Negotiations
Celestia's sun blazed in the sky over an encampment stationed in the Badlands southeast of Appleloosa. There was an uneasy tension lingering in the air as the troops comprised of ponies and buffalo watched from their tents and posts as their “guests” made their way through the camp towards the command tent. An armed escort of Pegasi and Unicorn soldiers led the group of visitors. The visitors were three large, bipedal creatures with bull heads; minotaurs. Each one of them stood at least eight feet tall, towering over the ponies and nearly matching the buffalo in size. The minotaur in the center was gray in color and was covered in scars. An ornate nose ring dangled from his muzzle and his horns were carved with intricate designs.
The escort party stopped before the large tent that stood atop of a hill overlooking the camp. More Royal Guards stood at attention in front of the tent's entrance, a purple Pegasus stallion standing directly before the others. He wore purple armor, indicating that he was the Captain of the Guard. On his flank was a cutie mark of a white, six-pointed star on a black shield. His hard gaze fell upon the three minotaurs that stood behind the escort team and his blue eyes narrowed more.
“Sir, Chieftain Thickskull has arrived for the negotiation summit with the Princess,” one of the soldiers leading the minotaurs reported as he saluted.
“Very well, you're dismissed,” the Captain told his subordinate without taking his eyes off the Minotaur Chieftain that was smiling down at him with an arrogant look upon his bovine face. “Wait here as I announce your arrival to Her Highness.”
“Well, hurry it up. I haven't got all day to waste time with peons such as yourself, you know,” Thickskull haughtily demanded. The Captain's brow furrowed in anger at the insult and thought about retorting. However, he held his tongue and simply turned to enter the tent. Thickskull tapped his hoof impatiently and crossed his bulky arms as he waited outside. He could hear the sounds of the soldier talking coming through the tent. He also heard a more feminine voice respond back to him and the Pegasus returned a moment later.
“Her Highness will see you now.”
“Well, it's about time,” Thickskull huffed as he made his way past the Captain, roughly brushing him aside as he entered the tent. The purple Pegasus stumbled a bit, but quickly regained his balance and glowered at the snickering minotaurs that followed the Chieftain. When Thickskull and his posse entered the tent, their arrogant smirks faded into frustrated scowls when they saw a lavender Alicorn sitting on a cushion before them. She had an indigo mane that had a pink stripe running through it, violet eyes, and a cutie mark of a magenta star burst surrounded by white stars.
“Welcome, Chieftain Thickskull. I have been expecting you,” the Princess addressed the minotaur leader.
“What is this!?” Thickskull indignantly shouted, surprising the Alicorn slightly.
“What do you mean, Chieftain?” the Princess calmly asked.
“I was supposed to be meeting with the Princess. Who is this mare before me and where is that coward, Celestia?” Thickskull yelled. The lavender Alicorn's face displayed her unamused reaction to the minotaur's insulting statement. “Is she so afraid to face me that she sends her maid to do her deals for her?”
This comment got the other two minotaurs snickering. The Princess frowned and slightly groaned in annoyance. An orange Pegasus stallion to her right stepped forward to face the laughing minotaurs.
“You will mind your tone in front of a Princess of Equestria,” he barked at the disrespectful brutes. They stopped laughing and snorted at the pony that dared to tell them what to do. “This is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and you will show her respect.”
“And who are you, little pony?” Thickskull then bent down to glare the stallion eye to eye. Both males locked eyes and starred menacingly at one another. “I don't remember ask you a thing.”
“He's Flash Sentry, Prince Consort and my husband.” Thickskull looked up to see that Twilight Sparkle had rose from her cushion and was also glaring at him. Thickskull looked from the Alicorn to Flash Sentry, back to her, and then scoffed. “Now, if you don't mind, please have a seat and then we can begin.”
Thickskull and the other minotaurs reluctantly sat on the cushions that were prepared for them and Twilight did the same. Between them was a map of Equestria that laid upon a table. The map clearly detailed the territories and lands of the ponies and the buffalo. To the southeast lied the Badlands, where the minotaur and other creatures hailed from.
“Chieftain Thickskull,” Twilight Sparkle addressed the lead minotaur in an authoritative voice. “Ever since you took command of the United Minotaur Tribes, your forces have raided the lands of the buffalo tribes and the pony settlements in southern Equestria. At first, we thought that these were nothing more than bandits, but that's not the case is it?”
Thickskull didn't say anything, but instead smugly smiled as though he was proud of his actions. Twilight then continued, “No, you're planning something more, aren't you. Not only are you stealing supplies from the buffalo and ponies, you're also taking over their lands. Our scouts have also discovered minotaur warriors advancing on the borders of Equestria. You're planning on invasion, aren't you?”
These were no more than rhetorical questions. Of course she knew Thickskull planned on invading Equestria. Twilight had invited him to the camp to confirm what she already knew. Better to hear it from the source himself. She was also hoping to be able to dissuade him current course of action. The minotaur leader made no more effort to contain his intentions and started to laugh at the Alicorn.
“My, aren't you the smart little pony?” the gray minotaur mocked. “Yes. We are invading. If you're so set on following the proper procedures of conducting warfare, consider this my declaration of war.”
“Chieftain Thickskull, surely we can come to a peaceful solution,” Twilight tried to reason with him.
“A peaceful solution? Oh, of course!” he said in a cheery attitude. Twilight and Flash's heads raised along with their optimism, but then said optimism was crushed by what he said next. “You and the other Princesses can bow to me along with rest of your kingdom and we can avoid any more conflict.”
“You're being unrealistic,” Twilight dryly stated.
“Am I? Those 'bandits' were just a test to see how strong your forces are. The buffalo tribes are too scattered to resist us and your ponies are weak. I'm surprised that your kind managed to subjugate the cattle and the donkeys. Maybe you were able do it because they are stupid like the sheep and goats.”
“We do not subjugate other species!” Twilight declared, her temper being roused. “We live in harmony with the other species and we all work towards a mutually beneficial future.”
“Ha! So you claim. It doesn't matter what you say; history is written by the victors. Soon, you'll see us as your benevolent dictators just as they see you.”
“Look. I invited you here to try to discuss...” Twilight started to say, but the minotaur cut her off.
“Yes, yes, yes. The negotiation. Here's what I want. I want Equestria's fertile lands; its green grass, open fields, and vast wealth of treasure.”
“Like I said, we can work together towards our mutual benefit,” Twilight again tried to reason with him.
“And that's how you make slaves out of other races. You offer them a share of the resources and then they are indebted to you. You will ask us for more and more favors, constantly reminding us how much we owe you. I will not be indebted to a pony!” Thickskull rose to his hooves, causing the guards surrounding the princess and prince to immediately moved to their side, ready to defend them. “I will take what I want and your ponies are too weak to stop me!”
“You do realize that there are other types of ponies in Equestria.” Twilight could see Thickskull's folly. The southern region of Equestria was home to mostly Earth Ponies, which meant the Chieftain had no experience in engaging the other types of ponies in combat. “You may be physically stronger than the Earth Ponies, but Unicorns have magic, and the Pegasi have air superiority.”
“Bah! Your Unicorns and their silly spells are useless in close combat and the Pegasi will still have to get close to us in order to fight us. All of your fancy tricks amount to nothing compare to our raw power.” To emphasis his point, the boastful minotaur flexed his rippling muscles.
“Thickskull, I implore you to reconsider,” Princess Twilight pleaded in serious tone, hoping beyond hope to stop the minotaur's foolishness.
“No. By the end of this war, I will make your and the other princesses' horns into a crown and you will be my slave,” declared Thickskull. Twilight Sparkle looked upon the minotaur for a moment and then sighed with disappointment.
“So be it,” she said with resignation and then called to the Captain outside. “Captain Evening Star.”
The purple Pegasus from before entered with his soldiers and said as they saluted, “Yes, Your Highness?”
“Have your soldiers see Chieftain Thickskull and his entourage out of the camp.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” He then turned to his comrades and ordered, “You heard her, show them the way out!”
“Yes, sir!” They said in unison and then one of them said to the three minotaurs, “Please follow us.”
After they had left, Twilight turned to the remaining guards and politely asked, “Would you mind leaving us?”
They saluted and left the Alicorn alone with the two remaining Pegasi. After they had left, Twilight slouched a bit as she sat on her cushion while exhaling, exhausted from the meeting.
“Permission to speak freely, Your Highnesses,” Evening Star requested.
“Sweetie, I sent the guards out so we could,” Twilight said to him with a raised eyebrow. “Besides, you don't have to refer to us as 'Your Highnesses.' You're a prince as well and our son.”
“Protocol, Your Highness,” Evening Star reminded her. She rolled her eyes and Flash Sentry chuckled.
“Your Uncle Shining Armor wasn't as strict as you are when he was the Captain of the Royal Guard.”
“Permission to speak freely, Your Highnesses,” Evening Star requested again.
“Yes, you can speak freely,” Flash Sentry laughed.
“Thickskull has no idea what he's getting himself into,” Evening Star commented, relaxing a bit out of his rigid military attitude.
“Unfortunately,” Twilight agreed, disheartened by the results of the negotiations. “His pride is going to get a lot of his own troops hurt. With how stubborn they are, I don't know how we can avoid bloodshed.”
“He doesn't understand that Unicorn soldiers are trained in offensive magic and the Pegasi control the weather in Equestria,” Flash Sentry added. “All it would take is a tornado or a strategically placed storm and his army would suffer heavy loses.”
“Yes, but Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and I were hoping it wouldn't come to that. Now, I don't see another option but war.” Twilight then rubbed her temples with her hooves to try and alleviate her forming headache. She moaned in frustration and exasperation before turning to her son. “Evening Star, find your brother and tell him I need him to send a letter to Princess Celestia.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” he saluted, snapping back into his strict military behavior.
“That boy takes himself way too seriously,” Flash commented to his wife as they watched their son leave the tent. They weren't the only one who thought so. Their daughter, Midnight, would often say it whenever he came home to visit. However, they supposed they shouldn't complain that he took his responsibilities seriously and they knew he had he had a good reason. He was the youngest Captain of the Guard in recent history, being even younger than Shining Armor was when he was given the position. He knew what the other guards would say; that he was a spoiled prince who only got the job because of who he was related to. He was determined to prove them wrong. He wanted to show everypony that he was worthy of his position and that he was his own pony. He didn't need his connections to be great.
Evening Star approached another tent that wasn't too far away from his parents'. Like the other tent, it had guard ponies standing outside, though the resident inside needed no protection. The guards saluted as their Captain walked up to the tent and opened the flap. As soon as he opened the tent, he was greeted by the sound of something crunching. He saw his brother lying on the ground with a large bowl gems at his side. A purple clawed hand grabbed a few a popped them into a maw filled with diamond crushing fangs. Green reptilian eyes looked from the bowl of gems to the entrance of the tent to see the Pegasus that had entered.
“Hey there, little brother,” a deep voice greeted Evening Star. It belonged to a dragon with purple scales and green, curved spines running down his back. His green, leathery wings were furled against his side and his body was slightly bigger than an Alicorn's, even bigger than Princess Celestia's impressive size. His long tail and neck were curled in order to fit in the tent. If he stretched out to his full length, he would be thirty feet long and his wingspan would be almost eighty feet from wingtip to wingtip.
“Your Highness, Princess Twilight has requested that you send a letter to Canterlot explaining the result of the negotiations with the Minotaur Chieftain.”
“It's good to see you too, Evening Star,” the dragon muttered teasingly as he grabbed another clawful of gems. Evening Star noticed the large stack of empty bowls beside the dragon. “Let me guess, it didn't go so well.”
“Chieftain Thickskull has officially declared war, yes,” Evening Star reported.
“You know you don't have to be so formal around me.”
“Protocol, Your Highness,” Evening Star stated, which the dragon parroted at the same time.
“Yes, I know. You could at least call me 'brother' or 'Spike” once in awhile.”
“Not while on duty, Your Highness.”
“Yeah, if you had it your way, you'd always been on duty,” Spike muttered. “Would it kill you to at least smile?”
“Maybe, Your Highness,” Evening Star responded before leaving with the slightest of grins on his face. Spike smiled as the Pegasus left. It wasn't the smile he was hoping for, but he would take what he could get.
“That boy takes himself way too seriously.” After eating another clawful of gems, he grabbed a quill and a sheet of parchment and started to write a letter to Princess Celestia explaining the situation. After finishing writing the letter, he rolled it up and breathed a green flame, which consumed the letter and carried it on a magical breeze that headed to the capital of Equestria.
As Evening Star headed back to report to his parents, he thought about his elder brother. Well, half-brother anyway. Evening Star's mother had hatched Spike's egg when she was just a filly as part of an entrance exam to enter Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. What she didn't know at the time was that the egg was a dud and that she was supposed to fail. The test was an aptitude test to gauge the level of magical ability of potential students and secretly to help Celestia find the pony destined to become bearer of the Element of Magic. Due to a sudden surge of raw magic from the then little Unicorn filly, Celestia discovered Twilight Sparkle and took her in as her personal protege. Also, Twilight's little outburst caused the lifeless egg to form a perfectly developed baby dragon out of her own magical essence and the egg hatched to reveal Spike. The baby dragon imprinted on Twilight and she raised the him from that day onward, eventually coming to realize that the dragon was more than just a friend or an assistant, but a son she had created from her own life force.
When Twilight Sparkle had married Flash Sentry, Spike was already grown and had just got married himself. He had married Rarity, a unicorn whom he had a crush on from the moment he laid eyes on her, and they had been blissfully married for twenty years now. She was also the bearer of the Element of Generosity and one of Twilight Sparkle's best friends. Though Spike and Rarity were the first of their circle of friends to get married, Twilight and Flash were the first couple to have a child. Evening Star was born nineteen years ago and he had his father's eyes and mane, not to mention that he was a Pegasus like him as well. His purple coat was obviously inherited from his mother and it was the same shade of purple as Spike.
The relationship between the two wasn't always the best. Evening Star was resentful that everypony compared him to his heroic parents and their friends and held him up to the same expectations. Yet at the same time, they would mock him and say that he was just riding on their coat tails. Spike tried to comfort his little brother, explaining to him that he also faces discrimination for being a dragon and being married to a pony.
“Just because you're a prince, that doesn't mean you'll get any special treatment from us,” a young recruit of the Royal Guard sneered as he and his cohorts stood over the soldier-in-training that was lying on the barracks' floor.
“I'm not asking for special treatment,” Evening Star murmured as he wiped the blood from his snout.
“Don't try to deny it,” another stallion said to him. “We've seen the way you strut about the place.”
“It's call discipline,” Evening Star countered. “You know, something we're supposed to maintain while on duty.”
This earned the colt a kick to the ribs. “You think you're better than us!? You're not. At home, you may be a prince. To us, you're just another pony and we're going to make sure you remember it.”
“Are you now?” a cold voice growled from behind the gang of recruits. They turned and their hearts nearly stopped when they saw the Dragon Prince of Equestria standing behind them, his green eyes narrowed into razor blades and black smoke rising from his nostrils. “How can you possibly have time for that when you're about to start your double shifts?”
“Your Highness!” a recruit exclaimed when he saw the dragon.
“B-but we just got off of our shifts,” another nervously told Spike.
“Really? Hm, well then you're going have a long day,” Spike told them, not caring in the slightest about their ordeal. “Now get out of here.”
The recruits made themselves scarce and Spike offered a claw to help Evening Star off the floor. The Pegasus ignored the outstretched claw and rose to his hooves. He headed towards the door while saying darkly, “I didn't need your help, Your Highness.”
“Where are you going?” Spike asked in concern as his brother walked away.
“To start my double shift, Your Highness.” He turned to look back over his shoulder. “As you assigned to us.”
“Evening Star, you know what I meant by that.”
“And you know what they'll think of it.”
“It doesn't matter what they think. They're being punished for their behavior.”
“They're a part of my squad. Their punishment will be my own.”
“Look, if you're concerned that they'll retaliate...”
“I can't let them think that I'm better than them!” Evening Star shouted as he spun around to yell at Spike, losing his cool. “Now they'll think I can't do anything without my lizard of a half-brother holding my hoof!”
Evening Star then immediately felt regret for what he just said. Though Spike didn't say anything or show any emotion on his face, he could see the hurt in his eyes. It was an insult to call a dragon a lizard and he hated for his baby brother to call him his “half-brother.” He almost always referred to him as his brother. To hear him call him his half-brother somehow gave the impression that their relationship meant less to him. Evening Star said no more and left the barracks feeling ashamed of himself. Though they later reconciled, it would always hurt them both to remember that day.
Evening Star reentered his parents tent and they looked up from their plans. He saluted and said, “Your Highnesses, I have delivered the message to Prince Spike and he is already writing the message to Princess Celestia.”
“Thank you, Evening Star,” Flash Sentry said to his son.
“There is also something else.” Both parents looked up at him expectantly. “He's eating again.”
Twilight and Flash looked to each other with slightly concerned looks, knowing that the time had come again.
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Welcome to the epilogue of the Legend of Spike Series. I'm planning on making the short story about ten chapters or so long. The central chapters will be focused on the next generation of characters.
It will be sad to see Spike's generation end after seeing him go through so many awesome adventures but I guess it had to happen sooner or later. I only hope he at least has a child with Rarity (or adopted one) to live up to all the great things he has done. Anyway cant wait to see what you have in store for fun.
4387455
Do not despair. I purposely made a twenty year gap between the wedding and this story just in case if I ever wanted to do another another story. I'm already thinking of a possible Legend of Spike Part 4. Here's a hint, the three main stories of the series are based on video games. So, which one am I thinking about?
Well I do hope that Spike has a kid, by blood or adopted. Though it looks like any family it has tensions and Star wants to prove himself while stepping out of his parents' and friends shadows.
Dang I am not sure how to react to that if I can be honest. Well if I'm right we are going to have one heck of a ride. Hey diablo if you want you can adopt my new night saga story on fanfiction.net I lost inspiration and frankly I lost track of the plot. Just rename the main villain of it nox at least darkness void doesn't sound as good as nox void. I think you can do a better version of what I have so far. I will at least finish my current arc on it before officially putting it up for adoption.
When they make it to Spike and Rarity's daughter, I would be comforted if we know that she can reproduce as well. I have seen some stories where the offspring is infertile, like a mule. I want to see the Legend becomes a Legacy: where all hybrids into the future can trace their rbeginnings to the firs dragon/pony couple--Sparity.
What is foreshadowed--All I can say is eventually I would like for Spike to see his successor, even the ones that are dozens of generation in the future in person. Everypony needs to know where ther come from.
4389820
Actually, Spike and Rarity are not the first dragon/pony couple in my series. In the Legend of Spike: Krazoa Island, I made a back story about the Hearts and Hooves Day historical Prince and Princess.
Here's what I posted earlier on that story:
There's also the line Sweetie Belle said from the episode:
4390195
Completely forgot about that......You're right. Spike found this out when he was conversing with the Elder Dragon from the story. the Elder told him that he was in love with a pony, and she him...also told that it was possible to reproduce---just that it was rare because normally a dragon and an equine were not compatible. Something about the inherent magic of dragons and unicorn magic combined with true love made it possible for the two to conceive and have a kirin.
Thanks for the head's up!!!!
4390266
And though it won't have any real importance to this story, I'd imagine that a kirin would be fertile.
4390293
Speaking of that story, since this is 20 years after Krazoa Island, did Spike share to Twilight and the others about the true Hearts and Hooves story as well as his thoughts about it? I know Twilight would be downright giddy knowing something that historical. Not to mention I doubt Celestia nor Luna would hear the true story...
4390596
I'd imagine that he has told them. I plan on referencing it a bit.
Is spike gonna have a major role in this or will he just be sleeping while the children do some adventuring?
4392391
I don't want to give too much away, but the story's style is that the central chapters will be focused on the mane six's kids; one per chapter. Since this is an epilogue, it's mainly to show what has happened over the past twenty years. Each chapter will be a little slice of life for each of the new characters with a connecting story arc. Each of these chapters will begin with Spike dreaming about an event that happened during the twenty year gap and that will introduce the new characters. These dream scenes will be told from Spike's point of view then the story will shift to the present time and be told from the new characters' point of view. However, Spike plays a crucial part in the central conflict of the story.
In short, yes Spike will be in every chapter but he won't interact with the characters in the present time until the climax.
With this said, should I add a "Slice of Life" tag? Also, should I add the villain's character tag or should I keep it a secret? I mean, it does say that an old foe would be returning in the story's description.
Great start!