> The Lone Warrior > by Silver Butcher > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue - The Frozen North > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was snowing in the small port town of pony-stone. In fact, some locals would say it never seemed to stop snowing, Regardless, it was snowing when the cloaked figure walked into town. The figure had a black cloak that was full of holes and was torn along the bottom. his head was covered by a hood, his footprints indicated he was wearing boots. He was also noticeably leaning slightly to the left. He said nothing, walking through the main street and down yet another street as if he had been there before, right to the door of the Hydra-Head Bar, none of the patrons of the bar so much as looked at him as he walked in. The bar itself was nothing special it was damp and drafty and cold, a few of the local earth ponies and a Minotaur were playing darts in the corner. A female Griffin and a unicorn were chatting by the fire, rocking back and forth in their rocking chairs. There was an Earth pony bartender, who was serving an elderly Pegasus a drink when the figure sat down. “What can I get for you?” the bartender asked. “I'll take any old something, just give me the best you've got,” the stranger decided as he picked a seat away from the old pegasus and waited for his drink, the Barkeep came back pretty quickly and poured the stranger a drink, who took it without complaint and took a sip. "That'll be 18 bits," The Bartender grinned at the stranger, motioning for the stranger to hand over the money. The Stranger said nothing and instead took another sip, looked at the Bartender, and spat the liquor back at him. "This is Honey-dews homebrew," Spike said flatly as he dropped his hood and got the bar's attention, "A Barrel of this shit cost 10 bits at best, and this has fucking mold in it," He stood his ground, knowing full well what was about to happen as several patrons of the bar made to jump him and the rest ran from him in fear, the old Pegasus B-lined it for the door, while the Bartender hid behind his counter. The Minotaur was the first to get to Spike, she swung her large arms at his head and he very casually ducked beneath them, his tail shot out and struck the first earth pony who tried to flank him, sending him falling back into his friends and taking all of the earth ponies out with one strike. Spike turned back to the Minotaur and rushed out of the way of her next swing, only to be met with her knee in his belly, Spike flew back into the Bar and the Minotaur swung at his face, Spike opened his mouth and shot out green flames that enveloped him in a flash and seemingly made his disappear, The Minotaur looked around in confusion as the Griffion and Unicorn arrived, the Eather ponies were just getting back up when the green fire formed above them and Spike dropped out of the flames and elbow dropped the one of top and flattened him over his friends. The Unicorn turned to Spike and Spike spat out purple flames, this time instead of disappearing three ninja stars flew from his flaming maw and hit the Unicorn in the chest, cutting into him and knocking him down, the Griffion and the Minotaur rushed him and Spike waited for a second before slightly shifting his cloak and letting his right arm free, the Griffion arrived fist and slashed at Spike, who jumped up and used his hand to grab the top of her head and fling her into the Minotaurs, who swatted the Griffion away to avoid it stumbling her, as soon as she hit the Griffion Spike released its head and as he fell his tail lashed out and wrapped around her horn, bringing her down onto the Earther ponied. Spike looked to the Unicorn who lay unconscious on the table it had hit the back of its head on, the Griffion was out for the count, and Spike brought his foot down and slammed the Minotaurs head into the floor, bringing both her and the earth ponies beneath her out of the fight. "Now then," Spike said as he made his way to the Bar and easily pulled the cowering Bartender out from behind it, "This town's mayor is a pirate right?" Spike asked as he looked at the Bartender, "And most of its residents are either part of his crew, or are paid off to leave well enough alone," Spike smiled as he grabbed the ponies collar and pulled on it "Now your not gonna wanna answer what I'm about to ask you, but if you lie to me or stay quiet I'm gonna have to break something, and it won't be part of your establishment, got?" Spike gave the Bartender a wide eye stared and nodded his head, the Bartender mimicking him as he did so "Alright good, Now, Where the hell's the Mayor?" Spike was whistling a happy tune as he left the bar, he had gotten information and had retrieved his Ninja stars and sent them away, in his hand was a bottle of none moldy booze, Spike took a few steps out of the establishment and dissolved in a green flame just as a magic barrier covered where he had been mere seconds before, as the town guards converged on the spot trying to find Spike the green fire flew through the air and converged on a faraway rooftop where Spike reappeared and began casually walking on in the direction the Bartender had sent him to. Spike popped the top and began drinking, as soon as he reached the edge of the roof he was enveloped in green fire again and appeared on another nearby roof, Spike continued doing this until he ran out of roofs and casually walked off the edge and landed feet first on the snowy ground and being enveloped in a cloud of snowy dirt. Spike calmly made his way towards the nearby docs and towards one of the many ships, it looked the same as all the others with the exception of the name painted on its side, Spike made his way to the ship and once again teleported himself away with his flames. Inside the ship, on the lower level, the Mayor Captain was celebrating his greatest find with his closest crewmates with a large dinner. "Take a good look boys," He said as he motioned to himself "This time tomorrow I'll be known across the Frozen North, my name might even reach Equestria!" He turned his back to his men and patted a long chest where muffled screaming could be heard along with the prisoner slamming themselves against the side of their prison. "For I have right here a Merepony, not a Hipogriffe pretending to be a fish, A honest to Frost Merepony," The Captain tapped the top of the chest with a grin. "No one's ever caught one of these babies due to those dame nature preservers along with how dangerous a fair number of the Mereponies are themselves, but this here is a Dolphin Merpony, thanks to a few years of patience I managed to catch one with pure skill and power," The captain waited for his crew to applaud him and, after some time with nothing he turned to them and found his entire crew piled in the corner while Spike sat at the table holding the food for the feast, he had his feet on the table and was finishing off his drink, holding the bottle with his tale while held up a figure to the captain in a motion for him to wait a moment. The captain took a step back in shock as Spike sighed at his now empty bottle and used his tail to toss it at the captain, who covered his face with his arm, the bottle shattered against his forearms and left several cuts, as the Captain set his arms down in rage he was instantly met with Spike slamming his fist into the side of his face and was sent sprawling into the side of the ship and left in a pitiful state, Spike gave the captain no more of his attention and easily broke open the chest, tied up and gaged inside was a Merepony, from the waist up she was a green mare with a sea blue mane, the from the waist down she had a long dolphin tail and a fin on her lower back. Spike expected her to be resistant to him due to her situation, but she instantly stopped struggling when she saw him and he easily freed her. "Most tied up ponies get more anxiety when a Dragon finds them, not so much un-tie themselves," Spike said as the Merepony got into a sitting position and instantly pinched his cheeks. "Oh, look at you, did you beat all these pirates by yourself?" She asked as she pinched his cheeks, having never met a Merepony before Spike had no idea how to properly react to this treatment and did his best not to offend the mystical creature. "Pretty easily," Spike said as she looked him over. "Oh, how brave of you," She said as she let go of his cheeks "I really appreciate it but I actually got caught on purpose sweety, luck you made your presence known when you did, I was about to sink the ship," Before Spike could even begin to question this the ship began violently shaking and a large fist made of water broke through the floor of the ship, it turned into a tentacle and made its way to the Merepony, who swan into it before turning back to Spike with her pony half out of the water. "I was looking for a very specific pony, but sadly these were the wrong ones," She put her hands on Spike and the water formed a dome around him while also tearing open the side of the ship, the water carried them both out and back to shore as the ship began sinking, "Now then sweety, you should probably go home, I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you," "Uh," Spike said awkwardly "I haven't seen any on my family in 20 years," Spike was instantly qued in that he had said something wrong when the Merepony's hair stood on end and the water tendril holding her over the water began sparking with electricity, Spike took a few steps back to avoid being shocked and did his best to change the subject, "An...anyway, I live in Diamond Cove, it's a town in a cove a few days travel that way," Spike pointed down the shore to his left "If you need any help finding those ponies you where looking for you can meet me there, I have a few things to finish up in this town before going back but I'll be there in a week, just tell any of the Diamond dogs I sent you there," "Oh how very rude of me," The Merepony said as she did her best to remain calm, she was clearly still very upset and Spike was afraid that if he set her off she would kidnap his using the ocean, and he was less than willing to test that theory "My name is Emerald Star," She looked back at him and motioned down to him "What's your name honey?" "Oh, I'm Spike," "Ok then Spike, I'll meet you at Diamond Cove in a week, We can talk more there ok sweety," She offered her right hand to shke "Just promise you won't leave me waiting ok," Spike looked at the hand and extended his own Right hand, she looked at it and proceeded to shake it with both her hands. "I promise," He agreed as she let go of her hand. "Alright sweety, stay safe, stay hydrated, oh and make sure to eat well," Emerald continued waving goodbye as the water tendril shot off with no warning and made Spike jump, she was already gone from sight before he could even fully process she had left. "Ha," Spike laughed nervously as he patted the upper left side of his body, where that had once been an arm, now there was nothing, not even a stump indicating it had been cut off, "Oh boy, been a while since I was filled with fear," Spike gave a sigh before making his way back to the town, "Now then, time to go see if that Bartender knows anything about old Rusty," > Chapter 1- Diamond Cove > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike was exhausted as he made his way into Diamond Cove, He had made a few teleportations jumps on the trip home and had managed to arrive almost a full day early, leaving enough time for him to go home and sleep before his meeting with Emerald, the Town itself was fairly large and was set up around the crescent shape of the cove, at the midpoint of the cove was a rounded doc, and along it's two curved edges where sandy beaches, Spike snuck into the town under the cover of the moonless night using the rooftops, knowing full well that the Diamon dog's patrolling the perimeter of the town would raise the alarm if they saw him. He slowly but surely made his way to the center of town where his cottage was, upon arriving he enveloped himself in fire and used it to go under the door and get him inside without opening the door. Spike's cottage was medium-sized and had two floors. The first floor had a rocking chair, a Couch made up like a bed, and a small lamp with some books in case he got bored. It also had a small kitchen with a fridge filled with booze and gems and an assortment of other foods he typically didn't eat, along with a few bottles of Honey in there in case he wanted to add some taste to the gems. There was also a closet full of letters from the main six, Celestia, Luna, Cadence Shiny Armor, and Flurry Heart. While most all of them had been opened and read a fair number of Flurry Hearts lay unopened, all of them had a heart sticker on them indicating to Spike that there was a love letter inside, he had stopped reading them after his third year in the Frozen North. On the second floor, there was simply a small bathroom and a large bedroom. He had a bed, lamp, more books, and a shelf, with pictures from all who had sent him letters. He hadn't had any communication with them past letters for the past two decades and had so far failed to inform them of his missing arm. Spike took a few steps into his home and decided he didn't want to risk waking his homes only other resident in the event they were in, and instead made his way into his living room, leaving his cold cloak on an empty coat rack and flopping onto his couch bed, before snuggling up in the blanket and getting nice and comfy before nodding off. Spike was awoken gracefully when he was smacked in the face with a Pillow, "No," He complained as he rolled over sleepily "Let Daddy sleep," Spike's attempts to escape failed when yet another Pillow assaulted him, knowing she would eventually flip the couch Spike gave in and got up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, as he got up a tray was set on his lap and he looked down to a brown salad with a lot of white berries on them. "Frost Berry salad," A voice said, Spike looked over to his adopted daughter Iron Heart, she was a fully grown mare at the ripe old age of 23 and Spike hadn't seen her wearing anything other than her enchanted armor since he had given it to her for her sweet 16, Around her neck was a long red scarf, and around her waist, she wore a red skirt over her armor, the armor looked to have many weak spots as it didn't fully cover her knees and shoulders, it lacked a helmet and the area from the shoulder armor to the armored gloves left her biceps exposed and her gloves were only metal around her elbows. To most, she looked to have many a weak spot to get a good stab in, while in truth her armors only weak spot was hidden beneath her scarf, it was heavily enchanted so it was light for the wearer but heavy to all others, the shoulder, knees, and the area between her biceps had charms around them to repealed attacks and those thinking foul thoughts, these charms where also around her neck and formed a dome effect around her, giving her a magical helmet, the gloves looked to be simple clothes but being hit by them would hurt more than being hit with any other part of her armor. Resting on her back was A enchanted Red Sword Handle that would expand into a Greatsword whenever She needed it. "I hate Frost Berries," Spike declared proudly as he took the fork and started eating the bitter fruit salad that made his mouth cold. "Sorry old man but it's either that or fish, And I can't eat fish," "I hate Fish," Spike replied stubbornly as he continued eating his icy cold plate of bitterness, "I want Gems and some booze," "And I want to finally kick your ass in a fight because I've gotten stronger than you, not because you let yourself go," "I only eat a handful of meals every few days," Spike replied smartly "Not a lot of pit stops from town to town, that's why so many stay in the Frozen North you know, cause they can't fucking leave their home towns," "That and some of them are wanted criminals back in Equestria," Iron Heart passed Spike a mug full of heated water and he drank it down quickly. "Alright I gotta go meet a lady down by the docs, If I'm not back soon then I've been kidnapped by the ocean," "Sounds fun," Iron Heart said as she took his plate and mug and tossed them in the large pile that was filling the sink, Spike got up and retrieved his cloak before teleporting beneath the door and was instantly met with a swarm of Diamond dogs excitedly waiting for him, once he was spotted he was very quickly mobbed by his loving people. Iron Heart Left the cottage a few minutes after Spike and found him walking away from the Diamond dogs covered in slobber and snickered at him but said nothing as she joined him in walking to the Docs to meet with Emerald Star > Chapter 2- A Cute Little Dragon > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike and Iron Heart made their way to the docks and split up upon arrival, Iron Heart waved goodbye to Spike and made her way to the only Boat tied to the Docs, Spike meanwhile made his way to the end of one of the many empty docks and looked out across the cove in search for Emerald, After spotting nothing he sat at the end of it and waited for her to show up. While Spike sat in wait Iron Heart was busy doing basic maintenance on her boat, Spike shifted himself and watched as she worked away at making sure it was in tip-top sailing shape, the boat itself had only ever left the harbor twice since he had gotten it for her on her 17th Birthday, the first time it had left was when Iron Heart had tried to set out on her own only for her to return a week later with her ship slowly sinking and a crew of pirates hot on her tail, The 2nd time had been her and Spike trying to go on a trip to visit Equestria for a wedding between two of his old friends, but a storm rolled in and they barely made it back to the cove in one piece. Now the boat just sat at the dock, both Spike and Iron Heart too worried to take it out to sea a third time due to Iron Hearts Armor making it impossible for her to stay afloat, and Spike's lack of a left arm making him a pretty crap swimmer. "You know they say third times the charm," Spike called to her "the lady I'm meeting with can control water telepathically, maybe she'll help us get to Equestria," "Great plan," Iron Heart called back "It's just a casual 2-month trip," "Hey I made the trip once," Spike called back "Only I had to walk," "Bitch you chose to walk," Iron Heart replied with a laugh "I know you originally came from the only Equestrian port in this ice hell of a country," Yeah, but it's on the other side of the dam Continent, "Spike replied casually as he brushed some snow off the doc and watched it dissipate in the Ice waters lapping at the doc's support beams "And the only way to get places here is to either walk, fly, or teleport since the closet Train is a few thousand miles south," as he spoke he began shoveling more snow into the cove to give himself a better place to sit," "I know you lost your arm not too long after you arrive here," Iron Heart said casually as she herself began shoveling snow off the boat, "But you never talk about your lack of wings, I've seen the scars on your back, did our all friend Rusty take them to?" "Oh no, I lost my wings way back when I still lived in Equestria," "Is it a good story?" She asked as she looked over at him. "It really shows off how pathetic I use to be," Spike replied casually. Iron Heart was about to say something but her ears went flat as she looked at something behind Spike, as her ears went flat the light around Spike started looking as though it was being reflected through something, he looked behind him and saw a large pillar of water forming a hand. "Told you I'd get kidnaped by the ocean," He called to her as the hand gingerly grabbed him and instantly rushed away from the shore with Spike, in the distance he could just hear Iron Heart calling to him that she had thought it was a joke before he was out of the cove and traveling away from it at high speeds. As the cold winds bit at his face, he looked back as the Icey landmass that was his home started getting farther and farther away. Spike was impressed at the speed of travel and turned back to face forward, ahead of him was a small island, The Hand slowed to a stop and set Spike Down on the beach before dissipating back into the water, Spike looked around the Island with some confusion, he could still see the cove in the distance and was confident this island had not been here the last time he had looked out at the sea. He was unable to keep this train of thought rolling as the call of the island won him over, there was no snow and the water that washed over his feet was warm, the area past the beach had grass and sand, but what got him moving was what he saw growing in the tree's, many lush red apples were growing in the upper leaves of the tree, a simple commodity in Equestria that he hadn't had since he had arrived in the Frozen North, Spike wasted no time in kicking the tree and knocking a few apples down, and began hurriedly devouring them. He was so busy giving the fruit his full attention that he failed to notice the many Mereponies that began surrounding the island until the sound of their whispering drew his attention, he looked out at the waves at a few dozen Mereponies all talking to one another, there were all different sizes and had different fish like body parts, some were more Pony than fish and some were more fish than Pony. It took Spike a moment to Spot Emerald and he waved at her cautiously. "I see you brought friends," he noted as some of the crowd got closer and started inspecting Spike. "Oh, I told them about you and they all wanted to meet you," Emerald said sweetly before licking her finger and rubbing it on Spike's cheek, "My you're covered in dirt, even after my water hand carried you here," "Yeah, Hot water is kind of a rare commodity, and most chose to take a hot bath over using it to clean their dirty clothes," Before Emerald could say anything the Largest Merepony in the group approached, she was very tall and large in stature, She had a Black mane and looked to be some kind of Shark Merepony, she was one of the Mereponies that was more Fish than Pony, while Emeril's upper half had fur the Shark Merepony had shark-like skin all across her body, she had sharp teeth, She had a large Shark Fin on her back that looked to have a Cutie Mark on it, or at least what he figured was the Merepony equivalent of one, She had the same clothing as all the other Mereponies a simple Bikini top. She glared down at Spike with Piercing Yellow eyes. "What is such a young dragon doing in the Frozen North?" She demanded, her tone similar to that of a scolding mother, "This is the single worse environment for a Dragon, especially one of your age," "I'm almost 50," Spike replied confidently, he realized his mistake when he saw the looks on their faces "You're not even a half-century old?" The Shark pony demanded "Where are your parents I need to teach them a firm lesson young one," "Never met 'em, I can tell you where my Pony family might be but I haven't really asked them where they live so I can't guarantee..." "You were raised by Ponies?" The Shark pony asked in shock "No wonder you look so thin, are you eating the proper amount of meat daily?" "I have like 2 or 3 meals a week, mostly brown salads and gems," Spike replied casually, Spike could tell that the Shark Pony was becoming pissed as her Gray colors started slowly turning red and the calm seas started to become mildly violent, forcing some of the Mereponies to fight back against the Shark Ponies own magic affecting the sea. "So," Spike said, trying to prevent the Shark Pony from getting any angrier, "My name is Spike, and I guess 49 is young for Dragons?" "Oh yes how rude of me, I am Angel, and Yes 49 is very young for a Dragon, A Dragon isn't even of age to leave its nest until the age of 279 at the very latest," "I think most of my friends' grandchildren will be dead by then," Spike mussed "So I'm not really up for that, and regardless I don't have a nest," "No, But I have a nest," The Shark pony said with determination. "Oh, I'd hate to intrude," Spike said as he backed away from Angel and waved her off "And besides I can't really swim all that well," Angel's face noticeably turned a darker shade of red and Spike wasn't entirely sure what he had done to make her mad until she pointed at him. "You're using your Right hand a lot while you talk, your left arm isn't even making your cloak move a little," Spike's reaction to this instantly gave away to her she had found something he was hiding and water tendrils shot out of the water and forcefully moved his cloak out of the way, revealing to her and the rest of the Mereponies his missing arm. Every other Merepony instantly shot out of the water and moved far away from Angel, who was staring at the place an arm should be in silence, her body was now a dark red and even her hair had changed color, around her the ocean began to bubble, Spike was worried something was about to happen when he saw steam coming from the water and realized She was making the water around her Boiling hot "You seem mad," Spike said nervously "Maybe we should go ahead and get started on what I was originally Invited here for, Emerald said she was looking for some ponies imparticular when she let herself get captured by Pirates," "Oh...oh yeah," Emerald said nervously as she and Spike both looked at Angel with fear as she continued to silently stare at Spike's lack of an arm, "That was just to get you down here to meet with my friends to see if we could help you, I...didn't know you had been maimed though, anyway a dragon of your age doesn't have any business with Rusty Tom so..." Spike actively snorted at that. "Oh that is the most inaccurate thing anyone has ever said to me, I have a lot of business with that Rusty Bitch," Angel snapped out of her silent staring and her eyes instantly snapped to Spike's face. "Such language for someone your age," She said "And what business do you have with That no-good monster Rusty Tom," "You first," Spike replied simply. "He's been dumping large quantities of trash into the Ocean, that by itself would be bad enough but the spot he's chosen to dump has a current that leads it all to the underwater city we call home, It's gotten so bad that we've had to leave our home due to all the contaminants, shards of glass, moldy food, even cor-" Angel cut herself off but Spike had a pretty good idea she was about to say corpses, "He's destroyed our home and we will not stand for it, once we find where he is we are going to gather all our powers and destroy his home with a tidal wave filled with all his disgusting trash and then bubble it and remove all the salt from the water so that it can fastly freeze and remove his trash from our home and any trace of that...dirtbag," Spike nodded. "I like it, Honestly I hope I can be there to watch it happen," "We'll see about that, now what is your business with him young one," "Oh, he cut my arm off and very nearly skinned me alive, I got out though, gave his face a nice scar to remember me, then spent 20 years in a frozen wasteland that he controls with an Iron fist," Spike then pointed back to the Cove "Except that Town right there, it use to be his but now that town's mine and he can suck it," Spike smiled at Angel "So I guess my business is revenge? I dunno, bitch still has my arm though and I really want it back," Angel didn't say anything immediately and instead chose to breathe angrily in thought-moment before speaking up "Little one, I can tell just from your body language that if I tried to keep you safe in my nest you'd be less than happy about it, and might even resent me for it, so I have a deal for you, I will help you kill Rusty Tom, and let you watch as we erase him from this worlds history if you agree to let me live with you starting from today," Spike looked at her for a moment before responding. "Who can even think of saying no to a giant Shark Pony with water manipulation offering to help someone kill their mortal enemy," He asked honestly "I feel you already know there's zero chance of my saying no to that regardless of what you tag to the end of it," Spike wished he had kept his mouth shut the second he saw the smile on her face. "Then I also demand you let me mother you without resistance," She declared proudly, "And to start we are going to get you an actual meal for a Dragon of your age, Can someone get a large fish for me?" "I hate fish," Spike whined back. > Chapter 3 - Invitation for Visitation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike felt an odd combination of being both stupid and majestic as he piggybacked on Angel, They were moving on one of her water tendrils, In Angel's arms was the large fish she planned to feed to Spike, who was not looking forward to the experience. They very quickly made it back to the docs, where Iron heart was preparing the boat, with her was the female Diamond dog who owned the local bar, she was wearing a black spiked collar with a white tank-top, and blue shorts. Her thick brown fur naturally kept her snug and warm in the cold. "Come on Jamie," Iron Heart said as she and Jamie were fast at work trying to make the ship sailable, "We gotta go find him, we've already wasted too much time as it is," "Hey I'm back," Spike cried out loudly to get their attention, "And I made a new friend," "Oh thank the frost," Iron heart groaned as she completely ignored the Shark Pony and instead leaned on the mast of her boat. "Spike!" Jamie cheered as she rushed to the spot Angel had set Spike down with a water tendril "You're soaking wet and smell like fish!" "Sounds about right," Spike replied casually, as Jamie excitedly began fawning over him Angel began inspecting Iron Heart and her Boat. "I've never seen such a small boat," Angel remarked as she finished sizing up the vessel. "Yeah well, any bigger of a boat would be impossible for three hands to maintain on the waves, not that Spike or I have a good history of sailing mind you," Iron Heart offered her hand to Angel and introduced herself, Angel returning the gestor. as Iron heart and Angel got to know one another Jamie began happily asking Spike questions. "How have you been I haven't seen you in months? do you like fish now? do you wanna drink? Does your cloak need any repairs?" "Fine, No, no, and no," "Oh is that your pet?" Angel asked when she spotted Jamie "How cute," "I'm your pet?" Jamie asked in excitement, Before Spike could even try to debunk this she jumped on his and started licking him. "Jamie no!" Spike cried out as he fell to the dock as she continued licking his face he started laughing "Stop, no that tickles, cut it out," as Spike was being mauled with Love Angel looked to Iron Heart, who was busy undoing all the prep work she had been doing to set sail. "This boat looks to be in good repair," Angel noted as she examined the vessel. "A boat this size can't leave the harbor," Iron Heart replied "Ice Bergs and unpredictable storms make sailing a death sentence, as such this boat has only seen three attempted voyages, and of them only one was successful...the one that brought it here," Angel watched as Iron Heart finished her work and walked over to Jamie and Spike, Spike was whipping the spit off his face as Jamie was eagerly searching for a moment to re-coat him in it. "Jamie stop covering Spike in love," Iron heart demanded "Spike, care to explain the Shark Merpony?" "Angel this is my Adopted Daughter Iron Heart," Angel frowned and muttered something about Children raising children "Alright gonna ignore that, Iron Heart this is Angel, she called dibs on being my new mother figure," "You have an odd life," Iron Heart laughed in response. "Indeed," Spike confirmed "Jamie we're heading back to my place to eat fish, you're invited to join, feel free to bring drinks," Spike attempted to walk away and was instead picked up by Angel. "Come now little one, let me show you the best way to prepare a fish," Spike simply let out a low moan as Angel made a Pillar of water around her lower body and used it to travel on land. Spike sat in silence in his living room, thanks to his more than willing to help townspeople he now had a large tub for Angel to put water in so she could sit down, along with a new larger front door as she had destroyed his old one simply by attempting to enter the room. Angel had very swiftly cleared out the sink and had prepared the fish with great speed and skill. Much to Spike's Horror upon hearing he was going to be eating a fish the townsfolks had flocked to his home to offer him the best catch they had on hand, resulting in one large fish turning into a full course meal, Angel even made Iron Heart a completely vegetarian Seaweed Casserole. Jamie had finished off the grand meal by bringing an assortment of different brews of her own creation, Much to Spike relief Alcohol for a dragon was akin to milk, so Angel had encouraged him to drink his absolute fill. "I hate fish," Spike muttered as he swallowed some of the Fish from his plate. "You chose the wrong place to live then," Iron Heart noted as she drank some wine with her casserole "Only meat in the Frozen North is either Fish or some form of Canabalisum," "I was a vegetarian when I moved here," Spike shot back. "Frost berries and Winter glade lettuce," Iron heart replied before holding up her Seaweed casserole "Also Seaweed and other oceanic vegetation," Spike muttered something about bullshit travel guides and continued eating the fish set out in front of him, bones and all when he felt something building up in his chest. "Hold us I'm about to get a letter," He took a deep breath and spat out a small about of green fire that swirled into a scroll. Spike snatched it out of the air and used his tail to continue eating while he opened it up and read it. "One of your old friends?" Iron heart asked as she downed a glass of one of Jamie's Homebrews. "It's an invitation to visit Flurry for her Birthday," Spike replied simply "Same as every year," "Who's Flurry?" Angel questioned. "Oh she's an Alicorn Princess," Spike replied simply. "Who has a massive hard on for Spike," Iron heart added with a chuckle. "There must have been a better way to phrase that," Spike complained before being picked up by Angel. "You are far too young to have an Alicorn Princess be hitting on you, They live basically forever, tell her to find someone her own age," "It's worth noting," Iron Heart said as Spike glared at her "That Flurry is actually younger than Spike by well over a decade" Angel blinked and then looked over to Spike, who shrugged in defeat. "I'm 49, she's 29, turning 30," "Aw," Angle said, her entire demeanor shifting "That's so cute!" "Iron heart you will feel my vengeance for this," Spike said with a hiss. "You lack to power to punish me properly," Iron heart replied sticking her tongue out at him "You love your little girl far too much," Spike muttered angry nothings as Angel looked at the scroll. "Hm....we have an entire month, but you should probably tell her you're coming, We can set out the week of the even so you and she can get reacquainted," "But it would take far longer than that to get to the equestrian port," Jamie noted "It's on the other side of the continent, with the weather the way it is in some parts it can take anywhere from two or three years to full cross it. "True," Angel confirmed "But It would take me half a day to circle around the continent to do so, but we have no need to do so," "Yeah," Spike confirmed, "With Angel's water manipulation she can give us a straight shot to Luna Bay, and from there it's only a day's walk or a half-hour train ride to the Crystal Empire," "A-Train!" Jamie demanded, "Can I Come!" Spike looked at Jamie and sighed as the Diamond Dog shook with excitement. "Of course you can," He said with a sigh. "Fuck it I'm down, I've always wanted to meet Flurry Heart, I've read some of these love letters she sends you. "Suppose someone has to," Spike replied as he got up and made his ways to the stars "I'll go tell her that me and three friends will be making an appearance at her humble abode," Spike dipped upstairs before adding "I'm also done eating," "You get down here and finish eating your meal young Drake," Angel called after him "A growing dragon needs his protein!" Flurry was humming to herself as she looked at a framed photo of Spike and her in the jungle from when he had been her teacher. It had only lasted 4 short years before her aunt Luna had caught her having a less than appropriate dream to have about one's teacher. After a very awkward week, Spike had been fired, much to her dismay, and had dropped off the face of the earth for 6 years. He had then sent letters saying he was living comfortably in the Far covers of the Frozen north had kept in contact since. She continued humming as she waited for his letter, fully ready for him to say that the ice was keeping him from visiting when she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," She called to the knocking. After a moment Cadance walked in and sighed. "Flurry honey, this obsession with Spike has to stop," "I'm an adult," She snapped back "And besides he never did anything to me, you had no right to fire him," "Yes so you've told me," Cadance replied "And as I've told you Spike chose to quiet-" "After a week of all the castle staff treating him like he was the one having dirty dreams," Flurry bit back, there was no anger in her voice as she had and her mother had this little spat nearly yearly. Cadance just sighed. "Anyway, we need you to pick a cake for your party honey, Aunt Twilight and her friends will be coming, you remember Cheassy and the Cake twins," Flurry groaned. "Poundcake isn't coming, is he? He always gets all up in my face," "I think he likes you," "He does like me," Flurry replied with a groan "But by the sweet song of Luna he's annoying, I've told him time and time again that I already have a beloved," "Don't you think if Spike really cared he'd make an attempt to come to visit you for your birthday?" "The Frozen North is notable for its cold weather, it's not his fault it's hard to traverse the land and sea," "He..." Cadance took a deep breath "no, we're not talking about Spike, we're talking about your party," Before Cadance could say more Flurry's horn began glowing as magic swirled from it and a scroll formed in the air. Flurry took it and read it, wondering what Spike might be too deep in to go this year, and instead stared blankly, not sure if she was reading the scroll right," "So what's his excuse this year?" Cadance asked "Visiting a Buffalo Shamon again? In the middle of a Hat war? or maybe his house exploded again," "He's coming!" Flurry squealed out making her mother jump as she waved the scroll around "He met a Shark Merepony who's going to clear the path so he, her, and two others can come and see me for my Birthday!" Flurry cried out in glee and ran past her mother. "Come on this party has to be perfect!" Cadance watched her Daughter run past her and looked over to the Photo of Spike and sighed. "Guess it was only a matter of time before he ran out of excuses," She readjusted Flurr hearts chair and followed her to where the party was being planned. Spike took another reluctant bite of his Fish, Angel staring him down to make sure he ate it all, He took a swig of Whiskey when Iron heart suddenly started chuckling, now doing a few dishes with Jamie. "Hey, Spike?" She said turning to him with a grin "Did you mention your...lack of an arm in that letter?" Spike stopped drinking and sat in silence for a moment. "Ah fuck," > Chapter 4- Assasains in the Night > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spike yawned as he made sure everyone was set up properly. Jamie had set up her bar's selling point, a Corner Hot tub, to accommodate Angel. whose lower body just barely managed to fit, after making sure Angel was comfortable and giving Jamie her good night scratches he wished them both good night and left the bar and headed through the snow back to his home. Spike said nothing as he shuffled through the ankle-deep snow, for seemingly no reason he slowed to a stop and stood in place before looking over his shoulder. "I can hear you, nice try matching my footsteps, now either get out here or stop stalking me," Spike stood his ground as he continued staring behind him. Only to swing out his hand and snatched a knife out of the air. "Solid craftsmanship," He noted before casually eating it "You got any more? Might help was out the taste of fish," Spike Calmly side stepped as a Pony dressed in thick black clothing swung at him from behind, "You know the problem with trying to be a ninja in these here parts-" Spike took another casual side step as his would-be assassin tried to stab him, this time grabbing them by the arm "-is your clothes have to be thick to survive the cold-" Spike swung the pony with ease and slammed into a second assassin who had jumped down from the roofs above to try and get a solid strike in at him, the two collided in a painful looking fashion and Spike gave them just enough momentum to send them tumbling down the streets "-and in doing so robbing yourselves of your oh so important stealth," Spike watched his assassins pick themselves up and turned to look down as the third one tried to walk up to him, she stopped and Spike just shook his head at her "Your boots are too squeaky," he informed her calmly, in turn, she chose the rational route before her and ran away at full speed, Spike ignored her and instead swung his arm out and clocked one of the other two squares in the jaw as they tried to run past him, Spike watched as the lucky one ran away with their other companion into the night. Picking up his new unconscious friend Spike continued his trek home. Upon arriving he found Iron Heart polishing off the last of the booze, slightly red in the face she looked over at him as he walked in. "Who's the corpse?" "He ain't dead," Spike shook him a little before adding "Probably," Spike set his guest in a chair and used his mastery over the forge that was his stomach to pull chains from his mouth and tie the man down before releasing him of his protective face gear that had all but failed to do its job. Upon giving him a once over Spike deduced he had no idea who this random colt was and chose instead to help Iron Heart polish off the last of the drinks Jamie had brought while waiting for him to wake back up. "So," Iron Heart nodded "Who's the maybe not a corpse?" "Rando Assassin," Spike replied casually "probably followed me here from the last town I visited, or maybe the last of those pirates who happened to not be on the ship when it got taken down, regardless he's not one of Tom's at least, he is far too impatient for that seeing as it would take 'em, on average, maybe six or seven years round trip to get the job done and get back to him, Should the Frozen North be feeling generous that it, Nah, if he was gonna send a guy after me it would be one of his top dogs, and they'd be loud about it since they'd probably try to take over the cove at the same time as kill me," "Fun," Iron Heart noted, slightly too inebriated to fully take in all of what Spike had just said to him "So why'd you keep him?" "Eh, curiosity I guess, I killed the Mayor of that town and it is possible his replacement sent these guys here for my head entirely as a show of power, or it could be some of his crew survived and hired a few cheap assassins to try and end me," "So you kept him 'cause you're bored" Iron Heart noted. "Well yeah," Spike replied casually, "I told Flurry I would arrive within a week, and with Angel's time estimate we should be good to leave the morning off my promised arrival and still arrive before nightfall, need something to keep my mind at ease for the next five days, killing some pirates or setting a town ablaze, either way, that's a solid day if I pace myself," "Didn't it take you a week to go from that town to here?" "I'll just ask Angel for a lift," Spike said simply "Make a weird day out of it since I guess she's my mother now," "Suppose I'll just call myself lucky she isn't trying to grandmother me," Ironheart noted. instead of responding to that Spike gave his attention instead to the now-conscious assailant, who simply stared at Spike with a spiteful look. "Yeah, that'll show me," Spike noted in response to the mean look, he took a swig of his cup before adding "So, your feel like talking this out, or am I gonna have to get weird with you?" "no amount of torcher will break me," the would-be assassin spat. "Now I don't mean to brag," Spike stood up and walked up so he was standing behind the colt "But I have done some morally dubious things in the last twenty years, one time there was this really macho guy who killed some of my dogs in an attempt to take over the town, once I came back and kicked his ass he was determined that I couldn't break him, so I had him knocked out and brought him to the best surgeon in all the frozen north that owed me a favor, let's just say after a week in the Black Rocks whore house she was a very cooperative mare, after begging for forgiveness I decided to let her keep her life, I was even kind enough to let her have a house here in town, of course, she has to do certain...tasks for me to earn that life I so kindly let her keep," Spike took a sip at the colt before him and just stared flatly at him. "Test me mother fucker, I have no moral dilemma in making you into Black Rocks' next top mare, and unlike with my little mare friend down the way, I think I might just let them keep you," "I was hired by the new mayor of Frost Ridge, my associates and I are to retrieve your head as a show of why he is to be feared," "Thought so," Spike noted "Welp I guess If your not a pirate I'll offer you your life in exchange for you leaving and never coming back? I see you back here again I'll be introducing you to Black Rock," Spike grabbed the Chair he had tied the colt to and with ease broke the chains and ate them before picking him up and easily throwing him outside his front door, Spike didn't bother to watch him run off in terror as he sat back down at the table. "my memory must be fuzzy," Iron Heart noted "I seem to recall the mare in question was always a mare, and you helped her save her sister from the Black Rock whore house before killing half the population of the town and bringing all the mares here to let them work at Jamie's bar," "And would that story have scared you?" Spike shot back before finishing off his drink "Besides I did agree to let them live here so long as they helped the community to the best of their abilities," "saving rape victims and sending them off to live in a town with only over-protective dogs and one other mare," Iron Heart noted "Morraly Dubious my ass," "I'm morally dubious," Spike shot back "It just so happens my dubious acts mostly involve horse slaughter," "A very common act of dubious in these here parts," Iron Heart chuckled as she ran out of drink "But you did well in selling the act," Spike and Iron Heart cleaned up to the best of their ability, resulting in a sink full of bottles and their two cups before going upstairs to their shared bed and snuggling up. "Remember that first night?" Iron Heart asked as she lay on top of Spike still in her armor. "You tried to run away," Spike noted "When the dogs caught you and brought you home, you caused me of being a pervert," "In my defense, I was 12, and your face scared me, you should have just slept on the couch," "I was a grump back then," Spike muttered, "the loss of my arm was still fresh on my mind, and I was far from ready to act like a father," "eh, you figured it out in the end," Iron Heart noted with a yawn, "Now shut up, your a better pillow when you're belly starts warming up and it only does that after prolonged silence on your behalf," "Whatever, night ya brat," > Chapter 4.5 - Filler > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Blistering Winds of the Frozen North Proved to be an endless obstacle for Spike, His clothes were wet, his boots, already worn out when he bought them, were barely still holding themselves together, and the cold itself was causing him pain in the only recently healed up wound that had once been his arm. Doing his best to ignore the many different kinds of pain attempting to eat away at him Spike instead chose to focus on the one that was itself the most fatal to him. Having been a one-armed Wondering Nomad for the past two months Spike had learned a lot in his relatively short time in the Frozen North. Among the many new lessons learned was to be wary of anything even remotely close to unearned kindness, that somepony calling for help on the side of the road was almost always a bandit waiting to jump on you, and that the native pest to the region, Freeze Flies, where more likely to kill you than the bloodthirsty Bandit. This information flooded Spiks Brain as he desperately tried to free his tail of the small blue insects, he had tried to blast them away with fire and had instead attracted a swarm of them, since the little beats ate heat he was already beginning to slowly freeze, this would eventually lead them to leave him, and in turn, leave him for dead. "water," He chattered through his teeth, as he picked up his pace, seeing a large town in the distance he picked up the pace, as a town in the Frozen North always meant water, "Suck on that Rusty," Spike chuckled as he remembers the day from almost a month ago when had escaped from Rusty Tom with a large sack of supplies, who had called out to him he'd come crawling back to him or freeze to death before he ever made it to a town, "I made it," Spike rushed through the streets, dropping the now empty sack that had kept him alive for so long and headed for the freezing cold water to dispel the bugs. The Town itself was all but dead, Spike chose to ignore this as he high-tailed it to the water and jumped in without hesitation, the water itself brought about new problems but he now had more than minutes to live as he spat some fire to draw in all the nearby flies and lure them to their deaths before he got out and fire dried himself. No longer being on the brink of freezing to death he now had to deal with his stomach and the torn-up sack he was using as clothing. Spike made his way through the empty streets and looked around for any signs of anypony living there and found most of the builds to be partially frozen inside and out. "Ah," Spike realized "This place's been abandoned," Spike looked around for any minute signs of life and upon turning into an alleyway found himself face to face with a large hord of Diamond Dogs, all hard packed together for warmth. The Dogs glared at him as soon as he turned the corner and he in turn stopped dead. In Equestria Diamond Dogs were kind of a joke. In the Frozen North, a horde of Dimond Dogs would fight a bloody war to the last dog for something as small as a strip of meat. "Hey," Spike said in a soft tone as he rose his one arm up in a surrender position "Alley is taken, sorry," Spike walked away from the hord only to immediately be pegged in the side of the head by a snowball, Spike looked to the right and found himself face to face with a white Unicorn. "The hell man?" Spike demanded of the Unicorn before him, the Unicorn in question was short, scrawny, and covered in old bruises as though he had been beaten some days early. "I am the Great Snow Moe," The Unicorn Declared "Mayor of Diamond Cove, owner of all you see around you," Spike looked around and then at the Diamond dogs. "I mean, being king of the Diamond Dogs does sound kind of cool but your town is kind of crap if I'm being honest," "You fool, you sound like all the others, they saw me unfit, but Diamond Dogs are easy to control, all you need is the right incentive and they serve their master to the bitter end, I just had to have them run through the streets and those who where stupid enough to question my title soon found out the hard way why the boats don't leave the cove," "So you killed everyone in town for saying mean words?" Spike noted. "Ah, I no longer need to worry about that, I have mastered the use of mind control, it only works on simple-minded creatures, and as you can see-" The Unicorn lit his horn and a swarm of Freeze flies burst forth from every corner of the town, with the exception of the docs. The Diamond Dogs all pressed in closer as a swarm of creatures that were the living embodiment of freezing to death formed overhead. "-some times the simple creatures are the deadliest," Spike nodded in response to that "That does explain why the dogs are all hiding in an Alley," "The dogs are nothing to me, not now that I have a Dragon to do my biding," Snow Moe pointed his horn to Spike and he was coated in the nasty little beasts, in doing so a lot of them began inching towards the Diamond dogs now that Moe wasn't fully focused on them, keeping that in mind Spike casually watched as one of the dogs gave in to fear and tried to run for it, it was immediately swarmed and began freezing in seconds, the dog yowled in agony before Spike opened his mouth and let out a torrent of flames, The Dog was immediately freed of it's cold misery and watched as Spike began freezing at a fast pace. "Oh, the dragon likes puppies," Moe chuckled "Pathetic, once you've frozen I'll take care to thaw you out once you've been given enough brain damage to easily control, from there I shall raise up and claim my place as leader of the entire Frozen-" Spike spat out a ball of fire and Moe screamed in agony as he was set a light, no longer having the flies under his control due to no longer focusing the flies swarmed him and Spike, who ran to the dock while blowing fire to attacks most of the flies to him before jumping into the water, after a moment Spike pulled himself out from the thick layer of dead insects and walked back to the Diamond dogs, who had swarmed Moe the fire was out and left not so much as a bone behind to prove he had existed. Spike stopped in from of the Diamond dogs unsure of what exactly he could do in a dead down, when the dog that he had saved nervously walked up to him. "Oh Hi," Spike greeted, the Diamond dog went from nervous to excited beyond measure that Spike noticed she existed, as her tail wagged other dogs began surrounding him. For half a second Spike was concerned he was about to be their next meal, then one of them put his hand up their face and he took the chance and tried scratching them atop the head. The notion that he was willing to pet them instantly won over the entire hord and they all rushed to get pet, some going so far as to start licking and sniffing him. "I can work with this," Spike decided as he was blanketed in an affectionate blanket of attention-seeking dogs.