"I still can't believe my special talent is art!" Viney babbled as we walked through the town square a few days later. She had invited me to stay with her in her cottage, and while we did grow closer, most of her conversations related around her cutie mark, her special talent, and how her special talent caused her cutie mark to appear. It was getting a bit repetitive.
Viney Art told me it was a market day, where vendors would take to the street, selling all kinds of goods from produce to jewelry to clothing. For once, Ponyville seemed as if it were bustling, city folks coming and going. I was grateful to see this sort of liveliness from someone besides my new friends.
"I mean, I knew I was good at art, but I never thought it would end up being my special talent!” she continued. “And here it is, my cutie mark!"
She turned her flank to where I could see the mark. I only sighed, feeling like I'd seen it a million times already. Of course I was proud of her, but as for me, it was getting sort of obnoxious hearing her mention it over and over.
"I still can't believe it, either," I said flatly. "Now, keep an eye out for someone selling fruit.”
A loud noise interrupted my train of thought. I looked up in the sky and saw a beautiful blast of color. The sun was beginning to set, leaving an orange and red backdrop for gorgeous fireworks. I was in awe.
"Do you like fireworks?" Viney Art asked me.
"Is it not obvious?" I shouted happily. “Let’s go figure out where this fireworks stall is!”
We made our way over to the stall, where a stallion lit fireworks to demonstrate to customers just how gorgeous and bombastic they were. I was no doubt impressed by his presentation.
“Impressive, huh?” he asked me, glancing up at the sky proudly, then back at me. He was a soft gray earth pony with a short black mane and a cutie mark of two green firecrackers. “That one was probably the most fun to develop. I used colored powder and mixed it with the usual components to really make it pop. Are you into pyrotechnics?”
“Pyro - what now?” I asked.
He smirked. “Fireworks. Would you like to light one?”
“M-me?” I glanced back at Viney Art, who only offered a big grin in response. “I mean, I’m kinda just looking for the fruit stall, but-”
“Nonsense!” He handed me a large yellow-and-red rocket-shaped firework. “You’re at an advantage though, unicorn.”
I gulped, beginning to light the fuse with my magic. “I-if you say so.”
“And I’ll stick with the traditional way,” he muttered, using the match that was in his mouth to light a similar firework with strings and tassels attached to the bottom.
Admiring my handiwork, I took a clumsy step back, feeling something tighten around the base of my hoof. But before I could look down and see what it was, I was on my way up into the sky, attached to the firework he had just lit! Without thinking, I began to kick my legs up in a frenzy, almost like I was swimming. (I was no good at swimming.)
I finally gave up my idiotic flailing, feeling like I was rising forever and ever. Kicking and screaming would get me nowhere except maybe my death. I wrapped my entire body around the base of the firework, afraid to get caught in the explosion yet embracing the growing warmth of the firecracker. I began writing out my final will in my head. I'm leaving Viney Art in charge of the bakery, Snoodle Guy could have my sketchbook...
Viney Art began flying over to me as fast as she could. Despite getting higher and higher up into the sky, I could just faintly make out the sound of her voice. "I'm coming!"
As the firework continued to crackle, I gulped, then released my grip. It exploded, a sea of pink and blue glittering across the night sky. The silvery tassels, having formerly trapped me, now flew freely with me.
"Good job!" Viney Art exclaimed from the sky, catching me in midair. This time, she didn’t lose her grip and we eventually made it back to the ground.
The stallion who had been lighting fireworks trotted over to me in a panic. "Are you okay?"
I dusted myself off, trying to catch my breath. I had ended up covered in soot and bits of tinsely paper from his fireworks. "I'm fine. And I'm sorry if I ruined this display of yours, sir."
"You've got to be more careful, miss. You could've gotten hurt." He put his hoof on my head.
"I know, and again, I'm really sorry.” I glanced up at him, feeling a smile grow on my face. “But I learned something during all of this.”
“And what would that be?”
“I like fireworks. A lot.”
He nodded and smiled, offering his hoof for a hoof bump. "You said it!”
The rest of the evening went fairly nicely. Despite nearly meeting my doom not even a week into this new life, we eventually found the fruit stall and stocked up on apples and pears for our cottage as well as miscellaneous odds and ends from other vendors.
As we trotted back, fruit and goodies in tow, we passed Sugarcube Corner, whose new ownership perplexed me. Did the original owners still own it? Were they even still alive? Or did Viney or Snoodle or someone else own it?
"Viney?" I asked.
“Yeah?” she replied.
"Do you know who owns Sugarcube Corner?”
Her eyes grew wider. “No, I don’t think anyone actually owns it now.”
“Oh?”
"And the original owners passed away years ago,” she continued. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake?”
I nodded, recognizing those names from having watched the cartoon.
“Yeah, my mom was good friends with those two. When I was a little filly, she'd bring home slices of pie and fresh-baked cupcakes for us to share. They had three kids staying with them, the oldest used to live upstairs in that top tier-”
I cut her off. "But what about Mr. and Mrs. Cake?"
She shot me a confused look. "What do you mean, what about them? They passed away.”
“Oh. Is that it?” I shouldn’t have been disappointed, but I really felt like there was going to be something interesting about this story. It seemed pretty straightforward and cyclical, though - owners pass away, building becomes decrepit and abandoned, and life finds a way somehow.
We stepped through the door of the cottage quietly, where I immediately trotted into the washroom and used my magic to clean up myself with a towel. There was some dirt on my flank, so I really scrubbed at it, and beneath that grime was something unrecognizable. It was a reddish mark of some sort. I considered poking at it, but if it was a wound, I probably should've taken care of it.
Viney banged on the door. "You done yet?" I hadn't realized she needed to clean up, too.
"Yeah." I opened the door nonchalantly.
Viney gasped and pointed at my flank. "You've got your cutie mark!"
I looked for myself, not believing what I was seeing. It was a red-and-yellow firecracker, just like the one I’d set off before, and just like the one that dragged me up into the sky.