//------------------------------// // Surprise // Story: The Legend of Spike: Legacy // by DiabloGuapo //------------------------------// A majestic red and gold bird was perched upon Spike's forearm as the group of friends were gathered at a park in Ponyville. It was their weekly pet play date and the animals were running and playing on the grassy field as the ponies and the dragon sat around the picnic spread. Winona barked happily as Tank floated above her with his magic propeller. Owlowiscious hooted as he too flew above the excited canine. Angel was busy hogging all the salad as Opalescence scowled disapprovingly from her owner's side. The fluffy, white cat didn't care for the rabbit, nor did anyone else for that matter except his owner, Fluttershy. When Fluttershy married Big Macintosh, the foul tempered bunny was quite jealous and did everything he could to make the red stallion's life a living nightmare. The scarlet bird that was accompanying Spike the dragon was an old friend of his named Peewee. Years ago, a gang of teenaged dragons wanted to smash his egg, but the then smaller Spike stood up to them and saved the egg. He raised the phoenix from the time he hatched until they were able to locate his parents and return him to them. The now adult Peewee would often return to Ponyville to visit his master. “Evening Star, this is my good friend, Peewee,” Spike introduced the phoenix to the infant purple Pegasus as his mother held him up so that he could get a better look. The infant colt cooed and tried to grab the phoenix. Peewee squawked in displeasure and hopped further up Spike's arm. “Careful, Evening. You have to be soft,” Twilight Sparkle told her son and then reached with her own hoof to gently caress the phoenix's crest. The bird chirped in pleasure and leaned his head into her hoof. “See, like this.” Giving it another try, Evening Star reached forward again, much slower this time, and petted the phoenix. The ponies smiled as they watched Peewee enjoy being petted. Sitting next to Spike, Rarity, and Twilight was Flash. Next to them was Fluttershy and Big Macintosh. Across from them, Applejack and Rainbow Dash laid on the picnic sheet beside their husbands, Cider Barrel and Soarin. Both of their bellies were slightly swollen, the two mares being with foal. Applejack was quite excited to be an expectant mother and rubbed her little baby bump lovingly. However Cider Barrel would look down at her pregnant belly with a distant look in his eye. Rainbow Dash was both excited and nervous at the same time. Sure, she had taken in Scootaloo and found the time to be both a legal guardian and a Wonderbolt at the same time, but now she would have to carry a foal within her and go through childbirth.Also, She wasn't too pleased with having to take maternity leave from active duty for awhile. However, Soarin would reassure her everyday that she will be able to handle it. “Hmm, where is Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich? It's not like them to miss a party,” Rarity pointed out as she looked about for the two party ponies and their pet alligator, Gummy. Right on cue, a bounding Pinkie Pie sped down the trail with Cheese Sandwich walking Gummy coming up behind her. “YouGuysYouGuysYouGuys! GuessWhatGuessWhatGuessWhat!” Pinkie shouted rapidly as she bounced up and down at an impossible rate. “Pinkie!” the orange Earth Pony stallion with the curly brown mane called to her as he let the alligator off his leash to let him go play with the other pets. “Wait a minute. We were going to tell them together.” “Oh, right. Sorry,” she said as she calmed down and stopped bouncing. “Tell us what?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, what's got you more excited than a termite in a lumberyard?” Applejack also asked. Cheese walked up beside Pinkie, gave each other face-splitting grins, and then started to bounce up and down while shouting, “YouGuysYouGuysYouGuys! GuessWhatGuessWhatGuessWhat!” “Ugh!” Rainbow Dash groaned as she face-hoofed. “Just tell us already!” “I'm pregnant!” Pinkie Pie gleefully declared while leaping ecstatically in the air. Before the group could congratulate the couple, there was a flash of light. Discord, the Spirit of Chaos, floated in the air and looked around curiously. “Oh, hello Discord,” Fluttershy greeted from her seat beside Big Macintosh. However, the draconequus ignored her and continued to search around the area. He would lift trees from the ground and then place back down, went trough the picnic basket, and even examined the clouds overhead. “Is something wrong, Discord?” Twilight asked as she watched him lift up the grass to search underneath it. “I was visiting my good friend, Jean-Luc, when something caught my attention,” Discord explained as he squeezed his head down an anthill. A moment later, he popped his head out and brushed off the aggravated insects. “Who's Jean-Luc...” Twilight started to asked, but got cut off. “I felt a...disturbance,” Discord said ominously. “It was though a million fourth walls cried out in terror and then were broken.” The ponies and dragon weren't sure exactly what he meant by “fourth wall,” but he made it sound serious. Discord then lightened up and said, “Maybe it was nothing. So, what's going on here?” “Pinkie was just sharing some wonderful news with us,” Fluttershy told him. “Oh realy? What is it?” “We're gonna have a foal!” Pinkie and Cheese announced together. Discord's mouth dropped, literally, to the ground and his eyes popped, also literally, out of his head. He gathered his body parts and put them back in there proper place. “Oh, so that was what it was,” he said with an amused look on his face while he stroked his white beard thoughtfully. “Interesting...” “What? What's interestin'?” Applejack asked, concerned by Discord's reaction. “Oh, nothing,” he said dismissively. He then motioned to Pinkie Pie. “It's just going to be little more interesting around here with another one of her running around.” Everypony suddenly understood what he meant. The two wackiest, craziest, zaniest ponies in all of Equestria were having a foal together. If the foal would be anything its parents, then it would be as though there were three Pinkie Pies living in Ponyville. “Oh, this is going to be fun. Congratulations you two,” Discord chuckled. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my visit.” The draconequus snapped the fingers of his bird claw and changed into a bipedal figure wearing a red and black uniform. The form Discord took reminded Spike of the beings that he and Twilight saw when they went through the magic mirror in the Crystal Empire. Discord then grabbed the air and pulled it open to reveal of circular window in the fabric of space and time. The group managed to see more of those bipedal beings on the other side and noticed that they appeared to be in what looked like a scene from one of those science fiction shows that played at the movie theater. Discord stepped through the wormhole and addressed the bald figure that sitting in the chair in the middle. “I'm back, Mon Capitaine!” they heard Discord announce as the portal shrank. “Q!” they managed to hear the bald figure shout in frustration right before the portal closed completely, leaving no sign of its existence in the air over the park. Everyone looked around to each other, confused. They didn't know what they just saw, and they didn't know if they wanted to find out. ***** High above Ponyville, Surprise soar through the sky. She closed her purple eyes as she enjoyed the sensation of wind blowing in her face. She was headed over to Sweet Apple Acres. Her good friend Posey had asked her for a favor yesterday and she was more than happy to help. After Posey had explained to her what she wanted her to do, she went to Thunderbolt and asked him for a few spare clouds. He was reluctant at first, since the weather schedule called for clear skies, but relented when she gave him “the face.” Thunderbolt arranged for a few clouds to be placed over the orchard before sunrise and reminded her that she owed him one. It was still early in the morning, but she could see a hint of sunlight on the horizon. Princess Celestia would be raising the sun any moment now and the Apples were bound to start their daily chores soon. If they didn't hurry, they would miss it. Right on queue, she saw Posey walking down the trail from Ponyville and saw a gray Pegasus pushing a bundle of clouds through the sky. Posey looked up to her and gave her wink to signal that she was ready. Surprise waved down to her and then flew to Thunderbolt. “This better be important,” the young Pegasus stallion murmured. Though he wasn't as lazy as his mother, he didn't enjoy waking up in the wee hours of the morning to fly to Cloudsdale to request an order of unscheduled clouds and haul them all the way back to Ponyville. “It's for Sour Apple. Don't you want to do something nice for your best friend?” Surprise asked the grumpy and sleepy Thunderbolt. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know, but couldn't it wait a little bit?” he asked as he brushed back his mane. It was streaks of blue, electric blue, and white and had a bad case of bedhead. “This is his favorite part of the day. It would mean the most to him if we did it now,” she explained. “Well, I'm gonna catch a few more Z's,” he said as he grabbed one of the clouds and made a bed out of it. He yawned and started to curl up for a snooze. “Wake me up when it's time.” “Don't you want to see it?” “I only need to see the final product,” he dismissed with a wave of a hoof. Surprise then left him to his nap and went to work. She swirled around the fluffy, white clouds and used the tips of her cream colored wings to gently graze their soft surfaces. To any other type of pony, clouds were no more than water vapor. To a Pegasus, they were tangible. Their texture was best described as a plush cushion or giant tufts of cotton. It was easy to see why Thunderbolt's mother, Rainbow Dash, loved to nap on them. However, to Surprise they were a canvas. With each pass, she sculpted the clouds into works of art in the sky. Down on the ground, Posey made her way to the barn shaped farmhouse. As she knocked on the door, she could hear the ponies inside already moving about. A moment later, Applejack opened the door and saw her niece standing before her. “Well good mornin', Posey. What brings you here this early?” the farm pony asked. “Good morning, Aunt Applejack. I was wondering if Sour was already up,” she explained. “Yes he is. Hold on a moment, sugar cube. Sour! Your cousin, Posey, is at the door!” Applejack called behind her. Sour Apple then appeared beside his mother in the doorway. “Hello, Sour,” Posey greeted. He only nodded in return. “I have a surprise for you. Would you like to come see it?” “A surprise at crack of dawn?” Applejack asked, looking over to her son. “Well, you better be neighborly and go see what it is.” She gave him a bump and nudged him out the door. Sour sighed exasperatedly and walked down the path alongside Posey. The yellow mare looked back at her aunt and they shared a knowing wink. As Posey led Sour to the orchard, she saw that the sun was about to peak over the treeline at any moment. For a moment, she thought that they might be too late. “What a lovely time of day, isn't it?” she asked as they walked up a hill. At the top, you could see the whole farm. “Mhmm,” he hummed in agreement. “I bet the view up here is great,” she stated as they reached the top. “Mh...” he started to respond, but then gasped in amazement. Over Sweet Apple Acres, there were figures made out of clouds. Each cloud was shaped like a pony that was close to him. He could see Posey, Fluttershy, and Big Macintosh. He could also see Amethyst, Midnight, Surprise, and Thunderbolt. In the center of them all, he could see himself alongside Apple Seed and his mother. Just then, the sun rose over the trees and the cloud sculptures were painted with the colors of the morning light. The white clouds were speckled with shades of color that represented each figure; green for him, yellow for Posey, a bit of purple for Amethyst, and so on and so forth. From the work of art above them, Surprise descended and landed in front of Sour Apple and asked, “So do you like it?” Sour Apple looked back up at the sky art, smiled, looked back at her, and answered, “Yes, Surprise. I like it very much. Thank you.” Surprise's grin couldn't be bigger and she pulled him and Posey into a bone-crushing hug. Though it was a tad uncomfortable, the two ponies laughed. “Well, you better have liked it, because it was a lot of work to go through for us.” They looked up to see Thunderbolt still resting on his cloud. He then yelped in shock as Surprise flew up and pulled him down into their group hug. After they ended their hug, Sour thanked them all again and they went their seperate ways. Posey went back to her parents' animal sanctuary. There were some baby animals that need their breakfast. After finishing his nap, Thunderbolt cleaned up the sky. It was sad to dispose of such a masterpiece, but cloud art didn't last forever and the weather did call for clear skies that day. Sour Apple went about his chores around the farm. However, he had a smile on his face that would last for the remainder of the day. Surprise flew back to her home. After all, she was a busy young mare and had much to do. It was Friday and that meant Amethyst and Midnight would be arriving that afternoon. Though her birthday wasn't until Monday, Surprise wanted to make sure she had a small welcome home party ready for her and Midnight as soon as they arrived. That and she needed to help her parents prepare for the upcoming birthday party. Surprise landed in front of a strange looking house. Each side of the house was painted a different color and the roof was shaped like a party hat. On the front door, three balloons and an accordion made from a cheese sandwich were painted the surface. Surprise took the time to look at the symbols of her parents' cutie marks and then down at hers. She had inherited her mother's cutie mark, which she in turn had inherited from her Grannie Pie. She was named after her Grannie Pie, whom she greatly resembled. Posey may have looked just like her mother, except without wings, but she resembled Surprise the First perfectly. They both had white-cream colored bodies, yellow-gold manes, and purple eyes. They even had the same cutie mark. Her balloons were purple, whereas Pinkie Pie's were yellow and blue. Though she wasn't fortunate enough to have known her great-grandmother, she felt a special connection to her. As soon as she opened the door, Surprise the Second was met with a snarling hiss as a pair of large, pointy tooth-filled jaws snapped in front of her face, missing her by a hairsbreadth. She was prepared for the attack and flapped her wings, flying out of harm's way. However the beast wasn't done yet. It lunged forward with its massive body and snapped at her tail. She just managed to pull her fluffy tail out of her attacker's reach just in time and retaliated by jumping on the green creature's scaly back. It tried to knock her off with its long tail, but couldn't reach the Pegasus. She pulled a cowboy hat seemingly out of nowhere and hooped and hollered as she rode on the beast's back. It tried to roll in hopes of knocking her off, but it backfired when she jumped off and started to rub its belly. It started to trash its tail side to side in pleasure and gave up. “Nice try, Gummy. Maybe next time,” she laughed as she petted the eighteen foot long alligator. After she stopped petting his belly, he rolled back onto his feet and brushed against her affectionately before waddling off. Surprise giggled as she watch him walk away, but then found herself pinned to the floor. She struggled to move, but the pony on top of her had her on her back and was pinning her shoulders and wings down with their body. She stopped struggling and pouted as she looked up at the pony on top of her. “No fair, Mom.” “You were good kid. Really good. But as long as I'm around, you'll always be second best, see?” Pinkie Pie teased while speaking in a mock gangster voice before letting her daughter up. “So how did it go?” “It was great! I haven't seen Sour that happy in forever!” Surprise told her. “And it was so fun to make those cloud ponies! Maybe I should do that again for Amethyst's Birthday, but I'll make cloud ponies for her her family. Ooh, and a cloud dragon for Mr. Spike! Ooh! Maybe we can throw him a waking up party!” “That sounds like fun!” Pinkie enthusiastically agreed with her daughter. “But we're all hoping he'll wake up for Amethyst's birthday. Can you imagine if he did? That would mean would we could throw...” “A Happy Birthday Dragon Waking Up Party!” they both cheered together. “Did somepony say 'a Happy Birthday Dragon Waking Up Party'?” a voice said from the backroom. Cheese Sandwich then burst in the room carrying streamers and balloons, looking around for the party. “Hey! What gives? Where's the Happy Birthday Dragon Waking Up Party?” “It hasn't happened yet, Cheesy,” Pinkie told her husband. “Aawww,” he moaned in disappointment. “Those are so hard to come by. I would hate to miss that one.” “How are the party decorations coming, Pop?” Surprise asked. “It's coming along. Wait until you see what I've done with the Pinata Party Pony Parade! So, how did it go at the farm?” As Surprise retold the events that transpired at Sweet Apple Acres, Cheese Sandwich got a sly grin and said, “That was a pretty special thing you did for Sour Apple. Is he just a friend or...” Surprise's face turned pink and she stammered, “I-I don't know what you're talking about. He...He's a just a good friend.” “Besides, she has a crush on somepony else.” Everypony looked up to see Cherry Pie come down from her bedroom for breakfast “Oh really? Who?” Pinkie Pie asked. “It's Pound Cake,” Cherry Pie answered and her older sister's face flushed a deep red as her parents laughed. “How did you know about that!” Surprise demanded. “Come on, I've seen the way you look at him while he isn't looking while the two of you are working.” Cherry then did an impression of her sister by resting her chin on her hooves, fluttering her eyelashes, and sighing dreamily. “Pound Cake? Really?” Pinkie Pie asked amused. “I remember foalsitting him and his sister. I even used to change his diapers.” “Mom!” Surprise moaned, mortified by her mother's statement. “Isn't he too old for you?” Cheese asked. “You're only eighteen and he's twenty-five.” “So what? That's not too much of a gap,” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “That's just barely more than the age difference between Rarity and Spike.” “I just think he's cute, that's all!” Surprise declared. “And what about Sour Apple? Do you think he's cute?” Pinkie Pie asked while raising her eyebrows up and down suggestively. “Not having this conversation!” “But aren't you related to the Apples?” Cheese asked his wife. “We're not sure, but we may be a teeny weeny itty bitty related somewhere down the family tree. There was a smudge on the paper, so we couldn't tell,” Pinkie Pie explained. “I'm going to go prepare Amethyst's and Midnight's welcome party,” Surprise announced, wanting to escape the conversation. As she headed to her room, she thought about the surprise they had made for Sour Apple and how happy it made him. He does have a nice smile though, she thought, smiling herself.