//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Learning Secrets // Story: The Violet Strike, Spike // by DreamyBlaze //------------------------------//      “... So let me get this straight.  Half of the entire population in Ponyville were knocking on your door and you didn't heard them because you were reading the book A Stallion’s Desire by Flaming Quill?”  asked Spike after he finished making tea and clean all the outside windows, which by the way took him three hours and one near death fall.  “...If this happens again I will tell Celestia, okay Twilight.”      “Yes…” Said Twilight, not wanting to get another ultimatum from Celestia.      Spike looked at the saddened Twilight and sighed.  “Look Twilight, I know you are sad about what happened but you can, somewhat, fix this.  It will just take sometime to do it and when it comes to getting stuff done, I only know one pony who can do it to near perfection and that is you, Twilight!  You can do it, you can do it, you can do it…”      Both Spike’s speech and little cheer worked wonders on Twilight.  Looking up at Spike with a hint of determination, she said, “Spike, you are right!  I can't give up without at least trying to fix things between me and Sweetie Belle.  As such, I will begin making a list on how to make it up to her right now.  See you in a couple of minutes, or hours depending how long it takes.”      Once Twilight left, Spike told himself, “A job well done Sp…”      “By the way Spike, here is a list of chores that need to be done before night fall.  Please get them done, thank you.”  Said Twilight from the door that was right behind Spike.      ‘...and my mood is now dead.’ Though Spike as he got the list.  Spike mood got even worse when he noticed that the list was even longer than normal.  “Twilight, why is the chore list longer than normal?” Screamed  Spike to Twilight.      “While you were cleaning the windows I sent Celestia a message of what happened in town and she said that  she would come to check it out.  So please do them as fast as possible!” Answered Twilight from another room.      Spike sighed.  “What is up with today's plan going wrong?” Said Spike, having to destroy his mental draft of the letter he was going to send to the princess.  “Whelp, at least I can use this time to practice my new powers.  Now let’s see...umm… Ah yes, skill show.” Said Spike.  As Spike looked through his skills, he noticed a few that could probably help him do his chores quicker.  Those skills were Lightning Boost, Self-Regeneration 1 and Lightning Step.      “Umm… Should I use my skills or should I not do it?  If I do it, I run the danger of hurting myself and my cleaning materials but if don't, Twilight will nag me to death, since there is no danger of being caught by Twilight since she is making a list so might as well try it.”  Spike said out loud.  Boosting himself with his passive skill Lightning Boost, he ran towards the door but the boost in speed he got was to much and ended up crashing right into it.      “Ow… the scroll really wasn't kidding about practice making perfect.” said Spike while laying on the floor.  Spike stood up, went to his original spot and tried again.  Still not used to the speed he crashed again.      “Ow… If running with just a regular boost is this hard then when I do this with Lightning Step I will have absolutely no control over where I run… wait, what would happen if I focused on my skill Keen Eye while running…”  Spike once again stood up and went to his original spot.  Once he felt ready, Spike ran towards the door.  Unlike before, he could actually see where he was going and speed blur was slowed down to what would be considered normal.  He opened the door and closed it. Then, he stopped.  Everything felt fine, great even for Spike.  He couldn't wait to try it again, but this time while also using Lightning Step.  But that excitement died down when he started to feel nauseous.  Some distance away, Spike spotted a potted plant.  He ran to it and threw up inside it.      “Right, physics is still a thing… Eww… welp, whether I get horrible sick or just throw up again, I now have an even better reason to get to cleaning so let’s go, Skill use Lightning Step.”  Said Spike before using his new power to do his chores at a much faster speed. .               .      “Done!” Scream´s Twilight.  She had just finished writing the perfect plan, in her opinion, to get Sweetie Belle to at the very least not be mad at her anymore.   When she turned to look at the window she saw it is noon, or in better words, the moment Celestia said she was going to arrive.      “Oh no!  Celestia is coming soon!  Please tell me Spike finished his chores…” said Twilight in a panic.  But what she saw when she opened the door got her completely of guard.      The hall was clean, really clean.  Almost ‘you can see yourself like a mirror’ clean.  She went to the kitchen and it was the same.  The bathroom, friendship map, library and all other rooms she checked were the same.  All super clean.  The only thing missing was Spike but before she could scream for him, she heard someone knocking on her door.      “I’ll be there in a minute!” Screamed Twilight.  After looking around really quickly, she ran towards the main castle doors.      Once she reached the doors, she opened them but what happened was not what she expected.      “Twilight Sparkle, we are ready for the so called sleep over!” Screamed an excited midnight blue alicorn whose name is Luna.  Luna is both the princess of the night and co-princess of Equestria.  She ran past Twilight looking for a butler or maid to take her to guest room.  Not finding a maid or butler anywhere, she ran back to Twilight and asked, “Twilight Sparkle may we ask you where our guest room is at and can you get someone to take us there?”      “Uhh…” Was all Twilight could say.  The princess of the moon had just broken all cognitive though from Twilight by just mentioning the set of words “here for a sleepover.”      “Sorry about the change of plans Twilight, I told Luna I was coming over to investigate something when it occurred to her to have a sleepover.  You don't mind the change of plans do you?” Asked someone with a majestic voice.  When Twilight turned to the voice, she saw a blazing white alicorn named Celestia.  Celestia is both the princess of the sun and the co-ruler of Equestria.      Shaking her head quickly to regain focus, Twilight said, “I don't mind princess.  I just wish I knew before hand to get you a room ready.”      “Twilight, we must say that your servants definitely do a great job at cleaning thy castle up.  We can see our reflect on the floor!” Said Luna looking at her reflection.      “Actually Princess Luna, I don't have any servants in the castle me and Spike take care of everything and no I don't cook unless someone is with me.” Said Twilight, leaning slightly to Celestia’s direction, hinting to the fact that she has an ultimatum on her head.  Luna saw this small gesture but because she didn't know of the ultimatum, was confused by it.      “Ah, so you and Spike cleaned the place up huh?” Asked Celestia interested on the topic.      “It wasn't easy but it was done.  Really, I give Spike all the credit.  Whatever he did, he did an great job.” Said Twilight, feeling proud of Spike’s work.      “I must say, it is a job well done considering it's only you two, but Twilight, you really should consider getting some servants to work here.” Said Celestia.      “Actually…” Before Twilight could say anything, she was interrupted by a voice coming from the door.      “Hello Princess Celestia!  Did you just get here?” Spike said as he got close to the castle.      “Hello Spike it's nice to see you again.  How are you doing?”said Celestia as the two got close enough to hug, which they did.      “A bit sick but fine.  You?”  Asked Spike.      “Stressed.  I really should do something about day court.  More importantly, what do you mean by sick.” Asked Celestia.      “Yeah, why did you get sick?  You didn't look sick when we talked before.” Mentioned Twilight.      “You see, I decided to use some new cleaning equipment and chemicals I got.  My guess is some of the liquids just didn't mix with my body well but, hey, it was worth it.”  Said Spike, pointing to the glimmer castle.  It was then he noticed Luna messing with her reflection on the wall.  “Why is Princess Luna here?  No wait better question, why is she using the wall as a mirror?”      When she heard her name being mentioned, Luna turned towards the door and saw Spike.  She blushed for being seen something embarrassing.  After regaining her composure, she said “We are here for the sleep over.”      “Sleepover?  Twilight, you didn't tell me we were having a sleepover with the princesses.” Spike said.      “Don't worry, I didn't know either until right now.  Since the princesses are going to be staying for the night, why don't we show them to their room?” Said Twilight as she began to lead them to the guest rooms.  “After that we can start talking about the incident with the manticore and Gunvolt that happened in town.”      “Ah, yes.  Please tell me more about this incident Twilight, Spike.  This Gunvolt character has gotten my attention and about the manticore that attacked the town, I already sent a request to have the Everfree Forest look at.  A manticore being so near civilization is far too rare to be a coincidence but it couldn't have been Gunvolt sinc Gunvolt fought it off, if what you told me is right.”  Said Celestia.      “Well, when I got to the place where the fight happened, it was already over so I don't know what Gunvolt can do but I did see him.  He was a small dragon whose body was releasing electrical energy and was wearing a pair of both gloves and shoes.  Before I could ask him any questions though he left.”  Said Twilight.      “I would add more to her story but I was… Busy with something so I didn't get to see it.” Added Spike.  “Sweetie Belle and Rarity also saw the fight, like the whole fight if what Twilight said is right but Sweetie Belle is in no mood to talk about because of someone,” said Spike while turning to Twilight with an unamused look, who in turn, faced away from Spike, “and Rarity right now is knocked out because she got stung by the manticore.” 'Why do I feel like I forgot something?'      “That is to bad really but this raises many questions.  Who is this Gunvolt?  Is he a friend or foe?  Just how strong is he?” Said Celestia.      “And why would a dragon help a pony community?  Except for Spike who was raised by ponies, dragons have historically been known for hating pony kind.” Added Luna.      “Thank the sun Princess Luna though of the idea of a sleepover or else Princess Celestia would of have pointless.” Said Spike out loud, which in turn got a glare from Twilight.      “SPIKE!” Screamed Twilight.  Spike in return stuck his tongue at her.      “Before you say anything Twilight, I finished the checking out the new book orders that came and guess what, Flamming Quill’s newest book has come in.” Said Spike with smug grin that was not seen by Twilight since when she heard the words ‘Flamming Quill’s newest book’ she ran straight for the library, leaving behind a dust cloud in the shape of her body behind.  Twilight’s reaction got a few giggles out of the princesses.      “And… She’s gone.” Said Spike before going ahead of Celestia and Luna before turning around and facing them with a serious expression, so serious it got the princesses off guard.      “Nephew why are thou looking so serious?” Asked Luna.      “Did Twilight break the ultimatum?” asked Celestia, making Luna turn to her with a questioning look.      “First off no, she has not tried to break the ultimatum.  Second, I lied about not seeing the fight but I couldn't mention it with Twilight being here.” Said Spike.       “Why couldn't you say with Twilight around?  What makes her being here so important that you had to send her away?” Asked Celestia.      “Let's go to an empty room before I show you.” said Spike, leading them to a nearby door.  Once everyone was inside he said “The reason why I couldn't tell you when Twilight was around was because,” said Spike while mentally saying ‘Transform Gunvolt.’  As he raised his hand to his chest, he began to unleash electricity.  He released so much electricity that you couldn't see his body anymore.  When all the light was gone, Luna and Celestia were left speechless as well as left with their mouth so opened that their mouth hit the floor, figuratively of course. “I was the one who fought the manticore.” Spike continued saying.      “...son, why do you have the same looks of the Gunvolt dragon Twilight mentioned?” asked Celestia, still in shock.      “Because I’m Gunvolt.” Said Spike.      “That… does make a lot of sense.”  said Luna.  “But do explain how you became this Gunvolt fellow.”      “Actually, today is my first time as Gunvolt.  It all began when i went into the Everfree Forest earlier this morning…“ Spike told of his small, unwanted adventure into the Everfree, him being chased by the manticore, finding the relics that transformed him into Gunvolt, and how he fought the manticore in town.      “... Of course this relics aren't perfect.  I was trying out a couple of the abilities while cleaning and I ended up hurting myself a bit and getting motion sickness.” Finished Spike.      Celestia and Luna were stunned.  How did all of that happened in one day and how was Spike able to fight a manticore if he has never fought one before, that they know of.  After they got their minds back together, Celestia said “Spike, how did you do all that?  No, first of, isn't that thing far too dangerous for you?  You are my baby boy and I don't want you to get hurt.”  Luna turned to her sister with a skeptical look when Celestia said ‘baby’ knowing full well Spike was 18 years old and officially an adult in pony years.      “You say that mom but you let six normal ponies with no training whatsoever take on the greatest enemies of Equestria!  Besides, if i need help the entire town knows so they can help me.  Really the only reason didn't tell Twilight was because I knew 100% that she would take new powers away no matter what I say because she cares for me, but I want to protect her too.  So all I ask is that you let me keep this power mom.” Said Spike very seriously.  Celestia was about to say she still wasn't sure about it but Spike interrupted her by saying, “I'll also send anything I learn about this relic and what adventures I get into.”      “What thou says makes sense and it would help thee kingdom's safety.  We say that Spike keeps the relics.  Besides, Spike already an adult in pony years so why not let him?” Added Luna.      Celestia found herself cornered in the argument by Spike’s and Luna's logic.  Giving up on fighting, Celestia just hug Spike and said, “Okay I get it.  I'll let you keep the relics just, be careful Spike.  You know you are my little baby boy and I worry for your safety.” Said Celestia.      “Thanks mom.  You are the best and Luna,” Luna paid attention to Spike, “you are the best aunt ever.”. After saying that, both Celestia and Spike were caught in a bearhug so powerful Spike could of have swore he heard something break.      “Uncle! Uncle!” Screamed both Spike and Celestia.  After the death hug, everyone went to join Twilight so they could play boardgames.oin Twilight in the library to get the sleepover started. Before reaching the Library... “Hey Spike,” asked Luna “what happened while you were at the hospital?”      “Oh that.  Well…” *flashback*      After Spike finished cleaning, he left  straight for the hospital to get medicine for his motion sickness (since the castle ran out of it three days ago).  Sadly his motion sickness made it hard to see the road since it also made him a bit dizzy.  During his run to the hospital, he tripped on a rock and then bounced off of a really springy matrices that someone forgot to take home(hint hint, it was Derpy because of… something important).  On his way down though Spike saw he was going to land on a bunch of spikes, or what he though we're spikes but in reality, they were a bunch of shiny rocks, as such he panic and accidentally learned to do an air dash… sort of.  By chance though, he landed on a skateboard that a foal lost control of.  Luckily for Spike, the skateboard took him all the way to the hospital… after going through the worst obstacle course ever since it made Spikes motion sickness even worse.      Once he got off the skateboard and inside the hospital he went to the receptionist desk and asked while slurring his words “Do you have medicineeeee… For motion sick…”  Before Spike could finish his sentence, he passed out.  After waking up two hours later and getting checked out of the hospital, Spike decided that studying a bit on medicine might be a good idea if he was to continue on this path. *Flashback ends*      “Let's just say that you do not want to go outside if you have motion sickness.”  Said a blushing Spike.  Luna did not get it but let it slide since Spike ran away from her when she was about to ask to clarify.  That and she forgot about when the board games came.