Spike it is you!"

"Yeah, but if someone from a town called 'Maizal' comes around asking for a dragon named Clavar, then you never saw me, understand?"

Derpy shook her head. "Nope, but ok."

Spike smiled. "And that's why Dinky is lucky to have such a great mother." Said Spike. He looked at the position of the sun, it was right over head, meaning it was about noon. Spike figured it was time to go. He looked at Derpy. "Derpy, why don't you drop by the castle some time next week so we can catch up, I got to get going right now."

Derpy nodded and released Spike. "Ok Spike, I'm glad to see your back, I'll bake a tray full of my muffins for you, when I come and visit." Said Derpy as she flew off waving, but now she was heading south, not east.

Spike sighed. "Wrong way!" Yelled Spike.

Derpy gasped, as she turned to the east and headed back to the town.

Spike smiled, as he continued to fly to Rarity's.

Spike touched down in front of the boutique and knocked on the door. He waited to be invited in. But after a few moments of waiting, Spike knocked again, and again nothing. Spike was about to knock for a third time, but the door was opened before he could. But not by Rarity, but by Sweetie Belle. "Sorry, Carousel Boutique is currently closed for a special request." Said Sweetie Belle not even noticing that Spike was the one knocking.

"Well, that kinda sucks, I was hoping to pick up my special order today." Said Spike nonchalantly.

Sweetie Belle turned her head and blushed in embarrassment when she noticed the dragon. "Oh, sorry Spike, Rarity wasn't expecting you till a little-FINISHED!" Said Sweetie until the sound of Rarity cheering interrupted her. "Now." Said Sweetie as she walked Spike into the showroom.

Once Spike was inside of the shop, he was enveloped in a blue magical aura, levitated to behind the changing screen as his hat, backpack and crossbow were teleported off of his body. Once he was behind the screen, the same blue aura levitated what appeared to be a collection of golden and black fabric. "Put these on first, then I'll hand you the rest." Said Rarity.

The fabric was a simple shirt and pants, probably to make sure that the new set of armor didn't rub up against Spikes scales.

"This is the main part of the outfit, and thanks to my enchantments, it should be as strong as steel, but as light, and flexible as silk." Said Rarity as she levitated the chest piece over to Spike.

Spike grabbed it. He was in awe at the design. It looked to have the same design as the old set of armor, he had shown her. But it was mixed together with the style of his poncho. The only difference being a few holes down the center of the back for his spines and two large slits for his new wings. Spike put it on and smiled. "Its fits perfectly, and I was able to get my wings in without a problem."

"That's good to hear dear, next, are a set of gauntlets that have a set of gloves built in." Said Rarity as she gave Spike the pieces.

Spike fed his arms through the gauntlets and inserted his fingers into the holes. "As you can see, the cuff of the gauntlets are a series of layered reinforced pieces of fabric colored a dark wooden color, that accent the whole set. On the right gauntlet, I have made it so that your crossbow could be easily transferred between the armor and its old mounting."

"That's a great idea, but the gloves are a little too big in the hands, so that will need to be adjusted." Said Spike.

Rarity hummed as she wrote herself a note. Once the note was finished, she levitated Spike a pair of boots that matched the armors style. "Here are the boots I designed. The drawings you showed me, looked to be designed for creatures with hooves, similar to Centaurs. So I adapted the original design of your old boots, I took off those horrible belts, and added a series of adjustable tighteners that will act like shin guards for you."

Spike inserted his feet. He got a feel for the boots and after a while he was satisfied with the design. "Thanks, they are just the right size and they feel good against my feet."

Rarity smirked in victory. "I'm glad to hear, you have no idea how hard it was to find a material that is soft, but not prone to being destroyed by dragon claws." Said Rarity. She levitated the final piece of the armor set over to Spike, the helmet.

"This is the last piece, the horns are real goat horns. I got them from one of Fluttershy's big horn sheep friends, who had shed them this spring. The side panels are meant to protect the sides of your head. But I also scrapped the piece that sits in between the eyes, along with the spikes that go from the forehead and crest to the back of the helmet. Instead I went for a few spikes at the forehead, that will then transition into your natural spines." Said Rarity as she revealed the helmet to Spike.

Spike grabbed it and placed it on his head. Once it was on his head, Spike was amazed at how Rarity was able to combine practicality of an ancient, alien, and lost civilization of warriors, while added her own personal style, but still adjusting it to complement Spikes own features.

Once Spike was finished admiring the outfit, he walked out from behind the changing screen to show Rarity and Sweetie Belle. "So how do I look?" Asked Spike.

Sweetie Belle whistled impressed at the outfit, as she looked at her sister. "Wow Rarity, you have really out done yourself with this design. Its not to much, not to little, and it perfectly complements Spike. Those goat horns even look like the horns some dragons have."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "Quite right Sweetie. I agree, not to much, not to little, but the gloves are to big, it seems." Said Rarity. She used her magic and teleported the entire outfit off of Spike, sending it to her work room to adjust the gloves once Spike leaves.

Spike laughed at how blunt Rarity could be when it comes to fashion, and instantly stripping a client was pretty blunt only betting out, saying that the waist of an outfit needed to be taken out some. AKA, telling them, they are to big for the outfit. "Thanks for the outfit Rarity, but I got to go, I have plans to meet up with the Cake's as soon as the lunch rush is over. I'll be back later to get the armor, and before I forget, we leave at 8 am tomorrow, so make sure to get packed tonight." Said Spike as he grabbed his stuff, walked out of the shop and took flight, waving back to the two mares standing in the door frame.

Spike flew for a few moments until he was right over the sweet shop. Spike looked down to see if it was safe to land and to see if wouldn't stop the flow of the business. When he did, he noticed that it didn't look too busy, there wasn't a line out the door like there used to be, around this time. Plus there was no one sitting at the outdoor tables. Spike deeming it as the best time as any, landed. Spike descended to near the ground and landed right in front of the store front. But the moment Spike landed, he could hear whispers coming from the locals, that were walking around town. But Spike ignored the comments as he had another task ahead of him.

Spike pushed open the door, the bell above the door rang out, alerting the occupants of the bakery of the new customer. Oh, how Spike was wrong, the bakery was chock full of ponies enjoying a wide range of sweet treats. But now they all stopped eating and turned their attention to the winged dragon with a lot of scars that just entered the establishment.

Spike chuckled nervously and decided to just smile at the pony patrons. Yeah, that plan was thrown out the window, smashed with a hammer, torn up, taped back together, put through a shredder, twice, then the remains were set on fire, buried, left to decompose, then dug up, set on fire again, and for added overkill, it was sent through the shredder one more time, the moment Pinkie Pie saw him. She was manning the counter. Pinkie gasped when she saw Spike, and in true Pinkie fashion, she instantly handed all the ponies in line their orders, even those who hadn't ordered yet. She pushed them to the side so Spike could get to the front of the line quickly.

Spike chuckled even more nervously when all the ponies that were in front of him, were now looking at the food in their hands confused. Then Pinkie, again in her own special way, pulled Spike, who was nearly 20 feet away by the front door, to right in front of the counter. Once he was in front of the counter, she pulled Spike into a hug. Pinkie giggled, "Hiya Spikie, what can your auntie Pinkie Pie do for you?"

Spike laughed at the actions of his most hyperactive friend and smiled, forgetting about the ponies who were staring at him. "Well Auntie Pinkie, why do you think I'm here?" asked Spike.

Pinkie hummed in thought as she rubbed her chin and stuck out her tongue. Then a real light bulb popped out of her mane and lit up brightly as she gasped. "Your here to tell the cakes about your time on Mudos while you play with the twins." Said Pinkie smiling.

Just then, a score board with the names Pinkie and Spike popped into reality. It started to hover above the mare. Then a certain draconequuses arm holding a piece of chalk appeared and made a mark under Pinkies name, then the arm disappeared. The totals now were, Spike 2, Pinkie 146.5. The board stayed above the mare for a few moments and then disappeared to god knows where, as Spike looked at the mare and nodded his head. Pinkie giggled as she pointed up the stairs, "I had a feeling that was the case, so I told them to expect you and I'll hold down the front for a while. Also here's a cupcake for you, on the house of course, for my favorite little dragon." Said Pinkie holding out a cupcake with a green wrapper, purple frosting, and little emeralds she used for the eyes. She handed it to Spike who just shrugged, removed the wrapper, and popped it in his mouth. Spike savored the flavor of the cupcake before swallowing it.

Spike smiled at Pinkie. "Thanks Pinks, don't forget to have everything you'll need for the trip tomorrow, we leave at 8am, and no flugelhorn. Twilight was very adamant about that." Said Spike as he watched Pinkie deflate slightly, and immediately return to normal for Pinkie standards, as she nodded, then Spike smirked "Buuuuuuuut, if I don't know, a certain pink pony just so happened to have already packed her luggage, then a certain dragon wouldn't be able to know if or if not said pink pony did or did not pack said instrument." Said Spike as he watched a pink streak head up stairs, and return before the after image disappeared.

"Well I'm sorry to say, but your too late. I'm afraid I already air mailed my luggage to the Crystal Palace, so there's no way to know for sure." Said Pinkie as she played the innocent act, and she wins best actress.

Spike smiled and nodded at Pinkie. He walked past the counter, up the stairs and made his way to the Twin's old nursery. Once Spike made it to the door, he knocked. The door knob was enveloped in a light blue aura, which turned the knob and opened the door. The next thing Spike saw was a mixture of cream, brown, orange, and pale yellow slamming into him. Sending him to the ground with a thud.

Spike looked at his attackers and saw the widest eyes he had ever seen. "Um hi." Said Spike.

"Hi." Said the two in unison.

"So, does this mean you 2 are in trouble and didn't know I was outside the door or you actually remember me?" Asked Spike.

The two looked at each other and nodded, then Pound spoke. "We remember you, Mr. Spike."

Spike smiled. The two little terrors, were picked up by Mr. Cake and carried back into the room. Mrs. Cake walked out of the room and helped Spike to his feet. Spike cracked his neck and looked at the mare. "What did they do now?" Asked Spike.

Mrs. Cake giggled and shook her head. "Nothing for once, they were actually excited to see you, this was just a unfortunate incident." Said Mrs. Cake as she showed Spike into the room.

Once Spike was in the room, he saw how much it has changed over the years. The crib was replaced with two small beds, one with the logo of the Wonder Bolts, and the other with butterflies, little bunnies, and other cute girly things, showing how different the twins are. But there was still the toy chest and the same decorations as last time. Showing that not everything has changed. Spike looked at the Cakes. "So what do you want to know?" Asked Spike.

The Cakes looked at each other and whispered in a family huddle. Once they came to a consensus among themselves, Pumpkin looked at Spike. "Mr. Spike could you tell us about where you went?" Asked Pumpkin.

Spike smiled, but then he looked nervous. He then looked at the older Cakes. He whispered to them. "Just what am I allowed to tell them about, the place wasn't exactly made of ice-cream and kittens."

"Try to limit the violence, and no cursing please?" Asked Mrs. Cake. She gasped as she remembered that Pinkie mentioned Spike and the little creatures he had. "Um Spike, Pinkie mentioned you had little creatures with you, would you mind showing us them?"

Spike thought about it for a moment. 'Yeah, why not, it would be a fun way to introduce the family to other ponies.' But then he thought about who he could bring out that wouldn't traumatize the kids. "Um, are any of you scared of Spiders?" Asked Spike.

All of them shook their heads. "No, I'm slightly allergic to bees, but I'm not afraid of them." Said Carrot Cake.

Spike nodded and pulled out all eight of the ammo tubes from under his mounting, then one by one, Spike popped the tops off of the tubes and released only the heads of the family. "So to start off with..."

Four hours later:

"So then I walked back into town, made sure the money was ready for Doc, Beeks, and who ever else I owed money, then I headed to Doc's and after nearly 10 years of making my way in Mudos, I was able to return home. But I appeared in the middle of the Everfree forest over a hundred feet in the air and started to fall to the ground..." Just then the clocktower bell started to ring, and it rang six times signaling 6pm. Spike sighed, "And 'The Wonderous Story of Spike the Bounty Hunter' will have to conclude next time."

The audience made a groan. "But why?" wined Pumpkin.

Spike picked her up and placed her on his knee. "Because Pumpkin, I need to head home and see my mom. She took this entire week off to spend time with me. But I have spent a total of 10 minutes with her today. Plus I have to get ready to head to the Crystal Empire for the crystal fair. Trust me I still have a lot of stories to tell you guys and I promise to tell you all of them, when I get back." Said Spike as he looked at Pumpkin.

Pumpkin sniffled but nodded in understanding. "Ok, Mr. Spike." Said a sad Pumpkin.

Spikes heart broke at the sight but then he thought of a way to cheer her up. "Hey Pumpkin?" Said Spike.

Pumpkin looked at him. "I promise to tell you all about what I've done since I got back, when I return from the Crystal Empire, so long as I'm not mobbed to death when I show up, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." Said Spike doing the motions. It worked wonders as Pumpkin smiled, so excited.

"Thank you Mr.Spike." Said Pumpkin hugging the dragon. Spike hugged her back.

Spike placed Pumpkin back on the ground and walked over to Pound and gave him a fist bump, which was returned by the colt. "See you around Pound."

"You too Mr. Spike, but you got to up your story telling game, there was hardly any cool fight scenes."

Spike laughed, "How about a deal?" asked Spike, "Once you turn ten I'll give you the uncut version of what happened." Said Spike.

Pound gasped and Buzzed excitedly around Spike, causing the dragon to laugh again. "I'll take that as a yes then." Spike then looked at the two parents and smiled. "Thank you for having me today, I had fun."

Mrs. Cake giggled. "No, thank you Spike, for the first time in a month nothing was destroyed, cracked, broken, set on fire, smashed, or put a hole in the wall."

Spike looked at the two children in shock, then back to the adults. "Really, but they are only like three, just how?" Asked Spike. "I mean, I know they fight, and occasionally stuff gets damaged, but set on fire?"

Carrot Cake nodded. "We accidently left the window open, Pound found a storm cloud and brought it inside, kicked it, and lightning struck the wood floor setting it on fire, it was a small fire but we have child locks on the windows now."

Spike whistled. "No offense but y'all have some strange kids. Last I checked, pegasi can't move clouds, let alone storm clouds, until their at least six, and unicorns can't do that." Said Spike pointing to Pumpkin, who was levitating all of her dolls and making them dance in the air around Pound.

Both parents shrugged. "What do you expect, they see Pinkie as an aunt." Said Mrs. Cake.

A cold chill ran down Spikes back. "Can they... you know."

Both shook their heads. "Thank Celestia no, it appears to be unique to Pinkie alone, this family can only handle one Pinkie Pie, imagine what life would be like with three."

Spike tried to imagine that but all he saw was pink. "All I saw was pink."

"Exactly." Said both parents shuttering at the thought.

"But anyways, thanks for visiting Spike, we need to head down stairs and get ready for the after dinner crowd to show. Your welcome to stay if you want."

Spike shook his head. "Sorry, but no can do. I got a early morning and I need to head back to Rarity's to pick up my new outfit, have a good night you two." Said Spike as he walked out of the twin's bed room, back down stairs, said good bye to Pinkie, then left the shop, and headed back to Rarity's.

A few minutes later Spike arrived at Rarity's and knocked on the door, and almost instantly Spike was teleported to behind the changing screen, but he was now completely naked. "Your stuff was teleported back to your room in the castle, dear." said Rarity from the other side of the screen. "I have your outfit all ready as well, try it on." Said the mare as she levitated the completed outfit over to Spike. "And I also have a special surprise for you when you get out."

"First off, thanks for sending my stuff back, second, thanks for getting this done on such short notice, and lastly, what surprise?"

"You'll just have to wait and see, and it was no trouble at all Spikie Wikey." Said Rarity.

Spike groaned at the use of his old pet name, but donned his new armor.

Moments later Spike walked out from behind the changing screen to show it off to Rarity. "It fits perfectly now Rarity." Said Spike smiling as he looked at Rarity who was smiling back at the dragon.

"Well I'm glad you like it. Seeing that smile brings back so many memories. Now close your eyes, and put out your arms for your surprise." Said Rarity.

Spike trusted Rarity and was actually excited to see what Rarity has in store for him. He put out his arms and closed his eyes. Moments later Spike felt a weight being added to his arms but he kept his eyes closed. "Ok, now open your eyes." Said Rarity. Spike opened his eyes and was shocked to see what was in his arms. "Surprise." Cheered Rarity.

In Spikes arms, was his old poncho and boots completely fixed and looking brand new. "How did you?" Asked Spike who looked at Rarity in shock.

Rarity giggled at the dumbstruck dragon. "Well, I just fixed them up, you should really thank Celestia. She's the one who thought it would be a good idea to have your old 'outfit' repaired." Said Rarity.

"Well, still, thanks for fixing it up, none the less." Said Spike as he smiled at having his old outfit back with him.

"I'm glad you like it, but you need to leave." Said Rarity as she pointed to the door.

Spike was confused. "But why, did I do or say something?" asked Spike.

Rarity gasped and shook her head. "No, no ,no , no, no, absolutely not, its just a lady needs her beauty sleep, and it takes me a few hours to get ready in the morning, so shoo." Said Rarity shooing Spike away.

Spike laughed and walked up to Rarity. He pulled her into a hug. "I never understood why a beautiful lady like yourself needed so much sleep in the first place." Said Spike. "But if that's what my lady wants, then that's what she gets." Said Spike. He released Rarity, walked to the door and opened it, but before Spike left he looked back at Rarity and smiled one more time. "Still as beautiful as always, goodnight Rares." Said Spike as he took off for the castle.

Rarity walked over to the door and watched Spike fly away. She sighed. "Good night Spikie Wikey, my sweet little prince."

Spike arrived back at the castle, opened the front door, walked in, and closed it behind him. Spike then shouted. "TWILY, I'M HOME!"

Spike only had to wait a few seconds, but he was joined by Twilight, Starlight, and Celestia, after they all walked out of the map room. Once they saw Spike in his new armor, they all fell silent. Spike smirked. "So, do I look good or what?" Asked Spike flexing and showing off.

Spike stopped flexing and walked over to the still silent mares, he waved his hands in front of their faces. "Hello... Mom, Twi, Star....Hello?" Said Spike. He got no response. Spike shrugged and decided to head to the kitchen to start cooking dinner for everyone.

Spike walked into the kitchen, headed to the fridge, opened it. He looked at what Twilight has in stock. "Hum, cauliflower, no, lettuce, I could make a salad, but we don't have any dressing, so that's out, Eggplant sounds good." Said Spike as he pulled the eggplant out and started to make his famous Eggplant Parm.

Spike was pulling out the finished Eggplant Parm, as all three mares walked into the kitchen looking a little dazed. Spike turned to the mares and placed down the hot dish on to a crystal counter top. Spike smirked at the mares. "I know I'm good looking, but I didn't think I could make mares stop in their tracks." Joked Spike. "So, what was the whole silent treatment about?" Asked Spike.

"Um..." Said Twilight.

Spike sighed. "Its not good news, is it?"

Starlight nodded her head.

"What happened?"

"Well, as it turns out, Cadence decided to close the Spike museum and memorial on Tuesday, for 'renovations'. It didn't sit well with the populace, who are demanding a explanation for the closures. Cadence and Shining are only telling them its a surprise. That isn't going well also, so we have to move up the time table of your reveal or risk losing the trust of the crystal ponies."

Spike facepalmed. "To when?"

"Twenty minutes after we arrive." Said Twilight.

Spike sighed and shrugged. "Well it could be worse. They could of blabbed and Ponyville would of been overrun by crystal ponies looking for Spike the Brave and Glorious. I can work with this. I can still spend time with Flurry, Shining and Cadence." Said Spike. "So who's hungry?" Asked Spike holding out plates.

Spike was laying down in his room, sleep was alluding him. The thought of what will happen tomorrow was driving him to stay awake. But suddenly Spike sensed a familiar presence, that had just landed on his rooms balcony, it was Luna. Spike got off of his bed and opened the balcony doors to let his aunt in. "Hi Aunt Luna." Said Spike.

Luna jumped up surprised by the sudden appearance of Spike. "Um... its not what it looks like?"

Spike raised an eyebrow, not buying that at all. "Well, it looks like my Auntie Woona decided to come visit her nephew, am I wrong?" Asked Spike.

"Um... then its exactly what it looks like then." Said Luna as she looked at Spike. "So, the fact that your still up at this hour must mean you know about what you are to do tomorrow, correct?" Said Luna.

Spike nodded. "Yeah, Its not like I'm actually scared of dying tomorrow, I know that's over thinking, but it would be nice to talk to my parents again, and this time actually know who they are." Joked Spike. "But I don't want this to ruin the fair. I had planned to do this on Sunday night right before the fair ended. But now the fair is going to get overshadowed by the return of the hero of the Crystal Empire." Spike groaned. "I mean, all I did was jump out of a tower and then Cadence caught me and the heart, that's it." Said Spike slightly annoyed.

Luna giggle as she looked at her nephew. "First off, you look good in that new armor. Second, do you know how the crystal fair started?"

Spike nodded. "Yeah its, a fair to restore love and unity for the empire started by the first queen of the empire, or something like that."

Luna nodded. "Yes, that is all true, but do you know how it started in the first place?"

Spike shook his head.

"Well, it all started soon after the defeat of Grogar. The area known as the Crystal Empire was nothing but a small section of our mothers territory. But unlike most of her area, it was a harsh and dangerous land, filled with many dangerous creatures. Life for the ponies that lived there, was far more hazardous, but the ponies that lived there united together and persevered. Slowly, overtime they expanded from a small village, to a small town, to a city, then to the empire that Sombra took control of, over 1000 years ago. All of this, while staying united and sharing the love they had with each other. In that love and unity was born the crystal heart, It was decided that to insure the continuation of what the empire stood for, every year the ponies would celebrate who they are and where they came from. All of that culminated into the crystal fair." Said Luna.

"Then why am I considered a hero to them?"

"You Spike, reminded the crystal ponies about what their ancestors stood for. Love and unity. Love for both friends and family. Unity to stand against any challenge no matter how dangerous. To them you are the physical embodiment of what the crystal empire was founded upon. You played an integral part in retuning the empire to if former glory. So with all that going for you it was only natural that they would see you as a hero of the empire."

Spike groaned. "But I'm just me." Said Spike pointing to his everything.

Luna cocked an eyebrow. "And what is wrong with just you?" Questioned Luna.

"You want the full list?" Joked Spike. "I'm lazy, childish, a drunk, a gambler, I've killed..."

"But you have the greatest sense of duty, are very mature, no your not a drunk, gambling is a fun pastime, you did it for your friends and to survive." Said Luna trying to counter Spikes list.

"You united three of the major races on the planet, you show great dedication to your friends and family, you risk your life for others, at every chance you have, with no thought of what will happen to you." Said Luna. "And that's just what the plaque on your memorial says, but the list goes on, so while you just see you, others see a true hero, a hero who is humble to a fault. Its just the Crystal Empire was the first to notice the true you."

Spike groaned, he walked to his bed and sat down, as Luna sat beside him. "Does Fate have a twisted sense of humor?" Asked Spike.

Luna giggled. "Yes, but only with those she likes does she really show it." This earned her an apple to the horn. Luna looked up and wondered where the apple fell from, but she shrugged at ate the apple. "But Fate isn't the one who decides how you feel about your situation." Said Luna as she pushed Spike onto the bed and used her magic to cover him in his covers. "That's all up to you, now get some rest or your not going to be able to outrun the mobs." Giggled Luna as she kissed Spikes forehead. She started to hum a lullaby to help Spike sleep.

Spike succumbed to the relaxing tones and slowly closed his eyes, drifting off into a deep slumber. Once Spike was out, Luna looked to the door. "You can come in now." Said Luna.

The door opened and Celestia walked in. "Thanks for this Lulu, I had a feeling he was struggling to sleep, and he has so much more ahead of him. I'll be damned if lack of sleep is what causes him to fall." Said Celestia, as Luna left her spot on Spikes bed, walked to the balcony and started to teleport back to the palace.

"One day I hope he sees what he truly is to the world." Said Luna as she left.

"As do I Luna, as do I." Said Celestia as she looked at Spike, like a mother does when she looks at her child. "Get some sleep my little ball of fire." Said Celestia as she kissed Spike's forehead, and left the room to let him sleep, but she was stopped when Spike started to talk in his sleep.

"I love you mommy." Sleep spoke Spike.

"And Mommy loves you too sweetie." Said Celestia as she smiled back to her room.

Author's Note

There it is, Spike is off to the Empire tomorrow, what will happen. 3 more chapters until its over.