//------------------------------// // A New Day // Story: A Spark of Magic // by Rammstein45 //------------------------------// (CHAPTER 7) A NEW DAY 5 am... 2 hours before he had to be up for work. His room was still dark except for Luna's moon casting its platinum glow through the edges of his closed curtains. This wasn't like him. He always slept through the night until his alarm forced away his dreams. Sparks lay staring up at the dark ceiling of his room. He was jolted from his sleep by nothing, only his own mind forcing him to stay awake. He tried several times to close his eyes and fall back to sleep until his alarm would wake him; but without even realizing it, he found himself staring at the ceiling, all the while his mind was racing. His thoughts were jumping around incoherently. One moment he would be thinking of upcoming firework shows. Next he would worry about whether or not he had enough shells for the display. Typical stresses of his job. But even more than his work related concerns and stress, he still couldn't get the thought of icy blue out of his mind. For the unicorn it felt like middle school all over again when Lyra had turned him down. For weeks after that had happened Sparks felt lost, as if part of himself were missing. Now that he had lost Trixie, the unsettling feeling of overwhelming loneliness was returning. The little things around him only enhanced his depression. The constant topic of Canterlot's fireworks always being talked about by his friends brought up the memory of what he lost that night. The fact that he made a new firework shell after Trixie probably wasn't the best idea, and one large factor was the constant awareness that his best friend had an attractive marefriend. Sparks didn't hold any grudge against Firecracker for finding himself a special somepony, but deep down in the back of his mind, Sparks almost wished he had met Habanero first. It wasn't just the fact that Habanero was a very pretty girl, it was the fact that he had an opportunity to be with somepony, unfortunately for him, Sparks allowed his shyness around mares to get the better of him and Firecracker ended up making the first move. It seemed like no time at all had passed. While his mind raced, the unicorn didn't even realize that Celestia's sun was beginning to rise. Outside the songbirds began their morning chorus, and Ponyville slowly began to awake with the rest of the day. Sparks again looked at his alarm. It was just about 6:30. No point in lazing around in bed while his thoughts tortured him. With a groan, he rolled over and out of bed and onto his hooves. He stretched and cracked his neck before heading to the bathroom to freshen himself up. He didn't take his time for some reason. Sparks quickly brushed his teeth and combed his mane and tail. He figured he would get an early start and beat the crowed at Sugar Cube Corner before the early morning rush came in. It also gave him an excuse to get some extra work done at the firework plant since his sister placed an impromptu firework request on his plate. He wasn't upset about it, he was actually all for the idea of giving his parents a firework display for their anniversary, he just wished he had more time to plan for it. As Sparks readied to leave he did one last thing, he pulled his sheets and blanket off of his bed and replaced them with clean ones. He had been meaning to do that for days but with how distracted he had been since returning from Canterlot, he kept pushing it aside. Still, now that it was done, he had a fresh smelling bed to look forward to after his upcoming day at work. Without anything else for him to do, Sparks got his early start moving. He headed outside and locked his front door. He usually greeted the blonde mail pony on his way to work but she wasn't due to arrive for at least another hour. He would have to wait until tomorrow to hear her cheerful morning greeting. Sparks walked passed his former neighbors empty house and made his way into town. Just as he had hoped, Sugar Cube Corner was just opening for the day and there was no line. He trotted inside, did his usual morning greeting to the Cake's, got his usual Iced Tea, and Raspberry muffin then made his way to work. Being as it was still early, most of the vendors in the market square hadn't arrived yet. A few however were already hard at work setting up as the morning dew still shimmered in the sunlight. "Hey Sparks!" a familiar voice called out. The unicorn looked over and saw Firecracker flying towards a stall with several baskets of peppers in tow. "Hey." Came Sparks reply. "You're out early." "Yeah..." Firecracker said as he set the baskets of peppers down in front of Habanero's booth. "Hally needed some help this morning so I figured I'd give her a hoof." "I'm not testing anything for her today!" Sparks shot sternly. "My stomach finally settled down late last night." "Don't worry, I'm not either!" Firecracker agreed. "She did feel bad about what happened yesterday, but I couldn't be to upset with her because of how proud of her new pepper she was. She already sent one into the Manehatten Culinary Association. She's hoping that they are interested in it." "That pony doesn't mess around with her spice, does she?" "Nope!" A cheerful voice beamed behind the two. "Good morning Sparks!" The unicorn turned and saw the fiery pony grinning at him as she often did. It was one thing about Habanero that anypony could count on, her attitude was just about as spicy as her peppers. "Morning, Hally. I hear you're already sending out the pepper you tried to kill us with yesterday." Habanero stood proud as she brushed off the remark. She was indeed very proud of her new creation. "That's right!" She chirped. "If I can get the Wailing Stallion's approval from the Manehatten Culinary Association, it will be sent off to be marketed all over Equestria!" Habanero beamed with pride as she thought about her possible upcoming success. "Papa will be so proud!" "You've had one of your peppers approved by them before, haven't you?" Firecracker asked while he helped to organize Hally's pepper booth. "Once before," She said as a matter of factly, "but it was only one of my sweet peppers, I haven't had anything this crazy hot approved before. Still, if I get this one approved, that means even more business for Papa's company and more notoriety! My Brother won't care as usual but at least Momma and Papa will!" Firecracker flew over and landed next to Habanero, and Sparks asked. "I thought you're brother was big into peppers like you were." Habanero shook her head. "Nah, Cayenne only cares about the money making part of it. He never enjoyed the actual gardening and work I put into everything. Papa's been pushing me for a while now to start getting more involved with the financial part of the business so I can take over one day, but that's not really my thing. I like being in my greenhouse with my peppers. I would rather be in there all day taking care of my plants than in a stuffy office dealing with paper work. That's probably why Cayenne is always pushing me to be completely involved with the actual growing so he can run the company instead of me eventually." "Isn't that kind of shady? I mean your own brother is trying to push you aside so he can take over." Sparks added. Habanero didn't answer right away. For once, she didn't seem as spicy as she usually did. Her eyes went half lidded in an almost pitiful way. She quickly caught herself and replied back with her usual cheerful tune, "No, it's not like that. It's true that Cayenne and I haven't gotten along much, but he wouldn't try to phase me out. He just wants what's best for our families company." Habanero walked over to her stand and looked at her brightly colored, freshly picked peppers. "Besides, I'd rather be with my peppers and working firsthand with our product." She flopped down a red duffle bag and unzipped it. She pulled out her trademark hazmat suit to protect herself from her pepper allergy. She quickly slipped it on, reached into one of her baskets, and pulled out one of her bright, fire orange peppers that she called "Fire Scorpions". She turned to the two stallions and said cheerfully, "Want a free sample?!" The two pyro ponies quickly pulled their front hooves up as if to protect themselves. With nervous grins on their faces, they both replied, "No thanks!" _____________________________________________________________________________________ The two friends had finished helping Habanero set up for the long day ahead of her of selling her fresh peppers. It was nearing time for the two to head into work themselves so they made their way across town and talked while they went to work. "I tell yah," Sparks remarked, "I don't like how Habanero's brother is treating her. It seems like he's trying to push her out of that business all together so he can have the family spotlight." Firecracker shrugged. "I've asked her about it before, but she always tries to change the topic whenever I bring it up. I'll be honest, I don't really care for Cayenne. I met him once before, he's only got making bits on his mind. He doesn't care about all the hard work that Hally puts into everything she does. On top of that, he doesn't treat her the way a brother should a little sister." "How so?" Firecracker sighed. "Don't tell Hally I told you this." "Sure..." "I didn't get a lot of detail out of her, but from what she did say, he isn't the nicest pony to her. He has constant rude remarks about her and her peppers. He likes to put her down a lot and tell her that what she does isn't making him enough money, only wasting it." "What a jerk!" Sparks remarked as he shook his head. "I could never imagine treating my little sister like that. ...Then again my sister could do with a little tough love once and a while, but never anything to degrade her." "Yeah," Firecracker continued. "He's done some nasty things to her in the past. He even went as far as to put one of her really hot peppers into her food without her knowing it. Her capsaicin allergy ran wild after that one." "So what happens to her when she actually eats a pepper." "I can't say with the mild ones, but I can tell you, when she unknowingly ate that super hot pepper, her throat swelled and she couldn't breathe. It also makes her heart beat extremely fast to the point where it's almost life threatening. This all happened before we were dating though. It was back when I was trying to get to know her. I guess me flying her to the hospital is what sealed the deal with our relationship." Firecracker made an almost embarrassed grin at that comment. "I just wish it could have been under better circumstances." "And her brother knew about her allergy? What an ignorant thing to do." Firecracker gave a light nod. "Yeah, needless to say, I've never paid much attention to him after that little stunt. He claimed it was supposed to be a joke but I don't believe it." "Well..." Sparks said with a grin, "At least she has you now to keep her safe." "Heh! Yeah, I can retaliate with explosives!" Both stallions laughed as they approached the firework plant. Firecracker looked away from his friend and towards the giant, glittery Ponyville Firework Co. sign. His eyes widened. He quickly stopped and held his hoof out to get Sparks attention. "What is it?" Sparks asked. Firecracker motioned his head towards the Firework company and pointed with his hoof. Sparks looked ahead and he felt his breath escape him. "There's no way..." He thought. In front of him, standing and waiting for anypony to arrive was the icy blue, and frost silver sorceress that had bewitched him a few days ago. She turned and he saw those beautiful amethyst eyes make contact with his. He tried to speak but no words came. She let out a light sigh of relief and she slowly walked towards him. "Sparks..." She said calmly, "I found you."