> A Spark of Magic
>  by Rammstein45
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Spark of Interest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(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."                
   
	 

  

> Pyro and Princesses
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 2) PYRO AND PRINCESSES	

"7, 8, 9, and 10...  1, 2, 3, 4..." Firecracker stood in the humid mid day sun counting off his mortar racks to make sure he had everything set up properly.  Everything was looking good and he was keeping himself on schedule.  He only had a few more of the larger 5, and 6 inch racks to set up before he was finished with his side and he could start loading shells.  He looked across the field where Sparks was taking care of setting up the finale and a few other rows of mortars.  Firecracker was almost shocked.  For once he had his section finished before Sparks.
"Hey!" He called out.
Sparks continued fumbling with the racks not seeming to pay attention; he was also moving a lot slower than he usually did.  
"Hey Sparks!" Firecracker again called out. "You alright?"
Sparks was shaken from his trance and came back to reality.  "Yeah, I'm good."  He then seemed to go back to his usual work pace.
Firecracker walked over to a cooler that the guards had provided them.  He reached in and grabbed a bottle of cool water.  It was very hot and muggy out, maybe Sparks was getting a little dehydrated and not focusing properly.  He walked up to his friend and tapped his hoof off his back.  "Here". He said as he tossed the water bottle.  "Take a break and cool off, you're going to get overheated."  
The unicorn caught the bottle with his magic and twisted the cap off.  "Thanks, kinda lost in thought and not paying attention."
"About tonight?" Firecracker asked as he took a drink.  
There was a pause before Sparks answered. "Yeah.  Just trying to plan everything out perfectly.  I want to make sure that she likes the show tonight."
"She?" Firecracker raised an eyebrow, "You mean Princess Celestia?"
Sparks caught himself and tried to cover up his comment. "Yeah!  Gotta make sure our fireworks are worthy of a princess."  
The two sat for a few minutes enjoying their well earned break.  Sparks took a sip of water and said, "Alright, my side is just about finished, let me help you get yours done so we can get something to eat before we load the shells."  
"Way ahead of you." Firecracker said as he motioned toward all of his hard work.
Sparks looked over toward the other side of the field.  His bright blue eyes widened when he saw that Firecracker had already finished.  It wasn't like him to be this far behind.  Still, he knew exactly what was distracting him, or rather "who".  He quickly gulped down the last of his water and went over to the row of lined up mortar racks.  He grabbed one under his strong foreleg and carried it over to the line he had been working on.  Firecracker did the same, flying over with two of them in his grip.
"What all do we have left over here?" The pegasus called out as he landed and set the two racks into place.  
"I have one more row of the 5 inch racks and I have to get the 10 and 12's on the end of the finale."  
"Go take care of those and I'll finish this row for you."
Sparks looked up at the large clock tower among the castles many spires, it was nearing 3pm.  He still had plenty of time ahead of him, but he wasn't about to let himself start slacking off again.  He tried clearing his mind as he finished lining up his last few racks; however, the images of icy blue kept clouding his thoughts.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It took just shy of 20 minutes for the two to finish getting the last of what they had set up.  Storm Runner and another unicorn guard stood next to a wagon that was filled with heavy sand bags.  Sparks levitated one of the bags and opened the end, spilling the sand out into wooden boxes that surrounded the larger mortar tubes.
"So why do you only pack in the big tubes in sand and not the small ones?" Storm runner asked as he helped Firecracker lift another sand bag down.
Firecracker tossed a bag of sand next to Sparks and said, "Any shell that is bigger than 6 inches has to have its mortar tube packed down in sand so it doesn't fall over when the shell launches."
Sparks lifted the next sandbag and continued, "The force from the lift charge in the larger shells is so high that if the mortar tubes were standing on their own; like with the smaller shells, they would be knocked over."
"And the lift charge is...?" The second guard asked.
Sparks tossed the empty sand bag aside and said back, "The lift charge is the black powder in the base of the shell that launches it into the air.  The bigger the shell, the more black powder you have to use.  The 8 through 12 inch shells use a lot of it."
"Think of a large cannons recoil when you fire it," Firecracker added, "It's basically the same thing."
With a nod Sparks continued, "So to keep that recoil from happening, and to keep the concussion down we pack the larger mortar tubes in sand."
Storm Runner looked at the large 12 inch mortar tube and said, "That probably makes a decent boom."
With a grin, Firecracker tossed the two guards small paper packets, "Here," He said, "you'll need these."
The two guards looked down in their hooves and saw small packets of ear plugs.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
"It's just up here." Firecracker called out as he led Sparks down the pristine streets of Canterlot.  
"Good, because I'm starving.  We haven't eaten since this morning."  
"Don't worry." Firecracker continued, "You're gonna like this place.  I used to go here all the time before I moved to Ponyville."
All of the shops, and restaurants in the area were all very posh, and aristocratic.  Sparks definitely felt out of his comfort zone.  He also took notice of the fact that he, and Firecracker were far from clean and looking well enough to even go into any of these places.  After working outside all day in the humid, muggy heat, the two stallions were in desperate need of a shower before they should even consider going into any of these places.  "How do you expect us to even get in the door as dirty as we are right now?" Sparks called out.  
"You need to relax.  Canterlot isn't as stuck up as you might think."  
Sparks still couldn't help being self conscious among the high society.  His coat was sweaty, and his mane and tail were a ruffled mess for working in the heat all day.  "I'm just saying, we kinda stand out right now."  
The two stopped outside of a restaurant.  The sign read, Fritters.  Firecracker walked up to the front door and said, "This place is like any normal diner, and they even have a balcony with tables out back that we can eat at so our smell doesn't offend anyone."  He walked inside and let out a sigh of relief from the air conditioning.  He held the door open for Sparks and said, "Relax."
The two found a seat on the outside balcony.  It was nice and shaded with an overhanging roof that had spinning ceiling fans; a very much welcomed relief from the summer heat.  The view offered an overlook of a small grassy park with a gold and white water fountain in the center, with a city street running parallel.  In the distance, a clock tower chimed 4.
A younger earth pony with a white coat and candy green mane approached the two.  "Welcome to Fritters." She chimed as she set two menus down on the table.  "Our special today is the 5 bit meal deal.  You can either choose the hayburger and fries, or the oat topped fritter platter.  Can I get you something to drink while you decide?"
"Water for me please." Sparks told her.
"I'll have the same." 
With a nod and a smile, the waitress pony went to get the two their drinks.

A few quiet moments passed as the two looked at the selections.
"What are you thinking?" Firecracker spoke while looking at a menu.  "About 2 hours to get the shells loaded plus our final checks before show time?"
"Yeah, the shells never take long to load; we just have a lot more of them this time."  Sparks set his menu down and leaned back in his seat and allowed himself to relax.  Once we're done here we'll head back to the train depot and get the shells to the site.  It shouldn't take that long."
"Sounds good to me."
The two heard the sound of hooves walking towards the table.  The waitress returned and set two glasses of water on the table .  "Have you two decided?"
"Hayburger and fries for me." Firecracker said.
"Sparks shrugged, "I guess I'll have the same.
With a smile, the waitress pony took the orders and headed to the kitchen.  Sparks tapped his hoof off of his glass of water as his thoughts began to wander again.  He simply could not get the icy blue mare off of his mind.  Sure he had seen many attractive girls in his life, but for some reason she stood out among all the others.  Plus the thought of seeing her in her Gala dress was driving him crazy.  
Firecracker saw Sparks staring off into space.  "Hey, what's with you today?"
Shaken back to attention, Sparks said back, "What are you talking about?"
"You're never this distracted.  Even at the other big shows we've done you're always at least talkative.  Today it feels like I should be getting a prize every time I get your attention."
"I'm fine.  I'm just... making sure everything is going to go perfect tonight."
Firecracker took a sip of his water and raised an eyebrow.  "You sure?  You're not really being yourself today."
"I'm fine, really." Sparks replied as he tried to drop the subject.  "I'm just thinking about the show tonight."
"You know everything will be perfect," Firecracker told him, "When has something ever gone wrong with one of our shows?"
Sparks leaned back in his chair and shrugged, "I don't know, I got blown off my hooves when a shell blew up right out of the tube at our last show.  Does that count?"  
Firecracker laughed to himself.  "Nah, that's happened to us a bunch of times.  The point is that sure, sometimes things go wrong or we have a few shells that are duds, but have you ever once heard anypony booing us?  We always get cheered for after a display.  Tonight won't be any different.  You seriously need to relax.  If you keep this attitude up, then something will end up going wrong."
"Yeah, you're right." Sparks agreed.  I just gotta clear my head..."  Sparks attention shifted toward one of the shops in town.  From the balcony he was sitting at, he could see a mane salon across the street, and a certain icy blue unicorn walking out of it with a very well done mane styling.  
"What's up with you?" Firecracker asked as he focused on what Sparks was looking at.  He saw the blue unicorn walking down the street.  "Hey, isn't that the girl I saw you talking to earlier...?"  
Sparks looked back at Firecracker.  A grin appeared on the pegasus' face.  "Oh..., I see what's got you so distracted today!"
"It's not like that!" Sparks tried to defend himself.
"Yeah right!" Firecracker snapped back with a smile, "Nothing ever makes you this distracted.  You think she's hot, don't you?!"
"I'm telling you, it's not like that!" 
"Pff! Yeah!  What is it then?"
Sparks didn't want to answer, it already felt awkward enough that he nearly ran her over earlier in the day, but he couldn't imagine telling her that he thought she was pretty.
"Sparks, come on!  It's me! Firecracker!  Your bestest best friend that you can tell anything too."
Sparks let out a sigh.  "Yes.  I like her..."
The two heard the waitress pony return with their plates of food.  She set them down in front of them and happily said, "Enjoy!"
Firecracker thanked her then picked up his hayburger and took a bite.  With a mouth full of food he said, "Then let's make sure our fireworks really impress her tonight!" 
_____________________________________________________________________________________
After the two finished eating, they headed back towards the train depot.  It was nearing 5 o clock.  They only had 4 hours before show time, and they had a lot of shells to load.  The two took notice of all of the citizens of Canterlot making their final preparations before the Gala.	 Most were at the mane salons and clothing stores, others were already in their formal clothing and stunning dresses.  
"I'll bet you want to see her in her Gala dress." Firecracker said as he jabbed his hoof on Sparks shoulder.  
Sparks couldn't lie.  "I really do actually."  
"Do you know her name at least?"
"It's Trixie.  ...At least I think it is..."
Firecracker raised an eyebrow, "You think?"
"Yeah, she was talking in the 3rd person, so I'm pretty sure that's her name.  I mean she didn't correct me when I called her that."
"Well that's a start I suppose." 
The two made it to the train depot.  They walked up onto the platform and saw the guards standing around the last car which held all of the shells.  They saw Storm Runner talking to some of the other guards.  He heard their hoof steps off of the platform and he turned.  "There you two are.  I have a heavy load wagon ready for you to load the these boxes onto, once you're ready we'll escort you to the firing site."
"Sounds good." Sparks nodded as he walked up to the train car.  Using his magic, he opened the door and said to Firecracker, "Let's get to it!"
The guards brought the empty wagon over and set it outside the train car.  Sparks and Firecracker made short work of unloading the boxes and stacking them onto the large wagon.  There were a lot of boxes, it would take them a few trips to get everything to the launch site.  
Firecracker flew a box and loaded it into the last free space on the wagon.  "That's it for this one!" He called out.  With a nod, Sparks pulled out an orange hazard sticker with the symbol for "Explosives" on it.  He placed one on each side of the wagon.  He and firecracker then hooked themselves into the harness at the front.  "Ready when you are." Sparks said to Storm Runner.
With a nod, the head Guard called out, "Alright Stallions!  Form up and let's get moving!"  Storm Runner went to the front of the wagon along with two other guards.  Two others formed up at the back while the remaining Guards stayed behind to make sure no one messed with the train car.  
Sparks and Firecracker struggled to get the heavy wagon moving.  "C'mon Firecracker!" Sparks called out as he struggled to get the wagon moving, "Work that flank!"
Firecracker pulled with everything he had, "I'm workin' it!"  After a few good tugs, the two got the heavy wagon moving and they followed their guard escort through the city.  As they went, ponies stopped and looked on at the two pulling the wagon filled with boxes that were covered in hazard stickers.  They could hear the occasional "Ooo's" and "They must be the firework ponies."  
"I feel like a celebrity." Sparks said to Firecracker.  "All the attention, and the armed guard escort.  We should do fireworks in Canterlot more often."
Through his heavy breaths, Firecracker said back, "Yeah, but let's bring a lighter wagon next time."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It took 3 trips to get all of the shells to the firing site.  Both Sparks and Firecracker wiped sweat from their foreheads.  Pulling the heavy wagon left the two winded.  They both took a quick 5 minute break to catch their breath before they started sorting the boxes and going through the shells.  Sparks levitated several boxes off the wagon and said, "The finale is going to take the most time so I'm going to get that loaded first, while I do that can you start on some of the other rows and I'll help you when I'm done?"    
"Sounds good." Firecracker remarked as he helped with the boxes.  
Sparks brought several boxes over to where he had the finale mortar wracks set up.  He opened up one of the boxes and pulled out a string of 10 shells that were all linked together and started loading the mortar tubes.  
A few minutes later, from across the field, he heard Firecracker call out, "Umm, Sparks!"
"Yeah?"
"We have some visitors!"
Sparks was confused, "Who?!  Only guards are allowed back here."
"Oh, I think they're allowed back here!" 
Sparks turned and his eyes widened.  He instantly bowed down.  "Princess Celestia!  Princess Luna!  I'm sorry, we didn't know that you were coming!"  Sparks felt himself go into panic mode.  He was a mess.  His mane was unkempt and sweaty from working in the heat all day.  He and Firecracker were in no position to be in front of Royalty.  
Firecracker flew over to Sparks and bowed down alongside him as the two alicorns approached them.  Celestia then spoke in her calm voice.  "It's quite alright.  If anything it should be the two of us apologizing for coming here unannounced."
Princess Luna then added, "We were curious about the fireworks for the Gala this evening.  My sister and I wanted to see what everything looked like."
Both ponies got back on their hooves.  Sparks smiled and said, "Sure!  We would be happy to show you everything.  We were just about to start loading the shells."
Celestia looked at all of the mortar tubes and said, "You know, I've never actually seen what a firework shell looks like, I usually only see the spell cast ones."
Sparks walked over to one of the boxes and opened it.  He reached in and pulled out a round, cardboard ball that was tightly wrapped in brown paper with a long fuse attached to it.  He held it up in front of the two regal sisters and said, "This is a basic 5 inch shell.  At the bottom it's loaded with black powder that's called the lift charge.  It's what sends it up into the air.  Inside it's filled with tiny flammable black balls called stars, so when the shell breaks in the air, the stars ignite and burn in whatever color chemical they're made from."
Princess Luna leaned in and pointed her hoof at a small black cylinder attached to the top of the shell.  "And what, pray tell, is that?"  
"That's the tail."  Sparks explained.  "When the shell is launched, this piece ignites and makes the long glittery tail you see as it rises into the sky."
"I didn't know that so much went into fireworks." Celestia said.  "I've never gotten the chance to actually see them up close like this before."  
With a nod, Sparks replied, "Oh yeah, there's a lot of work that goes into each shell.  Each one is a work of art in its own way."
"I can only imagine how much hard work went into this entire display." The alicorn princess remarked.  "Can you tell me, how is it that you do the finale?  I can't imagine you light each one that quickly."
Firecracker flew over to one of the boxes that had the shells for the finale.  He pulled out a string of 10 shells and flew over to the princesses.  "The finale shells are all linked together like this in strings of 10.  We load them into the tubes and then link the fuse to the next string of shells.  All we have to do is light the lead fuse and it's a continuous string.  Basically when one goes, they all go as the fuse burns down the line."  
"I see." Celestia said.  "And which of you gets to light the finale?"
"We take turns." Sparks said.  
Firecracker then added, "Each show we switch who gets to set off the finale."
Princess Luna looked at the shell that Sparks was holding.  "How does one set off a firework?"
"Would you like to see?"  Sparks said with a grin.
"Would it be alright to do so?" Luna asked.
"Absolutely."  Firecracker told her.  "We'll do a test fire.  It's a way for us to see which way the wind is blowing so the smoke doesn't block out the show."
Sparks walked over to one of the mortar tubes.  He read the label on the shell which had a description of what effect it had.  He looked at the Princesses and said, "This type of shell is called a salute.  It doesn't really have any fancy colors, it just makes a loud boom.  We use them a lot at the very end of the finale."
Sparks then loaded the shell down into the tube.  Using his magic, he levitated a wooden rod and tapped it down onto the shell.  "Once it's loaded into the tube, you have to pack the shell down to make sure it's snug on the bottom." Sparks explained.  "If there's too much of a gap, the shell won't get the proper pressure from the lift charge.  It will lose momentum and start to fall back toward the ground.  You don't want to risk that happening and potentially hurting somepony."
He set the rod down.  "Alright!" Sparks called out, "Here we go!"  The tip of Sparks horn began to glow red from a heat spell.  He pulled a small red safety cap off of the fuse and tossed it aside.  He leaned his horn in and touched it to the fuse.  It ignited and Sparks quickly ducked down.  No sooner had he gotten out of the way, there was a loud concussion as the shell rocketed into the air.  Both princesses flinched from the sudden loud noise.  A few seconds later a loud boom popped from above in a white cloud of smoke.
Sparks stood back up and walked over towards the two sisters.  He had a little peppering of soot in his mane.  "And that's how we launch fireworks!"  
"That was most enjoyable!" Luna beamed.  "However it does seem rather dangerous." 
Firecracker nodded and said, "It can be, but that's why we went through all of the safety training and are very careful when we're doing shows."
Sparks then added, "You just have to know what you're doing.  You saw me duck down after I lit the fuse, we call that being below the blast cone.  Once a shell launches, the explosion from the lift charge goes up and out, so being below it keeps us out of harm's way."
Firecracker began walking next to the line of mortar wracks.  When we're shooting, we're always moving.  I'll light one fuse then move down the line.  That way the blast is happening behind me.  I'll light one, then skip down about 5 shells and light another, then I just keep circling around until they're all launched.  It's the safest way to launch them."
"I must say, it's all very impressive and involved."  Celestia remarked.  "I had no idea everything that went into setting off fireworks, it all seems like it would be very simple when in fact it isn't."
"Most ponies have the same idea." Firecracker told her.  "It's a lot more involved than the spell cast method."
From behind them, the clock tower chimed.  Celestia looked towards the clock tower and said, "We should probably let you two get back to work, and we should really get back to the castle so we can get ready for tonight."
Luna then added, "We both thank you for showing us everything and for the demonstration.  We look forward to seeing the full display tonight."
Both Sparks and Firecracker bowed.  "The honor was all ours, and tonight will be a firework show you won't soon forget."                

	 	     
	

> Light Up the Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 3) LIGHT UP THE NIGHT

The clock tower chimed an elegant tune.  Firecracker wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and looked up.  It was 7:30pm.  They had 2 hours left until show time.  He had 2 unopened boxes of shells left to load and then he was finished.  The pegasus picked up a 5 inch shell and slid it down an empty mortar tube.  This was the easy part.  All of the hard manual labor was finished.  Now it was just loading the tubes.
From across the field, he could see Sparks doing the same.  Sparks often liked to use his hooves and keep the magic out of the way until he needed it.  It was his way of making the work load fair for Firecracker.  After all, simple levitation spells and other magic that would make the job go quicker wasn't exactly easy for a pegasus to do.  He had told Sparks over and over that using magic wouldn't bother him; it would make the job go much faster in Firecracker's opinion.  But, Sparks could be stubborn, and still insisted on evening the work load.  Now seeing as how it was getting late and both were almost finished, Sparks started his levitation spell to get his last few boxes of firework shells loaded, that way he would have extra time to double check everything, and double check again.  Sparks didn't mess around when show time was getting close.
Firecracker picked up his own pace.  Quickly reading over the effects label on the shells to see what each firework would look like so he didn't double up two of the same kind.  He had his own rhythm of loading and walking down the line of mortar tubes to keep his pace up; much like when he was setting them off.  He saw one of the unopened boxes next to him glow with a blue aura then pop open.
"Let me help you with these last few boxes." Sparks said as he trotted over and levitated a few firework shells out of the box.
Firecracker grabbed another hoof full of shells by their fuses and kept his rhythm going.  "Sure." He said back, "I'm just about finished here anyway."
As Firecracker loaded his row of mortar tubes he said, "Hey, why don't you light the finale tonight."  
"But it's your turn to set it off." Sparks told him.
"I know, but your lady friend is going to be watching tonight."
Sparks paused for a moment and Firecracker continued.  "You want to impress her, right?"
Sparks didn't really reply, he only gave a simple, shy nod.
Firecracker slid another firework down into an empty tube and continued, "Then what better way to wow her than by setting off a string of 500 shells?"
With a smile, Sparks walked up to Firecracker and held his hoof out.  "Thanks, man." Sparks said as he and Firecracker did their trademark hoof bump.
"Hey, what are friends for."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Sparks and Firecracker trotted through the rows of mortar racks triple checking to make sure everything was as it should be; making sure every tube was properly loaded, every fuse was out and ready to be lit, and the overall layout to make sure that no pony watching would get hurt.
"Looks good to me." Sparks commented as he did one last check on the finale.  
Firecracker did one last trot down his rows and said back, "Looking good over here too, Boss."
Sparks quickly eyed through the string of fuses on the finale to make sure it would burn through the entire string of shells.  As it was the first time he checked, everything was fine and ready to be set off.  "We have a little bit of time before we shoot.  I was going to run into town and get some snacks from one of the convenience stores.  Did you want anything?" 
Firecracker flapped his wings and flew several feet off the ground to do an aerial inspection of all of the mortar racks.  He called down, "A fritter and some fizzy cider is fine."  I'm still kinda full from earlier."  
Sparks levitated his saddle bags onto his back and called back as he headed for town, "Alright, be back in a bit."
The sound of his hooves clopping off of the stone path echoed through the streets.  Oddly enough, downtown Canterlot was all but deserted.  Sparks looked up at one of the clocks on a building and saw that it was almost 8:30.  Everypony was probably lined up to go inside the castle for the Gala.  He didn't mind.  His hooves were covered in soot from loading mortar tubes all evening and he wasn't exactly at his cleanest.  In a city like this, he still felt self conscious about being so dirty among all the high society.
Finding a convenience store was easy enough.  Canterlot was full of little shops that sold just about anything.  His horn flashed a pale blue as he used his magic to open the door.  A small bell chimed as he stepped inside and he was greeted by the clerk.  "Evening." the clerk said.
"Hello." Came Sparks simple reply.
The unicorn walked down the first aisle; taking notice of the elaborate shelving, and grabbed a few small snacks for himself and Firecrackers fritter.  "Jeez, even the convenience stores are fancy here..." He mumbled to himself.
He then quickly levitated two fizzy ciders out of a drink cooler and walked up to the counter.  The clerk looked at Sparks and saw all of the soot on his blue coat.  "Were you cleaning chimneys today?"
Sparks gave a small laugh and said back, "No, we've been setting up the fireworks for tonight.  It can get a little dirty."  
"Now that's an exciting job!" The clerk chimed as he bagged the items.  "It beats standing behind this counter all day."
"I love it." Sparks said as he levitated his things into his saddle bag.  "I get paid to blow things up."
The clerk laughed and said back, "I look forward to your fireworks tonight."
"Thanks, it's going to be a great show."
Sparks stepped out into the evening air and looked around.  He still had some time before he had to be back at the firing site, he felt like taking a small walk around the town now that it was less crowded.  
Most of the shops he saw were now closed with signs in their doors that read, "Closed for the Gala"  Obviously most of the citizens of Canterlot would be there.  Now that all the excitement of setting up the fireworks had died down, it made Sparks wonder what it would be like to actually go inside the most prestigious event in Equestria.  It must be something to see everypony all dressed up and socializing with one another.  An icy blue hue returned to his mind.  A bashful smile came over his lips as he thought what it would be like to see Trixie in her Gala dress.
He shook his head to snap himself back to reality.  "Celestia..." he groaned  "it's like middle school all over again when I had that crush on Lyra."  
Sparks walked down another street and saw that it was leading him towards the castle.  He figured he would follow it then loop back around to the firing site.  Up ahead, he began to see ponies standing outside and talking to one another, his guess was they were waiting to go inside the Gala.  He walked up toward the crowd trying to avoid bumping into anypony and getting soot on their expensive clothing.  
Up ahead at the castle, he could see several doors with lines of ponies.  He could see them showing the guards their tickets to let them inside.  Sparks found a road that ran alongside the castle and looked like would take him back to where he needed to go.  The shops and bistros of Canterlot's streets were replaced with elaborate gardens that ran along the castles edge.  Everything here looked pristine, and as if it were tended to by the most talented gardeners in Equestria, which they most likely were.  A low whistle escaped his lips as he took in the scenery.
Up ahead, he saw another stairway leading into the castle with a smaller line of ponies.  As he got closer, he saw one pony in particular that stood out.  Sparks felt his heart skip a beat.  He saw her sky blue coat and icy blue mane.  Once he processed what he was seeing, he realized he also got his wish of seeing her in her Gala dress.  
She had a large black witchy hat adorned with a powder purple bow.  Her dress matched it.  A form fitting purple saddle adorned with white lace led into a flowing black and purple gown adorned with thousands of glittering silver sequins.  To say she looked stunning was an understatement.  To Sparks, no mare looked as good as she did right now.
As he got closer he noticed something.  She appeared to be arguing with the door guard.  Sparks raised an eyebrow and slowed to a stop to see if he could hear what was going on.  They were too far away to hear clearly.  He could only hear their muffled voices.  It didn't take long before another guard came out and drove her away.  "What the..." Sparks said to no one in particular.
He saw Trixie quickly trot down the stairs and head towards one of the gardens.  Without even thinking, Sparks found himself heading in her direction.  As he got closer to the garden, he could hear the sounds of soft crying.  The unicorn walked through the gate and looked around.  He saw her sitting on a small bench overlooking a pond.  Sparks hesitated.  He had no idea what had happened or even if she wanted to talk to anypony at the moment.  Still, this was the unicorn that he hadn't been able to get out of his mind all day.  He couldn't leave her like this.  
He approached her and opened his mouth but no words came out.  He quickly recollected himself and tried again.  "...Trixie?  Is everything okay?"  He heard her gasp in surprise.  She quickly turned and looked at him.  She looked very upset and her mascara was running from her flow of tears.  She quickly tried to hide the fact that she was crying and the shock that someone had seen her in this state.  
"Sparks!" She called out in surprise.  "What are you doing here?  I thought you were doing the fireworks for tonight."
"I had some free time and was taking a quick walk before the show," He explained calmly, "but then I saw those guards harassing you.  Is everything alright?"
Trixie let out a shaky sigh as she wiped her tears from her delicate face.  "They wouldn't let Trixie in the Gala..." 
"Why not?!"
Trixie held out her Gala ticket.  Her horn then began to glow a pale purple and then flashed blue.  "Do you see?" She asked with a sorrow filled anger in her voice, "When you hold a Gala ticket up to a reveal spell, a glowing picture of Celestia appears in the ticket.  Tell me what you see."
Sparks looked at the Gala ticket.  No image of Celestia appeared.  He didn't have the words to give her.  He could only imagine how much this crushed her.
The fake ticket was then crushed into a crumpled ball by Trixie's magic.  "I spent nearly everything I had on this ticket..." She uttered as her tears returned.  "I barely had enough money left over for food once I bought this and my Gala Dress.  And now it's all for nothing."
Sparks went over to the bench and sat next to her.  He wanted to tell her something to cheer her up, anything to make her stop crying, but nothing he could think of felt like it would do her justice.  He felt her head lean on his shoulder as she cried.  "I'm going to get your dress all dirty with soot if you lean on me." He told her calmly.
"What's the point?" She uttered through her soft cries, "It's useless now."  Sparks couldn't find any words of comfort to make her feel better about her situation.  He simply put his hoof around her and held her.  He knew how much girls loved events like this and all the trouble they would go through to make themselves look perfect for them.  He couldn't imagine the devastation she was feeling of being denied something that she had been looking forward to for who knows how long.
He heard her sigh, then her soft words of, "Why do bad things always happen to Trixie?"  He wasn't sure if she was talking to him or simply herself.  
"That can't be true." He told her calmly, "There's no way bad things can always be happening to a girl like you.  You're too nice for that."  Sparks felt his mind mentally kick itself.  "Real smooth Romeo!" Sparks never was one for lady killing one liners.  
Trixie's crying slowed and she let out a very quiet, small laugh.  "That's nice of you to say, but you don't know the half of what I've been through...  The ridicule, the humiliation, being driven away from everywhere I've tried to call home..."
Sparks didn't say anything.  He couldn't imagine a mare as pretty as Trixie ever having such a difficult life.  If anything, he figured she would be the type of girl who  would have absolutely no problem at all fitting in wherever she went.  His curiosity wanted to know what had happened to her, but his logic told him not to pry into her past.  The two simply sat together, not saying anything.
Ordinarily, Sparks would be doing back flips in his mind over the fact that he was sitting next to the pony that had been driving him mad all day, but now he could only feel pity for her.  She gave up so much just so she could enjoy herself for one night at the Gala.  The one event in all of Equestria that anypony would give just about anything for simply to attend.  The thought sickened Sparks that Storm Runner had given him and Firecracker the equivalent of a V.I.P. pass earlier in the day so they had no problems walking into areas of the castle that were typically off limits.
It was like a panel of glass shattered in his mind.  "My Pass!" Sparks yelled out in his mind, "I really am that stupid!"  He quickly stood up and turned towards Trixie.  
"Sparks?" She asked while wiping her eyes. "What's wrong?"
A suave smile appeared on the Stallions lips.  He levitated a clean, white cloth out of his saddle bag and began to gently wipe the streams of tears and mascara from Trixie's cheeks.  "Let's get you cleaned up, you can't enjoy yourself tonight if you look so upset."
Trixie was confused.  "What are you talking about?"
"You'll see." Sparks told her, "Hurry up and fix your makeup, then get your hat back on."
"Sparks, I don't understand..." 
Sparks held his hoof out to silence her.  He then used his magic to smooth her dress out, simply smiled and said, "Just fix your makeup real quick." 
Still confused, Trixie used her magic to clean her face and redo her makeup to make herself look at least presentable again.  As soon as she finished, she felt Sparks take her by the hoof and started leading her down the path towards one of the rear entrances of the castle.  The two walked through a gate and approached two of the guards that were standing in front of the door.
"Sparks! What are you doing?!" Trixie quietly argued, "They're going to tell us the same thing, my ticket is no good!"

Sparks looked at Trixie and said back with a chivalrous smile, "Your ticket may be fake, but mine isn't."
Before Trixie could retaliate, Sparks approached the two guards.  He opened his saddle bag and levitated out the Pass that Storm Runner had given him.  "Excuse me, I'm Sparks, I'll be doing the fireworks for the Gala tonight."  
A guard cut him off, "And..?"
"And..." Sparks continued, "My marefriend here left her Gala ticket with me while she was busy in town getting ready for tonight, but because I was so busy with getting the fireworks ready for tonight, I somehow along the way misplaced her Gala ticket."  Sparks then levitated his V.I.P. Pass over to the guard and said, "Storm Runner gave me this earlier in the day.  He said I could use it to get to the off limits areas of Canterlot, mainly back to our firing site for the fireworks show tonight.  He even told me that I could use this for getting inside the Gala.  So because this is all my fault, and because I won't be able to get inside the Gala tonight anyway because of the firework show, I want her to take this so she can get in.  I would really hate for her to miss the Gala because of my own stupid mistake."  Trixie's eyes lit up, she couldn't believe what was happening.
The guard eyed up the pass and did the spell to see if the pass was in fact real.  With his horn glowing, an image of both Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna appeared.  The pass was definitely the real deal.  "And you say Commander Storm Runner gave this to you."
"That's right." Sparks said as a matter of factly.  
The guard shifted, he didn't really want to have an angry Storm Runner on his flank for turning away one of his V.I.P.'s, he then cleared his throat and opened the door.  "Enjoy yourselves tonight." 
Sparks looked at Trixie and winked at her.  "Looks like your luck has turned around tonight."
Trixie could feel tears returning to her eyes, only this time they were tears of joy.  She leapt forward and wrapped her hooves around Sparks neck.  "Thank you so much!  You have no idea how much this means to Trixie!"
Sparks felt a full body chill run down his spine as she embraced him, and he liked it.  The feel of her silky smooth coat around his neck, and her mane smelling of lilacs drove him crazy.  He mentally slapped himself out of his trance and said back, "Well I couldn't just leave you like that, I had to do something.  I wasn't even going to use that pass to get into the Gala anyway."
Trixie loosened her embrace and looked at Sparks with her deep amethyst eyes.  A kind smile appeared and she said back, "I can't thank you enough." She told him calmly.  "I thought this would be another disaster to add to my list of bad luck, but then like magic, you showed up and saved the day."
It was getting harder for the stallion to hide his bashfulness.  He rubbed the back of his neck with his hoof and shyly said, "I just didn't want to see you so upset.  I couldn't just leave you there."  
Trixie lowered her eyelids into an almost bewitching stare.  With a light laugh, she said back calmly, "And I'm glad you didn't."  She then leaned in and gave Sparks a small kiss on his cheek.  
He instantly froze, and couldn't bring himself to react, although his mind screamed with excitement.  "Sweet Celestia! Did that just happen?!"  It was the second time in his life he had ever experienced a full body lock up like this.  Not that he was at all complaining.
With a smile, Trixie stepped back and said, "I can't thank you enough, I really can't."  As she turned to head for the entrance into the Gala, Sparks broke loose from his shock and called out rather clumsily, "Trixie!"  The icy blue unicorn turned to face him, Sparks stammered for the words but eventually blurted out, "You look really good in that dress!"
She giggled at his clumsy compliment.  "Well thank you.  I'm going to one of the balcony's so I can have a front row seat for your fireworks.  Trixie is looking forward to them."  And with that she turned and walked inside.
The door leading inside the castle closed and Sparks stood motionless.  He felt like he weighed a thousand pounds and couldn't force himself to move.  His mind was overflowing with constant thoughts of icy blue.  Suddenly, he felt his adrenaline pump, and he felt himself leap into the air and slap his back hooves together, "YES!" He called out triumphantly!
He did a few tapping dance beats of his hooves off of the path before hopping back into a trot and making his way back to the firing site.  He definitely had his motivation back, and it gave him all the more reason to make sure tonight's fireworks were perfect.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Trixie looked at the distant clock tower, it was 9:25, and in a few minutes she would have her front row seat to see Spark's firework display.  In fact as soon as she stepped inside the castle the first thing she did was make her way up to one of the balcony's that over looked the north field.  When she had first stepped out onto the balcony a short time ago, it was still light enough outside for her to see the entire set up that Sparks and his friend had brought with them.  She could see the lines of black mortar tubes in rows that covered nearly the entire area.  He wasn't kidding when he said not to miss it.  
A little while after she found her spot, she saw Sparks walk out onto the field and go over to his pegasus friend, Trixie still didn't know his name.  The balcony was close enough that she could clearly see the two of them.  She saw Sparks walk up to his friend and immediately it looked like they were talking.  She could see sparks waving his hoofs around excitedly and then motion to his cheek.  She then saw the two stallions bump hooves.  She instantly knew that he was telling his friend about what had happened and how excited it made him.  He didn't openly show it at the time it had happened, but Trixie knew better.  She knew when a stallion had an eye for her.  Ordinarily it was something she would immediately brush away.  She had been hurt to many times before by other ponies who wanted her around for nothing more than a show piece to brag about, but for some reason, to her Sparks seemed different from all the others.  
She hadn't spent much time with him other than their chance encounters, but in those short periods of time, he was very kind to her.  Especially when he came to her rescue over her Gala ticket.  He willingly helped her when she was in trouble, and gave up his own pass so that she could enjoy herself, and he asked for nothing in return, only that she watched his fireworks.  She couldn't very well deny him that.  Trixie felt a small warmth come across her face as she blushed slightly as she thought about him.  "He's not half bad to look at either." She thought.
The clock tower chimed its elegant tune as it struck 9:30.  From down below on the field, Trixie could make out the silhouettes of the two stallions.  "Show time." She said to herself.	
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Sparks put on a pair of safety goggles, and put in his ear plugs.  He and Firecracker pulled their safety gear from their saddle bags.  They both slipped into their bright orange, fireproof coats to protect them from embers and burning debris, and put on their hard hats. Both did one last check to make sure only they were in the firing zone.  Everything looked clear.  Firecracker too put his own ear plugs in then pulled out a long red stick from a box that read "Flares".  He took one of the flairs into his grip and walked over to Sparks.  
"Alright," Sparks said as he readied to start the show, "I'll light the opening string of shells, then I want you to start going down the rows of 4, and 5 inch shells, once those are gone we'll both move up to the bigger ones.  I'll be doing the same on my side until we meet in the center row before the finale.  Stay in rhythm and holler out of there's any problems."          	
"You got it." Firecracker called back as he held his flare up to Sparks horn.  "I'll be bouncing back and forth between the shells and the Romane candles."
Sparks horn began to glow a bright red as he started his heat spell.  "Sounds good, let's blow this  thing!"  Firecracker's flare ignited and burned in the same brilliant red sheen as sparks horn.
From up above in the balcony, Trixie could see the two glowing red orbs moving across the field.  She felt her heart begin to flutter with excitement.  There was a string of bright flashes in the entire color spectrum followed by a line of loud pops and booms.  
Down below, Sparks had lit the show opener, a line of Romane candles that burned down a line across the entire field of ever changing color.  The string burned down and ignited a line of 3 mortar racks that were loaded with loud, brightly flashing salutes that sailed into the air with shimmering, silver tails.  Both Sparks and Firecracker ran over to their first lines of mortar's and set to work.
Canterlot pulsed with loud booms, and brightly colored flashes.  Down below, Firecracker was moving through his first line.  Quickly lighting individual fuses then getting himself out of the way before the shell blast off into the sky.  He had little to no time to move before the shell would launch.  Every fuse he lit, he would immediately feel the hard concussion on his body as he got out of the way.  He never let it distract him, he couldn't.  He had to keep his rhythm moving right along with the show. 
Across the field, Sparks was moving right along with his line of shells.  Above, the fluttering colors danced brilliantly in the sky, sending thunderous booms through the city.  He quickly looked up and saw Firecracker lighting his first string of Romane candles.  The strings took about 30 seconds to a minute to burn entirely through.  It gave both himself and Firecracker a short window of breathing room to move on to their next line of mortar racks.
"Looking good!" Sparks called out.  
He heard Firecracker shout back, "Always does!"
With his first line of mortar tubes set off, Sparks dashed over to his second line.  Each row of mortar tubes was taking the stallions about 10 minutes to move through.  He touched his glowing horn to the first fuse and ducked away right as the shell launched into the sky with its brilliant shimmering tail, before finally bursting open into a fluttering, blooming willow.  
Trixie stood in awe at the display.  The real fireworks were so much more spectacular to watch than the spell cast ones.  The dull thumping of the shells lift charges pulsed around her before they were replaced by their concussive booms and brilliant blooming effects.  
She saw both Sparks and his friend rush towards different lines of mortar tubes and light the fuses.  Simultaneously strings of 10 shells launched into the sky and bloom open into different, colorful shapes.  First were different colored star shapes.  Another string of 10 launched, these ones broke into brilliant red heart shapes.  A third string then launched with a loud crackling whistle.  On Sparks side, his shells broke open into dazzling sun shapes, while on the other side that his friend was on, broke open into brilliant blue moons.  A homage to their beloved princesses.
"Move to the big shells!" Firecracker called out as he quickly lit another string of Romane candles to give him and Sparks a quick break.
Firecracker trotted up to the line of larger 6 inch mortars that ran adjacent to Sparks.  He saw Sparks light the first fuse in his own line.  The fuse lit and the shell ignited.  There was the loud concussion of the lift charge, immediately followed by a bright flash and burning orbs of color exploding out only about 10 feet above their head.  Burning shrapnel rained down on the two pyro ponies.  Firecracker immediately shielded his head from the close explosion. 
From up above on the balcony, Trixie saw the shell break open at what looked like was right on the ground.  She then in the light of the explosion saw Sparks get blown off of his hooves and tumble to the ground.  She knew enough about fireworks to know that something had gone wrong.  Fireworks like this weren't supposed to detonate that low.  She instantly felt herself gasp as she looked on and hoped that Sparks was alright.  
Firecracker brought his hoof down from shielding his face from the blast.  "Sparks!" he called out, "You alright?!"
On the other side of Firecrackers line of mortar tubes, Sparks groaned as he pulled himself off of the ground.  He quickly shook his head to clear his daze and put his safety goggles back on.  "I'm good."  He called out as he reignited his heat spell.  With his horn glowing a brilliant red he continued down his line.  
"First dud shell we had tonight!" Firecracker called out with a laugh.  
"Yeah!" Sparks called back with a grin, "You can have the next one!  That's 2 times in a row it's happened to me, I don't feel like getting blown off my hooves again."
Firecracker laughed to himself, "Deal!"
While what had just happened looked serious, it was all a part of setting off the real black powder fireworks.  Sometime's a shell would be made wrong, or simply have a bad fuse causing it to blow up much sooner than it was supposed to.  The same incident had happened to both Firecracker and Sparks many times before, and it would certainly happen to both of them again.  But, when it did happen, you simply picked yourself up and kept the show going.  
From back up in the balcony, Trixie felt herself sigh with relief when she saw both ponies down below continue with their display.  Being so close to the explosions as they were down on the field, she didn't know if something had gone terribly wrong and one of them was seriously hurt.  Thank Celestia that wasn't the case.
Above her in the sky, brilliant flashes of color continued to dance with their hypnotic flashing and thunderous booms.  Trixie was completely entranced.
Sparks picked up his pace, lighting fuses more quickly so he could finish this last row of shells then get over to the finale in time to set it off without breaking the shows rhythm.  Firecracker slowed his pace slightly to give Sparks his extra time window.  
Both were nearing the end of the line.  "How many do you have left?" Sparks shouted over the deafening booms.  
"Around 25 more to set off."  Firecracker shouted back.
"Alright," Sparks called out, "Leave those, light that last string of Romane candles then rush back and set off those last few with them and the finale."
"Got it boss!"
Sparks set his pace and set off his last few 6 inch shells while Firecracker ran to light the Romane candles.  Once the candles were lit and started to dance up into the sky in their brilliant rainbow of color, Sparks ran over to the finale, while Firecracker went back to launch his last few.
While the colors of the fireworks danced around him, Sparks quickly looked up towards the castle and saw a large balcony.  In the brilliant light of the fireworks, he thought he caught a glimpse of icy blue.  He didn't know if it was her, she was too far away to tell, but he hoped it was her watching.  As the line of roman candles ended along with Firecrackers last few shells, he smiled and said to himself, "This finale's for you, Trixie."
"Light it up, Sparks!" the pegasus called out as he set off his last few shells. 
His horn touched the black fuse and it instantly burned down towards the first of 500 shells that made up the finale.  He and Firecracker stood back and watched as the fuse rapidly began to burn through, sending up a massive barrage of color and booms.  Canterlot was absolutely aglow with brilliant flashing color.  Shells rocketed into the sky in an orange cloud of embers that rained down onto the ground.  
The fuse then burned down to the massive 8, 10, and 12 inch shells.  They all launched into the air with a thunderous concussion and bloomed open in the sky in a fluttering shower of multicolor.  Finally the show ended with 10 strings of brightly flashing salutes to end the show with their thunderous bangs.
The noise died down and the night again went dark.  The sound of explosives were replaced by the sounds of cheering and clapping.  
With his horn still glowing a brilliant red from the heat spell, and Firecracker still holding his burning flare, the two stood next to each other.  Firecracker waved his flare at the crowd, and Sparks rocked his head back and forth to make his own orb of magic move.
With smiles on their faces, Sparks turned off his heat spell and pulled out his ear plugs.  "Job well done, buddy!"  He said to Firecracker as the two bumped hooves.
"Always doing what we do best!"  
The two turned and looked at the field.  It was choked with smoke and the thousands of glowing embers lying on the ground around the mortar tubes.  It always looked like a warzone after they shot a show.  
"You think she liked them?" Sparks asked.
Firecracker smacked his hoof off of his friends shoulder, "Of course she did!  They were our fireworks, so they were awesome."
From back up on the balcony, Trixie was applauding and cheering right along with the rest of the crowd and she couldn't stop smiling.  She had seen fireworks before, even a few of the non spell cast black powder firework shows like this one, but to her, this one stood out above all the others.  Not because of the atmosphere of the Gala, or the intensity of the show, but because He was the one that set them off.  
	
	  

> When the Smoke Clears
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 4) WHEN THE SMOKE CLEARS	
Glowing embers lay shimmering on the ground like a fiery snow.  Smoke still filled the air around them as the two pyro ponies walked up and down the rows of mortar tubes.  Sparks horn illuminated with a brilliant white light as he inspected each pipe to make sure every shell had launched, and he stomped out stray embers along the way.  Firecracker did the same as he walked with a lantern.  The air around them smelled heavily of soot and smoke.
From behind them, a stern voice called out, "That was an amazing firework show, boys!"  Sparks and Firecracker turned and saw Storm Runner approach them.
"Hey thanks!" Firecracker called back.  "Glad you liked it."
Storm Runner turned to his squad of pegasus guards and nodded his head.  The ponies took off and began to flap their wings to clear the smoke away.  As the skies were being cleared, Storm Runner continued, "Honestly though, you two should be proud, the Princesses were very impressed tonight.  They both couldn't be happier with how entertained you made her guests."
The illumination spell on Sparks horn faded.  "That's what we like to hear." Sparks told him, "It makes all of the hard work worth it."  
Storm Runner looked at the two Stallions.  They were covered from head to hoof in soot.  Their protective gear could only cover so much of them during a show.  The guard captain motioned over his shoulder, "When you two finish here, feel free to use the Royal Guards quarters if you want to get cleaned up."
"That sounds like heaven!" Firecracker commented as he shook out his ruffled feathers.  "This heat was murder on us today."
Sparks agreed, "We're gonna definitely take you up on that offer.  Once everything cools off and we get all of this taken down and loaded up you'll have to show us the way."
"My guards and myself would be happy to help you if you're in a hurry."
"Tired is more like it." Sparks said, "We've been at it since before the sun came up today.  Now we're just ready to get some sleep."
Storm Runner nodded, "I completely understand."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
An hour had passed since the firework display ended.  Sparks horn was aglow with his magic as he pulled nails out of the pieces of wood that held the mortar racks upright.  After the long day of work, he couldn't wait until everything was loaded and he was on the train that would take him to his bed.  
From across the field, the sounds of the Gala were in full swing.  The echo of classical music mingled with the sounds of ponies talking and enjoying themselves.  Sparks wondered if anypony was talking about his and Firecracker's fireworks.  He wondered if Trixie had seen them, and the finale that he had set off just for her.  He sighed as he pulled a nail out of a support board and separated a line of mortar racks.  A thought came to him that he hadn't considered.  He would be leaving Canterlot in a few hours.  Leaving the Gala, and Trixie.  He didn't know where she was from, or even a way to stay in touch with her.  So many details that he had forgotten.  Sparks mentally kicked himself.
All he could think at that moment was he was never going to see those bewitching amethyst eyes again.  He sighed.  "Well, it was nice while it lasted."  He looked up toward the castle and debated on going inside to look for her.  Looking down at himself he knew that wasn't possible.  He was filthy from a day of work in the hot sun, and covered in dirty soot, and smelling of sweat and smoke.  Even if he got inside, there's no way he could walk around in his current state.  "She knows where I am..." He thought, "Maybe she'll come down and see me now that the show's over."  It was a hopeful thought, but one that he didn't get his hopes up over.
A line of guards pulled up the large moving wagons.  Firecracker grabbed a heavy mortar rack under each of his forelegs and flew them over to the cart.  He called out, "Hey Sparks, you wanna help me get these loaded so we can get them back to the train?"
The blue unicorn shook his trance.  "Yeah, coming." He called back.  He trotted over to a very tired Firecracker and illuminated his horn.  He levitated the mortars up onto the cart and lined them up into neat rows.  
"We shouldn't be here much longer," Firecracker told him.  "We got everything just about taken apart, if you load everything with your magic we should be done in no time."
"...Yeah."  
Firecracker raised an eyebrow and looked at his friend.  "What's with you?" 
Sparks didn't try to hide anything this time, he didn't care at this point.  "I was just hoping I could see her one more time before we go.  At least to say goodbye."
"To your mare friend?  So go do it!"
"She's in the Gala," Sparks argued, "I can't go in there looking like this!"
Firecracker shook his head, "So go get yourself cleaned up!  Storm Runner offered you the guards showers."
"I can't yet, we still have too much to do here."
Firecracker slapped his hoof upside Sparks head.  "Oh for ponies sake!  You busted your rump off today, there's other unicorns here that can help me load up the tubes.  I got my own mare back home, and you know I've been trying to help you find one.  And guess what!  You found one!  Now get outta here before you blow your shot!"
"I don't have my pass anymore, I gave it to Trixie so she could get inside."
Firecracker rolled his eyes, he reached into his saddle bag and pulled out his pass.  "Yes you do!" He said as he shoved the pass at Sparks chest.
Sparks smiled and held his hoof out.  Firecracker bumped it.  "You're a good friend." Sparks told him.
Firecracker grinned, "Yeah I know, now get lost!  Go find your girl!"
The unicorn looked to Storm Runner and said, "I think I'll take you up on that shower offer now."
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Cool water rained down over Sparks mane.  He welcomed the shower after being out in the sun all day.  Using his magic, he levitated a bottle of shampoo and squirted it into his mane.  Black soot ran off his body and down the drain as he cleaned himself off.
He washed himself as fast as he could.  His only thoughts were getting into the Gala and finding Trixie.  The thought of never seeing her again after tonight was maddening.  
He rinsed the last of the soap from his body and did a quick once over on himself.  All of the soot was gone, and his mane and tail were back to their bright blue and red sheen.  He shut the water off and rushed to dry himself.  A clock on the wall showed that it was nearing 11pm.  He didn't have much time, the Gala ended at midnight.
With his coat for the most part was dry, he quickly brushed his mane and tail so that they were at least neat and presentable.  The only thing he didn't have were the fancy clothes.  He hoped it wouldn't matter.  With one last look in the mirror, the unicorn took a deep breath and trotted out of the guards quarters and headed for the castle.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Keeping to a quick trot, Sparks went to the door where he helped Trixie get inside.  No pony was around except for the two guards from earlier.  He approached them and held out his pass.  The guards looked at him and saw his firework cutie mark.
"Oh hey, you're the firework pony from earlier." One of the guards said.  "Good job tonight."
"Thank you." Sparks said trying to keep the conversation short.  He held his pass out for the guard to inspect.  The guard cast the reveal spell and saw the holographic image of Celestia and Luna appear in his pass.  They both stepped aside and said, "Enjoy your evening."
"Thanks." He said as he trotted passed.  
Inside, Sparks found himself in a grand hallway that led to a flight of stairs.  Without wasting time, he went up and found himself in a room that was absolutely crowded with guests.  He looked around trying to find any hint of icy blue, but was immediately lost in a sea of fancy clothing.  He tried to push his way inside, while being as polite as he could.  He carefully moved through the crowd and saw a large glass panoramic door that led outside.  
Sparks scooted his way through the crowed and stepped out onto a balcony.  It was less crowded out here but still slightly difficult to move.  The balcony over looked the North Field where he and Firecracker had set off the fireworks.  He thought this was the same balcony where he thought he caught a glimpse of Trixie watching him.  He turned and looked around, there was no sign of her.  Sparks took a breath and headed back inside.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Over the crowd of people, Sparks could hear one of the castles many clock towers chime.  He looked around and approached a posh Stallion in a tuxedo.  "Excuse me," Sparks asked, "do you have the time."
The stallion pulled out a pocket watch, and with a heavy Trottingham accent said back, "It's 11:30."  The Stallion then saw Sparks cutie mark.  "I say," He continued, "was that you doing tonight's fireworks for this evening's festivities?" 
Sparks who was rather eager to continue his search said back, "Yep, that was me."  
"Capital show my boy!" the stallion replied, "I dare say it was the best display of fireworks I've seen in ages!"
"Hey thanks!" Sparks told him rather quickly, "Say, you haven't seen a blue mare with an icy blue mane wearing a big black, and purple witchy hat, have you?"
Looking confused, he replied, "I can't say that I have, then again I've seen so many ponies tonight I could have walked right passed her and not even noticed."
Sparks sighed, "Thanks."
"Good luck to you!" The stallion called back.
Each room seemed to grow larger and more crowded as his search continued.  Sparks had checked at least a dozen of them and still had no luck.  A few ponies told him that they had seen Trixie at some point during the night but none knew where she was now.  A clock on the wall was showing that midnight was fast approaching.  The feeling of desperation was beginning to get the better of him, and Sparks found himself not caring who he shoved passed or how rude he was seeming.
A voice then echoed through the castle halls as if carried by magic.  It was the voice of Princess Celestia.  "Mares and Gentlecolts!  As tonight's festivities come to an end, let me be the first to thank you all for joining me here tonight.  Truly the Grand Galloping Gala could not have happened~~~"  Celestia's voice seemed to trail off.  Sparks was out of time, and he found himself now running through the halls in a last ditch effort to find her.
He came to a circular room with a large rotunda that had been completely hoof painted with images of ponies flying in the heavens.  Around him were large windows that overlooked the city.  Out of the corner of his eye, down below he saw icy blue.
His heart seemed to skip a beat as he focused on her.  He saw Trixie, standing outside in a line of ponies waiting to get on a large carriage.  He saw ponies starting to climb on board.  Sparks quickly turned and started running.  
He tried his best not to knock anypony over as he desperately searched for stairs that would lead him outside.  It was the one time he cursed himself for never learning teleport magic.  
To his left he found what he was looking for.  He saw a flight of stairs leading down, he didn't know where they went, but down was one step closer to his goal.  He leaped down the first flight and then the second.  When he was on the bottom floor of the castle his search began for an exit.  Up ahead he saw a line of ponies as they were making their way out of the Gala.  "Bingo!" He said to himself.
Slowing his pace he forced his way into the crowd.  "Excuse me! Sorry! Coming though!" He said as he shoved his way outside.  
He heard the distasteful remarks of ponies calling out in their posh voices, "How rude!  Why I never!  Some ponies just have no class!"  He didn't care, they weren't his concern.
Once outside, Sparks looked around for any sign of Trixie.  To his left he saw a line of carriages waiting to pick up passengers.  He quickly ran over and looked around and saw no sign of her.  Further down he saw red tail lanterns moving down the road away from the castle.  It was still close enough to see who was riding on it, and inside illuminated by the Canterlot street lamps, he could see her icy blue mane hidden underneath her large witchy hat.  "Trixie!" He called out as he took off running down the street.
"Wait! Stop!" He called out.  His hooves pounding off the ground echoed along the street; however, as fast as he was running, it wasn't enough.  The tail lights of the carriage began to get farther and farther away.  Sparks mind raced with thoughts.  This was his last chance to see her, and it was running away from him.  He cursed under his heavy breaths as he ran full tilt.  The lights of the carriage disappeared as it drove out of the city and towards one of Equestria's main roadways.  
Sparks felt his hoof catch the road and the next thing he knew he was tumbling hard to the ground.  He slid to a stop on his chest and felt a sharp sting in his knees.  Canterlot seemed absolutely silent as he lay in the middle of the street.  He knew his knees had been scraped open from sliding against the rough pavement.  He could feel the burning, he just didn't care.  
"So that's it..." Sparks thought, "She's gone..."  With a sigh, the unicorn pounded his hoof off of the pavement and pulled himself off the ground.  He knees stung from the road rash.  He looked back and saw the blood forming on the wounds.  Canterlot's clock tower chimed midnight.  "It must not have been meant to be..."
The stallion felt defeated.  He turned himself around and began his long walk across Canterlot to meet up with Firecracker.  Each step he took stung from the wounds on his knees, and he fought to keep himself from limping.  He was already emotionally hurt, no sense in his body hurting along with it.  He just had to force himself to accept the fact that she was gone, and there was nothing he could do about it.  He just had to accept the fact that he had to enjoy the time he had spent with her, even if it was short.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Back at the North Field, Firecracker was finishing up the last of the tear down for the firework display.  He did his mental checklist.  "All the mortar racks loaded and headed to the train, tools and equipment packed up, garbage and empty boxes in the pile for the cleanup crew...  Looks good to me."
The pegasus heard hoof steps coming down the path.  he turned and saw Sparks with his head hung low.  "There you are!  Did you find her...?"
He didn't need an answer, he knew Sparks long enough that he could tell just by his body language that it didn't go well.  He trotted over to Sparks.  His friends mane and tail were a mess, his knees were bloody from his fall, and his face spoke everything Firecracker needed to know.  Firecracker let out a sigh and patted his hoof on his friends shoulder.  "Everything's done here, let's just get back on the train and go home."
Sparks only answered with a nod, and the two started walking towards the train station.  
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It was almost 3am by the time the train pulled back into Ponyville.  Firecracker had fallen asleep as soon as he sat down in the passenger car.  Sparks hadn't slept a wink, the entire trip he could only look out the window.  Constant questions filled his mind.  He wondered where she was, if she missed him as much as he missed her, and if he would ever see her again.
The hiss of the trains brakes woke Firecracker as they came to a stop at the Ponyville station.  "Back already?" He asked with a yawn.
Sparks stood up and walked out onto the station platform.  A stallion who worked on the freight platform approached him and said, "We'll have everything delivered to you by morning."  
"That's fine." Sparks said with no enthusiasm.  "Just leave everything at the front gate."  Sparks pulled out a bag of gold bits from his saddle bag and levitated it over to the station worker.  He tipped his hat at Sparks and went to work unloading the train cars.
"I'll be in late tomorrow." Sparks said to Firecracker.  He was very monotone.  "I'm really tired, and I'd like to get a good night's sleep.  If you want to come in late tomorrow you can."  Sparks didn't even wait for a reply.  
Firecracker didn't say anything as he watched his friend head into the sleepy town and towards his home.  With a sigh, the pegasus thanked the ponies at the station and flapped his wings.  He took off and flew towards his own house.  On his way he started to think about what happened with Sparks.  Sparks had been his best friend since they were foals.  Having known each other for so long, they both knew when one another was truly hurting.  Sparks had never really been a ladies stallion.  Truth be told, he was very shy around mares.  He had been ever since Lyra turned him down back in middle school.  Now that he found a girl tonight that he actually talked to, and was attracted to, only to have her taken away, Firecracker couldn't imagine how much his friend was hurting.
He then thought about the mare that he was interested in.  They had gone on a few dates, and at this point it wasn't very serious, but he at least had somepony.  It started to hit home about how much he still gawked at the mares he saw walking around town, and while he was at Canterlot.  He realized just how much he had been taking for granted.  
It seemed that both he and Sparks had a lot to think about.       
  
        

> Fire and Spice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 5) FIRE AND SPICE
The singing of the songbirds chirped happily through the air as Celestia's sun was rising into the sky and clearing away the morning fog.  A golden beam of light shined through a window and warmed the face of a blue unicorn stallion.

Sparks blue eyes fluttered open and he let out a groan.  He slowly sat up in his bed and stretched.  The clock on his wall said 7am.  The stallion slid out of his bed and onto his hoofs.  He stretched his back once more and made his way to the bathroom.  
He looked at himself in the mirror.  His mane and tail were a mess as they were every morning.  He levitated a brush and made himself look presentable.  
Sparks went through his morning routines as his mind began to wander.  It had been 3 days since his incident with Trixie at the Gala.  The scuffs on his knees were finally healing nicely after his fall, and he no longer needed to wear those annoying large bandages.  The past few days were now almost a blur, Sparks had gone through his work days in an almost robotic state.  He hadn't been talking to anypony much, or even interacting at all for that matter.  Now that 3 days had passed and the thought finally set in that she wasn't going to be around anymore, Sparks slowly felt himself accepting this fate.  He didn't like it one bit, but he had no control over it.
After he finished his morning routines, Sparks made his way downstairs and readied to head off to work.  He levitated his saddle bags onto his back, put his hat on, and opened the door.
Even for being so early in the morning, Ponyville was already abuzz with life.  Store owners were opening up to start their work days, and down the road, the market stalls were already crowded with ponies buying things they needed.
From above, Sparks saw a grey pegasus with a blonde mane land at his mailbox.  Her eyes were different than other ponies, but that wasn't a problem at all.  Her sweet personality made up for any faults she had, which was a good thing because she could be clumsy at times.  She straightened her mail carriers cap and reached into her bag.   
"Good morning." Sparks called out to her.  
The pegasus looked up.  "Oh!  Good morning Sparks! 
"What did you bring me good today?" He asked.
The mail mare held out the letters for Sparks to take.  "Just a few things this time."
Sparks levitated the letters from her hoof and put them into his saddle bag.  He always read the mail when he got to work.  "Thank you." He told her.
"Yep, see you tomorrow!" With a nod, the pegasus spread her wings and flew off towards her next stop.
A sweet smell fluttered past Sparks nose.  It was almost an everyday feature for the town that all of the bakers had their windows open.  It was one of the many signs that it was morning in Ponyville.  Sparks felt his stomach growl in response.  That was all he needed to get him moving in the morning.  
One thing that was off with his typical morning routine was that his neighbors had moved out.  Every morning he would cross paths with an earth pony stallion named Topaz.  He was a gem miner that was tough as nails, yet always happy to lend a hoof with anything.  He; along with his wife Garnett who worked in a jewelry store, had moved out near Manehatten where the money was better.  Their house was now vacant, and Sparks no longer had anypony to greet as he left for work.  He hoped he would get some new neighbors soon.
His stomach again growled.  Sparks made sure his front door was locked and then made his way off for the day.  
It was a quick trot to the center of town where most of the heavenly smells of freshly baked pastries awaited him.  Of course the wonderful smells were coming from the famous Sugar Cube Corner.  The place even looked like a gingerbread house.  As it was with every morning, there was a line.  Sparks found his place and waited for his turn.  
"Good morning everypony!" 
Sparks heard the cheerful voice and saw a wave of bright pink.  Everypony knew Pinkie Pie, and she always greeted everypony she saw in the morning as she made her way out for the day.  She was one of the first ponies that he had met when he moved to Ponyville.  ...Well, more like she made sure that he knew her and everypony else in town.  Sparks had never had a full celebration in his honor for moving somewhere new.  He greeted her along with everypony else in line as she bounced out the door.
"Good morning Sparks." The voice of Mrs. Cake called out.  "Would you like your usual this morning?"
With a nod he replied, "Yes please."
Mrs. Cake pulled out a raspberry muffin from behind the counter and poured him a cup of iced tea.  Sparks was never a coffee drinker.  He always preferred cool drinks to wake himself up.  
"And congratulations by the way!" Mrs. Cake complimented.
Sparks tilted his head, "On what?"
"There was a big article about your fireworks at the Gala the other night.  It said Canterlot has never had a better fireworks display."
"Wow," Sparks said in surprise, "I didn't even know they were doing an article on us."
"Well you must have really impressed the Princesses then."
Sparks paid for his food and told Mrs. Cake goodbye for the day.  Now he was eager to get to work to see what the paper had to say about himself and Firecracker.  He trotted out of Sugar Cube Corner and made his way back into town.  
Up ahead was the town market.  Rows of colorful tents lined the open square of town along with the ponies that ran them.  This was the best place to get fresh produce; which the restaurants took advantage of, and anything else you could ever need around the house.  A few ponies that he knew greeted him as he walked passed.  
Something caught the unicorns eye.  At one of the stalls he saw a figure of a character from a comic book that Firecracker enjoyed.  A white pegasus mare wearing a blue and gold cloak and holding a bow and arrow.  He couldn't remember her name, Ashes or something similar.  Sparks went up to the stall and pulled out his bag of bits.  As he paid the seller he felt a hoof tapping him on his back.
He turned and saw a pair of fiery orange eyes looking at him from behind a protective visor.  Sparks eyes nervously widened.  "Uh oh..." He uttered.  The pony was wearing a full body protective suit, almost like a hazmat suit.  From behind the visor, her eyes narrowed and her muffled voice beamed from behind her respirator.  "Sparks! Why are you always so mean to me?!  Can't you ever greet me with a "Hello!" or "Good morning!"?" 
With a nervous grin, Sparks said back, "I'd love to but every time I see you in that suit it usually means bad things are coming my way."
She pulled the hood of her protective suit off.  Her vivid yellow coat came into view along with her blazing red and orange mane.  Hally Banero Pepperflakes the 3rd., or as she called herself Habanero.    Daughter of the famous Pepperflakes family hot pepper empire.  
Habanero's life revolved around her family's business.  The peppers she grew and created were always winning awards and sought after by quite a few well known chefs throughout Equestria.  Anything about peppers, or how to make food spicy, she was your go to girl.  She was also the mare that Firecracker had recently started dating.  Still, Habanero had one unusual trait.
The fiery earth pony stood next to a sample tray she had set out on her shop stall.  It was filled with tortilla chips, and several different homemade, and award winning hot pepper dips.  Habanero's eyes immediately began to water and her muzzle turned.  One whiff of her spicy foods and she began to sneeze.  
Sparks couldn't help but laugh on the inside.  The pony who prided herself in everything spicy and fiery hot, had a terrible pepper allergy.  She quickly reached into a pocket on her hazmat suit and pulled out a tissue to blow her nose.  She then quickly took a drink of water to clear her throat and put her protective hood back on.  
Sparks was finding it harder and harder to control his laughter.  
"Not one word!" Her muffled voice called out angrily behind her respirator.  
Sparks couldn't hold it in.  "Pffhahaha!!  How can I not laugh?!  The queen of all things red hot, and spicy can't even handle her own creations!"
"You know I have a capsaicin allergy!" She called back with frustration as she hopped up and down similar to a foal throwing a tantrum.
"Oh the irony." Sparks quipped with a grin.
Habanero grumbled in frustration.  She was about to make a comeback when she heard Firecrackers familiar voice call out, "Morning Hally!"
The two watched Firecracker approach while looking into a bag he was carrying.  As he looked up from his bag he continued, "I figured you might be hungry so I brought you a... - Oh Sweet Celestia she has her pepper suit on!"  Firecracker pulled his front hoof up in an almost protective stance for himself.  There was a reason he was afraid of her when she wore her protective pepper suit.
From behind her visor, her blazing eyes narrowed angrily.  She didn't say anything, she only stood there brooding.  Nervously, Firecracker held up a bag and said, "I brought you a cinnamon bun with lots of frosting, just how you like it." He held his nervous grin.
Suddenly, Habanero's expression changed.  Her eyes went back to their normal kind gaze.  "Well thank you." She said sweetly, I was getting a little hungry."
Sparks noticed Firecracker's uneasiness grow.  Firecracker knew what was coming.  Habanero then spoke calmly, "I'm actually glad you two are here.  I was hoping you could help me with something."
"What is it?" Sparks asked.
The look of worry just kept growing in Firecracker's eyes.  
Habanero walked behind her stall that was lined with the brightest, and most fresh looking peppers you would ever see.  She pulled out a little basket with some small pepper pods in them.  "These are some new pods that I've been working on.  They're a crossbreed of some different types of peppers, I was hoping you could try them and let me know how they taste so I can sell them properly."
Sparks raised an eyebrow and Firecracker's fear grew with every passing second.  Before the two could protest, Hally said sweetly in her reassuring voice, don't worry, these are a cross breed of very mild peppers.  If anything they'll taste more sweet than hot.  She held the basket out with her hoof towards the two stallions.
With hesitation, Sparks horn began to glow a pale blue and he levitated one of the pepper pods towards himself.  Firecracker's hoof shakily took the other.  Habanero simply smiled sweetly under her suit as she waited for the two to test her creation.  
Sparks examined the pepper.  The pod itself was smaller, only about an inch and a half long.  It's skin was flawlessly smooth and colored a brilliant red and orange.  It almost looked like someone had swirled the two colors together.  The last thing he did was smell it.  Surprisingly enough, it smelled very sweet, almost like a strong citrus fruit.  He felt his nerves slowly subside and he was almost a little eager to try it.  
Firecracker too examined his pepper and said, "And you say this one will taste sweet?"  
Habanero nodded, "With everything I cross bred it with, it should be, yes."
The two friends looked at each other.  Sparks took a deep breath and said, "Well... it does smell pretty sweet."
Firecracker took one last whiff and smelled the sweetness of the pepper.  "I guess so..."
Sparks levitated the pepper to his mouth and Firecracker raised his up with his hoof.  
"3..., 2..., 1..., go..." Sparks said as he opened his mouth and put the pepper inside.  Both began to chew.  Truth be told, there was a splash of a citrus sweetness..., immediately followed by the most horrifyingly violent burn the two stallions had ever tasted.
Sparks could feel the pupils of his eyes shrink to almost nothing from pure shock, he wanted to spit the pepper out but without thinking he swallowed what was left.  He could feel the burn as it made its way to his stomach, and then felt the heat spread through his entire body.  Both Sparks and Firecracker yelled out in pain.
Sparks in a panic fumbled around for his cup of iced tea, he quickly levitated it to his lips and took a large gulp.  By this point, Firecracker was already on the ground rolling around in agony.  Sparks swallowed his gulp of tea and yelled out, "Sweet Celestia!  The tea makes it worse!"
Habanero put her hoof up to her mouth and tapped her chin.  "That's odd." She said in confusion, "Those peppers were bred from sweet mild's, I wonder how they ended up so hot.  She reached over and lifted up one of the pepper pods while the two stallions continued to roll around in pain.  She calmly broke open one of the pods and looked at it.  Inside, the pepper was filled with thick, almost yellow colored oil.  "Oh! I see now!" She called out as a matter of factly.
"See what?!" Firecracker yelled in pain as he took heavy breaths trying unsuccessfully to push the heat from his burning mouth. 
Habanero held the pepper out.  "You see all this oil in here?"  How could they miss it!  Both stallions, through their heavily watering eyes could see thick drips of translucent yellow oil spilling onto the ground.  "That's highly concentrated capsaicin.  Somehow all of the cross breeding with the different pepper plants I did on the sweet mild's turned the pepper into one highly concentrated super hot.  ...I wonder how I managed to get it's heat so high?  I really am a pepper genius!"
Still huffing and puffing on the ground, Sparks yelled out, "Yeah that's great!  Now would you make this burn go away?!"
Habanero raised an eyebrow, "Make it go away?  You can't just make a heat that's that concentrated just vanish, it's gotta wear off."
"And how long will that take?!" Firecracker called out in pain.
Hally shrugged, "I dunno, half hour? 45 minutes?  Could be longer.  I've never grown anything with that much heat before." Habanero again jumped up and down excitedly, "Hehehe, I'm going to win so many awards for this pepper!  Daddy will be so proud!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
A while later, the two stallions walked up to their Firework company.  It was on a large area of land that was completely surrounded by high fences to keep ponies out.  Their business was a dangerous one and the last thing they wanted was for anypony to get hurt.  Sparks was still trying to cool his entire body off from the pepper he ate.  "Remind me never to go near her stall again..." Sparks said over his swollen tongue. 
Firecracker wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.  "Try dating her.  I always have to be on my guard when she cooks."
Up ahead there was a small building near the entrance with a large sign that said "Ponyville Firework Co." in glittery letters.  The two pyro ponies walked up to the door and went inside.  The main office building was set up pretty simple.  Their business was just passed 6 months old so inside wasn't anything over the top fancy.  Inside there was a small sitting area and a countertop for speaking with customers.  Behind that were two work desks, only one was occupied.  A pegasus mare named Feather Quill who's coat was an almost golden color, and her mane was a deep forest green.  Her cutie mark was a writing quill.  She handled the business aspect of the Ponyville Firework Co. or the PFC, as she called it.  She was slightly older than both Sparks and Firecracker.  She had a family to support, and this job handling the books and numbers was right up her alley.   
When she saw the two walk in, she spoke up, "Good morning you two... WOW! You both look terrible!"  The side effects of Habanero's super hot peppers were still very much present. 
"Oh trust me! We feel that way right now!" Firecracker said back.  He walked over to the small break area and opened the fridge.  "Oh thank Celestia! Milk!"  He quickly opened the carton and began to chug.  
"Use a glass at least!" Sparks yelled.  He then sighed and looked back at Feather Quill, "His special somepony made us try one of her new peppers."
"That bad?" She asked.
"Mhmm!!" Firecracker mumbled through his chugging.
"Do you have a copy of Canterlot's newspaper?" Sparks asked.  "I heard they mentioned us in it."
Feather Quill pulled a news paper off of her desk and handed it to Sparks.  "They did more than just mention you."
Sparks levitated the paper and read the front page article.  "Light Up the Night!"  There was a full front page article about the fireworks that he and Firecracker had done for the Gala.  It talked about how all of Canterlot was buzzing about it, and how impressed Princess Celestia and Luna were.  "Hey Firecracker! We're famous now!"  Still chugging his milk, the pegasus raised an eyebrow.  Sparks laid the paper out on the counter top at the front of the office and said, "This will definitely draw in some more business."  He looked around at the bare walls of the room.  "I'm framing this!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________

At lunch time, Sparks was sitting in the front office eating his sandwich and rooting through his saddle bags.  He pulled out the small figure he had gotten for Firecracker and set it aside.  He then pulled out the mail and went through it.  It was the typical mail he received every day.  A few bills, some junk mail, and a request for a fireworks display at a "to be determined" date.  The last letter caught his eye.  The handwriting on it was very familiar, and the return address was very well known to him.  On top of that was the unmistakable smell of perfume that was sprayed on the envelope.  He opened it and read it.

Dear Sparky!
I heard that your fireworks in Canterlot were amazing! I wish I could have seen them.  So far I've only been able to see pictures of them in newspapers.  That's not the reason I'm writing to you though.  You know that next month is Mom and Dad's anniversary.  I want to do more for them than the standard greeting card and giving them the house to their selves for the night.  

Since your firework business is doing well now, I wanted to throw this idea your way.  Why don't you do a firework display for them?  Won't it be more exciting than a simple congratulations letter?  I don't have the bits to pay for it, but I was really hoping that you could make it happen anyway.  Plus I haven't seen you since you moved to Ponyville, and Shimmerwood is really far away, so this will give you an excuse to come visit your favorite little sister!
Please let me know ASAP!
Love you Sparky!
Flame~
Sparks sat at his chair for a minute while he looked at his sisters letter.  A few thoughts ran through his head.  He hadn't seen his parent's in quite a while.  He did miss his mom, and his dad... well... he did love his dad but he was a little on the odd side.  Truth be told, his entire family was a little on the odd side.  Aside from that, they did just get paid quite a large amount of bits for the Grand Galloping Gala fireworks shoot.  There was no reason why he couldn't give his parent's a decent size display out of his own pocket.  Plus Firecracker was from the same town, it would give him an opportunity to visit his own family.  Maybe even take Habanero along to meet them if she didn't kill him with anymore super hot peppers between now and then.  He then looked at the calendar on the wall.  he had 2 firework displays in the month ahead, but he was clear for 2 weeks around his parents anniversary.  It could be a nice little mini vacation for him.  It would be his first actual break since he opened.
He heard the door open and saw Firecracker walk in.  "Yo!" Sparks called out.
"What's up?" The pegasus asked.
Sparks folded up his sisters letter and said, "You up for doing a shoot in Shimmerwood next month?"  
Firecracker grinned, "A shoot for our hometown? Sure!  it's been a while since I've been there for a visit anyway."
"Cool." Sparks said.  He took another bite of his sandwich and then said, "Oh yeah, before I forget..."  Sparks levitated the Ashes figure to Firecracker.  I was going to give this to you earlier but Habanero was busy trying to kill us."
"Aw sweet!  I love Ashes!  Where'd you find her?"
"A stall in the market square was selling it."
Firecracker examined the figure of the comic book pegasus like a colt with a new toy.  "She's going right on the shelf when I get home tonight."  
"I thought you'd like that."  Sparks then finished his sandwich and continued, "I have a few more boxes of shells to finish today before we go.  Then after that I want to test some new ones I made this morning.  Wanna help so we can get done quicker?"
With a nod, Firecracker chirped, "Sure!"
Feather Quill reached in her desk and pulled out a pair of ear plugs from one of her drawers.  "Let me know when you're shooting them this time!  You two scared me to death the last time you were testing shells."
"Sure thing, Feather." Sparks told her.
"Let's get back to it." Firecracker said as he walked outside with Sparks.  
"It'll be good to see Shimmerwood again."  
         

> Lead Me To You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 6) LEAD ME TO YOU
The sound of rock music blared inside one of the brick shacks where the fireworks were made.  He loved listening to his records when he worked.  They helped to pass the time and dull out the silence.  This record was special to him though.  It was a record from a band that his dad played in.  Yes, not many ponies knew it, but Sparks dad was a drummer in a rock band.  It was sort of a closely kept secret that only family, and very close friends knew about.  It kept the fuss down that way.
On a table in front of him was a box of cardboard tubes and a tray of small black spheres that were about the size of peas.  They were called stars, and they were the burning balls of color in the sky that gave the firework their distinct look.  Sparks was completely in his zone.  His music kept him calm and focused while he made shells.  Everyone he, and Firecracker made was its own little piece of art.  Each one took time, and each one was special.
He looked at a list he had taped on the wall of everything that he needed to have done that day.  He was working on 6 inch willow shells.  When they broke open in the sky, they would flutter down like a giant silver willow.  Surprisingly, he was ahead of schedule.  So much so that he debated on leaving early.  He listened to the song playing on the record called, "No Reflection."  It was one of the last few songs on the album, he figured once the album ended he would close up for the day.
On the other side of the PFC in another one of the shacks where the fireworks were made, Firecracker was hunched over his own work bench.  His stomach was churning.  "Hnnnnggg!!!!" He groaned.  The pepper Habanero made him eat earlier was still rubbing him the wrong way.  He looked at the half made shell in front of him and tapped it with his hoof.  "Now I know how you feel little firework...  somepony gives you something hot then BOOM! you explode..."  The pegasus forced himself to finish the shell and then he wanted to leave.
Trying his best to ignore the stomach cramps, Firecracker quickly scooped the stars inside the shell around the break charge that would send the stars bursting into the sky.  He quickly capped off the shell and attached a fuse before finally covering it in a special glue that would give it extra strength.
"There... Done..." he uttered as he set the shell down to dry overnight.  He then turned off the lights and went outside and made sure the door was locked.  
Around him were over a dozen different brick shacks for making different types of fireworks.  The buildings looked like they were run down and ready to fall apart, but there was a reason they were all built like that.  Everyone of these shacks were built to break apart if an explosion were to happen.  It was a way of keeping concussive damage to a minimum.  
The sky was beginning to glow a soothing red as the sun was setting over Ponyville.  "Red..." Firecracker thought.  Red reminded him of Habanero's hot peppers.  It was the last color he wanted to see at that moment.  He then looked down at himself and saw his red coat.  He groaned once more.  He couldn't win today.
"Hey, you finished early too?" 
Firecracker looked up and saw Sparks walking up to him and pulling a small cart.  "No, I couldn't get my list done.  Hally's peppers are still killing my stomach." He grumbled.  He would definitely be having some words with her when she got home that night.
"That bad huh?" Sparks asked.  "My misery from those wore off after about an hour and a half."
"Yeah." Firecracker shot back, "Mine did too, but it's coming back now!"
"Can you at least help me set up a mortar rack real quick so I can test these new shells?"
With a sigh, Firecracker said, "I suppose."  The pegasus looked at the cart Sparks was pulling.  The racks in the cart were larger than what he was expecting.  "You brought the 8 inch pipes?"  
Sparks nodded, "Yep, they're big shells."
The two walked to an area near the back of the firework plant.  It was a flat surface covered with gravel where the two would test new shells.  The gravel did well for holding the mortar racks in place and preventing fires from starting from the many embers that erupted out of the pipes once the fireworks launched.
Sparks unhitched himself from his cart and walked behind it with Firecracker.  His horn began to glow as he levitated the large mortar rack onto the ground.  
"So what kind of shell is this one?" Firecracker asked as he pulled out a hammer and two boards from the cart.
"These are 8 inch chrysanthemum shells.  When it breaks in the air it gives off a bright, flashing blue that leaves crackling silver trails behind them." Sparks reached into a box with an explosives sticker placed on the side, and pulled out one of the large sphere shaped shells.  "I call it the Silver Sorceress."
"The Silver Sorceress, huh?" Firecracker remarked as he nailed two boards to the base of the mortar rack for extra stability.
"Yeah, what's wrong with it?"
Firecracker shook his head.  "She's still on your mind, isn't she?"  Sparks didn't want to reply, so Firecracker did it for him.  "Look, I know you hit it off with Trixie at the Gala, but we have no idea where she is now or even where she's from.  As your best friend I don't want to be the one to tell you to move on, but I think I'm going to have too.  Sparks, you gotta let it go, this is doing nothing but making you a wreck.  
Sparks jaw stiffened.  His head slowly nodded and he said back quietly, "Let's just test these and go home..."
With a silent nod, Firecracker made sure the mortar rack was secure and Sparks lowered the shell into the pipe by its fuse.  
"Hey, you want some ear plugs?" Firecracker asked.
"Nah, it's just 2 shells."
"Yeah but they're big ones."
"I'll be alright."
Sparks horn began to glow a brilliant red as he activated his heat spell.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The street lamps began to come on under the evening sky in Ponyville's market square.  All of the store owners were hard at work trying to make some last minute sales before the day's end.  One spicy pony in particular was pushing a new product very hard.
"Step right up!  Try the all new Wailing Stallion Pepper!  So hot, Tartarus can't even handle them!"  Several intrigued ponies stood around while Habanero gave her pitch about her newest product.  Some with interest and others with uncertainty.  She cheerfully continued, "Now don't let the crazy spiciness scare you off, one of these little fireballs cut into smaller pieces will make a great spice for your next pot of chili or even give an added kick to your salsa for Taco Tuesday!  Just don't eat them whole, they're called Wailing Stallion's for a reason!"
She made a few quick sales to a few of the more daring ponies as the crowd began to die down for the evening.  This was usually her indication to close up shop for the day.  Habanero headed for her countertop to start putting things away when she heard a voice calling to her.
"Excuse me."
Habanero turned and saw a unicorn standing in front of her.  "What can I do for you?  Interested in some of my spicy dipping sauces?"  
"Not exactly," she continued. "I'm actually looking for something."
Hally smiled and said back, "I'll try my best.  I do Know this town pretty well."

"Okay," She continued, "I'm looking for the Ponyville Firewo~..."
She was cut off by a muffled boom.  They both turned in time to see a shimmering silver tail rise high into the sky.  There was a bright flash followed by a thunderous BOOM! that rocked through the town.  Both ponies saw a large firework bloom open in the sky with brilliant blue and shimmering silver that crackled down to the ground.
"...Never mind, I just found what I'm looking for." The unicorn said as she took off running leaving a confused Habanero behind.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Sparks loaded the second shell and lit the fuse.  He quickly ducked down and waited for the lift charge to ignite.  There was a deep concussion as the shell rocketed into the sky.  Sparks quickly stood up among the burning embers to watch his newest creation.  Up above, high in the sky the shell broke open into its brilliant crackling colors.
"Not bad." Firecracker complimented.  "I like the color transition and how long the stars burn before they go out."
Sparks nodded.  "Good, I need to get more of these made before we leave for Shimmerwood.  Since that shoot is for my parents anniversary I need to get things made in their colors.  So a lot of blue and white for my mom, and orange and gold for my dad.  I figured this shell would be perfect for it."
Firecracker nodded while he smothered a few glowing embers with his hoof, "Well you made it for somepony else but it definitely fits for what you want."  
Sparks rubbed his hoof in his ears to dull out the ringing from the loud boom.  It was the things like this that made him realize that he would be deaf in a few years.  He looked at the mortar racks.  they still had smoke pluming from them.  "Let's leave these to cool over night.  We were supposed to be out of here a while ago anyway, I'll clean them up in the morning."
With a nod he and Firecracker walked down the path that led to the entrance of the firework plant.  In the distance, the town clock chimed 7 and the Celestia's sun was being replaced by Luna's moon.  
"Hopefully she'll get to see them someday..." Sparks said to no pony in particular.
Firecracker bumped his hoof off of his friends shoulder.  "Hey, keep your chin up."
"Believe me, I'm trying."
The two walked through the main office, wrote down their work they had completed for the day, and did a few last minute tasks before leaving.  The glow of Sparks horn faded and he set his quill down.  "Alright..." The unicorn said, "I'm tired, my stomach is starting to hurt again from Habanero's peppers, and I'm ready for bed."
"Sounds good." Firecracker told him, "Go ahead and head out, I'll lock up."
"Alright, see you tomorrow."
Firecracker watched as Sparks left.  He finished up his own end of the day duties and turned out the lights.  He felt his stomach churn once more and he put a hoof over it as he groaned.  "Darn it Hally..."  While he and Habanero weren't technically "living" together, more often than not, the fiery earth pony would often spend the night at Firecracker's.  He didn't mind, he knew it was only her way of trying to get them both to be more comfortable around one another, and to advance their relationship.  Still, when she made him try her spicy foods, Firecracker found himself questioning his sanity around her.  He wasn't mad at her about today, but he would definitely be letting her know not to test her peppers on him again.
With another groan of his stomach and with a cringe on his face. Firecracker quickly left the front office and locked the door.  He then shut the front security gate and made sure it was locked before spreading his wings.  As they began to flap, he groaned, "Ughh~~  You're killing me Hally!"  He then lift himself off the ground and flew off.
From behind, the sound of tired hoofsteps echoed off the path.  Firecracker didn't even notice that somepony was standing at the gate as he flew off for home.     
	  
	

> A New Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 7) A NEW DAY
5 am...  2 hours before he had to be up for work.  His room was still dark except for Luna's moon casting its platinum glow through the edges of his closed curtains.  This wasn't like him.  He always slept through the night until his alarm forced away his dreams.
Sparks lay staring up at the dark ceiling of his room.  He was jolted from his sleep by nothing, only his own mind forcing him to stay awake.  He tried several times to close his eyes and fall back to sleep until his alarm would wake him; but without even realizing it, he found himself staring at the ceiling, all the while his mind was racing.
His thoughts were jumping around incoherently.  One moment he would be thinking of upcoming firework shows.  Next he would worry about whether or not he had enough shells for the display.  Typical stresses of his job.  But even more than his work related concerns and stress, he still couldn't get the thought of icy blue out of his mind.
For the unicorn it felt like middle school all over again when Lyra had turned him down.  For weeks after that had happened Sparks felt lost, as if part of himself were missing.  Now that he had lost Trixie, the unsettling feeling of overwhelming loneliness was returning.  The little things around him only enhanced his depression.  The constant topic of Canterlot's fireworks always being talked about by his friends brought up the memory of what he lost that night.  The fact that he made a new firework shell after Trixie probably wasn't the best idea, and one large factor was the constant awareness that his best friend had an attractive marefriend.  
Sparks didn't hold any grudge against Firecracker for finding himself a special somepony, but deep down in the back of his mind, Sparks almost wished he had met Habanero first.  It wasn't just the fact that Habanero was a very pretty girl, it was the fact that he had an opportunity to be with somepony, unfortunately for him, Sparks allowed his shyness around mares to get the better of him and Firecracker ended up making the first move.
It seemed like no time at all had passed.  While his mind raced, the unicorn didn't even realize that Celestia's sun was beginning to rise.  Outside the songbirds began their morning chorus, and Ponyville slowly began to awake with the rest of the day.
Sparks again looked at his alarm.  It was just about 6:30.  No point in lazing around in bed while his thoughts tortured him.  With a groan, he rolled over and out of bed and onto his hooves.  He stretched and cracked his neck before heading to the bathroom to freshen himself up.  
He didn't take his time for some reason.  Sparks quickly brushed his teeth and combed his mane and tail.  He figured he would get an early start and beat the crowed at Sugar Cube Corner before the early morning rush came in.  It also gave him an excuse to get some extra work done at the firework plant since his sister placed an impromptu firework request on his plate.  He wasn't upset about it, he was actually all for the idea of giving his parents a firework display for their anniversary, he just wished he had more time to plan for it.
As Sparks readied to leave he did one last thing, he pulled his sheets and blanket off of his bed and replaced them with clean ones.  He had been meaning to do that for days but with how distracted he had been since returning from Canterlot, he kept pushing it aside.  Still, now that it was done, he had a fresh smelling bed to look forward to after his upcoming day at work.
Without anything else for him to do, Sparks got his early start moving.  He headed outside and locked his front door.  He usually greeted the blonde mail pony on his way to work but she wasn't due to arrive for at least another hour.  He would have to wait until tomorrow to hear her cheerful morning greeting.
Sparks walked passed his former neighbors empty house and made his way into town.  Just as he had hoped, Sugar Cube Corner was just opening for the day and there was no line.  He trotted inside, did his usual morning greeting to the Cake's, got his usual Iced Tea, and Raspberry muffin then made his way to work.
Being as it was still early, most of the vendors in the market square hadn't arrived yet.  A few however were already hard at work setting up as the morning dew still shimmered in the sunlight.  
"Hey Sparks!" a familiar voice called out.  The unicorn looked over and saw Firecracker flying towards a stall with several baskets of peppers in tow.
"Hey." Came Sparks reply.  "You're out early."
"Yeah..." Firecracker said as he set the baskets of peppers down in front of Habanero's booth.  "Hally needed some help this morning so I figured I'd give her a hoof."
"I'm not testing anything for her today!" Sparks shot sternly.  "My stomach finally settled down late last night."
"Don't worry, I'm not either!" Firecracker agreed.  "She did feel bad about what happened yesterday, but I couldn't be to upset with her because of how proud of her new pepper she was.  She already sent one into the Manehatten Culinary Association.  She's hoping that they are interested in it."
"That pony doesn't mess around with her spice, does she?"
"Nope!"
A cheerful voice beamed behind the two.  "Good morning Sparks!"  The unicorn turned and saw the fiery pony grinning at him as she often did.  It was one thing about Habanero that anypony could count on, her attitude was just about as spicy as her peppers.
"Morning, Hally.  I hear you're already sending out the pepper you tried to kill us with yesterday."
Habanero stood proud as she brushed off the remark.  She was indeed very proud of her new creation.  "That's right!" She chirped.  "If I can get the Wailing Stallion's approval from the Manehatten Culinary Association, it will be sent off to be marketed all over Equestria!"  Habanero beamed with pride as she thought about her possible upcoming success.  "Papa will be so proud!"
"You've had one of your peppers approved by them before, haven't you?" Firecracker asked while he helped to organize Hally's pepper booth.
"Once before," She said as a matter of factly, "but it was only one of my sweet peppers, I haven't had anything this crazy hot approved before.  Still, if I get this one approved, that means even more business for Papa's company and more notoriety!  My Brother won't care as usual but at least Momma and Papa will!"
Firecracker flew over and landed next to Habanero, and Sparks asked.  "I thought you're brother was big into peppers like you were."
Habanero shook her head.  "Nah, Cayenne only cares about the money making part of it.  He never enjoyed the actual gardening and work I put into everything.  Papa's been pushing me for a while now to start getting more involved with the financial part of the business so I can take over one day, but that's not really my thing.  I like being in my greenhouse with my peppers.  I would rather be in there all day taking care of my plants than in a stuffy office dealing with paper work. That's probably why Cayenne is always pushing me to be completely involved with the actual growing so he can run the company instead of me eventually."
"Isn't that kind of shady?  I mean your own brother is trying to push you aside so he can take over." Sparks added.
Habanero didn't answer right away.  For once, she didn't seem as spicy as she usually did.  Her eyes went half lidded in an almost pitiful way.  She quickly caught herself and replied back with her usual cheerful tune, "No, it's not like that.  It's true that Cayenne and I haven't gotten along much, but he wouldn't try to phase me out.  He just wants what's best for our families company."  Habanero walked over to her stand and looked at her brightly colored, freshly picked peppers.  "Besides, I'd rather be with my peppers and working firsthand with our product."
She flopped down a red duffle bag and unzipped it.  She pulled out her trademark hazmat suit to protect herself from her pepper allergy.  She quickly slipped it on, reached into one of her baskets, and pulled out one of her bright, fire orange peppers that she called "Fire Scorpions".  She turned to the two stallions and said cheerfully, "Want a free sample?!"  
The two pyro ponies quickly pulled their front hooves up as if to protect themselves.  With nervous grins on their faces, they both replied, "No thanks!"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The two friends had finished helping Habanero set up for the long day ahead of her of selling her fresh peppers.  It was nearing time for the two to head into work themselves so they made their way across town and talked while they went to work.
"I tell yah," Sparks remarked, "I don't like how Habanero's brother is treating her.  It seems like he's trying to push her out of that business all together so he can have the family spotlight."
Firecracker shrugged.  "I've asked her about it before, but she always tries to change the topic whenever I bring it up.  I'll be honest, I don't really care for Cayenne.  I met him once before, he's only got making bits on his mind.  He doesn't care about all the hard work that Hally puts into everything she does.  On top of that, he doesn't treat her the way a brother should a little sister."
"How so?"
Firecracker sighed. "Don't tell Hally I told you this."
"Sure..."
"I didn't get a lot of detail out of her, but from what she did say, he isn't the nicest pony to her.  He has constant rude remarks about her and her peppers.  He likes to put her down a lot and tell her that what she does isn't making him enough money, only wasting it."
"What a jerk!" Sparks remarked as he shook his head.  "I could never imagine treating my little sister like that.  ...Then again my sister could do with a little tough love once and a while, but never anything to degrade her."
"Yeah," Firecracker continued.  "He's done some nasty things to her in the past.  He even went as far as to put one of her really hot peppers into her food without her knowing it.  Her capsaicin allergy ran wild after that one."
"So what happens to her when she actually eats a pepper."  
"I can't say with the mild ones, but I can tell you, when she unknowingly ate that super hot pepper, her throat swelled and she couldn't breathe.  It also makes her heart beat extremely fast to the point where it's almost life threatening.  This all happened before we were dating though.  It was back when I was trying to get to know her.  I guess me flying her to the hospital is what sealed the deal with our relationship."  Firecracker made an almost embarrassed grin at that comment.  "I just wish it could have been under better circumstances." 
"And her brother knew about her allergy?  What an ignorant thing to do."
Firecracker gave a light nod.  "Yeah, needless to say, I've never paid much attention to him after that little stunt.  He claimed it was supposed to be a joke but I don't believe it."
"Well..." Sparks said with a grin, "At least she has you now to keep her safe."
"Heh! Yeah, I can retaliate with explosives!"
Both stallions laughed as they approached the firework plant.  Firecracker looked away from his friend and towards the giant, glittery Ponyville Firework Co. sign.  His eyes widened.  He quickly stopped and held his hoof out to get Sparks attention.
"What is it?" Sparks asked.
Firecracker motioned his head towards the Firework company and pointed with his hoof.
Sparks looked ahead and he felt his breath escape him.  
"There's no way..." He thought.
In front of him, standing and waiting for anypony to arrive was the icy blue, and frost silver sorceress that had bewitched him a few days ago.  She turned and he saw those beautiful amethyst eyes make contact with his.  He tried to speak but no words came.  She let out a light sigh of relief and she slowly walked towards him.  "Sparks..." She said calmly, "I found you."
	     

> Start Again
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 8) START AGAIN
Amethyst... Those gorgeous, serene amethyst eyes.  That was the only thing that Sparks could think of at that very moment.  Those Amethyst eyes, with their bewitching spell kept the stallion locked in place.  He heard her delicate lips speak...

"Trixie has been searching everywhere for you..."
"For me?" Sparks was amazed the words formed.
The icy blue unicorn nodded and continued, "Yes, after everything you did for me back in Canterlot, I couldn't just leave that kindness go unappreciated."
Sparks froze.  His fear of being confronted by a pretty mare was starting to get the better of him.  His hoof reached up and he rubbed the back of his mane.  He then fought his own nerves to speak.  "I-it was nothing... Really...  I just saw that you were in trouble and I couldn't... well... you know... I couldn't just leave you to... You... that is, alone... without anypony to help..."
The scene was painful for Firecracker to watch.  He knew exactly what was going on in Sparks head, he had seen this far too many times every time he would try to introduce Sparks to a suitable mare.  He watched as Trixie stood, almost looking confused while Sparks stumbled and tripped over every word that came out of his mouth.  The pegasus spread his wings and flew behind Trixie and towards the entrance to their firework company.  He then called out, "Hey Sparks, I'm feeling energetic this morning so why don't you let me handle the work here today."  
Through his mumbling, Sparks looked at his friend who had his usual smile on his face.  He continued.  "I can handle the shell building, why don't you take the day off..."
Sparks was confused.  Trixie looked back to Sparks and said almost half embarrassed, "Oh, I'm sorry, Trixie didn't know that you needed to get to work...  It's just that I really appreciate what you did for me and I wanted to thank you for everything."
Behind Trixie, Firecracker stood up on his hind legs and with vividly open arm motions and with a face that said, "Are you kidding me right now?!" He motioned Sparks to take Trixie into town so he could spend the day with her.  Naturally, with Sparks nerves driving him insane, he didn't catch on.  He stole glances passed Trixie while she spoke and tried to focus on what Firecracker was doing.  The Pegasus made more hoof motions.  He started rubbing his stomach and then acted like he was quickly shoveling food into his mouth.  Then he began to skip and made it look like he was arm and arm with somepony.  Sparks gave another confused look.
Firecracker face hoofed.  Under his breath, he yelled, "She's right there!  Your dream mare!  Take her on a date you idiot!!"
Sparks almost looked shocked.  His shyness always got the best of him over things like this.  Finally, Firecracker made the move that would give him no choice.  He looked at the two and said, "Alright, I'm heading in, Sparks, you have the day off!  Why don't you show this lovely filly around town!"  And without another word, Firecracker quickly flew off and went inside the front office leaving Sparks to fend for himself.  "Time to face that fear, buddy!" Firecracker mentally told his friend.
Sparks watched as Firecracker flew off.  He wanted to protest but couldn't.  He looked back towards Trixie who stood looking confused.  
"What are you waiting for!" his mind screamed.  "Reach out and grab her before she's gone!"
Mustering up all his courage, Sparks took in a breath and said, "Are you hungry?"
Trixie seemed to be almost caught off guard by the sudden question.  "Well...  I haven't eaten yet today." She admitted.
"I know a nice little cafe in town if you'd like to go.  Their food is pretty good for a morning meal."
A smile appeared on Trixie's lips.  "That sounds nice.  But do you mind if Trixie get's something first?"
"No." Sparks blurted out nervously, "Not at all."
Trixie motioned for him to walk with her.  They both strolled down the small path that ran along the outer perimeter of the Firework plant.  It was a path near the edge of the rolling hills that bordered Ponyville, and mostly obscured by large oak trees.  Up ahead, Sparks saw something that he had never seen in the area before, something that almost looked out of place.  As they approached, he saw it was a caravan.  It was neither large nor small, clean nor dirty.  It was a simple 4 wheeled caravan with a blue flag hanging over the front door that had Trixie's cutie mark on it.
"What's this?" Sparks asked.
With a shrug, Trixie said without much enthusiasm, "This is Trixie's home."
"You live in a caravan?"
"Trixie led him to the door and said back, "Trixie traveled a lot when she was a performer so this was her home and stage.  Now it's just something I'm thankful that gives me a roof over my head."
She opened the door and allowed him to follow her inside.  Sparks walked in and saw small boxes of stage props stacked in a corner along with several posters that hung on the wall.  They showed pictures of Trixie in a purple cloak with blue and yellow stars, and big bold lettering that said, "The Great and Powerful Trixie!"
He also saw a small vanity with long forgotten cases of stage makeup, and small costume storage drawers.  The last thing he noticed was a small bed.  It looked like it was one of the few things that Trixie took the effort to take care of.  The blanket was made neatly over the pillow and mattress, and sitting on the edge was the purple cloak and witchy hat with the blue and yellow stars that she wore in all of her posters.  
"So you're a performer, huh?" Sparks asked.
"Trixie was a traveling Magician, but things happened, and times changed.  Now I travel around, making ends meet for myself as I go."
Sparks tapped his hoof off of the wooden floor, unsure of what to really say. "Oh..." He said softly.  He looked toward her bed where her cloak and hat were sitting.  "Was that your magicians costume?"
"Mhmm." She admitted softly.  "It's very special to me."  Trixie walked over to it and her horn began to glow.  She levitated her cloak over her back, and her hat onto her head.  "Trixie has always loved this cloak and hat.  When I was still a filly, my grandmother made it for me.  Of course it was too big for me back then but she always told me I would grow into it.  She was really the only one who ever supported my dream of sharing my magic all over Equestria.  So I wore it on every show I performed.  I know this sounds silly, but I always felt that this cloak and hat gave me the confidence to share my magic on stage."
Trixie did a small twirl in front of Sparks as if to show if her attire.  With a smile, Sparks said, "I think it looks really good on you.  It really brings out the color of your mane."  Sparks quickly gave himself a mental beat down.  "Pff, yeah, real smooth Casanova!"         	 
He heard a small giggle.  Trixie levitated the cloak and hat back to their place on her bed and said back, "Well thank you, that means a lot to Trixie."
She then opened a small cupboard and pulled out her purple saddle bags and a small coin pouch.  She put on her saddle bag and said to Sparks, "Shall we?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It was almost 9 in the morning when the two walked into Ponyville.  The sun was up and whisping away the last of the morning dew, and Ponyville was abuzz with its citizens who were out to start their day.  
To Sparks, this still all felt like an impossible dream.  Another set of mind games toying with him.  It was so hard to believe that it wasn't.  As the two walked, Sparks stole glances at the beautiful mare walking next to him.  He couldn't help but admire her.  The way the sun made her frost silver mane and tail shimmer, and her flawless icy blue coat that only enhanced the color.  He even watched the way her flank made an elegant and sassy swish as she walked.
So many thoughts were running through his mind.  He thought about everything he could treat her to today.  Thoughts of showing her around town once they finished their early morning meal.  Thoughts of the conversations they could have.  Even thoughts of maybe getting another kiss from her like she gave him at the Gala.  He felt like he was in middle school again with his first crush.  So many thoughts of so many different things.  It wasn't until he heard a loud voice call out, "The Jackson Park Express will be departing in 5 minutes!  All aboard!"
He hadn't realized that they were already near the train station.  He had wasted so much time thinking of things to do, that he hadn't even started a simple conversation.  He looked over to Trixie and said in the most confident voice he could manage, "So, is this your first time to Ponyville?"
He noticed Trixie lower her head slightly.  "Not exactly..." She replied.  
"Oh?  So you've been here before?"
"Let's just say that Trixie's last visit to Ponyville wasn't a pleasant one."
"Oh..." Sparks replied as he quickly tried to remedy the situation.  "...Well, I'll do all I can to help make this time better for you!  I know a lot of fun places we could go!"
Trixie looked up at him.  In shock, thinking he may have sounded too pushy, he quickly said, "I mean if you want to!  We don't have to go all over the place if you don't feel like it."
Trixie let out a small giggle.  She could sense a bashful stallion a mile away.  She found it charming.  She gave him a reassuring smile and told him, "Trixie would love to be shown around."
Sparks let out a silent sigh of relief.  He then motioned ahead, "Well here's our first stop."
Trixie looked ahead and saw a small bistro.  It was a tiny shop set up with a few tables inside, and outside was a small fenced in area with more tables and chairs.  Sparks led Trixie inside and the two sat down at a table outside near the fence.  Trixie levitated a menu and began to read.  Sparks then told her, "This place has a great dandelion sandwich.  I get it every time I come here."
"Well if you recommend it, Trixie will try it." She said with a smile.
"And don't worry about the bill, everything is on me today!" Sparks said suavely. 
Trixie looked at him.  "I can't ask you to do that.  I mean, the whole reason Trixie is here is to pay you back for everything you did for me at the Gala."
Sparks looked at her and told her sincerely.  "I already told you back in Canterlot.  You don't need to worry about it.  I was glad I could help you.  Besides, what kind of gentlecolt would I be if I didn't help a lady in her time of need?"
Trixie gave a light laugh.  "You're quite the charmer, aren't you?" 
"I try."
The waiter approached the two.  He was an earth pony with a khaki colored coat and a brown mane.  "Good morning to you both, may I take your order."  
"A water for me please." Sparks told him.
The waiter then looked at Trixie.  He was almost surprised at who he saw.  "And for you, Miss?" he asked almost coldly.
"A water is fine for me too, please."  Trixie saw the look he gave her.  She expected this, especially after what happened during her last visit.  Princess Twilight had made it known that she was to be forgiven, but Trixie expected that not everypony would be so willing to abide to what their Princess had told them.
The waiter nodded and turned.  He then said under his breath.  "I'm amazed you even came back."  Trixie heard it, but she didn't allow herself to react to it.  Sparks ear twitched and he shot a confused glance at the waiter.  Trixie felt her nerves rise.  She didn't want Sparks to find out what she had done.  Not like this.  She then saw him give a slight shrug and go back to what he was doing.  She let out a light breath of relief. 
A short time later, their food arrived.  Trixie took a bite of the dandelion sandwich and was instantly glad that she took Sparks advice on what to order.  
"So how is it?" He asked.
With a nod and a mouth half full of food, she replied, "It's very good."
Sparks took another bite, then asked, "So when was the last time you were in Ponyville?"
Trixie thought...  She was surprised at how fast the time had passed.  "It was about this time last year actually."
"Oh," Sparks said, "So it was before Firecracker and I had our firework business here."
"When did you open?" She asked.
"We first opened about 6 months ago.  Firecracker and I left our hometown of Shimmerwood to come here and set up.  We're still trying to get everything the way we want it.  We need to hire more help, but until we start pulling in the extra bits, it's just me, Firecracker, and Feather Quill, she handles all the paperwork for us."
"I doubt it will take you long to start getting the extra money you need." Trixie told him, "After the fireworks I saw you set off at the Gala, you'll have ponies wanting your fireworks for every celebration they can think of."
Sparks smiled, "I'm glad you liked them.  I'll be honest, I was really hoping that you got to see them that night."
Trixie leaned in and smiled, "And why is that?"
Sparks again rubbed the back of his head nervously.  "...I don't know why exactly." The stallion admitted.  "I guess after I found out that you couldn't get in the Gala, I just wanted to do anything to cheer you up and make you smile..."  Sparks felt himself tapping his hooves together nervously as he spoke.  "Then once I helped you get inside, I guess I just really wanted to make your night complete by making you forget about what had happened and making you happy with my fireworks."
Sparks felt a hoof rest on his and the nervous tapping stopped.  He looked and saw Trixie holding his hoof and she smiled at him.  "You made Trixie very happy that night." She told him calmly.  "Happier than Trixie has been in a long time."  
_____________________________________________________________________________________
After they finished eating, Sparks led Trixie back into town and towards the market square.  All of the vendors were busy peddling their wares to potential buyers.  It was a typical busy weekday morning as the two made their way through the crowd.  Sparks was looking around at the gift stalls, seeing if there was something that Trixie would want.  "If you see something you like, tell me and I'll get it for you." He told her happily.  
"You don't have to get me anything."
"Don't worry about it." He told her as if he were an eager colt with his first special somepony. "You came all this way to see me, the least I could do is get you something."
"But you don't have to, I'd feel guilty."
Sparks smiled, "I know I don't HAVE too, but maybe I want to get you something.  Think of it as a souvenir for your visit."
They rounded a corner around one of the shop stalls and Sparks froze.  He saw a pony wearing a protective suit with a breathing respirator, and a fiery red and orange tail coming out of the back.  "Sweet Celestia she has the suit on!" He said to no pony in particular.
Before he could escape with his life, he saw the pony make eye contact with him.  He felt his adrenaline rise as he heard the bubbly voice call out, "Sparks! What are you doing here?  I thought you would be working..."
Habanero took notice of the pony who Sparks was with.  "Hey! I know you!" Hally chimed, "You're the pony I talked to last night when this yahoo's fireworks scared us both half to death!"  Habanero pulled off her protective hood and glared at Sparks, "You really need to give me some heads up when you, and Firecracker randomly shoot off fireworks.  It scares me you know!"
Sparks was about to defend himself when the thought clicked in Hally's mind as she noticed that Trixie was with Sparks.  "Hey now Sparks!  I didn't know you were seeing anypony!"
The stallion felt his heart skip a beat.  "No! It's not like that!" He quickly tried to defend himself,  "We met in Canterlot during the Gala, and I helped her..."   
Habanero's eyes widened with glee as she cut Sparks off, "Oh! So this is the girl that Firecracker said was driving you crazy all week."
Instantly, Sparks called out, "Hey!  Are those new peppers?!  Haven't seen ones like that before!"
Habanero turned to her pepper stall and true to her nature, lost focus on what she was doing and said, "Oh, these orange flame peppers?  They're ones that Daddy grew a while back, still a new type of pepper that..."
Sparks let out a sigh of relief as Habanero went on her pepper rant.  He didn't want Trixie knowing she had been his main obsession over the past few days.  He then heard Habanero say something that shattered his own thought.  "Would you like to try one?" She asked sweetly.
"NO!" Sparks called out as he tried to defend Trixie from Habanero's fiery evil.  "The last peppers you let me and Firecracker try nearly killed us.
Hally scoffed as she pulled her hood back over her head.  "Yea, like I was going to offer your marefriend one of my super hots.  Those are only for you to try."  Habanero walked over to her stand and held out one of her sample trays that had Habanero's homemade salsa's on them.  "Try as many as you like." she chirped, "These are my more mild and sweet salsa's."
"Trixie would love to."  Her horn began to glow as she levitated a tortilla chip into one of the salsa's.  Trixie took a bite and was amazed.  She had never tasted anything like it before.  It was sweet, very sweet in fact, almost like biting into an orange.  Then there was a spicy kick.  Nothing to crazy, just enough to give her mouth a slight bit of heat.
"What do you think?" Hally asked.
"This is amazing!" Trixie admitted.  
With a light laugh of approval, Habanero held the tray back out, "Please, try another!"
While Trixie sampled each of Hally's salsa's, Habanero looked at Sparks and whispered, "She's really pretty!"
Sparks gave a light grin and nodded at Hally.  He again felt like a colt with his first crush.  Hally nudged him and said, "You should take her to a movie.  I recommend something funny.  Then you should take her to the park to watch the sunset later."
Trixie levitated a small glass jar of one of one of Habanro's salsa's.  "Trixie would like this one please."  She then levitated her small coin purse out of her saddle bag.
Sparks walked up to her and said, "Don't worry about it, I'll get it for you."
"It's not that expensive," She protested. "I can at least get this for myself."
"Maybe I'd like to get it for you though."
Habanero saw her way into the conversation. "Or she can just have it."
"Really?" Trixie said with surprise, "I couldn't just take it."
Hally smiled behind her protective hood, "Don't worry about it.  I have plenty left to sell.  Besides, if it's for Sparks marefriend I don't have a problem giving one away."
Sparks took in a sharp breath out of sheer shock.  He already felt awkward enough around Trixie, he didn't need Habanero to make it any worse.  He readied to defend himself when he saw Trixie simply smile at the comment.  
"Trixie appreciates it.  Thank you."
Habanero trotted over to Sparks with a slight bounce in her step.  "I hope you two have fun today.  Sparks is a great guy," she commented as she roughly hit her hoof off of his shoulder. "I'm sure he'll show you a good time."
Sparks felt himself flush with embarrassment.  He shot Hally a look that simply said, "REALLY?!" To which the spicy pony grinned mischievously.
Trixie held her jar of salsa up with her magic, "I'm looking forward to..." She was cut off as she felt a hard bump hit into her from behind.  Trixie lost focus of her magic from the hard shove and the jar of salsa fell from her grasp and shattered on the ground.  Trixie stumbled and Sparks quickly held out his hoof to keep her from falling.
He looked up and saw two mares walking with smug looks on their faces.  "Hey!" Sparks called out, "That was ignorant."
One of the mares, a pegasus said back with a shrug, "Yeah, didn't see her." and she kept walking.
"You could at least apologize!" He called back.
Both mares turned and the other, an earth pony shot back, "After what she did the last time she was here, she doesn't deserve any sympathy from anypony!"
The pegasus then added, "Princess Twilight may have forgiven her, bet that doesn't mean the rest of us have."
Sparks only felt anger, "What are you even talking about, she's done nothing wrong!"
"Oh really?" The pegasus continued as she and her friend turned to walk away, "Why don't you ask her about it."
The two mares walked away, and Sparks turned towards Trixie who was slowly using her magic to try and clean up the mess.  He didn't understand anything that had just happened.  He walked over to her.  
"Don't even worry about it." Habanero told her calmly.  "I'll give you another."
Trixie simply nodded while Hally went back to her stall.  Sparks wanted to say anything to make the situation better.  Before he could, Trixie uttered out, "I told you...  Trixie's last visit to Ponyville wasn't a pleasant one...  I knew no pony had forgiven me for what I did."
The stallion sighed.  "What's done is done, and what's happened, happened.  No point in letting your past keep you from moving on."
"But I..."
Sparks held his hoof up to silence her.  "You're back in Ponyville now.  I don't know what happened the last time you were here but it doesn't matter.  It's your chance to start again.  Do everything over, but it's your chance to do it right this time."
Hally opened Trixie's saddle bags and put 4 different jars in them.  "Here," She said, "I gave you one of each."
Trixie smiled at the fiery pony.  She thought about everything that had happened to her in the past year.  Everything she had done wrong, everything that had gone wrong.  She knew what had happened here the last time wasn't in her control, and everything else was out of pure bad luck.  She thought about what Sparks told her.  Start again.  This was her chance to make everything right in her life.  She was going to make a fresh start.
"Thank you." Trixie told her.  Hally just gave her usual cheerful smile, even if it was hidden behind her protective hood.
Hally then said, "You know, after all the excitement, I think you two should go relax.  Sparks, be a gentlecolt and take this lovely mare to the movies.  I hear The Hayngover is really funny.  And Trixie, don't worry, Sparks is paying for everything today!"
Before Sparks could reply, Hally looked at Sparks and whispered, "Your welcome!"  She then trotted back over to her stand and said, "Now get going!  You're crowing up my shop and I got customers!"
Sparks looked around, there weren't any ponies even near her shop at the moment.  "But you aren't even busy."
"I said go!" 
_____________________________________________________________________________________
It was definitely a day worth remembering.  Sparks took Habanero's advice and took Trixie to the movies.  They even did a double feature.  Both were comedy movies to help cheer Trixie up.  He was pretty sure it had worked.  After the movie, Sparks had taken her to Ponyville's finest restaurant.  Nothing on par with anything in Canterlot, but still pretty good.  Thankfully their dinner was uneventful.  No problems with any other ponies, no hurtful comments towards Trixie, and nothing unexpected.
Now that it was late in the evening, the two slowed things down and went for a simple walk in the park.  A few ponies were out doing an evening stroll, much as they were.  The street lamps were coming on, and moths were beginning to flutter around them.  Up ahead, Sparks led Trixie to a park bench near the large lake in the center of the park.  The bench offered a view of the fountain in the center of the lake as well as gave a front row seat to the sunset.
Celestia's sun was looming low in the sky as the evening began to slowly creep its way over Ponyville.  It had been an interesting day for Sparks.  It still almost felt to surreal to be reality, he was still trying to convince himself that Trixie was sitting right next to him as they watched Luna's moon slowly rise into the heavens.  It was if his mind was in a lock, and unable to be broken away from its focus, still, one pony had the key to free it.
"I really meant it you know..." He shook his thoughts and looked down at the icy blue sorceress.  She was looking up at him with her bewitching amethyst eyes.  "Everything you did for me at the gala, and here in town today.  Trixie knows that word travels fast in small towns like these, and that not many ponies are thrilled that I'm back here."  She let out a sigh.  Neither sad, nor comfortable, it was just a simple sigh.  She then rest her head on Sparks shoulder.  She wasn't trying to be flirty, it just simply made her feel secure.  "Still, Trixie is glad that she saw the pony that she tried so hard to find."
Looking down at her, Sparks gave her a kind smile.  He put his free arm around her and held her close.  She didn't back away from it, if anything it made her snuggle closer.  With Luna's moon becoming dominate in the evening sky Sparks told her, "I'm glad you found me.  I didn't even know where to start looking for you after I couldn't stop you as you were leaving the Gala."
"You saw me leave?" She asked almost confused.
Sparks gave her a nod.  "After we finished with the fireworks, the first thing I did was go inside the castle to try and find you.  I looked all over for you all night until I finally saw you getting on one of the carriages that was heading out of town.  I don't know how many ponies I knocked over trying to get to you before it left.  I'm sure you can guess the ending." Sparks motioned towards his knees that he had scraped up which were now all but healed.  "I got down there too late and the only thing I managed to do was trip and fall while I was trying to stop you."
Trixie tilted her head as she looked up at the unicorn.  "Why do all that for me?  If anything it should have been the other way around.  You did nothing but get Trixie out of trouble all night.  The same as you did today."
"I already told you." Sparks said with a smile, "I couldn't just leave you in those situations.  I mean for starters, I almost ruined your dress when I ran into you, and after I saw how upset you were that you couldn't get into the Gala there was no way I could have just ignored you."
"But I was just a stranger you barely knew..." She told him, "Every other pony who's been around me when I've been in trouble never even gave Trixie the time of day.  Why were you the exception?"
Sparks felt his heart race and could feel his stomach tie itself in knots.  He tried to answer but once again, his words didn't return.  With a mental slap he told himself, "It's now or never, don't blow it!"
He summoned his courage, "Trixie...  It wouldn't matter if I had seen you before or not.  When I first saw you walk out of that dress shop, and I could see the look of excitement on your face when you talked about going to the Gala it made me happy to know that you were about to have a dream come true.  The fact that you were interested that I was doing fireworks just added to that."  Trixie's enchanting stare only heightened as he spoke.  "Then when I saw how upset you were that you couldn't get in, I only wanted to help you so that you could live your dream.  Just seeing you happy made me happy."
He sheepishly rubbed the back of his mane, "Plus, I'm glad you got to see the fireworks I set off.  I really meant it when I said you were the only pony I was hoping would see them, even more than I hoped the Princesses would see them."  He looked back down to her.  "Then when I saw you leave and I couldn't catch you to tell you goodbye... I don't know...  I just felt lost after that..."
Trixie felt touched, "Sparks..." She uttered as she hid her blushing cheeks.
The pyro pony took in a deep breath.  "...I guess you could say I felt that way because... well... Trixie...  I really like..."
Sparks was cut off as the sound of a loud sired screamed through the town.  From behind them, the towns fire whistle was blaring, and they could see ponies looking towards the northern end of town.  
"What's going on?" Trixie asked.
"I don't know..."  Sparks stood and motioned for Trixie to follow him.  The two walked back towards the more populated area of town and the closer they got, the more smoke they could see.
As they walked toward the crowd, Sparks heard a familiar voice...
"Sparks!" 
He looked over and saw Habanero with a worried look on her face.  
"Hally!" He called back, "What's going on?!"
Before she could reply, Firecracker quickly landed, scraping the ground under his hooves.  The pegasus looked at Sparks and said, "We have to get to the Firework plant, now!"
With wide eyed fear, Sparks looked towards the smoke and realized it was looming near their Firework company.  Sparks could see one of the members of the Ponyville Police.  He looked like he was headed for the fire station.  Sparks stopped him.  
"Get everypony away from here!" He called out.  "If the firework factory is burning then most of the town is in danger!"
The officer nodded and he began to call out.  "Alright! Everypony is to move across the river near Sweet Apple Acres!  Keep calm and move as quick as you can!"
Sparks looked to Trixie and Habanero.  "You girls go with the others."
"But what about you two?!" Hally cried out with worry.
"We'll be alright," Firecracker told her, "But we gotta make sure the rest of the town will be okay before anything else."  With that he quickly gave Habanero a kiss and said softly with a reassuring smile, "Go on, we'll be okay."      
Trixie stood stunned, not really sure how to react.  Sparks gave her a reassuring nod.  He then said, "You two stay together."  Before they could argue, both Sparks and Firecracker took off running towards the Ponyville Firework Co.
"I really hope it's just the office burning and not one of the shell rooms!" Firecracker panted as he ran full tilt.
Through his own heavy breaths, Sparks called back, "I really hope it isn't anything in the plant at all!"
The two stallions kept a watchful eye, waiting to see if any shells were launching into the sky, and listening for any type of explosion.  It would not only be disaster for their company, but for the town as well of one of their large storages of fireworks went off.  
"I can see the glow!" Firecracker called out.
Sparks looked ahead and saw an orange light dancing in the distance, mostly obscured by trees.  "It's in the back of the plant!" Sparks yelled, "near the 5 inch shell storage!"
Firecracker cursed under his breath.  "That's gonna do some damage, be careful when you go in!"
The two made it to the front of gate of the Ponyville Firework Co.  As Sparks began to fumble with the lock, Firecracker spread his wings.  "No!" Sparks yelled.  "Stay out of the air incase shells start flying!"  
Firecracker flew into the air regardless.  "I just want to see what's burning!"
"Well make it quick! I don't want you getting killed!"
From behind, the Stallion heard two sets of hooves running.  "Firecracker! Be careful!" Came a familiar voice.  Habanero and Trixie ran up with looks of fear on their faces.  
"What are you two doing here?!" The unicorn yelled, "It's too dangerous!"
"We were worried!" Habanero protested.  "We just wanted to make sure you two were ok!"
Before Sparks could protest, Firecracker called down.  "It's not anything in the plant that's burning." A momentary wash of relief came over Sparks, until Firecracker called back, "It's something on the path that's on fire!"
Behind Sparks there was a gasp.  He turned and saw Trixie with her eyes as wide as saucers.  "No!" She cried out as she took off running.  
"Trixie wait!" Sparks yelled.  It did no good.  Trixie sprinted off down the path towards her caravan.  "Buck!  Firecracker, tell the fireponies where to go!" Sparks cursed as he sprinted off.
The unicorn was already winded from his sprint across town, it was only his raw adrenaline that kept him moving.  In the distance, he could see the flames dancing among the trees, and the silhouette of Trixie rushing towards her home.  As he got closer, he could hear her frantic cries.  He pushed himself to run harder.
It felt like it took him hours to reach Trixie.  The sheer chaos of the situation seemed to make time stand still.  Glowing embers began to flutter around him as he approached the burning caravan.  He could see it.  The roof was burning and the fire was slowly creeping down the outer walls.  As he approached, he saw Trixie frantically trying to use her magic to get the door of her caravan open.  It wouldn't budge, even with her magic.  Sparks slid to a halt and yelled out, "Trixie! Get away, it's to dangerous!"
With tears streaming down her cheeks, she cried out, "My cloak!  It's the only part of my family I have left!"  She again tried to get closer to the caravan and pry open the door.  "I can't lose my cloak!  It means everything to me!"  A rush of flame erupted form the caravan and Trixie had to shield her face with her forearm to protect herself from the heat.  She again pleaded with herself.  "I can't lose you!  Not again!" 
Sparks took a deep breath and stomped his hoof on the ground.  He ran forward and called out, "Stand back!"  With a gasp, Trixie watched as Sparks rushed passed her and up to the door.           
He forced his front hoof against the door.  It wouldn't budge.  Without a second thought, Sparks quickly turned and with all his strength, reared up his hind legs and bucked the door as hard as he could.  He felt the wood splinter and heard the latch pop.  It was still closed.  He reared up again and forced all of his strength into another hard kick.  The hinges ripped from the wall and the door collapsed inside.  Instantly Sparks was hit by a rush of heat.  He held his hoof up to shield his face as glowing embers fluttered around him.  He quickly examined inside the caravan.  Inside, the roof was completely engulfed, and the furniture was beginning to burn.  Except for a few burning pieces of debris, the floor was mainly clear.  Without a second thought, Sparks leapt inside over the burning rubble that was blocking the door.  
Inside was like an oven.  Everything was alight with flame and embers fluttered around him like a hellish snow.  For the most part the pyro pony could handle the heat.  He always had to deal with it when he shot fireworks, but this was too much even for him.  Not wanting to waste any time, he quickly looked around and saw Trixie's cloak and witchy hat sitting on her bed.  He didn't hesitate.  The blankets were beginning to burn and the hat and cloak already looked scorched.  With a quick trot, he rushed to the bed and levitated Trixie's cherished items with his horn.  They were damaged, but nothing that couldn't be repaired.  
Not wanting to waste anymore time, Sparks quickly turned and headed for the door.  From up above, there was a loud crack followed by a crashing noise.  The front half of the roof of the caravan collapsed in front of him and cutting off his escape.  The unicorn quickly turned to look for another way out, there wasn't one.  It took every ounce of his mentality to keep himself from panicking.  Holding Trixie's belongings close to his body he ran though every option he could think of in his head.  He cursed himself for never learning a teleport spell.  
There was another loud crack as another section of the roof came down.  Through a thick shower of glowing embers, Sparks felt something hard slam into the back of his head.  He saw stars and his vision blurred.  Without realizing it, the stallion felt himself falling to the floor.  
He lay there stunned.  The roar of the flames was muffled and from outside, he could hear the echoed sound of Trixie frantically calling out his name.  He slowly looked over and saw the hat and cloak still in his magical aura.  A distant thought ran through his head.  "Well... at least those are still ok..."
He knew he had to move, but he couldn't.  The impact on his head left him in a daze, it felt like a large firework shell had gone off right next to him.  
"GET UP!" He mentally yelled.  He tried to force his legs to move but nothing happened.  "Come on! MOVE!"  Still nothing.  He could see the flames completely engulf Trixie's bed where he had been only a few moments before.  "Dammit! GET UP!"  The burning heat began to wash over him.  He couldn't believe this was how he was going to go out.  He wanted to shake that thought from his mind, but he couldn't.  He couldn't mentally force himself to do anything.  He simply lay his head down on the scorched floor.
In front of him, he saw a pair of red hooves land hard on the floor.  He slowly looked up and saw Firecracker.  It felt like slow motion as he heard Firecracker yell to him in a muffled voice, he couldn't understand what he was saying.  He felt his friend reach down and grab onto him, and then he felt himself lift off of the burning floor and into the air.  It all felt like a dream as he watched himself being flown out of the burning roof of the caravan and away from the danger.  He could at least see that he still had Trixie's cloak and hat in his grasp.  "Well, I got what I came for at least..." 
He felt himself being set on the ground away from the danger and in front of two other ponies.  He saw Habanero's vivid fiery mane, and the calming ice blue of Trixie.  Both girls were crying.  He then felt something warm running down his face.  In his mind he knew it was blood.  He must have gotten a gash on his head when part of the roof fell on him.  The cool night air slowly began to clear his mind now that he was out of the inferno.
"Come on buddy! Stay with me!" He heard Firecracker say.  
Good.  His hearing was starting to clear.
"Sparks, come on now!  Snap out of it!"
Sparks slowly shook his head to clear the rest of the fuzz out of his mind.  In the distance, he heard the wailing sirens of the fireponies carriage as it rushed up the path.  As they approached, he saw Firecracker raise his hoof up to alert the fireponies.  It all still felt like slow motion as he watched the fireponies leap off of the carriage and quickly start to unravel their hoses.  He then saw a firepony kneel down next to him, along with a white mare with a pink mane and tail.  He could see her cutie mark was a red medical cross.  She quickly knelt down and began to examine him.
Sparks again tried to shake off his daze but the white pony held him back.  "Just take it easy." She said in a calming voice.  Sparks looked at her then saw Firecracker motioning for Habanero, and Trixie to stand back.  "He has an injury to the top of his head, and a possible concussion." He heard the nurse say.  "I can see some minor burns too."  Sparks still couldn't process what was happening around him.  
The next thing Sparks knew, he was being lifted onto a stretcher and being placed inside an ambulance carriage.  Another unicorn mare was inside along with the white and pink nurse who had first tended to him.  The unicorn's horn began to glow and she said calmly, "This will help you relax."  The next thing he knew, a spell had been cast on him and he was asleep.   
	
        


> Burns and Bruises
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 9) BURNS AND BRUISES 

Three hours... That's how long Trixie had been sitting in a waiting room with Habanero.  Three hours of no direct answers from doctors, only that they were "still running tests."  The clock that hung on the wall was showing just passed midnight.  Neither of the two spoke.  Both were still somewhat in shock and trying to bring themselves to grasp the situation ahead of them.  Sparks had been taken directly into the emergency center, while Firecracker was taken in for his own minor injuries.
The ticking of the clock echoed like a jackhammer in the silence.  It was the only thing that annoyingly pierced Trixie's thoughts while she did nothing but sit, and stare at her charred cloak and hat.
The door that led into the emergency center opened.  Both girls instantly looked up in hopes of some news.  Unfortunately for them, it was only the janitor going about his business.  Trixie let out a frustrated sigh.  She wanted answers, but most of all, she wanted to be with Sparks.  Her body language must have been very open at her disappointment of not seeing a doctor come out, because she felt Habanero lay her hoof on hers.     
"He's going to be alright." She said in a calm voice, "We just have to be patient."
Not looking up, Trixie said back quietly, "But it's all Trixie's fault that he's in there right now...  All because I can't bring myself to let go of my past...  He wouldn't even be in there right now if I hadn't been so selfish."  Trixie began to feel warm tears running down her cheeks.  She looked up at Habanero with her glassy eyes and uttered out in a shaky breath.  "Nothing can ever go right in Trixie's life...  Every time I've ever tried to do something good for somepony, or every time I think things might just start to go my way, it's always taken away from me."
Trixie began to openly cry and Habanero instantly embraced the Unicorn.  "Why?..." Trixie said shakily.  "Why is it that no matter what I do, or how hard I try, it will always end bad for Trixie?"  She took in a ragged breath.  "Sparks has been nothing but kind to Trixie, and all Trixie could give him in return was bad luck.  Somepony as special as him doesn't deserve to be anywhere near a useless mare like me."
Trixie felt Habanero's embrace tighten around her.  The fiery pony looked down at Trixie and said, "Don't ever think that about yourself!"  The stern comment made Trixie look up at her.  Habanero ran a comforting hoof over Trixie's mane as she continued.  "I can't say I know everything that's happened to you in your life, or the things that you've done, but what I can say about you is that you've been nothing but kind, and humble in the short time I've known you.  I know that can't be said for much, but from everything Sparks has said about you, you're the most amazing girl he's ever met!"
Trixie ran her hoof over her eyes to clean away the stray tears.  "Really?  He said that?"
With a smile, Habanero continued.  "Sparks would die if he knew I told you this, but he doesn't have to know.  Trixie, ever since Sparks got back from Canterlot with Firecracker, all he's done is mope around about how he thought he would never get to see you again.  From what Firecracker told me, Sparks said he had never met a more amazing girl in his life.  Plus, he couldn't stop talking about how pretty you were."
Trixie paused and felt a light blush appear on her delicate face.  She would have to of been blind not to realized that Sparks liked her; still, she didn't realize how much she meant to him.  The thoughts came rushing back into her mind of everything he had done for her in the short time they've known each other.  The first time they met when he nearly ran her over with his heavy cart and how eager he was to assist her after he knocked her down.  The way he came to her rescue at the Gala without even a single thought of wanting anything in return, only that she watch his fireworks.  Even finding out how desperate he was to talk to her one last time before she left Canterlot just so he could tell her goodbye.  
Then there was her entire first day back to Ponyville.  Sparks did nothing except be kind and forgiving to her.  He treated her to an amazing day around town, took her to dinner, helped her laugh by taking her to funny movies, and even stood up for her when the less than forgiving citizens wanted nothing to do with her.  The final thought hadn't even crossed her mind that Sparks was willing to put his own life on the line just to help her.  Without even a second thought, Sparks rushed into her burning caravan to save her most precious of possession's. She couldn't even think of this until now because of how much she had been beating herself up over the past few hours. 
"Really?" Trixie asked, "He said all of that?"
"Trixie, you have no idea!" Hally told her in an almost sarcastic tone. "I'm sure you realized that Sparks isn't a smooth talker when it comes to the mares.  Truth be told, he's terrified of them!  From what Firecracker told me, he's been that way around mares ever since he was in middle school.  He said his crush turned him down pretty hard and it that took all of his confidence with it.  The only reason he can talk to me so easily is because we're good friends.  Still, just know this when I tell you that if you managed to make him open up as much as he has to you, then you are something very special to him."
The door to the waiting room opened and one of the hospital workers came out.  Both girls perked up in hopes of how their boys were doing.  The mare spoke, "Miss Lulamoon?" Trixie instantly sat up in hopes of answers.  The hospital worker continued, "You have a visitor, she's waiting for you in the lobby."
She looked at Habanero.  "A visitor?"  Habanero was just as confused.  Trixie didn't know many ponies in Ponyville.  Still, she stood and said to Hally, "Come and get Trixie if you hear anything."  
"I will."  
Trixie walked past the worker and headed out towards the lobby.  She walked by several occupied hospital rooms and was hoping to find Sparks on her way.  Of course she wasn't able to.  The unicorn let out a sigh.  She didn't care about visitors.  She wanted Sparks.  She wanted to be by his side and know that he was okay.  She opened a door with her magic and stepped out into the lobby.  Her eyes widened at who she saw.
"Twilight?!" Trixie called out.  
The purple alicorn smiled as she saw her friend walk in.  "What are you doing here?" Trixie asked.
Twilight approached her and said in her calm voice, "I went to find out what all the commotion was in town.  Unfortunately when I talked to the fire ponies, they told me what happened, and that it was your caravan that caught fire."  Twilight paused as she saw the distress in the icy blue unicorns face.  Trixie didn't reply.  She simply couldn't find the words, and was now slowly starting to accept the shock of her situation.
"Oh Trixie," Twilight continued with sympathy, "I know that no matter what I try to say that it won't make it any better, but please understand when I say how sorry I am that all of this happened.  I had such high hopes that everypony would listen to a request from their Princess, but obviously that wasn't the case..."
"...So then this all wasn't an accident..." Trixie asked quietly.
Twilight sighed.  "That's the reason I came out to find you..."  
Trixie looked as Twilight levitated a half charred piece of parchment.  Using her magic, Twilight levitated it over to Trixie.  Trixie's magic took the parchment from Twilight and she read it.  
It said, "How do you like it when something you love is ruined!"
"The fireponies found this tacked to a tree near your caravan." Twilight told her.  "As soon as I found out that somepony did this to you, I had to come find you and make sure that you were okay.  I didn't even know that you were in town."  
"That's kind of you to do," Trixie said quietly, "but Trixie doesn't care about that anymore..."
"You don't care?"
She let out a small sigh, "That caravan was nothing but a constant reminder of everything that had gone wrong in Trixie's life...  It let Trixie know every day that Trixie had no home, no pony to talk to, and that every day Trixie had to struggle to find work just to survive..."
She looked at Twilight and said as she fought off her returning emotions, "And that caravan is the reason why the only stallion who every truly cared for me is in the hospital right now.  All because of how selfish I am for not being able to let go of my past."
Twilight couldn't think of anything to say that would make Trixie's situation any better.  She saw Trixie look at her as a stray tear trickled down her cheek, "For once, Trixie had somepony that overlooked all of her flaws, and all of the bad luck.  Somepony that forgave Trixie even after all of the horrible things I've done.  Now just like everything else good that comes into Trixie's life, it's being taken away."
Trixie walked over to one of the seats in the lobby and sat down.  Twilight walked over and joined her.  The Princess settled into her seat and said, "He's one of the firework ponies, right?"
With a light nod, Trixie answered, "Yes, Sparks."
"You said he cared about you?"
Trixie gave a light nod.
Twilight smiled and continued, "You know he's going to be okay, and there's no way that he could be upset with you; after all, you said he cares for you."  
Under her breath, in a hushed tone, she involuntarily said, "And Trixie cares for him too..."
She looked up and Twilight who was giving her the look that friends gave one another when they found out about their new crush.  Trixie turned herself away to hide her blushing cheeks.  She felt a comforting hoof on her shoulder.
"I think this will be good for you." Twilight said, "You've been alone all these years with no pony to be there for you when things were bad.  Seems to me that's all about to change for you, and for the better."  
"It doesn't matter, Trixie isn't welcome here."
There was a pause before the Princess continued, "You know that you're always welcome in Ponyville.  Don't let the grudges of a few ponies drive you away.  If you ask me, this could be an opportunity to get settled into a new life.  Maybe allow a certain firework loving Stallion to accompany you with this new start."
Trixie couldn't hide the blushing.  Twilight smiled and said, "And if you need too, there's always room at the library if you need somewhere to stay for a while."
The door opened and the white nurse with the pink mane came out.  The two looked up and the nurse said, "Forgive me, Princess, I hope I'm not interrupting."
"Not at all." Twilight told her.  She was still uneasy about everypony treating her differently now.
The nurse looked at Trixie and said, "You can see him now."
Trixie felt her heart race, she stood, then stopped and looked to Twilight.  She smiled at Trixie and said, "Go on.  We can talk later when things settle down."
The unicorn smiled and went over to Twilight.  She held her forelegs out and gave her friend a hug.  "Thank you for forgiving me."
"You don't have to thank me.  I'm glad we're friends now."  Twilight told her.  She then motioned her head towards the door and said, "Go and see him.  I'm sure he misses you.  And remember, if you need anything, my door is always open."
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Trixie followed the nurse down the long hallway.  As they walked, the nurse said, "Now before you go in, just be aware that he's under a calming spell and will probably be sleeping.  When the spell wears off he's going to be very groggy, and he won't be very alert.  That will all wear off within a few hours of him waking up."	
"That's fine," Trixie said, "as long as I can see him and know that he's okay."
The two came to a room.  Inside the lights were dimmed.  Trixie saw Sparks asleep in the hospital bed.  His head was bandaged, his mane was singed, and he had several other bandages scattered across parts of his body that weren't hidden underneath the blanket he was covered with.  Seeing him in this condition made her eyes begin to water once more, and she fought off her urge to cry.
Inside she saw a unicorn wearing a doctors coat.  "Hello Miss. Lulamoon." He said.  
"How is he?" She asked.
"He's very lucky." He told her.  "After what I was told he went though, I expected a lot worse.  Thankfully he only sustained minor injuries.  He has a concussion, thankfully his skull wasn't fractured.  He also has a few burns, nothing too major, mainly heat flash, and a few blisters.  The one thing that we are a little concerned about is the possibility of smoke inhalation.  We've been monitoring his breathing, and his breaths are a little rough so we're keeping an eye on that to make sure there are no complications."
"He will be alright though, won't he?"
"Oh yes, he's just going to have a rough couple weeks ahead of him.  He needs to be prepared for some pretty nasty headaches, and the effects of his burns.  I trust he'll have somepony to watch over him while he recovers?"
Without a second thought Trixie replied, "Yes."
The doctor nodded, "Alright.  We are keeping him overnight for observation.  He'll be able to go home in the morning.  If you like, you can stay here with him."
She nodded, "Thank you, I will."
"Okay.  The calming spell will last through the night, he'll be alert again in the morning, but for now we want him to get plenty of uninterrupted rest."
Trixie nodded.
"One of the nurses will be in during the night to check on him.  Would you like a blanket since you're staying here overnight with him?"
"No thank you." She told him.  "I'll be alright."
With a final nod, the doctor turned to leave and said, "Okay, but if you need anything or something seems wrong with him during the night, just press the call button."
Trixie watched as the doctor left.  She then looked back at Sparks as he slept.  She walked over to him and sat down on a chair next to his bed.  She held her hoof out and gently ran it through the burnt hair of his mane.  All of this was her fault, and she knew she would never forgive herself for it.  She reached down and placed her hoof over his and held it.
"I'm so sorry, Sparks..." She whispered.
From outside she could hear rumble of thunder as the weather ponies were moving in a late night storm for a scheduled rain.  Her horn began to glow as she turned the light off so Sparks could rest.  She rubbed his hoof gently as he slept.  "Trixie will take care of you." 	    
	   
	         	            

> Get Well Soon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 10) GET WELL SOON
A rumble of thunder rolled through the hospital room that early morning.  The sound of heavy rain soon followed.  
"What in Luna's name..."
Sparks took in a deep breath as his blue eyes fluttered open.  It was still early making the amount of light in his room at a minimum.  He looked around and saw that nothing looked familiar.  This wasn't his room at all.  Next he felt a sharp ping of pain shoot through his head.  The more alert he became, the more his injuries made themselves known.  He had a terrible headache, and he felt the stinging blisters scattered over his body.  The pyro pony felt like a firework had gone off to close to him.  
As his senses returned and the more alert he became, he took notice of the light beeping of a heart monitor.  He looked over and saw all of his vitals flashing in green lettering on a black screen.  He looked down at his arm and saw an I.V. line hooked into himself.  His thoughts returned.  “The fire.”  He was trapped while trying to save Trixie's cloak and hat.  He remembered lying on the floor surrounded by burning debris before finally being lifted away to safety by Firecracker.
He felt another ping of pain stab through his head.  He winced and tried to lift his hoof up to rub his temple and numb the pain.  He felt resistance.  He looked down and saw an icy blue hoof holding his.  He then took notice of the frost silver mane lying on his blanket.  The thought instantly clicked in his head, "Trixie". 

"OOH~!" Sparks blurted out in shock as he realized who was sleeping at his bedside.  The sudden jolt made the pain in his head return with force.  Using his free hoof he brought it up to his temple and tried to rub the pain away.  It did little to help.
Hearing the commotion, and the sound of the quicken beeps of the heart monitor, Trixie stirred from her slumber.  She slowly sat up with her mane frazzled and slowly rubbed her sleepy eyes with her hoof.  "Sparks?" She murmured, "How are you?  Are you feeling alright?"
The stallion allowed himself to relax.  Now that he was becoming more alert of his surroundings and what was going on, he could focus.  He looked into Trixie's amethyst eyes and said back with a very raspy voice, "I don't know." 
It almost burned his throat to talk.  "My heads killing me and my lungs feel like they're on fire."
Sparks tried to sit up but felt a gentle hoof holding him back.  "Relax." Trixie told him calmly.  "You need to stay still so you don't make it worse."  Her horn began to glow a faint purple and she levitated over a small glass of cool water.  She held it up to his lips so he could drink.  "Take small sips."
The cool water felt wonderful on his sore throat.  He took a few small drinks and Trixie set the glass down.  "What happened...?" He asked.  I remember the fire, but not much else after…”
There was a pause before Trixie spoke.  “The roof of Trixie’s caravan fell on you while you were still inside…”  Sparks looked at her, he could see the sadness in her  eyes.  “This is all Trixie’s fault.  All because I can’t let go of my past…”  
Sparks looked over and saw Trixie’s cloak and hat on a small table.  Both looked soot covered with singed edges.  Sparks forced a small laugh, “Well, at least I got your things for you.”  This didn’t seem to help, and Trixie didn’t reply.
Before he could apologize, he heard his door open.  A doctor walked in.  “Oh good, you’re awake.  How are you feeling?”
Sparks spoke through his raspy voice, “My throat burns, and my head is killing me.”
“I’m not surprised.” The doctor told him.  “Breathing in all that smoke wasn’t good for your lungs, you’re lucky that your injuries to your lungs weren’t more severe.  And you’ll need to get used to those headaches for a few weeks.  You got a pretty nasty concussion.”  The doctor moved closer and did a quick examination.  “How are those burns feeling?” 
“Not nearly as bad as my head is right now.” he groaned.  
“Well let’s see if there’s something I can do for that headache.”  The doctor read over a chart and said, “I’m going to give you some medicine that will help with the concussion and help you sleep a little easier while you heal.  Just so you’re aware, one of the side effects of this medicine is full body chills.  Ponies who get the side effect say it feels like no matter what they do, they can’t get warm.  If it happens then there‘s really nothing you can do other than let them run their course.”
“That’s fine.” Sparks said weakly.  “As long as it takes this headache away I won’t complain.”
“Alright, I’ll get you a weeks worth of doses, and we can get you sent on your way.  Now as for your throat and lungs, those will heal on their own.  Until then, no strenuous activity, especially something that causes rapid breathing, and drink plenty of cool water to help with your throat.  Other than that, let‘s get you out of here so you can go home and rest.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
The rain still poured as Sparks was helped to his front door by Firecracker.  Both Trixie and Habanero were close behind.  Helping his friend through his front gate, Firecracker called out, “Would you believe they kept me there all night?  I kept telling them I was fine.  Worst nights sleep of my life, that bed was so uncomfortable.”  
“They were just doing it to make sure you were alright.” Habanero told him.  
“I was alright.  If anything, the only thing bringing me down today is this storm.  How about it, Sparks?”  
Sparks couldn't really come up with a remark.  His head was pounding and his body ached.  All he managed to say back was, "It's chilly today."
"Don't worry about that," Firecracker told him, "We're gonna get you inside and into your warm bed.  Can you get the door for us, Hally?"
"Sure." She said calmly as she trot passed the two and turned the handle.  
"You guys really don't need to be doing all this for me..." Sparks told them.  "I'm alright."
"Mhmm..." Firecracker quipped.  "That's why you're stumbling up towards your house like a drunk."  Habanero opened the door and set Sparks saddle bags down inside the door.  Firecracker then continued, "You need to get inside, and get some rest until you feel better."
"But I feel..."

"Ahh! Ahh!  Don't say it, because you aren't feeling fine.  You're going inside right now and you‘re going to take it easy today!"  Firecracker then helped his best friend inside his home.  
"Fine..." Sparks groaned, "I'll see you in the morning then at work."
"Ha!" Firecracker laughed, "You wish!  You're not allowed anywhere near fireworks until you're feeling better."  
"But we have a shoot coming up in a week for Featherville!  You can't do that by yourself!"
Firecracker placed a reassuring hoof on his friends shoulder.  "Just relax.  I'll take Sawdust with me.  He knows enough to help set up and teardown at least.  I can set the show off by myself."
"What about all the shells I still have to build for our shoot in Shimmerwood for my parents anniversary?   I'm already behind on that as it is."
"I'll work late until you come back.  That'll take care of some of the slack."
"But I still need to..." Sparks argued but was cut off.
"Well look at the time." Firecracker called out.  "I have to get into work before Feather Quill thinks I'm not coming, and Hally has to get her stand opened up.  
"I can't stay in the house all day!" Sparks protested, "It's like prison!"
As Firecracker was walking off to work he called back, "I'd love to help you Sparks but I already left your house!"
Sparks let out an audible groan.  Habanero walked up to him and said, "He's right, just take it easy.  Everything at work will be fine, you don't need to stress yourself even more while you're recovering."
His sudden frustration made a sharp stab of pain shoot through his head.  He brought a hoof up to rub the uncomfortable feeling away.   "Yeah, yeah, I know..."  He sighed and turned towards his front door.  "Guess I'll go make myself some breakfast then."
"Can you make it yourself?" Hally asked him.  "You still aren't looking so well.  You were stumbling the whole way back to your house."
"I'll be alright." Sparks started to walk.  Without Firecracker assisting him, he looked like a pony who had one too many hard ciders.  His horn began to glow as he attempted to lift his saddlebags inside his entryway.  Both girls watched as his magic was barely able to lift even the lightest of objects.  
Hally sighed and said, "I doubt that, Firecracker was right, you look like a drunk, and you can barely use magic.  How do you plan on taking care of yourself when you're like this?  Plus I doubt you should be trying to cook while you're recovering.  You'll end up hurting yourself even more."
Before Sparks could argue back, both he and Habanero heard Trixie blurt out, "Trixie knows how to cook!"
A grin came over Habanero's lips.  The spicy earth pony perked up and did a few quick hops on her hooves.  "Then it's settled!" She chirped, "Trixie, you can watch after Sparks until he's feeling better!"
"Huh?..." Sparks blurted out.  He could feel his nerves running wild again.
He looked back at the two mares.  Habanero was positively beaming, while Trixie looked just as shocked by her own words that she had just spoke.
Trixie caught herself and said, "That is, if it's alright with you Sparks.  I don't want to get in the way while you're recovering."
"Of course it's alright with him!" Hally chimed, "He's always alone in that house of his, it'll be good for him to have somepony in there with him for a change."
Truth be told, Sparks was thrilled at the offer, but it was his own nerves that he couldn't seem to push away.  While he was slowly adjusting to Trixie being near him, they had only been together by themselves at the Gala, in town, and unfortunately at the hospital.  He didn't know if he could keep his calm when they were alone together in his house.  "No!" He thought.  "She's just making sure you're alright while you're recovering, it's not like it's a date or anything."
He took in a breath and mustered his courage.  "I don't mind." He managed to say.
"Then it's decided!" Habanero chirped in her sing song voice.  "I'll be in town at the market so if you need anything Trixie, just come and get me."  And with that, she walked away at a brisk trot with a sassy grin on her face.  "You're welcome Sparks!" She chuckled quietly to herself.
With Habanero gone, Trixie turned and walked towards Sparks house.  Her horn began to glow and she levitated Sparks saddlebags up onto her back to carry them inside for him.  "Let's get you inside before this rainy weather gets you sick."
____________________________________________________________________________________
The sound of rain pelting the roof echoed through Sparks home.  Trixie stood in the entryway as Sparks stepped in behind her.  "Let me get some lights on." He told her.  He looked up at the hanging lanterns and tried to light them with his heat spell.  His horn began to glow a pale red then faded.  Sparks felt a jolt of pain shoot through his mind like a bad migraine.  He tried again, struggling to get himself to focus on the spell.  

"Here, let Trixie get it." She offered.
Sparks shook his head.  "It's alright, I can do it."  He didn't want to be seen as a complete charity case.  He forced his mind clear, and focused on the spell and with a little bit of concentration and luck, he managed to light the lanterns in his hallway.  He let out an inaudible sigh.  He couldn't believe how much damage one concussion did to his body.  Even the smallest of tasks felt like he needed a PHD to simply do them.
He looked over at Trixie who still had his saddle bags on her back.  "Let me take those for you." He said.
She stopped him as her horn began to glow.  "It's alright, where do you usually keep them?"
"Just on the floor next to the closet is fine."
As Trixie set his bags down, he said calmly, "Well make yourself at home.  I don't have much since it's just me living here, but you're welcome to help yourself to my books or records.  It's really the only entertainment I have."
She nodded.  "Alright.  Why don't you go relax and Trixie will make you something to eat.  You have to be hungry after what happened."  
In his mind he felt incredibly guilty for making Trixie watch after him.  He didn't like being a charity case.  Still, she did offer to help him and he didn't want her to feel out of place.  Without much fight left in him, he gave in and agreed with her.  "Alright.  I need to get cleaned up anyway.  He gave her a reassuring smile and headed for the stairs.  
"Will you be okay?" She asked?
The pyro pony slowly made his way up the stairs and said back, "I'll be alright.  Make yourself at home, and help yourself to anything."
"Alright, let Trixie know if you need anything."
"I will."
Trixie watched Sparks disappear to the second floor.  She wanted to make sure he didn't have any problems getting up the stairs.  Once he was gone, she turned and looked at his home.  Sparks kept it very simple as far as furniture went.  A simple living room with the basic furniture and a record player for entertainment.  She walked inside the room and saw his bookshelf.  She walked passed glancing at a few of the titles to see what Sparks interests were other than fireworks.  
He had a few novels, mostly adventure, and fantasy, even some guides for table top games.  There were books on music and concerts, which kind of surprised her, and of course books about fireworks.  Her horn began to glow and she levitated one of the books in front of her.  Inside were pictures of ponies from around Equestria who shot fireworks.  There were pictures of ponies making firework shells, pictures of the fireworks themselves blooming in the sky, and detailed information on how each shell was made.
She levitated the book back to its spot on the shelf.  She looked back to the entryway.  Her horn began to glow as she opened up one of Sparks saddle bags and pulled out her dirty cloak and hat.  She broth them over to herself and she looked at them for a moment.  She wished so much that none of this had happened.  With a sigh, she set them on the coffee table and looked around at the rest of Sparks home.  One thing Trixie noticed was that Sparks walls were covered with pictures of his family and friends.  He lived alone so she assumed it was a comfort thing.  
She saw pictures of Sparks with his friend Firecracker.  Most of them were of the two standing near the mortar racks or shooting off fireworks.  She then saw a photo of a white pegasus mare with a red and blue mane.  Trixie found her very pretty, she had a messy, winded styled mane that most pegasus ponies had from always flying, the same blue eyes as Sparks, and piercings going all the way up both ears.  One thing that stood out was this mares kind eyes, and calm smile.  Just judging from her features, Trixie assumed she was related to Sparks, but she looked very young, almost too young to be his mother.  Maybe she was his older sister?
A second picture was of another white pegasus mare.  This one looked very young, not much older than a filly.  Her hair was a fiery blue and orange, styled in jagged long spikes, and sharp bangs which hid her blazing orange eyes.  The young pegasus stood with a sassy smile on her face.  She looked similar to the other mare in the previous picture.  Another sister maybe?
Next she saw a picture of a unicorn stallion with a stern grin, and similar facial features to Sparks.  He had a deep, ashen grey coat, a blazing orange and yellow mane, and the same fiery orange eyes as the young pegasus.  Trixie paused for a moment as she examined the photo.  This stallion looked oddly familiar to her.  She could have sworn she’d seen him somewhere before.  
She moved on and saw another photo of them all together.  The grey stallion standing with the white pegasus mare.  In front of them were two young ponies.  Sparks sat in front of the two looking no older than a colt, he didn’t even have his cutie mark yet in this picture.  And sitting next to him was the other pegasus mare with the fiery mane, only in this photo she was still a foal.  It was definitely a family photo.  Trixie smiled at the image.  It gave her a small glimpse of Sparks past. 
Trixie left the hall and walked through the dining room, but once again felt herself stop as another group of photos caught her eye.  Hanging on the wall were photo’s of who she now assumed were Sparks parents.  In these pictures they looked very different.  His mom’s hair looked dyed in these photo’s.  The blue stripe in her red mane was now black.  She was wearing black lipstick, and heavy red and black eyeliner.  She even had stockings on that looked like spider webs.  Standing next to her was Sparks dad.  He too had thick eyeliner on, made to look tear stained and running down his face.  His cutie mark had a black X over it, as well as long lines of black makeup running down his neck and onto his hooves.  
Finally was a picture of Sparks dad sitting at a drum kit.  Not a small one, but a large double bass drum kit.  It was colored black and red, and had “MM” painted on the front.  Trixie gasped as it clicked in her mind, she knew exactly who his dad was!
“Hey, there you are.” Sparks said as he walked into the room.  His mane was still damp from his quick shower.  He saw a look of shock on her face.  “Everything alright?”
“Your dad is Ember?!”  Trixie blurted out with shock,  “The drummer for Mareilyn Manesen?!”            
“Oh, yeah.” Sparks replied.  “That’s my dad.”
“How can you say it like it’s normal?!”

Sparks gave a light laugh. “Well for me, it is normal…  Wait, you’re a fan of Mareilyn Manesen?”  Sparks was slightly shocked to say the least.  “I never pictured you as the metal type.”
“Of course Trixie is!  Trixie is an entertainer, so naturally I’d be a fan of one of the most popular heavy metal bands in all of Equestria!  I’ve even performed to a few of their songs!”  Trixie paused.  “Why didn’t you ever mention this to Trixie when we were spending time together yesterday?”
Sparks gave a light shrug.  “Our family keeps the fact that my dad is in a heavy metal band kind of quiet.  Really only our close friends know, and my parent’s neighbors.  It keeps the commotion down in their area when my dad isn’t touring with them.  Plus, his music isn’t for everypony, haha.”  The unicorn began to cough again.  His throat was still burning.  
“Here, let Trixie get you some cool water.” She wanted to hear more, but not if it meant Sparks having to irritate his throat.  She led him into the kitchen and found a glass sitting next to the sink.  Trixie was a little shocked to say the least.  Much like the family secret Sparks kept, Trixie kept her own love of rock and roll a secret.  For her, the harsh sounding, angry music was a way to help her cope with her own problems in life.  When she would go to a new town only to find out that her bad reputation had preceded her, where everypony would mock, and ridicule her for what she had done, she could sit in her caravan and listen to her music.  It was a comfort that other ponies in Equestria had the same pain, and troubles that she did.  It was a way for her not to feel as alone.
Sparks Took the glass of water and took a few sips.  The cool water felt amazing on his sore throat.  “You know,” Sparks said, “My parent’s anniversary is coming up the beginning of next month.  Firecracker and I are going out to Shimmerwood to do a firework display for them.  …If you like, you’re more than welcome to come.  I’m sure my family would love to meet you.”  Sparks froze.  He couldn’t believe what he had just said.  He had just asked Trixie to go meet his parents, and they weren’t even technically together.  He couldn’t even imagine how creepy he just sounded.
“That sounds really nice actually.”  Trixie said back calmly.  “I would honestly love to meet the members of one of Trixie’s all time favorite bands.”  She paused then thought a moment.  She looked at Sparks and gave him a smile.  “Plus, you’ve done so much for Trixie over the past few days.  You even nearly got yourself killed because of me…  I think the least I could do to start paying you back for everything is start by thanking your parent’s for raising such a great Stallion.”
He couldn’t hide his embarrassment from the comment.  Trixie caught it, she still found it charming.  She walked passed him and said, “How about I make you something to eat?  You have to be hungry after everything that happened.”  
“You don’t have to do everything for me you know.  I can make myself something, you are my guest after all.”
Trixie looked at him and raised an eyebrow.  With a touch of annoyance she quipped back, “A stunning mare is in your house offering to cook for you.”  Sparks paused and tried to find the words.  Trixie looked at him and continued, “Just nod your head.”  Sparks did what she instructed and nodded.  “There you go!  Now go relax, Trixie will bring it out when it’s ready.”
____________________________________________________________________________________
Sparks sat on the sofa in his living room.  Outside it was still pouring down rain.  Occasionally his house would rumble from a roll of thunder.  He couldn’t imagine many of the shops in the town market being open.  Habanero’s pepper booth was probably closed up already unless she felt like being soaked all day.  Firecracker was probably tucked away in one of the shell building rooms working at top speed to get everything ready for the shoot he had coming up.  
From the kitchen he could hear the sounds of plates clinking around while Trixie cooked.  He sat nervously tapping his front hooves together.  Not since he left his parents home had a mare personally cooked for him.  He had eaten at Firecracker’s house when Habanero had cooked, but that was different.  Still, whatever Trixie was making smelled good.
It wasn’t much longer before he heard her call out his name, “Sparks, the food’s ready.”
He again felt his nerves rise.  He didn’t know why Trixie cooking for him made him so nervous.  Trying to keep his balance, he shakily went into the dining room and sat down.  Trixie was still in the kitchen.  He called out, “I’m sorry for making you do all of this for me.”
Trixie walked out levitating two bowls and two glasses of milk.  “Trixie already told you, it’s no problem.  There wasn’t much in your fridge but I managed to put something together.  I’m just glad there was some heavy cream in your refrigerator.”  She set the bowl down in front of him.  Inside was a creamy looking soup.  “I hope you like cheese and potato soup.” Trixie announced with a hint of boasting to her voice.  “I may not look it but Trixie is actually quite the good cook!” 
Sparks shakily levitated his spoon and took a scoop of the soup.  He tasted it and just as Trixie said, it tasted very good.  It was creamy the way it should be, with the right amount of cheese and a lot of potato chunks, just the way he liked it.  “So, what do you think?” She asked him with a smile on her face.
“It’s very good!” He told her.  “In fact, it tastes a lot like the kind my mom used to make when I lived at home.”
“Well I’m glad you think so.” She said happily.  Trixie took a bite of her own soup and then asked, “So tell Trixie about your family.  I know about your dad already, but what about your mom, and your sister?”
“My mom is an amazing pony.” he told her.  “Her name is Nova, she does the stage effects and lights for the bands shows.  I guess I got my love for fireworks and special effects from her.  She’s always really nice to anypony she meets.  You just don’t want to get into trouble around her, her hoof slaps can be deadly if you make her mad.  She’s always slapping my dad for doing stupid things.”  
“She looks so young in the pictures though, I mean not much older than a filly.”  
“Yeah, she had me when she was still really young.  Her and my dad used to have a pretty wild lifestyle.  I guess I put the breaks on that pretty quick.” Sparks let out a laugh.  “Still, she was always great at taking care of me and my sister.  It used to be just me and her a lot while my dad was out with the band.  I guess he felt a little guilty about the situation he put her in, because every bit he made he sent right back home to my mom.”

“So your dad wasn’t around much when you were little?”  Trixie asked.
“Not a lot, when I was a foal it was mostly my mom and her sister that I was around, not so much my dad.  If you saw my aunt next to my mom, you’d swear they were twins.”  Sparks thought back.  “When I was still a foal he was always out so he could make money for my mom to take care of me.  As I grew and they got more financially stable, he was home more often.  My dad loves me, but he can be tough at times.  It was his way of helping me grow up to be independent and make my own way.”
“What about your sister?” Trixie asked.
Sparks felt his eye twitch.  “Flame is… unique…”
“How so?”
“She’s not your typical mare that’s into girly things like mane styles, and fashion.  She’s always working out at the gym, and prefers to watch wrestling over those stupid teen drama’s.  Not that it’s a bad thing, I’m glad she has something that keeps her busy.  Still…” Sparks paused, “She can be a little… clingy.”
Trixie raised and eyebrow, “Clingy?”
“Yeah, from the time she could walk she was glued to my side.  Then as we got older she would act like she was my personal body guard.  I don’t know why she did it, but you can imagine it didn’t make my image at school look very good when my little sister would shove her way into the scuffles I got into and try to defend me.  …So yeah, Flame is different.”
Trixie giggled, “That’s just a sisters love though.”
“No, that’s a sister that is always biting off more than she can chew.” Sparks leaned back in his chair.  “Don’t get me wrong, I love her, but sometimes she could use a good kick on the flank every now and again.”
“I wish I could give you a similar story, but Trixie is an only child.”
“Oh? Well tell me about your family, what are your parent’s like?”
Trixie paused for a moment.  It was something that she never really talked about.  “Trixie…, doesn’t know her parents…”
Sparks froze at the sentence, thinking he had just tore open an old wound in Trixie’s mind.  Before he could apologize, she continued, “I was always raised by my grandma.  It took me years to finally get her to tell me that my parents gave me to her soon after I was born.  I lived with her until she passed away a few years ago, after that I’ve been traveling around trying to better myself as a magician just to prove to my parents that I was worth it I guess.”  She let out a forced laugh, “I guess I didn’t do a very good job, look where it got me.  Still, all Trixie knows about them was that they were up and coming magicians.  Their dream was to go to Las Pegasus and become the number one entertainers in the city.  There were a few times when I wanted to go there just to see if I could find them, but I always stopped myself from going.”
Sparks finally forced the words, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up…”
She gave him a reassuring smile, “Don’t worry about it.  And like you said, now is my chance to start again, right?”
____________________________________________________________________________________
Later that night, Sparks stood in the kitchen reading over the bottle of medicine that the doctor had given him for his concussion.  The doctor warned of the side effect of body chills, but sparks didn’t really pay much attention to that.  As long as it took his headache away, and helped him sleep he didn’t care.  Without a second thought he took the pill with a gulp of water and made his way upstairs.  
It was getting late and the unicorn let out a yawn.  He passed by the guest room that Trixie was in.  Until now the room was rarely used, Sparks mostly used it for storage.  Luckily he had an extra bed inside for when Firecracker would spend the night when they both had to leave early for firework shoots.  He debated on knocking to see if Trixie needed anything, but decided against it when he saw that no light was shining from under the door.  It was late, she was probably already sleeping.  
Sparks felt a slight chill as he went into his room.  He simply shrugged it off assuming it was a draft.  He was very tired to say the least.  His medicine must have been starting to kick in.  Without a second though, he pulled his covers back and climbed into his bed and turned his lamp off.  Soon after he was asleep.
____________________________________________________________________________________
Trixie groaned as she turned over in her bed.  Her sleepy eyes fluttered open.  It took her a moment to remember that she was sleeping in Sparks house, and not her caravan.  Her horn began to glow a pale violet and she looked at the clock on the wall.  It was just past 2am.  She debated on rolling over and going back to sleep but stopped herself.  “I better check on him.” She thought.  
Trixie pulled herself out from her warm covers and yawned softly as she made her way out into the hall.  Trying to stay as quiet as possible, she used her magic to open Sparks door.  His room was dark.  Her horn again lit up giving her some light.  She walked in and saw that Sparks blankets were half off of his body, and he was shivering quite bad.  “The medicine…” She thought.  Sparks was having the side effect of the chills.
She grabbed his blankets with her magic and pulled them over the stallion.  It didn’t really seem to help much.  Looking around, she saw another blanket neatly folded next to his closet.  Using her magic, she levitated the extra blanket over his body being careful not to wake him.  “There…” She said quietly.  “That should help.”  She turned and quietly made her way back into the hall.  
She made a quick stop in the bathroom before she went back to bed.  She took care of her business, and went back towards her room.  Trixie paused, then turned back towards Sparks room.  She wanted to see if the extra blanket had helped him at all.
She again quietly opened his door and her horn illuminated as she looked inside.  She could see Sparks under both blankets, still shivering quite badly.  She walked over to his bed and looked around for a third blanket, she couldn’t find any.  Thinking back, when the Doctor warned about the chills, he said there was no way around them, only to let them run their course.  Trixie sighed knowing there was nothing else she could do.  It reminded her of her own cold, and lonely nights in her caravan.  She remembered shivering in her bed with no pony else to keep her warm.  Trixie didn’t think twice.  Carefully she hopped up onto Sparks bed so as not to wake him.  She lay herself down on top of the covers next to Sparks and put her hoof around him.  If she couldn’t do anything for his chills, then the least she could do was try her best to keep him warm.  
It didn’t seem as though it was helping, but it didn’t stop her.  She simply scooted herself closer and held on tighter.  Trixie was prepared to stay there all night if she had too.  She lie next to him, keeping herself still.  After a few minutes, it seemed that some of her body heat was helping.  It felt like Sparks shivering was calming down.  She smiled.  
Trixie didn’t know how much time had passed, eventually she found herself with her head on Sparks pillow and the feeling of her own eyelids getting heavy.  She tried to stay awake incase Sparks needed anything, but it wasn’t happening.  Before Trixie knew it, she was asleep.                  
	 
	 	
	 
	


> From the Ashes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 11) From the Ashes

“Warm…” That’s all Sparks could think as he felt himself coming back from the world of dreams.  Last night as he went to bed, he felt the full force of his medicines side effect of the cold chills.  It had taken him quite awhile to finally get himself to fall asleep, even though the medicine was supposed to make him tired very quickly.  Still, he wasn’t complaining at the moment.  His bed felt softer than normal, and much warmer.  Had he used his magic to put an extra blanket over himself last night?  …No, he didn’t remember doing that, unless he was just so out of it that he couldn’t recall.  Yes, the more his mind raced with questions, the more he knew he was waking up.  

With a light groan, Sparks turned over on his side.  “Lilac.”  That was strange, he didn’t recall having anything lilac scented in his room.  He felt himself smile, he didn’t complain, he very much liked the smell of lilac; after all, it’s what Trixie smelled like.

The unicorn slowly opened his electric blue eyes.  His vision blurred as he tried to finish waking himself up.  He blinked a few times.  “Icy blue…”  That too was strange.  His blankets were red, and there was nothing else that color in his room.  He blinked a few more times trying to clear his vision.  The more alert he became, the better he could see, and the stronger the smell of lilac’s grew.  Finally he opened his eyes.

Lying right next to him; with her muzzle not even an inch away from his, was Trixie sound asleep.  In the silence he could hear her gentle breathing and saw the blanket; which she had wrapped around herself, rising and falling with each breath. 

The stallion’s eyes shot open.  “Trix…!” was all he got out before he felt himself tumbling out of his bed and falling to the floor.  

Trixie heard the thud.  Her amethyst eyes fluttered open.  She saw a hoof resting on the bed with the tip of a blue and red tail, the rest was on the floor.  She gasped and quickly pulled herself up.  “Sparks!  Are you alright?!”

From down below the stallion lie on the floor half stunned.  He could feel a headache returning as he rubbed his hoof off of the back of his head.  With a groan he mumbled out, “Okay, that hurt.”

Trixie leapt off of the bed and went to his side.  “Trixie’s so sorry!” She blurted out apologetically.  “Trixie didn’t mean to startle you!”  She knelt down and helped him back to his hooves.  

Sparks groaned as he pulled himself off of the floor.  “It’s alright.  I was just surprised to see you I guess.”

Trixie could feel a fierce blush appearing as she realized her situation.  “I'm sorry… It’s just that, you were shivering so bad last night even after I put an extra blanket over you.”  She paused and looked away out of her own embarrassment.  “I was just trying to help you get warm…”

“Well I was definitely comfortable this morning…” He said with a little bit of embarrassment.  “A stallion could get used to that…”  Instantly Sparks froze.  He hadn’t realized it, but he was slowly starting to open up and be a little more “flirty” around Trixie.  That still didn’t stop him from stealing a quick glance at her to make sure he hadn’t said anything creepy.  Trixie shifted slightly, he could see a hint of a smile, and she fidgeted a little.  

“Well, I’m glad I could help.”  She paused and quickly turned around, “Trixie will go make you some breakfast!” She then quickly trotted out of his room.  Sparks didn’t know what to make of the situation.  He could only mentally kick himself.
______________________________________________________________________________

Once again, the weather was sunny.  All of the rain clouds had passed, there was no more damp weather, and the song birds were out once again enchanting the town with their tune.  Trixie made her way out onto the path towards the town market.  This was her first time going willingly into Ponyville unescorted by anypony she knew.  She didn’t have much of a choice.  Sparks pantry was running low on even the most basic things.  She knew that he couldn’t recover properly if he wasn’t eating right.  Sparks insisted that he could go into town on his own to save her the trouble but Trixie wasn’t having any of it.  He was still feeling less than okay, and he was still having trouble keeping his balance.  He was definitely stubborn when it came to his manly chivalry.  She had finally convinced him that she would do his shopping for him, though he did sincerely insist that she use his money to pay for everything.          

None of this was a problem for her.  She knew how to shop, this trip into town was no different; however, the rest Ponyville might not be so willing to make her day any easier.  Truth be told, it made her a little nervous as she walked towards the market stalls.  Her trying to keep a low profile was clear by her saddle bags riding a little further back on herself, trying to keep her cutie marks covered.  She took a deep breath, mustered up her confidence, and began her errands.  

With her magic, she levitated out a shopping list she had written.  Along with the basic foods like fruits, and flour, she had a list of foods that were mainly used in heavy stews, mostly root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and turnips.  Sparks said he really enjoyed the potato soup she had made for him, and judging by the fact that Sparks was on the larger side from other stallions, he preferred heartier meals.  Easy enough.  Trixie had cooked those before, and she would boast that she was quite good at it.

Trixie stepped into the gathering crowd of ponies that swarmed the stalls.  She preferred the crowd at the moment, it would help her stand out less.  She looked around and saw her first stop.  She saw a yellow earth pony with an autumn orange curled mane.  She was at a stall that had the best looking carrot’s Trixie had ever seen.  She didn’t know what it was about Ponyville, but for some reason, the food always looked better here than it did anywhere else in Equestria.  

Trying her best to act unfamiliar, Trixie walked up to the stall.  The pony working there seemed too busy with customers to really notice or care who she was.  That was a relief.  “Hello, need some carrots?” She asked with the sales pony touch to her voice, “Just picked them fresh this morning!”

With a light nod, Trixie said, “Yes please, one group is fine.”

“Sure thing, that’ll be 5 bits.”

Trixie’s horn lit up as she pulled out the coin pouch Sparks had given her.  She levitated the coins onto the counter, then grabbed a group of 5 carrots and put them in her saddle bag.  “Thank you very much.” She said as she moved on.

It was a small comfort knowing that it seemed the sales ponies were too busy peddling their wares to realize who she was.  With that in mind, she looked at her list and saw potatoes as the next item.  Now that Trixie was in the market and actually focused on a task, she started to forget about her worries and it seemed more like a normal routine to her.  The icy blue sorceress looked around and saw a stall that had baskets of potatoes.  With a quick trot, she maneuvered through the crowd and got in line.  This time a gruff looking stallion greeted her.  His coat was a pale brown, and his mane a messy chocolate color.  He was clearly a farmer.  He looked at Trixie, pausing for a moment.  He had obviously recognized her.  Still, keeping to his professionalism, he said in his normal tone, “Looking to buy some spuds, Miss?”  

Trixie nodded, “Yes please.  Trix…" she cleared her throat, "I would like 6 please.”  She hoped she had caught herself in time.  The last thing she needed was to say her name out loud in a crowded area where she wasn’t exactly considered a friend to many.  She cursed herself for her habit of talking in the third person.  

“Sure thing.  6 bits, and you can choose the one’s you want.  Next!”  Trixie quickly set her bits on the counter and choose the potatoes that looked worthy of her outstanding cooking.  

With another item crossed off of her list she looked at the next item, Apples.  This one made her slightly nervous.  As far as Trixie knew, there was only one pony in this town that sold apples.  Still, she had a slight bit of hope that another pony would be at the stall to help her.

When she located the stand selling apples she immediately saw the cowboy hat sitting atop a thick pony tailed mane of blonde hair.  She wanted to forget the apples, and just not even bother with them.  Still, Trixie had a small amount of pride left.  She took a deep breath and walked forward.

“Thank ya kindly, y’all come back and see us tomorrow.”  The unmistakable voice of the southern belle chimed as she thanked a customer for their business.  Her back was turned as Trixie approached.  She walked up to the counter and lightly cleared her throat to get her attention.  “E-excuse me?” Trixie lightly said.

Applejack turned with a smile.  “Well howdy, what can I get… Trixie?!”  Applejacks’ smile suddenly went away, and the sound of her saying Trixie’s name out loud for the public to hear felt as if somepony had smashed a glass plate in a quiet room.  Trixie lowered her head and ears out of reflex, hoping to Celestia that no pony cared she was around. 

Applejack didn’t say anything, so Trixie did it for her, although in a less than loud voice.  “Can Trixie buy some apples please?”  The sorceress didn’t want to start a confrontation, or draw a crowd.  She chose her words carefully today, and was right to the point with what she needed.  Applejack caught this action and sighed to herself.  

“Shucks, I’m sorry for actin’ so surprised, but you were the last pony I expected to see today.” 

Trixie was a little surprised to say the least.  Next to Rainbow Dash, Applejack was usually the one pony to try and start arguments with her.  Surprisingly that argument never came.  She paused then continued, “Trixie is just doing some shopping…”

Still feeling a bit ashamed of how she acted, Applejack took her hat off and rubbed her hoof on her mane.  Not wanting to be rude, or to draw unwanted attention, she asked, “How many can I get yah?”

Trixie looked at her list and said, “Can Trixie get 4 sweet red’s please?”

“Sure thing.”  Applejack told her with a new found calmness to her voice.  “Let me pick out some nice ones for ya’.  Trixie stood and waited, not really trying to draw attention to herself.  Still, Applejack spoke.  “Twilight told us all what happened, to yer’ home…  What with all of the commotion it caused, just about every pony knows what happened.”  Trixie’s eyes widened in shock as her mind was forced to relive the awful memory.  “I just wanted to say that a’hm sorry that had to happen to you.  A’h know we’ve had our differences, but that don’t mean I’d ever wish something like that to happen to you.”

“There’s nothing anypony can do about it now…” Trixie replied softly, “What’s done is done.  Plus it seems that anytime something bad happens to me, somepony else ends up getting hurt.”

“Y’all are talking about the firework pony, right?” Applejack now had genuine concern in her voice.  “Twilight said that she came to see you in the hospital after the fire.  A’h don’t know much about what all happened, but it seemed that you finally found a pony that’ll help get you back on your hooves after all of this hardship.”

Not making eye contact, Trixie gave a light nod.  “Sparks has been nothing but kind to Trixie.” She let out a muffled laugh of sarcasm, “You and I both know that I don’t deserve it.”

“Oh hush now!” Applejack scolded lightly.  “Twilight said that you had changed.  A’h didn’t really believe it at first, but now that a’hm talking to you, I think I can see what she means.”  Applejack placed 4 gleaming red apples in front of Trixie.  As the unicorn levitated them into her saddle bags, she continued, “Tell ya what Sugarcube, you just take those apples, they’re on the house.”

“Are you sure?  Trixie can pay for them.”

“Don’t ya’ll worry about it, especially after how rude I was when I saw you.  Plus, after everything that happened, it’s the least I can do.”  Applejack tipped her hat respectfully as she spoke.  “And if you need anything while you’re here, let me know, okay?  The Apple family would be honored to help.”

This was definitely a welcomed change from her last visit.  It gave Trixie a feeling of hope that maybe things were starting to turn in her favor, and for the better.  Time heals all wounds was a phrase she had heard quite a few times from her grandmother when she was still a filly.  For Trixie it seemed like that time was starting.

She thanked Applejack for the apples and the kind words.  Leaving the apple stall, she again pulled out her shopping list and saw her next item was sweet bell peppers.  There was only one pony Trixie knew of who sold those.

The unicorn weaved her way through the crowded market, still thankful that all of the ponies around her were too busy with their own shopping to notice her.  Her amethyst eyes looked around while she tried to remember where Habanero's shop was set up.  She still kept her head down and relied on her memory of where she had seen shops from her previous visit to the market instead of asking anypony else for directions.  She saw the stand that sold strawberries to her left.  She remembered that from the other day and continued on.  Next was an older pony mare that sold hoof stitched quilts.  Now she knew she was getting close.  

She ducked in between two shop tents and cut in between the aisles.  On the other side she saw the yellow canvas tent with the large shining red chili pepper on the sign.  Below holding out a tray of samples was a pony with a fiery tail that came out of the back of a protective yellow suit.

"Step right up and send your taste buds on a journey with Hally Banero Pepperflakes the Third's latest and greatest addition to any home cooked meal, Deep South Neighjun pepper seasoning!  Add that Pow! to you next pot of chili, or that special Bam! to your corn on the cob!  Make your family practically beg you to cook dinner for every meal!  Get your own bottle of seasoning for only two bits each!"

Trixie walked up to Habanero's booth.  "Trixie might have to take you up on that offer.  It sounds tasty."

"Hey you!" Hally chimed when she saw Trixie.  She set her tray of samples down and stepped out of her booth and took her protective hood off.  She giggled, "Sorry about that, I have a terrible capsaicin allergy.  Just a whiff of any pepper would send me into a sneezing fit."

"That's a pretty contradicting allergy for a pony like you to have." Trixie said.

"Believe me, I hear it from everypony.  I just love the family business you know.  And I like to see the faces on ponies when they think their tough enough to try one of my super hot's."  Hally looked around and said, "Speaking of burning ponies, how's sparks doing?  Did he make it through the night?"

"It was rough night for him.  That medicine the doctors gave him sent him into a shivering fit.  Trixie had to keep him warm all night."

A mischievous grin instantly plastered itself on Habanero's face.  "Oh really..."  She chirped in her singsong voice.  You kept him warm all night huh... How'd you manage that one?"  

It instantly registered in Trixie's mind how she just worded what happened.  She let out a gasp and shot back, "It-It's not like that!  Sparks was shivering so badly last night that Trixie couldn't just leave him like that!"

Hally half lidded her eyes and in a seductive voice asked, "So how'd you keep the big Neanderthal warm?  Did you snuggle up close under the covers?!  Hold him close all night?!"

"N-No...  Trixie just laid next to him all night.  I kept him warm with my body heat through the blankets..."

Habanero sighed, "And that's it? Nothing else?"

"Nothing, honest.  Trixie was just helping him stay warm so he could recover easier."

Hally smiled and looked at Trixie.  With a friendly sigh she said back, "You kids.  Just tell him already."

"...Tell him."

"Really Trixie? Not you too...  Are you that blind?" Habanero told her as she would a friend who wanted to ask a colt out for a school dance.

Trixie paused.  She knew.  She just didn't know if she should act on it.  "Trixie isn't blind.  It's just... you know...  Wouldn't it be too sudden?"

Habanero smiled.  "Alright.  I'll leave that one up to you two.  Just make sure that pyro boy of yours gets better."

"Trixie's trying her best."

"Alright.  So what can I get yah?  Hot sauce? Screaming Fireballs? Hot pepper chewing gum?"

"Do you have any red sweet bell peppers?"  Trixie asked knowing it was at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to what Hally was describing.

"...No pony ever wants my super hot's..." She pouted"  Yeah, how many do you need Hon?"

"Three please.  And I'll take one of your Neighjun seasoning bottles too, you made it sound so good."

Habanero put her protective hood and respirator back on and bagged of three of her finest red bells right along with the seasoning.  "Here ya go sweetie." She said in her bubbly tone.  "Anything else?"

"That's it.  What do I owe you?"

"Take em'," She said, "They're food for Sparks, right?  He can pay me back later."
______________________________________________________________________________

Two weeks had passed since the night of the fire.  Sparks was finally starting to feel like his usual self again, and after much convincing with Firecracker that he was fine, he returned to work.  Though he still found himself getting slight headaches from time to time, it wasn't nearly as bad as his first few nights back home.  

Sparks stood outside of the warehouse where the mortar racks were stored.  Inside, Firecracker was flying back and forth with a paper list in his mouth.  "Hey Sawdust, I need 20 more of the 4 inch racks." He called out.

Down below stood a khaki colored unicorn with a light oak colored mane that lay flat against his ears. He pulled an empty wagon over and unhitched himself from it. "Alright." he called out as his horn began to glow.  "Thanks again for teaching me this large scale levitation spell, Sparks.  It beats having to move these things one at a time."

"Sure thing." Sparks commented as he walked inside the warehouse.  "Are you two sure you don't want me to help at all?" 

"Absolutely not!" Firecracker called out without looking up from his list.  "You're finally feeling better, no point in overdoing it right when you get back on your hooves."

"I'm telling you, I feel fine now." Sparks huffed.

"Cool story bro!" Firecracker called back as he hefted two mortar racks under each foreleg.  "You'll have to tell me more about it when I get back!"

Sparks wanted to argue, but Sawdust cut in.  As he lined up the mortar racks in the cart he said, "He's right, Sparks.  Just take it easy for a little while.  We have this all under control."

The pyro pony sighed.  He looked at Firecracker, "Are you going to be able to shoot this by yourself?  We've always worked in tandem."

Firecracker landed on top of the cart and started hoof counting all of the mortar racks.  "This shoot isn't that big.  I have Sawdust here to help me with the setup and teardown.  It'll take no longer than ten to fifteen minutes to set the whole thing off."

"But will you be able to keep the pace going without me?"

"Yeah, I'll just fly to each fuse instead of walking to them.  I can pick up your slack.  Besides, while I'm gone for the next few days, you can finish up all the shells we need for Shimmerwood for your parents anniversary party.  We only have a week and a half left to get that one ready."

With an audible sigh, Sparks shrugged and admitted defeat.  "Will you at least let me help you pull a cart or two to the train station?"

Firecracker finished counting and set his list inside a cardboard box.  "Fine, but you're pulling the shell's.  I don't want you straining with the heavy mortar racks."

"That's fine.  I can't stand just watching you work and not being able to do anything."

It didn't take much longer for Firecracker to finish loading up everything he needed for his trip.  The three stallions hooked themselves up to the large wagons and headed for the front gate.  "100 total racks, all sizes, 850 shell's, box of flares, fire extinguisher, and safety gear..." Firecracker was openly calling out everything he needed to take with him.  Without Sparks he was flying solo for the first time, with the Ponyville Firework Co. so new, he wasn't about to let a bad show caused by him ruin its reputation.  

"You need to relax." Sparks told him. "The more you worry about it, the more mistakes you're gonna make.  You have everything, we all checked before we left the warehouse."

Sawdust called out as he pulled his wagon up alongside Firecrackers, "I double checked too. You have nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, I'll calm down once we get to Featherville."

The three walked around the front office building and up to the gate.  "Hey!  Look who's here!" Sparks called out.  Standing near the front gate talking to Feather Quill was Trixie and Habanero.  The three mares turned and watched them approach.  Habanero smiled and ran off towards Firecracker.  With her usual bubbly personality, she leapt in the air and wrapped her hooves around Firecrackers neck.

"Well hi!" Firecracker said with a smile as he returned her affection.

"I wanted to come see you before you left." She chirped.

"Well I'm glad you did."

"Do you have everything you need?  Enough bits for food and a room at an inn?"

"Yeah, everything's packed and ready for me."

"Alright.  Can I walk with you to the train station?  I won't be able to see you for 4 days."

"Sure!"

As Habanero continued to embrace Firecracker, Trixie put her hoof around Feather Quill's neck then looked at Sparks and called out, "Sparks, do you and Firecracker harass this poor mare?!  She says you're always scaring her with your random explosions, and other pranks you do to her!"

"Oh all the time!" Firecracker cut in. "I'm a fan of popping paper bags behind her!"  While the pegasus was telling the girls about his pranking history, Sparks reached in his saddle bag and pulled out a bottle rocket.  These were special ones he made.  He quickly activated his heat spell and his horn tip began to glow a bright red.  He lit the fuse and held onto the long stick at the end of the rocket.  

"Yeah... Firecrackers pranks are fun and all, but I prefer my method!" No sooner had he finished the sentence, there was a loud whistle as the bottle rocket zipped into the air and popped open with a loud bang!

Feather Quill felt her wings flare out at the sudden loud noise.  She yelped in surprise and felt her hooves jump.  After the commotion died down, the golden office worker pegasus caught her breath and looked at Trixie.  "Like I said, it's like foal sitting for two little brats!"

"Come on Feather Quill," Sparks said with a smile, "You know we love you!"

The pegasus sighed.  "Yes, yes, I know.  You just have a bratty way of showing it."

"And that's why we pay you so well for putting up with us!" Firecracker added.  

Trixie raised an eyebrow at Sparks, "You better be nice to her or Trixie will re-concuss you!"

"...Fine.  We'll be good." Sparks told her while he pulled the cart of boxed up firework shells out of the front gate.  "Are you girls gonna walk to the train station with us?"

"Nah, I see enough of you two during the day as it is." Feather Quill told them.  "I'm going to finish up inside and head home so I can get dinner started for when my boys get home from school."

"Hey, your boys like the maple taffy bars that Featherville is known for, right?  Want me to bring them a few boxes back?" Firecracker asked.

"Sure!" Feather Quill told him, "Those three will love you for it!  I'll pay you for them when you get back, I know how expensive it is for the authentic Featherville maple taffy."

"No you won't." Firecracker told her, "Because I'm a good boss and I'm getting it as a gift.  I may even get you something nice to put on your desk."

"But it's so expensive!"

"Sorry! Can't hear you!" Firecracker quipped.  "I'm deaf from shooting off fireworks all the time!"

Feather Quill admitted her defeat.  "Fine...  Thank you.  I'll see you when you get back on Monday."  With that, the pegasus turned and headed back into her office to finish her tasks for the day.

The three stallions led the girls out of the front gate. Firecracker again started talking to himself, verbally listing off every item he needed to take with him, just to mentally assure himself that he had everything ready to go.

"I hope you brought something to preoccupy yourself with, Sawdust," Sparks announced,  "because he'll be doing this for the entire train ride." 	

"Don't worry, I brought a book, and I know where the ear plugs are packed."

Sparks felt himself laughing with Sawdust while Firecracker still listed off everything, either to tune the two out, or he simply hadn't even heard or cared about their conversation.  The unicorn saw Trixie's walk slow and then abruptly stop.  Sparks strong legs forced the weight of the wagon full of firework shells to a halt.  "Hey, what's up."

Trixie didn't reply at first.  She turned herself away from Sparks and the others.  "Hey," Habanero asked in her sweet voice, "everything alright, Trixie?"

Trixie raised a hoof as if she were about to take a step forward, but that step never happened.  Her hoof raised again and froze as it hung above the dirt path with a slight tremble.  By this point, Sawdust and even Firecracker stopped to see if everything was alright.  Sparks unhooked himself from his wagon and walked over to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?"  He asked with genuine concern.  

The silence seemed to scream until Trixie finally uttered out.  "Hey... Do you think... Trixie could go back and see what's left of her home?"

Sparks didn't really know what to say.  Two weeks had passed since the fire, and up until this point, no pony, not even Trixie had brought it up.  He found the words and said, "Yeah.  We can go take a look."  He left it at that.  No -will you be okay with it- or -are you sure you really want too-.  A freshly healed wound was about to be opened again once more, no point in making it worse.

"Yeah... I can walk you back."  Sparks put on as much of a reassuring face as he could manage.

Trixie didn't say anything.  She slowly started to make her way down the path that ran along the outer fence of their firework plant.  Sparks looked back towards the others to see if they were coming along.  Habanero without saying anything sat back on her haunches, and started motioning Sparks with her hooves to follow her.  He didn't even get a chance to ask why they weren't coming along before Hally shot him a glare that said, "She needs you right now, not us!"  Sparks gave her a quick nod then trotted away.
______________________________________________________________________________

The path around the outer edge of the PFC was typically a nice area.  It was lined with mighty oak trees that seemed to form a natural wall from the rest of the world.  The only sounds aside from the gentle thumps of the two unicorns hoofs on the dirt path, was the soft rush of wind that danced among the leaves around them.  

The clearing where Trixie's caravan had been wasn't very far ahead.  The first indication that they were close was the faint, but still lingering smell of smoke that clung to the area.  If Sparks could smell it, no doubt Trixie could as well.  "Are you sure you're ready?"  He asked calmly.

"Trixie's hid from this spot for too long now.  If I don't get it over with soon it's going to drive me insane."

"Alright."  Sparks stayed close to her side as they approached the clearing.  He led her passed the final opening between the last towering oak trees on the trail and he stood silent.  Trixie didn't speak as she walked into the clearing.  The smell of charred wood, hung like a heavy tapestry around the site. 

Trixie without so much as a single word paused, only for the briefest moment as she saw the remains of her home for the first time.  What was left of the frame stood charred and black.  All of the small glass windows had shattered, most likely from the extreme heat or from the fireponies as they tried to stop the inferno.  The roof was all but gone, save for a few beams of wood that had been reduced to charcoal.  Around it the wheels were left partially untouched by the fires burning grasp near the ground, but were all but destroyed at the top.  

She walked up to where her front door used to be.  It had been moved out of the way, most likely from the fireponies who had forced the burning rubble aside to extinguish the blaze.  Sparks watched as Trixie's horn began to glow.  She levitated up what was left of the sign which had her cutie mark painted on it that had once hung above her door.  Sparks slowly followed behind as Trixie made her way into way into what was left of the interior.

Inside smelled heavily of soot and ash.  Sparks looked around and saw the destruction.  The basic metal frame was all that remained of Trixie's bed, along with the thick backboard that had been burnt beyond recognition.  A small bookshelf that once held Trixie's small collection of spell books was now nothing more than warped, blackened wood.  No traces of the books remained.  Her small vanity where she had spent her time making herself look beautiful for a performance was in the same state.  Her stage makeup had been incinerated, and the oval shaped mirror was spider webbed with cracks and covered in a thick, burnt, black film.

Sparks looked at the floor where he had nearly burned to death.  The rainstorm that had hit the other night had flooded it with ash that had dried into a thick burnt layer on the wooden floor.  

He heard the sound of a small storage door that had been near the wall opposite to him being forced open.  Trixie tried to pry it open with her hoof but failed.  Her horn began to glow a pale purple but Sparks stopped her.  "Let me get it." He said as his own horn illuminated and forced the charred wooden door open.  

"Thanks..." She said quietly.  Trixie knelt down and pulled out a small wooden box.  The thin door that sealed away her items in the small compartment did a somewhat decent job to keep the damage down, still, the box Trixie pulled out wasn't free of damage.  Trixie carefully opened the burnt brass latch and tipped back the soot damaged lid.  Sparks couldn't see what was inside.  He simply waited.

She let out a sigh.  "Well, at least something survived..."  Sparks raised an eyebrow.  Trixie turned and gave a look that said that she was ready to head back outside.

The two walked back out into the clearing amongst the scattered rubble around the caravan.  Trixie brushed her soot covered hooves off on the thick grass while she held the burnt wooden box firmly in her magical aura.

"Remember how you told me, that I should put everything about my past behind me and just start again?  Well like Trixie's cloak and hat, there are a few things that Trixie can't bring herself to let go of."  Her voice was very quiet as she spoke, and it had an ever more noticeable tremble to it.  She sat down in the grass and pulled the burnt lid back.  Sparks looked inside as she continued.  "This caravan wasn't always mine you know.  I told you how I was raised by my grandmother, well before she had me to take care of, she traveled around in this caravan, telling fortunes, doing tarot readings, earning bits by performing street magic, and overall helping out anypony she could in her travels."  Trixie reached in the box and pulled out a picture that was heavily soot covered and water damaged from the fire hoses.

Sparks walked up to Trixie and sat down next to her.  Trixie brushed off as much of the soot as she could and held the picture up in front of her eyes.  "Jynx Lulamoon.  The only pony who ever truly believed in Trixie's dream to become the greatest magician in all of Equestria."  Sparks looked at the picture.  It was old, faded black and white.  She looked nearly identical to Trixie, nearly the same hair only with more sharp curls at the ends of her mane and tail, the same sassy eyes, and the same star covered cloak and hat that he had pulled from Trixie's burning home on that fateful night.  She set the picture back down inside the box next to a small leather bound book with the same soot and water damage.  She slowly closed the lid and held the box close to her chest.  

"That caravan was my last true feeling of having my grandmother around me."  Trixie's voice was now openly shaking.  Her glassy eyes now openly letting out warm tears.  "And now, all of it, everything that reminded Trixie of her, and helped Trixie keep trying her best is gone."  Trixie's head hung low as she started to let out her first string of sobs that were accompanied by sharp breaths.  Without a second thought Sparks wrapped his hooves around her tiny body and embraced her tightly while she cried.  He wanted to say something, anything that would help to calm her down.  "No." He thought to himself, "She needs this, she needs to get it all out."  And that's exactly what he let her do.

He could feel her warm tears dripping onto his chest while she cried; he didn't care at all, if anything, it made him embrace her tighter.  She buried her face into sparks neck and wailed.  Sparks simply closed his eyes and lowered his muzzle onto her head while he stroked her mane.  

"You've been through so much and had so many things pent up for so long." Sparks told her calmly.  "You've had ponies ridicule you, call you hurtful things, and even destroyed your home."  he felt her burry her face harder into his body, if that was even at all possible.  "I know that you deserved none of it.  Not the Trixie I know, not the Trixie that drove me insane for days after I thought I lost you forever, and not the Trixie who took care of me after I got hurt.  No... You aren't the Trixie that everypony claims you are.  Not now..., not anymore."  Trixie's body shook hard against his body between her open sobs.  It only made him embrace her tighter.  

She cried in his embrace for several minutes before she even showed any signs of calming down.  Finally, she managed to utter in her shaky voice, "You've been one of the only few ponies that ever gave Trixie kind words, and friendship." She inhaled sharply, "You, Firecracker, and Habanero.  You four have done more for me in the past few days that Trixie never thought she would have happen in her entire lifetime."

"I told you," Sparks said calmly, "I don't know what happened to you before, I don't want to know, I just want you to move on, and I want to help you move on." Trixie nuzzled herself closer to him as she felt a small whimper escape her lips.

"And what happens when you find out about Trixie's past.  The things I did, the ponies I've wronged.  How can you be so nice to pony who's done such terrible things, a pony who nearly got you killed..."  Sparks put a hoof to her lips and silenced her.

Trixie stopped speaking.  She felt Sparks lean his embrace in, and he held his head next to hers.  They both sat silent for a moment that to Sparks felt like an eternity.  No more hiding from it, no more hiding from himself.  Sparks leaned back and his electric blue eyes locked with her enchanting amethyst gaze.  "Trixie, I could never hate a the pony that I love so much."

Trixie gasped and felt her heart skip a beat.  Her eyes widened and she froze.  Her body felt as though it too were on fire.  "L-Love...!" She gasped out.  

Sparks face held a stern glare, still focused deep into her eyes.  "You've been my reason for getting up every morning since I met you.  When I thought I would never see you again after the Gala, it felt like a part of me died that night.  I don't think you realize how happy I truly was to see you when you showed up in Ponyville."

"...Sparks." She uttered between his words.

"You say that you're hated by so many ponies in this world, and you say that I could never forgive what the old you had done.  Well, I want to help the new you in any way that I can.  You aren't alone in this world Trixie.  You have friends now, one's who will always be there for you."  Sparks smiled genuinely at her.  His true and honest feelings had finally broken out of their concrete prison and were flowing out.  "And you have me, Trixie.  You'll always have me.  A stallion who will do anything he can to make you happy, and make sure that you're never sad.  ...And you'll have a stallion that will love you until the end of time."

He watched as her tears returned.  These one's were different.  They were accompanied by a faint smile.  She let out a sigh and looked into his eyes.  Fighting off her urge to cry, she uttered out, "And Trixie was wondering if you were ever going to finally say it."

Sparks gave her a sheepish smile, "Was it that obvious?"

She felt a small laugh escape her, "Painfully." She said calmly as she moved forward and their lips connected.  There was no shock between them, no surprise, Sparks wasn't even nervous for once.  At that moment, time seemed to stop cold in its tracks and for all they knew, they were the only ponies that existed at that very moment.  

From the tree line at the edge of the clearing behind one of the mighty oaks, Habanero stood with a smile on her lips as she leaned against one of the strong tree trunks.  "Good job Sparks." She said half hushed.

From behind her Firecracker approached.  "Hey there you are, are you almost ready, we're gonna be late..." 

"Shhh!" She instructed sternly.  

"What's up?" Firecracker walked up next to his special somepony and saw what she was looking at.  "Well sweet Celestia..." He said to himself, "Good job, buddy."

Hally smiled at him.  "Come on, let's leave them be."

"Hey, you were the one spying on them." Firecracker argued under his breath.

"Not spying, just supervising..."  The two turned and walked down the path back to the front gate, if anything walking slightly closer together than normal.

Trixie and Sparks continued their embrace as they felt each other romantically for the first time.  Trixie parted their lips, with her muzzle still practically touching his.  Her eyes were closed and with a gentle sigh, she said back, "Trixie loves you too."                         
 

> Shimmerwood
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

(CHAPTER 12) SHIMMERWOOD		

It all felt so surreal.  24 hours ago, Sparks was a single stallion with the ambition of working up the courage to confess his feelings to his dream mare.  He still couldn't believe that all it took was for him to lose himself in her emotions.  To Sparks, it seemed like he was an entirely different stallion when a mare was in trouble.  He experienced the same feeling back in Canterlot when he first saw Trixie upset and crying over not being able to get into the gala.  All he could think about was making her happy and chasing away her sorrow.  The same thing had happened yesterday when he took her back to see what was left of her caravan.  He wasn’t complaining, Trixie had accepted his feelings and returned her own to him.  Today, the stallion definitely felt as though a tremendous weight had been removed from his shoulders.  

Sparks stretched his legs with a groan and pulled himself out of bed.  One thing hadn’t changed though, Sparks room was still empty.  Though he and Trixie were a couple now, they both wanted to take things slow and not rush into anything.  Trixie slept in his spare guest room.  The room was basically hers now anyway since she had been living at Sparks house for several weeks now.  Eventually the two would share the same bed, just not until they both felt the time was right.

He went out into the hall.  It was still early and Trixie’s door was still closed, she usually slept until around 8.  That was fine, Sparks had his usual morning routine anyway.  Quietly he cracked open her door and looked inside.  Trixie seemed to sleep better when she cocooned herself in her blankets, typically only her mane and the tip of her horn were ever visible from beneath her blankets when she slept.  Her blankets were rising and falling softly, a sign she was still deep within Luna‘s dream world.  Sparks smiled and slowly closed the door so he didn’t disturb her.  

Quietly going down the stairs; as he did every morning, Sparks levitated his saddle bags onto his back and headed out the door to work.      

Sparks stepped outside and took in a breath of the fresh morning air.  He hadn’t been this eager to go to work in quite a while.  He walked to his front gate feeling the cool morning dew on his hooves.  From up above, the grey and blonde mail pony landed softly at his letter box.  “Good morning, Sparks.” She greeted.  

“Good morning to you too.”

She reached in her mail pouch and pulled out a small stack of letters that were held together with a rubber band.  “Are you feeling better today?”  She held out her hoof with the bundle of letters.

Sparks levitated them into his saddle bag, “Much.” He told her. “Now it’s back to getting caught up with my work.”

She smiled at him.  “Well I wont hold you up.  Have a good day!”  The mail pony spread her wings and took off.  He returned the wave and set off into town.  

After a quick stop at Sugar Cube Corner for his raspberry muffin, and his cup of iced tea Sparks made his way right to the Ponyville Firework Co.  With still a solid weeks worth of work, plus overtime ahead of him, Sparks walked through the security gate with his mind full of determination, and his focus on nothing more at that moment than shell building.

The door knob lit up with a blue aura as Sparks turned it with his magic.  “Good morning Feather Quill.  He called out as he stepped inside.  

The pegasus had just finished poring her first cup of coffee for the morning.  “Morning Sparks.  Feeling better today?”

The unicorn set his saddle bags on the front desk.  “Much.” He said.  He opened one of his pouches and pulled out the stack of letters.  “I’m eager to get back to work so I can finally start to get caught up.  By the way, are you sure you can’t make it to Shimmerwood?  It’s really nice there, and I’m sure my mom and dad would love to have you at their anniversary party.”

“It would be nice but there’s no way I could.  My boys have to much going on at school, and I have to be around the house while Black Gold is out working on the oil rigs.”  

“Alright, but if you change your mind let me know.”  Sparks sifted through his stack of letters.  A few bills, some junk mail, the usual.  The next one had Firecracker’s return address in the top corner.  Sparks raised an eyebrow as he opened the envelope.  Firecracker usually never sent him anything.  It read…

Hey Sparks,

I let my mom know about the firework shoot coming up in Shimmerwood.  Her and dad are excited to see it.  She also wanted to know if you were feeling better.  In my last letter to her I told her about what happened, and I said not to worry because Trixie was looking after you.  She said your mom was upset that you didn’t tell her you got hurt.

Sparks felt his eyes widen in shock.  He didn’t want his mom to know he had gotten hurt because of how much she worried.  On top of that, if his sister found out, she’d go berserk.  Now, not only did his mom find out what had happened, but she knew that Trixie was taking care of him.  The Trixie part wasn’t a bad thing, but  his mom had a habit of jumping to conclusions before she knew the whole story.

I guess I should have asked you if you told your mom before I wrote about it to mine.  Oh well, she had to find out sooner or later.  Okay, that’s it, we just made it to Featherville.  See you in a few days.

Firecracker

Sparks felt his eye twitch.  He looked at the next letter and saw the name Nova along with his mothers return address.  He took a deep breath.

Sparks!  How could you not tell your own Mother that you had gotten hurt?!  Expect a slap when I see you in a few weeks!  That being said, I’m glad you’re alright.  You already make me worry enough as it is with how dangerous your job is.  I would have been on the very next train to Ponyville had Firecracker’s mother not told me you had a pretty young mare looking after you.  That’s another thing!  Why didn’t you tell me that you had a mare friend?!  Is she coming with you to Shimmerwood?  She better be!  I can’t wait to meet her!

This is so wonderful!  Now that you finally met a nice young mare I can finally start thinking about having Grandfoals!  We can’t wait to meet her!  And don’t worry, I’ll make sure Flame behaves herself around her.  She threw quite the tantrum when she found out you had a filly friend and didn’t tell her about it.  Your Father is excited to meet her too.  Don’t worry, I promise that he’ll behave.  

I just hope the little cutie doesn’t mind your father’s heavy metal music and the rest of the band being at our party.  Your cousin Breezy says hi too, and she can’t wait to see you and your special somepony.

See you soon,

Love Mom~

There was a slight tremble to his hoof as he reached for the third letter.  He already had an idea who it was from.  Sure enough, the envelope was pink, smelled of perfume, and had hearts drawn all over it.  He saw the name Flame with his home in Shimmerwood’s return address below it.  He took in a deep breath as if he was about to get yelled at as he opened it.

Sparks!!

Why didn’t you tell me that you almost died because of some random girl!  It’s bad enough that she almost got you killed but what’s even worse is that she’s living in your house!  Had I found out about this sooner I would have been on my way to Ponyville and given her a piece of my mind!  Mom won’t let me come see you though…  She says that you’re already being taken care of.  What care could possibly be any better than the love of your younger sister?

All you need to do is say the word and I’ll be on the next train to Ponyville.  If you ask me, it’s not a good idea letting a total stranger live in your home, especially one that tried to murder you!  Breezy was being stuck up about the situation too.  Her and mom keep telling me not to worry, but I know better and I know what’s best for my big brother.

You know I’ll always be there for you Sparky.  Please don’t bring her with you when you come back home.  She’ll probably try to ruin the party or worse!

XOXO

Flame

Sparks dropped the letter on the desk and flopped down in an empty chair with a blank, and bewildered look on his face.  Feather Quill looked up from her accounting book on her desk.  She saw the stack of envelopes and the look of distress on the pyro ponies face.  Without missing a beat she asked, "Your mom and sister just found out about Trixie, didn't they?"

With a lazy nod, he said back, "Uh huh..."

Feather Quill got up from her desk and pulled a bottle of hard cider from the cabinet behind her.  She brought it over to Sparks and said, "Just breath, and take your medicine."

"You keep booze in your office?" Sparks asked.

"Working for you two maniacs, and dealing with your sudden loud booms, it helps keep me calm."  She set a glass down and poured out a shot for Sparks.  "Come on now! Bottoms up!"

Without thinking, Sparks took the shot.  He swallowed and set the glass down.  "I'm gonna kill Firecracker when he get's back... He KNOWS how easily my mom and sister jump to conclusions."

"Well, it's probably for the best that they found out now instead of you showing up at their door with her.  At least now they have some heads up."

"Feather Quill you don't understand!" Sparks said out of desperation.  

"Oh I understand perfectly, Sparks.  Your mom wants grandfoals like there's no tomorrow, and your sister has an older brother complex.  I have sisters too that I deal with, they're just not as dysfunctional as your family.  Pretty close!  But not as bad."

Without really reacting, Sparks took a bite out of his Raspberry muffin.  "I just don't want Trixie to be scared off by them you know?  We're still a new couple, I was hoping to let her tip toe around the family pool, not push her right into the deep end."

"Trust me, if I could survive meeting Black Gold's family for the first time, I think Trixie will do fine with yours.  I come from a family of bankers and accountants, you can't imagine what it's like going from that to being part of a family that works in the oil fields.  Talk about prim and proper getting thrown into the rough and tumble."

Sparks felt a small smile form on his lips and he allowed a small sigh of relief.  "Feather Quill, I'm so glad we hired you."

"M'hmm." She said with a grin.  "Need another shot Pyro Boy?"

He shook his head.  "No thanks.  I better get to work."

"Alright." She said as she took her own swig out of the bottle.  "Well it's here if you need it, and I'm always here to talk."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The record Sparks had playing of the music from his dads band faded to static as the needle ran past the end of the last song.  Sparks finished tying a fuse into a shell looked up at the clock.  It was already nearly 2 in the afternoon.  The one thing about the firework making process was that it made time fly.  Every now and then Sparks would find he had worked an entire day without even taking a break simply because he got so caught up in what he was doing.

He debated on taking a break, but he didn't want to lose time when he was already so behind as it was.  Sparks wiped the black powder off of his hooves and went to his record player.  He pulled the album out and put it back in the small shelf underneath.  His horn began to glow as he sifted through his other albums.  He pulled out another record of his fathers band.  Mareilyn Manesen - Mechanical Ponies.  One of his favorites, and one where he thought his dads drumming sounded particularly good.  He put the album on the turntable and set the needle down.  The first song Great Big White World began to play and Sparks went right back to work.

Sparks picked up the next shell and started to attach the fuse to it.  It took no time at all for him to get back in his zone.  He had a smooth rhythm of levitating fuses out of a box and then attaching them to a shell and repeating the process.  To Sparks, he was his own personal assembly line.  At the rate he was going he would be back on schedule in a few days.  

A knock came from the door.  Without turning, Sparks called out, "Come on in, Feather!"  

The door opened and he heard a different voice.  "It's me."  Trixie's voice.  Sparks turned.  She was holding a bag in her hoof and said, "Trixie saw you didn't take a lunch with you this morning.  I figured you would be hungry.  Feather Quill said it was alright for me to run this back to you."

He smiled.  "Sure, come on in."

Trixie walked inside the small building and shut the door behind her.  She walked up to her pyro pony and gave him a quick kiss.  "Trixie won't stay long, I just didn't want you to go without eating all day."  

Sparks took the bag from her and set it on one of the tables that wasn't covered in black powder.  "I appreciate it.  I get so caught up in my work that I forget to eat sometimes, and yet I'm still fat."

"Oh please." she scoffed, "Trixie doesn't want to be with a stallion that could be blown away in a gentle breeze.  Besides, Trixie likes a stallion who has a little size to him."

"That doesn't make it sound much better." He joked.  

Trixie rolled her eyes.  "Just take Trixie's compliment.  If anything it makes me feel safer when I'm around you."

"Fine... Fine..."  Sparks said back.  "Thank you for bringing me lunch."

Trixie stood proudly and let a little bit of her bravado show through.  "Well get used to it, one of the benefits of being my colt friend is you get to eat Trixie's fantastic cooking every day!"  Sparks smiled at her in approval.  Her ear twitched.  Trixie heard the music Sparks had playing.  They were to busy talking she didn't notice the song when she came in.  "Ooo, Mechanical Ponies!  Trixie loves this album!"

`"You'll be hearing plenty of it and the other ones when we get to my parent's place.  The rest of the band will be there too, I'd be happy to introduce you."

She gasped, "You would do that?"

"Of course!  Why wouldn't I?"  

Trixie let out a happy squeal and threw her forelegs around Sparks neck and she kissed him again.  "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He felt giddy inside from seeing her so happy.  "Geez, had I known you liked my dads band so much I would have told you I knew them back in Canterlot."

"Oh please," Trixie said with a matter-of-factly tone, "You were so shy around Trixie in Canterlot that even if you did know, you probably couldn't even bring yourself to tell me."    

"I'm sorry!  You were just intimidating!"

"Yeah, says the stallion who towers over me."

Spark let out a laugh as she let go of him.  Trixie looked at Sparks.  His hooves were covered in black dust, his coat wasn't it's usual blue, but darker from all of the black powder.  "Geez, as dirty as you are now, how does your house stay so clean?"

"Trust me," He said back, "I wash up here as best I can so I don't track it all home.  You're seeing me on a clean day.  You should see me and Firecracker when we're making the stars for inside the shells."    

Trixie looked past Sparks at his work table.  On each side were tall shelves, all were filled with unfinished firework shells.  "So what are you doing with these ones?"

"Come over here and I'll show you."  Trixie followed Sparks up to his work table.  The wood surface had no hint of a normal wood color, it's was covered in black dust, dried paste, and everything else involved with the firework making process.  "What I'm doing here is taking the shells that are finished and putting the fuses in them."  His horn began to glow as he pulled a finished shell off of the shelf to his right and set it down on a piece of brown paper.  Next he pulled out a fuse from the box under his table.  "This is the fuse that sticks out from the mortar tubes that we light to set it off.  Inside is a special fuse called black match, it's burns so fast that we don't have much time to get out of the way before the shell goes off."

"Isn't that really unsafe?" She asked as he examined the fuse he was holding.

"Well see at the top here?"  Sparks held it out for her to see.  "Under this red cap is normal fuse.  It burns much slower and it goes into the black match.  It gives us about 3 seconds to light it and move out of the way.  Sometimes though, if it's real humid and the black powder is being fussy about the moisture in the air, we just light it below the fuse right on the black match.  That's when things get interesting, and when manes get singed."

"This probably isn't stuff that you should be telling me." Trixie said, "You're going to make me worry every time I see you setting them off."

"Better get used to it, honey!  The risk comes with the territory."

She let out a sigh.  "Fine... I just don't want to see what I saw happen to you at Canterlot when that one firework went off right on the ground.  Trixie thought you were dead!"

Sparks set the fuse down on the brown paper and snug against the side of the shell.  "That was just a shell with a bad time fuse that sets of the shell once it‘s in the sky.  Sometimes they burn through way to quick, or the lift charge breaks through the shell casing and sets it off right away.  It happens."

"Stop!  Just stop!  You're going to make Trixie paranoid every time you go to work."

"That's the pyro life." He told her with a smile.

"Fine... just stop talking about it and show me what you're doing now."

"Okay... Okay..."  Sparks went back to what he was doing.  "Anyway, we wrap the fuse and the shell up in another layer of paper and paste over it.  When this paste dries, it forms a thick skin that gives the shell extra strength.  The stronger the shell, and the more compact the stars and black powder are, the better the break in the sky.  If it's to lose, when the black powder ignites it can't make the right amount of pressure and the firework will just fizzle."  He folded the paper closed at the top and tied it around the fuse.

He held the wrapped up shell for her to see,  "Both ends will be tied off, the bottom is still open for now so when it's dry I can put the lift charge in, and that's what's going to send the shell into the sky."  She looked at it the same way the Princesses did back in Canterlot.  It was the look of "I had no idea so much went into this".  Sparks had seen it many times before.  He set the shell on the opposite shelf to let it dry.  "And then we repeat!"

"Well, all that puts Trixie's spell cast fireworks to shame."  She told him.

"Nah." He said back as he started work on the next shell.  "There's just a little more TLC involved with these ones."

She stood and watched him make a few more shells.  Not wanting to bother him while he was busy, she said, "Alright, I'll let you get back to it.  I'm going to pick up a few things at the market.  Will you be home in time for dinner?"

"I might be a little late again.  I'm sorry but I'm just trying to get all my work caught up while Firecracker is gone.  After Shimmerwood I promise the chaos and late nights will slow down."

"It's fine." She told him.  "Your job is important, and it is Trixie's fault that you're so behind."

"I told you, I ran into that fire on my own.  You didn't force me."

"Still..."

Sparks turned to her and smiled, "Don't worry about it, the important thing is I'm all better, I'm back at work, and not to mention I scored a really attractive mare out of this entire ordeal.  If you ask me, I'm the winner here."

Trixie let out a simple laugh.  "Fine... Fine..."  She walked up to Sparks, "I'm going to head out, I'll hold off on dinner until you get back."  She leaned in and gave him a final kiss before she left.  "Trixie loves you."

He returned her kiss and said back, "And Sparks loves you."

____________________________________________________________________________________________

(One week later)	

The sun was just starting to set over Ponyville when Sparks and Trixie walked onto the platform of the train station.  Up ahead, Sparks saw Firecracker talking with the station manager.  All the standard procedure before they traveled with fireworks.  Both would fill out a few forms explaining that they were both licensed pyrotechnicians, and were allowed to transport explosive materials.  By now the two stallions knew just about every pony that worked at the train depot from how often they would travel to do shoots in different towns.  The two walked up to Firecracker and heard the station manager saying to him, "Alright, that's your passenger car with sleeping bunks, your three box cars of equipment, and your hazardous material box car.  You know the drill, sign both sheets."

Firecracker signed, "There you go, see you in a few days."  He saw Sparks coming.  "There you are.  We're pulling out in twenty minutes, you two ready to go?"  

Sparks nodded as he walked up to the train.  “Yeah, where’s Habanero?”  

“She ran to the grocery store to get some food for the trip while I got all of our paperwork finished.  She should be back any minute.”

“Alright, we’re going to get settled in, we have a long trip ahead of us.”  Sparks said.  He levitated Trixie’s saddle bags onto his own back and said to her, “Go in and relax, I’ll be there in a minute.”

With a nod, Trixie said back, “Alright.” And made her way into the passenger car.

Sparks levitated the clip board from Firecracker’s hoof and signed his name on the lines of the paperwork.  Firecracker walked up next to him and nudged his friend with his hoof.  “So, how’s life with your dream mare?”

“Really good.” Sparks said back as he finished signing his name.  He levitated the forms back to the station workers and continued, “She’s getting settled in and she’s looking forward to meeting mom and dad.”

“Well that’s good!  Your mom will be thrilled that you’re finally bringing a mare home.”

“Yeah, I know.  Oh! And by the way!”  Sparks leaned into Firecracker and said, “You got some retaliation headed your way for going behind my back and telling my Mom and Sister about Trixie, you know how they get!”

“Please Sparks…” Firecracker said back as he readied to get on board the train, “If I hadn’t said anything you would have waited until the last minute to tell them.  I went ahead and broke the ice for you”

“Yeah! You broke the ice while I was still standing in the middle of the frozen lake!”

From behind the two stallions, a familiar voice chirped, “Hey guys, I bought lots of snacks for the trip!”  Habanero trotted onto the station platform with several grocery bags clipped to her luggage saddle.  “I got cookies, chips, those cheesy tortilla chips that you like so much, Sparks, there’s some soda in there…”  She paused and then said, “I didn’t know what to get Trixie so I’ll just share my stuff with her.  She likes apple fritters, right?”

“Yeah,” Sparks said back, “I haven’t really seen her not like a certain type of food, she should.”

“Alrighty then!” Hally chimed, “Let’s get a move on.”  She trotted into the passenger car with Sparks and Firecracker not far behind.

A while later, once everypony was settled in their own bunks, one of the platform workers called out to the trains engineer, “Alright, you’re clear for dispatch, next stop, Shimmerwood.”  The trains whistle blew and the ponies felt the cars jerk as they set underway.

“How far is it to Shimmerwood?” Trixie asked.

Firecracker looked at the clock hanging in the car, “Well it’s 8pm now, we should be there by around this time tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah,” Sparks added, “It’s a long trip, but at least we can sleep through most of it.”

“Speaking of which,” Firecracker yawned, “I might have to do that soon.  We have a lot to do tomorrow, we’ll be at your parent’s before noon and then we have to set everything up for tomorrow night.”

Sparks pulled a notebook out of his saddle bag and looked through everything he had written down for the firework show for his parents.  “Yeah, I’m going to go over this for a little bit, then I won’t be too far behind you.”

Trixie sat next to Habanero in the tiny bunk.  Each sleeping compartment was large enough to hold a single pony.  Firecracker flew up into one of the top bunks and pulled his curtain closed.  “I’m starting my early night,” He said, “keep it down some if you please.”

Sparks looked at the girls.  “Are you two going to be up for a while?”

Habanero took a bite out of one of the fritters she had bought for the trip.  “I’ll be up for a bit, I can’t sleep until it get’s dark.”

“Trixie will stay up with Hally for a bit.  I’m not that tired yet anyway.”

With a nod, Sparks went to pull the curtain of his bunk closed.  “Alright, good night you two.”
“Goodnight.” Habanero said with a mouth full of fritter.

“Goodnight, Trixie loves you.”

“And Sparks loves you.”  With a smile, he pulled his curtain closed and settled in for the long trip.  Sparks knew he wouldn’t be getting much sleep.  Aside from the loud rumble of the train rolling down the tracks, he had to much else on his mind.  He had his usual jitters of worrying about the firework shoot.  This one was very special.  He wanted to really wow his parent’s and show them just how amazing his firework displays were.  

Then there were his worries about Trixie meeting his family.  He knew they were excited to meet her, but his family was one giant tangled web of dysfunction.  His mom; while was thrilled to be meeting Trixie, liked to jump to conclusions about things before they even happened.  His dad could be rude at times, though Trixie was a huge fan of his music.  Then there was his little sister, Flame.  He already knew that she would go out of her way to make things difficult right off the bat.  Why did she have to be so clingy with him…?  The unicorn let out a sigh, and tried to fall asleep to the clacking of the wheels rolling on the rails.

“That was really cute.” Habanero said with a smile.

“What was?” Trixie asked.  

“The way you and Sparks said I love you to each other, in the third pony.”

Trixie felt her cheeks flush.  “It’s just a habit of mine,” She exclaimed, “Trixie’s always talked in the third pony ever since she was a filly.  I try not to do it all the time though, it’s just second nature for me I suppose.”

Hally giggled.  “Well it’s cute.  Don’t ever stop doing it.”

The two girls sat silent for a moment until Habanero spoke up.  “Are you nervous about meeting Sparks parents?”

“A little.” Trixie admitted.  Sparks has been looking forward to seeing them again over the past couple of days.  I just want to make a good first impression.”

Hally leaned back against the wall of her bunk, “You should have nothing to worry about.  I’ve met them before, they’re all super nice, just stay on your hooves around Sparks little sister.  That filly has issues!”

“You’re going to make Trixie nervous if you tell me that.”

Habanero let out a small giggle.  “Sorry.  Just stay near Sparks and his mom and you’ll be fine.  Nova is super nice, you’ll really like her.”

Trixie looked out the window as the train sped through the rural farm lands on the outskirts of Ponyville.  The sky was all but dark by now.  “I hope so.” She thought to herself.  She wouldn’t admit it, but Trixie would have been lying if she had said that she wasn’t nervous.  Aside from meeting Sparks family, she had just hoped that her bad reputation didn’t follow her all the way out to Shimmerwood.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Hours had passed.  It was the middle of the night when Trixie was awoken by a sound that wasn’t coming from the train.  She heard the sound of hooves pacing back and forth.  She pulled her blanket off of herself and with a sleepy yawn pulled her bunks curtain back.  Down below she saw her pyro pony pacing back and forth.  “Sparks?” She asked with a yawn, “What’s wrong?”

He looked up, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” She told him as she hopped down out of her bunk, “What’s wrong?”

He let out a low sigh.  “Just got a lot on my mind right now.”

“Like what?”

“I’m just a little nervous about going back home I guess.”

Now with genuine concern, Trixie walked up to Sparks.  “Why?  Trixie thought you were excited about going back.”

“I am.” He admitted, “I’m just… just worried about you when you get there.”

“You’re still worried about Trixie meeting your family?”

Sparks sighed and sat down on the edge of his bunk.  “I just hope everything goes alright I guess.  Everypony’s excited to meet you, I just hope my family doesn’t scare you off.  They aren’t normal compared to other families.”

“Is that all you’re worried about?” She asked as she leaned in close to him.  “Sparks, don’t worry about it.  Trixie can handle herself in a crowd.  And trust me when I say that I’ve probably dealt with ponies much stranger than your family.  Besides, families that are normal are usually boring.”

“I just hope my sister isn’t ignorant to you.”  

“She’s the one that’s really attached to you?”

Sparks rolled his eyes, “Yeah! Way too attached!”

Trixie turned Sparks head so that he was facing her.  Her bewitching amethyst gaze had him instantly entranced.  She then gave him a comforting kiss.  “Sweetie, Trixie will still love you no matter what.  Don’t worry about all of these things that probably won’t even happen.  As long as Trixie’s by your side, Trixie won’t care what happens.”

He let out a sigh.  “Thank you.”

With a smile she said back, “Of course.”  The two embraced for a while, then Trixie calmly said, Why don’t you try and get some sleep.  We both have very busy days tomorrow.”

The two exchanged their good nights and both climbed back into their bunks.  Trixie’s words were a welcomed comfort, and Sparks felt his nerves slowly starting to ease.  He looked out of the window in his bunk as the world passed by.  He knew his family better than anypony.  Trixie was probably right and he was probably making a bigger deal out of all of this than he should be.  Still he wanted everything to be perfect when he introduced her to his family for the first time.

Sparks let out a sigh and forced himself to fall asleep.  The sun would be up soon, and Shimmerwood was fast approaching.