Chapter 5

Saving The CMC

Spike felt how his anger flared up as he saw the King. He felt how he reached for his sword but didn’t draw it just yet. He wanted to make sure the King was sleeping. He didn’t know whether he was gonna kill him or not. He decided to do it anyway. He drew his sword, and took a leaping step and cut King Sombra’s head cleanly off. He landed on his feet again and felt how the sward felt powerful in his grasp. The room was coloured in black and grey, and the floor was decorated with a blood-red mat. Spike looked at his sword, and to his surprise, it was green.

Spike felt how his face turned to one of confusion. Green? What was he, a changeling? Spike looked back and saw just that: a changeling who had been in disguise. Spike felt how he became surprised and then angry. Sombra may not have known that Spike was the one who was gonna end him that specific night, but he had still expected something to happen. Spike to some degree was impressed. He was always one step ahead, but Spike knew that Sombra’s luck would eventually run out.

Spike looked around the room and shrugged as he crept towards the door, making sure to not make any noise. He had a feeling that there would be soldiers everywhere, but he knew what he was doing. He had practised this a lot in Hoofshima. The hallways were decorated with propaganda posters that would make anypony or creature feel proud of their country. The posters mostly depicted how King Sombra would make the world great again. Different souvenirs were around the hallways, and soldiers were everywhere. It was almost impossible to move around. Luckily, Spike knew his training very well and looked for the staircase that led to the dungeons. He was very quiet when he moved around and was also careful.

Spike eventually found a staircase that he knew would lead to the dungeons. King Sombra would not hide it as he wanted to frighten the ones he saw as his enemies. He also needed to show his citizens their place after all. Spike felt disgusted as that was exactly what he believed King Sombra would do. The staircase was made of stone that was corrupted by the Umbrum and without realizing it, Spike was allowing himself to be seen by King Sombra. He continued downwards down the staircase and looked out for any guards that belonged to King Sombra.

Everything was cold and dark, soothing his armour but it only made Spike tense. He had a feeling that the guards were around. King Sombra could be seen as a pony who is “paranoid” as he always made sure that no one was listening in to his plans and everything. Spike then concluded that it was understandable considering that when you are a tyrannical ruler, there will be a lot of creatures that will try to stop that creature. You eventually just grow paranoid to the point where you aren’t able to do anything.

Spike lurked through the Dungeons and saw that some creatures had been bruised to the point where Spike believed that they would die from a serious infectious disease. He felt grossed out but also extraordinarily wrathful as he saw it. Spike knew that there was no redemption for King Sombra as he would not allow it to begin with. There was no chance in Tartarus that Spike would consider it. He went further and further into the dungeons, trying to find the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He hoped that they were relatively safe considering where he was, but he knew that there was no guarantee.

Spike heard some noises to his right and saw that three Griffin guards were in full armour that represented King Sombra. The black metal armour, undetectable like the darkness of night. Spike jumped up to the ceiling and slowly crawled towards them, waiting for the right opportunity. Spike decided to listen in on the conversation as he heard a few details that interested him straight away. His ears perked up and his eyes were cold and hard. No emotion displayed on his face or giving anything away.

“So what has the King planned to do with the three-element bearers younger sisters? I am getting angry about how they seem to think they are superior simply because their sisters are element bearers. I just want to slit their throats!” One of the Griffin guards said, in a strong Griffinstone dialect. The other Griffin’s also voiced their frustrations of having the three young ponies still alive. Spike felt how he came closer and closer towards his knife, his right claw practically touching the knife and was ready to drop and kill them immediately. That was his style anyway.

“The King has said that he wanted them alive and use them as bait. He hasn’t been specific about the why part, but I trust him. He is our King, after all, he only wants what's best for us.” Another Griffin said, sounding sure of himself as if he walks with the King every other day. Spike gritted his teeth as he felt his claw holding the knife, ready to release his grip and kill them stealthily. The Griffins groaned as they heard a horn in the distance. Spike assumed that they were being signalled towards the location. Spike used this opportunity, he dropped down and slit the throat of the Griffin below him and quickly pulled out his katana to slice up the other two.

Blood was on the walls, the dead bodies of the corrupted Griffins were lifeless. Even the Umbrum wasn’t able to resurrect the dead it seemed like. The air swirled around Spike as some leaves and flowers circled him and made him stop in a trance, remembering some of the good memories he had when he was with his sister figure and friends. He wondered how his mother and aunt were. He didn’t care much about Blueblood, but he was still family so it would be wrong to not include him on the list to care about.

Spike cleaned his katana quickly and pulled out the knife from the Griffin he stabbed that had gotten blood in his lungs and had died that way along with the stab wound. Spike cleaned the knife as well and looked from left to right and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He had a feeling that he should have kept them alive, but he was not interested in that. All he wanted was to find the Cutie Mark Crusaders and leave the Kingdom as quick as possible. He knew that he couldn’t win at that very given moment.

“Better find them quickly before they notice that one of their patrols are missing. . .” Spike said, as he walked away from the massacre he had made from the Griffins, not noticing that there were shining red eyes looking at him intently with green covering over the white. Spike moved along the dungeon and eventually found a door that was huge and was made of sapphires. Spike wasn’t surprised that King Sombra would waste bits on shiny objects that don’t serve a better purpose. Then again, he took over Equestria and has made everypony and creatures vulnerable.

Spike walked up to the door. There were carvings into the sapphire that had different flowers that looked marvellous on the sapphire door. Spike wasn’t sure how to open it, but it suddenly opened up itself, revealing a room with a high roof with an enchanted ceiling to look like the outside. The walls all had different portraits of King Sombra but there was a mare in one of them and he looked younger. It was probably before he got all crazy about enslaving Equestria and ruling with an iron hoof.

In the middle of the room, were three ponies who were tied up and had their mule was tied by a rope. The first filly was Applebloom, she had a yellowish coat and her mane and tail were amaranth red. Her eyes were gamboge orange and she looked lifeless. It was as if she had lost all hope. She didn’t have a cutie mark and Spike wouldn’t have expected anything else. They had been locked up since the invasion. The second filly that was to Appleblooms right was Sweetie Belle. Her coat was white and her mane and tail were mulberry with rose streaks. Her eyes were harlequin and made her look more alive, but at that very moment, they looked nothing like that. They looked like that there was no hope at all in the world. It was like she had accepted that there was no hope and saw no reason to hope anymore and that made Spike feel uneasy. To not have hope at all was a way to allow the enemy to win. It didn’t sit right with him, knowing that fact. The last pony was the one to Applebloom’s left. Scootaloo out of all of her friends looked like she still had hope and that made him smile. He knew that she had it in her! Her coat was orange and her mane and tail were purple and was tomboyish. Her eyes were purple and looked at the whole room in defiance before she saw the other creature that was in the room with them.

She felt herself almost jump in fright as he looked scary with his black coloured armour and weapons. But when she looked at him, she only felt safe. It was like she knew this creature from somewhere but didn’t remember where. Her eyes widened as she saw him walk towards them, no hesitation in his step and he made no sounds at all. The others looked up because they felt a presence and they felt their hearts stop when they saw the figure there. He didn’t seem like one of King Sombra’s torturers, but they couldn’t be sure either. Scootaloo was the one who was the most relaxed out of her two friends. The rope that was restricting them from moving suddenly wasn’t there. They looked behind them, then at the figure who to their surprise and a little bit horror a sword that looked sharp.

“Are you okay?” Spike asked, in a deeper voice than he usually has. The three young fillies looked at each other and nodded. They hadn’t felt more okay since the day they were put into prison. They had been able to hear the screams from the other prisoners begging for mercy that the guards had not shown at all. They had even at one point seen a Griffin get beaten up to the point where they believed that she wouldn’t be able to heal from those wounds properly. Spike put his katana back into his holster.

“Yes, we’re fine. Who are you?” Scootaloo asked while looking at his armour that revealed that it was old and showed many signs that it had been worn in battle. Sweetie Belle looked at the strange creature with awe and fascination as she felt a sense of safeness in him. It was as if her mind knew that he wanted them no harm. Applebloom was simply thanking profusely as she said how she believed they ‘were done for’ which Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had to agree with that as they were not expecting any creature to show up and save them. Spike looked down towards the ground as he expected them to ask that question. He didn’t want to answer it but he knew he had to. But he could also step around the question.

“I’d rather not tell my real name, but I'll give you this: I am The Ghost,” Spike said, as he looked up at them and saw their confused expressions. They decided to roll with it and thanked him in unison. Spike bowed a little and motioned for them to follow him. It was quiet down in the dungeons, but blood could be smelled from miles away and that was something Spike didn’t very much enjoy. It smelled rotten and Spike could practically see the flies over the horrible infected rotten meat.

Spike lead them out the same way he came but made sure that they were not detected. He still didn’t notice the piercing red eyes that were subtly glaring at him. Spike got the uneasy feeling that somepony or creature was watching them but he brushed it aside as paranoia. His mind could simply be pulling tricks on him. He brought them to the sleeping quarters of King Sombra or the fake King Sombra to be more precise. Spike helped the crusaders get out the window and climb over the fence that would lead them to Pipsqueak. Spike was about to jump out the window when he felt a magical aura hold him in place and throw him against the wall that was right behind him, breaking the mirror glass. Spike got up from the rubble and saw a pony with a grey coat that was covered by a red royal cape-like dress. He wore metal royal shoes on his hooves and neck. He had a long red horn that looked sharp and quite dangerous. He had two fangs. He had red piercing eyes that made Spike feel like he was reading his deepest darkest secret. He wore a crown that was made out of metal. On the left and right side of his head was two large knife-like metal on the crown that made it look powerful along with the small red circle in the middle that was protected in a circular formation of the metal. It was King Sombra in all his glory.

“I see that you have infiltrated my castle and killed three of my guards. I am not angry, I am rather impressed that you managed such a feat. Not many creatures would have the guts to do so. Congratulations, but I am sorry to say that you must die for what you have done.” King Sombra said, in a deep fake sympathy voice. It made Spike’s blood boil as he heard how King Sombra talked so casually about losing three of his soldiers. He didn’t even care about what happened to them! He had no heart at all. Spike got steadily up and drew his sword at him, waiting for the King to strike first.

“King Sombra,” Spike said, coldly as he looked at the King with anger and to some extent, hatred. This pony was the reason so many ponies and other creatures were dead. Children who had been slaughtered in front of their mothers couldn’t do anything. Children who were so pure, so innocent. Spike’s grip on his katana hardened as he prepared to strike the King with the hardest he got. The air around them was tense but the evil King seemed like it was the best temperature in the room. He smirked at Spike, daring him to attack him. Spike seethed as he jumped towards Sombra and cut his left cheek, leaving a large cutting mark.

King Sombra growled in anger and used his magic to throw Spike out of the window. Spike flew through the air, but he had prepared for that moment to happen. He had planned in thoroughly and everything went according to plan. He landed on top of the wagon where Pipsqueak and the crusaders were waiting. Spike immediately jumped inside and told Pipsqueak to hit the pedal. Pipsqueak did so and was careful to not say Spike’s name out loud to the girls. The drive would be long and there would be a lot of questions. Hopefully, they would get to the Crystal Empire without trouble.

Four hours had passed and they came closer and closer to the Crystal Empire. Spike was talking to Pipsqueak in a hushed voice so the other girls didn’t hear what they were talking about. Spike was not planning on visiting the Crystal Empire as he had a mission to fulfil and a promise that he would keep until the very end. He knew that the Crystal Ponies especially were counting on him, and he would not fail them. Pipsqueak reached a certain point where the royal guards came running towards them to see if they were enemy or foe. Spike looked at Pipsqueak and the cutie mark crusaders. He nodded towards them and used a smoke bomb to disappear out of thin air. The royal guards reached the wagon and were surprised to see four young children. They recognized them as the sisters of the element beares.

“We saw smoke here when we ran towards you, what happened?” One of the Crystal royal guards asked, in a gentle voice but still held power as to not get too comfortable. Pipsqueak and the crusaders smiled sadly at them and decided to say in unison:

“A hero is what happened.”

The royal guards looked at each other confusedly but shrugged. They decided to take them to the Crystal Empire and tell the element bearers the great news. The Crystal Empire’s crystals seemed to be shinier than they used to be. It could only be one thing; that there was hope. The Crystal guards felt how their spirits lightened up and made them feel like that they didn’t have to worry anymore. The ponies and creatures in the Crystal Empire that had fled from King Sombra’s clutches watched as the three children walked towards the palace of the Crystal Empire.

Spike was on top of a cliff that overlooked the whole of Equestria and he saw all of the areas that King Sombra ruled. He ruled everything. No creature escaped his hoof, but not Spike was here. He would take on the storm that King Sombra would give him, and he would make sure that he wins without hesitation. He pulled out his katana and looked at it in his squatted state. He couldn’t help but smile warmly at the beautiful weapon. He looked over the horizons of Equestria and saw that the sun was coming up, showing that his mother was still alive. He sighed in relief. His mother was okay.

“The Ghost is here King Sombra, I am waiting,” Spike said, as he jumped from the cliff and was out of sight. No creature would have thought that a simple baby dragon would disappear for one year and suddenly reappear as a samurai that doesn’t follow a code. They certainly didn’t expect that he would also become a living legend either.

Author's Note

After a very long time, here is the update and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter.