//------------------------------//
// Episode 53: A Marked Achievement 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Season Two 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
//------------------------------//

“There we are. Comfortable?” Sparkler asked Kicker, it was bedtime for Kicker and after the fun they all had at ElectroScratch, he needed rest.

“Yeah.” Kicker replied from his cocoon of his Sparkler and Twilight life sized plushies. Maddy was in there with him. The whole thing was just about as adorable as you can get.

Sparkler smiled and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Sweet dreams Kick. Love you.” She said.

“Night mom. Love you too.” Kicker responded as he and Maddy drifted off to sleep.

Sparkler carefully tiptoed out of the room, but not before snapping a quick picture of the sight from her camera she quickly summoned. Once it was taken, she gently closed the door and trotted downstairs, where she found Twilight, Flappy, and Spike in the kitchen drinking Lemonade.

“Alright, Kicker’s down for the night.” She announced.

“Did he go to sleep alright?” Twilight asked.

“He did.” Sparkler replied.

“Squawk! I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but Twilight, Sparkler, I dare say you two sung Me and You together better than me and Sparkler. Squawk!” Flappy commented.

“Oh I couldn’t have been that good. It’s your guys’ special song.” Twilight replied.

“Are you kidding me Twilight? It was like you two were MADE to sing together.” Spike said. “It was SO good.”

Sparkler and Twilight both blushed at the compliments. “Well, we ARE two peas in a pod.” Sparkler said.

“Me and you.” Twilight said to Sparkler, a reference to the song that was their first Duet together.

That got a giggle out of everypony. “Anyway, I think it’s safe to say it’s not just Mine and Flappy’s special song anymore. It’s fair to say that it has now extended to being our family’s special song.” Sparkler said.

“I won’t say no to that.” Spike replied. Taking a sip of his lemonade.

Sparkler meanwhile smiled brightly. She began to wonder if she’d ever not be amazed at the fact that she built a family in Ponyville. And that that family was instrumental in helping her to reach where she was at the moment.

And just like that, the moment was ruined when all of a sudden, a Pink puff of fluff and fur sprang up from a potted plant and landed on the floor on her hooves in front of the family. It took all they had to not scream in shock and fear as they saw Pinkie smiling at them.

“Hiya everypony!” Pinkie exclaimed in a hushed voice. “I got the sense something amazing just happened! A certain Foal found his special talent tonight!” She announced.

Sparkler recovered from her shock and hissed at Pinkie. “Pinkie! For the love of Faust why can’t you—hang on, did you say a foal found HIS special talent?” She asked.

“Ah huh!” Pinkie replied. “And I bet you can ascertain who I’m talking about.”

Twilight processed Pinkie’s words, and understood that Pinkie was talking about Kicker. “Pinkie, Kicker’s only 5.” She said.

Pinkies chuckled. “Never too early to get your Cutie Mark Twilight.” She said.

“Squawk! Even if he did, aren’t you supposed to glow when you get it? Squawk!” Flappy asked.

“Yeah. We didn’t see him glow today.” Spike said.

“I’d check the recording you got.” Pinkie replied simply. “Anywho, I gotta run. Got a Cuteceniera to plan!” She announced as she hopped out the door, carefully pulling it closed.

Sparkler, Twilight, Spike, and Flappy all watched her go, and then took glances at each other. “I mean. We would’ve noticed if he glowed…right?” Spike asked.

“Squawk! We’re his family. We should be able to notice these things. Squawk!”

Sparkler and Twilight looked at each other. “I’ll get the monitor and the film player.” Sparkler said as she trotted to the closet. She came back carrying said monitor and film player in her magic.

They cleared the table and helped Sparkler set up the monitor and the film player. Sparkler inserted the film that was the boys’ performance and they all got in front of the monitor. “I swear to Faust if we actually didn’t notice him getting his Cutie Mark I might cry.” Sparkler said.

With that, they started the playback of the recording. It wasn’t until they got to just before the drop to the final chorus that they saw what they most definitely missed. Kicker started glowing.

“You have GOT to be kidding me.” Spike said in response to what they were seeing.

“We actually bucking missed it!” Twilight exclaimed.

True to her prediction, Sparkler had tears in her eyes. She couldn’t believe it, she, Kicker’s mother, failed to notice until now that her son had gotten his Cutie Mark. a pivotal moment in his life, and I failed to notice it! “How. How could we have possibly missed this?” She asked.

“Squawk! At least we got it on recording. So at least the moment wasn’t lost. Squawk!” Flappy offered.

Twilight continued to watch, with tears of her own in her eyes, she noticed that Kicker was turned to the side at one point and paused the playback. “Hey, we got a good view of his side.” She said.

The four looked at the monitor, and they noticed Kicker’s flank was no longer blank. Sparkler took one look at it, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Oh my Faust…a microphone…”

“On a star.” Spike added.

“Squawk! You were right Sparkler, his special talent was music. Squawk!” Flappy said smiling.

Sparkler nodded, and continued to stare at the screen, and the Cutie Mark her son now wore. Like mother like son… She was feeling the feels right now. On one hoof she was upset with herself for failing to notice the Cutie Marking, but now that she saw what Kicker’s Cutie Mark was, tears of sadness were now mixing with tears of joy that her son’s special talent correlated with hers.

After a moment, they had seen enough so they put away the playback set up. “I wonder if Kicker himself knows he got his Cutie Mark.” Twilight pondered.

“Who knows. Nopony else noticed.” Spike responded.

“Squawk! Can you feel getting your Cutie Mark? Squawk!” Flappy asked.

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow when he wakes up.” Sparkler responded. “Anywho, I think it’s time the rest of us went to bed.”

The others nodded as they proceeded upstairs. Kicker and Spike took the guest room while Sparkler and Twilight went into Sparkler’s room. Where they cuddled together.





Celestia’s Sun grazed the land the next day, beginning another cold winter day. In the Medley house, Sparkler and Twilight were busy making pancakes for them and their three boys. Twilight carefully cut Kicker’s pancakes to match his new Cutie Mark, using syrup to draw the microphone on the star shaped pancake. “I didn’t think I was gonna be celebrating a Cutie Marking this morning.” Twilight commented.

“Thought you had a few more years eh?” Sparkler responded.

“Sparkler, it’s rare for a foal to get a Cutie Mark at 5. What if he doesn’t like it?” Twilight asked.

“We’ll find out soon enough.” Sparkler responded. “And if he doesn’t…perhaps there’s a way to reset it?” She asked.

“I honestly don’t know.” Twilight responded.

Sparkler nodded. “Well, we’ll find out. I’m gonna go wake up the boys.” She said.

Sparkler trotted up the stairs and went to the guest room first. She opened the door and poked her head in. “Hey you two. Wake up time.” She said.

Spike groaned and snuggled into the bed. “Five more minutes.” He said groggily.

“You’ll miss us celebrating Kicker getting his Cutie Mark.” Sparkler warned.

At that, Spike’s eyes snapped open and he jumped up to an upright position. “Oh yeah!” He jumped off the bed and rushed past Sparkler and down the stairs.

Sparkler giggled and turned to Flappy, who had woken up and came in to land on Sparkler’s back. “Squawk! I’ll come with you to wake Kicker up. Squawk!” He said.

Sparkler nodded and walked across the hallway to Kicker’s room. She opened the door gently and trotted in, seeing Kicker and Maddy still wrapped up in their plushie mother cocoon. She giggled. “So cute.” She tiptoed to the bedside and gently nuzzled the both of them awake. “Kicker. Maddy, time to get up.” She said.

Maddy opened her eyes and let out a happy bark, while Kicker also opened his eyes to see his mom and Flappy smiling at him. “Morning mom. Flappy.” He said happily.

“Squawk! Morning little dude. Squawk!” Flappy replied.

“How’d you sleep?” Asked Sparkler.

“Fine.” Kicker replied.

“Great.” Sparkler smiled at him. “Time for breakfast. Today it’s pancakes.” She announced.

At that, Kicker beamed and shot up from laying down. “Yay! I love pancakes!” He exclaimed.

Sparkler and Flappy watched as Kicker and Maddy jumped out of bed, and rushed out the door and down the stairs. Flappy giggled as he took flight. “Squawk! Better get down there. Squawk!” He said as he flew off after them.

Sparkler followed behind them all as they made their way to the kitchen. Kicker smiled as he saw his other mother there. “Morning Mommy Twi!” He said happily.

“Morning my little shining star.” Twilight replied as she nuzzled Kicker in the cheek. “How about you have a seat and I’ll get you your pancakes.” She suggested.

Kicker quickly sat himself at his usual spot at the table as Twilight floated over his pancakes to him. As Sparkler made her entrance and Spike and Flappy sat themselves at the table, Kicker got his first look at his breakfast, and his excitement turned to confusion at the shape of the pancakes, a clear star with a microphone drawn with syrup. “Uh, why are my pancakes made like this?” He asked.

“They’re shaped like YOUR Cutie Mark Kicker.” Sparkler responded. She glanced down to his flank, and sure enough, what they saw last night in the recording was real.

Kicker meanwhile was still confused. “MY Cutie Mark?” He asked. “Isn’t it too early?” He asked.

“Squawk! Apparently not. Squawk!” Flappy said, extending a wing to point at Kicker’s flank.

Kicker turned his head and craned his neck to look at his flank, and sure enough, there on his flank rested a microphone on top of a gold star. His eyes widened as he stared at the mark. “Whoa…I got your star Mommy Twi! And your Microphone Mom!” He exclaimed, the first thought coming to him was that his Mark had elements of both his mother’s marks.

Sparkler and Twilight smiled and wrapped their son up in their wings. “Congratulations Kicker. You found your special talent.” Twilight said.

“We’re so proud of you!” Sparkler added, the tears returning.

Kicker smiled as he snuggled into the embrace. questions still stirred in his mind, but he was happy his mothers were proud.

After a second, Kicker’s questions could no longer wait. “So, when DID I get my Cutie Mark? I didn’t notice until just now.” He said.

“You got it when you me and Flappy were singing last night.” Spike replied.

“Squawk! So if we go by the timing and what you were doing, we can safely assume your special talent is singing. Squawk!” Flappy explained.

“Singing…awesome!” Kicker exclaimed. “Wait, isn’t singing music? Mom, my Cutie Mark is related to yours!” Kicker told Sparkler.

Sparkler nodded and gently squeezed Kicker in her wings. “Yeah I guess it is.” She said happily.

Twilight smiled as she watched her marefriend and their son hug it out. She felt a hint of jealousy that Kicker’s mark was related to Sparkler’s, but since Kicker wasn’t a Unicorn and thus unable to do magic, it made sense that his Cutie Mark wouldn’t be related to magic in any way. So instead she just smiled. We’ll have more children someday. One of them could be a Unicorn and Magic will be their special talent. She snickered at the thought. They weren’t gonna have anymore children for a hot little while, but whatever the future held for them, she knew they would face it together.

Later on, they had that Cuteceniera for Kicker. Their friends were there, and happy for Kicker (Rarity even offered to make a patch of his Cutie Mark to sew onto his winter coat), the CMC and Pearl and Lucky fawned over Kicker’s new Cutie Mark, and Kicker even got to show off his Special Talent by singing a song with Airwave. A performance that Sparkler and Twilight made sure to capture with photos and video. Suffice to say, that day was going down as one of the best days of the Medley Family.

To be continued…