Ghost Of Equestria

by Dragon-In-Black

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Death, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Mystery, Spike, Tragedy
Length: 123560

King Sombra was never vanquished. He starts taking over the minds over different creatures, and starts his invasion. But, one dragon will stop him.

King Sombra was never defeated, it only weakened him a little. He regains enough of his powers to take his body and horn back, and he starts to take over the minds of different creatures, and slowly builds up an army to invade Equestria which he succeeds in. Little does he know, a purple scaled dragon is training himself to fight against him, and his legend will be known everywhere in Equestria and abroad.

Published 2020-08-03 22:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2022-07-20 11:52:18 UTC

1 — The Story Of The Ghost

Chapter 1

The Story Of The Ghost

The Crystal Empire is a glorious nation made of crystals and happy ponies. If you were to look at it ten years ago, ponies and other creatures would say otherwise. The nation had its fair share of toughness over the years. The nation had once been ruled by the evil tyrannical ruler, King Sombra. But, later it had been saved by a samurai that is now in Equestria and beyond, seen as a hero and legend.

In the Crystal Palace, was a young alicorn filly, that had light opal eyes. Her mane was a gradient of light cerise to greyish violent with light arctic blue highlights. Her coat is light magenta is grey with tinges of pale, light greyish fuchsia. Her name was Flurry Heart. Her parents are princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Prince Shining Armor. Her aunt is princess Twilight Sparkle which is direct because of her father. She has an uncle also that is... she doesn't actually know. She had never bothered to ask and did feel kind of guilty about it the more she thought of it.

She was currently in her room drawing a samurai that had already been sketched out. From her understanding, this samurai was a real samurai. She had heard about a mighty warrior called The Ghost. She didn't know whether it was real or not. She was gonna ask her mother about it when she was gonna tell her a bedtime story.

She did go to school like everypony else. In fact, she went to the friendship school that her aunt owns. She was ten years old, and was always eager to learn, and had made a lot of friends at the friendship school. Outside of the school, and many other nations around Equestria and beyond that she had visited was a statue that showed a samurai warrior that was surprisingly named The Ghost. Her eyes widened. Could it be real? Was there a real warrior out there protecting every creature in Equestria and beyond?

All of a sudden there was a knock on Flurry Hearts door. Her door behind her, and was made out of metal mixed with crystal. Her room was bluish with pink highlights. Her bed covers had the Crystal Heart drawn on to them. She turned around and saw that it was her mom. She jumped out of her chair and rushed to her.

It all happened too fast, Cadance wasn't sure she knew to a full extent what happened. All she knew, was that her daughter was clinging onto her. She smiled and nuzzled her daughter. She got up on her hooves and saw how Flurry Heart released her and was staring at her mother intently.

"Now Flurry, it's time for bed!" Cadance said, in a cheery voice. Flurry heart smiled widely and rushed to her own bathroom that had been installed as she didn't like walking down the long empty corridors. Or, not 'empty' corridors, since, the Crystal guards were always on the look-out to make sure there aren't any threats nearby.

While Flurry Heart was brushing her teeth, Cadance walked up to the drawing her daughter was colouring. She smiled widely when she saw who it was. 'The Ghost' Cadance though, to herself. She had met him a few times. Then again, it was Spike who was the hero of Equestria. She remembered when he had saved them all, he was alive of course, but he rarely showed himself. She wondered if he would ever show up again, he hadn't made a 'normal' appearance as in he didn't hurt or injured some creature. Otherwise, Spike's legend was still told, and several books had been written about him and his heroic acts. How he came to be, how he had ended the tyrannical ruler, and how he had sacrificed himself...

All of a sudden, there was a blur, and Flurry Heart was in her bed. Looking at her mother expectantly. Cadance laughed. She dearly hoped her daughter would never change. She walked towards her daughter and sat on the bed.

"Which story do you want to hear tonight?" Cadance asked, looking at her daughter who looked to be lost in thought. Flurry Heart didn't have an idea on which story she wanted to hear. She had heard so many already, but there had to be something.

"Mom, could you tell me about The Ghost? I've seen the statues a few times, and the samurai as my drawing book says, looks quite important." Flurry said, making her mother proud. She had become a lot more observant over the years.

"I'm glad that you asked that. You see-" Cadance started, but the door was opened which interuppted what she was about to say. They looked and saw that it was Shining Armor who looked apologetic.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, but I thought it was important to tell you that Spike is coming," Shining said, making Cadance eyes widen in shock and joy.

"Really?!" Cadance asked, to which Shining just grinned in confirmation. Flurry just looked confused. Shining saw this and smiled a little. Hopefully, he was gonna be allowed to tell her the bloody story that her uncle went through to keep Equestria safe.

"Are you gonna tell her? I mean the legend of The Ghost is quite popular." Shining said, but in reality, he knew the reason. The reason was that Flurry Heart actually had never asked that question. She must have assumed that he was a hero a few hundred years ago, and that he had saved other nations and that it was why there were many similar statues.

"Well Shining, to be fair she has never specifically asked that. But yes, if he is coming tomorrow then it is vital that she knows of his tale." Cadance said, making Shining nod. Flurry Heart looked even more confused.

"Who are you talking about?" Flurry asked, making her parents look at her. They had oddly enough, forgotten for a second that she was in the room.

"We are talking about your uncle; Spike. You see, he is a living legend." Shining said, closing the door to Flurry's room, and sitting on the other side of Flurry Heart's bed.

"Let us tell you a story about; The Ghost Of Equestria." Cadance said, beginning the adventurous tale.

Author's Note

Hello everypony!

This is the remake of the original version. Like I've written in my blog; I will re-wrire this story completely. Expect longer and information filled chapters!

2 — The Day Everything Changed

Chapter 2

The Day Everything Changed

Equestria twenty years ago

It was a normal day. Twilight Sparkle had gotten her assignment by princess Celestia to visit an empire that was believed to be a myth. Twilight couldn't wait to visit this empire and see how it was like. She had brought her friends with her. Spike was also with her, but for some odd reason, he kept looking over his shoulder. When they had asked him what was wrong, he had just smiled and said it was just a weird feeling he had. They had shrugged at the time, but now they realized that they should have done the exact opposite thing.

The Crystal ponies had been sent to a thousand-year sleep and hadn't woken up until now. Shining Armor led them to the Crystal Palace which was ginormous. It was made of crystals like everything is in the Crystal Empire.

They had met Cadance who looked like she hadn't slept for days or even weeks. Luckily, she is an alicorn so she could last a lot longer than normal ponies. She had used all of her magic to surround the empire and keep her subjects safe from evils harm. The evil tyrannical ruler was King Sombra. He wanted to rule over the empire again, and this time, take over Equestria.

Twilight and her friends had built up a little Crystal fair, to try to help the Crystal ponies remember what could stop the evil King. It was a huge success, the Crystal ponies liked it, and started to remember that it was the Crystal Heart that kept out all evil. The problem was that no pony knew where it was. Twilight had tried to read as much as she possibly could, but she couldn't even find a hint as to where it could be.

She then realized that it would be somewhere only Sombra would know about. Twilight then realized that she felt a strange magical presence near the throne room. Downwards. She started running towards the Crystal Palace in hopes of finding the Crystal heart. She ran through the many corridors that had some guards there in their uniforms. The Crystal Palace was decorated with blue crystals on the floor, ceiling, and walls. Well, it is made out of Crystals, but, Twilight was too busy trying to get to the throne room then think useless thoughts that had no meaning at that moment.

Twilight reached the throne room, and she started to look everywhere, and also try to find a magical pulse somewhere. Good or bad, it didn't matter to Twilight. As long as she finds the Crystal Heart. She then felt a 'pull' downwards, and she used a spell that revealed a staircase that went downwards. She shined a light spell and shot it downwards, and saw how the light just went down, and down. It did eventually make a sound like it had hit its target, but Twilight simply sighed. It would be a very long and rushed day. She didn't have time for trotting down, she had to run to make sure she gets there on time.

She started to rush it down the staircase that was made out of ancient cold stone, that didn't feel right to Twilight's hooves. The stones were slowly acting up, and the small loose stone pieces started to slowly shake. Twilight looked around but saw nothing. She decided to shine her light brighter than it already was, but she still didn't see any creature there at all. She was confused. She had been walking and had a memory of her walking down The staircase, but she was currently looking at a door in front of her. What was weird was that Twilight have no recollection of ever stopping.

Twilight walked towards it and felt the dark magical presence on the door. She didn't really know what to do with it, so she simply used a blasting spell to make the door turn into thousand tiny pieces. Twilight felt the dark magical signature leave the living world and went... somewhere else. Twilight continued to walk and reached a door that apparently would lead her to the tower. She used a quick spell to walk upside down, as she felt like It was a lot quicker. Especially considering she was in a life-death situation. Twilight galloped, and she eventually reached the Crystal Heart; after making sure she was not upside down.

The Crystal heart was big and beautiful. The heart was shaped just like a heart, and it looked quite powerful. Very powerful, like that this heart knows things some ponies would only dream of. Twilight had walked towards the heart, and then she had been imprisoned with the black crystals, and she had no way to escape it either. What she wasn't aware of, was that Spike had seen the whole thing, and was coming to her rescue.

Spike was climbing on the side of the Crystal Palace and was doing so with ease. Some athletes would be jealous. Spike managed to reach the roof and saw Twilight continued to get caged inside the black crystals. Spike rushed with his small legs towards her.

"Twilight! Over here!" Spike shouted towards Twilight who was shocked. She knew that she didn't have time in questioning how he got there, as she threw the Crystal heart to him. Spike grabbed it for dear life, and he started to climb back down and made sure that King Sombra didn't see, but the problem was that he knew exactly what had happened. Spike climbed down but the black crystals were becoming bigger, and sharper for every minute or second that passed. Spike had no idea what was seconds and minutes anymore, as his adrenaline started to kick in. Spike heard a sharp;

"That is mine!" And felt how the ground and Palace started to shake wildly. Spike knew what was coming, but he still wanted it for some odd reason. Spike then started to shake and felt how he started to fall. He lost grip of the Crystal heart and he cursed himself. He was falling fast towards King Sombra who had made a black Crystal podium like thing for himself and was shooting towards the Crystal heart in anticipation.

All of a sudden, when all hope seemed lost, Spike felt a warm back on his lower part of the body. He looked down and saw that he was riding something pinkish. He then realized that he was riding on Cadance! Spike let out a sigh of relief. Cadance landed in the middle of the Crystal Empire and said with determination; "The Crystal heart has returned. Use the light and love within you that King Sombra does not." Cadance placed the Crystal heart in the palace where it rightfully belonged, and the Crystal ponies started to bow down, and the ground started to shine a crystal light blue colour. King Sombra was banished once again... or so they thought.

In the frozen North, existed nothing but ice, snow, mountains, and the occasional Yak that walked by. Other than that, nothing is interesting. King Sombra was currently inside a cave letting out several screams of agony. He was angry that he had lost. That was not meant to happen! It was meant that he returned together with the Crystal Empire, and then take over once again and rule it with an iron hoof.

The cave King Sombra was in was made of ice and showed an ancient creature that had been trapped for time itself. Sombra was currently looking at it, and smiled. He was gonna rescue the creature from its ice prison, he just wasn't sure if he was really interested in helping it after that. Then, an idea came to his head, 'what if he potentially recruited creatures to take over Equestria?' He certainly had the magic to do it, he just didn't have the strength to do it. He needed to rest, and regain his magic.

He used a quick spell to make him sleep for the time he needed to regain his magic. Hopefully, after his slumber, he'd be able to get back into it again. He would have to wait and see...

A few months had gone by and the biggest thing that had happened recently, was that Twilight had become Princess Twilight Sparkle. Spike was happy for her, really happy. He was looking forward to seeing his sister figure become the princess of Equestria. It was a beautiful day to celebrate.

The ponies were out partying like wild animals, and Spike was doing so himself. Although, he kept feeling like something was gonna happen. Spike kept shrugging away from the feeling, but it was still there. Spike was currently in the middle of Canterlot; on his way to Pony Joe's. Then it happened. There was a mighty roar up in the sky, and everypony looked up and saw dragons there and they started to breathe fire on the civilians on the streets. The ponies screamed on top of their lungs, and Spike just stood there in shock. He then started to run towards the castle in hopes of finding somepony to tell him what the Tartarus was going on.

He ran and ducked and dodged other ponies who were running like lunatics. The hard stone was getting heated by the flames the dragons breathed down. Spike may not feel anything, but he knew those without scales like him will undoubtedly feel it. Spike had climbed on top of a roof, and he started to jump from building to building. He ran with determination on his face. He was gonna warn the princesses, well, they are most likely already aware of the situation as the ponies are screaming so loud; Spike is wondering how Faust hadn't silenced them yet. Spike then made a large jump. One that was far away from one of the balconies. His balcony to be specific. He landed, and he forced the door to his room open.

He didn't bother to look around the purple coloured bedsheets, the large red mat. The Crystals hanging from the roof as a decoration. The purple and white coloured flowers made the room feel extra Canterlot themed. Spike simply flung his bedroom door opened, and he looked from left to right to find anypony there that he could order. He needed to find his adoptive mother; princess Celestia and his aunt; princess Luna. He needed to find either. Tartarus, maybe even Blueblood.

The hallways had been ruined by stones and broken glass. The floors were covered with filth, and the walls looked cracked, and the ceiling looked like it was gonna collapse. It looked worse and worse for every corridor the purple scaled and the green spiked dragon turned. He still hadn't found anypony alive. He hoped that his family members hadn't died, he couldn't bear the thought. Spike then heard voices. Voices that he recognized.

"How many are injured?" A commanding voice asked that would make anyone stand straight immediately. Spike knew who it was, it was plainly obvious to who it could be. He did feel relieved to hear his mothers voice.

"There are at least one thousand that are injured here in Canterlot. I imagine that there will be more, and the other cities and whatnot in Equestria has probably also suffered heavy losses. Princess Celestia, who did all this?" A unicorn commander asked, too curious and upset at the same time.

"I have no idea my little pony. I will make sure that whoever is doing it, will get years of imprisonment. Now, try to save as many ponies as you possibly can." Princess Celestia said, making the commander nod and rush off. Spike rushed up to her from behind and he hugged her for dear life.

"Mother, oh, I was so worried! I thought..." Spike couldn't finish his sentence. Celestia understood and cooed her baby. She knew that he must be angry and confused as to why this is happening. The problem was; that she wanted to give him an answer, name, reason, but she had none of those. She just hoped that she would find the perpetrator.

"It's okay my son, I'm happy that you are okay. Try to help innocent out there." Celestia said, looking out the window and seeing several ponies and different guards helping the other ponies. Spike nodded and ran off. He had no idea what was going on, but he did hope that he would receive an answer. He desperately needed one.

On top of a hill, not far away from Canterlot, stood a colt with a red horn with two small holes in the tall and proud, with a whole creature army behind him. The only thing he said was;"Long live the King."

Author's Note

And here it is!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

3 — Spike's Disappearance

Chapter 3

Spike’s Disappearance

Spike was running through the streets of Canterlot, looking for anypony who needed help. He saw several fillies and foals dead on the streets. Spike felt something inside his heart. Something that he had never felt before. Spike continued looking for anypony who needed help but mostly saw dead bodies from different ponies. Spike felt tears in his eyes, and he looked up into the sky. He prayed that Faust would protect them.

"I pray to you Faust, I promise that I will protect them to the best of my ability," Spike said, with sorrow and a sense of determination. He didn't know if his prayer would be heard, but he would still keep to his word for Equestria and beyond.

All of a sudden, there was a large explosion behind Spike. Spike was flung forward, and he felt the glass pieces try to stab into his scales. Thank Faust that he was a dragon with hard scales! Spike felt his weak body that had started to bleed a little bit. Spike got up from the ground and looked behind him. What he was made him fall to his knees. The castle... was destroyed. Spike ran towards the castle, he hoped that his mother and aunt was okay. He couldn't lose his only family, he just couldn't

When Spike rushed through the many hallways and rooms, all he saw was devastation. There were several mares and children dead. Spike couldn't stop, he had to find his mother or aunt. He did eventually find her after he had jumped through one of the windows that lead to the kitchen. His mother was on the ground, bleeding. Spike fell to his knees and crawled up to her. He rested his head on her and checked for any signs of life, and sighed in relief. He felt her breathing and calmed down, he was flat out terrified that he just lost her. All of a sudden, Princess Luna galloped into the kitchen and fell beside Celestia and Spike. She looked over at Spike who shook his head. Luna sighed with relief, she didn't know what she'd do if she lost her sister.

"So she's breathing?" Luna asked, to which Spike nodded. He couldn't really put it into words as all his adrenaline was still there. He was in other words; speechless. Luna used a levitation spell to carry her sister. Her sister needed direct medical attention, and she knew where to get it. Spike got up and started to follow his aunt to wherever she was going. He wasn't gonna abandon his mother this way, and he certainly wouldn't do it unless if he had a good reason. He would sure as Tartarus be there for his mother!

They walked out of the ruins of the castle and caught the attention of the medicals who immediately rushed over to their princess' side. They checked absolutely everything, and Spike looked at his mother. He looked lost and had no idea how he was gonna cope with it. The ponies around who noticed it thought it was weird, except for Luna, the medicals and the night and sun guards who knew about Spike's relation to her. Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis knew and comforted Spike while Luna was discussing the situation with the doctors.

"She is stable!" A colt said, making the ponies around them sigh in relief. "Although, we need to get her to the best hospital with the most medical experts there is." Luna nodded and whistled with the help of her magic. Her bat ponies knew what was gonna happen, and took a long carriage to fit enough for their princess, niece, and two medical doctors. Spike and Luna got inside the carriage and saw how the doctors were being extremely gentle with their princess.

They finally got her fully inside, and they took off towards the Crystal Empire, where there would be good medicals. Spike was completely lost inside of his thoughts, and so was his aunt. he wanted to know who did this, and he wanted only one thing; revenge! That is what is on his mind right now. He was gonna get it, one way or another. It didn't matter how, it only mattered when.

"Auntie Woona, who did this?" Spike finally asked, making Luna look down at him who looked more than angry. She knew it was probably best to tell him the truth; that she had absolutely no idea. Normally, she would have thought it was Discord, but she knew that he wasn't this violent. Actually, there is nothing in the whole of Equestria's timeline that even suggests that he was violent.

"I don't know dear nephew, but I do promise to find the cowards that did this," Luna said, in such a cold voice, that the medical doctors and the bat-ponies shivered in fear. Spike didn't shiver as she was a family member. What many ponies did not know, was that he is blood adopted. Or rather, he drained his blood and replaced it with his mothers, aunt, and cousins. He did have a pony form. He had an alicorn pony form, a kirin form, and his normal dragon form. Spike was usually in his dragon form as he looked way cooler that way, but now, he knew that he would have to change if he wanted to receive authority. Spike then realized something; Blueblood!

"Auntie Luna, where is cousin Blueblood?" Spike asked, not worrying about being confronted as the medicals, night and sun guards must know of Spike being the son of princess Celestia. Luna at first panicked a little, then relaxed as it was Blueblood, and then she realized that he had gone to Prance to visit a friend.

"He is in Prance, but as of today, he must come back to Equestria to make sure he doesn't get assassinated abroad. If that were to happen, then I don't know how open the other nations would be." Luna said, making Spike nod. The medicals in the carriage looked at Luna oddly for sounding so vague and political. She simply raised a brow at them and they went back to work. Spike did indeed know what he meant. It meant that the other nations around their globe would close themselves off from any other nation. How Spike knew this was because he studied a lot of politics as a child. Well, he still is a child but he sure acts like an adult to the point some ponies that are friends of his, believes that he is an adult in a child's body. He studied a lot of politics willingly himself. He wanted to be as prepared to rule Equestria as his cousin Blueblood is.

"I hope that he makes it," Spike said, making Luna nod in agreement. Luna knew that Blueblood would come. If he didn't then she'd hunt him down as Nightmare Moon, and drag him back to Equestria. The bat-ponies led them to the Crystal Empire that had made an opening for them. The carriage landed near the hospital, and the medical ponies immediately opened the door and pulled out princess Celestia, and they lead her as fast as possible to the hospital. Spike and Luna got out of the carriage and only stared as the medics lead Celestia inside the hospital.

Suddenly, they were approached by princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor. They looked at them with worry and sympathy. They hoped that Celestia wasn't badly injured. The Crystal Ponies noticed that Spike was there, and cheered for him. Spike looked up and smiled weakly at them, he was happy that he had some ponies that were there to cheer him up and keep his mind clear at least.

"How is she?" Cadance asked Luna who looked quite distracted by the different Crystal mares and stallions that surrounded her nephew. She then returned her gaze quickly at Cadance who looked at her with complete concern.

"She's stable, but she needs the medics to help her get back to normal," Luna said, making Cadance hang her head sadly. Shining Armor wordlessly consoled his wife. In all honesty, he didn't know what to say at this point. Spike was talking to one of his fans and they hung their heads in sympathy and sadness for what happened to princess Celestia.

"Who did this?" Shining suddenly asked, and looked at Luna dead in the eye. He was serious. He wanted to know who did this to the sun princess. Luna sighed, she could say it was dragons, but that wasn't a hundred per cent correct either. From what she could see; they were controlled by something. They had eyes just like King Sombra's that showed clear corruption.

"I don't know. Yes, it was dragons who attacked, but I could see that they are potentially corrupted by something. I don't know what or who, but I will find out." Luna said, making the two Crystal rulers nod in understanding.

Spike was talking to a crystal colt who was the closest pony in the whole Crystal Empire to say he was a friend of Spike's. His name was Sheet Maker. He is an expert in sheets and has made quite a name for himself in the modern days' Equestria. He has made a lot of bits, and Spike was quite surprised. Not because of the business itself, but because of how many asked for specifically him. Then again, Sheet Maker is a literal expert from a thousand years ago, that learnt quickly of the new modern-day sheets and combined the new and old ways. It had made princess Celestia and Luna pleasantly happy because Sheet Maker was the one pony that they bought their sheets from. It was no surprise that they started their affairs with him again, as soon as he started making sheets again.

"How are you holding up my friend?" Sheet Maker asked, making Spike look at him for a few seconds, then go back to sulking on the ground. He was depressed and worried over his mother, and could only hope that Faust has answered his prayer.

"Not good, I'm concerned for the princess. You know what she is to me right?" Spike asked, making Sheet Maker look at him funnily. Sheet Maker has always had a secret suspicion that Spike and Celestia were related. Mostly because of the closeness the two showed each other. That, and that he had actually heard princess Celestia refer to Spike as her son. He had been shocked, but he grew to accept it. He had saved the empire, and he was famous here. There are posters of him defeating Sombra all over the place. Some of the Crystal Pony priests claim that he was sent down by Faust herself.

"Yes, although, I have always suspected it, Spike. But, it's none of my concern." Sheet Maker said, making Spike smile. Sheet Maker was one that never forced anyone to tell him anything. Spike knew he could trust him, and decided to tell him everything.

Spike started to explain to Sheet Maker everything, and not even getting interrupted once! He was very understanding and listened to everything that he had to say. When he was done with the explanation, Spike looked up and saw Sheet Maker smiling at him. He was amazed by Spike's tale and promised to never tell anyone. Not that he would have said anything anyway.

Spike decided to take a walk, and Sheet Maker decided to head home and prepare some other sheets he was working on. Spike walked through the empty streets of the Crystal Empire and felt oddly lonely. He was in all honesty tired after everything that had happened. He simply wanted rest, but he didn't know where he was getting it. Sure, he did have a private room at the Crystal Palace, but he'd rather sleep somewhere close to the hospital. The houses around the area he was walking on, was made out of different crystals, but one of them stood out. There was a house made of green crystals, but the thing was; the house looked ancient. As it had only aged and never been repaired to stabilize it. The other houses looked either relatively new or completely new. But, this house looked like it had been there since time itself.

Spike had no idea why, but he started walking towards it. Something was telling him to go towards the house, so he did. The windows weren't blocked or anything, but it was impossible to see through the windows. The front door looked heavy, as the door had a crystal instead of a normal door. Spike looked down and saw some grass and flowers on the ground. Spike walked up to the door and knocked. Spike was kind of hoping that his gut feeling was right. He didn't want to waste these ponies and his own time for nothing.

Just when Spike decided that there wasn't a pony there, he decided to leave. When he was one step away from the door, it opened. Spike looked behind him and saw a colt with a black mane and tail. The colt's eyes had dark brown eyes, and his coat was pale green. Spike looked at him up and down and was unsure of what to say. He didn't know if there was anything to say.

"Hello young one, I see that you have found my house. Not many can do that, only those with a good heart can." The colt said, with a deep Equestrian accent with a hint of something foreign also. Spike was a little bit confused by what the colt meant.

"Uh, sir, what do you mean?" Spike asked, making the colt laugh heartedly. It didn't sound forced, but he did sound like he was in his mid-thirties. Although, he looked quite young. The colt looked into Spike's eyes and saw that he was going through something tough, and traumatic. The colt knew what he had to do, the dragon was the chosen one.

What is your name child?" The colt asked, making Spike blush sheepishly. Spike had been taught everything about being polite and giving your name. He had to work on that...

"My name is pr- Spike," Spike said, in the last second. He couldn't afford to tell a stranger that he was the Prince of Equestria. He simply couldn't, especially considering that he is a dragon. He was not interested in hearing from nobles 'how can that ruffian be a prince?'

"Oh, I know who you truly are prince Spike. I just wanted to see if you'd give it away." The colt said, confusing Spike. How in Equestria did this pony know that he is a prince? Nopony knows except for extremely close friends. They are the ones that know, other than that, nopony or creature.

"Well, who are you then?" Spike said, hoping to get an answer. He wasn't about to walk away from somepony who knew who he was. Especially from somepony who knew that he was the Prince of Equestria without Spike knowing the pony. The colt smiled down and showed him to walk inside. Spike was hesitant. He had heard the stories about what happens to young children. The colt seemed to know what he was thinking.

"My name is Jin Sakai. Although, I have been known as 'lord' but also another title that has been lost in history. You see, I travel through time. I have been trying to find the creature that needs to fulfil a prophecy that was said millennia ago. Are you interested in hearing the prophecy?" Jin asked, making Spike nod slowly. He decided to come inside, and he was let in by Jin.

Spike was led into the living room that had a fireplace that you immediately saw when you walked in. To Spike's left was a couch that was made from red leather, and it was close to one of the windows. To the left were two cushion chairs that had a coffee table between them. Spike was motioned to sit down in the cushioned chair, and Spike sat down and looked at Jin who looked at him with curiosity.

"So, why do I think that it is you who is in the prophecy?" Jin asked, making Spike look at him oddly. How did he expect that Spike would know? He had no idea himself! For all he knew, there could be another creature meant for this and he just happens to be one of many with this opportunity.

"I don't know. Perhaps that I have a heart of gold?" Spike guessed mostly to himself. Jin shook his head, but he got a quite serious expression. It showed no emotion, but Spike could see through the eyes, that he was dead serious.

"It was because it described you. Here, let me get the prophecy." Jin said, making Spike nod. Jin walked out of the room and walked up the stairs to grab the globe that he had the prophecy in. Spike was lost in his thoughts. What could the prophecy possibly be about? Spike didn't have to wait long, as he heard hoof steps walk down and Jin walked in with the globe in his mouth. It looked like one of those that you see at markets with seers.

"What you hear in this prophecy stays here, alright?" Jin asked, with authority, making Spike nod in understanding. He wasn't gonna say what the prophecy was, even if it was deadly important. Jin nodded, and he pressed his hoof against the globe and it started to glow. The room then became pitch black and was only lit up because of the white glowing globe. Then a voice came.

"Equestria will fall into darkness, and King Sombra will be the one to rule it. He will recruit creatures and corrupt them. But, there is a dragon who has the power to vanquish him forever. He is a purple scaled and green spiked dragon. He will be the one to vanquish him. He shall then be remembered as The Ghost. His legend will be told beyond Equestria. He shall be the one who brings back the peace in Equestria."

The voice then vanished, and the light in the room came back. Spike was completely and utterly confused. It sounded so plainly obvious that it was him, but could it really be him? He wasn't sure. He was simply a prince, not a warrior.

"I will need to train you so you can face King Sombra. Sadly, that means to leave your friends and family here." Jin said, making Spike look at him shocked. Leave his friends and family? He couldn't possibly do that!

"Mr Sakai, I couldn't possibly do that. They are the only family I have!" Spike said, making Jin nod at him sympathetically. He understood why Spike was a little nerved by this. Leaving the only thing you know, and your friends, family. He felt the same when he left Neighpan, Hoofshima.

"I understand prince Spike, but King Sombra won't stop until he has everything in an iron hoof. All he wants is power. Normally, I would have picked up my armour and sword and rushed into battle and fight in the dark, but I'm not the one in the prophecy. You are." Jin said, making Spike sigh in frustration. He knew that Jin had a point, but he couldn't he? He then remembered the fillies and foals that died. The innocent mares and children. Children who screamed for their parents.... he made his decision.

"Yes, I will join you. Where are we going?" Spike asked, making Jin smile at the determination that was inside Spike's voice. He knew that Spike would be the one to pick up the name and call himself; The Ghost.

"We are going to Hoofshima. I will be training you there. It's also the easiest to go to. We will be gone for one entire year. But I promise you, you will return, and you will fight for every being here in Equestria. Do you have everything that you need?" Jin asked Spike who was mildly confused. Spike then processed everything and shook his head.

"No, I don't have anything that I need or want with me. When are we going?" Spike asked, making Jin smile a little. He knew that it must be hard for the young prince, but it was necessary.

"We will be going right now. You see, this house can teleport anywhere in the world. But, I have taken away the other nations, but always kept Hoofshima. Considering it is my home, it would be pretty obvious." Jin said, making Spike nod. If he had a house like that, then he would keep Equestria since it is his home. Although, perhaps his new home will be Hoofshima for the time being. He would have to train after all.

"Okay, one question. How did King Sombra survive or well, be unbanished?" Spike asked, making Jin think for a few moments. It was a good question, King Sombra shouldn't be able to be here unless he is more powerful than everyone thought. Or, he was helped by some other creature.

"I don't know, perhaps he is more powerful than everypony expected, or he was rescued by another powerful creature," Jin said, making Spike think and nod in approval. It did make sense. King Sombra is feared by many, but mostly the Crystal Ponies. Spike had become their idol, and many of those ponies looked up to him. But, if there was another creature that helped King Sombra, then Spike feared that perhaps it is not Sombra he should be focusing on.

Jin got out of the cushioned chair and walked to the fireplace. He put in some wood that was to the side and poured in some liquid that would help burn the wood. He then realized that he didn't have any matches. He then looked at Spike who didn't get why he was staring at him. He then widened his eyes, and walked towards him, and focused on the wood and breathed out his fire. The wood started to burn, and the house became warmer than it was before. "Thanks, prince Spike, now we will be teleporting to Hoofshima, but it might take an hour to get there. It will also be night time when we get there." Jin said, making Spike nod in understanding.

Jin then walked over to a painting that Spike hadn't noticed when he first walked in. The painting depicted a mare with a black mane and tail with a red dress and a bow. Spike wondered who the mare was, but decided that it probably would be best not to ask. Beside the mare, was a colt who turned out to be Jin in his younger years. Jin noticed that Spike looked at the painting and decided to play with his mind a little. Or, well, tell him something that he might not know.

"You think she's gorgeous?" Jin asked, teasing Spike a little. Spike blushed a little, and Jin chuckled. It was fun to tease some ponies and get away with it. "That is Yuna. She and I got married and had ten children. Why we had so many was because we loved each other, and it was also because there was a huge famine that struck when we chased a Mongol here to Equestria. You might have read or heard from your mother about the Equestrian famine, the Mongol we were after was the one who could take after a colt named Khothun Khan. The problem was; he wasn't of the Khan blood, but he could still be the leader. I and Yuna hunted him down and killed him eventually. Sadly, there are only four descendants of my and Yuna's bloodline left. The first one is actually you and your cousin Blueblood. The other one is the Apple family and the last one is the Sparkle family."

Spike's jaw dropped. He was one of Jin's descendants! The same went for Big Mac, Applejack, Applebloom, Granny Smith, Shining Armor, Twilight, Velvet, and Night Light. Blueblood also. That was something he did not expect at all. "Why didn't you say anything before?" Spike asked, making Jin grin a little.

"That is because I didn't think you'd be entirely interested. Now, you may be a dragon, but you drained your blood and replaced it with your mother's aunt. The same went for your cousin Blueblood and Cadance." Jin said, making Spike then realized he meant that Jin might not see him as his descendent. "You are without a doubt, my proudest descendent! So much courage in you!"

Spike looked up at Jin in shock. Did he see him as one of his descendants? Jin noticed and looked at him with a raised brow. "What? I do see you as one of my descendants. In fact, I would like you to be the heir to my legacy, so you can take up the Sakai name. The name might not be a noble name anymore, but here in Equestria, you'd literally become the King of one of the princesses found out. The ones that remember that it." Jin said, making Spike smile widely at him.

Jin took away the painting and it revealed to be a leaver. Jin pulled it down, and Spike felt how the whole house transferred itself away from the Crystal Empire. Spike looked out the windows and saw that they were floating through some type of teleportation, mixed with time-space. It was gonna be a long hour, but perhaps Jin could explain to him what had happened during his time and who the Mongols were.

"Jin, I was curious. You said that you and Yuna were chasing a Mongol. What's a Mongol?" Spike asked, making Jin sigh a little. He did in all honesty not want to talk about it, but it was better if his heir did know about the story and maybe learn something from it.

"It all started over a thousand years ago in Neighpan, Hoofshima. The land of Hoofshima had once been ruled over by thieves and bandits. Hoofshima was in complete chaos. But one day, a warrior that was later known as a samurai, started fighting against these ponies and creatures. His name was Shimura, lord Shimura. He saved everyone from the bandits and thieves that had plagued our land for years. Together with other samurai families, they started a whole government with punishment and justice. The Sakai clan was one of many, and I lost my father and mother at a young age. I was living with Lord Shimura who is also my uncle through my mother. I was then trained every single day to become a samurai. Eventually, when I was an adult, I was an official samurai and I was fighting alongside my uncle and soon-to-be-father when he officially adopted me. Although, things changed when the message of Mongols was gonna invade our land. We prepared for battle. The battle took place in Komoda Beach. We lost... several of my friends died. I nearly died on the beach, but I was saved by a woman who later became known to me as Yuna. Turns out that she was a thief, but she taught me many things. I went against the samurai code to save my uncle and others in Hoofshima. We managed to save a lot of ponies and other creatures. I gathered an army, and I also lost an old friend who betrayed me. Anyways, we managed to defeat Khothun Khan, and I saved the whole of Hoofshima. Several civilians saw me as a hero who defeated the Mongol leader. In fact, it was actually Yuna who started with calling me The Ghost. Later on, my stories spread like wildfire. Every single child wanted to hear about my legend and even went as far as to pray for me. But, the shogun from mainland Neighpan was not happy that I was not using samurai tactics. They saw me as a barbarian, but I didn't care. I had been the one who drove away from the Mongols from my home. But, the one Mongol who could rule the Mongol army for as long as it was needed, the Mongol fleed from Hoofshima, and I chased after him followed by Yuna. We got married in Equestria and had ten children. We did find him and killed him. We never went back to Hoofshima, but all of my friends who sent me letters told me how every creature was talking about The Ghost and how he would punish those who threaten his lands. And that is the story about The Ghost." Jin explained the whole story to Spike, who was shocked.

It was an interesting legend and tale. Spike couldn't believe what happened. Although, now he knew the tale at least. He couldn't say that he wasn't informed about it. All of a sudden, Spike felt the house stop on something hard. Jin smiled and looked out of the window. They were there.

Jin walked out of the living room followed by Spike, and they looked outside. They were in Hoofshima. Jin smiled in proudness. His wife and friends may have died years ago. But, they would be proud of what he was seeing. "Spike my heir, welcome to Hoofshima," Jin said, looking at Spike who looked amazed by everything. There was also something in his eyes that made Jin smiled in pride. It was the eyes that showed that he was determined to be the best warrior Equestria has ever seen. It would be an interesting year.

Author's Note

And here it is!

It took a while to get this out, but here it is. I hope you enjoy!

4 — The Return Of Spike

Chapter 4

The Return Of Spike

Over a year has gone by, and Spike is practically unrecognisable. He doesn't have the baby fat he used to have and was instead replaced with a six-pack. His scales had gotten a little bit darker shade of purple, and his Spike's had become black. He had been training for several hours every day, and he was a dedicated samurai. He had earned his armour.

The armour was made from cloth and metal. The cloth was black with the Sakai twin mountains as the crest on his cape. He wore a mask that covered his mouth and nose like a bandana. The mask was one of a demon. The nose was thick and looked like it had been punched. It also had a mouth with teeth, and it revealed Spike's real mouth. Spike also had a sword and knife.

He had only received the weapons six months ago, together with a bow and arrows. He was good with any weapon and could use anything to his advantage. Spike was currently in the garden meditating and keeping his mind clear. Today was the day he went back to Equestria. He couldn't tell family members that he was alive though, he had to remain a secret. Jin hadn't said anything about it, but he had a feeling that he thought the same thing. Spike heard footsteps and he immediately knew who it was.

"Is it time already Jin?" Spike asked, making Jin look at him impressed. Spike sure was good, but he didn't think that he was that good. Then again, they were the only ones who lived in the house, to begin with. Jin then laughed a little. He was sure gonna miss his heir. Sure, he was following with him to Equestria and would stay there, but his heir would be fighting against King Sombra.

"Yes, it's time my heir. You have come a long way since I trained you, and now, it is time for you to go back to your home." Jin said, making Spike open his eyes a little. He had grown used to seeing Hoofshima in the mornings, and now he was gonna wake up in a cave every day somewhere in Equestria. Not that he expected to be living in a five-star hotel in the first place. He had learnt how to sleep on anything in his training, and he was amazed by what his dragon form could sleep on.

"Well then, we shouldn't be wasting time then. Shall we go back?" Spike asked, in a bit of a rush. He wanted to get to Equestria as fast as possible. Jin simply sighed. Spike was definitively his heir by blood and mind. He didn't have patience at all.

"Patience my heir, we will get there, and you know it takes one hour," Jin said, making Spike sigh, and nod with an expressionless face. He was in no mood to get into another argument over his patience, as he didn't have the patience for it either.

Spike got up from his knees and looked up over the horizon of Hoofshima. It had certainly changed over millennia. Then again, much is to be expected when a millennium passes in the first place. The city that Spike was looking at was tall and proud. He was gonna miss it here, he certainly would come back one day. Besides, he had to refreshen his Neighpanese at some point. He looked around the small garden to make sure everything is inside the house so they don't lose anything on the way to Equestria. The garden is always saved, but the objects are not.

Spike walked inside the house and closed the door and saw Jin pull down the leaver so they would teleport. The house felt like it started to move again, and Spike sat down on the cushioned chair. He was gonna make King Sombra pay for what he did to every mare and child that he has killed. He was gonna force him to surrender. If he doesn't, then it will be a blood bath...

"What are you thinking about?" Jin asked, shaking Spike out of his thoughts. Jin looked at Spike with some sort of curiosity. Spike straightened himself in his chair and looked at his ancestor in the eyes.

"I'm thinking about King Sombra, and what he has done towards innocent mares and children. I promise you, I will make him suffer." Spike said, with such malice thinking about Sombra, that he didn't notice the fond smile Jin had on his face. Spike reminded Jin so much of himself when he was young. He had said the exact very thing when he had woken up on the beach at Komoda and seen all the innocent ponies and creatures get slaughtered. He had not failed his promise either...

"I see so much of myself in you, Spike. I will miss having you around. I will help you of course, when you need it. Although, this is a journey you should be doing alone and with allies that you think are loyal. Which is why I won't be as involved as you and the allies that you make along the way." Jin said, making Spike nod in understanding. He had been expecting that, and wouldn't have it any other way.

They were quiet for a while. They didn't know what to tell each other, as this was probably the last time they would be seeing each other for a while. Although, after King Sombra is defeated, they would meet again, and they would have fun again as they did for the whole year together. Spike was thinking about what his friends were doing these days, as it has been over a year. He wondered how his mother was doing, as he had not heard anything about Equestria in over a year since he disappeared. He hoped that his mother is okay, as goes for his aunt, uncle and cousins. He couldn't bear the thought that somepony who was close to him died. Jin was thinking about how much Spike has improved over the year he had been with Spike. He only seemed to improve, and improve. He never seemed to fail at anything, except patience. But, he will have to learn it the hard way as he had done himself.

All of a sudden, the horse stopped, and Spike checked the windows. He saw that he was somewhere in the badlands if he was not mistaken. There was sand everywhere, and it looked like to be hills of sand. Definitely the badlands. Spike opened the front door, and he was greeted by the warmth of the sun. Jin walked beside him, and let out a relieved sigh. He wasn't worried that they were ended up somewhere wrong, the warmth from princess Celestia's sun was simply... refreshing. He felt like he was a new colt.

"Well, here we are my heir. I do hope that you manage your task with the prophecy. And be aware; only because that it says you can defeat him doesn't mean that you will defeat him. You will have to use every tactic I taught you." Jin said, making Spike nod in understanding. It was true what Jin was saying. Spike had at one point believed that he will simply defeat Sombra with his sword and nothing else. Jin had barked out laughing with literal tears in his eyes. When he told Spike the truth, Spike had no idea whether to be embarrassed or laugh himself.

"Yes, I will my ancestor. Now, I must free the ponies and creatures of Equestria." Spike said, as he gave one last hug to his ancestor and walked towards the direction the Everfree Forest was. He was gonna walk through the forest and hopefully, find some of King Sombra's creatures to kill.

The sand under Spike's feet made a sound every time Spike took down his foot to walk forward. The thing was, he wanted King Sombra's creatures to know that he was there. He wanted them to fight him, so they could see that he was not to be taken lightly. Hopefully, if his plan worked, King Sombra would show himself in public to specifically fight Spike, and Spike would be able to kill him more easily. He would save quite a lot of effort also.

Spike looked quite terrifying in that armour. His sword and knife to the side in their holsters, and his mask that covered his mouth and nose. He would hopefully strike fear in King Sombra. He was not gonna give up either. No, he was gonna fight until King Sombra was dead. That was a promise. Spike reached the Everfree Forest, and saw the tall trees that were close to each other, making it harder for him to see what is beyond the trees. Luckily, he had learnt how to see in the most impossible of circumstances, so it wasn't a problem.

He didn't see any creatures, but one could never be too sure. Spike looked at the closest tree to him, and he started to climb up and didn't stop until he was at a decent height. Spike looked over the trees from the branch that he was standing on. Spike knew that there were some Timberwolves there, but he didn't see or even smell where they were. Then again, perhaps all of them were in the Crystal Empire or Canterlot, or somewhere else serving their King.

Spike didn't want to take any risks, so he jumped from branch to branch with speed and agility. He was athletic, and he didn't intend on giving up. Spike looked down towards the ground and saw a dead body. Spike stopped at the next branch that he landed on. Spike slowly climbed down, feeling the hard tree wood against his scaly claws. The twigs, grass, and leaves on the ground didn't make a sound as Spike stepped on them. His attire had been enchanted to not make any sounds at all. The dead body looked like it belonged to a mare, and Spike felt immediate anger. The mare was laying in a pool of her own blood, and it looked like it had been here for some time. It wasn't rotting, so perhaps a few hours ago? Spike couldn't really tell, but he knew it had been at least from one hour to one day. He was unsure if he was gonna find anything to bury the mare with, and he didn't know if he should. He didn't want to disrespect the dead in any sort of way.

All of a sudden, he heard a growling noise. Spike jumped up a few feet into the air and lashed on to the tree he had climbed down from. A few moments later, a wooded creature with greenish-yellow eyes, walked out of a couple of bushes, and it looked like to be searching for something. It was a Timberwolf. No other creature had wood as a body and looked like a Timberwolf. Spike saw how it looked around with a drooling mouth, but instead of saliva, there was something blackish coming out of it. Spike decided to have some fun, and jumped away from the tree and pulled out his sword, and when the Timberwolf turned, Spike slashed the throat of the Timberwolf. He knew it wouldn't die, but he wanted to see if he could access the blackish liquid better. The Timberwolf let out a growl of surprise and felt its head fall backwards.

The Timberwolves head had been cut off completely. Spike waited to see if it actually had died or if it was regenerating. Spike wanted to be absolutely sure and didn't want to take any risks. The Timberwolf never regenerated. It was dead like Spike had suspected. The Timberwolves are known for being able to regenerate, but it didn't this time. Spike didn't know why, but he felt like he knew that the Timberwolf was not gonna regenerate, but he didn't know how he knew. Spike walked towards the black liquid that was gushing out still from the Timberwolves body. Spike caught some of the black liquid with his two dragon claws. The liquid looked to be more ooze-like, and it gave the vibes of The Pony Of Shadows in that sense.

Spike was taught a lot when he was in Hoofshima, and one of the things Jin taught him; was about The Pony Of Shadows. Spike was given an example of the ooze from the Shadow Pony and studied it for a few weeks. It was fun, but he didn't know what to find, that was when Jin came in and spoke about how the Shadow Pony lives and could use the ooze to corrupt any living being. Spike hadn't know whether to be horrified or impressed.

"Hmm, I wonder if this is one of King Sombra's," Spike said, out loud, hearing his thoughts. Spike came to the conclusion that it could be one of the creatures that were corrupted by Sombra, or it was simply a corrupted creature that had accidentally gotten the ooze. It could be either, but Spike was still getting to the bottom of it. Spike pulled out a vial from one of his pockets and made the ooze get into the vial. When it was half-full, Spike placed the vial in his pocket and had put on a lid to make sure nothing got out of it.

Spike looked around his surroundings and saw nothing but trees, bushes, grass, leaves, and some small animals running around. Spike looked down towards the Timberwolf what was dead. "I hope you find peace in Heaven," Spike said, giving a respectful bow to the Timberwolf. Spike knew that it isn't the Timberwolves fault that they were the way they were. They are simply doing their 'job' to make sure everything is alright in the forest and whatnot. The leaves rustled as a small gentle wind came and Spike looked to where the wind was headed and saw it lead to Ponyville. Spike didn't notice how the Timberwolf started to regenerate...

Spike started to walk and occasionally looked around to make sure that there weren't any other creatures there to surprise him. The forest gave low rustles from the leaves on the ground, and the crunching it made with each step Spike took. It wasn't sunny or dark, it looked like the time Spike nearly lost the Crystal Heart to Sombra. When Spike came to the last end from the trees that belonged to the Everfree Forest, he could only feel anger and hatred. The houses of Ponyville were destroyed, and the civilians looked like they were doing everything in their power to not end up in poverty. Spike decided to ask around and see what has been going on over the year he was gone. He didn't want to ask someone he absolutely didn't know. At least somepony that remember that he lived there. Then again, he didn't want them to recognise him either. Well, he was wearing the mask on, so he wouldn't have to worry about recognition.

The houses of Ponyville that had been once the pride and joy of the tone with the colourful buildings, were now completely destroyed. Someponies looked like they had tried to restore the buildings, but had failed miserably. Spike didn't like this, no, he was furious about this. He had already promised that he would avenge them, and he intended to keep his promise at all costs. He walked forward towards a mare with a very light aquamarine coat, brilliant gamboge eyes, and pale, light greyish cyan with white highlights. It was none other than Lyra Heartstrings. Spike remembered her from his time in Ponyville.

"Excuse me Lyra, but can you tell me what is going on here?" Spike asked while he had walked up to her. Lyra's eyes didn't even look like they responded to his voice either. It was like she had absolutely no hope over anything. Spike looked into her eyes and saw that she had been traumatised. Her eyes showed pain, sorrow, anger, and betrayal. Spike was unsure of what has exactly happened, but he knew that it must have been bad.

"King Sombra invaded us and took our homes, children, money. I don't know how to live under his rule. My best friend; Bon Bon disappeared a few months ago, and I know that the King has something to do with it. I just don't have evidence that suggests that he has anything in it." Lyra said, making Spike look at her in shock. He did expect the King to be cruel, but not this cruel.

"That's horrible Lyra, I'm sorry for what happened," Spike said, making Lyra simply nod in understanding. She didn't bother to ask for Spike's name, as she knew it wouldn't make a difference. She walked slowly away, leaving Spike to ponder on his thoughts. He would have to plan everything carefully and make sure that nothing goes awry. Then again, it always does even though, he expects it to happen. All of a sudden, he noticed a young colt with a white with greyish-brown spots for a coat, dark tangelo with lighter streaks for a mane, and if Spike noticed correctly; very deep reddish-brown eyes. It was Pipsqueak if Spike remembers correctly.

Pipsqueak was carrying a bag with propaganda in it. He didn't want to do things like this, but he had to live on something while the tyrannical King ruled. He wanted more, he wanted to help ponies and creatures that are treated like dirt from the King. There had been an attempted rebellion with creatures that were against the evil King. Ponies had cheered for them, but sadly, they had lost to King Sombra's manipulative spell that made them do whatever he said. They had caged themselves through the spell, and couldn't get out. They had been in public for the humiliation that the creatures knew was staged to make sure King Sombra didn't go after them or their families.

"Well, I better start giving out propaganda." Pipsqueak said as he was about to start. Spike walked up to him and looked at him with curiosity. Pipsqueak could see the eyes of the weird pony or creature and gave a small wave. "Hello there! Are you interested in getting one of these posters?" The poster depicted King Sombra sitting on his throne, while his army was marching somewhere. It looked quite powerful and made King Sombra look like a proper leader if Spike would have to admit.

"No, I'm simply interested in you Pipsqueak. It has been a while after all." Spike said, confusing Pipsqueak. How did this pony or creature know his name? He had no idea, but it would be worth trying to find out.

"Um, excuse me sir, but I don't remember giving you my name." Pipsqueak said, making Spike smile behind his mask. This would be fun. Spike suddenly gave Pipsqueak a hug that was unexpected for Pipsqueak. Although it was unexpected, Pipsqueak returned it after a few seconds.

"Well, in due time you will know my true name, but for now, simply call me Ghost or The Ghost," Spike said, making Pipsqueak confused. Spike and Pipsqueak had been good friends before the invasion happened. Sadly, Pipsqueak had no idea who this is. He didn't know whether to feel threatened or hopeful.

Spike ended the weird hug, and looked into Pipsqueak's eyes and said to him; "I Promise you Pipsqueak, I will free everypony and creature in Equestria from the evil King. I will cut his throat myself with my very own blades.

Pipsqueak had led The Ghost into his home and had explained everything that had happened in Equestria, and explained how he had lost his best friend Spike during the conflict. Spike had then decided to tell Pipsqueak who he was. It had surprised Pipsqueak and he had asked over a million questions that Spike could barely answer. They had talked, and Pipsqueak decided to keep it quiet that Spike had returned. Pipsqueak had told Spike that he had heard a prophecy that he then had bought from some seer. Spike had asked Pipsqueak if he could hear the prophecy and Pipsqueak obliged.

[centre]"The time is coming near for the pony who shall aid a warrior in defeating the evil King. His name shall be known in Equestria and beyond like the warrior, and he will rise from ashes, and be good with a bow and arrow."Spike had been quite surprised when he had heard it. It sounded to be relatively recent, but he couldn't know for sure. They had talked for a few hours about what had happened in their lives. Pipsqueak had it tough and told him how the CMC had been captured by King Sombra when the element bearers and their families tried to escape to the Crystal Empire. The rest of the element bearers escaped, but the CMC is locked up in the Canterlot dungeons. Spike had a plan, and he was gonna use it well. He wasn't gonna let the CMC rot in a cell.

All he had to do now, is find out where exactly they are. A dungeon is a big place in Canterlot Castle. Pipsqueak had left to give out propaganda, and Spike was planning the breakout. He was gonna do it that very night. He was gonna get the CMC out of the cell, and hopefully, be able to make King Sombra lose some balance. He wanted the King to feel insecure about the place, and double the guards, and see those guards failing their duties because The Ghost is good at hiding in the shadows.

The room that he was in, was Pipsqueaks bedroom and the room itself looked like an abandoned room that belonged to a building that had been left unfinished. The walls were cracking up, and the ceiling was broken as there were many destroyed wooden planks and bits of the roof breaking. The floor was filled with filth and dirt, but Spike didn't mind, he had gotten used to it anyways.

Spike was looking at his sword that had the Sakai emblem on it. He closed his eyes and started to meditate. It helped him relax, and calm down from any stress he had or didn't realize that he had. "I wait for time..." Spike was going deep into his thoughts and what he was saying. "Proudness of one's ambition..." Spike was thinking about all the scenarios in his head when he was ready to face King Sombra. "Will death redeem us?..."

Spike opened his eyes again, and he felt relaxed and smiled. It helped. He didn't have to worry about anything else for a while. The breakout wouldn't happen until twelve at night anyways. Spike decided to see what Pipsqueak was doing out, and was lucky. The door opened and it revealed Pipsqueak who was carrying two small bags. He smiled at Spike who looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Sorry for being out for so long, I stopped by a restaurant that sold some good hayburgers. I do apologise, they didn't have gems or anything." Pipsqueak said, in an apologetic tone. Spike simply waved it off. It was another thing he had learnt when he was with Jin. He could eat a couple of plants, and not be so hungry anyways,

"It's fine Pipsqueak, I have survived on pony food and non-pony food, It won't affect me any different to what I have tried and done before," Spike said, making Pipsqueak let out a sigh that he didn't realize that he had been holding. Pipsqueak pulled out the food for Spike and he started to eat, while Pipsqueak looks out the window to make sure nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Nothing was going on, so he sat down and started eating. He had missed Spike since he disappeared from Equestria. He always wondered where he was, and here he now was, in samurai armour from the looks of it.

"So, Spike, you have planned on breaking the CMC out. How will you do that? The castle is surrounded by guards, and it's impossible to break inside to my understanding." Pipsqueak said, making Spike look up at him and grin. He understood where Pipsqueak was coming from, but, all hard training that he had been doing for hours on end, was gonna pay off.

"I'll be in the shadows. I strike from the shadows, and I'll take down as many guards as I possibly can. It will be difficult, but I know for a fact that King Sombra is sloppy. He isn't expecting a samurai, specifically a Ghost to break out three young fillies is he?" Spike asked, making Pipsqueak think. Spike had a very good point. The King was probably not expecting somepony or dragon to do resistance, as there hadn't been anything since the invasion. But now, when Spike has returned and looks ready for war, they might have a chance.

"You see Pipsqueak, I want him to fear me. When he says my name, I want him to look around to make sure that The Ghost isn't listening or planning to kill him that specific day. That is what I want him to feel." Spike said, making Pipsqueak look at him with newfound interest. He knew that the old Spike wouldn't want this. Perhaps revenge, but not this. Then again, war brings out who somepony or creature truly are...

"Okay Spike, but should I come with you?" Pipsqueak asked, making Spike wait to think for a few moments. He didn't really need Pipsqueak inside the castle, but he would need some sort of getaway pony. That was probably it.

"Yes, but I want you to be the getaway driver. You see, I saw some carriages that don't look like they belong to anypony. All we need to do is make the wells stronger, and enchant them to drive by themselves. That is where you come in. I need you to steer as to where we should go. I have no idea where the princess' is, so I'm not even going to try to find them in the first place." Spike said, making Pipsqueak look at him gobsmacked. The last part was uncalled for. He didn't say it in a mean way, he just... it sounded like he missed them as if he knew them personally. Pipsqueak shrugged it off and nodded towards him. It sounded like a plan that they could pull of.

"Well then, let's prepare for the breakout," Spike said, making Pipsqueak nod in agreement. Spike finished his food and Pipsqueak did the same, and they went to sleep to prepare for the breakout, and Spike wanted to store his thoughts in the right places.

Several hours had gone by, and Spike and Pipsqueak were preparing for the breakout. Spike was in his samurai armour, which was completely black. The lower region of his legs was covered with long pants that were covered with black metal leg plates. He wore shoes that didn't make a sound as it was enchanted. The upper body of his chest, belly arms and hands, were covered in black clothing that was covered with black metal chest plates. His claws were free from any metal or gloves. He wore a mask that belongs to anypony or creature that becomes The Ghost it had a demonic-like appearance, and it had an open mouth with teeth. He also had a cape that had the Sakai clan symbol which was the two twin mountains with a circle around it. Spike had his katana and knife in his two holsters.

Spike had managed to steal one of the wagons and had rebuilt the wheels to make them work. Spike had then found a unicorn to enchant it to drive by itself with Pipsqueak being the one to change course and reverse if needed. It was all going smoothly. The only thing now was to find a way inside the castle and try to rescue the CMC.

They were currently inside the home of Pipsqueak, and Spike was planning everything strategically. Pipsqueak listened to everything Spike was saying, and occasionally asked a question. There was one thing Spike had to look out for, and that was the guards. From what he learned from Pipsqueak, they sometimes change their schedule randomly to confuse anypony or creature from breaking anypony out or anypony from escaping. Spike knew that he could possibly learn if he just watched for a few minutes.

Spike and Pipsqueak had then left around eleven and it was dark outside. Nopony or creature could see much, but the wagon was enchanted to give Pipsqueak the light he needed to steer and without being seen by anypony or creature. Pipsqueak was in the "drivers" seat, while Spike was in the passenger seat, lost in his thoughts. He wasn't gonna fail them. He was gonna save them from King Sombra, and he'd make sure that they got to the safest place in Equestria, which he learned was the Crystal Empire. After Spike saved them, he would bring them to the gate of the Crystal Empire. He would also bring Pipsqueak there.

The long dirt roads made Spike feel on edge. But, it was vital if he wanted to save the three young fillies. Pipsqueak was looking at the road ahead of them, but he too, was lost in his thoughts. He wanted the CMC to be as safe as possible. They were nearing the castle, and Spike could feel the magical barriers, but Spike didn't worry about it as he knew that they would eventually find that the CMC had escaped.

"We are nearing the castle." Pipsqueak said, making Spike look at him and nod. Spike prepared himself for the break-in and break out. He had sharpened his sword with the help of a stone he had found. He had also sharpened his knife, as he didn't know if he'd need it or not. Better be safe than sorry.

"Yes, how far are we exactly?" Spike asked, making Pipsqueak look at the road ahead of them. He calculated that it would be at least thirty minutes. He turned to Spike.

"At least thirty minutes." Pipsqueak said, making Spike nod. The carriage they were in was made out of wood, and it looked like one of the poorer versions the nobles used to use. Well, there aren't any nobles now, as King Sombra is the only noble there is as he is the King. The carriages inside were fitted for at least ten ponies. It was perfect.

The ride went on for another thirty minutes, and they were on the side of the castle walls. Spike could see how the creatures who were corrupted by King Sombra were marching and keeping lookout everywhere. Spike looked at Pipsqueak and said; "Wait here Pipsqueak. I will get the CMC and after we have escaped, I will need you to floor it to the Crystal Empire. Although, I won't be able to stay as I have a mission to fulfil." Pipsqueak nodded in understanding.

"Understood Spike, be careful." Pipsqueak said, making Spike nod. Spike got out of the carriage and saw some stones that were perfect for climbing. He also had an object that would help him swing across any longer jumps.

Spike jumped and grabbed on the stones of the castle walls. Spike was as quiet as possible and made sure that he still made good progress. When Spike made it, he was crouched on the side of the castle wall. The magnificent castle now looked more like a devils castle. Instead of the purple and white colours, it was black and red. Spike looked over the streets of Canterlot and saw that the creatures were looking around with sharp hawk eyes. Spike walked in his crouched state and looked for any sort of entrance to the castle. He found one and jumped towards a balcony that was made out of stone, and was coloured in dark red. Or that was what Spike assumed as it was lighter than the normal plain black.

Spike climbed over the balcony side and saw that there were double glass doors that were covered by curtains. Spike tried the handle, but it was locked. He then pulled out a large knife and started to pick the lock. It was a trick that Spike had learnt when he was with his ancestor. The glass doors then made a click sound, and Spike carefully opened the glass doors. Spike pulled away from the curtains and found out that he had to be even quieter. The king was sleeping in his royal bed...

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait!

I hope you have enjoyed the chapter!

5 — Saving The CMC

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.

6 — A Tales Beginning

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!

7 — The Mare And Child

Chapter 7

The Mare And Child

Spike was on his way to the Dragonlands to see if he was able to recruit any dragons like Ember or even Garble. He met very little resistance as he walked down the main path to the Dragonlands. Spike had heard some whispers from different creatures talk about him and how The Ghost is some sort of vengeful spirit that came back to the land of the living to punish King Sombra for his crimes. Spike couldn’t help but smile at that thought. It made him think of the innocent children, he was fine with folktales spreading like that if it meant that the children had some hope.

In the Crystal Empire, was a priest that was telling the children there about The Ghost and how he was sent from the spirit world to avenge them from King Sombra’s wrath. The children were enthralled by the story the priest was telling them and even told them how he liberated Yakyakistan with ease. The Princess’ couldn’t help but smile at the children who looked fascinated and had one thing they had not had in over a year. Hope. It had returned to them. Princess Cadance smiled as she silently prayed that Spike was safe from harm's way, but she knew that it was inevitable as he was fighting against an army. The Crystal Ponies paid attention to the priest and was thinking about their hero.

They hoped that he would return to their empire so they could help him with anything at all. A few of the stallions in the Crystal Empire had thought about seeking their hero and help him in his battles. The children, like the cutie mark crusaders, Pipsqueak, Rumble, Snips, and Snails had thought about seeking him and help him when he needed it. Together, they could free Equestria from King Sombra’s wrath. Rumble had already been training since he reached the Crystal Empire and had helped Pipsqueak, Snips, and Snails. He had just started training the crusaders but he saw that they were making progress.

Rumble and the gang were inside one of the hotels that had been enchanted by magic so there were endless rooms for every creature who were running away from King Sombra. The room was coloured in ruby and the gang was sitting around a large round crystal table. The chairs were one that kind of resembled royalty. The gang looked at each other and were nervous. Rumble was hoping that they would be able to defend themselves from other King Sombra soldiers. They would take back their home, and they would avenge any creature that had lost their friends and family, for they were the follower of The Ghost! They were his soldiers to command. Any command he gives them, they follow without hesitation. That is the way of the soldiers.

“Okay guys, we can do this. I have a feeling that he might go to the Dragonlands, I don’t know why, but my gut tells me we should go there. When we find him we tell him the truth. I know that he will tell us to go back or even follow us back to make sure that we get back, but if he does this, we better hope to find King Sombra soldiers so we can show him that we can defend ourselves and him if necessary.” Rumble explained, gaining nods from the others who agreed with the plan. They had gotten over this a few times already but it was to make sure that everypony in the room understood what they were getting themselves into. They all seemed to know and Rumble gave them all an encouraging smile to show that he believed in them.

Spike was walking by a wooden house when he quite suddenly heard a little girl scream at the top of her lungs. Spike rushed towards the house. The house was made out of wood and he saw black smoke come out of the chimney. Spike saw the door was closed, at least from his point of view. But as he got closer to the door he saw that it was a little bit open. Spike kicked the door in and saw three King Sombra soldiers around two mares and there was a stallion but it looked like he had died. His chest didn’t go up and down and he was bleeding too much. Spike felt rage as he saw that little filly. Terrified of the King Sombra soldiers who killed her daddy. The mare looked at Spike and she saw fear as she looked at him. She believed that he was a part of their group but what happened next shocked her. Spike pulled out his katana and cut one of the soldiers head clean of and the next creature managed to block his attacks, but he was not expecting a heavy attack and lost his footing. Spike stabbed the creature through the heart, killing him. The last King Sombra soldier looked at Spike with fear in his eyes, but he blocked the frightened feeling away as he rushed towards Spike at full speed and managed to knock Spike off his feet, sending him flying out an open window and landed on the grass below him. Spike got up and saw the soldier rushing towards him, but Spike prepared an attack that would be highly disgusting but worth it. As the soldier got closer, Spike readied his sword and then rushed towards him, slicing him in half.

Spike breathed heavily as he heard the remains of the creature fall into two large pieces. Spike would have been grossed out if he was his normal childhood self, but he wasn’t. He was a samurai that did not follow the code. He was The Ghost. He looked behind him and saw the mother and child walkout. The mother covering her daughters' eyes as she didn’t want her little filly seeing the corpses of the King Sombra soldiers. Spike decided to keep his distance as he walked towards them. They were on a dirt path and it looked to be dry. Spike shouted for them in a friendly voice.

“Hey, I hope you are alright. Try to get to the Crystal Empire.” Spike said, in a gentle and friendly voice as to not frighten them. He saw the mother turn around and could properly see her features. She had baby blue eyes with a blonde main and tail with a hint of grey. Her coat was purplish-blue. He didn’t see her cutie mark. She looked at him with happiness and joy. She had not been able to get food or other essentials since the invasion. Hopefully, she could give her daughter a proper meal. She had heard the story that a warrior had liberated Yakyakistan and that he went by The Ghost. She had a sneaking suspicion that it was him and for that she was happy.

“Thank you!!” She shouted as she ran and hugged him for dear life. Her daughter did so as well. The daughter had a white mane and tail. Her eyes were light blue and her coat was greenish-yellow. She had no cutie mark. She joined the hug with her mother and Spike could only pat the two at the back. He had not been trained for situations like this. The mare had lost all hope that some creature would save them, but here a creature was. He was in armour and had a mask that concealed his face from the rest of the world. He seemed to be determined to win as she felt like he was angry. Luckily, she knew it was not her he was angry at. She could see how angry he was when he saw her daughter there afraid of the King Sombra soldiers. She saw how he butchered them like butter.

“It is alright. I am here to liberate Equestria and beyond from King Sombra’s hooves. As I said: get to the Crystal Empire. They will be able to protect you.” Spike said as the mare and child ended the hug. Spike turned around and started walking away from the mother and child. They couldn’t believe how kind the warrior was and did not even ask for anything in return. Spike had only managed to get a few feet away from the duo when he heard the mother call out to him. He looked back and saw them with their curious eyes on him.

“What is your name?” The filly asked, in a cute childish voice. Spike couldn’t help but smile at the little filly that looked at him in awe. She looked like he was her biggest hero and idol and perhaps he was. He knew that he couldn’t lie to them so he prepared to give them the answer they sought. Spike saw that the mother was also curious about the question her daughter asked. She wanted to know if the warrior that just saved them truly was the warrior she heard about.

“I am The Ghost” Spike said, as he turned around and walked away from the shocked mother and daughter. They watched him walk away from them and held power and confidence like any warrior that knew what they were doing. He was the warrior she heard about. She had tried to find food the other day and heard from three Changelings that were good and not evil. How they had heard that The Ghost had liberated Yakyakistan. She had not believed it at first, but then she heard from the King Sombra soldiers that they had lost Yakyakistan and that was when she believed in it. She smiled as she saw him completely disappearing out of view and turning to her daughter that looked at where The Ghost had been and still had awe on her face.

In the Crystal Empire inside one of the secret rooms lay a draconequus with many different animal parts on a sofa and was looking through his globe to see Spike saving the mare and child. He smiled softly as he saw his dragon friend do something so noble. He always knew that he would disappear and become The Ghost but he never said anything because if he did, then the prophecy would not have worked. He felt bad that he couldn’t help Spike too much. He could still help him kill guards and everything, but other than that, he had to do everything alone.

He looked down on the streets of the Crystal Empire and saw the children of the Crystal Ponies and other creatures listening intently to the priest who was telling them about the liberation of Yakyakistan. He had heard the story many times, but he was always so fascinated by how Spike did it, but he did know that the Crystal Ponies had changed it a little bit to make it more interesting for the others. Discord didn’t blame them. He made his right ear large and listened in to the Priest as he told them the tale.

”The Ghost was near the border of Yakyakistan and he saw the King Sombra soldiers hurting the women and children of the nation. In his fury, he climbed up the mountain and jumped at the first enemy he saw. In his fury, he sliced his way through the King Sombra soldiers and didn’t stop until all of them were dead. He then freed the innocent Yaks from their cages and told them that he would send a letter to the Princess’ so they could help them. You see children, he is a spirit that is inside of Spike The Brave And Glorious. He has not possessed him but helps him with his strength. It is a spirit that will not stop until King Sombra falls to his knees. And that children, is the story of The Ghost, but do expect more stories.”

Discord smiled as he turned his ear back to normal size and he was looking out over the horizon. He knew that the The Ghost had struck again somewhere. He knew that it was the mother and daughter and decided to help them come faster to the empire. Discord used his magic to teleport the mare and child outside of the border so the Crystal Guards would let them in. He went back to his sofa and turned on the glass globe again and saw Spike wandering the dirt path that would eventually lead to the Dragonlands when he at least sends Spike to the other side of the water. Discord then turned the globe and it showed Rumble and the gang discussing how they would escape the Crystal Empire and join Spike in his quest. Discord Smiled. It looked like he would have a lot to do in the next few weeks.

8 — The Wandering Samurai

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!

9 — Attempted Invasion

Chapter 9

Attempted Invasion

Spike had been woken up in the middle of the night when he started hearing the screams of the creatures inside of the capital. Spike had been helping the dragons inside of the Dragonlands so they had some hope. Princess Ember had done everything in her power to protect her subjects, but she knew that she needed to speak to the other nations. Spike’s tale had been spread throughout the Dragonlands and their spirits have been lifted. Spike was running through the palace, trying to find any creatures that he recognized or was not wearing King Sombra clothing. He saw that the dragon guards were fighting King Sombra soldiers.

Spike jumped out of a window and flew towards a Griffin and he decapitated him. The fighting became muffled as Spike looked around him and saw all sorts of creatures fighting for King Sombra. He rushed from left to right, fighting all kinds of creatures. There was an archer that tried to hurt him by lighting an arrow on fire. Spike would have facepalmed but he did not have time for that as he ran up to the unicorn trying to fire it. Everything slowed down as Spike’s katana swished towards the unicorn and he sliced the horn of the unicorn off. The unicorn screamed to the heavens as everyone heard it. Spike then stabbed him right in the heart.

The unicorn fell to the ground and started bleeding. The unicorn died and he could not use his horn since it was cut off. Spike left the unicorn and searched for another foe to fight. There were bodies everywhere but that was to be expected. Spike saw three dragons run up to him that belonged to King Sombra. Spike blocked their attacks as if they were nothing. Spike managed to cut an arm of one of them. The others tried to kill him by attacking at the same, but that was something Spike had expected. Spike cut off the legs of the last to enemies of his that were traitors. They screamed in pain and tried to kill him still, Spike finished them off by cutting off their heads, not noticing that his family behind him.

They watched on horrified by what he was doing. He was fighting without mercy, and he was not slowing down at all. His stamina was larger than they would have normally expected. He did not seem to regret it either from what they could see. Celestia saw him running off towards another enemy and decapitating him. The Crystal Guards were inwardly praising him, they saw him as a true warrior. He was fighting his enemies without mercy. His katana to his side filled with his enemies blood dripping towards the ground. Spike then looked behind him but did not turn his face. He did so with his eyes and saw his family.

Spike saw five enemies running towards him, but he did not bother to look at them. He blocked their attacks and managed to down two of them by slicing them. He then blocked the other three from attacking him. The creatures let out a growling noise as they tried to stab him, swishing their blades from left to right. Spike managed to disarm a Griffin, and he stabbed a Pony who tried to attack him while he was disarming the Griffin.

Spike heard the battle cries that were shouted into the night sky as they fought. Spike focused on his enemies and prepared for anything. He noticed that his family were trying to help him, but he could not afford to be caught. Spike then became more merciless, as he then sliced his enemies left and right. The King Sombra soldiers fell to the ground in fear and they either attempted to run away or tried to face their fears which was this creature that was known as The Ghost. The weather around them became chilly and windy as the demon-like creature cut off arms and legs in his wake.

“Déan tróaire!” One of the King Sombra soldiers shouted as he dropped to the ground on his back, and have long forgotten about his sword. Spike walked normally towards him, not taunting or mocking in any sort of way. He stabbed him in the heart, making the follower die instantly. Blood running out of the body, silently and sticking to the ground. Spike then saw the one that he suspected was the warlord of the King Sombra soldiers in the Dragonlands. It was indeed a dragon that Spike had suspected a few times. Spike walked towards him, sword drawn and ready to fight. Spike saw the warlord that was wearing gold armour and white pants. The warlord had a shield that was made of wood and metal. Spike knew a tactic that he could use against that. It would both humiliate, but also make the other soldiers terrified of the fact that a samurai-like him could easily kill their leader as if he was butter. Spike prepared his stance, holding his katana and showing the warlord that he is ready to battle.

The warlord was impressed with the samurai. He had heard of the rumours flying around that a spirit was slaughtering his comrades, stabbing them behind their backs when they are sleeping. He looked at The Ghost whose armour was pitch black like the darkness. It made him wonder if the so-called ‘legend’ is in fact dark in nature. He certainly had the skills of a true predator and kills without asking questions. He circled the ‘Vengeful Spirit’ and the spirit in question did the same, looking at him with his emerald green eyes that showed no mercy.

It was like all time had stopped for the others fighting, as they all turned towards the warlord and The Ghost. The family of said Ghost looked at their family member with clear worry. Spike himself was preparing for the attack. He had a plan, but it needed to work. He was becoming more creative in his ways of killing his enemies. But since this was a warlord, it felt wrong to use ‘dog tactics’ to kill him off. It would be against his ancestor’s wishes.

The warlord rushed towards Spike, who easily evaded his attack. The warlord then swung his sword around, making Spike block a few attacks and was making a great effort. The swords clashed against each other, the one’s looking was amazed by the side they were fighting for. The warlord was fighting like a true animal as he showed no regard for his enemy. Spike Did the same, but he had the courtesy of not fighting like a dog. “You fight well.” The warlord said, in a mocking way. Spike did not respond as he rushed up to him, hitting his shield as hard as he could, trying to make the warlord dizzy and lose balance. The warlord eventually could not take the hits on his shield and let it slip, Spike sliced his leg making him scream. The warlord pushed Spike away and he tried to slice him across his chest, but It was blocked by Spike’s sword. The warlord was now fighting with actual aggression as he tried to kill Spike who was blocking all of his attacks and was starting to annoy him.

Spike felt the swords clashing that felt much heavier than before. Spike knew that he had done something right as he then tried to do other heavy attacks. The warlord seemed to be too angry to realize what Spike was doing so he did not try to stop anything except the attacks. Spike jumped into the air and made his heavy attack even heavier, making the warlord lose his balance more than Spike expected. it was good and glorious. The warriors around them that had forgotten about their own battles fell, frightened by what they were seeing.

“Troid liom, Samurai!” The warlord said, and Spike suspected that it meant something about fighting him. He smiled as he would do just that: fight him. Spike rushed towards him and managed to cut his belly, but not enough that it would kill him.

The blood spread to the left as that is where Spike’s sword had exited the warlord’s body. He was bleeding but that did not stop the traitorous dragon from defeating the samurai. The warlord rushed towards Spike, and he evaded to the right which became his mistake as he was then out of nowhere hit to the side. Spike looked behind him to see the warlord standing there. Spike was surprised, the warlord must have used his speed to get there unnoticed and faster for that matter. The warlord walked towards Spike, his sword in his right claw and Spike smiled as he knew that the dragon thought that this was his demise when it wasn’t. Spike waited for the warlord to come closer, and when the time was right: he struck the warlord right in the belly. The warlord lost his balance and fell to the ground when Spike drew back his sword.

Spike thought that the battle was over, but he was wrong. He watched in surprise while the one’s on his side watched in complete and utter horror as the King Sombra soldier got back on his feet and picked up his sword and motioned for Spike to fight him. He heard the dragon behind that golden armour chuckle. He could not help but chuckle inwardly. This was a true battle. He did not falter that easily, he liked that but then he was reminded of the crimes he had committed and he put on an angry face that was covered by his mask.

The one’s who were fighting for King Sombra watched in pride as their warlord was still standing like a warrior. Spike was only a little bit surprised, not impressed. When you have adrenaline and anger like that it is easy to not fall like other soldiers. Spike’s katana was to his right side, just being held. Pointing towards the warlord’s legs. Spike felt a little anger rise as his adrenaline got another kick, and he rushed towards the warlord who had started laughing. Spike swung his sword to left and right. He even jumped to commit a heavy attack.

The warlord had expected all of this and blocked it with ease. He was bleeding a lot, but he did not seem tired. Spike suspected that King Sombra made so that they could not feel their blood loss or it was the adrenaline and anger kicking in again. Both theories were possible. Spike evaded to the left and right as the warlord was getting aggressive with his attacks. Spike’s adrenaline was skyrocketing and he did not feel the slightest bit tired. It was not shocking as he was in a life and death situation. Spike then decided to finish the fight once and for all. He saw the warlord run towards him and flung his sword towards Spike who blocked and made the warlord dizzy and off-balanced. Spike was about to finish him off when he was then tossed over to the other side.

Spike groaned as he got back up, he saw the warlord walk towards him and saw the shield was shaking a little bit. Spike then knew instantly what had happened. Spike grit his teeth as he took his katana out and held it so hard his claw tips became white. Spike panted a little bit, but then the world slowed down as Spike rushed towards the warlord who planned on slicing Spike in half. The katana in Spike’s claw tips felt powerful, light and sharp. He prayed to his mother that he would make it out alive. Spike then felt his katana's tip hit flesh as it made the horrible sound when sword his flesh. Blood flew everywhere as the body of the warlord fell dead to the ground. Spike looked around him and then at the body and saw the capitated head of the warlord. He grabbed the head and showed the King Sombra soldiers his work, what had happened to their leader. They were all shaking in fear. It could be them, they all gave up they threw their weapons to the ground and ran away. Spike felt something inside of himself become more violent. Everything became black and white in his vision. He ran up to a soldier of King Sombra and sliced his arm off and while he did that, he saw the world turn red for a moment and slow down. Spike then walked over to the next enemy to kill.

There was no chance that he would allow all of them to flee. He would kill some of them to show the tyrannical king what happens when he messes with his friends and creatures of Equestria. The other creatures that were fighting for Spike or The Ghost as he is called, ran towards the retreating enemies as they would not allow them to get away with what they did. Spike did the same as he walked. He then heard his name be called out to him.

“Spike!”

He turned around and saw that it was his whole family. His mother, aunt, sister, brother, sister-in-law, the main five including Starlight and some Crystal Guards. Spike then bowed down to them in respect. He threw a smoke bomb to the ground and he ran for it. He was not ready to confront his family. He had a lot more things to do. Spike grabbed on to a ledge and climbed up. It was the only place that was not covered by only stone on the other side. Without hesitation, he jumped and did not expect to die. He knew what he was doing. He looked up one last time to see if any creature spotted him but he was lucky, no one noticed him.

When the smoke cleared, Twilight looked frantically around for her brother to find him. When she didn’t she started running around the place and popped out in different areas randomly like Pinkie Pie. She was truly desperate now. She could not lose her brother figure when she had been so close to hug him. She had been so close. . . she felt the water in her eyes building up but she refrained from crying out. She would save the tears for when she truly hugged him. The others looked depressed by his disappearance.

“It seems like he is not ready,” Shining said, making the others look at him a little with a glare. He noticed but did not care. He was only speaking his thoughts loudly. He could not help but admire his tactics of fighting. The way he showed no mercy and yet he fought with some dignity. When he was fighting against the warlord, he did not use any cheap tricks. He only fought with a very small sense of honour.

The Crystal Guards were praising their hero. He would be a great warrior for when the war was over. The way he fought was the way of The Ghost. Yes, that is what they would call it.

Outside of the Dragonlands were a couple of ponies who were walking towards the Dragonlands and were wearing different sorts of clothing. They had painted The Ghost symbol on their clothing to show other creatures who they served. They would gladly call themselves: The soldiers of The Ghost.

Author's Note

This story was meant to be published yesterday but I was caught up in the middle of something so I am terribly sorry.

10 — Acceptance

Chapter 10
Acceptance

As the winds brushed against his armour and his katana firmly in his claws, he still saw the silhouette that had been following him for some time. The sun was not as warm as it once upon a time used to be. The light from the sun was no more. The only thing that remained was the corrupted creatures in Equestria, corrupted by the umbrum. Following a leader that wants to do nothing but have power.

Power, that even Princess Celestia, his mother, would fear.

His fleeing from the Dragonlands did not go unnoticed, and he was sure that whoever the one in the silhouette was, wanted to either thank Spike or something more sinister was at play.

Spike stared at the creature with a look of indifference, not that the creature could see that because of the mask Spike was wearing. They were in the Everfree Forest, the cold wind tense like usual. It was hard to tell whether it was day or night, but the sun was up in the sky so it could be daytime.

“Are you a coward?” Spike questioned the silhouette. The creature must have gotten angry because it jumped very quickly after that towards Spike but it did not try to hit him, it seemed more like it was studying him from up and down. The silhouette did not seem very dangerous but Spike was not taking any chances.

He was standing inside of a circle, surrounded by trees and tree branches on the ground on wet grass and leaves. The coldness hitting his nostrils and the wind gently caressing his armour and body was a nice touch. He looked at the creature who then came out of the shadows and it was revealed to be an archer for King Sombra. Immediately, Spike threw a kunai which was a small blade sometimes used for arrows if there was nothing else around.

The kunai flew through the air and the archer must not have witnessed the sudden movement or noticed it too late, he was wearing a red suit with animal skin but Spike did not dare even look at the size of it to see which animal it was. There was no way he would do so. He was just like Fluttershy in that respect, a large animal lover.

The archer was holding a bow that was made from wood that Spike did not know of. It could be umbrum wood maybe but the umbrum creatures are not known for using wood. They are mostly known for using metals that could cut and slice their enemies without the worry of non-penetration.

The archer fell to the ground, the kunai hitting his throat. It was a changeling by the looks of it but one that belonged to Queen Chrysalis or just a changeling that was not reformed. The eyes were red but that could be explained away as blood from him or her or some creature else entirely …

This was wartimes so it came as no surprise for Spike. It was dangerous times they were living in.

He slowly walked forward to her body wondering if he should check for weapons or not. He was mildly curious as to what he or she had on their body. Specifically anything valuable or something he could use to his advantage. Something like that. But when he checked for just that, he found none which he expected as well.

He had crouched down when he had searched the body, but there was some aching pain coming from his left leg. He checked his leg by feeling with his claws if anything was poking out or so but nothing.

“Most likely cramps,” Spike muttered to himself but he did not sound irritated the slightest. He checked his surroundings, it felt like the trees had moved closer but that was probably just him. The leaves and mud on the ground made noise every time he slowly walked from one place to another to see if he could find any timberwolves in the area just in case if he needed to fight against them.

The sky was still as grey as ever and Spike would have gotten tired of it but he knew it was no creature’s fault. It was just that King Sombra had a bad taste in weather. He would have chuckled at his humor if it was not for the fact that he grew angry with himself.

How could he just make a joke like that? He is in the middle of a war and he is making jokes about King Sombra while creatures could be in danger. He could not stand by these “moving trees” and wait for something to happen. He had to move onwards if he even wanted a single glimpse of a possibility of a victory.

So Spike started running in the direction of Ponyville. If he manages to liberate Ponyville, then it will mean that King Sombra will lose a major strong point. But Spike had to think things through. He could save it for later, for the final battle maybe. But then other creatures could get severely hurt and Spike did not want that. He knew that sacrifices needed to be made but when it came to innocent lives he had to think about it. In detail.

He moved through the forest with ease and stealth, not drawing any kind of attention from any creatures nearby. If there were any that is. The whole forest seemed oddly vacant of life and that was something that worried Spike a lot. He had not heard a single pep from any kind of animal or anything, just the wind that blew against his back.

Spike neared the end of the forest and noticed the oddly shaped buildings of Ponyville. It looked completely different from the one year he had been gone. Or well, he had seen it a few weeks ago but it still felt like it had been ages since he had seen his old hometown. It felt so strange and weird to say that it had been his hometown, it looked so depressing to live in despite the fact before the invasion, Ponyville was considered the happiest town in Equestria.

But now, it was in all probability, the most miserable town in Equestria. All the creatures living together seemed to have lost all hope and just live together, got to learn about each other. Then some lost family members and friends from King Sombra and it sent Spike fuming mad with his blood literally boiling.

In the end, Spike believed it to be best to leave Ponyville alone ... for now.

*

He had decided to see if he could liberate Griffinstone so he had traveled all the way there, not even stopping for food or water that had run out. He did have money for his long journey, so that bit wouldn’t be a problem. The stones that lead up to Griffinstone had been intense. He had almost been spotted by some Umbrum guards who were on patrol.

The Umbrum soldiers had been speaking in their language but Spike could not make anything out because the one speaking sounded incredibly angry for whatever reason.

He just hoped that the creatures who were prisoners in their hometown were as safe as possible from those Umbrum soldiers. He would hate to even think what they would do to them for trying to run away and find shelter or try to buy medicine or even food.

This was the reason he had trained for so long, without knowing it, he had been training his whole life for this. He had been a child when the invasion happened which was a year ago, but why did he feel mature? It was because he had to, he could not be fooling around during wartimes.

He was hiding inside of a cave near Griffinstone. The cave was covered in moss, the walls and ceiling of the cave were almost covered in green. He squeezed himself through when he heard footsteps from the Umbrum soldiers come closer. He squeezed further in until he came to an opening.

The opening was a large triangle-shaped room with a small opening the furthest to the right. He would have to crawl under but Spike wanted to check the place out just in case there was anything of value. He hoped to maybe find something valuable and sell it and then give the money to the innocent creatures.

But there was nothing, but there were signs that someone had been living in here. Either multiple or few creatures had been using this as a hideout. But there was a very large scale of possibilities that this had been used by Umbrum soldiers. There was some blood on the stone ground and walls but there were no drag marks which made Spike believe that it had rotten away. But it did not make any sense, there should be bones left.

Spike decided to not focus on that right now and decided to head out and see if he could see any strategic points on taking control of Griffinstone. Not that he personally was interested in ruling it but in the situation, he was in, it was pretty much a coup but at the same time it wasn’t a coup. He just hoped no more innocent lives have been lost.

He walked over to the crawl space and got down to his claws and knees and then his stomach and then he started to crawl. The tunnel he was crawling through only lead to one way which was out of the caves on into the wild mountains of Griffinstone.

He did know how the Griffins usually were around other creatures and themselves, they were never kind and never did have anything nice to say so Spike could only imagine what kind of resistance they must have put up. He did know that their army was pretty strong but he had never actually seen them be used for anything unless it’s wartimes.

He just hoped that they did not say anything to have made the Umbrum soldiers angry, he could only imagine what they must have gone through with their attitudes. Spike remembered Gilda and he couldn’t even think about what she must have gone through. Being hit for being too slow, barely being feed, or not feed at all.

Spike used his kaginawa to climb some mountains. From where he was climbing, he could see some parts of Griffinstone. They had wooden houses with hay for roofs but now it looked like they did not have anything at all. Some parts had been burned down by the Umbrum and there were hanging bodies of Griffons and other creatures who had come there looking for shelter.

When Spike reached the top of the mountain he had been climbing, he observed the area more clearly and saw hundreds of Umbrum guards marching in and out with four different generals and two warlords who were wearing gold armour while the generals wore dark silver armour.

The Griffons looked to be desperate for help, they did not look angry, they only looked scared which shocked Spike, if there was any kingdom he would expect to be the most resistant, it would be the Griffins. They are the most aggressive creatures and have been compared to dragons at times. But Spike did understand as well, the Umbrum soldiers had better weapons and fought like dogs.

Spike looked towards the entrance of Griffinstone. “Hmm, too many guards watching, a frontal attack would be suicide unless if I find an armourer who knows how to make armour made of only metal.” He told himself out loud. He realized that the idea was ridiculous so he scratched the idea without thinking twice. He looked towards other mountains nearby. “There is a possibility that I can place archers there and make it rain fire arrows on the enemy so they would have to cover themselves so I can swoop in and kill a few.”

Spike liked that idea and decided to keep that one. It could be beneficial. He then looked towards the mountain he was standing on and looked towards the center of Griffinstone. “I can gather some creatures like dragons and pegasi to fly in with weapons and start the first act of the rebellion against King Sombra. At least one that King Sombra would recognize.”

Spike observed the scene a little bit more before he decided to finally face his family in the Crystal Empire. He knew that there would be questions that would need answering, but was he ready to answer them? Well, there was never a right time so it was probably best to just do it.

*

Getting down from the mountains was easier than Spike initially expected, but that was just plus points for him.

He did wonder how he would get into the Crystal Empire without triggering any alarms, but he would find some way. The Crystal Empire was not very easy to sneak around unless if you knew of ways to make sure that you did not get attention on yourself. If you did, then everything was over, you would have to abort the mission.

Spike knew as much, King Sombra only managed to do so because he knew about all of the security breaches. Even cousin Cadance did not know some of them which showed how little modern creatures know about the empire that was believed to be a myth. Spike’s mother, Princess Celestia did not know much about the empire along with his aunt Luna. The things they knew were only things they needed to know and the rest were just for those within the kingdom to know just like how any other nation functions.

Spike started walking towards the Everfree Forest to stay over the night to see if he could plan his “break-in” more thoroughly. He did know to make one, he also had the resources.

And with that, he went to the Everfree Forest and grabbed the materials he needed. He wanted a larger tent so he grabbed some tree branches and started to slowly build his tent that he would use more than one time. He also had some potions that would help to cover the tent up for a few hours.

He had found some flowers when he was heading to the forest and he recognized some of them to make the potion which made him relieved, he would not have to worry about being attacked by anyone for an entire night. He needed at minimum, six hours and the most, eight hours. Sometimes he would rest to gain those two hours he did not sleep. Or he would read some books he had but he had nothing to read because he did not see them necessary for a mission about recovering his homeland.

Besides, what was the point of reading the book if he knew how it would end? Why not save that read for a later time when war is not raging all over the place?

Gathering some of the material for the tent was as easy as it could be. He did not try to find a lot of it because he had some easy materials with him, materials that in some aspects are useless, but it was still worth it if you know the true purposes.

When he finished building the tent, it looked like a small cabin house. The front door was only covered by a cloth that reached down to the muddy ground but it was swinging like a flag but was thicker. It was coloured in beige and had no mark on it, but Spike was about to change that. He would put on his ancient family’s crest. Two Mountains.

Using his katana, he put a different kind of oil that was only used by artists and leisurely painted the cloth with his family crest. He wished he had some banners but he was okay with what he had. The banners were like flags but they were not as big as a nation’s flag, it was one-third of a flag and had the samurai family crests on them.

When he was finished he walked inside and thought about what he would need for this tent, because there was a large possibility that he would need to use this tent again, and that is what Spike was thinking, maybe he should keep it and save it for later? But he did not want to tip of Umbra soldiers either, so he should probably destroy this one but keep some instructions somewhere with him so he can give it to the others if they needed to set up camp somewhere.

They would not get rain on them at least.

Spike knew he needed something to sleep on so he pulled out some remaining cloth that he had saved in a small corner and made the bed. It was good timing as well, it was getting dark. He had spent several hours up on the mountain and did not realize how much time he had spent there scouting for ways to liberate Griffinstone. He would need help on this one. But who would be good enough to fight with skill and someone he did not have to worry about in battle.

Pipsqueak maybe? He was a good archer, perhaps it was time for him to contact his old friend again and see if he was up for it. The time he had spent in Equestria had not been long but he did know that this was not the Equestria he wanted to live in. Innocent creatures dying every day because of a mad stallion who is obsessed with ruling everything.

With those final thoughts, Spike drifted off to sleep completely unaware that an old lady friend of his had seen him and was smiling with happy tears running down her cheeks. Zecora had missed her old friend, but she did know the reason why he had disappeared.

He was destined to defeat the King.

*

Waking up early in the morning was vital under these horrible circumstances of war. He could not sleep in because of the fear that was nagging at his bones of the children being taken hostage by the Umbrum soldiers. So Spike the second he woke up, did some simple stretching to wake up and it helped.

He never slept without his armour in fear that he might get stabbed in the middle of the night. But that is the emotion that always runs through his blood whenever he faces an Umbrum leader: fear and anger. Those two emotions make a spark in Spike that he will never understand.

The fear mixed with anger seems to have this weird effect on him and he fights with more violent and fast reflexes than was necessary but that could be his instincts as a dragon. But even believing that was a bit of a stretch. The training he did for over a year could be seen as the reason but that was not possible, not for Spike.

“Huh, maybe I am delaying the inevitable,” Spike spoke, his mind wandering from one thought to the next as he was making some breakfast out of mushrooms he knew was not dangerous. He had made a little fire and was holding the mushrooms close to the fire, making sure that they were being more edible.

He was not one for mushrooms but it was better than nothing.

He ate his mushrooms, not minding the weird taste he felt inside his mouth, and was about to put out the fire when he heard some bushes rattling behind him. He turned so fast with his claws on his katana which he did not even remember he drew out and looked towards where the rattling came from.

“Who’s there?” He asked, his voice calm but very tense and cold, making whoever it was, emerge from the bushes very slowly. Spike looked at the one who emerged with confused eyes. It was not possible, he should be in the Crystal Empire!

“Howdy Spike!” Big Macintosh said in a voice that sounded very happy as if he finally found a friend that he had once lost. He was red coated with an orange mane and tail. He was wearing a chest plate and held a sword with his mouth. Spike would have asked how he managed to speak but Big Mac was an earth pony and they learned how to talk even with their mouth holding something.

But wait a moment ... how did he know he was Spike?!

“Uh, hello Big Mac, first of, how did you know it was me and two, why aren’t you in the Crystal Empire?” Spike asked his head spinning several miles per hour. He had trained to be calm in almost every situation but there were some things that not even he could be calm about. Big Mac was supposed to be safe with his family, not go out into a war he was not prepared for!

Or ... judging by his armour, he did look more than prepared, and to be fair, he had never actually seen Big Mac go to war in real life. He has seen him do it in the game Spike, Big Mac, and Discord played before the invasion. Ogres & Oubliettes it was called.

Spike missed that game, maybe after he defeats King Sombra he will do so, but that is only under the circumstance that he survives the war.

Big Mac smiled at Spike, knowing that it must be very mystified by what was going on. He sat down near the fire and looked at Spike in the eyes and even though the mask was in the way, he saw that it was Spike no matter how much armour he had on his body. It was just that simple for the farmer.

“The first question is simple: Zecora told me that you were here and she was the one who told me about the prophecy as well,” Big Mac naturally said as if it was no big deal.

Spike looked at him as if he had grown a second head. How did Zecora possibly know that?! How was that even a possibility? To his knowledge and the years he spent getting to know her, he should have known that.

‘But there are secrets that never should be revealed no matter the circumstances.’ A little voice in Spike’s head said while Spike was still looking at Big Mac, standing on his two legs that were as wobbly as jelly but he was still standing somehow.

“To answer your second question: I have become a little bit of a ... mercenary ... not entirely by choice either. I wasn’t forced, I was just looking for work and a few creatures found me. They took me in and they trained me how to swing a sword properly.” Big Mac said, showing the sword he had dropped when he sat down to speak with Spike.

The Sakai heir noticed how Big Mac did not mention how he got out of the empire or why he was out here ...

He was covering something up.

Spike did not say anything just in case he loses his shot next time. He did not know what his old friend was hiding but he knew that it wasn’t anything good. He looked at his former friend and saw in his eyes how ... broken he looked. It was like all the joy Big Mac may have had, was not there anymore as if he had been squeezed from happiness.

But the question that Spike badly wants to ask is:

“Does your family know of this?”

*

They did not know how long they had been in the meeting room for but when they walked out it was as if had only been five minutes but they found out they had been in that meeting for almost twenty-four hours with breaks with sugar and toilet breaks.

Twilight was exhausted by the long hour of the meeting. It was terrible what had happened but Spike prevented it all. Spike, the little brother she hatched from the egg ... how could be so violent? She did not raise him to be this way, she knew that princess Celestia could be a possible explanation as well as Luna but to her knowledge, they hadn’t unless if they did train him without telling anypony.

Spike was a dragon but he had never shown any kind of signs that he would be like this and even if he did, nothing would change, it would just show that he was maturing into an adult from his dragon side. Twilight did not know when dragons were considered adults because they knew so very little about dragons, for all she knew he could already be seen as an adult because of how little she knew.

Twilight was walking alone down a few corridors with some creatures standing guards for different rooms to protect their dragon lady or lord whichever was ruling the Dragonlands. Or Princess in this case because Ember had said that to one of her guards.

The red walls of the palace with the windows illuminating the moon from princess Luna with the stars shining was making Twilight think about Spike. But every time she thought about him, she only felt pain. Pain over the fact that he was running from them without even thinking about it. Maybe it was because he was not ready to face them? It was possible, Twilight for one did not know the answer this time.

Her hooves made distinctive clicking noises as she walked slowly through the castle, they were only taking a break and she would have to go back to the meeting room. Twilight had been asked by her friends if she wanted anything to eat or drink and Twilight had told them to bring her some rice and salad. For drinks she wanted water. She had not eaten for several hours or even drank anything.

Ever since the invasion, she was very careful about spending any kind of money at all and she was very careful about how much she ate. This had caused the ponies and creatures of the Crystal Empire to notice how much weight she had lost and It had only continued until princess Celestia had to force her to eat something with a lot of calories.

It had helped but Twilight was still not herself and probably never will be. She had first lost her home, then she had lost Spike. But now when he was back home, she could not help but feel slightly betrayed by him. It felt like he just abandoned her for whatever reason and never showed himself again for an entire year that has felt more like a thousand years.

But there was still some suspicion within Twilight, was The Ghost really Spike? There were a few minor hints but not enough to say that it was him, for all she knew it could be a dragon that has the same size as Spike and knows about Twilight’s younger adopted brother.

But suddenly, Twilight stopped by a window and looked out over the horizon and saw the light from the moon and stars and felt her line of thinking become darker and darker, but she did not know why that was. Why was she even considering it at all?

Why would she believe that this hero who liberated Yakyakistan be a changeling? Why was she thinking those kinds of thoughts?

“I hope I can get some answers soon,” Twilight said quietly so no nearby guards could hear her.

11 — A Whisper

The roads Spike and Big Mac was taking very peaceful but the occasional Umbra guards were walking or keeping lookout while two others interrogated their prisoner. The dirt path had many prints from different creatures, showing that the path had been walked many times before.

The conversation that Spike and Big Mac had before was burned into Spike’s mind. Big Mac had not told his family and disappeared one day out of nowhere never to be heard or seen from again. At least by ponies that knew him.

This internally confused Spike. Big Mac was not somepony who would just abandon family in a time like this, not when war and famine were right around the corner. Spike tried to come up with rational reasons as to why Big Mac would do something like this. But Spike remembered something his ancestor had told him that Khotun Khan had said to Spike’s other ancestor:

“War can bring out who we truly are.”

But the chances that Big mac would betray his family like that was non-existent and yet, Big Mac had still done it. Perhaps the war had changed his friend to the point where his true self had come out and left his family in the Crystal Empire.

The peaceful walk was not so peaceful, emotion-wise. Spike came up with thousands of different scenarios where his family would be angry with him and tell him to never show his face around the empire ever again. He clutched his katana with his left claw and felt sheath brush against a bit of his armour.

The emotions he was feeling were things he had always been afraid of facing when he would meet his family again. It had been raging ever since he reached Hoofshima with his ancestor and started his training. There wasn’t a day where he didn’t think about them and what he would be fighting for. They were constantly on his mind but not in a good way, it was like a plague that refused to go away even with the right mindset. But everything that one does in life, there will always be consequences that will respond to the actions one makes. Whether that is good or bad can vary from situation to situation.

Spike started shaking his head furiously with every ounce he had in him, trying to blur the guilt he was feeling but it wouldn’t go away. Big Mac glanced towards him with a look of confusion while Spike was still shaking his head. The air became thick, it became hard to swallow and breathe and Spike stopped out of the blue and looked towards Big mac as if he just noticed he was there.

Big mac grew nervous and backed away from Spike like he was being cornered by a predator that was hungry but was not doing it to ease the hunger. The predator was doing it because it was fun to do…

Spike pulled out his katana and started slashing away at Big Mac for seemingly no reason, the red-coated stallion evaded as much as he could but he knew that despite him being good, Spike could undoubtedly kill him with a single sweep.

Spike couldn’t believe it. How could he have been so stupid!? The signs were clear. Big Mac’s family were indeed alive but he had a feeling that Big Mac had done something very wrong to them, something that could be considered cowardly.

“Big Mac,” Spike said. “Did you kill somepony recently, somepony who was innocent?” Spike had a feeling that it sounded like something so out of the blue that it was ridiculous but he had to be sure. He could not allow his former friend to murder innocents and get away with it.

Big Mac stared at Spike long and hard, his hooves ready to hit the dragon who was looking at him with a calculating gaze and waiting for the answer to his question. His breathing slowed and his mane was pulled by the wind.

“Yes,” He answered. “I have killed ponies and other creatures knowing that they were innocent.” His tone said it all, he did not hold remorse or feel any remorse.

*

In the Crystal Empire, Discord was floating around and thinking about ways to help Spike and his very small army. The Crystal Ponies all to one million percent believed that Spike The Brave And Glorious was The Ghost.

Floating into the market, Discord saw some creatures running around and looked happy but whether that was real or fake happiness, Discord didn’t know. He did not want to disturb the creatures’ privacy so he left them be.

He remembered when his friend left for Hoofshima to train to become the legendary Ghost and the Crystal Ponies and the other creatures who had fled from King Sombra’s wrath demanded to know where he was, well, mostly the Crystal Ponies for the simple fact that he is their hero.

Some creatures believed that Spike had been killed by King Sombra which made the Crystal Ponies ready for war. Discord believes to this day that the Crystal Ponies are overqualified guards that could easily commit a coup to any kingdom and win without trying.

But when a creature saved the Cutiemark crusaders, and them telling about Spike, the Crystal Ponies’ hope flashed up again and even started up a temple of worship of sorts. It was pretty funny in Discord’s case while the main six and the princess’ were too shocked to even care.

When Yakyakistan was freed from their occupation, The hope in the other creatures’ eyes was clear. They finally had some creature to look up to, some creature who showed no fear to the enemy which the princess’ had been doing which Discord was all too willing to admit.

Discord could stop it all with a snap, on either his lion paw or eagle one, but he could not stop the prophecy, if he did, then Equestria was doomed for the rest of their entire existence. In the end, if that were to happen, then he could simply travel back in time but it would still end up being the exact same:
Spike needing to kill King Sombra

*

He did not know how to react when he heard the confession leave his friends mouth. He could not be serious, could he? He knew that Big Mac was strong physically but mentally, he is not strong enough to kill a pony or any other creature for that matter. Even if he did, he would feel remorse for what he did, but Big Mac was just standing there, hooves on the ground, face blank from emotion and waiting to hear Spike’s response.

It wasn’t possible that his friend had turned so cold-hearted. There was just …

Spike sighed. He had to face it: the war had changed Big Mac, showing who he truly was. If the war hadn’t happened, then Spike, Big Mac, and Discord would play their game and have fun every Friday.

But times had changed. They could never return to the happy days when they were innocent and foolish. It was time for them to grow up. Spike knew what he had to do but he prayed to the Gods that he was doing the right decision.

Spike glanced at Big mac’s sword and noticed that it was now in his mouth, ready for battle. The purple dragon sighed and waited for the right moment to commit the duel. The air around them thickened and the leaves from the trees, what was left of it, swished along with the wind making Spike believe that his ancestors’ father, Kazumasa Sakai, was his other ancestor. He had the support of his ancestors, he would make them proud. He grabbed his katana and then …

The fight began.

Big Mac ran towards him with the sword, swinging towards Spike’s throat which the purple dragon easily evaded by jumping to the left. While doing so, Spike tried to stab Big Mac but the red stallion was a lot quicker and blocked the attack like he wasn’t even trying very hard. Spike believed that he was trying to make him angry, it was smart.

Spike swung towards Big Mac’s throat but missed because Big Mac managed to swing the sword to his left arm. There was armour there, but it was close that it didn’t cut through it with the might and force that Big Mac put into the swing. Spike started to really get into it the “zone”, his face morphed into one of neutrality, he did not enjoy doing this, but he had no choice. He could not let his emotions get in the way because he was fighting an old friend.

Spike swung again at Big Mac’s head but the red-coated stallion had quicker reflexes and swung at the purple dragon. Spike blocked it with angry force and made Big Mac temporarily dizzy which made Spike angry because he had the perfect opportunity to kill him. Spike made a split-second decision and swung towards Big Mac’s head, hoping that he could see him in the next life.

But to his surprise, Big Mac blocked it. The red stallion had only been dizzy for a little while which made him recover quicker and be able to stop the katana that was swinging towards his throat. He glared at Spike and felt rage fill his veins as he looked at the friend he had before the invasion. They may have once loved each other like brothers, but the war had split them, they did not know each other anymore.

Spike felt some anger and sadness, his friend had been corrupted by the war that was raging around them like water hitting stones endlessly. There was nothing he could do either, Big Mac was too far gone from the war and unfulfilling anger that was manifesting on his like his red coat.

The purple dragon circled him, but there was something on his face that told him that he did not want to do it. But he was trained to, his ancestor had been the one to kill his friend Ryuzo when he betrayed Hoofshima by siding with the Mongols. Spike could do it, he had to, there was no other way.

“It didn’t have to be this way, Big Mac,” Spike said. Truth be told, he didn’t. He had too many memories of the good old times. At least Discord was incorruptible due to the chaotic magic that he so very much used for pranks and making ponies angry.

Big Mac did not respond for a very long time, their swords hitting each other, both equally strong opponents. “You know as well as I, that nothing would have stopped this confrontation.” One thing that Spike had not noticed until now was that Big mac was speaking normally.

‘Probably something forced by the citizens by the tyrannical king,’ Spike thought.

But Big Mac did have a point. The confrontation would have happened either way even if they didn’t want to. It was inevitable, and here they were, fighting for their lives to see which one will walk out alive.

They continued to fight with their sword letting out small sparks every time the two metals hit each other. Their breath was unease and their eyes locked onto each other, both seeing hesitance in each hit that was attempted from both sides. Spike on the other hand could not allow his emotions to get in the way of saving Equestria. But then again, his ancestor Jin Sakai did fight with emotions after the fall at Komoda beach. Spike started fighting with more violence in his swings, catching Big Mac off guard and the red stallion tried to compensate it with even more violent swings of the sword he was using. Spike started to feel worried because Big Mac was not giving up and he was looking as though he was having fun. Like those times when Spike, Big Mac, and Discord would have their game night.

Suddenly, when Spike thought that the battle would continue for ages, he saw an opening and took it. He flung his katana towards Big Mac’s heart and the apple farmer looked shocked. But the last emotion that was on his face was one of pain, pain from being stabbed by a very sharp katana, and pain because one of his best friends did it. Spike felt some tears in his eyes as he saw his friend who had been so troubled at the war that he became a mercenary.

“Meet me in the next life, my friend,” Spike said and cleaned his blade from his friends’ blood. He buried his friend under the dirt and made a little bulge over with some sticks and cloth for flags to show where he buried Big Mac in case Granny Smith wanted him moved.

*

Spike was walking slowly in the direction of the Crystal Empire, sad and angry. He shouldn’t have to kill one of his best friends but because of King Sombra, it left him no choice and that is what makes him so angry. He had no choice in the end because Big Mac would have continued doing his ways until someone killed him. Spike did not want his friend remembered as a murderer and a criminal, he simply wanted everypony to remember him as the stallion who worked at the orchard in Ponyville.

His katana felt strange after what happened in the battle that he had with Big Mac, it was like it did not feel right in his grip, like, it did not belong to him. Spike wanted to see it as a way of Big Mac speaking to him in the katana. Maybe his soul was now free from the sins he committed? He would never know until he was dead.

The sky was as dark and grey, as it had been the second Spike, came back from Hoofshima. But the difference with this kind of greyness was that it wasn’t pleasant that would make some ponies enjoy it. This one promised vengeance and pain. One that makes anypony want to stay inside all day until it passes.

The dirt road he was walking on felt muddy and wet. It must have rained without Spike noticing. Not that he was complaining since his mind had been preoccupied with fighting his friend. He glanced from the left to the right and saw some houses here and there that were widespread in hopes of King Sombra not noticing. But knowing the King correctly: he most likely had.

A few minutes pass and Spike was getting closer to the Crystal Empire. How he knew this was because the air was getting colder and his teeth were almost crackling. Luckily, his training included being able to stand very harsh cold winters, so he could survive living in the coldest part of Yakyakistan if he wanted to settle down up there.

He had thought about it also, settling down in Yakyakistan did not sound like a bad idea. The yaks up there seemed very friendly after he saved them from the occupation. It also wouldn’t surprise him if he would get to live there without a problem, but he did not want to use the yaks that way. He’d be more than happy to simply be there with them and live his life. Allowing the legend he no doubts will make for himself, die away with the wind.

A few hours later, he was approaching the Crystal Empire more clearly, the outlines of the kingdom became visible, the crystal colours that glimmered all over the place were not as lively as they had once been before the invasion. But it was no surprise, the invasion had shaken everypony and other creatures from different kingdoms had fled from King Sombra’s tyrannical ruling, but not many were able to make the journey or were killed without hesitation from the soldiers.

It made his blood boil thinking about the innocent children and families who had been slaughtered just for the sake of power. It disgusted him to no end, knowing that some ponies could even think like that, consider it! It’s sick and twisted in so many ways.

When Spike got closer, he saw through his mask that Crystal Guards were patrolling and were looking in his direction the ones who were watching the terrains and over the horizons for any survivors or enemies making their way. Spike wouldn’t blame them if they thought he was an enemy, he was dressed like a soldier, acted like one, and probably looked terrifying. He smiled a little, happy that they had good eyesight in case there were enemies around.

When he got closer, he noticed that a few guards were making their way towards him and he felt a little happy, he had no problem giving up his katana and other weapons so they could trust him but as soon as they see his face and check to see so he is not an Umbrum changeling they would most likely hail him. This time, Spike would not stop it, he knew that they needed something to believe in, something that could give them hope.

When he was close enough to the guards, he was ordered to stop about ten feet from them and to drop his sword and mask. He did so without a problem and he noticed the shocked expression on the Crystal Guards’ faces. To them, it was almost impossible that their legend would return when the war was still raging with King Sombra soldiers occupying every territory there is in their world.

“S—Spike The Brave And Glorious?!” The guards said in shock, their eyes as wide as saucers, their hooves wobbling from the mere sight of him. They had heard the stories from the other guards but they could not believe it, now they saw him right in front of them. There were three guards in total that was looking at him with hope in their eyes.

“In the flesh,” He said. He gave them a gentle smile before he spoke again. “But right now, they call me The Ghost.”

*

Spike was led back to the empire with praises being sung by the three guards who were praising him for his heroic deeds. They did not even mention the brutality he had shown when he was fighting the Umbrum, they just spoke about his greatness.

When Spike had been led through the empire, many ponies and creatures caught a glimpse of him, and the yaks that had traveled to the Crystal Empire immediately recognized him the second they lay eyes on him. They were singing him praises and saying how much of a hero he was to all of Equestria and Yakyakistan. It was nice for Spike to know that he gave a real impact on them but at the same time, he felt like he was replacing other brave heroes who fought for their own freedom. He did not want to do that, he wanted all of them to remember other heroes who fought for their sake and died for their freedom.

Spike and the guards reached the palace and were led through the hallways that had hundreds of guards on watch, making sure that nopony or creature infiltrated the castle unnoticed. Before the liberation of Yakyakistan, the Crystal Empire had been the last line of defense, the last Kingdom that hadn’t succumbed to King Sombra’s tyrannical ways. The kingdom that ponies and other creatures dreamed of fleeing to, be behind those safe barriers of the empire where the rulers of Equestria were.

But now, there was a new hero that was among them, a hero that trained for an entire year to help them vanquish the evil King Sombra that were plaguing their lands like an infection that never goes away despite cleaning the wounds. The hero walks among them, smiling at the children to let them know that they will not have to be afraid anymore, letting every creature from Equestria and beyond know that there was one who was fighting back …

The Ghost

12 — Reunion

Twilight and the others were moving as quickly as they could back to the Crystal Empire. They had gotten words from their guards that Spike was there and requesting their support, what he meant by that was any pony’s guess. They knew it must be about King Sombra but they were unsure what about the tyrannical King He could want, the information was all they had even before the invasion which was not a lot, there were no journals or memoirs that could tell them anything about King Sombra but Cadance suspected that Sombra most likely burnt it all to ashes in case somepony were to try to dig up his past.

It made sense that it would be that way, King Sombra is one of the few villains that Twilight feels genuine fear over. She cannot fully comprehend what the evil King does in battles that she’s had with him, and she wanted it to remain that way.

She feared him more than anything else. The fear was nagging her every day when she woke up in the early hours of the morning and look out the balcony to see the grey sky that was clouding the entirety of Equestria and beyond. The fear nagged at her when she walked down the crystal streets of the empire and the nagged at her when she was going to sleep. She could never get rid of the feeling, it was always there.

But then Spike or The Ghost as he calls himself came and saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders and liberated Yakyakistan. It shocked Twilight because of the brutality he showed when he killed the Umbrum guards and the fact that he had killed creatures even if it was for a good reason.

But she was wondering where he had been for an entire year. Where had he gone? Why did he come back? It wasn’t that Twilight was angry that Spike had disappeared, she was just worried over the fact that maybe Spike had been killed by the Umbrum soldiers but she had also hoped that maybe he got to safety in a foreign land. But she was also worried that he was back in Equestria, the nation was almost gone, the only thing that remained was Canterlot Castle that was still standing and had not been burnt. There were Umbrum war camps everywhere, soldiers marching and preparing for anypony who might escape. They would use their bodies as archery practice which disgusted Twilight to no end.

She was walking beside Princess Luna who looked over the horizons with eagle sharp eyes. On the older mares coat was black armour that covered her chest, stomach, head, and hooves. The chest plate had the cutie mark of Luna. The mare had complete faith in Spike and believed he would achieve his goal, whatever that was.

“Luna?” Twilight whispered so the others wouldn’t hear who was discussing the best approach in speaking to Spike. The older mare turned to her with questioning eyes and looked back to the horizon after giving a nod. “Do you know why Spike would come back?”

Luna tensed ever so slightly, not anticipating that question. She very well knew the answer, if anything, she was the only one of the Princess’ that knew because she was the one most skilled when it came to prophecies. Sometimes when a pony dreams, they can see the future, not always, but sometimes. Luna knew that Spike and Pipsqueak were destined to defeat King Sombra and was the reason no pony intervened in their work.

She sighed and said in a whisper: “Yes, I do know why he came back but you won’t like the reason why he did.”

Twilight looked at her with confused eyes but urged the Princess to continue. The snd path they were walking was quite cold in the parts they were walking. Since it was the Crystal Empire they were walking to, it only became colder and colder. There were no trees in sight and there were tall and scary mountains.

Luna sighed. “Over a thousand years ago before I turned into Nightmare Moon, There was a prophecy that spoke of a dragon and colt that would work together to defeat evil with allies from all races. They would fight together, liberating towns and cities until it was time for the final battle, they would win the battle, and the one who vanquishes this evil would be known as The Ghost Of Equestria, with this title, any pony or creature would be seen as a legend afterward and would always be remembered. Spike is descendent of a pony named Jin Sakai who is the first Ghost but is known in Hoofshima for his legendary tale. Jin Sakai defied his uncle when it came to the creatures of Hoofshima and went down a so-called ‘darker path’ and saved every creature the best he could. But there was a Mongol who escaped to Equestria so he and his wife, Yuna, fled right after him. Why the Mongol was that important was because he could take over the army and retake Hoofshima and then invade Neighpan with ease. Centuries went by and the descendants came and went but when Spike was adopted into the royal family, he became blood adopted so he is, by all means, my blood nephew. With this blood in his veins, he became the full heir to the Sakai fortune and the only one worthy of the title: The Ghost.”

Twilight looked at Luna in shock. Spike was blood adopted?! She never knew, Spike had never said or done anything to suggest something like that. Blood magic was a neutral area that is neither good nor bad but many ponies and other creatures do not use blood magic unless if it’s for very specific things or traditions be it cultural or family-wise. She did not like the fact that this was kept from her but she understood why Princess Celestia did not want to go into full detail about any of this.

“I understand that it’s a lot to take in, but try to understand from my sister’s point of view,” Luna said, gazing at Twilight as they were walking—running.

Twilight looked at her a little bit confused and then realized that she must have had the look where she seems accusing. She blushed.

“No, no, Princess, I completely understand,” Twilight said, clearing up the invisible clouds that seemed to have stormed around them. “It just feels weird to hear that a ruler of a kingdom uses something that is considered neutral, when it comes to blood, on a child and a dragon no less.”

Luna thought about it and realized that Twilight was right, blood had been used on her nephew to be fully considered a part of the family, changing his very own genes. He seemed happy nonetheless so she would not dive too much into it.

“Well, he seems rather happy,” Luna murmured.

Twilight nodded.

*

Spike was inside of the rooms that had the best view of the palace. Since he was ‘Spike The Brave And Glorious’, he needed to have the best of the best. Spike did not complain because he certainly enjoyed the beautiful view of the balcony. There were bowls of fruit that had been left uneaten because he wasn’t hungry.

But the Crystal butlers insisted that he had some gems, which he happily took.

He was writing a few letters to Pipsqueak to make sure that his friend is prepared for the battles ahead. He knew that he couldn’t fight alone, he needed allies and he knew to a full certainty that Pipsqueak was trustworthy.

Spike felt himself relax as he wrote the letter, he had forgotten what it was like to just sit down and relax without a care in the world. The chair he was sitting on was just like everything in the Crystal Empire: made of crystals along with the table that was pushed up against the right wall where he had the amazing view where he could get inspiration.

He wrote uninterrupted by anypony or creature for three hours, enjoying the quietness and just writing on the parchment that he would send to Pipsqueak. His right claw scrambled away with the words on the parchment filling out for each second that passed.

After another fifteen minutes, that is when there was a knock on the door. Spike looked up, surprised that it was already time for either lunch or dinner. “Come in,” he said with a kind voice.

The butler opened the door and he felt his entire body shake uncontrollably. There before him, stood his mother, aunt, main five, Cadance and Shining Armor. He did what any reasonable person would do, he walked up and bowed to them. The awkwardness of the whole situation skyrocketed and nopony knew what to do or say.

Luna took initiative.

“Spike nephew, is that really you?” Luna asked, her voice hopeful. She had not seen him in so long and hoped for dear life that this was him and not some creature who dressed up like him as a possible changeling.

Spike looked at her, he had put on his mask and he pulled it down, showing his true face. All at once, they rushed to him, engulfing him in a large hug for not having seen each other in so long. They crushed him with their hug but they could feel his muscles, surprising all of them. Twilight was the one who was the tensest when she felt his muscles, it didn’t feel real to her. There was no way he had trained for an entire year and then just returned to defeat King Sombra. It was then and there that Twilight knew, she would have to prevent him from killing another creature.

“Spike,” Celestia said, her voice stern and her eyes flickering from all the emotions she was feeling inside of her body. “Where have you been mister?! You just disappeared one day without explanation! There was no note, no letter, nothing to suggest that you were either dead or alive!”

Her voice by the end was almost booming withheld back anger and worry that she carried for several months, her mane almost was set aflame from the rage she felt with her son for just running off and doing Faust knows what. Her eyes drilled into Spike’s emerald green eyes, but the purple dragon looked at her calmly, his eyes not showing that she had any effect on him which made her a little bit angry but then surprised.

“I was walking down a street a year ago and I met a stallion that told me he knew who I was, he told me we were related by blood and started telling me of a prophecy—”

“Wait, Wait, Wait!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, trying to hide her laughter. “A stallion said you were blood-related?!” She burst out laughing. “Hate to break it to you Spike, but you are a dragon if you remember?”

Everypony had noticed how Spike had taken this and was surprised to see that he waited patiently—like he was bored—and allowed Rainbow Dash to laugh and sort of make fun of him. That did not go unnoticed by Celestia who was silently fuming at the rainbow maned mare, wishing she could say that Spike was blood adopted.

“Yes, Rainbow, I very much remember but only you have never asked who else adopted me by blood,” Spike said, emphasizing the last word with a sense of authority. Rainbow Dash and the others looked at him in confusion except for Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. “I was adopted by a pony through blood so I have a pony form that I can turn into whenever I need to but I have always preferred my dragon form because that is what I always will be.”

The way he said it made it sound like he did not like it, but the words coming out of his mouth held no malice or anger.

“But Rainbow Dash, I must say this; a Kirin — which is half-pony half-dragon — who has an interest with dragons and have a child with a dragon, that child will be more dragon-like and if that continues, they will then become pureblood dragons again,” Spike lectured. The others were caught by surprise at this and Rainbow Dash looked stunned. “So, in theory, most creatures in Equestria and beyond is related to each other in one way or another, creature-wise.”

Spike glanced at Twilight and saw that the mare’s head was spinning with possibilities — he would have to find out what — and there was a look of disbelief written across her face and he could understand, he truly could. When you only see differences despite having friendship, no pony or other proud creature would ever stop and think about their origin, where their race came from, and how. It’s also not easy because Discord did destroy all records so anything that is written in modern time is only speculation unless if they were secretly as old as Celestia or Luna who knew Equestria’s entire history. Spike knew that Twilight wanted to question it but not because he was a dragon but question how it was possible, there were almost no records of Kirins and the only reason Spike knew what they were was that his ancestor told him about them and showed a drawn prostate of what they looked like he was to ever run into them.
He had indeed seen the Kirins but they were in full armour and were the most brutal ones there were in the King Sombra army. Their strengths came from them having unicorn horns and dragon blood running through their veins.

Spike was about to speak again when Cadance interrupted;

“Spike, I am happy to see you alive and well, but why did you return?” Her voice held pain from being reminded about what happened, the day everything changed for the abhorrently worse.

Spike sighed, he knew that they would not like what he had to say about it.

“There was a prophecy about how a samurai would return, a samurai that was once feared by an Empire that was believed to be undefeatable. The night during the invasion, the Samurai of Hoofshima gathered at Komoda beach where nearly the entire samurai empire fell before the Mongols, but one samurai did not die — they still say to this day that he is a spirit who came back to life to guide the blade of Jin Sakai who is my ancestor. He met a woman named Yuna who was a thief who taught him that sometimes being silent as a thief is the only way. Yuna then spread the legend about how Jin came back from the grave to slaughter the Mongols, and his legend grew to the point where even the mainland Neighpan knew of the legend. The children and creatures of Hoofshima had a beacon of hope, somepony who would fight back with any means necessary. After my ancestor defeated the Mongols, he and Yuna chased after a Mongol that could potentially restore the Mongolian army in Hoofshima and invade Neighpan. They reached Equestria and executed him and they lived here ever since, but the legend of The Ghost lives on and many creatures pray for him to protect them, interestingly enough, they say that he watches over Tsushima for eternity. And now, after so many years, The Ghost needed to return, and I became what my ancestor was.”

The ponies in the room looked at Spike, stunned that the dragon that they used to know was gone and replaced by a different dragon that spoke as if he knew what he was to expect.

Cadance did not look happy when she heard that. She did not blame anypony — no pony was at fault except King Sombra — but the way Spike had said everything was like he was saying a final goodbye and that scared her. She did not want to lose him when he had just returned from Hoofshima from where she presumed he had been.

The others, namely Luna had accepted it. A prophecy is a prophecy and there is nothing they can do to change it. Even if they could, it would be like traveling back in time to stop certain events from happening — leading the world into disarray when they return to their timeline which would have completely changed.

Celestia, only looked at her son and saw how mature he had become, but if that was from free will or if he had to become mature she did not want to know despite her being his mother. She knew that it was torment between yes and no so it would be impossible to tell which one Spike would be affirming too.

Spike glanced to Twilight and saw how she was in a frenzied state, but this was the one he had feared the most. She wasn’t running around like a crazy mare, she was just looking into nothingness and her eyes gave nothing away.

That would not be for long, however, when Twilight decided to voice her thought to Spike which shocked everypony in the room.

“Spike, I am truly sorry, but I can’t allow you to go back out there from the safety of the Crystal Empire walls. You were gone for an entire year — we did not know if you were alive or not — and now, a year later you show up in armour and tell us about prophecy, I am sorry Spike, but I will have to put my hoof down on this one.”

Everypony looked at Twilight with mixed emotions; Spike had a look or understanding but he would not obey her, he had a job to do and he needed to fulfill it. The older alicorns looked at Twilight with wide eyes, gaped-mouthed in pure shock. She was essentially telling Spike that he should not leave this very room because he could be in danger. Twilight’s friends suffered a conflict within themselves. They understood Twilight’s reasoning but at the same time from all the time they had spent together, it felt unfair to Spike when they only had gotten the quick version as they knew that they did not have the time.

Luna looked at Twilight intently before saying; “I think not, Twilight Sparkle, Spike just told us about a prophecy that he needs to deal with and that is not good since it’s his destiny but you are making it worse by saying that he cannot go outside. I am sorry Twilight, but this is a matter that I will not tolerate.”

“Come, Spike, I would like to speak to you,” She spoke with a regal voice that carried over to the other ponies in the room and knew that she did not want to be disturbed. Spike gave a glance around the room with his family in it and before Twilight could stop him and retaliate verbally, he was gone with Luna.

13 — The Creatures Hope

Spike followed Luna through the hallways of the castle with his eyes firmly ahead of him and showed no emotion on his face. There were no specific reasons for him to do so, he became a part of him after a while, so he is used to showing nothing.

The hallways felt more narrow as the two walked, and the portraits of different ponies in history seemed to be watching them. An eerie sensation came over Spike when Luna led him to a door that was usually locked. The door was made from oak; the only thing that made this door different from the rest of the kingdom.

Luna used her magic, the bluish-white stars shining to the locked door, and opened it as if had always been used and not forgotten by the many ponies and other creatures who had scholarships in history. The room had a window that illuminated the night sky and the stars.

The sad part was that no creature else could see it, they only saw the darkness that King Sombra plagues the lands with.

Spike walked inside, seeing the watchful eyes of his aunt who did not give him much of a choice in the matter. His feet did not make a sound when he walked into the crystal floors. Some shelves had many potion ingredients that were used by medical personnel. There was a desk filled with ink, quills, and parchment. Probably used by medics to keep track of their work or what they need in their medicine cabinets.

Spike turned around when he heard the door close and he saw Luna look at him with a soft gaze and tears were threatening from leaking out her eyes. He sighed; much to his self-frustrations that look was the only one that could make him weak.

“Spike, I thought I had lost you that day ...” She sniffed. “I believed you to be dead, I believed that King Sombra had found you and was going to use you as bait. The Crystal Ponies who had heard my cries of this were ready to go to war but we held them back.”

Spike grew confused. Why would they hold them back? “Auntie, why would you hold them back? Isn’t it a good thing that many creatures are willing to fight back? It would mean that they are willing to fight for their home,”

Spike knew that he would not be able to fight alone which was why he came in the first place. He did not intend to make innocent creatures into soldiers. He would only take those who were willing to fight. That was the way of The Ghost.

Luna looked at him with eyes that showed the beginning of a scowl. “And what? Force them to fight their former King when they are terrified of him?! Spike, you and I both know that they would not be able to fight against their king; forcing them to murder his soldiers who are being mind-controlled by him!”

Her scowl was now visible from the moonlight and Spike gave a gentle smile.

“I know what you mean auntie, I would never force them to fight, only those who are willing will be fighting. I can see your point; mind-controlling is nothing to make fun of but I believe that they have reached their end conclusion. They’ll never need mind-control in the future because that will be all they know, everything around them is revolved around their King so everything he would be saying would be something sacred for them.” Spike explained. Luna looked at him but before she could refute, he started speaking again.

“Honestly auntie, did you believe that King Sombra would need mind-control spells in the future? Think again; when you grow up with the same rubbish propaganda, it is easy to fall victim to such beliefs. That is why politics is so dangerous, one wrong move and you’ll fall. You need a convincing voice, show the creatures what good you have been doing and they will follow.”

Luna gave up after that, she knew he had a point but she still wanted to put in her two cents. She sat down and Spike did the same.

“I may not like it but you have a point.” She admitted. “However, I still believe that King Sombra would use the spell to ensure that everypony is loyal to him. His soldiers are the most manipulated and well-treated, in turn; they help their King.”

Spike looked at his aunt and nodded in approval, that was something that he could see as a possibility. King Sombra would want to have an ensured ruling with no pony against him. It made sense and he believed her, Spike truly believed her.

“I will admit that it makes sense, but enough beating around the bush; what is it that you know and what is the plan?” Spike asked. He knew that they would have to come to it eventually, so it was best if they did it directly so they are not wasting time.

Luna nodded. “I knew about the prophecy even before it happened,” Luna admitted, her eyes filled with tears. “I just did not know it would be you. I tried to find any creature that would seem worthy enough of Clan Sakai but no pony seemed worthy. So when you disappeared, I knew for sure that it was you who was destined to defeat King Sombra but I never believed it. There had been signs that I had heard would happen and those things happened around you but I still did not want to believe it in fear that I would lose you. I tried to slowly sway you from that path but it never worked, it only seemed to make it work faster. I realized that there was nothing I could do and for this entire year, I have been trying to find ways to kill King Sombra, but it almost seems impossible with the amount of dark magic that he possesses. Even when I was Nightmare Moon, I did not use that much dark magic. I did try to kill him once, but it did not work out so well, it took me weeks to heal and when I was able to stand on my hooves I was told by my sister and fellow royals that I should not try something like that again.”

Spike looked into Luna’s eyes to see how true that story was and to his horror; he could see that it was very true. He glanced at her neck and saw that there was either a sword wound or bite mark but it looked old so there was nothing he needed to worry about.

He tried to find soothing words for his aunt but couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried, he could not find words that would calm her. It was a curse of his. A curse that he would never be rid of.

The temperature in the room increased slightly whether that be from anger or other means remained to be seen. Spike got up from the floor and stared at his aunt dead in the eye. He knew what it was he would have to do but he did not know if his aunt would allow him.

The conversation they just had could be interpreted in two ways; one would be that she wanted Spike the finish the job that she could not do, defeat King Sombra and live in prosperity and harmony once again. Two would be, that she did not want Spike anywhere near King Sombra and did not want him to kill the King despite that he had to do it.

He sighed as he thought about the whole situation. There were times where he just wanted to lay in his bed and allow the royal guards to handle it and then there were the days where he fought for every pony’s freedom and other creatures’.

It was a difficult life he lived but he wouldn’t change it.

“How do you want me to proceed?” Spike questioned, his voice holding a twinge of fear that no one but Luna always picked up on. Luna snapped her attention back to her nephew who looked powerful but there was some very small fear in him.

That was good. It meant that he was still sane.

Luna suddenly frowned when she heard what he had asked. “What do you mean by that?” She asked.

“If King Sombra wounded you—”

“Only because he cheated, he stabbed me from behind!”

“—then I would like some advice, some things that I should take into account. Warlords and leaders that would be good to focus my efforts on. If I kill the leaders; there will be a domino effect. The other Umbra soldiers would look for someone with the most experience and would want to make him the leader but they will have different opinions which will lead them into a divide. King Sombra’s favorite tactic, Divide And Conquer. It is the one that works the best. It has worked throughout history, Khothun Khan used it on Hoofshima and it worked for quite a while.”

Spike stopped to think if he should mention the Straw Hat Ronin or not. In the end, he decided not to. It was a story for another day.

Luna got up from the floor, stretching her body a little from how stiff it had become. She agreed with what Spike had said, Divide And Conquer were one of the easiest ways to take over a kingdom and it was clear that it had worked.

*** *** ***

Spike had left Luna in the room after they had made some preparations for when it was time to take back Canterlot and the rest of Equestria. There wasn’t much else he could do other than to see if he could liberate some other kingdoms that were under King Sombra’s hoof.

He was contemplating if he should speak to his mother and cousin but he did not know if now was the best of times but either way, he wanted to spend time with them.

He found them in the dining room and walked inside, much to the surprise of the others in the room. They had expected him to flee or go back to his room but he didn’t, he just walked inside the dining room, took a seat beside his mother, and was handed a bowl of gems by the kitchen staff.

They ate in silence, no pony or dragon wanted to break it in fear that there would be a fight. Spike ate his gems with chopsticks, almost as if he had done it for years. The others looked at him In amazement, surprised that he had learned that.

But thinking about it, they realized that it was obvious. He had spent time on an Island that preferably ate with chopsticks.

The staff was secretly watching their hero with glee. They had heard about how he had liberated Yakyakistan and were fully on his side. They were rotting for The Ghost.

The Crystal Guards in the room were inwardly trying to stop themselves from chanting their heros’ titles with glee. They saw him as a beacon of hope, the one to vanquish King Sombra once and for all. Rebuild Equestria and form alliances with the other Kingdoms so they would not have to succumb as they did.

Pinkie Pie watched Spike with a mysterious smile. She knew about the prophecy just like Luna; before it even happened. She did her best to help Spike in the direction he needed to go to become the hero of all of Equestria.

The rest of the very late dinner went by without anything exciting. Spike walked to his bedroom and planned an attack on Griffinstone. He would need the help of the Crystal Ponies and the Element Bearers. He would make sure that they did not receive any lethal wounds on them.

This is what he had trained for, this is what his ancestor expected of him. And most of all; the creatures of Equestria needed something to believe in.

*** *** ***

Early in the morning when the moon was still up, Spike had left the palace and informed one of the Crystal Guards that he would be taking over the strongholds that the Umbrum soldiers have, those strongholds could be a ticket of a liberated Equestria.

Spike by the cover of darkness, left the empire.

He would not be gone for long, he would only need two hours at best — probably less — and be back before anypony noticed anything. That was the plan and he had already gone quite far. He was somewhere in between the Crystal Empire and Yakyakistan.

He heard rumours that there were five strongholds in this particular region which he found odd. King Sombra may be addicted to ruling the Crystal Empire, but he now had Equestria and other kingdoms which must have been his original goal.

Yet, he puts five strongholds in a region where the last empire is still standing; this meant to Spike that King Sombra wanted to humiliate his mother, aunt, cousin and Twilight. Humiliate them by defeating them and taking over the last empire still standing.

King Sombra wanted to make a statement.

Spike grit his teeth as he traveled the region, looking for any war camps where his soldiers were most likely. The frozen north was magnificent but it deserved its title nonetheless from the deathly cold winds. He was lucky that he had been trained, otherwise; he’s frozen to death.

Spike glanced over the horizons, being careful to not enter the enemy view. Luckily, there were no enemies around but that did not mean that they weren’t nearby. You never knew.

*** *** ***

When Spike was somewhere between the frozen north and Yakyakistan, he heard swishing noises; like blades cutting through the air. He knew those kinds of sounds, he had heard them a lot when he had been training with his katana. It was a way for him to learn the correct grip when he was fighting.

He moved closer to the sounds, which wasn’t far from his position, and when he saw the war camp he knew what was going on. There was a Umbrum warlord who was swishing his sword around, the warlord looked to be training, and intently at that.

Spike was peering over a stone edge that was frozen from the coldness. There was a stone path with dirt that was stone-hard. The war camp was fifteen feet away from him. The camp was not large but there were at least four tents that were more like a small circular home.

Spike was crouched down and observed the camp; there were no hostages, there were some explosives he could use to his advantage. He squinted his eyes and spied down three look-outs that had bows and arrows. Spike would take them out first.

He pulled out his bow and placed an arrown and aimed it at the head of the first one. The archer was wearing thick blue cloth whit sewn fur with a heating charm. His bow was in his left hand and he watched with a bored expression before he felt something pierce his head before finally dying.

Spike pulled out another arrow and fired it at the other Umbrum soldier who faced the same fate. He glanced to the final Umbrum archer but noticed that he had a helmet and decided to go for the neck. Spike gained control of the arrow and fired it in the direction of the archer, making him stagger before he released his final breath.

Spike jumped down and was succumbed do minimal damage from the fall. It had been further down than he had calculated. Spike moved towards the war camp with stelth. There were crystal walls covering it like with the wood on other places but this time it was not normal, it was corrupted black crystals, the same ones that King Sombra uses.

Spike climbed from a wagon that had been placed there that had food and medicine, he then jumped to the roof of one of the tents and looked around the place. There were a few light from the fires around the war camp that Spike could use to burn his enemies alive with.

Spike saw the Umbrum warlord walking with two other Umbrum soldiers. It was the same one that he had seen train earlier. Spike jumped towards him with his katana hitting the back of the gold helmet of the warlord, making him stagger and his two fellow soldiers look at Spike in surprise.

Before the two could do anything, Spike released a smoke bomb and assassinated them with his, his katana gutting the first one and his tanto hitting the second one in the throat. The warlord looked at Spike in anger, feet staggering from the surprise of the attack.

“Cé hé tusa!?” The warlord angrily asked. Spike did not bother with this one and flung his sword towards the stomach of the warlord, but the Umbrum warlord anticipated this and evaded and brought out his sword and shield. Spike tried to evade a blow from the warlord but he was attacked from behind by one of the bigger soldiers who threw him in the air with his weapon.

Spike landed on his back and grunted as he felt the stone-hard ground and choked a little on the air. He got up and started kicking the bigger guy and when he started to stagger, Spike flung the katana in the middle of the head of the Umbrum soldier, the blood splattening on the ground.

Spike turned to the Umbrum warlord and switched his tactics.

He delivered a heavy blow to the shield which seemed too much for the warlord but he did not lose his grip or balance as he subtly glared at Spike through the line of his helmet. Spike jumped up and delivered another heavy blow to the shield, this time; making the warlord stagger and losing control.

Now he had a chance.

Spike gutted the Umbrum warlord, making him release his final screams and alerting the other Umbrum soldiers that had not heard the fighting.

Spike looked up and glanced around him, seeing the many different Umbrums running towards him — their weapons ready for battle. The Umbrums wore similar clothing like the archers but some of them had yellow cloth covering them instead. Not that it made a difference.

The Umbrums were dark creatures who murder and plunder. Spike redied his katana and allowed the first creature from his right to attack him. The creature had been standing beside a horse stall. The Umbrum soldier was fighting with a spear that had some carved holes in it to have better stability.

Spike blocked a sweep from the Umbrum and then evaded another one when the Umbrum tried to stab him in the gut. Spike then killed him by decapitating him, the head rolling down in front of the other Umbrums who looked at him with pure manifested anger that did not leave their system.

The next creature was one with a sword but Spike easily blocked the barrage of attacks that seemed to be never-ending. But the Umbrum had made one tiny mistake; He left his knee completely open for a possible stabbing. Spike pulled out his tanto with such speed, it was hard to tell what was happening.

He stabbed the Umbrum and he cried out in pain. Before Spike could pull out the Tanto from the knee, he was attacked from behind by the last Umbrum soldier who had either not died or run away like cowards.

The Umbrum looked at him with anger started swinging his sword at Spike but the purple-scaled dragon just evaded the attempts with ease. The world seemed to stop as Spike threw his katana in the air and started spinning towards the Umbrum.

The soldier of King Sombra had no time to react as the katana landed right on the head; making him fall to the ground, face-first.

Spike walked over to the Umbrum that still had his Tanto stuck in his knee. He pulled it out and heard the wails of agony as he did so. He decided to not kill him when he knew that there were fates that were far worse than death. Spike walked over to the last Umbrum he killed and pulled out his katana.

The blood on the blade was evident, but it also showed the violent battle that had taken place at this very time. Spike had a content smile because of it. He could not help but feel proud of himself. He looked up to the sky and he would still swear years later that the clouds disappeared for a shimmer of a second to invite the sun to shine upon him.

*** *** ***

In the chaotic real that Discord lives in, the Draconequus was watching everything through a small globe and had a small smile on his lips as he sat upside-down.

“His legend grows, he is the creatures hope,” Discord said.

14 — Liberating Griffinstone

One way to truly relax with everything around you is meditating. Spike had learned this with his ancestor and was grateful for it. Meditation made him realize that there were a few things in his life he should have changed but never did.

One of those things was to be bolder. Take part in more mature discussions, put in his own opinion, help his friends when they needed it. Those are good goals to have but he never strived after them which was a problem that he had tried to solve many times before but never could.

There were many things he wished he could change but he knew he never could, but he could at least look to better himself in the future, make sure that he does not repeat the same mistakes he did. And that is how he has been thinking since he got back to Equestria.

He always thought about the positive side of things, he never looked at the negative, the negative only fueled his rage for the Umbrum regime. It was manifesting into Spike by the day, the anger that he used to be able to hold at bay was slowly slipping from his claws as if he was holding an ice cube that was melting.

He was inside of his room, legs crossed and eyes closed. The darkness that he saw was not unbearable, it was terrifying in one way; not knowing what was there even if it was just his imagination. The blackness was never-ending and for once he was not afraid.

This once, he was not afraid of it. He embraced it.

He was thinking about the lessons his ancestor thought him. Spike had learned a lot of poetry from his ancestor and he had gotten a taste for it. Writing Haiku as it is called is a way for Spike to prepare his mind before a battle. But range mixed with adrenaline is never a good combination.

He was preparing himself for the liberation of Griffinstone. He had told the Crystal Guards that he needed them on standby if something went wrong. He did not want to risk innocent lives if he could prevent it.

He opened his eyes when he heard the knocking on the door. “Come in.” He said, watching as the door opened and closed revealing a concerned Luna whose lips quivered. She knew that Spike would be traveling soon, she just wanted to say goodbye in case this was the last time she would ever see him again.

Spike was wearing the armour that made him look intimidating but Luna would always know who it was that was wearing it. She looked at him up and down and let out a sigh that she was not aware she was capable of. This was it, Spike was of to liberate Griffinstone.

“Spike, I want you to promise me that you will never allow King Sombra to win.” Her eyes revealed how old she truly was. She may look no older than a twenty-year-old but she was much older than that. She was at least one thousand years old. She looked at Spike the same way an old mentor does to his or her student when they cannot teach them anymore.

He bowed low, showing his respect and acknowledgment to his aunt. He got up from the floor and turned to the window in his room where he had a full view over the empire. He glanced back at his aunt and gave a soft smile, one that melted Luna’s heart simply by seeing it.

He opened the window and jumped out, and just like that; he was gone.

*** *** ***

Spike was walking with the other Crystal Guards and whoever was willing to fight, they walked in silence and did not want to speak because they knew what would happen in a few hours or minutes. They were ready to die for Equestria and The Ghost. They had been forced to hide from their enemies the second King Sombra took over Equestria, and they were not happy with that, they wanted to fight King Sombra so badly that they at one point had lost sight of everything important and now they had somepony or rather, dragon to help them. A dragon that is a living legend inside of the Crystal Empire. There had been a Gryphon who had talked about The Ghosts and how they protect them even after death. He had given them hope, especially the children, and then when a hero came and called himself The Ghost they could not help but turn to the Gryphon to find out more stories that other creatures may not know about.

They reached a crossroads and saw some Umbra guards riding towards some location. Spike had signaled the guards to not attack. If they did, then they would not be able to get to Griffinstone at that rate. They walked for another few hours and when they got closer they noticed how the Umbrum soldiers were getting more agitated and violent. They were shouting things in their language that Spike did not have time to translate but he knew that something was wrong simply by the tone.

When they reached the mountain that Spike had climbed, he showed them the path “Okay,” Spike began, glancing over the guards ranging from ponies, dragons, changelings, and others. “Today is the day we liberate Griffinstone. If we succeed and they agree to help us; we will be stronger in the army that we have. The stronger we are, the better. And we will take King Sombra’s head!”

They cheered at that, they knew that Spike would not let them down, his legend had grown over the past few weeks since he returned.

Spike bowed to them in respect and started climbing up a small path that he would use to jump inside the kingdom and then fight against the Umbrum soldiers. The weather was getting worse, it was raining, making the mud slippy which wasn’t good. Luckily, he had trained for these sorts of weather conditions before so he was not worried. He continued to climb until he reached the top.

Reaching the top, Spike got up and looked into the fallen kingdom of Griffinstone. It felt so strange seeing the Griffins so hopeless. They wandered around their stone pats with the Umbrum guards marching around and making sure that their slaves did not attempt anything.

The light that covered Griffinstone was from a huge fire that was ablaze on one of the stone houses. Spike clenched his claws. A Griffin must have pissed off the Umbrums. He hoped that the Griffin was okay.

Spike looked to the Crystal Guards below him and saw that they were ready if anything went wrong. Spike looked up to the Griffin kingdom; at least what was left of it and closed his eyes for a split second.

Spike would still in the future claim that he felt a spirit take over; guiding his blade into the Umbrums. He jumped from the cliff he stood on and landed on top of a house, not even making a single sound. The houses were different from what Spike could remember.

Last time he had observed the houses had stones for houses with hay as the roof. But now the houses looked poverty-stricken. Even before the invasion; Griffinstone was not the richest kingdom but they certainly knew how to move forward but now, Griffinstone was the most underprivileged kingdom in Equestria.

The Umbrums were kicking and hitting Griffins and other creatures who simply wanted help. Spike felt his “Vengeful Spirit” take over; pushing aside any other emotions he might’ve had. He ran from the house roof and jumped to another house roof and pulled out his bow and arrow and aimed it at a watchtower with a fire above the Umbrum. The fire was inside a small metal kettle-like object that was most commonly used for ships by the docks to let them know where to go to. Spike aimed at the fire and waited for around ten seconds before he released the arrow. The arrow flew through the air, piercing the wind as it drifted towards its destination. When the arrow hit the kettle-like object, the fire landed on the wood beneath the Umbrums feet and she caught fire. She started to scream at the top of her lungs before she died from the burn wounds she received.

The Umbrums drew their weapons, ready for battle. They jogged to the watchtower to see if their comrade was still breathing. An Umbrum Archer climbed the ladder and when he reached the top, he took out his horn and was about to signal his comrades that one of their own had fallen when an arrow pierced his throat. Spike drew another arrow and watched as the other Umbrums walked towards the watchtower cautiously.

He looked down to the ground and saw a few heavy Umbrums carrying weapons such as spears and a form of powdered cannonball-like weapon but one that a creature could hold as long as they had a lighter. He aimed for one of them who had been sitting down and been drinking apple cider. The Umbrum looked around, his gaze piercing the other civilians who were working as to not get punished.

Spike shot an arrow towards him, hitting the Umbrum in the head and falling to the ground. The Umbrums turned towards the scream. An earth pony mare had seen the Umbrum die in quite a gruesome way and could not contain her scream. She ran from the scene while the other Umbrums were speaking to each other aggressively.

“Púca!” A Umbrum suddenly screamed from beside Spike. He jumped a little, not expecting an enemy so close to him, and saw some hint of fear in the Umbrums eyes but blocked that fear by trying to slice him with his large sword.

The Umbrum swung the sword with next to no control at all; much to Spike’s anger. If the Umbrum were to be in a situation where he needs control of his sword; then he would not be able to win because he had no control whatsoever over the sword.

Spike blocked the attempts at slicing him and stabbed him in the stomach, leaving a large gash there.

The other Umbrums were running towards Spike, but two of them were on their way towards hostages that had been disobedient, intending to kill them to make Spike feel guilt or make them turn on Spike for not saving one of their own.

Spike jumped down from the roof and blocked two different hits from Umbrums who were eager to slaughter him. Their sword and spear respectively colliding with each other, making some sparks come from the contact. Spike threw a smoke bomb to the ground, making a huge smoke emit from the object.

Some Umbrums coughed from the smoke, allowing Spike to assassinate them by the cover of the smoke. The two Umbrums who made their way to the hostages were about to kill them when two arrows pierced them. Spike for a brief second looked up and saw something he had not expected; Pipsqueak with his bow and arrow aimed at the two Umbrums with a look of hatred.

Spike continued with his battles but felt confident in his ability to liberate Griffinstone. His best brother in all but blood was here. Together, they would defeat the Umbrums and bring King Sombra to his knees. Spike blocked an attack coming from an Umbrum leader who was wearing grey armour.

Spike looked at the leader with pure anger and loathing. The Umbrums may be corrupt from King Sombra but they are too far gone. Even if they were to show that they were not in control, the guilt from the now Umbrums would eat them alive which would make them suicidal.

It was better this way; Spike could set them free and allow them a chance at redemption in the next life.

The leader jumped towards Spike with the sword, swinging dangerously close to his throat. Spike blocked a few hits with his katana but he felt his grip almost slip, the strength the leader was posing was more than Spike had expected.

Spike jumped into the air and hit katana at the leader who blocked the attack but stumbled back from the heavy attack. Spike did the same thing again, this time, making the leader lose control and become slightly dizzy which showed an open opportunity; Spike in a fit of rage cut the head cleanly off.

The head rolled down on the ground for a few seconds before stopping.

Spike saw the other Umbrums rushing towards him with their weapons drawn. Spike cleaned the blood off and rushed towards them with the same speed as they had, his face masking one of anger inside of his mask. He blocked two attacks from Umbrums and sliced their throats and cut off a claw from another.

The Umbrums screamed in agony, shock, anger, and fear. The last emotion was the one that was making the Umbrums feel more uncertain as the day passes.

Spike continued fighting against the Umbrums, feeling his katana be guided to his enemies, almost as if something else was controlling him. He was hit by another leader who was there but he got up from the ground quickly and killed the Umbrum leader before he had any chance at attacking Spike.

When Spike turned around, he saw an Umbrum who fell to his knees, an arrow in his head. Spike saw Pipsqueak and to his utter shock; The cutie mark crusaders, Snips, Snails, and Rumble were fighting off Umbrums. They fought like true samurai. Their technique was perfect. Applebloom was fighting with an ax that was covered in mud. They must have climbed up the mountain. Scootaloo was wielding a sword that was cutting through the Umbrums. Sweetie Belle was wielding a spear and was making the enemy trip on their hooves. Snips and Snails were wielding spears while Rumble was holding a katana. They were fighting like true warriors, something Spike temporarily admired before he was forced to block an attack from another Umbrum who was covered in blood.

Spike stabbed him in the gut and pulled out his Katana with force, making blood spray everywhere. Before he knew it, the last of the Umbrums fell to the ground or tried to crawl away. Spike stabbed a few, allowing them to get to the next great adventure.

Spike glanced at the ones who helped him. He knew Pipsqueak would help him along the way It had only been a matter of time before he came to help him with defeating the Umbrum. He had not expected the cutie mark crusaders to be involved despite them being loyal to a fault. Snips, Snails, and Rumble was a surprise but a welcome one.

Nonetheless, Spike was happy that he received help from his allies. He took off his mask and smiled at them, a smile that had not been plastered on his face for a very long time.

Author's Note

Here is another chapter guys, I hope you are enjoying this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I want to see if I can finish this story by the end of December, if not, then it doesn’t really matter. I intend on finishing this story — see it through to the end. That was all from me.

Legend 1 — The Demon Of Yakyakistan

Walking back to the Crystal Empire was a long journey with little to no breaks for Spike. The Crystal guards stayed in Griffinstone to make sure that the Umbrums don’t reclaim it. His friends separated, intending on doing different things in the lands of Equestria and they invited Spike to come along.

This left Spike wandering back to the Crystal Empire, hoping to catch some rest before he set out for another adventure. He was getting closer, feeling the cold on his scales hinted that way. He took small breathes of cold air, feeling it travel to his lungs and out again.

When he had stayed a few minutes at a survivors camp, he had heard some Griffins speaking about him and his friends. The Griffin explained how Spike had butchered the Umbrums, not leaving them any chances of attacking. This brought hope to the other survivors.

It was something that many other creatures had forgotten; to have hope.

Spike looked up ahead as he walked, his senses on full alert and his claws ready to draw the katana out if needed. He heard some creatures speaking in hushed tones, Spike looked to his right and saw that it was a survivors camp and decided to stay there for a few minutes.

The survivors camp was quite small that fit around fifteen to thirty creatures. There were a few wagons with the other creatures things in them that they had brought with them ranging from food, medicine, water, clothes, anything useful to others that may need it.

The dirt under his feet was hard and a little icy, so Spike treaded carefully to any travelers or other creatures that may sell anything. There was a Trapper who sold hunting equipment and bought things from other creatures as well if needed. Spike bought some arrows and explosive arrows for another time and went to the traveler who sold coloured silk that would dress nicely on Spike’s body if he wore them right.

Spike walked up to the traveler who wore some green cloth in his upper and lower body along with sandals. “Would you like to see what I have?” The traveler asked, hopeful.

“Yes, I would love to see what you have,” Spike said with a smile on his face, showing warmth to the traveler. Certain travelers like the Spike were buying from had different tastes in payment. Travelers had flowers for payment because some flowers in potions can help them travel to places faster or they can make the potions to sell them for a profit later on.

Spike bought some red colours with white flowers on them for an outfit that reminded Spike of his ancestors’ who had many outfits, one of them that stood out was Straw Hat clothing. Spike never asked about why he had mercenary clothing and assumed that his ancestor joined a form of them but Spike knew that it was a lot more complicated than that.

Spike bowed in respect to the traveler who smiled and bowed back. The traveler was a yak and Spike smiled, realizing that the yak must have either heard of his tale or seen it for himself.

Spike turned around to head on his way to the empire when there was a halt in some creature running, Spike glanced up and saw another yak there, looking terrified of something. From the looks of things, the yak was a musician. Spike and the others looked at the yak in concern, wondering what had happened to cause him to run and look as though he saw a demon.

Spike walked up to the yak with firm steps, showing that the yak was safe. The yak, when he saw Spike, bolted towards him and stopped right in front of him, and bowed deeply in respect. This utterly baffled the others as they did not expect this at all. The yak wore white robes that covered his body with hints of grey.

“What happened? Who were you running from?” Spike asked, voice calm but his eyes were one of a raging storm, ready to unleash its wrath on those who hurt innocents. The yak looked up and relaxed a little, he felt safe now that he knew The Ghost was here.

The yak calmed down and motioned for them to sit down. Spike sat down with his legs crossed, and the yak did the same. He was calming his breathing from running so far and so fast. He should have worked on his cardio. He glanced at Spike, his eyes ready to tell his tale.

“Ghost, I met something terrible in Yakyakistan, something that us yaks believed to be an old urban myth, something that only appears in books of mythology, legends, and folktales. But this creature, he was more than real.” The yak began, his voice sounding strained both from running and from fear.

Spike was intrigued by this and motioned for the musician to continue.

*** *** ***

“Long ago in Yakyakistan, there was a war raging between the Dragons and Yaks that caused devastation whenever our creatures fought against one another. This led to the other creatures taking sides in the war and the yaks obliged the help from the Crystal Empire.

“However, there was a yak that believed wholeheartedly that we yaks could win the battle against the dragons and whoever stood with them. His sword was the heaviest among the yaks and whenever he swung it, it was promised destruction that would carve itself in its wake.

“But when the war finally stopped after both yaks and dragons decided to call it a truce, and start with peaceful talks, the yak could not allow it to happen. The war had made him famous and many yaks admired his ability to fight, if the war stopped, he would lose the fame and fortune which he had collected.

“Stricken by greed, he set out of Yakyakistan and traveled to a place no creature is certain of and started to learn dark magic. He placed dark magic in his sword making it cleaner and sharper. This made his enemies frightful as he could collect souls with it. as well as allowing his enemies to bleed to death.

“When he returned from his learnings of dark magic, he was not welcome because we had figured out what the sword could do and knew the purpose of it. In rage; he started killing the yaks he had seen as friends and comrades, not stopping until they were all dead.

“After that day, he started to stalk the kingdom of Yakyakistan and never cared if it was a friend or family member, only caring about the fear he struck every yak with. Then abruptly centuries ago, it stopped and he was never seen or heard from again. Yaks believed he had stopped but we were wrong, just a few hours ago, there were dead bodies of yaks the same way he used to do it. Proving that he is stalking the kingdom of Yakyakistan once more.”

*** *** ***

Spike was intrigued by the story he had been told by the musician. It was not normal to hear about legends of Equestria especially legends that never left the other kingdoms. Yakyakistan was proof of that, yaks used to rarely leave their kingdom and if they did, they certainly never spoke about their kingdom, legends, and folktales, that was something that only other yaks knew about, and those who lived there. It also explained why the yaks were quite paranoid about everything — just like dragons — they questioned everything as if they are about to be tricked. Spike never knew the reason before but now he understood, he would have done precisely the same thing.

“Interesting,” Spike spoke up when he noticed that the musician looked at him. “However, what is his name?” Spike noticed under the entire story that the name was never even mentioned, which made Spike even more invested in the story.

The musician looked troubled by the question, his face morphed into one of frustrations and fear. Spike was about to apologize but the musician beat him to it.

“I deeply apologize, I do not know the name, I don’t believe the modern yaks know, Yona and yak guards might know but if they do, they have never said anything for whatever reason.” The musician said, frustrated that he could not give the hero more information as simple as a name.

Spike bowed to him in thanks and left him at the camp, setting out to Yakyakistan instead. But before he was able to leave, the musician stopped him by calling his name. Spike turned around, looking at the musician in the eyes.

“Be careful, that yak is said to be a demon and demons are very strong as well as yaks, mix the two...” The musician did not finish the sentence. He didn’t need to. Spike knew the stakes and knew that if the legend was true, then he knew to expect some strength.

“I know what is at stake, thanks for the warning,” Spike said, bowing and leaving the concerned musician at the camp. The musician himself on the other hand worried for The Ghosts’ safety.

*** *** ***

The harsh cold from the frozen north was never a welcome invitation to Spike as he walked up the path that led to the kingdom known as Yakyakistan. He had liberated the kingdom just weeks ago or maybe a month ago and had been seen by the yaks as a hero for liberating them from their oppression.

Ever since he had saved the cutie mark crusaders, the creatures of Equestria had some creature to look up to. Initially, they had believed it to be a hoax, but when the crusaders were checked so they weren’t Umbrum changelings, they knew it was the truth. The three fillies and Pipsqueak explained what had happened which led to the Crystal Ponies explaining how Spike The Brave And Glorious had returned to liberate them all. From that day onwards, his legend grew there weren’t any creatures who did not know his name, they all heard the stories. They also heard the Umbrum war camps he has liberated along with the liberation of Yakyakistan and Griffinstone, his legend simply grew and their hope skyrocketed.

Spike started walking up the mountain, his blade ready in case the demon would come out to attack him. If the legend was true, then there was a high possibility that the demon was hiding in the mountain forest somewhere, secluded from view and secured by the trees from being seen.

The roads suddenly felt tense, as If something was there, watching him, but he could not pinpoint where he felt it from. His muscles were as tense as they could, and his claws were ready to draw out the katana and slice the demon from hurting more innocent creatures who walked the roads.

Spike was halfway to Yakyakistan when he suddenly heard rattling. He jumped, drawing his katana and ready to fight but there was nothing there ...

The mountain forest which was to the left of him when he had walked was empty from any life. It was quiet ... uncomfortably quiet. Spike stretched his neck to see further into the forest, attempting to see any outlines of any creatures who might be watching him from a distance, but from what he could see, there were no creatures there.

Spike slowly, with katana in his claws, started walking again to Yakyakistan. He kept glancing into the forest but he never saw any creatures in there, and if there were, they were hiding well. The stone path to the kingdom looked cracked and it was wet as if there had been raining.

Spike stopped in his tracks. wet? He asked himself. There had been no rain that day and the snow had started to melt since King Sombra had taken over, the natural life was practically none-existant but with magic, the animals were still alive luckily.

Spike looked down to his feet and saw something horrific. His shoes were covered in something red, and it certainly was not wine. Using his left claw, Spike stretched his fingers to feel the red on his shoes and sure enough, it was blood. He looked behind him and saw that there was a pool of blood smeared on the ground. It was thick, so the demon must have killed a creature and allowed it to bleed, and then dumped the body elsewhere.

Spike’s anger flared as he thought about it. How some creature can do that as a sport was something he would never understand. It’s one thing being desperate, it is another thing when you’re doing it for fun.

Spike glared at the forest as if it was the forests’ fault. He knew what he had to do, so he did what he knew that he would do; he walked into the forest with his senses on high alert and his katana ready to cut through any creature who would attack him.

The forest had beautiful trees that aligned well with the other counterparts in the area, giving it a scary vibe with the very small fog that was around the area. Nonetheless, Spike moved onwards, looking for the yak who had become a demon by slaughtering those who stood in his way.

It disgusted Spike greatly that some creatures could do things like that, betray those who did nothing wrong to the creature and yet betray them just like that. From the legend, it seemed as though the demon had a taste for blood. He must have had a thirst for it since childhood.

But there is always the possibility of something else as well. “War brings out who we truly are.”

That was something that scared Spike, the statement was correct, those pressuring situations shows a side to a creature that no creature else expects but it is always there. It is not something that is easily taken away.

Spike continued onwards, hearing the crunching on the leaves as he past through the forest. When he was about to turn he heard a voice ahead of him.

“So The Ghost decided to show up!” Spike looked up and saw a yak that was covered in blood, his face was showing glee and not the good kind. Spike knew instantly that this was the demon. The yak had no horns, they were chopped off. There was a scar near his left eye that stretched from the nose. He wore a black cloth that covered his underside. He had a sword in his mouth that was covered in blood and Spike wore that he saw the yak lick it. “I admit, i did not believe you had the guts to show up but you did.”

Spike simply stared at the yak, his claws shaking.

The yak grinned at him and got into a stance that two creatures use when they are going to duel. “I hope you have written your will, because you won’t be leaving this forest alive!” He said, laughing at Spike who still had not said anything.

Wordlessly, Spike got into the dueling stance and waited until the demon would attack first.

The demon shot towards Spike with such speed that it took Spike awhile to comprehend what had happened. Spike managed to block two attacks at him but failed the third one that sent him flying and crashed down into the mud on the ground.

Seeing an opportunity, the demon ran at Spike with full speed but had not anticipated Spike dodging the attempt of being sliced to bits. Spike evaded and jumped up into the air and hit the sword in the demons’ mouth with all his might, forcing the yak to look away because of the force.

Spike managed to stab him once, making the yak howl in pain but it was not enough to take him down. The demon in pure anger started swinging his head left and right, attempting to gut Spike who evaded and blocked several of the hits. The yak suddenly stopped swinging and ran towards Spike and tried to cut off his head but failed and managed to cut a part of a tree instead, making the sword get stuck.

Spike seeing an opportunity, rushed towards the yak and tried to cut him down and succeded. The katana was stuck in the yaks neck and subsequently died from his injuries. Spike stared at the body for a long while, before pulling back his katana and wiping it clean from blood.

The fight ended quickly, too quickly. The yak became arrogant, and Spike did not even know his name. Spike turned around and walked out the way he came from, wondering if the demon was even dead. Nevertheless, the demon was dead. Spike walked out of the forest and decided to head to Yakyakistan to inform them of what transpired.

Author's Note

It wasn’t a long battle but I hope you enjoyed the chapter:twilightsmile:

B1 — The Unforgivable

Spike was walking over to a fort near the Crystal Empire that was under Umbrum control. He had heard about the fort being talked about by other creatures when he had been walking around Yakyakistan.

After defeating the demon, Spike let the yaks know that he had defeated the demon, they could all see the blood that was smeared across him. It was undoubtedly true that he had defeated the Demon of Yakyakistan, and they were so happy that The Ghost was with them again.

Spike had been given a hotel room to stay in and some food despite his insistence that he would pay them. They did not listen to him so they continued with their plans. Spike stayed the night but before bed, he had walked around the kingdom and heard conversations from the other creatures who spoke about a fort that held innocents who were being slaughtered and used as slaves. The purple dragon slept for a few hours and then started making his way to the fort, he knew where it was located because he had seen it at a distance when he and the Crystal Guards were making their way to Griffinstone, they had to be careful to not be seen.

The fort was beside a forest that was said to serve as a shortcut but no creature knew where it led. No creature dared enter the forest even before the invasion. But now, Spike could maybe use it to his advantage. Lure in some Umbrums and slaughter them for what they did to Equestria.

He liked the idea but he would need to use firecrackers as a distraction and he did not have any on him. The Umbrums most likely had some as they carried all sorts of weapons wherever they went. Spike snorted as he thought about it, Umbrums have all the weapons but King Sombra is arrogant, so arrogant that he did not stop to consider the fact that his army may lose in a battle. He just throws more Umbrums his enemies way and expects them to fall.

It greatly infuriated Spike that King Sombra only saw his soldiers as just something he can throw at some creature as if they are replaceable, you can never replace friends and family.

Spike continued onwards to the fort, not stopping to look back. His claws were trembling from the adrenaline rushes he had suffered for the last few days, but he would not change it for anything. He was proud of who he was and who he had become.

For the next few minutes, he walked towards the location, intending on climbing inside somehow and view the place, and start killing of Umbrums. His idea was the same as the last one when it came to liberating war camps, forts, and farms across Equestria.

The fort had ten Umbrum wood tents that were easy to set up but also easy to burn. The fort was an old farm that was known for its berries. That was before the frozen north became that; frozen. It was a village mostly used by pegasi as they gained energy from the berries that the other two tribes did not.

Later, it was frozen over a few thousand years ago and became known as ‘The Frozen North’ and the village was all but forgotten about. The village then became a place for travelers and warriors to better their weapons. Making the swords, bow, and arrow, knives, armour, and other weapons better, sharper.

It has been used by many guards over the years but since the invasion, it was brought to a halt because King Sombra demanded that they only make weapons for him which they refused. In retaliation, King Sombra sent fifty of his soldiers who took over the former fishing village and forced them to cooperate.

Since then, no creature knew what was going on over there. Well, apart from the Umbrums and the ones who were forced to work and live there. But if Spike has the right feeling about the village, if he liberates the fort then the Crystal guards and whoever can fight; will have more weapons in production that will be used to kill off the Umbrums that were terrorizing the innocent across Equestria.

He will be taking the fight to them.

There was not much information else that was known about the fort, but the creatures who lived there were not well known; they did business with Equestria and the Crystal Empire, that was it, the only ones who would know anything about them would be distant relatives, that would be the closest they would be able to know much.

But that fort was not the only place that was occupied by Umbrums, there are tens of war camps and other occupied territories that the Umbrum abused into submission. Ponyville was the best example of that. The town was broken, not just by buildings, by soul and emotions as well.

The creatures there has no enthusiasm at all. This is strange; Ponyville was once the one place in Equestria that was seen as the happiest town in existence. The ponies there knew each other by name and did fun things together, they even welcomed Spike with open hooves but they were not happy with him when he lost control with his greed and that was understandable. He paid for all the repairs and no pony from Ponyville to this day knows how he paid it. Apart from Mayor Mare who had strangely winked at him as if she knew where he got it from. Over time, they forgave Spike and knew that he was still at the time a baby dragon and that it was his first time.

But now; Ponyville could be under attack by Umbrums and they would not even flinch. The attacks were brutal but they did not scream. They did not react to anything, with no emotion on their faces. And it wasn’t the type of “no emotion in politics”, this was no emotion because they lost hope.

In the end, they allow the Umbrums to do what they want because they have no hope, that might have changed slightly now, but they might not truly believe the stories they might’ve heard from the Umbrums. That is if they know and understand their language.

But Ponyville would be the last place that Spike would liberate; Ponyville is the one town in Equestria that holds the entirety of Equestria together, which is why Ponyville is so important, in other creatures eyes it might look like any other town when in reality; that town is the very thing keeping Equestria going.

It was the reason the Summer Sun Celebration happened in Ponyville, it wasn’t a coincidence that the party was held there. Princess Celestia knew that her sister or Nightmare Moon would go to their old castle that is abandoned in the Everfree Forest.

She had known that Twilight would be the wielder of magic because of her vast knowledge of the many different spells. There had even been spells that Twilight unknowingly had improved. Spike had to pretend he was tired to not draw attention to himself. He knew that Nightmare Moon was his aunt or Princess Luna. Spike was afraid that if he came along, then he would not be overly surprised to see his aunt which in turn would make the other six mares ask him how that came to be.

He would have to answer a lot of questions, and he did not feel very comfortable answering them. The only ones that know in the present were the royal guards from his mothers, aunt, and cousins side as well as Shining Armor because he needs to know since he was the prince of the Crystal Empire.

But Spike suspected that the other know about it.

*** *** ***

When Spike was near the vicinity of the fort, he had tried to find a survivors camp to rest for a few minutes or an hour and found one that was just five minutes away from the fort. He had some rice and vegetables and then had meditated before he planned his mind for battle.

The creatures there saw the symbol he was carrying which was the one the rumored Ghost carried which made them excited, if The Ghost was here, then it meant that he was going to liberate the fort. They were happy that he was there to help them, and every creature beyond.

After Spike had finished with his meditating, he got up to his feet and turned his head to the fort which was five minutes away. Slowly, he walked away from the survivor’s camp, not noticing that the creatures there were silently praying for him.

*** *** ***

The fort was as big as Spike had suspected, ten Umbrum tents had been built with meat — that they had killed and hunted for — hanging to the side of them. There were creatures there who were being used as slaves, getting kicked for falling, or not being finished with a certain task.

It infuriated Spike to no end.

Hitting creatures and using them as slaves are things that make Spike do what he does apart from the duty of the prophecy. Innocents should not have to be subjected to a tyrannical system ruled by a lunatic in power who only wants more power, the more power you have, the more power-hungry that creature becomes.

That is something that every creature knows but never speaks about. It is a silent argument that is never brought up in any form of discussion. Unless it is a situation where it needs to be mentioned but nopony or other creatures look at each other in the eye.

It’s not taboo, but it is not welcomed into discussions either.

Spike was by the wooden wall and started climbing with his iron hooks. He jumped and the hook landed on a tree branch that had a white and red coloured rope around it. He started climbing it, being careful to lower himself in case any Umbrums spotted him which they didn’t.

When he was high enough, he started to lightly swing back and forth. When he had the right momentum, he jumped to the other side, landing on the roof of a tent that was the largest one in the fort. It must belong to a warlord. Only they had the biggest tents.

Spike slowed his breathing and used his dragon hearing to detect movements, he only heard some Umbrums walking and chatting about something nearby but nothing else. He could not hear if there were any Umbrums inside the tent so he decided to see if there were any Umbrums to kill and maybe loot a little from them as well, something he could use to his advantage.

He dropped down to the frozen ground and crouched down, making sure to not make any noise, and moved towards the tent. The tent cover was made from red silk that did not look natural and some marks symbolized King Sombra. His red horn.

Moving inside the tent, Spike was met with no Umbrum nearby. He looked around and saw that there were many souvenirs from around Equestria and beyond. This did not surprise him, he knew that King Sombra was after ruling the entirety of Equestria and taking over the other kingdoms. He was hungry for power and he wanted to show the princess’ that the more kingdoms he take over, the more Umbrums he create which makes his army strong. The plan, from what little Spike could gather, was to make his mother, aunt, and cousin feel intimidated to the point where they would give up or fight until their last breath. That way, King Sombra would look as though nothing could stop him, his power would be “beyond the princess’,”

Spike saw a chest and moved towards it, hoping to find something useful. He opened the chest and picked up some explosive arrows and supplies that he could use for his weapons.

The swordsmiths were good at their work and Spike knew he needed to refresher his katana. He was willing to pay their price.

He crouched down after he had inspected everything and snuck out the same way he came, and climbed back onto the roof of the tent where he saw the Umbrums either patrolling, torturing, drinking, or other things that Spike would rather not think about.

The frozen grounds of the fort had many cracks which Spike suspected was made from the Umbrums to walk easier but if it made any difference remains to be seen. He Watched as a Umbrum walked towards one of the slaves and started beating up the poor mare. That is when Spike sprung into action.

*** *** ***

The mare was clutching her head, trying to not scream from the pain she was enduring, the cold ground did not make the situation any easier when she heard a gurgling sound. She risked a glance and she nearly vomited when she saw a sword sticking out of the Umbrums mouth.

She quickly looked away, not realizing that she had been saved.

*** *** ***

Spike left the body to rot but felt bad that he had left the hurt mare there, he would take care of it later. After he had killed the Umbrum, he had quickly jumped up to the roof of another tent and was scouting the surrounding areas, looking for any creatures who were being beaten by the Umbrums without mercy.

Luckily, the mare was the only one who had to endure such cowardice. He would try to help her later, he did have some medicine, if not, he would just look through the stolen items that the Umbrums had taken.

Several carts could back up Spike’s claims as well, the carts had been stolen from villages, cities, towns, anywhere they could find supplies. The carts were placed in many different areas of the fort but there were more of those in other Umbrum occupied territories.

Spike jumped from the tent he was on to another, heading towards a heavy Umbrum area where the soldiers were arguing amongst one another. He glanced down and saw that two Umbrums stood guard, not saying anything. Spike pulled out his katana and tanto, but before he attacked he looked for other Umbrums, but they were facing the other way. Spike dropped down to the first Umbrum, and before the second Umbrum could react, Spike had slit his throat. Spike quickly went inside the tent and saw that there was a Umbrum warlord in there, sleeping. Sneaking up to the Umbrum, Spike cut right through the Umbrums armour, killing the Umbrum warlord instantly.

Spike looked around and grabbed any supplies that were on the small shelves and opened a chest that contained some silk and bamboo. Then he left the tent and climbed onto the roof of it again, scouting the area, being careful not to be seen by the Umbrums.

What amazed Spike was that the Umbrums had not seen their fallen comrades who were dead. They should have noticed them by now, but they didn’t they just did whatever.

He saw three Umbrums who were sitting by a fire, drinking. Spike pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at the ground and he jumped onto the first one with his katana stabbing him in the abdomen, the second one he cut slit the throat, and the third one he stabbed in the back, and just like that; they were dead.

Before the smoke cleared, Spike rushed up to a tent and climbed to the roof of it. The other Umbrums looked to the location of where the smoke had come from and saw the three dead bodies and then the other two, they started to panic when they saw them.

“Púca!” One of them shouted, dropping his sword and falling to the ground, his face filled with fear. He got up and he started to run away, not even glancing behind him as he left his other two comrades.

The other two were about to blow their horn to signify their comrades’ deaths, Spike shot an arrow at both of their throats. Causing them to choke on their blood as they grabbed the arrows and pulled them out; causing them to bleed and choke even more.

They fell to the ground, gurgling before their souls went to the next life.

Spike walked over to the bodies and checked if they had anything that he could use to his advantage. Checking the bodies, he found some smoke powder that he could use to make a distraction.

Grabbing the smoke powder, he walked away from the bodies and headed to the next location where the Umbrums were causing havoc.

*** *** ***

The Umbrums were eating and drinking with laughter all around them, they were talking about how easy it was to make the fort cooperate with them and how pathetic they were. They knew their King would not accept anything less than success.

But there was one problem that they were all avoiding about talking; The Ghost

Ever since that hero came and liberated Yakyakistan, war camps, Griffinstone, they had been on edge. They were watching over their backs all the time, expecting to see some creature but there was no creature there.

They had received orders from King Sombra to be on high alert for The Ghost and to kill and expendables if needed. But there was only one problem; they did not know what he looked like, they did not even know if it was one creature, for all they knew it could be multiple creatures.

Nonetheless, The Ghost would not dare hurt them, they are the Umbrums! the soldiers of King Sombra!

*** *** ***

Spike watched those Umbrums from a distance, a small scowl on his face as he saw them laughing with each other. They must be talking about their slaves which made Spike angrier than he was before. It took all his willpower to not go over and kill them directly.

He had a few explosive arrows that he could use to kill them from a distance. These were the last of the Umbrums that were still in the fort, the others had either run away or they had been killed. Most of the Umbrums, Spike had noticed, were running away more often.

He did show a few mercy, not because they deserved it, but because he found it slightly cowardly shooting an arrow when the creatures’ back is turned. He did know that they would come again in other groups.

Spike watched as the Umbrums were laughing like hyenas. He pulled out his bow and an explosive arrow, he aimed it right at the camp, in the middle of the four. He felt his breathing slow down and all timed slowed down, the birds that flew overhead which he had not noticed before were chirping. The sky seemed darker, the fort felt tighter.

Spike released the arrow that pierced the air to the frozen ground where it exploded, causing the Umbrums to catch fire and start to scream for their very lives which made the other creatures who were used as slaves, flee the fort, seeing an opportunity.

Spike jumped down and slowly walked over to the four Umbrums who were crawling on the ground, trying to get medicine. Spike stabbed them through the heart, ending their suffering. The creatures who had stayed behind slowly walked out and saw Spike looking over the bodies for anything useful.

They admired the armour he wore, the way he had fought was something that they had only heard in stories believed to be a myth. They had heard about the legendary Ghost who had liberated Yakyakistan and Griffinstone. They had not believed it, but now; they can finally feel some hope.

Spike turned and saw that he had an audience. He smiled at them after he took off his mask that concealed his emotions.

“You are free, but be safe.” He said, taking out a parchment, quill, and ink; writing a quick letter to his mother, letting her know which place he had liberated from Umbrum occupation. The creatures there smiled and for the first time in a long time, they did not feel afraid.

Author's Note

I am doing some side stories so that Spike can gather more allies and so the stories in some ways match the game itself which you can find here; Ghost Of Tsushima. Hope you enjoy!

B2 — A Friend In Need

After liberating the fort, Spike helped them rebuild their town which was severely burnt for the one year that the Umbrums had stayed there. It was easy for the purple dragon to help, all he needed to do was to do the heavy lifting.

The waters were filled with blood from both Umbrums and innocents alike, causing the water to be undrinkable unless if they found a way to get the blood out of the water. Spike knew of something that could help, but he would have to leave the fort for a little while.

The other creatures inside the fort felt and looked happier than before; not needing to worry about Umbrums looming over their shoulder all the time, worrying that they would be killed or not get any food.

The reinforcement from the Crystal Empire had arrived at the fort and helped any way they could. They gave the creatures there food and medicine, the medics tending to the sick, the soldiers marching around, making sure that the creatures were protected in case any Umbrums would come.

With the reinforcements, came Princess Luna who wanted to speak to Spike about running off but it was only half-hearted as she knew that he practically had no choice. And the fact that he must have felt like a prisoner.

The others had wanted to come to scold Spike but Luna managed to convince them to let her handle it.

Currently, Spike and Luna sat by a fire, looking into the flames of the dancing fire. They were both quiet, intending on allowing the other one to speak but they were not making any movements. Spike then decided to be the one to Speak.

“I might know of a way to take the blood out of the water.” Spike approached the subject with no little amount of anger, thinking about what the Umbrum had done. Luna quirked a brow at him.

“Oh, is that so?” She asked. Spike glanced at her with some light irritation, but not about her.

“Yes, there is a certain moss you can find in the Everfree forest as well as other places but the moss I’m looking for can only be found in the Everfree forest. It is water-friendly and sucks out the filth in the water along with other things that should not be in the water. Albeit it should only be in the water for one hour at most because it also sucks out the bacteria that should be in the water.”

Luna looked at Spike impressed. She had not thought of that. She believed that nature would have to clean everything naturally but here Spike had an idea that would save them a lot of time. If the moss is as good as he says it is, then they will have clean water in the fort in a few hours. It would have normally taken weeks before it would start to even remotely clean itself. Lives could be saved with this.

“Do what you must, Spike, but be sure that you come back. Alive.” Luna said her voice firm as to make her point clear.

“You won’t have to worry about anything auntie, I will be back alive with the moss. Hopefully, if I find it.” Spike said with exasperation evident in his tone. It felt like he had to explain every day to his family members where he was going, and this was only the first time it had been asked of him.

Luna glanced at Spike with authority at the tone in which he had spoken it. Her face morphed into one of amusement, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “You do know that I will not be the only one who will demand this of thou, right?” Luna’s voice was on the verge of laughter, she had even used a word from the old dialect.

Spike grumbled at his aunt who was now openly laughing; not a care in the world if the other creatures saw her like that or not. It was a laugh that she had not been able to have for a long time, the war had prevented that. The thoughts of what the Umbrums do to their creatures haunted her mind every day and night. Every creature had nightmares about the Umbrums that not even with her sisters’ help, could she help them all.

Even then, she had to patrol the empire during the night to make sure that the Umbrums nearby stay where they are. That always troubled Princess Cadance because they were nearby but never made a move to the empire. She would have felt more comfortable if she knew what the Umbrums were doing. And frankly, Luna wished so too. She felt as though the Umbrums were only there to mock them of their failure; remind them of who they lost to. Make them feel guilty for their failure.

Spike waited until his aunt had calmed down from her laughing but he did not stop her. He knew she needed it more than others. Some would probably never laugh again because of what has happened.

Luna flashed a grin in Spike’s direction when he looked at her with a blank expression. She knew that he was amused, he just did not want to show.

Together, they sat there and unknowingly thought about the past. Spike thought about his ancestor, wondering where he was at the moment. Luna wondered what Spike was thinking about but she did not want to intrude.

Spike got up, looked into the fire, and without a word, walked away, leaving his aunt behind who prayed that he came back alive.

*** *** ***

Traveling to the Everfree forest was much harder than Spike had initially expected. The Umbrums had more war camps than before, which could not be a good sign. It must mean that King Sombra is taking over more kingdoms beyond Equestria and ruling them with an iron fist.

The Everfree to his luck did not contain any Umbrums who were usually hunting for food in the big forest areas of Equestria. Spike thanked his lucky stars. But that did not mean that they would not come by later to check things out which worried Spike so he decided to hurry along.

The forest was covered with darkness from the sky that King Sombra had conjured around his kingdom. The trees looked to be dying, the bushes were rotting away, the muddy ground felt more like sand. The air felt thicker and colder. The whole forest felt as though it was against him; like it was fighting him.

His mind and muscles tensed, his claw was already on his katana, ready to fight.

He did not know why, but he felt like some creature was watching him. Like some creature who was close by watching his every move but that Spike could not see the creature. He became more observant when he plunged deeper into the forest, watching over his shoulder in case Umbrums would stalk the forest for food.

Finding the moss proved to be harder than initially expected; the moss is usually around a river that secretly runs under the Castle Of The Two Sisters but he could not find the small river. Looking around the castle, top to bottom, he could not find the river or an entrance to the location of it.

It was the first time in a long time Spike felt useless.

He had promised to come back with the moss, despite him saying ‘hopefully’, to his aunt, he still had a duty to fulfill with finding the moss and to give the creatures of the fort clean drinkable water.

He did not intend on breaking that promise.

The castle was as magnificent as ever but it was torn apart from the battle that took place there a millennia ago. The walls were breaking, the ceiling was going to collapse, the floors were cracked to the point where Spike was sure that it would make a large hole. Stems were growing over the castle, almost consuming it.

Spike walked into a room where there were endless amounts of books that were of history, magic, kingdoms, creatures, anything. Lost history that no creature alive would know about aside from the rulers of the kingdoms. The bookshelves were the dustiest he had ever witnessed in his short life. The maids who worked for the princess’ would have a stroke seeing that.

Not seeing any moss around, he left the room and headed to a location where he suspected the moss would be. The moss he was after grew in extreme quantities so it was easy to find them if one knew where to look. But because the river was not there anymore for whatever reason, it bid him even further difficulty in finding the moss.

Heading to the last place Spike knew where it could be, his mind drifted on about what was happening to his friend beyond the portal. He had been to a universe where something called; humans rule the earth they walk on, albeit, they are split and can never keep peace with each other for long for whatever reason. The mare who fleed there is his sister, Sunset Shimmer. She is his adoptive sister but they are related through blood with the blood adoption. His sister felt she never had enough attention from their mother who worked unholy hours just to keep the nation running with a fueling economy and other kingdoms threatening with war. His sister started studying as hard as she could to become the best in everything and one day, she found a mirror that led to another world. Their mother caught her and told her to never enter the room until she felt Sunset was ready. At first, she listened and obeyed her mother’s wishes and did not return but she was still curious about the mirror so every opportunity she had, she asked about it but she received the same response every time. Sunset was ordered to make friends but she couldn’t so she started to study in the library which she had been forbidden to do. Their mother would throw Sunset out into the world so she could learn the values of friendship but she fled through the portal and had never been seen or heard from again. Until she stole the crown from Twilight and nearly took over a school. But she was defeated and is learning about friendship in the human world, not that the place is to most stable one to learn anything in.

He wondered what his sister was up to, wondering what fun activities she is doing. At least she was with friends that could help her through anything she could be going through and not need to worry about Equestria.

Spike smiled at the thought, entering a room that was to his joy, filled with moss. The wall on the right was covered in it, the moss, covered everything, not showing what the wall once looked like. The rest of the room had fragments of the moss but not enough to clean anything.

Walking up to the wall, he pulled out his tanto and he started to cut the moss in big chunks so he could reuse them if needed. If he knew the Umbrums right; they would do so in other places for their amusement. He would not put it past them.

While he was cutting the moss, he did not hear that some creature was sneaking up behind him. When he got the last big chunk of moss, he was grabbed from behind, and on instinct, he flung his head backward to hit the unknown enemy. The creature behind him cried out and Spike turned around, facing the enemy with his katana tip near the throat of his attacker.

The attacker was wearing a black cloak that concealed the identity but he knew that it was a pony because he felt a very small fragment of the horn. With anger, he shouted; “Who are you and what are you doing here!?”

The creature seemed to freeze, standing completely still, too afraid to move an inch. Cautiously, the creature reached for the hood and slowly pulled it back—making Spike almost drop his katana if it wasn’t for the fact that he did not truly believe it was her.

“You think I will just believe you like that?” His voice was calm but there was an unresponded fury in his words that didn’t go unnoticed by the mare who stood in front of him. Her coat was amber with her mane and tail being red and golden in streaks. Her eyes were moderate cyan, displaying fear as she observed the warrior in front of her.

“My mother is Princess Celestia, you are my blood adoptive brother and our aunt is Princess Luna. Our cousin is Princess Cadance as well as Prince Blueblood. Our cousin-in-law Is Shining Armor.” Her voice was pleading, she named her family members because they were not at all known except for the royal guards.

Spike lowered his katana, uncertainty still on his face. He was convinced, but the information she provided could have been leaked during the war. But there is only one thing the real Sunset Shimmer should know.

“And we made a blood pact, we shared our blood; becoming intertwined with each other. We share the same ancestry now.” Sunset said, remembering the one thing only she and Spike would know about.

Spike regarded her for a moment, his face concealed by his mask. He then pulled off his mask and stared at his sister, she stood there too terrified to be asking questions about what he was wearing or what he was doing. The air became thicker and Sunset believed she met her demise but to her shock; when he ran towards her, he hugged her tightly.

“I have missed you, Sunset.” He said, clearly happy that his sister was there. Sunset felt tears in her eyes, as she hugged her brother. She had missed him, she had not been able to see him in so long that she had decided to come to Equestria, but that was months ago.

When Spike released her, he looked at her with his eyes almost drilling into her soul.

“What are you doing here? Do you not know what is going on?” Spike asked. He sincerely hoped that she knew.

Sunset sighed. “Yes, I do know what’s going on, I came here because I wanted to be with you but that was three months after the invasion. I fleed the Crystal Empire after I had found no evidence of you being alive. But with the blood that you and I share; I knew that you could not be dead because I would have felt it. I decided to search for you but I never found you. Then, a few months ago I started hearing stories about a samurai that was fighting back against the Umbrums. Yakyakistan was liberated and then there was Griffinstone, the most recent one I’ve heard was the fort in the Frozen North. I became excited but I started hearing rumors from the Crystal Ponies how; Spike The Brave And Glorious had returned to fight for them. At first, I did not believe it but then I started seeing illustrations from the Yaks and I realized that it matched your size but there was one thing that made me certain that it was you; your eyes are emerald green. The illustrations I saw shined against the enemies you were ‘slaughtering’.”

Spike nodded in understanding. “And how come you ended up here?” Spike noticed that she had never said anything about why she was their mother and aunts’ former castle.

“I use this as a hideout and most Umbrums never go anywhere near this place for various reasons. They mostly hunt for food here, I can hear the poor animals scream every time they hunt. So I started to butcher them.” Sunset said, looking down to the floor, circling with her left hoof.

“That takes great courage to do something like that, I am proud of you Sunset,” Spike said, making Sunset look at her brother in bewilderment. That is not something you should say considering the topic.

“Spike, that is not something I’m proud of!” Sunset said angrily, her face reddening and Spike started to lightly chuckle at her response.

“Maybe you do not feel proud, and I understand that; those Umbrums are corrupted by King Sombra but the creatures of Equestria needs hope, I want to give them hope, letting them know that they won’t have to be afraid anymore, no need to worry about money or food. I am not looking for titles, I am looking for a home for the creatures of Equestria. You may not be proud, but if you help us, you will have to realize that you will be seen as a hero by practically every creature.”

His explanation did make sense, but it still did not sit well with Sunset. She did not want to go around and kill.

Her eyes had some tears in them, thinking about the Umbrums she had to kill, Umbrums who were corrupted and most likely did not know what they were doing. It saddened her to think that she has killed innocents. Spike saw her look and knew what she was thinking about.

“It isn’t your fault Sunset, neither is the Umbrums, I keep forgetting that they are just like you and me, they are corrupted though and I guess I am just using that as an excuse, but I can’t spare every Umbrum that runs away. But I must ask; why do you kill if you feel so guilty?”

There the question came, the question that Sunset looked to have dreaded from the look on her face. She looked away, not meeting Spike’s eyes. Her guilt nagged at her more than it did before. She felt her brother’s gaze on her and she knew she would have to face him. She had to tell some creature. Some creature who could understand what she was going through.

“I ... I guess I just had no choice, It started with me being in a situation that was dangerous enough that I needed to defend myself. It happened in Ponyville. But instead of stopping when the Umbrum was on the ground, I continued to hit her, the screams continued until it eventually ... stopped.” Sunset sobbed out the last word.

Spike looked at her with surprise clear on his face. He knew that she was capable of doing things like this if her past was anything to go by, but right now, she showed signs that she had never shown before. She showed signs of sadness with the fact that she had to kill. Yet, she was ready to take over Equestria.

He kept those thoughts for himself, now was not the time to ask her true sincerity.

“Sunset, I apologize that I stumbled upon your hideout, I was only here for the moss. The Umbrum dumped bodies into the water in the fort which I liberated. The water is covered in blood, completely undrinkable by any creature. This moss will clean out the blood and anything else that should not be in the water. I will be leaving now.” He walked towards the door, not wanting to bother his sister any more than he’d already done.

“Wait! Don’t go!” Sunset called for her brother. Spike stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her. He noticed the tears in her eyes. Fresh ones. He always had a weak spot for her in these sorts of situations.

“Sunset,” Spike said. “I have to leave soon, speak your mind.”

“I ... I need your ... help.” She said, her words shaky as she asked for help from her brother. She had never asked for help before, never under any circumstances. Spike froze. Did she ask for his help? He could not have heard right.

“What kind of help?” He asked, uncertain why he had asked that. He noticed that Sunset’s lip quivered.

“My friend from Equestria, Trixie, is in very bad shape. She hasn’t eaten in days. I brought her here after I found her by the border to the Badlands and the Everfree forest. I thought I had food left, but I didn’t.” Sunset explained, her apprehension was evident.

Her eyes said it all, they were pleading with him to help and he was going to. He knew he was going to.

“You want me to bring her to the Crystal Empire?” He questioned. The Crystal Empire was the best place to find food and medicine. He did not know if that would be the best place for them because their mother was there. He did not know what terms their mother was with Sunset.

Sunset shook her head. “Mother would not be happy to see me. To my understanding; she is not very happy with Trixie either so I would rather you bring us to someplace that you have liberated that has enough food and medicine. I am willing to do anything I can to help contribute to freeing Equestria.”

Spike looked at her long and hard. He was uncertain if he should bring Trixie anywhere but he knew that he would want to help her either way. He could not allow himself to be consumed by a personal vendetta. They had to push aside their differences.

“You are probably right,” Spike responded. “She is not super happy with me either after I disappeared. But we can talk about that later.”

She nodded. She wanted to know where Spike had gone but knew that he would tell her the story one day.

“We need to go quickly, the moss can only be away for so long.” He said, referring to the moss in his inner pocket that he had near his left thigh. Sunset understood and led him out of the room where the moss was and led him to a staircase that led to the upper floors. As they walked Spike asked a few simple questions that he would need answers to.

“Which room did you place her in?” He asked.

“I placed her in the fiftieth library,” She joked.

Spike raised a brow. “There are fifty libraries in the castle?”

“No, but because of the thousands of bookshelves filled with books, it’s starting to feel like it.”

Spike laughed. She did have a point; in every room in Canterlot whenever he walked into the rooms there were bookshelves stacked with books with over a thousand-year of knowledge. Spike had secretly read a few of them for his purposes before the invasion and was always surprised when he learned something that he was sure could not happen or had happened.

Sunset led him to a room by the end of the hall that faced a broken window. The door to the room was slightly open and Sunset knocked and stepped inside. The room was by far the cleanest one in the entire castle. The chairs and tables had no dust and the bookshelves there had nothing either. The walls looked a little new and the floors did not sound or look cracked. But there was one problem; there were two mattresses but there was no pony or other creature in sight.

The only one in the room was Spike and Sunset. The latter looked slightly confused but fear started to slowly cripple her.

“Trixie?” Sunset called out, hoping that Trixie was in the room in a spot that they could not see. But she received no response ...

“Trixie?” She called again. No response.

“TRIXIE!?” Sunset shouted, the fear was getting to her. She was completely terrified of what was going on. Spike hugged Sunset to calm her down but she tried to fend her brother off to no avail.

When Sunset had calmed down enough to think things through, they started to look everywhere throughout the room. Spike looked by the beds to see if any letters said where she was going but found none. It was like the mare had just vanished. It wasn’t exactly impossible because Trixie is a magician.

The tables had nothing that suggested that there was a note or message of sorts that were left. Spike and Sunset grew frustrated as they continued their search for the magician.

Sunset was looking frantically all over the place, her emotions were extreme concern and frustration at lack of progress. She kept glancing over at Spike as if he would disappear any second.

“Wait,” Sunset said as she pushed away some books, seeing a letter of sorts. Grabbing the letter, she looked for text and found it on the backside, and started reading. Spike walked over briskly and started reading the letter.

*** *** ***

”Dear Sunset

By the time you find this letter, I will be gone. I’m sorry that I have to do this to you, but it’s for the best. I do not have long. You see, I have an injury. Before you found me I had been attacked by a Umbrum who had been hunting for food. With no strength in me ... I fleed.

I had run as fast I possibly could, trying to escape the Umbrums but I was so afraid that they would find me again. They had been chasing me, shouting orders about killing me if I understood them correctly. It was as if they were playing some kind of sadistic sport.

Then when you found me, I was afraid that it was an Umbrum changeling who was trying to lure me to feel safe, but when you answered my question, I could not help but feel relieved but also terrified. You see, there is something you should know, something I never told anypony or creature.

I have been stealing supplies from them, I stole as much as I could and brought them to survivors and refugee camps. I am also a firm believer in The Ghost. I have seen the Umbrums march nearby and I know they are still looking for me. A few nights ago when you were asleep, I decided to go and find some fruits for us. I just wanted to help but the Umbrums saw me.

I ran back to the castle, but not without them shooting some kind of poison into the injury I already had which had been healing at the time. I can feel myself dying for every minute that passes. I did not want to burden you with it and I knew that I could not die, not without giving you an explanation. I want you to live your life to the fullest Sunset Shimmer. And even though I never got to say it in person ... I love you.

Forever yours, Trixie Lulamoon

*** *** ***

Sunset was visibly shaking, she tried to contain her sobs. Spike held her as hard as he could. He knew that she was not in the right state of mind to not try to find her friend. His sister was very easy to anger if you pushed her buttons.

“She ... She ... She wouldn’t dare!” She sobbed into his chest, clutching his armour so hard that Spike was sure she would rip it off with her bare hooves. Spike did his best to comfort her. “She wouldn’t dare...”

Spike hugged her and he started to feel how heavy she was. She was tiring herself out with her crying but he could tell that she did not care the slightest. Her emotions were in turmoil.

When she had fallen asleep, her body was limb so Spike placed her in her bed and walked out of the castle but made sure that the room Sunset was sleeping in was hidden. He did not want any Umbrums to walk by and see an easy prey. His mother would never forgive him if anything happened to her “little sun”.

*** *** ***

The nature of the Everfree Forest was magnificent but it was also very dangerous. The animals inside the Everfree are crazy and hard to kill, even simple bunnies have been known to turn extremely dangerous just by being inside the Everfree for an entire day.

The Umbrums who hunted for food did not seem affected by the forests’ cruelty which had turned so many other creatures in the past. The sheer cruelty was something that not even Spike could handle and that was something that he was willing to say to any creature.

The forest is not something to mess around with.

Only some very select few creatures can handle the cruelty of the forest and even then, they need to be in groups of five or six. But if you are just like his friend Zecora who lives in the forest, then it will not affect them as much.

He had decided to look for Trixie. He did not want the mare to die alone and forgotten. Not that Sunset would have allowed it the slightest. She would have written books about her friend and made sure that Trixie Lulamoon was remembered forever.

However, Spike had no intentions of allowing Trixie to die either. If he is right with the poison he was thinking about, then he just needed to take her to Zecora and she would be fine.

Suddenly, after Spike had killed to alone Umbrums who were doing—his ancestors know what—he had found a set of trails that matched one of a pony hoof. It was not large like stallions, this was from a mare. Quickly, he began to follow the trail.

Following the trail, Spike realized that the environment began to feel more hostile than usual. The atmosphere was tense and the smell was awful. Suddenly, he stopped and looked around after he smelled a faint smell of burning. He looked from the left and right but saw nothing nearby. This was suspicious to him.

He looked up into the sky and he saw black smoke coming from ahead of him, he straightened his back and prepared his katana for battle, and ventured towards the fire.

When he got closer to its location, Spike noticed to his surprise that tens of Umbrums were dead. He crouched down and slowly moved towards the location, being careful to not be heard or seen.

The place where the black smoke was emitting from came from a village that Spike had no idea existed. He peered closer and saw buildings aligning with one another as well as creatures who were walking around, finishing off the Umbrums who were suffering from not dying after getting an arrow or slice at them.

Moving closer, he noticed that the creatures were both yaks and dragons. They were killing the last of the Umbrums. He did not see Trixie anywhere, but it did not hurt to speak to the creatures.

He walked over to them, drawing their attention. At first, they aimed their bows and arrows and him but when they saw that he walked over to them with a sense of calm, they hesitantly lowered the weapons. Their leader, a dragon, walked over to Spike, meeting each other halfway.

To both of their surprises, they knew each other.

“Garble?!”

“Spike?!”

“What are you doing here?!” They asked each other.

“Well, Garble, I was here looking for a friend of mine who was injured and poisoned, she left a note and fled, I was hoping that I could talk some sense into her.” Spike truthfully said. Garble looked surprised but he suddenly looked grim.

“It wouldn’t happen to be a blue coated pony would it?” He asked. His voice was thicker then stone when he asked the question.

Spike felt his heart start beating faster than normal, she couldn’t ... could she?

“Her name is Trixie Lulamoon, her coat is indeed blue ...” He could not finish his intended sentence.

Garble walked over to Spike and lay a claw on his shoulder and sighed heavily. Spike could tell this wasn’t a prank, he had never seen Garble so serious before. He looked into Spike’s eyes and said; “I’m sorry, she’s gone, her body was severely burnt when we got here.”

Spike looked up into the sky, it was raining, but for once, the rain felt right...

Author's Note

Here is another chapter guys!

16 — Calm Soul

When Spike came back with the body of Trixie, Sunset had hysterically started to cry. It had taken hours to get her to calm down from her outburst. Spike himself had difficulty trying to hold back tears. He does remember what the mare did in the past but at the same time, it was in the past.

The burial had been simple, Spike had made a grave for Trixie and Sunset had been the one who put her in the grave. It had been a very quiet ceremony with only Spike and Sunset in attendance. They had done it outside the castle.

Sunset decided to stay in the castle because it was here that her lover was. That and she did not feel like she was in the right state of mind to travel someplace else. She would just look so gloomy and sound so as well. Her eyes were dazed and held confusion in them.

As if she was trying to figure something out.

But there was only one problem for the mare; there was nothing to “figure out” if that is what she’s been doing.

That night, Spike had and Sunset had a salad and rice for dinner. Spike had taken some of it from the village that Garble and his group had sort of liberated. Spike was unsure if the Umbrums would be back or not because the village looked already to have been abandoned.

But it could also be a village that the Umbrums themselves had built up for their own needs.

They were eating silent, they chose a table in one of the many libraries that existed within the castle. Sunset was planning on telling Spike that dinner that she would not be coming with him. She hoped that Spike would understand.

“Spike?” She asked, her voice shakey. The bowl she was eating from was huge and blocked some of Spike’s face so it was easier to start the discussion and say what she needed to.

Putting down the chopsticks that he had been using for his eating, he stared at the face of Sunset, only locking eyes with her, the rest of her lower face was covered by the large bowl. He had a hunch about what she would ask but he needed to make sure.

“Yes?” He responded, his voice calm.

“I will ... not be following with you to the fort or anywhere else for a while ...” She stated unsurely. Their eyes were still locked on each other, the other refusing to look away.

“I figured as much,” he said. He picked up his chopsticks and started eating again. Sunset looked sort of confused. That was the only thing some creatures say when they are planning something of them so what was he planning if that was the case?
“Which is why I will be leaving you here, you seem to have been able to take care of yourself. I will send some food and medicine because you never know what might happen.”

Sunset looked at Spike surprised, not expecting that but she was grateful.

*** *** ***

Spike was walking back to the fort together with the large amounts of moss. Luckily, he had only been gone in a total of three hours. Which impressed Spike because it felt like it was longer. But it was depressing in a way. Walking down the empty dirt roads.

It felt so lonely and empty. It did not feel right.

The clouds were not clearing up the skies but whenever he is in the places he liberates, the sun comes shining through which confuses Spike to some extent. If the clouds never change their thickness in blocking the sun then why would they allow the sun to come through whenever he liberates someplace?

Perhaps it was a sign from his ancestor that he was doing something good, it felt nice knowing that he was watching over him ... wait ... watching over him? Wasn’t he ...

Spike shook his head and continued to his location where he would clear up the blood from the disastrous and disgusting water. His steps became heavier by the minute when he started seeing the fort in the distance. There was only one problem he had and that was he needed to sleep.

He had not slept in days and that could not be good for his health. He needed rest. But that was easier said than done. He had put himself in situations where he told himself that he did not need sleep which have cost him some hours of it.

“That is not good, I need my sleep.” He told himself when he was closer to the fort. When he got closer, he started walking up the steps that led to the entrance and the guards who were there saw him and opened the entrance immediately and ushered him inside.

To his mild surprise when he was led to one of the houses, his aunt was there. Luna looked at Spike intently as he handed over the moss which she ordered one of her guards to place all over the water to suck up the blood and other materials that should not be in the water.

They sat in silence for a long while and Spike was drifting off to sleep which concerned Luna because she had never seen him this tired before. They were facing each other, both sitting on wooden chairs that were not the most comfortable but they would do.

“Spike,” she eventually said. “You need your sleep. You have gone several days without it.”

He merely nodded, not trusting himself to speak. When he saw the unimpressed look from Luna he responded; “I know aunt, but I have been busy and I am pretty sure you know why. I was planning on sleeping when I got back here but you wanted to see me.”

He wanted to sort of blame Luna for the situation he was in and Luna knew what he was trying to do but it had its desired effect; she felt slightly guilty. She should have allowed him to sleep but she asked him to meet here or rather, she told her guard to bring him to her.

She was about to have a retort when she noticed that he had fallen asleep.

*** *** ***

Around seven hours later, Spike started to stir in the bed he was laying in. Groggily, he opened his eyes and he saw that he was in some kind of room with wooden walls, a small table, a closet with a small mirror, and a window. The wood was on the darker side, not very light.

Spike got out of the bed and he realized that it wasn’t his bed. He looked around and realized that he did not recognize any of it. He walked over to the small table that was by the window and found a small note. He picked it up and he saw that it was from his aunt.

Dear Spike

You fell asleep in our conversation about how you had not been getting enough sleep. I bought a hotel room for you that will last for you use for the next three days. Good luck, I will be in the Crystal Empire if you need me.

Spike had a light chuckle and looked around for any fruit bowls or rice that he could have for food but did not see anything. so he would have to simply buy some rice.

Checking that he had everything with him from weapons, to mask, he left the hotel room which he would be using for the next three days. The hotel room was on the fifth floor with a bit of a view, but it was not enough to see other Umbrum camps and other places that are under Umbrum territory.

Walking into the lobby, he gave the receptionist the key—He had picked it up near the door on the way out—and walked out into the openness of the fort where the creatures were doing all kinds of things from playing, working, hanging out with friends. They all for once looked happy.

But Spike knew that they would be haunted by the memories for the rest of their life. Remembering what the Umbrums did to them—did to Equestria.

Spike walked around the fort where he was unsure of where he should go. He wanted to go to someplace where he could meditate or write poetry. He felt like he needed one that would give him some kind of strength.

He was in some kind of market where the creatures were selling foods from meat, fish, rice, and fruits. But there were Swordsmiths, Armourers, Bowyers, and Trappers. Spike decided to go to the Bowyer because he needed to promote his half-bow and longbow.

The enhancements could make them stronger, make the enemies wobble a lot more than before. When he walked into the shop he saw a white-coated mare with a black mane and tail. She looked up and smiled at Spike. “Hello my fellow warrior, what can I help you with?”

Spike smiled behind his mask. “I was hoping that I could enhance my half-bow and longbow, let me know the prices and I’ll get whatever it is you need.”

The Bowyer looked at him surprised but smiled nonetheless. “Just place them on the straw beds beside me and I shall look after them.” Her smooth voice carried over to Spike’s ears. He did so, placing his bows carefully on the beds. The Bowyer watched him carefully, seeing his every move and which claw he used the most. She could use all that information to help her costumer the best way possible.

“It will cost two hundred supplies,” She said, hoping that her customer would not leave after she said the price. To her surprise; he didn’t. He pulled out a yellow sack and handed it to her. Inside, there were predator hides, gold, metal, and even some sort of wood.

“I hope you’ll find the use of them in the future,” Spike said honestly. The Bowyer just nodded dumbly and began to work on his bow. It would take at the very least, one hour before it was finished, which was why Spike decided to go to the roof of the hotel so he could meditate.

Leaving the Bowyer, he noticed that all the creatures around him were looking at him with admiration. He smiled to himself as he reached the hotel and retrieved the key from the receptionist.

He started to walk up a staircase where he could get to the door that would open for the rooftop. The endless amount of staircases at one point felt soothing because he could be alone with his thoughts. He started to think about himself over a year ago. It felt so strange to think that he used to be some creature completely different from the one he is in the present. But creatures do change, that is something that he can never deny because it is true. He knew that some creatures that he knew would either not understand his reasoning for changing or they would just accept it and move on; the most reasonable responses that come. But it is a very dangerous game he is playing, killing the Umbrums for what they have done to Equestria. His katana, every time he is killing an Umbrum, it is almost as if he is not in control ...

It is almost as if something is guiding his blade ...

When he reached the final sets of stairs, he walked over to a red door and opened it, revealing the glory on the outside, the nature, the creatures below in their shops, the sky further away that looked so depressing. One thing that he had come to always appreciate is nature. Nothing is stronger than nature. One cannot control nature. The weather ponies only control the rain, storm, and snow, but they can never in their life control nature. That is something way too powerful for a mere creature to control. His mother and aunt can’t even control it, they can try and stabilize it, but they can never control it.

It would be too dangerous if they even tried.

He walked over to the edge of the building where he had a beautiful view over the fort. He took off the katana and placed it in front of him and he started to relax. He sat cross-legged on the hotels’ roof and started looking at everything around him, appreciating everything The Kami had built with their spiritual powers. “The children’s happiness, not temporary...” He began, watching the children playing with each other. “Spirits watching over their loved ones...” He believed that the ones murdered by the Umbrums are protecting their family members at all costs. “The light will shine through the darkness...”

He closed his eyes and for a very brief moment, he felt his soul calm down ... that was the final feeling he felt before he went back to the bowyer to retrieve his bows.

Author's Note

Enjoy!

17 — The Unyielding Wind

Spike was on his way to a village that was a few hours away from Griffinstone that was said to have been occupied by the Umbrums but that the place had later been abandoned. Which was strange; the Umbrums had used the village for everything when it came to weapons, food, medicine, water, whatever. It was as though the Umbrums just left, leaving the useful materials behind, never returning to pick them up.

This caused some concerns for Spike, because if it was true then it must mean that something happened in that village that made the Umbrums leave and never return to the very concerning area.

How he found out about this was because Scootaloo sent him a letter, informing him of what was happening. She stated her theory that the Umbrums either saw something or that something happened in the village which caused the Umbrums to leave with their tails in between their legs.

She wanted to explore the possibility with Spike, so they decided to meet up in the Everfree forest near Zecora’s hut. From there, they would make their way to the village.

The other cutie mark crusaders were busy with other things so they could not go in Spike and Scootaloo’s grand adventure. That was the same with Pipsqueak and Rumble. The latter was waiting for Spike somewhere outside of Equestria that was now under King Sombra’s iron hoof.

It felt strange that the creatures inside Griffinstone did not mention it when he liberated them, but he had a feeling that they either did not know or they were too afraid of speaking about it. Either way, he knew about it now and he was on his way to meet the filly that would help him in the matter.

His stay in the fort had not been very long but he had been there long enough so that he knew that the place was safe and secured from the Umbrums who were in the area in one way or another, looking for creatures to either slaughter or enslave like they usually do.

The creatures who were in the fort never gave him any trouble and were so overly kind and helpful.

Spike smiled a little as he continued to walk for the Everfree forest to meet up with Scootaloo so they could make their journey to the village.

*** *** ***

The Everfree forest seemed less hostile than the other times he had been there before. But he was spending an awful lot of time in the forest so perhaps he just did not feel as frightened compared to other creatures who are seldom in the forest at all.

The trees did not feel like they were surrounding him, it felt more like they were opening up a door for him as if he had figured something out.

He did not know where Scootaloo was exactly, she had only written to tell him to meet her near Zecora’s place. He walked a little back and forth, looking over his shoulder to make sure that the Umbrums did not spot him if they were looking for food or if they somehow saw him enter.

Luckily, there was never any creature there so he was relaxed. But that did not mean that he wasn’t cautious. He was always looking over his shoulders. But that was put to the test when he heard Scootaloo’s voice come from somewhere ahead of him.

“Spike, over here!” She said, waving him over with her left hoof. She was standing by some trees that resembled bamboo but the slight difference was that it was not a wood that could be used for craftmanship. It was a typical wood that was used to have large bonfires.

Spike walked over to her, his mask concealing any emotion he may have had. They were not there to chit-chat though, they were going to do some investigating.

“Scootaloo, you look well.” Spike said, emphasizing the word ‘look’ because he knew that she was still traumatized by what happened when she was in Canterlot with her friends. She would probably never get over it fully, there would always be a stigma with the castle, no matter how much time passes.

Scootaloo knew what Spike meant when he said look. She gave a pained smile. “Yes, I have been eating well and I have killed quite a few Umbrums.” She said as if it was no big deal. “I’m glad you accepted to come with me on this, I hope I won’t be taking up too much of your time if it turns out to be something insignificant.”

“Do not fret, you aren’t taking up any of my time, if it turns out to be nothing then it’s no big deal it means that we at least looked to make sure that there was nothing suspicious going on.” He replied. Scootaloo accepted what he said.

“We should move, it takes a few hours to get there and I do not want to miss out on any of the action,” Scootaloo said with a cheer, making Spike chuckle.

*** *** ***

When they got to Griffinstone, they decided to stay overnight and do some light exploring and maybe grab some drinks. They were admired by the creatures inside of Griffinstone who gave them wide smiles. It was sort of funny seeing the reactions of the creatures there.

They were inside of a bar and where drinking water and reminiscing on old memories before the invasion. They discussed how simpler their lives were, how they should be having normal problems like homework, school, detentions, not life or death.

That is what made both of them angry, their childhoods had been robbed from them. Spike did not blame his ancestor, he only trained him for the inevitable while Scootaloo had been robbed completely. But they only had one creature to blame for their predicament; King Sombra.

The one creature who controls the Umbrum army who for an entire year has been slaughtering the creatures of Equestria and taking over other kingdoms that were either seen as weak or insignificant. The lesser the kingdom, the lesser the chances of there being resistance.

“It’s horrible isn’t it?” Scootaloo said, her voice sounding sad. “Children having to worry about their life when they should be worried about other things like school, and homework. But they are worried if they won’t see their parents again, worried if they will not see their brothers or sisters.”

Spike took a swing of his water and agreed. “Yes, but at the same time, the invasion was made clear that we can never go back to how things were; every creature around Equestria will remember what King Sombra did and will probably be so afraid that they won’t leave their home for days at a time. It shouldn’t be this way.”

Scootaloo sighed and placed down the glass of water. Her face was contorted into one of sadness. Spike was right in every sense of the word he had spoken; it shouldn’t be this way. But what other choice do they have? If they aren’t vigilant, they would get an arrow in their back.

They are in those situations where if they don’t help the other party they will be branded a traitor and some creature who is weak. Scootaloo had seen it happen on more than one occasion. One would believe that when some creature is back in the safety of the family that one would tune out everything else. But that was completely wrong. She had listened to every word that had been spoken. She had stayed with Applebloom and then Sweetie Bell because she had no other place to go, but she did go to the orphanage that was in the empire. She spoke to other creatures her age there and she could see the horror on their faces even if they did not show as much as the others. The horror that they would never be able to forget because the brain won’t let them like it’s trying to punish some creature for something.

“Yes,” Spike responded. “It is horrible.”

“I wonder why King Sombra did all of this.” Scootaloo blurted out before she could stop herself. Spike glanced over at her, a raised brow to what she said. He was not angry at all since he wondered that every day since the invasion.

“Do you not believe it is for power like so many other creatures like to believe?” Spike asked, sipping his water.

“Well— hang on, did you say; ‘like to believe?’” She questioned. “Does that mean you do not believe that is the reason?”

Spike chuckled at her weird kind of enthusiasm. “I do not believe that King Sombra is after power, if that was the case; then he has already proven what lengths he will go to get it so there is nothing to prove for him anymore. I believe he is making a statement. A statement that he can if he tried very hard; get every kingdom to fall to its knees. That is what he has proven many times over by making Yakyakistan and Griffinstone fall. He knows what he is doing and that makes him very dangerous because he lacks morals. But he has never outright said that it was the power he was after. And if that is the case that it was the power he was after, then he never indicated that it was what he was after.”

Scootaloo looked at him with a strange look. It was not the response she had expected. What he said could very well be true, but there was one factor he was leaving out; King Sombra was taking over multiple kingdoms. A creature would only do that if power was the reason. Deciding to only ignore a few small details, Scootaloo asked;

“But if power is not the reason, then why would he take over the other kingdoms. I do not believe he would take them over unless he had plans for them.”

Spike chuckled. “You do have a point, but what you might be mistaking as wanting power could be King Sombra’s version of making sure that the other kingdoms do not try to take over what he stole from Princess Celestia and Luna. To him, it is all about revenge.”

When he saw that Scootaloo looked confused he continued; “King Sombra has already lost twice, the first one over a thousand years ago and the next one, only a few years ago. He would make sure that the third time he would win no matter the cost. To some extent, you could say he won, but to some other extent, he hasn’t. The war to him is not over. He plans to take over all of the kingdoms of Equestria and above before he takes over the Crystal Empire. He intends on scaring Princess Celestia, Luna, and Cadance with the army he holds. He would want to scare Twilight as well, but he believes that Twilight is arrogant; that she thinks she can solve it with the elements of harmony.”

“Okay,” Scootaloo said, starting to understand slightly. “So he was once after power, but after losing twice, he took over Equestria and used the power against the princess’? So that means that he is not after the power in the sense he will want it but to use it against the rulers of Equestria which would be devastating.”

Scootaloo wondered if she got that right and smiled when Spike smiled at her.

“Correct Scootaloo!” He said, chuckling a little as the filly looked very proud of herself. “That is precisely what King Sombra is doing but no doubt; after he defeats the Crystal Empire, he will want power and take over the rest of the world. If he creates portals to other dimensions, he will most likely take over those places as well.”

“There are other dimensions?” Scootaloo wondered. Spike looked at her a little surprised. He would have believed that with all that time spent in the Canterlot dungeons that she would have heard something about that.

“Uh ... yeah, didn’t you know?” He asked, to which Scootaloo shook her head. Spike looked a little surprised but didn’t say anything else on the matter. Scootaloo was just about to ask when Spike paid for their drinks and left the bar and headed for the hotel where they would be sleeping.

Scootaloo knew that when they stepped into the lobby that she would not receive her answer but she did not need to. Just seeing his reaction and him mentioning it was enough evidence for her to go on. It also slightly frightened her.

Not that there were dimensions, but for the creatures living in those dimensions if King Sombra ever found out.

They were sleeping on the same floor, so after the kind dragon gave them the key, they took the staircase together and walked in silence. But this time, it was for other matters. They were both thinking about the village that they would visit the next morning and they were worried about what they would witness.

When they were on the third floor and moving upward, Scootaloo decided to ask the question that was plaguing their minds;

“What do you reckon we’ll find?” Her question could be considered innocent but the situation they were in, was anything but.

Spike let out a sigh, he did not know what they would find and that is what felt so mocking; he felt like he knew the Umbrums immensely well, but he knew he would never be able to understand them fully because they were corrupted like their other comrades that were either alive or six feet under.

“I don’t know,” He responded with another sigh. “But whatever it is, I fear that it’s not anything good.”

Walking past the fourth and fifth floor, they opened a wooden door connected to the beige walls. Yanking the door, Spike and Scootaloo walked through the corridors but their conversation was not over and Scootaloo wanted to discuss some plausible theories with Spike.

“Maybe they just left the village and the others interpreted it as them being afraid?” She theorized. Spike had to give it to her, that was a good theory, it made sense because the Umbrum are known for being very careless with things that are of extreme importance.

“Maybe, they are known for being careless, but would they just abandon an entire village without burning it down? It does not sit right with me here.” Spike explained.

“Hmm.” Scootaloo let out. “It could be that they maybe got some food and medicine problems? It is very hard to come by those things in the middle of a war. Many creatures have had to become bandits just to get simple medicine that anyone before the war could get their hooves on.”

“That,” Spike began, turning to glance at her while they took a turn to the left. “Is plausible. Umbrums are dying with each day that passes by. I have come across a lot of Umbrum dead bodies as of late and they are molting and rotting. Not a pretty sight to behold.”

Scootaloo nodded and tensed as she came up with a final theory, one that scared her. She did not believe her line of thinking could be so dark before!

“...It could also be that they saw something in the village, like a creature that slaughtered the villagers and some Umbrums, leaving the ones who survived the attack to tell the tale.”

Spike glanced over to her and felt his heart go out for the filly for her dark thinking. It was entirely possible as well. Many creatures exist within and outside of Equestria that have never been discovered. King Sombra is a creature of darkness on the other hoof, so it feels strange that he would not follow his army there to defeat the creature, showing his army why he is the king.

Or perhaps the King was never briefed on what transpired ...

*** *** ***

The next morning, Spike woke up early and felt his tiredness slip away from him as he started to stretch and grab some of the fruit that was in a bowl on the coffee table. The apple he ate was juicy and he started to feel ready to tackle whatever was going on in the village.

His room had a medium-sized bed with a very fluffy mattress. There was a closet, bathroom, and a balcony. The room was a little small but he did not mind as he was only staying there overnight, possibly two nights. So there was a slight possibility that he’d be sleeping in the same place later that night.

He finished himself up and got out of the room and walked to Scootaloo which was in the other hallway. He took a sharp left and then a sharp right and then another right which led him to the location where Scootaloo’s room was.

But he did not have to knock on the door because when he was seven feet away she opened the door and stepped out and her eyes locked with Spike and she nodded. She turned the door handle and locked the door. Spike had done the same earlier.

Together, they walked for the staircase so they could get to the reception and head for the village. But when they reached the staircase, they started to feel strange. Like they did not want to go to the village as if there was some weird curse there.

One look in Scootaloo’s direction made Spike realize that he was not the only one which made him ever so slightly feel relieved.

“Hey ... how about we forget about what I wrote in the letter and go someplace else?” She asked, sounding hopeful. Spike turned to her and was almost about to agree but he stopped himself.

“No, Scootaloo, we can’t. You wrote about the village and expressed your eagerness of going there, we will be going there even if you like it or not. We need to go there and understand why the Umbrums abandoned the place.” Spike reasoned, hoping that it would make Scootaloo agree from whatever spell or curse which had been placed on them.

Lucky for him, she looked to have shaken off whatever it was that had tried to stop her. But he still had that feeling inside of him and just by looking at Scootaloo, she did also.

*** *** ***

On their way to the village, Spike and Scootaloo had encountered a few Umbrums who were walking on the dirt roads. Scootaloo had pointed them out to Spike and then he had fuelled them, killing three in the process. The rest of the Umbrums had been either killed by Spike or Scootaloo.

One of the Umbrums had been a leader so Spike looked for anything useful from the Umbrum but only found some incendiary oil. Spike had taken it without hesitation, knowing he could use it for a lot of things like burning the Umbrums to death.

After that, they started making their way again. The silence between the two felt nice for them, giving them the space needed for this difficult event. They both needed to mentally prepare themselves for whatever it is that is causing stirs in the village.

When they came to a crossroads, they were left completely baffled. The roads on both sides looked to be very old, there was no sign showing what the directions were leading to. They started to look around and see if there were any clues as to which path they should take. Nothing.

“Uh ... should we take right or left?” Scootaloo asked, confused. She looked at Spike who seemed to be lost in thought.

“I’m not sure.” He replied. He had anticipated there to be any kind of sign if there were a crossroads like the one they were at, but there was nothing at all. “Okay, how about this; you take the right and I take the left. If we don’t find something after three hours, then we met up here again.”

Scootaloo seemed to think over the idea and finally nodded. They parted ways and began their journey.

Spike walked through the left side with his ears listening for anything that could attack him out of nowhere but there was nothing. The trees on the left and right were very tall and intimidating with the roots on the ground visible to any creature who walked by.

The dirt path he walked on felt slightly dirty but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. Ahead of him started to notice movements. Quickly, he pulled out his katana and hid in tall grass to make sure that he was not seen. He started to move closer to the Umbrums which he realized seconds later.

The Umbrums had one female hostage who looked to have been crying, her eyes were red and her claws were bound. She was a Griffin. Her coat was beige with hints of blue. Spike moved closer to the Umbrums, his anger radiating off from him. His eyes flickered for a second.

He then jumped from the bushes and attacked one of the Umbrums who were wielding a spear. The Umbrum stumbled back and the other Umbrums looked in Spike’s direction. They panicked, two of them fell to the ground but got up and ran away while the last four remaining of them stayed behind with their weapons drawn.

“Gheobhaidh tú bás anseo, samurai!” The Umbrum with the spear said, rushing towards Spike, trying to slice him but Spike blocked the attack with his katana and flung the Spear a little in the air which made the Umbrum feel slightly dizzy with his head moving around in circles and the legs trying to find better footing.

Spike gave no verbal response, he only attacked with aggressive blows from the blockage the other Umbrums were trying to cover themselves with. The one with the spear tried to slice Spike one last time, but Spike parried it and sliced the Umbrum from his torso to his left thigh which made the other Umbrums flee in fear of what they just witnessed.

They fell to the ground, but The Ghost left them no mercy. He pulled out his longbow and aimed it at the first one who had just gotten up from the ground and was going to make a run for it when he received an arrow to the head. The other two Umbrums tried to evade but Spike pulled out an explosive arrow which when he released it, arrow’s explosion was big enough to hurt both of them.

They fell to the ground, bleeding out.

Spike put the longbow on his back and walked towards the Griffin. When she saw him she shouted; “Please release me!” He pulled out his tanto and cut the rope that bound her claws.

She got up from the ground and looked at Spike in awe. “I thought they were going to kill me, they captured every creature near their camp in the Everfree forest.”

Spike’s eyes shot up at this. “Wait, they have a camp in the Everfree forest?” The Griffin nodded solemnly.

“I believed it was safe, but they stay in the forest and seldom leave the area because they are trying to be the most vicious one’s King Sombra have.” She explained, making Spike bow in understanding.

“I will find the camp, and slaughter the Umbrums.” He said, making her smile. He continued on his way to the village to inform Scootaloo that he might leave for a small time. What he did not know what that he was being watched by Discord who was watching him through his globe.

*** *** ***

Inside the living room, Discord was watching Spike with a smile on his face. He was amazed by Spike’s care for every creature that he was fighting for. He admired it a lot. His smile widened. “His legend grows, he is The Unyielding Wind.”

18 — The Tale Of Rumble

Scootaloo had been very persistent with Spike staying to check out the village, so they checked the village out and they found what the Umbrums had been so afraid of; There were three Ursa Majors that were plunging the village into tiny pieces. Spike had even had to look for a sign just to be sure that they were in the right area.

They had fought the Ursa Majors with as much force as they could. Spike did not want to kill them because it could hurt the echo system that they had ... at least what was left of it. But in the end, they had to kill the three and the village was “saved” but the term was very loose because the village was nonexistent.

Spike and Scootaloo walked back to Griffinstone and spoke about their next plan of attack. Scootaloo had places to be and so did Spike. He knew what he had promised the Griffin days earlier and he would liberate the camp but he had to do one thing first and that was to help his friend Rumble with his troublesome past.

Rumble, to his knowledge, was in the fort near the Crystal Empire which Spike had liberated days or even weeks prior. He had his left claw on his katana that was in its sheat and his claws were getting restless the more he saw the Umbrums hurt more innocent creatures. He was close to just running up to them and killing them off.

“I’m on my way, Rumble,” Spike said softly into the night air that swished by him which made him shiver in delight from the coldness he felt. But before he decided to rest at a place for a few minutes, he heard some Umbrum screams. The screams did not sound like they were from fear or pain, not even anger. It wanted to intimidate another creature.

Spike crouched down and listened everywhere, making sure to not forget any spot so he did not miss anything. Luckily, the idiot Umbrum did it again which signaled it came from the far left. Spike began moving towards the area, his face concealed by the mask he wore but even then, his face was blank from emotion.

When Spike got closer, he started to hear whimpers and voices.

“I don’t have anything!” A masculine voice cried tears, believing he was going to die. The two Umbrums who were there were trying to intimidate the earth pony who was there. The other Umbrums were keeping a lookout, and those were the ones Spike killed first.

The climate was somewhat colder and had some bushes that were perfect for colder climates. There were in total of three lookouts that were not focused on the others. Spike decided to kill the one who was the furthest away as no creature would notice his fall. Spike aimed with his longbow and waited a moment before he fired his shot.

The world seemed to stop and he released the arrow that pierced the wind as it made its way to the Umbrum who turned just in time to see the arrow pierce his skull. Making him fall dead from the headshot. Spike looked over to the other two Umbrums who were close by, watching the terrain in front of them, looking for enemies.

Spike aimed at the second Umbrum who were doing slight jumping to warm himself up. Spike noticed he was wearing a helmet so he decided to Shoot in the neck, it would be a lethal injury. He did just that, and the results were satisfactory. When Spike released the arrow, the Umbrum was hit and he choked on the blood that was filling up his lungs as he tried to gasp for air.

The third Umbrum who was on the lookout watched the other Umbrums but did not react when he saw that they were not there. The Umbrum continued to look where he did before but felt something pierce his neck but before he could scream, he was dead. The blood smeared the hard dirt.

The other two Umbrums who had been intimidating the earth pony had still not noticed what was going on around them. They were behind a large tree, there was one Umbrum leader and one archer. Spike snuck up behind the leader, he intended to strike fear behind the archer; make him run away like a coward.

“Cá bhfuil an Impireacht Crystal?!!” The Umbrum leader shouted angrily at the earth pony who was crying. He sounded so tired. His voice was hazy, his body was trembling but his front hooves were tied. His coat looked to have been white, but Spike could not tell.

Spike snuck up behind the Umbrum leader and used his tanto to stab him in the shoulder. At first, Spike taught he had him, but the Umbrum pushed him back. The archer aimed his bow and arrow at Spike, intending to kill the enemy.

“Síos!” The archer shouted, making the Umbrum leader crouch down. Spike blocked two arrows with his sword but the third one hit him but it did not damage him as much as it should have. The Umbrum leader was wielding a spear, he rushed towards Spike with high speed and shot forward with the spear, but Spike blocked the attack with his katana and delivered heavy blows to the Umbrum leader who started to stumble back.

“Ní bhuaigh tú samurai choíche!” The Umbrum leader said to Spike as he tried to stab him with a sweep of the spear but Spike avoided it easily. Spike then rushed towards the Umbrum leader and stabbed him in the heart, the katana cutting through to the other side, facing the Umbrum archer.

The archer looked shocked, but then his face was contorted into one of anger. He became more efficient in his arrows shooting at Spike. The purple dragon ran towards the archer and cut through him, slicing the belly. The archer stood there in shock, trying to comprehend what happened.

Then he slowly dropped to his knees and then he dropped onto his back and he lay there before he started to close his eyes.

The earth pony looked up towards Spike and shouted; “Over here!” The purple dragon walked over to him and pulled out his tanto and began cutting the rope around the stallion’s front hooves.

“You’re going to be alright,” Spike soothed. When he cut the rope the stallion looked at Spike with awe, his eyes threatened to leak tears. He must have expected to die, lost all hope of being saved. The air around them seemed to be heating up.

“I thought I was gonna die,” The stallion whimpered. “They captured me by the crossroads to Manehattan. We walked for hours and they brought me here. I expected execution ...”

“Your safe now.” Spike soothingly said.

The purple dragon watched as the stallion ran away from the place as if the Umbrums would capture him again which Spike hoped would not happen for various reasons. The Umbrums are known for not leaving any creatures alive ... unless if they are useful ...

Spike sighed at what occurred and made his way to the fort, intending on telling Rumble about what happened. Not that the stallion he saved was any creature different from the others he have saved, but he still wanted to speak to some creature about the events too. Normally, he would maybe have gone to Pipsqueak but he was meeting Rumble and he wanted to bond with him a little.

*** *** ***

When he was closer to the fort, Spike saw that there were a lot of Umbrums who were heavily armed, the weapons they were carrying were enough to overthrow any place that was too focused on an invasion. The Umbrums were in groups of six, marching together and speaking a little with each other.

He had started to follow them when he noticed that they were walking by an icy dirt road that led to the fort he was heading to. He noticed that they were walking briskly, their weapons drawn and ready to cut through any creature who put up a fight.

It wasn’t good from the looks of things.

He was hiding behind treelines but was just close enough to keep an eye on them in case they tried anything. The roads were mostly empty as no creature dared cross their paths. Who would want to fight against the ones who have shown no mercy in any shape or form?

The Umbrums to Spike’s shock, walked a different route than the one that led to the fort; they were walking away from the fort. That could only mean that they had different plans.

The path they were walking on led to an old farm that had not been used in many centuries. Not that Spike was aware of ...

If that is the place the Umbrums were walking to, then they could use that farm as a place to ambush creatures who were seeking shelter, especially those who did not know that the farm was not in use! Spike grit his teeth.

He moved closer to the Umbrums, trying to hear them speaking to each other but they did not say anything and the ones that did were speaking in hushed tones.

Spike looked up ahead, trying to see where they were headed but there was nothing for a few kilometers. If anything, they were wasting their time unless if they knew something that he didn’t. Knowing King Sombra; he would try to find any shortcuts to different locations so his army could frighten every creature worse than before. The creatures would then submit themselves to King Sombra’s tyranny, become his slaves. Spike knew that it was one of the many methods that King Sombra used, but the one he was using the most without any creature realizing it was Divide and Conquer. It was a tactic that had been used since the beginning of them, used by Khothun Khan when he conquered Hoofshima, Neighpan when his ancestor Jin Sakai became the legendary Ghost. A legend that they still speak about in the present day Hoofshima.

He continued to follow them, watching as the Umbrums became increasingly silent on their journey. He wondered if they would rest someplace, but they never stopped, they continued to walk even when the sun was setting, the Umbrums kept walking.

He was impressed by their lack of rest, they must either have trained very hard, or the corruption was giving them the energy they needed for long journeys. It was still rather strange; the Umbrums hunted for their food, they ate meat no matter the creature they were inside their armour, but they clearly showed that they did not need to eat or drink. Of course, they could have drunk a potion that gave them this kind of stamina but there is only one creature he knows who could have made that kind of potion and that was Zecora. She would never willingly join the Umbrums, not that Spike suspected that she had made anything for the Umbrums.

“Could King Sombra have made them a potion?” He mused quietly as he saw the Umbrums take a right on a crossroad. It did make sense that the evil King would have vast knowledge in potions given that he studied very dark magic. He must have studied potions as well, dark potions, and very dangerous ones. Anything that would give him the upper hoof.

Just then, Spike looked ahead of the Umbrums and he saw some creature crouch down by some tall grass. They did not look to be Umbrum or bandits from what he could see at least. The creature was on the other side which meant that he would have to cross to the other side without being seen by the Umbrums.

Crouching down, he crossed to the other side, not being seen by any Umbrums because they never looked back; they looked straight on, carrying out whatever mission they had received from their King.

Spike moved to the tall grass, trying to find the creature that was there moments ago but he could not see a whole lot and was about to continue to follow the Umbrums when he stood up straight, and looked ahead to see ... Rumble following the Umbrums. He looked back and saw Spike and waved him over.

Spike, curious, followed him. He was expecting Rumble to be at the fort but he was following the Umbrums who were going to The Gods knows where. When Spike was in earshot, Rumble began speaking; “Hey Spike, I know what I said about meeting up at the fort but I witnessed these Umbrums walk to the very place I was heading to but they changed course. I only saw you when I dropped down into the tall grass. I knew you had seen me so I was not worried about having to call out to you.”

The explanation made very little sense but Spike could roll with it. “Why are we going after these Umbrums? I thought we were doing something more ... personal as you described it in the letter you had sent me.”

Rumble did not respond for a very long time, just following the Umbrums, not even glancing at Spike. The purple dragon was worried that he had asked something insensitive so he was about to say sorry and to forget what he said when Rumble gave a surprising response.

“Funnily enough, these Umbrums are the ones that we are after. They came from a war camp that was near the fort. The Umbrums are heading towards a farm that has not been used in a long time.”

’I was right.’ Spike thought.

“Makes sense,” He began. “The farm is very remote and has not been used in centuries, not that I am aware of but we cannot make any assumptions on this. There have been some farms that were said to have been abandoned only for there to be creatures who live and work on the farm.”

Rumble hummed in agreement.

*** *** ***

For the next few hours, Spike and Rumble followed the Umbrums who were marching to the farm that came into clear view and the Umbrums were talking amongst themselves, oblivious to the two samurai who were trailing them not far behind.

The roads became clearer and better, more visible and the grass became more rotten for the lack of sunshine and water. It looked like a total wasteland, it was as if Equestria was slowly rotting away, and it was, to an extent because King Sombra was not taking care of their home.

The only thing the evil King was doing was to pump out more Umbrums that would fight for him, give them armour, weapons, shields, and some homes. After that, the Umbrums feel indebted to their King so they do whatever he says. But somewhere in that explanation, there should be that King Sombra’s mind controls them because that is exactly what he is doing.

When the Umbrums were to the first house of the farm, the leader ordered two Umbrums to take the house while the rest looks at the other places. They scattered and found over fifty creatures who were dragged out of their homes. They were screaming, they were trying to fight back but they were killed.

Spike and Rumble had seen enough so they killed two Umbrums by shooting arrows into their heads; catching the attention of the other Umbrums who were threatening the creatures of the farm with their weapons. Spike climbed on top of a house and aimed at the Umbrum leader. He had taken out his longbow and aimed an explosive arrow at the head of the Umbrum.

The Umbrums were shouting at each other to kill The Ghost and his accomplice. The Umbrums rushed towards Rumble who had a neutral expression on his face. He had his bow and arrows and killed the Umbrums with headshots but he also aimed at the necks and throats of them to hear the gurgle on their blood. He was Spike jumped from a roof and killing an Umbrum with his katana completely inside the Umbrum before he pulled the sword out and looked for another Umbrum to fight.

Spike blocked an attack from an archer who had climbed on top of a barn and aimed at Spike with an arrow that had poison in it. An old technique. Spike blocked another arrow with his katana and pulled out his half-bow and shot the archer right in the head.

Five Umbrums were running to Spike with their weapons ready, but their eyes revealed the fear they had.

Meanwhile, Rumble was killing his fair share of Umbrums one by one, picking them off without breaking a sweat. The Umbrums only seem to become more agitated with this and became more ferocious in their attacks. Just when Rumble was about to fire off another arrow at a nearby archer, he was sliced on the side of his right hoof.

“GHYAA!” Rumble howled in pain. He fell to the ground and witnessed the Umbrum who had done it. He tried to snarl but he couldn’t. He saw the creature and knew her by name. The creature was known as Midnight Love, she was a unicorn mare that have done a lot of damage to Ponyville. Midnight Love without the pathetic armour she wears is a dark purplish bluish coated mare with green eyes and dark blue mane and tail with black streaks.

“You are still as pathetic as the day I killed your family, Rumble.” Midnight Love said, her Equestrian was broken from the language she had been speaking for the whole year. She was now only speaking the language her king was commanding her to.

“It’s ... funny that ... you ... of ... all ... creatures ... say that!” Rumble wheezed. The injury he suffered was worse than he expected but that would not stop him from taunting the Umbrum who took his whole family away from him. But Midnight Love did not seem angry one bit.

”Oh?” She allowed. “and to pray to tell, how is it funny that I say it?” Her tone held amusement but a very small fragment of curiosity. Something that Rumble did not miss. It made him slightly interested, the other Umbrums do not hold the same interest.

“Well,” Rumble got up from the ground, ignoring the clashing of swords and the other Umbrums who were screaming in terror. He looked straight at the Umbrum leader who murdered his family. The air became thick to swallow, his body had never felt so heavy before. “You call me pathetic, but I am not the one who hides from the world with my sword in hand, ready to follow a King who murders mares and children. You just follow him blindly, can’t you feel the corruption?”

Midnight Love just looked at Rumble, she looked neither angry nor happy with what he said. Rumble believed that she would not dignify him with a response, but she did ...

“Interesting,” She answered, her voice sounding sinister. “I like the way you think, you call our glorious King for a murderer but what are you? A hero? I did not realize that heroes were murderers as well. Does the mane six fall into that category or your brother even?”

It was a low blow, but it had its desired effects. Rumble trembled from her words, his eyes were watering, looking ready to cry but he stopped himself. He would not cry in front of the enemy. Not the one who took his family away. But she did have a point to an extent; heroes do not kill, which is why only very few heroes do it.

A necessary evil that will help in the long run.

“My brother to the knowledge of all years of knowing him have not killed any creature, because he did not need to. Only a select few have the stomachs to be able to do that kind of evil. It’s depressing that it’s needed.” He boldly stated with his eyes narrowing at the Umbrum.

Midnight Love raised a brow at the bold statement but her helmet concealed that expression like most of her face. It certainly was a bold statement he had made, not many creatures were willing to say something like that.

His pain, seemingly gone, aimed his bow and arrow at Midnight Love ready to kill her. The two stared each other down, neither willing to back down. Rumble looked unimpressed and had his neutral look on his face, not revealing anything while Midnight Love was the same.

Slowly, Midnight Love reached for her sword and pulled it out of her sheath, and stretched her left hoof as far as she could, showing that she intended on fighting him to the death. But before it could even start, Midnight Love was shot on her back hooves, making her fall to the ground but not without trying to stand up a few times.

Rumble looked ahead and saw Spike stand with his arms crossed watching the scene in front of him with his emerald green eyes that looked like green fire when angry. He turned his attention back to the Umbrum who was letting out anguished screams. He pulled out his tanto and without a word, slit her throat.

The blood poured out from her, soaking the ground with iron from a living creature. Once, once a living creature. The rest of the Umbrums who had been there dropped to the ground but got up just as fast and ran away as fast as they possibly could.

The sun shined through the dark clouds and made the two warriors feel at peace.

*** *** ***

The two friends looked at each other before turning their backs to the liberated farm. The family that lived there looked very identical to each other ... they had cut contact with the rest of society so they did not know about the invasion until the Umbrums came and took over the place.

They had lost family members to the Umbrums who were either unhappy with them or simply did not like them for various reasons. They had thanked Spike and Rumble many times before the two said it was time to go.

So there they stood, waiting to say goodbye, trying to savor the moment. But all things must come to an end.

“Whenever you need me, Spike, I will be there. I will follow you till the end of time.” Rumble stated before he turned to the left and walked away. Spike watched him go before he too, turned to the right and left the farm.

B3 — Where Is She?

Spike walked out of his room where the cutie mark crusaders, Rumble and Pipsqueak were. He had a far-away look on his face, thinking about what Rumble had told them. He could tell that his friend wanted revenge; that much was clear judging by the sound of his voice.

But that did not mean that Spike would be okay with Rumble getting careless in battle. He had heard stories from his ancestor of warriors who grew careless because they wanted vengeance. Sometimes they won ... and sometimes they lost ... horribly.

He did not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, he wanted to move forward as much as he possibly could than to make mistakes that he knew he would regret later. But It then would be too late to change them.

Spike walked past Crystal Guards who were inwardly saluting him straighter than when they do so for the Princess’. They saw him as a hero and would follow him to the end of time. Spike, not looking at where he was going, found himself outside the palace, walking by the many houses in the Empire that had been built to make room for every creature who was fleeing the Umbrums wrath.

At first, Equestria and other kingdoms had fought back; believing that King Sombra would grow arrogant like countless other times but he didn’t if anything, he seemed to have gained more strength than any of the rulers inside and outside Equestria anticipated.

The sheer power King Sombra displayed when he sent his forces to take over the Crystal Empire was unfathomable. Even Luna could not match King Sombra’s strength in the battles she fought him. She felt his strength, and it frightened her.

But that did not mean that she would grow scared again, it only meant that she was at a setback.

Spike knew all of this, any creature was willing to tell him, trying to be as useful for him as possible, not wanting to disappoint their hero.

“There must be some weakness he has, no creature is perfect ...” Spike said out loud only for him to hear. “He must be hiding it very well, the way he displays his magic and army suggests that he is not afraid of showing what kind of power he holds, but there must be another reason as to why he is willing to allow his soldiers to do everything for him.”

King Sombra when he ruled over the Crystal Empire, never allowed anypony but himself to do everything; paranoid that somepony would try to kill him or at least try to end his reign. He was right to be afraid, The Ghost was after him. But why would he allow his soldiers to do everything by themselves if he never trusted any creature but himself?

It could be that he wanted to throw the rulers off their hinges; trying to make them believe that he trusts them, or it could be that he does indeed trust them since he has that spell on his fellow Umbrums. That would explain the certain arrogance he shows the world.

Spike had climbed on top of a roof of a house near the border to the Crystal Empire and without any creature seeing; left the safety of the empire. Thinking about King Sombra was giving him a headache, he did not understand the creature at all, as soon as Spike believes he figure him out, he proves him wrong and it was making him irritated.

The way King Sombra kills any creature who puts up a fight is the same way some creature else did in history. It reminded him of Khothun Khan’s methods. Spike had learned about the tactics that the Khan used to enslave his victims, the same method he used to fight. Everything pointed to King Sombra being fascinated with how Khothun Khan went about his invasion of Hoofshima. It made sense that he would have picked up inspiration from previous leaders who were somewhat successful but did not make it all the way. The Khan may have taken over Hoofshima for many months, but that did not mean that the Khan succeeded to the extent that he had wanted to succeed. Of course, King Sombra has ruled Equestria with an iron fist for over a year now, but that did not mean it would remain that way. Spike would make sure of it.

*** *** ***

Spike was making his way to the fort that he had liberated and his eyes were scanning the areas like a true predator looking for its prey. His mouth was clenched, his claws were ready to grab the katana and fight if he needed to. But there was nothing he needed to worry about and that was a very small relief for him.

It was small because it meant that the Umbrums were doing terrible things in other places but it could mean that they are plotting something. That is what was setting him over the edge.

When he took a left, heading towards the fort, he did not notice that there were dead Umbrums on the ground in pools of blood smearing over the grass. Even if he did, he would have applauded the creature who managed to do it.

When he was halfway to the fort, he heard some creature scream for help; “Some creature! Help!” Spike looked from the left to the right, trying to find the source of the voice, and saw a mare who was greenish brown coated with green mane and tail. Her eyes were chocolate brown with evident fear in them.

Spike started jogging to her, intending to see if he could help in any way he could. She was outside her home, the home had a staircase leading up and the house was one-roomed with everything in one space. The mare was wearing a maidens suit that was covered in dust and other mucky things.

When Spike reached her he saw that she looked relieved that some creature had stopped to make its way over to her. She had not believed she would be able to get any creature’s attention.

“What’s going on?” Spike asked in a calm voice, but the mare knew that he was anything but calm, she could practically feel his anger radiating from his body like a heating charm being placed on her. But this was different, this sort of heating was not comfort, it was something that she did not want to see or feel.

“My daughter,” the mare began, hoping he would help her. “She’s been missing for days. We last saw each other at a restaurant that had been liberated by The Ghost she told me she would catch up but she never came back. I’m fearing the worst.”

Spike listened to her, his mind was running thousands of miles per hour, thinking about what could have happened to the daughter of this mare. He would help of course.

“I will help you, do you know any creature that might know of her location or know her on a personal level?” He asked, intending to see if he could find the source through her inner circle of friends and acquittances. The mare looked at him, thinking for quite a long time, and then shook her head.

“Not that I know of, she never did have many friends, but I have seen her be near some mercenaries sometimes but I was never concerned because where we lived was filled with them—walking up and down the streets as if they owned the place and to some extent, they did.”

Spike understood that. If he had grown up in a place like that, he most likely wouldn’t be too concerned about it.

“I will see what I can do, but first; what is her name?” He asked.

“Her name is Strawberry Twister.”

before he bowed in respect and left the mother outside of her home. It was then he noticed that there were quite a few mercenaries where the mother lived. Spike walked into the territory not intending on starting any fights.

The small town or village looked to be somewhat hostile but not to the point where he was drawing his blade. The buildings were built from wood with heavy signs of magic, there was hay for roofs and there were mercenaries who were walking up and down the dirt roads, looking quite intimidating.

A few hundred feet ahead he saw a dragon who was wearing black robes and a straw hat. He looked to have a katana for a sword and Spike decided to ask him if he knew anything. The dragon was looking into the fire, not noticing that Spike was making his way over to him, or if he did, he did not show it.

“Hello,” Spike greeted, making the dragon look at him. “I am looking for a mare named Strawberry Twister, have you seen or heard of her?” His question was simple, but he had not anticipated the answer her received.

“Fillies. Colts. Chickens. I have it all. For the right price, call them whatever you like.” He answered, no emotion in his voice.

“Fool.” This is what Spike responded with before he left the dragon to stare into the flames as he had done before.

The rest of the village was the same, the mercenaries walked up and down the streets not sparring a second glance at Spike who walked among them and showed them some respect for protecting their village that must be known for its illegal business’.

The creatures who lived there did not seem remotely alarmed by the fact that there was a creature among them that were not from there, but that could be because they thought he was a mercenary or ronin—as they are mostly known as—which would not have surprised them the slightest.

Spike was making his way to an inn that was the headquarters of a mare that Spike knew was dangerous. He had met her once but that had been before he became The Ghost. He shuddered at the memory, not intending to indulge the small voice in his head with the memory.

The inn was a partially quiet place, the main room was spacious with tables filled with food and water, mercenaries were drinking, chatting, or just hanging around before they headed to where they needed to be.

He looked around and walked over to a ronin who was by himself, drinking something with alcohol in it. He was visibly drunk and Spike hoped he could use that to his advantage by asking if he knew where Strawberry Twister was. “Hello, I am looking for a mare named Strawberry Twister, do you know her?”

The ronin gave a light sneer his way, presumably from all his drinking. “I do not know any creature’s name and I don’t want to, leave me be.” He responded with irritation. Spike looked around and saw some dragon who was squatting over a table and looking at his food.

“Excuse me, do you know a mare by the name of Strawberry Twister?” Spike asked, to his surprise the ronin responded kindly.

“Yeah, I know her, haven’t seen her in days though.”

“I’m trying to find her, do you know where she is?” Spike desperately asked, hungry for information about her whereabouts.

“Sorry, can’t help you.”

While Spike was disappointed, he still felt like he was going in the right direction. He looked around the small inn and decided that it would not hurt to stay a little while. But before he could sit down and relax and start thinking about his next course of action, another ronin came and whispered loudly enough for him to hear;

“Samurai! Over here!” Spike turned and walked over to him. The ronin was another dragon who wore the same outfit just like the others, it was some sort of dress code that they have. That was the assumption Spike made anyways, but what he found very odd was the fact that they dressed the same way as the Straw Hat Ronin did back in Hoofshima back in the two hundred.

Before Spike could even ask what that ronin wanted, the mercenary spoke again; follow me, we can speak in private near a rundown house.” He said with his voice being very hard. He turned around and started walking towards the location, Spike following him behind.

Spike noticed that there were a few houses that were destroyed and were left to rot away in peace. The ronin led him inside one of them that were very private and perfect to have serious deals with clients that would be paying hefty sums of money.

“Do you know Strawberry Twister?” Spike asked and the ronin nodded.

“Yes, she is a friend, she told me about a Griffin who had offered her a job at an inn not far from here. She wanted to surprise her mother and made me promise not to tell her which I did. I am very worried about her.” He admitted.

Spike understood the concern the mercenary felt for his friend. “Do you know where the inn is at?”

“It’s located near the border to the Badlands.” Was the curt response before he turned around and walked away from Spike, believing that the purple scaled dragon would save his friend. And Spike would.

*** *** ***

The sky became gloomier than it usually was and it was sort of irritating to see that it might rain again but at the same time, it was a blessing from the usual manifesting darkness that usually covers the sky by King Sombra’s red horn that is filled to the brim with dark magic that could simply corrupt even the kindest of creatures.

One thing that Spike was trying to find out was why King Sombra was doing what he was doing, of course, it could be power, but no creature would go that far unless if there was something else at play, something so sinister that it would make him shiver in either fear or disgust.

But if it was simply power he was after, then Spike could almost guarantee their victory. Almost. He can’t exactly go around and say that he would win because there was a very large chance that he would fail as well, and he had accepted that; he is not perfect, he cannot guarantee anything in war and battle.

It was foolish for any creature to do so.

The border to the Badlands was not very clear as to where it exactly was. The sands might be one thing, but it was not enough to put the line for the actual border. The art of politics can be dangerous at times, especially when it comes to borders between kingdoms.

One little bit of mistake could mean war against one another, which was why only a very select few could handle such pressure, but there is only one problem; no matter what kind of politics a kingdom has, it will always be Psychopaths and Sociopaths that will be able to handle the sheer pressure the station provides and that is something every creature knows but are too afraid to mention.

This, of course, did not mean that his mother, aunt, and cousin were unstable, but it meant that they have to in some way shape or form endure prejudice and being questioned by creatures that does not like them. But the problem is that some of the things they write about the rulers of Equestria are the truths that have been hidden.

Spike used to read articles of a news company that was not illegal but at the same time, not legal either. You could suffer a hefty fine if caught with the paper. Spike had read many articles from them and even found information that not even aunt Luna knew about which worried him.

The things they pointed out were things that could be questioned if Princess Celestia was fit for ruling the kingdom. She is but there would need to be any creature that would have to keep an eye on her to make sure she was not breaking any of the laws that she herself helped create.

It was funny, there had even been an article about Spike how he was the secret prince of Equestria. How they had come to that conclusion was beyond him but he had a good laugh because they pointed out a few things that did make sense like how he was able to give hugs to the princess in private. How the royal guards from the sun and moon bowed to him in respect as if he was in some way superior. With this, Spike had noticed that some ponies outside of Canterlot had been looking at him strangely as if they were silently judging him to see if they could accept him as their prince. It was only the noble houses of Canterlot that knew the truth; they had to because they would be in one way or another through the blood adoption related to each other.

Spike shook his head out of his line of thinking and made his way beyond the Everfree forest. He could start there and work his way through the entire border, it would be both time-consuming but it was better than nothing. He could jump from the tree branches over to the other branches to save time and cover more ground.

He climbed to a tree branch and scouted the area, the Everfree forest from the top was even more terrifying, the trees, bushes, grass, everything there seemed to be hostile against you; simply looking for an excuse to get rid of you by force. But it was not just that, it was the air, the animals, everything. The magic there was unnatural, the magic seeping the roots was not evil but it was not good either.

It depends on what sort of intentions any creature has for the forest or intends on doing in the forest that decides one’s fate. Usually, it wasn’t pleasant and could be torturous.

*** *** ***

He jumped from the different tree branches, not stopping until something caught his eyes in the distance; a very large wooden building with creatures walking around on the outside with weapons armed and ready for battle from the looks of it.

He had been searching for the inn for the past several hours with next to no success, the large house he was witnessing was the first one he’d seen in hours.

This had to be it, there were no other inns nearby and Spike had not even known that there was an inn near the border to the Badlands. But Spike had a feeling that this was the place, there were no other buildings for several miles, the terrain revealed no creatures.

Spike was crouched by the tree branch that overlooked the inn where there were creatures all around guarding it. He suspected that they were bandits. The way they dressed proved it. They were simply wearing a cloth over their upper and lower bodies but nothing else.

Spike swung himself to another tree branch and saw that there were two bandits by a fire who were cooking something, one of them had a stick and was trying to make the fire hotter. The other bandit was drinking some beverage.

Spike pulled out his bow and two arrows that were flaming. He aimed carefully at the two bandits, his facial expression even without the mask unclear. He then released thee two arrows that hit them spot-on, lighting them aflame.

They started to scream, their voices were not heard however or the other bandits were fed up with them for whatever reason and continued with their tasks. But that did not mean that Spike would not kill them, oh no, he most certainly would.

He pulled out one normal arrow and aimed it at an archer who was watching over the terrain, making sure that no enemies knew about what they were doing. They would not allow any creature to stop their line of business. They had worked so hard for this. Too hard.

The archer never saw the arrow that came flying at his head that pierced his brain and made some gagging noises before his soul went over to the next life.

Spike surveyed the inn, looking for any other lone bandits who were alone and had not spotted their friends getting killed from seemingly out of nowhere. But he did not find any other bandits on his side, but there were a few several hundreds of feet away from him.

He jumped off from the tree branch and stalked his way over to the inn, intending on saving the daughter. He jumped inside of tall grass where he could hide from unsuspecting enemies. Spike used his hearing to see if there were any bandits around and he felt his heartbeat faster when he heard;

“Enemy Archer!”

Spike looked around frantically, trying to spot the one who alerted the others and saw that there was a bandit with a spear who looked over the terrain with a threatening gaze. He did not notice Spike the tall grass who was now aiming at his head, intending on killing him first then the other.

spike released the arrow, it flew through the air before it hit the bandit in the throat and the bandit immediately started to choke on his blood. The scene was not a pretty sight, the blood gushing out of his lungs and the bandits who saw it naturally became terrified of what they witnessed.

Two bandits fell on their rumps before they turned around and ran as fast as they could away from the inn, not bothering to take the weapons they had dropped with them. Spike looked at the other bandits who were there who looked angrier than before, believing that Spike was playing a game with them.

There were only twelve bandits left in the vicinity, the bandits who stayed were the ones who were walking around with their weapons drawn, the weapons looked not at all intimidating, they just looked incompetent with the ones who were using them.

Spike—in his crouched state—made his way over to some goods where he could be shielded from the other bandits who might be looking his way. From what he could hear from the other bandits, he must have been seen by some bandit but had not bothered to walk in his direction to see if there were any intruders, that would be the bandit’s mistake.

He aimed his arrow at him and waited for quite a long time before he released it and heard the bones that crunched when the arrow hit the bandit. He screamed in pain as he felt the arrow hit, he was bleeding a lot, too much to be able to save his life and before he knew it; he was dead.

Spike snorted at the bandit.

The other bandits were either inside the inn or on the other side of the property, so he made his way to the other side of the property, his katana in his left claw, dangling dangerously at his enemies.

On the other side of the property, there were nine bandits scouted in different areas not far from one another. There was some tall grass that could be lit aflame that could cause a distraction while he picks them off one by one but Spike decided something different. He wanted to watch them burn as he stood there, seeing them look his way, realizing that they could not possibly be safe from him.

No creature is.

He did just that, when two of the bandits walked into the tall grass to use it as a shortcut, he fired off a flaming arrow that lit them aflame that made them scream like lunatics. The other bandits looked in their direction and came to their aid but it was no use, they could not possibly fight against the flames that had burnt their friends to death.

“Watch out for enemy archer!” One of the bandits barked at their friends. The bandits were a mix of different creatures that came from many different kingdoms originally. They must have snuck inside Equestria or they left their kingdoms to do their crimes in another one.

“Come here and fight!” Spike said, his voice holding pure loathing for what they had done to the daughter. The bandits turned around, spooked, but when they saw Spike they felt their anger rise as they could see how arrogant he acted. Wearing armour as if it would protect him from their wrath.

Spike waited for the bandit who would start the duel to come. A grey Griffin stepped forward with his spear that was made from wood. They stood there, facing each other, staring each other down as if that would end the duel alone. But then the Griffin tried to attack Spike—initiating the duel. But Spike cut through the Griffin, the flesh wound coming from the right leg up to the heart. Then another bandit came his way but Spike sliced down from the same length but the katana came from a different direction and the last bandit did not stand a chance. Spike rushed towards him and shoved him enough to go off-balance and stab him in the back—making the bandit die instantly.

The bandits fell to the ground, their gurgling subsiding as Spike walked away from them. He looked around the area quickly, trying to see if there were any more bandits on the outside, but he could not find any creature.

It was a possibility that they had seen the bodies of their friends and decided to leave the area, their tails between their legs. When he was satisfied with the terrain, he decided to finally enter the inn to find Strawberry Twister.

When he opened the first door to the inn he noticed that there were plates everywhere with some old food on them, suggesting that they had been there for quite a while. Some beds were scattered here and there but nothing fancy to suggest that something is going on.

He walked into three different rooms on the first floor but found nothing, there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, it must have been a normal inn before the bandits stole it from whoever built it. Or it could have been them who built it. The longer Spike thought about it, the more sense it made; why would any creature build an Inn on the border to the Badlands? The only ones who would have any sort of benefit would-be criminals because they never speak about the crimes they commit.

Spike saw a ladder by the entrance and he started climbing, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not startle any creature who might be inside of the inn—especially, other bandits who might be sleeping or doing whatever inside. When he reached the second floor, he looked around and tried to find any materials or anything he could take.

His ancestor once told him that sometimes that in war, you have to know that the ones who live in those places won’t be returning—use the resources that are there.

He did not find anything and walked into the next room that had only one bandit who was sleeping to the right side corner, facing the wall. Spike crouched and snuck over to him before he stood and killed the bandit with the katana piercing the heart.

The bandit had not been able to properly scream in pain.

The blood slowly poured itself over the wooden floor but Spike did not stop to witness the gross act and only continued for the next room where three bandits were sleeping on the floor and there was a mare. Her coat was white and her eyes were dark red. Her mane and tail were dark indigo with hints of black and dark blue. She was on the floor, silently weeping.

Spike snuck over to the closest bandit and did the same thing he did with the other bandit in the other room. He pierced this one’s heart as well, the bandit let out a very silent shriek but was not quick enough to warn the other. The mare looked in his direction but did not say anything.

This might be her chance of escaping.

Spike turned to the mare and before he freed her, killed the other bandits who were in the room. After that, he walked over to her, seeing her eyes being redder from all the crying she must have done for a long time. He pulled out his tanto and cut the rope that was binding the mare, when she felt her front hooves were free, she started to shake with happiness but she did not cry.

She had nothing left to cry for.

“They forced me to do it!” She said, feeling herself succumbing to the anger and loathing that had started to transform in her heart for the last few days.

“Do what?” Spike confusedly asked, his eyes darting to the bandits as if they were still alive and could answer his question. “Also, what is your name?”

“Strawberry Twister, they forced me to shout for creatures to help, some of them stopped, some of them wanted to help. I led them to this wretched inn and this is where they were killed by the bandits.”

“Your safe now, they won’t be able to harm you.” Spike gently stated, his voice still somewhat firm as to reassure her of his statement.

He led her out of the inn, determined to get her back to her mother. Strawberry Twister followed him, not looking back for even a second. She climbed down the ladder where her mysterious savior had gone down.

Spike waited for her with clear patience, not wanting to rush her. When she had gotten down, they started to walk in the direction of the dirt road that would lead to the village where he found the mother shouting for her daughter. At first, he was completely baffled, but then he saw a ronin walk past the mother.

It was the one Spike had spotted by the fire.

“Mom!” Strawberry Twister exclaimed but walked past the ronin and lightly flinched as if he was going to punch her but she kept walking and hugged her mother who smothered her. She had not believed she would see her baby filly but there she was, by her side.

“Surrender and you can live!” Spike said, his voice asserting authority over the ronin. Or tried at least.

“Fillies. Colts. Chickens. I have it all. For the right price, call them whatever you like.” He answered in the same emotionless voice from earlier.

With disgust on his face from behind the mask, Spike pulled out his katana and waited for the ronin to attack him.

It wasn’t long before the ronin came at him with high speed and tried to cut Spike who blocked the hit and landed a blow of his own which stunned the ronin. He quickly got composure and turned to face the purple scaled dragon who was looking at him with evident anger that was felt through the air.

Spike decided to be the one to approach him this time, running up to him and jumping up into the air and trying to land a heavy blow which partially worked but the ronin did not lose balance as countless other creatures had done in the past, he had better control in battle and he had better control over his sword which was evident with the amount of willpower he showed when he partially blocked the heavy blow.

The next attack came from the ronin who tried slicing him but couldn’t because Spike blocked the attack very quickly and landed two heavy blows and then proceeded to stab him multiple times, but those were only minor injuries.

But Spike knew he was close; the ronin was slightly dancing to the left and right but he stood his ground, ready to fight. Spike would have admired that about the ronin if it was not for the fact that the ronin showed that he was some creature who sold other creatures on the black market for whatever unforgivable reason.

Finally, Spike rushed towards him and landed a heavy blow and a final lethal attack which caused the ronin to gag before he finally died from the injuries he suffered from Spike’s blade. He dropped to the ground, his eyes looking up at the sky.

“Strawberry Twister, I never thought I would see you again!” The mother exclaimed, her happiness and sorrow clear in her emotional voice. Spike glanced towards the mother and daughter who were hugging each other for dear life as if they feared that the other would disappear if they did not hold on to each other hard enough. Spike smiled as it reminded him of his mother when he returned from Hoofshima when they reunited recently.

He was about to walk away, deeming his work done when he was stopped by both women.

“Wait!” They said in unison. Spike turned to face them, wondering what they wanted.

“Is there something wrong?” He asked, his voice concealing the worry and confusion he held at the very moment.

“What? OH! No, no, nothing of the sort we just wondered how we could ever repay you?” The mother asked, her voice showing ever so slightly worry over what the repayment would be. Spike looked at her for a very long moment and could detect her fear because she could not see his face.

“I do not want repayment, I want the creatures of Equestria and beyond to be safe from the Umbrums.” And with that, the mother and daughter watched in awe as the samurai walked away, his aura giving away power.

Author's Note

I absolutely loved writing this one! This side mission was heavily inspired by the side story A Thief Of Innocense which is one of my favorite side-stories.

B4 — The Laughing Bandits

Spike had sent a letter and told everyone in the Crystal Empire that he had shot up the plans of liberating Manehattan for up to a week so it would give their guards enough time to make sure that they have not missed any key points when they were to retake the city.

He did it also because he needed to mentally prepare himself for the devastations of what happened inside of the city; it would not be a pretty sight to behold, the city from what he had heard—was practically a waste with the buildings breaking every fifth seconds and Umbrums everywhere to behold.

The Umbrums themselves were not that helpful either, they just tortured the ones who lived there and stole all the food and water that was needed for any creatures’ survival. What makes it worse is the fact that those Umbrums do not even want to do the things they are doing; they are being forced by King Sombra to fight for him with mind-magic spells, the same ones he used on the Crystal Ponies to create the army that he desired.

It was a fate worse than death. Imagine, you get freed from the spell that makes you do those terrible things only to find out that you were forced to kill your own family because of the spell.

It would be more than heartbreaking. The emotion is indescribable.

Spike looked over the terrain from where he was. He intended on going back to the Crystal Empire and in fact, was not far from there, only a few more miles and he’d be back. He needed some sleep and water, that was the thing on his priority at that very moment.

The terrain had many trees scattered around with rocks laying around in weird formations. Or, it wasn’t weird per see but the way they were laying around made him feel a little uneasy, it was like some creature had formed the rocks and left them there but intended on coming back with something.

But Spike shrugged it off. He was getting paranoid! All the fighting he had done for the last few months was getting to him.

He left the area and shook his head in disbelief, before he knew it, he would think that every creature was out to get him. While it was somewhat funny though, it could end up being quite dangerous given the situations he has been through and has suffered. Those events could plague his mind and destroy it, making him into the deadliest weapon there was in Equestrian history.

*** *** ***

When he reached the Crystal Empire, he walked through the gates and were greeted by every creature who began fawning over him, thanking him for his duties as samurai—which they had learned through reading many books and finding what category from which the armour he was wearing—and wearing that they would do anything that would be of benefit in the war against King Sombra.

Spike glanced at them all and felt the love and awe they displayed by just seeing him among them and that was all the boost he needed before he went and took retook of Manehattan.

When Spike managed to free himself from his huge amount of fans, he made his way over to the palace but on the way there, he made a little detour and was checking out the shops, watching the displays on what they sold. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

Many things were sold about; Spike The Brave And Glorious even books about him and his supposed origins. He would not later in the future be surprised if they made books about how he became The Ghost how he was sent from the heavens to fight for them.

Spike continued to look through the small shops where he wondered if any magical objects were useful enough that he could use them in battle, curses, jinxes, or anything else that he could use to his advantage but he found nothing, none of the objects that caught his interest in the different shops was anything that he felt he could use in battle, there were, however, a few books that depicted on old legends that held many secrets of weapons and armour but he did not know if the book was outdated or not, if it was, then it would still be a good read to just freshen his mind for new possibilities, and who knows? Maybe he would get inspired by one of the many armours.

Paying for the books by dropping some bits on the counter—when the pony who worked there wasn’t looking—he made his way back to the palace where he knew his friends were waiting. He hoped that Rumble would have prepared his mind enough that he would be ready for when the battle takes place later in the week

He allowed his mind to wander as he started to climb to his bedroom with his grappling hook and proceeded to climb. The Umbrums from what he could see were getting agitated by the days that went by, the torture was increasing and the food supplies in Equestria were decreasing by the day it is an actual miracle that the kingdom is even standing to begin with.

The creatures in Equestria were becoming more miserable. Spike could see it in their eyes but he also saw faint—very faint—hope that the legend that they had heard was real. The only way they could know is if they understand the language the Umbrums speak which would not be entirely surprising since they have been surrounded by it for an entire year so they are bound to pick a few phrases here and there.

But the creatures were forced to work, their bodies were malnourished, they looked gaunt, their faces were so pale that it is as if they were dead—dead creatures who worked as slaves in their homes in which they had grown up in, even the creatures who were not from there, but transferred there for no apparent reason.

But there was nothing they could do, their King ordered for everything to happen so if they wanted change; it is the King they would have to go to. And they knew for a fact that King Sombra would never allow them to have any sort of change; they were his slaves and that was it.

When Spike reached the balcony to his room, he found that he could not get inside because it was locked. That was odd, he had never locked the balcony doors before because he saw no reason to. The only time he did that was if he was angry at some creature and did not want to be disturbed whatsoever.

It was unusual for that, however, to happen but it still did.

Stuck on the outside of his bedroom, he started to gently look around to see if he could climb up to the top of the palace and get into the palace that way. Hopefully, it would work in his favor. He knew that his family would question where he had been while his allies would not bother because they knew what he had been doing.

The balcony was not all that large with some bluish reddish crystals that shined when the sun shot its rays on the crystal ground of the empire with no visible clouds in the sky to hinder the sun’s light. The railing was designed with gold mixed with darker crystals, forming hearts, Cadance design.

She was the princess of love so it came as no surprise to him that she would design the railing to have hearts; the design that there is love between two creatures. There was even a room inside the castle that was for two ponies that showed pure love between one another.

Love that could never turn into hate.

Spike saw a way to climb up the palace and jumped from the railing and put both of his claws near the crystal part of the window, and started jumping to the outer parts of the palace so he could get to the top without any problems. Which he did, he jumped and jumped, not stopping for a second.

His ancestor had trained him to be able to do those kinds of dangerous stunts if he ever came into a situation where he would need such climbing skills. Luckily, those skills came in handy in this situation because if he did not know how to do it, he would be dead.

Reaching the top, not breaking a sweat, he noticed how there were no crystal guards at all. None were guarding anything; it was vacant of any life which surprised him.

Seeing that he was alone, he walked towards the door that led into the palace so he could get to his room and read for some while. It would be beneficial if he smartened himself up a little so he would be able to use his knowledge later if he came into a situation where he would need to use it.

When he reached the door that led inside, he was surprised to find it locked. He looked around; trying to see if he truly was alone up there only to find that he was. He shook his head and tried opening the door again but it was locked.

“Hmm, this is very strange, first my balcony door and then this, What is going on?” The question was screaming inside of his mind, trying to tell him of all the possibilities of what is happening but he did not satisfy any of it, because he wanted to get to the bottom of the truth.

Spike looked around and decided to write a haiku, so he walked to the edge of the palace and sat on his knees. It was beautiful, the creatures going around, shopping, playing, being around old and newfound friends, it was beautiful. “Creatures having fun ...” He began. He thought about the times he had seen them hopeless, the times when they looked as though no creature would save them; from old grudges or for what they personally had done. “Hope once lost ... “ He thought about the war, the creatures that would have to pick up their weapons and lead them into battle, the swords that would need to clash, and the blood that would have to spill. “United we stand.” He finished.

Standing up after the haiku, he decided to head into the heart of the empire. He would have no problems there surely?

*** *** ***

He was right; he would have no problems there at all, there were no creatures who needed much help but when they saw Spike they started to wave enthusiastically, so much so that he was afraid that their limbs would fall off.

Luckily, that did not happen and he made his way through the narrow alleyways, trying to find creatures who needed help. He may not want to go all over Equestria, but he could still cook and bake, those were one of his skills that he had a lot of pride in; you never know when your gonna need it.

But when he came to a crystal pony who was crying her eyes out, he could tell that he would be traveling all over Equestria, but he put those thoughts aside and approached the mare who was by a river for the fisher creatures. The others looked at her—unsure of what to do. Spike approached her, there were minor gasps as many of them recognized the legendary warrior who approached the mare.

The mare herself was a raspberry-coated mare with green eyes and yellow mane and tail. Spike sat on his knees beside her and turned his head to look at her, wanting to give her space before he asked anything. When the mare showed no signs of stopping, he asked;

“Are you okay?”

The mare hastily looked up; trying to find the creature that had disturbed her but when her eyes landed on Spike, her eyes widened like saucers as she recognized her hero. The one who saved her home twice and was now doing it a third time.

“Spike The Brave And Glorious? The Ghost, what can I do for you?” She asked, surprised that her hero was speaking to her or even being near her at all. Her hero chuckled slightly but it died down just as fast as it had come. He looked at her and she looked at him, trying to read each other’s body language.

“I was walking around the empire when I stumbled upon you crying; what happened?” He explained before he asked the one question that nearly made her burst into tears again but she hid it well as to not make her hero feel guilty for making her upset over something he had no control over.

“I am just depressed—nothing to worry about at all.” She unconvincingly said, making Spike raise a brow at her. In any other situation, she would have laughed but the situation she was in was very serious and could be life-threatening. She contemplated if she wanted to tell him but she knew that no other creature would help her, and there was a big possibility that her hero would not help her either.

Well, if she did not get help, no creature would be able to tell her she did not try.

She sighed. “I fell in love with a bandit.” She admitted the others gave no reaction and Spike was not all too concerned because love is love. “He is a Griffin who was banished before the invasion, he promised me that if I gave up my families location that we would be together, but he lied, I gave him the location and he killed them—he told me that he was just going to steal the food and nothing else but he did, he took everything! He even killed our dog who was doing his best to protect my family, his name was Trevor.”

Spike felt his rage pulse through his veins like a drug that had been injected into his system and was making him stronger and more competent for battle. He could not imagine what she just went through—you meet some creature and fall in love and you believe the other party genuinely loves them but it turns out that it is not the case.

That it is all just deception, a deception that will lead to vengeance if they are not careful enough.

Spike looked at the mare who began crying hysterically again, she had her hooves to her eyes blocking her field of view from the accusing glances—not noticing that the “accusing glances” are one of sympathy and concern. But to her, it would have been all the same.

“What is your name?” Spike asked, his voice kind and one that showed affection to a hurt child. She stopped her crying and looked at Spike with confusion clear on her face. Why would he be interested in knowing her name when she just told him she’d kill her family?

“What?” She asked, making sure she heard right.

“What is your name?” He asked again, making it clear that he wanted to learn her name. She looked delighted; her hero asked for her name of all creatures! Who could say that they have that happen in their life?

“Cherry Neck,” She responded. She turned to look at him. “I work at the Crystal Empire most popular spa place, I am quite excellent in the neck areas.” She stated proudly.

Spike was interested because of two things; one he had never been to the spa in the Crystal Empire because he had been so busy, now especially, so it was interesting to hear that there was a spa where he could relax and have all of his worries washed away.

But at that moment, he had to find the bandit who killed her family. The only thing he needed now was a name, and then the Griffin would have to flee for his life. If he isn’t already ...

“What is the bandit’s name?” Spike asked, his voice displaying no emotion. It looked like Cherry had some problems speaking before she forced the name out of her mouth, she said it as if it was something ugly.

“Gilda.” She blanched.

Spike’s muscles tensed and he stared at Cherry with his eyes shining with wisdom and power but not in a good way, the power that was displayed promised something foul would happen; something that no creature would want to think about and it terrified the ones who watched the conversation with great interest.

“Gilda ... as in Gilda Griffin?” Spike asked. His voice was calm; too calm to the other’s liking—his eyes were dangerously twinkling in a way that made the other creatures want to run away.

“Y ...yes.” Cherry forced out, looking away from her hero as she felt his eyes drilling into her like he was digging up dirt but this felt more ... violent.

“Do you know where she is located, I can promise that she will not be hurting any creature ever again.” The others paled and realized that this Gilda had made Spike angry, it meant that no matter what the Griffin did; she would be by the end of the blade of Spike.

Cherry was unsure if she should answer that. She did want revenge, but at the same time, the look on her hero’s face suggested that he knew who her lover was and that concerned her. If Gilda knew Spike The Brave And Glorious then it must mean that they have met in the past which must mean that either Gilda screwed him over or did something so heinous that Spike felt the need to end the Griffins life. Cherry’s face said it all and every creature themselves felt pure sympathy that moment for her, there was no way their hero would allow Gilda to walk free after what she had done and they knew it.

“She is near Griffinstone, there is a survivors camp that is run by her bandits, be aware, they are usually around ten creatures in total and they know how to fight.” She informed, her voice cracking slightly by the thought that she would not see Gilda again. Alive.

Spike stood up and walked away slowly but he voiced his lack of care in numbers.

“I am not concerned about how many bandits are at Gilda’s camp, I am have slaughtered more than that without breaking a sweat.”

He did not notice the looks of awe and slight fear when he said that.

*** *** ***

The kingdom of Griffinstone was still beyond repair when he got there, the creatures there welcomed him with open hooves and gave him no trouble. He marched through the streets where the creatures were either doing illegal deals or other things that either could destroy the kingdom more or help it.

There was nothing much any creature could do, the ones doing illegal business wants revenge on the Umbrums or want them to come back so they can do other illegal things and get rich while doing it. Either way, they would die.

And not by his claws.

When Spike reached the other end of the kingdom he slipped through an open crack in the defense walls that had been built all around the kingdom. It was impressive if it wasn’t for the fact that the Umbrums had been the ones who built the entire thing.

It just showed Spike how much King Sombra is paranoid. he believes that every creature is out to get him and he is correct; every creature in one way or another wants his head but that would not have been the case if he tried to reform himself. Not that he would ever get the chance because what he has done to Equestria and the other kingdoms is something that will never be forgiven by the other creatures and rulers so the King dug his own grave from the very start.

Spike walked up the mountain trail, not bothering to look at the animals who were looking all over the place, making sure that they are not being hunted by any creature. But that was hard to know who was an enemy and who was allies. Spike in the animal’s eyes; could very well be an enemy that wants to end their life for whatever reason.

It wasn’t unreasonable, that is what they had always known.

... and the fact that Umbrums slaughter them with cruelty.

He walked up a path that was becoming more desolate as he walked. His legs were not showing signs of stopping despite them slightly aching. His claws were bawled into fists, ready to through a punch if necessary before unsheathing his katana. He trained in a lot of different forms of battle.

Anything from sword, spear, bow, and arrow. The two weapons he mostly used were swords and bows. His ancestor, Jin Sakai had been trained by Sensei Ishikawa who once trained Hironori Nagao who then tried to cease the clan for himself. Trying to save face; clan Nagao made up a story about Hironori dying at the hands of bandits and Sensei Ishikawa retired.

But Sensei Ishikawa’s Way Of The Bow lives on. Spike is one of them who knows the technique.

Spike is the only one who knows it. To his knowledge at least.

He walked up to a crossroads where he took a right that led into a forest that was known to have been a large bandit spot even before the invasion. Bandits, ronin, and pirates were known for frequenting the area for making deals that were known of ending in bloodbaths.

The forest had become a lot worse after the invasion, there were hundreds of criminals every day who went to the forest. Even the Umbrums used the area for body-dumping grounds ... if they didn’t burn the bodies first of course. There were even legends of hidden treasures inside of the dangerous forest. Treasures that could give eternal life, end hunger, disease, weakness. But if that was true or just fabrications remained to be seen.

In those sorts of tales; there was always a catch. Always.

The treelines that Spike walked past were nothing sort of interesting, the grass under his feet was as dry as sand and the bark on the trees looked to almost be rotting by the weather conditions that King Sombra have issued over the entire continent that are under his regime. The skies were not faring better. The clouds were as dark as the shadows and it was not filled with rain or thunder.

And if Spike was going, to be honest with himself; he did not want to know.

After a few minutes of walking and listening to the silence that filled around him, a silence that was getting him agitated because he was getting worried. What if he had just missed Gilda? What if they had an advantage over him by having spotted him before he entered the forest?

It was not entirely impossible because while Gilda is not the sharpest tool in the shed, she is not a complete idiot, she knows what it is she’s doing.

And if anything of the old Gilda is still there, then she is still smart enough to know when she has crossed a line. Not that she would care about that all that much. She had shown that she does not care about any other creature in the past so why would she start doing so?

Spike then stopped dead in his tracks when he walked past a tall, thick tree with dark bark around it that looked to be rotting with the roots below it, clearly visible to anyone who was looking. He heightened his hearing, trying to hear where the sound was coming from;

“Hahahahahahah!!” He heard. There was laughing inside the forest? Was it the bandits who were laughing over something they had just done or was it other creatures who escaped Umbrum rule and were laughing in joy for having escaped capture?

Spike walked in the direction where the laughing was coming from, intending on finding out if it was bandits or not. To see if it was Gilda who was laughing.

When Spike got closer, he could see that there was smoke in the sky that kept flying up. He knew he was getting closer, he wanted to remain unseen though, just in case it turned out to simply be other bandits who were in the vicinity. Better be safe than sorry.

The closer he got the creatures the louder the laughing came. But he still did not know what they could possibly be laughing at, especially during wartime when the kingdoms sent out soldiers to do heinous things to others just to get the message across.

But he was somewhat happy that creatures could still laugh at something funny unless if it was bandits who were laughing about the theft they had just done. It would not surprise him the slightest; bandits have always been known for being crucially violent along with ronin but the difference with ronin is that they are sadistic and aggressive while bandits are just violent, they are pretty good at fighting but not as good as ronin who are excellent with their blades that could cut through any creature who stands in their way for the riches they believe they rightfully deserve.

Getting closer, Spike was able to hear the voices of the creatures who were by the fire. One of the voices was the one who he was coming to kill for; Gilda. She was there.

“Oh, hahaha! You should have seen her face! She fell in love with me, told me I could steal the food from her family's house and I did after I killed her family and dog!” The Griffin doubled off in laughter from the sounds of it, the rest of the bandits laughed along with her.

Spike pushed past some bushes that were in the way and peeked into the setting where the bandits were. He saw Gilda holding a water bottle that most likely had some alcoholic beverage in it. Wouldn’t surprise him one bit if he was going, to be honest with himself. Gilda is nothing more than an overgrown bully who still acted like a child.

He looked around some more and saw that six other bandits were there making them a total of seven. Spike wondered if he should jump out of the bushes and assassinate one of the bandits, catch them by surprise, and strike fear in Gilda. The sight would be a funny one, making them run away like scared children.

But Spike refrained from doing anything, he knew that Gilda had spoken about Cherry Neck, but he still wanted to wait, he wanted to make them feel as though they are being watched by something, make them feel uneasy. They would make some kind of mistake, one that would lead to their demise.

And it didn’t take long before he started seeing Gilda shift around uncomfortably but the other bandits did not see it at first. They just laughed and drank their alcoholic beverages until one of the bandits who were a mint coated heart pony with a white mane and tail looked at his friend who look around uneasily.

“Are you alright, Gilda?” He asked. The Griffin in question looked at her friend. “You look as though some creature will jump at us at any given second.”

Gilda, paranoid, glanced everywhere, completely missing Spike who was staring at her intently, and then turned her attention back to her bandit friends who waited for an answer. She opened her mouth to speak but before she could; out of nowhere, Spike jumped at one of the bandits, his katana cutting from inside the skull and reaching into important organs before he pulled it out. Without stopping, he then cut the throat of the nearby bandit and then he killed another bandit who stood close by, not even turning halfway around before he was killed.

The last remaining four bandits looked in Spike’s direction, Gilda pales so much, the purple dragon thought she was a vampire until he realized that Gilda was shocked because she never expected to be attacked; she felt watched, not necessarily that she would be attacked.

She had not prepared herself if something like this were to happen.

“Down!” One of the bandits archers shouted and the three other bandits got crouched down as an arrow flew through the air, almost hitting Spike but the dragon blocked it with his katana which both infuriated and made the bandits scared at the same time.

One of the bandits who wielded a spear ran towards Spike and tried to stab him but was blocked by Spike’s sword, momentarily, making it look like he was not even trying, but in reality, Spike was silently savoring the moment.

Spike then stabbed the bandit in the heart, making the bandit slowly drop to his knees before closing his eyes from the immense pain that was coursing through his body, feeling his nerves acting up in such a way he did not believe was possible.

Now that there were three bandits left, Spike would have less fun ... until he fought Gilda that is. The archer ran to a nearby stone that overlooked the camp and aimed at Spike who had just killed another archer of the bandits, making there be two bandits left.

“Down!” The archer yelled, his voice holding clear anger at the warrior who was killing them one by one as if it was something he did every day.

Gilda crouched, allowing the arrow to attempt to put her enemy to rest but to her dismay and fear, the warrior was still standing, not even breaking a sweat; it was as if the creature was born to fight life-threatening battles. It was almost as if he enjoyed the violence.

But it was hypocritical of her; she did enjoy her killings and thefts so who was she to judge?

Spike pulled out his half-bow and without hesitation; fired an arrow at the archer who was not quick enough to move away from the arrow that pierced his skull, making him fall dead to the stone, bleeding out.

Now it was only Gilda that remained.

The Griffin was looking in Spike’s direction and for the first time in her life, her fear was evident on her face. Her entire life she had to build facades to make sure friends believed her lies that she was okay and that she just had trouble here and there, but now, she faced a creature that killed her bandits, her friends, he did not seem to have remorse, or her, if it was a female.

“Wha ... what is it that you want?!” Gilda shouted, hoping she could bribe her way out of the situation. She knew that it was fruitless; the creature would kill her either way, but she had to try at the very least!

Before she could scream; Spike’s sword plunged her heart, and pulled it out with such force that the heart almost came with it. The purple dragon looked at the form of Gilda and felt nothing, it was almost as if he did not care what he had done; he hadn’t. Gilda was nothing more but a murderer.

He left the forest, he could not stay a second longer.

*** *** ***

When Spike got back to the Crystal Empire, he decided that he would immediately go to the place where he had met and left the mare; Cherry Neck, but when he got there, he noticed that there were a group of creatures who had gathered there who looked depressed.

“What is going on?” He asked, the confusion on his face was clear after he took off the mask.

A Crystal pony turned to him and bowed in respect to his hero. “The mare, Cherry Neck took her own life, she could not handle what she had done, ultimately ending her life.”

Spike was stunned into silence. She had committed suicide? That was ... awful. He could not think about anything appropriate for a response and simply bowed back. The Crystal Pony understood that it was a lot to take in so he did not press his hero for a response.

Spike walked past the other creatures and looked to the spot where the mare had once sat, he did not know her well, but he bowed in respect and did not realize that the fishes of the river were jumping up and down from the gesture.

20 — The Liberation Of Manehattan Part 1

It was finally happening, the liberation would be happening that very day. From what Spike could gather, it was around the end of December, almost the new year. He hoped that by the time spring arrived, he would have defeated King Sombra.

He was marching together with his mother, aunt, cousin, Shining Armor, the mane six, the Crystal Ponies, and his allies. Many creatures who heard The Ghost would liberate Manehattan sent their best warriors who could help them any way they could.

Spike had been thankful and would repay that kindness somehow. The way to Manehattan had been almost completely blocked by the Umbrums who must have heard about the rebels who would fight back to get their kingdom under Equestrian control again.

From what his mother told him; King Sombra happened to be in Manehttan and was most likely looking for slaves, she did not tell Spike how she knew but they both knew it did not matter, they had the information they needed, and that was all that mattered.

His aunt, on the other hand, kept giving glances of disapproving looks at Celestia which made Spike wonder what his mother had done to get the information or it if was a completely different matter altogether. But it did not really matter, they were either going to succeed in this, it would be a long day or a very short one.

The soldiers were wearing war banners of their kingdoms, representing the kingdoms that had been under King Sombra’s tyrannical rule that had treated its creatures as nothing more but mere filth. They were beaten, saw family members get killed right in front of their very eyes.

But now, they would take something that would make King Sombra extremely angry, something that would make the war turn tides but if that was good or bad would remain to be seen and that was something that still terrified them. One wrong move and the war could be lost.

But Spike would not allow that to happen, he would never allow King Sombra to regain anything that he lost, the only thing that King Sombra would regain would be execution, he could not live under any circumstances, he had even voiced this to his allies who all agreed with him.

They too, believed that King Sombra could not live. After everything he’s done to them, to Equestria, allowing him to live would be a disgrace for every creature that was once alive. They had not spoken about this to any other creature but Spike did see his mother strangely look at him...

He could not make out the expression but he noticed that her eyes held a kind of a disappointment that one would see in a ruler of a kingdom, and she was, but why was it directed at him? Had she heard what he told the others? Did she not agree with his line of thinking? She over any creature should understand, from what he could see, aunt Luna agreed with him.

In a dream; she had told him that she agreed with him to a hundred percent.

But if his aunt agreed with him, then why didn’t his mother? Was it because the way he was going about it was wrong in her eyes? She needed to understand that they were at war; he needed to be brutal if he wanted to get anything done at all, but she did not seem to either understand that or want to believe in whatever it was that Spike believed.

But there was only one problem with the liberation; his family would see him in action; the ones who believed in him like the cutie mark crusaders, Rumble, and Pipsqueak would be fully on his side as well as the ones he had saved on his journey into protecting Equestria.

But the only ones from his family that would support him would be his aunt, cousin, and possibly Shining Armor. And if they were him in action then they would see what he had to do for Equestria; there was no other way if there had been; then he would use it, but there isn’t.

His way was the only way that would liberate Equestria and beyond, his ancestor had trained him for over a year to make sure that he knew how to defeat the Umbrums. His training would not go away for anything.

*** *** ***

They were almost there. Their flags were pierced high up into the sky, the warriors making their way to the city that had fallen into King Sombra’s hooves that now ruled it with an iron fist. They would never abandon the creatures there, and even if that was the case; The Ghost would have come to get them.

They were a hundred feet away from the gates. The large wooden gates on the top had a watchtower with fifteen Umbrums watching. When they spotted Spike and his warriors, they immediately went for their horn and blew inside of it to warn the others that they had spotted something.

“This is it! Today we free the creatures in Manehattan, and retake the city!” Spike shouted and heard thunderous cheering from his fellow warriors. Then he heard their war cries.

“YAKYAKISTAN!”

“GRIFFINSTONE!”

”THE GHOST!”

And then ... they witnessed the wooden gates open for them but it released the Umbrums who were running towards them. Spike did not hold back; he ran towards the closes Umbrum who wielded two swords and then they clashed. Metal hitting metal filled the entirety of Spike’s surroundings, he heard the war cries from his comrades and he heard the Umbrums let out aggressive growls for their enemies, showing their displeasure with what was going on.

Spike blocked his Umbrums’ attack and they continued to try and stab one another and the Umbrum succeeded at one point, he cut inside of Spike’s stomach and Spike knew that the metal they were using came from dragon metal that was immensely hard to find unless if you are a dragon that knows where it is.

Spike used a healing technique that his ancestor had shown him and just like that; he was ready for battle once more. The Umbrum did not seem the least surprised and rushed at Spike once more before he was cut from the shoulder, losing his arm. But because of how much blood he was losing, he died instantly.

The other warriors were doing their best to fight against the Umbrums, but the soldiers of King Sombra were good. Too good. Their battle skills were amazing to the extent that they were able to cut down several of Spike’s allies but luckily, none of them had died so far but it was only in time ...

Spike was nearly stabbed from behind by an Umbrum who wielded a spear who was fighting with vigor. His face was contorted into one of anger. He tried multiple times to stab Spike but the purple scaled dragon just blocked the attacks and watched as the anger become absolute, making the Umbrum furious as to not being able to kill the one who had stolen several lands from them.

After all, King Sombra would reward him good for The Ghosts head ...

Spike surprised the Umbrum when he jumped into the air and landed a heavy blow onto the spear which made the Umbrum slightly dizzy from the impact, but he did not falter as quick as his brothers and sisters who were fighting for the sake of their king.

Spike ran up to the Umbrum and attacked with another heavy blow but the Umbrum expected it that time and tried to stab him with the spear but it was futile as Spike was anticipating such a move and cut the throat of the Umbrum when he landed on the ground.

The Umbrum stumbled back, the rotten dirt getting smeared with blood from the enemy that destroyed it in the first place. It was not redemption for the nature that had to endure such lack of care, but it was a start, the plants could potentially suck up all that blood from their enemy, giving the plants the last laugh.

Over to the element bearers, they were fighting off their own hoard of Umbrums who wielded weapons that they had all seen and read before but never seen in action. It terrified poor Fluttershy seeing the Umbrums fight with such violence that made even Rainbow Dash falter.

Rainbow Dash wanted to become a Wonderbolt and she had read about the dangers of the job, but she would have never anticipated this kind of danger, the amount of violence the Umbrums displayed just made Rainbow feel sick to her stomach.

She would have never in her life believed that any creatures could be so violent and hateful. But before her very eyes; she was witnessing some of her other friends fall to the Umbrums, she even saw two of them get killed by Umbrums who looked to have pony but it was hard to tell because of the armour they were wielding.

Her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt was slowly diminishing, wanting to live a long and prosperous life. But at the same time, there was a big chance that she in one way or another would dismiss what she saw and join the Wonderbolts anyway.

Applejack who was currently fighting over four different Umbrums was not faring much better. She was thinking about Big Mac, her younger sister, and Granny Smith. She remembered one day when she had returned home from the Crystal Palace, she had seen her Granny sit and look into the nothingness around her, when she had asked where Big Mac was, Granny had slowly turned her head towards her and ordered her to never say his name in her presence. When Applejack had demanded about what had happened, she got silence as an answer.

It was a strange thing to think about when you are fighting for the sake of the motherland you were born into but perhaps it was because she was close to dying? It was a depressing thought because she would then never receive her response about what Big Mac did that set her Granny of so.

But for some strange reason ... deep down it was as if she knew the answer but she never wanted to satisfy the thought.

She blocked an attack from an Umbrum and knocked him out unconscious.

What that thought would be, she would have to find out later because she did not want to think about what happened to Big Mac. But she never did see him around the empire, it was as if he ... vanished into thin air. She had tried asking around, but nopony or any other creature seemed to know where he was.

She could spot a liar from a mile away, but none of them lied. None of them ...

Over with Pinkie Pie, she was one of the few from the element bearers who completely agreed with Spike’s way of things. She had kept rambling about how Spike was the messiah of their world and when the Crystal Ponies had heard this; declared Spike the messiah of the Crystal Empire, with Pinkie Pie as the sort of “Nun” to watch over things.

She was killing Umbrums left and right but was concealing it with her party cannon confetti which was sprayed all over the battlefield. Her other friends didn’t seem to notice as they were too busy fighting off their Umbrums who were doing their best in trying to stay alive and injure the Umbrums but not kill.

The only one who seemed to be doing “unnecessary damage” was Rarity who was going a bit overboard with her spells, injuring the Umbrums more than what was called for. Not that Pinkie cared all that much but she knew that it was what the other of her friends might believe as they have never spoken anything good about Spike’s tactics which could mean that they are on princess Celestia’s side which was making her slightly agitated because it then meant that Spike almost did not have any creature to count on apart from her and his allies who followed him.

Did they not realize that they had to take drastic measures?

Pinkie Pie avoided an attempt at being stabbed by an Umbrum swords creature and managed to kill him by blowing a secret cannonball from her party cannon. The Umbrum died instantly but the cannonball flew through the air and killed a few other Umbrums who were close by.

Rarity was fighting for Manehattan, its liberation would be beneficial for all of Equestria, she knew that the big city would be the key point to winning against the dreaded King Sombra, the way that the evil King is handling things are evidence that he use the city the most for his torture and kidnapping.

She had one secret which she had yet to tell any of her other friends and that was that she believes Spike’s way is the only way they will be able to retain freedom from King Sombra, the killings of the Umbrums would only be beneficial for Equestria and she knew that the others knew that as well.

But they did not want to admit it. They did not want to admit that killing another creature is actually beneficial. But it could be because of the fear of being arrested by Equestrian law for killing another creature who could potentially be a fellow-creature that they know or maybe even are friends with.

It was that fear that made Rarity realize that princess Celestia was afraid of killing off her own subjects or even her fellow rulers’ subjects because she believed that they could be healed from the mind-control spell that King Sombra had over them. But, when the creatures can think for themselves and are explained to them what they did, they wouldn’t want to be alive, they would feel unworthy of being amongst the other creatures, especially, since they might be the cause as to why some children would not have any parents, siblings, family members, or even friends left.

It would be unbearable.

Rarity understood this with all her heart, if it would have been her, she would feel way too guilty, even though that the Umbrums wear armour to conceal their faces, it still wouldn’t make it right, they might have memories of when they were under King Sombra’s spell and might even witness if they killed their own family members, it would be horrifying.

The marshmallow coated mare dodged a swing from an Umbrum spear and aimed her horn at the Umbrum who was running towards her with his weapon ready to kill but Rarity who was anticipating this, dodged yet again making the Umbrum fall after his feet connected to a rock, making him fall to the ground but he quickly got up and jumped as a spell flew his way.

Rarity cursed as the spell failed to hit the Umbrum but the two fought on.

Fluttershy was terrified by what was surrounding her, the dead bodies of the Umbrums kept piling up and she could not help but feel sympathy for the Umbrums; they were mind-controlled which forced them to obey King Sombra’s every command and she knew how it must have felt, be manipulated by some creature in such drastic measures. She did not blame any of the Umbrums for what happened, in the end, no one in war can ever be innocent, yes, they are fighting for their freedom. But the creatures who were born from the Umbrums who did not have the spell on them to have loyalty to King Sombra? They will still have loyalty because of the propaganda or fear.

She had seen when the Umbrums were slaughtered by Spike’s sword, and looking over at the little dragon, she could see nothing but pure hate for the Umbrums, she knew that Spike knew that they were being mind-controlled so she knew that the hate was directed at King Sombra but she would have understood if he hated the Umbrums, they had done bad deeds but they were not in control so they could not be to blame entirely.

She had helped several creatures from her side of the battle, she had seen the injuries, they were deep wounds that would have been infected if it wasn’t for her quick aiding, but at the same time, she wondered if it was worth it, the fighting would only continue until King Sombra is dead.

King Sombra, the monster who had started it all. The one who made children cry for their families when they wouldn’t get up after getting killed. She may be afraid of a lot of things, but she would never be afraid of King Sombra.

Never.

Twilight Sparkle fired off spells that injured the Umbrums enough to open wounds on them but they were quickly killed by their soldiers who were fighting the enemy with force so strong, that twilight felt a little unnerved by the power the royal guards had.

She was still quite afraid of the Umbrums who seemed to know how to use the weapons but at the same time, she was disgusted by the knowledge that they were not fighting off King Sombra’s spell. It was as if they had given up, they had no right to! They are the Umbrum soldiers who fight for the vilest king that has ever walked Equestria and they are submitting to him like cowards!

Why were they not fighting against the spell? She understood that King Sombra was powerful but he could not be that powerful, then it would mean that he have more power than four alicorns put together and that was not possible, not the slightest.

No, King Sombra was not that strong. Twilight knew this. She fired off another spell at another Umbrum who tried to attack her with dual-swords but was blasted away. She shook her head in disgust, she would expect better from every creature, they could not be that weak. They simply couldn’t.

And yet, before her very eyes, that is what was happening, her blood became enraged as she felt the pulse shoot up like a flame that came into contact with oil, she felt so incredibly betrayed by every creature that they would not be able to fight against a little spell.

She looked towards Spike and she felt herself become afraid; she witnessed how Spike cut down several Umbrums with no signs of regret at all. His posture was the same as when they first saw each other after an entire year of not knowing what was going on and where he possibly could have gone, she now knew he had been training to become nothing more but a killer.

He was a monster, it was as simple as that, he wasn’t a murderer; a monster.

She could never have guessed that the dragon she helped raise with Celestia would become such a vile being, killing Umbrums who are under spells by a weak King. It just proved to her that Spike had not become any better since he became a fully-grown dragon.

She could see the hate Spike held for the Umbrums, it was practically radiating off from him like a heater. He was no better than King Sombra. But hope wasn’t lost, she would see if she would be able to steer Spike in a different direction. To see if he could become the kind and gentle dragon he once was.

She looked at her friends who were fighting for their lives to make sure that they have certainty that they can get to the city, get behind the walls and then liberate Manehattan from King Sombra’s hooves and hope that the vilest King of Equestria was still inside the walls so they could formerly execute him for his crimes against the entirety of Equestria.

Twilight looked to Rarity and saw that the mare was injuring the Umbrums too much, but Twilight understood; the poor mare was pressured because of all the Umbrums. Even Twilight herself had to admit that she was getting a little bit overwhelmed by all the Umbrums who were running towards them.

She continued to fire off different spells to make sure that their victory is an absolute success.

Spike blocked several attacks from the Umbrums and there were only a few left; his fellow warriors and allies had killed many of them, making the Umbrums almost fall back from the amount of force they have been putting on them.

But that did not mean that the Umbrums were giving up, Spike saw that the gates were closing and that could only mean that they are expecting to ambush them when they force the gates open. He would prepare himself, he did not intend on allowing any innocent warriors to die in this battle, or any other battle for that matter.

Spike killed Umbrum who almost managed to stab him in the chest but Spike had been quicker and he managed to also injure another one who had rushed towards him.

He then stabbed the Umbrum through the heart and he noticed how the others were rushing towards the gate to the city. He smiled wildly as this was the last stand for King Sombra in this city. He maybe even got to kill the evil King. He was tired of seeing his fellow-creatures get assaulted and abused in such, way.

The last of the Umbrums was killed off by his allies and they all made their way to the gates, their blades were drawn and ready, and their spirits were as high as ever.

If he would have looked back, he would have seen Twilight frown at him in anger and disappointment.

21 — The Liberation Of Manehattan Part 2

“The gates are opening!” A creature shouted as he neared the wooden gates that towered over the thousands of creatures who were fighting to regain back their home, what they had lost to the Umbrums.

The weather was getting worse by the seconds and the warrior’s clothing and armour were getting wet from the rain that had started pouring all over them. Spike had his eyes glued to the gates, waiting for it to be opened up by the Umbrums who were undoubtedly waiting to surprise-attack them.

But that was not happening; not today, not after what had happened over the year. They had lost too much to just stop right then and there.

Suddenly, Spike’s grip on his katana became stronger as the gates opened and flaming arrows shot out from them, hitting a few of their allies that cried out in pain from the agonizing flames that burned their coats. Even the dragons seemed mystified by the flames that pierced them.

But they could not dwell on it; they had to focus on their sole purpose of liberating Manehattan.

The Umbrums started to run out of the gates and tried their best to injure and kill the warriors who were fighting for their freedom. Spike blocked an attack from a Umbrum leader who looked to be a warlord from the looks of it by the gold armour she wore.

“Síos!” An Umbrum screamed and all the Umbrums ducked which caused the others to do the same. The arrow pierced the air with its metal that could pierce any creatures’ heart in a matter of seconds.

“You do not fight bad.” The war lady said, her voice is slightly unclear from all the Umbrum language speaking the creature had been speaking for either months or years. Spike didn’t respond, he only continued to block her attacks and looked for an opening to end the battle.

“But you could be better,” She added quickly as she blocked an attack that narrowly missed her throat that had been out in the open for a few quick seconds.

She was taunting him, and it was working.

But it did not work enough so that he would lose focus or balance. He had anticipated this; his ancestor told him that the leaders or smaller platoons or large ones’ usually, tried taunting their enemies into getting angry so they would become predictable.

The only flaw with that plan would be if the creature is unpredictable when angry; then the enemies doing the taunting will become afraid or just give up because they do not wish to push their luck.

Spike heard the clashes of weapons around him, he felt the spirit inside of him guide his blade as if it was a normal training exercise. He felt himself lose control over himself as he blocked the attacks from the war lady with ease, not being surprised by any of her movements; having observed her for quite some time by that point.

When Spike tried to go for a heavy attack, the war lady did the same but they stood like that in place, trying to see who was stronger than the other. Eventually, both of them pushed against one another before they jumped away so they would avoid the clashing.

They ran at each other once more, trying to get the upper hand, but it was not doing any favours; Spike was fighting with vigour and even felt his core muscles being overworked because of how much strength he was using against the war lady, and the Umbrum herself was not faring much better, trying to hold her weapon of choice in place while also trying to stand up from the clashing she had suffered at the claws of Spike. They stared each other down; trying to intimidate each other but it was not doing anything other than making them look like equals that are not able to finish their duel, but Spike did not see the Umbrum as his equal, not until they are free from King Sombra’s curse, and that would not happen because the victims would commit suicide after they realize what it is they had done while being controlled. Spike jumped at the Umbrum who jumped right back at him and they once again fought like wild animals; clashing their weapons at one another, making the sparks come out from the metal. But before the Umbrum could land a finishing blow at Spike; the purple scaled dragon stabbed her in the throat, making the blood gush out of her like a river.

Leaving his allies behind, Spike made his way inside the open gates of the once-grand city. Inside, he saw that many of his allies as well as Umbrums were fighting for the upper hand to end their battles and claim victory. The buildings were dishevelled and destroyed almost beyond repair. There was blood everywhere; soaking the grounds.

Spike looked around and saw that many Umbrums were making their way towards him, weapons ready. He gripped his katana tightly and stared them down. They would not be leaving this land at all. The wind blew against his back, his spirit was lifted.

He blocked an attack from one of them and quickly cut off his arm, which made the Umbrum wail in agony. The other Umbrums were swarming him like bugs but he did not falter. He cut through them every step of the way, he did not look behind him unless if he heard an Umbrum that tried to attack him from behind but he was lucky that a situation like that had not taken place yet.

“SÍOS!” A group of Umbrums shouted and in unison shot away arrows towards Spike’s allies who were shouting his name, fighting for him. Spike pulled out his longbow and aimed with precise precision and managed to use three arrows in one pull that killed three Umbrums who did not expect the attack.

The others that were from behind the gates now made their way inside of the city. Some Umbrums ran for it, looking to find their other comrades in hopes of eliminating The Ghost and his army. But there were a few Umbrums who fought to their last dying breath.

“This isn’t over, move towards the gates!” Pipsqueak shouted, panting as he did. Spike looked all over the place until his eyes landed on another gate that was firmly shut, with magic that surrounded the area. That is where King Sombra was hiding, Spike could see a tall structure of a building that must belong to some creature high in power.

There was no one higher than the King.

But the gates suddenly opened and there were suddenly thousands of Umbrums who swarmed the area with their weapons sharp enough to penetrate their armour if they needed to. His allies shouted a war cry and the second wave of the battle began; their swords clashing from the left to the right, the sounds of metal made it’s way over to Spike’s ears and it quickly filled the area where they were fighting. Spike blocked an attack from an Umbrum leader who wielded a spear and they clashed with such ferocity that their battle was taken elsewhere, with the Umbrum moving backwards and Spike moving forward.

Landing a blow proved to be too difficult to the Umbrum but he did still try to slay Spike but that proved to also be too difficult with the force that the dragon fought with. The Umbrum was muttering things under his breath but not enough for Spike to hear what he was saying; not that it would be anything good from the angry sounds emitting from the angry Umbrum.

The world slowed down, the Umbrum moved so slow that Spike felt as though he could kill him easily, but he realized he was as well moving slowly so that was out of the question. He tried stabbing the Umbrum but it proved to be fruitless as the enemy was blocking his attacks as if there was no tomorrow, and it was not an entirely wrong assumption ...

“Tá mé ag dul a mharú samurai duit!” The Umbrum shouted fiercely.

“Good look with that,” Spike responded, blocking an attack from the Umbrum that seemingly came from nowhere. He was getting into his fighting spirit and he was getting agitated from all the blocks the Umbrum was making; proving that the Umbrum was a worthy foe.

Spike did not look around for any moments at all, he did not notice that every creature was watching him while he was fighting the last Umbrum, but then Rumble came running towards Spike his weapon drawn. He jumped ... and landed a devastating blow to the Umbrum who gurgled as the blood came rushing out from his mouth. Spike breathed heavily and looked at Rumble who in turn looked at Spike.

“Are you okay?” Rumble with a worried expression on his face.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Spike replied and got up after he accidentally fell to the ground because of the ferocious attack that came from the Umbrum who must have been studying his movements as they fought.

He looked around and saw that every creature was slightly cheering for the small victory that they had won but it was far from over.

Princess Celestia marched forward with her guards while Luna watched her sister with slight interest. She did not know what her sister was doing, but whatever it was; it would most likely just kill them if they did not think critically about the situation that they had put themselves in.

Some creatures followed the princess while others stood by Spike, like, the Crystal Ponies who worshipped him and believed that he was sent down by a deity to protect them from harm’s way.

Spike looked around and realized that they were in one-third of the city, which meant that King Sombra was at the end of all the walls. But there was something that was troubling the purple dragon; why were there walls inside of the city? It wasn’t as if the prisoners could escape, rather, they were locked from getting in or out unless you knew the secret routes around the city below the sewers. But Spike knew that King Sombra looked everywhere to make sure that no creature would use any sort of secret passageway to escape his clutches.

“Spike?” He looked up and saw Pipsqueak stand before him, bow and arrow ready to fire. “Are you okay? You zoned out for a second there,”

“Yeah, I’m fine, it’s just; this is one-third of the city, which means that the next part behind those gates are the two-thirds of this city, but what I do not understand is why King Sombra would divide the city like this? I would not believe that he would do it for fun, unless ...” His eyes widened from the realization.

“Unless? Unless what?!” Pipsqueak said, panicking slightly from the lack of response from his friends’ side.

Spike looked at his friend and ally into the eyes and said with a pale face; “Unless he knew we were coming.”

Pipsqueak reeled back from the surprise he just heard, it was as if he had been struck. How could that be? It was not possible, they did everything in their power to not be found! How would King Sombra know this?

“How would he know?!” Pipsqueak demanded.

“I don’t know.” Spike regretfully said. It pained him that he did not have an answer. He should have one, but he didn’t. But then again, perhaps he did know the answer but did not want to reveal it. But ... the world is so dark and gloomy and King Sombra is known for—

“The darkness!” Spike lightly exclaimed and stumbled back into a piece of a wall that had not been burnt or blasted away from the onslaught that his allies had caused.

“The darkness?” Pipsqueak questioned him with a funny face. “What has that got to do with anything?”

“King Sombra is known for travelling through the darkness, not many creatures can detect him apart from Princess Luna but the more darkness there is, the less Princess Luna can detect him because he knows how to hide in plain sight.” Spike quickly explained. “King Sombra has almost every kingdom under his hooves apart from those, outside of Equestria and the Crystal Empire, he most likely set up some magical fields that would make it harder for any creature to detect him. Princess Luna would not stand a chance against him if he decided to attack!”

Before he was finished, Pipsqueak started to gallop in the direction of Princess Luna who was walking towards her sister who was resting alongside the element bearers who were speaking about strategy about how they would possibly infiltrate the second-third of the city.

“Princess Luna!” Pipsqueak shouted as he ran up to his favourite Princess. The Princess of the night turned around and faced her unusual friend and smiled slightly; she was happy to see that the battle had not hurt him badly.

“Pipsqueak, how are you?” She asked, sounding casual as if she did not just fight an entire horde of Umbrums.

“I bring some bad news. Can you detect King Sombra with all this darkness?” Luna felt bewildered by the emphasis of darkness and was about to ask what he meant when her eyes widened ...

She couldn’t ... she couldn’t detect him because of how much darkness there was! He could travel from one place to another in a matter of seconds! He would not even need the teleportation spell-

“Princess?” Pipsqueak asked as he looked at her body language and from the looks of it; she was panicking slightly. But before he could ask anything else, she snapped out of her trance and looked at Pipsqueak.

“Thank you for bringing me this information, Pipsqueak.” She started. Her voice quivered slightly. “I will not lie and tell you that I am not panicking; because that is precisely what I am doing right now. I may see the future, but I had never predicted this ...”

*** *** ***

“Celestia, did you see how Spike just slaughtered those creatures as if they mean nothing? I never believed that I raised a monster.” Twilight said with an edge to her tone that sounded disgusted. She was wearing the princess armour that had been formerly used by Princess Celestia when she and Luna battled their many foes in battles that proved to be difficult.

Pinkie Pie hid it well, but she was close to exploding in Twilight’s face; why could they not see what was necessary? She knew that Spike was not a monster but that he had to do “monstrous” things to be able to save Equestria! Isn’t that was truly mattered in the end?

“Yes, Twilight, I did see it. I never believed that he would ever do such a thing, I only believed that he was being aggressive but not this. Never this.” Celestia looked down to the bloody ground and lifted a hoof to look at all the blood underneath her shoes.

“All this death ... for nothing ...”

“It’s not for nothing, Princess,” Pinkie said, making the old ruler look at the element bearer of laughter. Her face was blank, looking at the pink mare who looked like she was about to bust a vein any second. “Spike is fighting for the sake of Equestria; sacrificing a lot to make sure that Equestria is free from King Sombra’s wrath and you, you’re just standing there talking about how Spike is such a monster, it is making me sick! Can you not see what it is he is doing for us? He is freeing the Umbrums who have been mind-controlled by King Sombra because he knows that if they were to be free from his spell, then they would grow depressed but not just that; they would commit suicide, knowing that they are the reason so many creatures lost their family members and friends. How would you feel? Being mind-controlled by King Sombra and then finding out that you killed your sister? Would you not feel extreme guilt. Despite others telling you that it wasn’t your fault, that doesn't take away the fact that you technically killed those creatures. Spike is doing them a favour, a favour that you and I both know they would have wanted, and I refuse to take that away from them.” Pinkie finished her ranting and glared at the princess slightly from the frustrations she had with her badmouthing of Spike.

Everypony looked at Pinkie in shock, they did not believe she would blow up in Princess Celestia’s face like that. The Princess herself looked at the Pink mare wide-eyed. The only one who spoke like that to her was Luna and even then, it was highly unusual that it ever happened.

The creatures around them prepared for the other battle, and they could hear the Umbrums on the other side of the wall shouting orders to one another.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie,” Celestia began, the rest of the mane six cringed at the way Celestia said Pinkies’ name. She was in a heap of trouble. “I understand why you feel obligated to protect Spike since, well, there is no creature to defend his honour right now.” Celestia glanced with paranoia as she witnessed a few Crystal Ponies walk close by with their weapons ready and speaking about how Spike is such a great warrior. “... but the way he does things, is not okay, he cannot continue down this path. Because if he does; he will be no better than the Umbrums.”

“No better than the Umbrums?!” Luna shouted a little as she walked up to her sister and the element bearers. They turned to face her, Celestia being surprised that her sister was not taking her side in the debate. Pinkie Pie smiled at princess Luna; knowing the princess of the night could think straight.

“Luna ...” Celestia began.

“Sister ... we are at war! If it would have been any other kingdom or creature, I might have followed the war rules and laws, but this is King Sombra we are talking about! Spike is doing us a favour by killing off the Umbrums, he is doing what is necessary while you were sitting back at the empire, eating cake all day!” Luna was almost shouting by this point.

Every creature turned to look at the commotion and even the Umbrums became silenced at one point but were back at giving orders. The Crystal Ponies heard the bit about Spike and immediately looked towards the two co-rulers of Equestria in confusion.

They better not badmouth their hero!

Celestia looked alarmed by the many creatures who were now looking at them with questioning eyes. She had not intended for her sister to hear that small piece of information about Spike, especially, not the other creatures that were there, because Celestia did know that most of them were there because of The Ghost.

“Luna ... it is all a big misunderstanding ...” Celestia did not look into her sisters’ eyes which made Luna raise a brow at her. If it was all a big misunderstanding; then there should be no problem in explaining it to the other creatures that were present.

Celestia knew what Luna wanted but she would not be able to do it when the Crystal Ponies were nearby.

“Well, speak later, now, we need to open the other side of the gates to get to King Sombra,” Celestia commanded, making most creatures stand at attention while the Crystal Ponies were hesitant.

Meanwhile, Spike was making his way towards his aunt, planning on telling her to try to open the gates while he climbed over to the other side and tried to kill as many Umbrum as possible. Abruptly, there was a sound of an Umbrum blowing into their horn to signal the other Umbrums.

Every creature prepared themselves for battle and rallied up with their friends and allies while Spike ran towards his aunt, preparing for the battle ahead. This was it, the second wave would happen.

“Princess Luna!” Spike shouted and the Princess turned sharply towards her nephew. “I will get over to the other side, but I need you and the others to try to open the gates!”

“On it!” She shouted and ran towards the gates trying to open them as fast as possible. The Crystal Ponies and the other creatures tried to open the gates while Spike used his grappling hook to swing and climb to the top of the gates watchtower that had no other occupants.

The watchtower was built from wood and held many assortments of weapons and gun powder from all different weapons they wielded in battle, But Spike had no interest in them as he was only interested in the Umbrums who were standing near the gates. Spike walked out to the edge of the watchtower, crouched, and aimed the blowgun that he had gotten from his ancestor. He aimed it at one of the umbrum and shot a poison dart at one and quickly shot another one. The Umbrum warlord who stood there looked confused by the look in his eyes but he was understandably angry. Spike suddenly jumped from the edge right before he killed the Umbrum, the gates opened; revealing the Princess’ and every creature that was on his side. He then cut the head cleanly off, making the Umbrums who were up ahead run away. “SPIKE!” Princess Celestia shouted in fear. “What are you doing?!”

Spike glanced at her with some irritation. Blood covered him from his reason kill. “Making way for our allies.” His voice was calm, too calm to Celestia’s liking.

“Not like that ... never that ...” She began but before she could continue, the blowhorn went off from the Umbrums again and the soldiers fighting for King Sombra rushed towards them with their weapons ready to slaughter them. But there was a problem, there was a Hwacha that was firing explosive arrows at them, making it rain deadly.

The allies took cover while Spike and Pipsqueak together ran for the Hwacha. The Umbrums were relentless, they tried to attack Spike from two angles, but Spike danced his way through the hits and cut off an arm from one Umbrum and then sliced another, hearing the screams of agony was filling the city.

They continued to move towards the small watchtower where the Hwacha was located, but before they could make it all the way, five or so Umbrums tried to attack them but Spike blocked an attack from one of them and they started to clash their swords in such a dramatic fashion that Spike momentarily forgot what they were supposed to be doing. So he quickly blocked another attack from the one he was clashing with while he used his tanto to slice the throat and then quickly did the same fashion with the other three Umbrums. Pipsqueak on the other hand pulled out his bow and arrow and fired a shot at one of the larger Umbrums who wielded a very large spear and swept an attack that did not succeed. He breathed heavily, and he noticed because his lungs were hurting and his heart was beating very fast. He then released another arrow that landed right in the eye of the Umbrum but it went deep enough that it stabbed a bit of the brain which made the Umbrum drop dead. Pipsqueak then turned his attention to the last Umbrum that was duelling Spike and looked for a split second to be winning but he released another arrow that got the Umbrum in the hip which made the Umbrum scream before Spike sliced the head off cleanly.

“Come on, here’s our chance!” Spike said, rushing towards the tower and climbing up the ladder, Pipsqueak not far behind him.

When Spike reached the top, the two Umbrums who were there were swiftly killed by the claws of Spike and he grabbed the Hwacha with great care as if it was something fragile and Pipsqueak stood to his right as they looked towards the sea of Umbrums who were fighting.

“Fire!” Pipsqueak shouted and Spike fired a wave of explosive arrows at the Umbrums who were caught by surprise from their Hwacha turning on them. But they kept coming, but none of them ran to the tower because they were more concerned with the fact that Spike’s allies were liberating the city, which was one of the strongest holds they had besides Canterlot.

Spike aimed the Hwacha everywhere, firing the arrows that exploded beneath the Umbrums that made them lose their legs, and lives if Spike was lucky. But the explosions were getting overwhelming for both the Umbrums and his allies as they did not want to be blown to pieces, but they needed to move forward if they wanted to claim the city at all.

“Look!” Pipsqueak shouted. Spike looked to where his friend was pointing and saw the Umbrum were running from behind a large building that had lost its other half. Spike fired at them and they were all struck by the explosions in which their allies continued onwards until the Umbrums were out of reach.

“Come on, let’s get to the others,” Spike said. He climbed down the ladder and was quickly followed by Pipsqueak who had his weapons ready if any Umbrums survived the attack but managed to get to cover.

When they were halfway to the others who were battling the Umbrums, Pipsqueak decided to speak up.

“Princess Celestia is wrong for saying that at the gate.” He said, trying to make Spike feel better by what he did.

“She is just like that because she believes that the other creatures will demand a head, but I highly doubt that,” Spike explained but showed no signs that he disagreed.

“Still,” Pipsqueak pressed as he pulled out his bow and arrow. “She can’t expect us to wait idly when she is not doing anything to stop the invasion. Only Princess Luna seems to be doing something about it, but I can understand why she does not do much because she is under princess Celestia’s watchful eye.”

Spike glanced at his friend and wondered what he was on about.

“What are you talking about?” He asked, making pipsqueak look at him in confusion.

“She did not tell you?” He asked, slightly on edge.

“Tell me what?!” Spike asked, getting slightly agitated.

“She disobeyed one of Princess Celestia’s orders which were to get an Umbrum back, alive, but Princess Luna killed them all which made Princess Celestia angry. I do not know what happened, but whatever it was; it has started to make a rift between the two.”

Spike stopped dead in his tracks, not believing what he was hearing. He knew that his mother and aunt did not like each other even after they were reunited, but they never hated each other, and they most certainly never got physical with one another.

But then again, perhaps it was nothing extremely serious, he knew that his aunt was a warrior at heart and is probably just fed up waiting idly for whatever his mother is expecting to happen or planning. His mother is not exactly known for being informative about what she was planning.

“She never told me ...” He finally said as he witnessed the last Umbrum get stabbed through the heart. Pipsqueak looked at the dead Umbrum.

“She probably did not want you to worry about her because of the prophecy and this war.” He reasoned.

“Hopefully, yeah,” Spike said, trying to convince himself more than anything.

The two walked towards Princess Celestia who just in time shouted; “Main six, Luna, Spike, with me!” She commanded as she ran towards the watchtower and Spike ran after her and the main six. When he got to the watchtower, he noticed how a few guards ran towards the third part of the city that had a bridge because it had cracked some time ago.

Spike climbed up the ladder, and saw that his family and friends were there, and ahead was the guards who were running towards the gates, but the Umbrums had it closed but, then they abruptly opened which revealed a Timberwolf who was on fire and had explosive gunpowder on him.

The guards tried to run back, but they were not quick enough. The middle of the bridge exploded along with the guards who had sacrificed their lives for Equestria. Princess Luna, Spike, the main six, and Celestia stood there, stunned by what had happened.

“She sent them to die ...” Luna gritted her teeth as she saw good creatures get killed right in front of her.

“They were honouring their duties as warriors.” Celestia defensively said.

“But they did not have to die,” Spike said, his voice calm as collected. All eyes were on him as they stood on the watchtower, waiting for him to explain. “There is another way—”

“No,” Celestia shut down. “We are not doing it, Spike, that is a murderous pursuit.” She said and climbed down the ladder. The others followed her, along with Spike and Luna.

“How else do you want to win this war? Throw bodies at the Umbrums and hope they give up?” Spike angrily asked which made Celestia grit her teeth.

“We are supposed to fight with honour, not like wild animals as the other kingdoms did once upon a time,” Celestia said which made every creature angry, non-pony and pony alike.

“Honour died on the beach!” Spike said, not realizing that he used the same quote as his ancestor once used.

“While you were sitting eating cake in the empire, I was training to save Equestria while you did nothing!” Spike shouted at the end but he got the shock of his life. He was slapped by his mother. There was a red mark where her hoof had landed and every creature, especially the crystal ponies, gasped in shock.

Realizing what she had done, she tried to mend it. “Spike, no ...” But it was too late.

Spike put up a claw. “Were done ...” He said and walked away from his mother and aunt. The other creatures now exploded in Princess Celestia’s face with what she had done, the crystal ponies shouted how they would mount her head to mend what she had done to their hero.

*** *** ***

A few hours later, he sat by a fire and watched it burn as he heard the other creatures talk about what was wrong with the princess. Some believed that she was stressed and others believed she was possessed, but to Spike, it didn’t matter, because he had asked, a Crystal Pony if she could gather some wolfsbane that would be strong enough to kill.

Spike looked up, and whoever was looking at his face would claim that they saw a spirit inside of him.

22 — The Shadow Samurai

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.

23 — The Escape

The dungeons were narrow and cold with the cells holding small holes that allowed fresh air to come inside. But the holes were small enough so the prisoners wouldn’t notice them and try to dig their way out of the prison.

The three friends were looking for a way out, being careful so they didn’t startle any guards that might have been in the area but to their surprise, there weren’t any guards, it was as they’d vanished. Leaving no trace behind, making Spike get further on edge.

They walked through several hallways, still no signs of any guards who were on their watch posts, making Spike slightly panic. This wasn’t a good sign, if there were no guards then where were they?

“Do you know where the guards are?” Spike asked with a meaningful look. “I was expecting more guards around the area to watch the prisoners.”

Glancing over to Spike, Fluttershy looked just slightly panicked. “I think there was going to be a speech that the guards had to be there for, but your right, there must be at least three guards here to make sure the prisoners don’t escape. But I admit, the dungeon is larger than needed just three ...”

She stopped mid-sentence catching her companion’s attention. They glanced over the room they had walked into and saw several bodies of dead Umbrums, they piled on top of each other as if they were trash that you threw on top until it was time for the garbage man to pick it up.

Spike wasn’t a fan of the Umbrums but that was a sickening sight. His eyes widened in horror by what he was witnessing, the blood was practically covering the circle of the floor by the sheer amount of cuts and wounds covering the fallen Umbrums.

“Wh—What is this place?” Fluttershy asked. Spike glanced over, surprised she hadn’t vomited or fainted, or even a combination of both. He shook his head out of his memories and glanced at the corpses of the Umbrums, wondering who dragged them there.

“I don’t know, but whatever this is, I don’t want to stick around and find out.” Pinkie Pie stated and walked towards a corridor that was the only one there which was across the room past the Umbrums.

Walking after her, Spike had a nagging feeling that he didn’t want the answer to what he witnessed but that did not stop him from wondering what was going on. But some questions were better be left unanswered ...

Walking through the corridor, the trio were prepared for battle and heard voices above them which were echoing through the thick walls which surprised them. Princess Celestia must have a larger audience than anticipated. Unless she was trying to motivate the creatures there after what she’d done to their hero.

However, they didn’t stop walking and continued until the voice faded into the obscure darkness that surrounded the corridor that felt like it was strangling them, trying to make them doubt their own capabilities. But that didn’t happen. They were too sucked up in their plan of escaping the Crystal Empire to think negatively.

Reaching the end of the corridor, they were greeted with the sight of a large circular room with a staircase that led up that was by the other end of the room, lining up with the black crystals that were lighter than King Sombra’s pure black one’s that had once terrorized the kingdom of the Crystal Ponies.

“I will admit, King Sombra had a sense of decorum,” Spike admitted with a very small faint sign of respect. He didn’t approve of what King Sombra was doing in any shape or form, but he could admire his sense of decorum that made the kingdom once look very prestigious and privileged.

An illusion many ponies and neighboring allies believed who didn’t want to fight against King Sombra’s forces because of how strong he was at the time. They had feard him.

But he had not made Celestia or Luna afraid the slightest.

They were the only creatures in the vast land of Equestria and beyond that were willing to fight against the tyrannical King after they’d received evidence from their scouts that King Sombra was enslaving the Crystal Ponies, forcing them to be his soldiers when any other kingdom tried to invade.

Princess Luna had tried to persuade Celestia that they needed to kill the evil King but Celestia had refused. She’d stated that they needed to set an example for the other kingdoms to follow and not become what their former enemies had once been.

This had led to other wars starting when the other creatures had heard the statements from the solar princess. It had cost Princess Celestia many ponies she had known over the years and it had only spiked more fury that was seldom within Princess Luna’s eyes and that is where the jealousy began. Princess Celestia did many wrongs but she was never judged for it.

They did not even bat an eye on it. Then when Luna did something wrong, they started to question her intentions. When Princess Luna had pointed out these facts, the ponies had not given her a direct answer, they would just look at her with wide eyes and not say anything.

Needless to say, Princess Luna had every right to be jealous.

“I do agree,” Came the voice of Fluttershy who was glancing around the area. “But he comes from a different time where this was a must if you wanted respect from the other kingdoms, I think.”

“Well of course!” Pinkie Pie said. “King Sombra is like, really old, he would have a taste for decorum and live the luxurious lifestyle.”

“Most middle-class creatures at that time had things that would make them rich in this modern world. That was why there was a huge ruckus when the Crystal Ponies came back; they had things that made them have a lot of bits.” Spike said. The two ponies glanced at him with a fond smile on their faces.

“We should probably get moving,” Spike told them while glancing around for any guards who were loyal to his mother. While there weren’t many that looked up to Celestia after the confrontation, there was still a sense of loyalty because of her one-thousand-year rule.

Walking up the stairs, they kept hearing voices of different creatures talking. Some of it was in the language that sounded suspiciously similar to the one the Umbrums speak but they wanted to let them be because it was a cell which meant that the Umbrums weren’t armed unless some creature would count the claws or hooves.

“Did Princess Celestia capture any Umbrums?” Spike asked while they quietly walked away from the sounds of the maybe-Umbrums.

“Yes,” Pinkie confirmed. “She captured a few that were heavily injured, healed them, and threw them into these cells without giving us the official reason as to why.”

Spike frowned. His mother couldn’t be going senile. She was smarter than that. But even old, wise creatures have their faults and he knew that. He had always been taught by cousin Cadance that only because you were old, didn’t mean that you were wise, but the chances of it being the case is much higher.

“Is she going senile?” He asked with no hints of a joke or sarcasm.

“We’re afraid so,” The two mares responded at the same time.

Shaking his head, he urged them to continue onwards to the top of the staircase. But while he made his way there, he abruptly felt doubt creeping into his skin, almost as if he was infected with plaguing thoughts that he’d been burying inside of his mind with a tight lock but was now let free.

Slowing down his pace, the other two noticed this and quickly looked at him in worry, believing he heard Celestia’s guard make their way over because Spike’s sense of hearing was ten times better than a ponies.

They aren’t really your friends, they’re just going to betray you as your mother did. Came the taunting voice inside of his head that echoed like thunder. It was making him bawl his claws into fists, ready to punch anything that stood in his way.

“Spike?”

That voice. He knew it from somewhere, but where?

He looked up and he saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stand before him, wearing armour that made them look ready for battle. Their faces were painted with worry as if they truly cared—

They did care he just needed to calm down a notch. “Sorry girls, I seem to have some trouble with myself right now. Shall we continue?”

By the sound of his voice, he did not want to talk about it. They smiled at him and they moved up the staircase again with peeled eyes in case there were any solar guards around but from what they could see and hear, they weren’t in the area, giving the three more room to breathe and prepare for the escape.

Reaching the top of the staircase, the three were slightly exhausted while Spike was somewhat energetic as well as Pinkie Pie but not as much because the staircase did more than she would like to admit. Fluttershy was breathing heavily with her hoof on her stomach where it hurt the most.

“You okay, Fluttershy?” He asked while looking around the area they were in.

There were two sets of double doors in front of them with carvings from King Sombra’s time when he was the sole ruler of the Crystal Empire. The Carvings depicted King Sombra on the top of the balcony with the ponies below him chained like slaves and forced to move to the mines and farms to sustain the nation as best as possible.

“Yes ... I’m okay,” She breathed with red cheeks.

“You aren’t hurt, right?” He questioned with a serious tone that would have made Fluttershy normally submit to any creature.

“I’m fine, Spike, really,” She replied, annoyed.

“You two can make love later, right now, we need to get out of here without being spotted by the solar guards,” Pinkie commanded.

While they had been discussing, Pinkie had been looking around and hoped her ‘Pinkie Sense’ would go off so she could be certain about what would happen but nothing. Nothing at all. It was like her former power had just ... vanished. Gone.

Now, she felt empty.

Spike and Fluttershy blushed by Pinkie’s bluntness but she had a point; they couldn’t stay there long.

Walking up to the doors, Spike pulled them back and revealed the dark sky that was raining on everything below which made Spike sigh in relief. If it rained, then it gave them the best excuse to wear heavy sets of clothing.

Glancing behind him, he noticed the smiles of the two mares who thought the same thing. Pulling on their hoodies to cover themselves better, Spike came to realize that his mother did not strip him of his armor which made him question her a little more.

Why would she allow him to wear armour that could contain weapons that he’d potentially lied about not having? As a ruler, it’s up to her to check to make sure he isn’t lying. But she didn’t. She’s getting senile.

Walking outside, the three immediately felt the rain force hit their layers of armour and clothing which made their mission only slightly bit harder. Looking around, Spike saw that across from him to the left was another staircase they could escape from. Motioning for them to go, Pinkie nodded and they began to move.

While by the staircase, Spike went first as to not make the other two get hurt if there are many solar guards who no doubt will attack him when they realized who he was. He moved slowly so he didn’t make an awful lot of sounds that would easily draw some attention.

The staircase only went up and down, there weren’t any ‘stops’ so when Spike reached the bottom, he waited silently, trying to hear the solar guard’s position which was hard at first because of the wrathful rain that made loud splats when it hit the ground.

“Do you hear anything?” Fluttershy whispered with caution, looking all over the place as if the guards would jump on them any second.

“No,” Spike replied in a whisper that almost rivaled Fluttershy’s.

Taking the risk, Pinkie Pie moved past Spike and glanced the corners where she would have suspected the guards to be. Nothing. Feeling the adrenaline pump into her she walked forward, glancing from left to right so fast that Spike swore her head moved in an angle that wasn’t biologically possible.

“There aren’t any solar guards here,” Said Pinkie with a confused expression. She’d expected there to at least be a hoof full of guards protecting this part of the empire.

“They can’t all be listening to Celestia, are they?” Came the unsure voice of Fluttershy.

“Honestly, I don’t know anymore,” Spike replied honestly. He didn’t know what was going on or why his mother was acting the way she was. Everything was confusing about the times they were living in. He hoped it wouldn’t last because he had no idea how much he could take.

But he would need to push those thoughts aside.

With caution, Spike and Fluttershy walked into the open where Pinkie was standing who was still looking from the left to the right, trying to spot solar guards. But she never did. They were gone.

Spike had some difficulty remembering the area he was in. He did not recognize the place and concluded that the area was new.

“Do you girls know where we are? I have not been to this area,” He regrettably said.

“Yeah, this area was built by Princess Celestia who explained that they needed a stronger prison for when the Umbrums would inevitably take the Crystal Empire.” Pinkie nonchalantly explained with her usual cheeriness.

“Wait, she planned to just arrest the Umbrums as if they committed a petty crime?” Spike asked with anger seeping into his voice like pouring a glass of water.

“Yes,” Came Fluttershy’s soft voice that carried with such kindness Spike’s anger depleted.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Pinkie said. “But I do know that she wanted to free them from the spell despite the consequences of doing so.”

Spike was happy that some creature knew the consequences of forcing the Umbrums to remember what they did when they served the tyrannical King. Most creatures he had tried telling did not seem to listen except for his followers.

“They should have listened to us,” Fluttershy sadly said.

She had been dealing with the loss the hardest, not expecting her friends to turn their backs on them and Spike. Especially, Spike. They had wondered for over a year whether he was dead or alive. Had he been captured by King Sombra? Was turned into an Umbrum?

The questions had plagued them like a disease that didn’t go away. Then when Spike returned they were happy, with the beginning being that they heard about a creature fighting against King Sombra’s forces.

At first, they had found it hard to believe. One year of trying to fight against soldiers who did not seem to react to pain, caused them to give up. Then out of nowhere, a warrior wearing samurai armour comes in and kills the Umbrums left and right.

This caused the creatures who were in captivity to hope that there was a creature out there, fighting against the dreaded King Sombra. Fluttershy and Pinkie had been shocked but instantly felt hope pump through them, hearing the stories from the Yaks when they were liberated made them feel safe.

At first, they’d noticed that the others felt the same but over time, that had started to change. It was like they could not accept who Spike had become and was making bad decisions which caused them to bad-mouthing their friend. Fluttershy wondered if they were under a spell of some sort.

Abruptly, Fluttershy felt the claws envelope her into a hug. She looked up and saw Spike in front of her, hugging her dearly along with Pinkie who’d felt left out and joined the hug.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy.” He said. “You aren’t the only one who’s had to make sacrifices,”

Their hug ended and they quickly went back to try to find a way out of the Crystal Empire.

Finding a way out of the Empire proved to be more difficult than anticipated. When they had reached the lower levels, they witnessed the mass creatures listening to Princess Celestia’s speech about how they would defeat King Sombra.

Spike was careful when he made his way through the crowd so he wouldn’t bring his mother’s eyes on him which he luckily didn’t. But there were a few creatures that noticed him move away but they did not know it was him.

When he got to the other side, he waited for Pinkie Pie who’d told him that she and Fluttershy would get a wagon so they could flee from the Empire. Initially, he’d believed that it was impossible because wagons were mostly used to supply weapons from what he’d seen which was sad.

He remembered when the wagons were simply used by farmers and sales ponies. Now, it was a way to supply weapons. But Pinkie was adamant about getting a wagon so he told her to find one.

While waiting, he couldn’t help but listen to his mother’s speech, interested in what she had to say.

“And so we are here to mark our stand against the tyrannical ruler known as King Sombra, the monster who once ruled the Crystal Empire with an iron hoof. He has done many wrongs in which we have lost family members and friends. He has raped and pillaged villages, towns, cities, beating them into submission. He has mind-controlled millions of creatures across Equestria, turning them against us! But we will not stand down, no, we will continue to fight against his tyrannical ways. We will smash his regime into tiny bits so no creature will have to remember his monstrous acts! We will make sure that this will not be forgotten, we will write down everything we have done so the future generation understands us and know what sacrifices we had to make to simply survive!”

Spike had to admit, she did have amazing speeches that have even left him stunned. The way she carries her words is something he has never felt by any creature else.

“The fact that we have come this far, survived this far just goes to show that we can survive alone, no need for any myths and legends and especially no Ghosts!” Her voice shouted while trying to make the creature excited but the last comment she made had them rather excited for hurt her than their hero.

Abruptly, Spike heard a low whistle come from behind him and he saw Pinkie Pie on the streets of the Crystal Empire that was deserted. She had a wagon that was filled with weapons with Fluttershy hiding with the weapons. She waved him over and he started to make his way over to her.

While climbing into the wagon, they heard a creature shout; “The Ghost is gone!!”

Barely getting into the wagon, Pinkie Pie raced to the exit of the Empire with the creatures cheering for their hero. Spike and Fluttershy were trashed around left and right while Pinkie maneuvered the wagon the same way she had seen in those foreign movies she talks about.

While they were running away, Twilight was using her magic to try and find Spike through the connection for when he sent letters which she managed to do. She teleported herself to the rooftop of a Crystal house and spawned Pinkie and the wagon.

Using her magic to enhance her voice, she shouted; “Don’t let the wagon escape!!”

Pinkie Pie’s whole demeanor changed as she raced to the exit of the Empire where the Crystal Ponies guarded who knew the wagon contained weapons and their hero.

They did the logical and smart move; they let them past, praying to the Gods that The Ghost will liberate Equestria from King Sombra’s wrath.

When Pinkie Pie came closer to the border, she started to hear sounds from behind her but she didn’t dare look back, she knew that her former friends were behind her. If she would have looked back on the other hoof.

Pinkie Pie wailed when she felt an arrow hit her hip but she didn’t stop, she continued onwards, determined to help her friends reach their next destination wherever that was.

“Pinkie!” Spike shouted in horror after seeing the arrow.

“I’m fine!” She shouted back while dodging another incoming arrow but she got hit a second time. She wailed in agony but she still didn't stop even though she had escaped the borders of the Crystal Empire.

“No, you’re not, find somewhere to stop so I can heal you!” Fluttershy shouted with worry.

“No!” She stubbornly said. “I can make it!”

And so she continued with racing through the lands of the frozen north and didn’t stop for a very long time.

24 — The Shadow Samurai Part 2

They didn’t know for how long they had been outside in the cold. It was like an unforgiving mother who was scolding them with the harsh cold. With the cold hitting their sensitive areas with hostility.

Spike and Fluttershy had tried to convince Pinkie that she couldn’t make it with her wounds but she didn’t listen, she just continued to run and run until she slowed her pace and began to walk which at first, was relaxing, but soon, she could barely walk. Her injuries were too grave and were the cause of the reason.

Once she was near Yakyakistan, she collapsed to the ground. Breathing heavily as her two friends shouted for her.

Spike jumped out of the wagon and tried to keep her awake while Fluttershy tended to her wounds. The Duo did everything they could, they tried different herbs and medicine that were impossible to find in Equestria but nothing worked. Pinkie Pie ... she passed away from her injuries.

Injuries that came from her own friends.

“It’s all my fault ...” Spike emotionlessly spoke. “I shouldn’t have involved you in this war.” He was broken in such a way Fluttershy didn’t know how to respond.

“No it isn’t,” She finally said. He glanced at her with a look that dared her to continue. She walked closer to him by the cold, stone road they were on. “Pinkie ... she knew from the start what kind of dangers she would be in by fighting in this war.” It was troubling to speak about their dead friend. “She was willing to pay the price for it.”

“Still, I do feel responsible,” He stubbornly claimed.

“That may very well be the case, but just remember; she knew the costs of fighting,” Fluttershy smiled at him sadly.

Spike looked away, not wanting to see the eyes of the mare who was trying to soothe his guilt. It wasn’t something that was just washed away along with the water. It was something that would take time.

But how much? How much would it take?

“Does she have any family members who are still ...?” He didn’t dare finish the question. He would accept any punishment they tell him as a price for losing their daughter and sister.

“She does,” Fluttershy conceded. “They live in the Crystal Empire since the invasion, but I do not know where they specifically live. Only ... Pinkie knew that for obvious reasons.”

“I’ll be the bringer of bad news when the time comes,” Spike said. He picked up her body gently and placed her inside of the wagon, allowing Fluttershy to take care of their friend.

But before they started moving again, Fluttershy stopped him.

“You know that they won’t blame you right?” The statement made him freeze. He hoped that they would.

“And if they do?” He asked in a daring voice that didn’t stop the yellow mare.

“If they do, then give them time. They would have lost their daughter and sister. It’s easier to blame things on another creature than nothing at all.” Her voice carried itself over to Spike’s ears which always made him feel relaxed.

“Your right,” Spike admitted with a sigh. “It is easier. Creatures always look for something easy.”

Fluttershy smiled sadly. She knew what he meant by that.

“You know that Celestia doesn’t hate you, Spike, she’s in a tight corner; deluding herself that the other kingdoms want your head, even though they don’t.” She said.

“But that is precisely the problem, she believes that the other kingdoms want my head so much that she isn’t willing to listen to reason!” He let out his frustrations that he’d been keeping inside of himself for quite a while.

Before Fluttershy could respond, Spike beat her to it. “We should continue, Yakyakistan isn’t far from here,”

She looked over at him sadly, knowing that he had an internal conflict with himself.

When they were getting closer to Yakyakistan, Spike slowed down slightly but not by much. The death of Pinkie hung over his head like a torment that never went away. The fact that she was dead made him feel guilty. She had her whole life ahead of her and it was taken away.

It was taken away from her, by one of her own. Their own princess’ order!

He would never forgive his mother. He couldn’t and he wouldn’t even try to because he knew he’d refuse.

Pinkie Pie was a pony he looked up to when Twilight or his mother couldn’t be that role. She always cracked a smile on his lips that would quiver until the biggest grin mustered from ear to ear. She made everypony and creature smile and wave as she trotted down the streets of Ponyville or abroad.

But it was taken from her ...

His rage spiked like oil being poured into the fire, making him almost lose control of himself. It was like an open wound that he didn’t use a bandage for or at least something to cover the wound; allowing the body to do its work. But at the cost of being infected, an infection in this case; he couldn’t allow happening.

He wasn’t alone, he had Fluttershy with him, the pony that was soft-spoken and cared for every creature good or bad. She never judged any creature based on their past, their problems, their race, anything. She had never done any of that.

The first time he set his foot in Ponyville and met her, she was instantly all over him because he was a dragon; a baby dragon at that. It wasn’t a bad thing, not many ponies can say they’ve met a dragon let alone befriended one.

But she had paid attention to him and learned everything about him. She was the one pony he trusted the most now when Pinkie was gone. He did trust his other friends and followers, but he needed some creature he could speak to about his problems.

He didn’t want to let any creature down with what weaknesses he might have that might have never occurred to him. Fluttershy was the best creature for that kind of thing because she is kind about it and doesn’t judge a creature because of its weaknesses.

She was one of the many reasons he continued to be who he was until ...

“Were almost there,” Spike said with no emotion in his voice. It made him sound like a robot that had no feelings or regard for any creature.

“I’ll prepare ... her,” Fluttershy responded with sadness seeping into her voice.

He didn’t say anything. He continued to walk.

When they reached Yakyakistan, the creatures there had been eccentric seeing their liberator. But when they saw his gloomy look, they knew something was wrong. Their intuition was correct when Spike gave them the news that Pinkie Pie had died trying to save him.

To honour the saviour of The Ghost they had a burial that was usually only reserved for royalty and nobles but on this occasion, they were beyond that. They had lost a warrior that fought for what she believed in.

When Spike was inside the place where they bury the royals and nobles, Princess Yona walked up to Spike and Fluttershy. She knew the difficulty of losing a friend and family member.

It was something that gave unimaginable pain even if it is someone you hate, because, even if you hated a creature you would still feel some kind of pain. But in this case, it was much worse, their hero loved Pinkie Pie, making the situation much more depressing.

“You are not alone,” Yona sniffled. “We are all with you, we will continue to fight with you.”

He could hear her determination and anger. The anger of losing a great pony that stood close to her hero. But sadly, Pinkie wouldn’t be the only or last one to die, they have lost many great creatures to King Sombra.

“I know Princess, but it feels like it,” Spike hated to admit it but his words did not speak lies. He lay a claw on the tomb that was specially carved for Pinkie with the torches flickering from the faint wind that made its way inside like water running from a hole.

“Every creature knows you will never intentionally fail them,” Yona tried with her voice almost sounding desperate.

“I’m not trying to fail them!” Spike angrily said, turning to Yona who was unfazed by his small outburst that was still controlled somehow.

“That is what I’m trying to say, they know that, I know that, every creature knows that,” She said with hope in her voice, trying to make Spike better.

“I hope so,” Was his response. There was no emotion in his voice as if he was a robot that could not feel any emotion.

Fluttershy sighed, knowing her friend didn’t believe a word the princess of Yakyakistan said. “Thank you, Princess Yona,” She said with a sad smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

The Yak smiled sadly and bowed in respect to the two. After that, she turned around and left, wanting to leave the two alone so they could say their final goodbyes.

They were quiet, saying their prayers and hoping that their friend had reached enlightenment and that she was at peace.

“May she come to eternal rest from samsara and reach nirvana.” Spike said with a bow, his tears leaking out from his eyes.

Fluttershy couldn’t contain her sadness any longer and cried along with him, allowing them to freely run down from her face. Her emotions were haywire, her mane looked like a mess, her eyes were turning red from the number of tears she allowed to escape.

Together, they hugged each other while crying over the loss of Pinkie Diane Pie, the brave mare who sacrificed herself to protect The Ghost.

Discord had tears running down his face from what he witnessed. He couldn’t believe that Pinkie’s own creatures would do such a thing.

“His legend grows, he is The Shadow Samurai.”

Author's Note

Man ... this was a hard one to write ...

25 — The Everfree Forest

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!

26 — The Badlands

The next morning, Fluttershy and Spike had woken up with a jolt from the new location they were in. At first, they had no idea where they were but when they started to slowly remember the events of the last few days, they started to get up and prepare.

But before they could go anywhere, Fluttershy noticed the paintings on the walls and with fascination; stayed to watch them. Spike had smiled and began to tell her the story of when he and Twilight went over to the human world and what he learned while there.

Fluttershy had been so enthralled in the story, that she had never noticed that she was moving. Learning about a new species she’s never seen or heard of before had made her ask all sorts of questions.

“How long do they live?”

“Between fifty to a hundred years at most.”

“What do they eat?”

“They’re omnivores.”

This continued for a good portion of their walk but Spike was happy to tell his shy friend everything he knew about humans.

But as they walked on the sands of the Badlands, their conversation dimmed down and focused ahead of them to not get attacked by any Umbrums that might be there. The last thing they wanted was to be injured or attacked from nowhere because of a silly mistake.

But nothing happened. They did see Umbrums but they never attacked them because they didn’t do anything, they were just standing there.

A rare act of mercy that Spike did not show often.

“It’s beautiful,” said Fluttershy as she looked over and saw many different towns and cities in the distance. She’d never been out here because of the dangers and criminality that goes on inside its borders.

“Beautiful but deadly,” Spike admitted.

They were headed towards a town called Kludgetown. It was a place that wasn’t the best but has been rumoured to be safer than any other place under King Sombra’s control. But they were just rumours, for all they knew, it could be the worst place to be in.

The town was built for creatures who either did not want to live in their respective kingdoms or had been banished and weren’t allowed to return for an indefinite amount of time.

Most of those creatures committed some dangerous high-level crimes that landed them in tight spots or because for many different reasons; were banished without giving a specific reason for this.

It was a system that had been in power for who knows how long, but it was steadily improving. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t awful either, which made the banishment somewhat enjoyable. They had a glaring sun, they could commit crimes, they could go swimming if they knew where to walk.

In a lot of ways, it was a mafia dream; no laws or distinct rules on what you had to do. Everything was rather built from money instead. A mob family could easily move to Kludgetown and start their criminal enterprise and hope to make it big which they usually do.

The ones with the most creatures and money are a lot more likely to be picked out for protection.

After a few hours of walking, they stopped to relax near a bush that left some shade from the unforgiving sun. Spike had gently placed Fluttershy in the shade because he could easily handle the heat.

But that did not mean that Fluttershy wasn’t trying to persuade him to join her in the shade.

“Spike, you need to relax from the heat,” She weakly pointed out.

“Fluttershy, I’m a dragon who bathes in lava. I’m pretty sure that I can handle it.” There wasn’t a shred of arrogance or cockiness.

“But still, you need to relax,” Fluttershy tried with all her might to convince him, but he wouldn’t budge so she gave up and relaxed as much as she could.

She couldn’t remember the last time the heat was this unbearable. She could handle it of course, but the degree in the Badlands was not anticipated and it made her realize that the journey wouldn’t be sunshine and rainbows.

... despite the fact she knew it wouldn’t be the case.

After resting, they headed for the town and were praying that they would make it there without getting into too much trouble with the Umbrums who were scouring every inch of the lands for any defectors or potential slaves that they could use.

Both of them knew it would be the case because they had already run into three different patrols who were arguing with some creatures that looked to be slavers. They had not been able to save them because Spike saw how Fluttershy was fatigued and wouldn’t be able to fight or defend herself.

Swearing vengeance, he let them go.

For the rest of the walk there, Spike felt his anger rise slowly like pouring water into a glass, slow and gentle like the summer breeze. But he denied himself of releasing it.

He could save it for another time.

Just when Fluttershy was going to ask how much further, she saw Kludgetown come into view, a stone path and even a sign that had its name on it.

Following the path, Spike and Fluttershy felt their hearts beat faster and they started glancing everywhere, trying to spot any Umbrums who were nearby and would without a doubt, attack them on sight. But to their relief, they weren’t. Seemingly occupied with something else.

Reaching the town, they noticed that there were a lot of different creatures they had never seen or met before. They looked miserable. As if they had just given up. Just like every creature else back home.

They didn’t spare Spike or Fluttershy a glance, too occupied with their problems. All except one who looked at them with a curious glance.

“This is strange ...” Fluttershy whispered to herself but Spike heard her.

“Yeah, I agree,” He whispered back with a glance towards a street food stand that sold something ... not so very appetizing.

“What are we doing here?” Fluttershy questioned as she watched some creatures buy food and other items. From what she had learned about the Badlands over the years was that they wanted no kingdom or any form of authority-type figures to rule. The mobster of the Badlands didn’t even rule anything, they were just in it because of the money and the freedom that came with it.

“Well, inside of the building in Manehattan I found a scroll from King Sombra addressing his soldiers; stating that he’d march to the Badlands where he would mind-control more soldiers,” He lowly said while staring at the creatures going about their day.

Cutting a corner and taking a left, they continued through an alley with trash and filth littering the streets like a cobweb.

“The problem is that I never told Lyra about where King Sombra was located. However, I do hope she heard something that sent her this way.” The worry in his voice was evident in how he was glancing from the left to the right as if to spot a friend or foe.

Fluttershy started to do the same but was more casual.

“Okay,” she replied curtly. “But what if she didn’t?” She didn’t want to ask the question that was plaguing her comrade’s mind, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Hesitant to answer, he allowed the question to linger in the air when they walked out the alley and onto another street filled with creatures selling less-than-legal weapons if it would be in Equestria.
“Let’s hope she does.”

They continued to walk through the town with their heads down and looking for any Umbrums that might be coming their way. They had to hide multiple times because the King Sombra soldiers kept looking for something through the crowds of creatures that slaved away in front of them.

They had taken to the rooftops but even there it seemed to be unspared. The Umbrums who could fly were scouring the skies with their weapons firmly in their claws or hooves. This had initially made Spike uncertain of how to proceed but he realized that he could go somewhere in the middle.

So he jumped from different reelings slightly below the buildings while Fluttershy flew beside him while occasionally flying higher or lower to avoid crashing.

This continued for a good while before they almost reached the end of the town and had to change course.

However, when they started to feel tired, they realized that they couldn’t continue forever and had to sleep somewhere the Umbrums wouldn’t find them. Nothing much was available, the homes did not seem safe, to say the least.

The homes themselves looked unstable as if they had been built with rubbish—which to some extent it was—while the rest looked “proper” to satisfy those who came to their town.

“Should we sleep inside one of their hotels?” Spike turned to glance at her after staring at a pair of Umbrums for a while before he noticed them walk away from the store they had been guarding.

“Would you be able to handle it?” The question wasn’t to degrade her, it was an honest question. Kludgetowns’ hotels were not five-star with food to die for. If he was being honest, he’d feel more comfortable sleeping in a cell compared to the hotels.

“Well, yes, It may not be comfortable considering where we are, but what other choice do we have?” She made a valid point. They couldn’t sleep on the streets either, that would be screaming for the Umbrums to find them.

“True, but you know that there aren’t any … laws here right?” He tried once more, making sure that his friend knew what the potential consequences would be.

She turned to face him, smiling softly.

“I know what the consequences are,” She stated. “I’m not afraid of it. Besides, I could always deal with them.”

Her voice had a dangerous edge at the end, almost as if she were growling like a predator. Her eyes temporarily flickered red before turning back to normal.

He smiled softly, knowing that she meant it. Looking around the roof he stood on, he looked over the seas of buildings standing tall and proud of their nation that no creature wanted to visit willingly.

Now, all they needed to do was find a suitable hotel.

When they got to the street below them, they started looking at all the signs on the different shops, trying to find anything that resembled a hotel they could stay at. But it proved to be difficult. Kludgetown wasn’t known for hosting many guests so they never bothered to have any proper hotels from the looks of things. And the ones that were, were controlled by the many different mobs of the town.

Turning corners, walked down market places, passing by shops, and they still couldn’t find a place to sleep. Of course, Spike was trained to sleep in the wilderness if necessary, but he had a feeling that Fluttershy wasn’t as well trained as he was in that scenario.

“It’s amazing how a large town as this borders a city doesn’t have even a small motel.” Fluttershy frowned. There were bound to be someplace there right? She had heard stories about mercenaries that haunted the Badlands. Albeit, mercenaries were trained to be able to camp in the middle of nowhere while they wait for the next opportunity to make bits.

“Honestly, I’m amazed by how we have evaded the Umbrums for so long.” Spike pointed out. While he did share the same line of thought as Fluttershy he was mostly concerned about the Umbrums crawling all over the place.

“I concur on that one,” A voice said from behind them.

Jumping behind him with his katana ready in less than a second, he came face-to-face with a cat who wore a red overcoat. The kat didn’t seem all that frightened or even threatened. But he did look slightly curious.

“It’s amazing how you two have managed to dodge the Umbrums, last time some creature tried that, they lost their family.” He added with a grim face.

Spike felt himself feel sympathy for the family the cat mentioned, it was the least he could do. But after that, he was back to staring at the friend or foe with an intent look in his eyes.

“Who are you?” Fluttershy asked with curiousness but with a small hint of hostility, waiting for him to attack any second which never happened.

The cat smiled as if he was on stage with creatures clapping his name.

“Oh, I apologize, I have forgotten to introduce myself haven’t I?” He rhetorically asked. “My name is Capper. I live here in Klugetown where I used to be a common criminal, earning money through all kinds of methods.” His voice held honesty and never broke eye contact with either of them. “You see, our ‘nation’ as I like to call it was under the Storm King’s rule but we were liberated by King Sombra. At first, every creature was happy that we’d been freed from the tyrannical rule,”

Spike and Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel bad for the creatures there. Despite any wrongdoings they may have done, they should never live under a tyrannical King that wants nothing but power.

“But then it became worse. King Sombra made the Storm King seem like an annoying ruler that came, ruled for a little while, and went elsewhere. But King Sombra though, he wasn’t like that at all.”

They started to sense the fear in his voice.

“He … he sent his Umbrums to take over our homes, they stole food, money, supplies, anything they could get their claws or hooves on. Many of us here who weren’t living under any ruling had to start from scratch. We are forced to pay taxes that aren’t even realistic, to say the least. The numbers are way too high, but what can we do? All I keep hearing these days is how The Ghost will help us all. Whether that’s true or not I have no idea.”

Capper looked exhausted, to say the least. He looked to have not slept in days, his eyes had bags under them, and his actual eyes were glazed over as if in deep thinking. He leaned against a wall of a house or apartment. Not to look cool but to rest a little so he didn’t pass out.

Glancing at each other, they concluded that they could trust him. Maybe not entirely, but enough to say that he most likely wouldn’t stab them in the back anytime soon.

“Capper,” he looked to Spike who’d spoken his name in a low voice that made him shiver slightly. “Why are you telling us this?”

The question should be simple enough to answer. It was obvious, even.

“Because I could tell your all new to this. I’ve met a lot of creatures over the years who came to Klugetown but don’t stay very long for … obvious reasons.” He frowned as he looked down the stone street covered in sand in-between the small spaces ut could squeeze through.

He could tell that Capper was telling the truth, and the poor cat had no reason to lie unless he was secretly working with the Umbrums. With a thought like that, it was easy to see the distrust that sparked inside of Spike’s eyes that shined brightly.

“Can we trust him?” Both Spike and Fluttershy thought at the same time.

“Yeah, well, the Badlands isn’t exactly a five-star holiday with free breakfast lunch, and dinner.” Spike sarcastically replied to Capper’s previous statement. “You already admitted to being a criminal, and that says a lot about this place. Even if we kind off already knew it.”

Capper chuckled at that. There was no malice or ill-will, but rather a sense of fondness. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

“Anyways … I happened to overhear that you needed someplace to sleep, I would be happy to lead you back to my place, but if you feel unsafe because of the … circumstances, then I can try to find one of the cheaper hotels in my area.” He stated with his paws clasped together. “If you’re interested that is.”

Spike was sure it was more than “Happened”, as the cat claimed but for now, he would let it slide. Glancing over to Fluttershy, he noticed how tired she looked. Her eyes said it all.

He wasn’t sure whether to accept Capper’s help or not, because there was a small chance that he worked with the Umbrums, but from the looks of things, he did everything to make himself calm when he told his story.

There was only one way to find out his loyalty …

“We could use some shut-eye,” Spike yawned making Fluttershy relax a little but she, herself, was wary of the cat.

Looking up at the sky, they saw a few stars popping up, meaning that Princess Luna was working hard as ever despite their fortune. Spike felt his heart clench at the thought of his aunt being in the same room as his mother. Not that it was bad, but because of what could happen if no creature checked in with them.

If his mother was willing to so easily lock him up, then he feared what she’d do to his aunt … once more.

“Should we head back to my place or?” He looked at them expectantly.

“Show us the way,” Fluttershy spoke in a tired voice as she rubbed her eyes with her hooves to stay awake.

He nodded and led them out the alley where there was a small space for trashcans and out to the streets once more. They walked in relative silence with only their steps making sounds as they hit the stone ground. But they did hear some occasional Umbrums that screamed for whatever reason but also the sounds of death.

They heard a child crying for his mother who they assumed had been killed by the Umbrums. It took Spike everything to try and not investigate what happened and find the Umbrum.

When they stod outside of Capper’s house, he had to admit, it looked cozy. It wasn’t too big, but it did have the space for one or two creatures. There was a bed, bookshelves, portraits, maps, and souvenirs.

But Spike and Fluttershy that none of it was legal, or at least some of it wasn’t.

Looking around, Spike tried to find strategic points he could use just in case Capper had picked his side in the war.

Capper who was talking aimlessly about anything and everything just to pass the time, noticed all of this with a small smile. He was happy that they trusted him enough to follow him home.

He knew that they wouldn’t trust him immediately, he’d be worried if they did, but he was happy to see that the yellow-coated mare lied down on one of the couches and was fast asleep.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of eyes on him. At first, it felt normal, but as the seconds passed by, it felt intense.

When he couldn’t bear it anymore, he turned around to face his guest who he knew was the legendary Ghost he’d heard so much about. How his legend was growing and taking roots in creatures’ hearts, hoping he’d save them.

“We don’t need to play silly games anymore,” He stated while looking at Capper with a blunt look. The mask was still on so it was impossible to tell the emotion written on his face.

“Your right, we don’t.” Capper agreed with a neutral tone in his voice.

They looked at each other in the eyes with such intensity, that it felt like a battle between politicians trying to be heard by the crowd. Only this, was much more serious. This wasn’t children wearing expensive costumes acting like crybabies because the other one didn’t like his idea. This was life and death.

And both of them were aware of it.

Author's Note

This one took a while to write, I hope it was worth the wait for you guys.

27 — Badlands Invasion

Early the next morning, Spike, Fluttershy, and Capper sat down by a table and were enjoying a cup of tea and breakfast. They were quiet for the most part but they kept glancing at one another as if they were about to do something.

Why they were so on edge was because they had been woken up somewhere between five and six in the morning. It was Umbrums, they were plummeting the houses, apartments, stores, anything they could get their hands on and they weren’t quiet about it either. The screams of the victims had filled their ears, filling them with dread and worry.

Capper had been terrified, he had hidden in a corner of his house and waited for it to stop. He had been in a crouched position, hugging his knees and rocking back and forth. His green eyes had been comically huge, filled with horror.

Fluttershy had done her best to comfort him, convinced that he was truly not working with the Umbrums.

Spike had stood by one of the smaller windows, glancing as he saw the Umbrums run with their weapons drawn and ready to kill.

He had wanted to attack them in stealth, but Fluttershy had pointed out the other Umbrums. There were too many of them for him to handle alone, and some creature needed to watch after Capper.

With a heavy heart, Spike allowed the Umbrums to continue their savageness. He didn’t like it one bit, but he didn’t have a choice. He’d be able to hold his own, but eventually, he would run out of stamina, making him sloppier and giving the Umbrums a large chance to finish him off.

And that led to them having breakfast. The Umbrums had left hours ago, leaving blood and bodies all over the place. How Spike managed to not chase after the would remain a mystery.

“I’m sorry for my cowardice …” Capper said slowly, staring into his reflection through the tea. The two comrades glanced at one another.

“Capper, It’s not your fault. You have bad memories right?” Fluttershy gently asked, placing her hoof on his free paw. The gesture made the cat feel warm but he still felt like a coward, just being in the corner, praying to deities that it would all be over.

“Yes,” He admitted with a sigh and took a sip of his tea.

“Would you like to tell us how the Badlands was invaded?” She gently asked with her hoof still on his paw to show comfort.

Capper sighed deeply, knowing that a question like that would arise eventually. At first, he didn’t want to answer, but as the second started to pass, he felt the temptation take over him.

Finally, he decided to tell them.

“Okay, but be aware, this isn’t a kindergarten story with a happy ending.” Capper sarcastically said with closed eyes. Both Spike and Fluttershy nodded knowing it wasn’t the case.

“Okay, well … It all began about a year ago…

Badlands, 1 year ago.

Capper was walking down the busy streets of Klugetown where business was going on like usual. The mobsters had their power struggles, the thugs were stealing and committing all kinds of mischief.

He could go on and on, but the list was too long to remember.

Capper himself wasn’t far off. He was also looking for something of value to steal to make a quick bit. Besides, he was in the Badlands, what was expected of them? To be law-abiding citizens?

The thought was ridiculous.

The Badlands was made from the creatures who committed crimes and were banished to never return. Klugetown and the many other towns and cities had a very high crime rate because of the non-authoritarian regimes that ruled.

Yes, there was the Storm King, but he was a pest more than anything else. There wasn’t exactly a ruling that the Storm King gave them, just to show loyalty to him and everything would be fine.

None of them had an ounce of loyalty.

Capper couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that they would be faithful to anyone but themselves. It was called the Badlands for a reason. This is where all the bad stuff happens, the criminality, the dark magic, the creature trafficking. Anything a creature could think of happens there.

This, of course, was something that Capper suspected that the Storm King knew about but never said anything about. At least, he didn’t leave any signs of knowing about it.

Shaking away the thoughts about the wannabe King, he walked down an alley that was dimly lit because of the small “roof” overhead. The walls had multiple cracks covering the sides of the houses that lined up relatively well.

They weren’t falling apart, so that was a good sign.

Halfway through the alley, Capper came across an opening to a large area to the right of him. Stopping a few feet away from the corner, he wondered if something would happen there.

He knew it was a bad idea to walk through the alley. It had a reputation for holding meetings between mobsters who wanted some privacy. And to make sure that there aren’t many places for cover in case one of them is tricked.

This led to wars between mobsters in the middle of the day, causing many creatures to stay in their homes so they aren’t in the crossfire. Capper had even witnessed one himself; one of the mobsters was a unicorn who’d used a dark magic spell on a Kirin who had tried attacking with the magic of its own. The kirin failed.

Capper will not forget the tortured screams of the poor Kirin who cried for his comrades for help.

He shuddered as he walked with a quicker pace out of the alley. When he reached the end, he glanced to the left and walked away as fast as possible.

He wore his signature red overcoat with a sense of style that always made him seem unique and stand out. Not that many creatures cared; they were only there to make money, nothing else.

And that is what Capper was trying to do; earn money so he could, hopefully, get out of the town that was extremely high in crime. He wanted to become rich, so rich that he would never need to work a day for the rest of his life.

He grinned at the prospect. He was working hard every day to ensure that the possibility never diminished. He’s had to make many sacrifices in the past, and in the end, it has worked out well for him.

At the moment.

He had to be fair; it was a large possibility that something goes horribly wrong which could lead to him either getting killed or worse.

Shuddering he left the line of thought and continued to his destination.

That day, he was planning on robbing a store that sold weapons. Not the normal, typical weapons a royal guard has, but something much more sinister. They had the technology—thanks to the Storm King—to create weapons that could shoot something metallic.

If he was being honest, he didn’t know what it was, but it sounded very dangerous and useful. He was hoping to steal a crates-worth of that weapon and the small metallic things that go with it.

“All I need to do is find the store,” Capper thought as he rounded another corner and saw many different small stores that sold illegal stuff that you couldn’t find anywhere else. When he got closer, he could smell the horrible stench that came from small paper stuff that some creatures smoked.

He had tried it, but it was disgusting, to say the least.

However, he needed to find the store and so, he set forth to the location he had heard the rumours of.

Just as he was about to look around, he felt slightly cooler than he did a second ago. He looked up and to his surprise, he saw the Storm King’s battleship, only that this wasn’t the battleship of the Storm King. It was some creature else's.

Abruptly, Capper felt a chill rise up his spine. Who were those creatures? What were they doing in Klugetown?

So many questions, and no answers. Did he want answers? He probably didn’t, considering that Klugetown did not take friendly terms with a creature who asked questions.

Looking around him, he noticed that the other creatures had stopped to look up and witnessed the ship that gave a different aura than the Storm King. A more sinister one. Some of the creatures mocked the ships, believing it to be the Storm King.

It wasn’t unusual for some of the creatures to show disrespect to the Storm King for his “failed” attempt at seizing the Badlands. The punishment for this was either hard labour unless the creature managed to beat up the soldiers that felt infinite.

There had been attempts at overthrowing the King, but none had worked. But this looked promising.

If this wasn’t the Storm King’s ship then it was clear some creature was planning a coup against the Badlands or at the very least, taking Klugetown. But they would soon realise that it would all be a waste of time.

Klugetown had no interest in any kind of authority. They would just waste their time, possibly stay for a week, and then leave.

If only they knew …

As they watched the ship descend from the skies, Capper noticed that there was more than one ship. The Storm King usually only had about three ships that flew overhead every day and night. But whoever this creature was, either had a very large army or wanted to look impressive.

But Capper got the feeling that it wasn’t an impression this creature or creatures wanted. Rather, show them that they could take on their destroyed town. Capper took a few steps back as the rope was thrown overboard, making a way down for the creatures that were on board.

The other creatures nearby looked curious as to what would happen while some others didn’t seem the least impressed by the display. Who were these creatures trying to impress? This was a town that was unsuccessfully being “ruled” by the mob. Or so the mobsters claim with no backup evidence to show for it.

Capper took another few steps back as creatures started descending from the ships by the ropes they had previously thrown overboard. They were nothing like Capper expected them to be.

These creatures wore armour that covered them from head to claw or hoof. Their helmets blocked out their eyes so Capper couldn’t tell whether they were male or female. Nor if there was anything inside for that matter.

The creatures looked around with erratic movement that made Capper and the other creatures slightly jump. It was unexpected and slightly frightening. The creatures looked at Capper. He gulped.

“An tusa an ceannaire?” One of them spoke in a low, gruff voice like it hadn’t been used in ages. The only problem was; that Capper did not understand what language the creature was speaking.

“Uh,” He didn’t want to offend this creature, but at the same time, he had to be a little bit rude to solve the problem. “I don’t know what you're saying,” he let out.

Neither of the armoured creatures that either stood or came down endlessly from the ropes looked at one another. They continued to stare—that is what Capper assumed anyways—until one of them spoke, this time, in Equestrian.

“Are you the leader?” Their Equestrian sounded broken like they hadn’t spoken it in a long time.

The creatures looked at each other, confused. Did these newcomers not know that they were in the Badlands? That there was no ruler here?

Capper sweatdropped. What would happen if he said that he wasn’t the leader? Actually, what would happen if he said that he was the leader? Would they torture him? Strike a deal? Or something much worse?

“I’m not the leader, sorry,” he decided that honesty was key here. Besides, he didn’t want to get into trouble with the mob later on.

This time, the newcomers looked at each other and nodded before turning back to face them. Capper felt unnerved by them. They didn’t seem to be all that bothered that they didn’t have a government of sorts. But Capper couldn’t tell because of the helmets.

“You have no government? That is fine with us.” One of them spoke with an only fibre of amusement. They then pulled out their weapons, ranging from swords, knives, bows and arrows, spears, and the larger creatures carried something aching to what Capper was going to steal earlier, only it was much larger.

The creatures of Klugetown were shocked by the drastic turn of events and dropped what they were doing to defend their town. They pulled out weapons of their own while some families ran for their homes, seeking shelter.

Some creatures even went to any mobsters that were in the area for protection but it would all be in vain.

“ATTACK!!” The newcomers shouted in a battle cry and his comrades rushed to the creatures of Klugetown, engaging in battle.

Capper took that as his cue to run away as fast as possible. He may have wanted to leave the town, but deep down he loved it here, he could do whatever he wanted and no authority could question him.

It was why it hurt him to leave the other creatures behind to fight. He knew some of them personally, doing business with them over the years ranging from artefacts to rare metals and so forth.

He knew some of them could handle themselves but it didn’t take away the fact that he was running through alleys, trying to get away from whoever those creatures were. He had to admit, that was the first time he’d seen any creature try to seize Klugetown by force.

Most creatures that had tried just gave a speech, hoping that they would choose them, when they didn’t they left angrily to never be seen or heard from again.

Capper hated to admit it, but he respected whoever it was that was invading Klugetown. They had a plan which most creatures don’t, and the ones that do have very bad ones. Just a setup for failure.

But that did not mean that Capper would bow down to whoever the creature was. No, he would try to flee Klugetown and escape to one of the neighbouring towns. Or try to get as far away from the Badlands as possible.

Running into another alley, he jumped over a few trash cans that were knocked over on the ground, dirtying the stone worse than it usually was.

He took a left then he took a right, zigzagging as much as possible in case he was being chased by one of the newcomers. He wasn’t, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

When he saw his house in the distance, he felt a sense of relief wash over him like pouring water. From what he could see, the newcomers hadn’t made it very far yet.

Rushing inside of his house, he slammed the door shut behind him with a loud thud before he made his way to the nearest window.

He had no weapons to speak of, but he was sure that he could either sweet-talk his way out of any situation, or he could run away, which sounded very attractive at that moment. However, he had a feeling that it would be better if he stayed.

Why he believed that he wasn’t sure, but he stayed.

Turning away from the window, he ran to his bed and checked under the mattress, hoping to find something that he could bribe the newcomers with if it became worse. But he found nothing, he only had a collection of expensive items that he planned on either selling or keeping for good fortune.

Now, he wished he bought or stolen the weapons earlier. If he hadn’t insisted on himself getting a cup of tea, then he would be armed right at the moment and would be able to fend off the invaders.

Looking around frantically, he started to hear screaming in the distance not far from him. He panicked and started to cover the windows and anything that could be used as something to look outside or inside of.

He dashed from one side of his house to the next, his running effectively being blocked out by the screams of creatures either being killed or tortured.

The thought made him shudder.

He faintly heard some explosions as he began to climb the walls of his house, hoping to hide in the ceiling. He almost lost his grip when he heard the first one but quickly regained composure and finished the climb within a few small seconds.

Badlands, present time.

“... and so I stayed in that position for a few long minutes. The Umbrums came and went, but they never opened my door or even tried to. Don’t know why. And I've stayed here ever since.” Capper finished retelling what happened to the Badlands to his two guests and they were stunned.

Spike more so, because he didn’t think that their world could hold the weapons his sister Sunset Shimmer lived in. Even if it was possible, he felt like it would take another thousand years or so.

Abruptly, his eyes widened in horror. The Umbrums had the same style of weapons. That could change the war drastically if they didn’t do something and were about to ask Capper if they’d ever used them when Fluttershy asked a question of her own.

“But, why didn’t the other creatures continue to rebel? You can work together as you just told us whether you realised it or not. You also seem to have better-advanced weaponry than Equestria which could be an unknown contribution of the Storm King, so by all means, you were ahead of the Umbrums in many regards.” Fluttershy explained with an excellent argument made.

Capper just stared at her with no clear emotion visible on his face. He didn’t seem to confirm nor deny the claim.

But while Fluttershy’s argument was astounding, they also had to realise that they weren’t in a functioning kingdom with rulers. Their version of working together could be not stabbing each other in the back and paying for the protection later on while in Equestria, they protected each other without payment of any sort.

The silence was becoming unbearable and Spike was about to break it when Capper opened his mouth to respond.

“Because they killed them all off ..” his voice held sorrow and his eyes looked to be holding back tears. “They killed any creature who put up a fight, they killed children in front of parents, cutting their …” he couldn’t finish the sentence.

Fluttershy looked ready to cry herself while Spike was ready to murder the Umbrums who did it. He felt his anger ignite up like pouring gasoline on a fire, spreading more. But it wasn’t gasoline, this was something far worse, it was pure emotions that looked ready to explode.

He took large, deep breaths to calm himself.

“I was a coward …” Capper cried on the table, his hands on his forehead as he shook violently at his sobs. “I was an absolute coward!” He said loudly, almost shouting. “I shouldn’t have run away, I should have stayed and fought for our rights, protecting the young ones from the horrible King Sombra,”

His voice almost dropped to a deadly whisper as he said those last few words. Capper looked up, his eyes were red from crying so hard, his voice hiccuped as he tried to speak but couldn’t find the words.

Spike waited patiently while Fluttershy comforted him with her hoof which he gently took.

“But not anymore,” he stated with eyes looking determined. He glanced at Spike and Fluttershy. “What is it that you need?”

The question threw them off-guard. What did he mean by that?

“What do you mean?” Spike and Fluttershy said at the same time.

“As I said; what do you need? Do you need somewhere to sleep? Use my house. Need weapons? I know many creatures in Klugetown that sell all kinds of weapons. Need to find information? I can ask around.”
The two guests looked at Capper, stunned by what he said. He couldn’t mean that, did he? He didn't want to endanger himself …

Before they could question him as to why he made his statements, he let out a tired sigh.

“I will not allow another creature to get hurt when I know I can do something.” He stated with anger. “I may not have the same honour as some creature who lives in Equestria, but hurting innocent civilians is something I refuse to do.”

Spike and Fluttershy glanced at each other and smiled sadly before looking back to Capper who was now standing up and looking out the window behind the two of them.

“Honour died on the beach,” Spike said, making Capper look at him.

“What?” He asked.

“Honour died on the beach,” He repeated. “My ancestor once used that quote when the Mongols invaded his home, Hoofshima. His uncle and he got into a fight about honour, and my ancestor used the quote I just told you.”

For the first time in a very long time, Capper smiled.

28 — Two Sides

She gazed out into the night sky with a small smile on her face. She always loved watching the night sky, witnessing what she has created.

But tonight, it wasn’t just beautiful, it was delightful. The stars were sparkling and the moon was brighter than it usually was. On the ground below, it was witnessed by the other creatures who had night duties or preferred the night.

She found it curious that some creatures other than bat ponies preferred the night other than herself. She always believed other creatures weren’t compatible to stay up so late, but she was wrong; they were more than capable.

She sighs as she had the internal conflict inside of her. Whenever she was alone during the night, she always had thoughts about how the ponies and other creatures could handle eternal night.

She always thought whenever Celestia’s back was turned how she had her moment, how she could finish her sister off and take over.

But she never acted on her impulses.

She did everything she could think of to not go off and attack her sister. She had already been to the moon a thousand years and certainly wasn’t planning on wasting another thousand.

Not that she was ever truly happy that her sister made that decision …

Despite that it was for a good cause, Luna always believed that it was ridiculous that she was sent away by her sister. She had believed that Celestia wouldn’t have the guts to do it to a family member, but she’d been proven wrong; if Celestia saw you as an enemy, no matter who you are, she would do everything in her path to take the creature down.

It was a sad reality that Luna came to realise when she’d served half her imprisonment.

When she thought further on it, she came to see the pattern her sister followed; whenever they would meet a new creature, they would be hesitant to speak to them because they were different, not ponies. They would slowly get along with one another, then whenever the creature did something that wasn’t to Celestia’s liking, she would imprison the creature which would understandably cause many problems which escalated into wars.

Celestia had the same problem as a control freak, or rather, she was a control freak; she wanted to control everything and when she couldn’t she either imprisoned them or did something else.

In honesty, Luna was disgusted by such behavior.

It was exactly the same as arresting a filly because she doesn’t like to play outside. It’s just wrong.

She could understand why so many creatures despised Equestria. They had a good reason to. It was no wonder that many creatures stayed by themselves, not wanting to be bothered by any other creature outside except for when they needed supplies.

Even then, it was very scarce. No conversation, just get it done and move on.

When she was defeated by the main six, she looked around Equestria and was not surprised that the other kingdoms were very quiet about what they were doing. From what little she saw when she locked herself in her room, she seldom saw a different creature from another kingdom.

Of course, there was Spike, her nephew that had been blood adopted if she remembered correctly. Wait … did they still even do blood adoptions? Shaking her head, she got back on track.

But he was the only different creature she met and he was a dragon, which was very rare as dragons were not known for interacting with ponies. At all. They always wanted to be left alone and so they did.

Looking up at the night sky again, she felt her heart clench as she started to think about how different life would be if Celestia wasn’t in power. It was horrible, surely, but the path Celestia was going down will only lead to her downfall.

Her sister had lost her way long ago.

“If only she would share Spike’s view.” She muttered to herself as she glanced downwards to the creatures below in the Crystal Empire who were dancing, partying, and training.

The Crystal Ponies were not happy with Celestia and had made it known by practically worshipping Spike’s statue by going there every morning and saying a few prayers before going on about their day.

The Crystal colts and fillies were told stories about Spike’s battles like Yakyakistan, outposts, small towns, and even Manehattan. They heard about his legend and the wrath that came with it and were always fascinated.

Luna had even listened to a few of his stories and was amazed by the descriptions of the battles. If they were true, then he certainly was the destined hero of Equestria with a legend to show for it.

She smiled as she saw the young creatures run around and play, temporarily forgetting that they were the generation that would remember the invasion.

It was another thing that Luna was troubled by. How could Celestia just arrest her own child like that? It is one thing if he did something illegal—which he to some extent did but they are at war!—not giving him a chance to truly explain his reasoning.

He clearly did not do it for himself. He did it for the sake of Equestria.
He is neither interested in money nor power, having grown up with that already, so there is no need for that.

Whatever it is that Celestia believes Spike is trying to achieve is wrong. He is trying to save Equestria and the other kingdoms from the hooves of King Sombra. Something that neither Luna nor Celestia was doing.

Luna admitted, that she didn’t do a whole lot ever since she went against Celestia’s back a few months ago. But Celestia wasn’t doing anything either, she was just sitting in the throne room eating cake, hoping for better times while not doing anything to make that future possible.

She grits her teeth as glanced behind her into the room she slept in. The door that led to the hallways was firmly shut with a lock Luna had designed herself. It was a lock that both required magic and hoofprint.

She had made the lock because she was unsure of who to trust. Her sister arrested her son that is unofficially banished from Equestria, Twilight, and what little she has left of her friends were faithfully loyal to Celestia, believing that she is the sole hero of their kingdom.

It significantly sickened her.

She couldn’t believe that they would do such a thing to one of their friends and family member even. They were not the same ponies they were when they defeated her, they were entirely different ponies.

Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself before she started going on a rampage against her sister and followers. She wanted them to be alive.

“Okay, so what should I do?” She asked herself with some trepidation. Normally, she wasn’t anxious, but this was one of the few rare times she felt genuinely worried about what may happen in the future if she was to make the decisions.

It wasn’t like she wanted to go against her sister entirely. But Celestia had become too soft to her liking. They were at war. War laws and rules are bound to be broken, Spike knew that as well and even expected to get a harsh punishment after the war.

She remembered the exact words he told her;

“Aunt Luna, I don’t expect not to be punished for my actions, but until that day comes, I need you to promise me something. Never give up hope. I know you and Mother are not on the best of terms because you and I think alike which is why I ask you; to liberate Equestria and the other kingdoms that are in King Sombra’s hooves. Make sure the creatures have some creature to look up to.”

She had smiled and felt honoured that he considered her competent enough to do a task that her sister was failing miserably. Celestia had a thousand-year knowledge of politics and military experience, if anything, Celestia should be more than capable.

But sadly, Celestia was too occupied by her cakes to even care. It made Luna feel saddened by what has happened. She wanted desperately to go back in time and make it so that King Sombra never gains power.

But she couldn’t do that. It would ruin the prophecy and the world could potentially look grimmer than it already did so she didn’t want to risk anything.

She had witnessed Spike’s feats, defeating the Umbrums while leaving none of them alive to witness the sun or moon ever again in this life. She also heard his tale from the different creatures who had been liberated from him.

She saw how they smiled and spoke about him with such happiness and joy, that it moved Luna to tears.

Which is why she had to make a decision. She has already chosen it, and she knew her sister would be against her and call her a traitor. But there was no other side to pick, Celestia wasn’t doing anything productive for the future of Equestria, and Spike would need all the help he could get.

So she picked Spike. She loves her sister, but this war had three clear sides. One; join The Ghost and liberate their home, two; join King Sombra in his plummeting of innocent lives and live forever in darkness, or three; still be with Celestia, waiting for their inevitable demise if they didn’t do anything or hope for the best.

She couldn’t sit and roll her hooves hoping for the best, she would help her nephew any way she could. There would be casualties, there would be hated, destruction, riots, and much more.

She looked up at the night sky one more time before she made her way inside. She had to speak with her sister.

“WHAT!!?” Princess Celestia shouted in an angry, booming voice that made the walls shake so violently that the guards, maids, and butlers almost fell to the floor in fright of the voice.

Luna stared at her sister with an emotionless look on her face. They were standing inside the dining hall where they would have their meals. There was a long brown polished table that stretched a good twenty feet with chairs with the same colour and polish aligning on the sides.

The walls were thick but not enough to block out the booming voice of an angry Celestia.

Luna had just told her sister that she did not stand with her and would most likely leave the Crystal Empire with any creature who believed in The Ghost.

Naturally, Celestia didn’t take the news well. How could her younger sister betray her like that? A second time no less.

“You heard me, sister,” Luna said with no emotion on her face. It was like her emotions had evolved into one, stoic expression. She expected such a reaction so it wasn’t unwarranted in the slightest.

“Why,” Came the dreading question. If Luna could, she would walk out of the room and never return but she couldn’t. Words needed to be exchanged so both of them knew where they stood in the war. It needed to be official, not just written on some paper.

Which was why she didn’t turn away from Celestia.

“You know why,” She replied with such force, that it seemed like Celestia was knocked out for a second. “You first hit Spike, then you arrested him for a crime that was needed, and now you won’t fight this was.”

She may have been cruel, but it needed to be said. Even if they would never see and speak to each other again, At least Luna could say that she left her sister with words to think about.

Celestia’s face contorted into a look of fury. How dare she stand again her?! Did her sister not know how much she’s had to sacrifice?

“Does thou not know what I’ve sacrificed?” Celestia was mocked the way her sister used to speak before she learned the modern Equestrian language.

“Yes,” Luna impassively said, not remotely triggered by Celestia’s mockery. “But thou have made one too many mistakes in this war. I have let it slide many times over, but I cannot hold back any longer. Thy incompetence has been duly noted.”

It felt good to let it out. The feeling she had was as if something was lifted from her chest, making breathing possible for her.

The room became tense after what the night princess had said. But Celestia did not make any kind of moment or say anything that revealed what she was feeling; complete and utter fury.

Luna watched as Celestia’s face first contorted into anger which later turned into a neutral expression. They stared at each other as if waiting to see who’d break first. When neither broke, Celestia decided to speak up.

“Why have you turned against me, sister?” Her voice held betrayed sound as if she couldn’t fathom why such a thing would happen but there was sorrow, unforgettable sorrow that Luna would remember for the rest of her long life.

“Because I love you and cannot watch as you bring Equestria close to extinction,” Luna said with a sad voice, allowing it to seep inside her.

She didn’t want Celestia to think that she’d turned into Nightmare Moon but with the same body as she normally looked.

It wouldn’t do well otherwise if she was labeled to be the entity she hated with a passion.

Celestia looked temporarily stunned by the words. Bringing Equestria close to extinction? What did she mean by that? She had not done anything of the sort!

It was preposterous to think that she would ever do anything remotely close to that calibre …

“I will give you a decision, sister.” Celestia glanced at Luna with some caution. Whatever it was that Luna would propose would in some way shape or form, involve her son who was a criminal. “Either you join me and defeat King Sombra once and for all, or you continue down the path your going that will end with you having the blood of every creature on your hooves. Your choice.”

When she put it like that, it didn’t sound like she had many options.

“I’m sorry, Luna, but I cannot stand by The Ghost.” Celestia finally spoke after a pregnant pause had been in their air, filling it with tension like blowing a balloon.

Luna hung her head in despair as the situation truly kicked into her heart. There was no way she could convince her sister that Spike was the way to their freedom. Her sister would refuse to see it that way.

She had failed. It was meant to work! It was meant to convince her sister that there was time for them …

Her line of thought cleared as she looked at the crystal floor covered by a wine-red mat so her hooves wouldn’t be tortured the first few steps by the harsh cold crystal floor.

“Then I have no choice,” Luna spoke with a calm and collected voice, doing everything so she wouldn’t break down in tears. She refused to give her sister the satisfaction.

Celestia looked momentarily surprised by the attitude. “What?” She questioned with narrowed eyes.

The princess of the moon looked at her sister with an emotional face, no longer able to keep it hidden longer. She had expected the rift between them to eventually collapse into tiny pieces, forcing them to fight for survival and make sure that their kingdom doesn’t fall. She didn’t want to do it, but Celestia wasn’t giving her a choice in this matter, she was making it increasingly difficult to sympathise with her as the days goes by.

“I will take The Ghost’s followers, and re-establish what’s left of Equestria. You have shown that you do not care about Equestria; the kingdom we swore to protect when we unified the three pony tribes.” Luna’s words were like knives to Celestia, feeling her heart shatter as she stood a few feet away from her.

Luna turned around and walked away from there, finished with the conversation that had just cost them each other. Before Luna was gone though, she gave Celestia one last look and with a tear in her eye, she let out the final words;
“I’m sorry sister,”

On the outside of the castle, Luna walked away from her sister, intending on getting away as far as she could.

She witnessed a few ponies bow to her in respect like the solar guards as well as the lunar guards who were on standby if any Umbrums were ordered to invade the last Equestrian stronghold that thousands of creatures had fled to.

Walking faster than normal, she caught the eyes of a few Crystal Ponies who glared at the palace, knowing that the princess of the sun was inside there, doing nothing like usual.

At least in their opinion.

She allowed a sad smile. Loyalty was both a beautiful thing and a dangerous thing. It’s good that you have faith in a creature with evidence as to why one should be loyal but it can be dangerous if it’s under the wrong circumstances.

A few Crystal Ponies had left their beloved empire and travelled to the other places their hero had liberated. They then would either travel back and tell stories, or they would write the stories down and publish them as books of different sorts, explaining how The Ghost came to be.

Many creatures loved the books dearly and read every single word from cover to cover, eager to learn more about the hero who’s saved them so many times before.

Even Luna had read some of them, though, like many other times, she sincerely hoped that some of them were exaggerated for entertainment purposes.

But the Crystal Ponies were also known for their brutal honesty, just like the Apple family.

She sighed and continued to walk to the gates of the empire where she would leave and not return until the day King Sombra falls to his hooves.

There were many things she regretted not doing differently, like speaking up when Celestia hit her nephew or trying to stop the spell that was used to put Spike in the dungeons. But this time, she would speak up and she would be the leader her subjects and other creatures could look to.

Glancing at the gates where the guards were patrolling, she noticed that there were many creatures cooperating which made her smile.

If she had been told something like this would happen, she would have laughed in the creature’s face, but now, seeing it, in reality, made her realize that the possibility was there. She just hoped it stayed there after the war so they could strengthen their bonds and friendships throughout not just Equestria, but the world as well.

Smiling, she took off flying in the direction of the closest liberated town and didn’t stop even when she heard the guards shout at her to stop.

Author's Note

Be prepared guys, Luna will now take an active role in this war.

29 — Helpful Advice

Inside Capper’s house, Spike was looking out the window, watching the Umbrums that walked past with no knowledge that there was an enemy in their midst. Completely oblivious to what was going to happen in a few days.

Just like Spike wanted.

He may want the Umbrums to fear him, but what good would that do when they were expecting him to liberate Klugetown? They would call for reinforcements which would be overwhelming.

It was something that Spike had thought a lot about. It was already overwhelming with the Umbrums who patrolled the Klugetown streets, so anymore Umbrums and Spike might as well give up.

However, just a few days prior, Capper had offered to help them fight the war. Originally, Spike had been hesitant because Capper was the only one who practically knew every creature that could get them valuable information, what good would he be if he was dead? Capper on the other hoof seemed to know what he’d been thinking and told both that he could fight. Even gave a statement that made them blush.

“Were in the Badlands, Klugetown, did you really believe I couldn’t fight?”

It was obvious, they weren’t in any kingdom where you had no reason to fight. They were outside any kingdom with law and order. Most creatures in the Badlands literally fought for their food or place to sleep.

With sheepishness, Spike allowed him to fight.

Since then, Capper has been training hard with a spear that he had hidden from them and potentially others so they wouldn’t demand a weapon that would be used against him.

The spear was a meter long, the blade looked to be sharp enough to leave wounds if needed. How it would penetrate the metallic armour the Umbrums wore, Spike had no idea but he was sure that Capper knew a few tricks up his sleeve.

Continuing to look out the window, Spike could hear the panting from behind him.

Capper was at it again with his training. He hadn’t done much else unless Spike asked for any locations he could find usable weapons or escape routes. But that was the rare few occasions.

Turning to face him, Spike saw Capper swinging the spear the same way a few Umbrum leaders would do. At first, he panicked, believing Capper to be working with the Umbrums after all, but then he noticed a movement that forced Capper down to one knee and stabbed the air in the “stomach” where the Umbrum would have theoretically stood.

Getting up from his knee and taking a few steps back, he repeated the motion as if to perfect it. His swinging was on par with a professional spear user, so he was not a newbie by any means.

Watching Capper, Spike couldn’t help but be reminded of when he was training with his ancestor. The grueling training he went through was something he would always appreciate. During all the hardships and times he wanted to give up but still got out of bed in the morning and went to train because he knew he could free Equestria.

If Capper trained hard enough, he certainly could become something more than a simple criminal trying to earn a living.

“You swing good,” Spike said when Capper got up from his knee once more. The cat turned to face the dragon, drenched in sweat from his previous activity. “If you continue to do that good, you could become something more than just a criminal.”

There was a pregnant pause between them, looking at each other, one in confusion and the other one at his potential future student.

“What?” Capper finally asked in disbelief.

“You can become something more than just a criminal.” He repeated as if he expected the question. “You have talent as a warrior if you are dedicated to its studies. I’ve seen you fight with that weapon of yours, it shows that you have had to use it at some point.”

At that statement, Capper looked to the floor not looking at Spike to see his reaction. When the purple dragon didn’t get a response from the former criminal, he grew concerned that he either offended him or awoke some memories from the past.

However, curiosity was there. What happened to Capper in the past? It was not important for him to know what he did, but it would be nice to know at least the need-to-know basis of his character.

Deciding against it, Spike spoke up after the silence between them became unbearable.

“Sorry that I said anything, I shall—” But he couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Have you ever regretted it?” Capper’s question took him by surprise. What did he mean by that?

“What do you mean?”

Capper looked suddenly very uncomfortable and kept looking around as if the Umbrums would break down the door any second. His eyes darted from the windows to the door and even to the roof.

He seemed to be panicked, but he quickly regained himself before it could go any further.

“Have you ever regretted … killing any creature?” His voice was so quiet, that Spike wouldn’t have heard it if he didn’t pay attention.

If he would be honest with himself, he shouldn’t have been surprised by the question. It was bound to be asked sooner or later. But did he regret it? There were very few instances where he did but there were other occasions where he could have cared less about it.

“Both yes and no,” Spike responded, surprising Capper who looked up after feeling the embarrassment creep upon him like a shadow that was about to swallow a creature whole.

“What do you regret about it?” Capper uncertainly asked. He wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for him to ask such a question, but he could try and see what the response was.

“I regret not giving the Umbrums the chance to be free once more. I keep taking their lives away not knowing if they would have wanted to die or not. Because I haven’t tried, I will never know the answer, and it’s for the best that I don’t.”

Capper felt depressed by the answer. He sort of had a gist about that but he hoped that the answer would have been different, demanded it almost. But the truth is undeniable. It’s not something you can try to not feel guilty about.

The memories would always haunt the creature, always remembering the creature they had killed, the family and friends that grieved for their loved one and tried to solve the case but couldn’t find the one that did it, never getting the response they so desperately need.

Capper gulped as his mind started to wander down the guilty path but was saved by Spike’s next answer.

“But I also don’t regret killing them. They have—as Umbrums—committed many atrocities across Equestria and beyond. They have killed children, forced parents to watch it happen, forced families apart, and so much more. There are so many things that I cannot forgive them for as Umbrums, I don’t think any creature can, so it’s better to fight for our home and not feel guilty for the things we have to do.”

Surprised, Capper looked at Spike for guidance. He wondered what he should do. From the sounds of both of the statements, they were good in their own right, but he wasn’t sure if he could go that extra step.

Yes, he was a criminal by all means, but he had never stepped over the line. When you kill a creature then there is nothing else you will ever think about. You will always be haunted by the fact that you did it.

“Capper, I must ask; why did you ask that question?” While Spike waited for a reply, Fluttershy was secretly eavesdropping from behind a large chest that covered her presence there.

She had been watching for any Umbrums in the area, but so far they had only marched past the house, not bothering with them. It was a relief but slightly odd. Fluttershy felt that they should be banging on the door asking for taxes or something close to it.

Not that she wanted them to, but it would be logical; to force the places they take under their flag to pay taxes so they could make their King richer than he already was, but they didn’t.

However, it could be that King Sombra knew that it would only make the Badlands even more unstable.

“Well,” Capper began with a cautious tone. “I know what it is that I have to do, but I cannot help but second-guess my motives. What am I doing this for? Who am I doing this for?”

Spike nodded in understanding.

“So I cannot help but wonder why I’m doing what I’m doing. Yes, I do not want to see any more creatures suffer at the hands of the Umbrums.” Capper admitted. “However, years ago, I would have easily sold any creature to the highest bidder. So why am I helping you two is what I’m trying to figure out.”

Silence reigned for a long time, Fluttershy held her hoof to her mouth to not gasp from the shocking revelation from Capper. However, the atmosphere in the room didn’t change.

The yellow-coated mare didn’t dare peek around the corner. She shouldn’t be listening to the conversation and she knew the information the cat shared was very sensitive that was only meant for Spike to hear.

“It doesn’t change much,” Spike finally said. Capper looked up ready to argue, but the purple-scaled dragon held up a claw. “Yes, what you have done in the past is absolutely horrible, I will admit, you have put me on edge.” Capper looked to the floor, trying to avoid eye contact. “But if you were the same creature, then I highly doubt that Fluttershy and I would be standing here.”

Capper stifled a giggle. It was true, around this time if not sooner, he would have secretly contacted a rich creature and sold them for great money.

Now, however, he cannot bring himself to do it even if he would starve.

“I will never truly be rid of such memories …” Capper sadly stated with a loose grip on the spear. He closed his eyes and he kept seeing them. He kept seeing the faces of the creatures he’s betrayed over the years, seeing how sad they looked, calling him a monster, scum, traitor.

Sympathetically, Spike placed a claw on his shoulder. He may not understand what Capper did, but he can understand the guilt.

“Capper, you and I have committed different sins, but in the end; you and I will suffer the same fate, for the better or worse. I have never claimed to be a saint, not will I ever claim to be.”

The words hit Capper harder than he initially believed they would. He didn’t realize that when he joined Spike that he directly or indirectly would lead to murder. The Umbrums may not be who they used to be, but it doesn’t take away the fact that they were once creatures with normal jobs, with normal problems that they needed to solve …

And he would not allow them to chance to live that life again …

“Thank you, Spike,” he said with a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Nonetheless, Spike smiled back knowing that Capper would make the hardest decision of his life.

It wasn’t easy for either of them. Both of them have suffered greatly in their own ways, but none could truly understand each other’s suffering because they had yet to experience it.

And hopefully, neither of them would.

Silently from behind the large chest, Fluttershy moved away with a smile on her face.

Admittingly, she would find it hard to trust Capper in the future because of what she learned, but she knew that he was not the same creature he once used to be and she could tell that he regretted what he has done.

If he wouldn’t have regretted it, then perhaps Fluttershy would have been a lot more worried for not just hers, but Spike’s being as well.

Walking back to the window, she glanced from the left to the right trying to find any Umbrums in the area but found none. She only saw a few creatures walk by, chatting with friends, acquaintances, or dealers that could give them whatever they needed.

She sighed, it was going to be a long day.

30 — A New Leader

In the darkness that surrounded Kluge Town, many creatures did their best to stay out of the Umbrum’s way, not wanting to anger the creatures known for their sheer brutality and cruelty.

It wasn’t the first time they had witnessed it either. Sometimes, they had been forced to watch as their friends and acquaintances have been ripped apart for not being useful enough to the Umbrums.

Many had tried time and time again to fight against them but it was futile. The Umbrums were the strongest, fastest, and deadliest warriors alive.

They had been hearing rumours that there was a warrior in Equestria who had been liberating the land of Umbrums. They did not know whether it was true or just a story to make the young ones have hope or if it was truly a hero that was fighting for them.

Maybe it was a little bit of both.

However, three creatures within Kluge Town knew the truth. And they were preparing for liberation. One that would shake the Umbrum spirits.

Inside Capper’s house, they were preparing the weapons and going over the best strategic places to attack. They had been going it over quite a few times at that point but it was good to make sure the plan got glued in their memory.

“Okay, so if we strike the Umbrum stronghold that would mean that they would have no choice but to go there to defend their weapons that they no doubt have in store there,” Capper explained with a blank look as he made his swords sharper.

“What kind of weapons are we talking about?” Fluttershy asked while looking at the map they were looking over.

“Could be anything,” Capper regretfully informed. “So it’s best to be prepared for anything. I highly doubt they have been keeping it there as souvenirs.”

Fluttershy grimaced at the lack of information but she didn’t say anything. Spike had a far-away look as he heard the information.

“What will we do when we capture the stronghold? I doubt every Umbrum will just magically run there and fight us.” Fluttershy stated while narrowing her eyes at the outlines of the Umbrum stronghold as if to judge it.

Capper nodded. “There is one building in town that is a ‘ruling’ building of sorts. When the Umbrums weren’t able to control the Town by brute force alone, they took that building,” Capper pointed to a large castle-like building on the map that was in the heart of the town. “That is where the other Umbrums no doubt will be preparing when they hear the attack, I also believe that a warlord is there.”

That grabbed Spike’s attention.

“Whose the warlord?” He asked making Capper think.

“He is a Yak,” Capper began carefully. “He was raised outside of Yakyakistan because of sickness. He speaks fluently in the Umbrum language but has shown that he is capable of understanding Equestrian and the language of the Yaks. They have never given him a proper name to speak of because he has never given his name to any creature as far as I’m aware,”

While Spike was thinking things over, Fluttershy felt her heart freeze.

“A Warlord is here?! Oh my! What will I do?! After what I saw in Manehattan …” Her line of thinking stopped as she remembered the city. It had once been a beautiful city, coming close to Canterlot in that regard with Canterlot being slightly higher in the rank when it came to beauty and the expenses of living in those places. But she would forget all of that … she would only remember the warlord she had to face when she was fighting in the second part of the city. While she may have changed because of the war, she would never get away from the fear that nags in her heart.

Capper glanced over to the yellow-coated mare and saw her facial expression.

“But you won’t need to worry too much. It’s only a rumour, nothing has been confirmed yet. But there is no doubt a good chunk of leaders here that runs different parts of this town.” He tried to reassure Fluttershy but the more he had spoken, the more it sounded like he was trying to comfort himself.

Fluttershy didn’t pay him any mind as she was still thinking about the horrible things that no doubt would occur when they strike.

War is no walk in the park, the Umbrums have repeatedly shown that. Not just to her, but to Spike as well that had the most experience with Umbrum combat. She had heard the stories in the Crystal Empire about the battles Spike had won.

She smiled slightly as she remembered the pony telling one such story and was convinced that Spike was a God that was sent down from the heavens to protect them from all forms of evil. For some reason, Fluttershy couldn’t help but agree, when she had spoken to Spike he had told her in further detail how he had been raised and trained. It was gruelling work on his part, but he succeeded and now he was back, seeking vengeance on King Sombra for destroying his beloved home.

In a way, he was a Ghost seeking vengeance …

She chuckled slightly at the thought. She had seen the paintings in Yakyakistan, depicting his battle when he was liberating the nation from the Umbrums. Glancing towards Spike, she saw him sitting cross-legged on the floor with his eyes closed.

Meditation.

She smiled at him. The few times that he could relax and think things through. She looked around to find Capper as she just realised that he was out of her line of sight until she found him on the other side of the room.

Capper was sitting in a chair with his paw around a mug that contained water. He looked to be contemplating something. He didn’t look troubled per se, but he did look as though he needed help. With nothing else to do, she walked over to him, taking a seat next to him.

For what seemed like an eternity, Capper finally looked up, catching the eyes of Fluttershy who looked at him cautiously, unsure if he wanted to talk or be left alone. He didn’t say anything. He raised to mug to pour some water into his dry mouth which washes away the desert that had built up in his mouth.

“What are you thinking about?” She asked when she knew he wouldn’t be the first to speak.

He sighed. “Nothing to worry about,” He dismissively spoke which made Fluttershy frown.

“I can see something is wrong,” She insisted with her eyes narrowing slightly at Capper who looked to the table.

“I’m sure you do,” He agreed with no emotion on his face or voice making Fluttershy unsure of how she should proceed.

She knew that it was never good to bottle something up over time because, in the end, it could not just hurt others but the creature in question as well. At the same time, however, she didn’t want to force him to say what was on his mind if he didn’t want to talk about it.

Feeling thirsty, she got off the chair and went to the fridge to get some cold water and poured herself a mug. Walking back to the chair, she sat down and wondered further how she would be able to proceed.

Capper didn’t seem like the creature who openly spoke about his problems and was the type to solve them before they became a bigger issue to deal with.

Could she use this to her advantage?

“How do you usually solve your problems?” She curtly asked while sipping her water while at the same time, keeping an eye on him.

She saw the surprised look on his face, his mask temporarily falling off before it was plastered back on his face. In her mind, she smirked in victory.

Capper didn’t want to answer. He knew what she was trying to do but it would be rude to not answer her question.

“I deal with them the second I get them.” He replied with honesty. It was true when you live a life of crime, the second you have a problem, it needs to be dealt with the minute you have the time. It will otherwise infest itself, being something you have to worry about all day and even night.

“So, why aren’t you trying to deal with it now when you have free time?” Her question was quite fair. If he had time, why didn’t he deal with the problem?

For a long while, he didn’t respond. What could he say? He didn’t have an answer at the top of his head.

“Because there is nothing to be fixed.” He revealed with a sigh.

Fluttershy was surprised by the answer. Why was he so—

“The thing I cannot fix is my home.” He revealed further, knowing that his yellow-coated friend would be dumbfounded by the revelation. “Klugetown … has always been broken beyond repair. Like I’ve told you; Klugetown is unfathomable and hard to take over, so when the Umbrums came and did just that in what felt like a day, I was surprised but also …”

He stopped mid-sentence, unsure if he should reveal a small bit of information that he kept to himself. Fluttershy looked at him, trying to make him finish the sentence he’d begun.

“ … relieved.”

Fluttershy wasn’t expecting that.

“Relieved how?” She asked with extreme caution with hints of curiosity and hostility. Capper saw the hostile eyes and felt slight guilt. Did he just reveal his darkest secret?

“I was relieved because they brought with them, laws, rules, punishments, and medicine.” Capper continued. “Of course, the medicine was tough to negotiate with them because it is very expensive. But if you know where to steal it from it’s not so bad.”

Fluttershy had to admit, that she could never understand how someone could live in a lawless kingdom and still be alive. Living in Equestria had made her secure from almost all kinds of criminality that are common in the Badlands that every creature knew about. The lawless land is ruled by criminal kingpins that have their hooves or claws in serious dirt. And not the good kind. Medicine is something Fluttershy could also understand why many creatures in Klugetown would be fascinated with. She’d seen many creatures in the marketplace where they have only bandages over their wounds, no actual potion or any other form of medicine that could help them further.

“I guess I can see why it was tempting to want them to rule.” She allowed with a nod. “But … didn’t you fight against them when they first came here?”

Capper looked down in embarrassment. He occasionally took a sip of his water before he responded.

“Yeah, I … I did.” He admitted.

“Then, why were you glad they brought ‘structure’ to your home?” She was getting more curious the more he responded to her questions.

“Because … I believe it’s a wake-up call for every creature here that it’s time we build our own home. Our own kingdom to live and thrive in. Not just be some wasteland where criminals are committing crimes daily to earn some quick bits. Maybe it’s a silly dream of mine, but I believe they’ll wake up after this, they’ll have to.” Fluttershy admitted that it was a very good idea. She doubted the creatures would have listened when they had their freedom, so perhaps losing it while having a form of structure would help them create a kingdom with formidable defence.

“I agree,” Spoke a familiar voice. They turned and saw that it was Spike who looked at both of them with a small smile behind his mask. “I cannot begin to claim to understand what it’s like to live here or even grow up here for that matter. But you do. You have seen what your home needs, right?”

Capper nodded.

“Then why not show them that you can all thrive together? Show them that they aren’t just outcasts from their former kingdoms,” Spike motivated with a warm smile. “Show them, that they can do good. That they aren’t just criminals that don’t want any form of law and structure. Who knows … maybe you’ll become the most powerful kingdom within a few years depending on how hard you all want it.”

The heartwarming moment made Capper feel special. The resonation and motivation that Spike showed made him realise, that not every creature in the Badlands wanted this. Most of them came because they were banished from their former kingdoms and believed that they could do no good other than criminality. And so, they continue with the one thing that made them end up in the Badlands.

Klugetown wasn’t a place for those with a faint heart.

Capper glanced up at his two guests and … comrades. They looked at him with a smile, knowing his doubts before he even thought about them.

“They’ll listen to you, Capper,” Fluttershy reasoned.

Spike nodded. “I believe so. You may not be some big-shot mafia boss, but they’ll listen to you.”

Capper wanted to smile. But he couldn’t. How could he? He had wronged many creatures in the past and many of them wanted him dead. Some of them even joined the Umbrums but he highly doubted that they remembered anything from their past other than to serve their ‘King’.

Just when he thought about it, he remembered the first day.

The flames washed over them like heavenly fire. Only, it wasn’t heavenly, it was torturous. After the battle, he remembered the clear smell of burned flesh and rotting corpses with flies all over them with visible wounds and torn flesh where weapons had sliced them.

He clenched his paw.

He remembered the mothers who cried as their children’s heads were …

His anger spiked a fury that he had never felt before. He wanted to slaughter the Umbrums from taking his home, for killing civilians who simply wanted a better life and wanted to try their luck in one of the most dangerous wastelands there is.

He would avenge them.

He had been in such deep thought that he didn’t realise he had closed his eyes. When he opened them he saw that Fluttershy and Spike were looking at him. He couldn’t tell what they were feeling since their facial expression was neutral.

“The Umbrums will pay.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the very long wait! Here’s the chapter.

15 — Friends To The End

Not being able to see friends for an entire year and fearing that they may be dead always frightened Spike to no end. He was always thinking about his family back in Equestria; wondering if they were dead or alive, praying for the latter.

But now that he saw them in front of him, armed and ready to fight, he couldn’t help but feel saddened. They should not feel any obligation to fight since they were still children but here they were, ready to take on the Umbrum army. And he knew that after liberating Griffinstone, that they would not be able to turn back.

Things would not be the same.

Together, they had opened the gates to Griffinstone and allowed the guards from the Crystal Empire to enter and make sure every creature was alright. The guards had taken with them special aid kits along with food and water.

Spike and his allies helped the creatures of Griffinstone, which made the creatures happy with them but some were scared. Spike understood this, not every creature would understand why he would be fighting, it was normal to be scared.

walking to a secluded spot in Griffinstone, Spike and his allies began to start a fire with some wood that have been used for that purpose. Spike looked at his friends and allies who looked at the others, wondering who would strike up a conversation.

Pipsqueak decided to start, he was the one who came to Spike and he was in the second act of the prophecy so he would start. In his mind, if Rumble came from nowhere and told Spike that they had been planning this for a while, there would be more questions than answers.

“Hello, Spike, or shall I say; The Ghost?” Pipsqueak asked with humour obvious in his voice. The others grinned at Spike, but not in a mocking sort of way, it was more with humour. Spike arched a brow at him.

“What, afraid that I’ll become more famous than you?” Spike asked, a smirk playing on his face. Pipsqueak chuckled heartedly along with the others.

“Maybe, I may not have any fancy or cool names but I do have my bow and arrow.” Pipsqueak said, proudly showing off his bow and arrows that he carried on him at all times. The bow had red and black stains from the paint that had been used, giving it a sensibility of power.

“That’s a very nice crafter bow with beautiful colours,” Rumble spoke, his voice holding awe at the bow that was shown to them.

“Thank you.” Pipsqueak said, putting away his bow but in a position so he could grab it faster if Umbrums came back. He did not intend to risk any chances that he may have.

“Spike,” This time it was Scootaloo who spoke up, her voice held some uncertainty. Spike glanced at her and the rest of the cutie mark crusaders. “We wanted to tell you that even if you say no, you will not be rid of us. We will follow you until the end of King Sombra’s reign, maybe even longer.”

Spike sighed, he expected this. “I will admit, I do need allies so I will accept this. I can tell you have trained well, am I right to assume that this is not your first battle?” He asked.

They nodded in affirmative. This was not their first battle, nor would it be their last. They had fought as many Umbrums as they could but they had not tried to take over Umbrum strongholds because they felt like they should leave that to Pipsqueak and Spike.

“Yes, this is not our first battle, we have fought many Umbrums in the past, we were on our way to the Dragonlands when we heard that you were on your way to Griffinstone, we also heard about your tales of how you defeated Umbrums without breaking a sweat.” Pipsqueak said with a smirk playing on his lips.

Spike laughed at that. He knew that many creatures would speak about his feats, he knew it would happen, it was natural that way — explaining what happened to them when they were oppressed by the Umbrum and later being saved. Who wouldn’t want to give other creatures hope?

“That’s right,” Sweetie Belle said, winking at him. “He is a Vengeful Spirit back from the grave to slaughter the Umbrums.”

Spike shook his head in amusement.

The others laughed at his amusement. Rumble walked up to Spike and sat beside him, both looked into the fire for a little while before Rumble decided to speak about something serious. The silence became tense and Rumble finally broke it after he had sighed.

“We saved a mare who had been captured by the Umbrums, she was battered and bruised, her clothing was filthy and she needed a bath,” Rumble explained, his face neutral of emotion. “When we saved her, she thanked us profusely and told us about a large fort that held many hostages, she told us that the Umbrums are planning on taking them to a continent somewhere. We do not know the nation they are planning on taking them, but that is why we leave it to you. The fort is somewhere near Manehattan, by the woods.”

Spike’s face did not reveal any emotion at first, but it gradually became darker for each word that came out of Rumble’s mouth. Luckily, those hostages would not be leaving Equestria.

The others waited anxiously for a response from Spike when he finally responded. “Thank you for telling me this, Rumble, I will travel there as soon as I can. They will not be leaving Equestria.” His voice was dark, his voice seemed seeped with venom.

The others bowed in respect, knowing that what he just declared was nothing but the truth. He had never a promise like this before, and he knew that he wouldn't break them now.

Spike got up to stretch his legs, the katana felt sharper than before, how Spike felt like that he had no idea. But if it was sharper, then it meant that he could kill faster and make the Umbrums suffer if he stabbed them in the right places. He smiled darkly as he thought about it. He did not notice his friends look at him with a hint of awe. That they onwards, they would swear that day saw something take over Spike, like a spirit.

Author's Note

Enjoy!

19 — Realizing The Cost

Spike was in his sleeping quarters in the Crystal Empire, he had traveled back when he had gotten the idea to liberate Manehattan. He would need allies to help him take over the entire city. To his knowledge; the city itself was in ruins with only Umbrum homes visible.

The creatures there are used as slaves and get no breaks from what he has heard from the creatures who fleed from there. The Umbrums steal the food, rob them blind, torture them, and worse. The stories from Manehattan were not as glorious as they used to be.

but that would finally be put to a stop within a few days. Spike had a plan but he would need to scout the area before he could do anything at all. He knew that the cutie mark crusaders, Rumble, and Pipsqueak would be interested in joining him in this liberation.

This was why he contacted them by sending out a Crystal Pony who was one of the best warriors within the Empire, nothing had been able to beat the stallion and some Umbrums would most certainly not be a match for him.

His friends had all but demanded where he had been for the last few weeks which had passed into the new month which no one seemed to know thanks to King Sombra. He had done the right thing; he told them the truth about where he had gone and told them about his grand adventure outside the kingdom.

They had been utterly stunned about what he had told them and inquired further as to why he would show such brutality. He could see their cold judging eyes, but aunt Luna and cousin Cadance were very accepting. They both knew that there was no other way to beating the Umbrums but Celestia was refusing to see reason.

This was another thing Spike had trouble with; his mother seemed by the day go more against him than with him, she looked into his room every five minutes just to see if he was still there. If he wasn’t there, then she sent half of the guards to look for him.

This was brought to an end when he told them that he wanted some privacy than having to tell them where he was going every time. He knew it was his own fault, he had been the one to disappear in the cover of darkness, it truly was no surprise that they would be on edge when he wasn’t there.

Luckily, the Crystal Guards were all on his side even though they could never be vocal about it. They sometimes gave him subtle hints as to where Umbrum war camps were and other places that are believed to have become Umbrum territory which was marked on a map given to him by Cadance.

The princess of the Crystal Empire told Spike that she knew that there was no other way to defeat the Umbrums. King Sombra was breaking all sorts of war rules and committing war crimes that were punishable by death and she knew aunt Celestia would never kill King Sombra.

“She will never be able to see reason,” She concluded, sitting on Spike’s bed and looking into his eyes from where he was standing in the dark corner of the room. “She believes that the way you are going about it is wrong; that you are becoming violent, pony feathers! She even stated that you enjoy it!”

Spike had been incredibly hurt by the statement made by his own mother, he knew that she would have a very hard time accepting the fact that she would not be able to redeem King Sombra—not in this life—but he never would have believed that she would go that far and say that.

It was unrealistic, she was the co-ruler of Equestria, the kingdom that has lived in peace and prosperity for so long that she had forgotten what it’s like to be at war with other kingdoms. Albeit, the kingdom they are fighting is their own to an extent.

But perhaps that was the problem; she may be expected that there would be no wars against Equestria, sticking her nuzzle high up in the air, acting like Equestria never have been at war with the other kingdoms. She maybe wants to forget the wars Equestria to part in, but Spike most certainly would never act like the wars not in any way happened. Auntie Luna even said that it was an idiotic idea because it was not realistic; Equestria has taken part in many kinds of wars in the past both forgotten and remembered that most creatures do not want to think about.

But his mother was not the only creature who believed this.

His sister figure—Twilight Sparkle—believes with his mother firmly, she never stated anything bad about him, but she has shown signs of disgust whenever he is cleaning his sword, specifically him, she never showed those signs when other creatures did it.

It made Spike feel an unfathomable amount of confusion. Why was she like that? Something must have happened for her to turn out that way, otherwise, she would only say that it was too dangerous for him.

But that could be understood in different ways. She could be disgusted by something else, perhaps the fact that there is a prophecy about him that made her feel disgusted that a child is expected to defeat an evil King. But Spike knew the real answer, he just wanted to soothe his emotions the best he could.

He knew that there was no other way though ... killing King Sombra will bring them peace, something that is not always achieved by any good means. He was willing to do it. There was no creature else that could take the job either from their fears or weaknesses.

He was willing to do something that was once frowned upon in the lands of Equestria; murder can never be truly forgiven but if the purposes are right, then the worst repercussions would be a few years in prison. But this was wartime, so he would get away with the murders, never needing to go to prison.

Not that his aunt, cousin, or fans In the Crystal Empire, Yakyakistan, Griffinstone, or the fort would even allow it to happen.

*** *** ***

Hoofshima Neighpan, one year ago.

Spike was wearing the armour the legendary Ghost Of Hoofshima once wore with pride. It made his body look muscular and powerful. His katana was inside of its sheath, holding power that could never be understood by anyone other than the Sakai clan.

He was outside of the house, which looked to have seen better days. There was an onsen where he could relax in the hot water and feel his health become better. It was located in the middle of the woods, some wards had been enchanted over the house so it would not be located by any creature.

The surrounding areas were covered by treelines. He remembered when the house he was living in looked modern in the city, but then his ancestor had made so the house traveled to its origin. He had barely left the house to go shopping, he preferred to train.

He had been made to carry two heavy buckets filled to the brim with water so he could wash the tombstones of his other ancestors like Kazumasa Sakai. He had been educated about the other samurai lords and ladies of the Sakai family as well as the other families from the Shimura family which his ancestor Jin Sakai was the closest related to. Jin Sakai’s mother; Chiyoko Sakai had been a Shimura before she married into the Sakai clan.

His sword-swinging would need improvement and he would need to stabilize his movements. The way he uses the sword was not very impressive, he made constant mistakes and it felt like he was not learning anything but he was. His ancestor knew he was.

Sometimes it is hard to accept to learn something when it feels like you aren’t.

Spike was sitting on his knees, his eyes closed. He looked peaceful, but his mind was a raging storm. A storm that could never be defeated by friendlies or foes. It was not possible. His mind was reflecting on what happened to his mother, she had never been knocked out like that before. Even with Queen Chrysalis’ spell, it had taken a lot of power to defeat her.

“Spike,” A voice from behind said. He did not open his eyes, he did not even smile a little bit. “I know that you are worried for the other members of our family, but you cannot blame yourself for what happened. King Sombra fooled every creature to believe he was dead.”

He hated the fact that his ancestor was yet again; correct as always. “I know, ancestor, but the way he tricked us all ... it never should have happened. It was supposed to be a normal day, yet so many innocent creatures were killed. I saw how the children cried for their parents ... I will have my vengeance.”

Jin smiled. Despite everything his descendent had seen, he was willing to go back and fight for them, he was a true Sakai by blood. “You will have your vengeance, but first, you need to train. Once you finished your training within a few months, then we will go back to Equestria.”

Now, Spike turned to look at the ancestor that sat beside him, his eyes held no emotion as he looked at his ancestor. He could not see a flicker of emotion on his ancestor’s face either. “And kill King Sombra.” Spike looked ahead of him and knew that Jin was smiling at him.

“I made an offering to The Kami.” Spike said, hoping that he impressed his ancestor. Jin turned to look at Spike with an impressed look. “I hope The Kami protects me.”

“They will answer your prayers in many ways.” Jin said, glancing at Spike’s face to see any reaction but finding none. He had trained well.

*** *** ***

Spike was inside of his room in the Crystal Empire and was sharpening his sword. He had received a response that they were all on their way to the empire. The metal clinging from his room could be heard in the hallways and the Crystal Guards were all inwardly grinning like loons, it would mean that their hero was preparing for battle.

Just then, Pipsqueak walked through the hallways and the Crystal Guards did not stop him when he knocked on the door to Spike’s room. The hallways of the palace looked like one from a story told to children. The walls were illuminating the blue with such beauty that the sun and moon could not compare with their light. The ceiling had depictions of The Ghost that Cadance had secretly put up without any creature par from Luna noticing.

“Come in,” Spike responded. His eyes were fixated on the katana that have taken lives for thousands of years. The blade had both Mongol and Umbrum blood smeared across it from the different timelines. In the reflection, Spike swore that he saw his ancestor look back at him with a smile.

Pipsqueak walked inside the room and smiled at Spike. The two enveloped in a hug.

“Oh, man, it has been too long.” Pipsqueak said, his voice showing clear emotion. In response, Spike chuckled.

“It has my friend, it has. The others are yet to arrive, so we have plenty of time to catch up before we have to leave for Manehattan.” It was then they both started talking about their adventures, they spoke about how many Umbrums they had defeated and mentioned the ones they had saved.

Their friendship blossomed like a flower in the summer. Their loyalty to each other is something that would be admired by Rainbow Dash years later.

*** *** ***

Hours went by and the cutie mark crusaders arrived with Rumble who was covered in blood. He looked dazed but he was still standing. He did not look at the others in the room, he simply looked down on the floor, not responding to them or even acknowledging them at all.

Spike watched him with very high curiosity. The way he watched the floor was the same way some creature would do when they had lost some creature they love but there was something else in his body language that he did not recognize. The room felt eternal, the way to Rumble was as if he was on the other side of Equestria but he still made a move towards him.

The others did not know if it was a good idea but they did not stop him.

Rumble showed no emotion, he did not even seem to realize that Spike was looking at him along with the others. He was caught up in his little world that he did not even realize that he was making the others panic for various reasons. One of them was that they found him wandering around without saying anything to any creature.

“Rumble ... “ He did not react to his voice. “What happened?” The question was simple enough, but answering them can sometimes be the most difficult one to answer. Rumble tried to respond, the others saw it, he opened his mouth but no words would come out. His throat was dry and his heart was beating so fast, he believed that it would pop out of his chest but it didn’t.

His armour was protecting him, protecting him from being stabbed, hit with an arrow, but it could not protect him from his emotions. That was the only thing that one could hate about armour; not protecting any creature from their own emotions.

“I ... I saw him.” He first stuttered out, his voice holding a lot of emotions, so much that Spike was not sure which emotion he was feeling. The way he said it sounded like he did something he shouldn’t have. The others looked at Rumble in worry, Pipsqueak glanced at Spike hoping to get answers but when he saw Spike look confused, he knew he wasn’t the only one who was befuddled.

“You saw who?” Scootaloo asked, walking towards him and sitting down beside him. He neither tensed nor acknowledged her, not that they could see if he did either way. At first, they did not believe he would respond to the question, but he did but the answer was not what they had expected.

“I saw him, my brother,” He clarified. “I walked by an Umbrum war camp somewhere near Las Pegasus. I flew up there and I noticed how there was a prisoner there. I liberated the war camp and when I got to the prisoner ... I glanced to my ... right and saw my brothers ... head on a pike ...”

Spike and the others looked at Rumble, horrified by what they had just heard. They knew that the Umbrums did not take any kind of prisoners, but this was the first time that they had heard some creature they know and love actually get tortured from the sounds of the story.

“Was the one who did it in the camp?” Pipsqueak asked, his eyes shimmering with something that none of them had ever seen before, it was frightening, to say the least. Rumble, for the first time since he had come to the palace, looked up and stared dead in the eye at Pipsqueak.

“His name is Timug, he is in Manehattan as we speak. When I heard that We were heading there, I came as quickly as I could.” Spike did not like the tone in Rumbles, voice. It sounded ... demonic.

Author's Note

Hello everypony, I wanted to tell you that I will not be updating this story for the rest of the month, you will have to wait for January of next year, but I will be focusing on some Yule(Christmas) stories. That will hopefully be fun! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!:pinkiehappy: