“Squawk! Sparkler, I think you might be overreacting a little. Squawk!” Flappy said.
He and Sparkler were back in their Inn room as the night took over, getting ready to end the day and go to bed...or trying to. Sparkler was more pacing back and forth across the main room, from front door to back window, while vigorously brushing her teeth, harder than needed for cleaning.
“Am I Flappy? Am I?!” Sparkler asked in reply as she spat the toothpaste into the bathroom sink. “Autumn and those CMC fillies all had their hooves around me, around my midsection.” She spread her wings out. “Right on top of my wings! That’s a red flag Flappy, a red flag!” She exclaimed loudly, panting.
“Squawk! It might be a red flag. But I feel that if they noticed, they would’ve said something. Squawk!” Flappy said.
“You think so?” Sparkler asked, climbing into bed with her voice going down in volume and speed, but her emotions, not at all.
“Because I’m thinking they did notice and just didn’t say anything. Maybe this is some kind of test from Autumn. See if she can trust me not to keep things like this from her...what if I lose her as a friend over this?!” She cried out in panic, laying on her back.
Flappy shook his head. Of course Sparkler was freaking out about this. “Squawk! Sparkler. Calm down. Squawk!” He said. He quickly spat out his toothpaste and flew over to the plain white bed, where he stood beside Sparkler and made close eye contact with her.
“Squawk! Sparkler, I get that you’re scared.” He said, petting Sparkler’s shoulder with his wing. “You’re afraid this will end up just like school in Saddle Arabia. But here’s the thing: you can’t hide under that poncho forever. One day, you are gonna need to ditch it. Squawk!” He said.
Sparkler sighed as her ears drooped down. “I know… but I can’t get it out of my mind, Flappy. Once I ditch the poncho, there’s no going back. And every time I think about it...my mind goes back to the eggs...thirteen years of eggs.” She shivered at the thought and had her eyes begin to water.
“Squawk! I’m still amazed you aren’t terrified of them. Squawk!” Flappy commented.
“I can eat and handle them just fine. It’s when they’re projectiles that I panic.” Sparkler shot back. “I can still feel them hitting my wings...” She said as she hugged herself tight with those wings and pressed her eyelids closed.
Flappy responded to the dreaded look on Sparkler’s face by offering her a warm smile and more pets from the wing.
“Squawk! Hey. It’s ok. So far the only eggs I’ve seen in this town are the eggs we have in the fridge. So nopony’s gonna pelt you with them. Squawk!” He said.
“Sure. Y’all say that now, but the tavern serves breakfast. Eggs are breakfast food.” Sparkler replied.
“Squawk! Sparkler. You’re being ridiculous. Squawk!” Flappy said. “Squawk! If someone wanted to pelt you with eggs for whatever reason, surely they would’ve done it already. Squawk!”
Sparkler, after a moment’s thought, shook her head. “Ugh! Let’s just go to bed. Maybe it’ll be fine.”
“Squawk! Okay. Up to you when you want to talk more about this. But seriously, Sparkler. Ya can’t avoid this forever. Those wings don’t belong under a poncho. Wings are meant to be out in the open. Squawk!” He said, flying over to his pole perch.
Sparkler sighed. “Maybe one day.” She responded. She turned onto her side and decided to just wait for sleep to come.
“So Sparkler, since the sleepover went well, and you and I have a lot in common, wanna be roommates?” Autumn asked, after they had finished an incredibly successful studio session that ended in them confirming their feelings.
“Yer darn tootin I do!” Sparkler replied excitedly. “There’s just one more thing y’all should know about me.” She said as her voice toned down in pitch and slowed down in speed, albeit still with her feeling empowerment from her decision to do this.
Sparkler lit her horn and pulsed it. Her poncho poofed into disappearance and her wings spread out far and wide, remaining out so Autumn could see them in all their glory.
Sparkler, still troubled by her fear of her past, kept her eyes closed for fear of what terrible sights would behold if she opened them...and near instantly, she felt the familiar impact of eggs striking her wings. She gasped, her eyes snapped open, and she saw Autumn standing there with a giant pile of eggs out of nowhere. She didn’t have them before.
Sparkler’s face fell into a mortified look. “Au-Autumn?”
“Shut up you horned chicken!” Autumn shot back as she started bombarding Sparkler with more eggs, toward her wings and elsewhere.
Sparkler panted and desperately turned her head around the room for any kind of cover, where none was to be found. All she could do was use her wings to only try and shield her body as tears started forming. “Wait! Please! Stop! I-I can explain!”
“Explain what? That you’re a winged narwhal? Ha! You wish.” Autumn laughed evilly as she continued the bombardment, egg shells and yolk piling onto Sparkler’s wings, head, and mane more and more by the second.
Sparkler continued trying to shield herself as tears started falling from her face. “No. Please. I-I just wanted to be friends!” She sobbed.
“Friends?” Autumn asked. “You’re nothing but a mistake. Why would we ever be friends?” She laughed.
Sparkler heard the “ha-ha”s continue as she was brutally pelted. “Autumn!” She pleaded. “Please! I’m sorry!”
The egging didn’t stop, neither did the laughing as Sparkler collapsed to the ground with her limbs folded inward and continued to cry a waterfall. Her worst fears had been realized. She had lost her only pony friend. History had repeated itself.
...
All of a sudden, the bombardment and laughing ceased, and Sparkler felt herself get relieved of all the egg yolk and egg shells without any kind of manual clean-up. She, after taking a moment to know she was safe, slowly opened her eyes and peeked out from behind her wings, to find that instead of her studio, where she and Autumn had been, she was now in a starry, blue-purple landscape that was completely unfamiliar to her.
In fact, she seemed to be in the starry sky. Looking below at her hooves, there was not any kind of ground to be seen. Yet, Sparkler was standing. Like normal.
She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes as she looked around the area that looked basically the same in every direction, confused as to how and why she was in this alien place.
“Greetings, My Little Pony. Thou look troubled.”
Sparkler heard the voice coming from behind her and whipped her body around to see a mare standing before her. Her eyes widened as she took time to process her appearance. This mare was much larger than Sparkler, with a chambray coat, a flowing, starry blue mane, and silver regalia, including a crown, that made it abundantly clear she was royalty.
But the thing that both surprised, and terrified Sparkler the most, was that this mare not only had a horn, but also wings! She had the horn and wing combo, just like her!
“You...you...” Sparkler stammered, unable to process this apparent revelation that she may not be the only one.
The mare smiled and folded her wings back up, which had been spread for Sparkler to see. “I take it thou have never encountered an Alicorn like yourself. Which would explain your facial expression.” She said.
Sparkler blinked and held her jaw open. What the hay?
“Uh...what?” She asked, still unable to process what the frax was going on.
“Perhaps we should start with an introduction.” The taller mare said. “I am Princess Luna. Princess of the night, and guardian of the dream realm. I protect ponies from their nightmares.” She said.
Sparkler wanted so bad to say something, but the sheer fact that she wasn’t the only one with the horn and wing combo after all would’ve probably made her faint if she wasn’t already asleep! She just could not believe it.
After what seemed like an eternity of Sparkler feeling unable to move or catch her breath properly, feeling like she was about to faint, Sparkler finally found it in herself to speak to the princess. “I-I’m Sparkling Medley...Sparkler for short...”
“It is nice to meet you Sparkling Medley. Wings and all.” Luna replied.
Sparkler’s eyes snapped wide as Luna uttered those last three words. Sparkler whipped her head around to see that her wings were exposed! “Eep!” She squeaked as she tried to hide them, to no avail. Her wings just flared open for Princess Luna to see.
Luna watched as Sparkler tried everything to hide her wings, grunting and pulling in muscles, and only succeeded in showing them off. Finally, needing to take a breath, Sparkler just gave up.
“Y-You weren’t s-supposed...” Sparkler’s voice failed her in speaking the full sentence, as tears formed in her eyes.
“Sparkler.” Luna said. “Being an Alicorn is nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Alicorn?” Sparkler asked.
“It is what you and I are. Alicorns.” Luna replied.
“Alicorns...” Sparkler repeated. She couldn’t place the reason for it, but she liked the sound of that term.
“Though there are still some questions to be answered.” Luna said. “The foremost being how there is another Alicorn out there.”
“I-I was born like this.” Sparkler answered. “I don’t know why or how, but for one reason or another, I have the horn and—I mean, I’m an Alicorn.” She corrected herself.
“Ah. You are a natural born Alicorn. I know some ponies that would jump at the chance to talk to you.”
Sparkler winced when Luna mentioned other ponies. “No! Please don’t say anything! I-I...” Her eyes widened as it finally, suddenly clicked within her that she was talking to a princess! A princess who she had yet to show any amount of respect royalty was due.
She hit her front hooves on the invisible sky ground...or whatever she was standing on. “I’m so sorry your majesty! I-I shouldn’t be asking anything of you...p-please forgive me!”
For a moment, nopony said a word, as Sparkler hung her head down in shame, until Luna broke the silence. “Relax Sparkling Medley. You may rise. And if you do not wish for anypony to know about your wings, then your secret is safe with me.”
Sparkler rose in relief and gave off a soft smile. “T-Thank you, your Majest—“
“Just Luna will do.”
“...Thank you Luna.”
Luna nodded in response. “I best be off. But before I do, know this, Sparkling Medley. Autumn Apple is not such as your nightmare has depicted. I do believe she will understand why you have opted to hide your wings, considering your past.”
Sparkler blinked. Luna knew about her past? “Wait, how do—“
And just like that, Luna was gone.
To be continued...