//------------------------------//
// Episode 4: Assistance from Friends 
// Story: My Little Pony: Sparkling Harmony: Future Incursion 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
//------------------------------//

“Mom?” Lumber asked.

“Yes Sweetie?” Sparkler responded.

“I’m hungry.” Lumber said.

“Yeah I could go for some food too.” Trail said.

Sparkler sighed. “I know guys. We’re all hungry. Luckily we’re in a town now so let’s see if there are any menus on the windows.”

The boys nodded. It had been two days since they landed in this future. Two days since they started following the signal that Sparkler was receiving three times a day. One during the morning, one at noon, and one at night. None of them knew for sure what the signal was exactly, but at least it was something, so they were chugging along. But that left one problem. They had no food. Up until now they were lucky if they passed a berry bush or tree on the road (fortunately Sparkler was able to determine every time whether the berries were poisonous or not). But now that they walked into a proper town, they could finally eat something that was more filling and nutritious. With the goal of finding a place to get some food in mind, they walked around town. They did come across several restaurants but none of them had menus on the windows.

Some time later, in one of the restaurants in town, there was a pony speaking into a wall mounted phone, and it sounded like he was talking to a frantic mare. “Ok ok ok slow down Mira, just calm down, and tell me what happened…uh huh…ok…oh…oh that’s not good…so you’re not coming in today?…Mira this is perhaps the worst time for you to call in. You realize who’s coming tonight right?…yes, I understand that your daughter’s health is important but these guys come in every year specifically to hear their favorite song. We can’t do it without you…ok. Ok, I understand. Take all the time you need. I hope your daughter feels better. Take care.” With that, the stallion hung up the phone and sighed. “Great. Just great.”

“Something wrong chief?” Asked another pony.

“Mira just called in, her daughter’s allergies are acting up and she needs to take a day.” The pony said.

“Oh that’s not good.” One of the pony’s workers said.

“No, it isn’t. For them or for us. We can’t do the performance tonight.” The pony announced.

At that, the pony’s staff gasped. “What?”

“But we have to, the Goldergs come every year to hear our version of their favorite song.”

“Surely there’s something we can do Harmone?”

Harmone shook his said. “Unless we can find a temporary replacement and train them up on such short notice, we—“ Harmone stopped when he was looking out the window, and he saw a pony looking at the menu hanging on that window that made his eyes go wide. “Is that…”

Outside, Sparkler looked in horror at the menu hanging on the window. There was a good selection of meals, but the problem was that the prices were also posted. “I was worried about this.” She commented.

“The fact that we don’t have money?” Spike asked.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded.

“The dumpster could be an option.” Trail said.

Sparkler gritted her teeth. She was afraid this was gonna happen. She remembered telling Melody when she met her that foals shouldn’t be eating from dumpsters…and now she might be forced to make her kids, and Spike, eat from dumpsters. It’s either pray for berry bushes along the way, that don’t belong to anypony, or the dumpsters…

“Uh, Excuse me ma’am!” Came a voice that snapped her out of her thoughts.

She turned and saw a pony standing there. She jumped a little. “Oh, uh, sorry, we were just looking at the menu. We’ll be on our way.” She said.

“I was actually wondering if we could talk for a moment.” The pony said. “If you don’t mind.”

Sparkler glanced around for a moment, before nodding. “Uh, sure. We can talk…” She didn’t know why, but she was pretty uncomfortable right now.

The pony smiled. “Great. Wanna come inside for some breakfast for You and your kiddos? On the house.” The pony offered.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. She actually hesitated. Her initial response was to decline the free meal, but the little detail of them having no money PERIOD came up, and they were hungry. So, she just nodded reluctantly. “Sure. Thank you…”

“Harmone.” Harmone introduced himself.

“Thank you Harmone. I’m Sparkler. Nice to meet you.” Sparkler introduced herself.

Harmone nodded and ushered them in. He took them to one of the booths and told his staff to get them something for breakfast. He then grabbed a chair and sat with them. “So how long have you guys been in town?” He asked.

“We got here maybe a half hour ago.” Spike said.

“You gonna be here long or do you have some time to kill?“ Harmone asked.

“Why?” Sparkler asked.

“I was just wondering. If you’re going to be in town for the day, maybe you wouldn’t mind making a little money?” He asked.

Sparkler saw immediately what Harmone was trying to get at. He was offering her a PAYING JOB! “You…you’re offering me a job?” She asked. Just to be sure he wasn’t talking to the kids, because she wasn’t desperate enough to make her kids work. Or Spike.

“Yeah. I am. Here’s the deal, one of our band members called off work for a family emergency and unfortunately we have a pretty important performance tonight. Do you play any instruments or sing?” He asked.

“I do.” Sparkler responded.

Harmone smiled. “Perfect. How fast a learner are you?”

“Depends on the song but if I know it I can play it.” Sparkler responded.

Harmone smiled. “The important song that’s a must is called “Gloria”. A couple comes in every year on their anniversary and requests the song.”

At that, Sparkler’s eyes widened. Gloria?! That’s a Harmonic Medleys song! She was shocked. She almost couldn’t believe it.

🎶Gloria, you're always
on the run now

Running after somebody,
you gotta get him somehow🎶

Sparkler sang a few lines. Harmone smiled brightly. “Yes! That’s the one.” He exclaimed.

That song lasted 1,019 years… Sparkler didn’t know whether to be proud of that, or scared that she now knew that. “Uhm…how much would you be willing to pay?” That left her mouth before she could stop it.

Harmone smiled. “Hmmm….” He looked up in thought, doing some quick math in his head. “How does 500 bits sound?” He asked. “And I’ll throw in free meals here for as long as you’re in town.” He offered.

That made Sparkler jump a little. She wanted to decline, because she knew it wasn’t worth that much what she was agreeing to do. But every time she wanted to deny, the reality of the situation she and her kids were in forced her to accept that they needed the money, and they also needed to eat. “That’s very generous of you Harmone, I accept.” She said.

Harmone smiled. “Thank you Sparkler. You’re really helping out here. He glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll go get your breakfast.” He said as he got up and walked to what was probably the kitchen.

Spike smiled, and when he was sure everypony was out of earshot, turned to Sparkler. “Thank our Lucky Stars Harmone just offered you a day job.” He told Sparkler.

“Yeah…” Sparkler responded. She should’ve been glad that the income would get them out of having to eat berries for the whole journey, but she couldn’t feel good about it. “I just wish I could feel like we weren’t mooching off anypony.”

“Than good thing this is only a one time thing…hopefully.” Lightning said.

“Hopefully.” Sparkler responded.

And so Sparkler spent a lot of time with Harmone that day, learning a few songs, and making sure Sparkler truly knew Gloria. She also got introduced to Harmone’s staff, who were all very nice and didn’t seem to mind that a booth was essentially not available all day.

Finally, that night rolled around and the restaurant was pretty much packed for the dinner rush. Eventually, Harmone trotted up to the stage and tapped the microphone to address the crowd. “Hey hey hey everypony!“ He said. The crowd cheered as he smiled. “Welcome to Harmonic Airwave everypony. I just want to say that you’re in for a real treat. Now, to kick off our show tonight, we have a very special song for a gorgeous couple that always comes here on their anniversary. Fillies and gentlecolts, enjoy the show with a special guest, standing in for Mira, Sparkling Medley.” He announced.

The crowd cheered as the music kicked in, and Sparkler, alongside the staff and Harmone, began singing. With Sparkler also playing lead guitar



The song concluded and the crowd cheered. That song kicked off a whole night of singing and dancing. All the while Lightning and the boys watched. Lightning got the whole show on his camcorder, which shockingly wasn’t lost, and the boys enjoyed their third proper meal since they got thrown into this future.

The next day, Sparkler and her boys were back at Harmonic Airwave, after spending the night in a motel, which Harmone insisted on paying for, they sat and ate their last meal there before heading off. Harmone came by their table and smiled. “I really want to thank you again Sparkler. You saved the show last night.” He said.

“Just happy to help.” Sparkler responded. “And Harmone, thank you for everything. You went so far beyond what we agreed.”

“Eh, it’s the least I could do.” Harmone said. “Speaking of.” He pulled out a bag and gave it to Sparkler. “As promised, a thousand bits for your services.” He said.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. “A THOUSAND?!” She exclaimed. That was double the monetary amount they agreed on yesterday. “Harmone, I can’t accept that much.”

“Sparkler, just take it. It’s always good to have extra bits just in case something happens.” Harmone said. “It really is the least I could do. After all you’ve been an inspiration in my family for generations. And it was an honor to get to perform with you last night.”

At that, Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “Wait, I’ve been an inspiration to your family for generations?” She asked.

“Uh huh.” Harmone responded. “Ever since you met my ancestors. Airwave and Lyrica.”

At that, Sparkler did a spit-take in surprise. “Airwave AND Lyrica?! As in, changeling Airwave and Pony Lyrica?”

Harmone laughed and nodded. “Yeah. I’m a direct descendant. Your stories have been a staple in our family, As well as the musical stylings of the Harmonic Medleys. How else did you think we had "Gloria" in our repertoire?” He said.

Sparkler stared at him. She was looking at the direct descendant of Airwave and Lyrica, her friends. She honestly did not know how to respond to that.

Spike and the kids saw Sparkler frozen in shock and chuckled. “I think you broke her Harmone.” Spike commented.

Sparkler suddenly snapped out of it and shook her head clear. “I…thank you Harmone…this has really helped us out…” She said, not knowing what else she COULD say.

“Always happy to help a legend.” Harmone responded. “Safe travels. I hope you succeed in getting back to your own time.” He said with a wink before walking away.

Lightning watched him go, and smiled. “The direct descendant of Airwave and Lyrica. Wait until they get a load of that.”

“Dude, no, that is a time paradox waiting to happen.” Spike responded.

Sparkler stared at the bag of bits on the table. Inside were enough bits to last the five of them a good week at least. “Let’s finish breakfast and get on the road.” She said. She had received the morning beacon and she was anxious to get going towards it. Harmone called me a legend…what exactly does my future hold for me… She thought to herself…

To be continued…