//------------------------------// // Episode 66: Friends and Family Everywhere // Story: My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Season Two // by Captain_Cosmos //------------------------------// “This is not good. This isn’t good at all!” Sparkler repeated, pacing back and forth. Shining, Cadance, and Night-Mare had left the room, saying that somepony will be there to greet Sparkler’s parents. That left Twilight and Sparkler with the six foals, and Sparkler was panicking. “Sparky, calm down. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.” Twilight said. “Twilight. My parents are expecting to see Kicker the Earth Pony colt, and me as a fully grown adult. They are NOT expecting that I’m the size of a five year old filly, their grandson is an Alicorn Filly, and they CERTAINLY aren’t expecting that Kicker has 5 siblings!” Sparkler exclaimed. “And it happened just two weeks after their last visit. How are we going to explain to them that a foal sneezed and now all of a sudden they have six grandkids and their daughter is a five year old again?” She asked. Their six kids watched as Sparkler panicked. And being so impressionable…they started whimpering. Sparkler and Twilight heard the whimpering and sighed. “Right. Babies.” Sparkler said. “Hey. Hey. Shh.” Twilight told the foals softly, trying to get them to calm down. “It’s ok. It’s ok.” “Mommy and Mommy Twi are here.” Sparkler said. Thinking fast, she started singing a lullaby. 🎶Hush now quiet now Everything is A Ok Hush now quiet now There’s no need to cry.🎶 Sparkler’s soothing voice reached her six foal’s ears and they stopped whimpering slowly. One by one, Twilight and Sparkler watched as Sparkler’s singing actually lulled them to sleep. 🎶Drifting off to sleep Time to lay your sleepy head Drifting off to sleep Time to go to bed.🎶 Kicker, who was the last one to fall asleep, yawned, and closed his/her eyes. Now all of them were soundly napping. Sparkler and Twilight let out a silent Aww. Before Twilight lit her horn for a Horn Pulse. Twilight: Good thinking Sparkler. Sparkler: That was a close one. I don’t want to know what six crying Alicorn foals sounds like…just yet. Although I also wasn’t trying to make them fall asleep. We’ll have to remember that for the future. Twilight: Agreed. Now Sparkler. I’m sure your parents will understand if we just tell them. Sparkler: Oh they’re gonna find out one way or another. I’m worried about their reaction. Cause you gotta admit. All of this sounds like something out of a story. Twilight: You can’t exactly make this stuff up Sparkler. Sparkler: I guess you can’t. Twilight: Sparkler. Your parents seem very reasonable. I’m sure they’ll listen. Sparkler: Maybe you’re right. It’s just that I’m worried they’ll think I'm hiding stuff from them on purpose. This is the third time now that they visited to a surprise since I moved to Ponyville Twilight: Well it’s not like a letter woulda reached them in time. This could be counted as very last minute. Sparkler: …You’re right. Postal service is SLOW as molasses. I just hope they don’t come charging in scaring the foals. At the train station shortly thereafter, Spike patiently waited for the train from Saddle Arabia, having been asked by Twilight through firemail to wait for Thundercracker and Aurora. Flappy and Maddy were with him. And Flappy was confused. “Squawk! Wait, so Sparkler apparently REGRESSED to the size of a five year old? Squawk!” He asked. Spike nodded as he showed Flappy the letter with that information on it. “According to Twilight that’s what happened.” He said. “The best theory is that this is Sparklers’ body’s way of recovering from giving birth to six Alicorns.” He explained. That was the other thing that had Flappy confused. Due to not being allowed in the infirmary, Flappy was forced to rely on secondhoof information until he saw it for himself. So while he trusted where the information was coming from, he just couldn’t really believe that Sparkler just gave birth to SIX Alicorns. It just didn’t seem possible. “Squawk! Remind me again when they’ll be discharged from the infirmary? Squawk!” Flappy asked. “Tomorrow I think.” Spike replied. Flappy nodded. So he would be able to confirm the rumors tomorrow. Faust help her through this. He prayed. If Sparkler had regressed to five years old, it was likely that her PTSD from that age had resurfaced. Maddy meanwhile was scratching behind her ear…before barking at Spike. Spike glanced at Maddy. “What is it Maddy?” Flappy meanwhile got what Maddy was saying. “Squawk! She has to go. I’ll take her to the side. Come on Maddy. Squawk!” He said. Maddy followed Flappy away while Spike heard the train horn. Signaling it’s arrival. The train came to a halt at the platform and opened it’s doors to allow passengers to board and disembark. Among the disembarking ponies were Thundercracker and Aurora, who Spike waved over. “Hey Thundercracker! Aurora!” He called out. Thundercracker heard Spike and smiled as he and Aurora approached the young drake. “Yo Spike.” He said. “Happy Hearth's Warming Spike.” Aurora said. “You guys too.” Spike said. “Have a good trip?” He asked. “Nothing out of the ordinary.” Thundercracker replied. “Where’s Sparkler? I woulda thought she’d be here to greet us.” He commented. Spike bit his lip. “Yeah…uh…” He trailed off. “There was…an incident.” He said. “Incident?” Aurora asked, confused. “What do you mean by that?” Spike took a deep breath. “See…the thing is, a few days ago Flurry Heart was passing by Ponyville and…ya know what maybe it would be better if you just followed me to the castle. It’ll be easier to explain if you see it for yourself.” He said. Aurora and Thundercracker glanced at each other, before Thundercracker glared at Spike. “Spike, what happened?” He asked sternly. “Let’s get Flappy and Maddy and after we drop them off the house we’ll go to the castle.” Spike responded. “It’s easier to explain after you see it for yourself.” He said. “Then let’s get to the castle.” Aurora said. Now worried that something bad happened to her baby. While Twilight stayed behind in the infirmary to watch their six kids, Sparkler stood in the castle room which one entered when they first walked into the castle. She was nervous as all heck. “Why did their company not keep them busy until two days later? That would’ve given us more time to figure this out. How will they react—Flash! Why are you snickering?” She asked Flash. Flash Sentry, who was still assigned as her guard escort, stood with her in the room, and couldn’t help himself as he tried to hide his snickering with his wing. “I’m sorry. It’s just…you look adorable like that.” He admitted. “Flash!” Sparkler whined. “This is SERIOUS!” “I know. But like…come on Sparkler you saw yourself in the mirror right?” Flash asked. “It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re younger.” “I’m still 22 years old!” Sparkler shot back. “I’m just in a five year old body because a bucking one year old sneezed magic on me and Kicker, and now he’s the wrong species, the wrong gender, and has five siblings! Couple that with me being a five year old AND my parents coming two days earlier and do you REALLY think I’m in the joking mood?” She asked. A mixture of panic and frustration in her voice. Flash stopped his snickering and shook his head. “I’m sorry Sparkler. I get that you’re not exactly calm right now. But, look at it this way. You have a chance to relive your happiest foalhood memories.” He offered. Sparkler groaned. “Flash, my foalhood was a disaster.” She deadpanned. “No friends except Flappy, being pelted with eggs daily, let’s just say I’m eager to return to my original 22 year old self.” She said. Flash could tell that he should probably just shut his mouth. “Ya know what, I’m just gonna shut up now.” He said. “Probably for the best.” Sparkler agreed. At that moment, there was a very loud gasp that made Flash and Sparkler wince. Sparkler turned her head to where that gasp came from and saw her parents standing there with Spike. Her mother had a hoof to her mouth and her dad’s mouth was agape. She gulped as she smiled nervously and waved. “Hey mom, dad. Uh…how’re you?” Her dad closed his mouth and finally spoke. “Ok, two things, A, I don’t know who YOU are…” He pointed at Flash. “But she’s taken.” He said. “Dad!” Sparkler whined, did her dad really just do what she thought he just did? Even though he KNEW she was gay? “And B, Sparkling Medley explain why you’re a five year old again!” He exclaimed. “First of all. This is Flash Sentry, and we’re just friends!” Sparkler explained, facehoofing. “Uh, yeah. We’re just friends.” Flash said, backing away from Sparkler. “And second of all, I will explain what happened, but you have to promise me that you’ll let me finish before you start bombarding me with questions. And understand first and foremost that this was a complete and total accident.” Sparkler said. “We promise. Just please, tell us what happened.” Aurora asked. Sparkler took a deep breath, and then started talking. “A few days ago Flurry Heart, who is Twilight’s niece, came for a visit and sneezed. In that sneeze she unleashed a blast of magic that sent Kicker into my womb and that started an accelerated pregnancy that ended with me giving birth to six Alicorns, one of which is Kicker, but he’s been gender-bent. And we think that because I gave birth to six Alicorns, my body expended so much energy and magic during the birth that it regressed me back to a five year old physically.” She said. Thundercracker and Aurora listened, and when Sparkler was finished, they stared at her, mouths agape. Trying to process what their daughter just told them. After a good few moments of silence, Aurora finally spoke up. “Uh…ok…” She said. “Can’t say we were expecting that.” Thundercracker said. Sparkler was about to reply when she felt her horn pulse, a message from Twilight. Twilight: Sextuplets just woke up. And my parents just horn pulsed me saying they’ll be there in a sec. Sparkler: Alright. At that moment, the doors opened and Sparkler and Spike saw Velvet and Nightlight dash in. “Sorry we’re late!” Velvet called out. “Flurry was being difficult. She did not want us to leave her with her parents.” Nightlight explained. “She probably wanted to meet her cousins.” Spike speculated with a giggle. “Considering that she caused their birth essentially, I can’t help but feel like she wanted this from the start.” Sparkler suggested. “Yeah—hang on, Sparkler is that you?” Velvet asked, finally seeing that Sparkler was smaller than she remembered. “Yeah. It’s me Velvet, apparently giving birth to six Alicorns caused me to physically regress to five years old.” Sparkler said. “Ah huh.” Nightlight responded. “Ok so where are the little ones?” He asked. “With Twilight in the Infirmary room. They just woke up from a nap.” Sparkler responded. “By the way, have you four been introduced to each other?” She asked all four parents. “I introduced them when we dropped Maddy and Flappy off at the house.” Spike answered her. “Yeah he did.” Thundercracker confirmed. “Ok.” Sparkler said. “Then follow me to meet the Medley-Sparkle Herd.” She said. Spike, and both sets of parents followed her and Flash to the infirmary room. Where they found Twilight entertaining the little ones. Sparkler introduced the parents to their grandkids, Velvet and Nightlight finally got to meet their second grandchild Kicker, and the parents predictably found the kids adorable, fawning over them and making them giggle. While their parents fawned over their grandkids, Sparkler, Twilight, and Spike watched. “You’re gonna need a bigger house, Sparkler.” Spike commented. “Or we could all just move into the castle.” Sparkler responded. “We’ll need to talk about that.” “Later. Right now, let’s just enjoy this.” Twilight suggested. Sparkler nodded as she leaned against Twilight lovingly. Tomorrow was going to be something. With them being discharged, and Kicker due to be aged back to his correct age, but she knew that the hardest part was over, and it couldn’t get much worse…right? To be continued...