Spike had stayed with his mother for the past month, and as he woke up in the morning, he went to see his mother. He hoped that she wouldn't freak out, but he was going to tell her the truth about his relationship with the HMS Pinafore. As he met with his mother in the study, he gulped and said, "Mom, promise not to get mad when I say this?"

Celestia looked up from her book with a look of concern, "What could make me mad at my only son?"

Spike took a deep breath and said, "I had sexual relations with-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Celestia interrupted him saying, "Honey, you're an adult now. I may be your mother, but your sex life is not any of my business."

Spike sighed in relief, "Thank you, mother, this was getting me anxious. But there is something else I need to tell you. As much as I've enjoyed this visit, I have to return to the skyways. I promised I'd visit, and I will, but I need to get back to Skull Island. Like I told you, the Valencians are stepping on a lot of toes, and I need to help Avery with it."

Celestia smiled lightly, "It's fine, I understand. I heard that Ember, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunset Shimmer are joining your crew, so I have no reason to worry about you. I know you'll be safe with some of Equestria's best military on your side." before kissing him on his forehead and returning to her book.

Spike smiled as his mother spoke, saying, "I love you mom, I'll be sure to visit again." before leaving the study to head downstairs. When he got there, he saw his crew getting to know their new members, "Everyone, I hope you guys are ready, we're heading back to Skull Island."

The crew nodded and followed Spike back to the ship. As the ship left the docks, Spike sighed as he watched the castle grow smaller in the distance, when Ember came up to him and said, "It must be hard coming back only to have to leave so soon."

Spike nodded, "Yeah, but this doesn't mean I'm not coming back again. The Valencians are a top priority, but family is family."

Ember smiled, "Well put Spike. We're about to head through the stormgate to Skull Island. We should be through in about an hour."

Spike smiled, "Thanks Ember. That'll be all." before kissing her cheek.

As the ship passed through the stormgate to Skull Island, the sounds of cannons could be heard from the other side. When they made it into Skull Island skies, they saw a group of Valencian ships attacking a group of Cutthroat ships. Penelope rushed over to Spike and asked, "Captain, shall we engage? The Cutthroats are in trouble, and as their leader, I highly recommend we assist them!"

Spike nodded, "Everyone, get to the cannons! Sunset, Starlight, prepare to board the Valencian ships! Rarity, Fluttershy, get to the Cutthroat ships and give aid to anyone who's injured. Ember, you're with me! We're taking these bastards down!" before running to the side of the ship and jumping off as he took flight along with Ember at his side.

As Sunset, Starlight, Spike, and Ember distracted the Valencians, Rarity and Fluttershy were able to tend to the wounds of the injured Cutthroats. One of the Cutthroats managed to tell them, "The Valencians aren't alone this time, they've got a new Armada! One of Kane's inner circle survived the war and she started building new clockworks in secret!"

As Spike landed on one of the Cutthroat ships, his eyes widened when he heard what the Cutthroat said, "What!? But there's not a single clockwork on that ship!"

Another Cutthroat told him, "Spike, man are we glad you're here. The new clockworks have some sort of crazy disguising tech. They have some sort of earpiece that disguises them as living, breathing people, but they're nothing more than gears and wires."

Spike growled, "Let's take care of them then." before flying back to an Armada ship and slashing at the ear of one of the Valencians, to reveal that what the Cutthroat had said was true. "Wait, if they're clockworks..." before grinning lightly, "Then we don't have to hold back! Everyone, the soldiers are clockworks, hold nothing back!"

As the crew realized Spike was right, they kicked their attack plan into high gear, destroying all the clockworks before looting and sinking their ships.

The leader of the Cutthroats that had been attacked was able to get onto Spike's ship and said, "Thanks for the help captain. We couldn't have done this without you and your crew. Whatever troubles you had with Finn, they don't matter to me, you've proved yourself a worthy leader."

Spike smiled lightly, "Thank you, but we have more important matters to attend to. For all we know, there could be dozens of disguised clockworks on Skull Island as we speak, we need to warn Avery and Mordekai."

The Cutthroat nodded, "Right sir." before heading back to his own ship and following Spike's ship to the Skull Island docks to have their ship repaired.

As they made it to port, Twilight was worried, "You made a good point Spike, and with everyone already on edge, we don't know who we can trust around here anymore."

Spike sighed, "We can't just go around not trusting anyone, but we do need to be careful of any clockworks in disguise."

And so, Spike has returned to Skull Island, only to learn that not only have the Valencians started their war campaign, but that the clockworks are being rebuilt with dangerously powerful upgrades, being able to disguise themselves as real people. With this threat, nobody knows who to trust, and the possibility of Armada troops having infiltrated Skull Island is at a high risk. Will Spike and his crew be able to defeat the New Armada? Only time will tell.

Next Chapter: Skull Island's Deep Secrets Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 34 Minutes