Spike looked at all the creatures that were relaxing over the fact that they had a second-third of the city within their hooves. The Crystal Ponies were talking about how their glorious hero was saving them from doom, some even going as far as to say that he was sent down by the gods themselves.

But no creature truly believed that part. But Spike himself always looked at them with no little amount of amusement.

He had sent a crystal pony to get him some wolfsbane but she had not returned yet. And while she was doing that; the other creatures were setting up tents and shops. The creatures who had been slaves were now being fed by medical professionals so they got the right amount of food they needed as well as water.

The ones who wanted to fight were given weapons and were being trained by some of the guards who were willing to train recruits. They were given hope when they saw The Ghost was with them. They had all heard the stories about how he slaughters the Umbrums.

The children had lost all hope; believing the stories to be a myth, but now, they believed them. For the first time; they smiled a happy smile. The parents were glad that everything would be alright. They smiled when they saw The Ghost meditating but open for conversation.

So many creatures were happy to see that there was a resistance group that fought against the Umbrums, but they would never forgive Princess Celestia for what she did; they had all heard what Princess Luna and Spike say, and they were losing faith by the minute.

One of them was a Crystal Pony who had traveled to Manehattan to speak to some descendants of him that had fled when King Sombra ruled. He was fanatical about his glorious savior, he believed everything Spike would say. He was looking at Princess Celestia from afar from a burned-down house. He was disgusted with her, why was she sitting around eating cake all day and not planning anything for liberating their home? If they were waiting for Spike the Brave And Glorious he would understand because he knows how to defeat King Sombra but waiting an entire year is excessive even for him. But he always knew somewhere deep down; Spike the Brave and Glorious, The Ghost would return to save them, and he was doing a very good job at it as well. He was liberating cities, towns, you name it. he fights the Umbrums as if they are nothing! He must be very powerful.

“I wonder why the Princess did nothing for an entire year.” His friend thought out loud. He turned to his friend with a blank stare.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well,” his friend began. “The princess has the resources she needs, every kingdom has plans for any kind of invasion, even if the kingdom is neutral. She must have had some kind of plan, I mean, she cannot be that incompetent. And if not her, then Princess Luna. The princess of the night simply must have had some plan, there is no way she did not have one.”

“I agree,” he responded. “She just had some kind of preparations, she comes from a time where wars were at an all-time high. I mean; WE are from a thousand years ago! I remember how that time was, serving as King Sombra’s slaves and soldiers if we were lucky that is.”

While they continued to discuss the old days and about the improbability that Princess Celestia hadn’t any kind of invasion preparations, Spike was hiding beside a wall that had a crack in it that revealed some stone, water that was flowing below, and the third part of the city that was still under King Sombra’s hooves. He was peeking through it, hoping to find a way he could get to the other side, and poison the enemy.

“I have it, Spike the Brave And Glorious.” A soft voice spoke that had very large hints of eagerness in it. Spike turned and saw the face of a mare who had green eyes with a blue coat and silver mane and tail. She was wearing armour that had the insignia of the “Two mountains of Clan Sakai” showing that she was fighting for Spike.

“Thank you, but I must apologize, I did not quite catch your name?” Spike smoothly asked making the mare silently squeal. Her hero asked for her name!

“Silver Whiskers,” Silver replied, blushing slightly telling her hero her name.

Spike smiled, but there was something that was troubling him; he did not want any creature to believe he was a monster about what he was about to do, not that it mattered but it was probably because he did not want Silver Whiskers to feel guilty about aiding him; if he hand’t asked for the wolfsbane then she would not have aided a so-called “murderer”.

“Silver,” Spike hesitated for a second but the mare perked up at her hero saying her name but she noticed the hesitation. She looked into his eyes, showing that she was fully on his side. “... Would you believe me to be a murderer if I poisoned the Umbrums?”

Silver looked at him before she started to chuckle, then the chuckle became full-blown laughter. Spike looked at her uncertainly. But the mare noticed this and seemed to have remembered what company she was having. “My lord, WE are all killers, or murderers, as you say, WE have all killed at one point. No matter the situation; it is still murder, but if you do it for a noble cause like this, then there is no reason to fret. We are all killers, in the end, do not forget that my lord.”

Spike looked at her with admiration, she did not laugh at him, she was laughing at the irony of the situation. And she did indeed have a point; they were all killers. Spike would never claim to be a saint, not that he ever did, he never said so before and why would he start doing so out of the blue?

Spike nodded and bowed to her and she did the same and before they knew it, he was gone through the crack. On the other side, there was a river that led to a waterfall, and if he was not careful, he would fall to his death. He looked around and found a few places he could swing to and manage to get to the other side, where he knew the Umbrums were lurking, waiting for the perfect time to attack.

As well as King Sombra who was there.

Spike jumped from the rock he stood on and used his kaginawa to swing across, which made him realize just how dangerous it was, the amount of weight that he had on with his body plus the armour, made him realize that if he did anything wrong, then he was as good as dead.

But he was lucky that he had his training, but that did not mean that he would not make mistakes, but there was only the problem that there was no room for mistakes.

Spike jumped and threw the kaginawa again and it landed on its second target and he jumped again, this time, landing on another large stone that was close to the waterfall. From the position where Spike stood, he saw that there were many broken wooden structures but was still somehow, holding up the bridge with durity. Spike carefully climbed through, intending on getting to the other side at all costs, not allowing King Sombra to escape. But somewhere deep down, he knew that King Sombra was either not there, or was waiting for him.

Climbing over the rubble, he noticed that there were some dead bodies of soldiers who had tried previously to liberate Manehattan but had failed for a figure of reasons. Most likely because of the tight security that the Umbrums had and because of how dangerous the waterfall is.

Looking ahead of him, he noticed that there was a piece of the wood that was sort of hanging there but was stable enough to be able to swing across. He jumped towards it, swinging his kaginawa on it, and he swung across to the other side, managing to land on his two feet.

“Taka certainly knew what he did as a blacksmith ...” Spike said out loud, not realizing that others could hear him if they were nearby. His ancestor had told him everything about his wife and her brother, and everything that happened for the generations of Sakai before him.

Spike was proud to be able to say that he is a direct descendent of the Sakai clan. But he never did pick up the name of his ancestors. But he would ... one day ...

Looking around, Spike found some dead bodies of different creatures that looked to have been malnourished, beaten, and eventually, killed. They probably used the area as some kind of dumping ground and it immediately sparked rage within Spike.

But he suppressed his rage for the moment, intending on letting it out when he was fighting the Umbrums later if they all did not die from drinking their fermented milk, something called airag that Spike knew was very popular with the Mongols when they invaded Hoofshima.

Normally, he would ask why an old Mongol drink was popular but Spike just wrote it off as history unknowingly repeating itself, and it probably in some way was.

“I’m almost there, I just need to get to the hole in the wall and see if I can poison their drinks,” Spike said out loud, but it was more of a whisper. He moved forward, feeling the wall for a way inside. But did not look down, not even once.

Then, he found a way inside, it was big enough for him to squeeze through, he did so, and when he got to the other side, he was met with a horrific sight; some Umbrums were forcing the civilians to put on armour to fight his allies when they got through the gates, some children were wearing their armour already and there was a green glow on them like they are being controlled and his rage was now unfathomable. He was so angry that he started to believe that they could sense him because some of them were looking all over the place as if they were looking for something. Most of the Umbrums were standing by the gates and some were on the watchtower, firing arrows at his allies, hoping that they would injure some before the final wave would happen the next morning. But Spike did not attack them, if he did, he would only make more problems for himself. Instead, he looked for a tall building that he could use to overlook the entire area in which he then could find where the Umbrums had their drinks.

Spike looked towards a few nearby buildings, but they were not very tall, the tallest building that was there was a religious temple that had ten floors. The temple was built from red painted wood with gold bricks that covered the roofs of the different floors of the structure. At the top, were some carved creatures that existed in Equestrian mythology like humans — that Spike knew existed — and a different kind of human that Spike has not come across.

He made his way over to the temple, making sure that he stuck to the shadows to avoid the Umbrums spotting him, and his kaginawa started to climb up with the rope alone. When he got to the first stop, he stopped to relax a little bit, not wanting to overwork his body too much than he needed to.

When he made his way to the second, he felt his muscles ache everywhere. Especially, his arms that he used to climb up with. He silently cried when he made his way to three and four, feeling like he was gonna pass out but he kept going. Getting up to the fifth floor, he paused for a while, not wanting to overwork himself. There was no point in doing that.

He then made his way up through six, seven, eight ... and then the ninth floor but by that time, his muscles were aching so much that he had to sit down, his muscles had never been burning this much before. But he got up ... he walked slowly and looked up, seeing the last one that would take him to the top.

Knowing what he had to do; he threw his kaginawa up and climbed, but not without feeling his muscles protesting to the dangerous climb he was making. Halfway there, he was starting to lose his grip, but he held the rope as tight as possible, and when he was almost there ...

He fell ...

He lost his grip and he landed on his back on the ninth-floor roof but it did not stop there, he slowly slid to the end of the small roof and almost fell when swiftly, he felt a hoof grab his arm. He looked up and he saw a cloaked figure, the creature dragged him up without a problem and bowed to Spike with respect.

At first, Spike was hesitant but then, the creature pulled down the hoodie that covered his face and he was shocked when he saw Lyra Heartstrings there. She stood there, smiling at Spike, showing her perfect white teeth.

“Lyra?” He whispered, unsure if he was imagining it because of the fatigue he felt or if it was real. The last time he had seen her she was not ... well, to put it lightly.

“Hello there, Ghost.” She said, beaming at him with her grin. Spike was so shocked to see her there, that he had not noticed that it had started to rain, the water dripped on the outside but the drops made loud noises that covered their conversation, so no creature could hear unless they were trying hard.

“Lyra ... it’s good to see you, but I did not think I would see you again until after the war ...” He was happy to see her but he was confused by the change of attitude.

She giggled at him. “Well, I wasn’t in the right place at the time and I was thinking about giving up. But then I started hearing rumours; stories about a vengeful spirit who had come from the gave to slaughter the Umbrums,” She winked at him. “I did some light digging and I happened to one day flee from Equestria and managed to get to the Crystal Empire which I was relieved about. I got an enchanted tent to sleep in and I was about to go on a job interview when I saw you jump from rooftop to rooftop during the evening. That is when I saw that it was you. You are the only creature I know who stands on two legs and has scales for a coat.”

Spike was not entirely sure he liked her story, but he let it slide as it made her somewhat better from a few months ago when he last saw her.

“Hey, Spike?” Catching his attention, seeing that he had not responded yet.

“Yeah?” He responded, sounding far away. It was making the mint-coated mare nervous. What could he be thinking about?

“What are you thinking about?” She approached cautiously, making Spike look up to face her. She sounded so defensive, but he could not give himself a reason as to why she would be so protective of whatever.

“Just ...” He faltered. “How life will look when we get back to normal. Or rather, as normal as we can.”

Lyra looked at him dejectedly. Her eyes no longer held the shine they once had. “I don’t think any creature will forget about this. There will undoubtedly be books about what happened here, ponies and other creatures alike have realized that we aren’t so different. In the end; we are fighting the same enemy.”

The purple dragon hoped that to be the case.

“Yes, but there will be problems after the war; many creatures will probably not want to head back to their former homes. They have bad memories of what happened, or at least, they will have.” Spike stated. He knew it would happen. PTSD is a very serious thing.

“Are you thinking about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?” Lyra asked, not initially listening to him. He nodded. She sighed. “Well, you are right about that.” She sat down on a flat-surfaced stone. The rain did not ease up even for a second like a water hose that won’t stop until it’s turned off.

Spike looked up, the rain did not ease. But it was ... refreshing. Like all of his worries were washed away.

“I always wondered, why would King Sombra go to such lengths for power?” Spike questioned out loud, curiosity in his voice like a child when they ask a parent how a toy works. Lyra dared a glance in his direction, her face full of contempt after hearing the name being spoken.

“Because of power!” Lyra responded with her voice loud and her body as still as unmoving stone. He slowly turned to her, gave a sad smile, and sighed inwards.

“That may be, Lyra, but King Sombra has another purpose, something that I have missed.” He murmured to himself wondering if he could find information anywhere. “I am a bit curious if I can find some letters or peppers written by King Sombra or some creature that worked closely with him.”

Swallowing the snide remark she was about to unleash, she looked at him curiously. She had never seen this side of the purple dragon before. She only knew him as “Twilight’s Assistant”, the dragon who never left her side and only did so when he had days off.

She did not realize he was so much more than an assistant. He was a friend, a warrior, a samurai.

“Perhaps there is a journal where he scribbled everything he needed to get another set of eye’s perspective?” Lyra questioned. Watching Spike carefully, she noted that he had a thoughtful expression. The samurai turned to Lyra, smiling a little as he did.

“Why don’t we take a look?” The dragon asked. “Come on, we should head up.”

Leaving no room for argument, Lyra followed Spike to the pissing rain and saw how Spike threw up his kaginawa and started to climb. Muscles still sore, Spike’s body was protesting in every movement he performed causing him to slip slightly but not enough to make him fall again.

The rain was smashing against his mask, the splashes were like explosions he couldn’t run away from, awakening a small fear that he had when he was a child; loud explosions that could easily hurt a creatures’ ears. But he didn’t stop. He placed one claw over the other, pulling himself up, ignoring his body’s cries of protest.

Finally, he had reached the top.

He looked down, he saw Lyra was climbing up with no difficulty, her strong hooves and with help of magic got herself up. When she tried to pull herself up on the edge of the tall building, she almost slipped but was saved by Spike’s speed. There, they looked into each other’s eyes, feeling their cheeks heating up.

Pulling her up, Lyra looked at Spike with appreciative eyes. To show her gratitude, she hugged him which made their predicament better but it did not last long as they knew they couldn’t stay there longer than they have to. Pulling away, Spike looked over to the largest building that stood tall and proud.

“So that is the place where King Sombra is,” It was a statement. Lyra’s voice held no emotion but there was a certain edge and grudge if one listened carefully. Sneaking a glance her way, he nodded.

“Yeah ... and he will die,” Spike venomously stated. “Tonight.”

She didn’t respond.

“I’m glad I decided to help you, Spike, I also wanted to let you know that there is a creature that is in danger,” Lyra said, her voice was below a whisper, watching the Umbrums who were looking for any signs of The Ghost or his allies attempting to invade.

“Lyra, every creature is in danger.” He responded with his voice holding an edge as he watched an Umbrum beat an elderly pony.

“I know, but this creature is different than the other,” Lyra’s description had an enticing tone to it.

Looking away from the Umbrum, he sneaked a glance at Lyra, staring at her in the eyes like he wanted to see where the conversation was headed.

“How is this creature,” He hesitated slightly, believing that there is no difference between any creature other than what they are labeled as. “... different?”

Looking into the mare’s eyes, he could tell that she had anticipated patiently for his answer. Smiling sadly, she leaned in closer, so close that they could hear each other more clearly so they did not have to worry about Umbrums finding them.

“She is something that was believed to be a legend, something that I tried to tell every pony was real but they explained it away as folktales that have been passed down from generation to generation.” She paused. Looking over to the Umbrums, she was close to just storming the last part of Manehattan but she restrained herself.

“I believe you’ve met her. She goes by the name Sonata Dusk, she is a Siren.” Lyra casually explained as if it was no big deal.

He froze. He knew that name. He remembered her quite well, especially from the other world he’d visited twice with Twilight. The first time was when his blood sister, Sunset, stole Twilight’s crown, and Twilight was sent to go after her while Spike had panicked and followed her. The second time had been when Sunset had contacted them with a magical journal, letting them know that they had a problem that was later revealed to be the sirens, ancient species of Equestria that were banished by the first element bearers, the Pillars.

Spike only remembered that the three girls, Adagio Dazzle, the leader, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk ran away from the stage when their pendants, the object that feeds the hunger, were destroyed along with their voices. Since he went back to Equestria, he had not heard from the world.

And he would be lying if he said that he wasn’t warry of the siren being in Equestria despite the fact she was quite harmless.

“How did you meet her?” He asked with a calm voice which made Lyra a little alarmed. “I’m just asking how you met her, not what you spoke about,” He added when he noticed Lyra’s look.

Hesitating, she wondered if it was a good idea to tell him the truth but she had brought it up so she would have to finish it.

“Well, one day I was in the Crystal Castle, trying to find you and I got lost inside of the place which made me wander from one hallway to another hallway which led me to this mirror that was ...” She paused, making Spike turn away from the Umbrums to look at his friend. “... Strange, like, it wasn’t meant to be there or serve any kind of purpose. That is when, she, Sonata Dusk, came through.”

Lyra looked over at the Umbrums, seeing them chatter and eat, but strangely enough, none of them were drinking anything.

Forgetting the story entirely, she pointed out; “Spike, none of them are drinking.”

The Purple dragon glanced around the Umbrums and saw that she was right. “They are perhaps waiting for a special feast. In some cultures, if you drink before the feast it is considered rude. Perhaps the Umbrums have something similar?”

“Maybe ...” She didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t deny the claim.

“Let’s get down there and have a look around, then, we poison them if we manage to find where their drinks are at,” Spike said, glancing at Lyra with no expression on his face.

Wordlessly, she followed him where the enemy waited.

“Okay,” Spike muttered, looking around the area. He and Lyra were hiding behind tall grass and were looking at the Umbrums who were chattering and seemed excited about something. He saw Umbrum guards walk left and right, weapons in claws reach in case something happened. “This might be a problem.”

“You think?” Lyra sarcastically responded. “The place is crawling with Umbrums, and I swear, there seems to be more of them the longer we wait. That, or I’m becoming paranoid.”

“You aren’t, I’ve noticed it too.” Truth be told, Spike had seen Umbrums in large groups go in and out of the last stronghold of Manehattan that they still controlled. Judging by the number of Umbrums there, he suspected that King Sombra was there and wanted to make sure that Spike failed his mission.

Then he surprised Lyra by crawling slowly towards the area where the Umbrums had eyes everywhere. Not wanting to draw attention to herself by stopping Spike or shouting his name, she followed closely but kept a watchful eye on Spike.

He led Lyra through a market, climbing on top of an Umbrum tent that stretched to three others, being connected as one. Giving the two air room to get to the other side of the market where the Umbrums were chattering, waiting for their superiors to come and give them the green light.

Looking over the sea of Umbrums, Spike spied down an area where they kept their food and drinks. He nudged Lyra to look, catching her attention as she had been watching another set of Umbrums who had been speaking in their language about something big, causing the other comrade to sweat profusely.

“What?” She whispered, making Spike point towards the food area and she instantly knew what he meant.

Looking down, the two tried to look for a way to sneak past the Umbrums and poison their drinks. At first, it didn’t seem to be possible until Spike out of nowhere jumped down, katana in his claws, using the end of the katana to slice an Umbrums through the brain and other important organs.

Lyra followed soon after, jumping down and landing quietly on her hooves.

“Goodbye,” She commented, glancing at the Umbrum in sadness, knowing that it had to be done.

“I’m not proud of doing things like this ...” He began with some huffs. Looking at the body, he allowed a tear to fall. “... but I know that I have to,”

Looking over to her friend in worry, she saw through the mask that he wore, that he was feeling guilty, his face said it all. His hatred wasn’t directed at the Umbrums directly, he was angry at King Sombra for making the Umbrums do what they do.

She raised her hoof, placing it comfortingly on his shoulder, making him sneak a glance at her, and saw that she smiled sadly. Taking her hoof with care, as if it was a holy object, for a very brief second. He showed his emotions, the emotions that were hidden by the vengeful mask that represented his wrath of the Sakai clan.

“They aren’t blaming you,” She stated. “I know they aren’t, they are thanking you for helping them become free from King Sombra’s hooves that have been plaguing them since a year ago when he invaded Equestria and the other Kingdoms that crumbled down with it.”

“But it does not mean that my guilt will just vanish.” He responded. Without saying anything else, he started sneaking towards the area where the food and drinks were at.

It proved to be both difficult and easy. The Umbrums were playing music and chattering with each other, but it was difficult because many Umbrums were watching the area with sharp eyes, almost as if they were expecting the enemy to breach through the walls any second.

However, there were only a few guards marching from place to place, keeping a lookout. This gave Spike and Lyra the chance to sneak up behind a large wooden box that was filled with food, weapons, and other necessities for a war.

“Okay, this might prove to be tricky, Lyra, you take this pouch, I’ll take the other one.” He ordered, while he glanced around, his eyes sharp as if trying to find any Umbrums who’d noticed them but so far, they hadn’t because they were too occupied by the party to care about anything else.

Nodding, Lyra walked around while no Umbrum was looking and poured the poison inside.

Spike, on the other hand, was sneaking towards the other pouch that was located a few steps away from the one Lyra poisoned but there were enough objects to cover him if needed which he didn’t because of the Umbrums who were starting to loosen up.

Hiding behind another wooden box, he sneaked a glance towards Lyra who nodded at him, signaling for him to poison the other pouch.

Looking around, he noticed the Umbrums look away from his location so he quickly walked around and opened the pouch, and poured the poison inside. The poison smelled sweet, but it was deadly.

Hiding quickly again, he glanced around and waited for the moment to strike.

The Umbrums were celebrating the fact that they managed to hold the last part of the city with success, making the Equestrians fail in their mission to completely liberate the city of Manehattan in one day.

They held their mugs up high with their fermented milk and the sounds of clashing mugs could be heard throughout the area. They were singing and even dancing. Not realizing that their beloved drink had been poisoned.

Then, they all began to drink and they noticed no difference ... until the first Umbrum started to gurgle violently, catching the attention of the other Umbrums immediately. They watched in horror and disbelief, as their comrade puked up blood and died.

Not long after that, the other Umbrums started to feel the same nauseating feeling, causing them to puke up blood and die there, looking up into the night sky.

Walking out from their hiding places, Spike watched as the Umbrums let out their last breath before they stopped making any form of sound.

Walking slowly, he killed off a few Umbrums who were desperately crawling away as a sign of mercy, not wanting them to suffer anymore.

“Now ... do you want to have the honours?” Spike asked, looking over to the largest building where King Sombra waited for them. He felt his anger boiling up, waiting for any excuse.

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine, you take care of the tyrant of a king.” She stated, knowing that Spike was meant to kill King Sombra.

Nodding, Spike made his way over to the building, stepping over the debris that lay over the final part of the city as well as dead bodies of Umbrums who were in other areas, drinking.

Spike couldn’t help but glance around the area as he made his way over, admiring the architecture that the Umbrums had. But something about it felt off ... it was as if ...

Shaking his head, Spike moved up the stairs until he stood in front of the double doors and with force, opened them up.

The scene he walked into was surprising, to say the least. On the walls were portraits of different ponies throughout history ranging from the King himself to The Pony Of Shadows, the Pillars, Princess’, elements of harmony, and much more. Looking around, there wasn’t much furniture there apart from the middle of the room ahead of Spike where there was a kind of altar with a few scrolls there, ready to be read.

Walking over the marble floor that had red stains on them, he sat down, crossed-legged, and picked up a scroll that was neatly tied with a small red ribbon.

Pulling away from the red ribbon he unfolded the scroll and he began to read the text before him.

After he read the scroll, he walked out of the building and noticed Lyra make her way over to him, checking the bodies for any survivors.

He couldn’t believe what he’d read. How could he have been so foolish so naive?! He should have known better. He should have—

“Is everything alright?” Lyra asked, staring at him with worried eyes. Fixing his emerald eyes on her, he realized that he never thanked her for tagging along for the journey.

“King Sombra ... he was expecting us to come for him. He is on his way to the Badlands if he isn’t there already.” He answered, looking over the horizon of dead Umbrums who lay face down on the stone ground that was being covered in blood.

“I guess he knew because of the darkness he possesses?” Lyra calmly guessed, making Spike nod, not daring to look at her.

He felt responsible, he’d told Pipsqueak about it and he forgot about it. How could he have forgotten such a crucial detail?! The one detail that could change the entire war. The one thing that could have made them succeed without a problem.

Nevertheless, they lost this time in killing King Sombra, but at least they regained the last part of the city. At least the creatures will be happy about the news.

Abruptly, the wooden gates opened, admitting the princess’ and the followers of The Ghost who were looking around everywhere for the enemy but were both shocked and delighted to see the demise of the Umbrums, while others like the main six, apart from Pinkie and Fluttershy, looked around in disgust.

Princess Celestia for her part had a neutral look on her face, keeping her eyes on her son who stood by a mare she vaguely recognized. She couldn’t believe her son had become a murderous coward.

“The city is ours, Princess Celestia.” He said, sounding like a mindless soldier whose only purpose is to serve. “King Sombra marches on to the Badlands, we need to rally our troops—”

“You defied me, Spike!” She bellowed at him, trying to not unleash her full wrath at her son, believing that he can still be redeemed from his crimes.

Calming down, she breathed in and out, calming her nerves as best she could before she started speaking again. Closing her eyes briefly, she remembered the times before when Spike was younger, wishing she could go back and be there for him more often so he wouldn’t go down the path he was walking.

Opening her eyes, Spike could see that she had hidden fury but also ... fear.

“The creatures will demand a head.” She began with her voice slightly trembling. Walking slowly towards him she had tears of fear in her eyes. “But it doesn’t have to be yours! It’s her, isn’t it? Renounce The Ghost and blame her for your crimes, spare yourself!”

“No princess, I am not your son.” He boldly claimed with a low voice so only she could hear. The tension skyrocketed as he felt her anger and fear take over. “I am The Ghost.”

This time, he said it loud and clear, making every creature hear him and smile widely at his claim, knowing he was watching over them. However, what they did not expect was for him to take off the holster containing the katana and turn to Lyra.

“Take this!” Spike said, turning to Lyra who widened her eyes, looking at him in confusion. “Take this and chase after King Sombra, do not let him escape!”

Taking his katana, Lyra ran away as fast as possible, intending to fill the wish of the warrior whose legend was growing.

“Spike,” Twilight said, her voice was strained almost as if she tried her best not to tear up. “You are under arrest for your war crimes against Equestria.”

After she said that, there were gasps of shock among the crowd, glaring at the Princess of “Friendship” for what she just said. The Crystal Ponies especially were close to doing something to the princess who supposedly looked out for every creature’s interest.

“Now hold on a minute there, Princess,” A Crystal Pony said, glaring at Twilight. He wore armour that covered his entire body, protected from any stabs the Umbrums might attempt and explosions if he were to be too close. And the armour itself looked grotesque with the helmet resembling a skeleton with blood that covered one half of the helmet.

But the blood wasn’t part of the helmet.

“Why would we arrest the hero of the Crystal Empire? The hero who liberated Yakyakistan, Griffinstone, and several outposts all over Equestria, freeing creatures who’d lost all hope of being saved by you.” He continued with a venomous voice that pierced the nerves of Twilight and Princess Celestia.

The allies of The Ghost cheered in agreement, making it clear for the two Princess’ that they did not agree with their judgment of their hero.

Rainbow Dash looked ready to explode as she saw the looks of admiration for Spike, the one who was committing war crimes against creatures who were mind-controlled and wanted to be free. But it seems like Spike couldn’t allow innocent creatures to be free.

“He is no hero!” Rainbow glared at Spike’s allies. “He is killing innocent creatures who want to be free from King Sombra’s hooves, giving them no chance to live their lives like they would have wanted!”

Pinkie Pie glared venomously at Rainbow Dash. Did she not listen to her at all?! Pinkie Pie remembered how she had told them that the Umbrums who were controlled would be suicidal because they would live with the guilt of killing friends and family. Did they not understand that?

“Wow Rainbow Dash, I did not realize that you were foolish enough to forget what Pinkie said yesterday,” Came the response that shocked every creature there.

Fluttershy looked at her friend who had helped her when she was young from the bullying and ridicule she had faced by the others. Her eyes ... contained nothing. No fear, no anger, no happiness, sadness, nothing.

Rainbow Dash stared into the eyes of Fluttershy in shock, not expecting the usually timid mare to speak up against her. “Fluttershy—”

“Did you forget what she said about the Umbrums?” She cut in walking towards her rainbow maned friend who started to back up, seeing the neutral face that covered her yellow-coated mare. The war had changed her. “If so, let me remind you that the Umbrums who are mind-controlled wouldn’t want to be alive when they realize what they had done. If you, Rainbow Dash, would be mind-controlled by King Sombra to kill your parents, would you want to be alive?”

The question made Rainbow Dash freeze.

“Exactly,” Fluttershy continued, her voice sharper than a knife. “You wouldn’t want to be alive, you would want to be punished for your crimes, something that you wouldn’t be able to do in this life.”

The other element bearers wore shocked expressions at what Fluttershy was saying. None of it was true! Only Pinkie Pie agreed with Fluttershy because it was the truth.

“Fluttershy, you apologize th’a Rainbow right this second!” Applejack demanded while glaring at the usually timid mare.

Fluttershy raised a brow in Applejack’s direction, shocking every creature there. The yellow-coated mare had always been submissive to Applejack and Rainbow Dash but now she was just looking at them with a brow raised?

The war had changed her. In more ways than one.

“Back to the point!” Twilight spoke quickly before a new argument could begin. She turned to Spike with a glare, disappointed that she helped raise a monster. “You are under arrest, Spike, and there will be no chance of parole for you and if needed; we might execute you.”

The tension from before skyrocketed at a speed not believed to be possible. The hateful stares became unbearable for Twilight who was looking at Spike but for a moment couldn’t because a Crystal Pony and Yak tried to attack her.

“Stop this right now!” Princess Celestia bellowed, her Canterlot voice reaching the same volume as Princess Luna when she is angry. The creatures stopped, glancing at the Princess of the Sun with raised brows, waiting for an explanation.

Before she spoke again, Princess Celestia teleported Spike to who knows where making every creature there look at the princess with hate-filled eyes. How dare she?!

“Sister, where did you take Spike?” Luna asked, her voice neutral. Celestia turned to look at her sister and let out a sigh, knowing that there would be no work done unless the others knew what happened to their murderous hero.

“I teleported him bellow the dungeons.”

If the Crystal Ponies weren’t angry before, they certainly were now. They shouted at Princess Celestia, demanding that they released their hero or that there would be consequences, prompting the sun princess to produce a shield over herself and the ones who believed Spike was guilty.

Which was only herself, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and a somewhat reluctant Rarity who was beginning to have doubts about her former crushs’ guilt.

“Twilight, I need you to teleport us to the Crystal Empire, we need to prepare Spike for his punishment of betraying Equestria.” Princess Celestia ordered the lilac mare who bowed to her.

“Understood Princess Celestia.” Came the response that would change the world forever.

Inside a cold dark cell sat Spike, wondering what had changed his mother so much.

In his eyes, it could not have been just the war, his mother had changed way too much to just be the effect of a war that has been devastating for Equestria and the other kingdoms that fell with it. There had to be something that made his mother change her views so much that made her become ...

something else.

Something that would make her feel driven to do the things she does. But it wasn’t mind-control like it was with the Umbrums, this was something entirely different, something that Spike would have to look further into to see if he could solve the mystery.

Looking around his undesired cell, he saw no bed, pillow, book, or anything, but there was a door ahead of him that shone a very faint light coming from a torch nearby.

Looking up at the stone roof, he started to think about the times he could be carefree, not bother with the adult stuff that his sister-figure had to deal with. But after meeting his ancestor and being told of the prophecy that needed to be fulfilled, he knew he had to grow up fast so he could fight against the Umbrums and King Sombra who was ruining his home for his sick and twisted purposes that would make any creature who was a citizen of Equestria, angry.

Righteously so.

Before he could think further on it, he heard some voices outside his cell, prompting him to listen carefully, trying to hear what the voices were saying.

“He’s here princess Celestia, Twilight, in the cell farthest from the left.” The voice of a royal guard said in a monologue voice.

“Thank you.” The voice of Twilight said with a voice that sounded strained as if she tried to not sound angry.

Spike put on a mask that showed no emotion, not allowing himself to fall into his mothers’ fake charade that had convinced every pony and creature that she was good-willed always having every creature’s best interest at heart when she didn’t have that at all.

He had seen through her lies.

Suddenly, the cell door opened with horrible sounds as it did so, revealing how old the cell was with a simple movement. Looking up, he saw his mother in all her glory as well as his sister, the two princesses stood before him in the regal warrior clothing that they wore in the battle in Manehattan.

Both of them had the same emotionless masks plastered on their faces making him realize that this was their plan from the start, ever since he had first appeared back in Equestria, they had been apprehensive of him, thinking that he was a monster, which they did, but now they were going to charge him for war crimes that were necessary because of the tyrannical King.

“You shouldn’t have done what you did back in Manehattan.” Twilight declared with her eyes drilling into his emerald green ones as if she was trying to read his body language like it was words on a sheet of paper. “The other kingdoms will demand the head of a creature, but it didn’t have to be yours.”

Spike looked at her with a raised brow not impressed with what she had just said.

“She’s right, Spike, you shouldn’t have done what you did, you aren’t a monster,” Celestia said, tears in her eyes as she tried to see the good dragon he once used to be.

“You cannot be serious ...” Spike muttered loud enough for the two princesses to hear. Glancing over to him, they saw that he was glaring directly at Celestia who was wiping her tears away. The tears of sadness over maybe losing her son to his evil ways.

“We are serious, Spike, you aren’t a monster, renounce The Ghost, and you won’t have to sit inside of this cell which is primarily meant for criminals.” Twilight proclaimed, believing that Spike would agree with her.

“No, Twilight, I am The Ghost.” He calmly replied like he was having a normal discussion about the weather. His eyes weren’t glaring at them anymore but that didn’t mean they weren’t as piercing as before.

“You will regret this ...” Celestia said in a low, dangerous voice. And before he could ask what she meant, she and Twilight left the cell and slammed the door in his face with a loud slam almost causing the whole building to shake.

“Maybe I will,” Was the soft response that came after.

Spike had trouble sleeping because of what happened in Manehattan, particularly the situation he found himself in when it came to his mother and sister. He didn’t realize that the war had changed them so much that they weren’t willing to listen to reason.

And another thing that bothered him was the fact that the both of them could easily throw him into a cell and just leave him there as if he was a war criminal. In some ways he was, but at least he didn’t genocide innocent creatures!

But alas, in the eyes of his mother, he was no better than King Sombra and that was the entire reason Spike had been thinking long and hard about his decision if it was the right one. Should he not have tried to save the creatures of Equestria? Should he have left them to fend for themselves? Should he have never returned, leave the prophecy behind?

In the end, Spike believes he made the right choice, he couldn’t just abandon the home in which he grew up there. Just thinking about abandoning the place made him feel angry.

Just when Spike was about to dive deeper into his line of thinking, he started to hear voices from outside. At first, it was faint, but then it became louder and clearer. Like air freshening up.

Standing up, Spike prepared for another visit from his mother or any of the other princesses but that was not to be the case, however, as the cell opened after there was a loud thud from the outside made him prepared for any kind of attack the enemy would pose on him.

But when the cell opened, he was shocked to find Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy standing there, weapons ready with big smiles on their faces, like they were seeing their favourite cousin at the family reunion.

“Hello there, Spike.” Fluttershy was the first to speak in her soft and gentle tone that always made Spike feel safe.

“Fluttershy?” He asked and she smiled. Glancing over to the other pony he asked; “Pinkie Pie?” She smiled at him.

“What’s going on?” He asked having a feeling what was about to happen but did not want to hope for too much in case it was simply a friendly chat.

“Rescuing you of course!” Pinkie Pie beamed with an infectious smile.

“We refuse to allow our friend and hero to rot inside of a cell that was intended for criminals.” Fluttershy boldly stated, shocking Spike to his core by her newfound attitude that she’d never shown before. Not to him at least.

Before he could get ahead of himself, he stopped and started to think about the consequences. Would his mother still trust him after his escape? No, she wouldn’t, if he leaves, she would never trust him again and frankly, she without hesitation, would not speak to him again.

Seeing his hesitation, Fluttershy encouraged him by stepping forward and hugging him, showing her kindness in her heart. “Your not alone in this war. Pinkie and I will also be fugitives in Princess Celestia’s eyes. So no need to fear about abandonment.”

With that statement ringing in his ears, Spike smiled at the two mares. Together, they started to look for a way out of the castle.

Author's Note

Hello everypony, I want to apologize for the rushed chapter, I had been putting off the chapter for a very long time, leaving me rushing through the few final thousand words just to make it in time.

But I still hope that you had some enjoyment of this chapter.