“Alright Kicker. Time to fuel up.” Sparkler said.
“Ooh! Let’s see if I can down the whole thing in one sip!” Kicker said.
Sparkler shook her head. “Oh no. No no no no. That’s not a good idea. We’ll take this nice and slow like we’ve been doing. Ok?” She asked.
“Alright.” Kicker relented as he opened his mouth. Letting Sparkler move the sippy cup into position for Kicker to clasp his lips over.
It was the morning after Kicker’s latest nightmare and suffice to say, things were going ok so far. Kicker woke up smiling and that put a smile on everypony else’s face. As much as I enjoy what we have going on right now we can’t keep doing it forever.
Precisely why Luna‘s talking to her psychologist friend. Those two have haunted him long enough.
I really hope this works.
A few moments later, the cup was empty. Sparkler smiled as she set it down on the table. “How was that?” She asked.
“It was good.” Kicker replied.
“Great.” Sparkler said. “Hey, I got an idea for what we could do today.”
“What?” Kicker asked.
“Remember playing Ogres and Oubliettes with Spike Gabby and Starlight?” Sparkler asked.
“Yeah. That was awesome.” Kicker said.
“Well, Twilight invited us to go play with them today. Does that sound fun?” Sparkler asked.
“Yeah! Let’s do that!” Kicker responded. “Ooh! This is gonna be your first time playing!”
“Yeah it is.” Sparkler said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
In Canterlot, a unicorn mare with a bright white coat, pink mane with stripes, and a notepad for a cutie Mark walked out of the elevator into the clinic where she worked. She walked down the lobby until she heard a voice call out to her. “Morning Candy.”
The mare named Candy turned her head to the source and smiled. “Morning Mr. Redcross.” She said.
“Have a good night?” Redcross asked.
“Yep.” Candy said. “I had a great night.”
“That’s good. Busy day today?” Redcross asked.
“A couple clients but nothing too bad.” Candy replied.
“Alright. Good luck.”
“Thanks!” Candy resumed walking to her office. There she set her coat on the coatrack.
“Alright Candy. Time to work some magic.”
“I am sure you will do great as always Candy.” Candy jumped when she heard that familiar voice and whipped around to see.
“Princess Luna!” Candy exclaimed as she immediately hit the deck. “To what do I owe the pleasure your majesty?”
“Candy, I have told you before you do not need to bow to me. Especially after all you have done to help me.” Luna assured her.
“Yes. You have told me that.” Candy rose. “How are you doing in that regard by the way?”
“I am doing great. I am finding great company in the astronomy community. One mare in particular is catching my interest.” Luna said with a blush.
That blush did not go unnoticed to Candy. She smiled. “It sounds like you may have found somepony special.” She said.
“She does have a certain charm to her. But we can talk about that later. Right now I am here to ask a favor of you.” Luna said.
“Sure Princess. What do you need?” Candy asked.
“It is not I who needs something. It is for a friend of mine. Have you heard of Sparkling Medley? The new Alicorn?” Luna asked.
“Yeah. I have. Though...” Candy bit her lip. “I have actually been aware of her for years. We were schoolmates back in Saddle Arabia.” She admitted.
Luna’s smile vanished on the spot. “Were you now.” She said.
“She told you about her past in Saddle Arabia didn’t she.” Candy said. “I can assure you that I was one of the elite few that DIDN’T ostracize her. Sure we were never exactly friends, but I most certainly did not bully her like most of the other students. I was not about to join in on their pointless mission to make her miserable.” She explained.
“I shall believe you Candy, you have always been an honest mare.” Luna said. Though I will tread carefully now with this new information in hoof.
Candy breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you Luna.” She said. “So, what does Sparkler need?” She asked.
“Not her specifically. It is her new foal that is in need of your services.” Luna said.
Candy raised an eyebrow. New foal? Sparkler? “Sorry, can you run that by me again? Because I think I heard wrong when you said Sparkler has a new foal.” She said.
“You heard correctly Candy. Sparkler is now in the process of becoming an adoptive mother.” Luna said.
Candy’s brain nearly stopped completely. She couldn’t believe her ears. Sparkler? A mother? It wasn’t the concept itself that was shocking, it was the fact that it was apparently reality that had Candy stumped, it was common knowledge in school that Sparkler swung towards mares, so the chances of her having a biological child weren’t good to begin with, it only got worse when you factored in that none of the girls liked Sparkler. At all. And the only one who did, Candy, was straight.
“Well how about that.” Candy finally said. “She always did have that mother vibe to her. Glad to see she can finally use it.”
“Yes.” Luna said. “Although it comes at a cost. The foal she is going to adopt has a...complicated history. And he could use some therapy.” She explained.
Candy understood now what Luna was asking. “So you want me to help him. Ok. I can find time in my schedule for that. Is there anything I should know going in?” She asked.
“There are a few things.” Luna said.
Back in Ponyville, Spike, Starlight, and Twilight were setting up the map table in the throne room to play Ogres and Oubliettes.
“Ya know Twilight. You’ll have to make a character just like Sparkler will have to.” Spike commented.
“Yeah I know Spike. Which is why I spent a lot of time creating my character. A—“
“Don’t spoil it!” Starlight said, cutting Twilight off. “Wait til Sparkler gets here so she can hear it too.”
“Uh...ok?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.
Spike let out a giggle. “I wonder if Sparkler’s gonna make a bard character. Wouldn’t that be hilarious.” He said.
“Right. Because a bard is SUCH a good choice for somepony as amazing as Sparkler.” Twilight said sarcastically. Completely unaware that she said that.
Spike and Starlight looked at each other with perplexed looks. Twilight had just called Sparkler amazing, and once again, she was oblivious to it.
“Anywho...” Starlight said, deciding to just change the subject. “Twilight have you thought about what we were gonna do for Sparkler’s birthday? As in anything special.”
“I sent a letter to her parents yesterday asking if there was anything special they did for Sparkler on her birthday in the past. Hopefully they reply in time for us to make all the arrangements needed.” Twilight replied.
“Ooh. I know what you could give her for her birthday Twi.” Spike said.
“What’s that Spike?” Twilight asked.
“A kiss on the lips.” Spike said. With Starlight bursting out laughing.
Twilight facehoofed. “Spike!” She exclaimed. “I swear you all had better stop this when Cadance and I come to the conclusion that I DON’T have a crush on Sparkler.”
At that moment, she and the others saw a light snowfall whisk into the throne room. They watched as it reconstituted into a scroll and landed on the table. Twilight saw the seal and took a deep breath. “It’s from the Crystal Empire.” She said.
“Cadance.” Spike concluded.
Twilight took the scroll in her magic and turned to leave the room. “I’m going to the library to read this. Nopony eavesdrop on me.” She said. She left the room.
Spike turned to Starlight. “I really hope Cadance can help her.”
“Yeah.” Starlight agreed. “Honestly it’s getting to the point where I genuinely want to lock them in a room together until Sparkler or Twilight comes out.”
“We KNOW Sparkler has a crush on Twilight. Now we just need Twilight to realize that she has feelings for Sparkler and we can push them to confess.” Spike said.
...
Twilight entered the library, closed and locked the door behind her. And exhaled. “I hope this is a letter saying that she’ll be here tomorrow. The sooner this is all laid to rest the better. Besides. Sparkler wouldn’t even be interested in me anyway.” She commented dismissively as she unfurled the scroll and read.
Dear Twilight,
A certain little dragon has informed me of a dilemma you seem to be having. Concerning that new Alicorn in Ponyville.
He says you don’t seem to realize that you have been doing things that are clear signs of a crush. Such as wanting to spend every waking moment with her.
“I do not want to spend EVERY waking moment with her.” Twilight commented.
To add to that, you move things around in your schedule just to make time for her.
“Oh so now I can’t make time for one of my best friends? I do that all the time with the girls!”
And then there’s a particular incident that I see as a telltale sign of a crush. You left class in order to help her even after stating that it can wait. Something I never thought I would hear.
“...Ok, I guess I did change my tune a little quick after Spike said Sparkler was under attack. But she was being threatened by the Nobles. Of course I had to act before those brainless featherbrains ruined her life for no reason. Her history would’ve repeated itself otherwise.”
I’m sure you’re thinking that I might be talking crazy. You’re probably giving off friend related reasons for the behavior I have been informed about. I know you Twi.
“Darn it she does know me.”
So Shining and I are gonna come by in two weeks so you and I can settle this dilemma of yours. In the meantime, here’s what you could do. Treat this sorta like an experiment. Analyze your friendship with Sparkler, look back on how you felt during your time together. And from now on, pay attention to what you feel and do whenever you two get together. That will help you figure this out.
See you soon,
Cadance.
P.S. I’ll be able to tell if you didn’t do this.
Twilight finished reading it and sighed. “She will. She really does know me too well.” She casually set the letter down on the table. “So you want me to do some analysis eh Cadance.” At that moment, there was a knock on the door. “I GOT IT!” Twilight shouted as she hurried to the door. “You know what Cadance? Fine. An experiment is what you suggest. An experiment it’ll be. The TwiSpark Theory we’ll call it. And we can finally see, once and for all, that I don’t have a crush on Sparkler.” She said with determination.
To be continued...