Airwave and Vinyl hurried backstage. Vinyl glanced around for Sparkler, and true to Airwave’s claims, she was nowhere to be found. She turned back to Airwave. “What do you mean she bailed? What happened that made her leave?”
Airwave shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly. As far as I could tell she had a panic attack.”
Vinyl groaned and turned to the other ponies in the area. “Anypony know what happened to Sparkler?”
“Well...she started backing up against the wall a few minutes ago...” One pony said.
Another nodded. “And started telling somepony to stop, even though nopony was doing anything to her...”
“And she said something about eggs.”
Vinyl sighed. “Something got to her and made her bail. We need to get Twilight on the case. As for the show...” She glanced around until she found Octavia. “Tavi! You're up!”
Octavia raised an eyebrow. “What about Sparkler?”
Vinyl sighed. “I’ll move her to the last spot and if she’s not back by then, oh well.” She lit her horn and magically flipped down the mic to address the crowd.
Meanwhile, within the crowd itself, Twilight and her friends were confused. “Sparkler bailed? Seriously?”
“Now why in tarnation would she do that?”
“She acted like she was looking forward to this.”
Twilight’s mind raced. Sparkler had bailed on them at the last minute, what could’ve caused her to do that? She looked up and saw Flappy fly off towards town, and it came to her. Sparkler’s fear of the past got to her. Sparkler...
Right then, everypony heard the mic boom and Vinyl’s voice came through. “Ahem. Attention everypony. We’re experiencing some...technical difficulties concerning our third act of the night. We’re going to try to resolve it. In the meantime. Please welcome the musical stylings of the fabulous Octavia Melody! Also, can Princess Twilight please proceed backstage? Thanks.” As Octavia walked out on stage and started playing her violin, Twilight nodded and spread her wings.
She turned to her friends. “I’m gonna go see what happened to Sparkler. I’ll be back in a few.”
...
Vinyl paced back and forth backstage. After a moment, she heard a door open and saw Twilight enter. She smiled. “Twilight. Thank Celestia.”
Twilight got right to the point. “Vinyl, what happened to Sparkler?”
Vinyl shrugged. “I don’t know. Airwave says she was having a panic attack, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense because she was saying some crazy things.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What crazy things?”
“She kept telling somepony to stop laughing, even though nopony was.” Vinyl replied. “And she said something about eggs. I don’t know man it was weird.”
Twilight nodded. Her past came back to bite her. She sighed. “Look, Vinyl, is there any way you could—“
Vinyl cut her off. “I already moved her to the last spot in the roster. But she has until I call her name next to get back here.”
Twilight nodded. “Thanks Vinyl.”
Vinyl nodded. “Hey, things happen. Thank Faust shows like this are flexible and changes can be made on the spot.”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah.”
Vinyl nodded and walked off. Twilight glanced over to Airwave, who had walked over to her. “Twilight, it wasn’t stage fright. It was something much worse.”
Twilight nodded. “I know.” She sighed before nodding. “We need to find her. We can’t let her miss her chance.”
Airwave nodded. “We don’t even know where she went.”
Twilight nodded. “But we can make a good guess. I’ll stop by her house and check there after I get my friends in on the search. You can Horn Pulse correct?”
Airwave nodded. “Yes.”
Twilight nodded. “Update me on the show status periodically. Like I said. We can’t let Sparkler miss this chance.”
..
Twilight landed near her friends a moment later. She walked over to them, to see a pair of ponies talking to them. She cleared her throat to get their attention. “Guys, we need to split up and find Sparkler.”
Rarity glanced over to Twilight and smiled. “Twilight. Your back. Good.” She gestured towards the two new ponies. “This is Thundercracker and Aurora, Sparkler’s parents.”
Aurora nodded as she studied Twilight. “Are you Twilight?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes. I am. Nice to meet you two.”
Thundercracker nodded. “Have you heard anything from Sparkler?”
Twilight shook her head. “No I haven’t. I’m gonna go pay a visit to her house and see if she’s there.”
Aurora nodded. “We’ll head there too.”
Twilight nodded. “Right.” She turned to her other friends. “The rest of you comb Ponyville for her. Anypony finds her, tell her to send out a wide band Pulse with her location—“ Twilight stopped when she realized something. She glanced around, and noticed a severe lack of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. “Where did the princesses go?”
...
Flappy soared through the sky above Ponyville, heading straight for the house. I can’t believe it. She chickened out again. Will this nightmare ever end for her? He spotted the house and dived down. He slowed down to a hover when he reached the second level’s altitude. Please let Sparkler be here. He dove further and flew through the little access hole Sparkler made for him in the front door. He stopped in the living room. “Squawk! Sparkler? You here? Squawk!” He glanced around the living room until he found what he was looking for. Sparkler was laying on the couch, crying. “Squawk! Sparkler! Squawk!” Flappy quickly flew to the couch and landed in front of her head, which was buried in her forelegs. Flappy watched for a second as Sparkler continued to sob before speaking up. “Squawk! Hey, Sparkler. Please don’t cry. It’s gonna be ok. Squawk!”
Sparkler’s sobbing eased away as she slowly lifted her head to look at Flappy. “I blew it. I blew it Flappy. Again.” She cried.
Flappy shook her head. “Squawk! Hey, come on. There’s still time. I’m sure if you just go back now and explain it to Vinyl—“
“No!” Sparkler suddenly exploded. “Don’t you get it Flappy? No matter how hard I try, I’m never going to be able to come out with my wings. Doomed to always chicken out at the last minute. Asking Twilight which way she swings, this. I’ll forever be trapped in this woolly closet of my own making. And there’s nothing I can do about it!” She went back to sobbing. “Maybe everypony was right back in Saddle Arabia. I’m nothing but a horned chicken.”
Flappy gasped. Sparkler did NOT just say what he thought she just said. “Squawk! Sparkler! Don’t you dare agree with those brainless idiots! You aren’t a horned chicken! Squawk!”
Sparkler’s sobbing slowed down as she looked Flappy right in the eye. “I’m not? Then why am I here vs out there singing Flappy? Why am I hiding like a coward instead of coming out like I was supposed to? HUH FLAPPY? WHY—“ Sparkler immediately covered her mouth as both her’s and Flappy’s eyes widened in shock. Sparkler did not mean to be that loud.
Flappy raised an eyebrow. “Squawk! Sparkler? You ok? Squawk!”
“I DON’T—“ Sparkler covered her mouth back up as tears resumed coming out. What the Tartarus was happening to her? She DEFINITELY didn’t mean to shout that time. She glanced around and saw a pad of paper and a pen. She quickly summoned them to her and began writing.
“Flappy, what’s happening to me?”
Flappy shrugged. “Squawk! I don’t know. You’ve never reached that volume before. And you’ve certainly never been STUCK on it before. Squawk!” His mind raced with ideas in what to do. He nodded at one of them. “Squawk! We need to find Twilight. Maybe she has an answer. Squawk!”
Sparkler shook her head and wrote.
“No! If I’m stuck on this loud volume than I can’t risk going back out there. If on the off chance that this is an Alicorn thing...I can’t risk ponies finding out like this.”
Flappy sighed. “Squawk! How about Horn Pulsing her to come here? Squawk!”
Sparkler shook her head and wrote.
“I’ve tried to do that to apologize to her, but I can’t seem to get a confirmation that it was sent, like my magic won’t work.”
Flappy sighed. “Squawk! Well we need to try SOMETHING. Squawk!”
“Perhaps I can be of assistance?” Flappy and Sparkler jumped at the new voice, and noticed a bright light appear beside them. They turned as the light dimmed, and their fur and feathers stood on ends when they saw not only princess Luna standing there, but also.
“PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Sparkler accidentally shouted. She covered her mouth again, and without even thinking, pulled the blanket that was on the couch over her and curled up in a ball, visibly trembling in fear.
Flappy and the princesses looked at the cowering pony under the blanket and then glanced at each other before Flappy spoke up. “Squawk! Please excuse Sparkler your majesties, tonight just isn’t her night. Squawk!”
Celestia nodded. “It would seem so.”
Luna approached the couch and got down on her haunches to get down to Sparkler’s level. “Sparkler.” She cooed as she leaned in and gently nuzzled the ball that was Sparkler under the blanket. Making the trembling mare freeze solid. “I have a solution to your Royal Canterlot Voice going AWOL.”
Flappy raised an eyebrow. “Squawk! Her royal what now? Squawk!”
“Her Royal Canterlot Voice.” Celestia explained. “It is an ability exclusive to Alicorns. It enables the user to project their voice far beyond the level of an average pony.”
The minute her ears picked up the word Alicorn, Sparkler became even more terrified. If Celestia knew what that increased shouting was, and if she heard her...
Luna nodded. “I can temporarily disable the RCV so that Sparkler will be back to her usual volume.” She turned her attention back to Sparkler under the blanket. “All I need is to touch my horn to yours Sparkler.”
For a moment, nothing happened, and then Luna noticed a paper float up to her with words on it.
“You can really disable it?”
Luna smiled and nodded. “Yes. And I can keep it disabled until you’ve learned to control it on your own.”
The paper flipped over and a new message was written.
“Will it hurt?”
Luna giggled and shook her head. “All you will feel is the tingle of a Horn Pulse. You can trust me Sparkler.”
For a moment, nothing happened, nopony moved or made a sound, then, Sparkler slowly rose to a sitting position and let the blanket slide off her. Luna gave her a reassuring smile and lit her horn. Sparkler nodded and lowered her head to give Luna access to her horn. Luna leaned in and touched their horns together. A spark erupted from the contact, and Sparkler indeed felt the familiar tingle of a Horn Pulse. After a second, Luna backed away and smiled. “There we go. You can talk normally again.”
Sparkler nodded, but hesitated to test it. Considering she was probably already in hot water with Celestia, she REALLY didn’t want to yell at her on accident, again.
Flappy studied Sparkler. “Squawk! Did it work Sparkler? Squawk!”
Sparkler gulped, opened her mouth, and said the first thing that came to mind. “I’m sorry.” She winced, expecting a loud voice to come out, but instead it was the barely-above-a-whisper that she intended.
Flappy smiled and sighed in relief. “Squawk! It worked! Squawk!” He turned to Luna. “Squawk! Thanks princess. Squawk!”
Luna nodded as she got back on her hooves. “Any time.”
Sparkler nodded as she quietly began sobbing again, without her even thinking, she lit her horn and in a quick pulse, her sweater disappeared and her wings spread out before folding back up again along her sides. “I’m sorry.” She said between sobs. This was it, Celestia knew she was an Alicorn, and it was yet another case of her being too scared to say it up front, the pony had to discover the truth through a mishap. “I’m sorry.” Was all she could manage as Sparkler continued to cry, and wait for the berating that she knew was coming.
Luna bit her lip and glanced over to her sister, who didn’t have any signs of anger in her expression. Celestia looked at the distraught mare with concern. She’s expecting me to berate her, or worse. For a moment, nopony made a move, then, Celestia approached the couch, sat down on her rump, and reached out to wrap her forelegs around Sparkler.
Sparkler felt the forelegs wrap around her and pull her into an embrace, but she was shocked when that embrace wasn’t out of anything but...concern?! Sparkler opened her eyes and glanced at the pony hugging her. “P-princess?”
“Shhh.” Celestia soothed her, trying to calm her down. “It’ll be ok Sparkler. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Sparkler was shocked. Here she was expecting Celestia to berate her for knowingly deceiving her, and instead Celestia was COMFORTING her?! “You...you aren’t furious with me?!”
Celestia shook her head as Sparkler backed out of the hug, and wiped the tears off her face. “No Sparkler. I am not.”
“Bu-but.” Sparkler stammered. “But, why? I’ve been hiding the fact that I’m an Alicorn from everypony for months. The only reason you found out was because of my RCV going AWOL on me...how are you not MAD at me right now for hiding something like this?!”
“Because I have known all along what you really are Sparkler.” Celestia replied simply.
Celestia’s reply sank in and Sparkler’s and Luna’s jaws dropped while Flappy gasped in surprise. “Squawk! You WHAT NOW?! Squawk!”
Celestia nodded. “Yes. It is true. I have known from the moment Sparkler set hoof in Equestria that she was an Alicorn.”
Sparkler’s brain was firing on all cylinders, and even then, it was barely managing to keep from shutting down completely, rendering Sparkler completely frozen in absolute shock. Celestia knew ALL ALONG?! What the actual hay!
Nopony moved or made a sound for a good moment, at that moment, there was a knock on the door, followed by a familiar voice. “Sparkler? You in there? It’s Twilight. Please open up.”
Flappy shook himself out of his shock and flew to the door and opened it, he narrowly avoided being squished by the door as Twilight pushed her way through and rushed into the house. Frantically looking for Sparkler. “Sparkler, you in here?” She turned her head and saw Sparkler on the couch. “Sparkler!” She rushed over to the couch, hopped onto it, and immediately pulled Sparkler in for a hug. “Sparkler, are you OK? What happened back there?” When Sparkler didn’t respond, or make any indication that she had heard Twilight, Twilight got really worried as she let go of Sparkler. “Sparkler?” She tried to get a response, but nothing.
Luna cleared her throat. “I believe Celestia broke Sparkler Twilight.”
Twilight jumped at that voice, and turned to FINALLY notice that princesses Celestia and Luna were there. “Luna, Celestia!” She exclaimed. “This is where you two went off...hang on a second, CELESTIA broke Sparkler Luna?”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! Celestia’s known all along that Sparkler is an Alicorn. From the day Sparkler crossed into Equestria from Saddle Arabia. Squawk!”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. “What?! Seriously?!”
Celestia nodded. “Yes Twilight. I have known the truth all along.”
Twilight stammered as she looked between Sparkler and the princesses. Trying to make some sense of it. “How?! You’ve never met Sparkler before tonight...have you?”
Celestia nodded. “Yes. Today marks the first time Sparkler and I have crossed paths. Once our friend awakens from her shock, I shall explain how.”
Flappy sighed. “Squawk! Then let’s get her back. This will be but a moment.” He got right in front of Sparkler and started singing.
🎵You always got a friend
Always got a friend
Always got a friend in me
I always got a friend
Always got a friend
Always got a friend in you too🎵
Almost immediately, Sparkler responded by continuing the song.
🎵 You always got a friend
Always got a friend
Always got a friend in me
I always got a friend
Always got a friend🎵
Sparkler and Flappy sang the last bit together.
🎵That’s the way it’s gonna be🎵
Sparkler shook her head, as if coming out of a trance, and blinked. She raised an eyebrow. “What? What happened? What did I miss?” She turned to see Twilight sitting next to her. “Twilight? When did you get here?”
“Squawk! Celestia knew all along that you’re an Alicorn. Squawk!” Flappy replied.
Sparkler gasped. “She WHAT?!”
Luna nodded. “Yes Sparkler. Apparently your secret has not been a secret to Celestia.”
Sparkler stammered. “B-b-but how?!”
“It is a trick I learned around the time Cadance ascended to Alicornhood. It enables me to pinpoint any Alicorn within Equestria’s borders by sensing the unique properties only found in Alicorn magical signatures. An Alicorn Sense if you will.”
Sparkler’s and Twilight’s jaws dropped. Sparkler triggered a SENSE?! Sparkler shook her head. “So not only did you know I was an Alicorn this entire time, but you knew EXACTLY where I was at all times?!”
Celestia nodded. “That is partially true. I did know where you were at all times, however, I only learned of your exact identity when stories of your abilities reached Canterlot, through talk and through Twilight’s letters. First of which, the Bugbear incident.”
Sparkler’s eye twitched as she instinctively turned to glare at Twilight, who raised her hooves in defense. “Hey, don’t give me that look, I only mentioned that I made a new friend who helped defeat a Bugbear. Celestia never questioned it.”
Flappy shook his head before glaring up at Celestia. “Squawk! So you knew this whole time there was an Alicorn roaming Equestria, knew her exact location, and yet when you noticed her signature stop at Ponyville, you didn’t send any guards after her? Squawk!”
Sparkler and Twilight gasped. Flappy had a point. Celestia chuckled. “Don’t misunderstand. An Alicorn can do a lot of damage if left unchecked. I did initially send an agent to keep an eye on things, with orders to report any incidents involving any unknown Alicorns.” She turned her attention back to Sparkler. “But as I learned more about you through rumors of your musical talent, and through Twilight’s tales. I determined that you do not pose a threat Sparkler.”
Sparkler nodded. “I’d never turn my magic on anypony your majesty.”
Celestia nodded. “Although...one thing is still unclear to me. Why HAVE you opted to hide your wings Sparkler?”
Sparkler sighed. “The same reason I bailed out of the Music Festival tonight. Because I was afraid my past would repeat itself. Growing up in Saddle Arabia, I was constantly singled out and picked on by my peers in school.”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! They constantly pelted eggs at her, and called her chicken related names. It was absolutely disgusting. Squawk!”
Celestia’s eyes widened. “Why did they pick on you?”
Sparkler shrugged. “I don’t know.” Sparkler sniffled as her eyes began to glisten. “All I would ever do is be nice to everypony and try to offer my hoof in friendship. Only Flappy ever actually accepted it.”
All eyes turned to Flappy, who shook his head. “Squawk! It’s true. Everypony else just treated her like trash. And to this day we STILL don’t know why. Squawk!”
Sparkler nodded. “So when I moved here, I opted to just hide my wings under sweaters thinking that if I just pretended like they didn’t exist, I might finally make friends.”
Twilight noticed her friend on the verge of crying and pulled her into an embrace. “It’s OK Sparkler.” She cooed. “It won’t happen again.”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed Sparkler. I am confident that you can be yourself here.”
Sparkler shook her head as she backed away from Twilight’s embrace. “Everypony that knows the truth has been saying that since Twilight found out about my wings, your majesty. And it’s not enough. I’m too paranoid that any acceptance on the mass could just be a ruse.” Her ears fell as she lowered her voice. “Just like before.”
Twilight, being the only pony who heard that, raised an eyebrow. “Just like before?”
Sparkler shook her head. “I don’t want to go into that right now. Please, don’t make me.”
Twilight nodded. “Alright. You don’t have to say anything. But I stand by my claim that you don’t have anything to worry about. Ponyville isn’t Saddle Arabia.”
Sparkler nodded. Twilight gave her a reassuring smile. “Hey, have I ever steered you wrong before?”
Sparkler quickly scanned through her memory before shaking her head, turning to look at Twilight. “No. You haven’t.”
Twilight nodded. “Then why not trust me now? When you think about it, two Alicorns living here is mute compared to the other things Ponyville’s seen in recent years.”
Celestia nodded. “She does have a point.”
Sparkler thought back to the stories she had been told about the consequences of Ponyville being in close proximity to the Everfree Forest. Twilight had a point. One more Alicorn in town didn’t sound like a big deal compared to some of the monsters that came through. After a moment, she smiled...for the first time since she had a panic attack at the Music Festival. “I guess you’re right. One more Alicorn doesn’t seem that big a deal around here.”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! And if they can live with Twilight living here. You should have no problems. Squawk!”
Sparkler nodded. “You’re right.” She hopped off the couch. “I’ve been cowering behind this sweater for long enough. It’s time to finally shed this Unicorn fur, and start embracing my Alicorn wings.”
Flappy let out a woot woot, Celestia and Luna nodded in approval, and Sparkler turned back to Twilight and gave her a big smile. “Thank you Twilight. I really needed to hear that.”
Twilight nodded as she hopped off the couch and let Sparkler pull her into an embrace. “I wouldn’t be a very good friend if I didn’t help you face your fears now would I.”
At that moment, there was a knocking on the door. Followed by a very concerned voice. “Sparkler? It’s mommy and daddy! You in there Sparky?”
Sparkler blushed like mad when her mother used that nickname. Twilight snickered. “Sparky?”
Sparkler shook her head as she glared at Twilight. “You heard nothing.”
Twilight smiled and sighed. “I heard nothing.”
Sparkler nodded, trotted up to the door, and opened it. Only to be immediately rushed as her parents pulled her into an embrace. “Sparkler! Are you ok?”
Sparkler winced as her mother tightened her grip on her, making it hard to breath. “Yes mom. I’m fine. But...loosen your grip! Gah!”
Aurora immediately backed off. “Oh, sorry.”
Sparkler nodded. “It’s fine.”
“You gave us a scare back at the Festival kiddo. What happened?” Thundercracker asked as Sparkler let them in.
“I had a panic attack backstage. The past paid me a visit and...taunted me.”
Aurora sighed. “And you worked so hard to prepare for tonight.”
Twilight cleared her throat. “There IS still time. Airwave’s been Horn Pulsing me with updates on show progress and Vinyl has Sparkler going last now.”
Sparkler smiled and nodded. “Good. Then I didn’t blow it yet.” She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded. “Ok. I’m ready.”
Twilight smiled. “You sure Sparkler?”
Sparkler nodded. “Like I said. It’s time to shed this Unicorn fur—“ She lit her horn and her sweater popped back on her. Covering her wings. Hopefully for the second to last time. “—and embrace my Alicorn wings.”
Celestia and Luna nodded. “Then we shall see you at the Festival.”
“Break a leg, as they say Sparkling Medley.”
With that, there was a bright flash and Celestia and Luna vanished. Sparkler nodded. “Right.” She turned to Twilight. “Are our friends out looking for me?”
Twilight shook her head. “I Horn Pulsed Rarity to tell her that I found you. So assuming she’s found everypony by now, they’re all waiting in the plaza for us.”
Sparkler nodded and turned to her parents and Flappy. “You all go ahead back to the Festival. Twilight and I’ll meet up with the gang.”
Flappy shook his head. “Squawk! I’m staying with you if you don’t mind. Squawk!”
Sparkler giggled. “Flappy, you can go on back to Philomena. I’ll be fine.”
Flappy blushed a little, then shook his head as he took off. “Squawk! Fine. But if you bail on us again. I’ll find you. Squawk!”
Sparkler nodded. “I’ll be counting on it.”
Flappy nodded as he and Aurora and Thundercracker left. Sparkler turned to Twilight. “Hey Twi. If you had to gauge the reaction of our friends...”
Twilight chuckled. “They’ll probably think you’re a princess at first. After that...my hope is that they’ll accept you.”
Sparkler nodded. “I hope so. I’ll tell them when we get to the plaza.”
Twilight bit her lip. “You sure?”
Sparkler nodded. “I once lied to Rainbow explaining how I got onto a cloud, I denied Rarity the chance to make me a new outfit, Pinkie I know is itching to throw me a party for coming out, Fluttershy and Applejack...admittedly it wasn’t anything specific, but still, there shouldn’t be any secrets between friends, especially secrets like this.”
Twilight nodded after a moment. “Well then let’s go. Like I said, you still have time but that won’t last forever.”
Sparkler nodded as they headed out the door. “Right.”
...
In the plaza, the Mane 6 had regrouped after Rainbow and Rarity had told them that Sparkler had been found. Rainbow and Fluttershy landed. “Any sign of them?”
Rarity shook her head. “Nope. Hopefully they’ll be here soon.”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah! Especially since Sparkler needs to get back to the Music Festival so she can do something really really important and finally be happy!”
Her four friends all stared at her in confusion. Applejack scratched her head. “Pinkie Pie, what in tarnation are you talking about? Sparkler’s always happy.”
Pinkie shook her head. “Sure she LOOKS happy whenever we see her, but under that smile is a wounded soul that will be healed tonight!”
Her friends continued to stare at her. “Pinkie, darling, are you feeling ok? Because you don’t seem like yourself?”
Pinkie nodded. “I’m fine and dandy Rarity.” She turned her head to see Twilight and Sparkler walking towards them. She beamed. “Look! It’s them!”
Everypony turned to see their two friends and smiled. “Twilight! Sparkler!” They all exclaimed as they ran up to meet them.
“Sparkler. Thank Celestia Twilight found you!”
“What happened back there darling?”
“Why’d you go and bail on us like that sugarcube?”
“You looked like you were really looking forward to your performance.”
“What happened Sparks?”
Sparkler sighed. “What happened was I had a panic attack and bailed because I couldn’t face my fears.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Couldn’t face your fears? You ain’t talking about stage fright because you’ve been on stage before.”
Sparkler nodded. “Yes. It wasn’t stage fright. It was something else.”
Applejack saw the worried look on Sparkler’s face and offered her an encouraging smile. “Sugarcube, if something’s wrong you can tell us. We’ll listen.”
The others nodded and voiced their agreement. Sparkler sighed. This was it. “Girls. I have a confession to make...i haven’t been honest with you about myself. I’m NOT a Unicorn like you think I am.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean darling?”
Sparkler lit her horn. “I mean I’m more than a Unicorn.” She squeezed her eyes shut and pulsed her horn, and her sweater disappeared. Allowing her wings to spread out in all their glory.
Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow gasped at the sight before them, while Pinkie just beamed and started planning a party in her head.
Sparkler opened her eyes again to see the shocked expressions of most of her friends that had remained in the dark until now. She nodded. “Yeah. You all aren’t seeing things. I’m really an Alicorn.”
For a good moment, nopony moved, nopony said a word, it was total silence. This silence, Sparkler was growing to hate, because it likely meant that history was about to repeat itself. By Celestia PLEASE let this just be because they’re speechless!
At that moment, the silence was finally broken as Applejack smiled warmly at Sparkler. “Is that all sugarcube?”
Sparkler’s eyes widened as the others also began smiling warmly at her. Not knowing what else to do, she nodded. Rainbow smiled. “That is...”
Sparkler’s breath hitched in her throat as her mind raced on what Rainbow was about to say. This is it, here comes the ridicule...
“SO AWESOME!” Sparkler’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Did Rainbow just say the word awesome?!
Rarity giggled. “Now it makes sense why you keep refusing my offer to design you a new outfit darling. You were trying to hide your wings this whole time.”
Sparkler finally found it in herself to close her mouth as she nodded. “Next time you ask...You’ll get a different answer.”
Applejack chuckled. “Well I’ll be. You’re really an Alicorn. Heh, sure had me going. I never got the sense you weren’t being honest.”
Pinkie smiled and bounced around Sparkler. “Not me! I knew all along that you were an Alicorn. I told you so Twilight. I told you she was an Alicorn.”
Twilight chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Yes Pinkie. You were right all along.”
Rainbow chuckled. “Now it makes sense how you got on that cloud that one day Soarin and I caught you. You didn’t teleport and use a cloud walking spell, you flew.”
Sparkler, still not entirely at ease with all this positivity, nodded. “I actually CAN teleport onto a cloud when I need to...flying’s just easier.”
Rainbow chuckled. “Well now I just HAVE to see how you handle the air. How good of a flyer are you?”
Sparkler chuckled. “I’d say I’m a decent flyer, we’ll go flying sometime.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Uhm, excuse me Sparkler, but, Uhm, if you don’t mind me asking...why would you try to hide your wings? You know we’d never make fun of you right?”
Sparkler’s smile faded as her ears drooped. “Actually ‘shy, I didn’t trust that you wouldn’t make fun of me.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t trust us? What’s that supposed to mean Sparkler?”
Sparkler was about to answer, but then Pinkie Pie spoke up. “Well duh! Sparkler hid her wings because back in Saddle Arabia everypony made fun of her and was really really mean to her and the only friend she ever made before coming here was Flappy and she was afraid we’d make fun of her and be really really mean to her too so she decided to pass for a Unicorn to avoid being hurt like that again.”
Sparkler’s jaw dropped as Pinkie finished her 100% accurate explanation, the others just stared at Pinkie in disbelief. What the hay?!
Twilight was the first to come back from her shock. “How the hay do you KNOW that Pinkie?!”
Pinkie laughed. “Pinkie sense!”
Rarity shook herself out of her own shock and looked at Sparkler. “Darling, surely what pinkie just said isn’t true.”
Much to everypony’s surprise, Sparkler nodded. “I-it’s true. All of what pinkie just said. I was picked on all throughout school and couldn’t handle that again.” Pinkie Sense my flanks! She HAD to have been listening in on me whenever I would talk about it. That’s literally the ONLY possible explanation!
Fluttershy just burst out crying and rushed Sparkler in a tight embrace. Surprising the Alicorn. “Oh Sparkler! That’s just awful!”
Applejack nodded as she took off her hat and held it to her chest. “Golly Sugarcube. No wonder you deflected whenever we asked you about your Saddle Arabian friends. You didn’t have any. Save for Flappy.”
Sparkler nodded. “I don’t even have a concrete answer as to why. They were more interested in pelting me with eggs and calling me chicken related names than answering my questions.”
Rainbow grumbled and shook her head. “Now that’s just not cool. Do you know what egg yolk does to wings?”
Sparkler nodded. “I had to preen my wings every day after school just to make sure they still worked.”
Rarity scoffed. “Why I never. That is no way to treat a princess—“
“No!” Sparkler shook her head. “No, please, don’t anypony start with the whole princess thing. I’m not a princess.” And I’m going to have a chat with Celestia about that later.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Darling? I don’t understand, why are you an Alicorn if you aren’t a princess?”
Sparkler shrugged. “I was born like this. I don’t know HOW since I don’t have any Pegasi in my family gene pool, but for one reason or another...here we are.”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Really now. Huh. That’s a new one for me.”
Twilight nodded. “We’ve actually started looking into possible explanations in the library.”
Rarity gasped and her eyes widened. “THAT’S the super secretive Study Sessions you two wouldn’t tell us anything about! You two were researching Alicorns!”
Sparkler and Twilight nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what we were doing.”
Pinkie chuckled. “So does that mean you two really aren’t together?”
Sparkler and Twilight blushed like mad. “No we aren’t!” They both shouted in unison. They realized what they just did and blushed even more. “We’ve got to stop—“ they immediately covered their mouths to stop that.
Everypony around them just flat out laughed while Sparkler shook her head. “We have GOT to stop doing that.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes.”
Pinkie chuckled. “Aww aren’t you two just adorable together.”
“Pinkie!” Twilight and Sparkler both shouted in unison, before realizing what had happened.
Twilight groaned. “Ok, everypony drop this right—“ She stopped when she felt a tingle in her horn.
Airwave: two performers left. Sparkler needs to get back here now!
Twilight nodded. “Sparkler, just got word from Airwave, they’re down to two performers. You still planning on going up there?”
Sparkler bit her lip, turning to her friends(?) “Me being an Alicorn isn’t gonna be a problem is it?”
Applejack chuckled. “Of course not sugarcube. We ain’t gonna turn you away just for having extra bits that you didn’t ask for.”
The others nodded and voiced their agreement. Sparkler slowly smiled. She couldn’t believe it, she was really being accepted for who she was! “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
Twilight nodded. “Now let’s get back to that Festival.”
Sparkler nodded as she lit her horn and popped her sweater over her wings...hopefully for the last time. “Right.”
...
Airwave paced back and forth, the second to last performer was going and Sparkler still wasn’t back yet. Lyrica watched him and raised an eyebrow. “Something on your mind Wavy?”
Airwave nodded. “There’s only one performer left, then Vinyl calls Sparkler up, and there’s still no sign of Sparkler.”
Lyrica bit her lip. “I’m sure she’ll be here any moment now.”
Airwave nodded. “I hope so, I don’t want her to miss this opportunity.”
“And I won’t. Not this time.” Airwave and Lyrica turned their heads to that new voice and smiled when they saw Sparkler walk through the door.
“Sparkler!” They both exclaimed as they ran up to her and pulled her into a group hug.
“You Ok Sparks?”
Sparkler nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
Lyrica nodded as they parted. “You really broke down earlier, you sure you're ok?”
Sparkler nodded. “Yeah. I had a panic attack earlier, but I think I got it all out of me now.”
“Sparkler!” Sparkler Airwave and Lyrica turned to see Vinyl rush up to them. “Sparkler! Thank Celestia you’re back! Is everything ok? It sounded like you had a panic attack earlier.”
Sparkler nodded. “Yeah. I did. But I’m good now Vinyl.”
Vinyl nodded. “Good. You’re after Mr. Cake up there. Please. Don’t make me look bad again.”
Sparkler nodded. “I’m sorry about that Vinyl. I promise I won’t bail this time.”
Vinyl nodded. “I hope not. I legit want to see what you had planned for tonight.”
Sparkler nodded nervously. It’ll be something alright.
What the Tartarus are you doing?! RUN! This will not end well!
Sparkler shook her head. “No. Not this time.” She whispered to herself as she resisted the taunting. At that moment, she felt her horn tingle.
Twilight: Break a leg Sparkler. We’re all behind you all the way.”
Sparkler smiled warmly at Twilight’s message. Sweet Celestia I love that mare. She wasn’t used to ponies actually sticking around after they found out about her wings...and the apparent fact that her new friends were doing just that gave her confidence. This is it. I’m not going to run away anymore. I can do this!
There was an applause coming from the crowd as she heard the performance end. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Let’s hear it for Mr. Cake everypony! Now. Onto our final act of the night, the act that was SUPPOSED to go third...”
Sparkler’s heart was pounding in her chest. Any second now.
“You all know her as the Master Mixer, the Bugbear exterminator, a first timer at this event, let’s FINALLY give a warm Ponyville welcome to the one, the only, The Queen of the Beat, SPARKLER!”
The crowd went wild. Up on the light string, Flappy and Mina smiled. “Finally. I’ve been wanting to hear Sparkler’s work firstwing since I first learned of her.”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! Prepare to be amazed. Squawk!” He gazed down at Sparkler, who had walked out on stage. You got this pal. You can do this.
Sparkler walked out onto the stage. Her past screaming for her to turn back, but she ignored it. She was past the point of no return now. The only way she could go was forward.
She reached center stage and the crowd settled down. She cleared her throat. “Thank you Vinyl for that hyped up introduction. And thank you all for coming out. I’m thrilled to be up here tonight.” She took a deep breath. This was it. “Before I begin...I have a confession to make. I’m not who you all think I am. I’m not a Unicorn.”
The response was the crowd all murmuring in confusion, as expected. Sparkler continued. “I know how it sounds but it’ll make sense in a moment. Just...whatever happens. Please understand I’m not a princess.” That earned another bout of confusion she readied her guitar. After one more deep breath, she started playing.
At the tail end of the first verse, Sparkler lit her horn. At the drop, she pulsed it and her sweater disappeared. Allowing her wings to spread, before taking over for her hooves on the guitar as she continued to sing.
Mina gasped when she saw the wings. “She’s really an Alicorn?!”
Flappy nodded as he bobbed his head to the beat of the song. “Squawk! Yes. Yes she is! Squawk!” Ata girl Sparkler! Buck that fear right outta town!
While she was singing, the voice inside Sparkler’s head at long last ceased telling her to run and flee. Instead, all she was hearing was the sound of her own voice and the strumming of her guitar. She was well aware of the shocked faces in the crowd, and she couldn’t care less. To her, music was more than just harmonic sounds, it was an escape. An escape from the harsh world that she had learned existed back in Saddle Arabia. The song reached a guitar solo and Sparkler felt that familiar tingle throughout her body, the same tingle she always got during a performance.
Out in the crowd. Twilight and her friends were all smiling and bobbing to the beat. Rainbow pumped her hooves into the air. “Ata girl Sparkler! Show that fear who’s boss!”
Aurora, who was sitting with them along with Thundercracker, nodded. “Oh yeah. We’re definitely framing a record of this.”
Thundercracker nodded. “Totally.”
Twilight continued to listen to Sparkler sing and smiled warmly. She couldn’t feel prouder of Sparkler even if she wanted to. She was powering through thirteen years of ridicule and pain and facing her fears head on. It took a special kind of pony to do that. You go Sparkler. Don’t give in to fe—What’s going on? She frowned as Sparkler’s cutie mark started glowing. Was that supposed to happen?
Soon, the song reached its final notes and eased out. Sparkler sang the last word and stopped playing. Once the music stopped, and her cutie mark stopped glowing, she immediately set the guitar down, and kept her wings spread out...just to let everypony know they weren’t seeing things. After a moment of silence, she gulped and chuckled nervously. “Yeah...you guys aren’t seeing things...I’m really an Alicorn. Hehe.”
Nopony moved, said a word, or even blinked as the crowd stared at Sparkler. Sparkler gulped. Here it comes...here comes the pain and ridicule train. Any—
The crowd suddenly erupted and Sparkler winced, but almost immediately noticed something. She wasn’t being pelted with any food, and even more shocking, she wasn’t even hearing any negativity at all! Quite the opposite, it was CHEERING! Cheering?! They’re actually CHEERING?! Sparkler somehow found it in herself to fold her wings to her sides, but she continued to stand there, absolutely frozen in shock. And they’re STILL cheering?! Was she dreaming?!
The cheering continued for a moment before Vinyl rushed out on stage with a huge smile on her face. She stood next to Sparkler and addressed the crowd. “Well. Talk about going out with a bang. Let’s hear it for Sparkler everypony!” She turned to Sparkler as the cheering continued. She noticed that Sparkler was unmoving. She raised an eyebrow. “Sparkler?” She waved her hoof in front of Sparkler, and got nothing as a response. She cleared her throat. “Anyway. Thank you for coming out tonight everypony! Another Music Festival in the books. See you all next year!” She nodded and nudged Sparkler. “Sparkler. Time to get off the stage.” Sparkler made no move, still completely frozen. Vinyl shook her head and lit her horn. Lifting both Sparkler and the guitar.
...
Airwave smiled as Sparkler was set down by Vinyl. “Hehe. Way to go Sparkler.”
Lyrica nodded. “That was amazing!”
Sparkler didn’t move a muscle, but finally said something. “They...cheered.”
Vinyl chuckled and nodded. “Of course they cheered. That was amazing!”
“They...cheered.”
Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “Yeah. We’ve already established that?”
Airwave chuckled. “I think I know what happened here. We broke Sparkler. She was expecting a very different reaction.”
Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “Because of her being an Alicorn? Pfft. Yeah like that was gonna change anything.”
Sparkler blinked. She had heard Vinyl. She...she still wants to be my friend?! Sparkler’s mind was simply out of whack. This entire time, she was preparing to be ridiculed, to be pelted with food. She didn’t allow herself to think that it was going to turn out the way she wanted...and lo and behold...it did!” Holy mother of Tartarus. Is this really happening?!
At that moment, pink hooves reached into backstage, grabbed hold of Sparkler, and pulled her outside. Outside, Sparkler was immediately pulled into a hug by Pinkie, who was wearing a HUGE smile on her face. “Aaah! That was amazing Sparkler! You did it!”
Sparkler started coming back to reality. “I...I did it.”
She was alerted to everypony else’s presence through the sound of laughter. She looked around and noticed that the Mane 6, the princesses, her parents, and Flappy and Philomena were there.
Applejack beamed at Sparkler as she patted her on the back. “That was one heck of a performance sugarcube.”
Rainbow nodded. “You were completely awesome out there!”
Sparkler’s breathing quickened as her eyes began to glisten while praises were still being thrown at her. “Congratulations darling.”
“I knew you could do it.”
“We’re all proud of you.”
“Squawk! Mina says that was the best performance she’s ever seen. Squawk!”
The praising continued...until everypony noticed that tears started to fall from Sparkler’s face.
Twilight’s smile faded as her joy turned into concern for her friend. “Sparkler? What’s wrong?”
Sparkler shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong Twi...tonight just turned out a million times better than I ever hoped it would.” Indeed, the amount of positivity she was receiving was overwhelming for her. She had been feeling all the nervous feelings all day. And now that her fears had been quelled and she knew she could finally be herself...she just couldn’t hold it in anymore. So the tears were all those feelings washing away and being replaced by relief.
Twilight realized what she was getting at and smiled as she pulled Sparkler into a comforting embrace. “I really am proud of you Sparkler. Not everypony can face their fears.”
Sparkler nodded and returned the hug. “Thank you Twilight. I honestly couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Congratulations Sparkler. That was an amazing performance.” Sparkler turned her head to see Celestia and Luna smiling at her.
“Indeed. It is always a joy to see a pony have the courage to face her fears.”
Sparkler nodded as she and Twilight parted. “Thank you, your majesties.” She bit her lip. “Uhm, Princess Celestia?”
“Something wrong Sparkler?” Asked Celestia.
Sparkler gulped before speaking. “Uhm, about my statement about not being a princess...am I gonna need to retract that?”
Celestia realized what Sparkler was getting at and smiled. “Do you wish to be a princess Sparkler?”
Sparkler was taken aback by that. She hadn’t expected to be given a choice, though she already had her answer. “I-if it’s all the same to you...I think I’ll pass on being a princess. It’s just...it’s not who I am, I haven’t done anything to earn it other than be born with these wings...that I shouldn’t even have anyway.”
Celestia nodded. “Sparkler, you are an Alicorn. That is a fact that nopony can deny. But it’s not your anatomy that makes you a princess. It is your heart, and you’re willingness to rise up to face any challenge that may befall you. After today I dare say you are worthy of your wings, but if you do not wish to be a princess, then I shall not force it upon you.”
Sparkler smiled and nodded. “Thank you your majesty.”
Rarity smiled before lighting her horn and summoning her measuring tape from her saddlebag. “Now. Sparkler, about your wardrobe...”
Sparkler saw the measuring tape and laughed. “Go ahead Rarity.” She spread her wings out. “I’m all yours.”
Rarity squealed in delight, causing everypony to chuckle as Sparkler was wrapped up with the measuring tape.
...
Off in the distance, a creature lurked in the shadows. Watching the group of ponies from afar. After a minute. The creature’s eyes glowed. After a second, they dimmed again. “At last.”
The creature felt a tingle in their spine, and they smiled and nodded. “Yes. I have successfully located her.”
The creature felt another tingle. They nodded. “Observe from afar. Understood.” Quietly the creature moved back under the cover of darkness.
To be continued...