Ghost Of Equestria

Spike was on his way to a village that was a few hours away from Griffinstone that was said to have been occupied by the Umbrums but that the place had later been abandoned. Which was strange; the Umbrums had used the village for everything when it came to weapons, food, medicine, water, whatever. It was as though the Umbrums just left, leaving the useful materials behind, never returning to pick them up.

This caused some concerns for Spike, because if it was true then it must mean that something happened in that village that made the Umbrums leave and never return to the very concerning area.

How he found out about this was because Scootaloo sent him a letter, informing him of what was happening. She stated her theory that the Umbrums either saw something or that something happened in the village which caused the Umbrums to leave with their tails in between their legs.

She wanted to explore the possibility with Spike, so they decided to meet up in the Everfree forest near Zecora’s hut. From there, they would make their way to the village.

The other cutie mark crusaders were busy with other things so they could not go in Spike and Scootaloo’s grand adventure. That was the same with Pipsqueak and Rumble. The latter was waiting for Spike somewhere outside of Equestria that was now under King Sombra’s iron hoof.

It felt strange that the creatures inside Griffinstone did not mention it when he liberated them, but he had a feeling that they either did not know or they were too afraid of speaking about it. Either way, he knew about it now and he was on his way to meet the filly that would help him in the matter.

His stay in the fort had not been very long but he had been there long enough so that he knew that the place was safe and secured from the Umbrums who were in the area in one way or another, looking for creatures to either slaughter or enslave like they usually do.

The creatures who were in the fort never gave him any trouble and were so overly kind and helpful.

Spike smiled a little as he continued to walk for the Everfree forest to meet up with Scootaloo so they could make their journey to the village.

*** *** ***

The Everfree forest seemed less hostile than the other times he had been there before. But he was spending an awful lot of time in the forest so perhaps he just did not feel as frightened compared to other creatures who are seldom in the forest at all.

The trees did not feel like they were surrounding him, it felt more like they were opening up a door for him as if he had figured something out.

He did not know where Scootaloo was exactly, she had only written to tell him to meet her near Zecora’s place. He walked a little back and forth, looking over his shoulder to make sure that the Umbrums did not spot him if they were looking for food or if they somehow saw him enter.

Luckily, there was never any creature there so he was relaxed. But that did not mean that he wasn’t cautious. He was always looking over his shoulders. But that was put to the test when he heard Scootaloo’s voice come from somewhere ahead of him.

“Spike, over here!” She said, waving him over with her left hoof. She was standing by some trees that resembled bamboo but the slight difference was that it was not a wood that could be used for craftmanship. It was a typical wood that was used to have large bonfires.

Spike walked over to her, his mask concealing any emotion he may have had. They were not there to chit-chat though, they were going to do some investigating.

“Scootaloo, you look well.” Spike said, emphasizing the word ‘look’ because he knew that she was still traumatized by what happened when she was in Canterlot with her friends. She would probably never get over it fully, there would always be a stigma with the castle, no matter how much time passes.

Scootaloo knew what Spike meant when he said look. She gave a pained smile. “Yes, I have been eating well and I have killed quite a few Umbrums.” She said as if it was no big deal. “I’m glad you accepted to come with me on this, I hope I won’t be taking up too much of your time if it turns out to be something insignificant.”

“Do not fret, you aren’t taking up any of my time, if it turns out to be nothing then it’s no big deal it means that we at least looked to make sure that there was nothing suspicious going on.” He replied. Scootaloo accepted what he said.

“We should move, it takes a few hours to get there and I do not want to miss out on any of the action,” Scootaloo said with a cheer, making Spike chuckle.

*** *** ***

When they got to Griffinstone, they decided to stay overnight and do some light exploring and maybe grab some drinks. They were admired by the creatures inside of Griffinstone who gave them wide smiles. It was sort of funny seeing the reactions of the creatures there.

They were inside of a bar and where drinking water and reminiscing on old memories before the invasion. They discussed how simpler their lives were, how they should be having normal problems like homework, school, detentions, not life or death.

That is what made both of them angry, their childhoods had been robbed from them. Spike did not blame his ancestor, he only trained him for the inevitable while Scootaloo had been robbed completely. But they only had one creature to blame for their predicament; King Sombra.

The one creature who controls the Umbrum army who for an entire year has been slaughtering the creatures of Equestria and taking over other kingdoms that were either seen as weak or insignificant. The lesser the kingdom, the lesser the chances of there being resistance.

“It’s horrible isn’t it?” Scootaloo said, her voice sounding sad. “Children having to worry about their life when they should be worried about other things like school, and homework. But they are worried if they won’t see their parents again, worried if they will not see their brothers or sisters.”

Spike took a swing of his water and agreed. “Yes, but at the same time, the invasion was made clear that we can never go back to how things were; every creature around Equestria will remember what King Sombra did and will probably be so afraid that they won’t leave their home for days at a time. It shouldn’t be this way.”

Scootaloo sighed and placed down the glass of water. Her face was contorted into one of sadness. Spike was right in every sense of the word he had spoken; it shouldn’t be this way. But what other choice do they have? If they aren’t vigilant, they would get an arrow in their back.

They are in those situations where if they don’t help the other party they will be branded a traitor and some creature who is weak. Scootaloo had seen it happen on more than one occasion. One would believe that when some creature is back in the safety of the family that one would tune out everything else. But that was completely wrong. She had listened to every word that had been spoken. She had stayed with Applebloom and then Sweetie Bell because she had no other place to go, but she did go to the orphanage that was in the empire. She spoke to other creatures her age there and she could see the horror on their faces even if they did not show as much as the others. The horror that they would never be able to forget because the brain won’t let them like it’s trying to punish some creature for something.

“Yes,” Spike responded. “It is horrible.”

“I wonder why King Sombra did all of this.” Scootaloo blurted out before she could stop herself. Spike glanced over at her, a raised brow to what she said. He was not angry at all since he wondered that every day since the invasion.

“Do you not believe it is for power like so many other creatures like to believe?” Spike asked, sipping his water.

“Well— hang on, did you say; ‘like to believe?’” She questioned. “Does that mean you do not believe that is the reason?”

Spike chuckled at her weird kind of enthusiasm. “I do not believe that King Sombra is after power, if that was the case; then he has already proven what lengths he will go to get it so there is nothing to prove for him anymore. I believe he is making a statement. A statement that he can if he tried very hard; get every kingdom to fall to its knees. That is what he has proven many times over by making Yakyakistan and Griffinstone fall. He knows what he is doing and that makes him very dangerous because he lacks morals. But he has never outright said that it was the power he was after. And if that is the case that it was the power he was after, then he never indicated that it was what he was after.”

Scootaloo looked at him with a strange look. It was not the response she had expected. What he said could very well be true, but there was one factor he was leaving out; King Sombra was taking over multiple kingdoms. A creature would only do that if power was the reason. Deciding to only ignore a few small details, Scootaloo asked;

“But if power is not the reason, then why would he take over the other kingdoms. I do not believe he would take them over unless he had plans for them.”

Spike chuckled. “You do have a point, but what you might be mistaking as wanting power could be King Sombra’s version of making sure that the other kingdoms do not try to take over what he stole from Princess Celestia and Luna. To him, it is all about revenge.”

When he saw that Scootaloo looked confused he continued; “King Sombra has already lost twice, the first one over a thousand years ago and the next one, only a few years ago. He would make sure that the third time he would win no matter the cost. To some extent, you could say he won, but to some other extent, he hasn’t. The war to him is not over. He plans to take over all of the kingdoms of Equestria and above before he takes over the Crystal Empire. He intends on scaring Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance with the army he holds. He would want to scare Twilight as well, but he believes that Twilight is arrogant; that she thinks she can solve it with the elements of harmony.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said, starting to understand slightly. “So he was once after power, but after losing twice, he took over Equestria and used the power against the princess’? So that means that he is not after the power in the sense he will want it but to use it against the rulers of Equestria which would be devastating.”

Scootaloo wondered if she got that right and smiled when Spike smiled at her.

“Correct Scootaloo!” He said, chuckling a little as the filly looked very proud of herself. “That is precisely what King Sombra is doing but no doubt; after he defeats the Crystal Empire, he will want power and take over the rest of the world. If he creates portals to other dimensions, he will most likely take over those places as well.”

“There are other dimensions?” Scootaloo wondered. Spike looked at her a little surprised. He would have believed that with all that time spent in the Canterlot dungeons that she would have heard something about that.

“Uh ... yeah, didn’t you know?” He asked, to which Scootaloo shook her head. Spike looked a little surprised but didn’t say anything else on the matter. Scootaloo was just about to ask when Spike paid for their drinks and left the bar and headed for the hotel where they would be sleeping.

Scootaloo knew that when they stepped into the lobby that she would not receive her answer but she did not need to. Just seeing his reaction and him mentioning it was enough evidence for her to go on. It also slightly frightened her.

Not that there were dimensions, but for the creatures living in those dimensions if King Sombra ever found out.

They were sleeping on the same floor, so after the kind dragon gave them the key, they took the staircase together and walked in silence. But this time, it was for other matters. They were both thinking about the village that they would visit the next morning and they were worried about what they would witness.

When they were on the third floor and moving upward, Scootaloo decided to ask the question that was plaguing their minds;

“What do you reckon we’ll find?” Her question could be considered innocent but the situation they were in, was anything but.

Spike let out a sigh, he did not know what they would find and that is what felt so mocking; he felt like he knew the Umbrums immensely well, but he knew he would never be able to understand them fully because they were corrupted like their other comrades that were either alive or six feet under.

“I don’t know,” He responded with another sigh. “But whatever it is, I fear that it’s not anything good.”

Walking past the fourth and fifth floor, they opened a wooden door connected to the beige walls. Yanking the door, Spike and Scootaloo walked through the corridors but their conversation was not over and Scootaloo wanted to discuss some plausible theories with Spike.

“Maybe they just left the village and the others interpreted it as them being afraid?” She theorized. Spike had to give it to her, that was a good theory, it made sense because the Umbrum are known for being very careless with things that are of extreme importance.

“Maybe, they are known for being careless, but would they just abandon an entire village without burning it down? It does not sit right with me here.” Spike explained.

“Hmm.” Scootaloo let out. “It could be that they maybe got some food and medicine problems? It is very hard to come by those things in the middle of a war. Many creatures have had to become bandits just to get simple medicine that anyone before the war could get their hooves on.”

“That,” Spike began, turning to glance at her while they took a turn to the left. “Is plausible. Umbrums are dying with each day that passes by. I have come across a lot of Umbrum dead bodies as of late and they are molting and rotting. Not a pretty sight to behold.”

Scootaloo nodded and tensed as she came up with a final theory, one that scared her. She did not believe her line of thinking could be so dark before!

“...It could also be that they saw something in the village, like a creature that slaughtered the villagers and some Umbrums, leaving the ones who survived the attack to tell the tale.”

Spike glanced over to her and felt his heart go out for the filly for her dark thinking. It was entirely possible as well. Many creatures exist within and outside of Equestria that have never been discovered. King Sombra is a creature of darkness on the other hoof, so it feels strange that he would not follow his army there to defeat the creature, showing his army why he is the king.

Or perhaps the King was never briefed on what transpired ...

*** *** ***

The next morning, Spike woke up early and felt his tiredness slip away from him as he started to stretch and grab some of the fruit that was in a bowl on the coffee table. The apple he ate was juicy and he started to feel ready to tackle whatever was going on in the village.

His room had a medium-sized bed with a very fluffy mattress. There was a closet, bathroom, and a balcony. The room was a little small but he did not mind as he was only staying there overnight, possibly two nights. So there was a slight possibility that he’d be sleeping in the same place later that night.

He finished himself up and got out of the room and walked to Scootaloo which was in the other hallway. He took a sharp left and then a sharp right and then another right which led him to the location where Scootaloo’s room was.

But he did not have to knock on the door because when he was seven feet away she opened the door and stepped out and her eyes locked with Spike and she nodded. She turned the door handle and locked the door. Spike had done the same earlier.

Together, they walked for the staircase so they could get to the reception and head for the village. But when they reached the staircase, they started to feel strange. Like they did not want to go to the village as if there was some weird curse there.

One look in Scootaloo’s direction made Spike realize that he was not the only one which made him ever so slightly feel relieved.

“Hey ... how about we forget about what I wrote in the letter and go someplace else?” She asked, sounding hopeful. Spike turned to her and was almost about to agree but he stopped himself.

“No, Scootaloo, we can’t. You wrote about the village and expressed your eagerness of going there, we will be going there even if you like it or not. We need to go there and understand why the Umbrums abandoned the place.” Spike reasoned, hoping that it would make Scootaloo agree from whatever spell or curse which had been placed on them.

Lucky for him, she looked to have shaken off whatever it was that had tried to stop her. But he still had that feeling inside of him and just by looking at Scootaloo, she did also.

*** *** ***

On their way to the village, Spike and Scootaloo had encountered a few Umbrums who were walking on the dirt roads. Scootaloo had pointed them out to Spike and then he had fuelled them, killing three in the process. The rest of the Umbrums had been either killed by Spike or Scootaloo.

One of the Umbrums had been a leader so Spike looked for anything useful from the Umbrum but only found some incendiary oil. Spike had taken it without hesitation, knowing he could use it for a lot of things like burning the Umbrums to death.

After that, they started making their way again. The silence between the two felt nice for them, giving them the space needed for this difficult event. They both needed to mentally prepare themselves for whatever it is that is causing stirs in the village.

When they came to a crossroads, they were left completely baffled. The roads on both sides looked to be very old, there was no sign showing what the directions were leading to. They started to look around and see if there were any clues as to which path they should take. Nothing.

“Uh ... should we take right or left?” Scootaloo asked, confused. She looked at Spike who seemed to be lost in thought.

“I’m not sure.” He replied. He had anticipated there to be any kind of sign if there were a crossroads like the one they were at, but there was nothing at all. “Okay, how about this; you take the right and I take the left. If we don’t find something after three hours, then we met up here again.”

Scootaloo seemed to think over the idea and finally nodded. They parted ways and began their journey.

Spike walked through the left side with his ears listening for anything that could attack him out of nowhere but there was nothing. The trees on the left and right were very tall and intimidating with the roots on the ground visible to any creature who walked by.

The dirt path he walked on felt slightly dirty but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. Ahead of him started to notice movements. Quickly, he pulled out his katana and hid in tall grass to make sure that he was not seen. He started to move closer to the Umbrums which he realized seconds later.

The Umbrums had one female hostage who looked to have been crying, her eyes were red and her claws were bound. She was a Griffin. Her coat was beige with hints of blue. Spike moved closer to the Umbrums, his anger radiating off from him. His eyes flickered for a second.

He then jumped from the bushes and attacked one of the Umbrums who were wielding a spear. The Umbrum stumbled back and the other Umbrums looked in Spike’s direction. They panicked, two of them fell to the ground but got up and ran away while the last four remaining of them stayed behind with their weapons drawn.

“Gheobhaidh tú bás anseo, samurai!” The Umbrum with the spear said, rushing towards Spike, trying to slice him but Spike blocked the attack with his katana and flung the Spear a little in the air which made the Umbrum feel slightly dizzy with his head moving around in circles and the legs trying to find better footing.

Spike gave no verbal response, he only attacked with aggressive blows from the blockage the other Umbrums were trying to cover themselves with. The one with the spear tried to slice Spike one last time, but Spike parried it and sliced the Umbrum from his torso to his left thigh which made the other Umbrums flee in fear of what they just witnessed.

They fell to the ground, but The Ghost left them no mercy. He pulled out his longbow and aimed it at the first one who had just gotten up from the ground and was going to make a run for it when he received an arrow to the head. The other two Umbrums tried to evade but Spike pulled out an explosive arrow which when he released it, arrow’s explosion was big enough to hurt both of them.

They fell to the ground, bleeding out.

Spike put the longbow on his back and walked towards the Griffin. When she saw him she shouted; “Please release me!” He pulled out his tanto and cut the rope that bound her claws.

She got up from the ground and looked at Spike in awe. “I thought they were going to kill me, they captured every creature near their camp in the Everfree forest.”

Spike’s eyes shot up at this. “Wait, they have a camp in the Everfree forest?” The Griffin nodded solemnly.

“I believed it was safe, but they stay in the forest and seldom leave the area because they are trying to be the most vicious one’s King Sombra have.” She explained, making Spike bow in understanding.

“I will find the camp, and slaughter the Umbrums.” He said, making her smile. He continued on his way to the village to inform Scootaloo that he might leave for a small time. What he did not know what that he was being watched by Discord who was watching him through his globe.

*** *** ***

Inside the living room, Discord was watching Spike with a smile on his face. He was amazed by Spike’s care for every creature that he was fighting for. He admired it a lot. His smile widened. “His legend grows, he is The Unyielding Wind.”