The Legend of Spike: Legacy

by DiabloGuapo

Thunderbolt

“No fair, Thunderbolt! No flying!” a little Amethyst protested to a gray colt that was hovering just above her.

“Hey, nopony said that I couldn't fly!” As the two youngsters bickered, Evening Star, Surprise, Sour Apple, Posey, and Midnight walked up to them. They had been playing a game of hide and seek and Amethyst had tagged everypony, except for Thunderbolt.

“Well, if you can use your wings, then I can use my magic.” The kirin's horn glowed with a purple, flame-like aura and Thunderbolt was pulled down from the air by his blue and white tail.

“Hey!” he protested as he struggled to free himself while their friends laughed. Amethyst smirked, walked over to the colt, and tapped his forehead with a claw. Thunderbolt crossed his fore legs and pouted. “You cheated.”

“So did you,” she retorted. “Anyway, since I tagged you last, you're it. And this time, I won't use magic as long as you don't fly.”

“Ugh. Fine, fine. One...Two...” He covered his eyes and began to count as his friends scattered. Posey hid behind a tree while Surprise hid up in the tree. Even without using her wings, she managed to reach the top with no problem. Amethyst took cover behind a rock and Sour Apple jumped into the bushes. Evening Star hid in patch of tall grass. Midnight thought for a moment, then came up with an idea. She went over to the swimming pond and used a reed as a snorkel as she hid submerged herself. “Ninety-nine...One hundred! Ready or not, here I come!”

Thunderbolt did a quick scan of the area and then set out to find his friends. Meanwhile, the adults had been socializing as their children played in the park. Spike chuckled as he heard Posey yelp when Thunderbolt sneaked up behind her and tagged her. He watched with amusement when he saw Surprise giggling to herself, thinking she had evaded her pursuer, as Thunderbolt and Posey started to walk away. However, the giggling gave the filly away and Thunderbolt looked up to see her up the tree.

“Hey, I thought we agreed on no flying!” he called up to the creamed colored Pegasus.

“I didn't, silly. I climbed,” she laughed from her perch.

“Well, how am I supposed to tag you?”

“You're not. That's the point.”

“Mom! Surprise is cheating!” Thunderbolt called over to Rainbow Dash.

“No she isn't. Just climb on up and tag her,” the sky blue mare called back to her son.

“Are you sure that's a good idea?” Fluttershy asked as the group watched the colt try to climb up the tree, but kept on sliding down the trunk. “I don't think they should be playing up there. They could get hurt.”

“Relax, Fluttershy. They'll be fine. Besides, if they fall, they can just use their wings.”

“Yes, but it might encourage the others like Posey or Sour to try it too and they can't fly,” Flutterhsy fretted.

“You're gonna have to try harder than that!” they heard Surprise taunt followed by a frustrated groan by Thunderbolt.

“They'll be fine,” Applejack reassured Fluttershy as she looked down to a toddler Apple Seed. She was playing with Pinkie's younger daughter, Cherry Pie. Ever since the two were introduced to each other, they had become immediate best friends. The Earth Pony foals cooed and laughed at each other as they rolled a ball back and forth between each other.

Applejack then looked over to the bushes where Sour Apple was hiding. His green coat helped to camouflage him with the leaves. Though he hadn't said much since Apple Seed was born, she was happy to see her son interacting with his friends.

Back over at the tree, Thunderbolt finally managed to climb up to the branch that Surprise was sitting on. He panted and tried to catch his breath. Once he recovered, he reached over to tag Surprise, but was shocked to see that she had already jumped out of the tree and was sticking her tongue out at him as she ran away. He gave another enraged cry and hopped out the tree to give chase.

“Look at that, he just ran by Amethyst and didn't even noticed her,” Spike commented.

“I think he's too determined to catch Surprise,” Rarity added. “He's just like his mother. Once you bruise his ego, he'll go to extremes to make up for it.”

“Are you saying I'm egoistical, Mrs. 'I'm secretly jealous of Fluttershy's modeling career so I'll try to sabotage it'?” Rainbow Dash questioned while giving her a stern look.

“Oh, I don't know. You tell me, Mrs. 'I must have the perfect pet because I'm so perfect so I'll make all these animals compete in a silly competition in order to win my affection'.” Spike and the others looked between the two mares as the intensity of their banter increased.

“Is that so? How about the time you joined in the young fliers competition to steal the spotlight even though you knew I was entering and I was having trouble?” Rainbow Dash had at this point stood up and was staring Rarity down.

“How about the time you tried to steal from a hospital just because you were too proud to admit that you enjoyed reading?” Rarity shot back as she too rose to her hooves.

“Umm...Girls...” Fluttershy meekly tried to interject.

“How about the fact that the only reason you even have that jewel around your neck is because you manipulated Spike into giving it to you!?” Rainbow accused as she pointed to the fire ruby necklace that Rarity was wearing. The fashionista gave a hurt gasp and placed an alabaster hoof on her necklace.

“Dear, maybe you should...” Soarin said as he tried to calm down his wife.

“How about the time you were so full of yourself that you rubbed it in all of Ponyville's face whenever you would save somepony that we had to bring you back to reality!?” Rarity shouted with hurt tears in her eyes.

“Oh, you mean the time you all went behind my back to show me up and make look like a fool!?”

“We weren't trying to make you look like a fool! We were trying to teach you a lesson in humility!”

“Who even asked you to!? You all were probably just jealous so you decided to stab me in the back and turn the entire town against me! You made me a laughing stock!” Rainbow Dash's eyes began to fill with hurt tears of her own.

“Enough!” Twilight snapped as she rose to her hooves and shouted using a sample of the Royal Canterlot Voice. Rainbow Dash and Rarity immediately ceased their arguing and all eyes were on the Alicorn. “We're all friends here and friends don't undercut each other like this. Yes, we've all made mistakes in the past, but that doesn't mean we have to keep reminding each other of them. Rainbow, you know we didn't mean to hurt you with the whole 'Mare Do Well' thing. We were honestly trying to help. And yes, looking back at it, it wasn't the brightest idea we've ever had. We should have handled it better. You see what I mean? We all make mistakes.”

“I'm sorry,” a humbled Rainbow Dash apologized. “Sorry, Rarity.”

“I'm sorry as well,” Rarity told her. “It was unlady like of me to open old wounds.”

“Hey now. Let's don't let this keep us down,” Pinkie Pie chimed in. “Do you know what I do during moments like this? I laugh at my past mistakes! Hey, remember the first time I volunteered to foalsit for the Cakes? I was in way over my head!”

This got a chuckle from everyone and then Applejack said, “Remember how Ah ran off to Dodge Junction when Ah didn't make enough money at the rodeo to help fix town hall?”

“How could we forget? After all, you left me stranded in the desert with Pinkie Pie,” Rarity dryly stated with a roll of her eyes before smirking at the memory. “Though, I suppose it was funny looking back at it.”

“Remember how I butchered the Cloudsdale anthem at the Equestria games?” Spike added, which caused a collective groan as everyone remembered the embarrassing memory.

“Or the time I tried to take care of Philomena without asking for permission from Princess Celestia first?” Fluttershy mentioned.

“Or how about the entire 'Changeling Invasion' mess before Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding?” Rainbow Dash reminded them. “We could have avoided that one if we only listened to Twilight.”

“Oi, I wish I could forget that one,” Spike commented while rubbing the space between his eyes in shame. “Luckily, Twilight was on top of things and was able to find the real Cadance and stop the wedding in time.”

Heads nodded in regretful agreement, but Twilight clarified by saying, “To be fair, I wasn't on my best behavior either. I could have explained myself better and not sound like an overprotective brat.”

“Let's just hope something like that never happens again,” Rarity wished.

*****

A streak of gray and blue soared over the fields of Ponyville. The speeding figure was none other than the Pegasus, Thunderbolt. After he delivered the clouds to Surprise over Sweet Apple Acres, he had gone home to finish sleeping before he got started on his daily chores. He worked on the town's weather patrol just as his mother before him did. The schedule called for clear skies and he made sure the sky was an unblemished blue. He was dutiful to his job and was always on time, unlike Rainbow Dash who loved to sleep in.

As much as he enjoyed his job, it was just a job. He dreamed of flying with his parents as a Wonderbolt one day. His adoptive aunt, Scootaloo, was never the strongest of fliers, but she did manage to live out her dream of becoming a daredevil and stuntpony. However, Thunderbolt was determined to carry on the family legacy. Being the child of two of the best fliers in all of Equestria, he certainly had the genes to do it. Add that to his unshakable devotion to his training regiment, he was well on his way. Plus, it didn't hurt that he had plenty of friends in high places. Not that he would ever abuse it, for he wanted to earn a spot on the squadron through hard work like his parents did.

Not only did he inherit his parents' skill, but also their looks. His mane was blue like Soarin's, but multiple shades like his mothers. It was dark blue, electric blue, and white. On his gray coat was the cutie mark of a lightning bolt, just like his parents also had. However, his was white and blue and didn't have any clouds accompanying it.

Every day, he would balance his schedule between managing the weather, practicing flight maneuvers, working out, and hanging out with his best friends. Understandably, he was closer to Evening Star and Sour Apple than the girls. However, Evening Star joined the Royal Guard because he felt he had something to prove. Thunderbolt admired his determination for he had big dreams as well, but the two Pegasi pals began to drift apart. He believed that Evening Star was too obsessed with in making a name for himself and forgot how to enjoy life. It didn't help that Evening Star was never in Ponyville anymore, always seeming to be busy or on duty. That didn't mean that they weren't friends anymore, just that they weren't as close as they once were. They still wrote each other and hung out on those rare occasions when they could meet up. The fact that Evening Star wouldn't be coming to Amethyst's birthday party bummed him out.

There was always Sour Apple. Posey and Surprise's plan actually seemed to work and broke through the shell the big Earth Pony had built up over the past ten years and Thunderbolt was glad to be a part of it. Even through Sour's “sour” years, they still remanded the best of friends, though they left the expressing of emotions to Thunderbolt. Sour Apple wouldn't say much, but he would listen and nod along to everything to what Thunderbolt had to say to him. He would even occasionally treat him to a smirk or a brief chuckle. It wasn't much, but he would take what he could get.

Then Thunderbolt thought about the girls in his group. As far as he knew, none of them had special someponies, but that really never mattered to Thunderbolt. As a colt, he never thought about them that way before, but now that he was older, he couldn't help but think of the possibilities. Surprise was a Pegasus like him and loved flying like he did, but she has had a crush on Pound Cake for the longest of time. Though he doubted she would get far with that venture, it wasn't helping him in being noticed by the creamy white young mare. Her zaniness could be a little off-putting at times, but she always means well. Besides, there was never a dull moment with her around. Everyday was a new “surprise.”

Posey was a possibility. She was sweet and caring like her parents were. Sure, she could be shy at times, but at least she wasn't literally afraid of her own shadow like her mother was. Just this morning, she proved that she thought of others and would go out of her way to do something meaningful for them.

Midnight was the brainy scholar-type who loved to learn and books above all else, but she wasn't a bore and a stick in the mud. Unlike Twilight Sparkle, she had the advantage of growing up with real friends. Though she wasn't a complete shut-in, he doubted she would be interest in a pursuing a relationship until after she was done with her advanced schooling. Besides, she was a princess and he was just a weather pony from Ponyville.

It was the same with Amethyst. She was also a princess and a kirin on top of that. He had to admit that her overall appearance could be little intimidating at times, but she was really down to earth. She was smart, but not slightly introverted like Midnight or Posey were. She was fun to be around, but not wild like Surprise was.

Everypony had their strengths and weakness, Thunderbolt figured. As he flew, he looked down and saw Ponyville Train Station. On the platform, he could see his friends and Mrs. Rarity holding up a banner in preparation for Amethyst and Midnight's arrival. Looking up ahead, he could see the train from Canterlot approaching.

Oh, good. I'm just in time, he thought as he descended to the platform and took his place by his friends. Sour Apple, Surprise, Posey, and Rarity acknowledged his arrival before returning their attention to the approaching train. Surprise was bouncing on her hooves with anticipation as the train pulled into the station. The doors opened and the passengers started to exit. A pair of white coated royal guards stepped on the platform followed by a lavender Alicorn, a blue Unicorn, and a white scaled kirin. Surprise squealed in excitement and rushed them. Before the royal guards could react, Midnight and Amethyst found themselves in the tight embrace of Surprise, quickly followed by the others.

“It's alright, sirs. You are dismissed,” Twilight told the guards, who nodded and reentered the passenger car.

“Oooh! YouMadeIt! YouMadeIt!” Surprise squealed in delight before releasing her grip on the two. “I've missed you two so much!”

“Surprise, we've only been gone for a week,” Midnight laughed with a roll of her eyes at her friend's overreaction and then looked up at the sign that was decorated with painted, smiling figures of the new arrivals that said “Welcome Home Midnight and Amethyst!”

“Thanks you guys, but you didn't have to go through the trouble of greeting us,” Amethyst told her friends. “My birthday is in three days anyway.”

“Not necessary!?” Surprise gasped. “Amethyst, there is always a reason to celebrate. Now come on, we have a party to get to.”

“Alright, Surprise. Just let us grab our bags first.” Before Amethyst and Midnight could retrieve their luggage, she saw that Sour Apple and Thunderbolt had already grabbed them.

“Don't worry, we got it,” Sour told them, surprising the two with his smile and the fact that he actually said more than two words.

“Welcome home, my dear,” Rarity said to her daughter as they hugged.

“Thanks, Mother.” A hopeful and somewhat pleading look came across Amethyst's face. “Is Father home yet?”

“Not yet, I'm afraid,” Rarity told her, much to Amethyst's disappointment. “Oh, don't despair. We still have three days until your birthday. Maybe we'll get lucky. Come along, we have a little get together set up for you and Midnight at Sugarcube Corner.”

When they arrived at the bakery, they found that their friends were gathered there with some food laid out for them. Since they were already planning to have a huge birthday bash on Monday, they kept it simple and causal. It was just a few sandwiches and salad; nothing too fancy. What really mattered to them was that they were all gathered together again. They shared stories, had a few laughs, and talked about what happened during the week.

“So Midnight, what did you learn at school during your trip?” Rarity asked her sister-in-law.

“I worked on a few spells and Princess Celestia taught me about the portal mirrors,” Midnight explained.

“You mean the ones that lead to other worlds?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Hey, remember the time we went to the world were everypony who was good was bad and everypony bad was good?”

“I remember that,” Pinkie answered. “It turned out that our Princess Celestia had a thing for that world's King Sombra.”

“Sombra? No, really?” Soarin asked surprised.

“He was quite charming in that world. Not at all like the one here,” Rarity clarified.

“Makes you wonder what 'bad' me is like,” Cheese Sandwich mused.

“Don't be silly. I could never imagine a bad you,” Pinkie told her husband before giving him a squeeze.

“Still, it makes you wonder what's all out there,” Midnight commented. “I mean, Princess Celestia and Star Swirl the Bearded explored dozens of parallel worlds. Mom, you even explored one.”

“Yes, and that's kind of how I was introduced to your father,” Twilight told her.

“You mean Flash Sentry is an alien from an alternate dimension? I knew it!” Cheese Sandwich declared excitedly, earning him odd looks from everypony else.

“Umm...No. Not quite,” Twilight told him. “I bumped into him before I went through the mirror and bumped into him a couple more times after I returned.”

“She also got to know his guitar playing, high school student counterpart while she was there and even went to the big school dance with him,” Pinkie Pie told the children.

“So everypony was the same in that world, except they were high school students?” Thunderbolt asked.

“Well, I wouldn't say everypony, but yeah, that's pretty much the sum of it,” Twilight clarified.

“I wonder if there is a world where everypony are dragons and all dragons are ponies,” Thunderbolt joked.

“There probably is,” Midnight told him. “It's all apart of multiverse theory.”

“Multi-what now?” Sour Apple asked, stumped by the unfamiliar term.

“In a nutshell, it says that there are countless alternate universes; one for every scenario imaginable. The changes in each universe can be as different as night is from day, while others can be indistinguishable. For an example; one universe can have an Equestria where the grass is blue and the sky is green while in another the only difference is that I decide to brush my mane one way as opposed to another.”

“That sounds...confusing,” Applejack said while trying to wrap her head around the concept.

“Not really. I think it sounds fun,” Surprise claimed. “That opens the door to so many possibilities! Imagine a world where the stallions are mares and the mares are stallions. I wonder what our names would be? I bet Princess Celestia would be Prince Solaris and Princess Luna would be Prince Artemis.”

“But Artemis is a mare's name...” Twilight Sparkle tried to say as Surprise continued her excited exposition.

“Ooh, I bet there's a world where Dad is a singer-songwriter famous for his parodies of already famous songs. And there could be a world where our daily adventures are depicted on a show for little girls that for some reason adult males seem to love it. They could even write stories about us and about what they think we should do or who we should be paired up with. What if this is all just a fan fiction written by some guy with way too much spare time?”

“Don't be ridiculous, Surprise,” Amethyst scoffed.

“Yeah, that's totally nuts,” Thunderbolt agreed.

“I guess that is a little silly,” Surprise admitted, blushing a little with embarrassment after realizing she going off on a rant. She then looked off into the distance and spoke as though she was speaking to an invisible onlooker. “Though, it makes you wonder...”

“Well, parallel worlds aside, what is our itinerary for this weekend?” Amethyst asked.

“Tomorrow morning, we head out for Winsome Falls,” Posey explained. “We should reach the falls late afternoon. We'll camp up there for the night and hike back down the next morning, Sunday. Then we'll have the party on your birthday the next day.”

“That sounds like a plan. I better go home an unpack and then repack for our trip.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Twilight agreed. “You have a busy weekend ahead of you.”

“And we still have to finish preparing for the party,” Pinkie explained as she started to clean up. “All of the decorations are done, but we still need to prepare the food.”

“Would like us to help you clean up?” Applejack offered.

“Oh no, we've got this. You can head on home,” Pinkie pie told everypony as she, Surprise, and Cheese cleared the tables.

“In that case, I guess we'll see each other tomorrow,” Midnight said as she prepared to leave with her mother.

“Bright and early,” Thunderbolt replied as he too prepared to head out with his parents. They all said their goodbyes before heading to their homes, anxious for the upcoming weekend.

Comments

[DiabloGuapo]

All six character chapters are done. Now we can move on to the central conflict of the story.

[DARKPHANTOM13]

Okay, role call is over. Time for the action to kick in. I wonder if those kids end up finding Spike's hide out while on the camping trip.

[mbpony 512]

Okay someone has to say it....SOMEPONY needs to give Evening Star a good swift kick in the flank and try to get him to loosen up a bit.

I mean he's almost like his mother in a sad way. Some pony needs to talk to him before he loses all of his friends.

Nice update and great spotlight on Thunderbolt, and nice usage of the REAL WORLD and Surprise random 4th wall abilities...it seems that she is her mother's little girl after all.

Yet, I wonder...if Surprise is like that, then what's Cherry Pie Like ?

Still, nice spotlight on Rainbow's son as it seems that when it comes to work, he is very different than his mother, but more loyal to his friends too.

Nice flashback on the "mistakes" the Mane 6 made growing up...maybe they can teach their kids not to make the same mistakes they did.

Great update overall. Please do keep up the good work upon such a great tale like this one.

[bronyvamp]

“Ooh, I bet there's a world where Dad is a singer-songwriter famous for his parodies of already famous songs. And there could be a world where our daily adventures are depicted on a show for little girls that for some reason adult males seem to love it. They could even write stories about us and about what they think we should do or who we should be paired up with. What if this is all just a fan fiction written by some guy with way too much spare time?”

*looks everywhere* ok don't pop out of my tv surprise