//------------------------------//
// Episode 8: Meeting the Parental Units 
// Story: Sparkling Harmony EQG: Agents of SMILE: Young Love 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
//------------------------------//

45 Main Street avenue
Heart of Canterlot City
October 20th, 2022
1630 hrs

On a bright, Fall afternoon in Canterlot City, Sparkler and Twilight sat at the kitchen table in hers and Autumn’s apartment, doing homework. Sparkler glanced at her girlfriend and noticed the down look on Twilight’s face while she just stared at her worksheet. “Twilight?” Asked Sparkler. “Everything OK?”

Twilight glanced up from her paper to see the concerned look on Sparkker’s face. She sighed. “It’s my family. They’re insisting that I bring you around for dinner sometime.” She said.

“They want to meet their little girl’s significant other.” Sparkler responded. “Well it kinda has to happen sometime.” She said.

“But I’m not ready yet!” Twilight panicked suddenly, spooking Sparkler. “What if they don’t like you? What if they ban you from my life?! What if my brother pulls out the handcuffs?!” She panicked.

Sparkler saw her girlfriend about to hyperventilate and spoke up. “Twi! Breathe!” She said.

Twilight did so and took a deep breath. She let it out and sighed. “S-Sorry. I’m just nervous.”

Sparkler smiled and got out of her seat, she walked around the table and pulled Twilight into a comforting hug. “Twilight, relax. Cadence seems to like me, and we already know Night-Mare likes me. So that’s two of your family members all good.” She said.

“That still leaves my parents and my brother.” She said. “And my brother especially doesn’t mess around.”

Sparkler chuckled. “Fortunately I have nothing to hide. Especially nothing bad.” She assured Twilight.

“There’s nothing you’re hiding that could possibly rub them the wrong way?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing at all.” Sparkler lied. Something she hated doing to her girlfriend but was necessary. If she ever found out it would put her in SERIOUS danger. She thought.

Twilight sighed. “I just really want them to like you. Especially if we end up being long term.” She said.

“I HOPE we end up being long term.” Sparkler said. “I hope we end up like our pony counterparts. In the other Equestria.”

“Engaged with 11 kids?” Twilight asked, she knew full well the situation with her counterpart, thanks to Sunset.

“Maybe not 11 kids but I think we can handle a couple.” Sparkler said.

Twilight chuckled. “Is it bad that I now want to research how two girls can have a biological kid without any external help?” She asked, blushing.

“Ms Sparkle.” Sparkler said, giggling. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you want to have kids before we get married. Taking a page out of our counterpart’s book.” She teased, to which Twilight blushed even harder.

“Ok, for real, we both know the circumstances behind our counterparts’ family. What actually are the odds that we’d have a kid before marriage? Like realistically?” Twilight asked.

“Well, magic managed to become a reality in this world. So I’d say at this point anything is possible.” Sparkler said. “And I think you would make a great mother.” She added, winking at Twilight.

Twilight blushed even harder. “S-Sparky, we haven’t even gotten through the meet the parents stage.” She whined.

Sparkler laughed. “Hey. You’re the one who brought up the kids subject.” She said.

“And–” Twilight was about to retort back when her phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen, and the color drained from her face. “It’s my mom.” She said.

“She does know you’re here right?” Sparkler asked.

Twilight bit her lip, before gulping. “She uh…might not know EXACTLY where I am. Maybe I omitted where…to prevent more nagging about a certain dinner arrangement.” She admitted.

Sparkler blinked a few times, not sure if she heard right. “Twilight Sparkle? Not telling the truth? This is new.” She said, knowing full well she herself had no room to talk technically, but she had to keep the charade up.

Twilight sighed as she answered the phone. “Hey mom.” She said.

“Hey Twilight, are you going to be home soon? Or are you going to be out for dinner?” Her mom asked.

Twilight glanced at Sparkler, who smiled and nodded, letting her know she could stay for dinner if she wanted. “I’ll be out for dinner.” She told her mom.

“Alright. Sparkler knows not to feed you peanuts right?” Her mother asked, to which Twilight blushed like mad.

“W-who said anything about having dinner with Sparkler?” Twilight asked.

“Spike told us where you were.” Her mom responded. “A few dog biscuits got him talking.”

Traitor! Twilight facepalmed and sank in her chair, still blushing while Sparkler giggled. “Makes sense, he’s a dog after all.” She commented.

“Is that Sparkler Twilight?” Her mom asked.

Twilight gulped, Sparkler smiled. “Yes Mrs. Sparkle. I’m Sparkler.” She said. “And yes. I do know not to feed her peanuts. One of the first things she warned me about.” Sparkler added.

“Good. Twilight have you talked to her about having dinner with us this week?” Twilight’s mom asked.

Twilight stiffened while Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “This week?” She asked Twilight.

Twilight gave Sparkler a panicked look. She hadn’t told Sparkler yet, but her parents basically set a deadline for her bringing Sparkler over for dinner…and it was within the week. “I’ll talk to her I’ll be home by curfew ok bye mom.” Twilight said quickly before she cut the connection.

Once the call was ended, Twilight buried her head in her hands, both embarrassed, and ashamed. Sparkler saw this and knelt down so she could better see Twilight’s eyes. “Hey, Twi? What’s wrong?” She asked.

At first, Twilight didn’t say anything, before Sparkler heard…whimpering? “Twi?” She asked, concerned. She took Twilight’s hands in her own and moved them down, to see Twilight’s eyes glistening, Twilight was on the verge of tears, which in turn made Sparkler sad. “Aww, Twily.” She said as she wrapped her love up in a comforting hug. “It’s ok.” She cooed.

“…I-I’m sorry.” Twilight whispered.

“For what?” Sparkler asked.

“For being scared like this…” Twilight responded.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. “Twilight, that is nothing to be sorry for.” She said.

Twilight returned the hug her girlfriend was giving, and it resulted in them falling onto the floor sitting. “I’m just so afraid they won’t like you. I don’t want to lose you when I just got you.” She whimpered.

Sparkler smiled as she held Twilight close. “There’s only one way to find out if they will like me.” She said.

“…bringing you over for dinner…” Twilight said.

“If it helps. I’m pretty sure I already gained a point with them by telling them I know not to feed you
Peanuts.” Sparkler said.

“One point isn’t exactly much.” Twilight responded.

“But it’s progress nonetheless.” Sparkler responded. “And I already have answers to the most likely questions they’ll ask me.” She said.

“And what about the ones not likely?” Twilight asked.

“I can turn out an answer pretty fast. Don’t worry Twi, I’ll win them over.” Sparkler assured Twilight.

Twilight looked up into Sparkker’s reassuring eyes, and she finally sighed and smiled. “Does tomorrow work for you?” She asked.

Sparkler smiled as she pecked Twilight on the forehead with her lips. “Sounds perfect.” She said.

Twilight nodded, reached up, and wiped her eyes dry. “Thanks Sparkler…I feel a little better now.” She said.

Sparkler smiled as she held Twilight close. 🎶anything you need that’s what I’ll be, you can come to me.🎶 She sang.

Twilight smiled as she snuggled against Sparkler’s loving embrace. “I love it when you sing.” She said.

“One of my many talents.” Sparkler responded.

“If only you crystallized easier.” Twilight commented. “I wish I got a picture of that for all my screensavers and backgrounds.” She said.

“Maybe next time Twi.” Sparkler chuckled. They eventually got up off the floor and ate dinner, but not for a little bit.





45 Main Street avenue
Heart of Canterlot City
October 21th, 2022
1730 hrs

The next late afternoon, Sparkler was getting ready for dinner with the Sparkle family. “Hey Rarity? Think my fancy jacket/bow combo will do for tonight?” She asked her friend.

Rarity, who had come over to help Sparkler prepare for the important event, crossed her arms and made a hmmm sound, before speaking. “I think your normal attire will do nicely.” She said.

“My normal attire? But this is an important event in mine and twilight’s relationship.” Sparkler countered.

“And her parents are expecting to meet YOU darling.” Rarity responded. “You as you are under normal conditions. The real you, honest you. Not a fancy mask put on for them.” She said.

“Rares, I can’t show them the REAL me. Because while SMILE is well known, it maintains that agents not reveal their identities. My boss saying you six can know is something he doesn’t authorize often, if at all.” Sparkler explained.

“Speaking of SMILE, you did inform them you were unavailable tonight right?” Rarity asked.

“Yes. But I’m also not gonna do what I did last time and cut them off completely. If FOWL or someone else looks to attack me, I’ll know ahead of time this time…and this time I’ll also smash their faces in for getting in the way again.” Sparkler said.

Rarity giggled at that. “Don’t mess with Secret Agent Sparkler eh?” She mused.

“Especially when it comes to my relationship with Twilight. When I’m around her, I am not a secret agent, I’m just…Sparkling Medley…” Sparkler trailed off. It just dawned on her that she didn’t feel like a secret agent around Twilight…she felt like a normal teenage girl, just like she did until 2 years ago when she was recruited. “Holy nibblets, I haven’t truly felt like a normal teenage girl since I was recruited…”

“Have you EVER felt like that when you have the ability to Crystalize?” Rarity asked.

“That is something that’s been with me my whole life and doesn’t happen too often.” Sparkler countered. “Secret agent work happens more frequently.” She reasoned. “Huh. There’s another reason why I love Twilight…god I love her so much.” She said.

“Well I hope you let her know that at some point.” Rarity said.

Sparkler nodded, before her watch lit up with a text message, from Twilight.

Twilight: Good News! My brother couldn’t get off work! So now it’s really just my parents you need to win over tonight. Phew! I’m feeling a lot better now.

Sparkler couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, I think it’s safe to say she was most terrified of her brother not liking me.” She commented.

“Shining Armor?” Rarity asked. “He always comes off as a gentleman. What is there to fear?”

“I’ve heard that big brothers can be MASSIVELY overprotective and hard on SOs.” Sparkler said. “She prabably feared that with him being a police officer I might be dragged to the station by him.” She said.

“…Valid fear.” Rarity responded, knowing Twilight.

Sparkler nodded. “And it looks like he couldn’t get the night off Police detail. Eh, if it means Twilight isn’t agonizing over the dinner more than she probably already is.” She said.

“Indeed.” Rarity said.

Sparkler glanced at her watch. “Oh, time to go.” She said.

“Go and win them over Sparkler. You got this.” Rarity said. Sparkler nodded and proceeded out the door.





Sparkle Residence
Outskirts of Canterlot City
October 21th, 2022
1745hrs

Twilight was pacing back and forth in hers and Night-Mare’s room, trying to keep calm. “Mom and dad are gonna meet Sparkler, mom and dad are gonna meet Sparkler…” She kept repeating with a mutter.

Night-Mare watched her sister pace. “Twi, it was gonna happen eventually.” She told her.

“I know.” Twilight said. “But it’s still terrifying. I want them to like her.”

“And I’m sure they will.” Night Mare responded. “She already earned some favor with them by not feeding you peanuts.” She said.

“That doesn’t help.” Twilight said.

“Well, then look at it this way. Assuming adequate bond strength between you two, and assuming all relevant variables stay as they are now, in two years mom and dad can’t keep you from seeing her at all. Barring the school time of course.” Night-Mare said, using terms she knew Twilight would pay attention to. “So the worst they’ll be able to do in the long run is not let you go anywhere if Sparkker’s gonna be there during those two years.”

Twilight heard them and blinked at Night-Mare. “Did you just turn my dilemma into an equation?” She asked.

“I did. And you can’t deny the logic.” Night-Mare responded.

Twilight ran through it again in her head…and she agreed with Night-Mare, the logic was sound. “I’d still prefer if we could see each other without being discreet about it…” She said. Her eyes suddenly widened when she realized something. “What if they make me transfer BACK to Crystal Prep to keep me from her?!” She shrieked.

Night-Mare was about to say something, before they both heard the familiar sound of Sparkler’s car grow louder. Twilight smiled. “She’s here!” She exclaimed as she raced out the door, completely forgetting about what she just said. Night-Mare chuckled and shook her head.

“And just like that she’s happier than a kid on Christmas. Oh yeah. Sparkler’s a keeper for sure.” She said as she followed her sister. Who had shooed away everyone who was at the door already, clearly wanting to be the one to answer, waiting for Sparkler to come to her this time.

Outside, Sparkler took a deep breath as she walked up the path from the street to the front door, a bottle of some homemade lemonade that she made herself using her own recipe. “Flappy there’s no activity in the area right?” She asked.

“No chatter on SMILE frequencies. Doubtful that you’ll be hearing from them tonight.” Flappy responded.

“In that case, keep quiet this time. But do warn me if things go sideways.” Sparkler responded as she reached for the door and knocked.

The door was instantly opened and Sparkler saw Twilight standing at the door. “Sparkler!” She exclaimed happily as she reached out and hugged Sparkler.

Sparkler chuckled when she was pulled into the hug. “Hey there Twi. You’re awfully happy to see me for someone who spent the afternoon at school.” She said.

“I can’t be happy to see my girlfriend?” Twilight asked.

“Wasn’t complaining.” Sparkler responded as Twilight let her inside.

Night-Mare had come downstairs by then and smiled at Sparkler. “Hey there Sparks.” She said as she held out her fist for a fist bump.

Sparkler bumped her own fist with her fellow SMILE agent. “Sup Night-Mare.” She said.

Twilight inwardly sighed in relief. She already knew Night-Mare liked her but she couldn’t help but be nervous that something might have changed.

At that moment, the three teenagers heard an older woman call from the kitchen. “Girls! Is that Sparkler?” The woman asked.

“Yeah mom!” Night-Mare responded before Twilight could say anything. “She’s here!”

“Great! How bout you three come to the kitchen? A bit tied up here.” Called out their mother.

Night-Mare smiled her sister and her girlfriend and gestured for the kitchen. “After you.” She said.

Twilight gulped, and hesitated. Sparkler took one of her hands in her own to comfort her. Twilight turned to see Sparkler’s reassuring smile. With that sight, she took a deep breath and led Sparkler to the kitchen, with Night-Mare following suit.

They entered the kitchen, and Sparkler saw Cadence in there with a pair of adults she assumed was Mr and Mrs Sparkle, confirmed by her glasses auto showing her their SMILE files.

Cadence was the first to notice them enter, she smiled. “Hi Sparkler.” She beamed. “Glad you could join us for dinner tonight.” She said.

Sparkler smiled as she waved at Cadence. “Hey Cadence. Nice to see you again.” She said.

Mrs Sparkle turned from the counter and smiled when she saw the girl matching the description Twilight gave her. “Sparkling Medley I presume?” She asked.

“Yeah. That’s me.” Sparkler responded, holding out her hand to shake Mrs. Sparkle’s. “Nice to meet you Mrs. Sparkle. I can see where Twilight gets her looks from.” She said. It wasn’t lost on her the resemblance the mother and daughter had.

Mrs. Sparkle shook Sparkler’s hand smiling. “It’s very nice to meet you too Sparkler.” She said. “Twilight’s told us so much about you.”

“What has she said about me?” Sparkler asked curiously.

“Well, the main thing she talks about is your Crystal Pony Up ability.” Said a male voice from a different part of the kitchen.

Sparkler turned to the source of the voice, as did Night-Mare and Twilight, and in that moment, Sparkler was again glad she took acting, because she didn’t even flinch when she saw something EXTREMELY disturbing. It wasn’t that Mr. Sparkle was doing anything wrong, just walking towards Sparkler, but he was wearing something that both Sparkler and Night-Mare, being SMILE agents, were alarmed by. Mr. Sparkle was wearing a brown Marvel’s Star-Lord jacket that had the FOWL PATCH on it.

Sparkler’s glasses lenses filled up her vision with alerts and such, which she managed to blink away while both hers and Night-Mare’s minds raced. Is he a FOWL agent?!

Am I living with a literal bad guy?!

Mr. Sparkle, none the wiser about what was going through his daughter’s head, held out his hand to Sparkler. “Nice meet you Sparkler. I’m Night-Light, and my wife is Twilight Velvet.” He said.

Sparkler smiled and shook Mr. Sparkle’s hand. “Nice to meet you Mr. Sparkle.” She said.

“Hey uh…dad? Where did you get that jacket?” Night-Mare asked.

Mr. Sparkle glanced at his jacket. “Oh this?” He asked. “Just arrived today. Ya know how my old jacket got wrecked at work?” He asked. Twilight and Night-Mare nodded. “Yeah well, I found this one online from a brand named FOWL…I don’t know why they chose THAT name for the brand but I thought the jacket looked cool so I ordered it.” He explained.

For the sake of a LOT of people PLEASE let that be the honest truth! Night-Mare screamed in her head. She momentarily, inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when she heard her dad’s explanation on how he got a FOWL jacket, but she was still a tad skeptical, if only because she knew how dangerous FOWL could really be if they wanted to and she also knew Twilight had a lot of magical research on her computer. Hoping to find something to take her mind off it for a bit, Night-Mare glanced at Sparkler, and noticed she had a bottle in her hand. “Hey Sparkler. Whatcha got there?” She asked.

Sparkler glanced at Night-Mare, and then down to the bottle she still had. “Oh, right.” She said. She forgot about her offering. She held the bottle up. “I thought you guys might like some of my homemade lemonade. Original Sparkler recipe.” She explained.

“How thoughtful.” Mr. Sparkle responded as he took the bottle in his hand. “We can drink it with Dinner tonight.”

At that moment, they all heard a ding. Mrs. Sparkle smiled. “Which is ready now! Everyone grab a plate and head to the table. There we can pester Sparkler.” She joked.

“Mom!” Twilight whined.

“Oh relax Twily.” Mr. Sparkle said. “It’s tradition with these things.”

Sparkler chuckled as she wrapped an arm around Twilight. “Yeah. Don’t worry Twi. I got nothing to hide.” She said.

Twilight just sighed and got a plate, as did everyone else.

The next few hours were exactly like Sparkler expected. The Sparkles asked about her life, hobbies, what made her fall for Twilight, all the typical questions. Sparkler was prepared for every single one. And while she had relaxed after Mr. Sparkle explained why he had the jacket, which was very much a plausible reason, she still had the potential implications in the back of her mind.

There could literally come a day where I might have to drag Mr. Sparkle to prison. She didn’t like the idea one bit. The idea that someone related to Twilight could be evil. Night-Mare had similar thoughts, except for her it was even more personal, since she was her dad’s flesh and blood.

Meanwhile, as the night progressed, Twilight began to relax for real, she could see it in their faces that her parents were in fact liking Sparkler. And the lemonade she brought was a hit, of course Twilight already knew that it would when Sparkler mentioned she brought it. It was by far the best lemonade she had ever tasted.

Finally, after a lovely dinner, and a few sneak glances from Night-Mare directed to Sparkler, because of the FOWL jacket, Sparkler bid farewell to the Sparkles, thanked them for having her, and Twilight walked her to her car. Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Whew, glad that’s over.” She said.

Sparkler chuckled. “Hey. It wasn’t that bad right?” She asked. “I think your parents do like me.” She commented.

“It seems they do…” Twilight said…before she suddenly pulled Sparkler into a tight hug. “Oh thank god they like you!” She exclaimed happily.

Sparkler chuckled as she hugged Twilight back. “Yeah. Good thing they do.” She said.

“Now we just need to worry about my police brother.” Twilight said.

“Don’t worry Twi, if I can win over your parents, I’m sure I can win over your other sibling.” Sparkler said. “Just need to make sure I don’t give him a reason to pull me over.”

Twilight blinked, before she whipped out her phone and opened an app that her family had that let each other know where they were. She saw Shining’s bubble at the police station. “Speaking of being pulled over, it’s not likely you’ll be pulled over by him tonight.” She said, sighing in relief.

Sparkler laughed. “Oh? Were you afraid that he’d pull me over because he missed dinner?” She asked slyly.

“Sparkler, that would be an abuse of power, which is a big no no.” Twilight responded.

“Guess we’re good then.” Sparkler said.

Twilight giggled, before she leaned forward and locked lips with Sparkler in a quick kiss. She pulled back after a few seconds. “See you tomorrow morning for school?” She asked.

“Every day of the week.” Sparkler responded. “Have a good night Twi.”

“Now that this is over I can.” Twilight responded.

Sparkler nodded, and after giving Twilight one more cheek kiss, got into her car, and drove off. Twilight watched until Sparkler’s car disappeared, and squealed in delight as she walked back into her house. “Nothing can get in the way now.” She commented to herself.

Sparkler drove home on a clear starry night, along the way she smirked. “Nailed it.” She commented.

“Congratulations on a successful evening Sparkler.” Flappy said. “However we may have a MAJOR problem called Mr. Sparkle.” He said.

And that took away Sparkker’s smile. She sighed. “He said he thought it was a cool jacket.” She said.

“That could just be his cover.” Flappy responded.

“Flappy, let’s not jump to any conclusions.” Sparkler said. “I’m sure Night-Mare’s gonna look into it.”

“And what if she does find evidence related to Mr. Sparkle’s involvement in FOWL?”

“For the sake of Twilight and her whole family, I hope he has no involvement.” Sparkler said as she drove through the night.

To be continued…