Spark Storm made a face as Cheerilee finished packing his saddlebags, then slipped them on. He still didn't see why he had to pack so much water and food, it was only half a day's journey back to Canterlot by tree. Cheerilee grinned up at her younger brother, amused at his annoyance. "You're so fussy, Spark. You know you haven't changed at all."
Spark smiled down at his older sister. She really had gotten so pretty, and her colors, the plum of her fur, and the two shades of pink in her mane. He started to frown a bit as he could really see their mother in her. He looked down, unable to keep his eyes on her any longer. "Spark?" Cheerilee mirrored her brother's frown. She reached up to take his face in her hooves. "What is it?"
"You just..." his breath halted as he fought the tears trying to well up in his eyes. It was embarrassing to be caught getting emotional in front of his big sister. "...you look so much like mom." Spark's breath rose and fell, hitching quietly as he tried to keep the memories of their mother's death out of his head.
"Oh, Sparky..." Cheerilee whispered as she moved closer. She brought his head down to hers and pressed her forehead to his. "Shh..." Spark felt his resolve to not cry crumbling under his sister's comfort. It felt so much like their mother's, and though he had faced many things in the last three and a half years without her, he found that he still needed her.
Cheerilee lifted his face gingerly so he was looking at her. She smiled and wiped his tears away with a hoof, then leaned in a little closer and said quietly, sincerely, "She would be so proud of you Spark, especially for what you did for Ditzy. You're amazing, Sparky. All the love and courage that Mom had lives in you, and don't you ever doubt it." She drew him to her, hugging him tight and nuzzling his neck. Spark wrapped her up in his forelegs, trying desperately to still the emotions threatening to further spill his tears. "I love you, little brother," she whispered to him, spilling a couple tears herself.
"I love you, too..." Spark whispered, giving his sister a tight squeeze. The two remained in their embrace for several minutes. After a moment the two separated, both wishing they had more time to spend together. It had been a long three and a half years away from each other, with only a day or two inbetween having spent being together as a family.
"Y'all alright in there?" Applejack called from the kitchen, the sudden break in silence causing Cheerilee to jump. The cowmare chuckled as she, Big Mac, Ditzy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all stumbled out of the kitchen, having been eavesdropping. Spark Storm glowered at the ponies on the floor, but only because it was embarrassing to have his vulnerable side exposed. He blushed hotly and made to leave when he felt Cheerilee's hoof on his tail.
A single pleading look from his sister was all it took. Spark sighed and turned back to face his friends, all standing and giving him apologetic looks. "...Fine, fine. Get in here," he said, sitting on his haunches and opening his forelegs. Ditzy let out a squeak and got there first, hugging him tight with her head under his chin. The others followed suit, surrounding Spark with hugs and words of encouragement and love and friendship.
Finally, Spark was free to head out. With his saddlebags in tow, he took the long way around Ponyville, following Applejack's land until he came to the Everfree Forest, which he followed around until the road to Canterlot came in sight. Once on the road, however, Spark found Emerald Skies, Anorax, Lyra and Bon Bon standing at the crossroads leading from White Tail Woods, Canterlot, and the path leading back to the Bog. The four of them appeared to be arguing.
Spark sighed and wondered if it was too late to head into the trees and avoid this meeting, until Bon Bon spotted him and called out for him. She approached him at a run, visibly and audibly upset. "Spark Storm! You've gotta help me sort out this madness! Right now!" Bon Bon came to a halt before Spark, in her eyes a mix of anger and confusion.
"...What? What's going on, Bon Bon? Walk with me and tell me what's happening." Bon Bon sighed heavily as she turned and started walking with the pegasus. Spark hadn't gotten to know Bon Bon nearly as well as Lyra. The earth pony was the shyer of the pair, and usually opened up more when Lyra was around. The fact that she was coming to Spark with this problem was an indication of a problem with Lyra herself.
Now that she'd gotten Spark's attention, Bon Bon seemed less determined, and more shy. She pressed on though, her concern apparently strong enough to overcome her shy tendencies around the dark pegasus. "Well...Something's going on between Lyra and Emerald and she won't talk to me about it, so when she started talking about going to see you in Canterlot, I was totally surprised when she mentioned that Emerald Skies had something to do with it. I'm scared, Spark, I..." she stopped and turned to him, several degrees of pain and panic in her eyes. "...I think she's cheating on me," she whispered, angry, frustrated tears in her eyes.
Spark blinked in confusion at this sudden and strange confession. He was so not used to being the one that others confided their personal troubles on, especially not concerning these two. Well, three. He reached up and rested a hoof on Bon Bon's shoulder, a comforting gesture that she seemed to welcome. "Bon Bon, I've seen you two together since we were all kids. She's crazy about you, she always has been. I guess I haven't been around enough lately to really see what's going on, but I promise I'll do what I can to figure this out, ok?"
Bon Bon let out a sigh of relief, then leaned in and wrapped her forelegs around Spark, pulling him close before planting a kiss on his cheek. He blushed as she leaned in closer and whispered, "Thank you, Spark..." The pegasus stiffened, feeling very uncomfortable with the mare getting so close. After a moment she stepped away from him towards the small group, and noticed Lyra glowering at him. Suddenly, it made sense. Lyra was making Bon Bon jealous. Bon Bon was going to make this difficult by making Lyra jealous right back.
Spark frowned and crept closer to the four mismatched ponies. There was the confused/confusing lesbian couple, the pegasus that one of the lesbians was confused about, and the pegasus that was secretly a Halfling. Count the pegasus who can't fly, was adopted by an earth pony family and could create electricity and it made for a very, very mismatched group of ponies.
As the four ponies noticed Spark approaching, their arguing ceased. For every last one of them, Spark was the one pony that could fix this whole situation...whatever it was. "All right, spit it out. Why are you all here, and what does it have to do with me?" he asked, his tone clearly indicating he wanted the truth.
The four ponies all glanced at each other. They all had their own reasons, but Anorax seemed the only one that wasn't hiding something. "Uh, personally I'm headed to Canterlot to help set up your girlfriend's birthday party..." He glanced at his three friends, giving them all expectant glances. Lyra was the next to go.
"I'm helping," she said. She activated her magic and reached into her saddlebags, producing a case. She opened said case and revealed the same instrument on her flanks, a lyre. "I'll be playing this along with Anorax's music buddies. We've got something really special planned!" she said while bouncing excitedly. Ok, that explains Anorax, Lyra and Bon Bon, but...what is Emerald doing here? Spark thought. He turned his head to stare at Emerald, a glare actually. Was he seeing Lyra behind Bon Bon's back? He didn't seem the type. He sighed and started walking off to the side, and motioned for the green pegasus to follow.
Once they were alone, Spark leaned over Emerald, making the smaller pegasus lean back until he was sitting. The way Spark was glaring at him was an indication of anger, and while Emerald usually had his own share of bravado, today it wasn't working. "All right, come clean. What's going on between you and Lyra? Bon Bon thinks you're involved with her girlfriend!"
Emerald, suddenly emboldened, pushed back against Spark's forehead. Lyra was a sensitive subject with the green pegasus, and he wouldn't be pushed around the subject. "I hardly think that's any of your business, Spark! And while I'll not grant you the satisfaction of hearing the truth, I will tell you that's not why I'm coming to Canterlot with this group. I'm coming because I want to keep an eye on Lyra. She's come in to some forbidden magic, and I don't want to see her get in trouble!"
Spark narrowed his eyes at the smaller pegasus. It didn't help matters that Emerald was being uncooperative about Lyra, but he had to admire Emerald's bravado. While bookish and not much of a fighter, Emerald had a lot of heart and wasn't easily cowed into fear. Spark finally leaned back and brought a hoof to his face. "So you may or may not be involved with Lyra behind Bon Bon's back thus breaking her heart, but you are following Lyra to Canterlot to make sure she doesn't get caught casting some forbidden spells?"
Emerald flinched at the way Spark described his relationship to Lyra. "...Don't say it like that..."
Spark narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Well, what is it? Are you or are you not helping Lyra to cheat on her girlfriend? Or would you like me to sugarcoat that for you?" Emerald continued to look more and more uncomfortable as Spark started to circle him like a predator, the dark pegasi's eyes shining with anger. "I'll tell you right now, Emerald, you three can continue with this stupid drama all you want, but don't you lie to me about it! Are you seeing Lyra or not?!"
"No, all right?!" Emerald nearly shouted, then planted his hooves on his face and groaned. "I certainly wish it was the other way around, but it's not! She told me herself that she isn't interested in me, or boys in general. I have no idea why Bon Bon might think we're cheating on her, I swear."
Spark sighed, coming to stand in front of Emerald and resting a comforting hoof on his friend's shoulder. "That clears things up then. Sorry, buddy. So...what kind of spells are we talking about? How did you find this out?"
Emerald sighed heavily. He'd been hoping he wouldn't have to explain this to anypony, but it'd be good to tell somepony. "She got her hooves on a magical reference book, a book that I'd been studying. It's written in an old language that's been forgotten in Equestria. You know, good old translation ability. Well, Lyra came into the library earlier this year, and she saw the book. She told me she just wanted to sketch the creatures inside it - humans, I guess. That's where the book comes from. Human spells." Noticing the look on Spark's face, Emerald shrugged. "I couldn't tell you what they are, I just know they're not in Equestria anymore. But...your friend Sohl greatly resembles them."
Spark tilted his head in thought as he went over what Emerald told him. "Wait a second," he said, his tone slightly accusing. "When did you meet Sohl?"
Emerald blushed and looked away. "Uh...Lyra told me. In great detail. She's really excited about it..."
Spark narrowed his eyes a bit. "So you're hanging out with Lyra a lot and sharing secrets, but you're not seeing her. Way to make this more complicated than it needs to be." Emerald shot his own angered look back at Spark. The two old friends stared at each other for a moment before Spark broke the glare and sighed, planting a hoof on his face. "Okay, okay. So that catches me up, even if it just gives me more questions..." he mused, mostly to himself. After a moment he shrugged and prodded Emerald back towards the group. "Come on. We might as well start heading back."
While the two had talked, Anorax had taken out his music device and popped in his headphones, while Lyra and Bon Bon had taken to talking while snuggled close. From the way those two behaved, you wouldn't think they were having relationship problems. Spark was about to call them to attention when he saw a pegasus flying towards the group at high speed. He squinted to see if it was somepony he knew, then groaned and lowered his head in defeat. Why now? he thought, and braced himself for impact.
Anorax, Emerald, Lyra and Bon Bon all watched as the pegasus, dark blue like Spark but with grassy (yes, grassy) green wings, mouth and mane tackled Spark Storm, landing the two in a heap of groaning, giggling happiness. "Daddy!" the little one shrieked as she nuzzled Spark, her hooves wrapped around his neck. "I sensed you were coming home, so I came to meet you! What took you so long?!"
The two stallions and two mares stared at Spark, eyes wide, every last mouth hanging open in shock. Finally, a look of anger shone in Emerald's eyes. 'And you accuse me of keeping secrets?' seemed to be the look in the green pegasi's eyes. Even Anorax had a similar look. Spark chuckled apologetically at the two, then stood with Orea holding on to his neck until she jumped up on his back and huddled between his wings. "Uh...gang? Say hello to Orea, my uh...f-for lack of a better word, my kid."