Foggy Nights burst through the door of his parents' home like he was on fire. He turned and bolted the door, then quickly cast a spell on it to make the door itself unseen. Outside, the door to his house 'blended in', making it appear as wall.
Foggy then ran upstairs to his old room to gather his things. He had moved out a year ago, but had kept many of his belongings there, just in case he needed to move back in. When he opened his door, he was greeted with a shriek as he nearly ran into his younger sister. The azure unicorn thrust him out of the room with a burst of magic into the hallway, where he slipped along the floor a few feet on his back.
"Trixie! What the devil are you doing in my room?!" He shouted and made to get back into his room. It had been magically sealed shut. Inside the room, he could hear Trixie shuffling about in a panicked frenzy.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know you would be coming home today, so I set up my magic studio! You know...for my magic shows..." He heard her voice trail off, and he sighed. He reached down with his horn and magically unsealed his sister's lock, then stepped into his room.
Trixie had hidden herself behind the far end of her brother's bed. She had on that stupid wizard's hat that he hated as she peered out at him, her hooves and chin propped on the edge of the bed. At twelve, she was ridiculously cute, as well as ridiculously annoying. Her older brother opened his closet, brought out a suitcase, and started piling his necessities into it, including some paperwork and photos, which included photos of random mares that looked to be around the ages fourteen to twenty. He made sure Trixie didn't see those.
"You're leaving again, huh?" His sister asked. Foggy rolled his eyes heavenward as he reached to grab the quilt from the bed itself and folded it as neatly as possible using his magic.
"Gee, do you think? Why are you in my room again? Why don't you use yours?"
"Well..." Trixie frowned and pulled her hat over her eyes so he wouldn't get annoyed by that lonely face he hated so much. "Mom and dad are busy at work so much, so...sometimes I come in here to practice. It's easier to pretend I have an audience that way..."
Foggy glared at his sister for a moment, then dropped what he was doing and stepped over to her, picked her up, and set her on his bed so he could look her level in the eyes. He wanted to tell her off, to yell at her like he usually did. But this time, he'd gotten himself into some serious trouble. Thing is, he might never get to see his annoying little sister again, or his parents, or his free life. The way he saw it, this was the last chance he'd ever have to do something good for his family.
"Trixie..." he said, looking into the eyes of the shyest little mare he'd ever seen. "Whatever you do in life, you've gotta do it so that everypony sees you for the great illusionist you are." Trixie stared at him with open eyes and mouth.
"...Are you really my brother? Why are you being so nice to me?"
Foggy glared at his sister and knocked on her head several times with a hoof. "Shut up and listen. We come from family of unicorns that deal in illusions. It's about time you stepped up your game and went from the 'greatly annoying Trixie' to something awesome. Something like..."
"The great and powerful Trixie?" she offered when he seemed tongue-tied.
He was silent for a moment, then a rare, genuine smile crept over his face. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like just the thing, kiddo! That's what you need! You've got yourself a stage name right there! Now, what you need to do is keep practicing, make it yours, and don't let anypony anywhere tell you that you're not great and powerful! Make them all see that the Lulamoon family is the best at what they do!"
Trixie stared at her brother with tears in her eyes. He'd never given her the time of day before, let alone encouraged her to do better at her meager skills. If he was being this nice, then he really was going away. She jumped and wrapped her forelegs around his neck, hugging for all she was worth if it meant keeping him around for a while longer. "Please..." She sniffled. "Don't go away! I need you to tell me these things now and then!"
Foggy sighed and reluctantly wrapped his arms around his sister and hugged her. After a moment, he reached over and pulled her hat that had fallen off when she hugged him, and slipped it onto her head. He held her out at arm's length and grinned at her. "Always remember, Trixie. You're a Lulamoon; you're gonna be the best at what you do. Go out there and knock 'em dead."
Trixie sat on her haunches as she watched her brother pick up his suitcase in a sheen of magic and leave the room, her life, and Canterlot, forever.
Spark Storm fumbled with the key to his new apartment. Moving out of the castle to get his own place was a new and exciting experience, he'd never had his own apartment before. As he turned the key, he felt Orea bouncing excitedly on his back. "Hurry! Open the door!" She said, her eyes wide and happy. This would be the first time she got to share a room with her 'father'.
Spark chuckled and stepped into a dark room. Spark stepped in and closed the door, blocking out the light from the street. At 9pm, it was very dark outside and inside. Neither Spark nor Orea required lights, so he left them off as he surveyed his new home. It was a bit like a large hotel room: The main room held his bed, along with a small makeshift kitchen. There was room to add a tv if he wanted, but he rarely watched anyway; living outside was much more exciting.
Orea suddenly came flying at him from the bathroom and skidded to a halt, then fell forward. Spark caught her and laughed as she pouted up at him. "Stop laughing! Carpet is...different."
Spark smiled down at the little nymph and fondly nuzzled her, a gesture she returned by grasping him around the neck and cuddling tightly against his chest. He sighed happily and dropped down into a sitting position and ran a hoof through her grassy mane. "You're growing up so fast. When did you start talking?"
Orea giggled as she put a hoof to her chin in a mock thoughtful position. "...Two weeks ago."
It had been three weeks, actually, since the day of the timberwolves. Since then, Spark Storm and Sapphire had gone on five dates, twice that week, once the next week and twice this week. Every last one of them had been perfect. No sudden drama, no fights, and no naughty business. They had gone sight-seeing, they had seen a film, they had gone out to eat. They had gone dancing. Spark wasn't so sure at first, but Sapphire had told him that it was like fighting, something he easily understood.
So after 'fighting' with Sapphire to get into the flow of things, Spark had proven himself as nearly as elegant at dancing as his girlfriend. The two had stolen the show at a rave once or twice, their movements so fast and so precise that a crowd gathered around them. The atmosphere had been thick and hot with body heat, and Sapphire had never found herself so turned on than when Spark pressed against her and moved her body for her. For the young teenagers, it had been a very exciting three weeks, full of discovery and thrills.
Of course, Celestia had seen fit to move the two a ways away from each other. She had given Spark and Sapphire both a talking to, and while Sapphire hadn't totally agreed to it, Spark had seen first hoof what getting too close too fast could do, and had agreed upon the arrangement. Spark's new apartment was across town from where Sapphire's was. It was actually kind of refreshing to have his own place so far away; it gave the both of them some time away from each other, and incentives to find something to do in their respective areas that they enjoyed separately.
For Spark, one of those things had been teaching Orea to speak using her voice and not with her mind, as Sohl could hear Orea's thoughts and feelings no matter how close or far away she was. While Sohl had proven herself as a competent caretaker for Orea, she was more of a solitary creature, and after swearing the both of her comrades to silence "under pain of death" of this fact, had returned to the Everfree forest surrounding the castle. This had provided Princess Celestia great relief.
Spark nudged his charge gently and stood, gently shooing Orea to let him up. "It's been a bit of a crazy month, kid. What do you say we get some sleep, then tomorrow we can go to the woods, get some wood, then we can come back here and give this place our own personal touch?"
Orea nodded happily before jumping up on the bed. Spark followed her and crawled under the sheets. He glanced at Orea before holding out a hoof. "C'mon." Orea hopped in place before jumping under the covers with Spark and huddling close for warmth. Spark wrapped her up in his forelegs and murmured a good night to her.
"I love you, daddy."
Spark smiled at the whispered words. He leaned down and lightly kissed they nymph's head and whispered, "I love you too, kiddo."
Spark flew at Lemon Pop. Their wings connected, thrashed and collided and pressed against each other, both vying for ground. The muscles in Lemon's shoulders and wings were impressive; she exercised them more, after all. But years of helping the Apple family on the farm proved to be too much for the strawberry-shaded pegasus and she had to pull back with a laugh. She rubbed at her back, rolling her shoulders. "Sparky, you've got some crazy wing strength! That actually hurt!"
Spark grinned at the praise and flapped his wings twice before folding them against himself. "You've gotten a lot stronger, Lemon. This wing training you've got going is really working!"
Lemon's wings twitched excitedly and she started bouncing around Spark happily. "Coming from you, that means a lot! Thanks, Sparky!" Suddenly spotting Flash Fire talking with Frostbite over in the corner of the training area, Lemon rushed over with a look on her face that meant she was detecting some juicy gossip material. Spark Storm rolled his eyes to the heavens, but watched with interest as Frostbite seemed to be refuting something Lemon was saying, a blush on his face.
Spark turned about face and started to back up as he saw Sapphire Snow running straight for him, a determined look on her face. Oh, here we go again, he thought to himself with a big grin on his face. As soon as Sapphire got within five feet of him she launched herself into the air and, wings pumping, dove right for his chest. He shot backward into the air, his own wings propelling him backwards. Unlike him though, Sapphire could fly. She flew faster and caught up to him.
Spark grinned with excitement as he sailed backwards. It was a thrill moving so fast without knowing where he was going. Sapphire suddenly flew around behind him and grabbed him around the waist, and hauled him down into the Everfree, the two of them disappearing into the forest.
Lemon, who had been watching, sighed and gave a shrug of her shoulders and shoved Frostbite lightly to get his attention. "Every time. You'd think they'd just say 'Oh hey, we're gonna go make out, don't wait up' or something."
Sapphire Snow laughed as she looked down at Spark Storm wrapped in her arms. She flew haphazardly through the trees, branches idly smacking both her and Spark Storm, as flying with his added weight wasn't easy. She smirked as she felt his wings start to twitch, tickling her belly. "Hey. You watch those wings, mister."
Spark grinned and starting wriggling his wings against Sapphire's belly, making her shriek with laughter, enough to loosen her hold. He slipped from her grasp and spread his wings, banking wide around a tree, barely missing it. Sapphire scoffed unappreciatively and hovered in place as she tried to find her boyfriend. "Not fair!" She called fruitlessly to the silence surrounding her. She hated it when he did this, he was impossible to find, he was just too good at hiding!
Sapphire flew down along the forest floor, hoping to catch a glimpse of Spark Storm. She had been searching quietly for him for nearly three minutes when something unusual caught her eye, something white among the green of the forest floor. She was about to head towards it when a mass of darkness grabbed her down to the ground. She struggled and threw a hoof at her would-be-abductor, who caught the hoof in his own and pressed his body to hers, a foreleg wrapping around her waist. After her panic passed and she recognized Spark, she leaned against him with relief.
After a moment, she glared at him questioning. Keeping silent, gestured for her to follow as he got back down to all fours and snuck slowly through the folliage to spy upon the white thing that she saw. Once they got close enough to it, they were shocked to see an odd creature that was familiar to Spark. At least, a little. It was a Changeling, but it had several glaring differences.
Spark glanced to the side as Sapphire looked at the creature in confusion. "Spark," she whispered just barely loud enough to hear him. "Isn't that a Changeling? I've read about them in your reports, but I thought they were...I dunno, darker."
There were several things about this Changelings that threw Spark off. First, it was alone. Second, it's combination of orange and white was so familiar. What bothered him most about this situation, though, was that it was wearing headphones. It was lying in the grass, wearing headphones, and appeared to be enjoying music.
"...Sapphire." Spark whispered, touching a hoof to her back. "I want you to go back without me." Spark gave Sapphire a confident smile at the incredulous stare she gave him. He put a hoof to her lips when she tried to refuse him his request. "Please. I can handle this, and...this might be something personal. It's kinda hard to explain, but..."
Sapphire narrowed her eyes at this. Oh great, just great. More secrets...No! You're working on this, remember? Trust is important to make this work. She sighed after her brief inner battle with herself was over. She looked up into his eyes and pulled him into a passionate kiss, then released him, turned, and wordlessly took into the air to return to the training grounds.
Now that he and the Changeling were alone, Spark could put his suspicions to the test. He slowly stepped from the brush, stalking the lone creature and making sure he could see none of it's brethren in the area. After securing the perimeter, Spark approached. When he was close enough, he raised his wings and set them alight with electricity, and then popped one of the phones out of creature's ear.
It promptly let out a shriek and hopped to it's feet at the intrusion. Upon seeing Spark standing in front of it, a look of recognition came over it's face. I knew it, Spark thought to himself. There was no way it could be anypony else, but he thought he'd have some fun with this situation before it could calm down. "So! You thought you could just barge into the woods behind Canterlot and plan your attack, did you?!"
The look on the Changeling's face turned from a look of wide-eyed wonder to horror. "What? Wait, no, I'm not here to-"
Spark Storm started to charge electricity in his wings, a new trick he'd been learning, the threads starting to grow in intensity and size, though this was just to intimidate the Changeling. "A likely story. Where's the rest of your brood?" Spark started to advance on the creature, who backed away in panic. "If you don't answer me I'll cook you in your shell!"
The Changeling's fight or flight instincts took over. He turned and ran for his life, leaving his media device behind on the forest floor. Spark reached down and flicked through the pony-friendly buttons until he found the 'now playing' list and saw 'Orbital'. Typical Anorax. He had some serious explaining to do.