Spike was watching the soldiers of the Royal Navy training. They were all promising recruits, and that was exactly what he needed. The Monquistans had gotten in touch with his mother, and it was official, Equestria was now at war with Monquista. The sound of cannons had become so common recently, that Aurora had almost grown used to it interrupting her naps.

Suddenly, Penelope ran out to meet Spike and said, "Spike, we've got a problem, there's an entire fleet heading this way, but it's not the Monquistans! It's the Valencians!"

Spike's eyes widened when Penelope told him the Valencians were coming this way and yelled to the troops, "Men, battle stations! Show no mercy, there's not a single living being on those ships! Get ready to turn those clockworks into scrap metal!"

The men and women cheered a battle cry that had become popular since Spike's announcement, "Remember the Black Rose!" and headed out to their positions.

Spike went and changed into his pirate garb before running to the dock and getting onto the HMS Pinafore, which had been reinstated as his main ship since the destruction of his ship. Twilight stood by his side and sighed, "The Monquistans have no idea they're dealing with the Devil."

Spike nodded, "We've slayed worse demons before. My father was an important piece in defeating the Soul of Sombra. He gave his life to protecting his people, and I'm willing to do the same. I won't let Monquista or Valencia destroy our spirit."

Twilight smiled, "Well put. I best get to the guns." before returning to her post. As the ships came into firing range, the sound of cannons filled the air.

Spike flew off the ship and took to the skies, dodging bullets and cannonballs before landing on the flagship, which had the same Monquistan from the Isle of Doom that he set ablaze. Spike spoke, "You again? I shouldn't be surprised you're here for revenge. At least your fur is growing back, or I wouldn't even recognize you."

The Monquistan growled, "Silence heathen! You will pay for your insolence! If you have no honor, then I will fight without honor!" before throwing a knife with his tail.

The knife wasn't an ordinary knife, since it cut through his helmet and dug into his right eye. He screamed in pain from the knife, and while he was temporarily blinded, he was able to get two shots in from his mechanical hand's pistol finger, each one hitting the Monquistan in each eye.

Twilight saw Spike collapse onto the deck of the ship and quickly went in to save him from the disguised clockworks. As she carried him back to the HMS Pinafore she yelled out in anger, "Men, fall back, stay off the enemy ships! Dragoons, incinerate them!"

At first, the soldiers were confused as to why Twilight order them to fall back, only to see the injured prince in her arms, and followed her order, returning to their ships.

As the disguised clockworks expressed confusion to the retreating Equestrians, the ships that had both the Equestrian and Dragoon flags came closer to the Valencian ships, and the crests of Bahamut's head on the bow of the ship released massive flames, burning every ship to ashes.

As the Valencian ships were destroyed, the others retreated to the castle, to get Spike medical attention.

Spike's entire crew and family arrived in the med bay, seeing Spike's right eye bleeding and swollen shut. Celestia had tears of anger and sadness streaming down her face, her son lost his hand, and now he may lose an eye.

The head matron forced everyone out saying, "Please, please! I know you're worried about the prince, but we can't do our jobs with an entire ship's worth of people in the way!" before slamming the door shut.

Three hours later...

The door opened and the matron came out and told them, "I'm so sorry, the prince's eye was badly damaged, we couldn't do anything-" before being interrupted by Celestia's screaming sobbing, "Your majesty wait! We were able to give him an Orichalcum eye! He'll need a few days' rest, once the eye settles, his vision will be even better than before."

Twilight sighed in relief, and as her queen sobbed on her shoulder, she comforted her, "Madame matron, I hardly think that Spike's recovery makes his injury any less horrible."

The matron nodded, "I'm terribly sorry milady, that's true. I'll keep you updated on Spike's condition."

Penelope felt worst of all, she was the one who reported the attack to Spike, so she blamed herself. As they were each allowed five minutes with Spike, when it was her turn, she cried as she hugged her captain, "Captain, I'm so sorry!"

Spike held his friend close, "You have nothing to be sorry about, a Monquistan took my eye, not you. You were just doing your job, you have nothing to regret." before the matron forced her out, he kissed her and told her, "I'll see you in my tower when I recover." before falling to sleep.

As the days went by, Spike's vision steadily improved and grew greater than before his eye was slashed. Of course, the scars remained, and while his helmet had been damaged, he was able to have it repaired. When he was released from the med bay, he walked through the castle towards the balcony where his mother waited for him.

Celestia held back tears as she hugged her son, "I'm so happy you're all right my son. I know the Monquistans did this to you, but I still blame myself. The same way I blamed myself for you running away."

Spike shook his head, "No mother, this isn't your fault, it's mine. The Monquistan targeted me, not you. You didn't set him on fire, I did. Let's focus on making sure nothing else like this happens again."

As he stepped out onto the balcony, the people cheered for him, seeing he had survived the battle, and he smiled, "People of Equestria, I see now that I have an important role in the wellbeing of Equestria and her people. It is for that reason, I am retiring from piracy to pursue raising my daughter and lead us through this Faust forsaken war."

The crowd gasped when Spike said he was retiring from piracy, not knowing how to react to the idea. As he turned away and returned to the castle, they were muttering and some were crying.

Twilight came up to him as he sat in a chair and said, "Spike, are you really going through with this? Retiring?"

Spike sighed, "I don't know. I've lost my hand, I've lost a friend, and now an eye. I'm realizing now that I'm too important to be risking my life like this. Once the war is over, I'm fully retired."

And so, now with the loss of his right eye, despite having it replaced with an Orichalcum Eye, the Black Rose Dragon is considering retiring from piracy all together. Is this the proper choice, returning to the life he once loathed, for the sake of his growing family? Will he think this over for a while, or is this the end of the Black Rose Dragon?

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