Just outside of the colony's borders, a small shuttle landed outside. It's doors opened, and Spike, Strongheart, and Sunset Shimmer hopped out.

"So," Sunset said as the shuttle left. "Are you feeling alright, Strongheart?"

"...No." Strongheart answered "Finding out I was killed, my father brought me back to life, and finding out he's dead isn't great. But at least I'm glad to be surrounded by a familiar face, even nice ones like yours."

"Thanks!"

"I hope I can use you as my personal shield when the time comes."

"Uh... what!?"

"That's quite enough." Spike interrupted.  

"Sorry." Strongheart replied

"Did you do hurt Sonata?"

"No, Commander. Though I can't say the same for the room I'm in."

"...I'll alert some people to fix the room up a bit. For now, however, we have a mission to do. If you have any rage left in you, focus it on the Doppelgangers, not us, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." Spike's helmet came up and he talked into the radio. "We're on the ground. Doc, are you sure these armor upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?"

"You deny my brilliance?" The Doc asked "You should know that everything I've made has been top notch and this is no exception! With this, in limited numbers of course, you're basically invisible to the swarms!"

"And for Sombra and the Doppelgangers?"

"...Not so much."

"Figures. Let's go!"

Spike and the others walked ahead with their weapons out, ready for anything to jump out, but stopped, seeing a small group of Doppelgangers flying overhead. One of the Doppelgangers, a guardian by it's armor, pointed and hissed at something below. Gunfire was heard, followed by a male yelling and the screams of Doppelgangers falling!

"Get back you son of a bitch!" The man's voice yelled "There's no way I'm gonna die before I get my paycheck!"

"Sounds like our mercenary." Sunset commented.

"Yeah," Spike replied "Time for action, people."

"Finally!" Strongheart yelled. The three ran ahead, following the small group of Doppelgangers, watching as the soldiers fell from the sky and the bodies piled higher as they got closer. Turning a corner, they saw what can be confirmed as a Male Draco in red & white makeshift armor with mask, red & dark white-yellow wings, and standing his ground, firing at the Doppelgangers with an assault rifle. A lone Doppelganger jumped and grabbed onto the Draco, followed by other Doppelgangers dog piling on him. Without anything said, Spike and Sunset began to fire at the Doppelgangers as Strongheart charged, knocking some Doppelgangers down as she pulled out her shotgun and fired at her enemies. The pile of Doppelgangers erupted like a volcano as the Draco got out of the pile, flapped his wings, landed next to Spike, and began to fire at the Doppelgangers! In a few minutes, all the Doppelgangers were dead. Spike's helmet went down to show his face.

"Are you the mercenary Mr. Filthy Rich hired?" Spike asked

"Well, well, well," the Draco said, avoiding his question "If it isn't the little baby that's with those immortals than his kind." Spike gave a curious look and squinted his eyes.

"Do I know you?"

"You should." The Draco removed his face-mask, revealing a much too familiar Draco face with many scars on it with an orange, striped back looking scale head. "Remember me now?" Spike Face palmed himself

"Of all the Mercs, he had to get you."

"You know him?" Sunset asked

"Sadly, I do. He's Garble"

Profiles:

Garble is considered to be one of Equestria's best mercenaries for hire, but is also the most dangerous who won't turn down any job offering as long as it pays a lot. Spike met Garble on the other side of Ponyville's planet, where instead of trees, it was volcanic & molten with lava. There, Spike was close to joining Garble and his gang, but wasn't morally loosed and had the aid of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Though that was the last time they saw each other, Both Spike and Garble have heard tales of each other through word of mouth & online.

"That's right!" Garble replied while cracking his knuckles. "It's been a long time, Spike. How's it life been after being dead for two years?"

"You knew I was dead?" Spike asked

"I'm not an idiot, Spike. Everyone was talking about you more than me!"

"So you were jealous?"

"Ha! I don't seek attention at all like how you do. Rumors appeared on how you were alive, which I figured was bullshit, but Mr. Rich hired me and, now I can say that you're back."

"How much DID Mr. Rich hired you?"

"A whole god damn lot!"

"...And what did he tell you?"

"Just to follow you around, listen to your bullshit, and kill Sombra with anyone that gets in our way. When this is over, whether you & everyone else are alive, or dead, I'm going to get that paycheck and be one of the richest Drakes this galaxy has ever seen! Got it?"

"That is if you're alive at the end."

"... You really are the bastard I remembered those years ago."

"Good to know. And how are you not attacked by the Seeker Swarms?"

"I'm a Draco, idiot! Those things were only attacking Humans, Mages, and Angels. How is your lady here still alive?"

"This lady has a name, you know." Sunset replied with irritation. "And it's a suit upgrade, making us invisible to the swarms."

"Enough talk." Spike interrupted "This colony is still under attack! Move out!"    

The group moved into another area of the colony. As much as he wanted to, Spike ordered Garble to stay with them at all times. They stopped as they saw one of the colonists in the open, a female mage with an Angel son in her hand, both frozen. They looked around the mother and son, seeing the only thing moving were their eyes.

"What's wrong with them?" Garble asked

"It seems to be some sort of stasis field." Sunset answered "It's keeping them conscious, but at the same time, helpless."

"Any way we can reverse this?" Spike asked

"Not that I know of. It most likely wears off."

"So what?" Strongheart asked "We stand here until they move?"

"We stop Sombra first, then deal with this." Spike answered. "Move out!" They walked around, seeing more & more colonists frozen, and saw, up ahead, a swarm of Doppelgangers with their queen landing in the area. The queen stammered & almost fell, grabbing onto her own head as if she had a headache.

"Assuming direct control." Sombra's booming voice said. The queen stopped and stood right up, opening it's eyes to show the eyes now glowed green and had purple smoke coming out of the corners of it's eyes. She was now under the control of Sombra. It looked around, but jumped at the sight of Spike. "WHAT!? The Draco boy has returned!? Guards! ATTACK!!!"

"Get to cover!" Spike ordered. Both Spike and Sunset took cover behind some crates while Strongheart charged into battle, followed by Garble, who flew into the sky and fired at the Doppelgangers flying near them. The possessed Doppelganger queen marched towards where Spike & Sunset were at, who were fending themselves from the Doppelgangers around them. The Queen warped it's energy around Spike and levitated him closer to her face, pushing Sunset out of the way with it's free hand.  

"How are you alive? You should be dead!"

"I was dead," Spike answered "but I'm back like any other superhero!" Spike then pulled his pistol out and fired at the Doppelganger queen't foot, dropping him in pain.

"You little bastard!" The queen yelled in pain. Her wings flapped and she flew towards Spike. The Draco avoided it and fired at the queen's wings, creating smaller, and painful holes. She snarled at him as Sombra's influence came back.

"Why are you even with Sombra!? What's he planning?"

"He's going to become the king of the universe! He will be the one to bring in peace, unite every species under his power, and defeat the immortals! We Doppelgangers will finally get our revenge!"

"Revenge? What revenge!? And the immortals aren't evil; Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle wouldn't even dream of destroying their own followers!"

"... It seems they've successfully brainwashed you." Sombra's voice said through the queen. Spike pulled his pistol and fired again, this time, hitting the queen's left hand.  

"Get out of her!"

"So you can convince this one to join your crusade to spread the lies of the Immortals? This one and the others have joined me on my crusade to right Equestria's wrong. You can believe yourself as a hero when, in fact, your a mindless servant to something worse than the Doppelgangers and I combined. You don't know what it means to be a true hero; you think of yourself as one when, in fact, you're nothing but an over-glorified pawn in their game that will lead to every species extinction."

"Bullshit! My sister was a mage, she worked for her spot, and she's now the princess of Friendship! There's no way she'd be like that!"

"Even when you've been dead for these two years and haven't took the time to meet her before you came here?" Spike's left eye twitched as he lowered his pistol.

"How did you-?"

"I have eyes and ears everywhere, Spike. Until we meet again, I will be watching you." Sombra's influence went away as a dark cloud exited the Queen's mouth & floated away to the huge ship. The queen hissed and charged at Spike.

"FOR THE GREATER GOOD!!!" The queen yelled, charging with her claws extended. The sound of a gun was fired and the queen flopped to her right side, falling hard to the floor as green blood oozed straight from her head, forming a puddle. Spike turned to see Sunset had fired her sniper rifle and killed the queen.

"Don't listen to him," Sunset said, followed by a pant "you know the Umbrum has made him a lunatic." Loud screeches were heard as the rest of of the Doppelgangers saw who killed their queen. Garble landed near them as Storngheart ran backwards towards the rest of the group.

"Now you pissed them off!" Garble said.

"Run!" Spike yelled.

"No questioning here!" Strongheart quickly commented. The group ran as fast as they could away from the vengeance driven Doppelgangers, knocking over some of the frozen colonists & supplies as the Doppelganger formed into a swarm, chasing after them. Strongheart ran ahead and opened a large door, pulling out her assault and began to some suppressing fire as everyone got inside. The door closed right behind them, leaving them in a dark room that had cool blue lights in it. The Doppelgangers pounded & scratched the door, but no dent was seen nor any sign of the Doppelgangers getting in. After a few moments, the Doppelgangers left and silence was only there... until a small clang was heard.

"We've got company." Sunset commented.

"Get out here, now!" Garble yelled. Out of the corner, behind a generator, a male mage in his late 40's along with a female mage in her early 30's peeked out. The Man came out first, wearing a yellow one piece suit while showing his red heair.

"Y-you're both Drakes, a behemoth, and a mage." He commented. "What are you doin' out here? You'd lead 'em right here!"

"You'd have to hear them trying to get in." Spike answered. "Seems it'd be hard to hide from the Doppelgangers."

"Those things were doppelgangers?" The mage asked, stepping out. Spike squinted his eyes at the Mage's appearance: She wore a blue form of what looked like Zatanna's dress, but instead of leg stockings, it was just blue pants, and her hair was silver and silky looking.

"...Trixie!?" She flinched and took a step back. She too squinted her eyes.

"Do I... know you?"

"Let me help you with that: Twilight Sparkle, the Ursa Minor, and your takeover of Ponyville, the 'great and powerful Trixie'."

"...SPIKE!?!?!?"

Profiles:

Trixie was once an independent traveling magician who used her mage's abilities and knowledge of illusion to perform magic shows, accepting whatever tips was given to her as a means to live. While innocent at first, her fame got to her head, making her narcissistic, referring herself as 'The Great and Powerful Trixie', and told lies about her various tales, half of which were made up. She was humiliated by her old archenemy, Twilight Sparkle, after an attack on Ponyville from an Ursa Minor. Trixie hid from the public, working for Pinkie's Rock family on [Classified], gaining money to buy something that would grant her unlimited power; The Immortal's amulet. Though she quickly became powerful, she was corrupted, and only through Twilight's tricks did she remove the amulet, regaining control and going back to normal. Not a lot was heard about her, as everyone continued their lives and, more than likely, Trixie fell into obscurity. Now, history will make this either her greatest comeback, or her final attempt to becoming popular.

"You know this Draco?" The Male asked

"I do, Sethy." Trixie replied "This was the assistant to Twilight Sparkle, remember?"

"Wait, you mean Spike, the famous Commander who saved Canterlot and was dead for 2 YEARS, is now here and is Princess Twilight Sparkle's assistant!?"

"I told you that before, remember?"

"What's going on?" Spike asked "Trixie, where have you been all this time, and who is this man?"

"Who am I!?" The man asked "I'm Sethisto! I'm Trixie's boy-"

"Assistant!" Trixie interrupted. "That was a one time thing."

"...You assistant is your boyfriend?" Spike asked

"No! I don't have a love interest to him; we're just partners, working together to make a living."

"And what is that living?"

"I know what they are." Garble said, walking to them. He punched Sethisto across the face, causing the mage to fall as something fell out of his pocket.

"Sethisto!" Trixie yelled, picking up her assistant's head. "What the hell is wrong with-" Garble picked up a pistol from the floor.

"That's what's wrong! Your 'assistant' took my god damn gun away! You're a thief, just like him!"

"How do you know that?" Strongheart asked

"Look at them: they're dressed like they came from Canterlot, yet their wallets have nothing in them, they have those shifty eyes, they both use tricks to get what they need, and, from my experience while working with Mages, they'll take away things that you won't realize are gone until it's too late, which your assistant failed on, Trixie."

"Is this true?" Spike asked, crossing his arms.

"...Yes." Trixie sighed in defeat. "Sethisto and I are thieves, but we don't do this because we want to; we need to steal to live! Yes, we take whatever we need from people, but not too much, just enough to let them think that nothing happened to them."

"Did you ever get caught?" Trixie looked up and blushed with a smile.

"Well... not to sound like my old self, but I've never been caught at all and I must be the greatest thief of all time."

"Do you have proof?"

"Yes: May 24, 3492, during the invasion of Canterlot, I snuck into the Canterlot castle using a lone, top guard's key clearance card to enter the royal vault. It wasn't easy, but with a lack of security around, I was able to take out and deposit into my own account 0.02% of all of royal vault's bits."

"0.02%?" Sunset asked "that doesn't seem a lot."

"To them it isn't, but to me, this is enough to pay for a new home and pay bills for at least 60 years with no sign of cash due. If I were to take more, people would be suspicious, and if I were to take less, I'd be on this planet for less than half of what I'd plan to live here for."

"So you stole from Celestia, right under her nose, as a means to financially support yourself without work as you live your new, nearly new life here?" Spike asked

"That was my plan, but now, Sombra and the Doppelgangers ruined it."

"...Well... there's only one thing to say."

"What? You're going to call the Immortals, saying I stole from them while you were alive during that invasion?"

"No."

"I'm not- wait... what!?"

"Trixie, I'm assembling a team needed to stop Sombra and his army of Doppelgangers from attacking colonies like this. We need your help on this and, I'm certain that if Celestia or any of the Immortals found out what you did, then they'd forgive you after you save the galaxy."

"Hm... that... sounds good. But what about Sethisto?"

"I'm not sure if he can join us, but we'll be sure to include him in your new life." Trixie turned around and thought to herself. "You know, can you prove us that you still have tricks up your sleeves?" Trixie turned around, her eyes wide open, then she smiled.

"Trixie has sleeves up her sleeves!" Spike smirked.

"I was wondering when you'd speak third person again. We still have a colony to save, though."

"Don't worry; we have turrets here, fully loaded. We just have to calibrate the targeting systems and open fire on the huge ass ship outside! Hopefully, not all of the colony is on that and we have more on the floor than boarded up in there."

"I hope so too. But to be safe, we better leave Sethisto here and lock the door behind us."

"Agreed. Follow me!"

Trixie lead the group into a large, open area where after sucessfully sneaking around the Doppelgangers with their Queen's under Sombra's influence.

"There it is." Trixie said, pointing at the exact middle where a large antennae stood, with a computer next to it. "There's the transmitter." Spike walked to the computer and activated his communicator.

"Celestia," Spike said "You copy?"

"Spitfire here!" Spitfire announced "Your signal was gone, but now we got you!"

"WOONA, can you get the defense towers online?"

"Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified," WOONA answered "But it will take time to bring the towers to full power. I recommend a defense posture. I will not be able to mask the increased generator output."

"Sounds simple enough." Trixie commented.

"Do you have anything for us?" Spike asked

"Just one." WOONA replied "Enemy reinforcements are closing in. I suggest you ready yourselves for combat."

"Don't have to tell me that." Strongheart said, pulling her shotgun out. Everyone stood together, each pulling out a weapon as Doppelgangers flew & crawled over the walls around them, making them feel as if this was a last stand. Without a word, everyone began to fire at the Doppelgangers, making them drop like like flies as the following happened: Sunset Shimmer perfectly aimed her sniper and killed far off Doppelgangers and, with her mage abilities, summoned fire and burned small groups together; Trixie used her mage abilities to turn invisible, sneak around the battle field, and took out some guardians with a knife; Garble flew into the sky and shot down and Doppelganger flying towards him & the group; Strongheart charged head on and, with only a punch, killed Doppelgangers easily as she did shooting at them; and Spike, with his training, used all of his weapons to their best, getting maximum efficiency from his situation. The Queen of these Doppelgangers stood as she was under the influence of Sombra. The canons around the colony activated and began to fire at Sombra's ship, making it have dents that would lead to many doppelgangers and his victims being spaced.The Sombra controlled Doppelganger turned to the group, flapped it's wings, and went back to it's ship.

"You have won this battle," Sombra said "But you will fail!" The ship began to fly away as Doppelgangers flew into it, shaking the colony, followed by it retreating into space in a few minutes.

"No!" Sethisto yelled, running into the open "Don't let them get away!"

"There's nothing we can do." Spike simply said "They're gone. I'm sorry."

"Half of the colony's in there! My friends are in there! Do something!"

"I didn't want it to end this way. We did all we could."

"Relax, Sethy," Trixie replied, walking and placing her right hand on his left shoulder "Spike and I will find a way to bring them back."

"Bullshit!" Sethisto yelled "I don't care if you're some sort of hero to Canterlot, there's no way you're going to save them!"

"Maybe he can." Another male's voice spoke. Out of the corner of a box, a familiar mage and family member came out: Prince Shining Armor. "Commander Spike; first Draco soldier and savior of Canterlot & the Crystal Empire."

"Of all the people left, you're still here. Screw this; I'm done with you royal types!" Sethisto walked away, grumbling to himself. Both Spike and Shining Armor looked into each other, and tears started to fall from their eyes. Spike sprinted towards Shining Armor and hugged him. Shining Armor pushed him back.

"No! You can't be alive after two years! You're suppose to be dead! How did you come back to life!? Why didn't you contact me, or at least, Twilight Sparkle that you were alive!?"

"It wasn't my choice!" Spike replied "For the last two years, I was in some sort of... Coma, as FIST rebuilt me." Shining Armor took some steps back with a disgusted look on his face.

"You're with FIST now? I can't believe those reports were right!"

"Reports?" Sunset asked

"So much for secrecy." Strongheart commented.

"Our intel believed FIST was behind the missing colonies." Shining Armor said "I got a tip that this colony might be the next target. Twilight held me back, but there were rumors that you weren't dead and you're doing these... things, and working for the enemy."

"I'm not working with FIST," Spike replied "FIST is working with me to stop Sombra and the Doppelgangers."

"You'd like me to believe that, wouldn't you? I came here for FIST; you were just a rumor. I wanted to believe you were still alive, but not anything like this." Shining Armor's tears started to pour from his. "You've turned your back on EVERYTHING WE STOOD FOR!!!"

"I haven't betrayed you or the Immortals at all! My loyalties are still to our family. We have to work together to stop Sombra and the Doppelgangers from any other attacks like this!"

"...I want to believe you, Spike, but I don't trust FIST! They could be using the threat of Sombra to manipulate you! What if they're behind it; what if they're working with Sombra!?"

"Brother, please, you have to listen; this is the lesser of two evils. You're need to be reasonable!"

"You show up after two years and tell me you're working with Cerberus. How does 'reason' fit into any of this? You've changed, but I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm a prince, God Damn it! I've got to report back to Celestia and Luna; they'll decide if your story is true or not." Shining Armor turned around and walked away.

"Wait! We can use someone like you."

"...Thanks, but until you're away from FIST, count me out! And how do I know you're really my brother and not some Draco brainwashed tyo be like Spike."

"What do you want me to do?"

"...Tell me something that only our family knows. Tell me that!" Spike thought to himself, then took a deep breath.

"When Twilight was born, your mom, Twilight Velvet, showed you your new baby sister. You said that Twilight looks like a potato." Shining armor sniffed, wiped a tear from his face, and smiled.

"Yeah... I remember that. Good luck on your mission, Spike."

"...Spitfire: shed the shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough with this colony."

Spike walked into the intercom room, where Filthy Rich's hologram of himself was ready.

"Spike," Filthy Rich spoke "Good work on Horizon. Hopefully, Sombra will think twice before abducting another colony."

"We weren't successful." Spike replied "Half of the colony is missing and Sombra is still out there!"

"Half of a colony is better than no colony at all. But I know we have another way of luring them in."

"My brother said he got a tip about me and FIST. Was that you?"

"... I may have let it slip that you were alive... and with FIST."

"You've risked the lives of my brother, my crew, and an entire colony!? Just to lure Sombra there!?"

"It was a calculative risk: I suspected Sombra was looking for your family when they were open. Now I'm certain about it. I told you I wouldn't wait while Sombra and the Doppelgangers gather strength. Besides, they would've hit another colony eventually without any way to predict which one. They would've abducted everyone."

"...What's our next step?"

"We have to keep the pressure on Sombra; he'll be more cautious with his ground operations. We need another opening. I'm putting all of my resources into finding a way to the Doppelganger home-planet, hit them where they live. Your team needs to be strong, as will their resolve; there's no looking back. The same goes with you. I assume you put all of your stuff behind you?"

"...I'm not sure."

"Well you better do it. Spike, when you fight Sombra and the Doppelgangers at their base of operations, there's no guarantee you or anyone will be coming back. To guarantee some hope in survival, you all must be strong and fully committed to this."

"Let me worry about my crew. You look for ways to get to the Doppelganger home-world."

"I just want to be upfront with your odds. You'll need everyone at their best. I forwarded three more dossiers to help you keep building your team while I find a way for you to enter their home planet. And be careful, Spike; the Doppelgangers will now be watching you." Spike nodded and the room returned to normal. Spike turned around to see Big Mac leaning against the wall.

"So we're really going to do it?" Big Mac asked "We're really going to hit Apis? Take the fight to Sombra in person? I'll be looking towards the actions; after seeing what they did to Horizon though, kinda makes you think."

"Something on your mind, Mac?" Spike asked.

"Nah. Just... there's a good chance none of us are coming back, even if we get it done. I'm going to finish some business. I'm pretty sure everyone else is doing it too... get some... closure, y'know?" Big Mac then walked out of the room and into his room.    

1. Build Team.

I. A. The Mechanist

-Moon Dancer

-Sweetie Belle

-Gizmo

-Other

-An O.C.

B. The Assassin

-Seabreeze

-Fluttershy

-Tree Hugger

-Other

-An O.C.

C. Mare-Do-Well/ The Vigilante

-Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, or Pinkie Pie

-Zipporwhill

-Maud Pie

-Other

-An O.C.

II. Allies to join you:

-Diamond Tiara

-Big Mac

-Sunset Shimmer

-Sonata Dusk

-The Doctor

-Trixie

-Strongheart

-Garble

2. Loyalty missions

-Diamond Tiara

-Big Mac *

-Sunset Shimmer

-Sonata Dusk

-Strongheart *

-The Doctor

-Trixie

-Garble *

(*) Haven't thought of loyalty mission yet and may need your help in making it.

3. Meet Twilight Sparkle