Episode 4: Dinner chat
Bradford opened the door and entered a small apartment that he was renting. He cleared his throat as he entered. “Nova! I’m home!” He called out.
“Dinner’s almost ready sweetie!” A mare, his fiancé, called back.
Brad nodded and set his bag by the door and walked over to the kitchen. “Hey, Nova, remember when I told you about this mare at my old school who was bullied all the time?” He asked.
“Yeah? Wasn’t her name Sparkling Medley?” A white furred-mare asked.
“Yep. That was her.” Brad responded. “Well, I saw her today, and she wasn’t alone, she was with another mare with the Horn and Wing Combo, wearing a crown, and they were with nine kids.”
“Horn and Wing Combo? You mean Alicorn?” Nova asked.
Brad blinked. “What?” He asked.
“It sounds like Sparkling Medley and her friend are Alicorns.” Nova explained. She saw her fiancé’s perplexed look and giggled. “You never knew that?” She asked.
“Apparently NOPONY in KiliHima Village did!” Brad exclaimed. His mind was racing.
Nova just laughed and went back to cooking. Brad blinked before shaking his head. “No, no, Potion Nova don’t just tell me that Sparkler’s an Alicorn and leave it at that. What else do you know?” He asked, genuinely starting to fear what Nova was gonna say next.
“Well, I know that Alicorns are generally perceived as royalty.” Nova commented casually.
There it was, that was what Brad was fearing. “Royalty?!” Brad exclaimed. “So you’re telling me that for thirteen years. KiliHima school had a student body that was bullying ROYALTY?!” He asked.
“Sounds like it.” Nova responded.
Brad tried speaking, but every time he opened his mouth, no words came out. His head was spinning. “…I gotta sit down.” He sat down at the kitchen table and his face was in his hooves again.
Nova noticed her Fiancé’s distraught and walked over to the table. “Honey? What’s wrong?” She asked.
“For starters, we had a royal pony at school and the majority of students basically harassed her and the rest didn’t reach out to her in friendship, but more importantly, I nearly KILLED that royal pony!” Brad replied in panic.
Nova gasped. “You nearly killed her?!” She exclaimed in shock.”
“No, I mean, yes but…ugh! It’s complicated.” He said.
Nova could tell Brad was about to break down, so she rested a hoof on his shoulder. “Ok, just take a deep breath, and tell me what happened.” She said.
Brad did as she said and breathed, before speaking again. “Freshman year, I had asked her out. I knew she was gay so the odds of her falling for me were slim to none, but while yes, I did have a crush on her, the date was mainly supposed to let her know that I wanted to be friends with her. To show her that not everypony hated her in school.” He explained.
“Oh, well, that was nice of you.” Nova commented.
“Except I made the colossal mistake of telling my friends, AKA, her bullies. I told them about the date, and they said they wanted to help. Oh how wrong and naive I was to actually believe and trust them. Long story short, they gave me the name and address of a restaurant to take Sparkler to. It turned out that the restaurant was fake and they were never going to help me, they just wanted to prank Sparkler.” Brad said.
Nova’s eyes widened. “Now that’s not cool.” She said.
“Yeah. I went to the bathroom and by the time I got back she was gone, the place was a mess, and the kids were laughing. Now, I don’t know the exact details but the next day, the teachers said that little prank nearly drove Sparkler to suicide.” Brad said.
“After having that happen to her, I honestly don’t blame her.” Nova said.
“Yeah. And all of that was because I couldn’t keep my darn mouth shut. If I had just took a SECOND to think, if I had just thought ‘hey, maybe I shouldn’t tell her BULLIES about the date’ Then it wouldn’t have happened and we might have gone on to be friends. But no, my stupidity almost killed Sparkler.” Brad buried his head in his forelegs. “And now to hear that she could be ROYALTY?! Thank Faust she didn’t die or whatever royalty she was connected with would have come down on us hard—“ Brad stopped when he came to a realization. “And that’s why the princess with the crown is here! Sparkler told her about that incident and now she’s planning to probably execute me!” He panicked.
Nova, who actually had a good idea of what royalty Sparkler might be connected with, proceeded to wrap her forelegs around her fiancé comfortingly. “Alright, just calm down. I doubt they want you dead.” She said.
“What makes you say that?” Brad asked.
“Remember when I told you about Equestria?” Nova asked.
“Your origin country, yeah.” Brad said.
“They’re all about friendship, and they believe in second chances most of the time. I’m sure that if you just explain what really happened, they’ll…at least talk about it before making a decision.” She told him.
Brad blinked. “Really?” He asked.
Nova nodded and squeezed her future husband lovingly. “Hey, would I ever mislead you?” She asked.
“No.” Brad said in response.
“Then trust me on this. Look, I think you should go find Sparkler right now, and tell her what really happened.”
“I…I can’t. There’s no way I can get her alone and I feel like this isn’t a conversation to be had in public…” Brad said.
“Brad, I’m not sure how long she’s gonna be here for but I’m sure she’s here for the reunion. Gives her a chance to catch up with old teachers. That gives you a chance to make things right. Don’t you still want to be her friend?” Nova asked.
“Does she want ME as a friend?” Brad countered.
“You won’t know if you don’t try.” Nova said. “I mean, what do you have to lose by telling her the truth?” She asked.
Brad thought on Nova’s words, before agreeing with her. “I guess you’re right.” He said.
Nova smiled. “There we go. So. By the time the Reunion is over, you and Sparkler will have hashed things out.” She announced.
“We’ll see.” Brad responded. Still nervous.
“I’ve never roasted Marshmallows before. What do we do?” Melody asked as she held a stick with a marshmallow on it.
“You hold it above the fire and start turning ever so gently. To make sure there’s a nice and evenly cooked.” Aurora responded, showing the kids how to roast Marshmallows.
The kids grinned and started copying Aurora’s action. “How long do we cook them for?” Crystal asked.
“Depends on how well done you want them.” Thundercracker said. Anywhere from a minute to five.”
While the kids all were laser focused on their marshmallows, the rest of the adults were making light talk. It was well into the night and they had decided to do a campfire. (After Aurora got permission from the park ranger.) Sparkler and Mark sat next to each other and ate their marshmallows, which were already roasted.
“I can’t believe how good your mom is at cooking Sparkler. That was a great meal.” Mark commented.
“My mom’s a cooking nutcase. She can make anything edible. And somehow make it able to feed all these ponies.” She gestured to the group of their friends and family.
Mark smiled and nodded. “Yeah. I’m so glad you’re doing well Sparkler. I was worried that after what happened at the start of freshman year, you would never give love another chance.”
Sparkler’s smile wavered a little, but she nodded. “I have Twilight to thank for that. She’s the reason I am where I am now.” She said, smiling over at Twilight, who was helping the kids roast Marshmallows.
Mark nodded, before biting his lip. “D-Did you see Brad at all today?” He asked nervously.
Sparkler sighed. “I did.” She said. “Crystal wanted a mulahiq al'ahlam he was selling.”
“Did you two talk?” Mark asked.
“No. And I’m fine with that.” Sparkler responded. “After what he did to me I can go the rest of my life without talking to that pinbrain.”
“Yeah…about that.” Mark said. Like Hanzal and Candy, he knew the truth of what really went down. “Sparkler, I think you might have the story wrong where Brad is concerned.”
Sparkler glared at Mark. “He led me to a fake restaurant for me to get pelted with eggs.” She said. “I do not have the story wrong from any angle.”
“Are you sure?” Mark asked.
“Anypony with two functioning brain cells can see what happened.” Sparkler responded.
“Oh don’t worry. I’m not disputing what happened. I’m merely suggesting that you take a second look at the event. Had you ever noticed Brad bully you AT ALL before the incident?” Mark asked.
“Well…I don’t remember seeing him with any eggs…” Sparkler admitted.
“Ok. Sparkler, I’m going to be quite frank with you. Back in school, Brad once told me that he actually had a crush on you. And he had spent years trying to work up the courage to ask you out.” Mark said.
Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “A crush? On me?” She asked.
Mark nodded. “Yeah. And when he told me, I could tell he was being honest. I have that sense.” He explained.
“He must be a really good liar then.” Sparkler concluded.
“Or maybe he really did care about you and wanted to do something to let you know that not everypony hated you.” Mark said. “I really think you should talk to him. If only to hear his side of the story.”
“And risk getting pelted with food again?” Sparkler asked.
“You could tell him he has to meet with you on your terms.” Mark suggested. “He doesn’t have any grounds to reject whatever terms you set.”
Sparkler thought about it while Mark continued. “I could…tell him that you want to meet at the reunion, in a private room, with your parrot present as a witness.” Mark offered. “And with your friends in close proximity. He’d be all alone. Essentially the reverse of what happened in high school.” Mark said.
That caught Sparkler’s attention. Mark was right, she did have the ability to do that. After going back and forth, she sighed. “Alright. I’ll talk to him. Reunion, Somewhere private, Flappy as a witness, and my friends in close proximity.” She said.
Mark smiled. “I’ll pay him a visit tomorrow.” He said.
Sparkler nodded. This had better be worth it. She thought. She was about to face the pony that caused her so much emotional stress, and she was having doubts it would end well.
To be continued…
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me too. Heh, now i wonder about something
great chapter wonder what is going to happen next
Interesting chapter and I can SO readily see what happened to Brad its just a matter of timing
11168634
You mean you can readily see Brad getting screwed over by his “friends” in the name of pranking their favorite target of Harassment? Or did you mean something else by that?
ooooo, this is getting interesting and intense and emotional.......im getting all jumpy lol
11168667
Yeah. Turns out Brad got screwed over because he decided to be a blabbermouth.
I wonder if Sparkler’ll actually believe him.
from that note who cares if people hate her it's your story
11168703
I know. Just thought I’d make it clear that she’s here to stay.
11168640 Brad getting screwed by I wouldn't call them friends with friends like that really who needs enemies. I can also see Sparklers reaction due to the timing that Bradford wasn't a victim but also one of those behind it
11168763
Yeah. To her, Brad looked like he was in on it the whole time.
Suffice to say, you can bet your flanks that Brad disowned his former friends after that whole mess.
I've seen barely enough of Pony Life to know who Potion Nova is. Peculiar character I must say
Not quite, but probably she'd like to
oh, they gave a second chance to Starlight. A mare who probably destroyed Equestria several time.
You were going to destroy it only once, they won't be so severe.
...
How are you with singing friendship songs? I think it's a determinant factor in their decision
Twilight, a map, her parents, but most of all REVENGE
Maybe Before the reunion could be better?
You know, without ex-bullies in the adjacent room?
Seriously Sadle Arabia? What the hell was that visit all about then?
11424658
Word doesn't always travel to all the places
Or if you did not mean the movie...Actually same thing applies
😯☝️................😐
11424664
Yep.