//------------------------------//
// Episode 14: The Nuclear Option 
// Story: Sparkling Harmony EQG: Agents of SMILE: Yule Tide Assistance 
// by Captain_Cosmos 
//------------------------------//

North Pole
December 23rd, 2022
2330hrs

“Ooh you guys shoulda seen it! It was so epic! When Sunset went all Captain Rex with her dual wielding the blaster pistols, Daydream went all avatar with Midnight. Oh! And when Sparkler remembered what her ring could really do and went all Captain Equestria and Tron on Sundown. They were all like whoosh, and then they were like hiya! And then Sparkler slammed Sundown with a Crystal wall! It was her best fight ever!” Cortana was fangirling a million miles a minute recapping what went down in the Lunar Trench for Alexander and Cornelius.

Sparkler just chuckled and shook her head at Cortana’s recap as she, Daydream, and Twilight helped Flappy and Sunet to lower the recovered Magic Generator back into its proper place. Zora meanwhile shook from side to side to simulate shaking a head. “She could show a bit more majority for a sentient Artificial Intelligence.” She commented.

“She’s just excited Zora. She just went on her first mission as a Sentient AI, one that’s only been around for about 5 months just like you.” Sparkler responded.

“Yeah. I’m sure she’ll mellow out in time.” Daydream commented.

The Generator soon touched the ground in exactly the right place, settling on the mounts screwed into the floor. After hearing the satisfying clank, Sparkler smiled. “Generator is secured in place.” She said, she glanced up at the Sparkmobile. “All good. Release tow cables.” She said.

“Copy that.” Sunset responded. A moment later, the tow cables fell from the Sparkmobile, releasing the generator. “I’ll land and meet up with you guys.” She told them.

“We’ll be here.” Sparkler responded as the Sparkmobile moved off to land.

“Now we just need to reattach the cables and we’ll be all set.” Cornelius said. “Sparkler, Daydream, if you don’t mind?” He asked.

“Sure thing Cornelius.” Sparkler responded as she and Daydream started hooking up the cables to the magic generator, reconnecting it to the grid.

Alexander couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. “We really can’t thank you guys enough for coming to help. You literally saved not just the world, but Christmas as well.” He said.

“Well, we couldn’t let those two demons ruin a good day for millions of kids.” Twilight responded. “Luckily, it’s unlikely we’ll ever hear from them again.”

“I’m sure that’ll make a lot of people happy.” Alexander responded.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah.” She said. “So, where’s Santa? I had thought he would be there to greet us upon return.” She said.

“He’s in the mail house, making sure we didn’t miss any requests before he takes off.” Alex responded. “Can’t have a kid disappointed on Christmas.”

“Yeah that would really not be good after all this.” Twilight responded.

“You can say that again.” Alex responded. “Speaking of mail, since we got you here we’ve been meaning to talk to you about—“

“Uh, Alexander?” Said an elf’s voice from Alexander’s watch, cutting Alex off. 

He raised his watch to respond. “What’s going on George?” He asked.

“We uh, we might have a small, teeny, MASSIVE problem.” George responded.

Alex blinked, before he responded to George. “What…happened.” He asked simply.





“This is bad. This is bad. This is very, very INCREDIBLY BAD!” Alex kept saying as he paced back and forth in the North Pole Hospital. Sunset, Twilight, and Sparkler were with him.

Sunset raised an eyebrow, not knowing what happened. “So what happened?” She asked.

“Santa and I were in the mailroom cross checking the requests with the manifest for tonight’s flight, when a cracked rack leg broke and fell right on him, burying him in filing boxes.” George from the postal department responded. “It was too quick to do anything.” He added.

“HOW did that thing even break? It’s never broken before!” Alex exclaimed, exasperated.

“We’ve never been attacked by a pair of demons before.” George responded. “A LOT of damage was caused.”

“Oh dear god why did this need to happen NOW?!” Alex asked, going back to his pacing.

“Alex, calm down, I’m sure Santa’s going to make it.” Sparkler told him.

“Ultimately he’s probably fine.” Alex said. “That I have no doubt. THAT’S NOT THE PROBLEM!” He said. “He’s due to fly in 20 minutes. And with this accident now he’s at risk of not being cleared to fly!” He said.

“Well don’t go panicking yet, the doctor’s still looking him over.” Twilight said.

At that moment, the doors opened and a doctor elf came out. “Good news, he’s going to make it.” The elf said. “He’ll be back on his feet in no time.”

“Please tell me no time means he’s already up.” Alex responded.

“Still out cold unfortunately.” The elf responded. “Definitely won’t be cleared to fly tonight.” He reported.

That sent Alex into a panic frenzy. “That’s it. We’re done. Presents won’t be delivered. Kids will wake up tomorrow and NOT find anything under their trees. They’ll stop believing in Christmas, and that’s bye bye Santa and Elves!” He said.

“Don’t you guys have a backup for this scenario?” Sparkler asked.

“Given we didn’t have a contingency for the magic generator being stolen what do you think?!” Alex retorted, before realizing his tone and sighed. “Sorry, just stressed out right now.” He apologized.

“I know the feeling.” Twilight responded. “Isn’t there anyone here that can fly in Santa’s place?”

“No. Elves are incapable of doing this flight. None of us are able to do what Santa can do to get into houses.” Alex responded. “If not for that, all we’d need is a Magic Organ and I wouldn’t be panicking right now.” He said.

Sparkler listened to Alex’s explanation on why only Santa could do the flight, and when her brain connected that whoever flew needed to be able to get into houses quickly, and needed a Magic Organ, two things that she herself could do, it came back with an idea she KNEW was insane, but for some reason, still opened her mouth to suggest it. “…I could do it.” She said.

At the utterance of that line, Alex stopped panicking and all eyes turned to stare at Sparkler. “...What?” Sunset asked after a moment.

“I know it sounds insane, but if the only two prerequisites are being able to sneak into houses quickly and possession of a magic organ. A secret agent trained in infiltration, with a magic organ in her rib cage, is probably the best bet in this moment to fly in Santa’s place.” Sparkler reasoned.

Everyone continued to stare at her, not entirely sure what to say to Sparkker’s suggestion. After a moment of no sound or movement, the doctor Elf reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a medical scanner. He held it out towards Sparkler and moved it from side to side at her. After checking the screen, he nodded. “She’s medically fit.” He said.

That finally got Alex to snap out of his shock. “Sparkler. Setting aside another problem for just a moment. Do you realize what it is you’re volunteering to do?” He asked. “This is not just any mission. This is probably THE mission. You need to go faster than you’ve ever gone before. And also probably need to break several trespassing laws in order to pull this off.” He said. “There’s very little margin for error and you CANNOT trip any alarms that could signal local law enforcement agencies.” He told her.

Sparkler heard him, and she quickly ran through all potential scenarios, and also making sure she was willing to go through with this. “I haven’t managed to trip any alarms alerting local law enforcement agencies so far. I’m confident I can pull it off.” She said as she stood up from her chair. “All I need is the list.”

“That’s not all you need.” Alex responded. “You also need a sleigh, and the sleigh stored in the barn that USUALLY flies this mission will not respond to you. It will only respond to Santa.”

“Maybe the real sleigh won’t.” Sparkler said. “But the Sparkmobile masquerading as a sleigh will.”

“It will need to be pulled by the Reindeer. You must do everything you can to not be seen, but if a kid who successfully stays up all night waiting for Santa DOES see you…why burst the kid’s bubble.” Alex explained.

“I’ll probably need to wear the suit too for that reason.” Sparkler reasoned.

“Are you absolutely SURE about this?” Alex asked.

“Yes. I am.” Sparkler responded. “Santa’s due to fly in 15 minutes. And as far as every kid worldwide is concerned, Santa WILL come to town.”

Alex and Sparkler stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Everyone could feel the tension in the air.

Finally, Alex nodded. “Let’s hope your infiltration skills pan out.” He said. “You’ll need every one of them.”

Sparkler nodded her head in understanding. “Understood.”

While Alex proceeded to the door to make preparations, Sunset and Twilight finally snapped out of it. “Sparkler.”

“You’re really going to do this.” They said.

“For the sake of every kid on this planet, you bet your rear ends I am.” Sparkler responded, determination clear in her demeanor.

To be continued…