Chapter 6

A Tales Beginning

Spike’s tale spread like wildfire. The ponies of the Crystal Empire, especially the Crystal Ponies said how he had returned to fight for them. They said that it must have been Spike The Brave And Glorious that was The Ghost and were fighting for them. The main six, the alicorn sisters, Princess Cadance, Prince Blueblood and Shining Armor were shocked to know that it might be Spike. He had been gone for over a year and Princess Celestia feared that Spike might gave died at the hands of King Sombra or had been captured by the dreaded King. Some of the Crystal Ponies who had believed that Spike had been captured by King Sombra had formed entire armies to penetrate Canterlot and planned on bringing the King down but it ended with Princess Cadance telling them that they might only put him more in danger. Now, that Spike had returned with a new name, the Crystal Ponies spoke highly of him. Spike’s family and friends were happy that he was safe and sound but they obviously had questions that they wanted answers to like ‘where had he been?’ was the most important question to them at that very moment. They hoped that they got to speak with him soon as they couldn’t stand the fact that he had been gone for a year only to reappear when he was needed the most.

Spike was currently in a city in Yakyakistan that had been invaded by King Sombra’s army and was in the evil King’s hooves. Spike believed that he should start the liberations from the north and work his way downwards until he only had Canterlot left and by that time, he would be strong enough to face the tyrannical King. The city in Yakyakistan that used to be a happy place that was relatively accepting was now a land where dread and despair rested. The population had decreased because of the several executions that King Sombra held. Spike noticed how the Yaks had been shaved off their furs and had nothing to keep themselves warm. Spike knew he had to liberate this land and kill as many Sombra guards as possible. Spike was on top of one of the many houses in the land and had sharpened his katana for the battle. Spike saw a Griffin talking in some unknown language to Spike but it sounded intense and aggressive. Spike suspected that it might have been one of the main languages the Umbrum used as he knew the Umbrum could speak.

Spike jumped from the roof and pulled out his katana and landed with the katana through the head of the Griffin and allowed the body to roll on the ground. Spike noticed that the friend he had been speaking to had run off and Spike realized that he was most likely trying to warn the other soldiers and Spike acted quickly. He pulled out his bow and arrow and aimed for the head. All-time slowed down and Spike saw how the arrow flew through the air and landed at the back of the head of the Pony who seemed to be a Sombra follower. Spike felt a little angry that a pony had joined King Sombra unless if the pony had been corrupted. The whole land that once belonged to the Yaks now belonged to King Sombra as the houses that belonged to the Yaks had been burned down completely. It had been replaced by tents made of wood that was stronger than any normal wood Spike had come across. Inside of the tents were food, weapons, supplies, and several letters that showed different food routes and slave routes. There were a few shelves that had a few irons and treasures that could be used to buy better weapons or make the weapons stronger.

Spike was hopping from tent to tent, trying to find more enemies to kill but found that they were all in groups together. Luckily, Spike had learnt a special trick that would help him in the long run. Spike pulled out his katana and knife and jumped down on the unsuspecting victims. He killed a Yak that had been corrupted and two pony mares that he didn’t recognize. The air had grown cold but it didn’t bother Spike as he felt comfort by the coldness of the night. He thought he had gotten away from his killings, but that was put out when he heard a scream in the unknown language.

“Tá créatúir síos againn!” Some creature shouted in a fretful voice, but it also had a sense of anger as if they were friends or something. Spike suspected that it was a little bit of both. He decided that he might simply drop down and slash his way through the army. Spike tried to find more creatures but they seemed to be nowhere to be found. Spike suspected that they had either seen him and was waiting for the perfect opportunity, or that they decided to hide in their homes. Spike knew that he had to be careful as he had no choice but to make his presence known to the King Sombra followers. Spike jumped down from one of the roofs and made his presence known by shouting:

“Come out here and fight!” The creatures walked out and all wore the same armour except for one creature that was a Griffin and had the armour of one that was a leader or commander. Spike smiled a little bit as he had a challenge. He may not like them for what they had done but they sure knew how to fight properly. Spike put his claw on his sword and waited for his enemy to strike first. The one he was facing was a dragoness with bluish-purple eyes. she was wearing black armour that had the flag King Sombra uses. The flag was coloured in green, black, and red. The red represented his red eyes while the black represented the darkness that was inside of him. The green represented his dark magical eyes when he was using dark magic. She looked at Spike with sheer hatred. Spike did the same but his eyes didn’t reveal anything.

“Eagla?!” She asked, angrily as she then suddenly attacked him out of nowhere. Spike had a feeling that it meant something with fear. Spike managed to make a big gash wound on the demoness that died from the huge wound that she was left with. Spike looked at the other creatures that stared at him with both anger and surprise. No one had managed to wait out so long and actually kill one of them. The others they had met were weak and pathetic. Useless even, but they couldn’t think about that now. One of them who was a buffalo rushed at Spike with a raised spear. Spike evaded to the left and struck the Buffalo to the side, making him bleed to death. The others were furious. How dare this dragon attack them and get away with it?! Well not anymore. He would feel pain and wish that he never started the fight and rebellion in the first place. They all rushed at Spike and he jumped up into the air and started spinning around with his katana slicing the creatures who followed King Sombra. He knew that there was more of them, but he didn’t know how to gain their attention. Spike looked at all of the creatures bodies and saw that one of them was moving. It was a Changeling to his surprise, but he had learned that they weren’t evil creatures, to begin with, and had made a few Changeling friends. They were all kind and supportive and had even said that they would visit Equestria one day when there weren’t any threats that Spike had to deal with. That was in Hoofshima, but he couldn’t help but feel like he was somehow failing them. He didn’t know where the feeling came from, but he had a feeling that he would find out eventually.

He grabbed the Changeling and looked for a place with fire. After he found one that was outside one of the tents that served as a light, he placed the Changeling on the ground and walked away from a little. When he believed that he was far enough away, he shot an arrow at the light and the contents fell out and burned the Changeling making him scream and writhe in pain.

“AAAAHHHH AHHH AAAAHHUUUuuu.” The scream was heard throughout the whole city and land which made the other King Sombra guards rush towards the place the Changeling had screamed at the top of his lungs. There was another leader with them, but this time, the leader wore gold armour and looked quite terrifying. Spike had no idea who the leader was, but Spike had a feeling that he wouldn’t want to know the answer, to begin with. He and the leader locked eyes and the leader shouted at him.

“Cén bhri atá leis seo?!” The leader shouted at Spike and he had a feeling that he asked about the meaning of him being there or about the murdered Changeling. Spike simply showed him his katana and motioned for him to fight him. The leader looked like he or she was just going to kill him, but the leader changed his mind and accepted the offer most likely thinking that he or she would win. Spike shook his head at the mere stupidity as it was not possible for the leader to win. He knew that much, but he shouldn’t get cocky in the first place.

Spike rushed up towards the leader and slashed the creature. It was no use as the leader had expected it and simply chuckled a little as the leader used two swords to attack Spike. Spike did a perfect parry and made the swords of the leader fall out of his or she’s claws. Spike looked at the back of the leader and saw the blood coming from the back of the armour. Spike knew that he hadn’t done it, but did know that there was a leader that was seriously injured from before. He guessed that this was the leader that he heard about. Spike pulled out his sword and charged at the leader and the soldiers froze in terror as they saw a monster, a Ghost slice their leader as if she was nothing! He then turned towards them and they couldn’t take it. They ran. They threw their weapons and ran as if a Cerberus was after them. Spike decided to allow them to flee as he had no interest in killing them at that very moment. Spike looked around him and saw several dead bodies around him that was mostly his doing by killing the King Sombra soldiers.

Spike started looking for survivors and found several of them were hiding inside a sort of bunker room that had been made by the King Sombra soldiers in case of emergencies. Spike had walked down stone steps that were perfectly shaped and there was some blood on them but it looked to be very old so Spike suspected that it was before the invasion. He met a Yak that was named Yona who was the last survivor of her whole family. She had told Spike that she had seen the leader he killed slaughter her whole family in front of her. Spike felt anger when he heard that and was happy that he killed the leader. Not that he would be allowed It to live in the first place.

Spike had learnt how most of the Yaks that had survived were either corrupted or used as slaves by the King Sombra empire. Spike didn’t know how to respond to that. He didn’t really know what to say if he was honest. The Yaks had come out from their hiding place and believed fully that Spike had liberated Yakyakistan. It was a big place, but the soldiers apparently only stayed in the biggest areas. Spike thought about sending a scroll to the princess’ to help aid the Yaks and had voiced this with them himself and had received a lot of applauds at that idea. Spike had gotten a scroll and some ink from Yona and he had started writing to his mother.

Dear Princess Celestia

I write this letter to inform you that the King Sombra soldiers in Yakyakistan are no more. I have liberated the land and I now seek your aid to help them and protect them. Do not worry, I have plans to make sure that they have enough food and water to survive in that sense. I am now headed to another land to see what I can do. With kind regards to you my princess.

The Ghost

Spike sent the letter with his fire breath and he didn’t await the response as he started helping out in Yakyakistan. He was hoping that he could help somehow and console the Yaks who lost their families. Some of the children who were alive were no older than eight and that they had to see their own parents get butchered in from of them. Spike could not possibly imagine what they had to go through. It just indicated that King Sombra had no regards for what he did. Spike felt his anger nearly exploding as he thought about the tyrannical King. Of course, he was planning on defeating him, but the ‘how’ question is the one that kept lingering inside his head. Spike knew that he would find a way to do the final act before everything could move forward towards a brighter future. Spike smiled a little when he suddenly felt like vomiting. He knew that it was a letter from his mother so he allowed the green flames to shoot up in the sky and a scroll that belonged to royalty with the seal that was on it. Spike opened it and read the contents of the letter. He was a little sad as it asked the one question he knew he had to answer truthfully as he couldn’t tiptoe around it.

To The Ghost

My name is Princess Celestia as you know, and I will allow the aid in Yakyakistan as they are good friends with the Crystal Empire. I do ask you to stay as I have some questions for you that I want truthful answers to. There is also a question that I simply must ask in this letter and that is if you are my son: Spike Solaris? I need to know as I have heard rumours about how you have saved three young fillies from King Sombra’s castle. The Crystal ponies believe that you are my son, but I don’t know what to believe. I do hope to meet you when I arrive.

Kind regard, Princess Celestia Solaris

Spike sat down and looked up at the sky and felt a sense of peace wash over him. He decided that now was the best time to meditate and ease his mind. He sat on his knees as he thought about what he wanted to say when he looked at the sky. He figured it out a second later and started his beautiful but sad speech. “Eternal blue sky never falters. . .” Spike looked over to his left and saw some Yak children playing with a ball and having fun and laughing. He smiled at them. “Innocent souls facing evil. . .” Spike looked ahead of him and then upwards as he saw the clouds in the sky let in sunlight and show the blue sky clearly. “Will we find peace in the afterlife?” Spike finished his meditating and went up from his crouched state. Spike saw that Yona was walking towards him and she had a large smile on her face, one that Spike knew hadn’t been on her face for years. Spike wondered why she looked so happy but returned it nonetheless.

“What are you so happy about?” Spike asked as Yona smiled widely at him. He knew that his mother was fast but not that fast. It would at least take a minimum of ten minutes at the slowest. Yona simply grinned at him as she hugged him and Spike stiffened slightly but quickly relaxed. He returned the hug as he felt a sense of warmth in his heart, knowing that a troubled creature felt comfortable with him. It really warmed his heart and made him feel successful. When they ended the hug Yona decided that it was time to tell him the very good news. She took his claw and dragged him towards the middle point of Yakyakistan. They were about to enter when Spike gently stopped her.

“Yona, what are we doing here?” Spike asked, as he did his best to look inside but didn’t see any creature except some wine and other alcohol. Spike wasn’t sure if she was inviting him for a drink or if she lived at the bar. At least it looked like a bar considering there were many glasses and chairs. Spike looked at Yona who only smiled at him and motioned for him to get inside. Spike did so and what he saw amazed him. During the four hours since he liberated them, one of the Yaks had actually made a portrait of him fighting the King Sombra soldiers and made sure that he had looked powerful in the portrait. Spike was happy and felt a smile on his lips form and he turned to Yona who was smiling and they hugged each other.

“Thank you, Yona,” Spike said, as he looked at the Yak with visible happiness. He knew that he would be a big deal but not to the point where he would be in a large portrait depicting his fight with King Sombra soldiers who were violent and made their life a living Tartarus. Of course, that sounds exactly why they would do something like that, but Yaks are known for jumping to conclusions and Spike honestly believed that they would be angry with him for what he did and had believed that they would say that he just made their situation worse. But he never received any comments like that. It was all the opposite. He received praises and the children kept asking him to re-tell his tale as to how he defeated the King Sombra soldiers. Spike could not help but notice their awe and admiration. They saw him as their hero and without his knowledge, an all-father figure.

Spike decided that it was time for him to leave, so he grabbed whatever it was that he needed and left Yakyakistan without saying goodbye. Spike knew that he would return one day, but when that would be was a question that he didn’t want to fully know as he had a feeling that he would know in time. He ran up to a rooftop and started jumping from rooftop to rooftop but did stop once to look behind him and saw all of the children playing with each other and looking happy. He smiled. He knew what they were going through has been exhausting and they were without a doubt scared after what happened. It was a traumatizing situation that would always haunt them. Spike gripped his katana very hard so that his left claw turned white. Hurting innocent children and their parents. . . there was no honour in that. Sure, he may be a hypocrite considering that he fights without honour, but he would never hurt women and children. That was against everything he stood for and knew. Spike gave one last sad smile and looked over the horizon and saw that the ponies were on their way to Yakyakistan and he saw a small pink dot on the ground which he assumed was Pinkie Pie. He jumped off from the edge of the wooden fence and allowed himself to land on the many rocks on the cliffs.

The ponies who were on their way towards Yakyakistan had noticed a figure stand on the edge of a cliff and then had disappeared out of view. The element bearers, the two alicorn princess’ and the royal Crystal Guards believed that it was The Ghost. Princess Twilight Sparkle felt a pang of sadness in her as she wouldn’t be able to talk to the creature and figure out if it was really Spike. She had missed him so much and she had hoped to speak with the creature who went by that very name. She guessed that the creature just wasn’t ready to talk yet. Her friends noticed her sadness and they felt sympathetic for her. They had all missed Spike and had hoped that they would be able to talk to him to see what happened to him. Princess Celestia was the only one out of all of them that was longing for Spike as he had been gone for over a year.

They had been walking for two hours until they had finally reached Yakyakistan and to their horror, they found the slain bodies of the King Sombra soldiers. The bodies had been butchered like they were pigs for slaughter. They may be ponies and not eat meat anymore but Princess Celestia and Luna very well remembered the time when they ate meat a thousand years ago. It was normal and they had yet to see it in modern times. Luna walked over to the bodies and found that there was one that was still breathing. She was amazed, as the Griffin had a huge gash on his back and it looked like it had already been infected. Luna lightened her horn and teleported him away to a cell with a scroll containing the information that the doctors needed to know. The Yaks looked all happy that they were there and Yona walked up to them.

“Hello Princess Celestia, Luna and Twilight,” Yona said, in a kind voice. The princess’ bowed down to her and she did the same. Yona ha learned Equestrian a lot faster with the King Sombra soldiers around and mocking them for not knowing proper Equestrian. Yona had learnt better and made sure that none of the children was hurt in any sort of way. The other ponies bowed down in respect to Yona and the Yakyakistan lands.

“Hello, Princess Yona. Could you possibly tell us what happened here?” Princess Celestia asked, earning a nod from the young Princess. Yona started telling her tale about how a mysterious creature came out of nowhere and started slaughtering the King Sombra soldiers. She explained how he didn’t even hesitate when he did it. The ponies were shocked while the Crystal Guards were praising their hero for doing such heroic acts.

“So, a creature that you have not seen or heard of before came out of nowhere and slaughtered King Sombra’s soldiers like they were butter and just left afterwards?” Twilight asked as she tried to understand the situation at hand. It was a lot to take in if it truly was her younger brother that was the hero that Equestria needed. Princes Celestia and Luna were surprised by Spike’s acts and were even more shocked that he had been seen as a hero in Yakyakistan. Usually, the Yaks don’t take pride in a different creature helping them, but here, the Yaks are speaking highly of him and don’t even speak badly of him.

Twilight and her friends made up different theories as to where Spike had disappeared to while the Crystal Guards were helping the Yaks with their fallen soldiers and food supplies. They were speaking about how great Spike is and how he would save them all from the evil King. The Yaks fully agreed with them and retold the tale about how he avenged them for what the soldiers had done. The guards were without a doubt tell the other ponies of the Crystal Empire and he would be even more loved by them.

Miles away near the border of the Crystal Empire was Spike who was watching over the ponies there. The young Crystal Ponies were talking about his legend and how he had saved them from King Sombra and how he had also saved the CMC by breaking into the castle in Canterlot. He smiled at them. He could not fail them. He couldn’t He promised them silently that much. Spike looked to his left and saw the horizons of the sun setting itself with the help of his mother who was praying that he was guarded by their ancestors. Spike looked down at his sword which was shining and reflecting him wearing the mask that belonged to his ancestor Jin Sakai. He was proud. He would protect the creatures of Equestria and beyond. Nothing would stop him.

Author's Note

And here is chapter six! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as I loved writing this chapter. I hope to see you at the next one!