//------------------------------// // chapter 12 // Story: serenity under the night sky // by flutterguy54123 //------------------------------// Chapter 12 The next morning Thunder wakes up. Looking down to his foals he sighs. Slowly he sits up ,and levitates his journal with a quill to his side. Before he begins writing he turns his gaze back to his son and daughter. In a voice barely louder than a whisper he begins speaking to himself. “What did I ever do that would make me worthy of these two fantastic foals? It is hard to believe that they were alone for two years. As long as I’m their father nothing bad will ever happen to them.” Celestia emerges from the shadows with a smile on her face. In much the same manner her son is speaking she begins talking. “When the guards informed me that they were not in their rooms I had a guess they were in here. Thunder why do these foals mean so much to you? I'll accept them into the family ,but do you even know how hard it is to be a parent? Almost your whole life you have never wanted to be near any foals and now you have two of your own. Things do not exactly add up.” Thunder remains silent ,but nods in response. Being very careful not to disturb them the prince manages to leave the bed. With a burgundy aura he teleports Celestia and himself to the room. Waiting for them Lucien looks up as he feels the magical energy entering the room. With a flash of light his son and wife materialize. Not giving anypony a chance to talk Thunder begins speaking. “I've been keeping a secret from the two of you for a long time. Thanks to Aunt Luna it has remained a secret ,but it is time that you knew. Every time we acquire a new physician I go and visit them hoping for a different result. The reason I never talked about having foals of my own is not cause I hate them. Quite on the contrary I love seeing their smiling face's and cheerful attitude. For the past two years I have been trying to adopt. I held all meeting during the night and never opened my mail during the day. You have know idea how hard it is to keep a secret from the two of you. Any ways the reason I have been trying to adopt is..... well......” Tears start coming to the off white prince's eyes ,but he continues. “I.... I'm sterile. Being around filly's and colt's was always to painful knowing I can never have any of my own. But when I met Scootaloo and Butterscotch I couldn't help myself. I knew they were the right foals for me. Mother in my room you asked me if I have what it takes to be a parent ,well to tell you the truth I don't know. I just hope not to screw up to bad.” With tears streaming down their faces Celestia and Solaris trots over to their son ,and holds him in her embrace. After a few moments Thunder stands up ,and with a soft voice excuses himself. When her son makes his departure Celestia turns to her husband. “Why would he never tell us about this? Maybe if we had known we could have found a way to fix it.” Celestia stops speaking as she sees the stone cold look Lucien's face. In a deep voice he begins speaking. “He never told us because he was ashamed to. He thought we would cast him out. Strip him of his status in society. Maybe even disown him. He loves serving his country ,and he would never do anything to jeopardize that. Even when he had run away he did all of his royal duties true some were almost late ,but he never wavered. Celestia there is something you should know. While he was gone he never blocked me from his thoughts. He fell in love. True love.” Shock comes to the princess's face when she hears this. “Lucien he never blocked you! Who is his true love I must meet my future daughter in-law.” The prince sighs and his ears flatten to his face. Knowing that Celestia would never approve of their sons love he begins speaking. “My beautiful wife you know not what you ask. To know her name would spell devastation on her, you, and our son. I suggest that you let him tell you himself ,but when he does do not be to hard on him. He may be a father but he is still young in the maters of love.” the solar princess nods her head agreeingly. In Thunder's room Scootaloo begins waking up. Lifting her head she sees her father poring over a map working feverishly. “Um dad.... what are you doing?” Thunder jumps at the unexpected sound ,but quickly regains his composure. “Good morning angle I was just putting some finishing touches on the weather for tomorrow. I figured if I finished it fast then you and Butterscotch could join me on a little field trip to Cloudsdale.” The little filly's ears fall flat. “Um..... actually every Friday I meet the girls ,and we go crusading.” Scootaloo winces expecting him to get mad. “Oh.... yes, that is something we need to talk about. Like I told the guards earlier I will be putting a limit to how dangerous your adventure's are. What are you going to be doing today?” The little princess begins thinking. “Um...... I think bungee jumping. That or exploring the Everfree Forest since we didn't get to last week.” A smile comes to Thunder's face as he continues working. “Well well quite the adventure you have planed there. I will allow you to do both ,but a guard must be close by just in case something goes wrong.” Finally finishing his work Thunder turns around to face his daughter. “Scootaloo do you want me to make your horn invisible or would you like to tell your friends the truth? Nopony knows your true identity if you want it to stay that way I understand. Just remember even though you can do something doesn't mean you should. Besides don't you think your friends would like to see where you live ,and what about when you want a sleepover?” Silence falls across the room with the exception of Butterscotch's snoring. After about a minute Scootaloo begins speaking. “So you think I should tell them. I... I don't know what if they wont like me any more?” A soft compassionate smile comes to Thunder's face as he speaks. “My little princess if they like you now why wouldn't they like you after they knew the truth. Even if that is the case then they were never truly your real friends. The reason I suggested that they know is because it is always hurts to lie to those you care about. Take it from me I have plenty of experience.” The little filly nods her head. The snoring suddenly stops when Scootaloo jumps off the bed. Not paying her brother any mind she continues the conversation. “Dad, will you go with me?” Thunder trot over and gives his daughter a hug. “Of course I will if you want me to. Now that every pony's awake how about some breakfast?” Butterscotch gets off the bed and gallops to his father. “FOOD!” The tall prince looks down to his son remembering to talk to him about galloping in the house. Tuning to face his daughter he begins speaking. “Scootaloo you can go on but I need to talk to your brother for a moment.” The little filly nods ,and leaves the room. Turning to his son Thunder begins explaining proper house rules. In the dining room a little filly sits and quietly eats her breakfast when her brother and father enter the room. With a little colt on his back Thunder begins speaking. “Hello angle what did you decide to eat?” The little filly looks down at her plate. “Cereal. What are you and Butterscotch gonna eat.” The little colt jumps of his father's back and exclaims “I'm gonna have Ice-cweam!” Thunder rolls his eyes ,then looks down at his son. Thinking fast he searches through the menu for something that wont make the little colt hyper. “No your going to eat something less sugary. How about......” Thunder is cut of by the colt. “Hayfwies!” Knowing he is getting know where with the conversation Thunder orders two bowls of cereal. After finishing their breakfast Thunder motions for one of the guards to bring his saddle bag. When the guard arrives the tall prince levitates his crown off his head ,and places it in the bag. Turning to his foals he repeats the action. With his horn still glowing he makes their horns turn invisible. Seeing this the guard jumps back in shock. With every thing ready a ball of pure magic surrounds the prince and he reverts back to his unicorn self. Thunder glances over to the guard and begins speaking. “My foals and I will be visiting Ponyville. Nopony is to know we are there. Inform the crusading guards and we will meet you by The Everfree Forest.” Without waiting for an answer Thunder teleports his foals and himself away. In Ponyville two very inpatient filly’s wait in their clubhouse. Taping her hoof on the ground the little red maned farmer begins speaking. “Well where is she? She ain’t ever been this late. Yu don't think sum'm happened t' her do yu?” The white little unicorn rolls her eyes. “No she probably just forgot it was Friday. You know how forgetful she is.” The yellow earth pony starts pacing back and forth. “Maybe we should go see Twilight. Ad least there we can read sm' books ,or look at the pictures.” The white unicorn looks out the window and gasps. She's finally here ,and she's with Blade! I hope he can spend the day with us again that was fun! Even if Scootaloo got hurt.” The red maned farmer sighs in relief. “Well it's about time we been waitin fer hours.” The white unicorn rolls her eyes again. Galloping out of their club house the little filly’s approach the small family. Coming up to the the yellow earth pony starts to talk only to get a hoof in her mouth. Looking at her friends Scootaloo begins speaking. “Girls I need to tell you something ,but I don't want you to be mad at me.” Her friends nod their heads. “For a long time I've been lieing to you. Me and my brother was orphans ,but recently we've been adopted. By..... the prince he made us alicorns and now were prince and princess's.” A funny looking grin comes to the two crusader's face's as they bust out in laughter. Barely able to say a word Applebloom begins speaking. “It's alright if yr late but yu don't half t' makeup a story like that. We understand if yu got held up.” Shaking his head Thunder makes their horns visible. Squinting through tears the little filly's stop laughing. Seeing the two alicorns they immediately begin bowing and asking for forgiveness. Scootaloo lets out a huff. “Girls don't ever bow to me! I'm still just your regular old friend.” The white unicorn slowly stands up and begins speaking in a very quiet squeaky voice. “Sorry Scoot.... Princess. We didn't mean to insult you.” Scootaloo groans and starts to speak only to receive a tap on the shoulder from her father who is holding her tiara. “Throw it you'll be surprised how much it helps. I usually start every month by throwing my crown out the nearest window. True you will need to retrieve it but it's worth it.” Taking his suggestion Scootaloo takes her tiara and chunks it as far as she can. Seeing this the two filly's give her a look of confusion as to why a student would have a crown. Noticing their reaction Blade turns back to Thunder. The two filly’s mouth's drop when he finishes the transformation. Trotting by them Thunder pays know mind ,and tries to find his daughter's tiara. After about three minutes of silence Thunder finds the needle in the haystack ,or in this case the small tiara in the field. Picking it up he notices a small dent on the side and begins speaking. “Congratulations you dented it! It took me four tries to acquire a dent this nice. To bad it has to be removed.” With his magic the prince molds the figure back to its former state of perfection. Placing it in his bag he trots back over to the group. Scootaloo looks up at him and begins speaking. “You really don't like having a crown do you?” Thunder shakes his head no the turns his gaze back to the crusaders. “Girls, Scootaloo just wants you to know the truth. It's hard to lie to pony's that you really care about. I trust that you will keep this a secret know matter what. Oh and I don't think she will hold it against you if you just call her by her first name. Now I have potential Wonderbolts to addition so I must be going good luck with your crusading and stay safe.” After finishing his sentence he makes Scootaloo's and Butterscotch's horn turn invisible. With a happy smile on his face he fly's off toward Cloudsdale. While flying over Ponyville Thunder sees The Carousal Boutique and decides to stop by. Popping on his crown he lands right outside the door. Looking around he notices at the very least twenty pony's staring at him. Pleased with the amount he turns and enters the fashion shop. With the ding from the bell above the door a White unicorn mare trots into the foyer. With a wide smile she begins speaking ,but stops when she sees her customer. Raising an eyebrow she brings a harsh tone to her voice. “What do you want? Last I heard you were going to live in a castle with your new foals ,and you were leaving Twilight out in the dust. The pore mare wont even leave her room now. What do you have to say for yourself?” Thunder's ear's flatten to his face as his cocky smile fades into a depressing frown. “Your right Rarity. I did tell Twilight I was going back ,and Butterscotch revealed me being a father. I didn't think she would want to be with a stallion that already has two foals ,but their not to blame. I am. She doesn’t deserve to be put through the torture of having to become part of the nobility just so we can be together. We come from two different world she would feel out of place.” Rarity huffs as she roles her eyes. “You really don't understand do you?” The prince gives her a confused look as she continues speaking. “Twilight doesn't care about being part of the nobility all she wants is to be with you. Do you remember what I told you the first day the two of you started dating? I said don't screw it up. You did the exact opposite of what I said. You screwed it up! You have foals now ,and that is going to make it harder for you to gain her love back. I suggest you talk to her.” Before another word can be spoken Celestia teleports into the room ,and trots right up to her son. “TWILIGHT! After your father told me that you found your true love I have been paying special attention to what is going on ,but I never thought that you would even consider dating my student. Especially after that letter Luna and I sent. You are going know where near that library if it is the last thing I do!” Celestia marches toward her son to where you can't get a single peace of paper between them. “Thunder were going home now. I will inform the guards so they don't think you've abandoned you foal's and disappeared again. Do you understand!” Anger spreads across the prince's face. With fire in his eyes he looks strait into his mother's. With an unusual confidence in his voice he begins speaking while starring her down with every word. “I would never abandon my foals! Know matter what it took even if it meant giving my own life! I will protect the two of them with all the strength I have in my body! If I were to disappear again they would be coming with me. It might be harder ,but I don't care. Do you understand mother!” the goddess of the sun backs up at the unexpected verbal thrashing. Equaling his anger she begins speaking. “If you want to be with a mortal so bad what's stopping you? It's not your loyalty to your country. It's not your kindness toward others. Your generosity is horrible since you've returned. Your not being honest with anypony. Your since of humor has been at an all time low ,and your magic is pathetic! Do you want to know why your not with her right now? It's because your scared.” Having enough if it Thunder teleports a piece of parchment and a quill in front of him. Writing down something as fast as he can the prince finishes. After reading over it he shoves it toward his mother ,and throws his crown off his head. “I resign my right to the throne! I'm no longer Prince Thunder Flicker from now on I'm a normal citizen. Good bye Princess Celestia!” Thunder turns and faces Rarity who’s mouth is hanging open wider than a barn door. “Rarity I am sorry you had to see that. I will be back later to buy some clothes for the foals and I. It seams were going to be moving into my new home faster then expected.” After finishing his sentence the former prince leaves the shop. In the Canterlot castle Celestia looks over to her husband with fear plastered across her face. “Lucien, I just looked in on Thunder and I saw myself. I don't know what is going on ,but somepony has stolen my identity!”