//------------------------------// // A Spark of Interest // Story: A Spark of Magic // by Rammstein45 //------------------------------// (CHAPTER 1) A SPARK OF INTEREST A large box was levitated into place, stacked among many others, all with bright orange caution stickers which were labeled "Explosive". There were at least 100 of these boxes, all packed full of hoof crafted firework shells, destined for a display to wow the thousands in attendance at Canterlot that very evening. This was truly a fireworks display not to be missed, and one that would surely be talked about for many days to come. "There we go." A unicorn stallion mumbled to himself as he packed the final box among the others. With a grin on his face, he turned and hopped out of a box car sitting at the train depot. His horn began to glow a pale blue and he slid the door shut on the train car. His name was Sparks, owner and lead pyrotechnician of the Ponyville Fireworks Company. Slightly taller than most with a coat that was a light blue, accompanied by a long bright blue, and red mane. Even his cutie mark reflected his passion for blowing things up, a blue and red firework accompanied by a few golden stars. Saying he was excited at this moment was an understatement. This was the first time he had been commissioned to do the fireworks for the Grand Galloping Gala. It was a show he had dreamed of doing for years, but one which until this year had been done by another firework company based out of Manehatten. It was one of the few rival companies that still made actual black powder fireworks, and not spell cast ones which were deemed "Safer" for those ponies watching them. This was his chance to really wow everypony, and put his new firework business on the map. Sparks wasn't going in unprepared by any means. He had an entire box car packed to the brim with fireworks, and 5 other cars stacked full of mortar tubes for firing all of the shells. If he had to guess, he had enough with him for a display that could last over a half an hour, double that of the Manehatten crew from previous Gala firework displays. Oh yes, Sparks was definitely excited. "Phew!" Another stallion panted. A pegasus named Firecracker wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead. His coat was a deep red, and his mane a spiky mess of bright yellow. His cutie mark; without much surprise, was a firecracker. "Looks good to me!" He chimed with a grin as he held up his hoof towards Sparks. Sparks bumped his hoof and said back with pride, "This is going to be great! The Princesses will definitely remember this one. Plus, now we can show up the Manehatten crew." "How many other ponies are supposed to be at the Gala tonight?" Firecracker asked. Sparks grinned, "Enough for our company name to get spread all over Equestria after we wow them all tonight." Behind them, a bell rang out from a clock tower. It was 7am. Their train would be leaving in a half hour for Canterlot. Sparks had the day completely planned out. After the 2 hour train ride, they would immediately unload everything and take it to the firing site. From there, he and Firecracker planned to bust their flanks off to have everything set up by mid afternoon. Hopefully it would give them plenty of time to spend the evening making sure everything was properly loaded and set up. It was a very large show, and it was only he and Firecracker handling the entire thing. While it seemed like an impossible task, the two were confident that they could get it done. After all, the Princesses would be watching. Sparks walked over to his saddle bag that he had set on the ground. He pulled out a list just to triple check that he and Firecracker remembered everything that was needed for the show. He knew they had everything, but it helped him keep peace of mind when he did things like this. Firecracker trotted over towards Sparks. "C'mon." He said with a follow me motion of his head, "Let's get a quick bite to eat before we leave." "Sounds good to me." _____________________________________________________________________________________ It was getting to be late morning by the time the train arrived in Canterlot. Celestia's sun was casting a golden glow over the picturesque landscape, evaporating a few remaining patches of fog that were still lingering among the valleys. Sparks looked out of the window of the train car. He had never been to Canterlot before, this was an amazing first for him. Canterlot Castle dominated most of the city. He had seen pictures of it before, and could see it from afar at his home in Ponyville; still, nothing compared to seeing it up close. Dominate towers of white, gold, and purple standing tall over the large city, right along with a bustling town surrounding the castle. This was truly a city worthy of a princess. He could also see the residence of Canterlot out and about getting ready for the Gala. Stallions carrying shopping bags from the many different shops, and lovely mares already at the mane salons, and clothing stores. "This place is huge!" Sparks called out. Firecracker looked over to his friend. "You've seriously never been to Canterlot before?" "Never. This is my first time here." "You've been missing out, there's so much to do here, and a lot of single mares too!" Firecracker boasted. "Very pretty ones!" Sparks muffled a laugh. "That's a plus I guess." "You guess? Come on now!" Firecracker quipped, "You can't tell me that none of these ladies are catching your eye." Sparks looked at the citizens of Canterlot as the train made its way to the station. Yeah, he did see a lot of very attractive looking mares, but none of them really seemed to jump out at him. To him, the ponies in this city were polar opposites of what he was. These were high society ponies, with fancy jobs and titles to match. Sparks was used to being somewhat unkempt, and covered from head to hoof in soot most of the time. He just shrugged, and to get Firecracker off of his back, he said without any real enthusiasm, "They're a few good looking ones I guess." A screech echoed from the trains wheels as it slowed to a stop. The door to the passenger car opened and a station worker called out, "Welcome to Canterlot!" Sparks was glad to be off the train. It would get him away from Firecracker constantly nagging him to find a special somepony. The two greeted the station worker and walked out onto the platform. Firecracker inhaled sharply and let out an audible breath. "Smell that Sparks? That's fresh Canterlot air!" Sparks took in a breath. The smell of morning dew was still fresh in the air, along with the distant smell of finely prepared food coming from the many restaurants, and bistros. "The food smells good." He replied. "Tell you what, after we get everything set up I'll take you to my favorite place to eat here." "Sounds good to me." The sound of heavy hoof steps were heard clacking off of the train platform. The two turned and saw one of the Canterlot Royal Guard approach them. He was a white pegasus stallion with a deep red mane, clad in heavy plate armor. He looked at the two pyrotechnicians and said, "Ponyville Fireworks Company, correct?" "That's us," Sparks said back. With a nod, the guard continued, "I'm Storm Runner, I'll be your escort around Canterlot for today." "Good to meet you, I'm Sparks, and this is my friend Firecracker. Is everything ready for us to get set up?" The guard nodded. "Yes, the Princess requested that you set up in the northern field behind the Castle. She says all of Canterlot will be able to see the fireworks from there. Do you need any assistance?" "Assistance would be very much appreciated!" Firecracker called out. Sparks nodded and motioned towards the train. "We have 5 box cars packed to the brim with mortar racks. It would take us a good part of our day to cart them all from here to the firing site. Whatever help you can give us would be great." "I'll go get a group together and we'll bring some carts for carrying everything." "Sounds good," Sparks said back. He then motioned towards the last car on the train. "and if you could, can you have a few ponies make sure no one messes with this car? That's where all the shells are, we don't want anypony getting hurt." "Understandable. I'll assign somepony to guard it." Firecracker slid open a door on the first box car, "Well, let's start getting everything out while we wait for our carts." Sparks nodded and looked back to the guard. "We're going to start unloading while you round up our help so we can save a little time." With a nod, the Storm Runner replied, "Alright, I'll be back with you help in 10 minutes." _____________________________________________________________________________________ "Let's get all of the 3 inch tubes out of the way first, that's what we have the most of." Firecracker called out as he hefted the first of many mortar racks down to sparks. The mortar racks were essentially a simple wooden frame with black pieces of pipe mounted in a row inside. The pipes were designed to withstand the high heat and extreme pressure of a shell launching into the sky. The 3 inch racks were the smallest ones. Standing at just slightly over a foot and a half high with 10 tubes that were 3 inches in diameter. From there, they had 4, 5, and 6 inch racks with larger diameter tubes that stood at 3 feet tall, all the way up to the monster 8, 10, and 12 inch wracks for the massive shells that were used in the finale. Sparks slid the mortar racks into a line on the platform so they could be easily loaded when the guards returned to help them. And just to help quicken their pace a little, Sparks went inside and helped Firecracker unload the stacked up mortar tubes. Sparks would rarely use his magic for this part, only if they were short on time. He knew that his magic would make it easier with a simple levitation spell, but he never thought it was very fair to Firecracker. Being a pegasus, he didn't have the luxury of those simple spells to make the loading and unloading process go quicker. Still, Sparks didn't mind, all of the heavy lifting kept him toned, and in shape. "Did you check the weather report for today?" Firecracker asked. Sparks hefted a mortar rack down and replied, "Yeah, the pegasus have all of the skies clear in the area for the Gala, so we don't have to worry about rain." "Okay. Firecracker called back as he handed another rack down to Sparks, "That's good." "But!" Sparks chirped as he leaned on a mortar rack and looked up at his friend. "But?" Sparks grinned and continued, "We get our favorite type of weather for setting up the display!" Firecracker let out an annoyed groan. "Great... hot and humid, right?" "Eeyup!" Sparks quipped. "Mid afternoon is supposed to be around 90 degrees and extra muggy!" Firecracker let out a sigh. He hated hot and humid weather more than anything. On top of constantly sweating, the humidity made his feathers stick together, and make his wings itch. Firecracker then quickened his pace and said, "Let's get these tubes unloaded as fast as we can then, these cars will turn into an oven in about an hour." _____________________________________________________________________________________ The two made short work of the first train car. By the time they had nearly all of the mortar racks unloaded Storm Runner returned with 5 other stallions, all pulling large carts. "Will this be enough to get everything taken to the firing site?" With a nod, Sparks said back, "Looks good to me! How do you want us to get everything moved? Are just the guards taking everything while we load up the carts? Or did you have something else in mind?" The guard shook his head, "That's not our call, you're running the show here, tell us what you want us to do, and how we can help." Sparks looked at Firecracker and said, "Ooo, the Royal Guard put us in charge, I like that." He then quickly looked back to Storm Runner and continued, "Well, let's start by getting these racks that we already have unpacked loaded up in the carts. Firecracker, can you stay here and have two of the guards help you unload the other racks while I go to the site and start unloading there?" With a nod, Firecracker said back, "Yeah, I can do that." He then went to the next box car and opened the door. Inside were more 3 inch racks and the start of the larger 4, and 5 inch tubes. He then looked at the guards and said, "Alright, strongest ones step right up! After the 3's, they start getting heavy." "You heard him!" The Storm Runner growled, "Volunteers step up! We don't want to have the Princesses upset for us being late." Two of the other guards went up to the box car, an earth pony, and another pegasus and began assisting Firecracker. Sparks then went over to the tubes that he had unloaded and surrounded them with a blue aura. He levitated them one after the other into the first cart until it was full. He then looked at the remaining guards and said, "Well, I think it will be most efficient if the unicorns help load and the earth ponies help pull." With nods, the guards set to work. Sparks then looked at Storm Runner. "Can you show me to the firing site? I'd like to start getting our mortars set up." With a stiff nod, he replied, "Of course, right this way." He then looked to his fellow guardsmen and said, "You all know where we're going, after you load up, meet us there." Sparks then called out, "Don't worry about the shells. Firecracker and I will handle those. It's fine for you all to help with the mortar racks but Firecracker and I are the ones who need to move the shells to the site. It's all strictly for safety." Storm Runner nodded, "That's perfectly understandable." He readied to organize the other guards to begin their work but paused. "Ah! Before I forget..." He opened up a small pocket on his armor and pulled out two lanyards with golden pieces of paper attached to the bottom. "These are your passes while you're here." He continued as he handed one to Sparks, and the other to Firecracker. "They will grant you access all over the castle grounds, and even inside to the Gala itself if you wish." Sparks levitated the lanyard around his neck and said back, "Thank you, but I doubt we'll be going inside the Gala though, we have too much to do before the show starts, and right after we shoot we'll start tearing down. Plus I doubt the Princesses will want 2 sweaty, soot covered pyro's in her party." "Should you change your mind, you're welcomed to come in." With a nod, Sparks thanked the guard and put on the carts harness. "Lead the way!" _____________________________________________________________________________________ "Man, Firecracker wasn't kidding!" Sparks thought to himself. Canterlot was easily the most impressive city he'd ever seen. Places like Manehatten, and Baltimare were unique in their own right, but they were still just cities. Canterlot was pure regality to the core. Everything looked flawlessly clean, and so well kept as if nothing in this city were ever touched by hooves. He was lead down a path that ran along the outer edge of the city, away from the busy streets. He passed several shops, all were expensive clothing, and jewelry boutiques. From there, the path broke away from the city and out into the open grassy lawns that surrounded the castle. They went over a small bridge that overhung the edge of a waterfall. It was all very impressive. "Through this gate up ahead is your firing site." Storm Runner called out. The gate leading into the field was just as ornate as the rest of the city. Alabaster white bars adorned with golden accents and decorations lined the massive field. Sparks walked off the path onto the lush green grass and looked around. The field he and Firecracker would be shooting from looked like something out of one of those fancy gardening magazines. Not a single patch of off color grass could be seen, and every blade was trimmed to an exact and precise height without a single weed to taint the landscape. Sparks looked at the guard and said with some concern, "Umm... Princess Celestia is aware that this field is going to get covered in debris, and soot right? And that a lot of the grass will get burnt from the embers?" "The lawn will be repaired by the gardeners tomorrow." Storm Runner said as a matter-of-factly. "Any leftover debris will also be taken care of. Princess Celestia's only concern is that your fireworks entertain her guests." With a nod, Sparks replied, "Alright, so no pressure or anything." The guard cracked a smile. "You'll do fine." Sparks looked at the field. It was large enough to fit all of the mortar racks he brought, with plenty of extra room for debris to fall without endangering anypony, or risking a fire. "Good!" He thought to himself. Sparks then looked at the guard and said, "Alright, now this is the part where I talk to myself a lot while I figure out where everything is going to go." Storm Runner shrugged, "Whatever you need to do. Just don't answer yourself." "No promises!" The back hatch of the wagon opened and Sparks began to levitate out the first round of mortar racks. He lined them up next to each other and said to the guard, "Just have the others line the tubes up next to these ones, Firecracker and I will sort them out once we get everything up here." Sparks then finished unloading and reattached himself to the cart so he could get another load. "Do you need help finding your way back to the train station?" The guard asked. "Nah, I think I'm good. It was pretty simple getting here." "Alright. I'll be here helping to unload everything." "Sounds good, be back in a few." Sparks then headed back out at a quick pace. He wanted to get everything unloaded and to the firing site so he could finally start setting up. Luckily it was only a quick 5 minute trot back to the station. He passed 2 of the other guards on his way back, all had full carts of equipment. At the station, Firecracker and the other 2 guards were making short work of unloading the mortar tubes. "You're just in time!" Firecracker called out as he tossed another rack down onto the platform, "We just started on the heavy 6 inches!" Sparks again made short work of loading up his cart so he could get everything dropped off at the site. Another guard walked up with an empty cart, ready for his next load. Sparks then called out, "Be back in a few." "Make it quick!" Firecracker said back from inside the box car, "It's starting to get warm in here." Sparks again set off. He struggled slightly to get the heavy cart moving. The larger 6 inch mortars were far from light. The same could be said for the few larger diameter ones in the other train cars. Luckily there weren't too many of those; only a hand full for the end of the finale. He got the cart moving and back onto the path towards the field, keeping at a quick pace so he could get everything set up on time. A bead of sweat trickled down from his brow. The sun was rising high in the sky, along with the temperature. He would need a lot of water bottles to get through today. Up ahead of him a door to one of the shops opened. Sparks looked up just in time to see 2 large levitating boxes, wrapped in decorative paper step right out onto the path in front of him. With a gasp, he quickly tried to force the heavy cart to stop. His hooves skidded off of the paved path as he managed to call, "Look out!" There was a thud followed by the cart coming to a shaky stop, and finally the sound of the wrapped boxes tumbling to the ground. Sparks rubbed his head and shook off the stars from his vision. After he came back to his senses, he looked down and saw a mare, lying on the ground trying to recover from the impact. He quickly unhooked himself from the cart and over to her side to help her up. "Are you alright?!" The mare groaned and rubbed her forehead. "I-I think so. What happened?" That's when he saw those amethyst eyes for the first time. She looked at him with an almost bewitching trance. Her coat was a deep, silky sky blue, and her mane was platinum white as the purest snow with streaks blue like untainted arctic ice. It almost had a metallic sheen to it. Sparks had to almost force himself to break his stare. Quickly coming back to reality, he extended his hoof and helped the mare stand. Before he could continue, she gasped and blurted out, "Oh no! Is it okay?! Please be okay!" Before Sparks could ask what was wrong, the mare frantically began looking around. She spun on her hoof and saw her boxes lying scattered on the pathway. With a gasp her horn began to glow a pale violet and she levitated them in front of herself. The carefully wrapped paper was torn open with her magic and she quickly opened the lid. After a tense few seconds of her visually inspecting the boxes contents, she let out a sigh of relief and set the boxes back down. "Thank Celestia..." She breathed, "Trixie was afraid they had been run over." "Um... Is everything alright?" Sparks asked, trying to get her attention. She turned towards him. "I'm sorry," She continued, "it's just that this is Trixie's Gala dress. I was afraid it had been run over." She used her magic to try and reset some of the wrapping paper to make her packages look less damaged. "I don't know what I would do if I didn't have a dress for tonight." Sparks horn began to glow. He used his magic to straighten out her saddle bags that had come loose when she fell. "Is it okay? She nodded. "Yes, thankfully they didn't get run over, the boxes just got scuffed, those really aren't important anyway." Sparks opened up his own saddle bag and pulled out a pouch, "Here" he said, "In a city like this I can't imagine gift wrapping boxes at these stores is cheap. Let me pay for the damages." Trixie's magic enveloped the money pouch and she placed it back in Sparks saddle bag. "That's very kind of you, but it was Trixie's fault for not paying attention. And like I said, I don't care about the boxes, just what's inside." Before Sparks could interject, Trixie's attention then shifted toward the heavy wagon that Sparks was pulling. "Pipes?" She asked. He looked back at his cart after the sudden topic change. "Sort of." He said. "They're for the fireworks tonight." Trixie walked up to the cart and examined them. "So you do real fireworks then? and not just spell cast ones?" "That's right!" Sparks said proudly, "I've been blowing things up since I was a colt! I made my mom mad a lot too for blowing craters in her yard all the time. Now I get to blow things up for a living." Trixie giggled at his innocence. "You know, I've hardly ever seen anypony doing real fireworks outside of the big cities. Unless it's for a major event it's always the spell cast ones. I guess ponies think they're safer than the real thing. I had to teach myself how to use spell cast fireworks for my performances." "So you're a performer then? Will you be performing at the Gala tonight?" Trixie shook her head. "No, this is actually the first time Trixie has ever attended the Gala. Finding a ticket was next to impossible. I was lucky enough to find one for sale that somepony had listed in the newspaper. I spent most of my money on the ticket and my dress. Hopefully it will be worth it." Sparks tapped his hoof off of the cart and said back, "Well I can't promise how much fun you'll have inside the Gala, but I can promise that you won't be disappointed with my fireworks. All real, hoof made, non spell cast, and twice as loud. And yeah it's true, they can be dangerous, I've been blown off my hooves quite a few times, but it's all part of the job." Trixie smiled and looked at him with her deep amethyst eyes. "Well Trixie looks forward to seeing them. And be safe tonight too." "Thank you. And if you want a good view, try to find a balcony overlooking the North Field. That'll be a front row seat." The sound of another cart rattled up next to Sparks. He heard Firecracker call out, "Come on! Let's go! We gotta get these tubes set up so we can get the shells loaded before it gets too late." "I'm comin'." Sparks groaned. He looked back at Trixie and said, "I'm sorry, I need to get back to work. It was good talking to you, and I'm sorry I knocked you down." "No no!" She replied instantly, "It was Trixie's fault. I wasn't looking where I was going." "Alright, I just hope your dress isn't ruined." "I'm sure it's fine." Firecracker's annoyed voice called down from further up the path. "Sparks! Let's go!" "I better get moving." Sparks said as he rubbed his hoof on the back of his neck. "It was good meeting you, Trixie." "You too, and I take it from your friends yelling that your name is, Sparks?" "Yep, that's me." He said trying to hide being shy. "Well then Sparks, I'll be sure to have a front row seat for your fireworks tonight." "Okay then." He said with a bit of a bashful voice, "I'll try and look for you in the crowd." "SPARKS!" Firecracker yelled. Trixie giggled, "Get going before you get in trouble." "Alright then, see you Trixie, I hope you have fun tonight." He then flexed his legs and got the heavy cart rolling. He looked back and saw her levitating the boxes and continue on her way. He let out a low whistle to himself. "I'll bet she looks good in a dress."