Ghost Of Equestria

Spike followed Luna through the hallways of the castle with his eyes firmly ahead of him and showed no emotion on his face. There were no specific reasons for him to do so, he became a part of him after a while, so he is used to showing nothing.

The hallways felt more narrow as the two walked, and the portraits of different ponies in history seemed to be watching them. An eerie sensation came over Spike when Luna led him to a door that was usually locked. The door was made from oak; the only thing that made this door different from the rest of the kingdom.

Luna used her magic, the bluish-white stars shining to the locked door, and opened it as if had always been used and not forgotten by the many ponies and other creatures who had scholarships in history. The room had a window that illuminated the night sky and the stars.

The sad part was that no creature else could see it, they only saw the darkness that King Sombra plagues the lands with.

Spike walked inside, seeing the watchful eyes of his aunt who did not give him much of a choice in the matter. His feet did not make a sound when he walked into the crystal floors. Some shelves had many potion ingredients that were used by medical personnel. There was a desk filled with ink, quills, and parchment. Probably used by medics to keep track of their work or what they need in their medicine cabinets.

Spike turned around when he heard the door close and he saw Luna look at him with a soft gaze and tears were threatening from leaking out her eyes. He sighed; much to his self-frustrations that look was the only one that could make him weak.

“Spike, I thought I had lost you that day ...” She sniffed. “I believed you to be dead, I believed that King Sombra had found you and was going to use you as bait. The Crystal Ponies who had heard my cries of this were ready to go to war but we held them back.”

Spike grew confused. Why would they hold them back? “Auntie, why would you hold them back? Isn’t it a good thing that many creatures are willing to fight back? It would mean that they are willing to fight for their home,”

Spike knew that he would not be able to fight alone which was why he came in the first place. He did not intend to make innocent creatures into soldiers. He would only take those who were willing to fight. That was the way of The Ghost.

Luna looked at him with eyes that showed the beginning of a scowl. “And what? Force them to fight their former King when they are terrified of him?! Spike, you and I both know that they would not be able to fight against their king; forcing them to murder his soldiers who are being mind-controlled by him!”

Her scowl was now visible from the moonlight and Spike gave a gentle smile.

“I know what you mean auntie, I would never force them to fight, only those who are willing will be fighting. I can see your point; mind-controlling is nothing to make fun of but I believe that they have reached their end conclusion. They’ll never need mind-control in the future because that will be all they know, everything around them is revolved around their King so everything he would be saying would be something sacred for them.” Spike explained. Luna looked at him but before she could refute, he started speaking again.

“Honestly auntie, did you believe that King Sombra would need mind-control spells in the future? Think again; when you grow up with the same rubbish propaganda, it is easy to fall victim to such beliefs. That is why politics is so dangerous, one wrong move and you’ll fall. You need a convincing voice, show the creatures what good you have been doing and they will follow.”

Luna gave up after that, she knew he had a point but she still wanted to put in her two cents. She sat down and Spike did the same.

“I may not like it but you have a point.” She admitted. “However, I still believe that King Sombra would use the spell to ensure that everypony is loyal to him. His soldiers are the most manipulated and well-treated, in turn; they help their King.”

Spike looked at his aunt and nodded in approval, that was something that he could see as a possibility. King Sombra would want to have an ensured ruling with no pony against him. It made sense and he believed her, Spike truly believed her.

“I will admit that it makes sense, but enough beating around the bush; what is it that you know and what is the plan?” Spike asked. He knew that they would have to come to it eventually, so it was best if they did it directly so they are not wasting time.

Luna nodded. “I knew about the prophecy even before it happened,” Luna admitted, her eyes filled with tears. “I just did not know it would be you. I tried to find any creature that would seem worthy enough of Clan Sakai but no pony seemed worthy. So when you disappeared, I knew for sure that it was you who was destined to defeat King Sombra but I never believed it. There had been signs that I had heard would happen and those things happened around you but I still did not want to believe it in fear that I would lose you. I tried to slowly sway you from that path but it never worked, it only seemed to make it work faster. I realized that there was nothing I could do and for this entire year, I have been trying to find ways to kill King Sombra, but it almost seems impossible with the amount of dark magic that he possesses. Even when I was Nightmare Moon, I did not use that much dark magic. I did try to kill him once, but it did not work out so well, it took me weeks to heal and when I was able to stand on my hooves I was told by my sister and fellow royals that I should not try something like that again.”

Spike looked into Luna’s eyes to see how true that story was and to his horror; he could see that it was very true. He glanced at her neck and saw that there was either a sword wound or bite mark but it looked old so there was nothing he needed to worry about.

He tried to find soothing words for his aunt but couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find words that would calm her. It was a curse of his. A curse that he would never be rid of.

The temperature in the room increased slightly whether that be from anger or other means remained to be seen. Spike got up from the floor and stared at his aunt dead in the eye. He knew what it was he would have to do but he did not know if his aunt would allow him.

The conversation they just had could be interpreted in two ways; one would be that she wanted Spike the finish the job that she could not do, defeat King Sombra and live in prosperity and harmony once again. Two would be, that she did not want Spike anywhere near King Sombra and did not want him to kill the King despite that he had to do it.

He sighed as he thought about the whole situation. There were times where he just wanted to lay in his bed and allow the royal guards to handle it and then there were the days where he fought for every pony’s freedom and other creatures’.

It was a difficult life he lived but he wouldn’t change it.

“How do you want me to proceed?” Spike questioned, his voice holding a twinge of fear that no one but Luna always picked up on. Luna snapped her attention back to her nephew who looked powerful but there was some very small fear in him.

That was good. It meant that he was still sane.

Luna suddenly frowned when she heard what he had asked. “What do you mean by that?” She asked.

“If King Sombra wounded you—”

“Only because he cheated, he stabbed me from behind!”

“—then I would like some advice, some things that I should take into account. Warlords and leaders that would be good to focus my efforts on. If I kill the leaders; there will be a domino effect. The other Umbra soldiers would look for someone with the most experience and would want to make him the leader but they will have different opinions which will lead them into a divide. King Sombra’s favorite tactic, Divide And Conquer. It is the one that works the best. It has worked throughout history, Khothun Khan used it on Hoofshima and it worked for quite a while.”

Spike stopped to think if he should mention the Straw Hat Ronin or not. In the end, he decided not to. It was a story for another day.

Luna got up from the floor, stretching her body a little from how stiff it had become. She agreed with what Spike had said, Divide And Conquer were one of the easiest ways to take over a kingdom and it was clear that it had worked.

*** *** ***

Spike had left Luna in the room after they had made some preparations for when it was time to take back Canterlot and the rest of Equestria. There wasn’t much else he could do other than to see if he could liberate some other kingdoms that were under King Sombra’s hoof.

He was contemplating if he should speak to his mother and cousin but he did not know if now was the best of times but either way, he wanted to spend time with them.

He found them in the dining room and walked inside, much to the surprise of the others in the room. They had expected him to flee or go back to his room but he didn’t, he just walked inside the dining room, took a seat beside his mother, and was handed a bowl of gems by the kitchen staff.

They ate in silence, no pony or dragon wanted to break it in fear that there would be a fight. Spike ate his gems with chopsticks, almost as if he had done it for years. The others looked at him In amazement, surprised that he had learned that.

But thinking about it, they realized that it was obvious. He had spent time on an Island that preferably ate with chopsticks.

The staff was secretly watching their hero with glee. They had heard about how he had liberated Yakyakistan and were fully on his side. They were rotting for The Ghost.

The Crystal Guards in the room were inwardly trying to stop themselves from chanting their heros’ titles with glee. They saw him as a beacon of hope, the one to vanquish King Sombra once and for all. Rebuild Equestria and form alliances with the other Kingdoms so they would not have to succumb as they did.

Pinkie Pie watched Spike with a mysterious smile. She knew about the prophecy just like Luna; before it even happened. She did her best to help Spike in the direction he needed to go to become the hero of all of Equestria.

The rest of the very late dinner went by without anything exciting. Spike walked to his bedroom and planned an attack on Griffinstone. He would need the help of the Crystal Ponies and the Element Bearers. He would make sure that they did not receive any lethal wounds on them.

This is what he had trained for, this is what his ancestor expected of him. And most of all; the creatures of Equestria needed something to believe in.

*** *** ***

Early in the morning when the moon was still up, Spike had left the palace and informed one of the Crystal Guards that he would be taking over the strongholds that the Umbrum soldiers have, those strongholds could be a ticket of a liberated Equestria.

Spike by the cover of darkness, left the empire.

He would not be gone for long, he would only need two hours at best — probably less — and be back before anypony noticed anything. That was the plan and he had already gone quite far. He was somewhere in between the Crystal Empire and Yakyakistan.

He heard rumours that there were five strongholds in this particular region which he found odd. King Sombra may be addicted to ruling the Crystal Empire, but he now had Equestria and other kingdoms which must have been his original goal.

Yet, he puts five strongholds in a region where the last empire is still standing; this meant to Spike that King Sombra wanted to humiliate his mother, aunt, cousin and Twilight. Humiliate them by defeating them and taking over the last empire still standing.

King Sombra wanted to make a statement.

Spike grit his teeth as he traveled the region, looking for any war camps where his soldiers were most likely. The frozen north was magnificent but it deserved its title nonetheless from the deathly cold winds. He was lucky that he had been trained, otherwise; he’s frozen to death.

Spike glanced over the horizons, being careful to not enter the enemy view. Luckily, there were no enemies around but that did not mean that they weren’t nearby. You never knew.

*** *** ***

When Spike was somewhere between the frozen north and Yakyakistan, he heard swishing noises; like blades cutting through the air. He knew those kinds of sounds, he had heard them a lot when he had been training with his katana. It was a way for him to learn the correct grip when he was fighting.

He moved closer to the sounds, which wasn’t far from his position, and when he saw the war camp he knew what was going on. There was a Umbrum warlord who was swishing his sword around, the warlord looked to be training, and intently at that.

Spike was peering over a stone edge that was frozen from the coldness. There was a stone path with dirt that was stone-hard. The war camp was fifteen feet away from him. The camp was not large but there were at least four tents that were more like a small circular home.

Spike was crouched down and observed the camp; there were no hostages, there were some explosives he could use to his advantage. He squinted his eyes and spied down three look-outs that had bows and arrows. Spike would take them out first.

He pulled out his bow and placed an arrown and aimed it at the head of the first one. The archer was wearing thick blue cloth whit sewn fur with a heating charm. His bow was in his left hand and he watched with a bored expression before he felt something pierce his head before finally dying.

Spike pulled out another arrow and fired it at the other Umbrum soldier who faced the same fate. He glanced to the final Umbrum archer but noticed that he had a helmet and decided to go for the neck. Spike gained control of the arrow and fired it in the direction of the archer, making him stagger before he released his final breath.

Spike jumped down and was succumbed do minimal damage from the fall. It had been further down than he had calculated. Spike moved towards the war camp with stelth. There were crystal walls covering it like with the wood on other places but this time it was not normal, it was corrupted black crystals, the same ones that King Sombra uses.

Spike climbed from a wagon that had been placed there that had food and medicine, he then jumped to the roof of one of the tents and looked around the place. There were a few light from the fires around the war camp that Spike could use to burn his enemies alive with.

Spike saw the Umbrum warlord walking with two other Umbrum soldiers. It was the same one that he had seen train earlier. Spike jumped towards him with his katana hitting the back of the gold helmet of the warlord, making him stagger and his two fellow soldiers look at Spike in surprise.

Before the two could do anything, Spike released a smoke bomb and assassinated them with his, his katana gutting the first one and his tanto hitting the second one in the throat. The warlord looked at Spike in anger, feet staggering from the surprise of the attack.

“Cé hé tusa!?” The warlord angrily asked. Spike did not bother with this one and flung his sword towards the stomach of the warlord, but the Umbrum warlord anticipated this and evaded and brought out his sword and shield. Spike tried to evade a blow from the warlord but he was attacked from behind by one of the bigger soldiers who threw him in the air with his weapon.

Spike landed on his back and grunted as he felt the stone-hard ground and choked a little on the air. He got up and started kicking the bigger guy and when he started to stagger, Spike flung the katana in the middle of the head of the Umbrum soldier, the blood splattening on the ground.

Spike turned to the Umbrum warlord and switched his tactics.

He delivered a heavy blow to the shield which seemed too much for the warlord but he did not lose his grip or balance as he subtly glared at Spike through the line of his helmet. Spike jumped up and delivered another heavy blow to the shield, this time; making the warlord stagger and losing control.

Now he had a chance.

Spike gutted the Umbrum warlord, making him release his final screams and alerting the other Umbrum soldiers that had not heard the fighting.

Spike looked up and glanced around him, seeing the many different Umbrums running towards him — their weapons ready for battle. The Umbrums wore similar clothing like the archers but some of them had yellow cloth covering them instead. Not that it made a difference.

The Umbrums were dark creatures who murder and plunder. Spike redied his katana and allowed the first creature from his right to attack him. The creature had been standing beside a horse stall. The Umbrum soldier was fighting with a spear that had some carved holes in it to have better stability.

Spike blocked a sweep from the Umbrum and then evaded another one when the Umbrum tried to stab him in the gut. Spike then killed him by decapitating him, the head rolling down in front of the other Umbrums who looked at him with pure manifested anger that did not leave their system.

The next creature was one with a sword but Spike easily blocked the barrage of attacks that seemed to be never-ending. But the Umbrum had made one tiny mistake; He left his knee completely open for a possible stabbing. Spike pulled out his tanto with such speed, it was hard to tell what was happening.

He stabbed the Umbrum and he cried out in pain. Before Spike could pull out the Tanto from the knee, he was attacked from behind by the last Umbrum soldier who had either not died or run away like cowards.

The Umbrum looked at him with anger started swinging his sword at Spike but the purple-scaled dragon just evaded the attempts with ease. The world seemed to stop as Spike threw his katana in the air and started spinning towards the Umbrum.

The soldier of King Sombra had no time to react as the katana landed right on the head; making him fall to the ground, face-first.

Spike walked over to the Umbrum that still had his Tanto stuck in his knee. He pulled it out and heard the wails of agony as he did so. He decided to not kill him when he knew that there were fates that were far worse than death. Spike walked over to the last Umbrum he killed and pulled out his katana.

The blood on the blade was evident, but it also showed the violent battle that had taken place at this very time. Spike had a content smile because of it. He could not help but feel proud of himself. He looked up to the sky and he would still swear years later that the clouds disappeared for a shimmer of a second to invite the sun to shine upon him.

*** *** ***

In the chaotic real that Discord lives in, the Draconequus was watching everything through a small globe and had a small smile on his lips as he sat upside-down.

“His legend grows, he is the creatures hope,” Discord said.