//------------------------------//
// Rebellious 
// Story: House of Sun 
// by Riossumari 
//------------------------------//

Spike walked through the castle cautiously, the halls and a few rooms were in complete disarray. The sight of seeing the castle he grew up in ransacked was a little upsetting to him but he did his best to keep his focus on finding his family. Eventually Spike found his way to the courtyard, and the sight shook him to his core. All the soldiers were gathering up every pony putting them in chains or cages. Every fiber of Spike’s being wanted him to rush and help, to start freeing every pony but he also knew if he tried that the Storm King’s forces would see through his disguise. He had to play this smart, no matter how painful the situation was. Spike began to walk through the courtyard and towards the city, the farther he got from the castle though the worse it all got. The Storm King’s forces had completely taken over Canterlot in less than a day and he still didn’t know where his family was at. As Spike walked he soon heard a voice call out to him quietly, he looked around before seeing Moondancer locked in a nearby cage with Juniper. Spike looked around for guards before quickly dashing over to the two of them, 
“Hey! Your okay. Well, I mean, your locked in a cage, but your not hurt are you?” he asked. 
Moondancer shook her head, “No were fine, neither of us got hurt. But what’s going on? Who are these guys? What are they doing in Canterlot?” Moondancer asked. Spike didn’t have an answer though he was just as confused as Moondancer was, 
“I don’t know...I can’t find any of the princesses either. Have you seen them? Cadence? Twilight? Maybe Celestia?” Spike asked. The two mares shook their heads no, 
“We don’t know, I’m sorry Spike.” Moondancer answered. 
“But I saw Shining and Sunset! That pony who was in charge had them locked up in a cage near the town square. Maybe you can free them and find out how to save everyone!” Juniper said. Spike smiled, hearing that some of his family was nearby was the best stroke of luck he’d had all day. 
“Okay, I’ll go see what I can do to get them free and then I’ll be right back for you guys. All of you, I promise I’ll find a way to save every pony!” Spike said. The two mares smiled and nodded at Spike before he turned to rush towards the town square.




Spike made his way towards the town square, he couldn’t help but look at all the ponies in cages and chains. He hoped no one else recognized, much as he wanted to help he had to stay low profile until he found Sunset and Shining. Spike finally got to the town square and saw the fountain, looking around frantically he eventually spotted Shining and Sunset locked in cages next to one another. The sight of his family put a smile on Spike’s face and he rushed as fast as he could towards the two them. Just as he was about to get close enough to call out to them though a large hand suddenly grabbed him and picked him up. Spike looked to see it was one of the Storm King’s soldiers, did he figure it out? Did this one see through his disguise? Before could answer the carried him away from the town square, 
“Wait! No! I gotta go talk to those ponies!! Put me down!” he begged. The soldier walked with Spike in his grip towards the far side of the town square, Spike was scared he was going to be locked up with everyone else, that he’d failed before he could even save one pony. Then the guard set Spike down on his feet, he turned to look back at the guard confused why he just put him down. The soldier pointed to a stack of crates, then to a nearby airship. Spike felt a wave of relief wash over him, he wasn’t discovered, the soldier just thought he was a worker who was slacking off. With a nervous grin Spike walked over and picked up one of the smaller crates. He had to play along for now, first chance he would try to slip away he thought. As Spike walked toward the airship he saw a group of Ornithians carrying some of the crates onto the ship as well, he wondered why they were here, maybe they were part of the Storm King’s army? Spike didn’t let it distract him though, he walked onto the airship and set down the crate before walking off the ship to get another. As he picked up the crate though he soon heard a familiar voice. 
“Are you sure that’s where she went commander? She could’ve gone anywhere don’t you think?” Grubber said. Spike ducked behind a large crate and poked his head out from around the side. The small yeti he stole the uniform from before was following the purple mare from before. The yeti was now wearing a large t-shirt with a poorly drawn insignia on it, Spike listened in as the two walked past him. 
“She went to that town, its the closest place that has other ponies. The Storm King demands that I catch the last of the princesses, and I don’t plan to disappoint him…” Tempest said. Spike wasn’t sure who Tempest was talking about, but this was great news! If one of the princesses was free then he had a good chance of getting more help if he found her first. Spike had to think of a way to follow though, he wasn’t likely to just sneak on board Tempest’s airship someone might realize he was wearing Grubber’s uniform. Spike turned and thought for a moment trying to think of a plan, that’s when he heard a loud squawk and looked up to see the Ornithians talking amongst themselves. 
“Everything loaded on board the ship? Then everyone get on board...Storm King isn’t going to tolerate delays.” the captain said. The crew of birds all walked onto the airship and began to raise the loading ramp. Spike saw this as his best opportunity and sprinted as fast he could towards the airship as the ramp raised upwards. Spike made a last second desperate leap and at the last minute managed to grab hold of the ramp and climb on board. Just as Spike relaxed though he felt another hand pick him up and lift him up by the tabard he was wearing. 
“Captain! We’ve got us a stowaway!” he shouted.




The large Onithian walked over to the rest of the crew, his captain standing at the center of them all. He dropped Spike onto the deck and the little dragon looked up nervously at the tall white bird woman before him. Spike hadn’t thought whether they were loyal to the Storm King or not, was he going to be captured or worse? The stepped towards Spike and looked down at him, she reached over and grabbed the tabard he was wearing and pulled it off over his head. 
“This isn’t is yours, the Storm King doesn’t have any dragons working under him last I checked.” she said. Spike looked back and forth at the rest of the crew unsure was about to happen to him. 
“What do we do with him captain?” one of the others asked. She stood upright and crossed her arms looking down at Spike before speaking up. 
“Throw him overboard, we’ve got work to do.” she said. 
“What?! But we’re in the sky! I can’t fly!” Spike stuttered, the crew moved in towards Spike and just as they began to reach for him a loud steam whistle went off interrupting them all. 
“Lunch time!” the Captain announced, before Spike knew what was even going on he suddenly found himself sitting in the ships mess hall. A bowl full of slop and bird seed in front of him. The rest sat around him quietly eating their meals, almost ignoring Spike as they did. 
“Wait...so, one minute you were ready to throw me overboard, and now your feeding me?” Spike asked. The Ornithian beside Spike let out another loud Squawk before mashing his face into his bowl to eat. 
“We’re on our lunch break right now, we’ll figure out what to do with you afterwards.” the captain muttered. Spike watched her and the rest of the crew and saw how depressed they all were, 
“Umm...do you really work for, what was the name again? The Storm King?” he asked. The whole crew seemed to get depressed at Spike’s question, but no one spoke up and answered him either. The little dragon looked around and saw the flag with Storm King’s insignia on the wall behind him. He stood up in his chair and lifted the corner to see what was behind it, to his surprise it was a jolly roger. 
He looked back at the captain and asked, “Your pirates? All of you?” 
The captain sighed in annoyance, “We used to be…” Spike turned and sat back down in his chair, 
“What happened? How come your doing this? Shouldn’t you be out looking for treasure and adventure and stuff?” Spike asked. The captain didn’t look up though she just slowly stirred her food with the spoon in her hand. 
“We we’re pirates, but then we tried to steal from the Storm King...we got caught, and rather than lock us all up. He decided to make us do this for him...We went from adventurers to slaves pretty much.” she said. Spike looked around and saw how miserable they all were, Spike then stood up and climbed up onto the table. 
“So that’s why? You lost one fight and you all just gave up?” he said. The crew all looked up at Spike as he walked towards the captain still talking, 
“You guys are pirates! You know the kinds of stories I hear about pirates going on adventures? They fearless, daring, and constantly seeking fame and fortune! This isn’t anything like what a pirate should be!” he said to them. Spike was recalling stories from his time playing Ogres and Oubliettes, but at the moment it seemed the most appropriate. 
“Just stop and think about all the stuff your missing out on! The treasure, the fame, the friends you could be making! Is this really how you want to be remembered? Just rolling over and going belly up?” he asked. The crew seemed a little annoyed by Spike’s words, he didn’t know anything about them so who was he to tell them what they should be doing? But then the captain looked down at her bowl her expression turning angry at the slop in front of her. She sprang out of her seat and slapped the bowl across the room into the wall, 
“He’s right! Enough is enough, as of right now I quit! Now get rid of all this stupid crap on the walls and raise OUR flag!” she announced. The rest of the crew almost immediately sprang to life at the sudden act of rebellion from their captain, and quickly began to tear down and destroy everything to do with the Storm King on board their ship. One of the crew pushed over a large chest and kicked the lid open revealing all their pirate clothes. The crew quickly changed back into the pirate attire and even gave Spike some of the spare clothes they had, making look like he was part of the crew now. He watched as they raised the jolly roger and opened up all the sails, turning their airship into a proper pirate ship once more. The captain stood next to Spike a smile on her face at the sight of her restored ship and crew, 
“By the way, the name’s Celaeno. Captain Celaeno.” she said. Spike smiled and offered to shake hands which she happily did. 
“I’m Spike, its great to meetcha.” he answered. Celaeno walked over to the steering and took control of the ship, 
“Well then, where to now? I’m feeling a need to make the Storm King angry, any suggestions?” Celaeno asked. Spike stopped to think for a moment about where they could go for help, his mind went back to when he overheard Tempest talking though. A few moments and he quickly realized the place closest to Canterlot where his family could get help. Then with a grin he turned and pointed announcing, 
“Captain, set sail for Ponyville! We’ve got an alicorn to catch up to and rescue!”