Chapter 8

The Wandering Samurai

Spike had reached the border of the Dragonlands but he did not see any dragons for miles. He was fine with it, as he knew that something must have happened. He just prayed to his mother that the children had not been killed because then, they would see what the vengeful spirit would do. The rocks were all read around him and the sand revealed that many creatures had walked through there over time. Spike had his katana ready if anything were to happen. The Dragonlands looked more abandoned than it used to and that was something that was worrying Spike. He hoped that there was some dragon there that could tell him what has been going on In his native land while he was away.

Spike saw that there were a few creatures in the distance and he saw that they were wearing the King Sombra soldier armour and he prepared for battle. He would not allow these creatures to plague the Dragonlands any longer. “Come here and fight!” Spike called out to them, gaining their attention. The soldiers looked at each other and grinned evilly as a Yak who was corrupted of the Umbrum prepared to battle Spike. They intimidated each other, but neither was intimidated. The yak then rushed up to him but was sliced by Spike, leaving a large cut wound on the Yak. The other four creatures that were Griffins and ponies rushed up to Spike and prepared their swords, spears, or even bow and arrow. Spike had a blank expression but that was not seen because he was wearing his mask over his mouth. A Griffin with a spear rushed up to Spike but he blocked her chain of attacks. He then did two heavy attacks that made him spin. The Griffin was unbalanced and his blockade was gone. Spike cut off the arm of the Griffin, making him scream in pain but shortly die afterwards because of the small and large cuts that were bleeding severely. Spike looked at the two ponies and rushed up to them and they were caught off guard as he sliced both of their throats in one swing. The last soldier only had a bow and had been screaming: ‘Tar anuas!’ Spike pulled out his own bow and shot his arrow that landed right in the heart. Spike looked around him and saw that only one of them were alive, but he killed them with the help of his katana. He walked over to the soldiers that received his arrow and grabbed it. He then started walking again towards the capital city of the Dragon lands.

Spike knew that he would not be seen as a true warrior in some creatures eyes as he literally butchers his enemies as if they are butter. He wondered if he was sane sometimes considering how many creatures he has killed so far. He gets his stance and he feels the air around him turn ice cold and he only sees red and he slices his way through his enemies. Spike looked up at the sky and saw the sun was setting over the horizon and Spike smiled. He promised that he would speak with his mother when the war was over.

In the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Ponies had finished hearing the tale of the mother and child. The Crystal Ponies were celebrating Spike’s heroic acts by putting up the flag that the mare and child had seen him wear. Many of the children looked up to Spike and saw him as the proper hero of Equestria that is actually fighting back properly. Yakyakistan had been completely liberated and the Yaks were speaking greatly about their hero and about how they had seen him as a vengeful spirit slaughtering the bad deeds that King Sombra had done to them.

The Princess’ smiled as they heard Spike’s tale spreading throughout Equestria. They had lost all hope of defeating King Sombra because of how powerful he had become, but now, when a warrior has turned up as a ‘vengeful spirit’ they can’t help but feel their hope return to them fully. The children who were without a doubt been seeing what happened had been scared that they would be imprisoned and see their families be torn apart. But now when Spike has returned and is fighting for them, they can’t help but look up to him as their idol and hero.

The main six, Princess’, Sunburst, Shining Armor, and Blueblood was inside the throne room all wondering where Spike was. They were all comforting each other while Blueblood was feeling depressed that he had treated his cousin badly in the past. Luna was secretly hoping that Spike would come to the Crystal Empire so she could snuggle with him for the rest of their lives. The same could be said for Celestia who believed that her son would be in danger all the time. Cadance was happy that her brother-in-law was alive and well.

“Does anypony have any ideas as to where he is?” Twilight asked as she tried to break the ice that had been looming over them for the past few days. Nopony answered while Pinkie Pie did not look concerned at all. They had been wondering how to get in contact with Spike as they had not been able to send any letters to him as they had tried that many times over the past few months when he was away. Pinkie, who had been reading a book slammed it hard, startling everypony in the room who had not been expecting it.

“Fine, I promised the author to not tell where he was going, but because you are all desperate, I’ll say where he is. He is in the Dragonlands to see if dragon lord Ember is alive and well. He wants to liberate the Dragonlands and see if the dragons are willing to fight for the rest of Equestria.” Pinkie Pie said as if it was common knowledge that everypony and creature had. The others looked at her with a perplexed expression on their faces. She sounded so casual when she said it that they were unsure if she had too many cupcakes or something.

“Well, I would suspect that he would go to the Dragonlands as the dragons from what I have heard since the invasion, have been able to keep the Umbrum at bay. It would be possible that he could be heading there and look for those who are willing to fight.” Rarity said, making the others look at her. She did have a point. They had not been able to contact the Dragonlands since the invasion, but they had heard that they had been putting off the Umbrum that the corrupted creatures had to literally use extreme violence to have the Dragonlands. Not that they had seen the difference.

“Well then, shall we head over there?” Celestia asked, a little bit impatient. She just wanted to find her child and cuddle with him. The other ponies in the room nodded as they started to make preparations. The air in the room was one of tense nervousness and excitement. They got to see Spike and maybe even see him in action. Fluttershy was afraid of seeing the drake in action as she saw the dead bodies that he had butchered. The others were a little bit worried that he might see them as enemies or try to run away from them.

Back in the Dragonlands, Spike was walking away from a convoy with six dead bodies around it. He had found some King Sombra soldiers travelling and he had come out of nowhere and begun to slaughter them. They had been caught by surprise and prepared their weapons, but he had been too fast. He cut his enemies down until they were all dead. He had then walked away from it as if nothing had happened. Spike was nearing the dragon capital as he found some dragons healing each other but he was surprised to see that there were walls made of rocks that surrounded the whole capital, no way in or out. He saw that there was a forcefield that was keeping the ones able to fly out. Spike was impressed. Princess Ember knew exactly what she was doing. Spike looked around and saw a few dragons that were either dead or wounded. He felt bad for them as he had no idea why they were out here instead of inside the capital.

The rocks that held the whole wall looked like they would fall any second, but they did not. Spike decided to see if there was a way around it if there was some sort of gap somewhere he could climb up and get inside the capital. Spike walked away from the dragons healing the wounded and looked for enemies around him, but found none. He chuckled a little bit as he walked along the wall to his right to see where it would lead him.

The wait was warm and the lava was hot. Spike would do anything to just drop what he was doing and take a quick dip, but he had a mission to accomplish. Relaxation could wait. Spike saw how the clouds were shaped in different shapes and sizes. it made him think about Rainbow Dash and was wondering what she was up to when the war was going on. Surely she was not on the weather team still? Spike then shrugged as it was impossible and he did not exactly make an effort to meet them until after the war.

Spike then heard some shouting in the distance. He looked around just in time to see an arrow fly his way. He just his sword to make the metal of the arrow land and become unusable. Spike counted at least six creatures. They were all running towards him and he was smiling like a lunatic. he got to spill some more of their blood and make sure that the children they have heard have their vengeance. His sword felt lighter as he rushed up to a Griffin that held two swords and tried to attack him by jumping and stabbing the sword that was in Griffin’s right claw.

Spike blocked the attack and cut off the claw, making the Griffin scream out in pain. Spike was now terrifying the King Sombra soldiers and but they did not show it as they then started to rush at him with their weapons raised and made sure that they looked threatening. Spike felt how the air around him become scorching hot as he rushed at them and did not remember slicing his way through them as if they were butter. They all screamed in pain as the katana cut and sliced them all with no trouble.

When he was done, he looked around him and saw blood everywhere and he saw how one of them was still alive. Spike walked up to him and saw that it was not ‘him ‘but ‘her’ instead. Spike did not care and cut her open and made her bleed. She died on the spot and Spike walked away from the creatures of King Sombra as he was trying to find a way into the Dragonlands capital. Spike then saw a tiny opening and he grinned. He walked up to it and crouched down and started getting further and further inside. Luckily, it was not cramped he could have simply crouched the rest of the way but what he did was faster so it did not really matter in the end. When he reached the other side and looked up, he saw the Dragonlands capital. He looked around and saw that several dragons were starving and looked scared for their life. He felt his anger flare up, he felt ready for a round two with his enemies again. He started walking through the capital and caught a few eyes on him as he had not been seen there before, at least in his armour. He saw that some dragon guards were walking up to him and they looked dead serious.

“Who are you?!” One of the dragon guards asked, aggressively as he was ready to draw his sword. Spike only chuckled, because he recognized him as Garble. Garble was wearing red-coloured armour with a chest plate and helmet. He had a sword to his side.

“I should be offended that you don’t recognize me, Garble,” Spike said, making said dragons eyes become saucers as he recognized the voice. He looked at the dragon in front of him with disbelief. It was not possible that the baby was a warrior. But when he looked into Spike’s eyes, he saw that there was something there that suggested that it was true and decided to try to not anger him.

“Spike?” Garble asked, still in disbelief. The other dragon guards looked at Garble and they relaxed a little bit. Spike was mildly confused by that but assumed that they were his friends from when he was there last.

“Yes Garble, it is me, but I go by The Ghost,” Spike said, making Garble nod. The other dragon guards looked at the exchange with mild confusion.

“Follow me, Princess Ember will be delighted to meet you,” Garble said, making Spike look at him surprised by how friendly he is towards him. He expected to hear some snarky comment by now. It never came, in fact, they walked in silence and he did not once look back to sneer at him. They simply continued to walk and when Spike saw the palace, he felt a little surprised. The palace was made out of red stone, but it made it look dark and powerful. Spike and the other dragons walked toward the gates and they were let in by the other dragon guards there. They walked up large stone steps as they neared the double doors that had dragon fire carved into the stone doors. Two of Garble’s comrades went to open them and they stepped inside. The stone around them on the inside had several carvings of the other Dragon Lords. Spike smiled a little bit at the end of the hallway after he and Garble walked through the dimply lit hallways. He had seen a carving of Princess Ember. Garble led him to the throne room and opened the double stone doors himself and revealed princess Ember looking depressed as she sat on her throne with the bloodstone scepter in her right hand. She looked in the direction of Garble and saw the odd figure beside him. She was now on high alert for whatever this creature was. when Garble reached the end he bowed to his princess and the creature did the same in a show of respect but Princess Ember did not know how to feel about that. When they finished bowing, She looked into the eyes of the creature and felt as though the creature was staring into her soul.

“it has been a while, hasn’t it Princess Ember?” Spike said, making her eyes almost fall out of their sockets. It was Spike! he was alive! She rushed from the throne and hugged him for dear life. Spike chuckled as he knew that the hug would have crushed him, but he was afraid that he was the one doing it this time as he thought he heard her choke a little bit. When she released him, she then hit him out of anger that it was just now that he came to the Dragonlands. Spike laughed. She had not changed one bit.

Princess Ember looked at Spike and felt happy that he was safe and sound, but when she looked into his eyes, all she saw was a fragment of what Spike used to be. she felt a little sad at that but did not comment. She had heard how a warrior had liberated Yakyakistan and had at first not known what to believe, she heard from one of her dragon guards how “a vengeful spirit” had sliced the King Sombra Soldiers with ease and to some extent hatred. She had a very large feeling that it was Spike because of the armour she saw. From what the dragon guard had told her, the armour Spike was wearing was matching the description. She felt a presence in the armour, it was as if it truly was a spirit inside of the armour.

“Spike, where have you been?! The ponies fled to the Crystal Empire, you were there and then you disappeared out of the face of Equestria and everyone thought that King Sombra kidnapped you.” Ember said, as she calmed down a little bit but she could not help but feel a little betrayed by looking at Spike that he was safe and sound, but she had a feeling that it was the opposite just by looking at the blood on his armour. . .

“I know Princess, but I had to do it. I had to disappear. I trained myself and when the moment was right, I emerged from the shadows and have attacked King Sombra Soldiers left and right. I liberated yakyakistan. I also saved a mare and child a few days ago.” Spike said, making Garble and Ember look at him as if he had gone mad. Garble would have never guessed that the baby dragon would have become a warrior of the highest degree. Ember was looking at Spike up and down. He had a warrior pose and showed no mercy by just standing.

“Spike, is there something you are not telling me?” Ember asked as she looked at Spike. She could tell that he was not telling her something. spike nodded but he never answered what it was he was not telling her. Ember knew that it was not exactly time to ask one thousand questions so she decided to just let it be. Garble looked at the way Spike stood and talked. He talked as if he was a different dragon. He hated to even think about what he must have gone through.

“I saw that you made large stone walls over the capital here. Any specific reason for that, and the fact that you have a forcefield in the air?” Spike asked, making Ember nod and started to explain the story.

“yes, you see, when King Sombra had taken over Canterlot he started to invade other nations. he murdered children to demonstrate that if any creature resisted, he would kill them and their families. He marched towards the Dragonlands. we prepared for battle and everything, but we could have never expected to have finished with the wall and forcefield that we asked a unicorn by the name of Starlight Glimmer to do for us. She has helped us a lot. She and her town fled from King Sombra’s soldiers that had tried to take away their power. We took them in with open arms in exchange that they help us and we have lived happily with them with no resistance from them. We have not been able to contact the other nations because of the fear of the King Sombra Soldiers breaching our security. They have an outpost on the other side.” Ember explained.

Spike took all of this information in and he felt angry at the King Sombra guards. But he still had to be calm and nodded in Ember’s direction. Garble was amazed by spike’s calm, but he was a little frightened by the anger that flashed inside of spike’s eyes. He looked ready to murder. Ember noticed it too and could not help but feel a little cautious. He felt his claws calling his sword as it felt right when he was holding it, but he shrugged off the urge as there was no need to use it at that given moment.

Spike looked out one of the windows of the palace and saw the children of the dragons looking scared, hurt, confused, and angry. He felt anger consume his heart, but he did not lash out. His companions noticed it and calmed down a little bit.

On the roads towards the Dragonlands were the Princess’ and the others. They had yet to encounter King Sombra soldiers. They had been put on high alert as they looked through the horizons and saw some soldiers walking by that were not from the Dragonlands. From what Luna had seen, they looked to belong to King Sombra. They had done everything to avoid them. Twilight could not help but think about Spike and his reappearance. He had been gone for over a year and she had just started to fear the worst and then she finds out that he maybe was alive, hope had returned to her. The other element bearers could say the same. Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor looked at each other and did the best to comfort each other. Spike was a true brother to Shining and he wanted to hug and comfort him.

Luna looked ahead and saw something that made her look away by the sheer cruelty. The others noticed this. Celestia tapped Luna on her left wing and Luna looked at her sister and pointed with her head ahead of them. Celestia looked and she thought she was gonna faint. ahead of them were the dead bodies of King Sombra. The ponies looked and thought they would throw up. The Crystal Pony guards on the other hand that believed that their hero had done it was praising him inwardly. They saw him as a true soldier of Equestria, a true hero.

Twilight walked towards the dead bodies and could not believe that her little brother and number one assistant could be so violent and cruel. she did not know what was fueling him. She then thought back to when she was in Yakyakistan. she then widened her eyes. Could it be the children? It would make sense. It could be something else also, but that is what is making the most sense at the moment. Fluttershy looked like she had fainted while standing up. Rarity was checking on her while the others went to look like Twilight.

“Jeez, did the little squirt really do this?” Rainbow asked, mostly to herself as she took in the gruesome sight. Applejack looked like she did not believe it at all. She knew that anyone was capable of doing this destruction with the right motivation but Spike was a child, could he really have fallen like this? Only time would tell when they met again. Twilight was approached by her brother and sister-in-law. They nudged her, but she did not respond. She could not believe that Spike was capable of doing things like this. He was a dragon, sure, but he was still so young and it would have taken years before he would get these sort of instincts. Although Twilight did know that ponies had not much information about dragons, so she did not know exactly when those sort of thoughts kicks in. She also knew that Spike could be a lot older than they originally thought because of when Princess Celestia found his egg. He could be thousands of years old!

“I did not think that Spike was capable of this destruction big bro, at least not willingly,” Twilight said, as she turned to her brother that did not reveal any sort of emotion. cadance did her best to not look horrified but it was a losing battle. The air felt chilly even though the volcanoes were scorching hot. Shining hugged his sister who was doing her best to keep her shock inside of herself.

“War can bring out an ugly side in all sorts of creatures,” Shining stated as he remembered when he was fighting against King Sombra’s soldiers. He had become more aggressive and showed less mercy even though he was well aware that the creatures had been corrupted by the Umbrum and were not controlling what they were doing. he regretted that a lot but there was nothing he could do. It was all in the past now.

Princess Cadance felt concerned when she heard the tone Shining was speaking in. He sounded depressed and sad. She knew the reason of course, but she still could not help but feel sad for him. He has gone through so much and seen so much. Princess Celestia and Luna were hugging each other and comforting each other. They saw the gruesome sight and could not help but cry Spike’s name. A child that had become this violent should not be possible. Then again, it was like Shining said: war can bring out the ugly side of every creature. Luna looked up and saw the walls ahead, but she could have sworn that she saw a creature look in their direction.

Author's Note

And here is the chapter guys! Enjoy!