Something Sparkling

by Captain_Cosmos

Chapter 9

“Sparkler, will you…will you be my roommate?” Sparkler’s mind raced and raced. A blend of joy, worry, and anxiety filling up her thought tank; the thoughts coming at a mile per minute.

On one hoof, I’d love to be roommates with Autumn.

But on the other hoof, living with her would make it harder to hide mah wings.

And on the third hoof, Luna said Autumn would probably understand if ya just told her.

What the hay do I do?

Autumn wasn’t going to rush Sparkler, but did she ever feel the sense of desperation for an answer. Her insides, including her pounding heartbeat, raced with “Say yes! Say yes!”

Sparkler jumped back and forth in her mind for a solid minute. Between going with her heart vs. avoiding risk. Before finally shaking her head. Buck it. I won’t let mah wings make the final decision. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

“Autumn Apple, I reckon ya got yerself a roommate!” Sparkler announced.

W-w-what? Autumn could not fully register a single word Sparkler said there. It was blocked behind the mental rock of an unbelievable, incredible event.

“I-I do?” She asked.

Sparkler chuckled. Apparently, she needed to use a simpler word. “That means yes, silly.” She replied.

Autumn stayed silent for a solid minute. Before everything in all its beauty finally clicked into place. The ‘Ya got yerself a roommate’ and ‘That means yes’ quotes fully processed in her brain. Now, she felt like her heart was shining with gold.

“I reckon I’d be better off communicating how happy that makes me with a big hug.” She suggested.

Sparkler giggled. “Bring it in, sugarcube.” She said.

Powered to the maximum by Sparkler’s hole-filling answer, Autumn leaned in and hugged Sparkler as tight as her muscles could go.

Sparkler let Autumn hug her...around the neck, because reasons. Though that might have been a mistake, as Autumn was nearly cutting off her air supply. “Nngh. Hey, Autumn. Loosen up a bit? Can’t...breathe!” She choked out.

“Oh… yeah. Sorry.” Autumn said, easing her grip off.

Sparkler wrapped her forelegs around Autumn’s back. “I take it yer happy about mah answer?” She asked.

“Yes!” Autumn beamed at high volume, right in Sparkler’s face. “Thank you so, so much! I… I really didn’t think I’d see this day!”

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Honestly, being a roommate for ya is the least I could do.” Sparkler replied.

“Aww!” Autumn replied simply. It was hard to resist hugging her friend tighter; she had to use strong willpower to not obstruct Sparkler’s air supply. As bad as that sounded.

For Sparkler, she was totally flabbergasted at how much things changed for her in the four (yes, only four) days since she arrived. Moving to Appleloosa was the best decision of mah life!

“Sparkler, do you think friends can say ‘I love you’ to each other?” Autumn asked.

“Beats me. Flappy has been mah only friend for so long, but he’s also mah pet. So me saying ‘I love you’ to him may be different. If only a little.” Sparkler replied.

“Well, I guess I’ll say it like this: I love you as a friend.” Autumn continued to hug.

Sparkler chuckled. “That works.” She said, closing her eyes and melting into the hug.

“That’s awesome.” Autumn said. Her eyes began to water, as she released her ecstatic feelings. Finally, she was going to have a roommate! For real! The prospect of forever loneliness went up in absolute smoke, like it should!

The hug eased off, and now came time for the start of the next chapter in their lives.

“So… when are you moving in?” Autumn asked.

“What time is it?” Sparkler asked in return.

Autumn looked at her oven. “7:38 pm. I’d guess not tonight, then.”

“Eh...I could pop on in and grab anything that would fit in mah saddlebags now. We can get everything else tomorrow.” Sparkler responded.

“Okay!” Autumn said. “And shall we cuddle again tonight?”

“If ya want!” Sparkler said.

“Great!” Autumn said. “Would you like to go get your things now?”

“I’ll be right back.” Sparkler said. She parted from the hug, lit her horn, and popped out of the room.

---

Sparkler teleported into her now former inn room. On schedule was magically summoning everything she could fit into her saddlebags, but first…she had to take time for squealing in excitement.

“Eeeeeeeee! This is awesome! Wait til Flappy hears about this!” She said rapidly as she lit her horn and stuffed her saddlebags with everything she could possibly fit in there, from mane brushes, to little knick knacks she brought from home, to guitar picks.

A few minutes of packing done, she slid the bags on her back and teleported back to Autumn’s--no, their house.

...

Autumn heard the magical sound of Sparkler’s teleportation return. “Eee! Our first night as roommates!” She squealed.

Sparkler grinned as she took off her saddlebags and tackled Autumn in a tight hug. “I’m super excited! And I’m happier than I’ve ever been before! Thanks Autumn!” She cried.

Autumn burst into giggles at the tackle and hugged Sparkler back, around her neck.

“This is so great.” Autumn said.

“What do you say we upgrade these cuddles, by you having your onesie on?” Autumn suggested. “We could also do more night activities.”

“Great idea! Be right back!” Filled with more energy than she had ever felt in her life, Sparkler grabbed her onesie from wherever she left it, and rushed into the bathroom to get changed as fast as possible, in eager wait to get to the activities.

A moment later, Sparkler came back out wearing her onesie and tossed her poncho on top of her saddlebags. “So. What do y’all want to do now?” She asked excitedly.

Autumn gathered the options for night activities and looked to choose one. She tapped her hoof to her chin, pondering about it.

What came out, though, was something not on the original list. An activity that she suddenly came up with.

“How about I sit with you and Flappy as you preen his wings, to learn more about it?” Autumn suggested.

“We’ll have to wait for him to show back up, but sure. We can do that when he gets back!” Sparkler replied.

“That will be great!” Autumn said.

…

Flappy flew through the warm desert air above Appleloosa, heading back to Autumn’s house. The heat of the air felt pretty nice, if you ask him. He reached his destination and flew through the window, where inside, he found Autumn and Sparkler in the living room, with Sparkler in her onesie.

“Squawk! Hi! What’s shakin’ ladies? Squawk!” Flappy asked, alerting the mares to his presence.

“Oh, my entire world is absolutely shaking right now.” Autumn replied.

“Squawk! Why’s that? Squawk!” Flappy asked.

“Oh, it may have something to do with the fact that...oh, I don’t know...she and I are officially roommates!” Sparkler replied.

Flappy grinned wide. “Squawk! For real? Squawk!” He asked, not fully believing it yet. Just like Autumn.

“Yes!” Autumn said, briefly jumping into the air. “After I asked, she told me she’d be my roommate!”

“Squawk! Yahooooooo! Squawk!” Flappy did a loop de loop in the air. “Squawk! That’s great! Squawk!” He beamed.

“Yep. We’re living here now, Flappy.” Sparkler said.

Autumn began sniffling in joy, rubbing her eyes and nose. “You are. And it’s beautiful.”

Sparkler noticed the sniffles. “Aww come on now. Don’t you go crying, you’ll get me doing it.” She chuckled.

Autumn chuckled back. “You’re funny.”

“Squawk! I swear, those featherbrains in Saddle Arabia had absolutely no reason to hate her. And yet they did. Squawk!” Flappy commented.

“I’ll show them.” Autumn said. She turned to her now-roommate. “Sparkler, you are easily the closest friend I’ve developed in a very long time. And in a few days at that. It goes to show how amazing you are.”

“Aww! Thanks Sugarcube!” Sparkler said. “You’re amazing too!”

Autumn blushed and decided to just go to the activities.

“So, Flappy, the first thing I suggested we do tonight is have me sit beside you and Sparkler as you get your wings preened, so I can learn how to do it. That sound cool to you?” She asked.

Flappy nodded. “Squawk! Yeah, that sounds good. Let’s do it on the kitchen table. Preening can get a little messy. Squawk!” He added.

“Yeah, preening can be a tad on the messy side. Wouldn’t want to ruin the couch.” Sparkler agreed.

“Good idea.” Autumn said, pulling out her wooden dining table chair. “Let’s do it!

Flappy landed on the table while Sparkler summoned the blue preening brush with her magic. “Now. The most important thing about preening is to be gentle, but firm. You don’t want to pull anything out, but you also want to make sure all the dirt comes out.” She explained.

“Oh. Finding that happy medium sounds pretty hard to do, especially with something so delicate.” Autumn said.

“Like you wouldn’t believe. It takes practice.” Sparkler said as she took the seat next to Autumn. “Ahem, wing please, Flappy?”

Flappy extended a wing and Sparkler started stroking it with the little brush. “Another thing you gotta do is support the wing from the other side. Especially if you don’t have magic.” Sparkler continued as she visually demonstrated.

“I don’t have magic.” Autumn said. “So, yeah, I’ll be in a two-hoof task here.”

Sparkler continued tenderly stroking Flappy’s wing with the brush, making sure to get every feather she could. After a few minutes, she smiled. “And that’s one wing done. How does that feel Flappy?” She asked.

“Squawk! Feels great! Squawk!” Flappy replied.

“Great.” Sparkler smiled at Autumn. “You wanna give it a shot, Autumn?” She asked.

“Uhh… I don’t feel qualified yet, if you will. I’m afraid I’ll hurt him.” She said.

“So long as you go slow, you won’t hurt him.” Sparkler replied.

“Squawk! Come on, Autumn. Please? Squawk!” Flappy asked, pulling out the puppy dog eyes.

“Well… if you want me to.” Autumn said.

“It’ll be fine.” Sparkler assured. “I’ll be right here to guide you.”

“Squawk! And I’ll let you know if you’re pulling too hard. Squawk!” Flappy added.

“...Okay. I’ll try.” Autumn said, smiling at them.

Sparkler hoofed her the brush and Flappy extended his other wing to Autumn.

“So, I hold up the tip with my hoof that’s not preening?” Autumn asked.

“You preen one side of the wing at a time. Like imagine if his wings were a wall. You would hold one side of the wall with your hoof, and the other you would preen.” Sparkler explained, displaying the motions with her hooves.

“Oh, okay.” Autumn said. “So, how should I start?”

“You want to start by stroking his wing. Kinda like brushing yer mane.” Sparkler replied.

“Okay. I can work with that.” Autumn said.

Such she said, but she felt the nerves jittering again when she inched the brush closer and closer to Flappy’s soft, feathery wing. Ahh, it’s so delicate…, she thought.

She pressed the brush onto his wing very, very gently, then asked “Is this the right amount of pressure?”

“Squawk! Yeah. That’s just right. Now stroke. Squawk!”

“Great!” Autumn said, gaining a bit of confidence. She began to move the brush at the pace of a very slow snail. “Speed good?”

“Looking good.” Sparkler said.

“Good.” Autumn said softly, wanting to match her voice with the preening.

Sparkler watched as Autumn preened Flappy perfectly, just like she did his other wing. Her mind drifted back to her own wings. If we don’t preen mah wings soon, Flappy and Autumn might need to help me, and even then, it might take a while.

Autumn stroked the brush entirely in one direction until it reached the wing tip, then moved off. “What now?”

“It’s gonna take more than one stroke for a good preening. You need to keep stroking for a good few minutes.” Sparkler responded.

“Squawk! Yeah. Need to make sure all the dirt and dust is off. Squawk!” Flappy added.

“Okay. Let’s do that.” Autumn said. She continued with the same pressure and pace levels as she stroked the wing from front to back, as many times as needed until all she saw was cleanliness.

“Does it feel done, Flappy?” Autumn asked.

Flappy inspected the wing, taking a good, hard look, and smiled. “Squawk! Looks and feels good, Autumn! Thanks! Squawk!” He said.

“You did it, Autumn!” Sparkler said.

Autumn had trouble processing that. She never expected success in this field.

“You’re welcome then!” Autumn said. “That did feel sweet to do.”

“Yeah. It feels nice to preen wings. Gives a sense of accomplishment that you’re helping a friend.” Sparkler said.

“It really does.” Autumn said, holding a smile.

“Squawk! So, what next? Squawk!” Flappy asked.

“I bet this is on my mind because of the preening.” Autumn prefaced with. “Flappy, do you like to be pet?”

“Squawk! Eh, not my favorite thing, but if I’m ever down, a good petting cheers me up. Squawk!” Flappy replied.

“Same here!” Autumn said. “Applejack has helped me with it so many times.”

Sparkler smiled. “We’re all gonna do great as roommates!” She exclaimed.

Autumn looked over at Sparkler. “Did anything in relation to this petting talk drive you to say that here? Or is it just in general?”

“You and Flappy have something in common. That’s a sign of a great friendship that will only help this roommate situation.” Sparkler replied.

“Oh! Yeah, I see what you’re getting at!” Autumn said.

“Yeah. This is gonna be great!” Sparkler said.

“It will.” Autumn said. “I already see myself loving it.” She began to tear up again.

Sparkler saw the tears coming. “Aww! Here come the tears.” Sparkler giggled.

Autumn giggled back at her playfulness. “Beautiful moments do this to me.”

“I don’t blame ya.” Sparkler replied.

Thankfully, this moment built up to another activity Autumn had in mind.

“I feel ready to cuddle, but at the same time, I’m not really sleepy yet.” Autumn said.

“So what do you want to do?” Sparkler asked.

She ran back through that old list from before, but couldn’t choose anything. That is, until she heard a growl from her stomach.

“Oh, shoot. That’s right; I didn’t eat dinner today! That time was occupied by the train station.”

“Late night dinner then.” Sparkler suggested.

“Works for me.” Autumn said, hopping off her chair. “What to have?”

“Hmmmmm…” Sparkler tried to think of what to have so late into the night.

“Fresh apple cider?” Autumn suggested, opening her fridge. “I’ve got quite a few bottles from Applejack. And yes, they do stay fresh for pretty long.”

“But that’s a drink, though.” Sparkler said with a raised eyebrow.

“True. It’s just the first thing I thought of.” Autumn said. “As for food… we could have hay sandwiches again.” She suggested.

“Eh, works for me.” Sparkler said.

“Okay. Let’s do that!” Autumn said.

---

It’s night? Nevermind that. Autumn was digging into the hay sandwiches just as much as she always did. Maybe even more so, even, given that she didn’t have dinner at the usual time tonight.

“Mmm. These are good hay sandwiches.” Sparkler said as she ate her sandwich.

“Thanks.” Autumn replied. “Still a bit difficult for me to believe that I can cook this well.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. This is amazing.” Sparkler said.

“I’ll work on it.” Autumn said. “I have a long history of underselling myself.”

“Well that’s not good for yer self esteem.” Sparkler commented.

Autumn sighed. “You’re right. I guess it came about due to my long string of failures in finding a roommate.”

“Squawk! Well your luck’s finally looking up! Squawk!” Flappy said.

Autumn returned to smiling. “You’re right. It really is.” She said.

“I’d say luck is smiling on all of us now.” Sparkler said. “You get a roommate, a new friend, I get a best friend, and Flappy and I get a home. Win-win for everypony!” She beamed.

Autumn pumped her two forelegs up in victory. “Win-win indeed. And now I can feel the tears again. Hehe.”

Sparkler giggled. “Don’t cry over the food. It’ll spoil.” She said.

“Hehe. Right.” Autumn said.

Sparkler lit her horn and lifted her glass of cider. “A toast, to the future!” She said.

Autumn didn’t see this coming, and she absolutely loved it. The future, a beautiful one, was upon her. She bumped her cider glass with Sparkler’s, replying “Yes.” Sparkler and Autumn then took a celebratory sip of their cider.

---

Soon, Autumn and Sparkler had finished their meals and had moved to the couch. For some random chat.

“Hey Autumn.” Sparkler said. “How did you get into music?”

“How did I get into music… hmm… good question! I’ll tell the story.” Autumn said. “When I was little, my parents played music all the time, mostly country. I was also born and raised here in Appleloosa, so I’d say that’s where my genre came from.” She started.

“Makes sense it would be country.” Sparkler commented.

“Yeah!” Autumn said. “So, in my very early childhood, listening to music was my favorite pastime. I had lots of musical toys too.

“When I started getting a bit older, being in the Apple family, I was widely expected to become a farmer, and thus was enlisted in farm work for other family members.

“But, unlike my peers, and to their disappointment… I wasn’t very interested in farm work. It didn’t appeal to me the same way it did for them.

“Sure, I loved being on a farm; I liked the feel of it and I loved hanging out with the pets, but doing the work just wasn’t for me.

“Multiple days when I was told to do farm work, I spent a lot of time sitting on a hay bale, exhausted and frustrated, thinking ‘When can I go back home and listen to music?’ So, that was one sign.

“Then, on my birthday, my parents gave me a guitar, saying they had noticed my interest in music. So I started playing it, then other instruments, and eventually it all flowed out.”

“That’s a neat story.” Sparkler said. “I bet yer parents are mighty proud of ya now.”

“They are.” Autumn said. “My dad in particular, because he wants to retire soon and my success in music has helped him do so earlier. I’ve been donating some of my money.”

“Generous.” Sparkler responded.

“I always try to be.” Autumn said, slightly blushing at the compliment. “Now, in order to keep this conversation going, I’ll turn your question over to you.”

“Sure thing!” Sparkler said. “Well, for starters, if there was one advantage to everypony at school hating me, I had a lot of time to myself to find my love for music.” She started.

“Squawk! She really did. Squawk!” Flappy called from the table. “Squawk! She’d spend her time reading, playing with me, and teaching herself how to play instruments. Squawk!”

“Aww. You two must have looked so cute together. Which you still do.” Autumn said.

“Thanks.” Sparkler said. “Anyway, have ya ever heard of Airwave? One of the top music artists in the world right now?” She asked.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of Airwave. Even listened to the music a few times now.” Autumn replied.

“Well, I was around the CMC’s age. Mah parents took me to the local mall in our village. Don’t remember why, but we were there. So we walked into a store, and Airwave was playing over the loudspeakers.

“Now, by this time I had already written my first, and at the time, only song, Out of the Woods. So I was already into music, but it wasn’t until I heard Airwave over those loudspeakers that I realized my calling was in music. This is also when I became an Airwave fan, so I begged mah parents for the first album Airwave ever released.”

“Squawk! She would play nothing but that album all day every day. Autumn, whatever you do, don’t let her do that! She drove me and her parents mad! Squawk!” Flappy interjected.

“Sorry Flappy.” Sparkler chuckled. “Anyway, so I started really getting into music, taking in all I could on the subject. And then, mah school had an assignment where we had to group up and write a song, or cover one. The group I was assigned to all but kicked me out, despite the teacher’s criteria.” Sparkler paused there to take breaths and compose herself.

“Still got scars?” Autumn asked. “Don’t blame you at all. I’m getting upset hearing this story and I wasn’t even there to see it.”

“Now hold on. This story has a happy ending.” Sparkler assured. “While the group kicked me out, the teacher said I could still go solo to pass the assignment, which I did. And the night of the performance, not only did I humiliate the group that kicked me out by performing a new song I had written that was better than their performance in every way, during mah performance, mah cutie mark appeared. The music staff under a microphone.” She said with a proud smile.

“You wrote your song as you played it? And then got your cutie mark too? Ha! Yeah, that shows them!” Autumn said.

“No, I wrote the song in full before the performance. We had to hand in a music and lyric sheet as part of the assignment.” Sparker said. “But yes. I did get mah cutie mark during the performance. I’ll admit it was real satisfying sticking it to’em. They probably thought it would be funny to watch me fail. Hehe. That blew up in their faces.” She giggled.

“Squawk! I never laughed so hard in my life! Hehe. And the best part? She performed her song before them. So their performance looked like a foal banging on their toy xylophone in comparison. Squawk!” Flappy said with a chuckle. “Squawk! And it didn’t help that the whole time they couldn’t hide their shock that their stupid plan backfired magnificantly. Squawk!” Flappy laughed.

“Yeah that was fun.” Sparkler said.

“Love it.” Autumn said. “Everything about it. Great accomplishment.” She high-hoofed Sparkler.

Sparkler took the high-hoof. “Yeah. If ya want, I can play the song from that day.” She commented.

“That sounds great!” Autumn said. “I’d love to see a performance from you! Also, do you have any recordings of your songs? We could listen to them that way too.”

“I have a recording of every song I ever covered or made myself.” Sparkler responded.

“Awesome.” Autumn said.

“Yeah.” Sparkler agreed. “So...what do you want to do now?” She asked.

“I’m getting tired. Is it cuddle time?” Autumn asked, yawning.

“Sure.” Sparkler replied. “We can cuddle.”

“Awesome!” Autumn said, hopping over to her bed.

Sparkler chuckled as she followed Autumn. “Ya know, your hopping is adorable.” She commented.

Autumn chuckled back. “Aww. Glad to hear.”

“So, how about we try a different position tonight?” Autumn asked.

“What did you have in mind?” Sparkler asked, careful to avoid showing signs like gulping, when her mind was racing with the urge to do so. Mah onesie should hide mah wings. Mah onesie should hide mah wings…

“I was thinking I could spoon you, or we could both face each other and hug, which is called the ‘honeymoon hug.’ Those were the two on my mind.” Autumn said.

Right then and there, Sparkler’s mind made the decision for her. The one less likely to expose her wings. “Let’s try the honeymoon hug.” She suggested.

“Okay, great!” Autumn said. She, on the left of the bed, laid on her side, facing to the right this time.

Sparkler got right in under the blankets from the right side and scooted closer to Autumn. Autumn spread out her forelegs for Sparkler to slide right on into.

Sparkler did so, moving right into Autumn’s grasp, ensuring her forelegs would go around her neck. Again, wings and all.

“This is part of my thanks for being my roommate.” Autumn said.

“Aww! Autumn. You don’t have to thank me. Especially since it’s me who should be thanking you.” Sparkler said.

“But you fulfilled my very long hope. Something that I was clamoring for.”

“A roommate?” Sparkler asked.

“Yep.” Autumn said. “But I do acknowledge what I’ve given to you. And to that, I say ‘You’re welcome.’ You deserve it.”

“Thank you, Autumn.” Sparkler said.

Autumn responded by starting to move her hoof, petting Sparkler. “Do you like this?” She asked.

Sparkler smiled as she felt her neck being stroked. “Oh yeah.” She said. “I do.”

“Yay! I have somepony to pet!” Autumn exclaimed, making Sparkler giggle a bit. Autumn moved up to Sparkler’s mane and pet from head to the end strands.

“Ah. This feels nice.” Sparkler said.

“You’re so cute.” Autumn commented.

“You too.” Sparkler said. Feeling herself drift slowly into slumber.

“Aww.” Autumn said. This is so great, She thought, as she found herself going to sleep as well.

Sparkler fell asleep fully happy. She ended this day with a friend, a home, and had been told that the mare cuddling with her wouldn’t hate her because of her wings...now if only she could actually force herself to believe it.

On Autumn’s side, she felt a full round-out. A completion. The last big thing she wanted for her life… she did it. She really did it. The image in Autumn’s mind was the last piece of the puzzle finally clicking, and the entire thing shining in gold.

To be continued...

Author's Note:

THX FOR READING!

Comments

[Bronycommander]

lovely job you both did there

[Captain_Cosmos]

10844542
Thanks.

[Bronycommander]

10844544
you're welcome

[Starlight Nova]

10801890
Shouldn't she be called Sparkling and not Sparkler, then?

[Captain_Cosmos]

10844603
She likes the nickname Sparkler better.