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// Sledding without Snow 
// Story: Sparkling Storytime 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
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“So what you’re gonna want to do is get a running start, and then hop on the sled and ride it down the dune.” Sparkler explained.

“Squawk! It’s called Sand Sledding. Squawk!” Flappy said.

“Sand Sledding eh?” Twilight responded. “Neat.”

“Yeah.” Fleur De Lis said. “Where did you learn to do this Sparkler?” She asked.

“My parents actually, back when I was 7.” Sparkler responded.





”It was around Hearths Warming when I was on break from school and from being the resident egg target...”

Little Sparkler walked up to the door to her home and opened it. Letting herself in. “Thank Faust it’s winter break now.” She said. “I’m home!” She called out as she went straight to the bathroom for a bath.

“Squawk! Hiya there Spark—They couldn’t even give you one day? Squawk!” Flappy asked.

“Nope.” Sparkler responded as she hopped into the tub.

Flappy sighed as he landed on the toilet. “Squawk! Not even one day? Where’s their holiday spirit? Squawk!” He asked.

“Oh I’ll tell you where it is. Their holiday spirit didn’t want to be with them so they fled to the North Pole with Santa Hooves.” Sparkler responded.

Flappy laughed. “Squawk! I second that. Squawk!” He responded as he got a brush ready, used to the routine of Sparkler having a bath after school and him helping to clean her up. After several moments, Sparkler was all clean. “Squawk! I’ll say this. Least they use ammo that’s easy to clean off. Squawk!” Flappy commented.

“If only they wouldn’t do it at all.” Sparkler responded.

Flappy nodded as the two left the bathroom and headed into the kitchen, where Aurora and Thundercracker were sitting. Thundercracker smiled when he saw Sparkler all clean. “Good thing Egg yolk is easy to clean eh Sparky?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded. “Thankfully now it’s winter break.”

“Any homework over break?” Aurora asked.

“Just an assignment from Mr. Rhythm.” Sparkler responded. “Attempt something you’ve never done before.” She said.

“That’s it?” Thundercracker asked.

“He says making music equates to trying stuff never before attempted. So he wants us to do just that. Do something we’ve never done before, and then report on it.” Sparkler explained.

“Squawk! Hehe. Well now’s the perfect time for those featherbrains to have a change of heart. Squawk!” Flappy commented.

Everypony chuckled, immediately seeing what Flappy was getting at. “I highly doubt all of them will change in an hour.” Sparkler responded. “Meaning I’ll have to think of something else.”

“Shame we can’t afford to go on a vacation.” Aurora commented. “We could go to a ski resort and get you cruising down a snowy hill.”

“Huh?” Sparkler asked, confused. “What’re those things?”

Thundercracker chuckled. “Just a thing you’re mother and I used to do before you came along and we moved here.” He said. He lit hist horn and summoned a scrapbook. “Ah the stories we could tell you.” He said.





“I don’t think I’ll ever get over the fact that I was never there for you back then.” Fleur commented. “Clearly you needed a sibling who’d look out for you.” She said.

“Well at least we’re together now.” Sparkler responded. “And with the kids off at Summer Camp we have time to do things like this.” She said. “Follow me!”

Sparkler took off in a running start and hopped on her sled, moving fast down the sand dune in the Appleloosa area. Fleur and Twilight followed suit, as did Flappy and his kids. All 7 of them slid down the dune. The kids were having fun.

At the bottom, Fleur and Twilight got off their sleds and smiled. “That was fun!” Twilight said. “I never realized you could sled on sand!”

“Just not something you think about.” Fleur responded.

Sparkler nodded. “Yeah. I certainly never realized. But Aurora and Thundercracker thought it could be fun.” She said.





“So I can just ride this sled down the sand dune?” Little Sparkler asked.

“That’s right.” Aurora responded. “Usually there’d be snow but sand is kinda like snow.” She explained.

“Squawk! Is it safe? Squawk!” Flappy asked.

“Perfectly safe.” Thundercracker responded.

“Ok. Well, here I go.” Sparkler responded as she hopped on the sled and the momentum from that pushed the sled down the sand dune. Immediately she started having fun. It was exhilarating, the speed, the wind blowing past her. “Woohoo! This is awesome!” She exclaimed.

Flappy smiled as he soon followed Sparkler’s lead and rode his little bowl down the dune. “Squawk! This is awesome! Squawk!” He exclaimed.

Aurora chuckled as she and Thundercracker watched Sparkler and Flappy sled down the dune. “If only we could go back. Back to where all three of us came from…maybe they wouldn’t bully her there.”

“I know honey.” Thundercracker responded. “But we tried. And we haven’t found any trace of our home nation. It’s as if it never existed.”

“Think it’ll return one day?” Aurora asked.

“Hopefully.” Thundercracker responded.





“Oh yeah. We really need to get the kids in on this someday.” Twilight said as she, Sparkler, Flappy and his kids and Fleur headed back into town for the day.

“The only downside is that it messes up wings. Have to preen them every time you come back from Sand Sledding.” Sparkler commented.

“Squawk! At least Sand comes out better than Egg Yolk. Squawk!” Flappy commented.

“I’ll bet. Thanks for teaching us how to Sand Sled Sparkler.” Fleur said. “It’s fun learning what you did for fun growing up.”

“Woulda been even more fun if you were there with me.” Sparkler responded. “But can’t change what happened.” She added.

“I’m still itching to head to the Crystal Empire right now and finally solve the mystery of you two.” Twilight commented. “That could very well answer all our questions.”

“When a second reason presents itself we’ll go Twilight.” Sparkler said, still believing going all the way to the Crystal Empire just to look through some books was more trouble than it was worth. “Still, I won’t lie and say that it’s not relieving to know some answers.”

“Squawk! Oh for sure! Squawk!” Flappy responded as they headed to the train station.

To be continued…