My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Repairing Burnt Bridges

by Captain_Cosmos


Episode 2: Precautions

Candy and Hanzal on the platform at Ponyville Station, waiting for the train that would take them to Saddle Arabia. They were talking to a Batpony mare named Amber and her daughter, Lucky Star.

“What’s your husband’s name?” Candy asked Amber.

“Mark.” Amber replied. “He’s serving one final tour of duty with the KiliHima Village police department before coming here to Ponyville to join it’s police force.” She explained.

“Mark?” Hanzal responded. “As in Mark Hansworth?” He asked.

“Yeah. Why? Do you know him?” Lucky asked.

“He used to go to school with us and Sparkler. He was one of the few that didn’t bully her.” Candy said.

Amber’s eyes widened. “Wait, he went to school with…he always talks about how his school singled out one pony with horn and wings…oh my Faust it was Sparkler?!” She exclaimed as the realization hit her.

“Sadly yes.” Hanzal said.

“Why would they do that? She’s awesome.” Lucky said.

“No clue.” Candy responded. “But it left her emotionally scarred. Thankfully moving to Ponyville’s allowed her to start healing.”

“Yeah. And with any luck going back to KiliHima Village won’t set me back 8 months.” A new voice interjected.

Candy, Hanzal, Amber, and Lucky all turned to see Sparkler, Twilight, all nine of their kids, and Flappy walk onto the platform. Lucky beamed and waved.

“Heya there! What’s up Medley Crew?” She asked.

Melody and her brothers and sisters beamed back as they raced and approached Lucky. “Hey Lucky!” All nine of them high-hoofed Lucky, even Sprinkle, Pedal, and Mystic, who became fast friends with their sibling’s friends.

Amber smiled as she turned her attention to Sparkler and Twilight. “Hi Sparkler, Twilight. How’re you?” She asked her friends she made through their kids’ friendship.

“I am livid that the Cutie Map thinks it’s funny for sending me to KiliHima Village, I am dreadfully anticipating being pelted with eggs. Overall this is one trip that I am cautious about to say the least.

It was at that moment when Hanzal, Candy, Amber, and Lucky could see something off. Except for Twilight, Pedal, Sprinkle, and Mystic, all of them were covering their wings. Candy bit her lip. “Not taking any chances eh?” She asked.

“My clones are one species each so they’re clear, and Twilight has another defense in the event some idiot decides to pick on her.” Sparkler explained.

Twilight nodded and pulled out her crown from her saddlebag. “Normally I wouldn’t even consider bringing this along, but better to be safe than sorry.” She explained.

Amber sighed. “None of you should have to do any of that. My Husband Mark’s always talked about you being singled out Sparkler, but it’s just wrong if there’s no reason.” She said.

Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “Your husband Mark? How does he know what happened Amber?” She asked.

“He used to go to school with us, Sparkler.” Hanzal revealed.

“But he’s another pony in that place that didn’t hate you. Promise.” Candy said quickly.

Sparkler’s breath hitched in her throat. “Please don’t be joking around. I’m not in the mood.” She said.

“We promise we’re not joking.” Hanzal said.

“Yeah. Mark is such an angel that he’s never done anything against a fellow student.” Amber said.

Sparkler let out a sigh. “We’ll see. But I’m gonna remain skeptical if you don’t mind.” She said.

While that was going on, Flappy felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Mina hovering behind him. He smiled. “Squawk! Hey there Mina! Squawk!” He said happily as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

“Hey there Flappy.” Mina responded. “I’m so excited to see where you grew up.” She commented. Flappy had invited her along for the ride, to which both Sparkler and Celestia agreed, after Starlight and Spike agreed to watch Maddy and the chicks.

“Squawk! Yeah. Though I wouldn’t expect any significant sightseeing. Squawk!” Flappy responded.

Mina understood where he was getting at. “Ugh. Yeah.” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, what in Faust’s name gave them the desire to torment Sparkler?” She asked.

“Squawk! I know, right? There’s no reason for it. Simple as that. Squawk!” Flappy replied.

Pretty soon, just as the train was pulling up, the rest of The Harmonic Medleys arrived, and all of them boarded the train, heading for Saddle Arabia.


Meanwhile, in KiliHima Village, a beefy stallion in uniform was busy doing some paperwork in the lobby of the KiliHima Police department when somepony called out to him. “Hey, Officer Hansworth? Do you have a moment?”

Officer Hansworth glanced up from his paperwork to see a pony approach him, a mare. “Principle Lampshade.” He said with a smile. “This is quite a surprise. What brings you here?” He asked his former school principal.

“The past.” Lampshade said simply as she hoofed a letter to him. “I was wondering if you could be on duty during the school reunion?” She asked.

Confused, Officer Hansworth read the letter, and his eyes widened. “Sparkler’s coming back.” He said.

“She and her band are gonna be the entertainment for the reunion. And we both know what happened the LAST time she was in the building Mark.” Lampshade said.

“She was the resident punching bag of the school.” Mark responded. “I’m surprised she even considered coming for the Reunion.

“I have my suspicions as to why, but this opens her up to the same treatment she got when she was a student.” Lampshade explained.

“So you want me to be On-Duty to assist security and deter the old bullies.” Mark concluded.

“If it’s not too much trouble.” Lampshade responded. “I just don’t want her to be put down again. It sounds like she’s really started to heal and who knows what being put down again could do to her. We might have another…” Lampshade trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.

Mark understood what Lampshade was getting at. Lampshade was talking about THAT incident in his freshman year of High School. “I’ll do you one better. I’ll talk to the chief, see if he can’t arrange for more security in that event. We were lucky last time but we might not be if the situation escalates to the point that it affects the wind conditions once again.”

Lampshade smiled. “Thanks Mark. I really hate that I felt the need to do this but—“

“I get it.” Mark cut Lampshade off. “No sane pony wants to see Sparkler suffer anymore. She’s done enough of that.”

Lampshade nodded and after a quick goodbye, left.

Mark glanced at the letter again, and noticed something else. A photo. He glanced at it, and his eyes widened again. There in the photo, Mark could see Sparkler, and her parrot. But she wasn’t alone. She was standing beside another mare who surprisingly had the Horn and Wing Combo as well, but what’s more, she was standing behind nine kids, most of whom also had the Horn and Wing Combo. But what’s more, Mark was stunned when it dawned on him who these other ponies were. They were her FAMILY.

After staring at the photo for a second, he smiled warmly. “Thank FAUST she managed to find happiness.” He said to himself. He could remember back during their school days, every day, every time he saw her, Sparkler was covered in egg yolk. And usually with other kids who were constantly picking on her. Mark regretfully never reached out to her because he couldn’t bring himself to do so, but after the disaster that almost cost Sparkler her life, he did resolve to try his best to get the bullies to back off from the sidelines. It did have an effect, but it wasn’t enough to stop it.

With all that in mind, seeing this photo, it put his mind at ease, knowing that Sparkler had escaped the Tartarus-hole she was in and managed to build a new life for herself. Eventually, he went back to his original paperwork, but carefully tucked the photo in his belt, hoping that he’d get to meet Sparkler’s family.

To be continued…