//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Halcyon Hearts // by TheMyth //------------------------------// “What are you doing?” Rainbow asked Blaze as they trotted outside to meet the others. Blaze shrugged. “Starting training today as a future Wonderbolt, the same as you I presume-” “That’s not what I meant!” Rainbow glowered as she locked her eyes on the bracelet Blaze was still wearing. “You’re supposed to be on house arrest! And I thought it was declared that you were going to be Twilight’s assistant!” Blaze smirked and let loose a soft chuckle as he walked past Rainbow, hearing her grind her teeth. “Well this is part of my sentence, something one particular pony thought to add on.” “Who?” “Scootaloo.” Rainbow scrunched her lips. “No way would my girl ask a creep to be in the Wonderbolts!” Blaze simply smiled. “Not only that, she also thought I should be your partner...” he finished as he joined the others standing behind a line. Rainbow shook her head and slowly closed her eyes, “I’m gonna have a word with her tonight...” she muttered to herself. “Attention!” Soarin shouted to the recruits, and saw them react to the call of the vice-captain. He turned to see Spitfire walk towards the line where the recruits were standing. “Alright troops, listen up! I’m only gonna say this once! My name is Captain Spitfire for those of you who don’t know me and you’re all the new rookies that have made it this far. But I’m not impressed by that! What impresses me is originality, teamwork, dedication, determination and loyalty!” she shouted out to the pegasi, but her gaze fell on Rainbow Dash. “Now! First order of business, synchronization! In order to be a Wonderbolt, you all have to act together like you share one mind! Do you get me!?” “Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” all the recruited shouted out, with most of them sweating profoundly. Spitfire grinned, seeing all the look on the recruits faces. “Ok! On the blow of my whistle, I want one group in the air and fly through the obstacle as fast as they can... with both of you working in time. Synchronization is what I am looking for here! Lightning Dust, Cloudkicker!” Spitfire blew hard on her whistle. Applejack couldn’t speak. She couldn’t even close her mouth. She tried closing her eyes and opening them, hoping the sight would go away. Sorry to say, it did not happen. There were pineapples everywhere. Anywhere. All of her crops, all of her family’s hard work... were now pineapples. “Wha? How? Wha... buh...” The farmpony babbled, her right eye twitching furiously. Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Well... I guess apple farming isn’t our cutie marks, huh?” The mare turned and glared at the six foals standing awkwardly to one side. “How did this happen!?” “Well, we were tryin’ to get our cutie marks in apple farmin’,” Apple Blom explained, twisting her hoof in the dirt. “An, well, Spike said he could probably get the apples brighter, with Sweetie’s help...” “How the hay did that turn these into pineapples!? This is gunna be a disaster to our business!” “Why? We can just sell pineapples instead...” “This ain’t a climate fer growin’ pineapples! Pineapples don’t even grow on trees! This ain’t physiologically possible!” The foals gaped at her. “What? Ya think I don’t know big words!? What are we...” At that moment, there were several little flashes of light as reality snapped back into place, and every pineapple lost the pine part of its name. “Oh, well... that’s a relief,” Applejack said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Yeah...” Spike mused. “Maybe if I tried again, we can get the spell...” “Get out! Go on, git!” Applejack yelled, sending the foals scurrying for the hills as the mare waved her hat in anger. They didn’t stop until they were back at the Clubhouse, all catching their breath. “I ain’t lookin’ forward t’ goin’ home tonight,” Apple Bloom said miserably. Pip hung his head low, catching his breath. “We dodged a boulder on th’t one, but your sister’s like a hydra on the loose.” Sweetie giggled as she she shook her head, “You haven’t seen my sister yet, have you? When you even mess on a tiny bit of her dress, she’ll have your head,” she finished and the others chuckled along with her. Spike rolled his eyes as he grinned, “Trust me Sweetie; if you think Rarity or Applejack can be mad, you haven’t worked for my mom yet. It’s like bucking all the apple trees in the orchard ten times each in an hour.” Light’s eyes widened with his mouth agape, “That’s insane... lucky Blaze isn’t like that,” he said as they began walking down the road to Ponyville. Spike eye twitched slightly. “Isn’t he supposed to be working today with my mom?” Light shook his head. “No, he said he had another job along with being Twilight’s assistant. Didn’t say what exactly...” Scootaloo scrunched her lips, suppressing the giggling come from her mouth. The others looked at her with arched eyebrows. “Scootaloo, ya’ll know something about that?” Scootaloo continued giggling as she closed her eyes, but swallowed the the laughter to breath. “You will find out soon enough.” Light furrowed his eyebrows and walked right next to Scootaloo, brushing his shoulder against hers. He heard her gasp softly and saw her magenta eyes looking into his blue eyes. “Tell me.” “Nope!” He sighed and closed his eyes, opening them up again to reveal them slightly moist. “Please...” Scootaloo grinded her teeth, trying to look away. She starting sweating, followed by her hanging her head low and letting out a sigh. She leaned in closer to Light’s ears and started to whisper. Light’s eyes, now narrowed as he listened intently to Scootaloo, widened as his lips turned small and round shape. “No way!” “What?” Apple Bloom demanded. “N-nothing,” Light said, barely containing his laughter. He couldn’t imagine the look that must be on Rainbow Dash’s face at the moment, but he wished he could see it. Still, maybe he should keep it with the others for now, if only for the entertainment value. It would be funnier if they found out when his brother made his official debut. "So who's going be Twilight's assistant when Blaze is busy with another job?" Sweetie couldn’t help but ask. "Well I'll help Mom out in the morning and at night when it’s time for my lessons..." He stopped dead, his eyes widening. He looked up at the sun, and found it was too far to the west for his liking. “My magic lesson! I’m going to be late!” “In that case, th’ Cutie Mark Crusaders are retiring fer th’ day. We all better be headin’ home...” Apple Bloom gulped. “Even me.” Pip kicked at the dirt. “There nuthin’ else we could try?” “‘Fraid not. Either it’s all of us crusadin’, or none of us. We can meet after school tomorrow.” The colts and fillies muttered their goodbyes and began departing, Apple Bloom nervously inching back to the farm, Pip seemingly slinking away, and Light and Scootaloo taking off for the air. This left Spike and Sweetie walking the street into town alone. As they trotted into town, the two stayed silent, only the sound of Spike’s armor clanking as he walked filled the air. “So,” Sweetie said, so casually that it was awkward, ”Are you going to wear that to school tomorrow?” “No.” The answer was blunt. “This thing is heavy. I’m aching to get it off. And it’s so hot... I don’t know how Uncle Shiny can stand it.” “Oh...” Sweetie said, disappointed. Spike looked at Sweetie’s face, noticing downward gaze of her eyes. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll never wear it again,” he added quickly. “I might wear it for NightMare Night... or special meetings like today.” Sweetie smiled softly and looked up to the sunset. “I hope tomorrow will be as good as today,” she said as she looked at Spike, seeing his eyes closed. Spike sighed as he opened them, “Well I hope so too, not like I’ve never been to school before. Though I did go to some of Mom’s classes.” He shuddered at the memory. “Most of the ponies there thought I was a pet.” Sweetie blinked, “Really?” “Yeah,” he sighed. Almost immediately he shook the thought off. “But I try not to think about that. Well, looks like we’re here now.” The two foals stood outside the boutique, with a closed sign in the entrance window. Sweetie walked on ahead to the door, but stopped when she opened it halfway. She turned to Spike and walked up to him. “Take off your helmet.” Spike arched an eyebrow, “Huh?” “Just do it, please.” Spike shrugged and took the helmet off his head, revealing his green golden-highlighted hair all in a mess. Sweetie leaned to his cheek and nuzzled it with hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school, ok?” she told him, with her cheeks slightly burning. Spiked just nodded, unable to process the feeling he was having inside him. “Goodnight,Spike,” she said as she walked into the boutique and closed it, leaving behind a petrified colt. The sun going down was a sight to behold, especially this high up. After a hard day of training, the recruits welcomed it almost as much as they welcomed the drinks that Spitfire was finally allowing them to take. “Drink up rookies, you earned it,” the commander stated as she walked away. “You know when the next practice is, so until then, stay sharp.” Few acknowledged their commander’s departure, most were just happy to see the exercises end. Rainbow Dash didn’t even bother to try and find a table away from Blaze, opting to just crash down and rest her tired muscles. Blaze, however, seemed less exhausted, though no less eager for water, as he gulped the liquid out of his water bottle. His partner looked at him with surprise. “How the hay did you get so much endurance?” He looked off into the distance. “Compared to Bloodwing, this was a cakewalk.” Flinching at the answer, Rainbow Dash looked for a way to change the subject. “Did you get Light signed up for school?” He nodded. “I had no problems there. Bloodwing at least had the decency to let me keep teaching him things... I guess most of it stuck.” Dash brushed this off. “All classroom stuff is pretty much bunk. He’s about the age to get a cutie mark, then it won’t matter.” Blaze couldn’t help but agree. Light, along with his fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, would graduate in two years. By then, most ponies had their cutie marks, and continued their education however the mark dictated. Most ponies forgot their what they were taught in primary school fairly quickly. “Poor Light... he was like me, abandoned by his parents... never got a chance to go to a real school.” Rainbow Dash blinked. “Abandoned... like you? But...” Blaze looked at her oddly until realization hit. “Oh, you thought we were related? By blood?” “Well, you’ve always called him your brother...” “And he is, ever since we met at that orphanage.” Rainbow looked down at her water, with her eyes never leaving it. She then looked up to Blaze and saw him drink out of his own bottle. “Interesting fact, I gave him his name,” he blurted out when he finished his bottle. Rainbow blinked and looked surprised. “Really? You named him? So you’re saying he never had a name?” Blaze shook his head. “Nah, and an orphan who is not named gets a number... didn’t seem fair to the little colt, so I gave him one.” Rainbow chuckled softly, “That’s kinda awesome.” she said as she too finished her water. “So why does he call you bro?” Blaze spoke the next sentence as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Because he’s my family.” After fiddling with his bottle a bit, he added, “Some of the others said I should be his dad since I named him.” Rainbow Dash’s smile turned sour all of a sudden and she looked down to the ground, eyes narrowed as though she was wanted the grass to die. “Something I said?” he asked her, but before he could get an answer he looked up to the sky. “Oops, need to be off now. Check you next week, partner.” he said as he flew off, leaving behind Rainbow Dash. Rainbow stood up and stretched her legs, feeling a few bones click and she ruffled her feathers. “Better head off too, don’t wanna let my girl come home with nopony to greet her,” she said to herself as she took to the sky. She furrowed her eyebrows, as the thought of him came to her head and she flew faster, trying to get rid of the image. “Stay calm, stay focused. Don’t tense your muscles, just stay relaxed and let the magic flow from you,” Twilight instructed. Spike sat with his flank on the floor, in front of a simply wooden object with three pegs sticking out of it. Around each peg was some weighted discs. “Now, grab the first weight.” Spike concentrated, and his aura surrounded the weight in question. With a small shake, it began rising. “Good, you’re doing great, keep it up!” Slowly, the weight lifted until it was off the peg. “Good, good! Now, float it over to the next peg.” Spike obeyed, the weight moving to its destination. However, it was only halfway there before the aura disappeared and the grip was lost. The weight fell with a clang. “I... I’m sorry, Mom,” Spike blushed, “I just...” “It’s okay, sweetie, you’re still learning,” she assured gently, moving the weight back into place. “And you’re doing very well. Anyway, I think we’re done with levitation for the night.” She lifted the whole thing up and floated it back to the closet it belonged in. “Why don’t we work on your transformation?” “I think I can get even farther this time!” he said confidently. “At least, maybe I can...” He was cut off by the library’s bell ringing. Her ears perking, Twilight turned toward the disturbance. “I’m sorry, the library is...” she began, but stopped when she saw who it was. “Oh, hello Fluttershy.” “Oh, um, hello Twilight... Spike... I’m sorry I was interrupting.” “It’s okay,” the adult unicorn assured. “We can take a break.” “Oh, well, in that case...I need to show you something. It’s kind of important... sort of... if it’s not too much trouble, maybe...” Twilight blinked as she considered. In Fluttershy talk, that was a sign of a serious problem. “Alright Fluttershy, let’s go,” she said, turning to Spike who was doing a bit of magic practice on his own. Twilight smiled softly and sighed, Just like me when I started training under Princess Celestia. “Spike, I’m gonna be out for a for a while now. I prepared supper already in the kitchen,” she said and she gave him a soft kiss on his forehead. “Just don’t overdo with your exercising, ok?” Spike grinned confidently, “I won’t, Mom.” Twilight nodded and smiled, “I’ll be home soon,” she said as she and Fluttershy both left the library. With his mother now gone, Spike focused on the heaviest disc that was refusing to budge no matter how much magic he was putting into it. The sweat he was excreting starting flowing in his eyes and he blinked, with the disc falling to the ground. With its impact it left a slight dent in the floor, seeing as it was very heavy. Spike eyed the disc with eyes as wide as the disc itself and scratched his head, “How does Mom do it?” he asked himself as felt a little drowsy. Spike blinked a few times before heading on to the kitchen and seeing what his mother made him for supper, tomato soup with fresh rye bread and freshly squeezed carrot juice. Inwardly, he sighed. That was one more side effect of his transformation. He could no longer cook and clean for his mother. He couldn’t do a lot of things anymore. Turning from a dragon to a pony robbed him of the ability to do so much, at least until his magic kicked in. Even things like pencils and forks were beyond his use, at least to use well. He felt his face flush. It was so embarrassing. Every other foal his age could function better than him. Twilight had to teach him to use his mouth to write just to get ready for school... a task for her too, since she had grown used to her magic. He had no chores to do anymore, and while most foals dreamed of such a thing, he felt like he was burdening his mother by not helping out. Spike made it to the table and took his dinner that was next to his mother’s, and started slurping on the soup. He lifted his head up and stared at a spoon, trying to lift it with his magic. The aura covered the spoon, but it did not move at all. He gave a heavy sigh and dunked his head back in the soup, finishing it in one go. Once he was done, Spike made his way up to the bathroom and started washing himself off. He cringed at how dirty he got his muzzle seeing as he couldn’t use the utensil that lay next to his supper. Once he was done, he took a look in the mirror and smiled half heartedly, his frustration mixing with his exhaustion. “My reflection finally shows who I am inside, huh?” He thought on this. He had always wanted to be a pony, from the moment he realized that Twilight was different from him. And he still loved that he was like his mother. He loved not getting stared at when in Canterlot, or having to worry about leaving Equestria. But such a major disability was disheartening. Sighing, he walked out, flicking off the lights. Spike walked up to his room, and saw Peewee sitting on his perch eating the seeds that were given to him earlier. Spike slumped his way to his bed and lay his weary body on it, feeling the softness all around him. He looked up to the clock that was in his room and saw it showing only six in the evening, he moaned softly as his eyes closed. “I’ll figure magic out soon... promise,” he groaned as he succumbed to sleep. Much to Twilight’s surprise, Fluttershy insisted on rounding up the other members of their group of friends. Everypony, that is, except Rainbow Dash. Rarity and Applejack had pushed the subject, but the yellow pegasus had refused to say anything about why she was getting them together. Finally, all five of them were walking down the road, Rarity grumbling about being pulled away from her work, and Applejack mumbling something about pineapples. Fluttershy’s cottage lay at the end of the road, seeming normal despite her worried state. “Fluttershy, do you mind telling us what’s going on?” Twilight asked. “You’ve been quiet on this whole thing too long.” “Oh, well... you see, something bad happened today. It’s about Rainbow Dash.” Instantly the group tensed up. It was Rarity who spoke up first. “Goodness, darling, what happened? Was she hurt? Is she alright?” “Oh, she wasn’t in an accident or anything...” There was a sigh of relief. “What in tarnation happened then?” Applejack demanded. Fluttershy placed her hoof on her door handle. “Well... you see, um... maybe I better just show you.” Taking a deep breath, the yellow pegasus opened the door, going inside. “Mister Spectrum, I’m back. I brought the others.” Rainbow Spectrum rose his head from the pillow that he was resting on and saw Fluttershy smiling softly with four shadows behind her. He squinted his eyes and saw the silhouettes of two unicorns and two earth ponies. “Are these Dashie’s friends?” he asked with his voice still hoarse. Fluttershy nodded her head and motioned for the others to follow him in. When all her friends were in the house, she closed the door and turned back to the mares that were standing before the elder stallion. Pinkie Pie zoomed past her friends and nearly smashed her face against Spectrum’s as she was looking curiously at the pegasus. “Ooooooh! You look just like Rainbow Dash!” she said out loud with a wide smile, before tapping her chin and looking away to the roof in thought. “Only difference is your coat is darker, you’re a stallion and your eyes are green. Not to mention you look old enough to be my father!” she spoke with her volume rising slightly, not noticing Spectrum's downward gaze. “Oh oh oh! Are you a fan!? Or are you-” she stopped when she saw the moist eyes and stopped abruptly, landing next to him. “Aww, did I say something bad? I’m sorry, I’m supposed to make ponies smile and laugh, not make them all sad and miserable! My name is Pinkie, by the way, Mister Spectrum, and these are-” She was cut short as she was being pulled away by Applejack, pulling tightly on her tail. When Pinkie was next to them, she let go and spat out the hair from Pinkie’s tail. “Sorry about that, name’s Applejack by the way,” she introduced herself, taking off her signature Stetson hat to Spectrum. Rarity stepped forward and raised her head, swirling her mane in the process. “Good evening to you sir, I am Rarity,” she said as she nodded her head slowly. Twilight simply smiled, “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and who might you be, sir?” she asked him politely, seeing his cautious eyes. Spectrum looked at Fluttershy, who gave a nod, and he swallowed as he cleared his voice. “My name is Rainbow Spectrum, it’s a pleasure meeting you all,” he said, albeit softly, and the others were surprised by his name. Fluttershy walked to her friends, “You see girls, the reason why I called you in here, except for Rainbow... is because he’s... her father...” Rarity leaned in to Fluttershy, “Darling, speak up please. We barely heard what you said.” “Um... he’s her... father.” Twilight shook her head and planted her hoof to her face. “Fluttershy, you can tell us... why are you whispering?” Fluttershy inhaled her breath, but she felt a hoof to her shoulder and turned to see Spectrum stand beside her. He was wobbling a bit, but Fluttershy held onto him to now let him topple over. “What your friend was trying to say is...” he began to speak, and he started to tear up he bit his lower lip. “I am Rainbow Dash’s father...” The mares stood stock still and released a gasp in unison, with their mouths hanging agape. “What?!” Pinkie screamed out loud and made her way to Spectrum, “You’re Rainbow Dash’s daddy?!” He nodded his head weakly. “Yes, I came here to-” “Now hold up,” Applejack said bluntly. “Rainbow told me all about ‘cha.” Everypony looked at her with wide eyes. Spectrum gave a gulp at the cowpony’s glare, trying without success to sink into the couch. Hey eyes were like two green drills going right through him. “S-she did?” he choked out weakly. “You better believe she did,” the cowpony snorted angrily, “What in the hay do ya think yer doin’, comin’ here an’ botherin’ her?” “Applejack, whatever are you talking about?” Rarity demanded. “Don’t keep us in suspense.” “I’m sayin’, this varmint chased his own daughter off. Chased her away in tears and made her run away. An’ now that she’s a success, he’s slitherin’ in like the snake he is, tryin’ to sweet talk us!” “What?” Rarity yelled. Her sentiment was shared by Pinkie as well. Only Fluttershy and Twilight showed any doubt. “Applejack...” Twilight began, but the weak stallion spoke first. “Please... it... it wasn't like that...” “I ain’t hearin’ it! You just best get yerself back where ya came from!” “Applejack...” “And don’t think ye can sweet talk me or anypony else here, neither, I...” Twilight put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. Instantly, the earth pony stopped and looked at her. “Applejack, did it ever occur to you that Rainbow Dash might have a bit of a biased memory on what happened?” The farmer blinked a moment. “Well... I gotta admit, that girl doesn’t always see things right...” she admitted, though with great reluctance. “I say we give him a chance to talk,” the librarian proposed. “At least tell his side of the story before we make a decision.” “...I guess,” Applejack sighed, still glaring at the weak stallion on the sofa. He was looking at Twilight like she was an angel come to his rescue. “But if I don’t like what I hear...” The lavender unicorn waved her off, then turned to Spectrum. “Alright, tell us what happened.” Spectrum readjusted himself on the couch. After a deep breath, he began his story.