• Published 5th Apr 2013
  • 10,704 Views, 647 Comments

Halcyon Hearts - TheMyth



After going through so much, it's nice to have some quiet times. But quiet does not mean uneventful. Even in times of peace, ponies change, ponies grow, and ponies learn...

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Chapter 2

Time stood still for a few moments. Rainbow Dash looked at her father, Rainbow Spectrum looked at his daughter, and Fluttershy looked for what she hoped was the fastest way out.

But no amount of planning could have saved her, because it was her that Rainbow Dash turned on first.

What in Tartarus is he doing here?!” She demanded, looking angrier than Fluttershy had ever remembered seeing her. The voice had raised to a volume so loud, Fluttershy had to wonder if it was being heard in Canterlot.

“Um...I...I found him...um, outside Ponyville, and...he said he was...looking for you...”

And you brought him right to me? Shy, what were you thinking?

“Well, um... technically I brought you to him...” Rainbow Dash’s glare told her that arguing technicalities might get her smacked. Her friend had never physically hurt her, ever, but she looked mad enough at that moment to break her promise.

“Dashie...” Spectrum said weakly. “I came to...”

Save it!” She yelled, shooting a look so dirty that the Apple farm’s pigs would be repulsed by it. The stallion immediately closed his mouth, tears welling in his eyes.

As she shot her glare, Rainbow Dash finally bothered to actually look at her father. And, much to her surprise, her anger lifted somewhat. He looked frail, sickly. She remembered her father being a reasonably well built stallion, but now he looked like a stiff breeze could break his ribs. His face was far more wrinkled than she remembered, even taking into account the years that passed, and each stripe in his mane was greying, even further than his age. She strongly suspected he had been filthy when Fluttershy found him.

Still, the cyan mare found her anger again, although this time it was much more restrained. “Fifteen years. You had all that time to make things right, and you wait until now to just walk on into town and try to kiss up to me? Are you kidding?”

Spectrum gulped, but managed to speak again. “Please, Dashie, let me explain...”

“Explain what? That after all this time, you’re showing up after I’m a national hero? After I got into the Wonderbolts... that’s right, I did it, no thanks to you... and now you want to make things right?”

“I-it isn’t like that, really!”

“Yeah, I’ll bet.” She turned to Fluttershy. “If you really want to keep this idiot here, be my guest, but I better not see him again.” With that, Rainbow flew out of the house at a speed that nearly created a Sonic Rainboom.

Fluttershy placed a hoof to her muzzle, hovering over the window her friend just flew out of and looking into the sky where a trail of rainbow was left behind. The shattering of glass alerted her senses and she turned sharply to see Spectrum limping to the window.

“Oh no!” she gasped and flew to Spectrum’s side, holding him. “Please sir, you have to get back into bed now.”

Spectrum, though weak and frail he was, still tried to push past Fluttershy. “I have... I have to tell her... how sorry... I...” he could not finished the words, as he coughed violently, not bothering to cover his mouth in the process. Feeling he was not going to get past the kind pegasus, he submitted and was lead back to couch that acted as a bed for him.

Fluttershy quickly flew to the kitchen and poured another glass of water, hurrying over to the wheezing stallion. “Here,” she said as she gave him the water, which he finished in one gulp. She heard him let out a sigh and rested his weary head to the couch’s arm rest. “I will get the other bed ready for you.”

Spectrum just looked at the ceiling, with red eyes and biting his lower lip. “She hates me...”

“Pardon?”

“She hates me so much... but I deserve it after a-”

“No!” Spectrum turned to Fluttershy, who he saw stood over him and looked at him with narrowing eyes. “Rainbow is my best friend, and she could never hate a family member, ever! Especially her father!”

Spectrum blinked, “But-”

“No ‘Buts’, sir!” she exclaimed, with him nodding his head furiously. Fluttershy eyes rounded as she smiled kindly. “I know Rainbow can be stubborn at times, and even boastful. But I know how caring she can be. She is the most loyal friend anypony can ever have. She is also one of the best mothers I have ever met, you won’t believe how-”

Spectrum’s eyes shrank, with his jaw dangling agape. “M-mother?!”

“Oh, yes. She has a little daughter. It’s so sweet the way she’s so protective of her...”

“She’s only in her early twenties, and she’s taking care of an infant by herself?”

“What? Oh, no, Scootaloo just turned ten...”

“What?!”


Twilight tossed a few bits to the two pegasus stallions that had pulled her chariot back to Ponyville as Spike pulled out his saddlebags, weighed down with the spoils his extended family had given him.

“I don’t see the workers here, so the extra room must be finished. I know you’re looking forward to having your own room.”

“Yeah!” The colt said happily as he ran for the door. Or at least, what passed for running with the weight he was being forced to carry.

As soon as the door was opened, he dashed up the stairs, past his mother’s bedroom door and to a brand new one, flinging it open.

Inside was his own room, for the very first time. A simple single bed with a bedside table, a bookshelf lined with junior novels and comic books, and a writing desk were all the furniture that decorated it at the moment. A simple circular rug was on the floor, and a window covered with the usual purple drapes was on one side. A closet was off to the side, but the only thing currently in it was his tuxedo, which he was no longer able to wear now that he was a pony.

“Put everything you got in Canterlot in its proper place, now please.”

Spike rolled his eyes, but he began doing as he was told. Living with Twilight meant everything had a proper place, so he resignedly began his work. His writing set was placed in a drawer in his desk, his armor and hoofball gear in a box in his closet. A few new books went onto his shelf. Soon he was unpacked.

Glancing around his room one final time, he went back downstairs, where his mom was unpacking.

“Can I go out and see my friends?”

She nodded. “Of course, just be back before sundown for magic training.”

Spike trotted towards her, and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Will do, Mom,” he told her, and he saw her smiling broadly. He began to gallop out the door, but he stopped. An idea came to him. He dashed back upstairs to his room. After about five minutes, he raced back down, wearing his armor.

Twilight rolled her eyes, but a smile crossed her features just the same. “Going to show your armor off?”

He nodded. “Yeah! It looks so cool!”

“Well, you better be careful. If a filly sees you in that, you’ll probably end up with a fillyfriend by the end of the day,” she winked.

Red showed on Spike’s face. “Uh, well... Igottagobye!”

Twilight giggled softly as she smiled broadly watching her son run off. She turned back to unpacking the rest of her items and placing them in their proper order before heading to a perch where Owlicious was sitting at.

“So I take it everything went well here?”

The owl looked at her with unblinking eyes, “Hoo.”

Twilight nodded as she tried to understand, “So I take it as a yes?”

Owlicious nodded, “Hoo.”

Twilight let out a sigh before looking at him and patting his head affectionately, “That’s good to hear, where’s Peewee?”

Just as she asked that question, a phoenix came flying down to another perch next to Owlicious’. Peewee had grown exceptionally during the months he lived with Spike and Twilight. A pony would often mistake it for being Princess Celestia’s pet phoenix, Philomena. Though Spike was one of the few who could easily distinguish the phoenix apart from others, seeing as he raised the bird.

“Oh hi there Peewee, hope you’re well, too,” Twilight spoke to the inferno bird, with it nodded its head furiously. Twilight reached out a hoof to pat it, but as soon as she touched Peewee, a jet of flame shot out of the phoenix’s beak. Once the fire streak ended, Peewee flew off, no doubt looking for Spike.

Twilight opened her eyes and blinked twice, with her head being numb from being charred. Though it wasn’t serious, strands of hair did turn to ash and she furrowed her eyebrows and scrunched her lips.

“Still need to work up to his trust circle, I see,” she noted to herself, with her ears turning to a source of laughter coming from Owlicious. She turned to see him hanging from his perched, flapping his wings and giving off a laughter that suited an old stallion’s cackle.

Twilight rolled her eyes as she walked past, heading upstairs. “Laugh it off will you,” she told him as he continued. “Watch the library for about an hour. I need to wash up,” she ordered him, but the rest of her hair turned to ash that fell to the ground and the owl laughter’s volume rose beyond expectionations. “Make that three hours...”


Spectrum lay on Fluttershy’s couch, weeping, both out of relief and out of sadness. It was a joy hearing that his daughter hadn’t gotten pregnant as a teenager, but on the other hoof...

“My foal...my little foal went through all that? And my granddaughter...I wasn’t there to help protect her.”

“Sir, please, there was nothing you could do...”

“I missed it,” he wailed, cutting her off. “I missed my daughter becoming a mother.” He attempted to stand back up. “I have to find her, I...”

Fluttershy pushed her patient back onto his makeshift bed. “None of that, now. The condition I found you in, you shouldn’t be walking for another week, let alone flying.”

“But I need to...” he began, but Fluttershy cut him off with her trademark Stare. He winced and lay back down.

“Rest,” she commanded gently. “You’ll never be able to make it up to her if you get yourself killed.”

She felt his forehead. His fever was beginning to climb. “Oh, dear. Angel, get me a warm washcloth.”

Angel, who had been on his back munching an extra large carrot, moaned but did as he was told. As the bunny hopped off, Fluttershy turned back to Spectrum.

“I’ll get the rest of Dash’s friends, and you can talk to them all. They’ll help you with your daughter.”

Spectrum groaned, looking at Fluttershy with pleading eyes. “Can you get them now? Please?”

The yellow pegasus shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere until you cool off... and until you’ve had another meal. You need to get more nourishment in you if you're going to get back on your hooves.”

The stallion just sighed. “Every second I’m here, Dashie is just getting madder and madder.”

“Now don’t say that. I bet she’s actually starting to regret walking out on you right now.”


Rainbow Dash had run out of clouds to kick. She regretted being so fast at her work for the first time. Groaning, she sat in a branch of one of Applejack’s apple trees and looked into the sky, lost in thought.

She had been expecting it. She was a hero of Equestria, after all, her picture had been in the papers. She knew her father would come to her, trying to act like everything was just one big misunderstanding to get in her good graces.

She tensed up. Would he try getting to Scootaloo too? Buttering her up... she wouldn’t put it past him. Well, if he harassed her daughter, he’d regret it, she’d make him regret it.

She bit her lower lip, as another thought came to her mind. What if he was just acting, so that he could just take her away from everything that she has gained? Her friends, her daughter, even her dream of being a Wonderbolt? She looked up to the skies, narrowing her eyes.

“There’s no way anypony will take me away from my friends or my daughter, not even him...” she thought out loud to herself, her last word dripping in venom. She laid back on the tree, closing her eyes slowly. As she did, she tried to think of happy thoughts. How her friends always cheered her up, how Scootaloo was so full of energy and determination as she was, how the Wonderbolts accepted her to their ranks.

Her eyes shot open as the Wonderbolts came to her mind, “Oh horse apples! I’m suppose to be at a meeting today!” she said out loud, jumping off the tree and flying off to the academy.


Spike walked to the clubhouse, where the rest of his friends most likely were at. He reached the Cutie Mark Crusaders clubhouse that was near the apple acres, and heard the voices inside. He recognized the voices as fillies; most likely Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

“Hello?” He entered the clubhouse, and saw something he hadn’t expected to see. The club’s podium was out, and Apple Bloom was standing in front of it. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, the other two founding members, were sitting in the seats in front of it. Light, who had joined at the same time he had, was sitting next to his fellow pegasus. But next to him was another pony.

“Spike? Is that you?” Pip noted. Even if Spike hadn’t seen him, his thick Trottingham accent would have given him away. “What th’ blazes are you wearin’?”

“My Uncle Shiny got me this armor for saving the Crystal Empire,” he said, standing at attention despite his surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m th’ newest member. Tis me initiation.”

“Spike,” Light cut in, “what are you doing wearing that? You look ridiculous.”

The former dragon huffed. “I do not. Do I? Sweetie, do I look silly? ...Sweetie?”

At that point, the colts noticed something. The fillies hadn’t said a word since he came in. Not that they hadn’t noticed him. To the contrary, they seemed quite intent on watching him. Closely.

“Uh... girls?”

The three shook out of their stupor. “Wha...? Sorry, Spike,” Apple Bloom muttered, red coloring her cheeks. “It was just... a surprise to see you dressed like that.”

“See?” Light boasted. “I told you you looked silly.”

Spike’s ears drooped. “Maybe I should take it off...”

“No!” Sweetie said quickly. “You should... uh, wear it to initiate Pip! It’ll be just like a real knighting!”

“Yeah,” Scootaloo said slowly, her cheeks matching Apple Bloom and Sweetie’s. “It’ll look better.”

Spike perked up. He trotted to the front of the room with a faux regal air, stopping in front of the podium. Just as he was doing this, Peewee flew in from one of the clubhouse windows, coming to rest safely on his master’s back.

“Peewee!” Sweetie said happily, getting up to pet the phoenix.

“Don’t... not if you value your hair,” he told her as he looked behind him and saw Peewee resting on his back. “Mom’s still having problems with him.”

“Cool! ‘Owed you get a phoenix for a pet?” Pip asked.

“I saved him from some dragons...” he began, but he suddenly remembered he was talking to the newest member. “Wait, how’d you get into the Crusaders?”

“Well, it started the day after you left...”


Morning in Ponyville shimmered and shined, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, minus Spike, were happily heading to the clubhouse to organize the day’s events.

“I got a letter from Babs,” Apple Bloom said. “She says the east coast Cutie Mark Crusaders are startin’ up real nice.”

“Cool. Maybe this summer both branches can meet and...”

They were cut off by a pebble hitting Scootaloo in the forehead. The pegasus winced, putting her hoof to her forehead. “Hey!”

Sure enough, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were the one’s responsible. “Your cousin might have been a blank flank, but she knew how to keep you losers in your place!”

“You better not have left a mark!” Scootaloo warned.

“Why? At least you’ll have a mark somewhere!”

Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed and she took a nearby pebble and was ready to throw it at her target, but a hoof stopped her.

“Don’t, Scootaloo. She’s not worth it,” Light told her as he held her hoof, but let go quickly when she starred at it not with angry eyes but rather bewildered ones.

Diamond Tiara just snickered, “Yeah, listen to your loser of a coltfriend.”

Light turned to her with his eyebrows furrowed, “I got three words for ponies like you. Get a life.”

Scootaloo snorted and she laughed out loud, followed with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom joining in.

Silver Spoon fidgeted her hooves as she saw Diamond Tiara’s face becoming red like a tomato. “Why you little reject! I don’t need to listen to the words of an unwanted colt.”

The laughter died almost immediately. The fillies of the Cutie Mark Crusaders knew that this was a low blow to Light, but all Light did was roll his eyes.

“That’s really getting old, you know?”

“Well, I’m not finished yet!”

Apple Bloom walked up and pushed Light and the others back, “Everypony, let’s just go. Diamond Tiara never learns...”

Diamond Tiara chuckled wickedly, “At least you have a brain, unlike the rest of your family that is.”

Apple Bloom stood silent and slowly turned to Diamond Tiara, with her eyes showing fire. “Repea’ th’t again?”

“I said-”

“Oi! Leave now ye uneducated snob!”

The attention of all the ponies turned to a small earth pony colt, who was glaring at Diamond Tiara. He walked up in front of Apple Bloom and never left his gaze upon.

“What you say to me, you dirty fly?!”

“Go gaffe, yeh gormless hag.”

Diamond Tiara’s mouth hung open and she scratched her head, with her eyebrow arched.

Pip sighed and rolled his eyes, “Go home, you dumb hag!”

Diamond Tiara lips constricted when she heard the Cutie Mark Crusaders laughing at her, “You better shut up shorty!”

Pip grinned, “How original of a tosser,” he responded, and heard the laughter from the Cutie Mark Crusaders growing louder.

Silver Spoon walked up to Diamond Tiara and grabbed her shoulder, “Tiara, let’s just go,” she told her in a hushed tone.

“Fine!” she said and began to walk away, “Until next time you blank flanks!” she shouted out as she and her friend galloped away.

Pip sighed and he turned around, “Do they always do that?”

The Cutie Mark Crusader nodded their heads, “Yeah, it’s gettin’ really annoying. Like crows in the cornfield,” Apple Bloom remarked as she one time chased away crows during corn harvest.

Light walked up to Pip, “You’re not from Ponyville, are you?”

“Nay, I’m from Trottingham.”

“Cool. Name’s Light,” he reached out a hoof and bumped it with Pip’s

“Philip Willheart, but everypony calls me Pip or Pipsqueak.”

Apple Bloom came forward, “Thanks fer helpin’ us out there,” she said to him, and giggled softly as he turned away with his cheeks burning slightly.

“We-Well, those tossers need to learn,” he said dismissively. “Well then, adieu,” he began to walk away from the group.

“Wait!” Apple Bloom ran to him and held onto his shoulder, “Why not hang out with us?”

Pip blinked as he stared at her with a blank face, “I thought it was members only?”

Apple Bloom looked back at her friends who nodded as though they knew what she was thinking. “Well, I thought of something...”


“.. and that’s how I got invited,” he finished his story and saw Spike nod his head.

“That’s cool, well then... let’s begin,” he said as Pip rushed back to the back of the room, where the other members were sitting.

Spike cleared his throat, then spoke in as masculine a voice as he could manage. “Pip, come forward!”

Pip took a gulp and trotted forward to Spike, feeling a few beads of sweat roll down his head. He saw the others looking on in anticipation, which added to his nervousness. Once he reached Spike, he saw the unicorn draw out a sword and held it with his mouth.

“Bow, Pip,” he ordered Pip to do so, and he saw Pip kneeling down with his head lowered. “Do you, Pipsqueak, take the symbol of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in honour and valour?”

“I do.”

“And will you uphold the values of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, to help those who have not yet earned their cutie marks to achieve their destinies?”

“I do.”

Spike tapped the sword on his two shoulders, “Then rise,” he told Pip, which he had done. “It is by the decision of the council to grant you the sacred mantle of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sweetie Belle, if you will,” he asked her, but only hear silence. “Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie Belle was staring with glittering eyes at Spike, with a smile forming on her mouth that stood slightly agape. “Sweetie!” she shook her head after she felt her rib cage being nudged by Apple Bloom.

“Sorry!” she whispered and rushed to Spike, holding a parcel in her teeth that she gave to Spike’s outstretched hoof. She caught a quick glimpse of his green eyes looking at her, and she turned away as her cheeks turned red. She backed away from Spike and took her seat next to Apple Bloom, who she heard giggling uncontrollably. “Shush!” she hissed at the earth pony and looked down fiddling with her hooves.

Spike coughed slightly to regain his muscular voice, “Pipsqueak, from this moment on... you are officially a Cutie Mark Crusader!” Spike finished after he gave Pip the cape and saw him put it on.

A round of applause came from all the ponies in the room, and Pip was left standing there wearing a broad smile as he looked around and back at his cape that bore the colt symbol of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Apple Bloom decided to walk up and dismissed Spike and Pip, who took seats with the other ponies. “Now then, onto other matters now...”

Sweetie Belle sat next to Spike, and eyed his armor thoroughly. “That was really cool back there, Spike,” she whispered to him as Apple Bloom continued talking.

Spike looked at Sweetie and took off his helmet, with a soft blush forming. “Thanks hey, though I guess the stallion voice wasn’t that catching.”

A smile crept slowly on Sweetie’s muzzle, “To me it was...” she whispered softer.

“Sorry?”

“N-nothing!” she blushed.

“So, all in favor?” Apple Bloom’s voice cut into the conversation.

The two unicorns suddenly realized they had missed what Apple Bloom proposed. Seeing the others raising their hooves, they quickly raised theirs as well.

“Then it’s decided!” the farmfilly said happily. “We’re gunna try apple farmin’ as our next cutie mark!”

“...Huh?”


“I’m gonna make it! I’m gonna make it! I’m gonna make it!”

Rainbow Dash breathed heavily as she flew closer to the Training Camp. She was grateful that this wasn’t a uniformed meeting, she didn’t have to waste time changing, and every second counted.

In a flash, she was above the camp, and in another, she was at the ceremony area. The others were already lined up, and Rainbow Dash got in her place just as Spitfire came up to inspect them.

“Alright, rookies, listen up,” the scratchy voiced pegasus began. “You have all performed admirably on your exams. And even though we’ve had some unfortunate experiences, you are all ready to move on to the next stage of your training.”

After clearing her throat, she continued. “Starting today, you will be partnered into pairs. Your partner will not be subservient to you, nor will they be greater than you. You will be equals. I don’t care if you don’t like your partner. I don’t care if your partner does not like you. From this point on, the two of you must act, fly, and combat as a single unit. Personal squabbles, and quests for glory, have no place among you any longer. The safety of Equestria is in your hands, rookies. Now, when I call your name, step forward!”

Her assistant hoofed over a clipboard. She looked at the first grouping. “Snowflake and... Thunderlane.”

The two ponies stepped forward, paired off, and went to one side. Spitfire returned to her list. “Cloudchaser and Skyblazer.” Again, they paired off. And so it went, until there were only three left.

Rainbow Dash blinked. Three? How did that...

“Lightning Dust and Cloudkicker,” Spitfire announced, with the two ponies coming forward, the latter not looking happy and the latter looking apologetic.

Rainbow Dash looked around, then back to her commanding officer. Just as she was about to speak, Spitfire cut her off. “Yes, Private, I have a partner for you, a special one in fact. See, we got a late recruit, but he’s more than deserving of his rank.”

At this, she turned her head back. “Hey, newbie! Front and center!”

Rainbow looked to her side with a smile, though the smile soon turned upside down seeing who it was. Her eyes nearly popped out of her sockets and her mouth left agape.

“Yo! Blaze Stream reporting for duty, ma’am!”

“W-what?!”