//------------------------------// // One Shot 01 - Worthwhile // Story: CiderCon Chronicles // by SSCiderConOfficial //------------------------------// CiderCon Chronicles One-Shot : Worthwhile "...nothing that's worthwhile is ever easy..." - Base Camp - Mountaineer Secret Ingredient smiled as he wound his way through the con grounds. Super Speedy Cider Con started in just a few days, and his excitement was was reaching its peak.All around him, townsponies worked dilligently to put the finishing touches on things. It had been nearly a year since he had come to make Hinnysee his home, but he had never seen the town in such a frenzy of activity. This was the hubbub that marked the final week until con. As he trotted along, he lost himself in the constant low level hum of activity around him. It was, in a way, like being part of a hive again. He felt a slight twinge of pain at the memory. He hadn't realized how much he missed that particular aspect of hive life. He stopped for a minute and sat down to just drink it all in, and felt the pangs of hunger. He noticed how high the sun was in the sky and realized that he had been working since just before sunrise without a break. As if the thought conjured her, a breathless and flustered looking young filly approached him. "Si," she said between gulps of breath. "Warm Welcome is a lookin 'fer ya'. She said you had to be plum starvin' and to come n' fetch ya' home 'fer a bite o' supper." He thanked her and started off for the house he shared with his adopted mother Warm Welcome and adopted brother, Bramley. He realized the filly was still sitting there and it occurred to him that she must've been running all over the con grounds trying to find him. She was obviously exhausted from the effort. He trotted back over to her and extended a hoof. "Hey, how about you come back to the house with me and have a bite yourself? Warm Welcome has been cooking for days, and there's a kitchen full of pies just begging to be eaten." He saw the little filly start to shake her head and knew that it was because she wasn't ready to traipse back across the con grounds yet. Before she could answer, there was a FWOOSH of colored fire. The little changeling now sported arms like a bear, and wings like an eagle, but much larger. He smiled at her and said, "You want a ride?" The filly's eyes got so wide that they nearly burst free of her eyesockets. "Really?!" "I mean, really!? F'r real?! You ain't funnin' me?!?" "That'd be about the bestest thing ever!" With that, he wrapped her in the burly ursine arms, beat his massive wings, and took off. Throughout the short flight to the house she whooped, screamed, and generally announced her elation to the ponies below, and the world at large. When they arrived at the house, he gently set her down, landed, and FWOOSHED back to his normal form. Before the flash of colored fire was gone, she was running away at top speed toward a cluster of other ponies nearby, her exhaustion and the pies forgotten, yelling "Hey! Y'all ain't gonna believe what I just did!" Secret Ingredient chuckled to himself, and trotted off towards the house. When he entered the kitchen, he was greeted with the sound of Warm Welcome humming quietly to herself, lost in the work at hand. It was a testament to how immersed she was in her work that she didn't even hear Si come in. He stood there for a few moments and watched her as she glided to and fro around the kitchen flitting from one task to another. She was in her element. For a moment, Secret Ingredient could have sworn that he saw her cutie mark glow and pulse in time to the tune she hummed. The banging and clamor of someone bursting through the front door brought them both back to the here and now. Bramley burst into the kitchen. "SORRY I'M LATE, MAMA!" He yelled. His eyes went wide with shock at sound of his voice ringing through the kitchen. With an abashed expression, he lowered his head and said: "Sorry Mama, I been yellin' all morning to be heard over the noise." Warm Welcome smiled at her son, and giggled. She knew how knew how hard Bramley and Secret Ingredient had been working this morning, and couldn't have been more proud of them. "It's alright son," she said, "but you look like you're gonna grow 'taters on your hooves. Wash up and get yourself something to eat. You too, Si." Once they had washed up, they returned to the kitchen and looked around for a place to sit and eat. Every flat surface had something on it. The counter was covered in casseroles, the table was filled with pies, even the chairs had been pressed into service. Warm Welcome made them each a plate and directed them outside to have their lunch. The boys ate on the shady back steps, chatting animatedly about what they'd done this morning the whole time. After they ate, they washed their dishes at the pump to save Warm Welcome from having to do it, took them back inside, thanked her, and took back off to their labors. ************************* At the end of a long day of work, they settled in to the living room to have a very late supper and relax. Despite their exhaustion, the excitement for the upcoming con fueled their speech and they engaged in a boisterous recounting of the days events. After dinner Warm Welcome ushered the colts upstairs to get ready for bed. Within a few minutes, she noticed how quiet the house got, and knew that they were sound asleep. Warm Welcome sat down with a steaming mug of tea and got out her checklist. One by one she ticked off items from the list. When she was done checking off the completed items, she surveyed the unchecked items and furrowed her brow. Super Speedy Cider Con was in two days, and there was still so much to do. She took a deep breath, accepting the facts that worrying wouldn't do any good, and that she couldn't do any more tonight. She finished her tea, went upstarirs, and got in bed. She smiled, thinking about all the ponies that would be at the con, thought about their smiling faces, and how their fun made all the hard work worthwhile. With that thought in mind, she fell asleep. ********************