Spike's Shadow

by DraconequusMaximus


A Long Day

With great haste, a large purple dragon barreled down the black marble halls of New Griffonstone's royal castle grinning like mad. Sombra was atop his back, hugging the back of his neck in a desperate attempt to hold on. Despite being rather melancholy and filled with turmoil mere moments ago Spike was now considerably happier than Sombra could have imagined.

Anything that stood in the direct path of Spike was going to be trampled, for no one would stop him from meeting the two newest precious jewels in his hoard.

In less than five minutes they were in the Dining Hall of Gavin's castle, and there waiting for them were Fluttershy and Gilda. Each of whom were carrying a swaddled bundle from which coos of affection could be heard. If Spike hadn't barreled through the door with the grace of an angry blind rhinoceros they might not have noticed his entrance, having been too focused on their children.

"Sorry we're late. You wouldn't believe the day we've had." Spike apologized.

Sombra couldn't feel his front legs, and when he tried to let go of Spike he fell to the (thankfully clean) floor of the Dining Hall.

Spike realized his callousness and helped Sombra up, making certain he was alright. Unfortunately the action revealed his bandaged undersides to Gilda and Fluttershy. His condition predictably elicit a surprised gasp from Fluttershy.

"Holy spit, Spike?! What the flip happened to you? I didn't think your armored butt could even get hurt." Gilda balked awkwardly, successfully avoiding swearing in front of her adopted offspring.

Spike looked down to see that in his rush his wounds had begun to bleed through his bandages a bit. While moving around had hurt, Spike hadn't cared under the circumstances. He hadn't taken the time to consider that they might reopen given their relative freshness.

"Oh my, and Sombra has his horn back now. What on Earth have the two of you been doing?" Fluttershy asked, reasonably concerned.

Spike opened his mouth to answer, but his mind seemed a few steps behind.

"We successfully retrieved the Idol of Boreas, though we encountered unexpected resistance. A rather formidable monster. My injuries were severe, and my healing factor regenerated my horn in time to give me back my powers and allowed me to defeat it. Unfortunately Spike suffered some damage as well while I was incapacitated. We have been resting in a private room, away from distractions and disturbances.

"As soon as we received your note we rushed here, forgetting we were supposed to be taking it easy." Sombra explained.

Spike chuckled awkwardly as he heard the annoyed subtext in the last bit of Sombra's expository tale. Sombra was understandably upset with him for disregarding his own well-being. Given the circumstances, Sombra would probably let it slide with only a stern talking-to later.

"Huh. Alright then. Well I'd say our day was still way better. Come meet your god-kids Scales, Fang." Gilda beckoned.

"God-kids?" Spike grinned eagerly.

"Fang?" Sombra asked skeptically.

Fluttershy giggled with glee, overflowing with maternal pride and excitement bordering dangerously close to critical mass.

"We were thinking... And Spike, since you're going to live a very long time, and since you're so good at caring for and protecting people... We wanted you to be the children's godfather. To be there for the kids when... well... just when we can't. If that's okay with you." Fluttershy asked hopefully.

Spike knew precisely what Fluttershy meant, and he could see how difficult it was just thinking that far into the future.

"Fluttershy, you know I'd look after them no matter what. I'm obviously going to say yes. We're already family, and that goes for the kids too." Spike stated warmly with conviction.

Gilda seemed to share Spike's view that it was obvious, moving on to Sombra.

"Same goes for you, Sombra. Since you can't kick the bucket either and Spike trusts you. But let's call it probational-godfather for now. We'll bumped you up to full-time if you and Scales get hitched. Fang is your new nickname, since it fits together with Scales, not counting the obvious. That's sticking with ya whether you like it or not." Gilda added in a warm, yet business-like way.

Sombra blushed a bit, but nodded his head none the less.

"We'd be honored, now lemme see the little guys. I'm dying of anticipation here." Spike accepted, practically vibrating in place.

Fluttershy and Gilda pulled back the tops of the blankets the children were in, showing them to Spike and Sombra.

In Fluttershy's grasp was a strawberry-pink filly with green hair that started out light and got darker as it ended. Her eyes were half-lidded, but they seemed to be a purple hue not that unlike Sombra's. Tiny wings were just barely visible, making her a pegasus.

"This is Sugar Berry, she's ten months old. We were so surprised to find a foal at the orphanage with the chicks and cubs, so we decided to adopt her. Isn't she just precious? I named her, while Gilda named or son." Fluttershy explained, tears of joy flowing down her face.

In Gilda's arms was a small griffon cub, a light brown fur color with a white feathered head. The longer feathers atop his head formed a sort of crest with icy-blue highlights. His eyes were a piercing electric blue, and unlike his adoptive sister they were eagerly exploring his surroundings. His wings and back paws were accented black, and there were a sparse few spots upon his chest.

All in all, he did look a fair bit like Gilda despite not having any substantial blood relations. He seemed to be teething, eagerly trying to nibble through a strip of leathery dried meat. A common practice for griffon parents that kept babies from nibbling on furniture and clothing.

"This here is Frost. He's only about eight months old. He's an energetic one, just like his Ma. Full of fight. Little hunter bit my tail when we went to walk towards Sugar at the other end of the play-pen. He's gonna be a heart-breaker by the time he's ten, just you watch." Gilda stated proudly.

Sombra had no idea what to say or do, fearful he might scare or startle them.

They looked so cute and innocent, but also fragile. It made Sombra feel like something of an alien in what he knew should have been a sweet and familial sort of setting. He couldn't see himself being part of the situation organically, and it stung a bit more than he would have liked to admit.

Fluttershy offered to let Spike hold Sugar Berry, which he eagerly took her up on.

Sombra watched Spike accept the swaddled strawberry colored filly, holding the baby much more carefully than one might believe a dragon could do. Yet at the same time anyone seeing Spike could tell that he was being as gentle as possible, even by the standards of much smaller creatures. The scene healed Sombra's pang of anxiousness, replacing it with the familiar warmth Spike was so apt to imbue him with.

"Sombra? Would you like to hold Frost?" Fluttershy asked Sombra.

Sombra was caught off guard by the question, but eventually processed the question and nodded despite himself.

As carefully as possible, Sombra accepted Frost from Gilda. He mimicked the careful but secure hold Fluttershy had held Sugar Berry in.

Frost looked up at Sombra with his ice-blue eyes, full of wonder and uncertainty. Sombra couldn't help but smile at the little griffon, who reached up to grab his snout with his tiny talons. They weren't sharp yet, so it was a playfully innocent gesture.

In moments Frost began to do as infants tend to do, and drifted off to sleep in Sombra's embrace. The simple act of having an infant in his care be calm enough to fall asleep made the anxiousness melt away. It was something that Sombra considered a real sign towards Spike's repeated claims that Sombra was a good person.

Sombra was a tad reluctant to give Fluttershy Frost, but Sugar Berry had likewise fallen asleep and the new parents wanted to hold them.

"They are rather darling... I was actually concerned I wouldn't know what to do. I hadn't ever been around infants, or even children." Sombra admitted sheepishly.

"Pfft. I have tons of experience with kids and I'm still worried I'm gonna mess up." Gilda reassured Sombra.

Fluttershy nuzzled Gilda affectionately, letting Gilda know things were going to be fine too. As she did so her wing rubbed against Gilda's, causing a small item to fall out of Gilda's feathered grasp. It looked to be a common zippo-lighter like the one Sombra had seen Lyra use when Spike wasn't around, but this particular lighter had a metallic purple finish.

"Oh yeah. Your lighter worked, if you hadn't figured that out." Gilda told Spike as she used her tail to grab the item in question.

"Oh yeah. Hadn't even thought of that. Glad it did though." Spike chuckled.

Sombra gathered the lighter held some sort of magical connection to Spike, most likely his forging spell. It then occurred to Sombra it usually required someone to be a unicorn to use the mailing spell. Yet somehow Gilda and Fluttershy had sent Spike a scroll not an hour previous.

Spike saw Sombra's confusion and urged Gilda to let him see the lighter a moment.

Once in his possession Spike flipped the top open and revealed a normal lighter, until he then pulled open the thin side not hinged for the lid. Within was a small pad of paper and a small telescopic pen. They took up only a modicum of space, leaving just enough room for the inner workings of the lighter.

"I had Mom make it and then I reforged it with a shed scale. It's kind of a prototype, but I wanted Gilda and Fluttershy to have the first one in case there was trouble. It's dragon mail in a easy to carry package. You need Spike, just write him a letter and burn it off to him." Spike explained as he folded the contraption back up.

Sombra agreed the contraption was quite ingenious, though he felt a tad jealous he hadn't received one. Though it would hardly be necessary given the frequency in which Spike was in the same room as Sombra. Another person seemed to think the lighter a grand idea as a soft clapping was heard from the doorway.

Gavin stood there, wearing a silver crown and a cape of dark purple that gleamed in such a way Spike wondered if it had actually been crafted from amethysts somehow. Jay stood beside him, wearing a red shirt-collar and black bow-tie, not sharing his brother's need to show off constantly. Roderick stood the side opposite garbed in a sort of ceremonial navy blue sash with golden accents, carrying a tall rectangular object obscured from view by a purple cloth that had been draped over it.

"Nifty little trinket. I'd like one, when they're perfected of course. For now, I suggest our loving mothers take the tykes back to their room. I've got a press conference in about five minutes, and I wouldn't want the little darlings getting over excited." Gavin announced softly.

Gilda and Fluttershy shared a brief look, needing little time to decide.

"We'll be on our way then. Goodnight your highness, and to you Spike, Sombra." Fluttershy said graciously.

As quietly and calmly as possible the new family filed out, and what couldn't have been much longer than a minute the White Ravens filed in.

The hall was soon filled with Gavin's personal army, but there were a great number of guests of the living persuasion too. From the looks of it, a number of them seemed to be the press. More still seemed to be wealthy and influential figures. All of whom were understandably uneasy in the hall of their new king, not to mention among his legion of almost robot-like soldiers.

Once at the podium atop the stage, Gavin looked out upon the assembled griffons and waited to meet Spike's eyes.

Once Spike was sure Gavin was looking directly at him, Gavin gave him the subtle nod to take the stage.

Spike quickly took to the stage, grumbling all the way.

Only when he turned around did he notice Sombra hadn't followed him. As a matter of fact, Sombra seemed to have made himself scarce. He didn't seem to be in the Dining Hall at all, as far as Spike's senses could tell.

Oh yeah... the press is here. Sombra probably didn't wanna get caught on camera, especially now that his horn is back. Wish he'd have said something though. Spike realized.

"Good evening, people of New Griffonstone." Gavin greeted his guests.

There was a nervous murmuring throughout the room, everyone present being smart enough to know Gavin would take offense to criticisms about his rule. While Gavin hadn't done anything on record, Spike was certain there had been some covert incentives to obey. Yet another reason Spike didn't want to associate with him more than necessary.

Though it seemed that was going to become impossible if Gavin was doing what Spike thought he was doing.

"I must apologize for calling a press conference so late into the evening, but I simply couldn't wait until tomorrow to tell my people the news. Tonight is a historic day. The true revival of our nation as a world power, as it was so very long ago. Though reconstruction has been going on for seven years, today will forever be known as the beginning of our second great age!" Gavin began.

Oh hell... This is gonna suck so bad. Spike groaned internally.

"Earlier today, out of the goodness of his heart, a person of impeccable character dove headlong into the Abysmal Abyss with no thought of his own personal safety. There, he found a terrifying beast that was guarding a treasure lost to us, the griffon race, countless moons ago. Spike The Dragon, Duke of Equestria, and Twice the Savior of The Crystal Empire, slayed the beast and retrieved this!"

And now I'm gonna be a hero here too. I really need to get someone to read through all the fan-mail. Spike sighed.

On cue, Roderick ripped the cover off of the box, revealing a newly polished and positively gleaming Idol of Boreas. The magical sunstone at it's base cascading beautiful golden light upon all to see. It was in a case of clear crystal that Spike's draconian senses could tell had somehow been fashioned of diamond.

Everyone in the room oohed and awed, while many got up from their seats in utter surprise, unsure how else to react. While the general consensus was surprise, no one in the room had yet even to look at Spike. They were too transfixed by the light the Idol shined upon them.

Gavin began speaking again, knowing full well the audience hung on his every word.

"Yes, this is the fabled treasure of our people. The Idol of Boreas, stolen from us in the prime of our country's history. Without it's guiding light, we lost our brotherhood and fell to shambles. While we have all congregated here, the griffon clans have not sent their leaders to me, meaning they do not wish to be truly united again.

"I hope that now, with this symbol of togetherness that we may truly reforge the fate of our nation together. We live under one banner, and so we must learn to live as one. We all owe a debt to Spike that I feel we may never be able pay in full, but I would like to personally thank him by giving him an award no person has received in over a millennia, and never before to anyone other than a griffon." Gavin continued, now with the entire room on the edge of their seats.

From within his cloak, Gavin pulled a medal cast in pure gold. An amethyst was set in the middle, and above it was the raised image of a silver crown. Beneath it was the image of two feathers crossed, set in bronze.

Spike instinctively lowered his neck for Gavin to place it on him. Spike was quite glad Gavin had had the forethought to use a chain with a clasp, as the last time someone had tried to give him a medal it had been extremely awkward for everyone when the ribbon hadn't fit.

"Spike The Dragon, I present you with The Medal of Eternal Brotherhood. You will be forever acknowledged as a friend and blood-brother to the griffon people, and you will never be turned away at our borders and the castle itself. So long as Griffonstone stands, you will have a place in it, should you so choose." Gavin declared.

The crowd didn't seem to have much of an issue praising Spike.

Had Spike actually been a pony, like the vast majority of Equestrians, it might have been the cause of some dissatisfaction among the more hard-headed griffons. But griffons respected power, and dragons, (Spike especially) had power in spades. Combined with the return of the long lauded treasure of the griffon people, Spike was suddenly a celebrity again.

Every griffon in the room began applauding their new hero with gusto, save the reporters and other such members of the press. They were either scrawling on notepads, taking pictures, or trying to get interviews with either Spike or Gavin.

In one fell swoop, Gavin had cemented his rule and forged something of an alliance with Equestrian royalty. In the public eye, anyway. All by forcing Spike and Sombra to retrieve the idol and defeating Arimaspi. Spike hated to admit it, but Gavin certainly knew how to get the most out of every action.

For what felt like hours, Spike was forced to endure paparazzi and reporters. Gavin however was basking in the positive attention, and Jay seemed happy that Gavin was happy. It was well after midnight by the time Spike and Gavin were able to get away, and Spike was beginning to get worried as it appeared no one had seen Sombra.

Spike found one bonus to his new hero status was that he could question the White Ravens and they would respond. Though it might have also had something to do with Gavin being in his presence. Less amusing was the fact that none of them had seen Sombra since he had entered the Dining Hall with Spike.

Somehow, despite their constant vigilance and untiring eyes Sombra had escaped their gaze. Spike was becoming understandably concerned that something bad had happened hours ago without his knowing. His hoarding instincts were screaming at him to tear apart any structures that could be hiding Sombra, and he was quite tempted to concede to that urge.

"This is bad... Beznik could have slipped in and grabbed Sombra without us knowing." Spike began panicking.

Gavin waved him off, trying to dismiss his concern while covertly signaling the ravens to be alerted to the possible dangers.

"No. There's all kinds of anti-invasive magic totems and talismans all over the country, and literally thousands of them here, built into the castle. Unless something as mighty as Dootha himself came knocking it wouldn't make it past the front gates. I tested it against Beznik specifically." Gavin countered.

"Well then since you seem to know everything, would you mind telling me where Sombra is?!" Spike snapped unintentionally.

Gavin was taken aback by the rage in Spike's eyes, but he retained his calm. Even though under the surface Gavin too was becoming worried that something had somehow absconded with Sombra. No matter how much preparation had gone into the castle, and the whole of New Griffonstone, there was always likely to be something that couldn't be planned for.

Before Gavin could let his mask of indifference and calm slip, something happened.

Spike stopped dead on his patrol of the hallway, feeling a sudden surge go through his body. It was odd, as though someone was stepping on a part of his body he hadn't been aware of until now. Almost as if it was outside of his body.

With a quick look around, Spike realized what was reacting so strangely.

His shadow was fluctuating and pulsating, even though he was currently standing still.

Spike hesitantly moved his arm deliberately into his shadow. Somehow his hand phased into the darkness of his shadow and within the extradimensional space Spike felt a familiar warmness, and the fluffy texture of Sombra's fur. Eagerly, Spike grabbed hold of his lost love and pulled.

To Gavin's surprise and great interest, Sombra came back into the world with Spike's arm. The stallion appeared quite tired, and his mane and tail had resumed flowing in an absent breeze, albeit slowly. His eyes were their usual shade of purple, and half-lidded.

"Were you... In my shadow? Like, for the last six hours? How did...? Are you alright?" Spike asked, understandably flustered.

Sombra seemed content to stay in Spike's grasp, both exhausted and not wanting to chance crossing someone's shadow again.

"Yes... I believe so. I saw the reporters, and all the camera wielding onlookers and thought it best if I disappeared from view. I was about to tell you I was headed back to our room, but the moment I took a step I seemed to fall through the floor. At first I was elated to find I had yet another ability I was unaware of, but I soon realized I didn't know how to get myself out.

"I attempted to access my ability again, but I didn't know how. I then attempted to communicate with you, but it was as though I was underwater. My voice did not carry in the darkness, as if it was viscous and without air. It wasn't bad there... It felt like you, Spike. Warm and serene, but after awhile I began to grow claustrophobic. I tried to levitate myself, or to teleport... but it seems I have no traditional unicorn magic to speak of." Sombra explained wearily.

Spike digested that for a moment, unable to find proper words to express what he thought Sombra needed to hear. His powers were new, and unique. There was little advice Spike could give that seemed useful, and without unicorn magic asking Twilight for help via mail seemed likely to be a fruitless effort.

"I suggest you seek Luna's help. Luna is admittedly the most powerful user of darkness on what I will begrudgingly refer to as the side of 'good'. If anyone can offer insight, it would be her." Gavin suggested.

Sombra seemed reluctant at first, but after casting a quick downward glance to the floor the idea became more appealing.

"We will take that under advisement, thank you. I hate to be rude, but it has been an absurdly long and tiring day and I would like to clean the dirt from the abyss out of my fur before retiring this evening, and the hour has grown late already. I should like to get some rest before anything else happens." Sombra apologized.

Without the need of further convincing, Spike carried Sombra off to their room, extraordinarily thankful that the day was nearly over.

While Sombra showered, Spike who couldn't remove his bandages just yet set about doing something he had been meaning to ever since meeting his godchildren.

Spike opened his palms and placed his hands side by side, and then he closed his eyes.

Unfortunately Spike wasn't quite on Sombra's level as far as meditation went, but after a time Spike was able to access one of his few spiritual connections. He had tried to use it to find Sombra previously, but in his panic he hadn't been able to concentrate.

Off in the distance, all the way back in Equestria was his hoard. Or at least the library-like representation that served as his physical hoard.

It was something of a chore, but Spike could access his hoard from afar if he needed to be away for an extended period of time. It was something he hadn't needed to do since his last vacation to the Crystal Empire several years ago. While a little rusty, Spike would never forget how to do it.

Zecora had put in quite a lot of time drilling the finer points of spiritualism through Spike's thick skull, and he was forever grateful.

Perusing study where his hoard was housed, Spike could see Zecora's spiritual form in a suspended state in the center of the room. She was far too deep in the astral plane in search of Dootha's allies, now known as the court, to notice. Regardless it did Spike good to know she was alright. He couldn't see the corruption on her spirit-body, meaning her soul was wholly intact.

Moving on to the shelf, Spike could see all the books as if they were right in front of his eyes. He selected three of the colored books, and two of the dull books on the bottom row not yet occupied. With a mere tap on the spines of the books they disappeared off of the shelves.

Back in the physical world, Spike's hands were aflame and vague shapes began to emerge.

By the time Spike opened his eyes again his outstretched hands were full of books. Spike set them aside, as he needed to attend to them one at a time. Starting with a familiar grey ash-colored volume. For the moment it was the newest book of Spike's hoard, but quickly becoming the most precious. It was of course the volume devoted entirely to Sombra.

Spike made certain Sombra was still in the shower before he proceeded.

With a gentle kiss, the book ignited and put itself out. The green embers instilled into the book began burning it in a careful and merely cosmetic way. Spike would never harm such important items.

While it took a moment the end result was a perfect representation of Sombra's cutie mark, which Spike had already committed to memory.

And now let's see if it updated like i wanted it to. Just to be sure. Spike thought to himself.

Thumbing through the book, Spike saw his inner most thoughts and feelings for Sombra written on the pages in his handwriting. Not only that, but their shared experiences and memories of everything. Spike never wanted to forget anything, be it good or bad. The experiences were all important to him.

The memories were second only to Sombra himself. The same could be said for all of his loved ones. While the books would last forever they would eventually pass away. Preserving the memory of the time they spent on Earth was Spike's self-imposed duty.

Spike read through Sombra's book a bit, feeling the need to be among a part of his hoard in this way. With everything that had transpired as of late Spike hadn't had time to visit his hoard, nor update the books within. It was equal to, if not greater than a religious experience for a dragon, and going without it for too long would fray Spike's nerves.

Soon Spike had eased the weight that had been building and was ready to move on to Fluttershy and Gilda's books. Updating them was easy, but it was still a task undertaken with the utmost seriousness and care. The memories of the couple becoming parents and the build up to it was a pivotal memory that had lead to two new additions to the family.

Spike's family of friends.

Lastly, but arguably most importantly, Spike placed his hands on both of the blank books. The embers of Spike's magic transformed their colors into Sugar Berry-pink and the blue of Frost's eyes respectively. While their insides were essentially empty the books had now been personalized, and within was the dates of their adoption and images taken from memory.

Spike could hardly contain his excitement, knowing his new books would contain the entire lives of his new godchildren. As much as Spike could be a part of them.

"Well now... I Can't say I expected to see this. Are those books what I assume them to be?"

Spike turned to see Sombra standing there without his usual scarf, seemingly just a bit damp after his shower. His fur was still a bit lengthy compared to a normal pony's and they had neglected to pack his hair dryer. Spike moved the books aside, inviting Sombra up.

"Yeah... I needed to make the kids' books and I wanted to keep Fluttershy and Gilda's up to date. Yours needed a bit of a makeover too." Spike admitted with a noticeable blush.

Spike showed Sombra the newly emblazoned book, causing Sombra to look behind himself momentarily.

"I must admit... I'm not quite used to it myself. A heart of darkness as my truest attribute is mildly disconcerting." Sombra said pensively.

Spike leaned in and kissed Sombra while he wasn't expecting, only letting the stallion free when they needed to come up for air.

"I don't care if your powers are all dark and shadowy, you use them for good, and responsibly too so far. Plus they make you look crazy bad-ass. More so than usual anyway. As much as I love your comic-book supervillain voice and gentlecolt vampire look, you aren't a bad guy. I love you, and that's all I need to know." Spike reminded Sombra.

Sombra smiled and nuzzled up to Spike, the dragon's honeyed words doing wonders for his opinion of himself as usual.

"I will admit that aside from the shadow incident my powers felt remarkably natural... I would like to know more about them, and it might even teach me more about myself. Perhaps I should train under Luna while Celestia teaches you? I rather doubt I have the propensity to learn light magic, given today's events, and it would save time." Sombra proposed.

Spike didn't waste a great deal of time considering Sombra's suggestion.

"Sounds like a plan. Hopefully we won't be too exhausted by the end of each day to get some alone time in. Although I'm more worried for you than I am me. Luna is way more intense than Celestia." Spike agreed.

Sombra hummed, mulling the decision over but not regretting it.

"So be it. Nothing worth having comes easily, as they say. It may be difficult, but I am confident. We have each other, and all the rest are depending upon us. We cannot afford to fail." Sombra resolved.

"Well said. Now let's get to sleep. It's been a wild day, and if it has any more ups and downs I'm gonna hurl."