Chapters Seeking Sparks placed a new log onto the campfire as Running River strummed her guitar and led the campers in a familiar song.
“Take me back to Camp Friendship, where the grass is always green…”
Sparks smiled and joined in. “Where even on the darkest nights, the sun shines in on me....”
The campers followed along, the tune and lyrics a familiar comfort after so many days at camp. Colts and fillies all sat on logs around the fire that Sparks had built, the warm glow illuminating smiling faces and sparkling eyes.
As the song came to a close, Running River put her guitar down and looked around the group. “Alright then. What shall we do next?”
One filly shot her hoof into the air. “Campfire stories!!!”
Sparks chuckled and turned to her. “Okay kiddo. What story do you want to hear?”
There was a moment of silence until one colt hesitantly gestured to Sparks’ crippled wing. “What happened?”
River gingerly placed her hoof over Sparks’ and traced a small, comforting circle. Sparks simply smiled and swept her eyes around the circle of foals. They all looked at her, wide eyed and curious. She chuckled; who was she to deny these foals a good story?
“Are you all ready for this?”
The foals nodded enthusiastically and Sparks closed her eyes, feeling the breeze ruffle her feathers.
“I remember the last day that I flew…..”
I remember the last day that I flew.
It was cold; the air was biting and crisp. Cloudsdale was over Ponyville that day, so many pegasi were watching the running of the leaves. That’s where my parents were. They didn’t know what happened until it was already too late.
It was my first day of flight school and I was buzzing to show what I could do. The clouds were soft and sturdy under my hooves, and my little wings were beating furiously as I waited for my turn. My instructor was Swift Wing, and looking back, she had probably immediately labeled me as a trouble maker. I know the look in a filly’s eyes that just tells you she’s a wild spirit. So I suppose that perhaps Swift Wing put me at the end of the line for the same reason I sometimes put my campers at the end of the line: to get them to watch the others, to slow them down and get them to live in the moment.
But it didn’t work on me. I didn’t slow down and appreciate the present. No, I wouldn’t learn that lesson until much later. That day I impatiently waited my turn as Swift Wing helped all the foals before me to take off and try some simple flying maneuvers. I rolled my eyes, flicked my tail, tapped my hoof.
I thought I was all that. I was above all these amateurs. I didn’t need take off and landing help. I would show them all.
When it was finally my turn, Swift Wing turned to me and started to say something. Instead of listening, I shot up into the air. I sometimes wonder if my life would be different if I had simply taken the few seconds to hear her warning.
With all the confidence of a foal well beyond my years and experience, I threw myself into a series of complicated loops and turns. My classmates cheered and I felt a surge of fire in my chest.
The whistle of the wind, the roar of the crowd, the watching eyes. I loved it . I heard Swift call out to me to slow down and I saw her fly up to try to stop me, but I paid her no mind. Her light gray form hovered somewhere below me as I circled the compound, saluting the foals on the clouds.
Glancing around, I saw the waving flight school flag. With a cocky smile, I made a decision that would determine the rest of my life. I tucked in my wings, threw myself into a barrel roll, and spun towards the flagpole. At the last second, I flared my wings out, intending to soar right in front of the flag.
But I miscalculated.
I continued to spin, and as I passed the pole I felt a sharp pain in my left wing and the lurch of my stomach into my throat as I fell out of the sky...
Sparks let the silence stretch as the crackle of logs was the only sound. “Well. I think it’s about time for bed. Don’t you think River?”
Running River grinned and hopped off her log, stretching one back leg at a time. “Why yes I would think so Sparks.”
“Wait!!!” one camper wailed. “You can’t stop now! What happened?! Did you fall out of Cloudsdale?? What happened to your wing??? This isn’t fair!!”
Seeking Sparks raised an eyebrow and gestured to the twinkling stars. “It’s getting late though isn’t it? Seems like it's bedtime for some campers who have a long day of fun awaiting them tomorrow.”
The campers grumbled and jumped off their logs and walked back towards their cabins. “Besides,” Sparks said mischievously, “What’s the fun in telling all my secrets? Then you’d have nothing to talk about all night when you think we’re not listening.”
The campers all glanced at each other and bolted for the cabins, shrieking in laughter and giggles as they ran. River wrapped her hoof around Sparks’ shoulder and called out “We’ll be there to say good night in five minutes! Teeth better be brushed and you better be IN YOUR OWN BEDS!!!”
“That was a terrible cliffhanger to leave them on.”
Sparks grinned and flicked her braid over her shoulder. “What can I say, I’m an agent of chaos.”
River rolled her eyes and lightly shoved her, walking towards the cabins. “Put the fire out and let’s get these foals to bed,” she called over her shoulder.
Sparks smiled and breathed in the deep scent of woodsmoke, pine, and fresh summer air. Opening up her wings, she glanced over her body. With her deep, wood-brown coat and forest green mane and tail with bright green highlights, she looked like she simply materialized out of the woods around camp. Her bright campfire cutie mark matched the fire slowly smoldering behind her. The only thing that seemed to call her out were the clipped and broken feathers on her left wing.
Sparks flapped her wings twice, feeling the muscles ripple and flex. Every year the campers asked why she couldn't fly, and every year the story got easier and easier to tell. Though she’d never soar through the air again, never feel the wind streaking through her mane, she knew she wouldn’t trade her life for anything in the world.
And tomorrow at the campfire, the excitement in her camper’s eyes would be just as gratifying as it always was as she picked up the story right where she left it.
“And I fell out of the sky....”
Author's Note
Trigger Warning. The chapter after this will include mentions of self harm and suicidal thoughts. This chapter alludes to it briefly, but there are no explicit mentions. The next chapter will be explicit.
I'm The Reason
Sunlight slowly crept up a narrow beam on the floor, let in by the small gap between the tent flaps. Seeking Sparks watched as the light spread into the tent, illuminating a small path with an orange-gold glow. Kinda like a fire, she mused to herself. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she glanced at the sleeping form of Running River. It would be time to get the campers up soon, readying them for the day. But River could sleep a little longer.
Sparks winced as a familiar ache throbbed in her injured wing. Stretching the muscles, Sparks flexed the wing back and forth and in small circles, like she had been taught to do in physical therapy. The clipped feathers loosened a bit, relaxing and warming up in the morning air.
Watching as her breath made little puffs of steam in the morning sunlight, Sparks nudged the sleeping form of her girlfriend. River moaned and buried her muzzle deeper into Spark’s side. She chuckled and nudged her again.
“If you don’t get up I’ll push you outa the bed”
“You wouldn't dare” came the mumbled sleepy reply.
“Oh wouldn’t I? Come on now babe. You’ve known me long enough to know that’s not true.”
There was a beat of silence, then a thud and a yelp and the sound of Sparks’s echoing laughter. River glared up at her girlfriend from the floor.
“You’re on dish duty for a week!”
Sparks simply grinned over the edge of the bed. “Sure sure. And who will finish the campfire story for the kiddos? Hm?
River simply grumbled and stood up, brushing herself off. “Get the foals up”
Sparks winked and darted out of the tent. “Yes ma’am!”
After a day of boating and lake shenanigans, all the campers were finally showered and dry, and waiting impatiently for Sparks to start the campfire. Sparks took her sweet time, making sure to flare out her wings as much as possible. She could feel the campers’ stares, hear their whispers, and sense their curiosity. She grinned to herself as she built the little fire up. Finally, the flames roared to life and River picked up her guitar.
“Sooooo....what songs shall we sing tonight?”
There was a collective groan and one little colt, a blazing yellow pegasus named Flaring Heights protested loudly.
“We want to hear the rest of the story!”
Sparks smirked. “What story?”
Flaring Heights nearly shouted to be heard over the campers’ collective responses. “You know what story!”
River smiled and quieted the colts and fillies as Sparks placed a log on the fire. “Oh you mean the one where I fell out of the sky?”
“YES!!!!!” All the campers shouted.
“Well alright then. It happened just like that. I fell out of the sky....”
oOo
I remember the cold autumn air biting at my feathers as I fell. I remember the horrible burning pain in my left wing. And I remember the stricken look on my flight instructor’s face as she tried to dive after me.
But that day was the running of the leaves. There were thundering hooves everywhere, leaves swirling through the air in huge groups. And she simply lost me in the chaos. I remember the leaves blocking my view of her as I plummeted towards the ground.
I remember pain. Then...nothing
I woke up to a sharp throbbing in my wing and the swimming, distant noises of crying. My eyes slowly focused and I tried desperately to sit up, but the pain made my vision swim and I crashed back onto the bed. The moment I landed, a sharp, red hot stick of pain shot up my wing and I screamed.
The door flew open and a nurse rushed in. She pressed a button and relief flooded my body as the pain faded away. I heard running hoof beats and my parents burst through the door,
“Sparks!!! Oh my god!!” My mother, Firetrail, rushed to my side and pulled me into a shaky hug. My father, Darkened Sky, stood at her side and placed a hoof on my shoulder.
“What….What happened…?” I mumbled, still confused and bleary eyed.
Mom pulled back and brushed a strand of hair out of my face. “Hunny you injured your wing and fell into Ponyville. We came as soon as we heard.”
I blinked at her. “Why can’t I move my wing?”
She smiled tearfully and kissed my forehead. “Hunny you broke it. It’s in a cast.”
I turned over my shoulder, and sure enough, my entire wing was plastered tight and immobile. I brushed a hoof over the hard surface. “Why a cast? Don’t they usually just bandage it?”
Dad stepped over and placed his hoof on mine. “Sparks, you hit the ground really hard. Fell directly on to your left side…” His voice caught and he faltered.
At that moment, a mare I hadn’t noticed before stepped up to me. “Sparks, my name is Dr. Vector. I’m the wing specialist here at Cloudsdale General. You broke your wing. Do you know what that means?”
My parents started to cry.
I blinked at the doctor. “I broke the bones? So I won’t be able to fly for a while?”
She smiled slightly at me. “You broke the bones pretty badly. When you landed, you crushed your entire left wing. We managed to save it, but you are going to be in this cast for a long time.”
“But I’ll fly again right?”
“Perhaps. You have a long and difficult recovery ahead of you Seeking Sparks. But you are a little fighter. I know you’re going to give it your best shot”
I remember the sideline glance she gave my parents. I didn’t know what it meant at that time. But I do now. She knew I would probably never fly again.
And unfortunately, because of me, she was right.
oOo
“Well. I think that’s a good place to end for tonight!” River cut me off. Sparks blinked at her as she handed out marshmallow sticks and picked up her guitar. “Let’s sing a song everyone!”
The rest of the campfire blew by in a blur. Songs, s’mores, laughter, and begging for the end of Sparks’ story. But River stubbornly refused to let her continue. Once it was time for bed, they got all the campers tucked in and settled, then Sparks headed out to the docks while River sang them to sleep.
The night was dark and the moon was just the tiniest sliver in the sky. The stars shined above Sparks as she sat at the edge of the dock and dangled her back hooves in the water. The sound of thudding hoof steps made her turn. River stood, silhouetted against the sky, her light blue coat shining bright in the starlight.
“Why did you stop me? I’ve told that story a hundred times.”
River cocked her head. “What did you mean ‘because of you’?”
Sparks groaned and closed her eyes. Crap. She hadn't realized she’d said that out loud. “It’s nothing. Just a slip of the tongue.”
River narrowed her eyes and sat down next to her girlfriend. “Sparks. Is there something to this story that you’ve never told me?”
Sparks hung her head and sighed. “It’s not exactly something I’m proud of.”
River took her hoof and kissed her cheek. “Baby I love all of you. I want to know all your secrets. I can’t believe you’ve kept something from me for so long. You know I would never judge you.”
Sparks shook her head. “I’ve never told anyone. Even my parents don’t know.”
River pulled her into a hug, then wrapped her hoof around Sparks’ shoulders. “What happened?”
Sparks hunched herself smaller. “I’m the reason I can’t fly.”
Author's Note
Warning For Self Harm in this chapter
Truth
Sparks swirled her hoof in the water. “It’s that simple. I am the reason I can’t fly.”
River ran her hoof comfortingly through her girlfriend’s mane. “Because you chose to fly past the flagpole and clipped your wing?”
“No...because I sabotaged my recovery.”
River’s hoof faltered. “Sparks. Did you...hurt yourself on purpose?”
A pinch shot up Sparks’s wing and she winced slightly and began to massage the tight muscles with her hoof. “Yeah. I did”
oOo
I spent a few weeks in the hospital for observation before they sent me home with strict instructions to stay off my wing and return for weekly check ups. My parents kept me home from flight school, from my classes, and from my life. I just laid in bed and counted the clouds that made up my ceiling over and over.
After a few more weeks, they took off the cast and started me in physical therapy. It was small at first, just flexing the muscles in my wing and practicing opening and closing it. After each session I would have to be rebandaged and strapped into a brace. The brace kept my bones aligned and supported my muscles as they healed.
I did everything they told me. I did the stretches, the exercises, the workouts. I pushed myself till I cried, till the stitches on my wing would ache and burn. And it still was never enough. Months went by and I got no closer to flying again. I could barely flap my wings without my vision going black from the pain. My progress began to stagnate. I stopped doing my exercises. I stopped trying.
One day as I laid on my bed and stared blankly at the ceiling, I felt an itch in my left wing. As I scratched with my hoof, a long beautiful flight feather drifted to the floor. I stared as it settled on the clouds. My eyes slid to the empty spot on my wing where the feather should be. I gritted my teeth and felt hot tears prick at my eyes.
I was never going to fly again. How could I? And if I wasn’t ever going to fly, what use were my fucking feathers?!?!
I felt the tears slip down my face as I grabbed a feather in my teeth and pulled.
It came away, breaking and dripping blood on my bed sheets. I reached again and bit off the top of another feather, leaving a jagged and clipped deformity behind. I screamed and ripped at my wing, tearing feathers to shreds as scattered pieces and drops of blood fell to the floor.
“Sparks!!” My mother burst through the door and grabbed me in her hooves, holding me close and pinning my hooves to my sides.
I screamed and buried my face in my mom’s chest, my tears staining her coat and my blood smearing in her fur. She held me tightly even as I beat my hooves against her and shook uncontrollably. After an eternity, my tears were spent and my body exhausted. Mom stroked my hair and cried with me as I slumped in her embrace and felt my eyes close.
I woke up some time later, once again tucked into a hospital bed. My wing was bandaged again, the white linen slightly stained from the blood of my feathers. I groaned and looked up to the ceiling. I could hear my parents talking to the doctor outside the door. I wondered distantly if my feathers would ever grow back after I had so violently broken and ripped them out.
My parents thought that I had caught my wing on the bed, or perhaps that I had fallen again, or that the brace had ripped off and taken the feathers with it. They didn’t want to believe that I had hurt myself on purpose, and I couldn’t bring myself to disappoint them with the truth.
oOo
As Spark’s voice died away, River realized distantly that she was crying. Sparks was looking up at the sky, her eyes tracing the constellations. River wiped away her tears and took her girlfriend’s hoof.
“I love you.”
Sparks smiled and laid back on the dock, opening her hooves for River to fall into them.
“I love you too.”
River’s long blue mane cascaded over Sparks as they laid and cuddled on the dock, looking up at the stars silently. The lake lapped at the pillars, filling the quiet night with the rhythmic sound of waves on wood.
“Did your feathers ever grow back?”
Seeking Sparks sighed and stretched out her injured wing, holding it up for River to see in the soft light of the moon.
“Yeah they did. But they always grow back broken and deformed. I really messed up the cuticles, and since then they’ve always come in clipped, ragged, and too small.”
River hesitated, then brushed her hoof over the broken feathers. “Is that really the reason you can’t fly?”
Sparks hugged her tighter. “It contributes to it. I probably would never have been able to fly again anyway. The bones and muscles of my wing are permanently damaged, and even still today they ache and have to be stretched. But by destroying my feathers and re-damaging my wing like I did, I squashed whatever small chance I did have of recovering my flight.”
Running River buried her muzzle in the soft brown fur on her girlfriend’s chest. “I’m so sorry my love.”
Sparks just smiled and pulled her in tighter. “I wouldn’t change my story for anything in the world. We moved to Ponyville after I got out of the hospital for the second time. And then I got to meet you.”
River snorted and sat up, pulling her girlfriend up with her. “And now you get to have the spotlight all to yourself, stir up the drama and the shock value every time the campers ask about your wing.”
“Oh! Excuuuse you! I have no idea what you are talking about!” Sparks huffed and kicked her back hooves in the lake again, feigning innocence.
There was a rustling behind her and then a hoof landed squarely in her back. Sparks shrieked as she toppled into the cool lake water, spluttering as she came to the surface.
“Sure ya don’t” River said, grinning down at her from the dock. “Payback for this morning.”
Seeking Sparks threw her head back and laughed, hoisting herself up onto the dock. “Well I guess I’ll just have to give you a hug then won’t I?”
“DON”T YOU DARE!!!” River yelped and darted away, giggling as Sparks chased her back through camp.
The two counselors ran back through Camp Friendship, their laughter echoing up to the stars.
Author's Note
Thank you so much to everyone who is reading, liking, and commenting on this story!!
Laughing Again
The sun was shining on the lake, reflecting sparkling blue glares all around the camp. Sparks stood on the dock, wearing a whistle around her neck and a lifeguard tube on her back. She raised a wing to her eyes to shield the sun as she looked out on the lake. A bead of sweat dripped down her neck. By Celestia it was hot today.
River, also with a lifeguard tube, was out on the lake in a kayak, weaving her way through the campers who were exploring the lake in combinations of row boats, canoes, and two-pony kayaks. With a jolt, Sparks fumbled for her whistle and blew the shrill noise across the lake.
“TOOLA ROOLA YOU PUT THAT LIFE JACKET BACK ON RIGHT NOW YOUNG FILLY!!!”
The camper jumped in her row boat seat as Sparks called out her name. Ducking her head sheepishly, she shrugged on and buckled the life jacket. Sparks just shook her head.
“What am I gonna do with that filly,” she wondered aloud. The sound of hoofbeats on the dock grabbed her attention and she turned to see a little yellow pegasus colt walking up to her.
“Hi Flaring Heights. Didn’t want to go on the lake today?”
The colt poked at the dock with his hoof. “No.”
“Why not? It’s a beautiful day.”
“Cause.”
Sparks set the lifeguard tube onto the dock and sat down at the edge, dangling her back hooves into the cool water. She tapped next to her and Flaring Heights sat down reluctantly.
“So what’s going on?” Sparks asked, looking out over the lake.
Heights grimaced and looked down at the water under the dock. “I asked Toola Roola to be my very special somepony. And she said no.”
Sparks looked at him. “Did she say why?”
“She said I’m too loud.” The colt kicked his hooves defiantly.
Sparks smiled. “Well there’s nothing wrong with being loud. Lots of ponies think I’m too loud too. And hey, there are plenty of fillies and colts in Equestria. Maybe Toola Roola doesn’t like you, but you’ll find plenty of ponies in your life who will.”
Heights looked out over the lake. “How....how did you meet River?”
“You just always want a story don’t you?” Sparks smiled down at him.
The colt grinned. “Maybe.”
“Alright then.”
oOo
I stopped on the path, looking up at the archway above me.
“Camp Friendship?”
My mother, Firetrail, bit her lip nervously. “Yes! It’s a wonderful little camp here in Ponyville. You’ll have so much fun here this week!”
My father, Darkened Sky, nudged me from behind. “And you’ll get to meet some of the Ponyville colts and fillies.
“Sure. Whatever.” I grumbled under my breath, begrudgingly walking into the camp.
There was a huge grass lawn with tents, cabins, and bigger buildings scattered around. To the left was a sparkling blue lake and beautiful wooden dock. On the right, the open spaces of the camp gave way to dark forest. I looked around skeptically until my gaze was caught by a group of foals playing by a fire circle.
A bright blue filly was strumming a guitar, her tongue licking her lips as she fumbled with the tuning pegs. Two colts ran around her, laughing and trying to tag each other. The blue filly looked over at me and smiled. I just rolled my eyes and turned away, tucking my wings tighter against my body.
My father was holding up my wing brace, explaining to the counselor that I had to wear it every night to keep my wing immobilized. I shrunk down, feeling the blush rise in my cheeks. Glancing up, I saw the counselor look at me with the look in her eyes that all adults look at me now. The pity, the shame, the subtle thankfulness that it’s me and not them. I sat with a whimper and crossed my forelegs over my head.
The world seemed to swim with the sounds of laughing foals. Echoing giggles, lapping waves, kicked balls, talking and screaming and…. My ears started to ring as I clenched my eyes closed, trying to block out the over stimulation.
Suddenly, I felt a small hoof on my shoulder. I jumped off the ground, my eyes darting around. It was the blue earth pony filly.
“Are you okay?” She was brighter than the sky, with other shades of blue running through her flowing mane and tail. Her eyes were bright green and they looked at me with absolutely no pity.
I took a breath and steadied myself. “I’m fine.” I paused, looking at the ground. “Thanks.”
The filly tilted her head, then pointed to my injured wing. “What happened?”
“That’s none of your business!” I snarled at her.
She just shrugged and walked away, going back to the colts and her guitar. I slumped back onto my haunches. I was so tired of ponies asking what happened. Glaring at all the colts and fillies of the camp, I knew that they would all ask if given the chance.
“Fine.” I muttered under my breath. “I just won’t talk to anypony then.”
I lasted two days. Counselors tried in vain to get me to talk. The foals did too for a bit. But after a while, it was only the counselors who tried to talk to me. They eventually resorted to asking me simple things like what I wanted for dinner, if I wanted a s’more, or if I had to use the bathroom. I just took what I needed and ignored the rest of the camp.
Then, on my third morning at camp, the blue filly hung back while everyone else ran to the mess hall for breakfast. She sat on the steps to my tent as I struggled out of my wing brace.
“So are you gonna tell me what happened?”
I tried to ignore her as I worked to untangle the brace from my broken wing. New gaps and cracks in my feathers had appeared over my days at camp, and the brace was getting stuck on them.
“You obviously can’t fly right now. Will you be able to fly in the future?”
I gritted my teeth and ignored her again, tears springing in my eyes as I tried in vain to get my sensitive feathers out of the brace. The counselors had stopped trying to help me on the second morning after I made it very clear that I wasn’t going to eat breakfast until they left me alone.
“Would you like some help?”
I turned my back to her, the tears falling off my cheeks as I desperately tried to reach my wing well enough to untangle the brace.
“Fine.”
I heard her stand to leave and felt my throat constrict. “No!” I closed my eyes. “Please don’t go.”
I heard hoofsteps approach me and I turned to face her. Stone-faced, she reached out and gingerly helped to take the brace off my wing. I sat down with a sigh, stroking and stretching the abused feathers. She sat down next to me and watched. She didn’t ask again, just let us sit in silence for a while.
“I fell out of Cloudsdale.” I mumbled. When she didn't say anything, I cautiously continued the story. “I clipped my wing on a flagpole and crushed it when I fell to the ground.”
I tried to answer her earlier question, but the words got stuck in my throat. With a start, I realized I had never said them aloud before.
“I- I….I won’t…ever...” My voice cracked and the tears welled up again. She placed her hoof on mine.
“So you can’t fly?”
She said it so matter of factly that I felt my sobs turn to hesitant laughter. I smiled weakly as I started to chuckle. She stared at me with such an incredulous look that the chuckles quickly turned to hiccupping laughter. The tears didn’t slow, but the aching in my chest lessened slightly.
The filly smiled awkwardly, then slowly joined in my laughter. After a few minutes, we were leaning against one another and catching our breath.
“I’m Running River.” She smiled at me, and I felt something catch in my chest.
“Seeking Sparks.” I said, stretching out my hoof.
She grinned and rolled her eyes, pulling me into a hug instead. I stiffened at first, but then relaxed into her embrace and slowly wrapped my forelegs around her.
When she pulled away, I wiped my tears and tossed the offending brace onto my bed. River grabbed my hoof and pulled me out of the tent, both of us laughing and running towards the mess hall.
oOo
Seeking Sparks looked out over the lake. “If River hadn’t stayed with me that morning, I might never have returned to Camp Friendship.”
“When did you become very special somepony’s?” The yellow colt looked up at his counselor.
Sparks grinned down at him. “Well I asked her out the first summer that we worked here. And we’ve been together ever since. When we got older, we pitched in and bought this place. Now we own and run Camp Friendship every summer.”
Flaring Heights looked out to the boats. “Do you really think I’ll find a very special some pony?”
Sparks laughed and ruffled his mane with her hoof. “I am sure that you will. And you’ve got your whole life ahead of you to find them! You’re only a colt, Heights.”
He grinned and jumped to his hooves. “Can I go out on the lake??”
His counselor laughed and buckled him into a life jacket. Buzzing his wings, the colt flew out over the center of the lake and landed in one of the row boats with a trio of other colts. Sparks sat back at the edge of the dock, watching River paddle among the campers’ boats. The sun sparkled on the water, reflecting light all around the edge of the lake. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking in the scents of pine sap, sunscreen, and fresh summer air.
“Thank you River.” She whispered, looking back out over the water. “Thank you for taking a chance on a broken little filly.”
Sparks was sitting at the kitchen table, pouring over financial statements and legal documents. The end of the camp season always brought an obscene amount of paperwork. River was working at the animal sanctuary until late so Sparks was getting a head start on all the papers they had to sign and turn in. They would also have to get re-certified by the Equestrian Camp Association before the next summer as their license was expiring in a month. Sparks groaned and swiped a hoof through her mane, knocking her braid over her other shoulder and trying to get her eyes to focus on the table in front of her. But before she could throw herself into the paperwork, she was saved by a knock on the door.
She opened the door and looked down to see a bright orange pegasus filly on her doorstep. “Well hello there.”
The filly stood astride a blue scooter, holding a stack of flyers under her foreleg. “Hi! My name is Scootaloo and Applejack said I should talk to you about Camp Friendship.”
Sparks nodded and gestured inside. “Sure! My name is Seeking Sparks. Come on in.”
Scootaloo set her helmet and scooter outside the door and scampered eagerly into the house. Sparks chuckled and shut the door behind her.
“Would you like a snack? I’ve got cookies and I think I have some cherry pie left. How about some lemonade or tea?”
“Cookies please!” Scootaloo set herself on the couch, not noticing as a few flyers drifted to the floor. Sparks prepared a plate of cookies and two glasses of lemonade. Setting it all on a tray, she balanced it on her back and walked over to the couch. As she rounded the corner, her hoof slipped on one of the flyers and she pitched forward.
“Woah!” Sparks flared out her wings and managed to catch the tray just before it slid off her back. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she used her wing to set the tray on the coffee table and bent down to pick up the papers.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” Scootaloo hopped off the couch and helped her gather the fallen flyers.
“It’s okay! No worries. Accidents happen.” Sparks smiled cockily and flared out her wings. “Lucky I’ve got the reflexes of a jungle cat.” She winked at the little pegasus filly, who’s gaze had suddenly become transfixed on something off to the side.
Sparks followed her sight line to her left wing, and ruffled her broken feathers. “Oh this? Yeah I had an accident when I was a filly.”
Sparks watched as the little filly flapped her wings a few times and glanced quickly back at them. She cast her eyes down for a moment, then looked up to Sparks hesitantly.
“Can you...Can you fly?”
Sparks smiled at her and sat down on the couch, patting the cushion next to her. Scootaloo settled herself nervously, still looking at Sparks’ injured wing.
“When I was a filly, I clipped a flagpole and fell out of Cloudsdale. I hit the ground on my left side, crushing the bones of my wing.” Sparks flared out her left wing and showed the filly the broken feathers.
“My feathers never grew back in properly and my muscles and bones were never strong or stable enough to allow me to fly again. I’ve been flightless ever since.”
Scootaloo reached a hoof out ever so slightly, then quickly pulled it back.
Sparks reached her wing out to her. “You can touch it if you want.”
The pegasus filly ran her hooves over the broken feathers, feeling the clipped and jagged edges. Sparks guided her hooves further down the wing, allowing Scootaloo to feel the uneven bones under the muscle of her wing.
“I can’t fly either.”
Sparks’ ears perked up. “Really?”
Scootaloo nodded, not looking up from the broken brown feathers. “I’ve never been able to. I’ve never met another pegasus who couldn’t.”
Sparks felt her heart crack, her whole body thrumming with the urge to protect and reassure this little filly. “Well ya know it’s not all bad. I use my wings for martial arts now. I’ve learned to make them an extension of my body in a different way.”
Scootaloo smiled and looked up. “I use mine to power me on my scooter!”
Sparks wrapped her injured wing around the filly and pulled her close. “See? Who needs flying.” She winked at Scootaloo as she leaned into the embrace. After a moment, Sparks pulled away and grabbed a cookie.
“So what’s this about wanting to talk about Camp Friendship?”
“Oh!” Scootaloo fumbled with the stack of flyers and thrust one at the older pegasus. “My friends, Applebloom and Sweetiebelle, and I want to run a cutie mark day camp at Camp Friendship! We help other ponies get their cutie marks. Applejack said we should talk to you since you own the camp.”
“Sure do! My marefriend and I bought the place a few years ago. We run the summer camps there now. Cutie mark day camp huh?” Sparks studied the flyer for a moment. “I think that’s a wonderful idea! I got my cutie mark at camp you know.”
Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “Really? How?!”
Sparks grinned and turned to show off the bright campfire on her flank. “Well I was the last one in my class to get it.”
oOo
I was deep in the forest, a bundle of sticks balanced precariously on my back. I had fluffed out my wings to keep them from falling, but the situation was still dire. I was picking my way back to camp, trying desperately to not lose any of the carefully gathered twigs on my back. A rustling sound behind me made the fur on my neck stand on end. I stopped dead, my ears flicking as I searched for the source of the sound.
Suddenly, a blue flash came tearing out of the trees and I squealed, dropping my sticks and rearing onto my back hooves, ready to fight. Running River, startled by my scream, collapsed back onto her haunches and dropped the branches she had been holding in her mouth.
“River! What in Equestria?? Where did you go?!” She started gathering up her sticks and helping me balance mine back onto my wings.
“I went to get firewood! I turned around for one second and you were gone!” River looked at me incredulously.
“Well the best tinder is found on pine trees, so I went to find a good pine stand with lots of fallen branches. Why didn’t you follow me?”
River huffed. “Because we were told not to go any further than the big oak!”
“Well it’s not my fault that Onyx Dusk doesn’t know how to make a fire.” I grumbled.
River rolled her eyes and picked up her bundle of sticks. “Will these do?”
I inspected her sticks and sighed. “Not great but we can make them work. Come on. We’re going to be late.”
River trotted along happily next to me as we made our way back to camp. We were among the older campers now, ready to start working as counselors in just a few years. So, many of the activities were old hat to us, even as counselors often changed around each summer. I set my wood down next to the fire circle and joined the group of younger fillies. One looked at me strangely and I braced myself for the questions about my injured wing, but she just gestured to my blank flank and whispered something to her friend.
I sighed and settled myself between River and another of our friends. I looked down at River’s flank where a soft green willow tree stood out against her bright blue fur. River had gotten her cutie mark ages ago while doing chores on her family’s tree farm. I was the only one in our age group who hadn’t gotten mine. I sighed and turned my attention back to the empty fire pit.
“Seeking Sparks.”
I jerked my head up at the sound of my name. Our counselor for that week, Onyx Dusk, was a pale pink stallion with a black and white mane and tail. He was holding out a set of stones to me.
“Would you like to teach these foals how to start a fire?”
“Um. Sure.” I gulped and looked around at my fellow campers. River nudged me and I slid off the log. I kneeled beside the fire circle and surveyed the wood. Parsing it out into three groups, I started to explain the foundations of a good fire.
“Well. You need three types of wood for a campfire. The smallest, tinder, is your spark point.” I held up the small, dry twigs I had gathered from the pine tree stand. “It will ignite fast and help you get a flame started, but it will burn out quickly.”
I held up sticks that were slightly thicker. “Kindling is bigger and set around the tinder so that the flames will catch to it. These will last longer than tinder, but are really just for making the flames strong enough for fuel.” I held up the logs.
“Fuel is your biggest wood and is what keeps the fire going once you’ve got it started.”
“How do you set it up?” One filly asked timidly.
I smiled, feeling my confidence rise the longer I talked. “Well there’s a few ways that you can arrange your fire depending on what you’re using it for. Tonight we are going to make a typical campfire…”
I continued explaining the different fire structures as I built up a little arrangement of tinder and kindling. Once I had it all set, I stopped talking and held my breath as I scraped the two stones together, creating sparks. After a few scrapes, the sparks caught on the tinder and the fire roared to life.
“Woah!”
The young campers all stared at the flames, looks of awe, admiration, and delight crossing their faces. I felt a strange warmth in my chest as I watched them. I loved seeing them so impressed. I had loved teaching them!
Suddenly, there was a flash from behind me, and I turned to see a sparkling white light fading from my flank. In its place was a bright orange and yellow fire sitting utop two crossed logs. A campfire. I broke out into a huge grin.
“I got my cutie mark!!”
Onyx smiled at me as all the foals rushed over to look at the new image on my flank.
“Nicely done Sparks. I think you are going to make a fine counselor one day.”
My eyes welled with tears as I caught River’s gaze. She was beaming at me, pride and excitement gleaming in her eyes. I closed mine and felt the warmth of the fire on my fur, heard the chatter of the campers around me, and smelled the pine and campfire smoke on the summer breeze. I knew I was exactly where I belonged.
oOo
“And I’ve been working at camp ever since.”
“That’s awesome! So your special talent is making fires?” Scootaloo stared at Sparks, her eyes wide and excited.
“Partially.” She chuckled. “The glow of the flames also represents the growth and excitement that I hope to bring to all my campers. And the energy of the fire represents my enthusiasm for teaching others and for throwing myself into any project.”
Scootaloo beamed at her. “That’s amazing!”
“And you know, if I had never broken my wing then I never would have moved to Ponyville and gone to Camp Friendship. Who knows what I would be if I had stayed in Cloudsdale.”
Scootaloo looked at her wings, then back at Sparks pensively.
“Some things are simply meant to be.” The older pegasus said with a smile. “Everything you go through will help shape and teach you. Just because we are different,” She stretched out her broken broken wing, “doesn’t mean we have anything less to offer.”
Scootaloo buzzed her wings and smiled. “I guess it doesn’t matter if I ever fly.”
Sparks shrugged. “I don’t know if you will, but you certainly don’t have to. You have your own unique talents, skills, and experiences. And I think you are going to run an amazing day camp.” She winked at the filly.
Scootaloo leapt off the couch in excitement. “You mean we can use Camp Friendship??”
“Of course!”
Scootaloo crushed Sparks in a hug. “Thank you!”
Sparks chuckled and embraced her. “You’re very welcome. Now tell Applejack hello for me won’t ya?”
“Definitely!”
Sparks led Scootaloo out and watched as she sped off on her scooter, scattering flyers all over town. She had never met another flightless pegasus either, and it felt so good to see her experience making a difference to somepony else. Sparks sat back at the kitchen table, wondering what Scootaloo’s parents had said to her about her disability.
She pressed a hoof lightly to her belly. She loved being a counselor. She loved teaching the kids, taking care of them, and seeing them try new things and grow. But that always ended at the end of the summer. Talking with Scootaloo had felt like that...but better. She had supported her, showed her she wasn't alone in her struggles. It felt almost...motherly.
oOo
When River got home that night, Sparks was laying on the couch, the paperwork completely forgotten.
River sat on the arm of the couch. “How was your day?”
“That little filly Scootaloo came by to ask if she and her friends could run a cutie mark day camp at Camp Friendship next week.” Sparks didn’t take her eyes off the ceiling.
“Oh that’s so cute! You told her yes I assume?”
Sparks didn’t answer. She just sat up and looked at her girlfriend. River raised an eyebrow.
“Honey? Are you okay?”
Sparks looked at her, bright orange eyes meeting emerald green ones. “I want a baby.”
Author's Note
Thank you for reading! The story of River and Sparks' foal continues in my story, A Life Desired.
If you would like to see your OC's backstory come to life, feel free to PM me! I am open for commissions.
