//------------------------------// // Episode 30: Homecoming // Story: My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Season Two // by Captain_Cosmos //------------------------------// Chief Quill, After asking around town, we believe we’ve found out exactly where Sparky and Misty lived with Kicker. And based on the kid’s description, it certainly is no place for a foal. However. There is still a distinct possibility that we have been led astray. So, if you will allow it. We would like to conduct a long distance scrying spell with the kid so he can confirm with us this is the place he remembers. We await your orders, Investigations team. Quill read the letter again and again and again, but still had trouble processing it. Whoo boy. This is gonna be tricky. His mind raced as he pondered his options. On one hoof, what his officers were asking wasn’t out-of-line, on the other hoof the kid’s PTSD could cause problems with his guardian, whose momma bear instincts were likely still on high alert. She could kick all our flanks and she knows it. Reaching a decision, he summoned a quill and parchment. “I still think this is a terrible idea.” Betty commented. She and her colleagues in the CPD were standing in what they believed was Sparky and Misty’s apartment. The place they illegally kept Kicker. But there was a problem. The CPD officers had suggested that they scry spell with Kicker to confirm their suspicions. “How is it a terrible idea? If the kid lived here he should remember this place.” One of the officers responded. “Exactly. And that’s the problem. There’s no telling what can happen when he sees this place again. I am positive he’s been trying to forget about the last three years of his life. And seeing where he spent those years again probably ain’t gonna help him. If anything because of his PTSD all this will do is give him even more trauma.” Betty countered. “Yeah well unfortunately none of us know how to detect magical signatures. And even if we did we couldn’t be sure if it was the two residents because we weren’t assigned to the case three years ago. So we don’t have many other options here.” Another Officer said. Betty just shook her head. “Than careful what you say on the scrying spell, that colt’s current guardian is on high alert after the other night and I highly doubt she’ll easily agree to it.” She warned. “Look, we know what the kid’s room looks like if he stayed here. All we need him to do is confirm one room and we’ll have our answer.” The third officer suggested. “Oh so we’re staying in the Kitchen then?” Betty inquired. An officer was about to answer when his horn lit up and dust spat out. The dust constituted into a letter that landed on the table. Betty, who was closest to the table, quickly looked at the letter and read. I just got in contact with Nosey and River. They say they’re gonna talk to the kid’s current guardian and see if she’s ok with it. But don’t get your hopes up that she’ll agree to it. If she says yes then you’ll receive a scry spell ping soon. If not, we’ll just go with what the locals told you. One of the officers smiled. “Alright. That’s something.” He said. “But he’s leaving it up to Sparkler. And I would say the chances of her agreeing are 50/50 at BEST.” Betty responded. “Alright Kicker. Ready to finish this room and choose colors for the walls?” Sparkler asked Kicker. It was a day after they returned from the Hospital and today they were gonna put the finishing touches on Kicker’s room. “Yeah! Let’s do that!” Kicker explained in excitement. He couldn’t wait to repaint his new room. Sparkled chuckled as she sat next to Kicker, carefully wrapped a wing around the young colt to avoid his still bandaged legs, and than lit her horn. “So, what color should we do the walls?” She asked him. “Can we do the blue that matches your wings please?” He asked in response. Sparkler glanced at the blue coloring the tips of her wings and bit her lip. “Uhm.” She said. “We can definitely do blue. But maybe we should go for a lighter blue. Just so your eyes don’t hurt.” She pulsed her horn and the wall color changed. Now instead of brown, the walls were an ocean blue color. Sparkler smiled. “How’s that?” She asked. “It’s awesome!” Kicker beamed in reply. “It’s like the ocean. Oh! Can we go the the beach someday mom?” He asked. “Of course!” Sparkler replied. “We’ll have a nice beach vacation sometime. Just you, me, and Flappy.” “And Twilight?” Kicker asked. “We’ll see if we can time it right with her schedule, but we can try.” Sparkler responded. It was the best answer she could realistically give him. I’m sure princesses are allowed to take vacations. It shouldn’t be too hard. But wouldn’t it be better if you two could be at the beach as marefriends? If it makes you feel any better, now that everything’s calming down I think I’m finally ready to pursue her. Finally! It’s about— Sparkler was brought out of her thoughts when she and Kicker heard a knock on the front door. Downstairs, Flappy heard the same knock and immediately flew to the door and opened it, revealing investigator Nosey standing there. “Squawk! Nosey? What brings you here? Squawk!” He asked. “Hey Flappy.” Nosey replied. “Are Sparkler and Kicker around? I need to talk to them.” Back upstairs, Sparkler was hard at work comforting Kicker, who was immediately terrified by the knock on the door. “Kicker. It’s ok. Flappy got the door and if it was dangerous he’d let us know.” She reassured him. “D-don’t let them get me!” Kicker cried. “I won’t. Never again.” Sparkler replied. At that moment, Flappy flew into the room and landed on the bed in front of the pair. “Squawk! All clear. It’s just Nosey. Squawk!” “What’s he doing here?” Sparkler asked. Flappy bit his lip. “Squawk! He wants to talk to you and Kicker.” “The CPD wants to do WHAT?!” Sparkler exclaimed in shock. After bringing Kicker down to the living room, Nosey started talking like something was wrong. So after leaving Kicker with Flappy, Sparkler brought Nosey down to Sparkling Harmony Records so he could tell her what was up first. And suffice to say, she didn’t like it one bit. “The CPD wants to Scry Spell with Kicker so he can confirm that the place our officers in Appleloosa are told is Sparky’s and Misty’s house.” Nosey replied. Bracing himself for Momma Bear Sparkler. “Does nopony get that that has to be a sure fire way to trigger Kicker’s PTSD?!” Sparkler fired back. “Whenever an unannounced visitor shows up, that poor colt is terrified they’ll take him. Do you forget what happened when I told him he was gonna need to live with you and River until I could finalize the adoption?” “I suppose we’re lucky that Redheart recommended he stay with you.” Nosey commented. “Now imagine what might happen if he’s forced to see the house he spent three years suffering in.” Sparkler said. “There’s no way this will turn out good.” “Oh I agree.” Nosey said. “In fact I wouldn’t even be talking to you about this if it wasn’t a request from Chief Quill.” “So what, this is something Kicker’s gonna be forced to do?” Sparkler asked. “We’re letting you have the final say in this matter. But before you say no.” Nosey added when he saw Sparkler about to say no. “They want me to tell you why they think this is a...reasonable idea. We all want Sparky and Misty in jail. Right?” “Isn’t that a forgone conclusion?” Sparkler asked. “They’re already in for arson, murder, and foalnapping.” “And attacking an Alicorn.” Nosey muttered under his breath “What was that?” Sparkler asked, not quite catching it. “Just another charge against them that’s unimportant right now.” Nosey replied quickly. “The point is, this latest thing will only serve to ensure they are jailed. All we need from him is to look at one room for a few seconds, say yes or no, maybe provide some specific details on the walls or something, that’s it. After that he doesn’t need to look at it anymore.” Sparkler’s mind raced. What Nosey was saying made sense to her, but there was still the matter of Kicker’s PTSD. “There’s something else you might want to consider.” Nosey spoke up, bringing Sparkler out of her thoughts. “The sooner we get this over with and the sooner we can get an answer out of Kicker, the sooner Betty can come back and move on to the next step in the adoption process. Bringing you and Kicker one step closer to being officially mother and son.” Sparkler’s eyes widened. Nosey just used her adoption petition as a persuasion tactic. “That’s cheating.” She said. “It’s the truth.” Nosey replied simply. Sparkler grumbled under her breath. Nosey had her and they both knew it. A few hard seconds where Kicker would be able to cling to her for comfort and protection in the grand scheme of things was a small price to pay for getting on with the adoption process, which in turn would make Kicker happy. It’s a catch 22. She could deny the spell and possibly unintentionally delay the Adoption process, making Kicker ask what’s taking so long. And she could allow the spell, but would have to force Kicker to confront a hurtful part of his past. Both situations hurt Kicker. Just in different ways. If I deny it he’ll get impatient. If I allow it he’ll have a panic attack. There’s a serious lose in both win lose scenarios. After a few moments of thinking. She sighed. “Fine. We can scry the ponies in Appleloosa. But on the condition that you cut it off as soon as you have what you need.” She said. “That’s fine.” Nosey said. “Then let’s get it over with.” “Kicker, honey. There’s something we need to talk about.” Sparkler said as she reentered the living room with Nosey. “What is it mom?” Kicker asked with a raised eyebrow. Sparkler bit her lip and braced herself for pushback. “So...you know how Nosey is investigating those two who hurt you?” She asked. “Yeah.” Kicker said. “Well...he and his friends believe they found where you three lived...and they would like you to take a look and say if they found—“ “No!” Kicker cut her off. “I don’t want to go back there again! Please. Don’t make me!” He cried. “And you won’t have to go back there. I promise.” Sparkler said, carefully wrapping him up in her wings. “I promise you won’t have to set hoof in that horrible place ever again if you don’t want to.” She assured him. “What we’re looking for is for you to just look at the scene. Kinda like looking at a picture.” Nosey added. “A picture?” Kicker asked as he clung to Sparkler best he could. “Just like looking at a picture.” Sparkler said. “Want me to explain what’s gonna happen?” She asked. “Please?” Kicker responded. “Nosey is gonna cast a scrying spell that will allow us to see where you lived before coming here, like...a picture in motion.” Sparkler explained. “Oh...you mean like a movie?” Kicker asked. “Yeah. Just like a movie.” Sparkler said. Remembering that she and Kicker had talked about seeing a movie sometime. Meaning Kicker already knew what a movie was. “All we need from you is to look at one room, say yes or no, maybe give a couple details. And that’s it.” Nosey said. “The whole thing should take a minute or two at most.” He added. Kicker looked between Sparkler and Nosey, who were both giving him reassuring smiles. Although he trusted Sparkler more than Nosey. “Promise it won’t take long?” He asked Sparkler. Sparkler tightened her wings’ grip on Kicker protectively. “Only a few minutes at most. After that if you never want to see it again we won’t make you.” “O-ok.” Kicker said. Nosey took that as his cue to cast the spell. So he did. One of the officers in Appleloosa felt his horn tingle and light up. He smiled. “Heads up gang. Nosey’s scrying us.” He said. Betty’s eyes widened. “You mean she’s allowing it?” Huh. Way to go Nosey...I guess. The officer with the tingling horn moved so he had some room and lit his horn. A mirror like mist formed in the open space and Nosey appeared in it. “Hello? Can you guys hear me?” He asked. “Loud and clear investigator.” One of the officers replied. “I can’t believe you actually convinced Sparkler to agree to this.” Betty commented. “Well, she did under the condition that I cut it off the instant we have what we need.” Nosey replied. “Then make this quick and get the kid.” An officer said. ... Nosey took a deep breath and nodded. “Right.” He turned his head to the couch where Sparkler and Kicker were sitting, where Kicker was clinging to Sparkler. “We’re ready.” Sparkler nodded and got off the couch. Carefully, she moved Kicker to lay on her back. “You ok Kicker?” She asked. “Y-Yeah.” Kicker said. “L-Let’s just get this over with.” Sparkler nodded and walked over in to the mist to scry what the heck was on the other side. I swear to Faust if I see a single chain... She stopped in the mist and was able to see the ponies in Appleloosa...in what appeared to be just a regular kitchen. Nothing unusual or scary about it. For Kicker, seeing the kitchen brought back painful memories. If he could tighten his grip on Sparkler, he would have, but his casts were hard so he couldn’t. One of the ponies in the room spoke up. “Are you Thunder Kicker little one?” He asked. Kicker gulped. “Y-Yeah.” He nodded, nervous as all heck. “Hey. Don’t worry Kick.” Betty assured Kicker. “The worst of it is over. It can only go up from here.” “O-ok.” Kicker replied. “And we promise after today you won’t ever have to see this place again. We just need you to tell us if you remember this place.” One of the officers said. Everypony moved out of the way so Kicker could get a good, painful look at the place he had been held prisoner. “T-That’s the place. You’re in the right place.” Kicker said after a few seconds. It was all he needed because the place was only just beginning to fade from memory...until now. “Think you can tell us anything specific?” One of the officers asked. “The crack in the wall over the sink. That’s been there for as long as I can remember. Broken drawer handle. It was one of the only things they helped me with when they started forcing me to make them meals last year. And the garbage can. Where I had to eat whatever they threw out.” Kicker told them. During his tale. Sparkler’s hatred for those two ponies grew. I really hope they don’t plan on having kids. Because if Kicker’s any indication they don’t deserve it. Deciding that it had to be enough. She spoke up. “I think that’s enough. You got your details.” She told everypony, while also letting Kicker cover himself with her wing to shield his eyes. “Yeah I consider that good enough. Thanks Kicker.” Nosey said as he started dimming his horn “Wait, Sparkler mind if you and I stay here for a sec to talk about what to do now?” Betty asked. “Give me a sec.” Sparkler replied. ... Sparkler lit her horn and carefully lifted Kicker off her back. “You can go back to the couch now. I’ll be only a moment.” She carefully placed him back on the couch. Kicker squeezed his wet eyes shut. He could’ve gone the rest of his life without ever seeing that place again. Sparkler turned back to the scene before her. With Betty on the other end. “Alright. So what now?” She asked. “Now. I’ll be returning to Ponyville for an inspection of your residence, a proper interview to determine if you’re a suitable mother for Kicker, discussion on what you plan to do about things like Kicker’s schooling. And if all goes well I’ll be able to get your petition approved before Hearths Warming.” Betty replied. “That’ll make for a great early Hearths warming gift to him. Thanks Betty.” Sparkler said. “Just doing my job Sparkler. Make sure you do yours and keep looking after Kicker.” Betty replied. “I’ll do my best.” Sparkler said. “I’ll see you in a few days.” Betty replied. Taking that as the cue, Nosey cut the spell off and the mist disappeared. Sparkler let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Thank Faust that’s over. She immediately turned to the couch where Kicker had managed to grab his tail and hug it. She approached the couch and let out a smile. “I’m proud of you Kicker.” She said as she got down on her haunches. “You were very brave.” Kicker opened his eyes and looked down at his mother’s smile. “R-Really?” He asked. He had heard her, but couldn’t process it because nopony ever told him that before. “I’d say you’ve been brave throughout this entire ordeal. Heck, you managed to escape two powerful ponies and make it all the way here. That takes a lot of guts kid. Especially for an Earth Pony your age.” Nosey interjected. “He’s right.” Sparkler agreed. “And you had the courage to speak up against them despite fearing you’ll be punished. I don’t know what other foal would have done that.” Kicker stared at them. Still unbelieving of the praise he was getting. “Y-you mean it?” He asked. “Yeah. I do.” Sparkler said. “And you know what else?” “What?” Kicker asked. “Your parents are proud of you too. I bet they’re looking down at you right now and smiling.” Sparkler said. “You...really think so?” Kicker asked, finally letting out a smile. “I’m sure of it. Come to think of it, you doing what you did made sure they can’t do bad things ever again. That makes you a hero.” Sparkler beamed happily. Kicker’s eyes widened. “Hero? Me?” He asked. Still baffled. “Kid, I know you probably don’t care. But Sparky and Misty were part of a group that...let’s just say was downright evil. Those two were the last remaining members of that group. You leading them right into custody helped us make short work of destroying the group once and for all. So yeah. You are a hero in my book.” Nosey said, smiling. “And do you know what that means Kick?” Sparkler added. “What?” Kicker asked in reply. “It means you get an Ice Cream! Wanna go to Sugar Cube Corner for an Ice Cream run?” Sparkler asked. That got Kicker to smile. “Yeah! Ice Cream!” Sparkler giggled as she lit her horn and summoned a scarf for Kicker. “Let’s just bundle you up because it’s getting chilly.” She carefully wrapped Kicker up in the scarf and then carefully moved him onto her back. “Going up.” Sparkler said as she slowly and carefully stood on her hooves. She glanced back and smiled at Nosey. “You up for joining Nosey?” She asked. “I actually should get home. River and I have some unpacking to do. We just moved here today.” Nosey replied. “Oh, you’re living here now? Great. Welcome then.” Sparkler said. “Thanks. And, I may not be able to join but let me at least walk you out.” Nosey offered. “That’s kind of you Nosey. Shall we?” “We shall.” With that, Sparkler, Kicker, and Nosey left the house. Kicker was feeling relieved. If his luck so far was anything to go by he shouldn’t have to think about the last three years ever again. At Last. He thought. To be continued...