Prologue

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On a beautiful late-spring day, in the City of Detrot, Dr. Night-Mare stood at a lab table, writing observations down on her notepad as she studied some magical sparks in jars. “Subjects seem drawn to elements originating from outer space.” She commented. “Reinforcing the theory that—“

That was as far as Night-Mare got before something suddenly wrapped their tiny hooves around her neck. “Nighty!” A familiar, happy voice came.

Night-Mare smiled as she set her pen down. “Hiya Flurry.” She said. She turned and took Flurry in her forelegs. She glanced around, expecting either Cadence or Shining to turn up. After a moment of them not showing, she came to the conclusion that Flurry got away from them…again. She lit her horn.

Night-Mare: Hey guys, Flurry just arrived at the observatory.

Cadence: Oh thank Faust she’s with you at least Night-Mare.

Shining: We took her magic inhibitor off for two seconds to give her a bath, and then she poofed away.

Night-Mare: Well Twilight and her family should be here soon. When they get here I’ll pass Flurry off to them.

Cadence: Thanks Night-Mare. One of us would come by but the Peace Symposium is too important for either of us to skip or be late to. Sorry.

Night-Mare: Oh it’s fine. In fact, mind if I get a magic sample from her while she’s here? I could use all the different magical signatures I can get.

Cadence: It won’t hurt her right?

Night-Mare: Not at all, she just needs to Spark.

Shining: Alright, we trust you.

Night-Mare: Is dinner still on?

Cadence: Reservation is set for 6:30PM for sixteen at Celestial Cafe.

Night-Mare: See you then and there!

She sent off the final Horn Pulse and smiled down at Flurry. “You’re quite the hoof full aren’t you.” She said. Causing Flurry to giggle. Night-Mare giggled along with her as she lit her horn and summoned a jar, and a syringe. “Hey Flurry. Can you Spark for me?” She asked.

Flurry giggled and lit her horn, A Spark formed above her head. Wasting no time, Night-Mare sucked the Spark into the syringe, and plunged the Spark into the jar. “Thanks Flurry.” She said as she placed the jar, which she promptly labeled Flurry, alongside three other jars, labeled Cadence, Luna, and Celestia respectively. “Upside of being related to some princesses, you can get things more easily.” She chuckled to herself.

At that moment, Night-Mare heard the intercom system activate. “Dr. Night-Mare, your sister Twilight and her family are here.”

Down on the first floor, Twilight, Sparkler, and their nine kids waited patiently in the lobby area. Melody was grinning. “I’ve never been to an observatory before!” She exclaimed.

“I hope Aunt Night-Mare lets us look through the giant telescope!” Sprinkle commented.

Sparkler and Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle over their kids’ enthusiasm. They had been looking forward to this trip to visit Aunt Night-Mare for a while, ever since Night-Mare invited them to come visit her observatory.

“I’m sure if you ask nicely she’ll let you look through it.” Twilight said.

“And after we’re done here can we go to the comic book store?” Spike asked.

“Sure Spike.” Twilight said with an eye roll.

“Awesome!” Spike exclaimed. “I hope they have the new Power Ponies comic!”

“No need to worry about that.” Came the voice of Night-Mare. “I thought ahead and checked it out this morning. They did have a new issue.” She said as she lit her horn and a comic appeared in front of Spike.

Spike grinned and snatched the comic from the air. “Thanks Night-Mare!” He exclaimed cheerfully.

Night-Mare nodded and turned to the rest of her family. “Hiya everypony. Welcome to my observatory.” She said.

“Aunt Night-Mare!” All the kids exclaimed happily as they each hugged her.

Sparkler meanwhile wasn’t even off the seat for more than a moment before a little white ball of fluff crashed into her and hugged her. “Sparky!” She cried out in joy.

Sparkler, for her part, recovered from her shock fairly quickly and smiled. “Flurry. Good to see ya.” She said.

“Are Cadence and Shining here?” Twilight asked.

“She teleported as soon as her magic inhibitor came off to take a bath.” Night-Mare responded. “They’re here for a Peace Symposium.”

“And let me guess. You guys want us to take her?” Sparkler asked.

“If it’s not too much trouble. My lab isn’t for a foal to be in unsupervised.” Night-Mare responded. “And as much as I want to say Flurry would be supervised, my current work requires my complete attention.”

“What are you working on?” Melody asked.

“And yea, we can take Flurry.” Twilight added.

“Great.” Night-Mare responded. “So, everypony ready to come upstairs? You can see what I’m working on there…and maybe even help me out.” She added.

“Can we look through the big telescope?” Trail asked.

“Of course.” Night-Mare responded. “Right this way.

Night-Mare led her family up into the main part of the building. “Welcome to my lab.” She said.

“Whoa!” All of the kids went. They were now standing in a large dome ceiling room that had all sorts of strange gadgets and gizmos that they had never seen before.

Sparkler herself was impressed. It was like stepping into the future. “Quite an impressive lab Dr. Night-Mare.” She commented.

“Thanks!” Night-Mare responded. “Everything in here allows me to do any kind of astronomy related research. From Black Holes in space, to incoming asteroids that Luna is ever so grateful for me telling her about. Fun fact, Luna is the only one who can stop incoming asteroids.” She said.

“Because she’s the only one who can breathe in space?” Twilight asked.

“Bingo dingo.” Night-Mare replied. “It gives her something over her sister. Which she admits helps to keep the jealousy away that turned her into Nightmare Moon.”

Sparkler and Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. By now everypony in Equestria was aware of what led to Luna’s fall. So to hear that something was helping her keep the jealousy away this time around was a good thing.

While Sparkler and Twilight were talking to Night-Mare, the kids were still running around looking at everything. Mystic approached a table, and saw the four jars with magic sparks in them. “Hey, what’re you doing with those?” She kinda called out.

Night-Mare, Twilight, Sparkler, and everypony else looked to where Mystic was. Night-Mare smiled as she walked over to the table and her niece. “That, Mystic, is my latest research project. You know how Celestia and Luna can control the Sun and the Moon respectively?” Mystic nodded in response. “Well, ever since we learned that your mother has more potential than anypony originally thought, I started to wonder if the Alicorns are connected to the cosmos in some way beyond what we know. So as an Astronomer, the premiere expert in the cosmos, I took it upon myself to find out.”

“Whoa.” All the kids said. “Cool!”

“Yeah. It’s a big undertaking.” Sparkler said.

“Exactly! And the more Magical signatures I can get my hooves on, the better. Which leads me into what I alluded to earlier when I said you all could help me.” Night-Mare said.

Twilight smirked as she realized where it was going. “You want us to provide our unique magical signatures.” She said.

“If it’s not too much trouble.” Night-Mare replied, summoning a bunch of jars, syringes, and labels. “I just need a few seconds.” She explained.

Sparkler and Twilight smiled as they glanced around to their Alicorn kids. “Lumber, Trail, Lightning.”

“Melody, Sky, Crystal. Wanna help out Aunt Night-Mare?” They asked.

“Sure!” The Alicorn kids responded, all gathering around and lighting their horns. Sparkler and Twilight doing the same.

Night-Mare immediately sent the syringes to collect the sparks, and deposit them into their accompanying Jars. After which they were labeled immediately. After a few seconds, she had eight new Alicorn Magical Signatures to run tests on. “This is perfect! Thanks guys.” She said. She glanced at Mystic. “Mind if I collect a spark from you too Mystic?” She asked.

“Why me? I’m not an Alicorn.” Mystic said.

“True. But you are a CLONE of one. So that technically makes you an Alicorn as well. Just wing-dormant.” Night-Mare explained as she placed the jarred sparks next to the ones she had already collected from the other princesses.

“Is that true?” Mystic asked, turning to her mothers.

“I mean. I guess so.” Twilight said.

“That makes sense to me.” Sparkler added.

Mystic smiled and lit her horn. “Alright.” She said.

Night-Mare smiled and jarred Mystic’s magic Spark. Putting it next to the others. “Thanks a lot guys. I really do appreciate it.” She said.

“No problem.” Everypony responded.

“Can we look through the telescope now?” Lightning asked. “Also, the mare in the lobby said I had to put my camcorder away. Why’s that?” He asked.

“It’s a security concern.” Night-Mare responded and she trotted over to the telescope. “Can’t have bad guys stealing anything.”

“Ok.” Lightning said happily as the kids gathered around the telescope.

Spike leaned up against a table to read his new comic while everypony else gathered around the telescope. He flipped to the front page, and smiled when he read the first few panels. “Ooh. Power Ponies in the Future. Nice.” He commented.

Unbeknownst to everypony, the jars that held a baker’s dozen Magical Signatures started shaking as the magical sparks started glowing brighter. Within moments, Spike was the first to hear the rattling of the jars and he looked up from his comic just in time to see the jars burst and the magical sparks start flying around. “Uh, guys!” He called out. Racing towards the other ponies.

Everypony heard him and turned away from the Telescope to see the 13 different magical sparks flying around. “What the?!” Night-Mare exclaimed.

“What’s happening?” Crystal asked.

The sparks bounced around for a minute, before suddenly flying in circles REALLY fast. Within seconds, the floor they circled started to glow, and the wind started to pick up towards the glowing spot.

Twilight, without even thinking, called out to Sparkler and Nightmare. “Spell chain!”

Nightmare, Sparkler, and Twilight lit their horns, and magical cables wrapped around some pipes that were running the wall. Sparkler turned to the kids. “Link up and grab onto mommy Twi and me!” She told them.

The kids did what they were told, and they formed a chain where they took their sibling’s tails in their mouths, Spike was at the end of the chain grabbing Melody’s tail. He started reaching for Twilight’s tail, but at that moment, the wind became stronger and something flew off the wall and hit his hand, Spike grunted in pain as his hand was forced back and in no time, the wind lifted all of them off the ground and Sparkler was the only thing keeping everypony but Twilight and Night-Mare from being sucked in. She was holding onto Flurry’s tail to keep her there.

“What the frax is going on?!” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know!” Night-Mare said. She glanced at the wall again and saw a security camera snap off it’s mount and fly straight for—“SPARKLER WATCH—“

Too late, the security camera smacked Sparkler in the head and she momentarily lost focus on the magical cable, that was all that was needed for Sparkler and everypony holding onto her to be sucked into whatever was pulling them in. The kids and Spike all screamed as they disappeared into the light.

“GUYS!” Twilight cried. She was about to deactivate her own magic to try to save her family, but before she could, there was a shockwave of wind and light that slammed Twilight and Night-Mare against the wall. They both grunted in pain, but landed on their hooves.

After all of that, the winds finally died down, and once the dust settled, Night-Mare’s lab was a mess, and even worse, when she and Twilight looked around, there was no sign of the others. Twilight shook her head, did she really just... “No, no, this isn’t happening, our family was NOT just sucked into whatever the frax that was. This isn’t—gah!” Twilight tried to flex her right wing, but it hurt to do so. She glanced at her wing to see it had been mangled up. It was safe to assume it was at least sprained.

“Twily, are you ok?” Night-Mare asked.

Twilight breathed in and out to ease the pain, before looking at Night-Mare. And before her brain could process things, she exploded on her sister. “What in the hay happened?!” She asked angrily.

“I…I don’t know!” Night-Mare responded.

“You don’t KNOW?! You’re the one who collected all the magical signatures! Aren’t you supposed to make sure this doesn’t happen?!” She asked.

“I didn’t know this was gonna happen! If I did, don't you think I would’ve taken every precaution AGAINST it?!” Night-Mare asked. “But right now, we need to get you to a doctor to get that wing checked out.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Twilight exclaimed. “Our family just vanished into black-hole for all we know and you think the first thing we need to do is make sure I’M ok?!” She asked.

“If we don’t get that wing checked out it could become much worse than a sprain.” Night-Mare responded.

“I don’t care about my wing! I was originally a Unicorn, I can deal with a useless wing! We need to find out what the hay happened and find a way to get our family back!” Twilight growled.

“Twilight! Calm down!” Night-Mare said sternly. “I get you’re angry. I’ll take full responsibility for this freak accident but us yelling at each other isn’t going to accomplish ANYTHING!” She said. “What we need to do is work together on this.” She said.

Twilight huffed, before taking a deep breath, and letting it out. Her brain caught up with her and she gathered her thoughts. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” She said.

“Oh believe me I understand.” Night-Mare said. “Now, first, we’re going to get that wing looked at. And then, we’re going to check what security cameras are left to figure out what happened. And then we’ll find a way to—“

That was as far as she got before a disk of light suddenly appeared before them. They both squinted their eyes to combat the sudden bright light. After a second, they both started staring at the light. “Oh for Faust’s sake what now?” Night-Mare asked.

Twilight squinted, trying to make out a shape that was starting to form, before her eyes widened in shock. What? She thought.

To be continued…

Episode 1: Separated and Lost

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“Sky? Sky wake up!” Sky heard her sister Sprinkle calling out. She groggily opened her eyes, and saw Sprinkle standing over her with a worried expression on her face.

“Ugh….what happened?” Sky asked. The last thing she remembered was being sucked into something in Aunt Night-Mare’s lab, before everything went black.

“I don’t know…but I don’t think we’re in Detrot anymore.” Sprinkle responded.

Sky looked around, her eyes snapping open when she realized something wasn’t right. She scrambled to her hooves and looked around frantically. “W-where are we?” She asked. “And…where’s everypony else? Mom? Mommy—!” She called out.

Sprinkle stopped Sky from calling out and shushed her. “I already looked around. I can’t find the others. I…I think we’re all alone.” She revealed.

She took her hoof off Sky’s mouth and Sky raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean you can’t find the others? Have you tried the mental link?!“ Sky asked frantically.

“I did.” Sprinkle responded, her ears flopped down. “But I could only feel that Mom, Pedal, and Mystic are there. I can’t determine where any of them are, something’s interfering with the mental link. And that’s only three of our group. I can’t even begin to figure out if the others are alright.” She explained.

Sky gulped. “So, we’re lost? And alone?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Sprinkle said.

Sky looked around frantically. Everywhere she looked, she could only see a couple of familiar things. Like a dumpster, food trash, things like that. Without knowing what else to do, Sky spread her wings. “I’m gonna to take a look.”

She tried to take off, but Sprinkle stopped her. “You were out for a bit. I already took a look around. And I don’t think we should let anypony see us.” She said.

“Why?” Sky asked.

Sprinkle pulled Sky through an alleyway and gestured for her to look out of it. Sky did so, and what she saw made her jaw drop.

She and Sprinkle were standing in what was clearly a city, but it was unlike ANYTHING she had ever seen before. She first thought it was Manehatten they were standing in, because of all the big animated billboards, but the architecture was not Manehattan architecture. Everything was pretty much gold or some other shiny color. Sky saw a shadow race past and she looked up. She saw Pegasi flying around, a lot of them. That’s when she finally noticed something. These Pegasi looked different from Pegasi like Rainbow and Fluttershy. She looked back at Sprinkle, and finally noticed that SHE looked different.

“S-Sprinkle?” Sky asked. “Why do you look different?”

“Yeah. I know. You look different too. Look at your hooves.” Sprinkle said.

Sky looked at her hooves, and she could see that the fur of her hooves had disappeared. Sky gulped and started freaking out. “What is this place? Is it even Equestria?” She asked.

Sprinkle shrugged. “I don’t know.” She said.

Sky sank to a sitting position, wrapped herself in her wings, and shivered. “Are we going to be OK?” She asked. Terrified about this whole situation.

Sprinkle immediately hugged her sister. “Don’t worry. We’ll be ok. We just need to stick together, and try to keep a low profile while we figure out what’s going on.” She said.

“How do we do that?” Sky asked. “The only thing we have to go on is a magic black hole that sucked us in.”

“If this is a city, I’m sure there’s a map somewhere that can tell us where we are at least.” Sprinkle responded. “From there we’ll work something out.”

“We’re gonna look for them right?” Sky asked, referring to their family.

“Of course we are!” Sprinkle responded. “I know at least some of them are alive. I would’ve felt it if they were…no longer with us.” She said. “As long as my mental link remains, there’s a chance.”

Sky smiled and nodded. “Alright. Then what do we do first?” She asked.

“We find a map.” Sprinkle responded as they ran off into the alleyway.

Elsewhere, Crystal and Mystic were looking around. They had just woken up after being knocked out and found themselves in a strange forest. Mystic gulped. “Where did that…thing dump us?” She asked.

“My first thought is the Everfree forest…but we woulda run into one of it’s resident monsters by now.” Crystal responded. “Are you sure you can’t pinpoint where mom, Pedal and Sprinkle are?” She asked.

“Something’s interfering with the mental link, I can only confirm that they’re alive.” Mystic responded.

Crystal let out a sigh. They had woken up to being all alone in this forest. After calming down from the panic, they had decided to get moving, not wanting to encounter any monsters. Crystal looked down at her hoof again, she and Mystic noticed right away that their bodies changed a little. “Whatever that thing was that sucked us in, it must’ve split us up and…maybe adapted our bodies to the ponies that live here?” She mused.

“And now we’re lost, no resources, no supplies…and no family…” Mystic pointed out. “Are you sure you can’t fly up to get a good look at where we are?” She asked Crystal.

“Not a good idea. I don’t know what I’ll find up there, and that would leave you alone. And that’s definitely out of the question right now.” Crystal responded. “The best thing to do is to keep on walking, and hope that we either find civilization, or someplace to rest.”

“And maybe some food.” Mystic added.

“Yeah. That too.” Crystal responded.

“…Hey Crystal? What if we don’t find the others?” Mystic asked. “What if we’re lost forever?”

“Nope, do not think thoughts like that. We WILL find a way out of here, we WILL find the others. And someway, somehow, we WILL find a way home.” Crystal said. “No ifs ands or buts about it.”

Mystic smiled and hugged Crystal. “Ok. I trust you.” She said.

Crystal hugged Mystic back and smiled. She was putting on a brave face for her sister, but she was actually just as terrified as Mystic probably was. They were dumped in the middle of a who-knows-how-big forest with no resources, supplies, and as far as they knew, only Pedal, Sprinkle, and their mother were still alive. But Crystal knew that if they were going to have a chance, they needed to stay strong.

After the hug, Mystic and Crystal kept walking. They stayed vigilant, always on alert. After some time walking, they spotted something in the distance. “Look! Over there!”

Mystic and Crystal trotted closer, and they saw that it was a cottage. “Looks like we may have found that civilization.” Mystic said.

“Did we?” Asked Crystal. “Zecora lives in the Everfree Forest, but that does NOT look like her hut.”

With caution, they approached the cottage. They were half expecting somepony to yell at them, but no such event happened. Instead, they saw a note on the door of the cottage.

“To whoever finds this note,

Feel free to stay a night or two here. I don’t need this cottage anymore, but you might. There’s still plenty of food around and lots of things to do.

Cheers. :)

Izzy Moonbow.”

Crystal and Mystic glanced at each other after reading the note. “…Does something seem off to you?” Mystic asked.

“Somepony used to live here and now this…Izzy Moonbow says their old cottage is free to use…on one hoof this is raising a lot of red flags.” Crystal said. “But on the other hoof, we really do need it.” She added.

Mystic and Crystal proceeded to push the door open, thankfully it wasn’t locked, and went inside. Mystic had a sick feeling in her stomach. “I don’t feel right about this.” She commented. She knew Crystal was probably thinking the same thing she was.

“Me neither.” Crystal said. “But considering our options, we really don’t have a choice but to take Izzy up on their apparent offer.”

Mystic nodded. “Yeah.” She agreed.

At that moment, Crystal’s and Mystic’s horns lit up unexpectedly and something phased into existence in front of them. They jumped when the things landed on the floor. “Eep, what just happened?!” Mystic asked, freaked out.

Crystal took a look, and discovered that it was just tree bark. “It’s…two pieces of tree bark?” She said, confused.

Curious now, Mystic looked at one of the tree barks and flipped it over. What she saw on the back made her eyes widen. “There’s writing on this one!”

Crystal took the other bark and flipped it over, seeing the same writing. “This one too.”

They read the messages, and as they read, their smiles grew and their hope was boosted exponentially. After reading, they couldn’t help but hug each other in joy. “Thank the stars!” They exclaimed in unison.

“They’re alive!”

To be continued…

Episode 2: Answers

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It was all a blur. One moment, Sparkler was holding on for dear life, trying to save her kids, Spike, and Flurry. And the next, something banged her in the head and she lost her grip, the last thing she saw before being knocked out was the looks of horror on Twilight’s and Night-Mare’s faces as she and everypony that was holding onto her were sucked into…whatever the Faust the glowing light was.

After who knows how much time, Sparkler slowly regained her consciousness as she heard ponies talking to her. “Mom?”

“Mom, please wake up?”

“We need you.”

Sparkler let out a weak groan in response as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision cleared to see Lightning, Lumber, Trail, and Spike standing over her. “Ugh.” She let out. “What happened…?” She asked groggily.

The boys let her sit up and rub the back of her head. Spike smiled in relief. “Thank Faust you’re alive Sparkler!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah. Ugh. Is everypony all—“ Sparkler’s eyes snapped as wide as saucers when she took in the situation, and noticed a SEVERE lack of some ponies. “What?! Where is everypony else?!” She asked frantically as she got up.

“We don’t know.” Lightning said.

“We just woke up and everypony else was gone.” Spike said.

Sparkler blinked as she frantically looked around and took in her surroundings. As far as she could see, they were in the middle of nowhere, green grass, clear blue skies, a few trees, and nothing else. “What, is going on?” She asked, trying her best not to hyperventilate. “Where the heck are we?”

“Your guess is as good as ours.” Trail responded.

Sparkler took multiple breaths in an attempt to stay calm. She was having trouble believing what was happening. She was certain of two things. That they weren’t in Detrot anymore, and that she was missing six of her kids, and Flurry. Her eyes returned to who WAS with her, and that’s when she noticed that they looked different. “Guys.” She said. “Did you notice any changes?” She asked.

“The fact that our hooves are bare and our wings are more feathery than usual?” Lumber asked.

“Yeah. We noticed. It happened to you too.” Spike said.

Sparkler looked down to examine herself, and indeed her hooves where bear and her wings…weren’t feathery, but kinda looked more like a falcon’s wings. “What the frax was that thing that dumped us here?” She asked.

“We don’t know.” Spike said.

Sparkler was on the verge of actually hyperventilating at this point. Every second was becoming more and more stressful. Until something clicked in her brain. “Wait! I might be able to find the others! At least most of them!” She said. She closed her eyes and lit her horn. After Sparky and Misty escaped custody after the trial a few months back, Sparkler had placed tracking spells on all the kids. That way if Sparky and Misty tried anything, she would know. She concentrated really hard on that spell, and much to her utter devastation, she came up EMPTY! “No…no no no this isn’t happening. Come on, come on!” She tried harder, but still got nothing. After a good minute, she sadly gave up. “I…I can’t locate anypony!” She revealed.

“Not even the clones?” Spike asked. “Isn’t that hive-like mental link you guys have supposed to give you a precise location for each other?”

Sparkler closed her eyes again, and this time focused on the mental link. Thankfully, she could hear three beating hearts. So she knew that the clones were still out there, but much to her utter dismay, she couldn’t get an exact fix on their location. She opened her eyes again. “Gah! I know the clones are still alive but I can’t get a fix on their location!” She stomped the ground in frustration. “And I don’t even have a way to even TRY to track Flurry. I’m still learning Alicorn Sense. And given how well the first two methods went, I doubt that Alicorn Sense will work anyway.” She explained.

“So…we don’t know where anypony else is, we’re in the middle of nowhere, with apparent new looks, and for some reason your magic isn’t working right.” Spike said.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded.

Spike and the colts looked at each other. “Is this the time to panic?” Lumber asked.

“No, no nopony is panicking. We just…need to stay calm, and try to figure out what is going—“

That was as far as Sparkler got before her eyes suddenly glowed bright white and she entered a trance like state.

“Sparkler.”

“What? Who’s there?” Sparkler asked.

“Listen, we do not have much time. You and all nine of your kids, Flurry, and Spike just traveled 1,019 years into the future.”

“We WHAT?!” Sparkler asked.

“Listen carefully. Your missing charges are still out there, here’s exactly what you need to do…”

Spike and the colts stared as Sparkler stayed in the trance-like state. Unsure of what to make of this. “Ok. This is all kinds of strange.” Trail said.

“Uh…Sparkler?” Spike asked.

As if that triggered something, Sparkler’s eyes returned to normal and she left the trance-like state. “We need a LOT of tree bark.” She said, immediately walking over to the group of trees.

“Huh?” The boys asked.

“Spike, please find something small, a rock or something, and try sending it to one of the colts.” Sparkler said.

“Why?” Spike asked.

“I’ll explain what we’re doing right now, but please just do it.” Sparkler said.

Spike, not knowing what else to do, shrugged and picked up a random rock. He shot his firemail fire at it and it disappeared in ashes. A few seconds later, it reappeared in front of Lightning. “Ok so my firemail’s working A-ok.” Spike announced.

Sparkler grinned as she returned with seven planks of tree bark. “Good. Because we’re sending messages to the others.” She said.

“What?” Lumber asked.

“Will that even work?” Trail asked. “We don’t even know if they’re alive.”

“They’re alive. All of them are out there, alive.” Sparkler announced, determination clear in her behavior.

“Uh, and how do you know that?” Spike asked.

“I can’t explain it, but somehow, I know that all of them will get the message we’re gonna send them.” Sparkler responded. She started writing out a message in the dirt path. “I just need to copy this dirt message onto the bark and Spike, if you could send them on their way that would be great.”

“Uh, sure. I can do that.” Spike asked.

“Mom? What is going on?” Lightning asked.

“Feel free to look over my shoulder. I’ll explain it all in the message.”

Without knowing what else to do, the boys all looked on as she wrote out her message. As they read, their eyes widened in shock. “No way.” Lumber said.

“Is that actually true?” Spike asked.

“We’re 1,019 years into the future?!” Lightning asked.

“That’s what I was told.” Sparkler said. “I’m not sure what it is, but something reached out to me and explained what we needed to do.”

“Did this thing say WHERE our family was?” Lighting asked.

“It didn’t.” Sparkler responded. “But they’re out there.” She said. She looked out into the distance. “They’re out there somewhere. And we’re GOING to find them.” She said, her voice full of resolve.

Sparkler finished writing out the message, and after a quick copy and paste spell, the message was on all seven planks of tree bark. “Ok. Spike, it’s all up to you now.” She said.

Spike nodded, and one by one, he sent the tree bark messages through his firemail. The ashes flew off into the distance. Sparkler and the boys watched them go. “Don’t worry kids.” Sparkler said into the sky, with hope, determination, and will. “We’re coming.”

To be continued…

Episode 3: Welcome to the Future, And Maretime Bay

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It was a beautiful day in the cute little town of Maretime Bay. Sun was shining, birds were chirping, ponies were out and about going about their business, and in an alleyway, Pedal was trying to pull an unconscious Melody out of a dumpster—wait what?

Pedal heaved as she pulled her unconscious sister out of the dumpster that they, along with their cousin Flurry Heart, landed in. “Nngh. Ok. Malnourishment is not ok and all, but at least if you were you wouldn’t be so heavy to get out of this garbage heap Melody.” Pedal remarked as she heaved one more time. “Whoa!” She may have heaved a little too hard because on that last heave, she lost her balance on the cardboard boxes she was standing on and both she and Melody tumbled to the ground. They landed in a thud and Pedal grunted. “Ow.”

At that moment, Flurry Heart, who was already awake, smiled and raced up to her cousins. Pedal glanced at Flurry and smiled. “We're fine Flurry.” She said.

Flurry glanced at Melody and her smile disappeared. She took a few steps closer to Melody and looked at her.

Pedal sighed and pressed a hoof against Melody’s neck to check for a pulse, which, fortunately, there was. “She’s still kicking Flurry. That’s why they called her Thunder Kicker before she became Melody. Because she can take a landing like what we had.” She explained.

Flurry smiled, and started nuzzling Melody in the cheek, trying to wake her up.

It seemed to work because Melody started to groan groggily. “Ugh.” Her eyes slowly began to open as her vision cleared.

“Melody? Melody, are you ok?” Pedal asked.

“Yeah…what happened…?” Melody asked groggily as she began to become aware again.

“I don’t know. But we’re definitely not in Detrot anymore.” Pedal responded.

“What?” Melody asked as she sat up. “What do you me—“ Melody stopped when she realized a few things, A, they were suddenly in an alleyway, and not in Aunt Night-Mare’s lab, B, she noticed that Pedal and Flurry looked different. Most notably they now had bare hooves. But the thing that REALLY scared her, was that she could ONLY see Pedal and Flurry. Nopony else. “W-where is everypony? Why do you two look different? What the frax is going on?” Melody was firing off a million questions.

“From what I can gather, whatever that thing was that sucked us in, dumped us here, changed our appearances…for some reason, and separated us.” Pedal explained.

“WHAT?!” Melody asked. “Separated?!”

“Yeah-Melody wait!” Pedal called out to Melody, who immediately took off galloping.

“Mom? Mommy Twi?! Sky? Anypony?!” Melody called out. Running out of the alleyway into the open.

Pedal sighed before getting Flurry on her back and racing off after Melody. She had a good feeling where this was going to go. “Melody! Get back here!” She called out to her sisters.

Melody didn’t listen as she continued galloping and searching for her parents, or any family for that matter. For every second she didn’t see any of them, she was becoming more panicky. “No, no no this isn’t happening. Mom! Mommy—“ Melody was cut off when she spotted a pony in the distance. It was a little far away, but Melody could see that the pony had a horn and wings. She smiled, thinking it was one of her mothers. “There‘s one of them!” She galloped off towards the pony.

Pedal was racing after her, and unlike Melody, Pedal had a clearer view of the pony they were approaching, and she saw that while yes the pony was an Alicorn, they looked nothing like either of their mothers. “Melody! That’s not—EEP!”

What happened next nopony saw coming. Melody wasn’t listening, all she was concerned about was getting back to her mother, and in her drive, she failed to notice a pad spring up from the ground. It happened so fast. One moment, Melody was running, the next, she was in a metal box when she stepped on the pad. The apparent trap was too fast and Melody slammed into a side of it. “Ow!” Melody cried. She shook the pain away and her eyes widened when she realized what happened. “Help. Help! SOMEPONY HELP ME!” She screamed.

From outside, Pedal reached the box. “Melody! Are you OK?” She asked

“Somepony help! Get me out of here!” Melody shrieked.

Pedal bit her lip as she started looking for a way to disarm the trap. She could tell what was happening on the inside, Melody’s PTSD from before she met their mom was firing on all cylinders. Good thing I can easily imitate Mom’s voice. Pedal thought as she, with Flurry still on her back, continued her search. “It’s ok Melody, I’ll get you out of there.”

“Somepony help me please!” Melody continued to scream.

At that moment, the trap suddenly deactivated and retracted back into the ground. Pedal stood back in shock as she, Melody, and Flurry all saw a pair of ponies smiling at them. One of the ponies, a Unicorn, smiled and waved.

“Hiya new friends! My name’s Izzy. This is Sunny.” The mare gestured to the pony next to her. “Are you lost?” The unicorn mare named Izzy asked.

Pedal and Melody blinked and Melody turned to the pony next to Izzy. She saw that it was the same pony she had been running to, the Alicorn, but she now saw that it wasn’t her mother at all. Not even a pony she recognized. “You’re not our mom…” She said to Sunny. Before anypony could do anything else, Melody screamed and bolted in the opposite direction. “STRANGER DANGER!” She cried.

Pedal watched her take off, before turning to the two adults. “Sorry about that, she’s not doing well right now.” With that, she bolted off after Melody. “Melody! Come back!” She called out after her sister, with Flurry still riding on her back.

Izzy and Sunny watched as the three foals ran off. They took a glance at each other. “What just happened?” Izzy asked.

“I’m not 100% sure. But we should probably go after them to make sure they don’t hurt themselves.” Sunny responded. With that, Sunny and Izzy took off after the foals.

And so a chase ensued. Melody was frantically weaving in and out of pony traffic, she wasn’t sure where she was going but she didn’t care. She just wanted to get away from the foalnappers! Behind her, Pedal was racing after her sister. “Hold on tight Flurry.” She told her cousin, who had her forelegs wrapped around Pedal’s neck tight. Pedal turned back to Melody. “Melody! At least slow down so I can catch up to you!” She called out.

Melody heard her, but her mind was telling her to do otherwise. “No! They’re after me!” She called back.

Grrr. Curse Sparky and Misty to the core. Thought Pedal as she continued to run after Melody. Flurry, meanwhile, was just smiling and giggling, clearly enjoying the ride.

Further along the path, an orange furred stallion with a sheriff’s badge was talking to a red furred stallion. Well, more lecturing him. “Listen Sprout, I have been telling you for two weeks now. The Pegasi and Unicorns are NOT our enemies anymore. You can’t go around arresting all of them without just cause!”

“They’re trespassing on Earth Pony territory. That’s just cause enough Hitch.” The pony named Sprout responded.

The pony named Hitch groaned. It had been two week since magic was restored and the three tribes became peaceful with each other again. And two weeks since Sprout nearly caused a war. Sprout, ever since then, had been ignoring the peace part and was randomly arresting both Pegasi and Unicorns for no reason. Something that Hitch was getting fed up with. “The mayor LET them come. Now either you stop it with these arrests or turn in your deputy badge!” Hitch growled.

Before Sprout could fire back against that, they both heard screaming. They turned their heads to see a trio of foals running past them. Sprout saw that one of them had both wings and a horn and was riding the back of an Earth Pony. “Eek! Pegacorn!” He shrieked as he bolted into the sheriff’s office to hide.

Hitch just rolled his eyes. “One of these days.” He commented. He saw his friends Izzy Moonbow and Sunny Starscout racing after the Foals. He raised an eyebrow. “Sunny? Izzy? What’s going on?” He asked.

Sunny and Izzy stopped and turned to see their friend Hitch. “We’re not sure.” Izzy said.

“A foal accidentally triggered a trap, Izzy let them out, and that’s when the foal inside the trap screamed and bolted away.” Sunny explained. “I think the three are lost without parents.”

“What?!“ Hitch exclaimed. He turned to see the three run off and his sheriff instincts kicked in. “Foals in danger!” With that, he races off after the foals. With Sunny and Izzy close behind him.

And so the chase continued. Melody continued to weave in and out of pony traffic. She was frantically looking for some way to escape. She glanced up at the sky, and that’s when it hit her. Wait a minute! I have wings! She smiled as she spread her wings and flapped them hard, she took off into the air.

Pedal saw Melody take off flying in the air and stopped. She let out a loud groan. “Are you serious right now?” She cleared her throat and yelled as loud as she could in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “MELODY SPARKLEHEARTS! YOU LAND RIGHT THIS SECOND! YOU AREN’T IN ANY DANGER!” She called out. She wondered if that was the best way to go about it but she didn’t have wings and she wanted to make sure Melody heard her.

Melody didn’t listen. She just kept Flying. At that moment, Hitch, Sunny, and Izzy skidded to a halt in front of Pedal. “Hey. You two ok?” Hitch asked. “What’s your name, where are your parents?” He asked frantically.

Pedal saw the badge on the new adult’s sash, he was an officer. “Pedal Medley, I don’t know where my parents are, and my sister, the one with a horn and wings, is currently freaking out up there in the sky. She needs to land before she hurts herself.” She explained frantically.

Sunny looked up and saw the foal flying. She glanced at her own wings and nodded. “Right, I’ll try to get her to come down.”

“Careful, she’s not doing hot right now so you have to come off as non-threatening as possible.” Pedal explained.

“Got it.” Sunny responded as she flapped her wings and took off. “Ok Sunny. You’ve been taking flying lessons the last two weeks.” She told herself. “This shouldn't be too hard.” She said as she flew off after the foal.

Melody looked and saw the strange Alicorn flapping her way along approaching her. “Eek! No!” She cried, her PTSD was STILL in effect as her horn lit up on it’s own and sent a shockwave that smacked Sunny right in the face.

“Gah!” Sunny grunted as she was knocked off course. She quickly steadied herself. “What is with this one?” She asked.

“Hey Sunny! You alright?” Came a familiar voice. Sunny glanced around to see her friends Pipp and Zipp approaching her, the looks on their faces said that they saw the shockwave.

“Yeah.” Sunny responded and Pipp and Zipp came to hover beside her. She pointed at the foal. “I was just trying to get that foal to land but I think something might be going on with them.” She explained

Zipp looked at the foal. “Where are her parents?” Zipp asked.

Sunny was about to answer, but from the corner of her eye, she saw the foal suddenly freeze, and then start FALLING. “Foal going down!” She shrieked.

Zipp saw the foal falling and zipped into action. She flapped her wings hard and raced to catch the foal.

From the ground, Pedal, Flurry, Hitch, and Izzy gasped as they watched the foal fall. “Melody!“ Pedal shrieked in horror as she bolted, racing to where Melody would land. She kept her eyes on her falling sister, meaning she saw a Pegasus swoop in, and much to her initial relief, she caught Melody and brought her down.

Zipp set the now unconscious foal on the ground just as a pair of foals raced up to her. “Oh thank Faust. Thank you so much!” The bigger foal exclaimed.

“No problem. Do you two know each other?” Zipp asked.

“She’s my sister.” Pedal responded and she looked Melody over. “Melody?” She tried to rouse her sister, but nothing. She gulped as she pressed her hoof against Melody’s neck to check for a pulse, which thankfully there was. “Thank Faust she’s alive. Melody? What’s going on? Why isn’t she waking up?”

At this point, Sunny, Pipp, Hitch, and Izzy had all gathered around. Hitch slowly approached the foals. “Ahem, can I take a look?” He asked.

Pedal glanced between him and Melody, before nodding and backing away slightly. Hitch nodded and got down to examine the foal. Right away he noticed the problem. “What in the world?” He pulled out a TRANQUILIZER dart from Melody’s flank and held it up. “Well this explains why your sister fell out of the sky. She was knocked out by a tranquilizer dart.” He explained.

“Tranquilizer?” Pedal asked.

“Yeah. Special chemical that calms the target and puts them to sleep.” Hitch examined the dart, before his eyes widened. “Uh oh.”

Pedal didn’t like the way he said that. “Uh oh? What does that mean?”

“This is an Earth Pony tranquilizer dart. The kind that’s never been used on any other species before.” Hitch explained frantically

“What does that mean?” Izzy asked.

“It means we don’t know how this affects any other species! It could be deadly.” Hitch said.

“DEADLY?!” Pedal shrieked. “Is my sister going to be OK?!”

“Oh I’m sure it’s fine.” Came a voice that everypony but Pedal and Flurry recognized. They all turned to see Sprout standing there with a tranquilizer gun strapped by his sash. “I doubt it’s harmful.”

Hitch saw Sprout with the gun and immediately figured out what had happened. “Sprout?! YOU shot that dart?!” He exclaimed.

“Yeah? So what? That little monster is calm now right? So we can safely bring her back to wherever she came from.” Sprout explained.

Pedal’s jaw dropped. “What did you just call my SISTER!” She growled.

Hitch turned to Pedal. “Don’t listen to him.” He turned to Zipp. “Zipp, get the unconscious foal to the hospital. Tell them she’s been hit with an Earth Pony Tranquilizer and she needs a medical checkup.” He said.

Zipp glanced at Pedal, who nodded, telling her to do it. Zipp nodded, scooped The foal up in her hooves, and flew away.

With the foal on her way, Hitch turned back to Sprout. “You shot a tranquilizer dart at a FOAL in the air and made her come crashing down. Do you have ANY idea how insanely lucky you are that Zipp managed to CATCH her?!” He growled.

“What does it matter? Sunny’s one of them too right? The foal probably would’ve been fine.” Sprout said.

“And what if she wasn’t? She was falling Sprout! Do you know what happens when a foal falls from great heights? They DIE! They can literally DIE Sprout!” Hitch shot back.

“But you heard the other foal. She’s alive.” Sprout countered.

“That’s irrelevant! You shot a dart at a foal in the sky, when she was FLYING, and if that wasn’t bad enough, you also used an Earth Pony dart! So she may be alive now but for who knows how long!”

“She’s probably-“

“Stop right there Sprout, I want you back at the sheriff’s office. And SIT there, I’ll be back soon and when I do I’ll be discharging you and asking you to hand in your deputy badge.” Hitch said. “Now go!”

Sprout just grumbled and left. Hitch took a deep breath to subside his anger, then turned to his friends. “With any luck, that ought to teach him to not do that anymore.” He commented as he approached Pedal and Flurry.

At this point, Pedal had been comforting Flurry, who saw Melody and was scared. “It’s ok Flurry.” She cooed. “Melody’s going to be alright.”

“The hospital will try it’s best.” She heard the officer say. She looked up and saw the officer smiling down at her. “Hello there.” He said. “Mind if you and I have a little talk? I’d like to ask you some questions about what happened today.” He explained.

Pedal gulped, before nodding. “Can you take me to the hospital to see my sister?” She asked.

“They’d need to run a DNA test to make sure that you are her sister, but once that’s done, of course.” Hitch said.

Pedal let out a smile and nodded. Flurry hugged her tight. “Ok.” Pedal said.

Pipp, Sunny, and Izzy all glanced at each other. All wondering what was going to come out of the foal’s mouth. Hitch smiled. “I know I asked you already, but what did you say your name was? And the name of the little one?” He asked.

“My name’s Pedal Medley. And this is my cousin, Flurry Heart.” Pedal said. “And my sister’s name is Melody Sparklehearts.”

Hitch nodded and wrote that down on the notebook he got out. “Great. Now, could you explain what happened?” He asked.

Pedal gulped. She could guess that what she was about to say was gonna sound crazy, but she really had no choice. “My sister, Flurry and I were visiting my aunt’s observatory, when all of a sudden…something sucked us, and the rest of our family in and the next thing Melody, Flurry and I knew, we were in this town, which I’m positive isn’t the town we were in two hours ago.” She said. “Is this Detrot?” She asked.

“No…this is Maretime Bay.” Pipp responded.

“And…something sucked you in and teleported you here?” Hitch asked.

“I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. I promise.” Pedal said, starting to freak out.

“Alright Pedal, remain calm.” Hitch said. “Nopony’s saying you’re not being truthful.” He explained. “Do you know where your parents are?” He asked.

“I don’t. Whatever sucked us into itself must have separated us and dumped us in different places.” Pedal responded.

Hitch and his three friends glanced at each other. If what Pedal was saying was true, these girls were without adult supervision. “I’m guessing your parents had no control over the separation.” Hitch concluded.

“They wouldn’t separate us if they could help it.” Pedal responded. “They’re incredibly protective of us.” She said.

“Who are your parents?” Hitch asked.

“My parents, and Melody’s, are Sparkling Medley and Twilight Sparkle.” Pedal said. “And Flurry’s parents are Cadence and Shining Armor.

At the mention of Twilight Sparkle, Sunny’s face lit up like a Hearths Warming tree. “Twilight Sparkle is your mother?!” She asked.

Pedal was taken aback by the question, but nodded. “Yeah. You know her?” She asked.

“Well, not personally, but she’s one of the most famous ponies in ancient Equestrian history!” Sunny explained.

“Wait, Ancient? Isn’t this the year 1003?” Pedal asked, confused.

“No, it’s 2022.” Pipp responded.

Pedal’s eyes widened. If what the Pegasus mare said was true, then she, Melody, and Flurry TIME TRAVELED 1,019 years into the future! “…T-that can’t be…” Pedal was taking deep breaths to remain calm. “Is Princess Celestia the ruler of Equestria? IS this even Equestria?!” She asked, becoming frantic.

“Pedal, please, calm down.” Hitch responded. “Ok, clearly there’s something going on. But to answer your questions, yes, you are in Equestria, but…we don’t know who Princess Celestia is.” He said.

Pedal’s eyes looked frantically around. Before taking a deep breath. “Can you take us to the hospital now?” She asked. Deciding that she needed to make sure Melody was ok before freaking out about the fact that they apparently time traveled.

Hitch nodded and stood up. “Sure.” He said as he gestured to the girls to come with him.

Sunny and Izzy watched them go and glanced at each other. “She thought this was the year 1003, Izzy, do you know what that may mean?” She asked.

“No.” Izzy responded. “What does that mean?”

“It means that Pedal, Flurry, and Melody could’ve been sucked into some kind of time portal.” Sunny responded.

“Ooh! Fun!” Izzy responded.

“Is it?” Pipp asked. “What if they’re STUCK here forever?”

“Let’s not think about that yet. Right now let’s just make sure Sprout didn’t kill Melody.” Sunny said.

“Right.” Izzy and Pipp responded.

Soon enough, Both Pedal and Flurry Heart were sitting in a doctor’s office with the still unconscious Melody. After the DNA test confirmed Pedal was in fact Melody’s blood relative, and confirmed Flurry as a cousin to Melody (thank Faust for Melody somehow obtaining some of Twilight’s DNA during that whole incident), the doctors let Pedal and Flurry in. The officer, who had introduced himself as Hitch Trailblazer, told the doctors that they were with him, to make sure they wouldn’t be bothered with the unaccompanied minors thing. Thankfully, the doctors concluded that the tranquilizer wasn’t harmful for Melody and she would be completely fine.

So while Flurry was playing with a little flashlight that Hitch let her play with, Pedal could finally process what was going on. “Ok. Ok, so according to Hitch, this is the year 2022, which means whatever that thing was took us 1,019 years into the future. Mommy Twi is considered ancient history. We have no idea where anypony else is, and worst of all, Flurry is here without adult supervision.” She looked over at Flurry, who looked back at her. She sighed. “Hey, Flurry, it’s going to be ok. We’ll find a way home.” She said.

Flurry smiled, jumped from the chair, and hugged Pedal. “Pedaw.” She said.

Pedal smiled. At that moment, she heard groaning. She whirled around and saw Melody stirring awake. “Melody!” She exclaimed as she set Flurry down on a chair and hopped onto the next chair to reach the examination table. “Are you OK Melody?” She asked.

“Ugh. My head hurts. Where are we?” She asked.

“We’re in a doctor’s office. You were knocked out during your PTSD attack. But don’t worry, I think we’re completely safe.” Pedal explained quickly.

“Right…I remember that.” Melody responded as she got up. “How long was I out?” She asked.

“I’d say two hours. But Melody, I got something to tell you. While you were out, I managed to piece together a lot. About what that sucky thing was, where we are, and WHEN we are.” Pedal explained.

“When? What does that mean?” Melody asked.

“That sucky thing that was a TIME portal, and it flung us 1,019 years into the future. The Equestria we know is considered ANCIENT Equestria. And it dumped us here, in Maretime Bay.” Pedal said.

“WE’RE WHEN NOW?!” Melody shrieked. “1,019 years in the FUTURE?!” She asked.

“Yeah.” Pedal responded.

At that moment, the door flung open and Hitch stormed in. “What’s the problem?!” He asked frantically.

Melody jumped as Pedal hugged her. “He’s not a bad guy Melody. I promise.” She said quickly in an attempt to curb her PTSD.

Hitch, taking in the situation and realizing what happened, relaxed and smiled. “I see Melody’s awake.” He said.

“Who are you?” Melody asked.

“Hitch Trailblazer. Sheriff of Maretime Bay.” Hitch introduced himself. “I had you brought here after you were knocked out.” He explained.

“Thank you.” Melody said.

At that point, a doctor came in, saw Melody awake, and smiled. After checking Melody over, he said that Melody was cleared to go with Hitch. Melody, Pedal, and Flurry on Melody’s back now, followed Hitch out of the hospital. “Hey Melody?” Hitch said as they left. “Mind if I ask you something?” He asked.

“Ask me something?” Melody asked.

“Yeah. I asked your sister about what happened today and she says you have PTSD? Is that true?” Hitch asked.

“Yeah.” Melody said. “It doesn’t trigger often anymore, but when I was trapped in that box thing, I panicked.”

Hitch sighed. “Yeah. That was a total accident. We’ve been working to get rid of those things for two weeks. We get accidental trappings from time to time.” He explained.

Melody let out a deep breath. “So nopony was after me?” She asked.

“Nah. Nothing but a misunderstanding.” Hitch said.

Melody smiled and nodded. Relieved to learn she was safe.

Hitch nodded and cleared his throat. “Anywho, now that Melody is out of the hospital, there’s something I need to talk to you girls about.” He said. “I think you all understand that you’re kids that are currently without an adult right?” He asked.

Pedal nodded. “Yeah. We know. We know our mom Sparkling Medley is out there somewhere, but we don’t know where.” She explained.

“Well, until she’s found, you’ll need to go somewhere you’ll have an adult with you.” Hitch said.

“Are we going to be able to stay together?” Melody asked, inching closer to Pedal, not wanting to be put in a different home than her family.

Hitch let out a warm smile. “Yeah. You’ll be able to stay together. Luckily some ponies have already volunteered to be your guardians.”

“Who?” Pedal asked.

“Hiya new roomies! Remember us?” Came a familiar voice.

Pedal and Melody turned to see four ponies approach them. Two of them, the Unicorn and the Alicorn, stepped up. “Hi there guys. Glad to see you’re ok.” The Alicorn said.

“Yeah. Who are you?” Pedal asked.

“I’m Sunny Starscout.” Sunny said.

“And I’m Izzy Moonbow! Welcome to the future! Sunny and I are gonna take you in until your mom shows up!” Izzy announced.

“Really?” Melody asked. “Thank you.” She said.

“This is going to be fun!” Izzy exclaimed.

Flurry giggled. Pipp smiled. “What are your names?” She asked.

“I’m Melody Sparklehearts, this is our Cousin Flurry Heart, and she’s my sister Pedal Medley.” Melody said.

“Nice to meet you three. You know Hitch, Izzy, and Sunny. My name is Zipp Storm.” Zipp introduced herself. “I caught you when you were falling out of the sky. And this is MY sister, Pipp Petals.”

“You three are simply adorable.” Pipp commented.

Melody and Pedal blushed. “Thanks.” They said.

“And thanks for saving me Zipp.” Melody said. “I really appreciate it.”

“It was no problem.” Zipp responded.

At that moment, Melody’s and Flurry’s horns lit up, and at that moment, three different planks of tree bark appeared out of nowhere right in front of them. For the moment, nopony said a word, before Izzy smiled. “Magic Tree Bark! Cool!” She exclaimed.

Pedal, wary, flipped the plank over to see if there was anything on it, and her eyes widened at what she found. “It’s got a message on it.” She looked around for a signature, and her eyes widened when she read the bottom signature. “It’s from mom!” She announced.

Melody flipped over her tree bark and saw the same thing. “I got one too!” She exclaimed happily.

“Does it say she’s on her way?” Hitch Asked.

Pedal looked at the message, and started reading.

“Kids,

I don’t know if this will reach you or not, but if it does, your brothers, Spike and I are alright. I don’t know how or why, but it was a TIME PORTAL that sucked us in!…”

“…it flung us 1,019 years into the future, where we won’t be able to get any help from anypony we know. But the important thing is that we’re all alive. I’m not sure how I know that but we all are…” Sky read hers and Sprinkle’s Tree Bark.

“…Spike’s firemail still works so that’s how we got these messages to you. I just want you to know that we’ll do everything we can to come and get you. Stay where you are. Try to stay safe…” Crystal and Mystic read.

“…And know what no matter what it takes, no matter how much time passes. Nothing is going to stop us from reuniting with each other. I’m not sure who we’ll find first, who we’ll find last. But we will not stop until everypony is accounted for. If any of you are with Flurry, I’m counting on you to take care of her. Keep her, and each other, safe. Just hang in there. We’re coming.

Love,

Mom, Lumber, Lightning, Trail, and Spike.”

Melody and Pedal finished reading their message from mom, and neither of them could contain their smiles. “They’re alive…”

“And they’re coming for us…” Melody and Pedal embraced each other. Hugging it out.

Sunny and her friends smiled. “Well, hopefully they won’t take too long to get here.” Sunny said.

“And in the meantime, we’ll take care of you! It’ll be a lot of fun!” Izzy exclaimed.

Pedal and Melody nodded. Flurry was giggling. Melody lit her horn and picked up the tree bark messages. “We’re saving these right Pedal?” She asked.

“Of course…if that’s ok with you two.” Pedal said to Sunny and Izzy. Recognizing that they may not want tree bark in the house.

Sunny chuckled. “We’ll find a place to put them.” She said.

Melody smiled and nodded. She admittedly still could not believe they time traveled, but her mom had never once lied to her. So she figured it had to be true.

Soon, Sunny and Izzy were walking with their new charges back to the lighthouse. Izzy eyed the lighthouse and had an idea. “Hey, I just got an idea.” She said.

“What?” Sunny asked.

“What if we sent a signal to Sparkling Medley? To guide her here?” Izzy asked.

“Like a beacon?” Sunny asked.

“Exactly!” Izzy responded. “Equestria is big. She probably doesn’t know where to even start looking.”

“True.” Sunny said.

“Can you?” Melody asked Sunny and Izzy.

“I’m probably not strong enough for that. But Sunny’s an Alicorn. She can do it.” Izzy said.

“I mean, I could try.” Sunny said. “I don’t know if she’ll get it.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Izzy said.

“Definitely.” Melody and Pedal chimed in.

Sunny glanced at the three foals, and nodded. “Alright, I’ll try.” She said.

“Thanks Sunny!” Pedal said.

Sunny nodded. This is gonna be interesting.

Far away from Maretime Bay, Sparkler and the boys were walking, after sending the messages, they just picked a direction and started moving. Suddenly, Sparkler felt a signal through her horn, she stopped and gasped as she looked in a specific direction.

Spike saw this and stopped. “Sparkler, what’s going on?”

Sparkler said nothing as she stared off into the distance, sure enough, another signal came, this time carrying a message.

“The girls are waiting for you.”

Sparkler’s eyes widened. “I think I just got a lead on the girls.” She said.

“Really?” Lightning asked.

“Yeah. I just got a message, It felt like a Horn Pulse. Come on, this way!” Sparkler said as she ran off in the direction of the signal. The boys followed behind her. Smiling as they held hope that they would reunite with the others.

To be continued…

Episode 4: Assistance from Friends

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“Mom?” Lumber asked.

“Yes Sweetie?” Sparkler responded.

“I’m hungry.” Lumber said.

“Yeah I could go for some food too.” Trail said.

Sparkler sighed. “I know guys. We’re all hungry. Luckily we’re in a town now so let’s see if there are any menus on the windows.”

The boys nodded. It had been two days since they landed in this future. Two days since they started following the signal that Sparkler was receiving three times a day. One during the morning, one at noon, and one at night. None of them knew for sure what the signal was exactly, but at least it was something, so they were chugging along. But that left one problem. They had no food. Up until now they were lucky if they passed a berry bush or tree on the road (fortunately Sparkler was able to determine every time whether the berries were poisonous or not). But now that they walked into a proper town, they could finally eat something that was more filling and nutritious. With the goal of finding a place to get some food in mind, they walked around town. They did come across several restaurants but none of them had menus on the windows.

Some time later, in one of the restaurants in town, there was a pony speaking into a wall mounted phone, and it sounded like he was talking to a frantic mare. “Ok ok ok slow down Mira, just calm down, and tell me what happened…uh huh…ok…oh…oh that’s not good…so you’re not coming in today?…Mira this is perhaps the worst time for you to call in. You realize who’s coming tonight right?…yes, I understand that your daughter’s health is important but these guys come in every year specifically to hear their favorite song. We can’t do it without you…ok. Ok, I understand. Take all the time you need. I hope your daughter feels better. Take care.” With that, the stallion hung up the phone and sighed. “Great. Just great.”

“Something wrong chief?” Asked another pony.

“Mira just called in, her daughter’s allergies are acting up and she needs to take a day.” The pony said.

“Oh that’s not good.” One of the pony’s workers said.

“No, it isn’t. For them or for us. We can’t do the performance tonight.” The pony announced.

At that, the pony’s staff gasped. “What?”

“But we have to, the Goldergs come every year to hear our version of their favorite song.”

“Surely there’s something we can do Harmone?”

Harmone shook his said. “Unless we can find a temporary replacement and train them up on such short notice, we—“ Harmone stopped when he was looking out the window, and he saw a pony looking at the menu hanging on that window that made his eyes go wide. “Is that…”

Outside, Sparkler looked in horror at the menu hanging on the window. There was a good selection of meals, but the problem was that the prices were also posted. “I was worried about this.” She commented.

“The fact that we don’t have money?” Spike asked.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded.

“The dumpster could be an option.” Trail said.

Sparkler gritted her teeth. She was afraid this was gonna happen. She remembered telling Melody when she met her that foals shouldn’t be eating from dumpsters…and now she might be forced to make her kids, and Spike, eat from dumpsters. It’s either pray for berry bushes along the way, that don’t belong to anypony, or the dumpsters…

“Uh, Excuse me ma’am!” Came a voice that snapped her out of her thoughts.

She turned and saw a pony standing there. She jumped a little. “Oh, uh, sorry, we were just looking at the menu. We’ll be on our way.” She said.

“I was actually wondering if we could talk for a moment.” The pony said. “If you don’t mind.”

Sparkler glanced around for a moment, before nodding. “Uh, sure. We can talk…” She didn’t know why, but she was pretty uncomfortable right now.

The pony smiled. “Great. Wanna come inside for some breakfast for You and your kiddos? On the house.” The pony offered.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. She actually hesitated. Her initial response was to decline the free meal, but the little detail of them having no money PERIOD came up, and they were hungry. So, she just nodded reluctantly. “Sure. Thank you…”

“Harmone.” Harmone introduced himself.

“Thank you Harmone. I’m Sparkler. Nice to meet you.” Sparkler introduced herself.

Harmone nodded and ushered them in. He took them to one of the booths and told his staff to get them something for breakfast. He then grabbed a chair and sat with them. “So how long have you guys been in town?” He asked.

“We got here maybe a half hour ago.” Spike said.

“You gonna be here long or do you have some time to kill?“ Harmone asked.

“Why?” Sparkler asked.

“I was just wondering. If you’re going to be in town for the day, maybe you wouldn’t mind making a little money?” He asked.

Sparkler saw immediately what Harmone was trying to get at. He was offering her a PAYING JOB! “You…you’re offering me a job?” She asked. Just to be sure he wasn’t talking to the kids, because she wasn’t desperate enough to make her kids work. Or Spike.

“Yeah. I am. Here’s the deal, one of our band members called off work for a family emergency and unfortunately we have a pretty important performance tonight. Do you play any instruments or sing?” He asked.

“I do.” Sparkler responded.

Harmone smiled. “Perfect. How fast a learner are you?”

“Depends on the song but if I know it I can play it.” Sparkler responded.

Harmone smiled. “The important song that’s a must is called “Gloria”. A couple comes in every year on their anniversary and requests the song.”

At that, Sparkler’s eyes widened. Gloria?! That’s a Harmonic Medleys song! She was shocked. She almost couldn’t believe it.

🎶Gloria, you're always
on the run now

Running after somebody,
you gotta get him somehow🎶

Sparkler sang a few lines. Harmone smiled brightly. “Yes! That’s the one.” He exclaimed.

That song lasted 1,019 years… Sparkler didn’t know whether to be proud of that, or scared that she now knew that. “Uhm…how much would you be willing to pay?” That left her mouth before she could stop it.

Harmone smiled. “Hmmm….” He looked up in thought, doing some quick math in his head. “How does 500 bits sound?” He asked. “And I’ll throw in free meals here for as long as you’re in town.” He offered.

That made Sparkler jump a little. She wanted to decline, because she knew it wasn’t worth that much what she was agreeing to do. But every time she wanted to deny, the reality of the situation she and her kids were in forced her to accept that they needed the money, and they also needed to eat. “That’s very generous of you Harmone, I accept.” She said.

Harmone smiled. “Thank you Sparkler. You’re really helping out here. He glanced over his shoulder. “I’ll go get your breakfast.” He said as he got up and walked to what was probably the kitchen.

Spike smiled, and when he was sure everypony was out of earshot, turned to Sparkler. “Thank our Lucky Stars Harmone just offered you a day job.” He told Sparkler.

“Yeah…” Sparkler responded. She should’ve been glad that the income would get them out of having to eat berries for the whole journey, but she couldn’t feel good about it. “I just wish I could feel like we weren’t mooching off anypony.”

“Than good thing this is only a one time thing…hopefully.” Lightning said.

“Hopefully.” Sparkler responded.

And so Sparkler spent a lot of time with Harmone that day, learning a few songs, and making sure Sparkler truly knew Gloria. She also got introduced to Harmone’s staff, who were all very nice and didn’t seem to mind that a booth was essentially not available all day.

Finally, that night rolled around and the restaurant was pretty much packed for the dinner rush. Eventually, Harmone trotted up to the stage and tapped the microphone to address the crowd. “Hey hey hey everypony!“ He said. The crowd cheered as he smiled. “Welcome to Harmonic Airwave everypony. I just want to say that you’re in for a real treat. Now, to kick off our show tonight, we have a very special song for a gorgeous couple that always comes here on their anniversary. Fillies and gentlecolts, enjoy the show with a special guest, standing in for Mira, Sparkling Medley.” He announced.

The crowd cheered as the music kicked in, and Sparkler, alongside the staff and Harmone, began singing. With Sparkler also playing lead guitar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXPqSdB-SyU

The song concluded and the crowd cheered. That song kicked off a whole night of singing and dancing. All the while Lightning and the boys watched. Lightning got the whole show on his camcorder, which shockingly wasn’t lost, and the boys enjoyed their third proper meal since they got thrown into this future.

The next day, Sparkler and her boys were back at Harmonic Airwave, after spending the night in a motel, which Harmone insisted on paying for, they sat and ate their last meal there before heading off. Harmone came by their table and smiled. “I really want to thank you again Sparkler. You saved the show last night.” He said.

“Just happy to help.” Sparkler responded. “And Harmone, thank you for everything. You went so far beyond what we agreed.”

“Eh, it’s the least I could do.” Harmone said. “Speaking of.” He pulled out a bag and gave it to Sparkler. “As promised, a thousand bits for your services.” He said.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. “A THOUSAND?!” She exclaimed. That was double the monetary amount they agreed on yesterday. “Harmone, I can’t accept that much.”

“Sparkler, just take it. It’s always good to have extra bits just in case something happens.” Harmone said. “It really is the least I could do. After all you’ve been an inspiration in my family for generations. And it was an honor to get to perform with you last night.”

At that, Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “Wait, I’ve been an inspiration to your family for generations?” She asked.

“Uh huh.” Harmone responded. “Ever since you met my ancestors. Airwave and Lyrica.”

At that, Sparkler did a spit-take in surprise. “Airwave AND Lyrica?! As in, changeling Airwave and Pony Lyrica?”

Harmone laughed and nodded. “Yeah. I’m a direct descendant. Your stories have been a staple in our family, As well as the musical stylings of the Harmonic Medleys. How else did you think we had "Gloria" in our repertoire?” He said.

Sparkler stared at him. She was looking at the direct descendant of Airwave and Lyrica, her friends. She honestly did not know how to respond to that.

Spike and the kids saw Sparkler frozen in shock and chuckled. “I think you broke her Harmone.” Spike commented.

Sparkler suddenly snapped out of it and shook her head clear. “I…thank you Harmone…this has really helped us out…” She said, not knowing what else she COULD say.

“Always happy to help a legend.” Harmone responded. “Safe travels. I hope you succeed in getting back to your own time.” He said with a wink before walking away.

Lightning watched him go, and smiled. “The direct descendant of Airwave and Lyrica. Wait until they get a load of that.”

“Dude, no, that is a time paradox waiting to happen.” Spike responded.

Sparkler stared at the bag of bits on the table. Inside were enough bits to last the five of them a good week at least. “Let’s finish breakfast and get on the road.” She said. She had received the morning beacon and she was anxious to get going towards it. Harmone called me a legend…what exactly does my future hold for me… She thought to herself…

To be continued…

Episode 5: It's a Trap!

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Crystal looked down the sight of the makeshift catapult she constructed; it was pointed at the front lawn of Izzy’s cottage through a window. She smiled, satisfied at the angle and let out a woot. “And that’s how you set up defenses.” She said as she turned and trotted down the ramp to the first floor.

Mystic saw her sister coming down and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, Crystal? Don’t you think you went a little overboard with fortifying this place?” She asked

It had been three days since she and Mystic received their mother’s tree bark letter, specifically their mom’s instructions to stay put, and keep each other safe. So Crystal set about to fortify the cottage with every possible defense she could dream up. Catapults, tripwires, nets, and a bunch of other stuff. Crystal smirked and shook her head. “You remember mom’s instructions right? Stay put, and stay safe. We don’t know what’s out there, and we don’t know how long we’re gonna be here for. So the logical course of action is make sure that if something comes, we’ll at least be able to put up a fight, and make it SO much trouble for them. Just like kids do.” She explained.

“And if Mom comes and gets caught in one of your traps?” Mystic asked. “Seriously, some of these defenses could really hurt somepony.”

“We put up tripwire spells so we’ll be alerted to incoming ponies well before the traps start going off.” Crystal responded. “That way, if it’s anypony we know, we have plenty of time to warn them.” She said.

Mystic nodded. She still felt that Crystal was going a little overboard, but given the situation they were in right now, she figured it was Crystal’s survival instincts kicking in. “Ok. I just don’t want to accidentally hurt mom.” She said.

“We won’t.” Crystal assured her.

Mystic nodded. And just decided to change the subject. “Anyway, I made some lemonade for us if you want.” She said.

Crystal raised an eyebrow. “You made lemonade?” She asked.

“Yeah. Using mom’s recipe.” Mystic explained as she trotted to the kitchen.

That had Crystal flabbergasted. Mystic knew their mother’s lemonade recipe?! “You know mom’s recipe?!” She asked as she trotted after her sister. “How?!”

“When we were getting our mental link under our direct control, the recipe leaked to us clones. We promised mom we would keep it a secret.” Mystic explained.

Crystal smiled. “So you can make her lemonade whenever we want?” She asked.

“Crystal, we can’t do that. We don’t have a large supply of food, and we don’t know how long we’re gonna be here. We need to make the food last as long as possible.” Mystic told Crystal.

Crystal relented. “You sound like mom.” She said.

“You could say I AM mom. I’m her clone.” Mystic responded, which got both girls laughing. Mystic poured two cups of the lemonade for them and they drank it.

Crystal smiled. “Mmm. You did good Mystic. Exactly what mom makes.” She said.

“Courtesy of the time it took to get our mental link under control.” Mystic responded proudly.

They continued to drink their lemonade, until their horns tingled. They put their glasses down in shock. “Incoming!” They both shrieked.

They both ran up the ramp to the second floor and peaked out the window. They saw a middle-aged gray unicorn stallion approaching.

“Should we catapult him?” Mystic whispered.

Crystal took another glance out the window. “He doesn’t LOOK hostile. But don’t judge a book by it’s cover so let’s watch what he does.” She suggested.

So they watched the stallion closely. They watched him bypass all the traps Crystal had set up outside simply by stepping over their tripwires, and they heard a knock on the door, followed by a voice. “Hey Izzy? You home? I wanted to ask if you had any eggs to spare.” The stallion called out.

Crystal and Mystic glanced at each other. Mystic mouthed that she didn’t find any eggs at all.

Outside, the stallion patiently waited for Izzy to answer the door, but he noticed something. He couldn’t hear a single sound coming from the cottage, which was almost unheard of for Izzy. What in the world? The pony thought to himself. He glanced around, and didn’t notice anything off. He bit his lip. “I could really use those eggs…and Izzy did say her door was open for me even if on the off chance she wasn’t home…I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I let myself in and had a look.” He concluded.

Crystal and Mystic heard that and gulped. “He says he’s here for eggs, and he knows the last owner of this cottage….”

“For all we know he could be a—“ Crystal was cut off when the door opened, and not even a second later, she heard a screech and one of her traps setting off. Crystal and Mystic ran to the top of the ramp to see the pony turned possible intruder caught in a net.

The stallion was struggling. “What the…IZZY! What the hay is this?!” He shouted, confused and angry.

Crystal glanced at Mystic, before clearing her throat. “Izzy isn’t here. You shouldn’t enter other ponies’ homes without permission.” She called out.

The stallion heard the unfamiliar voice, and looked up to see something he wasn’t expecting. Two fillies. “What the, who are you two? What are you doing here?! Did you set this up? Let me out!” The stallion growled.

“Not until you answer a few questions.” Mystic said. She and Crystal lit their horns, ready to attack.

“First off, who are you?” Crystal asked.

The stallion raised a furious eyebrow. “My name is Alphabittle. Does Izzy know you’re here? Where the hay is she?!” He asked.

“We don’t know. But she doesn’t live here anymore.” Crystal said.

“What? Doesn’t live here anymore? Of course she lives here!” Alphabittle said.

“Not according to the note she left.” Crystal said.

“I didn’t see a note.” Alphabittle responded.

Crystal summoned the note and showed it to the intruder. Alphabittle read it, and it certainly had Izzy’s hoof writing. He looked between the note, and the two foals. He looked at the trap he was in, and his anger started to subside in favor of his softness towards foals, especially those who seemed to be in need. He took a deep breath. “Ok, clearly there are some misunderstandings here. I got a proposition. You let me out, and we can talk about this in a civilized way. Nopony needs to get hurt.” He said.

Crystal and Mystic looked at each other, before looking back to Alphabittle. “If we let you go, do you promise not to attack us?” Mystic asked.

“I promise, I don’t mean any harm. Plus, hurting foals is just plain wrong.” Alphabittle said.

Tell that to Sparky and Misty. Crystal thought involuntarily as she lit her horn, and released the trap, setting Alphabittle free.

Alphabittle fell to the ground, and picked himself back up off the ground. “Thank you. Now how about coming down from there?” He suggested.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but we’ll keep our distance, don’t try to get closer, we can and WILL defend ourselves.” Mystic responded.

“Ok. Fair enough. Now, who are you two?” Alphabittle asked.

“Crystal Spark and Mystic Medley.” Mystic responded.

“Ok. Now what are you two doing here? Where are your parents?” Alphabittle asked.

“We don’t know.” Crystal responded. “There was a magical accident and we got separated from our family.” She said.

Alphabittle’s eyes widened. “So you two are all alone?” He asked.

“Maybe.” Mystic said.

Alphabittle glanced around, it was then when he noticed the multiple traps that could’ve befallen him. “How long have you two been here?” He asked.

“A few days.” Crystal responded.

“DAYS?!” Alphabittle exclaimed, surprised. “You shouldn’t be all alone here for multiple days. Just how old are you two?”

“In the single digits. That’s all we’re gonna say.” Mystic responded.

Alphabittle’s mind raced. He was talking to two kids that were alone without available parents. “Do you two know where your family was going? I could take you there.” He offered.

“We don’t know where they are. And our mom told us to stay where we were.” Crystal said.

“Well, I can’t let you two stay here all alone. It’s not safe. Wanna come back to Bridlewood and stay with me until we find your family?” He asked.

“We’re staying right here. And in case you hadn’t noticed, we can take care of ourselves just fine.” Mystic said.

“Yeah. I can see the defenses you girls set up…you did a good job I’ll admit.” Alphabittle responded. “But still. You two are currently without adult supervision, and at your age that’s a big no-no.” He told them.

“Yeah, we’re unaccompanied minors, we’re aware of that.” Crystal said.

“But our mom told us to stay here and that’s what we’re going to do.” Mystic said. “And before you say anything, no, you’re not moving in with us. That’s out of the question.” She added.

Alphabittle bit his lip, trying to think of a compromise. “Well, then how about I just check on you often?” He suggested. “I’ll bring you food, whatever you might need.”

Crystal and Mystic looked at each other, before shrugging and nodding. “We can get behind that plan.”

“Thanks Alphabittle.”

Alphabittle smiled. “Good. Did you set any traps outside that I just happened to avoid this time?” He asked.

Crystal nodded, and proceeded to show him where all the outside tripwires were. Soon enough, after telling him that there WERE no eggs to have at the cottage, which was why he was there at all, Alphabittle thanked them and went to leave. “Don’t worry girls.” He told them. “I’m sure your mother will be here soon.” He said.

“Hopefully.” Mystic and Crystal responded. Cautiously glad that they had met somepony nice here.

To be continued…

Episode 6: Upgrade

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Sunny Starscout was up early in the morning, working hard in the kitchen to make breakfast for her, Izzy, who had moved in with her two and a half weeks ago, and Melody, Pedal, and Flurry after sending out the morning beacon for Sparkling Medley and her group. It had been a few days since she and Izzy took the fillies in so they wouldn’t be homeless while they waited for their mom. Sunny smiled at the thought. “Heh. Who’d have thought that we’d get three accidental time travelers here.” She mused. She smiled thoughtfully as she thought back to the adventure that resulted in Izzy moving in with her. They had met when Izzy came to Maretime Bay, starting a panic in town, but ultimately Izzy turned out to be a really nice pony and together, they were able to not only bring magic back to the world, but also restore peace between the three tribes. After the adventure, Sunny and Izzy decided to move in together in the Lighthouse…once the damage Sprout did to it was fixed of course. Sunny rolled her eyes when Sprout came up in her thoughts. “He’s SO lucky Zipp caught Melody.” She said.

True to his word, Hitch discharged him and confiscated his deputy badge. Now, she did feel a little bad for Sprout but he also deserved it for all the trouble he had been causing lately. “One of these days, we’ll get him to see that Unicorns and Pegasi aren’t the enemy.”

At that moment, Sunny heard a cheerful voice. “Morning Bestie!” Izzy said as she bounced into the kitchen.

“Morning Izzy.” Sunny said. “Are the fillies up yet?” She asked.

“Nah. They’re still out like lights. Guess we had too much fun last night.” Izzy said.

“Or maybe Flurry kept waking them up.” Sunny suggested.

“That could be it too.” Izzy responded. “Huh, it’s weird. Usually the adults are the ones taking care of the baby, but Pedal and Melody have it covered.” She commented.

“Well Flurry is their cousin. They know better than us how Flurry is.” Sunny said.

“Yeah. But still. They’re very mature for their age.” Izzy commented.

Sunny smiled and nodded. It was true. The fillies had been nothing but pure angels, and would always offer to help around the house. More than the typical foal would. “Clearly they have good parents.” She said.

“Absolutely.” Izzy responded. “Heh. Imagine if WE had kids one day. Think they’d be angels like the three fillies currently in the guest room?” Izzy asked.

At that, Sunny was so stunned that she dropped whatever she was holding and stared at Izzy in shock. “U-us?!” She asked, blushing.

“Uh huh. You and I would be great parents.” Izzy said.

Sunny didn’t know how the heck to respond to that. Sure. Izzy could be a bit strange, but never once had Izzy made a comment like THAT. Where in Equestria did THAT come from?! She thought.

At that moment, they heard crying coming from upstairs. Sunny realized that among the things she had dropped, there was a pan that clearly made a loud bang and woke Flurry up. “Darn it.” Sunny commented as she raced up the stairs and opened the door to the guest room. Inside, she saw Pedal already trying to hush Flurry and Melody getting out of bed.

“Hey, Flurry, it’s ok, it’s ok. Nothing’s wrong.” She cooed.

Flurry didn’t calm down and continued to cry. Sunny was about to step in to try and help but Melody spoke up. “Here, let me try.” She cleared her throat, and started to sing.

🎶Hush now quiet now
Everything is A-ok

Hush now quiet now
There’s no need to weep 🎶

During Melody’s lullaby, Flurry actually calm down and after seeing her two cousin’s smiles, smiled herself.

Sunny smiled, thankful that the crisis was averted. “Good thinking Melody.” She commented.

Melody and Pedal jumped and turned to see Sunny standing at the door. “Oh, Sunny. Good morning.” Melody said.

“You wouldn’t happen to know what that sound was?” Pedal asked.

“That was my fault for accidentally dropping a pan while making breakfast. Sorry.” She said.

“It’s fine.” Pedal said. “Accidents happen.

Sunny nodded and gestured for them to follow her. “Anywho, breakfast is ready.” She said.

Melody and Pedal nodded as they and Flurry, who had taken to riding on Medley’s back, followed Sunny downstairs to the kitchen. Where Izzy was floating the plates of pancakes onto the table. She glanced up and saw the three and smiled. “Morning girls!” She exclaimed. “How’d you sleep last night?” She asked.

“Flurry woke us up a few times.” Pedal said.

“But overall alright.” Melody said.

“Great!” Izzy responded. “Anywho, breakfast today is Pancakes with syrup, and for Flurry.” She lit her horn and summoned a milk bottle from the microwave. “A nice warm bottle of milk.”

Melody smiled and took the bottle in her own magic. “Thanks.” She said.

Pedal and Melody took their seats along with Sunny and Izzy, and they started to eat. Flurry happily took the bottle in her hooves and started sucking on the lid drinking the milk while the rest ate their pancakes.

After a moment, Sunny spoke up. “So, do you girls want to do anything today?” She asked.

“Huh?” Melody and Pedal asked.

“What do you girls want to do today? I mean, we gotta do SOMETHING to pass the time while we wait for your mother to show up.” Izzy explained.

Melody and Pedal blinked and glanced at each other. Izzy had a point. They basically had nothing to do besides taking care of Flurry, who had been fairly easy so far, so that left time to do things. “Could we explore Maretime Bay?” Melody asked.

“Cool idea! There’s plenty of fun things to do here. Let’s go out on a day trip exploring!” Izzy responded.

“Sounds like a plan.” Sunny responded.

They continued to eat their breakfast. When they were just about done, Flurry giggled, her horn lit up, and with a single puff of magic gold smoke, Flurry disappeared. When the smoke cleared, Melody, Pedal, and Sunny and Izzy stared at the empty space she had previously occupied. Pedal, after getting over her shock, groaned loudly. “Oh for Faust’s sake Flurry Heart! Now is SO not the time to randomly teleport away!” She said.

“Has she done that before?” Izzy asked.

“Aunt Cadence and Uncle Shining say she teleports away often. And this time she could actually be lost.” Melody explained.

“Sounds like we better go find her.” Sunny said.

“Ya THINK?!” Pedal asked as she got up out of her seat and started racing around the house trying to find Flurry. Melody, Izzy and Sunny followed suit. After a bit, they turned up with nothing

“Great. So if nopony found her here that means she’s outside somewhere. In total stranger danger land.” Melody said.

“We better find her quick then.” Izzy said.

Pedal and Melody nodded and they all bolted out the door. Sunny and Melody took to the sky to look from the air, while Pedal and Izzy took the ground route.

Sprout was sitting at an outside table at a cafe, eating a hayburger, for breakfast. While he ate he was grumbling to himself. “Grr. Stupid Pegasi, Stupid Unicorns. If they hadn’t come I’d still be a Deputy.” He commented. “And Stupid PegaCorns for being both.” He added. It had been a few days but the loss of his job still left a bad taste in his mouth. He didn’t even do anything wrong. And the filly didn’t die. What was the big deal with the tranquilizer? He rolled his eyes and continued to eat his food, before gold smoke suddenly erupted from nowhere. Sprout coughed out and waved the smoke away, to see a little white filly sitting on his table.

While Sprout noticed the horn and wings and was immediately frozen in fear and shock, Flurry took one good look at him. And frowned. She recognized Sprout as the pony that nearly killed her cousin the other day. Before Sprout could do or say anything, Flurry looked him right in the eye, and proceeded to SPIT on him, and his hayburger. “No.” She told him.

The spit touched Sprout and his food and that snapped Sprout out of his shock and he shrieked. “Eek! Pegacorn!” He stumbled out of his seat and bolted away from the table.

Flurry smiled, and stuck her tongue out Sprout’s way. She then giggled.

“Hey! What’s going on here?” Asked a familiar voice. Flurry turned to see Hitch had approached the table.

Hitch was doing his morning patrol rounds when he saw Sprout scream and bolt away from the table, he then noticed Flurry Heart sitting on the table. He quickly approached Flurry. “Flurry?” He asked. “What are you doing here? Where’re Pedal and Melody?” He asked.

“Something wrong Hitch?” Zipp asked. She landed beside him. “Anything you need temporary deputy Zipp to help with?”

“Nah. Flurry Heart here just must’ve gotten out.” Hitch explained.

“Flurry Heart!” They both heard Melody shout. Hitch and Zipp turned to see Melody land.

Flurry smiled and jumped off the table and into Melody’s forelegs. Melody caught her cousin and hugged her tight. “Flurry. Don’t teleport off like that. Especially when we’re in stranger danger land.” She told Flurry.

“She scared Sprout off.” Zipp said with a chuckle. “Maybe she’s mad about what Sprout did.”

Melody looked up, and saw Hitch and Zipp there. “Oh, Sheriff Hitch, Ms. Zipp, good morning.” She said.

“Morning kid.” Zipp responded.

“Would you mind explaining how you lost Flurry?” Hitch asked.

“We were eating breakfast, and she just teleported out. She does that from time to time.” Melody explained.

“And we need to find a way to cork that behavior before she lands herself in really deep trouble.” Said the voice of Pedal.

Pedal, Izzy, and Sunny all gathered around them and Pedal walked up to Melody and Flurry. “Flurry. You can’t do that. 1003 Crystal Empire may be safe for you to do that but not here. Because we have NO way to tell where you went.” She told Flurry.

“There is a way to solve that.” Zipp commented.

“There is?” Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch responded.

Zipp nodded. “Yeah. Chip her.” She said.

“Chip her?” Melody asked.

“Yeah. Here in the future, we have the technology available that we know where anypony is at all times.” Zipp explained.

“Well that sounds invasive.” Pedal commented.

Zipp shrugged. “Eh, it’s mainly aimed towards families so their children would be safe or valuable items that they don’t want stolen.”

Pedal and Melody glanced at each other. “…Should we?” Melody asked.

“It sounds like it would help us locate her quickly…” Pedal responded.

“I can take you to Pipp. She’s more tech savvy than me so she can probably help ya out.” Zipp offered.

Pedal and Melody glanced around their new friends.

“So Flurry teleported away and now you’re thinking of chipping her so you guys can locate her faster in the future?” Pipp asked. Zipp had brought the girls, and Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch, to the house she and Pipp had recently moved into in Maretime Bay, where Pedal and Melody explained the situation to Pipp, while Flurry was currently playing around with the flashlight from Hitch’s sash, which she thankfully couldn’t turn on.

“Yeah. That’s pretty much it.” Pedal said.

Pipp smiled widely and beamed. “Well, I guess this is the perfect opportunity to show ya what I picked up for you guys in Zephyr Heights.” She said as she trotted over to a bag on the counter and pulled out two small boxes. “Communication and staying in touch is VERY important. Especially in your guys’ situation. So while I was back in Zephyr Heights, I went and picked up PonyPhones for you and your family.” She explained. “I mean, once they get here of course.” She added.

Pedal and Melody both blinked. “You got PonyPhones for us?” Pedal asked.

“Remember what I said about communication? Considering what happened to you you can’t rely on magic. But what you can rely on is the power of technology to stay connected to each other.” Pipp said. “These things will allow you to stay in touch over long distances, as if you’re physically next to each other.”

“Ooh.” Melody said. She flapped her wings and flew up so she could see the phones. “Fancy.”

“They also have a feature where they’ll track any chip they’re paired with. So only you have Flurry’s exact location.” Pipp explained.

“Now that’s handy.” Pedal responded.

Pipp smiled. “So, how would Flurry like a new bow? We can chip that and she can wear it all the time.” She said.

“What do you say Flurry?” Pedal asked Flurry. “Want a new bow?”

Flurry smiled and nodded. Izzy beamed. “Oh! I can make her a bow!” She exclaimed. “What color does Flurry like?”

“How about Light Blue?” Melody asked. “Light Blue fits better in her color scheme.”

“Light Blue it is!” Izzy exclaimed.

Pedal chuckled and turned back to Pipp. “Thanks Ms. Pipp. We owe you one.” She said.

“Oh nonsense. This is about Flurry’s safety, and yours. Now how bout you climb onto a seat Pedal and I’ll show you and Melody how to use PonyPhones.” Pipp said.

Pedal, after setting Flurry down on the couch, climbed onto a barstool and Pipp helped Melody and Pedal set up their new PonyPhones and showed them how to use it.

Izzy meanwhile made the bow in no time flat, and after a few pairing links, Flurry now wore her new bow, and Melody and Pedal now had a way to quickly locate her in the event she pulled a disappearing act.

Turned out the stars aligned a little too perfectly because the near instant Flurry got her new chipped bow, she teleported off again. Meaning Pedal and Melody had to use their new phones to find her quickly. “Oh yeah. These are gonna get a lot of use, I can tell.” Melody commented. Making everypony chuckle as they all went out to find Flurry…again.

To be continued…

Episode 7: Treasure In The Trash

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Sparkler and the boys sat at a picnic table in a park in the town they arrived in for lunch. It was takeout from a fast food place due to it being cheap. “Mmmmm. Well I’ll say this for the future. They know how to make a good sandwich.” Spike commented.

“I won’t complain about the scenery either.” Lumber said.

Sparkler smiled and nodded as she took a bite out of her lunch. She had to agree with Lumber that the future looked like something out of a vacation postcard. I bet our friends would love this. She thought.

Lightning moved his Camcorder around to point at himself and smiled. “It is now day 5 of our forced adventure in the future.” He turned the camcorder so that it was looking around. “This town is certainly colorful, parks are clean, I bet Fluttershy would love to meet all the new animals Lumber the animal lover’s met.” He remarked.

“And it’s clear skies too.” Trail remarked. “Perfect flight weather. Mom, can I go for a fly after lunch?” He asked Sparkler.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Sparkler responded. “We’re trying to NOT lose anypony else here.”

“Aww. It’ll just be a quick fly over the park.” Trail whined.

“Trail, no. Need I remind everypony that this isn’t a vacation?” Sparkler asked.

“Oh lighten up a little Sparkler.” Spike said.

“Spike, we are currently looking for seven missing kids, and that’s not even mentioning that we STILL have to find a way back to our time. We were never supposed to be here in the first place and while yes the future is nice, I’d rather get back to our own time as fast as possible.” Sparkler said.

“Alright, fine.” Trail said. Relenting that his mother wasn’t going to let up.

“Look, once we get to wherever the signals are coming from, if the area isn’t dangerous I’ll let you fly then. Ok?” Sparkler asked Trail.

“Awesome!” Trail responded.

Sparkler smiled and the five continued to eat their lunch in peace. After a few minutes, Spike spoke up again. “I just had an idea.” He said. “What if we formed a traveling band?”

Spike’s group’s eyes widened and they all stared at him. “A traveling band?” Lumber asked.

“Yeah. It could be a good way to make some extra money. Because the thousand bits are already a quarter of the way gone and we don’t know how much longer we’ll be here for.” Spike reasoned. “So if we want to continue to not have to rely on random berry bushes on the road, we need some way to make money. Because not everypony will offer Sparkler a day’s paying job.” He commented.

“I suppose we’re lucky Harmone paid her double what they originally agreed on.” Lightning commented.

“Yeah. And you know how sometimes ponies are out on the streets playing instruments and they have an open case where bits could be collected?” Spike asked.

“Yeah?” Spike’s group all said.

“All we’d need is a guitar, and a drum, and I’m sure we could make good bits.” Spike said.

“Not a bad idea Spike, except for one problem. We DON’T have those instruments.” Lumber said.

“Arts and crafts.” Spike said simply.

Sparkler blinked at him. “You suggest we MAKE the guitar and drums ourselves?” She asked.

“Yeah. I bet we could do it.” Spike said.

“And where are we supposed to get the materials to make them?” Lightning asked. “I doubt mom wants to spend the bits when they’ll probably cost a lot.”

“I think this town has a dump or someplace for their trash.” Spike suggested.

Sparkler and the boys glanced at each other. “Surely they wouldn’t just let us rummage through the dump?”

“Knock yourselves out. You’d be doing me a favor. Anything you take I don’t have to sort through.” The pony said in front of the town dump. The pony opened the door for Sparkler and her group. “Just do me a favor and don’t make it even more of a mess.” He said.

Sparkler blinked a few times. After lunch they decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask the local dump if they could rummage through the trash. Sparkler personally was not expecting them to actually be allowed to do that. “Uh, thanks sir.” She said.

“Mind if I ask what it is yer looking for?” The pony asked.

“We’re looking for stuff to make some instruments.” Spike responded.

“Well then. Have fun.” The pony said as he walked back into his little building, which presumably was his office.

“Alright then. I guess that’s that.” Lightning said.

“What do we need Mom?” She asked.

“For a guitar, a rectangular tissue box, a toilet paper roll or something similar, and string. For a drum, a good sized can and it’s lid, and some kind of stick.” Sparkler said.

“Alright!” The boys said.

And so they started to rummage through the trash they found in the dump. There was a lot of useless and broken stuff that they weren’t really interested in, and the stuff they WERE interested in was either too damaged to work, or just not suitable to work. They searched and searched, but not finding anything. “Wow. Do they not have tissue boxes here?” Spike asked. He pushed more trash away, to find something he wasn’t expecting. “What the…” He reached down, and picked up a strange looking thing. “Uh, hey Sparkler? I think I might have found something.” He said.

Sparkler glanced to where Spike was coming down from the trash pile he was on, as did everypony else. They saw Spike was holding and raised eyebrows as they gathered around him. Spike had found a box that looked like it was unopened. There was writing on the box.

“Sound Master X5 and Beat Mixture J3 combo set?” Lumber read. “What the heck are those?”

Spike used his claw to cut the tape and open the box while Sparkler glanced behind to see more writing. She read it, and her eyes lit up like a hearths warming tree. “You have to be kidding me. It’s a guitar and drum combo!” She exclaimed.

Spike opened the box, and glanced inside. Inside there were two big things. He reached in and pulled out the guitar. “Whoa. I have never seen a guitar like this before.”

Sparkler took a look at the instrument, and saw that the thing had both keys like a piano and strings like a guitar. “It’s a hybrid of a guitar and Keytar.” She said.

“Ooh. Fancy.” Limber said.

While Spike pulled out the other big thing, Sparkler found that the KeyGuitar had a power switch. She flipped it on, and started playing it. Oh Faust did it sound amazing. “Ooh! Sparkler likey.” She said after she stopped playing and turned off the power.

Spike set the drum looking thing down, found ITS power switch, and flipped it on. He tapped on the circular pads and the instrument made noises in response. “Oh Faust we hit the jackpot.” He said.

“Why would somepony throw these out? They look to be in good condition.” Lightning asked.

“Eh, who cares? Their loss.” Trail responded.

Sparkler smiled and shrunk the two things down with her magic. She carefully placed them in Lightning’s Saddlebag, their only storage device, and nodded. “Well, I say we’re done here.” She said as she tossed the box back onto the dump pile.

And so they left. They thanked the pony in his office and hit the road. With the means to make some extra bits at last in their possession.

To be continued…

Episode 8: Reunited.

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“I’ll only be gone for three days at most. There should be enough food here for you in the meantime.” Alphabittle told Crystal and Mystic.

“Yep. There definitely should be.” Mystic said.

“And if you need anything—“

“We’ll go to your cantina and ask nicely. Yeah we know Alphabittle, don’t worry.” Crystal said.

“Crystal, you’re two kids living in an impressively fortified cottage waiting for your mother to come for you.” Alphabittle deadpanned. “That’s definitely going to get some ponies worrying.”

“Fair enough.” Crystal responded.

“Alright. Stay safe you two.” Alphabittle said. After a few more goodbyes, Alphabittle left, and Mystic rolled her eyes.

“Can you believe him? We went over the plan with him 20 times last night. And yet he still doesn’t seem to think we get it.” She commented.

Crystal nodded. Alphabittle, who had been their defacto adult for a week now, had an important meeting to attend somewhere out of town, and Crystal and Mystic had politely refused to leave the cottage per their mother’s instructions, so like any foster parent with two charges (his words), Alphabittle made arrangements for Crystal and Mystic while he was out, which Crystal and Mystic appreciated, but found that Alphabittle was a bit crazy when making them. Originally he wanted somepony from his cantina to check on Crystal and Mystic every 2 hours, but Crystal and Mystic talked him out of that, saying that it could actually be dangerous if somepony was watching the pattern with malicious intent.

“I wonder what his kids’ll go through if he ever has any. He seems to take parenting VERY seriously.” Mystic commented.

“Kinda like mom.” Crystal responded. That’s when her mood dropped and she glanced over at the tree bark they had saved. “I wish we had gotten more information.” She commented. “Like, another tree bark message.”

“I’m sure Mom’s just focusing all her energy on getting the band back together.” Mystic responded. “Hehe. Imagine if Alphabittle ran into her.“

“I hope she doesn’t get mad that we aren’t with him.” Crystal chuckled.

The next day, in Maretime Bay…

“So, what’s going on today at town hall?” Melody asked Hitch.

“Meeting between representatives of the three tribes.” Hitch responded. “Equestria’s in the process of reunification so things need to be hashed out.” He explained.

“Let me guess. Friendship faded?” Pedal asked.

“Bingo.” Hitch said.

Pedal rolled her eyes. It was another beautiful day in Maretime Bay, and Pedal, Melody, and Flurry were spending the day with Hitch while Sunny and everypony were at Town Hall.

“Now I’m glad Mommy Twi didn’t get sucked in with us. She woulda gone ballistic if she learned friendship had faded.” Melody commented.

“Yeah. Hehe.” Hitch responded.

At Town Hall, Pipp and Zipp were at the refreshments table, getting some water before the inevitable conference. Zipp let out a sigh. “Still don’t get why I have to be here.” She commented.

“Because we’re a package deal basically. Mom herself couldn’t be here so she asked us to come in her steed.” Pipp responded.

“Don’t you have like, a bajillion followers? Ponies are gonna listen to you over me so I really don’t think I need to be here.” Zipp said.

Pipp smirked. “Oh. I see, you’d rather be with Sheriff Trailblazer and the girls eh?” She asked.

Zipp jumped and gulped. “What? No? What makes you say that.” She asked.

“So you DON’T like hanging out with him?” Pipp asked.

“I-I mean I do…but not—“ Zipp stopped when she realized what Pipp was doing. “Ugh. You’re messing with me aren’t you Pipp.” She said.

Pipp laughed. “Oh come on Zipp. I see the way you look at him. You have a crush on him.” She said.

Zipp rolled her eyes. “I don’t have a crush on him. But I do know that you have a crush on Sunny.” She said, smirking.

Pipp blushed and jumped back in surprise. “I…I don’t—“ She stammered.

Zipp chuckled. “Oh yes you do. I’ve seen the way you look at her. There’s also the fact that you’ve insisted on being present for every one of her flight practices.” She said.

“That could mean anything.” Pipp countered. “Don’t you think I’d want to support my friend when she’s adjusting to changes in her species?”

“There’s also the fact that I’ve caught you doodling in your diary. Sunny surrounded by hearts.” Zipp commented. “And by the looks of it Izzy as well if my eyes were correct.” She mused.

Pipp’s jaw dropped. “Nope. This conversation is done. And I’m closing my door every time now.” She said.

Zipp laughed. “If you don’t want me bugging you about your love life don’t bug me.” She said.

Meanwhile, Izzy and Sunny were talking when they heard a stallion call out to them. “Izzy. Sunny.” Said the voice of Alphabittle.

Izzy and Sunny turned to see the Unicorn stallion approach. Izzy smiled. “Hiya there Alphabittle!” He said.

“Hi Alphabittle.” Sunny said.

“Hello you two. How are you doing? Everything going alright with the new roommate situation?“Alpha asked.

“Yeah! We’re having a blast living together!” Izzy said.

“That’s good to hear. Hey, Izzy, I should tell you that some kids are living in your old cottage.” Alpha said.

“Kids?” Izzy asked.

“Yeah. Two fillies, named Crystal Spark and Mystic Medley.” Alpha explained. “They’ve been living there for the past week.”

At the mention of the fillies’ names, Izzy and Sunny gasped and turned to glance at each other. They knew those names as the names of two of Pedal’s and Melody’s sisters! “Uh…are you sure those are the names?” Sunny asked.

“They told me themselves. I’ve been keeping an eye on them. Why?” Alpha asked.

Izzy and Sunny glanced at each other again. Izzy suddenly bolted for the door. “I’ll be right back!” She called out behind her.

Alpha watched her go and raised an eyebrow. “What was that all about?” He asked.

“Let’s just say we recognize those names, and it’s super important that we investigate.” Sunny explained.

Izzy dashed right to the Sheriff’s station, where she knew Melody, Pedal, and Flurry would be. She got to the door, burst in, and without even thinking, said in a loud voice. “We just got a lead on Crystal and Mystic!”

The reaction was Hitch and the girls jumping from their seats and the board game they were playing getting messed up. Hitch groaned. “Izzy! Don’t you knock?” He asked.

“Sorry Hitch. But this is super important. Word from Alphabittle is that Crystal and Mystic are living in my old cottage.” Izzy explained.

“Wait, what?!” Pedal asked.

“Mystic and Crystal?” Melody asked.

“That’s what my friend Alphabittle said.” Izzy responded.

Pedal and Melody looked at each other excitedly. If the information was accurate, they were about to reunite with two of their sisters! “When do we leave?” Pedal and Melody asked together.

“As soon as you want to.” Izzy said. “Hitch, can you let the conference ponies know something came up for me?” She asked Hitch. “Oh, and girls, I think it would be best if Flurry stayed here. For her own safety.” She told Pedal and Melody.

Pedal’s and Melody’s smiles faded. Flurry staying meant one of them had to stay behind as well. Melody and Pedal glanced at each other. “You go on with Izzy.” Melody told Pedal. “I’m better equipped to handle Flurry.” She reasoned.

Pedal but her lip, before letting Melody take Flurry. “We’ll be back soon.” She said. “Hopefully with Crystal and Mystic.”

“Looking forward to it.” Melody responded.

Pedal nodded, before she and Izzy left the station. Hitch smiled. “Well that’s good news.” He commented.

“Yeah.” Melody responded.

Hitch nodded. “Come on. Let’s get to town hall.” He said.

Later that evening, in Izzy’s old cottage, Crystal and Mystic were eating dinner. A pre-made salad courtesy of Alphabittle. “I wonder what everypony else is doing.” Mystic commented.

“Hopefully staying safe. And for mom’s group, hopefully finding a way to get the band back together.” Crystal responded.

At that moment, their horns tingled, signaling the tripwire spell activating. They both stopped eating and got out of their seats. “Incoming!” They both scrambled up the ramp and towards the window. Outside, they saw a pair of ponies approaching. One was a unicorn Mare, the other was a filly, Earth Pony. Crystal lit her horn and activated a night vision spell to get a better look…and her eyes widened in disbelief when she saw who the Earth Pony filly was. “It…it’s Pedal!” She exclaimed.

“Wait, Pedal?!” Mystic asked.

Crystal pulled a string that was hanging by the window. “Yes! I can see her!” She said.

Outside, Izzy and Pedal approached Izzy’s old cottage, before they were suddenly blinded by some lights shining on them. Pedal squinted her eyes. “What the?! What’s going on?” She asked.

At that moment, Pedal heard a familiar voice. A voice she hasn’t heard in a while. “Pedal? Pedal Medley is that you?” Asked the voice of Crystal Spark.

Pedal’s eyes adjusted to the light and she could see Crystal land a few feet away from her. Pedal’s eyes widened, before tearing up and smiling brightly. “Crystal! You’re ok!” She cried.

“And you!” Crystal exclaimed as she pulled her sister in for a big hug. Her own eyes watering. “I’ve missed you so much! We both have!” Crystal cried.

“Melody, Flurry and I missed you guys too!” Pedal said.

“Pedal!” They heard Mystic cry as she ran out of the cottage and towards them.

Pedal pulled away from Crystal just in time to catch Mystic in a hug. “Oh thank Faust you’re alright!” Mystic cried.

“Yeah. Me too.” Pedal said.

Mystic and Pedal embraced each other for a bit long before separating. “Did you find anypony else?” Mystic asked.

“Melody and Flurry are waiting back in Maretime Bay. They’ve been with Pedal.” Izzy chimed in happily.

Crystal and Mystic jumped, then remembered that Pedal wasn’t alone. They both turned to the Unicorn Mare…and they somehow knew who she was. “Are you Izzy?”

“The mare that used to live here?” They asked.

Izzy smiled and nodded. “Yep! That’s me! I’m living in Maretime Bay now with my best friend Sunny and we’ve been watching over your sisters and cousin.” She explained happily. “And when Alphabittle told us about you, we came running.”

“Alpha did mention that he knew you.” Crystal commented. “Thanks Izzy.”

“No problem!” Izzy said. “I’m just happy you two could use it to get by.”

“Yeah. We did.” Mystic said.

“And we fortified it too.” Crystal said.

“That’s so cool!” Izzy said. “You’ll have to tell us all about that on the way back.” She added.

“Girls, grab the tree bark letters if you still have them, we’re getting out of here.” Pedal said.

Crystal and Mystic nodded, ran back into the cottage, and came back out carrying their tree bark messages. “So what’s been happening with you?“ Crystal asked Pedal.

Pedal smiled as the group started to walk away. “For one, we got new toys to play with and to keep Flurry from getting lost.” She said. She started telling Crystal and Mystic about their time in Maretime Bay so far. Leaving out how Sprout nearly killed Melody, and going into depth about the PonyPhones.

While Pedal talked with her sisters. Izzy couldn’t help but smile. It was always good to see family reunited. And for her, it helped to fuel her desire to be a mother one day. First step is to tell Sunny how I feel. She thought as they walked along.

To be continued…

Episode 9: Two more Join the Gang

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wxFlKFqReA

Sparkler smiled as she jammed out on the KeyGuitar, the name she gave her new Guitar/Keytar Hybrid, and Spike pounded his new drum. Providing music for Lightning, Lumber, and Trail to sing and dance to. It had been a few days since they found the two futuristic instruments. And Sparkler and Spike spent a good deal of time learning how to play them. Once they were satisfied with their performance with the instruments, the performances from town to town started. Usually it would be a song every hour.

Their latest performance wrapped up and the gathered crowd applauded. The three singers took a bow and after a few seconds, the crowd dispersed. The three boys approached Sparkler and Spike. “So. How’d we do?” Lightning asked.

Spike glanced into the cardboard box they had gotten as the money collection bin. “Let’s see…a few small bags, I would say each holds around 20-30 bits…I’d say we raked in around 150 bits as a max.” He estimated.

“That’s not bad.” Lumber said. “It’s probably enough for lunch for all of us.”

“Yeah. In fact, I could go for some lunch right now.” Trail said.

Sparkler nodded and scooped up the bits. She shrunk everything and put it into Lightning’s Saddlebag. “For real, how have we not come across a store that has a Saddlebag in stock yet?” She asked idly. “Sorry we need to keep using yours Lightning.” She said.

“I’m just glad we can do shrinking spells.” Lightning responded.

“And I'm just glad you bring your camcorder around everywhere.” Trail commented. “That’s the best habit to have right now.”

“Yeah. Now let’s go get something to eat.” Lumber said.

His companions nodded and all of them went to the nearest fast food joint and grabbed something to eat.

Some time not too much later, near the Fast Food place Sparkler and her group were eating at, a pair of colts were rummaging through a trash can, searching for food. “Find anything Light Wing?” One of the colts asked.

“Nothing but rotten apples and napkins Dark Wing.” The other colt said.

“We need to find something before—“

“Hey! Cyclopses!” Said a voice that made Light Wing and Darn Wing freeze. They both turned and saw a group of foals they did not want to see.

“Leave us alone you guys!” Light Wing growled.

The group of foals just laughed. “Aww. We just want to test how well you dodge things.” The leader of the group said as they all held up familiar projectiles to Light Wing and Dark Wing.

Meanwhile, Sparkler and her group were walking the sidewalk after lunch. They passed an alleyway, which they stopped at when they heard something. “Oh come on Cyclopses, it’s not that hard to dodge.” They heard.

That got Sparkler’s attention. “What the…” She glanced at the Alleyway. “Did you guys hear that?”

“Yeah. Why does that line make me furious?” Lightning asked.

Before anypony could react, Lightning dashed into the alleyway. “Lightning, what are you doing?” Spike called out.

Lightning ignored him as he reached a corner and turned it. And what he saw made his jaw drop. A pair of colts were getting pelted with eggs! “Oh hay no!” He growled, which caused Sparkler and company to glance at each other before following Lightning.

Lightning didn’t wait as he used his wings to make a high jump over the two colts and land right in front of them. He lit his horn and blasted at all the incoming eggs. “Hey! Eggs go in your mouth. They aren’t snowballs!” He shouted at the group of assailants.

The assailants stopped what they were doing and glared at Lightning. “Where did you come from?”

“Mind your own business.”

Sparkler and Co came around the corner, and what Sparkler saw made her blood boil instantly. Two colts were covered in egg yolk, and Lightning was standing between them and a group she was certain were the assailants. “Hey! What’s going on here?!” She nearly shouted.

The assailants froze while Lightning glanced back at his mom. “Those foals were using these two colts.” He gestured at the two covered in egg yolk. “As target practice. That’s why that line we heard made me furious.” He explained.

“We weren’t doing that!” One of the foals shouted.

“We were playing catch!” Another said.

“Looks to me like you were picking on these foals. Which I’m putting an end to. Now scram before I decide to drag you back to your homes and explain to your parents what bad foals you are!” Sparkler growled.

The assailants, recognizing that the adult wasn’t kidding around, just decided to flee. Sparkler nodded.

Light Wing and Dark Wing both sat there, absolutely flabbergasted at what just happened. They both got up, walked past the green colt that jumped to their defense, and glanced around. Their bullies were nowhere in sight. “You…you actually got them to knock it off…” Light Wing said in disbelief.

“Nopony’s ever done that before.” Dark Wing said.

“We don’t take kindly to bullies.” One of the foals said.

Light Wing and Dark Wing smiled and turned to see the group that just saved them. “Thank you.” Dark Wing said.

Sparkler smiled and lit her horn. In an instant, all the egg yolk and shells were gone. “Are you guys alright—“ She stopped when she and the boys got their first good look at the colts.

They noticed that they were bat-pony colts. One had white fur, the other black for. They looked to be no older than five, but the thing that stood out the most was the fact that both colts were missing an eye and an ear. Both missing parts were from the same side. And the side of the pony the ear and eye were absent on either, were present on the other.

For a moment, there was silence. Sparkler and the boys not knowing what to say. “Uhh…” Spike spoke up. “You guys ok?” He asked. Really not knowing what else to say.

Light Wing and Dark Wing saw the shocked expressions on their faces and sighed. “Yeah. We know we’re missing some parts.” Light Wing said.

“But we’re not monsters.” Dark Wing said quickly.

That snapped Sparkler out of her shock. “What? No, no no we don’t think you’re monsters.” She said.

“Yeah.” Trail said. “We just…we’ve just never seen anypony like you before.” He said truthfully.

Light Wing and Dark Wing nodded. Relieved that they hadn’t met more bullies. Lumber Meanwhile smiled at the colts. “What are your names?” He asked.

“My name’s Light Wing.” The black furred colt said.

“And I’m Dark Wing.” Said the White furred colt added.

“Ooh. Cool names. My name is Lightning Shield.” Lightning introduced himself.

“I’m Trail Blazer.” Trail said.

“Lumber Striker.”

“Spike.”

“And this is our mom Sparkling Medley.” Lightning gestured to Sparkler.

“It’s nice to meet you two.” Sparkler said.

“Nice to meet you guys too.” Dark responded happily.

“Thanks again for what you did.” Light said. “Those foals always pick on us for our condition.”

“Well that’s not cool.” Lumber said.

“Tell us about it.” Dark said.

Sparkler nodded, before an idea came to her. “Well, if you want we can walk you guys home.” She offered.

“No.” Light said.

“No?” Spike asked.

“No, we’re not going back to that orphanage, it’s the worst there.” Dark explained.

At that, Sparkler and the boys gasp. “Orphanage?”

“You live in an orphanage?”

“We USED to.” Dark said. “From what we’re told, our parents gave us up for adoption when we were babies.”

“But we ran away from that place because after a year of nonstop egg pelting from the other orphanage kids, we couldn’t take it anymore.” Light said.

At that, Sparkler and the boys all sat there shocked. For Sparkler in particular, Dark’s and Light’s story sounded all too familiar in certain aspects. Mainly the egg pelting. It’s KiliHima Village school all over again…and I’m willing to bet it’s because of their appearance.

“Did you think about talking to whoever was in charge of the orphanage?” Lumber asked.

“We did. Nothing worked.” Dark responded.

Oh my Faust this is not happening. Sparkler couldn’t believe it. She had met a pair of colts that were going through exactly what she went through with her own bullies.

“So yeah. We’re definitely not going back there.” Light said. “Ever.”

Sparkler bit her lip. Trying to think of what to do. Normally she would know but…well she was in the future. Who knows what foal services were even available.

“Ooh! I got an idea. How about you two come with us?” Lumber asked suddenly.

Everypony’s eyes widened around him. Dark and Light smiled. “Really?” They asked.

“I mean…if you got nowhere else to go. It could work.” Lightning said.

“It could be fun!” Trail said. “Can they mom?” He asked Sparkler.

At that moment, Sparkler was hit with six pairs of puppy dog eyes from the five colts. Spike glanced at the group, before he burst out laughing. “Oh wow. Five colts doing puppy dog eyes. Every mother’s worst nightmare.” He commented.

That did it. Sparkler relented. “I guess you two can join us. At least for the moment.” She said.

“Awesome!” Dark said.

“You rock Sparkler!” Light said.

Lightning smiled and bumped hooves with the bat ponies. “How good are you at singing and dancing?” He asked.

“Why?” Dark and Light asked.

“We’re a traveling band. And we could use all the help we can get.” Spike explained.

“A band?” Dark asked.

“Cool!” Light said. “Yeah we can sing and dance.” He said.

Sparkler chuckled. “Well then. Come on.” She said.

Dark and Light both smiled. They were excited that they were in the company of ponies who didn’t think they were monsters because of their appearance.

The group, with it’s two new companions, proceeded back to their chosen performance spot, and while Lightning took the lead before, this time Trail took the lead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6FeRu_JA8I

Dark and Light, for their part, opted to just be dancers for this one, and to say they were good was an understatement. During the instrumental solo part of the song, they impressed everypony in the crowd with their amazing breakdancing skills. And they certainly looked like they were having fun.

At the end of the performance, the crowd cheered once again and after dispersing, Dark and Light happily approached Sparkler. “That was so much fun!” Light exclaimed.

“I’ll say. I can’t believe you two can dance like that.” Lumber said. “You blew our minds away!” He said.

“Yeah. And if your singing is even half as good. You two are a force to be reckoned with.” Spike said.

“You think so?“ Dark asked.

“Trust me. You guys have a real talent.” Sparkler said. “I should know. My Cutie Mark is in music.”

Light and Dark nodded and smiled, believing Sparkler.

At that moment, they all heard throat clearing, followed by a voice of authority. “Excuse me. Mare with the Horn and Wings. Would you mind talking to me for a moment?”

Sparkler turned and saw a beefy stallion in clear police attire looking at them. She gulped, hoping they weren’t about to get in trouble. She approached the officer with a smile. “Hello officer, is there a problem?” She asked. “Were we not supposed to perform like we did?”

“That’s not what I want to talk to you about. You’re free to perform wherever you want on public property.” The officer informed her.

“Ok good.” Sparkler said, relieved. “Then what is it?”

“Those two colts, the bat-ponies. They match the descriptions of two colts that ran away from the local orphanage. Might I ask how long you’ve had them for?” The officer asked.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought the police would be looking for them. But in hindsight, of course they were. They ran away. “Not too long officer. I found them in an alleyway being picked on by other foals about ten minutes ago I’d say..” She explained.

“Well thanks for making them easier to find. If you have no objections I’ll take them back to the orphanage.” The officer said.

“Actually, I do have one objection.” Sparkler said. “They told me that the other foals pick on them constantly and that they don’t want to go back.” She explained. “From the sound of it it’s a toxic place, since whoever runs the orphanage seems unable to stop the abuse, they asked to come with me and my kids.”

“Did they now.” The officer responded.

“Hey Sparkler?” They heard Light call out.

“What does the cop want?” Dark asked.

Sparkler bit her lip and turned back to the officer. “I don’t suppose there are any alternatives available for Dark Wing and Light Wing?” She asked.

The officer glanced at the two bat-ponies, before glancing back at Sparkler. “I think we should take a trip to the orphanage. Get to the bottom of this.” He said. “If what you say is true. We may have a child abuse problem on our hooves.”

Not too long after, Sparkler, the boys, the officer, and Dark and Light (the two most reluctant), reached the orphanage that Dark and Light ran away from. After telling Spike and the boys to wait outside, the officer led Sparkler and the colts into the orphanage, where they were greeted by a middle-aged mare who was relieved when she saw Dark and Light.

“Oh, thank the stars you two are alright.” She said. “I was afraid something might have happened to you.”

“Ma’am, Dark Wing and Light Wing, as well as Sparkling Medley here.” He gestured at Sparkler, who gave her name on the way to the place. “All say that Dark Wing and Light Wing have a problem with the other foals?” He asked.

The mare sighed. And nodded. “Yeah. The other foals put them down every day. Always pelting them with eggs. I have tried everything from locking the eggs away to hoofing out time outs for the assailants. But nothing works.” She explained. “And believe me I have been trying to get them to stop for a year to no avail.”

“Kicking them out was an option.” Dark pointed out. Sparkler nudged him to be quiet.

“That’s not an option, Dark. We can’t have foals on the streets.” The mare said.

“Well we’re not coming back.” Light said. “Sparkler agreed to take us with her so we’re sticking with her.” He said.

“Guys. I think it’s best if you go wherever the officer says you should go.” Sparkler said regretfully.

“No! We want to go with you!” Dark said. “We liked doing the show with you guys!”

The officer cleared his throat. “Ok everypony calm down!” He said sternly. “The way I see it. We have three options. Option one, Dark and Light stay here.”

“Not gonna happen.” Light said.

“Option two.” The officer continued. “Sparkler starts the adoption process.”

“Bad idea.” Sparkler said. “My significant other and I haven’t talked about adopting.” And there’s the whole time travel thing but that’s on a need to know basis…though Dark and Light are probably going to need to know soon..

Dark and Lightning bit their lips. They had been hoping that Sparkler would adopt them, but they did see her point. “Then that just leaves option three.” The officer said. “Sparkler becomes a foster parent to the colts. Allowing them to go with her but are still labeled as orphans available for adoption.” He explained.

Sparkler smiled. “I think that might be the best option.” She said. “They seem to get along well with my kids. And it would allow me and my significant other to talk about adoption.” She said.

The officer nodded. “Alright. Then it’s settled. Dark, Light, do you agree with this?” He asked.

“Yes.” Dark and Light responded.

The mare smiled and nodded. “I’ll miss having you two here. But at least you’ll be away from the toxicity of the other foals.”

“Speaking of, after we complete the transfer of custody I’d like to have a word with you. Because it sounds like there’s been child abuse going on.” The Officer sad.

Not too much later, Spike and the boys saw Sparkler, Dark, and Light exit the building. “Well?” Spike asked.

“They’re officially, legally allowed to come with us.” Sparkler announced.

“Awesome!” The colts said. All five of them.

Sparkler smiled as they headed off. I’ll have to tell them eventually, but for now, I’m just glad I can help them. So that they don’t go through what I did. She thought. She was appalled that such behavior persisted, but for Dark and Light, fate was good to them because they managed to get out of there after only one year.

“So, where are we going?” Dark asked Sparkler.

“To be honest, I don’t know. We’re following signals to somewhere unknown.” Sparkler explained.

“Ooh! An Adventure! Neato!” Light responded.

To be continued…

Episode 10: #funinthesun

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“Whoa! Check out this Waterpark!” Mystic exclaimed as she, her three sisters, Flurry, and Sunny Izzy and Pipp stood outside Maretime Bay’s resident waterpark. It was another day in Maretime Bay and Izzy and Sunny decided to take the kids to have some fun at the Waterpark. Pipp tagged along to help.

“Too bad Hitch and Zipp couldn’t make it.” Izzy commented. “Woulda been fun for the whole group.”

“Hitch is busy interviewing new deputies and Zipp’s still his temp until he finds a permanent one.” Sunny reminded Izzy.

“Not that Zipp minds since she’s got a crush on ‘sheriff handsome’.” Pipp chined in.

“No way.” Sunny said.

“Did she say that?” Melody asked.

“That’s what I heard in my sleep. She’s a loud sleep talker.” Pipp said.

That got everypony chuckling. Pedal nodded. “Anywho, come on let’s go!” She said excitedly. Taking off to get into the futuristic Waterpark that captivated them.

The kids, Melody having Flurry on her back, ran off after her. The three adults chuckled. “This is going to be a fun day.” Izzy commented.

“Yeah.” Pipp said. “Though I wish they stuck around so we could get a selfie.”

“They’ll be waiting by the ticket counter for us so we can get it there.” Sunny told Pipp.

“Perfect. Girls day at the Waterpark #funinthesun #waitingforsparklingmedley.” Pipp said, probably thinking of the post to social media.

“I wouldn’t post anything about the girls’ special situation.” Sunny warned Pipp. “That sounds like something to keep under wraps.”

“Well duh.” Pipp responded. “Of course I’m not gonna post anything about that. But I’ll be darned if I don’t share all the fun times we have.”

Izzy laughed. “You better be saving all the pictures too. I think Sparkler’ll want them.” She said as they started for the Waterpark.

“Already have all the photos in a special gallery that I’ll airdrop to Sparkler as soon as she sets up her phone.” Pipp responded.

“Speaking of set up. You know what we should do?” Izzy asked.

“What?” Pipp and Sunny asked.

“Throw a party when our little time traveling family is all reunited. Like a yay we’re all safe and back together party.” Izzy suggested.

Pipp and Sunny chuckled. “I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.” Pipp said.

And so, the six ponies entered the Waterpark, and suffice to say, the kids were immediately captivated by all the futuristic stuff. They were particularly drawn to the giant water slides. Fortunately everypony was tall enough to go down it, except Flurry, who was pretty much confined to the kiddy area with other babies. Not that Flurry minded.

The three adults took turns rotating who was watching Flurry. Sunny and Izzy were watching Flurry when Pipp came by to relieve one of them. “Ok. The girls are at the wave pool. Who wants to trade shifts?” She asked.

“I can take the next shift with the girls. I love the wave pool!” Sunny responded. She got up out of her chair and trotted off.

Pipp watched her go and smiled. “I can see why she’s named Sunny. So cheerful.” She commented.

“She’s a blast to be around!“ Izzy said.

“Yeah…yeah she is.” Pipp said. She smiled as she sat down next to Izzy. She watched as Flurry splashed around in the kiddy pool with the other foals…only for her mind to start wandering off and to her, a little Alicorn Foal appeared beside Flurry, and the foal wasn’t alone. She also saw herself and Sunny and Izzy around the foal. Laughing and playing. If we ever have a foal, I hope they take after all three of us… She thought to herself. She would never admit it, but Zipp was right. She did have feelings for their two mare friends, Sunny and Izzy. She couldn’t place what exactly happened. But there was something about both Sunny and Izzy that she was drawn to. Was it their upbeat attitudes? Their willingness to push forward no matter what? Was it their beauty? Whatever it was, Pipp had developed a liking to it.

“Hello? Pipp?” She heard Izzy call out, taking her out of her Sunny and Izzy induced daydream.

Pipp blinked and turned to her friend. “Huh? Did you say something Izzy?” She asked.

“I asked if you ever thought about having foals. I saw you looking at Flurry with longing.” Izzy said.

Pipp was surprised with herself that she didn’t jump in shock that Izzy guessed what she was thinking. “W-well, I mean, I’m sure mom would love grandkids.” She said.

“If Zipp and Hitch make it there she will have grandchildren from them. Hehe.” Izzy commented.

“Yeah…” Pipp said, blushing. “Hey, Izzy? Do you think it would be weird if a foal had three mothers?”

“Not at all!” Izzy said. “Sure it might be strange but love is love.” She said.

“I guess you’re right.” Pipp said. And, even if ponies were weirded out, we’re heroes. I doubt anypony would give us any trouble… She thought.

“Speaking of right, hey Pipp? What do you think the best way is to confess to Sunny that I love her?”Izzy asked.

Pipp nearly jumped out of her fur. Did Izzy just ask what she thought she just asked? “W-what?” She asked.

“Yeah. I have feelings for Sunny. We have so much fun together and…She sent that message saying I had friends in Maretime Bay during a time I didn’t have any friends…I guess something inside me just clicked during these last four weeks. Especially when Melody, Pedal and Flurry came into the picture.” Izzy explained.

Pipp stared at Izzy. On one hoof, she was a little hurt because Izzy gave no indication that she loved her as well. But she quickly thought to herself that Izzy loving Sunny meant the idea of a three way relationship would be better received, assuming of course all parties were open to the idea. So instead, she just smiled. “Well…I think you should just go up and talk to her. I mean, sometimes the most romantic gestures are the ones that aren’t grand or extravagant. They’re the simple, quiet, intimate moments. No bands, no flowers, just the two of you talking.” She said.

Izzy raised an eyebrow. “You think I should just talk to her? What if she says no?” She asked.

“Then she says no.” Pipp said. “You can’t expect she’ll reciprocate. But she’d probably want you to talk to her.” She said.

Izzy smiled. “Yeah…you’re right. I’ll talk to her tonight.” She said.

Pipp smiled and nodded. Just remember, this means it’ll be better received if they’ll have me. She thought to herself.

Later that evening…

After all the fun at the Waterpark, the girls were tired out. So much so that Melody didn’t have the energy to climb up the lighthouse with Sunny to send out the night signal to Sparkler like she had every day before. So Izzy made sure the girls went to bed while Sunny went up alone…or so she thought she was alone.

Sunny climbed the stairs and reached the top of the lighthouse to find Pipp standing there. “Pipp?” Sunny asked. “What’re you doing here?”

Pipp heard her friend’s voice and turned to see Sunny with a confused look on her face. She smiled. “Hey Sunny. I was just out for a fly cause it was a beautiful night and I was passing by and I…thought I’d stop by and maybe watch you send out your signal to Sparkling Medley…” Pipp muttered the last part. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Sunny smiled. “Oh, you want to watch the signal be sent? Alright.” She said. “Usually Melody is here with me but she’s tired out from today’s trip to the Waterpark.”

“Oh I’ll bet. I genuinely believe that they’re from the past. You’d swear they’d never been to a waterpark before.” Pipp commented.

Sunny nodded. And took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and focused on the magic that now flowed through her. The squirrelly patterns on her spread wings started glowing a beautiful golden glow, as did the pattern on her horn. A ball of golden magical energy started to form at the tip of her horn.

Pipp meanwhile was standing there, and she was in awe of how radiant Sunny was. The glowing patterns on her wings and horn, the way she could see the magic flowing through Sunny. It was breathtaking. This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

As the hall grew, Sunny opened her eyes, and let it rip. The glow from the patterns faded in a way that made it look like the hall absorbed it, and the ball launched into the air. Circled around, slammed into the middle of the exterior of the lighthouse tower roof, and exploded. The explosion send a golden shockwave out in all horizontal directions. Pipp watched as the shockwave faded into the night.

Once the shockwave disappeared, Sunny smiled. “Haha. Nailed it.” She commented.

“I would certainly say so. That was truly impressive. I so WISH I was live-streaming that!” Pipp said. “You really got this magic thing down huh.” She said.

Sunny smiled sheepishly and blushed a little. “Eh, I’m still learning. Honestly the Omnidirectional Beacon Signaling Spell is one of the most basic spells out there. At least according to my dad’s journal.” She explained. “Faust bless his interest in ancient Equestria history. His journals on magic are the main reason why I’ve become so good at it so quickly.”

“He sounds like an incredible pony.” Pipp said.

“One of the most incredible ponies out there.” Sunny responded. “If only he were here now…” She commented.

“I’m sure he’d be proud of you. You did what was long considered impossible. You restored magic to the world, and reignited the spark of friendship that once tied the tribes together.” Pipp said.

Sunny smiled. “I didn’t do it alone.” She pointed out.

“Maybe. But you sent that message to Izzy all those years ago. If you hadn’t done that, she may never have come to Maretime Bay, and everything else that happened. So yeah Sunny. You might not have done it alone, but your initiative made it all possible.” Pipp said, smiling at her.

Sunny listened to Pipp, and smiled back. “I guess you're right.” She said.

Pipp smiled warmly at Sunny. “Seriously Sunny. The world owes you a debt of gratitude. And so does a mother who lost her kids.” She added. Referencing Sunny’s and Izzy’s house guests.

“Right. Uh, when Sparkler gets here. Let’s not tell her about how Sprout almost killed Melody. And also not tell her about how Flurry nearly drowned today because she got out when we weren’t looking.” Sunny said.

“You kidding? I don’t want an angry Alicorn Momma Bear on my tail.” Pipp responded. “Truly the most terrifying creature in the world.”

That got both girls chuckling. After a second, Pipp nodded. “Right, I should probably get back home. I had fun today.” She said.

“Yeah we should go back there sometime. Whole group.” Sunny responded.

“Yeah…whole group.” Pipp said as she spread her wings. “Well, goodnight.” She said as she took off.

Sunny watched her go, and smiled. “Yeah. We definitely need to do more things together…” She said idly as she walked back down into the house.

She walked into the living room to see Izzy sitting on the couch. She smiled as she approached. “Did the kids go down alright?” She asked.

“Yeah. They did.” Izzy responded. “You were up there for longer than I thought.” She commented.

“Pipp came by.” Sunny responded.

“Gotcha. Hey, Sunny? Can we talk?” Izzy asked.

“Sure. What’s on your mind pal?” Sunny asked.

Izzy took a deep breath. This was it. After looking at Sunny for a moment, she began to talk.

Somewhere, closer to Maretime Bay than ever before, Sparkler saw the golden shockwave, and right as it passed over her horn, she felt that familiar tingle. She smiled. “We have to be getting closer…there has to be an origin point.” She commented as she climbed into bed. “We have to be closer…”

To be continued…

Episode 11: Royal Encounter

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Nearly two weeks had passed since Sky and Sprinkle landed in what they had since learned was a place called Zephyr Heights. Two weeks since they got those tree bark messages from their mother. And two weeks that they had been sneaking around, rummaging through dumpsters and trash cans for food. “Mom’s SO gonna take us to the hospital when she realizes how much trash we ate.” Sky commented.

“Well we had to eat something.” Sprinkle said. “We’re in stranger danger land. We can’t rely on my mental link to locate mom and the other clones. We’re pretty much stranded with nothing but our brains, and our wings.”

“Ugh. I know. Still. I’d kill for some of mom’s homemade lemonade right now.” Sky said.

“If only we had the ingredients and tools, I coulda whipped us up a bottle.” Sprinkle said.

Sky had to do a double take. Did Sprinkle just… “Sorry, what?” She asked.

“Yeah…remember when mom and the clones were getting our mental link under our direct, complete control? Yeah Mom’s lemonade recipe leaked to us clones.” Sprinkle revealed.

Sky blinked. “So…your saying that this entire time you’ve been able to make Mom’s lemonade, and you’re only telling me now when we CAN’T?!” She asked. Her anger rising a little.

“We weren’t supposed to know.” Sprinkle said. “It was a total accident.” She defended.

Sky glared at her sister for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. “Sprinkle, we need to do something else. We can’t just sit around here anymore. We need to go out and find THEM.” She suggested.

“Sky. The letters told us to stay put.” Sprinkle reminded her.

“The letters are two weeks old, and we have no clue whatsoever if mom and the boys are still coming. For all we know they could be dead!” Sky countered.

“Sky, I woulda felt it if mom died. So she’s not dead.” Sprinkle said.

“Well it’s taking a heck of a long time for her to get here.” Sky remarked.

“Not only does she have five more foals to find, she also has to scour the entire world for all she knows. So of course it’s probably gonna take more than two weeks.” Sprinkle said.

“And how would you know? You aren’t scouring the world.”

“Because I’m following mom’s instructions.”

“Well her instructions should have an expiration date!”

“Hey! What are you two kids doing?” Called out a voice.

Sky and Sprinkle stopped their argument and both turned to see a pony they recognized as a guard…or some law enforcement. The stallion was looking right at them with an unamused expression.

“Aww crud.” Sprinkle commented.

“What do we do?” Sky asked.

“What do you think?” Sprinkle asked.

And with that, they whirled around and bolted. The stallion’s eyes widened and he called out. “Hey! Get back here!”

Sky and Sprinkle dashed through the alleyway environment they had been living in for the past two weeks. “Somepony saw us. Rats!” Sky said.

“They might not have if our argument didn’t attract them.” Sprinkle spat at Sky.

“You really want to do this now?” Sky asked. “Let’s fly!”

Sky and Sprinkle both spread their wings and flapped hard to take off into the air. The guard that was on their tail saw this and took flight himself.

What followed was a chase in the sky. Sky and Sprinkle weaved in and out of buildings trying to evade the stallion chasing them, but the guard kept up. Sky had an idea. She lit her horn and a smoke cloud appeared between them and the guard. The guard flew in. “Now’s our chance go go go!” Sky shouted. She and Sprinkle veered left, and landed on a terrace looking thing. They saw a bunch of tables with cloths, and proceeded to dive under the nearest one with a cloth that could hide them.

After a moment, they let out a breath and waited for the stallion to give up. “If we get caught—“

“Look, I’m sorry ok? I’m just irritated.” Sky cut Sprinkle off.

After a while, the stallion didn’t show up. Sprinkle took a chance and peaked out from under the table. She saw no sign of the stallion. “I think we’re all clear.” She said.

She and Sprinkle got out from under the table, and sighed in relief. “Oh thank Faust. Now let’s get back into hiding before—“

“Excuse me young ladies.” Came a voice that cut Sky off.

Sky and Sprinkle slowly turned, and what they saw nearly made them skedaddle right there. There, standing in front of them, was a Pegasus mare that they recognized was the queen of Zephyr Heights, Queen Haven. And judging by her expression, she was none too pleased. “…We’re so dead.” Sprinkle commented.

“Excuse me young ladies, but do you know what this terrace is?” Queen Haven asked.

“Uh…a terrace…?” Sky guessed.

“It is the private terrace attached to the quarters of the monarch of Zephyr Heights.” Haven said. “It is not for the common folk like you two.” She said.

“Ok. Yeah sure, no problem your majesty, we’ll just get out here then.” Sprinkle said.

They did not. After guards cut off their escape route, they were forced to follow Queen Haven to her throne room. As they entered, Sprinkle spoke up. “Uhm, I don’t know the law here, but technically speaking as you don’t have any legal custody over us and we’re certain you don’t know our parents one could argue that bringing us here against our will equates to foalnapping which is against the law where we’re from so maybe you should just let us—“ Queen Haven shot Sprinkle a glare. The glare that said ‘Do I look like I care?’ That shut Sprinkle right up. “I’ll just stop talking now.” She finished.

“This is not foalnapping. If this was a foalnapping, you would be sitting in one of our dungeons by now. Instead I shall summon your parents here and we will have a chat about their competency as parents.” Haven told Sky and Sprinkle.

“Excuse me? Our parents are plenty competent parents…even though I have no idea what competent means.” Sky said. A hint of growling in her voice.

“It means their parenting abilities Sky. But she is right, they are plenty competent.” Sprinkle told Haven. “And they’re looking for us right now so we should probably get going—“

“You will stay here until we summon your parents and we have a chat about how to properly raise a child. What are their names?” She asked.

“Like that’ll do you any good. They’re definitely not in the city.” Sky grimaced. She was starting to get annoyed with this mare.

Haven raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?” She asked. “If they have left the city without you or arranging proper care for you then they abandoned you.” She told the girls.

That did it. That set Sky off. “They did not abandon us!” She growled. “Our mom is on her way right now to come get us!”

“So they did leave you without proper care?” Haven asked. “One of my guards reported you in an alleyway.”

Sky was just about ready to tackle Haven. Haven just pretty much abducted them, and was now implying that their parents didn’t have what it took to be parents. Sprinkle saw this and nudged her. The look Sky saw on her face said. ‘Relax. If you escalate the situation it’ll be worse for everypony.’ Sprinkle turned to Haven. “Our parents would never leave us without care if they could help it. And this time they could not do anything about it. As it happened so suddenly and fast.” She said.

“What happened so fast and suddenly?” Haven asked.

“There was a magical accident at our aunt’s observatory. There was no warning, no time to react. A magic portal sucked us and our family in and scattered us across the land. It was an uncontrollable event.” Sprinkle explained. “We don’t know where we are or where anypony else is. All we know is that our mother is on her way to come get us. Until she comes…Sky and I are on our own.” She admitted. She knew how it would sound but it was the truth.

Haven attentively listened to the Pegasus filly’s story, and her expression changed. “So, when you ran from the guard, that was…”

“Stranger danger behavior. Yeah.” Sky said. “We hid the first chance we got. Which unfortunately landed us right here.” She added.

“Why did you not just explain what was going on from the beginning?” Haven asked.

“Stranger danger, and the fact that you started insulting our parents before we could get a blasted word in.” Sky growled. “And the third reason? It’s a crazy story and you probably don’t believe it anyway.”

Sprinkle sighed and facehoofed. “Please excuse Sky Your Majesty. It’s been two weeks since the accident and she’s starting to get cranky about it. Maybe it’s the dumpster food.” She said.

“For what it’s worth. Yes it sounds crazy, but I do believe it. Strange things have happened these last few weeks.” Haven said.

“Yeah. Without a doubt. Now if you’ll excuse us. We’ll be on our way.” Sky said, turning to leave. “Come on Sprinkle.”

“Hold it there…Sky was it?” Haven received a nod from Sprinkle saying she heard correctly. “I can’t let you two go back out there.”

“You aren’t going to be able to call our mother here any faster. We don’t know where she is!” Sky exclaimed in frustration. Thinking Haven still wanted to talk to their mother about parenting.

“And until she shows up you two are unaccompanied minors that need a roof over their heads and food that doesn’t come from the dumpster.” Haven said sternly. “Look, I’m sorry if I offended you. I should’ve asked before making conclusions. I just hate the idea of foals without parents.” She explained. “Which is why I’ll offer you two a room here in the castle until your mother shows up.” She said.

Sprinkle’s ears perked up. “Really?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Queen Haven responded. “Foals should not be out on the streets. And they especially shouldn’t be eating garbage.” She added.

Sky had turned to leave and had her back to Sprinkle and Haven. Sprinkle walked up to Sky and smiled at her. “Sky. You know as well as I do that we aren’t really in a position to say no.” She said. “And not just because she’s a queen.”

Sky didn’t say anything for a good moment. After weighing her options, she squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing her pride that swelled when Haven started insulting their moms. Finally, after a few moments. She grumbled, and then sighed. “Thanks for the offer Your Majesty.” She said.

“Splendid.” Haven responded. “I’ll show you to your room.” She said.

Sprinkle and Sky smiled. Despite the rocky start, they were glad that somepony was willing to take them in.

To be continued…

Episode 12: Heightened Spirits

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyBGSW1YiR8

The song came to an end and the crowd cheered. Lightning, Lumber, Trail, Dark and Light all bowed before the crowd dispersed.

“This is the most fun we’ve ever had with other foals!” Dark commented happily.

“Yeah. It’s always a blast to sing and dance isn’t it.” Trail commented.

Sparkler couldn’t help but chuckle. It had been four days since she became a foster parent to Dark and Light, and the two have been absolutely wonderful. They got along with everypony else, they were eager to perform (something not normally a factor but the situation called for it.) and they rarely, if ever, complained.

“Ok…looks like we got close to 200 bits this time around.” Spike announced. He had taken a look at their box.

“Not a bad turn out.” Lumber commented.

“Yeah.” Lightning said. “Certainly enough for lunch.”

“Once we factor in seven mouths.” Sparkler stated.

At that moment, everypony noticed a gold shockwave pass over them. When it passed Sparkler’s horn, she felt the tingle. She smiled. “We’ve been seeing that shockwave for two days now. That has to mean we’re really close.” She commented.

“Close to finding the rest of your kids?” Light asked.

Sparkler nodded. While she still hadn’t told them yet about the fact that they’re time travelers, she did disclose to Dark and Light that a magical accident separated the family and now they were journeying to hopefully find at least some of the missing kids. Dark smiled. “Hey, the message you’ve been getting said they were waiting for you. So they probably are.” He said.

“I sure hope so.” Sparkler responded. “Anywho, let’s go get lunch.” She said.

They ended up going into a diner. They ordered lunch and sat down at a booth to eat. While eating. Spike noticed something on the television. “Hey, look at that. There’s an Alicorn on the TV.” He said.

Everypony glanced at which TV he was pointing at and saw an orange Alicorn, likely doing a news report.

“Hmm. Nice to know Alicorns still exist here.” Sparkler commented.

“Thank you Sunny Starscout. Back to you in the—“

“I do have one more thing to say if you don’t mind.” The Alicorn cut the reporter off.

“Certainly.” The reporter responded.

The Alicorn nodded. “This is a message for Sparkling Medley.”

Sparkler spat out her drink and her eyes fixed on the TV. She gave the TV her full attention. This Sunny mare had a message for her?

“I don’t know if you’re watching this right now Sparkler, but if you are, I just want to let you know that five of your kids are here. In Maretime Bay.”

Sparkler gasped when her daughter Melody appeared on the TV.

“We’re here mom. We got your tree bark message and we’re staying safe.” Melody said. She then saw Flurry pop up from behind Melody.

“If you’ve been receiving signals, I’ve been the one sending them, guiding you to Maretime Bay. If you’re watching this, now you know where you’re going. We look forward to your group’s safe arrival.” Sunny Starscout finished.

“Huh. Uh, thanks Sunny…back to you in the studio.”

The TV switched to another pony, but Sparkler and the kids paid it no mind. Sparkler’s mind was racing. Oh my Faust…DID WE JUST LEARN WHERE THEY WERE?! She almost couldn’t believe it.

“I take it one of you is Sparkling Medley?” Asked the voice of the bartender.

Sparkler blinked, scrambled out of her seat, and swiftly approached the bar. “Do you have a map we could look at?!” She asked frantically.

The bartender lit his horn and summoned a rolled up map. “Here.” He said.

Sparkler took the map and scrambled back to her group. She carefully cleared everything off the table and unrolled the map. “You guys find Maretime Bay and see how close it is to…what’s the name of this town?” She asked back to the bartender.

“Harmony Hollow.” The Bartender answered.

“Thanks.” Sparkler said. She turned back to her group. “Find Maretime Bay and see how close it is to Harmony Hollow. I’m gonna go find SOMETHING to write a message on.” Sparkler said as she scrambled out of the diner.

Spike and the Alicorn colts smiled. “I can’t believe we finally know where those signals are coming from.” Spike commented as he looked at the map.

A minute later, Sparkler scrambled back into the Diner with a piece of tree bark. The message on it?

“Kids and Sunny Starscout,

We just saw the TV broadcast. We’re in the next town over in Harmony Hollow. We'll book it there as fast as we can. Sunny Starscout, thank you thank you THANK YOU for sending those signals. I’ve received every single one. Whoever’s caring for my kids in my absence, I’m forever grateful to you. please continue to care for them until our arrival.

Sincerely,

Sparkler.”

“Spike, I need you to send this to Melody.” Sparkler said.

“No problem.” Spike responded as he took the message, blew on it, and it shriveled up in ashes and flew off.

Sparkler nodded. “Now, how far away is Maretime Bay?” She asked.

“It’s the next town over.” Trail announced. “Hour or two of flying if we don’t stop.” He said.

Sparkler nodded and turned to Dark and Light. “Do you two know how to fly?” She asked.

“We know how to fly.” Light said.

“But maybe not as fast as you.” Dark admitted.

“We might need tethers then.” Lightning suggested.

“Or Dark and Light hold on to our tails.” Lumber suggested.

Sparkler, after checking the map one more time, rolled it up and gave it back to the bartender. “Thanks sir.” She said. She turned back to her group. “Let’s finish eating and get going. And we’re not stopping till we get to Maretime Bay so also use the restroom if you have to.” Sparkler told them.

“Copy that.” Lightning said as they placed their meals back on the table.

Sparkler nodded and continued eating. She was really feeling that second wind, for she now knew where they were going and where five of her charges were. We’re so close. And if it’s five in Maretime Bay, that means two are still unaccounted for. In all honesty, that was a lot better than Sparkler had been expecting. She was prepared to find only one of her missing kids wherever the signals were leading her. But five was amazing. At long last, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

To be continued…

Episode 13: At Long Last

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“Thank you for your time Ms. Starscout.” The reporter said.

“No problem.” Sunny responded. “Thank you for letting me send out that message.”

“I’m a little baffled as to what the context was behind it, but it sounds like it’s not my business beyond what the message was.” The reporter responded before they walked away to their camera crew.

Sunny smiled. In the weeks following the return of magic, Friendship, and her ascension to Alicornhood, Sunny found that her life had become a lot less quiet than previously. She was now no longer considered an outcast due to her advocacy to become friends with the Unicorns and Pegasi again, quite the opposite actually since now news ponies were regularly contacting her for an interview, one of which she just finished.

“You did awesome Sunny Bunny!” Exclaimed Izzy, before Sunny felt Izzy nuzzle her affectionately.

That was another thing that changed. Last night, Izzy confessed her love for her. And while Sunny didn’t really know if she felt the same way, she did know there was some sort of bond beyond friendship, so she decided to give it a shot.

“Thanks Izzy…Kitty?” Sunny tried to give Izzy a cute nickname like Izzy had immediately done for her.

That resulted in a round of chuckling from Zipp, Hitch. and the time traveling foals.

“Nice try Sunny.” Hitch commented.

“Yeah. Could’ve been worse. Ya coulda said Izzy Sizzy.” Crystal said.

Izzy laughed. “I think Izzy Kitty is perfect.” She said, giving Sunny a kiss on the cheek.

Sunny smiled. “Thanks Izzy.” She said with a blush

Pipp watched Izzy give Sunny a kiss on the cheek, and had to actively beat down her urge to do the same. Not yet. Not yet.

“You ok Pipp?” Zipp asked. She noticed Pipp’s obvious (to her) fake smile.

“I’m fine. Just fine.” Pipp responded. She couldn’t let out her frustration without giving herself away.

At that moment, a piece of tree bark appeared in front of Melody. Silencing everypony except Izzy. “Ooh! More magic tree bark!” She exclaimed.

Melody picked the bark up in her magic, and turned it over to see something written on it. “It’s another tree bark message. From mom!” She exclaimed.

“What does it say?” Pedal, Crystal, and Mystic all said at once.

“It says she saw the broadcast, and she, our brothers, and Spike are gonna double time it here. She also says three thank yous to Sunny for sending the signals and asks that whoever is taking care of us to continue to do so.” Melody said.

Izzy grinned. “As if Sunny and I would do anything else.” She said.

Mystic smiled. “Does it say how far away they are?” She asked.

“Uh…oh yes! They’re in the next town over! Harmony Hollow!” Melody announced happily.

Pedal and her sisters beamed. “That’s close! Right?” Pedal asked.

“It should be close if it’s the next town over.” Zipp responded.

“Yay!” Pedal and her three sisters exclaimed as they all embraced each other. Happy that they were at last going to be reunited with their mother and brothers. Spike too.

“Maybe you should send another signal Sunny. This time with a new message saying we got their message.” Hitch suggested.

“Good idea Hitch.” Sunny said. She closed her eyes, and everypony watched as she lit her horn, and in no time, another golden shockwave covered the skies.

“Wow. That is beautiful.” Izzy commented.

“I know right?” Pipp responded. “It’s…amazing and that was probably the last chance I had to live-stream that. Darn it!” Pipp facehoofed.

“Aww. Don’t worry Pipp. Next time I need to send a message I’ll let you get your phone out.” Sunny responded.

“Thanks Sunny.” Pipp said, smiling.

Hitch nodded, then turned to leave. “I’ll catch you guys later.” He said

“Where’re you going Hitch?” Zipp asked.

“House hunting. Unless Sunny and Izzy expect to fit five more ponies in their house comfortably, they’re gonna need a house to live in until they can find a way back to 1003.” Hitch explained.

Sunny wanted very much to say he didn’t have to do that, but she knew how much room she had at the lighthouse and she didn’t want to have to make Sparkler and most of her kids sleep on the floor. “Ok. And if they can’t afford the house for whatever reason?” Sunny asked.

“I’m pretty sure I can get Town Hall to require no payments of any kind. I’m just gonna need to tell them exactly what’s going on.” Hitch said.

“In that case I’d talk to the mare directly. Ask that they keep it under wraps as much as possible.” Zipp suggested.

“Exactly what I’m going to do.” Hitch said. With that, he left.

“Hey Zipp, shouldn’t you go with him since you're the designated deputy?” Pipp asked.

“No since yesterday when we finally found a permanent deputy.” Zipp responded.

“Ooh. You must be sad to not get to spend as much time with Hitch anymore.” Izzy commented.

“Eh, I’ll deal.” Zipp responded.

About an hour later, Sparkler and her group were flying as fast as they could through the sky. They were just getting ready to take flight towards Maretime Bay when they saw the Golden Shockwave of hope fly over their heads again. Sparkler’s horn tingled, this time her brain had processed a new message. Confirming that the tree bark message was received. This confirmation nearly made her launch before Dark and Light, who were attached to Sparkler Via harnesses so they could keep up, were ready. Once everypony was good and ready to take off, they did. They flapped their wings with all their might. Their desire to reunite with their family giving them strength. Well, most of them. Light and Dark couldn’t exactly have that desire in the way the others did since technically Sparkler wasn’t their mother, just a foster parent, but they didn’t want to slow the family down, and still wanted to meet the girls.

Finally, after about an hour and a half of flying, they could see a town they were certain was Maretime Bay come into visual range. “That must be it! Maretime Bay!” Called out Spike.

Sparkler smiled. “Let’s find someplace to land.” She said.

They eventually chose a large area with a clear view of the ocean as a landing point. All seven of them landed and Dark and Light were detached from Sparkler. Lumber looked around. “Hm. Nice town our sisters landed in.” He commented.

“Hey Sparkler?” Spike asked. “Wanna try Horn Pulsing Melody? We’re probably in range.” He suggested.

Sparkler smiled. “Good idea Spike, Lumber, Lightning, Trail, try to Horn Pulse your sister.” She said as she lit her horn.

Lumber, Trail, and Lightning did the same and they sent Horn Pulses to Melody. After only 20 seconds, they got a response.

Melody: We’re at the Lighthouse! Me, Pedal, Crystal and Mystic! And Flurry too.

Sparkler beamed at that. “Lighthouse! Right.” She glanced around and saw the lighthouse on a hill. “Come on guys!” She said excitedly.

Spike hopped onto Sparkler’s back and all of them started galloping in the direction of the lighthouse.

At the Lighthouse, Melody nearly had tears in her eyes of joy. “They’re in range of a Horn Pulse! They’re here in Maretime Bay!” She exclaimed.

Flurry smiled, lit her horn, and vanished in a puff of smoke. That took away everypony’s smiles and replaced them with groans. “Oh for the love of freaking Faust Flurry! I REALLY hope you teleported to Mom!” Crystal growled as she and her siblings pulled out their PonyPhones and called up the tracker. They immediately saw where Flurry was…and sighed in relief when they saw that her dot was moving towards the Lighthouse, and was close. “She’s probably with Mom.” Melody said as they and Sunny and Izzy dashed out of the house, and there, standing there with a shocked expression on her face because Flurry just teleported right in front of her, was their mother.

For the moment, they just stood there and blinked. Despite the Horn Pulse, they were half afraid she and their brothers would disappear. But they didn’t. After a second, Melody and her sisters sprinted towards their mother. “Mom!” They all called out.

Sparkler, who was surprised by Flurry Teleporting, heard the call and turned her attention to the source, where she saw Melody, Pedal, Crystal, and Mystic all sprinting towards them. “Girls!” She exclaimed as she took off in a sprint towards them.

They crashed into each other and Sparkler immediately wrapped her wings around the four. Her eyes tearing up on the spot in joy, relief, all the good emotions. “Oh thank the stars you’re all ok!” She exclaimed. “I missed you so much!”

“We missed you too mom! We’re so glad you’re finally here!” Pedal responded. All four girls had tears in their eyes as well from finally being reunited with their mother.

After a good minute of them just hugging. Sparkler finally let them go so they could tackle their brothers in hugs. While they were all reuniting and saying they missed each other and all that, Sparkler felt a tap on the shoulder. She turned and noticed a pair of mares had walked up to her.

“Hiya new friend! I’m Izzy and this is Sunny.” Izzy introduced herself.

“Sunny? As in Sunny Starscout?” Sparkler asked. Noticing that the orange Alicorn was the same one as the pony in the broadcast.

“Yep. That’s me. The mare who’s been sending you signals, and together with Izzy, we took your girls in and kept them safe.” Sunny said. “It’s nice to finally meet you Sparkling Medley. Uh, that is your name right?” Sunny asked.

Sparkler giggled and nodded. “Yeah. I’m Sparkling Medley. But just Sparkler will do. It’s nice to meet you two. I can never thank you enough for keeping my kids safe.” She told Izzy and Sunny.

“It was no problem at all!” Izzy responded. “They’ve been absolute angels the whole time. Flurry did have some teleportation problems but nothing beyond popping up in random places, and never for too long. We always find her quickly.” She explained.

“Yeah Flurry does that a lot I’m told.” Sparkler responded, chuckling. So Flurry’s teleport wasn’t affected.

“Whoa! Ok, only one eye and one ear…that’s new.” The three adults heard Melody exclaim.

Sparkler glanced over to her kids and the girls were standing there wide-eyed looking at Dark-Wing and Light-Wing. Probably failing to notice them til that point. Sparkler smiled as she rejoined her kids. “Oh right. Pedal, Melody, Crystal, Mystic. We picked up some new faces along the way.” She said.

Dark-Wing and Light-Wing smiled and waved. “Hey there. I’m Dark-Wing.”

“And I’m Light-Wing.” Dark and Light introduced ourselves.

“Hi there…” Melody responded.

“Nice to meet you.” Pedal said. None of the girls knew what to say.

“We know what you’re thinking. Yes, we’re aware of how we look.” Dark said.

“But we promise we’re not monsters. We’re normal ponies…that just look different.” Light explained.

“…Ok. Mom? How did you meet them?” Crystal asked.

“Long story, but the gist of it is, they ran away because of some bullies, we met them, and in the end I became their foster parent so they could legally travel with us.” Sparkler explained.

“Oh. Ok.” Mystic said, smiling.

“You got a knack for picking up strays off the streets do ya mom.” Melody joked.

At that, Spike straight up laughed. “Oh that she definitely does. Hehehe.”

That got all of them chuckling. Though Dark and Light were confused. “We don’t get it.” They said.

“Long story guys.” Lightning told them.

Off to the side, Izzy and Sunny gave the family space. Izzy smiled. “I’m almost sad. I really liked having them around.” She commented. “Now the house won’t be as full.”

Sunny smiled and wrapped a wing around her marefriend. “Eh, if things go well I reckon the house won’t be childless forever.” She said.

Izzy beamed at that. “Ooh? Are we going to adopt or are we gonna put these horns to use?” She asked.

“Let’s see how far we get first. Ok?” Sunny suggested.

“Deal.” Izzy responded before pulling Sunny in for a kiss, which Sunny returned.

After a few minutes, everypony, Izzy and Sunny as well, we’re in the lighthouse. Inside, Spike asked the elephant in the room. “So everypony’s here except Sky and Sprinkle.” He commented.

“Which means they’re still missing.” Trail said.

“Right. So where do we even start to look for them?” Sparkler asked.

To be continued…

Episode 14: Alicorn Momma Bear and daughters Vs. Insane Pegasus Mom

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“So you guys became a traveling band to get out of relying on Berry bushes?” Melody asked her mom.

“That’s cool!” Crystal exclaimed.

Sparkler chuckled. It was around dinner time and Izzy had the idea to make it a cookout, inviting Hitch, Zipp, and Pipp. They were of course shocked by Dark and Light, but they paid no mind to their appearance, and Pipp gave the new arrivals PonyPhones. “When magic fails, tech prevails.” Pipp had said as she explained how the tracking function worked, which Sparkler was most concerned about.

“Yeah. It is pretty cool.” Sparkler said. “But first we needed instruments.”

“And boy did they find some amazing instruments.” Dark said.

Sparkler lit her horn, and showed everypony the KeyGuitar Hybrid and the all in one drum set. Hitch, upon seeing the instruments, gasped. “Oh my Faust. A Sound Master X5 and a Beat Mixer J3!” He exclaimed.

“You know these things?” Spike asked.

“They’re the first instruments to use microcomputers in them.” Hitch explained. “These things were at the beginning of the modern era of music. Setting the stage for all the instruments we have today.” He said.

Lightning raised an eyebrow. “So, they’re not as advanced as we thought?” He asked.

“These things were discontinued nearly 50 years ago.” Hitch responded. “How in the hay did you manage to get these in such good condition?” He asked.

“Apparently somepony didn’t want them and may not have even opened the box when they threw them out.” Spike said.

Hitch’s eye twitched. “Somepony was STUPID enough to throw out two pieces of history?” He asked. Trying to remain calm.

“Apparently so…?” Sparkler responded.

Hitch took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back.” He said as he galloped off.

Everypony was wondering what was up, before they heard Hitch scream at the top of his lungs in rage. After a moment, he came back. “Sparkler, PLEASE treat those things with better care and respect than their previous owner.” He told Sparkler.

“Don’t worry Hitch. I ain’t mistreating the tools that allowed me and my boys to get off the Berry diet.” Sparkler responded.

Hitch nodded in approval. Which got a chuckle from everypony. After a few moments of silence, trail spoke up. “So, does anypony know where we could even start looking for Sky and Sprinkle?” He asked.

“They could be anywhere in the world.” Dark responded. “And the world’s a big place.”

“Hmm…we could try Zephyr Heights.” Zipp suggested.

“Zephyr Heights?” Sparkler asked.

“Yeah. It’s where most Pegasi live these days.” Zipp said. “Mystic and Crystal landed in Bridlewood, Melody and Pedal landed in Maretime Bay, there’s a constant there.”

“What constant?” Pedal asked.

“Mystic and Pedal landed in a town heavily related to their species, with an Alicorn sibling accompanying them.” Zipp explained.

“…So there’s a good chance Sprinkle, a Pegasus, landed in Zephyr Heights with Sky!” Lightning exclaimed, piecing together what Zipp was getting at.

“Wait, but what about Flurry?” Spike asked.

“She’s more an independent variable. Whatever magic accident brought you guys here must’ve had the sense to dump her with ponies who knew how to take care of her juxtaposed to on her own.” Zipp responded.

“Fair enough.” Sparkler responded. “So you think we should start looking for them in Zephyr Heights Zipp?” She asked.

“Considering we don’t know anyplace else they could’ve landed. It’s best to follow the trend.” Zipp responded.

“Hey! That’s my line.” Pipp laughed.

That got everypony chuckling. After a moment, Sparkler nodded. “Right, so are we gonna go there tonight or is it too far to make a round trip today?” She asked.

“Too far. You and I will go tomorrow.” Zipp told Sparkler.

“I’m coming too.” Pipp said. “That way I can run to the store and get one more pair of PonyPhones for them.“ She reasoned.

“How much did the first round of PonyPhones cost?” Sparkler asked. Afraid that it would be a price she couldn’t pay Pipp back.

Pipp caught on to what Sparkler was really asking and chuckled. “Oh don’t worry about paying me back Sparkler. Your normal methods of tracking aren’t working and these things are arguably the most important tools available to you. It never hurts to help a friend.” She said.

Sparkler bit her lip. “…Thank you Pipp. You’re going above and beyond for ponies you just met. All of you.” She said to Sunny, Izzy, Hitch, Pipp and Zipp.

“Well, as sheriff it’s my job to help those in need.” Hitch said.

“And we’re friends now right? Friends are always there for each other.” Izzy stated happily.

“I guess we are friends now.” Sparkler relented, sensing Izzy was not gonna take no for an answer on that one.

After everypony chuckled, Pipp thought of something. “Hey Sparkler? Do you have any photos of Sky and Sprinkle on hoof?” She asked.

“Why?” Sparkler asked.

“Because I could send out a call to action to my followers on social media.“ Pipp said. “That way we can cover more ground because the number of pairs of eyes looking for them, even if not actively, increases by about 500%.”

“Whoa.” All of the kids said.

“Yeah. And all I need is a picture of Sky and Sprinkle.” Pipp said.

That’s when Sparkler frowned. “A picture that I don’t have…” She said.

“Maybe you don’t. But I have them on film.” Lightning chimed in. He held out his camcorder with the screen on and open. And everypony saw that he indeed had a clear still frame of the two missing fillies.

Pipp smiled and whipped out her phone. “That’s exactly what we need.” She quickly snapped a photo of the screen and checked it to make sure it was good. “Perfect.” She said.

Lumber smiled and nudged his brother. “Way to go Lightning. Your habit of recording everything to the rescue.” He said.

“Yeah. Thank the stars Lightning.” Sparkler said.

The others praised Lightning for his habit while Pipp quickly made up a call to action. “Ok. Hey Sparkler how does this look?“ She showed Sparkler her screen with the post on it.

“To all my followers out there in Zephyr Heights.

My friend is in need of your help. Her two daughters, pictured below named Sky Flitter and Sprinkle Medley, are missing. We have reason to believe they are in Zephyr Heights. If anypony spots them, please get in touch with me.

#reunitefamily

#helpamotherout”

Sparkler glanced over the post and smiled. “Looks good to me.” She said.

Pipp smiled and hit post. “And sent. Now if anypony happens to see them, hopefully they’ll get in touch—“

Pipp’s phone started blowing up with notifications. She glanced at it and the post was getting a ton of likes. “Well that didn’t take long for ponies to see it.” Sparkler said.

“The power of technology Sparkler.” Pipp responded as she started going through comments. “Well Nopony’s seen them by the looks of it, but we’re getting encouraging messages wishing us luck.” She said.

“Nice to know ponies are still friendly. Even on Social Media.” Sparkler said.

“For the most part.” Pipp responded.

That night, Queen Haven was on her phone looking through stuff when she noticed her daughter’s latest social media post. She at first ignored it, but then she saw what the post was. Her eyes widened when she saw Sky and Sprinkle in a picture. As well as a call to action to find them.

Haven bit her lip, before making a comment. Saying that she hadn’t seen them. After hitting send. She smiled. “Sorry, but if you abandon your kids, you don’t deserve them.” She said to herself as she headed off to bed.

The next day, While Sunny, Izzy, and Hitch agreed to look after the kids they already had, Sparkler, Pipp, and Zipp were flying in the sky, heading towards Zephyr Heights.

“Ok, now this doesn’t make any sense.” Pipp commented, looking at her phone.

“Something wrong Pipp?” Zipp asked.

“Last night, my post got a comment from mom. Mom says she hasn’t seen Sky or Sprinkle, but then Raven messaged me privately saying that Sky and Sprinkle are living in the castle. That mom took them in.” Pipp explained.

“Did this Raven pony give photo proof?” Sparkler asked.

“Yeah she did.” Pipp responded, showing Zipp and Sparkler her screen. It showed Sky and Sprinkle in bed in what was clearly a room.

“Well it LOOKS like your mom does indeed have them.” Sparkler said.

“So why would she lie?” Zipp asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m gonna call her.” Pipp said.

Right then, her phone started ringing, Pipp accepted the call. “Hello?…oh hi Raven…I’m good. Just confused by your message juxtaposed to my mom’s comment…yeah she said she didn’t see them…what? Why would she do that?…SHE’S WHAT?!” Pipp shrieked as she came to a dead hover in the sky.

Sparkler and Zipp stopped in their tracks and assumed hovering positions as well. “Pipp?” Sparkler asked, worried about the frantic look on Pipp’s face.

Pipp pressed her phone screen and held the phone out in the middle of them. “Raven, I got Zipp and the fillies’ mother. You’re on Speaker, say again what you just said.” She said.

“Your mother intentionally said she hadn’t seen them. Hoping that you would believe it. She plans to take the fillies to the courthouse today and adopt them as her own children.” The mare on the phone said.

When Sparkler’s ears picked that up, her momma bear rage fired up on the spot. “ADOPT THEM?! But they already have a mom! Me!” She exclaimed.

“Are you their mom?” Raven asked.

“YES!” Sparkler growled. “I’m on my way to come get them right now!”

“Well apparently Haven believes you gave up your right to be their mom when you abandoned them.” Raven explained.

At that, Sparkler didn’t want to hear anything else. Pipp could sense that Sparkler was about to blow. “Has mom left yet?” She asked.

“Just walked out the door with the fillies.” Raven explained.

“Ok, thanks for calling Raven. See you soon.” Pipp hung up the phone.

“Come on! We need to get to Zephyr Heights before that witch legally steals them from me!” Sparkler growled as she rocketed off. “When I get my hooves on that witch they’ll need to take her to a hospital!”

Zipp flapped her wings and zoomed off after Sparkler, quickly catching up and blocking her way. “Sparkler, you can’t barge in there and attack our mom. No matter how much she deserves it.” She told her.

Sparkler stopped so she wouldn’t crash into Zipp, and stared daggers into her. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t gun it straight for Zephyr Heights and put that witch in the Hospital for this!” She growled.

“Because the odds of her getting to the courthouse before we can intercept her is high. And no matter the reason, it’s considered assault and you will be arrested if you attack our mom without provocation.” Pipp explained as she caught up to them.

“Without provocation?!” Sparkler exclaimed. “She’s planning to legally take my kids away from me! That’s definitely provocation!” She said.

“Not in the courts’ eyes. The way they’ll see it, you just barged in and started attacking the queen.” Zipp explained.

“I don’t care! Those are my kids and nopony is gonna take them away from me!” Sparkler growled. Her rage blinded her from the reality of the situation on the legal front.

“And mom won’t.” Pipp said. “I have a connection in the courthouse. Somepony high up. He’ll make sure mom can’t adopt Sky and Sprinkle. But he’s also not going to let them go with a pony who just barged in and attacked another pony in anger. Do you want to lose them permanently?” She asked.

That seemed to get through as Sparkler took a deep breath, and calmed down. “Fine. I’ll play nice. But I am gonna have some choice words for that witch.” She said.

“Us too.” Zipp responded. “She didn’t even talk to Pipp and I beforehoof.”

“Let’s get going.” Sparkler said.

Pipp and Zipp nodded and the three of them resumed flying. This time at full speed. Pipp punched in a new number on her phone.

In Zephyr Heights, a Pegasus stallion was in his office when his phone rang. He pressed the screen to answer it. “Judge Frankfort here.” He said.

“Trevor? It’s Pipp.” Came the voice of Pipp over Speaker.

“Pipp? Well this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Trevor asked.

“Did you see my post last night?”

“I did.” Trevor said. “Poor fillies. I hope they’re reunited with their mother soon.”

“Yeah. Well, Zipp and I are on our way with the filly’s mother. Because they’ve been found.”

“Really? That’s great!” Trevor said.

“No it’s not. Because my mom found them, and is on her way to you with the fillies to adopt them! She found them who knows how long ago, she lied about not having seen them, and is planning to adopt them because the mother “abandoned” her kids. Even though that is far from the case!“ Pipp exclaimed frantically.

“Huh? Why would your mother do all that?” Trevor asked.

“I don’t know! But Trevor, whatever you do, don’t let her adopt the kids. They already have a mom who most certainly did not abandon them.” Pipp told him. “I’ll issue you a full pardon if it comes down to that.”

“You say you have the mother with you right now?” Trevor asked. “I’d be happy to help but I do first need a statement from her.”

“Sure thing.” Pipp said.

After a moment, a new voice came on the speaker. “Hello. This is Sparkling Medley, the fillies’ mother.” It said.

“Hello ma’am.” Trevor said. “I’m Judge Frankfort. I’m happy to help you reunite with your fillies. But I would like an explanation if you don’t mind. Just so I know that there’s no evidence of abandonment?”

“My kids and I were visiting my significant others’ sister’s observatory. There was a magical accident, and a portal that sucked me and my kids in and scattered us across the land. Sky Flitter and Sprinkle Medley, my daughters, must have landed in Zephyr Heights. I’ve spent the last two weeks looking for them.” The mare on the phone explained. “I know it sounds crazy but it’s the truth!”

“Alright. Thank you Ms. Medley. When Haven gets here I’ll inform her that you are on your way and that she has no grounds for adoption.” Trevor said.

“Could you keep the three of them there until we arrive?” Pipp’s voice asked.

“I’ll try.” Trevor said. With that, he said goodbye and hung up the phone. He let out a sigh and facehoofed. “Haven what in the hay were you thinking?” He asked nopony.

Outside his office. Queen Haven led Sky and Sprinkle, who were confused as all hay, to the door. “So, why are we here?” Sprinkle asked.

“You’ll see.” Haven responded with a smile. A smile that neither Sky or Sprinkle were comfortable with. It had been two days since Haven took them in, and so far things were going fine…but her taking them to what was clearly a courthouse raised some red flags with them.

Haven opened the door and ushered the girls in. She smiled as she walked in after them. “Judge Frankfort. Good morning.” She greeted him.

“Queen Haven. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Trevor asked.

“I wish to formally adopt these two girls right here, Sky Flitter and Sprinkle Medley. Their previous mother abandoned them.” Haven explained.

At that, Sprinkle’s and Sky’s eyes widened. “WHAT?!” Sky asked.

“You want to adopt us?! But we already have a mom! She’s on her way to pick us up!” Sprinkle exclaimed. Both she and Sky immediately backed away from Haven, Sky even lighting her horn.

“She should have gotten here by now. She has not.” Haven responded.

“Actually Haven. Your daughter Pipp just called. And according to her, their mother is in fact on her way. I actually talked to that mother myself.” Frankfort said. “Fortunately there is no evidence of abandonment and the circumstances appear to be beyond anypony’s control.” He explained.

Sky and Sprinkle blinked, before it clicked with them. “Yeah! We told you a magic portal scattered us!” Sprinkle exclaimed.

“You said you believed us!“ Sky growled.

“I did believe you. But it’s been two days and your mother has not shown up yet.” Haven said.

“But she IS coming.” Trevor said. “She’s on her way right now. Haven, you do realize that this is very much considered kidnapping correct?” He asked.

“I was not kidnapping them.” Haven responded.

“The way these fillies are acting suggests otherwise.” Trevor said, gesturing to the two fillies in the corner, one ready to attack. “By the looks of it they didn’t even know what was going on until you asked me to give you legal guardianship of them.”

“Yeah! You’re insane lady!” Sky growled at Haven.

“Look, just do it!” Haven told Frankfort.

“I will not. These fillies have a legal mother that is on her way to get them. I will not take part in breaking up a family for any reason unless there is evidence warranting such an action.” Trevor stood his ground. “Now. We are all going to wait in this office until their mother arrives. I do believe she will want to talk to you.” He told Haven.

Haven glanced between everypony, before sighing and taking a seat in defeat. Trevor smiled. “Good choice.” He said. He turned to the two fillies and smiled. “Don’t worry girls, everything is going to be ok.” He said in a reassuring tone.”

“Did you say you talked to our mother?” Sprinkle asked.

“I did.” Trevor responded. “…If you want, I can call her and let you talk to her.” He offered.

Sky and Sprinkle nodded immediately. After what just happened they were eager to hear a sensible mare’s voice.

About an hour later, Sparkler, Pipp, and Zipp landed in front of the courthouse in Zephyr Heights. They rushed in and Pipp talked to the receptionist. “Hi. We’re here to see Judge Frankfort?”

“He’s expecting you. Go right ahead.”

“Thanks.” Zipp said as Pipp took them down the hall. They reached the door and knocked.

“Come in.” Trevor called out from inside the office. The trio walked in, and Sparkler saw Sky and Sprinkle behind the desk.

Sky and Sprinkle watched the door open and smiled widely when they saw their mother enter the room. “Mom!” They exclaimed as they rushed out from behind the desk and crashed into their mother, hugging her tight, tears of joy and relief in their eyes.

Sparkler caught her daughters and held them tight. Tears falling down her face in joy. “Sky! Sprinkle! Are you two alright?” She asked.

“We’re fine now.” Sprinkle said.

“We missed you mom!” Sky exclaimed.

“I missed you too girls!” Sparkler responded, happy to see her daughters again.

“Maybe not so much if it took you two weeks to get here.” Commented Haven.

Sparkler grimaced while Sky pointed at Haven. “That’s the crazy lady that tried to adopt us.” She said.

“…Would you two mind waiting outside for a few? Pipp, Zipp and I have some things to talk about in here.” Sparkler said.

Sky and Sprinkle nodded and walked out of the office. Though they were disappointed they weren’t going to get to hear their mother verbally smackdown Haven.

Once the fillies left, Sparkler lit her horn and put up a sound barrier around the office. Just in case anything was said that she didn’t want the fillies to hear. “And now we can talk without the fillies picking up any potential bad words.” She announced.

“Mom, what in the HAY were you thinking?!” Zipp asked.

“Sparkler here spent the past two weeks worrying about her kids. And you have the nerve to LIE and try to adopt her kids away from her when you KNOW she’s looking for them?” Pipp asked. “Are you insane?”

“Those fillies needed a home. I was offering to give them one.” Haven said. “They were eating trash before I found them.”

“Honestly? I’m starting to think that was better for them.” Sparkler said. “Because apparently the alternative is a crazy lady who thinks she can adopt any foal she wants even if they aren’t orphans!” She growled.

“Excuse me.” Haven said. “But you would do well to remember that I am the Queen of—“

“I don’t care!” Sparkler cut Haven off screaming at her. “I don’t care who you are! Just because you have a crown on your head that doesn’t give you a pass for what you tried to do today. What you tried to do today equates to kidnapping! Consider yourself lucky your daughters talked me out of putting you in the hospital for this!” She growled.

“Speaking of your daughters.” Pipp said. “Don’t you think you should’ve asked us before trying to go through with this? Don’t you think we would’ve liked to know we were going to have siblings?” She asked.

“Yeah mom. You should’ve come to us beforehoof.” Zipp said.

“And why would I need to do that? I can do whatever I want without my daughters’ approval.” Haven said.

“Maybe because WE’RE YOUR CHILDREN! Seriously mom! How do you think we would’ve felt if it went through without us knowing?” Pipp asked.

“Would you have been resentful of the fillies?” Haven asked.

“THAT’S NOT THE POINT!” Zipp shot back.

“Answer the question Zipp.” Haven told her daughters.

“…You’re unbelievable mom. You’re actually insane.” Pipp said. With that, she stormed out of the office. Zipp shook her head and followed suit.

Haven watched her daughters leave without saying another word. After a moment, she glared at Sparkler. “This is all your fault.” She said. “If you and your fillies hadn’t shown up those two wouldn’t have just berated me like I was beneath them.”

Sparkler’s jaw dropped. This lady had the audacity to blame HER for HER OWN mistakes? “You’re actually blaming me?!” She exclaimed. “You’re the crazy lady who tried to adopt MY kids and didn’t tell them befofehoof. They’re right. You should’ve talked to them beforehoof. Because to them, if the adoption went through it would’ve looked like you were casting them aside!” Sparkler growled.

“Ahem. Ladies, if I may interject here for a moment?” Trevor, who had been patiently silent for the whole argument, spoke up.

Sparkler and Haven glanced at Trevor. “Is there something you want?” Sparkler asked.

“Given everything that’s happened. Ms. Medley. I believe there is enough for pressing charges to be an option for you.” Trevor informed Sparkler.

“Forget pressing charges.” Sparkler responded. “She’ll probably just weasel her way out of any verdict she doesn’t like anyway.” If Haven was anypony else Sparkler would’ve absolutely pressed charges for attempted kidnapping. But honestly she did not want to deal with this witch anymore when she had more important things to do. “Though I do wonder. Is there just cause for a restraining order?” Sparkler asked. “Because I’d very much like for Haven to stay as far away from me and my family as possible.” She explained.

Trevor smiled. “There is just cause for such an action.” He said.

Sparkler smiled and said she wanted to do that.

Ten minutes later, Sparkler emerged from the office, smiling. “Alright girls. Wanna get out of here?” She asked.

Sky and Sprinkle nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

“Let’s stop at the store and get Sky and Sprinkle Phones.” Pipp suggested. “Especially after what happened today they need tracking capability.”

“Right.” Sparkler said.

With that. Sparkler, her two kids, and Pipp and Zipp left. Sparkler let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. At last, she had all her kids back. Plus she filed her first restraining order against another pony. It’s something I WISH I didn’t need to do. But it is funny to think that my first one will probably become null and void once we hop back to 1003. She thought.

To be continued…

Episode 15: Friends are The Family You Can Choose

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“Oh my Faust. Haven actually tried adopting you girls?” Light asked Sky.

“Yeah. She did. That crazy lady seemed to have it in her head that mom had abandoned us, heck, she persisted with trying to adopt us even AFTER she was told, repeatedly, that mom was on her way.” Sky responded.

“Thank our lucky stars Mom was with Pipp. We might not be here now if it weren’t for Pipp’s connections with the judge.” Sprinkle said.

“So, what did mom do to Haven for this stunt?” Lightning asked.

“Got a restraining order. Now that crazy lady isn’t allowed anywhere near any of us.” Sky responded.

“Good.” Lumber said. “And what did Pipp and Zipp do to her? I mean not talking to them first? I think we all know the message that sent.” He said.

“I imagine they blocked their mom on Social Media for one.” Sprinkle replied. “Not sure if they went no contact period but it’s possible.” She mused.

“Serves her right.” Trail said. “How could she do that to her own kids and another mom’s?”

“Some ponies are just all kinds of stupid.” Light said.

All the kids nodded in agreement. It was mid afternoon when Sparkler, Sky, Sprinkle, Pipp, and Zipp returned from Zephyr Heights. While they were gone, Sunny had gone to Canterlogic to talk to Phyllis, the company’s CEO, and ask for her help in finding a way back home for the time travelers.

When Sparkler returned, Sunny took her directly to Canterlogic to meet with Phyllis, who was considering the challenge. Leaving Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp to watch the kids. The kids were all outside sitting and talking and Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp were sitting in the kitchen, watching them through the window. Well, most of the kids were outside, Sparkler had taken Flurry with her to the meeting with Phyllis precisely because of what almost happened that morning.

Izzy sighed. “And here I thought Haven was a good pony. For real, what kind of pony tries to adopt a pair of fillies without any proof that they are either orphans or proof of abandonment?” She asked.

“The kind of pony that let being queen go to her head.” Pipp responded. “Seriously, we’re lucky Raven has a conscience.” She said

“We’re lucky Trevor’s the judge in charge of finalizing adoptions.” Zipp said. “For real. What in the hay was mom thinking?”

“Sounds to me like she wasn’t.” Izzy commented.

At that moment, Pipp’s phone lit up and showed Pipp that she had a text. She looked at it. “Hm. Raven just texted me.” She read what the text said.

Raven: Check your mom’s Ponybook page. You’re not going to believe what she just posted.

Initially Pipp didn’t want to see anything of her mother, but curiosity got the better of her and she logged in and went to her mother’s page…and her jaw dropped. “Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!” She said.

“What?” Izzy and Zipp asked.

Pipp showed them the screen. And what they saw also made their jaws drop.

“Well I just had the most deplorable day ever!

My two five year old daughters Sky and Sprinkle were just stolen from me by a criminal mare and a corrupt judge Frankfort! Frankfort called me to his office in the courthouse and essentially ordered me to give my two young daughters to a complete and total stranger! This is the worst possible thing to happen to a mother! I implore everypony to rise up in protest and help me get my daughters back!”

“Oh my flanking Faust. Our mom is actually legit insane!” Zipp exclaimed.

“Do ponies actually BELIEVE that?” Izzy asked.

Pipp started tapping a number on her phone. “Some ponies believe anything on the net Izzy.” She explained. “I’m gonna call her.”

The phone rang, and soon their mom picked up. Pipp put the phone on speaker.

“Pippy, I assume you’re calling to apologize for berating your mother earlier?” Haven asked.

“I will not apologize for helping my friend get her children back from a crazy lady. I saw your post just now, mom, what in the hay is WRONG with you?!” Pipp asked.

“What? A mare can’t desire to give foals a home?” Haven asked.

“That’s not the point mom!” Zipp growled. “The point, is that you tried to take two kids away from their legal mother. And you even have the audacity to lie about it. TWICE!”

“I was merely trying to make sure foals weren’t abandoned.” Haven responded.

“They WEREN’T abandoned! A magical accident separated them against their will!” Pipp shouted. “You need to take down that post, and DROP THIS. Sky and Sprinkle are staying with their rightful mother and nothing you do or say will change that.”

“You really expect me to drop it? Their mother is irresponsible and doesn’t deserve kids.”

Zipp, Pipp, and Izzy’s jaws dropped. “You are INSANELY lucky Sparkler didn’t just hear that.” Pipp said.

“And if any parent is irresponsible it’s you!” Izzy shouted, which Pipp and Zipp were surprised by. Izzy ignored it. “First of all, you lied to everypony about your ability to fly and taught your kids that it was ok to do that. Secondly, you try to take a pair of daughters from a mother and have the nerve to lie about it on the net and third, you didn’t talk to your two REAL daughters before trying to adopt. Do you have ANY idea what kind of message that sends to them? It tells them that you don’t love them anymore!” Izzy growled. “All that to me makes you not just a bad parent, but a bad queen as well!”

Pipp and Zipp both stared at Izzy in absolute shock. Izzy was normally the optimistic one and tried to stay positive. So to hear her chew their mother out…

“…How dare you! You dare call my parenting and leadership into question?!” Haven exclaimed after a second of silence.

“Yes. I do dare. Because you’re apparently short a brain cell if you think what you’re doing is ok. How would you feel if I came along and decided to adopt Pipp because you SEEMINGLY abandoned her, even if I have no actual proof?” Izzy asked.

Pipp blushed like mad. She knew Izzy was just using her as an example, but still. …If Izzy was part of mom’s generation I wouldn’t mind her adopting me…

“I would throw you into the dungeon of course!” Haven growled.

“Oh I’ll bet. And I can guarantee that if Sparkler had your job. You would absolutely be sitting in a cell right now. Just something to think about. If you, a MOTHER, try to break up a family again, think about what the OTHER mom would think and think about how you would feel it it was reversed. Don’t do to other moms what you wouldn’t want done to you!”

With that, Izzy hung up the phone. Zipp and Pipp continued to stare at Izzy in amazement. “Whoa. What the hay was that?” Zipp asked.

“That was me standing up for my friends.” Izzy stated. “I hate it when somepony does something like what Haven did.” She said.

Pipp was about to say something, before she got a text. She read it, checked her mom’s profile page, and was amazed to find that her mom had actually taken down the post. “You must’ve really scared her Izzy. Because she took down the post.” Pipp said.

“Good. Let’s not tell Sparkler about this.” Izzy proposed.

“Ditto that.” Zipp said. “I doubt the reminder that she has a restraining order against her would stop her from flying back to Zephyr Heights and smashing mom’s face in.”

Meanwhile, Sunny, Sparkler, and Flurry walked out of Canterlogic Headquarters after a very successful meeting with Phyllis, but despite her agreeing to help Sparkler and her family find a way home, Sparkler wasn’t smiling, for Phyllis saw fit to apologize to her for her son Sprout nearly killing Melody. It took all that Sparkler had not to explode in rage at the mare upon hearing what happened.

Sunny glanced at Sparkler nervously. “So…great that Phyllis is helping eh?” She asked. “She’ll dedicate an R&D team to the task and with any luck they’ll come up with something soon…” She said, trying to get Sparkler’s mind off Sprout.

“The sooner the better. Because apparently this place is full of crazy ponies.” Sparkler muttered.

“If it makes you feel any better, Sprout was probably going off his law enforcement training, and he has since been discharged. So he’s not a threat anymore. Hehe.” Sunny responded.

Sparkler nodded. “Let’s just get back to your place, after nearly losing my kids to a crazy queen, and then learning Melody was SO close to dying on the same day…I’m not sure how much more I can take.” She said.

“Actually, Hitch was wondering if you could meet him in the Sheriff’s office after the meeting. He says it’s urgent.” Sunny told Sparkler.

“Alright. Sure, I can go to the Sheriff’s office.” Sparkler responded. She whipped out her phone and quickly group texted her kids letting them know where she was going and why she wasn’t back yet. “I feel like I should start paying you Pipp Izzy and Zipp for all the foalsitting.” Sparkler commented.

“Don’t even think about it Sparkler.” Sunny said. “Money’s tight for you so you should focus that on feeding your kids.” She said. “Oh, speaking of, there’s a new restaurant that opened up here a few days ago. They might be hiring.”

Sparkler nodded. “I’ll definitely take a look. Thanks Sunny.” She responded. Hopefully the pony in charge of the restaurant will be understanding if the Canterlogic team calls me in. After giving Sunny a quick goodbye, Sparkler and Sunny took off in different directions.

“Ok Apple Brittle. Think you’re ready to get out there on patrol on your own?” Hitch asked his new Deputy.

“Yeah! Ah’m ready to get out there!” Apple Brittle responded cheerfully.

“Good. Than go out there and make me proud.” Hitch responded.

“Alright Hitch!” Apple Brittle responded as the stallion hurried out the door, eager to prove himself.

Not ten seconds after, Hitch heard Apple Brittle gasp. “Sparkling Medley?!” He exclaimed.

Confused, Hitch trotted outside…to see Apple Brittle staring in utter shock at Sparkler, with Flurry on her back. “Hey Sparkler.” Hitch said before turning to Apple Brittle. “You alright Deputy Brittle?” He asked.

Apple Brittle blinked. “Ah’m standing mere feet away from a living legend! A friend of mah ancestor Applejack!” He exclaimed.

Sparkler blinked. “Oh, you’re a descendant of Applejack? It’s nice to meet you…Apple Brittle, was it?”

Apple Brittle smiled and nodded. Hitch could tell Brittle was gonna pop soon. “Ok Deputy, go out on patrol. She’ll be here a while maybe so you can fanboy over her later.”

Apple Brittle nodded and scurried off. Sparkler just smiled and shook her head. “That’s two descendants of my friends I’ve now met.” She commented.

“And one of them is descended from a Guardian of Harmony.” Hitch commented.

“Guardian of Harmony? That’s what Twilight and her friends are called?” Sparkler asked.

“Yeah. But I can’t say anything more than that. I imagine too much information would cause a time paradox.” Hitch said.

“I’d be quite surprised if there’s not already a time paradox.” Sparkler responded. “So, Sunny said you wanted to see me?” She asked.

“Oh, right, yes. I have something to show you. Mind walking with me?” Hitch asked.

Sparkler nodded and the two of them went for a walk. “What’s the living situation like with you and your family?” Hitch asked. “Like how big is your house?”

“We live in a castle.” Sparkler said simply. “We moved in with Twilight some months ago.”

“Hehe. Well the house has to be big for you to have so many kids eh.” Hitch commented.

“Yeah. Hehe.” Sparkler responded. “So where are we going?”

“Somewhere I think you’ll really appreciate.” Hitch responded.

They continued walking for a few minutes, before they came up to a building on a street. Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “Are we going to visit somepony?” Sparkler asked.

“Nah. That house is vacant…or rather, WAS vacant.” Hitch reached into his belt pouch and pulled out a set of keys, holding them out for Sparkler.

Sparkler, putting two and two together, gasped. “Hitch?…” She asked.

“The lighthouse is too small to handle more than a dozen occupants to live together comfortably. And, well admittedly there’s no house in Maretime Bay that can pull that off. But this is the biggest vacant house we could find, it’s got four bedrooms, two bathrooms, basically everything needed to support a large family…more comfortably than squeezing everypony in the lighthouse.” Hitch explained.

Sparkler glanced at the keys, then at the house, and then at Hitch. Her mind was racing. “How much did it cost?” She asked.

“Maretime Bay is loaning it to you and your family for the duration of your stay. The mayor was very understanding. Once I told her exactly what was going on. Don’t worry though, she’ll keep it under wraps.” Hitch explained.

Sparkler sighed, both in relief and somewhat in worry. “Thank goodness…although I can’t help but worry. It’s been smooth sailing for me and my family since we were catapulted here aside from this morning’s attempted kidnapping. It’s almost too good to be true how lucky we’ve been.” She said.

“Got a feeling something is gonna go horribly wrong?” Hitch asked.

“Exactly.” Sparkler said. “Like, we’re gonna succeed in making a way back, but then we discover that the stars aren’t aligned for it to work and won’t be for Faust knows how long…we could be stuck here forever…” Sparkler gulped. She was not enjoying that thought, and what it brought with it.

Hitch saw Sparkler’s mood change, and gave her a reassuring smile. “Hey, I’m sure everything will work out and you’ll get back to your time.” He said. “After all, you once said a pony called you a legend. That might mean that you DID get back to become that legend.”

“But it also might mean that my story in 1003 ended and now it’s meant to continue here.” Sparkler countered.

“Well, let’s not lose hope that you’ll get back. After all, Flurry should get back to her parents as soon as possible.” Hitch smiled towards Flurry. “Anyway, back to the house, Maretime Bay does have a few stipulations. They would like you to keep the house as is unless changes are necessary. Such as replacing damaged furniture. You are responsible for the cost of damages. In short, you are guests in this house, act like it.” He explained.

“Guests in the house, act like it.” Sparkler repeated as she took the keys. “Understood Hitch.” She said.

Flurry smiled and giggled, before she poofed away suddenly. Sparkler heard the pop and saw the smoke and she groaned. “I swear to Faust if a crazy pony tries to adopt Flurry…” She said as she whipped out her new PonyPhone and called up the tracker, not even a second before she started looking for Flurry, she and Hitch heard a scream. "PEGACORN!”

Sparkler and Hitch whirled their heads to look down the street to see a red earth pony stallion bolt away. They saw Flurry flapping her wings in a hover. Hitch couldn’t help but chuckle as they saw Flurry clearly spit at the fleeing pony. “She really doesn’t like Sprout.” He commented.

Sparkler winced. Sprout being the name of the pony that almost killed Melody. “What makes you say that?” She asked.

“More often than not, whenever she’s teleported away, she usually ends up wherever Sprout is and she spits on him and says no to him. Probably as revenge for tranquilizing Melody.” Hitch explained.

Sparkler smiled widely when Hitch said that. “She really likes her cousins.” She said as they rushed over to get Flurry.

Sprout, meanwhile, was hiding behind a barrel, having ducked behind it to get away from the tiny furry monster that was the white Pegacorn. He watched as Hitch and…ANOTHER PEGACORN?! Rushed up to the smaller Pegacorn. He growled. “Where are all these pegacorns coming from?!” He asked. “Grr. Doesn’t matter. If they won’t stop coming, I’ll MAKE them stop coming…” Sprout rushed off, a plan forming in his mind…

To be continued…

Episode 16: Generations collide

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“So, why are we going to the hospital again?” Dark asked Sparkler.

“Yeah, we aren’t sick or anything…right?” Light asked.

Sparkler giggled as she and her batpony charges approached the Hospital on another beautiful day in Maretime Bay. “Nah. Nopony’s sick…I hope at least.” She responded. “This is just a routine checkup. Plus a chance for me to know exactly what it is that makes you two…you.” She explained.

“We each have one eye and one ear.” Dark said. “That’s obvious.”

“Yes it is.” Sparkler responded. “But you two might have things going on that even you don’t know about. You two are gonna be in my care for the time being. I need to make sure I know the best way to care for you.”

“…Fair enough.” Dark said.

“Maybe we’ll finally get to know what our condition is called.” Light commented.

Sparkler couldn’t help but chuckle. “Funny thing. I didn’t know I was called an Alicorn until about 8 months…ago…” Sparkler’s eyes widened as an epiphany slammed her like a brick wall. Her irises shrank to near invisibility. “Horse apples…” she whispered.

“What?” Dark asked.

Sparkler quickly whipped out her phone, navigated to the calendar app, and checked the date…and sure enough, her fears had been realized. Her six month anniversary with Twilight was TOMORROW. She nodded, put her phone away, and took a deep breath.

“Sparkler? Something wrong?” Light asked.

“I’ll…I’ll tell you later.” Sparkler said, trying her hardest not to break down sobbing. She still had a few things to do before she could get back to the house and let her tears fall. Faust I miss her so much! She thought. She took a deep breath. You still have your interview after this. Keep it together. She told herself. Remembering the interview she was called into at the new restaurant in town after filling out an application the previous day.

Meanwhile, at the restaurant Sparkler applied for work at, a Unicorn Mare with a white mane and a green coat was busy booking up a DJ station when she heard another pony call out to her. “Yo Winter! Got an interviewee here!”

Winter raised an eyebrow and checked her watch, it read 11:30AM. Right, still interviewing for positions here. She thought as she stood up from behind the DJ station to see a Unicorn mare smiling at the front door.

“Hey y’all!” The mare said. “Your new head waitress is in the house! Now where’s the interviewer so I can wow them into hiring me?” She asked nopony in particular

Oh brother. It’s a Silver-Mane. Winter thought. This mare’s tone definitely screamed entitled. Winter took a deep breath and put on her best professional smile as she walked out from behind the DJ station. “Hello Ma’am, welcome to The Medley Delly. You’re here for your interview?” She asked.

“Yes I am. You’ll find me to be your most qualified applicant.” The mare responded.

Well you already failed first impressions. So you better give legendary answers to my questions. “Excellent. Have a seat anywhere and I’ll be right back with your file.” Winter said.

The mare gave a triumphant smile…for some reason, and sat down at a table. Winter sighed, it was going to be a long interview.

“Well, there’s nothing but good news here guys.” The doctor said to Sparkler, Light, and Dark after he finished his checkup of the twin brothers. “Both Light and Dark are perfectly healthy. Eyesight is good as it can be, as is hearing. Temperature’s good, no evidence of malnourishment. Clean bill of health nearly across the board.” The doctor said.

“Well that’s good.” Sparkler responded. “And what about their condition specifically? Anything special there?” She asked.

“Yeah, the nurse mentioned you were looking for information on their condition.” The doctor hoofed her a pamphlet. “Your two charges have something called Optical Audiological Deficiency Disorder. More commonly known as Red Heart Syndrome. In the case of Light and Dark here, Red Heart Syndrome essentially prevents a second eye and ear from developing while in the womb. One in every billion foals are affected.” The doctor explained.

“One in a billion? But we’re twins.” Dark countered.

“From what we’ve been able to gather throughout the existence of Red Heart Syndrome, it affects the developing fetus as it enters the egg of the mother. My guess is both of you entered your mom’s egg at the same time and the genetic code was affected for both.” The doctor responded.

Light and Dark blinked. They didn’t understand a word of what the doctor just said. “Huh?” They both asked in confusion.

“It was decided you two would be special from the moment you were conceived and growing inside your mom.” Sparkler attempted to simplify the medical mumbo jumbo, taking a look at the pamphlet.

“Oh.” Light and Dark responded.

Sparkler chuckled. It was always cute when a young one learned something new. “Are there any special needs ponies with Red Heart Syndrome require?“ She asked the doctor.

“It’s a case by case basis.” The doctor responded. “For Light and Dark, fortunately it appears their Red Heart Syndrome has only affected their missing eye and ear structure, and nothing else like internal organs. They shouldn’t require any special medical attention. But of course I do recommend that you keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Red Heart Syndrome can leave nasty surprises that develop without warning.” The doctor warned.

“We’ll be sure to do that.” Sparkler responded. “Thanks doc.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” Light and Dark said.

“Alright. I think that takes care of that. I’ll walk you guys out to the front desk.” The doctor responded.

They walked out of the hospital soon after that. Light and Dark were smiling. “Red Heart Syndrome. Hehe, I was expecting worse.” Light said.

“Yeah. It doesn’t sound so bad.” Dark commented.

“Yeah. Just like Alicorn sounds better than the Horn and Wing Combo.” Sparkler commented.

“The Horn and Wing Combo?” Dark asked.

“Yeah. That’s what I called my own condition, which ended up not being a condition, but a species.” Sparkler responded.

“…yeah. I agree, Ailcorn is better.” Light said.

“Ailcorn?” Dark asked. “Don’t you mean Alicorn?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Light asked.

“You flipped the I and the L.” Dark responded.

“I did? Huh. Didn’t mean to do that.” Light said.

Sparkler couldn’t help but chuckle. “Not the first time somepony’s mixed that up.” She said, her mind thinking of Melody.

At that moment, the three of them saw Spike land in front of them. “Hey guys!” He said. “How was the Doctor’s appointment?” He asked.

“It was good.” Light responded.

“Finally found out what we have.” Dark said with a chuckle.

“Ooh. That’s good!” Spike said.

“Yeah it is.” Sparkler responded. She hoofed the pamphlet to Light. “Anywho, hey, Light, Dark, do you two mind going home with Spike now? I gotta go for a job interview.”

“Sure thing Sparkler.” Light responded.

“You’ll do great.” Dark encouraged her.

Sparkler smiled and nuzzled both of them on the cheek. They were such angels. With one final goodbye, she trotted off into town while Spike flapped his wings. “Come on guys, Pipp Sunny and Izzy are gonna show us some modern music.” He said.

“Yay! Dance party!” Light and Dark responded excitedly as they flapped their wings and took off with Spike towards home.

“And so, that is why you should hire me as your head waitress.” The mare finished.

Winter Moon had to beat down a sigh of relief that it was over. Suffice to say, the interview was nothing but the mare going on and on about her life story and bragging about how she was the best employee they would have. “Thank you Ms. Copperbottom. I believe I have everything I need.” She said.

“Great!” Ms. Copperbottom responded. “So when do you want me to start?” She asked. “I can start today.”

Never. You can start never. “Well I have to talk with the other owners of this place first. We have to go through each applicant and decide who to hire, it should be a few days before anypony hears—“

“A few days? Pfft. You don’t need that much time. You can just hire me now.” Ms. Copperbottom responded, cutting Winter off.

“Ms. You’re not the only applicant. We have quite a few others and we only have so many positions open. We can’t start talking until everypony’s been interviewed. It’s only fair.” Winter tried to explain.

“You don’t need anypony else though. Besides, I bet they’re not actually qualified for the job.” Ms. Copperbottom responded.

Winter was about to retort back before she heard the door open. She glanced at who walked in, and froze when she saw who it was. Oh my Faust. It’s HER! She exclaimed in her mind

Sparkler looked around at the new restaurant. She hadn’t noticed the two mares at the table yet as she took in the decor. The Medley Delly…I really hope I didn’t just cause a time paradox because this place was named after—

“Hey! You there! Don’t you know this place isn’t open yet?” An apparent angry shout brought Sparkler out of her thoughts. She turned to see a pair of mares at a table, and one of them was looking mad.

“Oh, uh, I’m here for a job interview.” Sparkler responded. “Sparkling Medley.” She told the other mare, who was presumably conducting the interview.

As soon as she said her second name, the first mare went from angry to happy. Winter saw what was gonna happen next coming from a mile away. “Oh. You’re the owner? Great! You can tell your interviewer here that you guys don’t need to hire anypony else but me.” She said.

Sparkler sat there, confused as all heck. “Uh…I don’t work here yet.” She said. “I know my second name matches the name of the restaurant but that’s just an incredible coincidence.” She explained.

“Don’t lie, the restaurant wouldn’t have your second name if you weren’t the owner. Now hire me, you won’t find a better employee and I’m all you need.” The mare said.

Sparkler didn’t know how to respond to this bizarre situation. “Uhm, again, it’s just an incredible coincidence. I’m here for an interview just like you.” She said. Though I really hope we aren’t BOTH hired. She thought.

“Ugh. If you’re not the owner then leave. They don’t need to see anypony else. I’m obviously the best applicant they’re gonna find.”the mare said.

While Sparkler was beginning to realize that this mare was full of herself. Winter decided to shut this Silver-Mane down. She smiled. “You know what Ms Copperbottom? You’re right. I don’t need to consult anypony else about whether or not to hire you.” She said as she closed Copperbottom’s file.

Ms Copperbottom smirked and turned back to Winter. “Excellent. So when would you—eep!” That was as far as Ms. Copperbottom got before Winter lit her horn, and Copperbottom’s file burst into flames, catching Sparkler and Copperbottom off guard.

Winter just smirked. “Sparkling Medley is here for an interview just like you. She has just as much right to an interview as you do. And honestly? I doubt you’ll get a job ANYWHERE with that attitude of yours. Especially with how you’ve treated a mare who could have been your fellow staff member here. Sorry Ms. Copperbottom, but you just aren’t what we’re looking for.” Winter said.

Ms. Copperbottom was speechless. Her brain seemed to have frozen. Winter smiled. “Now if you will kindly vacate the premises as now you have no further reason to be in a closed restaurant.” She told Copperbottom, throwing her own spiel back at her.

Seeing that Winter was dead serious, Ms. Copperbottom just sulked and left. Sparkler and Winter watched her go. And Winter sighed and walked over to Sparkler. “Sorry you had to see that.” Winter told her. “She went on and on about how she was the best employee we’d ever find and how we don’t need anypony but her.”

“Eh, I’ve met somepony like her before. Although he was actually worse.” Sparkler responded, immediately thinking of Silver-Mane.

Winter nodded. “I’m Winter, Winter Moon.” She introduced herself. “Nice to meet you Sparkling Medley.”

“Nice to meet you too Ms. Moon.” Sparkler responded.

“If you’ll please take a seat anywhere, I’ll be right back with your resume.” Winter said.

Sparkler nodded and went to take a seat. Winter walked to the back where she saw her five siblings working. As soon as she was certain Sparkler wouldn’t hear them, Winter squealed. “Guys, it happened!” She said.

“Huh?” Her siblings asked. “What happened?”

“She’s here! Sparkler made it! Just like she said when she told us the story!” Winter exclaimed. “Future Incursion is happening right now!”

Her five siblings all beamed with joy. “Awesome!”

“About time!”

“Great!”

Winter nodded and summoned Sparkler’s resume. “We all knew this day was coming. Thank Faust we managed to set up shop before our ancestor arrived!” She said as she went back out to conduct Sparkler’s interview.

Suffice to say, Sparkler passed. She gave satisfactory answers to all of Winter’s questions, and while Winter wanted to tell her that she got the job as head waitress right there, she knew she had to be fair and do what she told the Silver-Mane she’d do. But she wasn’t complaining. She knew what she and her siblings had to do, it was their duty to help their family. Although it was satisfying to send that text to Sparkler only ten minutes after she left.

To be continued…

Episode 17: Twice the Plans, Differing goals

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Sprout was in a room in one of the lower levels of Canterlogic HQ late at night. He was groveling to himself as he drew on a piece of paper. “Grah. More of them come every day. It’s the beginning of the end of Earth Pony society as we know it.” He mumbled. “Grr. Not if I have anything to say about it. No sirree. Once I put my plan into action Pegasi, Unicorns, and PegaCorns will become a thing of the past! Mwahahahaha!” He laughed maniacally.

At that moment, the door opened and an older mare entered the room. “Oh Sprouty! There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Phyllis said.

Sprout rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Not now mom! I’m busy.” He said.

“Doing what?” Phyllis asked.

“None of your business mom.” Sprout responded.

Phyllis frowned. “Why so grumpy Sprout? Are you still bitter over losing your job?” She asked.

“I wouldn’t have lost it if it weren’t for those Pegasus and Unicorn menaces!” Sprout growled. “THEY did this to me!”

Phyllis shook her head. It seemed Sprout still thought the other tribes were the enemy. “Ok Sprout, I know I always said the other tribes were our enemies, and if that was ever the case, it’s not the case now. They’re our friends.” She said.

“That’s just what they want! For us to trust them and let our guard down before they turn on us and attack!“ Sprout exclaimed. “They may have everypony else fooled, but not me!”

Phyllis sighed. She could tell she wasn’t going to get through to Sprout tonight, but she could do something else. “Well, it’s late, the building is closed, so we need to go home now.” She said.

“I’ll lock up shop mom.” Sprout responded, he didn’t want to leave in the middle of planning.

“Sorry Sprouty, new security policy, the CEO or Head of R&D are the last ponies to leave and lock up.” Phyllis responded.

“What? You don’t trust me?” Sprout asked.

“It’s not that Sprout.” Phyllis said. “Recent endeavors warrant this new policy. So come on.” She said sternly.

Sprout rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Fine.” He said. He got out of his chair and followed his mom out. Doesn’t matter. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Elsewhere, in the house Sparkler and the kids were occupying, Light had woken up to go to the bathroom. As he passed Sparkler’s room, his one batpony ear, which was on his right side, pointed to the door, picked up whispering from the other side. Light stopped, curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to listen to what was clearly Sparkler whispering. “Hey Twi…it’s the 14th…”

On the other side of the door, Sparkler laid in bed, her horn glowing to project light, and she was holding her Twilight Cutie Mark Mane Pin…and looking at it through tear-filled eyes. “Six months. Six months ago we got together…and six months ago we adopted our first child…Time went by so fast…if only it hadn’t taken me and the kids and thrown us 1,019 years ahead…we’d be together to celebrate it…” Sparkler let out a sigh. “I’m doing everything I can to get us back home. Somepony’s already offered to help us find a way. And I promise I won’t rest until we get home…”

Sparkler continued on, eventually descending into a silent crying. Never the wiser that somepony heard that. Light, however, was confused as all heck from where he stood. 1,019 years ahead…are Dark and I living with time travelers? He thought.

“Light?” Came a hushed voice that only Light’s hyper hearing could hear.

Light turned to see his bro Dark standing there. With a concerned look on his face. “Something wrong?” Dark asked.

Light glanced at the door, then at her brother. “We need to talk.”

…

“Ok, so why did you want us to talk out here?” Dark asked as the two bat ponies softly landed on the porch of the house. “And why were you standing outside Sparkler’s room?” He asked.

“Curiosity got the better of me. It sounded like she was up…and Dark, our foster family might be time travelers.” Light said.

“Time travelers?” Dark asked.

“Yeah. Sparkler had said that they’re from 1,019 years in the past. And they’re not here of their own free will.” Light said.

“So…are they trying to find a way home?” Dark asked.

“Wouldn’t you?”

“…Yeah, I would.”

“You realize what this means for us right Dark?” Light asked.

“If we don’t find a family before they find a way home, Sparkler’ll have to send us to an orphanage.” Dark said. He wasn’t an idiot, and neither was his brother. They both understood what would happen if Sparkler became unable to be their foster parent. And they didn’t like it one bit.

“What do you think we should do?” Dark asked.

“Do you want Sparkler as a mom?” Light asked.

“You kidding?” Dark asked. “She and her kids are fun to be around, plus she doesn’t care what we look like. We might not get that lucky again.”

“So, we convince Sparkler to adopt us then and take us with her back to her time?” Light asked.

“Sounds like a plan.” Dark agreed. They bumped hooves, confirming their plan. In the past few weeks, Sparkler had certainly won them over because of her willingness to stand up for them despite their appearance. Plus she was willing to learn about their condition and ensure she could properly care for them, something they always suspected their birth parents weren’t willing or able to given the story they were told. As far as they were concerned, Sparkler and her kids were their only shot at having a family.

“Should we mention how we heard they were from the past or do we let them tell us?” Light asked.

“We’ll see what ends up happening.” Dark responded. “Honestly? I doubt they’ll be very happy if they learned we eavesdropped on them.”

“I wonder if they were ever going to tell us…” Light mused.

“I’m sure they would’ve. Eventually.” Dark responded. “I mean, Sparkler doesn’t seem the kind to just up and leave without saying a word.”

“Right.” Light said as they snuck back into the house and back to bed.

When the sun rose, everypony in the house was up, and in the kitchen. Sparkler was busy making pancakes for everypony. She heard the ding from the microwave, indicating Flurry’s milk was ready. “Hey, can somepony start feeding Flurry? Her milk is ready.” She asked.

“On it!“ Dark and Light both said on the spot. They rushed to the microwave, got the milk bottle, and proceeded to feed Flurry her breakfast.

Sparkler smiled as she flipped several pancakes at once. “Thanks Light and Dark.” She said.

Crystal watched the two and noticed them acting a little off. Is it just me or are those two a bit TOO eager all of a sudden? They’d never volunteered to feed Flurry before. And they did so today before anypony else could breathe a word.

Spike meanwhile was munching on some gems. “Oh boy, it’s awesome this place has gems!” He exclaimed.

Melody chuckled. “Why do dragons like gems so much?” She asked.

“We just do.” Spike responded.

Everypony was talking amongst themselves. Sparkler continued to make pancakes, until her phone rang. She smiled as she opened yet another aperture of magic and answered the phone, holding it to her ear. “Go.”

“Is this Sparkling Medley?” The stallion on the other end asked.

“Yeah this is Sparkling Medley. Who am I talking to?”

“Night Shade. Head of research and development at Canterlogic.”

“Oh, good morning. What can I do for you?” Sparkler asked.

“Are you able to come into Canterlogic today? I’d like to meet in pony and discuss where we’ll start trying to find a way back to your time.” Night Shade responded.

“Oh. Oh yeah. Sure. I can come in. What time do you want me there?”

“As soon as possible. I hear you’re kinda in a hurry.”

“Oh yeah. Yeah I’d very much like to get home before any other crazy ponies try to hurt or adopt my family.” Sparkler said with a chuckle.

Night Shade chuckled as well. “I’ll let the receptionist know you’ll be coming.” He said. “See you soon Sparkler.” With that, the connection was cut.

Sparkler nodded and pulled up the text app. She opened the group chat she had with Zipp, Pipp, Sunny, and Izzy.

Sparkler: Just got called into Canterlogic. Anypony available to watch the kids for me?

Pipp: I can watch them! I’ll be right over!

Sunny: Me too! Izzy’s going to Bridlewood today to get some stuff from her old cottage, said I didn’t need to come so I have time to kill.

Sparkler: Thanks you two. I’ll take Flurry and Spike with me. But the rest of them will still be here.

Sparkler then sent a text to her legally adopted kids (meaning not Light and Dark.) About the plan, then put her phone away and finished making the pancakes. She plated them and gave the plates to her kids. “Alright everypony, bon appetit, I gotta go into town to do some stuff, I’ll be taking Flurry and Spike with me.” She said.

Spike had JUST finished reading the text and nodded. “Sure thing Sparkler.

Light and Dark nodded. “Is there anything you’d like us to do while you’re gone?” Dark asked.

“Nah, just have fun with Pipp and Sunny.” Sparkler responded.

Ok, now I KNOW something’s up. Crystal thought. Light and Dark were being extra helpful all of a sudden. And they never volunteered for anything. Now, Crystal wasn’t a fool. She knew that there were a lot of kids in the house so Light and Dark not offering to help wasn’t a big deal, either somepony else would beat them to it or mom would ask them outright. Today though, they volunteered to feed Flurry, and offered to do any chores mom might’ve wanted done. Do they want something and think buttering up to mom will help?

Sparkler meanwhile also found it a tad strange for the two twins to ask for chores to do. Seeing as how they’d never done that before, but she shrugged it off. Eh, Melody was the same way at first. Thanks to THAT incident. With that, she ate her breakfast, grabbed Flurry and Spike, and left the house, leaving the kids with Sunny and Pipp, who came by only ten minutes after they agreed to foalsit.

To be continued…

Episode 18: Plan of Action

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Sparkler, Spike, and Flurry walked through the door into Canterlogic HQ’s lobby. Inside, they saw a pony scan their badge, probably a security checkpoint. As they approached the desk, they could hear the stallion talking. “Hey, Marcy, Sparkling Medley is going to be coming in today. When she gets here, please direct her to my lab.” He said. “We have an appointment.”

The receptionist nodded, and saw the pony she recognized as Sparkler from last time. She smiled. “Oh, hey Sparkler, Night Shade’s expecting you.” She said with a chuckle.

Night Shade jumped a bit when Marcy said that, he whirled around, and saw a pony he immediately recognized as Sparkler. “Sparkler, hi.” He said. He cleared his throat. “Nice to see you’re punctual.” He commented.

“We had nothing else to do today and we’re very eager to get started.” Sparkler responded.

Flurry flapped her wings and flew off Sparkler’s back and started giggling as she flew around the lobby. Night Shade chuckled. “Yeah. We probably should do that. Hey Marcy? Mind giving them visitor badges?” He asked.

Marcy nodded and quickly signed Sparkler, Spike, and Flurry in as visitors. After they had their badges, Night Shade took the trio to his lab. “So, Ms. Phyllis sent a memo to me and my team detailing our task and the details you told her, but if you would, can you tell me in your own words what happened that landed the lot of you 1,019 years in the future?” He asked.

“We went to visit the observatory in Detrot, where my Significant Other’s twin sister works. She had been experimenting with Alicorn Magic trying to find a connection to the cosmos.” Sparkler said.

“Well, turns out the magical signatures all gathering together isn’t good. Because the magical orbs broke out of their jars and came together to make a time portal, which stayed open long enough for us to get sucked in.” Spike continued.

“You say Alicorn Magic caused it?” Night Shade asked.

“That’s right.” Sparkler responded. “She had collected a sample from all the Alicorns that existed in 1003.” Sparkler responded.

“And who was the twin sister if I may ask?” Night Shade asked. Something strange in his tone.

Sparkler raised an eyebrow, but answered. “It was Night-Mare Sparkle. Twin sister of Twilight Sparkle.” She said.

At that, Night Shade smiled. His suspicions were confirmed. “Just as I thought.” He said. “Then we’re in luck.”

“We are?” Spike asked.

Night Shade just smiled as they entered his lab. “You see. Dr Night-Mare was meticulous in note taking. She’d fill up whole notebooks with one or two experiments regularly.” He explained.

“Yeah?” Sparkler responded. “We already knew that. What does that have to do with anything?”

Night Shade said nothing as he opened his drawer and pulled out a stack of notebooks. He placed them on his desk and showed the cover of one to Sparkler, Spike, and Flurry.

Sparkler and Spike took a good look at the journal, and gasped. The author of the journal was. “NIGHT-MARE?!” They exclaimed.

“You have her research?!” Sparkler asked. Unbelieving what she was seeing.

Night Shade chuckled. “These notes have been in my family for generations. Direct descendant of Night-Mare herself.” He said simply.

Sparkler’s and Spike’s jaws dropped. Night Shade was a descendant of Night Mare?! Night Shade chuckled as he continued. “When I heard the news in the memo, I knew that it was time to put these old books to good use. I figured the best way to start is to try and recreate the accident. In a controlled environment of course.” He explained.

Sparkler and Spike looked at each other. It was almost too good to be true that they ran into the one pony that was a direct descendant of the mare that indirectly caused the accident. “I feel like I’m living in a pure fantasy.” Spike said. “We’re never this lucky back home!”

Sparkler shook her head clear of her shock. “How would you suggest we recreate the accident?” She asked Night Shade.

Night Shade smiled as he pulled out a rolled up paper from his bag. “I like to call it a Timegate. A portal running across the fabric of time to any point in the timeline.” He explained. “The physical mechanism should be easy enough, as well as power. But the main problem that I see is control.” He said.

“That’s not the only problem. We’re short a couple magic signature sources if you want to recreate the accident.” Spike pointed out as they all looked over the plans for the machine.

“We’ll just have to try with what we have.” Night Shade responded. “You are willing to provide yes?” He asked.

“Whatever you need from us we’ll let you have. Anything to get home.” Sparkler said, confident the kids would agree.

Night Shade nodded. “Good. My team and I will construct the physical Timegate, and when we’re ready for the magic signatures we will request them.” He said.

“How long do you think it will take?” Sparkler asked.

“Hard to say. But I will send regular updates on progress. Could be anywhere from a week to a month if I had to guess.” Night Shade explained.

Sparkler and Spike nodded. They figured it would take a bit. “Thanks for your help Night Shade.” Sparkler said.

“Yeah. You’re really saving our tails here.” Spike said.

“Anything to help the marefriend of the Twin Sister of Night Mare.” Night Shade said with a smile.

Back at the house, Pipp glanced around frantically, looking for a place to hide in the game of hide and seek she and Sunny had gotten into with the kids. She spied a closet door and smiled. “Perfect.” She said as she hurriedly rushed into the closet and closed the door. She giggled. “Heeheehee. Nopony’ll find me in here.” She said.

Or so she thought. Because a voice spoke up behind her. “Pipp? What are you doing? I’m hiding here!” Sunny said in a hushed voice.

Pipp whirled around and though it was dark, she could clearly see Sunny hiding in the closet. “Sunny! Rats. This was the perfect hiding spot.”

“Ready or not! Here I come!” They both heard Crystal call out. Pipp and Sunny froze. Knowing full well now that they were trapped in there, lest they wanted to be found. Seeing no other option, Pipp dived in and squeezed in next to Sunny. Glad it was dark to prevent Sunny from seeing her blushing.

After they got settled. It was quiet, then Sunny spoke up after a sec. “So. First time playing hide and seek eh?” She asked Pipp, going off what Pipp said earlier.

“Yep. Never quite had the experience before.” Pipp responded, trying to keep her cool.

“Cool.” Sunny responded. It wasn’t lost on her how awkward the situation currently was. And she could definitely feel her cheeks burning up.

“So. Izzy’s off to her cottage for the day. Did she say what she was getting?” Pipp asked.

“Arts and crafts supplies, some personal items, and something she called Mr. Fluffy Rabbit.” Sunny responded.

“Hehe. Maybe we can all make something with the kids sometime.” Pipp responded.

“That would be fun.“ Sunny responded. Her mind racing. Why is my heart beating as fast as it does whenever Izzy’s around? Sunny thought.

At that moment, they saw a faint shadow of hooves at the door, they made no sound. After a second, the hooves walked away. Sunny and Pipp breathed a sigh of relief. Pipp nodded. “Think it’s safe to try to go somewhere else?” She asked.

“If one of us is very quiet.” Sunny responded.

They carefully maneuvered so one of them could leave, but unfortunately luck was not on their side because Sunny tripped over something and she, Pipp, and a bunch of things came crashing down. Sunny landed on top of Pipp with a grunt from both of them.

Not ten seconds later, the door swung open and Crystal smiled triumphantly. “Aha! Found—“ Crystal stopped when she saw the scene. Sunny was laying on top of Pipp. She immediately blushed as her mind raced. “Ahem, I’ll just leave you two alone.” She said as she closed the door and walked off.

At first, Pipp and Sunny were confused as to what Crystal had been talking about, before it dawned on them what Crystal must have thought. They both blushed like mad and scrambled to their hooves, and rushed out of the closet. “Well that coulda gone better.” Sunny said as she lit her horn and cleaned up the mess, blushing like mad.

“Ahem. Yeah, it could’ve.” Pipp responded, reeling from what just happened. “Not that it was intentional or anything I mean…”

“Yeah. Ehehe. We weren’t doing anything.” Sunny responded. Closing the cleaned closet door. “Agree to never speak of this again?” She asked Pipp.

“Agreed.” Pipp responded.

Both of them finally stopped blushing and decided to go about their business and their new duty in helping Crystal locate the others. Both embarrassed by what happened, and for Sunny, it caused her mind to whirl around. What is this I’m feeling?

To be continued…

Episode 19: Hold Onto That Feeling!

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Sparkler galloped through Maretime Bay towards The Medley Delly. She had gotten a call from Winter-Moon saying she needed her help, and it sounded like she was in real danger, so after telling Spike to take Flurry home, she bolted into town. “By Faust I hope I’m not too late.” She said to herself as she ran through scenarios in her head.

Within minutes, she reached the Medley Delly, which had its windows covered from the inside so she couldn’t see into it. She turned the knob on the door and swung it open, and that’s when she saw it. The place was crawling with LADYBUGS. Sparkler’s jaw dropped. How and where did all these bugs come from?

She didn’t have a lot of time to think as she heard Winter’s voice from behind the DJ stand. “Sparkler? Is that you? Get these monsters out of here!” Winter screamed.

Sparkler picked her jaw off the floor and used her wings to hover over the bugs until she got to the DJ stand. She peered over and saw Winter Moon curled into a little ball shaking. “Winter? What happened? Where did all these ladybugs come from?” She asked.

“I don’t know!” Winter responded. “But I do know that they terrify me and I’m begging you to get rid of all of them! Please!” She cried.

Terrified of Ladybugs…just like Twilight… Sparkler shook her head. No, she couldn’t think about that right now. She lit her horn and activated a magnetism spell to a ball of tissue paper that she rolled up, the ladybugs all were pulled from whatever they were on and all came crashing into the toilet paper. She summoned a trash bag and promptly deposited the ball of ladybugs into it. She smiled as she tied the bag closed. “There. Problem solved.” She said.

Winter peaked her head out from behind the DJ stand and saw all the monsters in the trash bag. She smiled in relief. “Phew. Thank you Sparkler.” She said. “You saved my tail.” She added.

“No problem.” Sparkler responded. “I’m just surprised there was a vermin infestation.”

Winter nodded. “Yeah. Flappy Jack and Hurricane Storm went to Zephyr Heights to get some supplies, same with Sparkle Hearts and Twinkle Spark in Bridlewood, and Bender and Foxtrot went to the print shop to get flyers for the grand opening printed. So it was just me here.” She explained. “Sorry I had to call on you to do this.”

Sparkler chuckled. “Eh, you aren’t the first one to be afraid of ladybugs…” Sparkler trailed off, her smile fading. Although she was the first pony I ever met to have such a fear…

Winter noticed the change in mood in Sparkler. “Sparkler? Is something wrong?” She asked.

Sparkler sighed. She opened her mouth to answer before the door swung open and an angry growl filled the room. “Hey! What are you doing with my ladybugs?!” Asked a clearly angry Sprout.

Sparkler and Winter gasped and Sparkler whirled around to see Sprout standing at the door and looking angry.

Winter, being a restaurant owner, put on her manager face. “These are your bugs that infested our restaurant?” She asked.

Sprout nodded. “Yeah! But I never meant to infest your restaurant.” He said. “They were meant to infest her house!” He growled as he pointed directly at Sparkler.

Sparkler, upon her brain processing that information, became enraged. “I’m sorry, WHAT?!” She growled.

“Yeah! I was trying to bring those bugs to her house so she and her little monsters might move out and away from Maretime Bay and…I…shouldn’t…have…said…that…” Sprout’s ears drooped as his brain connected the dots of what he just confessed to, and to WHOM he confessed.

Sparkler’s mouth was agape. This pony, who had already nearly killed Melody, was trying to run her and her family out of town?! After her brain processed that information. She sneered at Sprout and approached him. Sprout wanted to run, but Sparkler lit her horn and ensured that he couldn’t. She got in his face and stared daggers into him. “Listen you featherbrain, you are in VERY hot water with me right now. Between nearly killing my daughter and THIS.” She held up the bag of ladybugs for Sprout to see. “I am well within my rights to press assault and harassment charges against you. But instead, here’s what’s going to happen.” Sparkler released Sprout. “You are going to leave this building, you are going to stay as far away from me and my family as possible, and if you ever come near me or my family for any reason not caused by Flurry Heart or by you being a customer at this establishment, I WILL be pressing charges. Am I clear?“ Sparkler asked.

Sprout somehow gained a ton of confidence because he was about to retort that threatening him also granted him the right to press charges, but was shut down when behind Sparkler, he saw Winter Moon standing there sneering at him, and she had a horn and wings too. So instead of retorting, he shrieked. “A PegaCorn runs this place!” With that, he bolted out of the building.

Sparkler was confused at his outburst, as far as she knew she was the only Alicorn in the room. She looked around, and her jaw dropped when she saw Winter, standing there with wings and a horn. “You’re an ALICORN?!” She exclaimed. Before, she saw Winter with a horn only. What the heck?!

Winter nodded as she folded her wings. “Yeah. I’ve been keeping my wings under wraps since coming here.” She said.

Sparkler had so many questions, why did she hide her wings? How was she an Alicorn, but out of all of them, one question, fueled by what Night Shade said earlier about using what they had available, Sparkler asked the question that was most definitely a beggar question. “Winter do you mind donating a magical signature sample to Canterlogic? They need all the Alicorn signatures they can get.” She said before she could stop it.

Winter couldn’t help but chuckle. “Of all the questions you probably have, THAT was your first?” She asked. “What do they need it for?” She asked.

Sparkler’s mind raced as it dawned on her how much she just screwed up right now, she just asked her boss, who just revealed herself as an Alicorn, to donate a sample of her magic to Canterlogic out of the blue. “I-It’s for a research project they’re doing. Uh, top level clearance, they don’t want anypony talking about it outside the build—“

“Sparkler.” Winter said, cutting her off. “You can relax, and drop the charade. I know exactly why you need Alicorn Magical signatures.” She said.

Sparkler’s eyes widened and she gulped. “Y-you do?” She asked. Not sure what to expect. Dear Faust I HOPE I’m not about to get fired for this. was a thought that came to her mind.

Winter nodded to Sparkler’s question. “Yes. I know exactly what’s going on. You and your family are trying to get back to your own time 1,019 years in the past.” Winter honed in on the real story.

At that, Sparkler gasped in surprise. Winter KNEW?! Sparkler glanced at the door, before glancing back at Winter. “…H-HOW?!” She asked, her mind struggling to keep up.

Winter Moon chuckled. “Follow me.” She said as she turned and walked towards the kitchen.

Sparkler, unable to think of anything else to do, followed Winter. Winter smiled as they entered the kitchen. “My siblings and I didn’t choose this location by chance. We’re here on purpose. Because we knew you’d be here. And we knew you’d need our help while trapped here.” She said.

Sparkler was close to panicking at this point. “You…you knew I’d be here, and you knew I’d need help…how? How did you know I’d need help? How do you know these things?” Sparkler didn’t know if she should run now or stay, but either way, she was becoming afraid of the answer, and she had an idea of what it could be.

Winter led Sparkler to a back room with the lights off, closed the door behind them, and went to turn on the light. “My siblings and I know.” She flipped on the light and Sparkler saw a sight that made her nearly jump. “Because you told us.” Winter said.

There, hanging on the wall, Sparkler saw a picture of herself, in a frame that had a caption. “The Medley Delly, inspired by Great Granny Sparkler.” She read aloud.

Sparkler couldn’t believe it. She just couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “You…you’re…” Sparkler stammered in horror of the time paradoxes she was SURE would come from this knowledge that she now possessed as she stared at the mare that was apparently her GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER!

Winter nodded. “Your great granddaughter. Yeah.” She said. “When I saw you come in for your interview, I was thrilled that we set up shop in time. We all knew that one day the story of your time travel adventure would unfold in the present. And we knew that we had to help you in any way we could.” She explained.

Sparkler shook her head. “Winter…is this why you hired me? Is this why it only took ten minutes for you to talk to your siblings?” She asked.

“We thought about outright just helping you financially, but future you specifically told us not to, because you hate having to accept handouts.” Winter explained.

Sparkler gasped. “That’s right!” She exclaimed. “I would say that…Winter…” She trailed off, not knowing what to say or do.

Winter just gave her a reassuring smile and draped a wing over her. “I also know that today is your six month anniversary with Great Granny Twily.” She said. “Don’t worry. It’s gonna be ok.” She said.

“Do my kids and I make it back? I mean, you know how this is going to go.” Sparkler responded.

Winter chuckled. “No time paradoxes have been caused yet, because so far everything that’s happened was supposed to happen. But rule number one of time travel, if one tells you what happens, it won’t happen.” She said.

Sparkler nodded. “Winter…I don’t know what to say…” She admitted. She was truly speechless.

Winter smiled. “Hey, we’re Medleys. And Medleys always have each other’s backs.” She said.

Sparkler smiled and nodded. She could agree with that sentiment. “Are you sure no time paradoxes have happened yet?” She asked.

“100% positive.” Winter responded. “From you finding Light and Dark to coming into this room, everything has happened as it was supposed to thus far.” She said.

Sparkler nodded. She would trust Winter on this, but still, the sheer fact that she now knew of her family’s future, it was nerve racking to say the least.

“Oh, and one more thing, if it’s not already clear, yes I’ll donate a magical signature.” Winter said.

At that, Sparkler just sighed and smiled, deciding to just roll with it. “Thanks Winter.” She said.

“Anything to help our awesome great granny.” Winter responded, hugging Sparkler.

Back at the house, Spike and Flurry had come back after the meeting with Canterlogic. Sparkler had sent a text ahead letting the others know what was going on.

The kids had since taken to drawing. Pedal smiled as she drew on her paper. “I’m gonna make a picture of all of us together with Mom and Mommy Twi. That might cheer mom up today.” She said.

“Ooh. Right, because today’s…that day.” Sprinkle responded.

“Yeah we should do something to cheer her up. I did notice she was a little down this morning.” Mystic said.

“What are you guys talking about?” Dark asked.

“It’s our parents’ six month anniversary today.” Sky responded without looking up from her picture. “Except they’re separated for it, through means out of their control.” She explained.

“You mean the time portal that brought all of you forward 1,019 years into the future?” Light asked.

The reaction was immediate, everypony in the room stopped what they were doing, whirled their heads around, and stared at Light and Dark. Including Sunny and Pipp, who had been reading a book on the couch.

“W-where did you get that idea?” Trail asked.

“Yeah. Time portal? Ehehe. That’s crazy.” Lightning said.

Light glanced at Dark before sighing. “I overheard Sparkler last night when I was up to go to the bathroom.” He revealed.

“We know where you’re really from.” Dark said.

Everypony continued to stare at them. Light put his hooves up in defense. “Hey, I wasn’t trying to overhear, I just happened to catch it and it piqued my curiosity.” He said.

For the moment, nopony moved, before Melody flared her wings, lit her horn, and got up in Light’s and Dark’s faces. “You both will keep this to yourself. The less ponies know about our origins, the better.” She said. “Got it?” She asked.

“Promise.” Dark said.

“We won’t say a word.” Light added.

Melody nodded and dimmed her horn and closed her wings. Light bit his lip. “But for real, today’s got to be hard for Sparkler.” Dark commented.

“Yeah.” Lumber said. “And not just for her.”

“Today’s actually the 6 month anniversary for the day mom and Mommy Twi adopted us Sextuplets too.” Crystal explained. “That day, we all became a family.”

“Ouch. Mega dang.” Dark said.

“Yeah.” Spike said.

After that, everypony fell into silence. Then, Melody came up with an idea. “Hey! I got an idea for how we could cheer mom up!” She said.

“Oh? What is it Melody?” Pipp asked.

Melody beamed as she turned to her siblings. “Let’s put on a performance for her! A musical number!” She exclaimed.

“You mean sing her a song?” Mystic asked.

“Bingo!“ Melody said. “And not just any song, the song that was performed 6 months ago today.” She said.

At that, Melody’s other siblings beamed at the idea. “Yeah! Let’s do that!” They said.

Light and Dark smiled. “Is there anything we can help with?” Light asked.

“As a matter of fact, do you two know how to play trumpets?” Melody asked.

Some time later, Sparkler and Winter were walking back to the house Sparkler and her kids were occupying. Sparkler was still reeling from the knowledge that apparently Winter-Moon and her six siblings were her great grandchildren. “Two incidents. There have only been two incidents since we were thrown here. Everything else has gone our way. And no time paradoxes?” She asked.

Winter chuckled. “None.” She said. “So don’t worry about it.”

Sparkler sighed. “I can’t STOP worrying about it. Do you know how terrified I am now that I know who your family is? Do you have any idea what power that information has?”

“I wouldn’t have told you if it wasn’t safe to do so.” Winter responded. “I promise Great Granny Sparky.”

Sparkler winced at that. “Uhm…just…Call me Sparkler, please? I’m not sure I’m ready to be called great grandma yet.” She said.

Winter laughed. “Alright fine. Sparkler it is…GG Sparky.” She teased.

“Winter!” Sparkler whined, but couldn’t help but laugh.

Winter chuckled. “I’m sorry Sparkler. But I’m not gonna pass up a teasing opportunity.” She said.

Sparkler just rolled her eyes and smiled. “At least I don’t need to come up with excuses why I need to leave work early should Canterlogic call.” She said.

“Nah. You just need to say they called and we’ll cover for you.” Winter said. “Though I would appreciate it if you gave us a heads up if you have a firm idea when you’ll be leaving so we can start finding a replacement for you.” She said.

“Deal.” Sparkler responded.

They approached the house, and Sunny came out the front door holding Flurry. “Hey there Sparkler!” She said. Flurry launching at Sparkler and hugging her.

Sparkler caught Flurry and wrapped a hoof around her. “Hey Flurry.” She said. “Hey Sunny. How’d today go?” She asked.

“You and Twilight are doing all the right things. For real, the kids are angels.” Sunny responded. She noticed Winter Moon. “Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Sparkler?” She asked.

“More like…I’m her descendant.” Winter responded.

Sunny’s jaw dropped. “Descendant?! Wow.” She said.

“I know right?” Sparkler said. “Had me shocked.” She said.

Sunny blinked a few times before nodding. “Ahem, anyway, the kids are out on the back porch. They wanted you to go back there as soon as you got home.” She said.

“For what reason?” Sparkler asked.

“You’ll see.” Sunny said.

Sparkler smiled before the three Alicorns walked around the house. As they approached the back, Sparkler could hear something. She recognized it as her kids but they were…singing? What’s going on? she thought.

As they rounded the corner, Sparkler could clearly hear Lumber start to sing vocals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVfIBmFxGKw

🎶Just a small town girl
Living in a lonely world
She took the midnight train
Going anywhere

Just a city Mare
Born and raised in Canterlot
She took the midnight train
Going anywhere

A herd of little fillies and colts
A host of pets and one Dragon

For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on!

Strangers, waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows, searching in the night.

Streetlights, ponies
Living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night!

Working hard to get my fill
Everypony wants a thrill
Paying anything to roll the dice
Just one more time

Some'll win, Some will lose
Some were born to sing the blues
Oh the journey never ends
It goes on and on and on and on

Strangers, waiting
Up and down the boulevard
Their shadows, searching in the night.

Streetlights, ponies
Living just to find emotion
Hiding somewhere in the night!

Don't stop believing
hold on to that feeling
Streelights, ponies

Don't stop believing
hold on to that feeling
Streelights, ponies
Don't Stop!🎶

The song came to an end and Sparkler was amazed, shocked, and nearly in tears. It became clear what just happened, her kids knew what today was and wanted to do something nice for her to cheer her up!

Melody, for her part, smiled as she ran up and hugged her mother. “Happy six month Anniversary mom!“ she exclaimed happily.

“We know you miss Mommy Twi so we thought we’d put on this little show to cheer you up.” Pedal explained.

“Yeah! Because this is also the six month anniversary of you adopting us.” Crystal said. “So we figured, why not do a celebration of that and you and Mommy Twi getting together?”

Ok, THAT got tears out of Sparkler as she smiled. “Awww. Kids.” All nine of her kids closed in and they all got into a group hug. “You’re right. Our Anniversaries include you too. Thank you. The performance was amazing!” She said.

“And thanks to the magic of digital video…” chimed in Pipp. Sparkler glanced around and saw that Sunny, Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, and Spike all had their phones out. “I can compile all the footage we just got to make one amazing music video of the performance.” She explained.

Sparkler smiled widely. “You guys were in on this?” She asked.

“We were too!” Light and Dark said excitedly, holding up the trumpets Pipp provided them. “Hey Mystic? Did we do good for only a few practice runs?” Light asked.

“You two did AWESOME. Thanks for your help.” Mystic said.

Sparkler chuckled. “We got some trumpeters among us.” She said.

Light and Dark beamed and hugged each other. Hearing praise meant that they were one step closer to Sparkler saying she’ll talk to Twilight. Overall, the day ended on a good note. Sparkler was particularly happy when Pipp told her that she’d edit all the footage she, Sunny, Zipp, and Hitch got into one music video for her to keep. “Twilight will definitely want to see it.” Sparkler had responded to that.

About an hour later, Sunny had returned home to her lighthouse and was rewatching her perspective of the performance from earlier when she heard the door open and the peppy voice of her marefriend. “Oh Sunny Bunny! I’m home!” Izzy called out.

Sunny beamed and galloped around the island in the kitchen and crashed into her marefriend in a loving hug. “Welcome home Izzy Kitty!” She said. Nuzzling Izzy on the cheek.

Izzy giggled as she gladly returned the nuzzle. “Somepony missed me.” She commented.

“What? I’m not allowed to miss hanging out with my marefriend?” She asked.

“Aww. I missed you too sweetie.” Izzy said as she pecked Sunny on the cheek with her lips.

Sunny blushed and smiled sheepishly. Izzy meanwhile trotted into the house and set the bag she was carrying on the island. “So, did I miss anything good here?” She asked.

“Pipp and I watched Sparkler’s kids while she was out in town, we played hide and seek, and they sang her a song upon her return.” Sunny explained. “I got the performance on video.”

Izzy beamed. “Ooh! You had a fun day!” She said.

“I did...” Sunny said, her smile wavering and her ears drooping.

Izzy noticed Sunny’s mood drop and raised an eyebrow. “Sunny Bunny? What’s wrong?” She asked.

Sunny sighed. “Izzy there’s something I think we need to talk about.” She said.

“What’s up?” Izzy responded.

Sunny took a deep breath, and began to talk about the incident in the closet, and how it seemed to have awakened something in her towards Pipp, while making sure that Izzy understood on no uncertain terms that her feelings towards her unicorn marefriend have not changed.

To be continued…

Episode 20: Evening Talking

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Sunny finished her story of the incident and the doors it appeared to have opened. Izzy listened intently, and at the end, raised an eyebrow. “So, You and Pipp were forced to hide in the closet during hide and seek, got caught in a suspicious position, and that seems to have awakened something in you?” She recapped.

“Yeah. I’m not sure what it is but it’s the same way I still feel about you.” Sunny responded, nervous as all heck.

Izzy smiled. “Sounds like you have a crush!” She said.

“It sure sounds like it, but that’s a problem.” Sunny said, her eyes glistening.

“Problem?” Izzy asked. “Why would it be a problem?”

“Because I feel something for another mare when you and I are already together. My feelings for you are still there, but they now exist alongside these new feelings. I feel like I’m not being faithful to you.” Sunny said. “How can I love somepony else when I already love you with all my heart?” She asked.

Izzy smiled and pulled Sunny into a hug. “Oh Sunny, you think you’re being a bad marefriend just cause you love somepony else in addition to me?” She asked. “I’ll put that worry to rest right now, you have nothing to worry about.” She said.

“I…I don’t?” Sunny asked.

“Yeah! You said you still love me. So I know you would never do anything to hurt me. And there’s nothing wrong with having feelings for two.” Izzy reassured her.

“Y-You really aren’t mad?” Sunny asked.

Izzy laughed, and locked lips with Sunny in a loving kiss, pulling back a few seconds later. “Nah. I ain’t mad. If loving two mares makes you happy, I’m all for it.” She said. “Ooh! You me and Pipp can all be in one happy three way relationship. We can share the same bed, live in this house together. It could be great!”

Sunny watched as Izzy worked herself into excitement over this, and she couldn’t help but smile as a tear or two rolled down her cheeks. She was so worried Izzy would be furious, but she seemed happy. It’s Izzy you ding dong. That’s just who she is. She thought to herself as she tackled Izzy and locked lips with her in a passionate kiss, pulling back after a good moment. “I’m so glad you aren’t mad!” Sunny exclaimed happily. “I knew I should tell you but I was so worried you’d leave me over it.” She said.

Izzy laughed and hugged Sunny. “I love you and you still love me. That’s all I need to know.” She said as she nuzzled Sunny on the cheek. “I love you Sunny Bunny.”

“I love you too Izzy Kitty.” Sunny responded. It was as genuine as one could get. She really did love Izzy and she was happy Izzy wasn’t mad at her.

“Ugh! It was so embarrassing!” Pipp exclaimed as she dramatically fell onto her back on the couch.

Zipp raised an eyebrow. “So, Crystal thought you and Sunny were…” She asked.

“Yeah. I bet she did.” Pipp responded. “She should not have been able to think that.”

“Considering what Melody went through for three years. She’d likely talk about it to her sisters.” Zipp commented.

“Ugh. I hate ponies who do that to foals.” Pipp said. “But that’s besides the point.”

“Yeah. Honestly Pipp? You should just tell Sunny and Izzy.” Zipp said.

“How do I even go about doing that when they’re already a couple? It’s gonna look like I’m intruding!”

“Well, you won’t know if you don’t try.” Zipp said.

“You make it sound easy.” Pipp said. “Does that mean you finally talked to the sheriff?” She asked as she sat back up.

“No, I haven’t.” Zipp said with a blush. “But I do know that I want to.”

“What’s this? You're telling me to do something that you make sound easy but you yourself haven’t done it?” Pipp asked.

“At least I’ve never been caught in a compromising position with him.” Zipp retorted.

“Can we move on from that?” Pipp asked.

“Only if you say you’ll talk to them.” Zipp said. “Otherwise I’ll keep teasing you about it.” She said.

“Ugh. Fine, I’ll think of something and talk to them.” Pipp said with an eye roll.

“And I’ll do the same for Hitch.” Zipp said. The sisters shook on it.

“So.” Pipp said. “Any ideas?”

Meanwhile, Night Shade was walking home from Canterlogic, after a full day of planning with his team for constructing the Timegate, he was looking over the schematics on his phone as he walked. “Hm. So there were a baker’s dozen of Alicorn magical signatures in the original accident. And now we have…10 available now. Meaning we’re short three.” He mused. “I wonder if we can mimic the signatures with infusion…

“Night Shade? Is that you?” He heard somepony say. He looked up from his phone and glanced around until he saw a pony coming out of the Medley Deli, and his face lit up.

“Hey! Winter Moon! How’s it going cous?” He asked his cousin.

Winter smiled as she trotted up next to him and began walking alongside him. “I’m doing great. Had a great time with Great Granny Sparky after she saved me from a Ladybug Infestation.” She said.

“Yikes. What happened?” Night Shade asked.

“A pony named Sprout meant for the bugs to infest Sparkler’s current residence to run her out of town.” Winter explained.

“Ugh. Sprout. Seriously, he needs to learn that enough is enough.” Night Shade said with an eye roll.

Winter nodded. “Yeah.” She said.

The next moment was silence, before Night Shade suddenly had an epiphany. He was standing next to an Alicorn, and Alicorn Magic was needed for the Timegate. “Winter? Did Sparkler ask you to donate a magical signature?” He asked.

“She did.” Winter responded. “I told her I’d donate whatever she needed to get home.” She said.

Night Shade smiled. “Perfect! Then we have 11 magical signatures. Only down two from the original accident!” He beamed.

“Do you really think it will work?” Winter asked.

“We’ll see.” Night Shade responded. “But one thing’s for sure. The more magical signatures we can obtain, the better.” He said. “And the sooner we get them home, the better.” He added.

Winter nodded, and couldn’t help but chuckle. “You shoulda seen her face when I told her I was her great granddaughter. I’m pretty sure I nearly broke her.” She commented.

“Oh tell me about it.” Night Shade said. “She went slack jawed when I revealed my heritage.” He said. “But hey. That’s the nature of time travel and meeting your descendants.”

“True that.” Winter responded.

They continued to chat all the way until they had to part ways to go to their houses. They both were glad they lived in the same town now, because it allowed them to work together to get their family home.

To be continued…

Episode 21: A Grand Opening Bang Pt 1

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Sparkler looked herself over in the mirror. She was wearing the uniform issued to her by The Medley Deli. A simple blue shirt with a name tag saying her name and position, pinned to her left side of the shirt. She also wore a headband on which sat the Medley Deli logo…her cutie Mark. That combined with her Twilight Manepin and her Blue bow and you get Head Waitress Sparkling Medley. “…Should I cover my cutie mark?“ She asked. Given she was already mistaken for the owner of the restaurant, she wondered if she should remove any visual clues that she might be the owner.

“I’d say wait for somepony to owner ID you before covering your Cutie Mark.” A Unicorn responded.

“Yeah. You shouldn’t need to cover it up. Just use your words and correct their thinking.” Another Unicorn said.

Sparkler just sighed and smiled. Sparkle Hearts and Twinkle Spark, Winter Moon’s Sisters and more of her great grandchildren, came by to deliver her work uniform the day of the grand opening of The Medley Deli. It was still incredibly weird that she’d be hired for a job by her future family. “I trust when Winter said there weren’t any Time Paradoxes…but I can’t stop worrying about it. Specifically because now I know my children will have children, who will in turn have children.” She said.

“Well like Winter said. You wouldn’t know if it wasn’t supposed to happen.” Sparkle said.

“If you say so.” Sparkler responded, deciding to let it go.

Twinkle smiled. “Now, one last thing before we head over to the grand opening. How to deal with Silver-Manes.” She said.

Sparkler chuckled. She found it hilarious that Silver-Mane became a meme, sure served him right. “There’s an actual procedure?” She asked.

“Oh you have no idea how many Silver-Manes there are here.” Twinkle said.

“There’s a whole forum about ponies’ encounters with them.” Sparkle commented.

“Yikes.” Sparkler responded.

“Yeah. It’s insane.” Sparkle said.

“But it did give us some signs to watch out for.” Twinkle explained.

“Good.” Sparkler responded.

“Now, things to watch out for.” Twinkle started. “One, If they say they know the owner for any reason, they’re lying.” She said. “And if they say they’ll call the owner on you, feel free to call one of us over.”

“Two, they like to cause scenes and go as far as threaten legal action. Don’t fear. Because there are cameras everywhere in the restaurant and on the exterior to watch the immediate area.” Sparkle said.

“And your badge doubles as an audio recording device.” Twinkle added. “So we’ll know for sure EXACTLY what happened.” She said.

Sparkler smiled. “My badge is a microphone? I’m starting to like this place.” She said.

Sparkle nodded. “But the best way to shut a Silver-Mane up is to throw their own logic back at them, or make some quick quip remark.” She said. “That gets them to shut up most of the time.”

“Got it.” Sparkler responded.

“And lastly, if they demand to speak to a manager, just tell them that YOU’RE the manager. Because in essence, you kinda are.” Twinkle said.

“Ok, they’re lying when they say they know the owner, they like to cause scenes and threaten legal action, cameras and microphones are my friends, throwing their logic back at them and making quippy remarks shuts them up. And if they ask for a manager, I’m the manager.” Sparkler recapped. “Am I missing anything?” She asked.

“If things get REALLY out of hoof, you have our permission to kick them out and bring it to us so we can decide to permanently ban them or not.” Sparkle said.

Sparkler smiled and nodded. “Got it. Thanks for the tips.” She said.

“Hey, gotta make sure ol’great granny Sparkler doesn’t get walked on by a generation of idiots.” Twinkle chuckled.

Sparkler laughed. “Ok, as I told Winter. PLEASE just call me Sparkler. I’m too young to be a great granny.” She said.

“Isn’t that argument shot down some by the fact that you’re immortal?” Sparkle asked.

“Still. I’m only 22 years old. Mother age, but not grandma age, let alone great granny age.” Sparkler responded.

Oh are you in for a shock in a couple of months. Sparkle thought as the three of them trotted downstairs and walked into the living room, where Sparkler’s kids, Spike, and Flurry were. Spike smiled when he saw Sparkler. “Looking good Head Waitress Sparkler!” He said with a thumbs up.

“Thanks Spike.” Sparkler said.

“I wish we could come with you.” Melody said.

Sparkler chuckled. Her kids were disappointed when she said she couldn’t take them with her. “Oh relax Melody. Sunny Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp agreed to bring you all to the Medley Deli for dinner.” She said.

“Free of charge of course. Family discount.” Twinkle commented.

Sparkler just kept her mouth shut. While yes she hated having to rely on handouts, and often would choose to refuse them if she didn’t need them, it was pretty common for restaurants to treat family members to free food at the location. “If I don’t take your order, please try to pick the most nutritious items. Also no peanuts at all.” She told them.

“Scared Melody will have an allergic reaction eh?” Sprinkle asked.

“We already nearly lost her once on this adventure, and her peanut allergy is lethal.” Sparkler deadpanned. “Of course I’m gonna be extra cautious.”

The kids, Spike, and Twinkle and Sparkle all laughed. “Fair enough.” Sprinkle said.

“We’ll make sure to eat healthy and keep from dying.” Light said.

“Good.” Sparkler responded. With the arrival of Sunny, Pipp, Zipp, and Izzy at that time, Sparkler, Sparkle, and Twinkle headed off for work. Although they were delayed by Sunny for a few seconds.

“Hey Sparkler?” Sunny asked. “I had an epiphany, with you here I can get some answers. I have questions about Twilight and ancient Equestria. Mind if I probe your mind for a bit?” She asked.

“Can’t right now Sunny, need to get to work. But feel free to probe the kids.” Sparkler responded. “I’m sure they’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.” She said in a way that sent a secret message to her kids. Answer any questions she has. She and her friends are helping us, it’s the least we can do.

The kids got the message and nodded. “Yeah. We can quell your curiosity.” Sprinkle said.

“Ask away!” Lightning remarked.

Sunny beamed with excitement as Sparkler and her two great granddaughters left for work.

As expected. The grand opening was a big event and the restaurant was pretty packed immediately, Sparkler found herself getting to work immediately, going to tables, taking orders, and bringing them to patrons. Never thought I’d be a waitress. But at least it’s a paying job to keep food on the table. She thought about an hour into her shift as she walked to a new table. Clearing her throat, she smiled and ran through her greeting spiel.

“Hello there. Welcome to the Medley Deli, I’m Sparkler, I’ll be your server today, may I start you off with something to drink?” She asked the patrons.

One of the mares, a Unicorn, scoffed at Sparkler. “No. You can start us off with a resignation and a good word for me so I can have your job.” The mare said.

Sparkler blinked. “I’m…sorry?” She asked, she wasn’t sure but there was something familiar about this mare, specifically her attitude.

“You heard me.” The mare responded. “Resign. And recommend me for your job. Ms. Copperbottom is my name that you will give them.” The Unicorn demanded.

Sparkler internally gasped. It was the mare that mistook her for the owner, and then told her to get out because she was sure they’d hire her. THAT’S where I recognized it. It’s that Silver-Mane!

“Ahem. Are you deaf? Why are you still here? Go do what I ordered. Now!” Ms. Copperbottom demanded.

That snapped Sparkler back to reality and her brain immediately came up with a response to shut this mare up. “I’m sorry Ma’am. But we ran out of, and have since discontinued that menu option before we even opened. Would you like something from the ACTUAL menu?” She asked in her most polite voice. “If not then I will have to kindly ask you to leave. We’re pretty busy here and there’s a waitlist.” She told Copperbottom.

Copperbottom’s mouth hung agape, before she shut it. She grumbled and ordered a drink from the menu. Sparkler wrote that, and the others’ choices on her notepad and walked off. She reached the counter where Bender, yet another Great Grandchild, was running the drinks station. “Two large Pepsis and an Iced Tea Bender.” She told him.

“On it.” Bender responded. “By the way, I heard the conversation you had with that Silver-Mane. You nailed it.” He said. “A PERFECT comeback.

Sparkler chuckled. “Slapping her with the truth seemed like the best option.” She responded. I’m WAY too proud of myself for that one. She smiled at the thought. She was going to like working there.

To be continued…

Episode 22: A Grand Opening Bang Pt 2

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“What do you mean I need a reservation to add ponies to my party?” Copperbottom asked in a condescending tone.

“If you want to add ponies to your party, you may talk to Flappy Jack up front about a reservation.” Sparkler told Ms. Copperbottom. “Otherwise we cannot seat you at another table.”

“What about THAT one?” Copperbottom demanded, pointing at a very large table. “That one’s empty! Just move us to that table!” She demanded.

Sparkler took a deep breath. Ms. Copperbottom was proving to be a difficult patron to say the least. In the few hours she had been a patron, The Silver-Mane would criticize Sparkler about every little thing. From the way she wore her headband, to the fact that she was wearing a “dangerous” manepin and an unprofessional bow. Plus a few attempts to say Sparkler messed up, which Sparkler, thanks to her phone connecting to her microphone badge, was able to disprove by playing back Copperbottom’s own words right back at her.

Now, she was trying to get a larger table because ‘she wanted the whole family to eat here.’ Sparkler smiled her polite smile. “That table is reserved. And the reservers are due here very soon.” She explained. “I’m sorry ma’am, but I cannot move you.” She apologized.

“No, no, you CAN move us. It’s first come first serve and we were here first! I want to speak to your manager!” Copperbottom growled at Sparkler.

Does this lady not know how reservations for large groups work? Sparkler mentally asked herself. On another hoof, she grinned when Copperbottom demanded to speak to a manager. “I AM the manager ma’am. And I will tell you again, the large table over there is reserved. And nothing is going to change that.” She informed the mare. “Now I would advise you to drop the matter before I’m forced to escalate the situation.” She sternly told her.

Copperbottom was about to say something, before one of her companions nudged her and gave her a look that said shut up. So she did. Sparkler smiled and walked off to the front. I’m sure the kids are getting a kick out of this. She mused. Knowing full well Pedal, Mystic, and Sprinkle were all watching through the mental link, and relaying it to the rest of the kids.

Outside, Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp brought Melody, her siblings, Spike and Flurry to the restaurant for dinner as promised. And they saw that the restaurant was packed. “Yikes. It’s like the whole town is here.” Zipp said.

“It IS the grand opening of the Medley Deli.” Sunny responded. “So there are going to be a lot of ponies here.”

“Good thing Winter Reserved a table for us. Come on!” Trail said. “I wanna get in there and see if we can catch a live Silver-Mane conversation.” He chuckled.

Everypony chuckled at that. Pedal, Sprinkle and Mystic had been relaying conversations to the others. And they were proud of their mom for being a smarty pants. They all walked in and saw their mom with Flappy Jack. Whom they met the other night when Winter, through Sparkler’s invitation, brought her six siblings over for a family dinner…they still found it weird they were dining with their future family, but at the same time, they were happy that they DID have family here.

Sparkler and Flappy Jack smiled when they saw the kids and Sunny, Izzy, Pipp and Zipp enter. “Hello there. Welcome to the Medley Deli. Do you have a reservation?” Flappy Jack asked as Sparkler pulled out a bunch of menus from the side bucket.

“It should be under Medley.” Sunny explained, based on what she had been told.

Flappy Jack nodded and glanced at his book. He quickly found the name. “Ah yes. 4 adults, 13 minors. We got a table all ready for you. Sparkler?” He asked, giggling to himself.

Sparkler beamed and gestured for them to follow her. “Right this way everypony.” She said as she led them to the largest table in the restaurant. She helped her kids into the chairs, and secured Flurry in the High Chair, and then started her spiel, forgoing the introduction. “Can I start everypony off with something to drink? I recommend for the kids the kiddie sized apple juice.” She said.

“Yeah we’ll have that!” The kids said.

Sparkler chuckled and wrote that down, also writing down a sippy cup of warm milk for Flurry. “And how about the adults?” She asked.

“I’ll just have a water.” Sunny said.

“Iced Tea.” Izzy said.

Pipp was about to order her drink when they all heard a clearly angry voice. “Ugh! I can’t believe they held a table for a bunch of brats!” Proclaimed Copperbottom, very loudly.

Sparkler let out a sigh. “Pipp? Zipp?” She asked, ignoring the mare.

“Pepsi.” Pipp said.

“Orange Juice.” Zipp said.

Sparkler wrote those down and nodded. “Alright I’ll be back with your—“

“Ahem!” They heard Copperbottom clear her throat, very obviously rudely.

“—Your drinks as soon as possible.” Sparkler finished. Groveling to herself. Ok, it WAS fun. But now she’s REALLY starting to get on my nerves. She thought as she trotted over to Copperbottom’s table. “Yes. Is there a problem here ma’am?” She asked.

“I demand you kick those brats out and move our party to that table. Those kids will just mess up the whole night!” Copperbottom demanded. “We deserve that table since we were here first!” She growled.

Oh she is REALLY pushing it. Sparkler thought as she prepared her next line. With her friendliest smile, she let it rip. “I’m sorry ma’am but I won’t be kicking out that party of 17. Not only do they NEED that table. But they’re here at the owner’s own invitation.” She informed Copperbottom. Bracing herself for the inevitable crapshow.

“There’s no way those brats know the owner!” Copperbottom growled. “Kick them out!”

“Ma’am, this is your last warning. Either settle down or I’ll have to ask you to leave.” Sparkler told her in her serious voice.

Copperbottom got the message, and shut up, albeit with a lot of pouting. Sparkler nodded and returned to her work and getting the next order. I almost HOPE she does something so I can kick HER out…I’m gonna have to keep an eye on the kids’ table. She said as she ordered the drinks from Bender, for some reason she had a bad feeling about this.

At that moment, everypony there heard the Mic boom and all turned their attention to the stage, where Winter smiled in front of the mic. “Hello everypony! Welcome to the Grand Opening of the Medley Deli!”

Sparkler smiled as the crowd cheered. Winter had been doing this every hour for the new patrons that weren’t here earlier. She knew what was coming.

“On behalf of everypony here, I just want to say thanks for being here with us to celebrate the opening of the Medley Deli. One of the fun things we like to do here is put on a show for some dinner entertainment. Floor staff, let’s put on a show!” She lit her horn and activated the DJ system as the crowd cheered.

The music started and Winter and the floor staff started singing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trIfgp5M3cw

🎶Guys I think we know what we are gonna do
We got this stage
we got these lights
We got this audience too

With a little inspiration
we’d be ready to go
Well inspiration and some music

Yeah! We’re gonna put on a show!

Spotlights hooflights
Music choreography
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

It’s all live there’s no
cinematography
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

Singing dancing
rocking to the melody
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

Waiters waitresses
moving to the groovy beat

We’re gonna put on a show!

Put on a show!🎶

The spotlight shined on Sparkler, who started leading the next part.

🎶It’s the best way to dine
Dare you to try something else

If you’ll share it with us
We’re gonna share it with you

If you’ve got nowhere to go
For like an hour or so
Sit back and relax

(So many notes!)
We’re gonna put on a show!

Spotlights hooflights
Music choreography
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

It’s all live there’s no
cinematography
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

Singing dancing
rocking to the melody
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

Waiters waitresses
moving to the groovy beat
We’re gonna put on a show!

We’re gonna put on a show!

Spotlights hooflights
Music choreography
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

It’s all live there’s no
cinematography
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

Singing dancing
rocking to the melody
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

Waiters waitresses
moving to the groovy beat
(We’re gonna put on a show!)

We’re gonna put on a show!🎶

The song came to an end and Winter and the floor staff all bowed to a cheering crowd.

Over at their table, Lightning smiled as he closed up his camcorder. “I am SO glad Winter told me about these performances!” He exclaimed.

“That was awesome!” Some of the other kids said.

Sparkler smiled as she got the drinks and brought them over to the table. “How did you all enjoy that?” She asked.

“You were awesome!” Sunny said.

“I so wish I was live-streaming that.” Pipp commented.

Sparkler chuckled as she passed out the drinks. “Not sure if Winter would’ve liked that. But it’s not like we’ll do a lot of Medley Deli exclusive songs.” She mused. “Alright. Here are your drinks. Are you guys ready to order?” She asked.

“We’re still looking over the menu.” Melody said.

“Yeah. The performance distracted us.” Lumber pointed out.

Sparkler chuckled. “Alright, I’ll be back in a few.” She said as she left to go serve another table. Well. Aside from the Silver-Mane, this is going pretty well so far. Hopefully it stays like—

“Why did you bring those two rejects here?! They shouldn’t be out in public!” Came a familiar voice that made Sparkler frown. She turned back around and her eyes widened when she saw Ms. Copperbottom interacting with Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, and her charges. Oh No. No no no this is NOT gonna happen. She thought. She knew exactly who Copperbottom was talking about and it made her blood boil. She stormed back over while Copperbottom went on a rant.

“Those two retards should be kept out of sight, do you WANT ponies to make fun of you?” She asked.

Pipp, Zipp, Sunny, Izzy, and pretty much everypony were too shocked to say anything. Sparkler cleared her throat to announce her presence. “Excuse me, what is going on here?” She asked.

Copperbottom turned to her and growled at her. “You will kick those two.” She pointed at Light and Dark. “Out of this establishment immediately. They’ll scare customers away!” She said.

“Ma’am. They have just as much right to be here—“ Sparkler started before Copperbottom cut her off.

“No, they don’t. They don’t deserve to be out in public with those defects. They should be abandoned. Just like I abandoned these two when they were born!” Copperbottom screamed at Sparkler.

And that’s when the entire restaurant stopped, and went dead silent. All eyes were staring at the commotion. Sparkler’s mind was reeling. Did this lady just imply that Light and Dark were HER children?! And she INTENTIONALLY abandoned them?! Sparkler was actually speechless.

Light and Dark’s mouths were agape. They honestly believed they would never meet their birth mother…and yet their memories of their mother’s face matched Copperbottom’s face exactly. “Wait…YOU’RE our mom?” Light asked after a few seconds.

Copperbottom scoffed. “I’m ashamed to say I gave birth to you two. You two were supposed to be the perfect twin batponies. But all you are are disappointments that would’ve ruined my image. So I dumped you off somewhere and left you to rot.” She said, acting like she was proud of it.

That crushed Light and Dark. They couldn’t believe it. Their mother actually DID abandon them for their appearance. Light was already on the brink of tears and Dark was fast approaching that stage. How could anypony do that to a foal?

Copperbottom wasn’t yet though. “The world has no room for defective retards that don’t even have a complete face. They deserve to rot in a dumpster and go to Tartarus for their hideous appearance.” She ranted.

As Copperbottom continued to rant and spread vile things about the children she very much intentionally abandoned. Something inside Sparkler snapped. She lit her horn and shut Copperbottom up. “Stop. Just, stop. You can think what you want but you will not put down these two children who have been nothing but angels since I met them. You will return to your seat and knock off this behavior or I WILL ask you to leave!” She growled. “They have just as much right to be here as you do. And I will NOT kick them out for being themselves.” She said as she released Copperbottom’s mouth. “Now SIT!” She told her.

Copperbottom sat there as if she had just been struck by lightning. For the moment, nopony said a word. And then Copperbottom exploded. “How DARE you! Do you know who I am? You will not talk to me like that! I want to see—“

“No.” Sparkler cut her off. “No, you will not be talking to my manager or the owner. You will either sit back down in your seat or leave. Those are your only two options.” Sparkler said sternly. Knowing she should kick her out but didn’t want to ruin her dinner (even though at this point Copperbottom was asking for it.)

“Are you going to kick out this pack of brats and move us to this table to make it up to us for this ruined evening?” Copperbottom asked in a rude tone.

“No! There will be no compensation, and I will not kick out a party that hasn’t caused any trouble.” Sparkler shot back. “Now I will not ask again, SIT, DOWN!” She growled.

Copperbottom grumbled, and went to start back to her seat. Sparkler watched her. And when she was just about to sit down, Sparkler believed it over so she started to walk away. But that’s when she heard screaming and saw table utensils flying. She whirled around for the source of the clear magic and saw a sight that shocked her. Copperbottom had summoned all the sharp utensils and aimed them at

“No! Don’t—“ Sparkler started to scream at Copperbottom before the utensils launched straight for Light and Dark, and ONLY those two.

Until then Sunny had been frozen in shock, but when she saw the sharp utensils flying toward them, she snapped out of it and lit her horn, creating a shield that stopped the Utensils in their tracks. Copperbottom snarled as she made the utensils pound on the shield.

Light and Dark, for their part, took cover under the table. Was their birth mother SERIOUSLY trying to kill them?! “Is this a dream?!” Asked Dark.

“More like a nightmare!” Light exclaimed.

After getting over her shock at the truly vile acts she was witnessing, Sparkler lit her horn and formed a shield that covered the entire table. “Ma’am! Stop!” She growled.

Winter got off the phone with sheriff Hitch after reporting a major disturbance, and went back out to help. She lit her horn and all the utensils were ripped from Copperbottom’s magical grasp and returned to the tables they originated from. “Ma’am! Stop this behavior right now!” She growled as she stomped over to Copperbottom. “You have been rude, critical of our staff, and you have harassed other customers. Up until now we were willing to let you either knock it off, or ask you to leave tonight. But after you just tried to KILL a pair of children. Consider yourself permanently banned from this establishment! Sheriff Hitch is on his way to escort you out!” She growled at Copperbottom.

While Copperbottom started spewing profanities and screaming her head off that the two defective kids should be the ones to be banned. Winter glanced at Sparkler and nodded, silently telling her to get Light and Dark out of there for their genuine safety.

Sparkler nodded and quickly got Light and Dark out of the restaurant while Copperbottom started lighting her horn and actually wrecking the place.

…

Sparkler took them to the side of the building and sat with them. Light and Dark held it together for approximately five seconds before the floodgates opened and tears started rolling down their cheeks. Sparkler scooped them up in her wings and held them in a comforting hug. “Hey, hey, shhhh. It’s ok. It’s ok.” She cooed. “Let it all out.”

While Light and Dark continued to cry over what they just learned and what just happened, Sparkler was trying her absolute hardest to not go back in there and buck the Silver-Mane into next week. Never before had she witnessed such vileness before. Light and Dark really had been angels since she ran into them. Nopony deserved to be treated like that. And to go as far as to TRY to kill them?! She really IS a Silver-Mane!

After a few moments of Light and Dark crying their eyes out. It died down and they backed out of the hug. “This whole time…We had the theory that our appearance had something to do with it…” Light said, sniffling.

“But she implied that it was the ONLY reason…” Dark said.

“I’m so sorry you two. You didn’t deserve what that witch did to you. You're perfect just the way you are.” Sparkler said.

“You think so?“ Light asked.

“I know so. Anypony would be lucky to call you their sons. I know I’m lucky to be able to be your foster parent.” Sparkler responded, smiling.

Light and Dark saw Sparkler’s smile and they smiled back. At that moment, they decided to go for it. “Can we go back with you to 1003?” Light asked.

Sparkler’s smile faded. “W-what?” She asked. “What do you mean back to 1003?” She asked. I don’t remember telling them—

“We uh…kinda overheard you spilling the beans one night when we went to the bathroom.” Dark explained.

“We promise we didn’t MEAN to. But our hypersensitive ears just picked it up and we got curious.” Lightning explained.

“We’re sorry for eavesdropping.” Dark apologized.

Sparkler sighed. “It’s ok guys. I’m not mad. But please understand that that is information that CANNOT get out.” She told them.

“We know. Melody already made us promise.” Light said.

“But if our own mother doesn’t want us, there’s nothing left for us here.” Dark told Sparkler. “And we don’t want the fun we’ve had with you to end.” He added.

At that moment, Sparkler realized the full extent of what Light and Dark were asking. “You…want me to adopt you?” She asked.

“Yeah. We want to be a part of your family.” Light and Dark responded.

Sparkler bit her lip. In truth, she had been thinking about adopting Light and Dark herself. She’d bring it to Twilight to get her opinion. But the scene she just witnessed solidified her decision. “I…I can’t promise that you will be a part of the family.” She told them the truth. “I have to talk to Twilight. My Significant other.” She explained.

“Yeah. We know all about you two.” Light said.

“But will you please talk to her?” Dark asked.

Sparkler smiled and wrapped her wings around Light and Dark. “I promise I will.” She said. “And even if she says no. I promise you that I’ll make sure you’re adopted by a loving family.” She said.

Light and Dark beamed and squeezed Sparkler tight. “Thank you!” They said.

Sparkler nodded and just hugged them.

A moment later, there was a throat clearing and the three turned to see Hitch standing there. “Excuse me, I hate to interrupt.” He said. “But there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.” He said.

Sparkler nodded as she and the boys got up and walked out from the side of the building. “Yes Hitch?” She asked.

“I checked the cameras and gathered witness statements. Yikes.” Hitch said. “Talk about a grand opening with a bang.”

“Yeah.” Sparkler said. “She’s arrested right?” She asked.

“Harassment, child abuse, child abandonment, child endangerment, attempted murder, she’ll be looking at a LONG prison sentence at least.” Hitch explained. “And as Light’s and Dark’s legal guardian being their foster parent, would you like to press charges against her?” Hitch asked.

“Do you know when the trial will be?” Sparkler asked. “Because the second a way home opens for us, we'd very much like to get out of this insanity as soon as possible.”

Hitch laughed. “I don’t blame you.” He said. “As for the trial. Given the amount of video, and audio evidence, and witnesses, I doubt very much you’ll even need to testify in court.” He explained. “Although I doubt it would do much since her criminal behavior will almost certainly land her a life sentence.” He said.

Sparkler smiled. “I just want her to be far away from Light and Dark.” She said.

Hitch nodded. “Right.” He said.

Light glanced into the restaurant and saw the place completely trashed. “Whoa. What happened in there?” He asked.

“Hehe. Copperbottom went crazy.” Hitch explained.

“Yeah!” Winter said as she stomped out. “And I don’t know if you’re pressing charges Sparkler, but I sure as heck am. She caused a LOT of damage.” She said. “Ugh! Some ponies.”

“On the plus side.” Apple Brittle, who stepped out of the restaurant after doing damage control. “Y’all got a good story to tell on the Forum.”

Winter rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Hey Sparkler, we’re gonna need to close down again to fix all the damage. Mind helping us?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded. “Anytime you need me, I’ll be there.” She said.

Winter smiled and turned to Light and Dark. “You two ok?” She asked.

“Yeah. We’ll be fine.” Light said.

“But we’re hoping Twilight says yes when mom asks her about adopting us.” Dark added.

Sparkler’s, Winter’s, Apple Brittle’s, and Hitch’s eyes widened. “Mom?” They all asked.

“Yeah?” Light responded. “Is that wrong?” He asked.

Sparkler thought for a moment, before laughing. “No. Nothing’s wrong with that.“ She said. “Just surprised how quickly you used the term.”

“Why wait when you’ve been a better mom to us in just ten minutes than that witch in 5 years?” Dark asked.

That got everypony laughing. Sparkler hugged Light and Dark. “Fair enough.” She said.

They all went back into the restaurant to see the extent of the damage. The Silver-Mane surely did a number. But it could be rebuilt. So it worked out. The Silver-Mane was arrested, and Sparkler promised to talk to Twilight about Light and Dark. So overall, happy ending.

To be continued…

Episode 23: The Lightning Vlog

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Lightning checked the camcorder to make sure it was on and set to record. Once he was satisfied, he held the camera up with his magic and smiled and waved.

“Hey there Mommy Twi! It’s Lightning! We’re now a month and a half into our incursion into the future. So I thought I’d give you a recap of all the adventures here and meet the friends we’ve made along the way!”

“Hey Lightning. What’re you doing?” Light asked as he and Dark entered the frame.

“Making an update vlog for Twilight, or as I call her, Mommy Twi.”

“Cool!” Dark said.

Lightning smiled as he looked back at the camera. “Mommy Twi, these are two of our new friends I was just talking about. Light-Wing and Dark-Wing! Mom became their foster parent after their birth mom turned out to be an old witch. If she hasn’t talked to you about taking them in as your legal sons when we get back. Please remind her.”

“What? Mom might forget about us?” Light asked.

“Just making sure. Mom’s not perfect.” Lightning said. “When we get back she’s probably gonna be overjoyed seeing Mommy Twi again.”

“Oh ok.” Dark said as he waved to the camera.

“Hi there Twilight! Hope to meet you in pony soon!” Light told the camera.

Light smiled as he started turning the camera around. “Say hi to Mommy Twi everypony!” He told his siblings.

“Hi mommy Twi!“ All the kids said.

Lightning smiled and aimed the camera at Sunny and Izzy, who were the babysitters for the day while Sparkler was at work. “Hey Sunny! Izzy! I’m making a vlog for mommy Twi and want to introduce her to all the friends we’ve made along the way! Wanna say something?” He asked.

Sunny and Izzy beamed. Izzy waved to the camera. “Hi there Twilight! My name’s Izzy.” Izzy said.

“And I’m Sunny! It’s been a real honor to know your family. Don’t worry, they’re staying safe and your kids have been nothing but angels.” Sunny said.

Lightning smiled as he took back the center of the frame. “Sunny and Izzy have been our most regular Foalsitters when Mom can’t be around to watch us. Be it from work or from Canterlogic to work with them on finding a way home for us. Sunny seems to be your biggest fan and has been asking us questions about ancient Equestria.”

“1,019 questions to be exact.” Sunny remarked.

“Yeah. Anyway, Let’s go meet some more of our new friends!” He said.

Soon, Lightning, Light, and Dark were in the Sheriff’s office. Lightning smiled at the camera. “This is the Sheriff’s office. Where Hitch Trailblazer and his partner watch over the increasing Maretime Bay population.” He explained.

“Hey Lightning, Light, Dark. Whatcha doing?” Hitch asked from his desk.

“We’re making a vlog for Twilight introducing her to our friends we made here.” Light explained. He pointed the camera at Hitch. “Wanna say a few words about your involvement when our sisters arrived here?”

Hitch smiled. “Sure. Hello Princess Twilight. I’m Sheriff Hitch Trailblazer. Your family showing up here across time was certainly a shock to be sure. But rest assured that I’ve been doing my part to keep them safe. And might I say that you’re doing everything right with these kids.”

“Hey! What the hay are you two brats doing here!” Came a familiar voice.

Lightning turned the camera around instinctively and the three vloggers saw a pony that they completely forgot about. COPPERBOTTOM, and she was reaching through the bars of her cell trying to grab at Light and Dark. “Rats we forgot about her!” Light said.

“Run!” Dark responded as the twins and Lightning bolted out of the Sheriff’s office.

After a few minutes of running, they stopped and Lightning turned the camera to face him. “Ok so…I never actually planned to tell you this but that crazy lady is the reason Light and Dark are orphans looking to join our family.” He said.

“Yeah. She literally tried to kill us last week.” Light explained.

“That was also the first time we saw her after she abandoned us five years ago.” Dark added.

“Seems our family is a magnet attracting foals with cuckoo parents or caregivers.” Lightning joked. “Ahem. Let’s go find Pipp and Zipp!” He said.

The trio eventually found Pipp and Zipp on a balcony attached to their house. “Hey Zipp! Pipp!” Lightning called out as they approached the balcony.

Pipp and Zipp turned their heads when their names were called and smiled. “Oh. Hey guys!” Zipp said.

“Whatcha doing here?” Pipp asked.

“We’re making a vlog for Twilight introducing her to the friends we made here.” Lightning explained.

“Yeah! It’s fun!” Light exclaimed.

Pipp smiled and waved to the camera. “It’s LOADS of fun.” She said.

“You two want to say something?” Lightning asked as he pointed the camera at Zipp and Pipp.

Zipp nodded. “Hey there Twilight.” She said.

“Your family is a blast to be around.” Pipp said. “And you and Sparkler are doing everything right because your kids are nothing but Angels whenever we watch them.” She added.

“Wanna talk about what happened when we found Sky and Sprinkle?” Lightning asked from behind the camera.

Zipp rolled her eyes. “Our mother, in her infinite wisdom, tried to adopt Sky and Sprinkle, claiming Sparkler abandoned them.” She said.

“Even though that was NOT the case at all.” Pipp said. “But don’t worry. Sky and Sprinkle are safe and away from our insane mom.”

“This time is full of insane ponies, isn't it.” Dark commented.

“For sure.” Light said.

“Take that witch of an egg donor from last week.” Zipp commented. “Ponies as crazy as her exist everywhere.”

“And THAT.” Lightning said. “Is why mom wants back to our time as soon as freaking possible.” He turned the camera back to himself. “Recap, Melody nearly died, Sky and Sprinkle were nearly illegally adopted, and now Light and Dark were nearly murdered by their insane egg donor.”

“We really need to get out of here as fast as possible.” Dark commented.

“Yeah that might be for the best.” Pipp said.

“Anywho, let’s go see where Mom works!” Lightning said.

“And this is where Mom currently works to put food on the table for 14.” Lightning said as he pointed the camera at the Medley Deli. “This place has had two grand openings thanks to a crazy patron going nuts.”

“That crazy patron? Our Egg Donor.” Dark commented.

“Right.” Lightning said as the three of them went in and saw Hurricane Storm at the front as the host. “Hey there Hurricane!” Lightning said.

Hurricane smiled as the three colts walked in. “Well hello there kids. Whatcha doing with that camera?” He asked.

“We’re making an update vlog for Mommy Twi introducing her to all the friends we made along the way here.” Lightning said.

“Sweet.” Hurricane responded. “Here to see your mom?”

“Yeah.” Light said.

“She’s about to perform on stage.” Hurricane said.

The colts beamed. “Perfect timing!” Dark said as the three rushed to get a good spot just as the music started. “You’re gonna love this Mommy Twi.” Lightning said to the camera and pointed at the stage. “This place has these shows regularly.”

At that moment, Sparkler started singing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kzeeMOLg04

After the show, The crowd cheered and Lightning turned to look at the camera again. “Well that’s pretty much it for this update. We did meet more ponies but they’re all unavailable right now. Here’s hoping nothing else goes wrong and we make a safe return to 1003. Hope to see you soon Mommy Twi!”

With that, Lightning shut off the camera. Finished with the update vlog.

To be continued…

Episode 24: Daring Adventurers Pt 1

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Sparkler held her breath as she looked through a window into a large test area in Canterlogic HQ. She was looking at a metal circle, within which sat the magical signatures that she, Winter, Sunny, and all the kids provided. In little dome capsules spaced evenly around the circle. “So. That’s a Timegate.” She commented.

Night Shade, who was standing next to her, nodded. “Yep. That’s a Timegate. The device that’s meant to enable travel anywhere in the timeline.” He said.

Sparkler nodded. It had been a few weeks since Night Shade first told her of his idea to build the Timegate. Only this morning did she get a message from him saying it was ready to receive the magical signatures. “Thank Faust the kids don’t need to be here for this.” She commented. The fear of the thing blowing up the moment it was turned on drove her to tell Winter and Sunny to take the kids home…with her approval to begin the adoption process should the thing blow and take her out. I’m willing to risk my life but they still have their whole lives ahead. Was her reasoning.

Night Shade took a deep breath before speaking again. “Where in the timeline should we target for a test?” He asked Sparkler.

“It needs to be able to reach back 1,019 years. Let’s go for 2,019 years into the past, the night of Nightmare Moon’s banishment.” Sparkler suggested.

All the eyes in the control room turned to Sparkler. Night Shade raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s necessary?” He asked. “That seems like overkill.”

“If it can handle a 2,000 year jump, half the distance is no problem.” Sparkler reasoned.

Night Shade stared at her for a moment, before nodding at her logic. “Alright then.” He turned to one of his assistants. “Begin time dialing sequence.” He said.

His assistant nodded and the room came to life with activity. The assistant started typing at a keyboard. “Time Coordinates for 0ANMB, targeting.”

They watched as the Timegate began to spin. It increased its speed every second, the magical signatures within started to glow.

The assistant watched his screen as numbers started turning green, indicating a lock on target. “Year increment encoded….month increment encoded…” He announced.

Sparkler held her breath and lit her horn, ready to cast a shield spell should the need arise. Come on…come on… Her heart raised as she prayed to whoever was listening for the Timegate would work.

“Day Increment encoded!” The assistant called out. “One more increment and we—“

The assistant was interrupted when the numbers on his screen suddenly flashed red and the Timegate came to a stop. Sparks flew off of it and it completely shut down.

Night Shade watched the failure and whirled around to his staff. “What happened?” He asked.

“Uh, hang on sir, let me run a diagnostic.” The assistant said.

Sparkler let out a sigh as she dimmed her horn. Night Shade saw her disappointment and offered a smile. “Hey. It was only the first test. And the machine didn’t blow up.” He said.

Sparkler nodded. “Yeah. You’re right.” She said. She glanced at the gate and saw that all the magical signatures were still there. “At least we didn’t lose any magical signatures.”

“Sir, the failure started when the Timegate was trying to process the Time Increment. It couldn’t get a lock on the exact time.” The assistant told Night Shade.

Night Shade nodded in response. “Alright, let’s brainstorm some ideas and see if we can try for another test.” He said.

Three weeks and thirty failed tests later…

“I don’t get it!” Night Shade exclaimed as he and Sparkler walked into his office after ANOTHER failed attempt to get the Timegate to work correctly.

“Another failure.” Sparkler commented.

“We tried rearranging the magical signatures. We tried to slow down the increment processing sequence. And every time we come up with nothing!” Night Shade explained. “It is supposed to be a TIMEgate. A TIME machine. Not a portal to another location. Not a portal to another dimension, a portal to another TIME.”

“Night Shade?” Sparkler asked. “Relax.” She said. She could tell he was stressing out over this.

Night Shade looked at Sparkler, before taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry Sparkler. We’re trying our best here.” He said.

“That’s all I can ask for.” Sparkler responded.

Night Shade nodded. He glanced over at the notebooks that once belonged to Night Mare. “It just doesn’t make sense.” He said as he picked one up and glanced at the cover.

“What doesn’t?” Sparkler asked.

“All of these journals are Night Mare’s research.” Night Shade said as he looked at the covers of everak journals. “And all of them are dated BEFORE you disappeared. But for some reason, I was never able to find any journals dated AFTER you disappeared.” He said.

“Maybe they were just lost with time?” Sparkler asked.

“No, not possible. Night Mare put a forever lasting protection spell on these. These babies can survive being thrown into a volcano. And that protection continued even after magic disappeared.” Night Shade explained. “And ALL of her journals were passed down. I’m sure of it.” He said. “All this makes it look like they never tried bringing you back from their end.” Night Shade reasoned.

Sparkler’s breath hitched in her throat. “Uh, can you not put that thought into my head?” She asked.

“Don’t worry Sparkler. There’s no way in Tartarus they WOULDN’T have tried to bring you back.” Night Shade reassured her. “But no research found in relation to that leaves me wondering.”

Sparkler nodded as she lit her horn and picked up one of the journals. She started flipping through it casually. We have to be missing something. We’re definitely Missing two Alicorn Signatures but there’s no way to get more. What else… She thought.

After several minutes of her and Night Shade looking through journals, Sparkler came to realize something. An idea came to her. “Night Shade.” She said. “Do you know how to get to Detrot from here?” She asked.

“Detrot?” Night Shade asked. “Yeah I know how to get there, but the place is deserted. Abandoned for decades. Plus I already combed it for Night Mare research.” He said. “Why are you asking?”

“Because maybe there’s something in Night Mare’s lab that you missed. Something that could very well help us figure out the problem.” Sparkler reasoned. “If there’s a problem, the best place to go is the source.”

Night Shade thought for a moment…before he started seeing the brilliance in Sparkler’s idea. “Yeah…yeah you’re right! I coulda missed something there. We could very well find the key to making a successful time jump!” He exclaimed.

Sparkler smiled as her hope skyrocketed. “When do you want to leave?” She asked.

“We can leave as soon as we’re ready.” Night Shade said. “You got tell Winter you’ll be out for a few days. I’ll do the same with Phyllis. Meet me behind Canterlogic HQ tomorrow morning.” He told her.

“Got it.” Sparkler said. Hopefully somepony can watch the kids for a few days. She thought.

Sparkler whipped out her phone and opened up the group chat she had with Sunny and her friends.

Sparkler: Hey, is it possible for you guys to watch the kids for a few days? Night Shade and I are going on a trip and I don’t want to put the kids in danger.

Sunny: Sure!

Izzy: You can count on us.

Zipp: Anytime

Pipp: Anywhere.

Sparkler: Thanks guys. I feel like I can’t say that enough for everything.

Sunny: Of course Sparkler. Anytime you need us just holler.

Hitch: I was actually going to ask if the kids wanted to come with me to the Net Cafe tomorrow to play some games. That alright with you?

Sparkler: As long as it’s age appropriate. Yeah.

Hitch: Awesome.

Zipp: Want more recruits for your galactic police force in Albion Sheriff?

Hitch: Ahem. I just thought a space Sandbox game would be fun for the kids is all. New Eden is the number one action space sandbox game right now.

Sparkler: Just make sure the rating is PG Hitch.

Hitch: It is.

Sparkler smiled as she pocketed her phone. Phones really were an incredible piece of technology. And Sunny and her friends are some of the best friends I’ve ever met… She thought. She really couldn’t be more thankful to them for everything…mainly being the kids’ foalsitters.

At the Medley Deli, Winter was busy serving tables. She just served another table when she saw Sparkler enter the building. “Sparkler. Hi.” She said as Sparkler approached. “Not that it’s not always nice to see you but what’re you doing here on your day off?” She asked.

“I’m gonna need to take the next few days off.” Sparkler told her. “Night Shade and I are headed to Detrot for urgent experimental business.” She said. Using the word experimental in place of time portal since they were in the middle of a room full of ponies.

Winter got the message and nodded. “Alright. Thanks for letting me know. When are you leaving?” She asked.

“Tomorrow morning.”

“Right. Ok. Good luck.” Winter said.

“Thanks.” Sparkler responded. After which she left.

“So another failed test?” Sprinkle asked as the family all ate dinner together.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded. “Another failed test.”

“Ugh. That makes…what? Thirty tests now?” Melody asked.

“31 if you count this latest failed test.” Crystal corrected.

“What could be the problem?” Lightning asked.

“I don’t know sweetie.” Sparkler said. “But Night Shade and I are going to Detrot tomorrow to see if we can dig up anything. We’ll be gone for a few days.”

“Awesome! A trip to Detrot!“ Sky said.

“Oh no. None of you are going.” Sparkler said. “We don’t know what we’ll find there and I am not risking any of your lives.” She told them.

“Awww.” Her kids responded.

“Can I still come?” Spike asked.

“No Spike. You need to stay here too.” Sparkler said.

Spike let out a grumbling “Fine.” Before returning to his gems.

Sparkler sighed. “Look guys, think of it this way, we won’t be distracted and we’ll find something sooner. Hopefully.” She said.

“Yeah. We know.” Trail said.

“Still. Wish we could go on an epic Daring Do style adventure.” Lumber commented.

“What’s Daring Do?” Light asked.

“Only the greatest adventurer in history.” Crystal said. “A Pegasus, out exploring the world and finding treasure. It’s amazing!” She said as she launched into a full blown essay on Daring Do. Which Light and Dark listened intently to.

Later on, while putting the kids to bed, Sparkler tucked Light and Dark in for the night. “Alright you two. Have a good sleep.” She said.

“Hey mom? Can Light and I please come with you to Detrot tomorrow?” Dark asked.

“Dark, I can’t take any kids with me. It’s uncharted territory and we don’t know what we’ll find.” Sparkler said.

“But you’ve been there before.” Lights countered.

“Not in its current state I haven’t.” Sparkler responded. “For all we know the place could be crawling with monsters.”

“We’ll stick close to you.” Light said.

“Yeah. We promise we’ll be good. Please mom?”

Both Light and Dark hit Sparkler with the puppy dog eyes and for good measure, the quivering lips. Sparkler sighed and shook her head. “Alright fine. You two can come.” She said.

“Yay!” Light and Dark said.

“But you are to stick close to me at all times. And if danger abounds, run AWAY from it.” Sparkler told them.

“We will!” Light and Dark said.

Sparkler nodded. If I don’t end up regretting it it will be a miracle.

The next morning, Sparkler, Light and Dark made their way behind Canterlogic HQ, where they found Night Shade standing there with a huge smile on his face. “Morning Night Shade.” Sparkler greeted him.

“Morning Sparkler.” Night Shade said. “Bringing the twins with you?” He asked.

“They asked and I couldn’t refuse.” Sparkler responded.

Night Shade nodded. “Alrighty.” He said excitedly. “Now come on. Let’s get going. I’m so excited that I FINALLY get to put this to use!” He said as he pressed a button and the doors started opening.

Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking aboooouuuut….” Sparkler was cut off when something started rolling out of the building. It was big, it had Pegasus wings, and a fan attached to its front?

Night Shade beamed like a little colt as he bounced around the contraption. “This is exciting!” He said repeatedly.

“Night Shade…what is this?” Sparkler asked.

“This, my friend, is how we’re getting to Detrot. I call it the Mechasus! A metal, mechanical Pegasus.” Night Shade responded. “100% safe and guaranteed to fly.” He added.

Sparkler’s mouth was agape. She didn’t know what to say. Light and Dark on the other hoof beamed. “Awesome!”

“We want a ride!” They said as they rushed over to get in.

“Night Shade.” Sparkler said. “Have you used this thing before?” She asked.

“I was the test pilot myself.” Night Shade said. “Trust me.” He said as he got into the Mechasus.

Sparkler wanted to protest. But something told her that Night Shade was speaking from experience. So she just nodded. “I’ll just…follow you I guess.” She said as she spread her wings.

“Suit yourself.” Night Shade said as he threw her a pair of headphones to her. “We’ll use these to communicate. This thing is LOUD.” He said as he fired the thing up.

The fan blades started spinning and wind was blowing everywhere. Sparkler put on the headset. “Are you SURE you can fly this thing?” She asked into the mic.

“Would I ever lie to you?” Night Shade asked.

“You haven’t so far…” Sparkler responded as she watched the Mechasus take off. When it got off the ground, Sparkler flapped her wings and took off after it. If that thing makes it to detrot and back I’ll be impressed. She thought. For now, she’d be on standby, ready to save them if the Mechasus failed.

And so they flew to Detrot.

To be continued…

Episode 25: Daring Adventurers Pt 2

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WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A SCENE DEALING WITH TOPICS OF DOWNWARD SPIRALING ENDING WITH AN IMPLICATION OF SUICIDE. PLEASE SKIP TO THE AUTHOR’S NOTE TO GET A RECAP IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE THE FULL CHAPTER!!!!!!!!

Sparkler continued to follow the Mechasus in the air. She was genuinely impressed that the machine managed well so far. Guess Night Shade built it to last. She mused. “Everypony alright in there?” She asked through her headset.

“We’re fine mom!” Light responded.

“Night Shade’s telling us about how this Mechasus works!” Dark said. “It’s awesome!”

Sparkler chuckled. “Well I have to hoof it to you Night Shade. You made this thing tough.” She commented.

“Of course I did.” Night Shade said. “I intend to use this for long flights. I’m surprised you don’t need a BREAK yet Sparkler. We’ve been flying for 23 hours now.” He commented.

“The good thing about magic, it can keep ponies awake.” Sparkler responded. It was true. She had used magic to keep herself awake so that she could ensure she could help if something went wrong. She also used it to fly like Starlight taught her when her wing joints got tired.

Night Shade nodded, before something came into his view from the clouds. “Hey! Look! We’re here!” He said excitedly.

The clouds parted to reveal a sight that impressed, terrified, and worried. There in front of them rested an ancient city that Sparkler immediately recognized as Detrot, but it was covered in greenery and honestly had seen better days, and true to Night Shade’s word, it seemed deserted. “Are you sure Night Mare’s lab is still here?” She asked.

“I’m certain of it.” Night Shade responded.

“Alright. Go over the city and find someplace to land.” She said.

“What? No. We gotta weave in and out of the buildings. To make it a spectacle for the readers.” Night Shade argued.

“What?” Sparkler asked.

“Just lead us in Sparkler.” Night Shade said.

Sparkler glanced at the Mechasus, before sighing and nodding. “Follow me guys.” She said as she took the lead in front of the Mechasus.

And so the flew into the city and weaved in and out of buildings. Eventually they turned a corner and Sparkler saw probably the FIRST familiar sight ever since she was catapulted into the future. Night Mare’s observatory. And surprisingly it was the most intact building. “There she blows boys!” She said.

“Just where I left it.” Night Shade said. “I’ll find a place to land and then we can explore.”

Several minutes later, Sparkler let Light, Dark, and Night Shade at the entrance to the building. Sparkler noticed Night Shade was carrying a saddlebag looking piece of equipment. “What’s that Night Shade?” She asked.

“It’s a POI scanner. Point of Interest. If there’s anything worth noting, this baby will pick it up.” Night Shade explained.

“Alright then. Light, Dark, stick close to me.” Sparkler said as she lit her horn and proceeded to buck open the door.

With that, the four walked inside. It was dark in there. Light smiled. “Good thing batponies have night vision.” He commented.

“Yeah. Good thing.” Dark said.

Night Shade was looking around, and pointed a hoof held device connected to his saddle at various things. “It truly amazes me how well this was built. It withstood the test of time.” He commented.

“Yeah.” Sparkler said as they walked up the stairs. I feel like we haven’t been here in years… She thought.

Soon, they reached the top of the stairs and they were within the very lab where the accident happened. The dome ceiling had holes in it and were letting lights through, and the telescope was busted.

“Whoa.” Light and Dark said.

“This is where you disappeared mom?” Dark asked.

“Yeah…” Sparkler said. “This is where the original portal was created…”

The four walked around the room for a bit, spreading out. Everywhere Sparkler looked, she was flooded with memories of the last time she was here. What happened here… She mused. She brushed her wing against a dusty console. “Twilight…” she whispered. Wondering what Twilight was doing back in their own time.

“I’ve never seen a telescope that big before.” She heard Light comment.

“I wish it wasn’t busted so we can take a look through.” Dark responded.

“If you guys want when we get back I’ll let you look through Canterlogic’s telescope.” Night Shade commented casually as he continued waving his scanner around.

Sparkler paid them no mind at the moment as she had found something. Plate screwed into the console with two words and arrows pointing to a button under it. Press me. the words said.

Curiosity overtaking her, Sparkler pressed the button. In an instant, the machine powered up. Sparkler jumped back as Light, Dark, and Night Shade all spun around to see what had happened. “Sparkler?!” Night Shade asked.

“I pressed a button and this thing lit up!” Sparkler called back.

The four ponies watched as the screen sprang to life. At first, there was static, and then the picture cleared up and somepony started talking. “Dr. Night Mare, April 23rd, 3:47PM, 1003.” Came a mare’s voice.

Sparkler gasped when the picture cleared. “Night Mare!” She exclaimed.

“It’s been a few moments since the accident that made Sparkler and the kids vanish.” Night Mare said.

Night Shade looked at the console, before realizing something. “It must be a recording. A video log…” He said.

“Twilight is currently trying to hold it together while I make this log. Her wing sprained so we have to get to the hospital. But this will mark the first of what will surely be a long project to try and get Sparkler and the kids back.” Night Mare said.

“Night Mare! Come on!” Said a familiar voice to Sparkler. The four saw Twilight Sparkle enter the frame. “If you’re done can we please go so that we can come back and start working?” Twilight asked.

“Yes Twily, we’re going.” Night Mare said.

“Whoa. Twilight? Is that the same Twilight we heard about?” Dark asked.

“Yeah…it is.” Sparkler said. Oh how I longed to hear that beautiful voice!

The picture returned to static for a few seconds before clearing back up.

“This is the first full day of project return. Our first step WOULD be to recreate the accident but most of our magical signature sources vanished…so I will admit I’m at a loss of where to start.” Night Mare said. “Twilight’s busy trying to rearrange her schedule to allow for as much time here as possible.”

At that, Sparkler had to chuckle. That was the Twilight she knew.

Another static screen for a few seconds before the picture cleared up again. “It’s been one month since Sparkler’s disappearance. Twilight has officially elected to remain here until we get our family back. Shirking off all her other duties.”

Sparkler frowned. Ok that didn’t sound like the Twilight she knew. She wouldn’t shirk off all her other duties…would she?

The image cleared up again. “It has been one full year since the accident. And our experiments are coming up with nothing.”

“Come on Night Mare!” The image showed Twilight, and she had a crazed look in her eyes. “We haven’t tried eggs and potatoes yet! We should try those.”

Night Mare gave Twilight a worried look before turning her attention back to the camera. “I’m genuinely worried about Twilight. I fear she might be losing it.”

Ok that is DEFINITELY not the Twilight I know. Sparkler thought.

After a few more logs, the screen cleared up again. “It’s now the Tenth anniversary of Sparkler’s disappearance and I’m extremely worried. The global political situation is destabilizing. Magic itself is slowly fading away. And Twilight, the Princess of Friendship, refuses to help deal with it. The only thing on her mind is getting Sparkler back.”

Sparkler gasped in horror as the recordings continued. Each recording, she noticed signs that Twilight was falling further and further into depression, desperation, and lunacy. Oh Faust…Twilight… She thought.

“Mom? What’s happening to Twilight?” Dark asked.

“I…I don’t know sweetie…” Sparkler responded.

Another picture cleared and Night Mare had a solemn look on her face. “It had to be done. We had to admit Twilight into a mental hospital. She became so destabilized that she became a danger to herself and others. I knew Sparkler and the kids were important to Twilight. But I never imagined they’d be so important that Twilight would slowly lose herself without them.”

Hearing that, Sparkler’s heart broke into a million pieces. She could feel tears coming. Twilight…what happened… She couldn’t believe this would be what would become of her marefriend if she didn’t return.

The last picture cleared up and Night Mare looked like she had been crying. “Twenty years ago today, Sparkler disappeared. It finally happened. The tribes are drifting apart, the world is going into disarray…the magic of friendship is in shambles. Today, we finally lost our connection to magic…and with it…we lost Twilight. They found her remains in the padded cell at the mental hospital…they say she held her breath until she…” Nightmare trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

Sparkler heard that and the tears finally started rolling down her cheeks. Twilight…no…

“We tried everything to get Sparkler back. Everything we possibly could…but without magic…we just can’t continue. This will be the last log of project Return…it’s over. I never should have collected those signatures. Because of me Twilight drove herself to…I’m sorry Sparkler…I’m so sorry…” Night Mare sniffled. “…End log.”

After that, the screen shut off. Sparkler, too shocked at what she just witnessed, fell onto her rump and squeezed her eyes shut to try and block the tears. She let out a sniffle. “Twilight…” She whispered. The mere thought that she had just witnessed what would become of her lover if she didn’t get back crushed her. There was a part of her that was happy Twilight loved her and the kids so much, but only a small part. Because the rest of her was devastated that her love for them caused her to go off the deep end.

Light and Dark noticed their future mothers’ distraught and hugged her. “That’s not Twilight is it?” Light asked.

Sparkler shook her head and sniffled. “No guys. That wasn’t the Twilight I know…” She said, her voice cracking. It’s a side of her I never could’ve imagined…

Night Shade, during all of this, just sigh sadly and sniffled. “I…I’m sorry Sparkler.” He said. That settles it. We CANNOT fail. He thought.

For the next few moments, nopony said a word. And Light and Dark continued to hug Sparkler. After those few minutes. Night Shade’s scanner started going off. He glanced at it, waved it around, and realized the beeping was most rapid when he pointed it down in the middle of the floor. “Guys. There’s something down under here.” He commented.

Sparkler wiped the tears away and stood back up. “Under the floor?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Night Shade said. “And whatever it is, it’s making the scanner go nuts.”

Dark noticed something off his peripheral vision. He turned to it and noticed a blinking light on the console. “Hey guys, there’s something blinking on the console.” He said as she raced over to it and gave it a better look. “It’s some kind of Hoof scanner.” He said.

Sparkler, Night Shade, and Light joined him. They all glanced at the scanner. Night Shade had an idea. “Hey Sparkler, try seeing if your hoof will work for the scanner.” He said.

Sparkler sighed and pressed a hoof against the scanner. “If it starts another round of logs like what we just watched I’m—whoa!” Sparkler was cut off when the floor started glowing with lights. The lights all converged in the middle before the floor LITERALLY started opening up.

The four adventurers watched as a big cylinder thing rose up from the floor. Night Shade’s scanner was going crazy now. He pointed it at the thing and gulped. “Whatever that point of Interest is. It’s in there.” He said.

“Hello Sparkler.” Came Night Mare’s voice. The ponies all turned to see the screen had lit up again with Night Mare. “If you are watching this, that means you found my contingency.” She said.

“What? Contingency?” Light asked.

“Experts have begun to detect that magic is slowly fading from the world. They predict ten years before it dissolves completely. Meaning I have to do this now before it’s too late.”

The cylinder walls Started sliding open as Night Mare continued. “The accident was created by 13 Alicorn Magical signatures. And I’ve deduced that it was some kind of time portal. I’m not sure which direction you and the kids were flung to. But if you are in the future…I left these for you.”

The vault fully opened, and revealed five jars, spaced far apart from each other. Each of them contained something that none of the ponies could believe, MAGICAL SIGNATURES!

“In the vault should be five Magical signatures. Probably the last ones in existence. These five magical signatures are from the five remaining Alicorns. Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cadence…and me.”

Sparkler whirled around to see the screen and sure enough, Night Mare had been made an Alicorn. WHAT?! She thought.

Night Mare continued. “Sparkler, if you are watching this and you found the signatures, use them to try to find a way home. The fate of the Magic of Friendship could very well depend on your safe return to April 23rd 1003. Before Twilight’s fall.”

Sparkler was still reeling as the message finished. “Please do everything you can Sparkler, you are Twilight’s only hope.” With that, the message was cut off.

Sparkler looked between the screen and the five magical signatures. Trying to make sense of it. “What….when…how…” She was utterly speechless at this revelation.

Night Shade meanwhile approached the signatures carefully. His own mind reeling. “Sparkler…do you realize what we just found?” He asked.

“Five magical signatures that have been here for Faust knows how long?” Sparkler responded.

“Yes!” Night Shade responded. “Night Mare must have protected them somehow from fading away. They’re still in prime condition.”

“What does that mean?” Dark asked.

“It means…” Night Shade said as he started to carefully collect the jars and tucked them safely into individual pockets of his Saddle. “We can now recreate the accident exactly…and possibly even gain full control of it and allow us to make a stable time portal!” He announced.

Sparkler heard that. “We finally have the means to get home…” She realized. Night Mare you beautiful crazy Nutcase Doctor! Sparkler found it in herself to smile. “We did it…”

Night Shade smiled while Light and Dark cheered. “We did it!” They exclaimed.

Seeing no further reason to be there, the four quickly (and carefully) made their way back to the Mechasus and took off back to Maretime Bay. Sparkler flapped her wings hard and fast. Hang on Twilight. We’re almost home! She thought with renewed determination and hope. Determination to not let that future play out as she saw it. I will not let that future come to pass!

To be continued…

Episode 26: Meanwhile, In Maretime Bay...

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“Alright guys. This is it. The Xenon homebase. We destroy that. The Xenon are toast.” Hitch said. “You guys ready?”

“Let’s trash some toasters!” Melody exclaimed.

“Alright then. Melody, Crystal, Sky, engage the defense turrets, Trail, Lightning, Lumber, engage the enemy fighters. Pedal, Sprinkle, Mystic. You’re with me to blast the central core from the inside. Spike, You use the Chimera to provide cover for us and pound those capital ships.” Hitch barked out orders.

“Roger!” Everypony said.

“Alright. Let’s kick their flanks!” Birch said.

With that, the kids and Hitch all threw their ships into maximum throttle and blasted towards the enemy.

While Sparkler, Light and Dark went off to Detrot to look for something that could help them get home, Hitch decided to take the rest of the kids to the Net Cafe to introduce them to some of the computer games he had grown fond of. And as he had hoped, the kids were living every second of it.

Sprinkle, Pedal, and Mystic were in anti-fighter corvettes blasting at the enemy fighters. Mystic was on a heading that woulda caused her to crash into Pedal if she didn’t correct her course, but she had planned to pull up. But just as she was about to pull the maneuver, her vision flashed and she found herself staring out of her mother’s eyes and hearing what she heard. And lo and behold, she did not like what she saw and heard.

“Mommy Twi, No!” She gasped as the image disappeared and she returned to her own location.

“Mystic! You just crashed into me!” Pedal exclaimed.

Mystic glanced down at her computer screen and saw that she died. She glanced over at Pedal and saw the same thing. “Oh, Sorry Pedal. I got distracted.” She said.

“You screamed Mommy Twi No…are you OK Mystic?“ Crystal asked as Hitch paused the game.

Mystic took a deep breath. “Pedal. Sprinkle, did you two get a flash from Mom’s memory?” She asked.

“No?” Pedal and Sprinkle responded.

“Well I did…Mom’s watching logs left by Night Mare right now, and Night Mare just revealed that Mommy Twi…she died!” Mystic exclaimed as her eyes watered.

“What?!” All the kids exclaimed. “Died?”

“Yeah…” Mystic closed her eyes and went back into the link, trying to figure out what happened. “Apparently, Mommy Twi loves us so much that when we disappeared, she shirked off all her other duties trying to get us back. And when efforts kept failing, she drove herself to insanity, to the point where she had to go to a mental hospital. And when magic vanished…she…” Mystic stopped, not wanting to go any further as she left the link.

The kids listened, and the looks on their faces were ones of horror. “Oh my Faust. She really…” Melody asked.

“I just witnessed it.” Mystic said.

The horrid looks turned to looks of sadness. The kids all sighed. “Dang. This bites.” Sky said.

“Well…don’t worry guys.” Hitch said, trying to cheer the kids up. “I’m sure the Timegate will bring you back to before Twilight goes downhill.” He said.

“I hope so—“ Pedal said before she got a flash too. “Wait! I got something.” She said. She studied what she was seeing, before smiling. “Good news, they found something! The four Magical signatures we can’t get here, plus an extra one!” She exclaimed.

“Wait, for real?” Trail asked.

“That means we have the means to recreate the accident for real!” Crystal said.

“Oh thank goodness!” Mystic said.

The kids cheered. Happy that they now had a real shot of getting home. Hitch sighed in relief. “Well that’s a way to stomp out the sadness.” He said. Happy that the kids weren’t gonna be sad the rest of the day.

Meanwhile, out in Maretime Bay, Pipp and Sunny flew side by side as they headed for Canterlogic, where, after a quick text to the kids, they hoped to find Flurry Heart, who got out again. Pipp shook her head. “How in the world do Flurry’s parents do it?” Pipped asked. “A regular thing her getting out. Sounds like more trouble than it’s worth.”

“I kinda hope now that my future kids don’t have that ability at Flurry’s age.” Sunny said.

“You want to be a mother?” Pipp asked.

“Mhm.” Sunny responded. “Izzy and I talked about it one time and she seemed pretty enthusiastic about the idea of us having biological kids.” Sunny explained.

“Are you sure she understands what that would entail?” Pipp asked.

“I explained it to her.” Sunny said.

“Good.” Pipp responded.

They came in for a landing at Canterlogic and entered the building. Sunny went up to the front desk and asked if she could put out an announcement that there was a baby on the loose in the building. The receptionist made the announcement and Sunny and Pipp, knowing full well they were probably not allowed to waltz around the building, sat patiently in the waiting area.

“So. Have you ever wanted kids Pipp?” Sunny asked.

“I thought about it. And having a kid or two would be nice. Although I will NOT be the kind of mom my own mom is.” Pipp responded.

“Yeah. She’s kinda cray cray with what she tried to pull with Sky and Sprinkle.” Sunny admitted. “And one or two? How about 11?” Sunny asked with a chuckle.

Pipp laughed. “Oh I definitely don’t have it in me to give birth to 11 kids. Even adoption is a little iffy.“ She said.

“Sparkler and Twilight are amazing for being able to raise 9 kids. And for it to be a possibility to have more.” Sunny said.

“Yeah.” Pipp said. “But not as amazing as you…” She said under her breath.

“What?” Sunny asked, not catching that.

“What?” Pipp asked.

“Did you say something under your breath?” Sunny asked.

“No.” Pipp lied. “I didn’t.”

“…Ok then.” Sunny said.

At that moment, they heard a throat clearing and they turned to see a very, VERY annoyed Sprout holding out an equally annoyed Flurry. “I believe this is yours?” He asked.

Sunny and Pipp got up and Sunny took Flurry from Sprout. “Thanks Sprout.” She said.

“I swear to Faust you bringing back magic is causing more trouble than it’s worth.” Sprout commented as he turned to leave.

Flurry glared at his direction and lit her horn. She lifted up a magazine from a table, rolled it up, and smacked Sprout upside the head with it. “No!” She said.

Sprout yelped when the magazine hit him and he whipped back around. “Hey!” He said.

Flurry just sneered at him and spit at him. Sprout screamed and ran away. Pipp watched Sprout go and giggled. “Wow Flurry.” She said as she took the magazine back from Flurry. “You do not like Sprout do you.” She said.

Flurry shook her head and pouted. Sunny giggled. “Well it’s nice to know that you have Melody’s back.” She said. “Now, wanna go home?” She asked.

Meanwhile, Sprout returned to his little hidey hole and growled. “That brat! How does she keep finding me!” He asked as he approached the top of something covered in a cloth. “Grah! It doesn’t matter. Soon, my master plan will come to fruition, and Earth Ponies will reign supreme after that. Mwahahaha!”

To be continued…

Episode 27: Unlocking The Way.

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“Alright. Let’s carefully install these signatures.” Night Shade said.

Sparkler nodded and lit her horn, the five jars that held magical signatures in them in her magic. With careful movements and hawk eyes. Sparkler managed to transfer the magical signatures from the jars into the five empty glass containment domes connected to the Timegate. Once they were secured, Sparkler let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, as did Night Shade. “Phew. There. The signatures are safe and secured.” She said.

“Good thing OCD forced me to design an extra five chambers into the design to make an even 16.” Night Shade said. “Now, let’s see if this thing wants to work now.” He said.

Sparkler nodded and the two of them went back up into the control room. It was the day after they returned from Detrot, and suffice to say, they had their hopes up that the Timegate would finally work. Night Shade went over to his assistant when they entered the room. “Has the gate accepted the magical signatures?” He asked.

“Yes sir. All 16 magical signatures are registered and confirmed accepted by the gate.” The assistant said.

“Alright. Same thing as the last thirty times. 0ANMB.” Night Shade said.

“Copy that. Time Coordinates for 0ANMB, targeting.”

They watched as the Timegate began to spin. It increased its speed every second, the magical signatures within started to glow.

The assistant watched his screen as numbers started turning green, indicating a lock on target. “Year increment encoded….month increment encoded…” He announced.

Sparkler held her breath and lit her horn again, ready to cast a shield spell should the need arise. We have all the pieces plus extra. Please work… Her heart raised as she prayed to whoever was listening for the Timegate would work this time.

“Day Increment encoded!” The assistant called out.

Everypony watched as the magical signatures began to glow brightly. 16 beams shot from the magical signatures and converged. Something none of them saw before.

“Time Increment locked! Portal activation T-Minus 3 seconds!” The assistant called out.

Three seconds later, a light exploded from the beams and a wormhole formed within the donut.

The ponies in the control room just stared at the wormhole, not believing what they were seeing. Sparkler’s mind was reeling. I…it worked… She tried her best to not celebrate yet. They still had work to do.

“Confirmed sir, wormhole is stable and safe for entry.” The assistant said.

“Alright, send the drone.” Night Shade said.

A flying drone came from above and disappeared into the portal. All eyes turned to the large screen as it lit up with static. The static eventually began clearing up, and immediately they could see lights coming from above. “Do you have control of the drone?“ Night Shade asked.

“Yes sir.” One of the other ponies said as the drone’s camera panned up to see a sight to behold, there, on the screen, were two Alicorns, fighting each other.

Sparkler stared in awe as she watched CELESTIA AND NIGHTMARE MOON fight each other. Oh Faust…

“Confirm live feed.” Night Shade said.

“All systems are green sir…feed confirmed. We are watching history unfold, live.” The assistant said.

Everypony continued to stare at the monitor. Almost not believing that after so many failures, they actually did it. They finally created a working time machine! Eventually, somepony did speak up. “We did it ponies! We made a stable time machine!”

The whole room erupted in cheering. Sparkler could feel tears of joy coming. “It…it worked…” She let out.

Night Shade smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Sparkler just turned and pulled him into a tight hug. “Thank you.” She whispered, a few tears leaking. At long last, they had a way home!

Night Shade smiled as he hugged Sparkler back. “Your welcome Sparkler.” He said. After a moment, they parted and Night Shade turned to his team. “Congratulations everypony. Now let’s get our drone back and shut this thing down for recharging.”

“Yes sir.” The assistant said. A few moments later, the drone reappeared in the Timegate room and disappeared. After which the Timegate deactivated and stopped spinning.

“Portal shutdown complete, recharge in progress, T-Minus two weeks.” The assistant said as a count down appeared on a clock.

Sparkler smiled. “Thank you. Thank you all!” She said to the team. She was so happy to finally have a definitive way home. Two more weeks… She thought.

“Gives you time to tie up any loose ends.” Night Shade said.

“Right.” Sparkler responded. “I should give Winter my two weeks notice.” She said as she bolted out of the room.

Night Shade watched her go and smiled. “Thank you GreatX10 Grandma.” He said under his breath as he and the team heard Sparkler give a very audible “Woohoo!”

Meanwhile, Sprout was walking down the hall, looking at his phone when something bumped into him. “Gah! Hey! Watch where—eek!” Sprout was cut off when he saw that it was the PegaCorn that bumped into him.

Sparkler shook her head clear and saw that she bumped into Sprout. “Oh, sorry Sprout. You ok?” She asked.

Sprout just growled at her. “I’ll be fine when you and the rest of your kind are gone!” He said.

Sparkler just smiled and ruffled his mane. “Don’t worry Sprouty. I’ll be out of your mane in two weeks.” She said as she bounced away. Leaving behind a very confused and angry Sprout.

“Grah. Two weeks. Not soon enough.” He grumbled as he went back to his hidey hole.

Melody, her siblings, Flurry, Spike, Light, Dark, Sunny, Izzy, Pipp, Zipp, Hitch, Apple Brittle, and Winter and her siblings all waited in the Medley Deli. It was the weekend so the restaurant was closed. A few moments later, Sparkler walked into the building. Melody smiled when she saw her enter. “Well?” She asked.

“How’d it go?” Crystal asked.

“Do we have a way home?” Asked Sky.

Sparkler took a deep breath, and smiled widely. “Two weeks. Two more weeks…and we’re home!” She announced happily.

Upon hearing that, the kids all erupted in cheers. Sparkler chuckled. “The Timegate is fully operational and recharging. It finally works!” She said.

“Awesome!” Pipp responded. “I’m so happy for all of you.”

“We all are.” Sunny said.

Sparkler and her kids all fell into a massive group hug. Happy that they were almost home. Winter let them have a moment before smiling. “So. Guess you’ll be handing in your two weeks notice Sparkler?” She asked knowingly.

Sparkler laughed. “Don’t take this the wrong way Winter. But you’ll need to find a new head wait pony.” She said.

Foxtrot chuckled. “I doubt we can find a pony as good as you. Seriously, you have a real knack for customer service.” He said.

Sparkler giggled and went back to embracing her pack. We’re almost home… She thought. She was actually starting to lose hope that they would ever get back. But now, there was a definitive light at the end of the tunnel, an end date to what she had to admit was an incredible adventure.

To be continued…

Episode 28: Never Ending Legalities

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It was a beautiful day in Maretime Bay. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and at the Medley Deli, business was booming as usual.

“Thank you for dining with us today, come again soon.” Sparkler told another satisfied table when she brought out their bill. The bill was paid and the party left.

Sparkler smiled as she proceeded to another table. I’m almost going to miss this job. And not just because of Winter and her siblings. She thought. She never would’ve guessed that she would ever be waiting on tables. But the magical accident forced her hoof since it was a more stable income than music commissions. But she ended up enjoying her time as a head waitress.

“Hey Sparkler?” Sparkler heard Winter call to her.

Sparkler turned to see Winter approaching. “What up Winter?” She asked.

“Just on a call from the lawyer. He wants to talk to you.” Winter said. “Something about Copperbottom.”

Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “The hay’s going on with her?” She asked, seeing the urgency in Winter’s face.

“I got the lawyer on hold, come on.” Winter said as she headed to her office.

Sparkler followed, confused. And soon the two of them were alone in Winter’s office. Winter pushed a button on her phone. “Thank you for holding Case Cracker. I got Sparkling Medley here with me now.” She said.

Sparkler nodded. “Yeah. Hi, I was told you wanted to speak to me?” She asked.

“Hello Sparkling Medley. I’m Case Cracker, Winter’s go to lawyer. I wanted to talk to you about Ms. Copperbottom’s desires to sue the Medley Deli and you personally Ms. Medley.” Case Cracker said.

Sparkler blinked. Suing? “Ok, I can guess why she’s suing the restaurant, but why me in particular?” Sparkler asked. Unable to fathom why that crazed lunatic would want to sue her personally.

“According to her, you foalnapped her two twin batponies and then got her banned from the restaurant when she tried to take them back from you.” Case Cracker responded.

“…Excuse me for a moment.” Sparkler said after a moment of pure shock. She lit her horn, formed a sound proof bubble around her head, and promptly let out an RCV level scream of pure anger that though no sound could be heard, there was a little rumbling. After a moment, she stopped the screaming and canceled the bubble. “Ok. I’m back.” She said. She couldn’t believe the nerve of that psychopath.

“Do not worry Ms Medley. We can prove that you did no such thing. All I need to do is talk to the authorities in whichever town you found the two boys in.” Case Cracker explained.

Sparkler nodded and was about to answer, before it dawned on her that she never actually paid attention to the name of the town she found Light and Dark in. She gulped. “Uh, can you please hold for a few minutes?” She asked, whipping out her phone.

“Of course.” Case Cracker said.

Sparkler nodded and quickly dialed Light’s number. “Come on, Please pick up.” She mumbled.

A second later, Light’s voice sounded. “Yo mom. What up?” He asked.

“Light, do you know the name of the town I found you and Dark in?” She asked.

“You found us in Crystal Cove. Why?” Light asked.

“I’ll explain later. Thanks Light. Bye.” Sparkler hung up and turned back to Winter’s phone. “Hi, I’m back. I found the boys in Crystal Cove.” She told Case Cracker.

“Crystal Cove. Got it. Thank you Ms. Medley. I shall contact the relevant parties in that town and confirm that you have been granted foster parent guardianship of Light Wing and Dark Wing legally.” Case Cracker said.

“Thanks Case Cracker.” Sparkler responded. “Do you know when the trial is perchance?” She asked.

“The trial is set a week from today.” Case Cracker responded. “I’m sure you understand that yourself and Light and Dark will need to be there?” He asked.

It’s a few days before the Timegate recharges so we can be there. “Yeah. I understand.” She said.

“Good.” Case Cracker said. “In that case, I shall let you go. Have a good day Ms. Medley, Winter.” Case Cracker said before the call cut short.

Sparkler and Winter glanced at the phone before looking at each other. Sparkler took a deep breath. Winter could tell what was coming. “Sparkler, relax. Case Cracker is good. He’ll make sure the truth is known.” She said.

“Relax? Winter, that PSYCHO attempted to kill Light and Dark, admitted to abandoning them on purpose, and now she’s trying to accuse ME of that!” Sparkler exclaimed. “Sparky, Misty, the original Silver-Mane, Haven, and now this psycho? I am SICK and TIRED of ponies making me out to be the bad pony when THEY are the guilty party! ESPECIALLY when it comes to these kids!” She exclaimed as she banged her head on a wall. “It honestly breaks my heart that there are ponies out there that think doing something so horrible to kids is ok.” She said in a frustrated tone.

Winter bit her lip. “You have nothing to worry about Sparkler. Case Cracker’s good at his job. He’ll make sure Copperbottom’s case against you is proven to be insanity.” She said.

Sparkler nodded. “Still. The sooner the Timegate recharges, the better.” She said. She glanced at Winter. “Bringing them back won’t cause any time paradoxes right?” She asked.

Winter bit her lip. “I can’t say Sparkler. You know that.”

“All I’m asking is if bringing them back will make a time paradox. That doesn’t necessarily mean Twilight and I will adopt them.” Sparkler reasoned.

“All I’ll say is that you’ve changed their lives for the better.” Winter responded. “They’re happier now than they would be if they stayed at the orphanage. I’m sure of it.” She said.

“Yeah. Faust why do these kids steal my heart so easily? Ehehe.” Sparkler said.

Winter smiled. “Must be your magnetic personality.” She said.

That got Sparkler to laugh. “It might be.” She said. She took a deep breath. “Thanks Winter.” She said.

“What’s family for? Heheh.” Winter responded.

“I can’t believe the nerve of that witch!” Sprinkle growled at her siblings.

Sprinkle had received a flash of memory from Sparkler, and suffice to say, it was more stuff they didn’t like. “Are you kidding me?” Melody asked. “That witch is actually trying to throw the accusations at mom?” She asked.

“Sounds like it.” Mystic responded.

Light and Dark were beyond furious at their egg donor now. It was bad enough that she abandoned them solely for their appearance, but now she was trying to attack the pony that took them in and promised to get them into a loving home regardless if She and Twilight adopted them or not? “Thank GOODNESS we’re going to 1003.” Dark said. “Because that way she’ll never be able to bother us again.”

“Yeah. Although I kinda want to stick around for the trial just to see her humiliate herself.” Light commented.

“Trials a few days before the Timegate’s charged so you’ll be able to see it.” Sprinkle said.

“Awesome.” Light and Dark High Hoofed each other. It was clear that they had completely written off their egg donor as a lost cause and just wanted her to be gone forever.

“Good to see you two moved on from that witch.” Spike commented.

“If she doesn’t want us, then fine. We don’t want her.” Light said.

“Now our sights are set on hopefully becoming Medleys.” Dark said.

The Medley kids smiled and hugged Light and Dark in a big group hug. “We hope Mommy Twi says yes too. Mom’s already said she’s a yes for adoption.” Sprinkle said.

That made Light and Dark smile. They weren’t entirely sure if Sparkler had made up her own mind, but now it was confirmed.

To be continued…

Episode 29: Familial Revelations

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“Alright kids. Ready to play?” Sprinkle asked.

“So, what are we doing again?” Light asked in return.

“Playing a game. It’s called Soccer.” Melody said.

“A game we play all the time back home.” Lumber explained.

“Ooh. Neat.” Dark said.

“Yeah. And you know what else is neat? We can FINALLY do a 6 on 6 game of Boys V girls!” Crystal exclaimed. “Before, the girls had to rotate out.”

“Well now we have an even number with Spike.” Light said.

“Exactly!” Trail responded.

“Alright. Everypony ready?” Lightning asked. “If so, PLAY BALL!” He exclaimed as he bucked the soccer ball into the air. And the game began.

“Remember guys! Fair game and go easy on Light and Dark!” Sparkler called out from the back porch.

It was a beautiful summer evening and Sparkler and the 2022 gang decided to have a little outdoor cookout. So Hitch was busy operating the grill that he had brought with him and making something called “Veggie Hotdogs”. Meanwhile, Izzy had dragged Sunny over to act as commentators for the game, and the rest were sipping on Sparkler’s famous lemonade.

Pipp beamed at Sparkler when she took a sip. “Sparkler, you absolute GENIUS! This lemonade is fantastic!” She said.

“Thanks Pipp.” Sparkler responded.

“Seriously, imagine if this was a menu option at the Medley Deli.” Winter commented. “It’d probably be the most popular drink by a landslide.”

Sparkler chuckled. “You mean I haven’t told you my recipe?” She asked.

“You never did.” Winter said. “Seriously Sparks, I know you’re immortal so taking a secret to the grave won’t be an issue. But why are you so stubborn about that?” She asked.

Sparkler laughed. “What? A girl can’t have secrets?” She asked.

“They can.” Night Shade said. “But why would you keep such a delicious drink a secret? You could make a fortune.” He said.

Sparkler laughed. “I’ll tell you what I tell everypony who says that.” She said.

“You don’t need to make an absurd profit.” Bender said.

“And that would be a LOT of bits just sitting around.” Foxtrot added.

Sparkler blinked at her two great grandsons before she giggled. “Yeah. That’s exactly it.” Sparkler said.

“Thought so.” Hurricane said. “You always tell us whenever we ask about it.”

“Why’d we keep asking though?” Bender asked. “You’d think we’d get the message the first few times.”

“SOME of us did.” Winter said. “But you and Flappy Jack kept asking.” She told Bender.

That got a round of laughter from everypony. Apple Brittle smiled at Sparkler. “So. Whatcha gonna do when you get home?” He asked.

“Tackle Twilight, kiss her senseless, and be glad that she’s now not going to go off the deep end.” Sparkler responded.

“Off the deep end?” Flappy Jack asked.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded, shivering. “When Night Shade and I went to Detrot, we saw a glimpse of a future where the kids and I never returned. Twilight drove herself to being put in a mental hospital because she was going insane trying to get us back.”

“Yeesh.” Apple Brittle said. “That ain’t good.”

“Especially when magic vanished. When that happened…Twilight lost the will to live.” Night Shade explained.

Everypony bit their lips. “Yikes.” Winter said.

“Yeah. But now that we have a functioning Timegate….hang on a second.” Sparkler stopped, realizing something.

“What?” Night Shade asked.

“Night Mare said she preserved the magical signatures of all the remaining Alicorns at the time. But there were only 5. There should’ve been six.” Sparkler explained. “Does anypony know the name Fleur Dis Lee?” She asked.

“Yeah. We know her.” Twinkle responded. “She’s your sister.” She said.

“Well if Night Mare never collected a magical signature from Fleur, I wonder what happ—“ Sparkler stopped as her brain registered what Twinkle just said. “MY SISTER?!” Sparkler exclaimed in the Royal Canterlot Voice in absolute shock.

Everypony within the property heard it and stopped everything. All eyes turned to Sparkler, and Sparkler just stared at Twinkle. “Twinkle.” She said. “What’s this about Fleur Dis Lee being my sister?” She asked

Twinkle’s Siblings’ eyes turned to Twinkle, who’s own eyes widened. Crap! Spoilers! Twinkle thought as she quickly realized what a MASSIVE mistake she just made. “Uh, I meant sisters in Alicornhood?” She responded, trying to play it off. Even though she knew it was futile.

Sparkler sighed, she could tell Twinkle was trying to misdirect her. “Ok, all great grandkids, in the house, now.” She said sternly.

The great grandkids all gulped and followed Sparkler inside.

For the moment, nopony heard a word, after a few moments, the Royal Canterlot Voice blasted through the walls. “FLEUR DIS LEE IS MY BIOLOGICAL SISTER?!” Sparkler shrieked.

Melody and the kids all had their eyes wide at that revelation. “Whoa. Seriously?” Sprinkle asked.

“The hay is up with that?” Light asked.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Sparkler was pacing back and forth. Her head was spinning. She’s my sister this whole time? And she never SAID anything?! A flurry of emotions raged within her. Anger, surprise, confusion. “This is why she never hated me as a noble isn’t it. This is why she was on my side. I’m her FAMILY!” She growled.

“I really hope this doesn’t cause a time paradox.” Winter commented. “Nice going Twinkle.” She said.

“I’m sorry. But in my defense, it was REALLY easy to mess up.” Twinkle defended.

“All you had to do was NOT say she was my sister. No, actually, thank you Twinkle for sharing that with me. Now I have something to do when me and my kids get back.” Sparkler said.

Winter sighed. “Well no going back now. We just have to hope that whatever time paradoxes come about aren’t too bad.” She said.

“You're seriously worried about time paradoxes right now?” Sparkler asked.

“Sparkler, you weren’t supposed to know Fleur was your sister yet. Eventually you are, but this is too early.” Winter explained. “Time doesn’t like it when you step off the path chosen for you.” She said.

“I wasn’t supposed to know I had a biological sister yet? What sense does that make?!” Sparkler asked. “This whole time I had a biological sister, and not ONCE did she tell me. Explain why that would be set in time.” Sparkler said.

“It’s just how it is.” Foxtrot said.

“And we can’t tell you anything more.” Sparkle said. “We wish we could, but we can’t.”

Sparkler sighed and facehoofed. What her grandkids were saying made sense, but it still hurt. Fleur Dis Lee, you have some SERIOUS explaining to do. As do mom and dad for that matter. She thought. This one revelation started up a bunch of questions. Was she herself adopted? Was Fleur? Who were their real parents? Why were they split up for so long?

After a few moments of no one saying anything, Sparkler decided to drop it for now. “I’m gonna have a few talks with certain ponies when I get back. But for now. Let’s try NOT to have any more slip ups.” She said.

Her grandchildren nodded in agreement, and they all went back outside. And of course everypony gathered around to hear what the hay Sparkler unleashed the RCV for. To say the KIDS were all surprised would be an understatement.

On one hoof, Time Paradox incoming. But on the other, Fleur, Mom, Dad. You three better have a hay of an explanation as to why I never knew I had a sister. Sparkler thought as Hitch finished the Veggie Hotdogs and they all had dinner.

To be continued…

Episode 30: How to Ask Out Royalty.

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Sunny tossed and turned in her sleep. After a moment, she opened her eyes. Ugh! I can’t get Pipp out of my mind! She thought. She rolled over and saw Izzy sound asleep next to her in bed. She sighed and got out of bed. Hoping some warm milk would lure her back to sleep, she went downstairs and into the kitchen. She put a glass of milk in the microwave and heated it up. While it was working, Sunny gathered her thoughts. “Ok so I have thought about it and yes. I do have feelings for Pipp. I still can’t believe I have feelings for two. What?”

“Sunny?” Asked Izzy. Sunny saw her come into the kitchen.

Sunny sighed. “I woke you up didn’t I.” She said.

“I got the sense something was bothering you.” Izzy said. “What’s up?”

“Pipp.” Sunny said. “I have feelings for both her and you and I don’t know what to do.” She said.

Izzy chuckled and nuzzled Sunny in the cheek. “Sunny, I already said I don’t mind pursuing this new relationship. A three way romance sounds fun!” She said.

“It’s not that Izzy.” Sunny said. “Pipp is a princess. How the hay do I confess to a princess?”

“Talk to her?” Izzy suggested. “We could talk to her together.”

“Izzy. Confessing to a princess isn’t just talking. It needs to be a memorable moment.” Sunny remarked.

“Well, don’t we know Somepony who confessed to royalty?” Izzy asked. “We could talk to her.”

Sunny blinked as it dawned on her what Izzy just said.

The next day, Sparkler and Flurry were out in town, Pipp and Hitch had taken the kids to the waterpark, and while Sparkler wanted to go, she needed to run errands to prepare for the overnight Camping trip she and her family, both current and future, were going on as a fun family outing. And, technically we can say we HAD to camp out to survive so Twilight hopefully won’t get too mad about missing the first camp out of our kids. She thought. FAUST the Timegate better work, and reach the correct time. Twilight and the fate of Friendship are depending on it. She shivered at the thought. It haunted her how such a dark future could spawn from one event. But nonetheless, now that she knew, she was determined to ensure that it didn’t happen. “I’ll even take ten years ahead of the disappearance. I’d rather try to help her out of that Tartarus hole she put herself in than not have her at all.” She said out loud.

“What was that Sparkler?” Asked Zipp.

Sparkler turned and saw Zipp, Sunny and Izzy all approach her. She smiled. “Oh, hey girls.” She said. “I was just thinking about Twilight.” She said. “And hoping that the Timegate does its job.”

“Aww. Don’t worry Sparky! I’m sure it’ll work!” Izzy said. “I mean, it kinda has to since Winter and her siblings are your descendants.” She reasoned.

Sparkler’s breath hitched in her throat. “Please, can we not talk about has to or is GOING to happen? I’m pretty sure a Time Paradox already happened with me finding out Fleur is my sister and I really don’t need anymore. Besides, Twilight doesn’t necessarily need to be alive. For all I know I fell in love with a new mare. Or maybe I just raised 11 kids on my own.” Sparkler reasoned.

“Fair point.” Izzy responded.

Sparkler nodded. “So, what’s up with you girls?” She asked.

“We need to talk to you about something.”

“I need to talk to you about something.” Zipp, Izzy, and Sunny all said at the same time. They glanced at each other before smiling. “Sorry. You go first.” They said to each other.

They were about to speak again in unison when Sparkler held up a hoof. “Sunny and Izzy first, then Zipp.” She said to avoid the unison talking.

Zipp nodded and stepped back. Izzy and Sunny smiled. “We were wondering.” Izzy said.

“How did you confess your feelings for Twilight? Given that she’s a princess?” Sunny asked.

Sparkler blinked, and Zipp stared at her friends. Sparkler bit her lip and reached up behind her head to scratch behind her neck. “Ahem. Well, I actually accidentally confessed to her in my sleep, and then a bit later we talked it out.” She said. “She’s actually the one who made a proper confession to me.” She explained.

“That’s a strange question to ask somepony out of the blue.” Zipp said. “Why do you two want to know?”

Sunny blushed. “We uh…May want Pipp to join us in a three way love herd.” She explained.

“Sunny’s fallen for her in addition to me so we thought we’d make everypony happy and have a three way pony herd relationship.” Izzy added.

At that, Sparkler’s and Zipp’s eyes widened and their jaws dropped. Sparkler because she hadn’t seen a polyamorous relationship before, not that she’d judge, love was love. And Zipp because she was well aware of her sister’s feelings for Sunny and Izzy and was shocked that they felt the same, or at least Sunny did and Izzy was ok with Pipp joining them.

Before anypony said anything. Zipp’s sister instincts kicked in. She flared her wings and growled at Izzy and Sunny. “If either of you hurt her in any way I WILL find you!” She warned.

Sunny jumped and gulped while Izzy just smiled and patted Zipp on the head. “Oh relax Zippy. We’d never do anything to hurt our friend/lover.” She said.

Zipp nodded and folded her wings back up. “If you want a suggestion, sing her a song.” She said. “That’s sure to get her attention.” She said.

“Yeah. That’s actually what I had in mind for a confession idea.” Sparkler agreed. “It shows how you’re willing to put in the effort.”

“Ooh, a song! Great idea!” Izzy said. “Sunny and I sound great together. We can totally woo Pipp over with our harmony!”

Sunny giggled. “Would you suggest a cover or an original Sparkler?” She asked.

“It depends.” Sparkler responded. “If you go original you can better show that you’re willing to put in the effort. But if you don’t know how to play instruments then it could take longer than you want. Whereas with a cover, you can prepare for it quicker, but not as much effort shown.” She explained. “Now, with an original, you could mitigate the longer prep time by about 50 to 75% if you know a friend or two that has a talent for playing instruments. Making it only a LITTLE longer than a cover.” She added.

Sparkler saw her friends give her confused looks. She deadpanned. “If you know a musician or two willing to help you, the process of writing an original is shorter if you don’t know how to play instruments yourself.” She simplified.

“Oh.” Her friends responded, understanding that.

Izzy nodded. “Hey! You’re a musician right?” She asked Sparkler. “Can you help us?” She asked.

Sparkler bit her lip and glanced at her watch that was synchronized to the countdown for the Timegate recharge. She saw that she had 5 days before it was complete. “I would love to help you, but with the limited time I have left in 2022, I cannot guarantee a quality song.” She explained.

“Eh, Pipp knows it’s the thought that counts.” Zipp responded. “It just needs to come from the heart.”

“Ok then. Let’s see what we can do in 5 days.” She said

Izzy beamed and hugged Sparkler. “Thanks Sparky! Start work after your camping trip?” She asked.

“You could speed up the process by writing the lyrics while I’m gone.” Sparkler said. “Remember, it’s best if they come from the heart.”

“Roger that Sparkler.” Sunny said. “Thanks.” She added as she and Izzy said their goodbyes and left.

Sparkler smiled and turned to Zipp. “So, what’s up with you?” She asked.

“Same as them. I have a crush on Hitch.” Zipp responded.

At that moment, Flurry giggled and teleported away. Sparkler didn’t see it but she heard the teleport. “Flurry teleported didn’t she.” She said.

“Yep.” Zipp responded.

"How do Cadence and Shining not lose their minds over this?" Sparkler asked under her breath. “Let’s walk and talk and Find out where Sprout ran away from Flurry.” She said as she whipped out her phone.

To be continued…

Episode 31: Camping Surprises and Accidental Confessions

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“We are out and camping! We are out and camping!” Sang Light and Dark and the kids.

Sparkler, her kids, her great grandkids, and Night Shade, who Winter had invited because he was a cousin. (Sparkler kicked herself for not connecting those dots.) had arrived at the campsite and were setting up tents. Or rather, The kids were dancing and running around the campsite.

Sparkler chuckled and shook her head as she worked with Hurricane to set up his tent. “This was a nice idea. Us Medleys together in the open night for camping.”

“Hey, gotta take advantage of the time we have.” Hurricane said. “So, still thinking about Fleur?” He asked.

Sparkler sighed. “It’s most of what I CAN think about. She had 7 months to reach out to me and she never did. I can forgive 22 years because she might not have known where I was and she couldn’t go looking for me. But when I came out with my wings and I made the rounds on the news there’s no excuse.” She said. “As for my “parents”, if they did adopt me and never thought to tell me I’m really gonna be ticked.” She said. “Do you have any idea how much pain I went through in school? If they knew my biological family was still alive, they have some SERIOUS explaining to do.”

“Maybe they didn’t know?” Hurricane asked. “Maybe they didn’t think it would matter if you knew because they loved you anyway and whoever put you up for adoption wanted you to have a better life than what they could provide?” He suggested.

“If they don’t know, fine, whatever, they shoulda still told me but I can look past that. But if they KNEW all along I had a sister, hay, I won’t even be that mad if they had no idea where Fleur even was and didn’t want me to run away trying to find her. But if they knew, and knew where Fleur was…I’m not sure what I’m going to do.” Sparkler said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if going no contact with them was an option.” Hurricane commented.

“That might actually be a viable option.” Sparkler responded. “I can’t believe I just said that about my parents.”

“Well they might have kept something from you for years. Of course you’re gonna be angry.” Hurricane said.

“Oh you have no idea.” Sparkler responded.

Over at the fire pit, Night Shade was busy trying to start a campfire. He was rubbing wood together furiously while Light, Dark, and Spike watched him. “Dude, we can just use my fire.” Spike commented.

“We don’t need that.” Night Shade said. “We just need to keep working at it.” He said as he continued to run the wood together. And NOT succeeding.

After a few moments, Light just rolled his eyes. “Ok this has gone on for long enough.” Casually, he lifted one of his forehooves, a cat claw extended from it, and with one slash, the wood caught fire and a good campfire was burning.

While Light retracted the claw and nodded, satisfied with himself, everypony else that was watching stared at him. Light raised an eyebrow. “What?” He asked.

“You just started a fire with a claw, that you brought out!” Spike exclaimed.

Dark meanwhile lifted his own hoof, and just as Light did, he extended a claw of his own.

It dawned on Light and Dark what just happened, and true to being kids that were still growing, they screamed in surprise.

Sparkler whipped her head around when she heard the screaming and dashed over to them. “Light? Dark? What happ-holy Faust you two have claws?!” She exclaimed when she saw the harp bones.

Dark retracted his claw and Light and Dark stared at each other and Sparkler. “Ok…ok, we have claws for some reason.” Light said.

“Is this a batpony thing or a Redheart syndrome thing?” Dark asked, hyperventilating. “W-what’s going on?!” He asked panicky.

Sparkler leaned forward and hugged Dark, Light too because he was scared as well. “Hey, hey, it’s ok. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for this.” She said. She turned to Night Shade. “Night?” She asked him.

“If it’s a batpony thing I’ve never heard of it.” He said. “If it’s Redheart syndrome, the doctor did say it could leave nasty surprises if I recall correctly what you told me.” He added.

Sparkler nodded. “You two have control?” She asked Light and Dark.

“I extended my claw and retracted it with a thought. I think we have control.” Light responded.

“Ok. Ok, so for the moment it looks like there’s no need to worry. But all the same, I’ll bring you two in for a doctor’s appointment when we get back. Just to make sure nothing bad’s gonna happen.” She said.

“I’d bring them to a doctor in Zephyr Heights.” Flappy Jack, who had come over, suggested. “They’ll likely know more about batponies than Maretime General.” He reasoned.

Sparkler nodded in agreement. “Good thinking Flappy Jack.” She said, resolving to make the trip with them as soon as possible. Hopefully they’ll be able to get us in. She mused.

Meanwhile, back in Maretime Bay, Sunny and Izzy were sitting at a table in the park, writing on a piece of paper. “I hope Pipp likes the song we’re writing.” Izzy said.

“I hope so too.” Sunny said. “I REALLY do not want to have an accidental confession like Sparkler did.”

“Eh, least we won’t be asleep when we talk to Pipp.” Izzy said.

“Talk to me about what?” Asked Pipp, who Sunny saw come up behind Izzy, who was laser focused on the paper.

“Oh, uh, nothing, nothing.” Sunny quickly said. “Nothing important.” She said.

“Except us trying to come up with a song so we can confess our love for Pipp.” Izzy said, clearly not realizing who was standing right behind her.

Sunny meanwhile panicked while Pipp’s jaw dropped. Did Izzy just say what I think she just said? “W-what?” Pipp asked.

“Nothing!” Sunny responded. “Nothing at all!” She said with a massive blush.

Izzy raised an eyebrow at her. “Sunny Bunny? What’s going on with you?” She asked, still completely oblivious to Pipp.

Sunny just pointed behind her. Izzy glanced behind her and saw Pipp. She smiled. “Oh, hi Pipp! Can’t talk right now sadly, Sunny and I are trying to write a song to confess our feelings for you.” Izzy said casually as she glanced back at the paper.

Sunny wanted to shrink and hide away in embarrassment, but instead just buried her head in her forelegs, while Pipp blushed like mad. Oh my Faust they actually return my feelings?!

“Izzy Kitty, do you realize who is standing right behind you?” Sunny asked.

“Pipp?” Izzy asked, confused

“Who is standing right behind you and hearing every word of what you just said?” Sunny asked her marefriend.

“Pipp. Sunny are you—ooooh.” Izzy finally realized what the heck happened and she turned around to see Pipp standing there blushing like mad. Izzy blinked, before stuffing the paper in her mouth. “Uh, we weren’t doing anything!” Izzy said, trying to save the situation.

Sunny groaned. “Izzy, just stop. The cat’s out of the bag.” She said as she lifted her head out of her forelegs. “So much for not having an accidental confession.” She said as she just resigned to how it was going to go. “Pipp I have a crush on you.” She told Pipp the truth.

Pipp blinked. Her brain taking a moment to process what Sunny said. Izzy meanwhile smiled. “Yeah. Something about a hide and seek game gone awry. If you’d like we’d be happy to let you into our relationship in a three way—mmmph!”

Pipp snapped and cut Izzy off mid sentence with a big fat kiss on the lips. After a few seconds, she pulled away from Izzy and proceeded to kiss Sunny the same way. The moment she heard the invite, she finally cut loose the chains holding her back.

Sunny and Izzy were caught off guard by the kiss, and while Izzy couldn’t really return it due to the sudden forwardness, Sunny was quicker and DID return it. After a few seconds, Pipp pulled back, and just unloaded. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell the two of you for a while now that I had a crush on the both of you. Sunny because of your heart and willingness to push on no matter what, and Izzy because you’re just so pure and precious and fun and…I guess I couldn’t help myself.” She said.

Izzy smiled and hugged Pipp while Sunny blinked. “So…I guess our feelings for each other are mutual.” She said.

“Sounds like it!” Izzy responded happily. “So. You do want to be in a herd with us?” She asked Pipp.

Pipp smiled and wrapped the both of them up in her wings in a hug. “I thought you’d never ask!” She said, her eyes watering.

Sunny smiled and she and Izzy kissed Pipp on the cheek. Sunny couldn’t believe THIS was how it went but what matter is that they were together now. Somehow, it’s exactly us. She thought.

To be continued…

Episode 32: Oh No She Didn't

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In the skies above Zephyr Heights around midday, Sparkler, Light, Dark, Zipp, and Pipp soared together, flying above the city to Zephyr General. Light glanced down at the city and stared in awe of it. “Wow. This is Zephyr Heights?” He asked.

“Yep.” Pipp responded.

“City of the Pegasi.” Zipp said.

“Cool!” Dark said.

Sparkler smiled as they flew in formation. True to her word, and with Zipp and Pipp agreeing to be the guides and the assurance that she got an appointment, the three mares brought Light and Dark to Zephyr Heights. Sparkler smiled as she looked around. The last time she was here she was focused on getting her daughters back from an insane queen, but now she could actually take time to admire the city for it’s beauty. “Gotta admit. The Pegasi know how to build.” She said.

“Why thank you.” Zipp said.

Pipp took the lead and led the five of them to Zephyr General. They landed and she smiled. “And here we are. Zephyr General.” She said. “Dr Aviate is the most knowledgeable about all winged creatures. If anypony knows about batpony anatomy, it’s her.” She explained.

“She’ll be able to see Light and Dark?” Sparkler asked.

“I called ahead and she said she’d take a look.” Pipp responded smiling.

“Heh. Dr. Aviate is the go to doctor for the royal family.” Zipp explained.

“Handy.” Sparkler commented as the five of them entered the hospital…to see a pony that Sparkler, Pipp and Zipp immediately recognized walking right for them. Now, it was obvious she was walking for the door but Pipp and Zipp KNEW there’d be trouble when they saw their MOM walking towards them.

Sparkler meanwhile took one look at the queen and just shook her head, ushering Light and Dark to the side. Nope. Not dealing with that hag. She thought.

Queen Haven saw Zipp and Pipp and smiled. “Why hello Zipp. What brings you here to Zephyr General?” She asked Zipp, completely ignoring Pipp.

“Zipp and I brought a friend here because she needs Dr. Aviate’s professional medical help with her two foster kids.” Pipp said, sensing exactly what was coming.

Queen Haven completely ignored Pipp and focused on Zipp. “Zipp? Everything alright?” She asked. “Why are you here?”

“Pipp literally just said exactly why we’re here.” Zipp responded.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about Zippy.” Haven responded. “I didn’t hear anything.”

“Mom I literally JUST said the reason.” Pipp told her, waving her hoof in her face. “Ya know, your younger daughter.” She said with zero expectation that her mother would talk to her.

“No!” Haven growled and got all up in Pipp’s face. “No! After that horrendous post about your love affair you are NO LONGER my daughter!” She said. “No daughter of mine would ever court another mare! That is NOT how our family will continue!” She growled.

Pipp took a step back in shock at the sudden outburst while Zipp growled. “Hey! She stepped in front of Haven. “Leave her alone mom! So what if she likes mares? Or has two lovers? Love is Love!” She said. “Now if you’ll excuse us. We have a friend to help.” She said as she nudged Pipp to just let it go and walk away, which she did.

Haven watched them go, and her eyes finally caught sight of Sparkler. Her eyes narrowed on the Alicorn. “And what is SHE doing here!” She growled.

Zipp whirled her head around angrily at Haven. “She’s the friend who needs help, and she still has that restraining order against you so don’t—“

“I am the queen! Nopony gets a restraining order against me!” She growled as she charged right for Sparkler.

“And this is gonna be messy.” Zipp said before whipping out her phone to call for the authorities.

Haven meanwhile flared her wings and got up in Sparkler’s surprised face. “You! Get the hay out of here! Now!” She growled.

Light and Dark hid behind Sparkler. Sparkler meanwhile stared back at Haven. “I will not leave. I am not a citizen of Zephyr Heights so you have no authority over me. ESPECIALLY since YOU’RE the one breaking the restraining order that is still VERY much in effect. So if anypony should get out of here it’s YOU!” She growled.

“Mom! Leave her alone!” Pipp told her as she tried to nudge her way between them. “She has every right to be here for her kid’s medical care.” She said.

Haven growled at Pipp and literally smacked her away. “Do not talk to me like that!” She said. “You are a disgusting black stain on the face of the earth and you do not deserve that crown on your head!” She growled before she reached up and yanked Pipp’s tiara off her head, smashing it to the ground and breaking it.

Pipp gasped and stood there, slack jawed at what her mother had done. Zipp meanwhile saw it and was on the phone with authorities. She told them they should get there immediately.

Sparkler meanwhile growled and stepped in front of Pipp. “Hey! I don’t know who you think you are but you do NOT treat others like that. ESPECIALLY your own daughter! It’s not her fault she likes mares! It’s what makes her her!” She said. “What kind of mother are you?” She asked.

“Don’t talk to me about being a mother! You’re the one that abandoned your daughters in Zephyr Heights!” Haven shot back. “You’re lucky I was unable to banish you from Zephyr Heights!” She growled.

“Abandoned?” Light asked as he and Dark exchanged confused looks. “That doesn’t sound like mom?” He said.

“Yeah, she would never abandon any of us.” Dark said.

That was an apparent mistake because Haven turned, raised her hoof, and slapped Light across the face. “Do not talk you little brats!” She growled.

Sparkler, Pipp, and Zipp gasped. Haven slapped a minor!

Dark saw her hit Light and something inside him snapped. “Hey! Leave him alone!” He growled as he extended his claws and swung at the mare, scratching her in the leg.

Haven shrieked and looked at her scratched leg. Everypony stared in horror. Dark was growling, before it dawned on him what he just did. He looked at his claws and panted. “W-what just—“ He began before Haven roared.

“You’ll pay for that you little brat!” She growled and lunged at them.

Light and Dark dodged Haven and raced to Sparkler for protection. Sparkler meanwhile flared her wings and lit her horn, her shock turning into full momma bear mode. Haven didn’t seem to get the hint and lunged right for Sparkler. Sparkler just captured her in her magic and kept her away. “Is this SERIOUSLY how a queen acts?” She asked.

At that moment, authorities charged through the door and pointed their spears around. “Freeze! ZHPD!” One of them shouted.

Haven saw the police and smiled. “Good! Somepony sensible is here! Look at what this old hag is doing to your queen! Arrest her!” She growled.

“Belay that order!” Zipp countered. “This place has CCTV cameras. Check them and you will see exactly why I called you here.” She said.

One of the officers nodded and went to check the CCTV camera footage. Haven meanwhile gasped and stared at Zipp. “YOU called them?!” She asked.

“What the hay was I supposed to do? Let you verbally attack my sister and physically attack my friends?” Zipp asked. “No mom. Queen or not, what you just did was all kinds of wrong. And honestly? I’m starting to wonder if you need a psych eval. Because no SANE pony would do what you just did.” She told her.

After a few minutes, the officer came back and confirmed what had happened, as well as confirmed that Dark was acting in self defense. The officers asked Sparkler to release Haven, which she did, and the officers quickly restrained Haven themselves. The officers started taking statements from both witnesses and victims. Sparkler was asked if she wanted to press charges as Light’s foster parent, Sparkler again declined on the fact that they would be gone in four days. Not that she told them that but still. In the end the charges were assault, spewing hate speech, and violating a restraining order willingly.

After the officers were done talking to the lot of them. Sparkler turned to Light and Dark. “Are you two ok?” She asked as she leaned in to make sure Haven didn’t leave any marks on Light.

“We’re fine.” Light responded. His cheek stung a bit but he would manage.

Dark meanwhile looked at his hoof, and his eyes watered. “I…I don’t know what happened…” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—“

“Dark.” Sparkler cut Dark off. “It’s ok. You were just defending your brother. I’m not mad.” She said as she brought Light and Dark in for a hug. “While I’ll urge you to try NOT to resort to violence. Self defense is perfectly ok.”

“O-ok.” Dark responded, still a little shaken.

Pipp meanwhile stared at her broken tiara, her mind reeling. She expected her mother to disapprove, but she never expected the reaction she just had. Zipp wrapped a wing around her and pulled her into a hug. “Hey, you ok?” She asked.

Pipp nodded, but her eyes were leaking tears as she hugged her sister. “It hurts.” She whispered.

“I know. Don’t worry sis. I still got your back.” She said.

Pipp smiled and nodded. If their horrible mother disowned her, at least her sister was still there for her.

After some more hugging and comforting, they FINALLY checked in and got in to see Dr. Aviate. She gave Light a good looking at to make sure he was alright after Haven, and when asked about the claws, she smiled. “Oh now don’t go worrying about that, it’s part of batpony biology. Usually develops around the age of 5.” She said.

Sparkler was relieved. At least it’s biological and not Red Heart Syndrome. She thought.

With their original goal complete, the five headed back to Maretime Bay. And on the way they all got to see Pipp’s Social Media blow up after somepony apparently posted Haven going insane. The vast majority was support for Pipp and her friends and MASSIVE backlash for Haven. Overall, a rough time but a good ending.

Now all that’s left is Copperbottom’s trial tomorrow and that should be the last insane pony encounter I have here. Sparkler thought as she flew alongside Light and Dark. She smiled at them. And four more days before they find a loving home.

That night, Pipp made it home to the lighthouse, which she moved into after her confession to Izzy and Sunny. “Girls! I’m home!” She called out.

Izzy came racing into the living room and tackled Pipp in a loving hug. “Peppy Pippy! We saw what your mother did. SHAMEFUL old hag!” She cried.

Sunny came up behind Izzy and nodded. “We’re really sorry that happened to you Pipp. We’re here if you need us.” She said.

Pipp nodded, pulled Sunny into the hug, and the three of them sat there, Sunny and Izzy doing their best to let Pipp know she was still loved.

“Thanks girls.” Pipp said after a second. “Knowing you still love me is enough.”

Izzy smiled and nodded. “Oh! I made something for you!” She said as she ran off. She came back a moment later holding a homemade tiara. “The video showed your old tiara being destroyed by that old hag of a mother. So I whipped up this one for you.” She explained and showed it to Pipp. “It’s got yours mine and Sunny’s Cutie marks on it and it’s gold colored. Sorry I didn’t have any real gold on me.” She said.

Pipp stared at the homemade tiara, And then at Izzy and Sunny, who were smiling at her. Her eyes started to water as a smile made its way onto her face. “It’s beautiful.” She said.

Sunny smiled and used her magic to place the tiara on Pipp’s head. “Even if your mother disowns you. You’ll always be our princess.” She said. “And judging by the reaction of the Pipp Crew, Your mother’s gonna be getting a LOT of backlash from this.”

Pipp smiled and brought her lovers in for another hug. “Thank you, both of you.” She said. If Haven wanted to disown her, so be it. She would just spend her time with her sister and her NEW family.

To be continued…

Episode 33: This Court is Now In Session two: Electric Boogaloo

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Sparkler, Light and Dark came in for a landing in front of the courthouse in Maretime Bay. They were there for one reason. Copperbottom’s trial. “Hopefully this won’t take long.” Light commented.

“I hope we never have to deal with that hag again.” Dark said.

“Don’t worry. In…” Sparkler checked her synchronized watch. “3 days 12 hours, she’ll never be able to find you ever again.” She assured them.

“Do you think Twilight will say yes?” Light asked.

“I’m not sure sweetie. But she’ll definitely hear me out.” Sparkler said. “So all the cards will be on the table before she makes a decision.”

“Ok.” Dark responded.

“Morning Sparkler!” Sparkler saw Foxtrot trot up to them smiling.

“Morning Foxtrot, where’s everypony else?” Sparkler asked.

“At work. Only one of us is needed to represent the Medley Deli in this.” Foxtrot explained. He smiled at Light and Dark. “You two alright?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Light said.

“We just want this over as soon as possible.” Dark said.

“Don’t worry. The amount of evidence against Copperbottom, she’ll surely be convicted.” Foxtrot said. “Now, I gotta find Case Cracker.” He said as he walked away.

When Foxtrot Sparkler and her two batpony charges went to go inside the courthouse, until another pony called out. “Excuse me! Pony with Horn and Wings. Got a minute?”

Sparkler turned and saw a Pegasus in armor. She glanced around, making sure Haven wasn’t there. The Pegasus approached. “Do not worry. The now former Queen is currently sitting in a jail cell in Zephyr Heights.” He said.

Sparkler’s eyes widened. “She’s been deposed?” She asked.

“Zephyr Heights did NOT like what she did yesterday.” The Pegasus said.

“Serves her right.” Dark said.

“Yeah.” Light said.

The Pegasus nodded. “I just thought I’d come over and introduce myself. And inform you that should you ever come back to zephyr heights, give me a call.” He said.

Sparkler smiled and nodded. “Thank you…”

“Magnus Sentry.” The Pegasus introduced himself. “I believe you know my ancestor Flash Sentry Ms. Medley.”

Sparkler gasped. “You…” She blinked.

“Direct descendant.” Magnus responded. “Proud history of Royal defense…though apparently I ended up with the WORST Royal figure ever.”

“Can’t argue with you there.” Sparkler responded. “What’re you doing here in Maretime Bay?” She asked.

“I was asked to come witness the trial representing Zephyr Heights. Light and Dark are an offshoot of pegasi after all.” Magnus responded.

“They didn’t like hearing one of their own was attacked.” Sparkler deduced.

“Nope.” Magnus responded with a chuckle.

Light, Dark, and Sparkler chuckled as well. “Well, we better get in there.” Sparkler said. The four of them entered the courthouse.

Soon, Sparkler, Foxtrot, Light and Dark sat behind a table in front of spectators. Copperbottom and her own attorney sat behind the other table, and Sparkler could tell that Copperbottom was only holding back from attacking because her attorney probably told her NOT to. Just try something you sorry excuse for an egg donor. Give me an excuse to do some REAL damage. Sparkler kept thinking. She almost WANTED Copperbottom to try something just so she could put her in the hospital in self defense. How ANY mother could possibly do such a thing is WELL beyond me.

“All rise for the honorable Judge Law Firm!” Said a court attendant.

Everypony saw the judge take his seat. “Good morning everypony, this court is now in session.” Everypony sat down. “Today is the case of Copperbottom VS The Medley Deli and Sparkling Medley. Copperbottom alleges that Sparkling Medley foalnapped Light wing and Dark wing and then prevented her from taking them back. And the Medley Deli collaborated with her to ban Copperbottom. Is that correct?” He asked.

“Yes your honor.” Copperbottom’s attorney said.

“And in turn, the Medley Deli is countersuing seeking damages for Destruction of property and abuse of an employee by Copperbottom and coupled with that, they are also alleging that Copperbottom gave up her rights to Light Wing and Dark Wing by abandonment, and then attempted to murder them.” Law Firm said.

“That is correct your honor.” Case Cracker responded.

“Well then this should be an interesting trial. Ms. Copperbottom, if you will please take the stand and present your case?” Law firm asked.

Copperbottom sneered at Sparkler before taking the stand. Sparkler could already see what was coming and braced herself for the lies.

The lies did not disappoint. Copperbottom essentially said that Sparkler took Light and Dark away from her when they were in Crystal Cove, and then when she found them at the Medley Deli, she attempted to get them back, only to be banned by staff to prevent her from recovering her kids. Oh, and to make it even better? Copperbottom provided no evidence to back her claims. Probably thinking her word was enough. Oh is her defense gonna break down on the spot. Sparkler thought.

Light and Dark, as they were listening to Copperbottom’s lies, were absolutely resisting the urge to scratch her with their newfound claws. To do SOMETHING to her for all the lies she was spewing, and for everything else she did to them. I don’t care what the courts say, there is NO WAY in Tartarus we are EVER going back to that hag. Light thought. He and Dark already talked about it and if the courts, for some ungodly reason, sided with Copperbottom, they’d just pull the disappearing act. They’d rather live on the lam than go to a mare who very clearly expressed her distaste for them.

After about a half hour of nonsense and Copperbottom faking a sobfest, she returned to her table with her attorney. Law Firm nodded. “Thank you Ms. Copperbottom.” He said. “Sparkling Medley, you may now take the stand.” He said.

Sparkler nodded and took the stand. Case Cracker followed her. “Ahem. Now, Ms, Medley. If you will please share your side of the story? From the time you found Light and Dark?” He asked.

“Gladly.” Sparkler responded. “It all started when my son first discovered Light and Dark in an alleyway in Crystal Cove, being put down because of their appearance.” She said.

“So you DID find them in Crystal Cove.” Case Cracker said.

“Yes. However I have never met Ms. Copperbottom in my life until I encountered her in the Medley Deli—“

“LIES!” Copperbottom screamed and slammed her hoof on the table. “You know full well I was RIGHT there you old hag!”

“Ms. Copperbottom! Control yourself!” Her attorney hissed.

“I agree with that suggestion.” Law Firm responded. “Ms. Copperbottom, you will control yourself or I WILL hold you in contempt of court!” He said.

Copperbottom grumbled and sat back down. Sparkler continued. “An officer from Crystal Cove brought me and Light and Dark to the orphanage where they lived and it was decided that I would become their foster—“

“They were not in an orphanage! They were with me!” Copperbottom interrupted Sparkler again. “She’s spewing out lies and nonsense and everypony here knows it!” She growled.

“Ms. Copperbottom! This is your second strike. One more and I will be forced to hold you in contempt of court!” Law Firm warned. “I suggest you heed this warning!”

When Copperbottom again sat back down, Sparkler continued. “My first interaction with Copperbottom was two weeks ago when she was a patron at the Medley Deli, I was her table’s waitress.” She said.

“A bad one too.” Everypony heard Copperbottom say under her breath.

“That is beside the point.” Sparkler responded to that. “It does not matter if I was a bad server or not, what matters is what happened when I seated my family at the table that we reserved for them. It was a large party so we had to seat them at our largest table. Ms. Copperbottom had been badgering me to move her party to the larger table even though I repeatedly told her I couldn’t. That it was already reserved. Copperbottom then decided to begin harassing the patrons at the larger table, which included my foster children Light and Dark.” She said.

“Harassing?” Case Cracker asked.

“I did not hear the beginning but by the looks of it she had gone over there to demand they give her the larger table. But what I DID hear was her berating Light and Dark for how they look.” Sparkler responded. “I walked over to get her to stop and that’s when she confessed to me that Light and Dark were her biological kids that she very much intentionally abandoned. It very quickly escalated to the point where she magically grabbed every sharp utensil she could and sent them flying towards Light and Dark, with the obvious intention of ending their lives.” Sparkler said. “Fortunately their deaths were prevented and from what I was told, Copperbottom went crazy and trashed the restaurant, forcing it to shut down for repairs.” Sparkler concluded. “That’s where the story ends. I only met Copperbottom on that day in the restaurant and I do in fact have legal guardianship over Light and Dark as a foster parent.” She said.

“Thank you Ms, Medley.” Law Firm said before dismissing her.

Case Cracker called Foxtrot to the stand while Sparkler returned to her seat. Light and Dark clung to her and she wrapped her wings around them protectively. Foxtrot went on to explain what happened the day of the incident at the restaurant and it lined up with what Sparkler had said. Copperbottom didn’t interrupt him but did make snide remarks here and there.

After Foxtrot, Case Cracker then called up Somepony who identified themselves as the officer that facilitated the transfer of Light and Dark to foster care. He confirmed that Sparkler did indeed hold the proper paperwork to foster Light and Dark. Only serving to further disprove Copperbottom’s claims. Finally, after the officer went back to his seat, Case Cracker addressed the court. “I would now like to share with this court a digital record of the incident as caught on CCTV cameras and the recording devices The Medley Deli employs in its name tags for this exact purpose. I would like it noted that the audio from the recording devices and the video recordings have been combined to ensure zero question as to who said what when.” He stated.

“Objection! Would that not constitute tampering with evidence?” Copperbottom’s attorney asked.

“This combined recording was hoofed over to officials after the combining. Therefore this is its original form.” Case Cracked countered.

“Play the recording.” Law Firm responded.

Case Cracker nodded and played the footage. With the mic recordings attached, it revealed everything Copperbottom said and did. And the most horrifying thing was that it clearly showed that Copperbottom showed no remorse for her actions.

The recording soon ended and the room was silent. Case Cracker spoke up. “As you saw, there was a clear attempt to end lives that day.” He said.

“Yes. It does very well appear to be the case.” Law Firm responded. “Ms. Copperbottom, the evidence presented goes very much against your testimony. And given that you have failed to provide evidence in your favor, I have no other options but to rule in favor of—“

“Isn’t my word enough?!” Copperbottom interrupted him. “Your honor, I am their biological mother! I should be allowed to take them back from that foalnapper!” She growled.

“Ms. Copperbottom. You have surrendered your rights to the two boys by intentionally abandoning them. And what’s more, we just witnessed you very intentionally try to MURDER them. I am sorry but even if you never abandoned them, I cannot in good conscience allow them to go with a pony as prone to anger as you. This court rules in favor of the Medley Deli and Sparkling Medley. Ms. Copperbottom is hereby ordered to have no contact with the children, and is ordered to pay 50,000 bits in damages to the Medley Deli. Furthermore, there will be a jury trial for the criminal actions of Ms, Copperbottom.” He slammed his gavel, making it official.

Light and Dark smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. It was now by court order that their Egg Donor permanently lost them.

Copperbottom meanwhile growled at that. “Objection! You cannot split up a family!” She growled as she whipped her head to stare daggers at the three. “You. You did this!” She growled as she charged right for Sparkler and the kids.

Sparkler lit her horn and captured Copperbottom in her magic, preventing her from ever coming near them. She held Copperbottom until Hitch and Apple Brittle, who were waiting in the back of the room, could tackle and restrain her. Law Firm slammed his gavel for order. “Order! The charge of Contempt of court is now applied. Ms Copperbottom, you should be ashamed of yourself.” He told her.

Copperbottom fought to keep from being cuffed. “No! Those are MY kids! They’re coming with me!” She growled.

“They are not your kids anymore.” Law Firm responded simply as Copperbottom was dragged away.

With that out of the way, the courtroom started clearing out and Sparkler breathed a sigh of relief. And that’s that. She said.

“Ms Medley. May I talk to you for a moment?” Judge Law Firm asked.

Sparkler blinked before nodding, what did the judge have to talk to her about.

Judge Law Firm walked out from behind the stand and nudged his head to gesture her over to the corner. Sparkler followed him. “Is there something you need from me?” Sparkler asked.

“I understand that you do not have long before you return to your proper place in time.” Law Firm said.

Sparkler’s jaw dropped. She was NOT expecting that. “I—I don’t.”

“Sparkler. Most of Equestria may have forgotten about the old world. But there are those of us that have heard the stories. I am well aware of the fact that you were flung to this time by accident.” Law Firm responded.

Sparkler blinked. What Law Firm said made sense. “Please don’t tell anypony!” She hissed at him.

“My lips are sealed. I just wanted to inform you that if you wish to take Light and Dark back with you, you’re gonna need to fill out some paperwork. Otherwise Light and Dark are technically still registered with our foster system.” Law Firm informed her.

Sparkler blinked before it dawned on her that Law Firm had a point. “What do I need to do?” She asked.

“Only one way to get Light and Dark out of the system.” Law Firm said.

Sparkler’s mind came up with what Law Firm was talking about. “Adoption.” She said.

Law Firm nodded. “You and your lover are of course free to put them back up for adoption in your time. But unless you adopt them here in the present, there’s gonna be legal Tartarus to pay when Foster Care decides to drop in.” He said.

Sparkler glanced back at Light and Dark, before nodding. “They’ll have to agree won’t they.” She said.

“Some things never change.” Law Firm responded.

Sparkler took a deep breath and nodded. She went to get Light and Dark, and within the hour, Light Wing and Dark Wing were legally her adopted children. On their way home, Sparkler glanced at Light and Dark.

“You two do understand why this has happened?” She asked.

“It’s the only way Foster Care will take us out of their system.”

“Allowing you the legal ability to take us back with you.” Light and Dark responded.

“Yes. I still need to talk to Twilight.” Sparkler said.

“Sure.” Light said.

“But Uhm, we’re gonna just enjoy this as much as we possibly can…official mom.” Dark responded with a chuckle.

Sparkler chuckled and wrapped them up in her wings. “Enjoy it while you can.” She said.

To be continued…

Episode 34: The Battle of Maretime Bay Pt 1

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Night Shade was examining the Timegate late at night. Going over it with a saddle mounted diagnostic device attached to a robot arm. “Just 48 more hours girl.” He said. “48 hours and one more spin up and you’re free to stop working.”

“I HOPE that thing doesn’t stop working.” Said the voice of Phyllis. “Do you have any idea how useful that thing can be for research purposes?” She asked as she came up behind Night Shade.

Night Shade smiled. “Sure, it would be GREAT if the Timegate continued to work. But what I’m saying is that it HAS to work for one more spin up. Getting Sparkler and her family home.” He explained. “Every time after that is a nice bonus.”

Phyllis nodded and looked at the gate. “You never told me you were descended from royalty.” She commented. “Dr Night Mare and Princess Luna.”

“I try NOT to let my bloodlines dictate my life. Think, if my application mentioned anything about royalty, you’d probably have hired me right there without so much as an interview.” Night Shade responded.

“Fair enough.” Phyllis responded. “Your ancestors would be proud of you.”

“Yeah. Because I helped stop a dark future for Twilight Sparkle.” Night Shade shivered. “That day in Detrot really spooked me.” He revealed.

After a moment, Night Shade completed his diagnostics and it was all green across the board. “Right, done with my inspection. We can get out of here.” He said.

Meanwhile, in a deeper part of Canterlogic HQ, Sprout was welding something under a cloth. He smiled under his face mask. “Almost done. Just a few more hours and all Unicorns and Pegasi are as good as gone.” He said.

“Sprout!” He heard his mother say through the intercom. “Night Shade and I are leaving, time to come up.”

“Ugh. Yes mom.” Sprout begrudgingly said as he put down the welder and left his lair. Tomorrow, Earth Ponies come out on top. He thought.

“Ok! I’m off to work! Have fun with Pipp Sunny and Izzy!” Sparkler called out to her kids. “See you later for dinner.” She added as she walked out the door. She smiled as she walked into Maretime Bay. “Alright. Last day at the Medley Deli. Let’s make it a good one Sparkler.” She told herself.

“Oh I have no doubt it will be a good day. If what Winter’s told me is any indication.” A voice said from behind.

Sparkler turned her head to the source of the familiar voice and saw a pony she hadn’t seen in a while. “Hey! Harmone!” She smiled and waved.

Harmone smiled as he came up beside Sparkler. “Morning Sparkler. I hear you’re doing well.” He said.

“A few bumps but now my family and I are 43 hours away from being home.” Sparkler responded.

“Yeah Winter did mention something about a recharge happening with a Timegate.”

“You know Winter?” Sparkler asked.

“Family friends.” Harmone responded. “What? Our two families are tight. And that relationship continues.”

“Well that’s good at least.” Sparkler responded.

They walked together to the Medley Deli. “So. What brings you here?” Sparkler asked.

“Thought I’d visit and see you off back to your time.” Harmone responded. “Thought I’d head to the Medley Deli for meals today.”

“Maybe I can get Gloria on the playlist today.” Sparkler joked.

Harmone chuckled. “If ya do, give me a heads up and I’ll sing it with ya.” He nudged Sparkler playfully.

Sparkler chuckled as she went in. And so the work day began.

Meanwhile, at Canterlogic HQ, Sprout returned to his lair and had continued his little project. “Mwahaha. Wait until they get a load of my new Earth Pony defense system. Hehehe.” He said.

Over the course of the day, Sparkler tended to patron’s needs, served food and drinks, and of course performed whenever Winter called for a performance. While there were some hiccups with messed up orders and such, it wasn’t anything that was anywhere near as bad as the first grand opening. So overall, by the time dinner rolled around, Sparkler could chalk this up to a high note to end off on.

Soon enough, Sparkler had seated her kids and their foalsitters at the table. Had their drink orders, and told Bender the orders when Winter took the stage. “Hey hey hey everypony! How’s everypony doing this fine evening?” She asked.

Everypony cheered to show their satisfaction. Winter smiled. “Good. Tonight is actually a bittersweet night for the Medley Deli. Because this marks the last day for our Head Waitress Sparkling Medley. It’s her last day working here. Can I get a spotlight on Sparkler please?”

On cue, a spotlight shined on Sparkler. All eyes turned to her as Winter continued. “Sparkler, your time with us may have been short. But it was certainly sweet. Quite frankly, I’m pleasantly surprised you lasted so long. We’ve had at least one resignation so far, thanks to a certain cliche of ponies who seem to think they’re above everypony else. But you Sparkler, you probably weathered that cliche at its worst. Plus, you’re a talented musical performer, a superb waitress. And on behalf of everypony here at the Medley Deli, I thank you. Can I get a round of applause for our star waitress?” She asked.

The crowd cheered and applauded Sparkler, who blushed, smiled sheepishly, and waved. “Thanks everypony. It’s been fun working here. I almost wish I could stick around, but alas, life demands I move on.” Back to my own time and away from the insanity that is a pair of mothers apparently. She subconsciously continued in her mind. It still baffled her how any parent could do what Haven and Copperbottom did. She understood that Homophobia was a thing and all, but that was no excuse. And Copperbottom, Sparkler shivered at the thought that she had ANYTHING in common with that witch. For all intents and purposes I am now considered an egg donor to kids. She thought.

At Canterlogic HQ, Night Shade was about to head down to the Medley Deli when he noticed something on a screen. A red error message. Meaning something was wrong with the Timegate. “What?” He asked as he glanced out at the gate. “What’s up with you?”

“Ahem. Now, if we may be allowed to indulge ourselves just a little bit.” Winter said. “We’d like to share with you some of our favorite performances with Sparkler. And to help us out, I called a very special friend who helped Sparkler be the excellent staff member she is today.”

While Winter called up Harmone and Sparkler had a pretty good idea what song was coming, she felt her watch go off on vibrations. She glanced at the watch face and saw a rather alarming message on it, from Night Shade.

Night Shade: We got a problem, get here now!

A problem with the Gate? He told me all was good this morning. Sparkler thought as she glanced back up at Winter, who was looking right at her.

Winter saw Sparkler glancing at her watch, and the look of confusion and slight panic told her all she needed to know. Winter nodded at Sparkler, who nodded back, and, after leaving everything but the shirt with Bender, she hurriedly left the restaurant. On the way she passed by the kids table. “Sunny, you girls get the kids back to the house. It’s farther away from the Timegate.” She whispered as she left.

Sunny and everypony else at the table raised eyebrows. “The hay is going on?” Light asked.

Harmone and Winter meanwhile exchanged looks. “Hope everything’s alright.” Harmone commented.

Sparkler came in for a landing outside Canterlogic HQ to find Night Shade standing there by the door, probably to let her through to the gate. “Night Shade, what’s going on?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” Night Shade responded as he gestured for them to go inside. “I was just making sure everything was nominal before coming to the Medley Deli for your send off party when the gate started spewing out an error. But when I checked the systems everything WAS nominal.” He said.

“Was it a system glitch?” Sparkler asked.

“I don’t know. But just to be on the safe side, let’s get the magical signatures out of there before—“ Night Shade was cut off when the alarms started blazing. Night Shade gasped. “Oh no.”

“What?” Sparkler asked.

“Unauthorized access to the Gate Room!” Night Shade exclaimed. “Somepony’s breaking in!”

That was all the explanation Sparkler needed for her to take off in a sprint. Night Shade quickly followed. I swear to Faust if those magical signatures are gone… Sparkler knew that most of the signatures were replaceable, but she also knew that five were NOT replaceable. The magical signatures from Detrot. And even if the contributing Alicorns WERE out there somewhere, she certainly was not going to find Twilight, thanks to that dark future she saw. “We have to save those five magical signatures.” She said. Panic, urgency, fear, and anger clear.

“Wholeheartedly Seconded.” Night Shade responded as they continued to run.

They reached the gate room and saw exactly what caused the alarm. A bunch of mechanical ponies in front of the gate, and they were in time to see one of them make off with the Magical Signatures! “Oh hay no!” Sparkler growled.

Before she could take off after the mechanical thief, the others in the room lit up their eyes and started firing lasers at them. Sparkler lit her horn and formed a shield around herself and Night Shade. She grunted as the lasers hit her shield. “Grah! Dang it are we seriously being assaulted by poninators?!” She growled.

“Apparently?!” Night Shade responded. “Activate defense system! Tango Oscar 01299!” He called out.

Right then, the ceiling opened and several turret drones dropped down and unloaded lasers on the robots, destroying all of them. Once all of them were dead, Sparkler dropped her shield and dashed over to the Gate, which now LACKED the one thing it needed to work. “What the HAY just happened!” She growled.

“We were robbed.” Night Shade responded. “Those things took the magical signatures.”

“What could they possibly want them for?” Sparkler asked. “And more importantly, WHO SENT THEM!” She roared.

At that moment, the ground started rumbling. Night Shade glanced at the clear hole in the wall the robots used, and then Sparkler. “Something tells me we’re about to find out!” He said as he and Sparkler dashed out the door to go outside. They soon rushed outside the building, and what they saw made them stop in their tracks and gasp in absolute horror.

What they were looking at was a MASSIVE mechanical pony that was a spitting image of. “SPROUT!” Sparkler roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice in pure rage. She noticed several robots surrounding the massive robot and deduced what had happened. “That little pinbrain! He stole the magical signatures!” She growled.

“And if I had to guess, that’s cause he needed them to power that thing!” Night Shade exclaimed in response.

All around Maretime Bay, ponies all around could see the giant mechapony. Winter and her siblings and Harmone watched from the Medley Deli. “Whoa. Is that Sprout?” Foxtrot asked.

“He’s gone insane.” Sparkle said.

“Guys.” Winter said. “Sparkler’s gonna need help.” She told them.

“Are we going to call on Reflect?” Sparkle asked.

“We have to.” Winter responded.

Inside the Mechapony, Sprout was laughing maniacally as his creation powered up. “Mwahahaha! At last! Now Pegasi and Unicorns will be extinct! And Earth Ponies will reign supreme forever!” He shouted. “Behold Ultimate Sprouticus Maximus!”

To be continued…

Episode 35: The Battle of Maretime Bay Pt 2

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Sparkler and Night Shade continued to watch in utter disbelief as the giant mechapony and its Tartarus-spawn poninators began moving forward. They couldn’t believe what it was they were seeing.

Sprout laughed as he activated a loudspeaker. “Ahem. Attention all Pegasi and Unicorns. You will leave Earth Pony Territory immediately! Or face the consequences of invading our turf!” He growled as his pony bots swept through Maretime Bay

Ponies out and about ran for their lives as the ponybots started firing at Pegasi and Unicorns. From the house, Sunny and her friends watched the chaos. “Has Sprout lost it?!” Zipp asked.

“I think he legit has!” Pipp responded.

Sunny growled and flared her wings. “I’m going out there. Keep the kids safe.” She said as she flew off into the sky towards the town.

Sparkler at last snapped out of her shock and flared her wings angrily. “That punk is SO going down!” She growled.

“Careful! Remember we need all the magical signatures intact!” Night Shade called out as Sparkler took off.

Sparkler nodded as she flew up into the sky and stopped right in front of the giant mechapony’s head, which she could clearly tell was the command center. “SPROUT! I AM GIVING YOU ONE CHANCE TO STOP THIS PURE INSANITY!” She growled in the Royal Canterlot Voice. “PEGASI AND UNICORNS ARE NOT THE ENEMY! THEY NEVER HAVE BEEN!” She shouted.

Sprout just laughed. “Sure. That’s what you want us to think. But I know the truth!” He growled as he brought one of the mechapony’s forelegs. Before Sparkler could dodge, the leg swatted her away. Sparkler grunted at the impact and was sent flying uncontrollably. She quickly regained control just in time to NOT crash into Sunny, who came up beside her in a hover.

“Sparkler! You alright?” Sunny asked.

“Gah. Yes. I’m fine, but that little nut case won’t be! He’s powering that thing with the magical signatures my family needs to get home!” Sparkler told Sunny.

“Oh no.” Sunny responded.

Sprout meanwhile just smiled and powered up a laser cannon that was attached to his mechapony’s head. “And now I have targets for this bad boy. Say hello to the PegaCorn annihilator!” He growled as the cannon fired.

Sparkler and Sunny watched the cannon fire at them. “Look out!” Sunny and Sparkler took off and just barely dodged the beam.

“Oh yeah. Yep there’s no more doubt about it. SPROUT HAS GONE LEGITIMATELY INSANE!” Sparkler said as they dodged another shot.

Sunny noticed a pack of ponybots flying right at them and their eyes glowed. “Incoming!” She cried out.

Sparkler saw the bots coming and lit up her horn. “Let’s tear these buckets of bolts apart!” She said as she fired magical lasers at the bots.

Meanwhile, in Maretime Bay, Hitch just stared at the mechanical monstrosity that his former deputy and friend had constructed, as well as the littler ones terrorizing the town. “Sprout, what happened…” He asked idly.

“Sheriff!” Zipp called out as she landed in front of him. “Sheriff! We gotta get everypony outta here!”

Hitch blinked, before nodding. “Right!” He said as he turned to Apple Brittle. “Brittle, put out a call for reinforcements! I have a good feeling we’re gonna need them!”

“Roger Roger!” Apple Brittle responded before whipping out his phone.

Hitch nodded and turned to Zipp. “Zipp, we have to get everypony into the shelter. They’ll be safe there. Do a fly of the town perimeter for any stragglers and direct them to the shelter.” He said.

“Roger that.” Zipp responded, but before taking off. “Oh, and sheriff?” She asked.

“What?” Hitch asked in a hurry.

Zipp leaned in and locked lips with Hitch for a solid three seconds before pulling back and smiling, it looked like this was the best chance she was guaranteed. “That was just in case we don’t make it out of this alive.” She said with a wink as she took off, leaving Hitch very confused and flushed.

Back in the sky, Sparkler and Sunny had launched from their hovering position and were now essentially dogfighting Sprout’s mechanical army. “Whoa! Is this what it’s like in 1003?! Saving the world from evil maniacs?” Sunny asked as she passed by Sparkler.

Sparkler rolled her eyes as she blasted at robots. “This is my first save the world level crisis!” She said. “Figures it’d follow an accident.”

Sunny blasted at robots with her magic, before she noticed the big cannon powering up again. She bolted right for its target. “Sparkler! Behind you!” She crashed into Sparkler and moved her and herself out of the way of the cannon, which missed its shot. Sunny and Sparkler came crashing down into the streets of Maretime Bay. They both grunted at the impact and got back on their hooves.

“Thanks Sunny.” Sparkler said.

“Don’t mention it.” Sunny responded. The two Alicorns looked ahead and saw more of Sprout’s robots heading towards them.

“Destroy all Non Earth Ponies!” One of the lead robots said as their eyes lit up.

Sparkler and Sunny flared their wings and lit their horns, ready to fight, before magical laser blasts shot past them and slammed into the robots, destroying them. Sparkler glanced behind her and saw a sight that nearly made her jump for joy. Behind her she saw… “Twilight Sparkle?!” She asked.

The new Alicorn shook her, or rather, HIS head. “Nah. It’s me. Harmone.” The Alicorn’s head morphed into that of Harmone. “Thanks to a magic amplification Crystal, I think four Alicorns are better than three.” Harmone said.

Sunny’s expression fell. For a moment, she legit believed that TWILIGHT FREAKING SPARKLE had showed up. “Why did you choose to don Twilight’s look?” She asked.

“Insult to injury to Sprout. We’ll beat him, and he’ll see that he’s upsetting a legend.” Harmone said simply as he came up between the two genuine Alicorns.

“Oh you better believe she WOULD be upset by all this.” Sparkler responded as she saw MORE robots coming right at them. “Sweet bananas how many of these buckets of bolts does that lunatic have?” She asked.

“Don’t worry. Help is on the way.” Harmone said. “We just need to hold the line until it gets here.”

Sunny and Sparkler nodded. “Right!” They said as the three of them watched as the robots swarmed them.

And so they lit their horns ablaze and started fighting back against the robots. Hitch, Apple Brittle, and Zipp herded the civilians into the shelter for protection, and Sprout’s Mechapony just kept on walking. Sparkler noticed its course, and gasped when she realized what was in the way. “He’s headed for the house that the kids are in!” Knowing that Sprout knew Alicorns occupied that house, and knowing he called his main weapon the Pegacorn Annihilator, Sparkler took off for the house, with Sunny and Harmone close behind her.

At the house, Pipp and Izzy had gotten the kids into the basement. They saw the chaos outside. “Good thing we get cell reception down here.” Pipp commented.

“Can somepony please tell me what Sprout’s problem is?” Spike asked as Flurry was whimpering, scared.

“Sprout HATES non Earth Ponies.” Pipp responded.

“So much that he’s willing to go this far apparently.” Izzy responded. “But hey. At least this will be an AWESOME story to tell.” She added.

At that moment, Sprinkle, Pedal, and Mystic all got a mental link message from their mom. They gasped as they processed it. “We need to get out of here.” Sprinkle said. “We need to evac the house! Sprout’s gonna destroy it!” She cried.

“What?!” Everypony responded. “Why?”

Pipp blinked. “Because we’re in here. The only one of us who’s safe from that maniac is Pedal!” She exclaimed.

“Evacuate!” Mystic cried.

Outside, Sparkler and her two friends beat their wings as hard as they could, trying to get to the house. Sparkler ascended into the air and blasted at the robot’s head, trying to knock it off course. “Sprout! There are KIDS in that house! Are you seriously ok with putting CHILDREN in danger?!” She growled.

“They’re still non-earth ponies!” Sprout growled as the main weapon charged up.

Sparkler put herself in front of the house and formed a shield around it and her. “Sprout! Don’t do—gah!” Sparkler cried out when a few robots bucked her in the side and sent her flying to the side. She rolled on the ground to a stop and lifted her head just in time to see the weapon fire. “NO!” She cried as she watched the house get destroyed. Sparkler watched the explosion in horror, knowing that her kids were still in there.

Sunny and Harmone gasped as the house went up in a ball of fire. For the moment, nopony said a word. However, Sparkler and her friends noticed when several streaks cut through the smoke and soar into the air. Their brains processed what the streaks were and they all sighed in relief. “Oh thank Faust!” Sparkler said.

Pip carried Izzy on her back and Melody and Crystal carried Mystic and Pedal as they escaped destruction by mere seconds. Spike glanced back down. “Good thing we didn’t need that house for much longer—whoa!” He was cut off when lasers started flying at them.

The group panicked and evaded the incoming shots. Sparkler and her friends growled and launched into the air. “Hang on guys!“ Sparkler said.

Sprout saw the escape and growled. “Oh come on!“ He exasperated. “That’s SO cheating!” He activated another feature of his Mechapony.

Outside, the flyers not named Sparkler, Sunny, or Harmone suddenly halted in the air, and began moving towards the Mechapony. “W-what’s happening?!” Mystic cried.

“Oh no. We’re getting sucked in!” Pipp realized as she flapped her wings hard. As did everypony else.

It was a lost cause, because they near immediately were completely sucked into the mechapony’s snout and were dumped into a glass containment bubble resembling a gem on chest.

Sparkler saw this happen and this sent her into a rage. “Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD!” She growled as she charged for the Mechapony. “That was SO the wrong move!” She roared as she tried to get at the prison.

Sprout just had his mechapony smack Sparkler away, sending her crashing down into the ground. He laughed evilly as he aimed his weapon right at her. “Say goodbye You menace!” He growled as the weapon fired.

Sparkler opened her eyes and looked up just in time to see the shot flying right at her. She braced herself for impact, but while she heard the impact sound, she felt no more pain. She opened her eyes to see a sight she couldn’t believe. A pony with a shield that was actually holding the blast back! The pony angled his shield up and the blast was deflected high into the air, where it exploded, causing no death or damage. Sparkler slowly got up as the pony turned his head to reveal. “Magnus Sentry!” Sparkler exclaimed.

“Yep.” Magnus responded. “In the flesh.”

“Magnus?” Harmone asked as he and Sunny landed next to them.

“How did you just DO that?” Sunny asked.

“I can’t say much without causing a time paradox, but I will say it’s a family heirloom handed down for generations.” Magnus responded. “We received a call for assistance. So the Pegasus Royal Air Force is here to help.”

All around the area, Pegasi joined the battle and began to fight the robots. Sunny smiled. “This is exactly what the magic of friendship is all about!” She said.

Magnus chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah. Friendship is magic. Now, Winter wants me to bring the three of you to the Medley Deli. We’re gonna plan a counterattack.” He said.

“That thing just ate my kids and Sunny’s lovers! What we need to do is get them back!” Sparkler said panicky.

“We will.” Magnus responded. “But we need a coordinated plan of attack, otherwise the odds of failing are great.” He told Sparkler.

Sparkler glanced around at her friends, then at the mechapony, before reluctantly nodding. “Fine. we’ll fall back.” She said.

Magnus nodded and the four ran off towards the Medley Deli. Sparkler nearly in tears. If ANYPONY is the menace it’s definitely that pinbrain Sprout! She thought angrily.

To be continued…

Episode 36: The Battle of Maretime Bay Pt 3

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Magnus, Sparkler, Sunny, and Harmone walked past the guards stationed in front of the Medley Deli and walked in to see Winter, her siblings, Hitch, Apple Brittle, and Zipp already in there. Zipp and Hitch glanced at the door and saw Sparkler and Sunny. “Sparkler!”

“Sunny!” They said as they ran to them.

“Are you ok?” Hitch asked.

“Where’re Pipp, Izzy and the kids? We saw the house explode.” Zipp asked, worried about her sister.

Sparkler sighed. “They were all captured by Sprout. He sucked them into that giant robot of his.” She said.

“We tried to get them out but—“ Sunny started before the door opened. Everypony whirled their heads around to see…

“Pedal?! Spike?!” Sparkler gasped in surprise to see one of her daughters and Spike standing there, and NOT in a robot.

Pedal smiled and nodded. “Yeah. Sprout let us go.” She said.

“Don’t make us say HOW, but he did.” Spike added, shivering.

Sparkler suddenly got a really disturbing image from Pedal through the mental link. She nodded. “Yeah uh, let’s not talk about that, WHY did he let you go?” She asked.

“Because I’m an Earth Pony.” Pedal responded. “And Spike just happened to be next to me.” She explained.

Sunny gasped, before facehoofing. “Right. Because he has no problems with Earth Ponies. Just non earth ponies.” She said.

Sparkler groaned, but did hug Pedal and Spike tight. “Oh thank Faust you two are alright!” She said. “Now that’s two less prisoners to worry about.“ She added, glad for it.

Right then, the door opened again and this time Night Shade and Phyllis entered the building. “This is all my fault.” Phyllis said. “If I hadn’t grilled into him that Pegasi and Unicorns were the enemy, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Ms. Phyllis, just stop. You were just looking out for Sprout.” Night Shade said. He turned to the gathered heroes. “Everypony, I know how we can beat this thing!”

“How?” Winter asked.

Phyllis smiled and placed her laptop on the table. “I managed to snag Sprout’s plans for his Ultimate Sprouticus Maximus.” She explained as blueprints of the mechapony appeared on the screen.

“Whoa. Nice.” Twinkle said.

“Yeah. I was correct in my assumption that the magical signatures are what power that thing.” Night Shade said.

“So we go in, take them back, and bam, that thing freezes in its tracks?” Zipp asked.

“Except Sprout has an army of robots between us and them.” Hurricane pointed out. “There’s no way he’ll NOT put up one heck of a fight.”

“And he’s got a living shield. We can’t do much to his robot without risking the lives of Izzy, Pipp, and the kids.” Sparkler commented. “And that’s in addition to the fact that 5 of his magical signatures are literally irreplaceable.”

“So we get them out.” Spike responded. “Pedal and I came up with the idea to use my fire as a blowtorch.” He explained.

“Once they’re out, we can really go ham on that thing.”

“Meanwhile I can sneak in and snag the magical signatures back. I checked and the Timegate is 100% ok. Just needs the magic back.” Night Shade explained.

“Alright.” Winter said. “Here’s what we’ll do. Sprout hates Unicorns and Pegasi. So Alicorns are probably his worst nightmare.” She reasoned.

“Makes sense.” Foxtrot commented.

“And we have four Alicorns here.” Winter continued, including Harmone in the count. “If we can file him up. He’ll focus on us, leaving himself open to be infiltrated by Night Shade, Flappy Jack, and Hurricane.” She explained.

“What about the poninators?” Zipp asked.

“Sunny, Sparkler, Harmone and I will keep Sprout busy, Night Shade, Hurricane and Flappy Jack will infiltrate the giant robot, the rest of our group will keep the Poninators off our backs.” Winter said.

“And we’ll go in and free the prisoners!” Pedal said as she and Spike nodded.

“Absolutely not.” Sparkler responded. “I am not gonna let you risk your lives.” She said simply.

“Mom, how else are you going to get them out without Spike’s fire?” Pedal asked.

“And someone needs to pull my tail or else I can’t hold the fire for long enough.” Spike added.

Sparkler stared at the two for a moment, before sighing. She knew there was no time to argue, and she knew Pedal was stubborn, just like her. “Fine. I’ll get you two to the containment prison.” She conceded.

Hitch nodded. “I’ll get Phyllis to the shelter.” He said.

Winter smiled. “Right, so who’s ready to save the world?” She asked.

“Let’s show Sprout how strong we are together.” Magnus responded.

At that moment, they all heard a screeching. Winter glanced at the door to see a mechanical Hawk as tall as her standing at the door, having smashed the windows in. She smiled. “Reflect!” She exclaimed as she approached the bird.

Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “Winter? What’s that?” She asked.

“Just a little something to help.” Winter responded. “Reflect, it’s time for the Crystal Guardian and her rangers to return.” She said.

Reflect the Hawk nodded and opened his beak, six objects shot out of his mouth and latched onto Sparkle, Twinkle, Hurricane, Foxtrot, Bender, and Flappy Jack. Sparkler’s eyes widened. “Guys? What’s going on?” She asked as she saw her seven great grandkids stand in a line.

“It’s better if you see it. Reflect! Go guardian!” Winter called out.

Reflect screeched and flapped his wings. He hovered over Winter, who spread her wings, and much to the disbelief of everypony except Night Shade, Harmone, Apple Brittle, and Magnus, Reflect started opening up, and actually ENCASING Winter in light blue shiny armor! A helmet formed around Winter’s head and the entire thing powered up.

While that was going on, Winter’s siblings touched the things that attached to their left forelegs like watches. “Crystalizers! Harmonize! Unleash the elements!” They called out.

Similar to Winter, they too were encased in silver armor. Powering up when fully encased.

After a moment, Winter and her siblings were fully clad out in armor. Sparkler’s mouth dropped. “W-Winter…” She stuttered.

“I can’t tell you everything. But what I can tell you is that your legacy goes farther beyond than you’ll ever expect.” Winter told Sparkler.

Sparkler glanced over at Harmone, who was the first to call her a legend. Harmone shrugged. “I did say you were a legend.” He said.

“That is the COOLEST thing ever!” Spike exclaimed once the shock cleared up. “Where did you get that armor and where can I get some?” He asked.

“Later Spike.” Winter responded. “Now, everypony ready?” She asked.

Sparkler snapped out of her shock and nodded. “Let’s save the world!” She said.

Meanwhile, in the glass prison. Izzy TRIED shooting her way out, but the glass was magic resistant. “Dang it. I can’t blast us out of here.” She grumbled.

“At least you tried your best sweetie.” Pipp responded, draping a wing over Izzy.

“Ugh. I can’t believe one pony is capable of this mess.” Melody responded. “Like, seriously, what the hay is Sprout’s problem?”

Light and Dark glanced at the glass, and then at their own hooves. An idea came to them. “Hey, we could try scratching our way out of here.” Light said as they extended their claws.

Sprinkle smiled. “Good idea!” She said as Light and Dark approached the glass, and began furiously swiping at it. They immediately saw scratch marks on the glass.

Six seconds into Light’s and Dark’s swiping, Sprout’s voice came over the intercom. “Hey! No scratching!” He growled as a turret popped down from the ceiling and shot at Light and Dark, tranquillizing the both of them.

Light and Dark were out like a light when the darts hit them. “Ugh…” they let out as they slumped to the floor.

Melody gasped and quickly removed the darts from Light and Dark’s flanks. She examined one of them, and her eyes widened. “Oh no. Not these darts!” She exclaimed. “He used the same dart he used on me! The kind that’s only been used on non earth pony species ONCE!” She exclaimed.

Izzy and Pipp gasped. While Mystic raised an eyebrow. “And that’s a problem…” She mused.

“Light and Dark could very well die from the tranquilizing solution in these darts.” Melody explained, remembering what she had been told.

All the kids heard that and gasped. If what Melody said was true, Sprout was in for a world of pain from a certain Momma Bear Alicorn.

To be continued…

Episode 37: The Battle of Maretime Bay Pt 4

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Sprout laughed as he set his robot on a course for Zephyr Heights. “Hahaha! Next stop! Zephyr Heights to destroy the Pegasi. Then the Unicorns are next!” He laughed maniacally until he heard shouting. He turned to see a quartet of Alicorns Hovering outside the window.

“Sprout!” Growled Sparkler. “Stop this RIGHT NOW!” She shouted. Fresh anger seething within her upon learning what Sprout did to Light and Dark through Sprinkle Mind Linking with her.

Sprout just laughed and swung his forehoof to control the robot. “I’ll stop when all the Pegasi and Unicorns are gone!” He growled.

The four saw the leg coming and dodged it. Winter just smirked. “Alright then. Come and catch us then!” She said as she and her fellow Alicorns took off.

“Oh don’t talk to me about coming and catching!” Sprout growled. “I am on the CUTTING-EDGE of coming and catching!”

Outside, Winter and Sparkler flew side by side as they distracted Sprout. “So, Crystal Guardian and Rangers? That’s what my great grandkids will be?” She asked Winter.

“Your story is far from over.” Winter responded. “Above all else, it’s paramount that you survive this adventure.”

“I’ve done well so far.” Sparkler responded as she noticed the main weapon powering up. “Heads up! Another charge incoming!” She called out.

While the Alicorns dodged the beam and continued to distract Sprout, Pedal glanced up from the ledge she and Spike stood on in front of the glass containment. “Alright. They got Sprout distracted.” Pedal said as she turned to Spike. “Ready?” She asked.

“Ready,” Spike responded.

Pipp smiled and she and Izzy ushered everypony back. Without further ado, Pedal grabbed Spike’s tail in her mouth and pulled. Spike yelped and shot a continuous stream of fire that he directed at the glass, beginning to cut the hole.

Meanwhile, within the robot itself, Night Shade, Hurricane, and Flappy Jack fought their way through some robot guards on their way to the main power core. With their power armor, Hurricane and Flappy Jack were making quick work of the guards while Night Shade took up the rear, using his saddle that on top of scanning equipment, also had a defense turret.

Eventually, they reached the main power core and blasted their way in. Night Shade galloped in and saw them, the magical signatures. “Bingo! Magical signatures!” He exclaimed.

“Are they safe to move?” Hurricane asked.

Night Shade smiled and held up some jars. “Just need to get them into these and this robot’s done for.” He said.

Flappy Jack nodded. “Then let’s do it.” He said.

Outside, Zipp and Magnus fought back to back against the poninators. Zipp rolled her eyes. “Ugh. I can’t believe Sprout modeled these things after that cheesy poninator movie.” She commented.

Magnus bounced his shield off of several robots and nodded. “It really feels like we’re in that movie right now.” He glanced at the giant robot to see that it was charging up it’s main weapon again. “We have to take out that cannon.” He commented.

“And how do you suggest we do that?” Zipp asked.

“Watch this.” Magnus responded as he aimed and spun around, using the momentum to throw his shield.

Zipp watched as the shield soared through the sky and to her surprise, sliced through the weapon’s apparatus and then boomerang back to Magnus, who caught it. The weapon fell to the ground off the head while Zipp glared at Magnus. “Ok, A, how the hay did you DO that? And B, why the hay did you NOT do that sooner?” She asked.

“Practice, and honestly I’m not sure in retrospect.” Magnus responded.

In the sky, Sprout watched in horror as his big gun fell off the head and landed on the ground in a heap of scrap. “Oh come on! That’s cheating!” He growled.

Sparkler watched the cannon fall and laughed. “Ha! There goes his main weapon.” Sparkler received a telepathic message from Pedal. She glanced down and she saw several flyers leaving the giant pony. “They got out!” She exclaimed.

The four Alicorns dove down and met the escaped ponies. “Oh thank Faust you guys got out!” Sparkler told her kids while Sunny hugged Izzy and Pipp tight.

“Light and Dark are down for the count but they’re still alive.” Melody responded.

“Right, get out of here and get them to Maretime General.” Sparkler instructed.

“Roger that.” Pipp responded. With that, they all flew away.

Sunny smiled as she nodded. “Now that the kids are out of there, and we know Sprout isn’t anywhere near the magical signatures. Let’s chop the head off the snake!” Sunny suggested.

Harmone and Winter grinned widely and lit their horns. “Let’s blast that thing!” They said.

Sparkler and Sunny lit their horns too and the four of them rocketed back up to the head of the robot and started cutting through the metal at the neck.

Sprout gasped as within seconds, the head slid off the neck and tumbled to the ground, leaving him completely exposed. He watched as the four Alicorns landed around him in his command center. And NONE of them had amused looks on their faces. He now found himself surrounded by four very angry Alicorns with their horns lit and wings flared out.

He cleared his throat after a moment. “Ahem. Ok, well, good job everypony. We managed to GET ANNIHILATED!” He smirked as he pressed a button on the floor, intending for something to happen, but nothing happened. He pressed the button again, nothing.

Sparkler just smirked as Sprout failed to activate whatever was supposed to happen. She knew what that must’ve meant. “Looks like You lost your power source.” She said. She saw Night Shade and Hurricane fly up and she saw that Night Shade had all the magical signatures.

Sprout saw that too and his heart sank. It was at that moment he knew it wasn’t good. He looked back at the four Alicorns and gulped. “Uh…” He didn’t know what to do now.

“Just give up Sprout.” Harmone said. “Your robot’s dead in it’s tracks, your army of poninators is defeated, it’s OVER!” He growled.

“No. It’s not over.” Sprout responded. “You can play nice all you want, I won’t be fooled by your tricks! Earth Ponies will—“

“Ahem.” A voice behind him cut him off.

Sprout turned to see who cut him off, only to find the little white Pegacorn monster glaring at him with her cute little forelegs crossed. “Uh oh.” Sprout said.

“NO!” Flurry shouted at him with the Royal Canterlot Voice before she lit her horn and started firing at Sprout.

Sprout yelped and dove down an open hatch that closed right behind him. After a second, they saw him launch into the air in a flying chair. “You haven’t seen the last of me!” He growled as he flew off into the distance.

Winter smirked. “Yeah. But we’ll be waiting.” She said as her armor retracted and transformed back into Reflect the mechanical hawk.

Sparkler ran up to Flurry and grabbed her out of the sky. “Flurry, You just did your first RCV!” She said excitedly. “I’m so proud of you!”

Flurry giggled as Winter, Sunny and Harmone gathered around. “So, that’s it?” Harmone asked.

“That’s it. It’s over.” Winter said.

“We just saved the world!” Sunny exclaimed excitedly. “Just like Twilight and the Guardians of Harmony!”

“Yeah…” Sparkler responded. Her brain caught up to the reality of the situation and she smiled. “We actually did it.” She said. That was for you Twilight… She thought. She glanced at Flurry again, before something dawned on her. “Light, Dark!” Now that she had a second to think, she panicked as she spread her wings and took off to Maretime General.

Winter, Sunny and Harmone watched her go. Sunny smiled. “Is this what it feels like? That feeling you get when you’ve saved the world?” She asked.

“Feels good doesn’t it?” Harmone asked. Receiving a nod from Sunny in the process.

Winter smiled as she glanced at Reflect. “Thank you Reflect.” She said.

“Squawk! My pleasure Crystal Guardian Winter. Squawk!” Reflect responded.

Sunny gasped. “Reflect can talk?” She asked.

Winter nodded. “With Sprout still on the loose, I feel you’re gonna learn a lot about a particular part of Equestrian history…or more specifically, the Crystal Empire.” She said.

Soon, they reunited with their friends and allies. Surrounded by destroyed Poninators. After a hard fought battle, the magic of friendship prevailed over evil, and the Timegate got its magical signatures back.

“So. Sparkler at the hospital?” Asked Hitch.

“Yep.” Sunny responded. “I hope Light and Dark make it.”

“I’ll give Dr. Aviate a call tomorrow.” Zipp said. “Assuming they haven’t been discharged by the time it would take for Dr. Aviate to get here.”

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Sparkler was led to the room they had Light and Dark in. There she found the kids and Izzy and Pipp. The kids saw her and smiled. “Well?” Crystal asked.

“It’s over. Sprout’s robot and his army are done.” Sparkler announced.

The kids cheered while Sparkler looked over at Light and Dark. “Anything?” She asked.

“The doctors said they’re expected to live.” Pipp responded. “But when they’ll wake up they have no idea.”

“I can’t believe Sprout.” Izzy commented. “Like, who does that?” She asked.

“A few ponies apparently.” Sparkler responded as she watched Light’s and Dark’s sleeping. Please, please let them wake up soon…

To be continued…

Episode 38: Return

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“This is Clara Oswald with Maretime News. It’s been two days since Sprout unleashed his devastating assault against the Unicorn and Pegasi residents of Maretime Bay. Reconstruction efforts have begun and so have efforts to dismantle the giant monstrosity. Sprout has been declared public enemy number one and is now a fugitive. In other news, Light Wing and Dark Wing, two bat pony brothers that were caught in the crossfire, remain unconscious from a tranquilizing solution illegally possessed by Sprout. Witnesses say that their adopted mother Sparkling Medley, former head waitress of the Medley Deli, was seen heroically facing the threat head on with fellow Alicorns Sunny Starscout and Winter Moon. Our prayers are with the family as they await Light’s and Dark’s awakening.”

Sparkler watched as Dr. Aviate looked over Light and Dark. Zipp had called her from Zephyr Heights to come provide her expert opinion, given she was the most knowledgeable about Batpony physiology. “Well, I’ll put your greatest worry at ease right now.” Dr. Aviate said after her examination. “They’re alive. And are in no danger of death.” She said.

Sparkler breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. So, when will they wake up?” She asked.

“Hm. Kinda tricky to say when.” Aviate responded. “Ordinarily they’d be awake by now. But these two are special cases. It’s probable that Red Heart Syndrome is affecting their bodies’ ability to work off the effects of the solution.” She explained.

“Is there anything that could help?” Sparkler asked.

“Unfortunately no.” Aviate responded. “We just have to hope that—“

“Ugh…” A groan cut off Aviate. Sparkler and Aviate glanced at Light and Dark to see them flutter their eyes open. “What…what happened?” Lights asked.

“Light? Dark?” Sparkler asked.

Dark glanced around and saw their mother. “Mom? What happened? Where are we?” He asked.

“In the hospital.” Aviate responded. “You were brought here after Sprout tranquilized you.” She explained.

“Oh. How long were we out?” Light asked.

“Few days.” Sparkler responded. “Your bodies had a tougher time working off the solution than most.” She explained.

Dark nodded, before something occurred to him. “Wait, a few days? Shouldn’t the Timegate be completely recharged by now? Why are you still here?” He asked.

Sparkler chuckled. “Light, Dark, You two are, at least for the moment, my adopted sons. There was no way in Tartarus I was gonna leave without making sure you were ok.” She said. “Even if I would’ve been coming back.” She added.

“Timegate?” Aviate asked. “What’s that?”

Sparkler, Light, and Dark’s eyes widened. They forgot Aviate was still in the room. “Uh, nothing you need to know. Don’t worry about it.” Sparkler said quickly.

Aviate shrugged and nodded. “Ok. Well, I’ll chat with the doctors here but I think it might be best if Light and Dark remained here for one more night. Just to make sure nothing nasty crops up.” She explained.

“Sounds good.” Sparkler responded. “Thank you Dr. Aviate.” She said.

Aviate nodded and left. For the moment, there was silence, and then, Sparkler’s watch started but vibrating. A message alert. She glanced at it and what she saw made her nearly tear up. The Timegate was fully recharged and ready to use. “Well, look at that. The Timegate is ready.” She said.

“Good.” Dark responded.

“Are you gonna go back to 1003 now?” Light asked.

Sparkler hesitated to answer. On one hoof, she very much wanted to get the rest of her kids back as soon as flipping possible, but even that would leave Light and Dark alone in the hospital and she just didn’t feel right about it. “I…I’m not sure. You two are still here.” She said.

“I think Dr. Aviate isn’t going anywhere until we’re discharged.” Dark replied.

“I’m sure she’ll take care of us until you get back.” Light said.

Sparkler bit her lip, before coming to a decision after a few moments. “I’ll be back, I’ll talk to Twilight, and I promise I’ll be back with an answer.” She said. She leaned in and kissed both of them on the forehead. “I’ll also see if somepony can come stay with you.” She said.

“Ok.” Light and Dark responded.

“See you soon.” Sparkler said as she left. Shooting off a quick text to this time’s Mane group in the process.

Soon, Sparkler and her kids, along with Winter and her siblings, were standing in the Gate Room. Night Shade turned to his assistant in the control room. “Let’s make that donut spin and send them home. Begin Time Dialing Sequence. April 23rd, 1003, 3:50PM.” He said.

“Copy that. Time coordinates for April 23rd, 1003, 3:50PM. Targeting.” The assistant said.

While the Timegate started to spin and the increments began to set, Sparkler smiled at her great grandkids. “Thank you for everything you guys.” She said. “It’s been a blast. Despite the couple of downs.”

“You’re gonna go confront Fleur aren’t you.” Hurricane said.

“As soon as I have the time.” Sparkler responded. “And my parents. It’s not just Fleur that has explaining to do.”

That chuckle out of everypony as the kids all tackled the great grandkids in a hug. “We’ll miss you guys!” Sprinkle exclaimed. “Hopefully we can see you again.” She added.

“Might take a couple hundred years but I think we’ll see each other again eventually.” Winter said as she was hugged.

“Time Increment Locked! Portal activation T-Minus 3 seconds!”

In three seconds, they all saw the portal open up. The drone used to test the first time came back out to make absolutely sure it was the correct time. “Faust I hope it reached far enough.” Sparkle commented as they all watched the screen above the Gate.

Within seconds, the screen lit up, and much to Sparkler’s relief, the screen showed Night Mare and Twilight (with a hurt wing by the looks of it) staring back at the camera. Obviously shocked at whatever the thing was. Night Shade came over the loudspeaker. “Confirmed! It’s a live feed from the drone.” The camera panned around until it found a digital clock, and the clock matched the target date and time.

Spike smiled and pumped his fists in the air. “Haha! It worked!” He exclaimed.

“Alright everypony, one at a time please.” Sparkler said.

Melody and her siblings smiled, and waved around one last time. “See ya guys!” They all said.

“Take care!” Night Shade called from the control room as everypony started going through the time portal one by one.

Soon, only Sparkler and Flurry remained. Sparkler took Flurry in her magic and smiled. “Ready to go home Flurry?” She asked.

Flurry nodded and giggled. She flapped her wings and flew through the portal. And then there was one. Sparkler glanced back at her great grandkids one more time. “So. This is it.” She said.

“Eh we’ll see each other again.” Twinkle said.

“Yeah! And when you do, don’t forget to eventually tell us about this.” Sparkle added.

Sparkler chuckled. “And maybe I’ll find out what’s going on with the Crystal Guardian and the Crystal Rangers.” She mused. She had enough sense to figure out that her great grandkids were SOME kind of superhero team, but Winter refused to say anything else on the matter.

“Yeah. Oh, one more thing!” Winter said. She took out a small box from her Saddle bag and tossed it to Sparkler, who caught it in her magic. “When the time comes, give it to Great Granny Twily when you ask for her hoof in marriage.” Winter told Her.

Sparkler blushed like mad, but nodded and placed the box in Lightning’s Saddle Bag that she had on her. “Don’t know when I’ll be back through the portal but ya might want to vacate this place immediately. I do NOT want to risk a time paradox if I don’t have to.” She said.

“Sure! See ya in a few hundred years!” Her great grandkids all said.

Sparkler nodded, and walked through the portal.

Back in 1003, Twilight and Night Mare stared at the mysterious flying object that came out of what was clearly a portal. They watched as it flew around for a moment. “What the hay is that thing?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know…” Twilight responded. Sparkler and her kids were just moments ago sucked into a portal, and a few minutes later a new portal appeared and spat out the mystery object. “Could it be extraterrestrial?”

“Your guess is very much as good as mine.” Night Mare responded.

At that moment, they heard the sound of something coming through the portal and turned their heads to see something that shocked the both of them, and filled their hearts with sheer joy.

“Mommy Twi! Auntie Night Mare!” Cried Melody. Who galloped toward and hugged Twilight, carefully to avoid hurting her wing of course.

“Melody!” Twilight and Night Mare responded. “You’re alive!”

“And she ain’t the only one.” Said the voice of Lumber Striker.

Night Mare and Twilight watched as one by one, Twilight’s and Sparkler’s kids exited the portal. All of them rushed forward to hug their mother and aunt. Soon, all the kids were accounted for. There were tears of joy and smiles all around. “You’re all ok!” Twilight said.

“Yeah. We are!” Spike said.

“What about your mom?” Night Mare asked.

As if on cue, all of them saw Sparkler appear from the portal. Twilight smiled widely as she galloped forward to her. “Sparkler!” She exclaimed in joy and relief.

“Twilight!” Sparkler responded as Twilight crashed into her. They wrapped their forelegs around each other, and Sparkler locked lips with the mare she had longed to return to. At last! Sparkler thought. At long last, she and her kids returned.

They parted from the kiss after a few moments and both were tearing up. “It’s been so long.” Sparkler responded. “I was starting to think I’d never see you again.” She said to Twilight.

“But you were only gone for a few minutes.” Night Mare countered.

“Maybe because we targeted the time machine to take us back to this moment, for all of us it’s been two and a half months.” Sparkler responded.

“Months?!” Twilight asked. “And did you say Time Machine?”

“Yeah. Boy do we have a story for you.” Spike said.

Twilight glanced at everypony, who nodded. She smiled and just hugged Sparkler tightly. “I’m sure you’ll tell us all about it, I’m just so happy you’re all—gah!” Twilight winced as she subconsciously flexed her sprained wing and immediately felt the pain.

Sparkler let go of Twilight with a look of worry. “I think we should get you to the doctor to get that wing checked out.” She said.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah. Night Mare said the same thing.” She said. She turned to Night Mare. “Mind watching the kids while Sparkler and I go get my wing checked out?” She asked.

“Sure.” Night Mare responded. “I think I’ll just take them to Shining and Cadence, the three of us can hang out with them.” She said.

Lightning smiled, before a thought came to him. “Hey mom!” He called to Sparkler. “Make sure you talk to Mommy Twi about that thing.” He reminded her.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “What thing? What did you want to talk to me about?” She asked Sparkler.

Sparkler bit her lip. She was hoping for a better time to talk. “Let’s get that wing of yours checked out and then we’ll talk. While I was away something happened.” She said.

Twilight raised an eyebrow as everypony left the lab. Wondering what Sparkler wanted to talk to her about.

And so, they proceeded to the hospital in Detrot while Night Mare took the kids to wherever Shining and Cadence were. Night Mare had been disappointed when Sparkler erected a barrier around the portal and the mysterious flying object, saying that neither were to be tampered with in any way. After the doctor looked at the wing and put it in a bandage for the next few days to keep it in place, Sparkler and Twilight were now sitting in an alleyway that Sparkler led them too. Away from prying eyes. “Sparkler, is everything ok?” Twilight asked. “Why are we sitting in an alleyway?”

“To give us more privacy.” Sparkler responded. “Ok. Now I’ll tell you about that thing Lightning reminded me of.” She lit her horn and pulled out the phone she got when she arrived in Maretime Bay. “I assume you recognize this?” She asked as she held the phone up to Twilight. “Same device as they use in that bipedal world you visited?”

“Yeah.” Twilight responded. “It sure looks like a phone. Where did you get one?” She asked.

“The future. That portal flung us 1,019 years into the future.” Sparkler revealed.

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Future?!” She said. “Is that flying thing from that time?” She asked.

“Yeah. But before we get into all the future questions that I probably can’t answer because time paradox.” Sparkler called up a picture of Light and Dark on her phone and showed it to Twilight. “This is Light Wing and Dark Wing. Two foals I met in the year 2022…and they’re looking for a loving family to take them in.” She said as she began to explain everything about Light and Dark to Twilight. How they became orphans, how their egg donor wanted nothing to do with them, their condition, and finally, how they want to become a permanent part of their family.

Twilight listened to Sparkler, and was very quickly brought to the edge of tears when hearing about how their birth family wanted nothing to do with them solely because of their appearance. Sweet mother of mercy. And here I thought Sparky and Misty were bad. She had thought.

At the end, Sparkler put away the phone. “Ahem. So anyway, I promised them that I would talk to you about them becoming a part of our family. Our kids get along great with them, they really are angels.” She said.

Twilight blinked her eyes dry. “You have a knack for attracting foals with this kind of background don’t you.” She joked. “Seriously, how can ANYPONY do that to their flesh and blood?”

“Imagine the restraint I had to show to stop myself from blasting her into the ground.” Sparkler responded. “Thankfully the judge had ordered that she no longer is permitted contact with them.” She said.

“Good.” Twilight responded. “Where are they now?” She asked.

“In the hospital, something completely unrelated to their egg donor happened just before we came back to 1003. They’re fine though.” Sparkler responded. “Now, about the adoption. Personally I think we can handle two more kids, but you have the final say.” Sparkler said. “I want this to be our decision, not just mine.”

“Don’t you think bringing them here would cause a time paradox?” Twilight asked.

“I have a feeling that if it would, ponies we met in 2022 would’ve spoken up.” Sparkler responded.

Twilight nodded. She trusted that Sparkler wouldn’t make that up. Can we handle two more kids? She thought. Her mind quickly came to a decision.

Some time later, back in 2022 in Maretime General, Light, Dark, Izzy and Pipp were taking selfies together when they heard a knock on the door. The door opened and Sparkler walked in. Light and Dark saw her and saw the neutral expression on her face. Their minds raced with what that could mean. Is it yes? Is it no? they thought.

After a second, Sparkler smiled and stepped aside to let another pony enter. A lavender Alicorn with a cutie mark resembling Sparkler’s manepin. With that similarity, they knew on the spot who it was. They stared at Twilight Sparkle, not expecting her to show up with Sparkler to tell them the decision. Dark glanced at Sparkler, who simply smiled and nodded.

That action, coupled with Twilight’s mirrored action when both looked at her again, told Light and Dark exactly what the answer was. Their eyes watered as they jumped out of bed and they hugged their new mom. Carefully avoiding her clearly bandaged wing. Twilight returned the hug, there were no words needed. No explanations, it was as simple as yes.

From afar, Pipp and Izzy watched the moment and ended up hugging each other. Happy they Light and Dark found their new family.

Eventually, Twilight had to go as to hopefully not cause any Time Paradoxes, and Sparkler herself returned to the hospital so she could stay with the boys until they were discharged, after which she’d bring them back to 1003. Light and Dark beamed at her when she returned to the hospital. “Thank you!” They both said as they hugged Sparkler. “Thank you for everything.”

“Can I finally speak now Peppy Pippy?” Izzy asked. She, Pipp, and now Sunny were in the room with them.

“Yes Izzy Kitty. You can talk now.” Pipp responded. She had told Izzy to not interrupt the moment.

“Awesome!” Izzy responded. “I’m so happy for you two!” She told Light and Dark. “I bet you’re gonna have a blast in the past!” She said.

“Yeah!” Light and Dark responded.

“Grrr. Why did I have to leave the room?” She asked. “I wanted to meet Twilight Sparkle.” She complained.

“Because we know you.” Pipp said.

“You two woulda talked for hours.” Izzy said.

“And the danger of time paradoxes was just too great.” Sparkler finished.

Sunny rolled her eyes, but smiled. “Fine. But now that she’s saved from her downhill Spiral I HOPE she’s alive in the present. So Sparkler, bring her here when you get a chance.” She told Sparkler.

Sparkler laughed. “If I remember to do so I will.” She said.

“Write it down if you have to.” Sunny said.

That got a chuckle out of everypony. Sparkler smiled at her two now official boys. “There’s a lot of legal red tape to cut through when we get to 1003.” She said. “But you two are worth it.”

“Are there other batponies in 1003?” Light asked.

“Your new siblings are friends with one.” Sparkler responded.

That excited Light and Dark and they started asking all sorts of questions about their new home. Which Sparkler was more than willing to answer.

Finally. Sparkler thought on Light’s tenth question. We’re home.

To be continued…

Episode 39: Back to Better than Normal

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Sparkler and Light and Dark flapped their wings after Light and Dark were discharged from the Hospital and came in for a landing outside Canterlogic HQ, where there was construction happening to repair the damage Sprout unleashing his mechapony caused. Sunny and her friends smiled and approached the mother and her sons. “Hey guys! Nice to see you two up and about again Light and Dark!” Sunny said.

“Yeah.” Light responded.

“Now we just want to go home.” Dark said. Both Light and Dark bouncing excitedly that they finally got to say that.

Izzy giggled. “That’s got you all excited huh.” She said.

“They kept asking the doctors if they could discharge them early.” Sparkler said. “I think the doctors were actually getting ANNOYED with their constant asking.” She chuckled.

“What? We were fine.” Light said.

Sparkler nodded. “Thank goodness for that. When we get home, Mommy Twi and I are going to bring you to the doctor for a check up. I highly doubt they’ll accept medical records dating to a time LONG after you’d be gone.”

Pipp laughed. “What? You mean Twilight’s not going to pull some princess strings?” She asked.

“She HATES doing that.” Sparkler responded. “Although…I’m actually not sure about this time.” She admitted. Twilight had said that she’d take care of the red tape involved when she asked for the documents, but she didn’t go into much detail.

“If I was her, given the amount of times she’s saved the world, I’d cash in on those favors I’m sure she’d earned.” Hitch commented.

Zipp chuckled. “Wow. I thought you were a law abiding Sheriff, Sheriff.” She said. “A pony who DOESN’T bypass it?”

“I also understand that Princesses can get away with a lot more than the average pony. Like stealing a kiss as a confession in the middle of a crisis.” Hitch responded, pecking his new marefriend on the cheek.

Sparkler smiled. “Glad to see you all found your special someponies.” She said.

“Thanks to a little help from you.” Pipp responded. “Although I doubt you intended to have them spill the beans early when you talked to them.” She added.

Sparkler chuckled. “Yeah. Accidental confession, check.” She said.

Sunny rolled her eyes, but smiled. “For real though Sparkler, thanks for helping us find each other.” She said.

“Thank YOU for everything you’ve done for us. Especially putting up with being foalsitters.” Sparkler responded. “Seriously, I won’t forget this.”

“You could remember to bring Twilight here?” Sunny asked. “I mean now that she’s safe from that dark future she should be well and alive so no reason why she can’t visit.”

Hitch straight up laughed. “Still irritated that you weren’t allowed to see Twilight eh?” Hitch asked.

“She’s the princess of friendship! Obviously something happened that led to the tribes splitting and I’d very much like to know what that was.” Sunny defended herself with a pout.

Sparkler chuckled. “I’ll try to remember.” She said.

Sunny beamed and fluttered her wings cutely. After a second of chuckling, it was time for Sparkler and the boys to go. “I’m gonna miss you.” She said.

“Us too!” Light and Dark said.

“We’ll miss you too.” Izzy responded as they all came in for a group hug. After a second, they parted and the 2022 crew let Sparkler, Light and Dark pass. “Take care!” Izzy called out to them.

“Good luck with all your kids!” Pipp said.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Hitch said.

“See ya around!” Zipp said.

“Good luck with Twilight and marriage!” Sunny finished as they all waved.

Sparkler and her sons waved back as they walked into Canterlogic. Though Sparkler blushed at Sunny’s call. Yeah I might need to rethink my timetable on that one. She thought.

1,019 years into the past, Twilight, the kids and Night Mare stood with Princesses Celestia, Luna, and Cadence, as well as Shining Armor. The kids filled the adults in on what happened to them at dinner, leaving out anything they suspected could cause a time paradox. Celestia had gotten there this morning upon her sister hearing the news so now they all stood watching the portal, that had still not been deactivated yet.

A few moments later, the portal lit up and A pair of Batpony colts came through, followed by Sparkler.

“Light! Dark!” The kids all exclaimed in joy. They all rushed and dogpiled on their new batpony brothers.

Sparkler smiled as she glanced at the drone that had yet to leave and nodded at it. Telling Night Shade they made it through and he could recall the drone and shut the portal down. The drone nodded in response and it disappeared into the portal. After a moment, the portal closed. “Hello everypony.” She said, addressing the ponies in the room.

“Sparkler!” Cadence rushed in and hugged Sparkler. “Your kids told us everything. I’m glad to see you’re ok.” She said.

“Ehehe. Better than OK actually.” Sparkler responded as Cadence let her go.

“It seems so.” Luna responded. “Twilight has informed us that the Medley Sparkle family has two new additions.” She said as the kids all got up and let Light and Dark get to their hooves.

Sparkler nodded. “Yeah. That’s right.” Sparkler responded.

Light and Dark finally noticed the other Alicorns there and stared in awe of them. “Whoa. You’re just like Mom and Mommy Twi!” Light said.

Twilight chuckled. “Yeah. Light, Dark, meet Night Mare, my sister, Shining Armor, my Brother, Princess Cadence, my sister-in-law, and Princesses Celestia and Luna.” She introduced them to the others in the room.

“Wait? Princesses?” Light and Dark asked. Their minds connected the dots and they both bowed their heads in respect. “Your Majesties.” They said.

Cadence laughed. “Oh no. No no no you two are family. And I will not have family bowing down to me.” She said as she leaned in and scooped Light and Dark up in her forehooves. Hugging them both. “Oh you two are just adorable. Why anypony would think otherwise is beyond me.” She said.

Sparkler internally sighed in relief. She was half afraid Light and Dark were gonna get the same spiel, even though she KNEW Cadence wasn’t like that. Light and Dark smiled as they returned the hug their new Aunt was giving them. This was a MUCH better reaction then they had gotten from their egg donor.

“It is nice to meet you Light Wing and Dark Wing.” Celestia said.

“I will admit that when Twilight and her kids first mentioned two new additions to the family, I was not anticipating batponies.” Luna said.

Light and Dark let go of their aunt and noticed the look Princess Luna was giving them. Their smiles faded and they gulped. “Uh…is that ok?” Light asked. Suddenly nervous.

Shining glared at Luna and nudged her. “Come Luna, you’re scaring them.” He said.

“They are batpony colts with unique appearances unlike anything we have ever seen before.” Luna countered. “That is going to raise some eyebrows.”

“But you two don’t need to be afraid.” Twilight said. “You shouldn’t get any negativity from your new hometown.” She said.

Light and Dark smiled as Celestia nodded. “And speaking of that. I was able to have these drawn up.” She said as she lit her horn and a folder floated over to Sparkler. “All of the documentation Light and Dark need to be considered legal Equestrian Citizens and legal Medleys in 1003.” She said.

Sparkler took the folder in her magic and opened it up to have a look. “Medical records?” She inquired.

“Dr. Shadow Wind was very understanding.” Celestia responded. “For all intents and purposes, Light and Dark have always lived here. I do have my concerns though about Time Paradoxes.” Celestia added.

“I trust that if Light and Dark being here were to cause a paradox, our friends across time would’ve told me.” Sparkler responded.

“Very well. Welcome to 1003 Light Wing and Dark Wing.” Celestia responded.

Light and Dark nodded while Lightning held up his phone. “Selfie time!” He exclaimed. “All Medley siblings come in!” He exclaimed.

Twilight and Sparkler chuckled while their kids all posed for a selfie. Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “Who woulda guessed you being gone for a few minutes would give us two more kids.” She commented.

“You guys have a knack for attracting strays off the streets.” Shining said. “11 kids before one of you even pops the question.”

Sparkler nodded. “Yeah…” She said. Her mind drifted back to the box that she knew, upon a sneak inspection, had a beautiful ring in it. Should I really do it now or wait? She was conflicted. On one hoof, it hadn’t been a full year yet, but on the other hoof, if Twilight was willing to raise 11 kids with her, that was a good sign that they were going to be together for life.

“Sparkler?” Twilight asked, snapping Sparkler out of her thoughts.

“What?” Sparkler asked Twilight.

“Something on your mind?” Twilight asked.

“No.” Sparkler lied.

Twilight frowned. “Alright. Spill it. What’re you thinking about?” She asked. Knowing Sparkler was in fact thinking about something.

Darn it! She can tell. Sparkler’s mind raced for a few seconds before making up her mind. She sighed. “I was thinking about something that’s been on my mind for a few weeks now…the next step in our relationship.” She said.

Twilight’s eyes widened. “O-oh.” She said, blushing, but mind racing.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded. She lit her horn and summoned the small box from under her wing.

Everypony around them noticed what was going on, and Shining smiled as he took a step back to give them some space. Luna and Celestia had shocked, but happy expressions on their faces, Cadence was immediately brought to the edge of tears and the kids were all smiling with hope.

Twilight saw the Box and her brain connected the dots. She held her forehooves to her mouth and her eyes watered.

“I originally was going to wait a year or so…but, well, we’re already there in everything but legality at this point so…will you?” Sparkler asked as she opened the box and showed the ring. A beautiful silver band on which sat a custom cut and colored crystal. Twilight’s and Sparkler’s Cutie Marks combined.

Twilight stared at the ring and then at Sparkler. Her mind racing. For the moment, nopony said a word. Nopony moved. The silence eventually broke as Sparkler spoke up. “If you don’t think we’re ready I under-mmph!” Sparkler was cut off when Twilight crashed their lips together. Sparkler was caught so off guard that her wings sprang open and she nearly dropped the ring.

Twilight laughed as she pulled back after a few seconds. “Yes!” She exclaimed as she bounced around Sparkler. “Yes yes yes yes yes!” She said repeatedly. After one lap, she settled in front of Sparkler. “Yes Sparkler! I’ll marry you!” She exclaimed happily with the biggest smile on her face and tears of joy in her eyes.

Sparkler’s brain took a second to process what happened, but the second she did, a giant smile captured her face as she lit her horn and slid the ring down Twilight’s horn. Twilight was joyfully crying hysterically as she embraced her new fiancée. Sparkler feeling a few tears of her own coming on.

Around them, the kids cheered and hugged each other, and eventually They dogpiled their parents. Cadence and Night Mare were crying hysterically, Shining wiped away some of his own “liquid pride.” And Celestia and Luna smiled proudly.

“About time.” Luna commented. “I’ve seen enough dreams of this from both of them.”

“And now those dreams are reality.” Celestia responded. Glancing over at Cadence. I give it 2 days before Cadence and I have an argument over who gets to preside over the ceremony. Celestia chuckled to herself with the thought as the Sparkle-Medley family celebrated.

From afar, the Cloaked Figure known as Clear Cut sighed in relief as his eyes dimmed. “Thank Faust. For a second there, I was worried something was gonna go wrong.” He commented. He had been spying through a window in the lab.

He felt a tingle in his spine. He smiled. “Yes. Sparkler is engaged to her suitor.” He said. He had seen the patch of fur crystalizing from Sparkler. “The time of revelation is coming fast.”

To be continued…

Epilogue

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“You two are sure you don’t want your own rooms?” Sparkler asked Light and Dark.

“Nah. We’re good.” Light responded.

“We’ve been sharing a room for the last five years. No reason to stop now.” Dark reasoned.

“Alright. If you say so.” Twilight said. She and Sparkler kissed the both of them on the forehead. “Have a good first night in the castle.” Twilight said.

“I still can’t believe we’re literally princes now.” Dark commented.

“Yeah. Before we were just some small town colts living in a lonely world. Look at us now. About to spend our first night in a castle.” Light responded.

🎶You took the time portal going anywhere🎶 Sparkler sang.

🎶A pair of colts with a unique appearance🎶 Dark said.

🎶complimenting each other’s styles🎶 Twilight sang.

🎶For a smile they can share the night, it goes on and on and on and on.🎶 Light finished.

All four of them chuckled at their little impromptu song snippet. “That was fun.” Dark said.

“Yeah.” Sparkler responded. “Oh, tomorrow I need to show you guys the music video our friends across time sent to my phone.” She said. “Twilight it was amazing. The kids did a performance of Don’t Stop Believin.” She said.

“Shut up.” Twilight responded. “That’s sweet!”

“Yeah!” Light said. “Dark and I were trumpeters.”

“I can’t wait to see you in action.” Twilight said.

Sparkler and Twilight said one more good night to their sons and left them alone in their new room. After which they proceeded to their room. “I am SO excited to finally sleep in my own bed again.” Sparkler commented. “And it’ll feel even better with you there my lovely future Mrs. Twilight Sparkle.” She said, prancing in place.

Twilight chuckled and nuzzled her fiancée’s cheek. “Actually, I think Twilight Sparkle Medley would be my full name now.” She said.

“You want to take on my name?” Sparkler asked.

“Well you can’t really take on my name. Sparkling Sparkle sounds…not great.” Twilight reasoned. “In fact, I think our last name should be Medley-Sparkle. Twilight Medley Sparkle, and Sparkling Medley Sparkle. Yeah. That sounds a lot better than Sparkling Sparkle Medley.”

Sparkler laughed. She loved her favorite egghead getting like this. “We have time to talk about last names sweetums. We don’t need to decide anything right away.” She said as she returned the nuzzle.

“I am going to cuddle you so hard tonight. It’ll be the best cuddle you’ve ever had.” Twilight declared.

“Looking forward to it.” Sparkler responded. “But I was wanting to cuddle you.”

“Tomorrow night sweetie.” Twilight responded. “Right now, you’re two months behind on your Twilight cuddles and I want to get you caught up on those.”

“Wait, I have an actual QUOTA for those?” Sparkler asked with a chuckle.

“A cuddle a day keeps the glooms away.” Twilight responded.

“Fair enough.” Sparkler responded.

They got into bed and true to her word, Twilight immediately started spooning Sparkler. Holding her tight, but lovingly.

And so they drifted off to sleep together.

Hours into the night. Sparkler’s smiled had turned into a frown as her dream started to change. She writhed in the bed. “Nngh. Twilight…” She whispered. “No, Twilight, please.” She said. She shook her head. “No. Twilight!” That did it. She bolted upright, wide awake. She panted as she looked around the dark room. Fear in her eyes.

“Sparkler?” Asked the groggy voice of Twilight.

Sparkler whirled around and saw Twilight sit up, and she had a tired, and confused expression on her face. Sparkler began to cry and wrapped Twilight up in a tight hug. “Oh thank Faust you’re ok Twilight! I thought I’d lost you!” She exclaimed. Bawling her eyes out.

Ok, now Twilight was confused to heck and back. Did Sparkler have a nightmare? “Sparkler? Are you OK?” She asked. “I’m right here. It’s ok.” She said.

Sparkler glanced up at Twilight, saw her smile, and it was as if that knocked her back to her senses. Sparkler sniffled, let go of Twilight, and wiped her eyes dry. “S-sorry.” She said shakily, realizing that she had a nightmare. “I woke you up didn’t I.” She said.

Twilight nodded. “Did you have a bad dream?” She asked.

Sparkler sighed. “Yeah.” She shivered. “A hold over from my time in the future.” She said.

“Wanna talk about it?” Twilight asked. “It must’ve been bad for you to have the reaction you just did.” She said.

Sparkler bit her lip, debating on what to do. It shouldn’t be too bad right? I mean that future isn’t going to happen now. Finally, she sighed.

“Something happened in the future. I visited Detrot in the future to look for something to help get us home, and while there…I saw something. Something horrible.” Sparkler explained.

Twilight’s mind raced. “It was something to do with me wasn’t it.” She deduced based on the context.

“I saw video logs from Night Mare, detailing how you slowly descended into insanity trying to get us back.” Sparkler said. “Eventually you…you…” Sparkler trailed off. Really not wanting to finish that sentence as she shivered.

Twilight gasped as she connected the dots and she wrapped her forelegs around Sparkler. “Oh Sparky! That must’ve been terrible for you to watch!” She exclaimed.

Sparkler nodded as she returned the hug. “It’s great that you love us so much, but I never imagined our disappearance would have that effect on you.” She said. “That’s what drove me to work harder than ever to get home. So that future doesn’t come to pass.”

“And it won’t.” Twilight responded. “You’re home now, we’re back together. It’ll be ok now.” She said.

Sparkler nodded. “Even so…can you promise me something?” She asked.

“What?” Twilight asked.

“If something like this happens again and The kids and I don’t end up coming back…promise you won’t throw your life away trying to get us back? What we have isn’t worth throwing your life away like that.” She asked.

Twilight squeezed Sparkler tight. “I promise Sparkler.” She said, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

Sparkler nodded and nuzzled Twilight’s cheek. Twilight then thought of something. “Is this why you proposed? Because of the dark future you saw?“ She asked.

“…it might have played a role.” Sparkler admitted. “But a small one. A very small role. I’ve been thinking about marriage well before the time accident.”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle. “Truthfully? So have I.” She revealed.

Sparkler at long last smiled for the first time after she had the nightmare. “Although I am afraid. Pinkie’s gonna blow a gasket when her pinkie sense tells her about this.” She said.

Twilight laughed. “Two things to celebrate. Light and Dark, and our engagement.” She said.

Sparkler nodded. And eventually, the two did go back to sleep.

The next day, Pinkie did indeed blow a gasket in excitement when Twilight and Sparkler announced the good news. Of course everypony welcomed Light and Dark to 1003, and Pinkie set up a party in record time for the occasions.

Light and Dark were introduced to their siblings’ friends Lucky and Pearl. And Lucky was ecstatic to meet two more batponies. And the two batpony brothers were overwhelmed with the welcome from everypony. They very quickly agreed with their parents’ assessment. Ponyville was indeed the defacto capital of Friendship.

Rarity in particular was OVER THE MOON when Sparkler and Twilight announced their engagement and had immediately started talking about wedding dresses.

“Sparkler. I understand your reluctance for a wedding dress. But if I may be blunt. Your reasons for it do not apply here. Not only is it YOUR special day. But you and Twilight also control the guest list.” Rarity had explained. “So on that day. Nopony will be thinking of harassing you. So there is no reason why you shouldn’t want to stand out.” She had reasoned. To which Sparkler had relented.

“Alright Rares. Your logic has won out.” Sparkler told Rarity.

Overall, it was an amazing time for the Medley Sparkle family.

1,019 years into the future, in Maretime Bay, Winter, her siblings, Harmone, Apple Brittle, Magnus Sentry and Night Shade were in the Medley Deli after closing. Apple Brittle poured a shot of Cider for everypony. “To the magic of friendship.” Apple Brittle said.

“Here here!” His friends said as they all raised their glasses and sipped the cider.

“It was so cool that we finally got to experience Future Incursion.” Sparkle commented. “Great Granny Sparkler was fun at that age.”

“And for the most part it was smooth sailing. Other than the whole Fleur debacle.” Winter responded. Everypony eyed Twinkle.

“Look, I’m sorry ok? It got out before I could stop it. At least I didn’t spoil the fact that—“ Twinkle got cut off by Magnus.

“Twinkle, stop talking before you spoil something for the readers.” Magnum gestured at all the readers.

“Right.” Twinkle responded and shut her mouth. Thanks Magnus.

Harmone cleared his throat. “Yes well, it’s a shame we never had a proper send off for her.” He said. “Darn Sprout.”

“Yeah.” Hurricane said. “I was really looking forward to singing that song.”

“Well…no reason why we still can’t sing it.” Flappy Jack responded. “Sure she isn’t here to sing it with us but—“

“Squawk! Proximity alert, VIP incoming. Squawk!” Reflect the robot bird cut Flappy Jack off.

Everypony noticed a shadow looming over inside the restaurant, and all of them turned to the front, where they saw a tall Alicorn standing there, smiling. After a moment of shock, Winter smiled. “You were saying Flappy Jack?” She asked as she walked to the door.

To be continued next time…