//------------------------------//
// Episode 2: Contact Established 
// Story: Sparkling Harmony EQG: Agents of SMILE: Young Love 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
//------------------------------//

Canterlot High
Canterlot City
October 1st 2022
1500hrs

“Alright, see you tomorrow Sparkler.” Twilight said as she closed her locker.

“Yeah. See you tomorrow Twi.” Sparkler responded, waving as Twilight walked away. Once she was gone, she sighed and turned back to her locker. “God why does she have to be so effortlessly adorable?” She asked no one in particular.

She had been living in Canterlot for two months now, she had known Twilight for half that time, and in that time, she came to enjoy her time with Twilight the most out of all her new friends. She’d look forward to every class she had with her, she’d hope she’d be paired up with her for partner assignments, and of course she always hoped Twilight would be there when she and Autumn hung out with her cousin’s friend group. Not to say she didn’t enjoy hanging out with her other friends, but…well, let’s just say she definitely would say yes to Twilight over everyone else.

“Ya know you won’t know if she’s interested if you never ask her right?” Asked Flappy.

Sparkler groaned. “I know.” She said. “But we’ve only known each other for a month. What if it’s too soon? What if she thinks I’m weird and creepy? What if she says no?”

“Something wrong Sparkler?” Sparkler heard Autumn ask. She glanced behind her to see her roommate approach.

Sparkler sighed as she closed her locker for the day. “You could say that.” She said.

“Would that be yer crush on Twilight?” Asked Applejack, who came up behind Autumn.

Sparkler sighed. It didn’t take too long before her friends picked up that Sparkler had a crush on Twilight. Ever since Pinkie got too excited and exposed it, thankfully when Twilight WASN’T there, but still. “Yeah. I can’t stop thinking about her. Every morning when I open my eyes, every evening when Autumn and I turn out the lights, I can feel it’s more than a crush. I’ve fallen hard for her.” She said.

“Of course you have!” Pinkie said as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. “You two are perfect for each other, your counterparts engagement across the mirror proves it!” She exclaimed.

Sparkler jumped when Pinkie appeared, but true to Sunset’s word, she had gotten used to it. She frowned at the counterparts thing. “Ahem, just because they’re together doesn’t mean WE’LL get together. They may be our counterparts but they’re still different people, er, ponies.” She told Pinkie.

“Well that also doesn’t mean you WON’T get together.” Pinkie said. “There’s a real chance.” She said, before inexplicably disappearing down the hall.

Sparkler, Autumn, and AJ watched her go, and AJ just chuckled and shook her head. “That Pinkie Pie I’ll tell ya.” She said. “She does have a point though Sugarcube.” She said.

“Well how would I even go about asking—“ Sparkler said before being cut off by Flappy.

“Warning, suspicious activity detected near the Sparkmobile.” Flappy warned her.

“—asking her out.” Sparkler finished without skipping a beat as she and the Apple girls walked down the hall out the front door. Suspicious activity near my car?

Autumn was the first to notice what she didn’t know Flappy eluded to just now, because she couldn’t hear him. She smirked and crossed her arms. “Well, you could start by curbing her intrigue about your car.” Autumn said as she pointed to it.

Confused, Sparkler looked over to where her car was parked, and her heart stopped when she saw Twilight definitely looking at it. Oh no. She thought, she didn’t know what Twilight was doing near her car, but she DID know that she was there for a reason. She gulped. “Why would my car intrigue her? It’s nothing special.” She said.

“Maybe it’s more special than ya thought.” Applejack responded.

Sparkler inwardly was panicking. She was confident Twilight wouldn’t find all the secret spy stuff loaded into her car, but that did nothing to ease her mind. “Maybe we should wait until she—“

“Nope.” Autumn and Applejack said as once, before Autumn nudged her forward.

“This is your best chance. Seize it.” Autumn told her.

After seeing a thumbs up from Applejack, Sparkler made up her mind as she started walking towards Twilight and her car. “You CAN tell her about one upgrade.” Flappy told her. “The souped up sound system you installed over the summer.”

That actually put Sparkler at ease. He’s right! I actually can tell her about one thing unique! With that on her mind, she smiled as she approached Twilight. “Hey Twi. What’s up?” She asked.

That apparently spooked Twilight as she jumped and spun around, revealing a scanning device she was holding that Sparkler couldn’t see before. “Sparkler! Hi.” Twilight said, she glanced at the scanner before hiding it behind her back. “Ahem, Autumn met you at your locker early today.” She commented.

“Yeah. She did.” Sparkler said. “Scanner pick up something about my car” She asked.

Twilight blushed and smiled sheepishly, knowing she was caught, she had planned on scanning Sparkler’s car after four weeks of picking up all sorts of bizarre readings from it. “Uhm. Well…” She said, not knowing what to say. After a few seconds, she sighed. “I uh…been picking up some strange readings from your car over the last few weeks.” She admitted. “I was curious so I thought maybe I’d take a few scans to figure it out.” She said.

Sparkler chuckled. “Probably just the souped up sound system I DIYed into this thing.” She explained.

“You upgraded the sound system in your car?” Twilight asked. “Isn’t the Pegasus Model 10X Zoomer supposed to be THE top of the line car with all the latest technology available to the public?” She asked.

“Maybe at the time of this particular car’s construction. But that was a year ago. A better sound system has come out.” Sparkler said, which was true.

“Wow. That’s really impressive.” Twilight responded. “What else did you do to the car?”

Crap! Sparkler inwardly groaned. She knew Twilight was gonna ask that. And of course she couldn’t say anything else because the rest of the mods were SMILE issue and she couldn’t talk about those. “That’s about it really, just the sound system.” She said. Hoping like heck Twilight believed her.

Twilight looked at Sparkler quizzically for a few seconds, she in fact found it hard to believe that a mere sound system could produce such bizarre readings, but then again, she wasn’t an expert in that field so it was entirely possible. After a few seconds, she smiled. “Well, I’d love to know how you did it. I’ve heard cars like these are next to impossible to modify.” She said.

“That’s what they want you to think.” Sparkler responded. “But they’re easier to upgrade yourself than you think. You doing anything this weekend?” She asked. Oh dear god am I really segueing into asking Twilight out from talking about auto technology?! Sparkler thought to herself.

“Hmmm…” Twilight ram through her mind to see if she had anything going on. “No, I don’t think I have anything going on.” She said.

“Well, I could explain how I upgraded the sound system in my car…over dinner perhaps?” Sparkler asked, her cheeks heating up a bit and her heart racing.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Y-you mean like a date? A date date?” She asked, feeling her own cheeks heating up.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded. “If you want to of course. Heheh.” She added, rubbing her arm nervously.

The next couple of seconds were Sparkler and Twilight blushing and glancing in other directions nervously. After a sec, Twilight finally nodded. “Y-yeah. Sure, I’d love to go out with you Sparkler.” She said.

Sparkler almost couldn’t believe she actually said yes, but nonetheless, she smiled. “Great.” She said. “I’ll make the reservation and text you the time and place.” She said.

“Sounds good.” Twilight responded. She glanced down at her scanner and chuckled nervously as she pocketed it. “Sounds great actually.” She said.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded as Twilight started walking away.

“See you tomorrow?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Sparkler said, waving as Twilight walked away.

The moment she was out of earshot, Sparkler let out an excited squeal. “Score!” She said.

“Smooth Sparkler. Super smooth.” Autumn said, Sparkler turned to see Autumn and AJ approach.

“Did I hear right when you said you DIYed your own car’s sound system?” Applejack asked.

Sparkler nodded as she whipped out her phone. “Yeah. You did AJ.” She said as she pulled up Rarity’s number.

Sparkler: Rarity, I need help. Got any advice for a first date?

“Who’re you texting Sparks?” Autumn asked.

“Rarity. Asked her for advice on a first date.” Sparkler said as she pocketed her phone. She realized immediately that she never actually been on a date before.

Applejack laughed. “Oh Sugarcube, you just unleashed a kraken. Three, two, one.” She counted down.

When she said one, Sparkler’s phone started lighting up with texts from Rarity.

Rarity: You got a date?!

Rarity: With who?

Rarity: Is it Twilight?

Rarity: Where are you going?

Rarity: when is it?

Rarity: give me the details girl!

Sparkler laughed as Rarity kept sending her text after text. “Should I wait for her to calm down before responding?” She asked.

“Maybe.” Autumn said.

“Give her a few minutes.” Applejack said.

Sparkler nodded, her mind racing. I can’t believe I actually scored a date with Twilight. I hope Airwave will give me the night off on Saturday. She thought. After submitting the application, Sparkler was called in for an interview and scored a position as a waitress at Airwave’s Airwave. Autumn and Lyra eventually scoring positions as well. Sparkler was ecstatic to be working for her favorite music artist. “Gotta talk to Airwave tonight, request the night off on Saturday.”

Autumn chuckled. “I’m sure he’ll give you a night. You’re the star waitress after all.” She said.

Sparkler blushed. “Oh I don’t know about that. Everyone else is good too.” She said.

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.” Autumn said.

Sparkler rolled her eyes as she and the Apple cousins got into her car. “Anyway, time to head home before work.” She said.

To be continued…