//------------------------------//
// The Gift 
// Story: One Bolt, Many Questions 
// by Boltsinger 
//------------------------------//

Three days after Star Swirl's arrival, Twilight, Starlight, and Spike waited at the train station. The Princess of Friendship had gotten word from Rainbow Dash that her friends had ended up in Manehattan, where Boltsinger assisted in the Midsummer Theater Revival, and that the two would be arriving back in Ponyville today. Spike was holding a small box, looking over at Twilight.
Starlight leaned in close to Twilight. “So, you think the trinket will work?” She asked, looking at the box in Spike's claws.
“I think so...” Twilight replied. “Star Swirl and I spent a day and a half working on it, after all.”
After a while longer, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy joined the horned equines and the dragon on the platform, waiting as the train rolled into the station. The doors opened, with ponies disembarking everywhere. The mares looked around, trying to find their Pegasus friends in the crowd.
Behind Pinkie Pie, a voice sounded. “Hi, Pinkie!” It said, causing the party pony to jump excitedly and spin around to greet...
Nopony. Nopony was there.
“WHAT?!” Pinkie squealed, jumping and screaming. “Where is that coming from?!” She landed, looking around in a panic.
Behind Rarity, the voice sounded again. “Hi, Rarity! Tell Fluttershy I said hi, too. I don't wanna scare her.” Rarity looked behind her, trying to find the source.
“Oh, my... Where is all of this coming from?” The fashionista wondered.
Pinkie zoomed over to Rarity, wrapping her forelegs around her friend's. “It's a GHOST!” She shouted, her eyes darting back and forth.
“Oh, Pinkie, I very much doubt it is a ghost.” Rarity informed her. “Otherwise the voice wouldn't sound so familiar!”
“Maybe somepony we know turned into a ghost!” Pinkie began rambling. “Maybe he met with a terrible fate and is haunting us for the rest of our lives because we were horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE friends!”
This time, the voice sounded from behind Applejack. “Let Pinkie know that it's not a ghost, please.” Applejack looked behind her, seeing nopony there.
She chuckled to herself. “All right, Bolt. I'll let her know.” She responded, directing her attention to the panicking pink party pony. “Pinkie, it's not a ghost! It's just Boltsinger!”
Pinkie looked at her not-sure-if-they-were-actually-related-or-not-cousin, unsure of whether or not she was pulling her leg. Applejack gave her a stern look, implying that her friend should know better.
The train whistle blew as the train began to leave the station. After it left, the voice came from above.
“I'm sorry!” It said. “I didn't want to do this to everypony, but Rainbow Dash wouldn't stop bugging me to mess with all of you!”
Boltsinger fluttered down from above and stood in the middle of the group, scratching his head with his wing, lowering his ears, coiling his tail around his flank, and averting his gaze with a sheepish grin. Rainbow Dash followed suit, her hooves on her stomach as she hovered above the group, laughing like a mad mare.
Fluttershy looked at Boltsinger, confused. “What do you mean?” She asked, having been the only pony to not hear the 'disembodied voices'.
Boltsinger explained the very basics of his microphone effect, whipping a pocket of air next to Fluttershy's ear.
“Like this.” She heard, seeming to feel like a whisper. She looked surprised for a second, but giggled, understanding what he meant.
“You should have seen him during the Revival!” Rainbow Dash started. “It was like he was a totally different pony!” Boltsinger blushed a bit, retreating into himself. “He was so serious, confident. He was the whole reason anypony could hear the show!”
Boltsinger chortled nervously, starting to walk out of the station. “I didn't do anything that cool.” He said. “All I did was sit on a roof and flap my wings a bunch.”
Twilight smiled and trotted over to the Pegasus. “Well, no matter how much you did, you still helped a lot of ponies.” She reminded him. “And that's always amazing!” The other mares all nodded and commented in agreement.
“I... guess so.” Boltsinger said, his ears perking up again. “So, how did it go with Star Swirl?”
“Well, we were able to come up with something. I'll tell you more about it later.” She told him.
“Before that, we need to get to Sugar Cube Corner!” Pinkie noted. “We gotta celebrate your 'Welcome-back-to-Ponyville-and-congrats-on-not-flying-away-again' party!”
“Um...” Boltsinger started. “Ooooooookay...” He looked at Pinkie Pie's bouncing form as she started towards the confectionery shop.
Applejack followed behind Pinkie Pie, looking back at the group. “I hope ya don't mind if I bring in some treats from the farm! The way I figure, I can get a supply of apples to the store, and offer up sumthin’ scrumptious at the same time!”
Pinkie smiled back at the other Earth Pony, giggling. “Why would I mind?” She asked. “Those treats are good!”
With a grin, Applejack veered off towards Sweet Apple Acres. Boltsinger looked at the farm pony, wondering what it was even like over there. Something he figured he would see for himself, eventually.
When they reached Sugar Cube Corner, there were already a lot of decorations in place. The proprietors of the establishment, the Cakes, welcomed the guests while their foals played in the corner. It seemed less extravagant than the first party Pinkie threw for him, but it looked nice. Not too complicated.
After a few minutes, there was a galloping sound heard outside, with a rolling behind it. Boltsinger walked over to the door to see a large red Earth Pony stallion with an orange mane and tail cut short, off-yellow hooves, and white freckles at the corners of his green eyes. His Cutie Mark was a big, green apple sliced clean in half, and he wore a yoke around his neck. He lifted various boxes and barrels off of the cart he was pulling, bringing them to the door as Applejack trotted in.
“Howdy, everypony!” Applejack greeted. “I hope ya don't mind, but I brought my siblings along fer the party!” She turned to the orange Pegasus in the room. “Bolt, I'd like you ta meet Big Macintosh,” his attention was directed at the red stallion. “and Apple Bloom!” She held out a hoof, diverting his attention over to a yellow Earth Pony filly with a bright red mane and tail and orange eyes. Her Cutie Mark featured a three-tone pink shield that had a smaller image of a big purple apple with a pink heart squarely in the middle of it.
“Hi, Bolt!” Apple Bloom said first, running up to Boltsinger. “It's a pleasure to meet ya!” She picked up one of Boltsinger's hooves with her forelegs and shook rapidly, not giving the stallion any time to respond. “So, I hear you got a real inerestin' Cutie Mark! Can I see it? Pleeeeeease?” she looked at the Pegasus with big, pleading eyes.
Applejack bit onto her sister's tail and pulled her away from the somewhat bewildered pony. “Apple Bloom! You know better than to ask those questions right when you meet somepony!” She looked sternly at her sister. “Ya gotta give 'im some space before ya start talkin’ ‘bout Cutie Marks 'n such!”
Big Macintosh walked in at a leisurely pace, nodding to the Pegasus stallion as he mozied on by. He pulled a small wagon behind him, full of apple muffins, apple fritters, apple pies, applesauce, baked apples, caramel apples, and a moderately-sized apple cake. Boltsinger looked at the red pony and nodded in return.
While the farm ponies were setting up the contents of the wagon, Boltsinger walked over next to the other stallion.
“So, you're Applejack's brother, right?” Boltsinger asked, picking up plates and putting them on the table.
“Eeyup.” Big Macintosh replied.
“Younger brother?”
“Nnope.”
“Twin brother?”
“Nnope.”
“Older brother?”
“Eeyup.”
“Got a nickname?”
“Eeyup.”
“Big Mac?”
“Eeyup.”
“Mind if I call you that?”
“Nnope.”
“Cool.” Boltsinger nodded, a chilled out look on his face.
“Eeyup.” Big Mac followed suit.
The mares all looked at the stallions, looking back and forth between them. Surprised at how easily they got acquainted.
Applejack chuckled to herself, sighing happily. “Boys, right?” The other mares laughed in kind.
Once the Apple siblings had set up their contribution, Pinkie turned on a phonograph, starting up some upbeat party music. A few measures in, various heads in the room started bobbing with the beat, including Twilight, Fluttershy, Apple Bloom, and Boltsinger. Through the small celebration, there were various party games set up, including, but not limited to, Pin the Tail on the Pony.
After a number of songs were done and the food was mostly eaten, the Alicorn in the room came up to the Pegasus Pinkie planned the party for, lifting a little box out of Spike's claws with her magic and floating it in the air in front of her.
“So, Boltsinger?” She began, getting his attention from his rather one-sided conversation with Big Mac. “I have something for you.”
Boltsinger looked at the Alicorn, seeing her smiling face and bringing up the corners of his mouth in turn. “Oh?” He said. “What kind of 'something'?”
Twilight floated the box over to her purple-eyed friend. “This kind of 'something'.” She informed him. “Star Swirl and I worked non-stop for a day and a half on this.” She opened the box, revealing a white crystal pendant in the shape of a lightning bolt, lined with topaz in the shape of further electrical discharge. Boltsinger's eyes grew wide as the necklace was presented to him, but then his face shifted to one of confusion.
“This is really nice, but... What on earth is it for?” He asked.
Twilight dropped the box, instead holding the pendant in the air, rotating it between her and Boltsinger. “This pendant was made using the electricity you gave off when Star Swirl activated the magic in your wings, mixed with a little bit of the magic inside the map you were standing on.”
Boltsinger leaned in and took a close look at it, seeing a bit of lightning surging through it.
“Of course, I added the gems to accentuate the electrifying appeal!” Rarity added. “It took soooo long to get the topaz just right!”
“It's not just meant to look good, either.” Twilight continued, putting the pendant on Boltsinger. “The combination of the magics inside it will allow us to track you on the map the next time your side of the magic kicks in!” She stood on her hind legs, spreading her wings and forelegs with her face lit up in excitement.
Boltsinger's gaze drifted towards the object now hanging from his neck. An electric spark flashed in his eyes, and he looked back and forth between all of the ponies in the room, finally fixing his eyes on Twilight.
“So, you're saying that no matter where these wings might take me, you’ll always know where I arrive at?” he inquired. “I'll always have a way home?!” Twilight nodded, not breaking her current pose. Boltsinger smiled wide, flapping his wings absurdly hard and diving into Twilight, hugging her tightly. “THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!” He flew out the door with the Alicorn in his arms, feeling her return the embrace and doing loops in the sky above Ponyville, twisting in the air as they rose upward with Boltsinger's flight trail following behind them, until stopping in the air above the castle. Boltsinger hung in the air a bit as the embrace broke, spreading his wings and all four of his legs out, lightning shooting out of the tips of his feathers in multiple directions. “YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYES!!!” He shouted, the sound carrying all through Ponyville.
Twilight hovered in the air, looking at the ecstatic stallion and laughing with joy. The lightning surrounding the Pegasus faded as he began to hyperventilate, fluttering back down to the ground where the other ponies and the dragon looked up at the two.
Boltsinger cleared his throat as he and Twilight landed. He sat on the ground and scratched his head with his wing. “Ummm... Sorry about that...” Everypony in the group simply laughed out loud.