//------------------------------//
// Episode 51: Return to the nest 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Season Two 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
//------------------------------//

In the dead of night, on the train heading back to Ponyville, Sparkler and Twilight stood side by side and stared at a pair of plushies that sat before them. Life-sized plushies that bore a striking resemblance to a pair of Alicorns, Twilight, and Sparkler.

“Those Griffons likely haven’t heard of me eh?“ Sparkler said after a few moments of staring at the plushie made in her image.

“Ok, in my defense, I did not know that griffon was visiting Equestria when you hit the news.” Twilight responded. “But hey. At least he didn’t bow to you.”

“This might actually be worse.” Sparkler replied. While in Griffonstone, their friendship problem turned out to be a Griffon who wanted to make friends, but didn’t know how to. This Griffon also happened to be a master plushie maker and had a hobby of making life sized plushies of famous creatures, such as princesses and heroes. So after they helped him make friends, he offered his Sparkler and Twilight plushies as a thank you, claiming that their son might like them.

Sparkler continued to stare at the pair of plushies in front of them. Trying to wrap her head around the fact that they existed. She wasn’t so surprised that a Twilight plushie existed. She was a princess and an Element of Harmony after all. But the Sparkler plushie had her absolutely stumped. For the life of her she could not figure out why that Griffon deemed her famous enough to make a plushie of her.

After staring at her stuffed self for a few more seconds, she just gave up and sighed. “Well, at least Kicker will probably like them.” She relented.

“You think he’ll snuggle with them every night?” Twilight asked.

“Oh yeah.” Sparkler replied. “Without a doubt.” Sparkler immediately imagined Kicker cocooning himself in the plushies and sleeping in their embrace. “…This may actually help with his PTSD.” She realized.

“How so?” Twilight asked.

“If he knew we were there in some form, it would make him feel safer.” Sparkler explained. “His own little bunker of fluffiness looking like his two mothers.”

Twilight listened, and smiled when she processed the logic. “Yeah that makes a lot of sense.” She said. “It would put him at ease.”

“Exactly.” Sparkler agreed, and that’s when a thought came to her. “Hey Twi? Would you judge me if I made a clone of the Twilight plushie and kept it for myself to snuggle every night?” She asked.

Twilight snorted and wrapped a wing around Sparkler. “Why settle for a plushie when you can snuggle with the real thing any night you want?” She asked, chuckling.

“Because cuddling with you is something I want to do every night. And I’m fairly certain that you’re gonna want to sleep in your own bed at least sometimes.” Sparkler replied.

“What if your bed WAS my bed?” Twilight asked.

“What?” Sparkler asked, confused as to what Twilight was talking about.

“We could move in together. Live in your house.” Twilight responded.

That caught Sparkler off guard. “Moving in together?!” She exclaimed, not expecting the conversation to go to moving in.

“That sounds fun doesn’t it?” Twilight asked.

Sparkler blinked, she quickly came up with a response. “I mean, us living together would be fun. But don’t you think that’s moving too fast?” She asked.

“We’re already farther along than most couples.” Twilight reasoned. “I mean we are mothers to a colt. How many other young couples can say that this early into their relationship?” She asked.

“In our case you decided to surprise me by getting your name down before I even knew I could sign the documents.” Sparkler countered. “Yeah you accurately predicted that I would be OK with it. But that doesn’t change the fact that we didn’t talk about it beforehoof.” She said.

“That is true.” Twilight admitted, blushing a little.

“And I would argue that moving in is just as much, if not more, complicated than adopting a foal. There are so many things to bring up.“ Sparkler explained.

“Well, this time I won’t spring it on ya. We can talk about it if you want.” Twilight assured Sparkler, wrapping her wing around the hot pink Alicorn.

Sparkler sighed as her mind raced. True, moving in together was something she wanted eventually, but was she ready for that now? Was she ready to live with her marefriend and partner in raising their son so early into their relationship?

“I will admit that us living together is something that I definitely want to do…but since I do have the chance, you wouldn’t mind if I thought about it right?” She asked.

Twilight smiled and pulled her into a hug. “Of course not Sparky. I know moving in together is a big step. Take all the time you need.” She assured her marefriend.

Sparkler smiled and pressed their lips together in a quick kiss. “Has anypony ever told you you’re an amazing marefriend?” She asked when they broke the kiss.

Twilight smiled. “One has. And I think she’s also a good cuddler.” She added with a sly smile.

Sparkler giggled at that. “You aren’t so bad yourself.” She remarked.

“Wanna cuddle in bed and forget about moving in for a bit?” Twilight asked.

“You read my mind.” Sparkler replied. Taking Twilight’s hoof and pulling her to the bed.

…

In the dream realm, Luna walked the celestial plane, heading for a particular dream. “I do hope Sparkler will forgive me. But I do need to speak to her and her dreams is the only safe way to do so for what I need to ask.” She came up to Sparkler’s dream bubble, took one last deep breath, and then entered.

Inside her dream bubble, Sparkler was on stage performing a new hit song she had made. At the end of the performance, the crowd went wild and she smiled. “Thank you Canterlot! You’ve been a terrific audience! Stay smooth!” Sparkler waved to the crowd and proceeded backstage, where she found a princess that she was beginning to think had a habit of visiting her in dreams. Princess Luna.

“If I didn’t know any better Princess. I would think this habit of visiting me in my dreams is some sort of way to woo me over.” Sparkler said with a chuckle.

Luna chuckled along with Sparkler and shook her head. “I truly am sorry to keep doing this Sparkler. However, reasons to do so just keep cropping up.” She explained.

“So what’s tonight’s reason?” Sparkler asked.

“I seem to require music lessons, and I would request them from you.” Luna replied, getting straight to the point.

Sparkler blinked when she heard that reason. Had she heard right? Was Princess Luna really here for MUSIC lessons of all things? “Sorry. Come again?” She finally said, deciding to see if she had heard right.

“If it is not too much trouble, I was wondering if you would give me music lessons.” Luna responded.

Well she be a hay bale, Sparkler HAD heard right, the confusion was still there though. “This seems a little out of the blue.” Sparkler said. “Mind telling me what brought about this desire for music lessons?” She asked.

“Well…” Luna shuffled her hooves. “I…there’s this mare I want to ask to the Yule Ball. And maybe ask to be my special somepony, and decided maybe music is the best way to go about it.” She explained with a blush and sheepish smile.

Sparkler took a moment to process what she was just told, the Princess of the Night had a crush! “You have a crush on somepony?” Sparkler asked. Luna gave a rather sheepish nod in reply. Sparkler smiled. “That’s great!” She exclaimed.

“Yes.” Luna responded. “I met her in Detrot when I was visiting the observatory there. And to say we hit it off would be putting it mildly. I have been finding great company in the Astronomy Community.”

Sparkler couldn’t help but snicker a little. Of course Luna would be into astronomy. “And you want to confess to her through song.” She inferred.

“That is correct.” Luna replied, it was clear that she was embarrassed to have to make a request like this.

“Ok. Now I think I see what’s going on here. The dream realm is the only place you feel safe in making this request, for keeping the surprise for this mare, and because you don’t want it getting out that Princess Luna needs music lessons.” Sparkler said.

“Indeed, on all points.” Luna replied, confirming Sparkler’s suspicions.

“Ok.” Sparkler said. “Alright. I’d be happy to help.”

Luna smiled after a moment of surprise, she honestly was fearing that Sparkler would refuse. “I am in your debt Sparkling Medley.” She said.

“Now. Let’s get started. Were you thinking original or a cover of a pre-existing song?” Sparkler asked, going into work mode.

“Due to the obvious time constraints, I think a cover would be best.” Luna replied.

“Ok. Now, tell me a little about the mare? What kinda music is she into?” Sparkler asked.

Luna smiled as they got to work. She hoped that it would not be in vain.





“This is awesome!” Kicker exclaimed as he ran around the living room, which was covered in blankets.

Spike laughed. They had just finished building a blanket fort in the living room and Kicker was loving it. “Told you this was gonna be fun!” He said.

“It is!” Kicker exclaimed, his tail wagging around.

Maddy barked happily and started running around, causing Spike and Kicker to laugh. Outside the fort, in the kitchen, Thundercracker, Aurora, and Flappy were trying not to chuckle at the adorable sight.

“Squawk! It was only a matter of time. Squawk!” Flappy commented.

“You and Sparkler built enough of them when you two were kids.” Aurora commented.

“And we always lost when we tried to siege the fort.” Thundercracker added.

Flappy chuckled as he started flying over the fort. It really did take him back to when he and Sparkler were kids. Faust I hope Sparkler walks in on this. Her reaction is gonna be priceless. He thought.

Sure enough, they heard the door open, and a familiar voice called into the house.

“Hey! Guess who’s—“ Sparkler stopped dead in her tracks when she saw what was in the living room. There, taking up the whole room, was a blanket fort. Sparkler immediately knew who was responsible when she saw her son poke his head out from the fort.

Kicker heard his mother call out and poked his head out of one of the Fort’s sides, grinning like a goofball. “Hey mom! Look what Spike and I made!” He said happily.

“I—Is that a blanket fort?” Asked Twilight, who walked up beside Sparkler and saw the structure.

“Yes it is!” Spike replied, poking his head out next to Kicker’s.

For the moment, nopony said a word, until finally, Sparkler slowly broke down laughing. “You two, built a fort, in the living room.” She said, chuckling.

“Squawk! Yep! They did! Squawk!” Flappy laughed from above.

Twilight watched Sparkler break down laughing and while she chuckled a little herself, was ultimately confused. “Why are you laughing Sparkler?” She asked.

“B-because—“ Sparkler chuckled. “This is exactly what me and Flappy did when we were kids.” She said.

“We cannot tell you how many times we came home to a blanket fort in the living room.” Aurora called out from the kitchen.

“Oh so this is like deja-vu.” Twilight concluded, starting to see the humor.

“Yep. A big’ol plate of Deja-vu.” Sparkler laughed along with everypony else in the room.

After a solid minute of laughter, Kicker started to calm down and raced out of the fort. He crashed into his mothers and wrapped his forelegs around them best he could. “I missed you guys!” He cried out.

Twilight and Sparkler caught their son and immediately wrapped him up in their wings. “We missed you too Kick!” Twilight replied.

“Were you a good colt for your grandparents?” Sparkler asked.

“Yeah. We had a lot of fun!” Kicker replied.

“After we sorted out the allergy. Hehe.” Aurora added.

“Also, uh, little help?” Thundercracker asked.

Sparkler processed what her dad was talking about and chuckled. “Hey Kicker. Mind if we take down the fort to let grandma and grandpa out of the kitchen?” Sparkler asked.

“Aww! We just finished it!” Spike replied.

“If you didn’t want to take it down maybe you shouldn’t have made it so big.” Twilight shot back at him.

Kicker laughed. “We can build it back up later Spike.” He said.

Sparkler chuckled and with a flash of her horn, the fort disassembled and the resulting mess was temporarily pushed to the side. Allowing Thundercracker and Aurora to walk into the living room. “So was there any more trouble after that allergy incident?” She asked her parents.

“Except for Maddy chasing a squirrel, no more trouble.” Thundercracker replied.

“That’s good.” Twilight responded with a relieved smile.

Kicker nodded. “So. Did you bring back anything for me?” He asked. Wondering if his parents brought back any souvenirs for him.

Sparkler chuckled. She saw that question coming from a mile away. “As a matter of fact, we did.” She told him.

Twilight lit her horn and magically brought in what they had brought back for Kicker. Kicker’s eyes widened when he saw a pair of life sized plushies of his mothers land in front of him. “Whoa! Life-sized plushies of you two?” He asked, not believing his eyes.

“Yep.” Sparkler replied, confirming what Kicker was seeing. “Courtesy of a plushie maker in Griffonstone.” She explained.

“You commissioned plushies made in your image?” Aurora asked.

“Didn’t need to. The guy already had them.” Twilight replied.

Thundercracker and Aurora glanced at each other, at the Life-sized plushies, and then back at their daughter and her marefriend. “Do we even want to know WHY?” Aurora asked.

“It’s better not to ask.” Sparkler replied.

“Ok then.” Thundercracker responded.

While the adults were talking, Kicker examined his two new plushies, and after a few seconds, smiled. “I love them!” He cried as he tackled his real life mothers in a hug. “Thank you!”

“Your welcome Kicker.” Twilight and Sparkler both said in unison, they stopped, glanced at each other, and giggled.

“We’re just destined to always talk in unison aren’t we? Hehe.” Sparkler observed.

“Looks like it.” Twilight replied.

Spike smiled at the Kicker hugging Sparkler and Twilight before clearing his throat. “So. What ended up being the friendship mission?” He asked.

“Squawk! Yeah! Give us the scoop girls! Squawk!” Flappy urged.

Sparkler and Twilight chuckled. It looked like it was story time. “Well. First off, the Griffon with the friendship problem was the one who makes the life-sized plushies…”

To be continued…