Fanning Our Flames

by Evowizard25


Cookies Need Love Like Everything Does

Pizzelle wouldn’t call herself a master musician. She had met a number of them on her travels in her younger years and wouldn’t dare to compare herself to any of them. So she wasn’t too skilled in the arts of singing, but she was certainly good at humming. It wasn’t anything too great, but it was fun to humm with her friends as they baked the day away.

Love Tap and Ditzy Doo were helping her bake a few cakes for the upcoming sale she had advertised. Her little stint of baking had mostly been with cookies. She needed cakes and lots of them. Thankfully, she had two fellow master bakers in hoof. It was also rather convenient that her home also served as her store, so she didn’t have to worry about upkeeping two buildings.

“You know,” Love Tap spoke up as she added some cherry icing to a three layer cake. “It’s been far too long since we’ve just baked together.”

“It’s only been a week, Love Tap.” Pizzelle smiled, checking the timers.

“I know,” Love Tap chuckled. “It just feels like forever.”

“A lot of things feel like ‘forever ago’,” Ditzy piped up. She was over by the sink, cleaning her hooves of excess dough. Given her tone and how she was gazing outside, it was obvious she was talking more to herself than to anyone. She was currently wearing a pair of thick lined, green crystal glasses. They helped her eyes remain focused and kept them directly where she wanted them to be. Magic lenses, like hers, were rather common, especially in chaos sects, where mutations were numerous.

“Oh no you don’t,” Pizzelle wrapped a wing around Ditzy’s shoulder. “No sulking is allowed in my house.”

Ditzy rolled her eyes. “I was not sulking. I was just thinking about something really hard.”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Pizzelle chuckled and removed her wing. She took in a deep breath. The smell of fresh cake was invigorating. Exhaling, she smiled, showing off her pearly white teeth. Her fangs weren’t as pronounced as most pegas. She inherited a bit more of her earth pony mother than her pegasus father. “I think we’re almost done for the day.”

“So soon?” Love Tap pouted. “It was just getting to the good part.”

“Oh hush,” Ditzy snorted in mirth. “We still have to set up the cakes up front.” She eyed some of the rather tall ones that seemed a tad bit flimsy. “Which might take a bit more work than I thought.”

“Hmm,” Pizzelle tapped her chin. “Perhaps I should have made them larger. It was very silly of me to think they’d be fine. Very silly. Oh that reminds me of the time I baked in YakYakistan. The cake toppled over a couple of warriors and me and Presto had to run for our lives.” She laughed. “Oh those were the days.”

Just then, there was a little chime at the door. “Seems we have company.” Love Tap spoke up. “I’ll go and do the talking. You two can finish up here.”

“That’s a-” Ditzy started, but was interrupted by some shouting in some foreign language from upstairs. She sighed. “Dinky’s beaten him again.”

Pizzelle quirked an eyebrow. The trio always brought their kids along for little playdates when they went on baking sprees. Love Tap was generous enough to give her some of the newest ‘gaming console’ things so they could play. She honestly preferred good old fasioned board games. ‘I’m just glad Hikaru will have somepony to play with regularly.’ “What did he say this time?”

“You don’t want to know,” Love Tap’s brow was furrowed and she had a light blush. “Honestly, I don’t know...I’ll have to talk with his brother later today. Seems he forgot one of mommy’s rules.”

“I’m glad my Amethyst doesn’t talk like that,” Ditzy shook her head as she walked upstairs.

_____________________________________________________________________________

“Gingersnap, what are you doing?” Giddilee huffed as the two made their way through town. It had been a couple of hours since the ‘incident’ and Giddilee was still on edge. Gingersnap’s steps were off and her stance wobbled with each one taken. She had to support her along the way, but Gingersnap was always a stubborn mare. “You should be in bed, resting.”

“What I need is a good snack and some excersize,” Gingersnap snorted. “I’ll get some rest later. The duel isn’t till tomorrow morning, so I have plenty of time to do what I want.”

“Gingersnap…” Giddilee sighed. “I know I’m not as smart as you, but-”

“You’re right,” Gingersnap huffed. “You’re not as smart as me, so shut up and do what you’re told.” The two walked in silence for a bit. She looked over to see her friend’s head lowered and her ears splayed sideways. There was a foreign little jolt that ran through her chest, making her sigh. The showpony softly nuzzled her friend. Ponies were a physical race, so a lot of their emotions and thoughts were conveyed through touch. “That was wrong of me to say. I didn’t mean it, Giddilee. I know you’re clever.”

“I know you know,” Giddilee snorted with mirth, returning the nuzzle. “I’m just happy you said it out loud.”

“I compliment you all the time,” Gingersnap glared at her. “I’m not that big of a jerk, you know.”

“Well, maybe you should show others a bit of kindness like that.” Giddilee suggested, before wilting under Gingersnap’s narrowed gaze. “Shutting up now.”

“Other ponies are what got me into this, Giddilee.” Gingersnap snarled. “You’re the only one who’s stuck by me, so sorry for only showing you a little kindness. That’s such a travesty. Total strangers couldn’t go a day without me being a little nice to them.”

“You don’t have to be sarcastic,” Giddilee muttered.

Gingersnap chuckled and they continued. That is until Gingersnap stopped by a large house that seemed to co-function as a bakery. She didn’t find it that odd. Many ponies made their homes their shops. Her stomach rumbled and she thought a little bite wouldn’t hurt. ‘As long as Sunset doesn’t show her ugly mug, I’m sure it’ll go just fine.’ She pushed open the door and a little bell chimed over head.

Out from the kitchen, stepped a cream colored earth pony. “Hello and welcome to ‘Swift Bakes’. I’m Love Tap and how can I help you today?”

“Two gingersnaps,” quick and to the point. Gingersnap would usually try and act a bit nicer to shop owners. That way she could weasel out discounts and perhaps a free treat or two after a performance. However, she wasn’t feeling all that well right now so she didn’t care how she acted. “Make it quick. I have a busy schedule today.”

Love Tap nodded. “Two gingersnaps coming right up,” the mare reached down and pulled out a couple that were sitting on display in the glass case. She put them on the table. “That will be one bit, please.”

Tossing the bit onto the counter, Gingersnap snatched the two up with her magic. Making sure to give the other one to Giddilee, she took a bite. Immediately, her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and she spat out the offending pastry onto the ground. “You call this a gingersnap?”

Love Tap frowned. “Well yes. We’ve never had any complaints before with them.”

“I think it’s nice,” Giddilee put in, but her friend ignored her.

“Nice?” Gingersnap’s left eye twitched. She knew that she shouldn’t overreact to this. She shouldn’t. She needed to calm down and think this through… ‘BUCK IT!’ She lit up her horn and in a single teleport, switched places with Love Tap and rushed into the kitchen. There were two pegasi inside who turned to give her an inquisitive stare. She didn’t give them a chance to respond when she lit up her horn and teleported them outside with her friend and Love Tap.

Gingersnap nodded in satisfaction. She turned to look over the kitchen and frowned. ‘How long has it been since I’ve been in a kitchen? It feels like years...Maybe it was.’ She had been on the road for so long that she forgot what it was like to have a kitchen to herself, or just being able to enter one. On occasion, she had been able to walk into one, but she never got to stay long or do anything inside.

She walked over to the over and just looked at it. A small, genuine smile spread across her face. The mare was elated. “It’s been too long.” So she go to work.

____________________________________________________________

Several years before

Her grandpa wasn’t feeling well. He just laid in bed all bandaged up. The little filly knew someone had hurt her grandpa. ‘Those meanie griffins break a lot of ponies. Why’d they have to break my grandpa?’ Gingersnap never understood why the griffins were so aggressive and why they kept attacking. Maybe they were just a race of bullies.

That didn’t matter. What mattered is that her grandpa wouldn’t play with her anymore. He was too weak. Gingersnap never felt so low. Her parents never played with her. They were too busy and the other ponies in class weren’t on her level. They were too stupid or just peasants. She couldn’t play with them. Her grandpa was rich, smart, and nice. He always took her out to do fun stuff.

Now he couldn’t do anything and she was bored. The fancy toys didn’t interest her anymore and she’d read all her books. She huffed. “At least that brat isn’t here.” She and that ‘Sunset’ filly had argued for a while and that had put her in a sour mood. She knew that she was never going to see that filly again, so she shouldn’t worry about it.

After spending another moment in perpetual boredom, Gingersnap decided to sneak out of her room. Her parents wanted her to keep practicing her ice spells, but she already had a knack for them and it was getting old. They were running out of spell varieties, sports, and combat practices for her to try and her parents were getting desperate. She excelled at most, but she still didn’t have her mark. ‘It’s not my fault I don’t have a cutie mark.’

It was relatively easy that day. Her parents were out and most of the staff were at home with their own families. She thought they were lazy, since this house was supposed to be their priority. That’s what her parents had told her. They were help and if they weren’t doing their jobs, they were useless.

Gingersnap didn’t have to go far to find her grandpa’s room. It was slightly ajar, so she decided to easy it a bit more open and poke her head inside. Her grandpa was laying on his bed as usual. His body was mostly bandaged and his backlegs had casts over them, similar to the metallic one over his broken horn. She couldn’t help but cringe at that. Unicorn horns were special. If you broke it, you could very well die. Unicorns were fragile like that. Well, they were fragile in general.

He was just lazing about. His eyes glazed over as he just stared around him, even more bored out of his mind then she was. He was a soldier. He fought the bad guys. If he didn’t get to fight, what good was he? That’s what Gingersnap knew and that made her sad. Her parents kept talking about sending him elsewhere. ‘I don’t want grandpa to go.’

She thought for a moment on what she should do to make him happy. Then an idea struck him. ‘Gingersnaps!’ Her grandpa loved gingersnaps. He even pretended to eat her on occasion, tickling her into submission as he played the big bad monster. She’d make him some and then he’d be happy again and get better.

The little filly rushed through the house, eventually running into the kitchen. Several staff members found themselves nearly falling over as the little filly, or little terror as they called her, rushed on by. Gingersnap stopped after bursting through the kitchen doors. She looked around in amazement. She’d never been in the kitchen room before. Her mother said it wasn’t their place. She didn’t care about that now. She had a gingersnap to make.

The cook blinked in shock. “Can I help you, mistress?”

“I want a gingersnap,” the little mistress proclaimed, stomping a hoof on the ground of emphasis. “I want it now and I want it to be the best gingersnap ever.”

“If I do recall,” the cook spoke in turn. “I already gave you enough gingersnaps not but an hour ago.”

“This isn’t for me, stupid peasant.” Gingersnap scoffed. “This is for grandpa.”

“Oh,” the cook nodded in understanding. “Him.”

“Yes, him.” Gingersnap said. “He’s been really sad and he doesn’t play with me anymore. I want him to be happy again, so I want a great gingersnap.”

“I’m afraid ‘great’ gingersnaps require an extra secret ingredient,” the cook smiled.

“What’s that?” Gingersnap tilted her head to the side in curiosity.

“Love.”

“That’s stupid.”

The cook laughed. “Oh you’ll see how ‘stupid’ it really is.”

__________________________________________________________

“YOU STUPID, LITTLE FLANKHOLE!” Love Tap shouted as she bucked the magically shut doors once more. She had been doing that for quite some time.

“Love, language.” Pizzelle pipe up.

“Right,” Love Tap ceased bucking and groaned. She was growing tired and her back legs ached. “Sorry. Got caught up in the moment.”

“It happens,” Ditzy shrugged. It should be noted that she single-hoofedly fought off a dozen nightmare cultists that had tried to hurt her daughters, including pulling one of their legs off with her jaws. Ditzy was a nice mare, but she the epitome of overprotective mothers. Of course, she also once threw Lyra through a wall once just because she accidently spilled her drink in Dinky’s face. Yeah, it was a double-edged sword.

“Don’t worry mom,” Button Mash poked his head out from the hallway. “I’ve heard you say way nastier stuff.”

“Go to your room, Button.” Love Tap gave him a stern gaze which only a mother can give. Button, being the wise gamer he was, rushed back upstairs to his other friends.

“You shouldn’t really worry about Gingersnap,” Giddilee spoke up. “She wouldn’t do anything to harm your kitchen. She’s not a bad pony.”

“She just threw us out of our own kitchen and locked it with her magic,” Love Tap growled.

“I’m sure she has a her reasons,” Ditzy said.

Just then, the magic ceased to be. “Finally!” She burst into the kitchen. “Listen here you little…” Her voice died in her throat as Gingersnap hovered over a batch of gingersnaps. There were tears rolling down her cheeks. “Oh dear.”

Pizzelle was the first to act, rushing over and checking up on the mare. “Are you alright, dearie? If something’s wrong, I’m sure we can help. Is it the onions? I knew I should have put better seals on them. That blasted thing won’t properly seal right.”

“No,” Gingersnap wiped away the tears with her foreleg. “I’m fine. Don’t you dare start pitying me or something. I’m fine.”

Pizzelle frowned and looked to the gingersnaps. She gently smiled. “They look lovely.”

“...Thank you,” Gingersnap’s mouth seemed to twist a bit, as though those words were a bit foreign to her. “These are basically how I got my cutie mark, so of course they’re the best you could ever taste. I am the Stupendous Gingersnap for a reason. Even my pastries are to die for.”

________________________________________________________________________

Later that night

“Sunset, I can tuck myself in thank you very much.” Spike huffed as his sister made sure the bedsheets were securely placed around him.

“Yes, but I do a better job of it.” Sunset smirked as she finished her work. “There, that wasn’t so bad.”

“Did you have to place a seal over the doors and windows?” Spike quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’s a bit excessive? Mom’s placed enough wards and soldiers about town that I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about anything messing with Ponyville short of a dragon attack.”

“I’m just taking a few extra precautions,” Sunset was going to protect her little brother, whether he liked her methods or not. Well, she knew he didn’t care for most of them, but that didn’t bother her. As long as he was safe, she’d be happy. She magicked a book over to them. “Now, let’s get started shall we?”

“I think it’d be easier for us to read together if I was on the bed instead of it in it,” Spike pointed out. “It’s kind of hard to turn...or move at all.” Which was true. Sunset had enhanced the bedsheets to be incredibly durable. For his protection, of course.

“I’m going to be doing the reading,” she lightly bopped his nose with her hoof. She was going to read to him just like their mother would when he was a babe. “You just sit back and enjoy the show.”

“But Sunny…” Spike pouted, giving her his best puppy dog stare.

“No…” Sunset huffed and opened the book. She turned to see that he was still looking at her like that. She growled. He knew that look always worked on her. Not this time. No, she was going to withstand it. She was the better mare. The older sister. She was going to… ‘BUCK IT!’ She teleported Spike out from under the covers so that he was laying next to her. “I take point.”

“No objects here,” he chuckled as he nuzzled her. She would allow it, since they were alone. “So, normal voices, or ‘character’ ones.”

“Are normal voices ever interesting?” Sunset quirked an eyebrow.

“Point taken,” Spike chuckled. “Just so you know, I think I outdo you on the ‘kissing’ noises though and since this book has plenty of that, I think I should take point.”

“No, I’m your older sister.” Sunset pointed out. “I’ll take the lead.”

“I’m bigger than you and can breathe fire.”

“I can eat fire and twice as smart as you’ll ever be.”

“I can withstand lava.”

“I can perform magic.”

“My face is better than yours.”

“No, mine is.”

The two of them did their best to stare down one another, before they burst out laughing. “I almost forgot you had a sense of humor.”

“Funny,” Sunset snickered. “I almost forgot you had one too.” She snuggled up against her brother and started off the book. She loved him and there was not a damn thing anyone could do to take him away from her again.