After the burial, Spike had been hesitant to try and move forward from the events that transpired with him and his mother. He felt like it would be a scandal to his Pink-maned friend; as if he was trying to forget her.

He wasn’t the only one who sat in that part of the boat, Fluttershy herself had expressed her two cents about her feelings about leaving Yakyakistan. On one hoof, she wanted to move forward and bring down the menace named King Sombra for good and to make sure his evil actions would one day be forgotten by every creature; just something the children would read in history books one day and feel proud that their parents or grandparents survived King Sombras evil deeds.

On the other hoof, she didn’t want to leave the burial of her pink-maned friend. She wanted to be there, to watch over the mare who brought smiles of joy to every creature she came across. Tell every creature about Pinkie Pie, her life, one of the element bearers, her legacy, and her legend.

But in the end, she chose to follow Spike. There wasn’t any particular reason for her to not follow him because she knew that in the end, it would be the right decision.

At least she hoped so.

Spike opened his eyes after sending prayers to Pinkie Pie. It had been his ritual since she died, he would send prayers, hoping that she was at peace and that she got to have fun with her family members from generations ago. Bringing smiles to them all.

Getting up from the stone floor that was cold to the touch, Spike glanced slightly to the side catching Fluttershy’s attention who had been sitting by the wall for the last few minutes. The torches flickered for a few seconds before regaining their former brightness, leaving very little shadow left behind like a light switch.

“Are you ready?” He asked in a hoarse voice. At least to him, it sounded hoarse, but he didn’t question it.

She merely nodded but she didn’t have her heart in the motion she did.

Leaving Yakyakistan proved to be difficult because Spike felt like he betrayed them somehow like he didn’t show enough appreciation to the creatures of the cold nation that he liberated from King Sombra. The other creatures would beg to differ, but emotions are not the most subtle thing to exist.

Emotions are something that can take decades to master in what a creature feels. Some do it without trouble, some have a harder time mastering it.

Spike knew it first hand when he walked past the gates of Yakyakistan, feeling the eyes of the creatures behind him and hearing the whispers about how he would liberate the rest of Equestria from King Sombra.

He had a sad smile behind his mask as he walked away together with Fluttershy, ready to take on the Umbrum empire that had terrorized the creatures of Equestria. He would avenge every creature’s family members and friends. He heard their callings and he would answer the calls.

When they had made a good distance from Yakyakistan, the dragon and pegasus became more careful because they knew that they were banished from entering Equestrian territories. So they made it that they stayed by the outskirts of the towns and villages to not set off the solar guards who were loyal to Princess Celestia.

The chances of them finding Spike and Fluttershy were low but one could never be too careful.

When they were getting close to the Everfree Forest, Fluttershy looked towards where her cottage should be, hoping to catch a glimpse of it. Hoping that her animal friends were safe and sound, but she did not know.

She didn’t know if they made it out alive.

The thought made her almost vomit. The way the Umbrum slaughtered anything that made them angry made her frightened, just imagining why her little Angel Bunny must feel when dealing with some creature that is large and scary with weapons aimed at him.

Angel Bunny might be dominant in many aspects, but even Fluttershy knew that Angel had his limits.

“Thinking about your animal friends?” Came Spike’s voice, intruding her thoughts as they came closer to the forest. She turned her head to him and saw him give her a gentle smile, having taken off his mask somewhere down the path.

“Yes, I’m worried for them considering ...” She didn’t finish her sentence. She couldn’t. It was like her mind refused to think like that.

“I won’t offend you and say that I understand perfectly, but I can understand the fear inside you when thinking about the possibilities that happened to the ones who spent the most time with. That is something I can comprehend.” He explained with a voice that was gentle to the touch.

Fluttershy smiled. She knew that Spike understood but didn’t want to offend her by acting as if he knew everything. Despite that, she knew that he understood, they both had just lost one of their best friends. So in her eyes, he knew perfectly well how she felt.

“I never thought I would willingly go to the Everfree forest unless it involved an animal that needed help,” Fluttershy confessed with the faintest of smiles.

“I concur,” Spike agreed with a smile of his own.

When they were a few minutes closer to the forest, they started to feel a small sign of dread. It confused Spike because he had been through the forest so many times before and never felt the emotion coursing through him like an infection that made itself known.

Spike had been there not too long ago, visiting his sister who had been there and even found Trixie, albeit not ...

“Why do I feel such dread?” Fluttershy asked no one in particular as she glanced to the blood-red sky that glared down at them

“I ...” Spike didn’t know how to answer. Why did they feel dread? “... don’t know,”

Still, they marched onwards because they couldn’t stop, not when they had made it so far in their pursuit of a liberated world where the evil can be reformed. But no villain under King Sombra’s reign could be reformed.

Those were the days Spike and Fluttershy missed the most, the days where they learned the backstory of some creature and try to reform them for the better.

Those days were gone, vanished along with the wind that rattled what little bushes were out there and were still healthy.

Getting closer to the dreaded forest, Spike prepared himself physically and mentally for anything that might be dangerous to them but he did not see nor hear anything other than the whistles of the wind as if to guide him. He smiled softly at that.

He remembered how his ancestor told him that his father was the wind for Jin Sakai and that the mother was the birds. Sakai was never alone, he was always guided by his parents to the locations in which he liberated Hoofshima from the Mongols who had terrorized the island for over three decades. The first wave contained Khothun Khan, a son of Genghis Khan and cousin to Kublai.

Despite this, Jin Sakai managed to defeat the Mongols with the help of the fallen samurai and his parents in turn which was Spike was directly descendent of.

He smiled fondly thinking about the struggles his ancestors must have endured which paid off. He was there, wasn’t he? He stood there strong prepared to take on the Umbrums!

“Are we getting closer?” Asked Fluttershy with evident hints of fear in her voice as she glanced around the area with wide eyes as if she’d be attacked any second.

They had been walking for the last forty minutes through the forest and they had not come across any animals that were alive. But they had found some Umbrum bodies laying on the grass, bathing in their own blood that spilled around them.

The wounds on their enemy came directly from a weapon of the Umbrums creation so Spike calculated that either an Umbrums betrayed his King and creatures or there was another party that grabbed the weapon and slashed the Umbrums before the creature fled from the scene.

They did not stay there very long as they couldn’t care less if it was an Umbrum or not.

Spike glanced over to Fluttershy who looked all around her, expecting anything to jump out and attack them. Not that Spike would allow it under any circumstances.

“I think so, but we need to stay the night here, but do not worry, I believe there is a cave not far from here,” He confidently stated. “We can rest there and tomorrow, we’ll continue our journey.”

He left no room for argument so Fluttershy simply nodded. Sleep sounded attractive.

“Do you remember where it’s located?” Asked Fluttershy while she slightly squeaked when she accidentally stepped on a small tree branch that snapped.

“Yes ... It should be somewhere close to the sandy area,” Spike frowned when he delved deeper into his memories. He had encountered a dragon at a cave nearby when he tried to run away from the Owlowiscious incident when he was younger.

But there was another time when he went even further into the dreaded woods where he was at the end of the forest with the trees being so completely sill that it felt like he was being watched by some creature. He had been looking for ingredients for a potion that Twilight was making and ordered him to find the ingredients.

When Spike had gotten to the normal potions shop, the owner had told him that the last few ingredients Twilight was looking for only existed in the Everfree Forest which had made Spike gulp.

And so he looked through the forest the entire day until he found the ingredients and returned to Twilight who had been stirring the potion with her magic. She’d scolded Spike for being away for so long but had been happy that he found the ingredients.

But when Spike was there, he came across a cave that he ventured into another time when he needed the same ingredients, this time, for a different potion. When he was just outside the cave, he noticed that there was a faint flicker of light as if some creature lived there. He had walked inside and used his fire breath on a stick so he could look around. What he had found had stunned him.

On the walls were paintings of humans who were hunting.

That in itself did not surprise him, but humans, to his knowledge, did not exist within Equestria, unless if there was some forgotten history that Discord decided to force every creature to forget.

It showed how the humans used spears to hunt for a manticore and killed it after a tough battle from both sides. The other art pieces of the walls showed where the humans lived which slightly resembled the Crystal Empire with how the buildings were aligned.

He was always baffled by who drew the paintings but he never had an answer. But maybe he could show Fluttershy the paintings and put his two cents in about mysterious legends from different parts of Equestria.

“Were almost there,” He said when they walked past some bushes that were covered in blood from some creature.

Fluttershy smelled the air and felt herself become sick from the foul smell that made its way up to her nose. The smell was not pleasant, it smelled like dead, rotten bodies. She was used to small quantities of it, but this ... this was too much for her.

“I hope so because I cannot take any more of this foul smell,” She whimpered.

“Don’t worry it’s just up ahead,” Spike pointed ahead of him.

There was a cave entrance with trees around it as if to protect the face like it was some sacred place. The grass became greener, no blood-spill or bodies nearby. There even was a deer nearby who was eating the grass undisturbed while occasionally looking up to look around for any predators.

Fluttershy was stunned by the beauty she saw, never seeing anything like it before. Yes, her close friend Rarity was beautiful but nature ... nature is something that can never be faked and that was why it was so beautiful. No lies; only beautiful truth.

“It’s beautiful,” She said breathlessly. She’d never seen this side of the Everfree forest before, she had only ever seen the predatory forest that no creature dared step inside of.

The same forest in which she worked a lot. She helped animals that had fled from hunters or other animals. She fed them, cared for them, and made them better. Afterward, they would be very grateful and show it by licking and even bowing to her before they would leave for the forest.

But she had to admit, she had never been this deep inside the forest before.

“It is, but also dangerous,” He replied. “Do not let the image fool you.”

They continued to walk for the cave and when they reached it, Spike went inside first in case any Umbrums were hiding there or had potentially set up camp there.

Luckily, that wasn’t the case, but there were a few boxes filled with bits and cloths of all kinds that would make Rarity cry with happiness.

Slowly, Spike started to set up a small fire for them to enjoy and sleep nearby so they didn’t have to be punished by the unforgiving cold that usually swept during the night. Fluttershy started to do the same and they both didn’t speak in favour of enjoying the peaceful silence.

Author's Note

Enjoy!