Chapter 8: Trouble on Both Fronts

Spike slowly walked through the colorful halls of Celestia's castle, occasionally stopping to admire the amazing view out of the windows. As tough of a dragon Spike had become he still liked seeing the colorful ponies trotting down below, passing between colorful houses and shops. it was an amazing contrast to the bleak and dreary landscape he had to see for the past two months. From looking out over Canterlot it seemed like everything involving the Empire was just a bad nightmare, but just seeing his own reflection in the windows was enough to remind him that it wasn't. Everpony had changed, and everypony was going to have to live with the things they saw in the Empire...

"Sir Spike!" a guard pony yelled out from the end of the hallway, startling Spike, and reminding him of another change to his life. When Celestia learned of his part in getting everypony out of the Empire she knighted him, which meant all the guards would now refer to him as Sir Spike. The guard pony reached Spike quickly, saluting him as he took a deep breath to recover from his sprin.

"Sir, Rarity would like to see you in the hospital" the guard pony said quickly, inhaling a large amount of air before continuing, "She says it is of utmost importance that you be there"

"Thank you, I'll be there right away" Spike replied, patting the guard on the back as he started to make his way to the hospital. Ever since they got back to Canterlot Rarity has been spending her time throwing up her insides, or being examined by doctors. Nopony knew what was wrong with her, and all Spike could think of was that she caught something just before they left. Celestia has had the greatest medical minds look at her one at a time, coming up with no definite illness, so they opted instead to work together to come up with a cause, looking back into ancient medical records to see if there was anything there they could use. As Spike entered the hospital he could feel himself being pulled towards Rarity's room by somepony's magic, but he had no idea who's it was.

"SPIIIIIKE!" Rarity screamed from deep inside the hospital, making Spike crawl under his scales as her magic continued to pull him towards her room. When he finally reached her room he saw her surrounded by doctors who were all whispering to each other.

"Hi Rarity" Spike said nervously when he saw the angry white Unicorn sitting on the bed, her eyes filled with anger.

"Don't 'Hi Rarity' me! You're in big trouble!" Rarity shouted, throwing Spike to the side so he would land in front of the head doctor.

"What did I do?" Spike asked lazily as he composed himself, having landed on his face. When he looked up the doctors shifted around nervously, trying to push a small Unicorn mare to the front. As the tiny white mare began to speak she let out a small squeal, making one of the other doctors laugh as he stepped forwards, giving her a pat on the back to get her to speak.

"W-When we looked through the old medical books we found reference to something called a kirin" the mare said, looking back at the doctors behind her before continuing, "It's a rare species that is half pony, and half dragon" Spike looked at the mare for a few seconds as his brain thought about what she had said, and when it finally hit him he turned to look at Rarity, who's anger had been replaced with a happy smile.

"Spike..." Rarity said quietly, waving a hoof at Spike for him to come to her. As Spike turned around he could hear the doctors hooves clicking against the tile floor as they left, a few of the doctors joking around with the mare who had told him what it was.

"Rarity I..." Spike said slowly as he sat next to Rarity's bed, holding her hoof with both of his hands. They looked into each other's eyes, trying to get a sense of how the other was feeling right now, to no avail. For a few minutes they were completely alone in silence, until the door opened, the small mare coming back in by herself.

"Hello again, I was, um, assigned to be Rarity's doctor for the pregnancy" the mare said sheepishly as she walked up to them, "My name is Color Palette" The mare sheepishly stuck out a hoof to Spike for him to shake, flinching slightly as he grabbed it. After a quick shake the mare seemed to calm down, feeling more comfortable now that she knew Spike wasn't like most dragons. She then went over the requirements that Spike and Rarity must meet for the pregnancy to be a success. As she spoke Spike felt a burning sensation trying to force it's way up, and as he turned his face away a burp of fire erupted from his mouth, turning into a scroll.

"Is that normal?" Color Palette whispered to Rarity, not sure what was going on.

"Oh it's just a letter from Celestia, don't mind it" Rarity said calmly as she tried to sneak a peak at the letter, but Spike's large back was blocking her. When Spike stood up suddenly she knew something was wrong, but didn't need to ask.

"I'm sorry Rarity, they're planning to head out to the Empire tonight and I need to be with them" Spike said sadly before leaning in to give Rarity a kiss on the cheek, which made his face turn bright red. Rarity giggled as he left, still seeing him as the tiny baby dragon he used to be.

"Now please continue dear" Rarity said as she turned back to Color Palette, who had been stifling a giggle of her own.

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Sombra trotted angrily through his castle, throwing gems at the ponies who were polishing the walls. Every now and again he would hit one in the eye or ear, causing them to let out a loud howl and bleed all over the place while running in circles, which made him laugh. He felt a small bit of shame, knowing that he had to stoop to this level just to find entertainment because of the issues he was having with Twilight Sparkle. Ever since she revealed her pregnancy to him she has been crying, and every time he tried to shut her up she would only get louder, eventually managing to crack the mirror in her room, and as if that wasn't enough his magic level was fluctuating more frequently now. At one point he lost his wings to the fluctuation, which made him so angry that he tossed a pony out a window.

"That damned Unicorn, how is she doing this to me?!" Sombra shouted angrily as he looked into one of the walls, his reflection showing him that his wings had shrunken again. He let out a loud roar as he continued on his way down the hall, making his way to the impromptu hospital he had set up to stop Twilight's crying and moaning, which only partially worked. Now she was out of the castle, but she was still crying loud enough for him to hear, which made him want to simply throw her of the Empire and be done with it, but if he did that now he would lose her power.

"King Sombra, sir!" a guard pony said as he ran up to the angry Sombra, a worried look on his face.

"What is it soldier?" Sombra asked calmly, surprising the guard.

"We've caught sight of scouts just outside the barrier" the guard said, looking at Sombra's expression carefully, "They appear to be from Equestria"

"WHAT?!" Sombra shouted, picking up the guard pony in his magic, nearly crushing his windpipe instantly.

"They bear Celestia's symbol your majesty, a few have tried to go through the barrier as well..." the guard said slowly, talking and breathing becoming increasingly difficult as Sombra continued to crush his windpipe. Out of anger Sombra threw the guard to the side, accidentally throwing him out a window, made evident by a loud and wet smack a few seconds later.

"Come to my Empire to challenge me?!" Sombra shouted angrily as he started running to the hospital, "How dare she..." Sombra continued to run, violently throwing ponies out of his way until he was inside the hospital. He looked around for Twilight's doctors, who had all been picked out of the mines and were usually walking around doing nothing at all. If Celestia was coming he needed to be at full strength, or the coming war was going to be a short one, and the only pony that could assure his power was Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's own student. Sombra started to laugh as he thought about it, the personal student of his greatest enemy was the key to his victory...