Frankenstallion Legacy

"Happy and heart-warming moments in life are a treasure on their own. We guard them closely so that they cannot be stolen. But like all treasures they inevitably will be stolen. So, it is up to us to steal them back." (Mythic Pen a.k.a. Myt)

...three weeks, and some home improvement, later...

The end of the fall was coming soon. The air was more crisp, the leaves all missing from the trees, and winter was creeping around the corner. Winter meant cold, and cold meant the need for snow clothes, and that, meant business for the Carousel Boutique. It was the busiest time of the year. Ponies filled out orders for new winter clothes and also clothing gift wrapped for Hearth's Warming Day. Rarity was going to be up to her neck with orders. She had already gotten an early start on her work. A sort of newfound inspiration was driving her to complete orders a bit faster than her regular pace of work. Many saw her work all day, leave her house at night, and not return until the morning. Some thought it strange, while others just minded their own business. It was said that she still felt uncomfortable sleeping in her home at night, considering the whole fiasco on Nightmare Night. She spent the nights in the home of somepony, or rather, some dragon that is.

It was a warm morning for Spike. The blankets were overflowing with the warmth of him, and his company. He was the first to awake. The weight on his chest compelled him not to yawn lest he should wake the sleeping beauty that lay before him. Spike enjoyed these moments, when he could enjoy seeing Rarity sleep. He imagined her as an angel resting by his side. He swore she was an angel, only she left behind her wings to be down here. 'She must really love me to do that,' Spike thought. Stroking her mane with his claws, he listened to her soft heart beat while her breathing came as a rhythm of song.

Rarity also was enjoying her rest as she cuddled up onto her dragon, the dragon that no one, outside of her friends, knew she was close with. Her secret she kept from the rest of the outside world. She relished being wrapped in Spike's strong scaly arms. His scales felt so strange against her fur, but in a good way. She liked it. As she lay her head against his chest, she listened to his strong dragon heart thumping away. She was too drowsy to notice the knock at the door, but she did notice her scaly body pillow trying to escape.

Spike attempted to set Rarity down to see who was knocking at his bedroom door, but to no avail. Rarity had coiled her forelegs around his neck pulling herself tighter and closer up under his chin. She tried to bury her face in the warmth by nuzzling his neck. Spike attempted to coo her from her compelling grasp, "I'll be back in a moment." After he kissed her fore head just under her horn, she reluctantly let go sliding from his chest and onto the bed which was still warm from his body heat. Rarity cuddled up in the empty blankets which were now absent of her dragon.

Spike carefully made his way to the bedroom door, trying to stay quiet. When he cracked open the door he saw that it was Myt standing behind the door. Opening the door, Spike carefully stepped through and gently shut the door behind him.

"So...did you two-"

"No!" Spike's muzzle grew red at Myt's perverted question.

"Oh sorry." Myt laughed at Spike. "I guess I assumed wrong."

Spike had reached his breaking point... Controlling his voice the best he could, he snapped at Myt, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What?'

"Never before have I ever met a pony who was so stuck up, rude, snarky, perverted, or inconsiderate as you!" Myt looked down, but Spike kept going. "What is your problem. You're rude to Rarity, you find it amusing to tease me at the most inappropriate of times, and you seem to be a pessimist whenever you can! You make fun of Rarity and I. Why? Cause we love each other? Do you think that's something to make fun of? What do you even know about love?!" Myt's face was blank, he just stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry." Myt let out out in a small sigh.

"What? That's all you can say? 'I'm sorry' ?" Spike stared down at Myt who held his hoof up to his neck, holding on to something. "Myt? What are you..." Myt pulled on what he was grabbing. From behind his bow tie, came out a little heart-shaped gold locket. "What is that?" Spike calmed down a bit. He watched as Myt used his magic to open the locket and place it in Spike's claws.

Spike examined it. Inside was a picture of a mare. She had a blonde mane with mustard colored fur and scarlet eyes. A heart and rose cutie mark adorned her flank. "Her name was Amber, Amber Heart." When Spike looked up at Myt, all he could see in his eyes were black holes staring back. "She... 'was' my fiance." Spike felt his own words, which he said earlier, fly back at his face.

"What do you mean 'was'?"

Taking in a deep breath, Myt answered Spike's question. "She died six years ago. She got sick and...her immune system shut down. She couldn't fight it. There was nothing the doctors could do." Myt took the locket out of Spike's claws and tucked it back under his bow tie.

Spike went silent. He felt terrible now for what he said to Myt.

"Its okay Spike. I am sorry. I shouldn't have been acting like a jackass in the first place."

"Myt, I-"

"No Spike, you didn't know, its my fault. Its my responsibility watching how I act around others. I screwed up." Myt composed himself. "Can you forgive me?" Spike couldn't believe his ears. Myt, who he had just insulted on a personal level, was asking him for for forgiveness. Ah, to hay with it...

"Water under the bridge...Myt." When Spike said this, Myt's face lit up with a smile.

There was silence...which was broken by Myt.

"So 'Romeo'," all Spike could do was laugh and roll his eyes, "what's the game plan for this wonderful Thursday?" Myt whispered still aware of the sleeping unicorn mare in Spike's room.

"Well, today is re-shelving day, I have some letters to write, reports, and I think that's about it." Spike thought for a moment. "Oh, did Zecora ever return those books she was going through?"

"Well, she never exactly took them anywhere." Myt stated, his voice still a bit groggy from the morning.

"Then where are they?"

"I sort of helped her set up the guest room as a study room for her. All of the books are still there. I asked her once what it all was for..."

"And?" Spiked asked expectingly.

"She said it had something to do with that incident at the Nightmare Night party. I was never there, but it sounded pretty exciting." Myt laughed at the idea, but then he remembered something else. "Oh, and there is a guard waiting downstairs for you. His name is Flashy or something like that."

"You could have told me this sooner."

A grin spread across Myt's face. "Yeah, I could have..." Laughing, Myt proceeded down the staircase followed by Spike who couldn't help but join in Myt's laughter.

While Myt headed into the kitchen Spike approached Flash Sentry. "You have news for me?"

"Regarding the missing pony-"

"Bon Bon?"

"Yes. Her disappearance is just one of many." Flash's tone darkened.

Spike was now worried. "What do you mean many?" He was afraid of the answer, but had to know.

"Ponies have been disappearing all over Equestria. In Manehatten, Baltimare, Las Pegasus, Van Hoover,

Apple Loosa, Canterlot, and now, Ponyville. Three were taken from every one of the other cities. It's the same pattern too. An earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn..." Spike felt his heart skip a beat. "...were taken from each city. Bon Bon was an earth pony. Now that she's gone..."

Spike knew what was coming. "Flash, that means..."

"That means that every pegasus and 'unicorn' in Ponyville is a potential target." The one word that stood out to Spike was 'unicorn'. 'Rarity is a unicorn! She's in Danger!!!' The thoughts in his head kept screaming into his ears about to burst out.

Just then a voice came ringing from upstairs. "Spike?" It was Rarity. "Is everything okay?" She came trotting down the stairs in her robe up to Spike and Flash. Spike looked to Flash, his eyes screaming with concern and worry about Rarity. "Spike dear, something wrong?"

Spike turned around to face Rarity, forcing a smile. "Everything is fine. Flash here was just giving me an update on their progress in finding Bon Bon." He lied.

"Oh really?" She turned to Flash. "How close are you? Have you caught the scoundrel that foalnapped our friend?" Rarity waited for the response.

Flash decided to join in on Spike's lie. "Not yet, but we're close. I was just suggesting to Spike," he stumbled trying to finish his part of the lie, "uh, that he should keep a close watch over you. Just in case. You know...for safety reasons."

Rarity just smiled not even considering that what Flash had just said might have been less that truthful. "Very well. I guess, since Spike has to watch over me, he'll be escorting me to the spa with my friend Fluttershy today." She turned back to Spike. "Dear, I'll be in the kitchen making myself some breakfast." With that she headed into the kitchen. And greeted Myt, who was less than happy to see her.

Spike turned back to Flash. "What about the rest of the town?"

"We've already informed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to stay safe, but they're not fully aware of the situation. The two of them are going to stay with The Apple Family. Two guards are going to be posted there by night in disguise. That goes for the rest of the town as well. We have guards disguised as street vendors, shop workers, and we even have some dressed as tourists. If all goes well, we'll be able to catch whoever is taking these ponies."

"Is there any way I can help?"

"If you come across any information you think could be useful, tell us."

"Of course." Spike hadn't heard anything yet, but was ready to bring any new information to light.

Flash bowed before Spike, then he turned for the the door but stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh! I almost forgot." He pulled a parcel out of his chest plate and gave it to Spike. "These are tickets."

"For what?"

Flash smiled. "The Winter Hearth's Warming Gala. It was Twilight's idea. She thought it would relieve some tension with what's going on and all."

"Thanks Flash. Oh, and, good luck with Twilight." To this Flash's face turned redder than a tomato before he composed himself and marched out the door of the library. Spike locked the door after Flash was gone. He then pulled himself towards the kitchen to join Rarity for breakfast.

*****

Zecora knocked at the door of the windmill. Anxiously she waited, and waited. When no response came, she knocked aggressively at the door. To her surprise, it fell open by itself. Carefully nudging it open, she walked inside. The lights were on upstairs and dimly shone down the spiral staircase that stood out in the dark.

With each step, Zecora's hooves caused the metal frame of the stairway to creak as she inched her way up to the top. She could hear Wolf cursing to him self as he came into view.

He was tightly wrapping bandages around his torso. Under the bandages the outline of wings could be seen forced flat against his sides. He was using his mouth to pull the bandages tighter and fasten them down. Zecora's next step made a loud creak on one of the floor boards. Wolf snapped around with his back to Zecora. He avoided direct eye contact while he shouted, "What are you doing here?!"

"I just came to-"

"What?! What did you come to do?!"

"I didn't mean to intrude, but you don't have to rude!" Zecora snapped back. She was getting tired of his charades. He was hiding something from her. Now she was questioning why she even agreed to keep his presence here a secret. She needed to know what he was hiding. "Look at me..."

"I can't-"

"Why not?"

Wolf lowered his head to the point where his horn scratched the ground. He mumbled something to himself before he raised his head. Turning his head towards Zecora, he kept his eyes held shut. "I don't want you to see me like this. You've already seen that I hide my...wings-"

"Wings? You're an Allicorn?"

"No, not exactly. These wings aren't norm-, never mind. Please just forget this, don't tell anyone about it...just leave..."

"No. You asked me to keep your secret, but ever since we had met..."

"I know I've kept you in the dark..."

"Is your name even Wolfenstein?"

"No..." Wolf admitted.

There was silence. Zecora's eyes wandered over to the table next to Wolf. On it lay his jumpsuit, empty bandage boxes, and a pair of green contact lenses. He was hiding his whole appearance. Was it out of shame or something else? She walked up to the side of Wolf and placed a hoof on his shoulder, to which he clenched his eyes shut even tighter and turned his head away.

"Wolf..."

Zecora brought herself around to face him. She pulled his head to face her with her fore hoof.

"Please...you can still trust me."

Wolf let out a sigh. Straitening his neck, he opened his eyes up to Zecora. She choked slightly on her breath. His eyes were yellow, a golden yellow, but they were nothing like she had ever seen before though. They could have easily been mistaken for real gold had it not been the for the fact that they were organic. They appeared to be glistening, though there was no light shining on his eyes. His irises appeared to glow a low light that Zecora almost swore was a direct result of his eyes being an open gateway to his soul. Another peculiar thing about his eyes, were his pupils. They were slits, like dragon eyes. The slits seemed to grow and shrink as if by Wolf's control. His real eyes, which he had hid with contact lenses earlier, almost appeared as rare flowers similar, no, identical to flowers Zecora had seen before in her homeland. They were beautiful.

"Wolf...uh."

"I know, they're hideous. I'm hideous, my existence is hideous. If he had never made me then maybe..."

"Who?"

"Never mind that, it's all in the past."

"Wolf!" She thought for a moment. What could she say to get him to talk? Wait, what about, no that's just a fiction story, but maybe, just maybe... "Was it Frankenstallion?"

To this, Wolf's eyes widened. An expression of disbelief over took his face. "What did you just say?"

She had caught his attention. "It's not just a story, is it? Victor. Victor Frankenstallion. Did he do this to you?" The rhyme in her voice had vanished. But at the same time, a sincerity arose in her voice. A sense of sympathy, overtook her. "You can still trust me."

Furrowing his brow, he stood up, almost towering over her. "How do you know about Victor Frankenstallion?" Zecora cowered slightly, but was quick to respond.

"Mare E. Shelly's book, a story I suspect from you, she took. However I don't believe that you were the monster, though your eyes speak otherwise."

Wolf sat down still eye level with Zecora. He contemplated on Zecora's words. "Mare E. Shelly, but, she's been dead for nearly two centuries. She turned Victor's story into a book, heh." He looked to Zecora who had also sat down in front of him, now looking up at him. "You read the book, didn't you?" Zecora nodded her head. "Well, that's only half of the story. I'm not the monster in that book, but you have seen him, he was the one in the street on Nightmare Night, the one that threw the brick. That message, 'I am watching you', it was meant for me. Me, the second of Victor's creations, but not the last." He stopped to see that Zecora was giving him a warm smile.

"Wolf? Something wrong?"

"Zecora, I'm nearly nine hundred years old."

She laughed. "Years to age, you've had plenty, but you don't look a day over twenty." Now Wolf finally smiled. An expression Zecora had only seen one other time: the night that she first met him at the Nightmare Night party. "So tell me what you've been doing all these years. Please?"

Wolf sat there perplexed by the zebra's blue green eyes. "Victor made me and others, to wander the lands, helping ponies in need; saving the innocent that died young."

"Like Applebloom?"

"Yes, but I'm the last one now, all the others are..." A tear escaped one of his shimmering gold eyes. "...they're..." He couldn't say it, but Zecora understood. "It's my fault...I...I..." He began to tremble. Zecora watched, nine hundred years, and goodness knows how many of those years were sorrow, she watched as Wolf buried his face into his forelegs and let out a silent cry. Nine hundred years, and in an instant, Zecora watched its toll on Wolf bleed out through this emotional response. Could he just not take it any longer?

Zecora stood up and sat down next to Wolf. She wrapped her foreleg around his neck and leaned against him, comforting him. "Shhh, it'll be alright." She whispered to him. At the sound of her voice, Wolf's breathing slowed, his sobbing stopped; he looked up to Zecora. His cheeks were matted where tears had once rained down, his eyes looked tired, but appeared more ancient than before. "Have you been alone, all those years?" Once again, Zecora's natural rhyme had vanished. "Weren't you ever close to some one?"

Gathering himself he wiped his eyes. "No, I can't get to close to anypony. They grow old and die, while I live, forever. It's funny that so many wish they could be immortal like the princesses that rule Equestria, but I know, it's a curse. It's a terrible curse." Zecora knew he wasn't the monster from Mare E. Shelly's book, but she recognized a pain that Wolf shared with him. He couldn't escape himself. He was what he was. There was no changing what Victor did. "The monster, well, I shouldn't call him that anymore. He's made and lost friends along the centuries. Right now. Some poor griffon he found. She went blind after a head head injury. The mon- I mean, he found her, and nursed her back to health. He takes care of her. She's grown as fond of him as he has of her. I think her name was Gilda, or something like that."

"He's still alive?" Zecora reluctantly asked.

"Of course..."

"So he didn't destroy himself like he said he would in the book?"

"Zecora, he tried, but he couldn't. He can't die, nor can I, by any normal circumstances." He looked down at Zecora. "Since I can't die, I continue doing what I've always done, I help where I can, and then I move on. I came here to Ponyville, to help. I try to help, but there are some who are afraid of someone that can bring life back to the dead. That is why no one must know I am here, or who I really am. If they were to know, they would reject me."

"Wolf." Zecora's face beamed with hope as she was pleased to speak her next words. "Times have changed. They may learn to except you as they have learned to accept me. When I first came here, many were filled with fear. But soon, I gained their trust. Just as you have gained mine."

Wolf stared almost in disbelief. "Y-you actually trust me?"

"Of course. If I didn't, I'd be no better than the ones that distrusted me in the beginning. But, I must ask you something."

"What?"

"Our friend, Bon Bon, where is she?"

Wolf sighed and then, he smiled. "She is under my care. Your friend, she has cancer." Zecora couldn't believe what she was hearing. "It is a bit trickier to treat cancer, but I promise, that not only will she be cured, but also, the gene she carries for cancer will be removed completely. I will be thorough in setting ponies' memories back. It'll be like she never left at all." Zecora's face beamed with relief.

She pulled Wolf into a hug, to which he didn't know how to respond, so he just let it happen. He enjoyed it while he could. Guilt hid inside him though, Zecora didn't know it, but Wolf was lying about Bonbon. Cancer was the least of her worries.

*****

Rarity sat with her friend Fluttershy in the steam room. Both wore robes as one of the Spa ponies used a ladle to pour water on the heated rocks: generating more steam each time she did so. Fluttershy was listening to Rarity who was going on and on about one particular person...Spike.

"Oh Fluttershy, I thought it couldn't get any better!" Rolling her eyes a bit, Fluttershy continued to smile as she listened to Rarity talk. "Just as I was making my breakfast, Spike walked in carrying a parcel, and when I asked him what it was, he covered my eyes with his claws. He told me it was a surprise. When he lifted his claws, I saw them..."

"What were they?"

"Tickets!"

"Tickets?"

"Yes Fluttershy! Tickets! Tickets to the Hearths Warming Winter Gala. Oh Spike has really out done himself. Oh it'll be so romantic, dancing with him to the slow music of the Canterlot orchestra, under the bright moonlight. It will be simply divine..."

Fluttershy giggled a bit at Rarity's ranting.

"Oh, and you know what Fluttershy? He even had tickets for the rest of our friends, and their dates if they so desire. Although, Pinkie said she's not coming. She has still been down in the dumps ever since Pokey Pierce left her. The poor thing, I do hope she cheers up soon, her mane has gotten a little flat lately. At least it's not as bad as the time Cheese Sandwich left her. Anyways, since Pinkie didn't want her tickets, I gave them to Ditsy and her husband, oh what did he call himself, ah yes The Doctor. A strange fellow, but a happy couple. I was honored to make Ditsy's wedding dress. I thought they could use some time out of that tiny blue box they live in..." She let out a sigh after inhaling the steamy air that filled the room. "Just next week, it's going to be wonderful."

Fluttershy bit her lip. "Actually Rarity, I won't be going either..."

"What! Why?"

"Well..." Fluttershy couldn't stop herself from blushing. "...actually Big Mac sort of asked me out on a date..." Her muzzle lit up bright red. "...it's next week too, the same time as the gala. I promised him I would go with him, so I won't be able to make it to the gala."

Rarity stood baffled. "Fluttershy...You! And Big Mac! My goodness I'm so proud of you."

Timidly Fluttershy hid behind her hair. "Oh it's nothing serious really, yet."

"Oh, I heard you say 'yet' which shows anticipation. Aside from that, since you won't be needing your tickets, who should I give them to?"

Fluttershy thought for a moment. "How about Zecora, it might be good for her to get out more often."

"Maybe. I would be even more surprised if she brought a stallion along with her. Come to think of it, I think I have been seeing her crossing through the market more than usual. She said she was looking for someone... Oh my word, Fluttershy, do you think she's seeing somepony?"

"Well, she could be, I guess."

"Hmm, look at us, finding love, one by one. Things seem so great right now, this could be the beginning of a good life. You know...I don't see how things could ever possibly get worse." Rarity took in a deep breath. Closing her eyes, she let out her breath in a sigh. "I hope Spike is fine waiting for us in the lobby."

*****

Spike sat out in the lobby, waiting for Rarity. Having browsed through all the magazines, he finally grew bored.

"This sucks." he huffed.