Golden Spike

By Courageous Thunder Dash

• November 20, 2013




Age: 50

Gender: Male

Species: Earth Pony

Appearance: Somewhat middle aged. Bright yellow coat with yellow-gold mane and tail. Has a bit of facial hair. He wears a collared vest.

Cutie Mark: A hammer driving in a spike. He was actually the one who led the creation of the Friendship Express

Personality: Golden Spike is a very hard worker. Once he starts something, he finishes it no matter what. He is very determined and has that "heart of steel" meaning that he pushes himself to the best he could be. However, he can sometimes overestimate his strength, which leads him to injuring himself quite a bit. Because of this overestimation, he's known to be somewhat prideful and boasts about his accomplishments, rather than staying humble.

Backstory: Born in Canterlot as a mid-upper class pony, Golden Spike was raised with a semi-rich family. It had been said that Golden Spike's Gerat Grandpa actually helped to establish the city of Canterlot. <br /><br />In his young days, Golden Spike attended school like every other colt and filly of his age. His interest was mostly history and engineering, as he would be found reading books on how Equestria was established by the two Royal Sisters and how various events changed Equestria's destiny, and books on how innovations were pushing the envelope in Equestrian science and industry. Golden Spike thought that someday, he would land in the books. His parents told him that everypony can leave a legacy, and that's what he sought.<br /><br />As the years passed, more towns were established. During his 15th year, the city of Manehattan was established. However, the only way to get there was to either fly or walk. Most ponies took the long walk, which was very inconvenient. In his 18th year, steel and iron were both discovered. This gave Gold Spike an opportunity to change the course of Equestria's history. He started fiddling with wheels on long pieces of iron and steel, after taking an entry level engineering class offered by Canterlot University. Soon, he assembled a small scale model of what would be known the first Equestrian Railway. <br /><br />In the early part of his 20th year, he endeavored on the first part of his major project: to create a railway system that circles all around Equestria. The first spike was driven on the first day of the sixth month in his 20th year, which is when he got his cutie mark. <br /><br />Five years had passed and the railway had reached Manehattan. On that same year, the major city of Detrot was established. Because of the large output of resources, an economic boom occurred. Golden Spike moved double-time during this period and made it beyond Detrot. In fact, he made it to Los Pegasus, which had been continuously growing since the boom began. Unfortunately, these happy times wouldn't last. <br /><br />Around his 35th year, Golden Spike had a terrible accident, As some pegasai were carrying a large piece of steel to be placed, a sudden gust of wind caused them to lose control and drop the steel piece. The piece fell right on Golden Spike, and it hyper-extended his back, leaving him with four cracked vertebrae and three herniated discs. He had to abort the project, but he insisted that the job must go on. To make matters worse, the economy took a plunge. Resources were dwindling and there was not enough food to feed an entire town. The Great Equestrian Depression had begun. To make matters worse, there wasn't enough bits for Golden Spike's operation to repair his spine. <br /><br />Five whole years passed and Golden Spike was still injured. Little by little, the citizens in the less privileged regions started to grow crops in to maintain their survival. Soon, enough crops were grown in order to feed those who needed food. Soon, factories were back in business and things were recovering. Golden Spike went for his operation as soon as he earned the bits, yet because of his "heart of steel" got to prideful, ignored the doctor's suggestion to rest and not overdo himself, and was back in the hospital two weeks after he got out.<br /><br />The time was passing, Golden Spike was getting older and soon, would not be able to work no more. The railway had reached as far as Saddle Arabia. There were only two more places to go. He was now 45 years old. <br /><br />Finally, after 30 years of toiling and two spinal injuries, Golden Spike drove in the final spike. There was a great celebration and it was also just in time for the Summer Sun Festival. <br /><br />Now, Golden Spike is enjoying retirement in the city of Canterlot.