One way to truly relax with everything around you is meditating. Spike had learned this with his ancestor and was grateful for it. Meditation made him realize that there were a few things in his life he should have changed but never did.

One of those things was to be bolder. Take part in more mature discussions, put in his own opinion, help his friends when they needed it. Those are good goals to have but he never strived after them which was a problem that he had tried to solve many times before but never could.

There were many things he wished he could change but he knew he never could, but he could at least look to better himself in the future, make sure that he does not repeat the same mistakes he did. And that is how he has been thinking since he got back to Equestria.

He always thought about the positive side of things, he never looked at the negative, the negative only fueled his rage for the Umbrum regime. It was manifesting into Spike by the day, the anger that he used to be able to hold at bay was slowly slipping from his claws as if he was holding an ice cube that was melting.

He was inside of his room, legs crossed and eyes closed. The darkness that he saw was not unbearable, it was terrifying in one way; not knowing what was there even if it was just his imagination. The blackness was never-ending and for once he was not afraid.

This once, he was not afraid of it. He embraced it.

He was thinking about the lessons his ancestor thought him. Spike had learned a lot of poetry from his ancestor and he had gotten a taste for it. Writing Haiku as it is called is a way for Spike to prepare his mind before a battle. But range mixed with adrenaline is never a good combination.

He was preparing himself for the liberation of Griffinstone. He had told the Crystal Guards that he needed them on standby if something went wrong. He did not want to risk innocent lives if he could prevent it.

He opened his eyes when he heard the knocking on the door. “Come in.” He said, watching as the door opened and closed revealing a concerned Luna whose lips quivered. She knew that Spike would be traveling soon, she just wanted to say goodbye in case this was the last time she would ever see him again.

Spike was wearing the armour that made him look intimidating but Luna would always know who it was that was wearing it. She looked at him up and down and let out a sigh that she was not aware she was capable of. This was it, Spike was of to liberate Griffinstone.

“Spike, I want you to promise me that you will never allow King Sombra to win.” Her eyes revealed how old she truly was. She may look no older than a twenty-year-old but she was much older than that. She was at least one thousand years old. She looked at Spike the same way an old mentor does to his or her student when they cannot teach them anymore.

He bowed low, showing his respect and acknowledgment to his aunt. He got up from the floor and turned to the window in his room where he had a full view over the empire. He glanced back at his aunt and gave a soft smile, one that melted Luna’s heart simply by seeing it.

He opened the window and jumped out, and just like that; he was gone.

*** *** ***

Spike was walking with the other Crystal Guards and whoever was willing to fight, they walked in silence and did not want to speak because they knew what would happen in a few hours or minutes. They were ready to die for Equestria and The Ghost. They had been forced to hide from their enemies the second King Sombra took over Equestria, and they were not happy with that, they wanted to fight King Sombra so badly that they at one point had lost sight of everything important and now they had somepony or rather, dragon to help them. A dragon that is a living legend inside of the Crystal Empire. There had been a Gryphon who had talked about The Ghosts and how they protect them even after death. He had given them hope, especially the children, and then when a hero came and called himself The Ghost they could not help but turn to the Gryphon to find out more stories that other creatures may not know about.

They reached a crossroads and saw some Umbra guards riding towards some location. Spike had signaled the guards to not attack. If they did, then they would not be able to get to Griffinstone at that rate. They walked for another few hours and when they got closer they noticed how the Umbrum soldiers were getting more agitated and violent. They were shouting things in their language that Spike did not have time to translate but he knew that something was wrong simply by the tone.

When they reached the mountain that Spike had climbed, he showed them the path “Okay,” Spike began, glancing over the guards ranging from ponies, dragons, changelings, and others. “Today is the day we liberate Griffinstone. If we succeed and they agree to help us; we will be stronger in the army that we have. The stronger we are, the better. And we will take King Sombra’s head!”

They cheered at that, they knew that Spike would not let them down, his legend had grown over the past few weeks since he returned.

Spike bowed to them in respect and started climbing up a small path that he would use to jump inside the kingdom and then fight against the Umbrum soldiers. The weather was getting worse, it was raining, making the mud slippy which wasn’t good. Luckily, he had trained for these sorts of weather conditions before so he was not worried. He continued to climb until he reached the top.

Reaching the top, Spike got up and looked into the fallen kingdom of Griffinstone. It felt so strange seeing the Griffins so hopeless. They wandered around their stone pats with the Umbrum guards marching around and making sure that their slaves did not attempt anything.

The light that covered Griffinstone was from a huge fire that was ablaze on one of the stone houses. Spike clenched his claws. A Griffin must have pissed off the Umbrums. He hoped that the Griffin was okay.

Spike looked to the Crystal Guards below him and saw that they were ready if anything went wrong. Spike looked up to the Griffin kingdom; at least what was left of it and closed his eyes for a split second.

Spike would still in the future claim that he felt a spirit take over; guiding his blade into the Umbrums. He jumped from the cliff he stood on and landed on top of a house, not even making a single sound. The houses were different from what Spike could remember.

Last time he had observed the houses had stones for houses with hay as the roof. But now the houses looked poverty-stricken. Even before the invasion; Griffinstone was not the richest kingdom but they certainly knew how to move forward but now, Griffinstone was the most underprivileged kingdom in Equestria.

The Umbrums were kicking and hitting Griffins and other creatures who simply wanted help. Spike felt his “Vengeful Spirit” take over; pushing aside any other emotions he might’ve had. He ran from the house roof and jumped to another house roof and pulled out his bow and arrow and aimed it at a watchtower with a fire above the Umbrum. The fire was inside a small metal kettle-like object that was most commonly used for ships by the docks to let them know where to go to. Spike aimed at the fire and waited for around ten seconds before he released the arrow. The arrow flew through the air, piercing the wind as it drifted towards its destination. When the arrow hit the kettle-like object, the fire landed on the wood beneath the Umbrums feet and she caught fire. She started to scream at the top of her lungs before she died from the burn wounds she received.

The Umbrums drew their weapons, ready for battle. They jogged to the watchtower to see if their comrade was still breathing. An Umbrum Archer climbed the ladder and when he reached the top, he took out his horn and was about to signal his comrades that one of their own had fallen when an arrow pierced his throat. Spike drew another arrow and watched as the other Umbrums walked towards the watchtower cautiously.

He looked down to the ground and saw a few heavy Umbrums carrying weapons such as spears and a form of powdered cannonball-like weapon but one that a creature could hold as long as they had a lighter. He aimed for one of them who had been sitting down and been drinking apple cider. The Umbrum looked around, his gaze piercing the other civilians who were working as to not get punished.

Spike shot an arrow towards him, hitting the Umbrum in the head and falling to the ground. The Umbrums turned towards the scream. An earth pony mare had seen the Umbrum die in quite a gruesome way and could not contain her scream. She ran from the scene while the other Umbrums were speaking to each other aggressively.

“Púca!” A Umbrum suddenly screamed from beside Spike. He jumped a little, not expecting an enemy so close to him, and saw some hint of fear in the Umbrums eyes but blocked that fear by trying to slice him with his large sword.

The Umbrum swung the sword with next to no control at all; much to Spike’s anger. If the Umbrum were to be in a situation where he needs control of his sword; then he would not be able to win because he had no control whatsoever over the sword.

Spike blocked the attempts at slicing him and stabbed him in the stomach, leaving a large gash there.

The other Umbrums were running towards Spike, but two of them were on their way towards hostages that had been disobedient, intending to kill them to make Spike feel guilt or make them turn on Spike for not saving one of their own.

Spike jumped down from the roof and blocked two different hits from Umbrums who were eager to slaughter him. Their sword and spear respectively colliding with each other, making some sparks come from the contact. Spike threw a smoke bomb to the ground, making a huge smoke emit from the object.

Some Umbrums coughed from the smoke, allowing Spike to assassinate them by the cover of the smoke. The two Umbrums who made their way to the hostages were about to kill them when two arrows pierced them. Spike for a brief second looked up and saw something he had not expected; Pipsqueak with his bow and arrow aimed at the two Umbrums with a look of hatred.

Spike continued with his battles but felt confident in his ability to liberate Griffinstone. His best brother in all but blood was here. Together, they would defeat the Umbrums and bring King Sombra to his knees. Spike blocked an attack coming from an Umbrum leader who was wearing grey armour.

Spike looked at the leader with pure anger and loathing. The Umbrums may be corrupt from King Sombra but they are too far gone. Even if they were to show that they were not in control, the guilt from the now Umbrums would eat them alive which would make them suicidal.

It was better this way; Spike could set them free and allow them a chance at redemption in the next life.

The leader jumped towards Spike with the sword, swinging dangerously close to his throat. Spike blocked a few hits with his katana but he felt his grip almost slip, the strength the leader was posing was more than Spike had expected.

Spike jumped into the air and hit katana at the leader who blocked the attack but stumbled back from the heavy attack. Spike did the same thing again, this time, making the leader lose control and become slightly dizzy which showed an open opportunity; Spike in a fit of rage cut the head cleanly off.

The head rolled down on the ground for a few seconds before stopping.

Spike saw the other Umbrums rushing towards him with their weapons drawn. Spike cleaned the blood off and rushed towards them with the same speed as they had, his face masking one of anger inside of his mask. He blocked two attacks from Umbrums and sliced their throats and cut off a claw from another.

The Umbrums screamed in agony, shock, anger, and fear. The last emotion was the one that was making the Umbrums feel more uncertain as the day passes.

Spike continued fighting against the Umbrums, feeling his katana be guided to his enemies, almost as if something else was controlling him. He was hit by another leader who was there but he got up from the ground quickly and killed the Umbrum leader before he had any chance at attacking Spike.

When Spike turned around, he saw an Umbrum who fell to his knees, an arrow in his head. Spike saw Pipsqueak and to his utter shock; The cutie mark crusaders, Snips, Snails, and Rumble were fighting off Umbrums. They fought like true samurai. Their technique was perfect. Applebloom was fighting with an ax that was covered in mud. They must have climbed up the mountain. Scootaloo was wielding a sword that was cutting through the Umbrums. Sweetie Belle was wielding a spear and was making the enemy trip on their hooves. Snips and Snails were wielding spears while Rumble was holding a katana. They were fighting like true warriors, something Spike temporarily admired before he was forced to block an attack from another Umbrum who was covered in blood.

Spike stabbed him in the gut and pulled out his Katana with force, making blood spray everywhere. Before he knew it, the last of the Umbrums fell to the ground or tried to crawl away. Spike stabbed a few, allowing them to get to the next great adventure.

Spike glanced at the ones who helped him. He knew Pipsqueak would help him along the way It had only been a matter of time before he came to help him with defeating the Umbrum. He had not expected the cutie mark crusaders to be involved despite them being loyal to a fault. Snips, Snails, and Rumble was a surprise but a welcome one.

Nonetheless, Spike was happy that he received help from his allies. He took off his mask and smiled at them, a smile that had not been plastered on his face for a very long time.

Author's Note

Here is another chapter guys, I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I want to see if I can finish this story by the end of December, if not, then it doesn’t really matter. I intend on finishing this story — see it through to the end. That was all from me.