The sun was only just rising, but Pinkie Pie had already been up for more than an hour. Not that she minded too much! This was a pretty important part of a lot of ponies' day, after all, and she wanted it to be just perfect! This morning's muffins had already been baked, and Pinkie looked carefully over the arrangement under the glass counter of Sugarcube Corner. She reached out carefully with one hoof, and gently nudged one muffin just one little smidgemeter to the left. Perfect! Now it would look just right for all those sleepy ponies when they came in to get their delicious breakfasts!

Rainbow Dash sleepily rubbed her eyes as the sunrise lit her cloud house. Clouds were pretty great for houses, really, and awesome pegasus ponies like Rainbow always had big cloud houses, but they really weren't great for keeping light out. Kind of a good thing though, since she had to start work just after sunrise. Rainbow Dash rolled out of bed and paffed face-down in the soft floor of her home. A few minutes later she was outside, and watching the glow of the colors on the clouds outside fade as the sun rose over the horizon. Ponies liked their colorful sunrises, and the wild clouds that blew in from the Everfree helped, but it was supposed to be clear today. Rainbow's eyes traced over the clouds that littered Ponyville's skies, a route forming in her mind. Today... 15 seconds. Then she could go back to sleep, while all the ponies in town stood around amazed at her speed.

The early morning was warm and sunny, which was nice for Fluttershy. That meant that all her animal friends were out and about, and enjoying the nice weather. She hummed quietly and happily as she trotted around her little cottage, speaking softly with her animals and making sure each and every one had enough food and bedding and everything else they needed. Every so often, one or another of her little friends would follow along after being fed, and by the end of her chores she had quite a trail of little admirers behind her. Fluttershy settled onto the warm grass of her little yard, and smiled happily at the chittering and squeaking animals crowding all around her.

The morning was waning on as Princess Twilight Sparkle, looking somewhat less than regal, stamped her seal on the last of her outgoing mail. Since becoming Princess of Friendship, she'd been inundated with questions and requests for advice, and today was no different. She'd been up nearly all night, aside from an accidental hour-long nap, answering all her mail and getting everypony nice and sorted out. It wasn't easy, but it was... fulfilling, in its own sort of way. Like a test, back in school, but hours and hours long. Somewhere in the back of Twilight's sleepy mind, she realized that most ponies wouldn't consider that a good thing. She smiled as she set the bag of mail out for the postal pony to pick up, and then she trotted over to the little study, crawling up onto her couch, next to her passed-out assistant. She cuddled in with Spike, and let out a happy sigh as she settled in for a nap.

Rarity hummed a wandering tune to herself as she sketched out a new design. The morning sunrise had struck the clouds in just the perfect way today, and she had been blessed with a sudden bolt of inspiration. A new line of summer dresses flowed from her charcoal pencil onto the paper, and Rarity knew before she even lifted the fabric shears or threaded a single needle that each and every piece was going to be simply magnifique! In only a few days, her boutique would be absolutely full of light, airy clothes for the coming season, and she couldn't wait to get to work!

The sun was setting over Sweet Apple Acres, as Applejack rested against the trunk of a tree. It had been a long day, and farm life was never exactly easy, no matter what season it was. But all the crops were growing well, and the late sowing of the newer plantings were all settling in just right. The orange sunset sank slowly against the hilly horizon, and Applejack smiled as she looked over the orchard. She'd have to get up in a few minutes and head inside to help out with dinner. For right now though, she could take a few moments and just really appreciate how much she loved her work.

The Prompt: I love my job

This is a thirty minute writing prompt, meaning you have thirty minutes to finish your story from the time you start writing. You may take as much time as you wish to think, plan, or outline before you begin, but once the first word is on the page, the timer begins. When you are finished, post your story to this thread, and, in the tradition of the TMP mods of yore, I will read and give it a comment when I can.

Traditionally, TMP prompts would have a six to eight-hour window in which to submit, but for these legacy prompts, there will be no limit after the prompt is up. Go ahead and post something a year from now, if you like. Just bear in mind that I'm less likely to respond with feedback to anything submitted more than a week or so after the prompt. Good luck!

"Sift, whisk, pour, bake, serve. That's all you ever do, Carrot! All day, Sift, whisk, pour, bake, serve. Close up, wipe down, and off to bed. Sun's up, and there you are again. I can't remember the last time you stopped to even appreciate me!"

"Hmm?"

Yeah... my idea factory remains cooked. Stories kept collapsing in the oven. Sorry about the flakiness.

5044621
Legacy Prompt 73: Jobs

Bon Bon smiled, closing her eyes and sniffing just as the last of the precious syrup poured out of her cookpot and into the pan. With the slightest touch of her magic, the changeling doe donned a unicorn’s horn, reaching out to grab the stirring spoon and begin mixing the syrup and the juice she’d poured it into together. She was in the zone, both mentally and magically, so it gave her no surprise when a voice from behind her suddenly spoke. “We have a twenty-seven oh three in progress.”

Bon Bon risked a single glance backwards before returning to her stirring. “Lyra, exactly what is a ‘twenty-seven oh three’?

Lyra grinned. “Making candy in my presence without offering me any. Duh.” She then tapped her own forehead. “Are you sure you should, you know…”

“Horn?” As Lyra nodded, Bon Bon shook her head. “Not a problem. I keep a compulsion up on the doorway when I’m working back here. There’s only one pony beside you who can get in when that’s going.” Bon Bon twisted her head a bit further, staring straight into Lyra’s eyes. “And even Pinkie at least announces herself and puts on her serious face when she comes in.”

“You know, I saw that once,” Lyra mused. “It was interesting watching Rainbow Dash freak out when Pinkie’s hair went straight.” She grinned at the memory, then shook her head. “Anyway, I’m here about business, Bonnie. Your rent’s due tomorrow.”

Bon Bon frowned. “I left that on your dresser this morning, Lyra, same as every month.”

“Quarterly.” Lyra grimaced as she got the word out. “Sorry, Bonnie. I know the rent for the shop’s not supposed to be due for another week, but Mom asked me to gather everypony’s rent and come to Canterlot this weekend. Please, Bonnie, please don’t complain. I’ve been putting up with unhappy ponies all day.”

Bon Bon sighed, allowing her stirring spoon to drift down to the countertop. “All right,” she said, “I’ll try not to. Will a check be acceptable? I don’t have that many free bits right now.”

Lyra nodded, her eyes showing her relief. “Check should be fine, Bonnie. And thanks. Days like today, I don’t like the job very much.” She shook her head a little as she continued. “I mean, don’t get me wrong - free house, paycheck, plenty of free time for my music, there’s a lot to like about it, but when there is trouble…” Lyra sighed as she continued. “Remember the last time I had to personally inspect somepony’s plumbing?”

“I do,” Bon Bon said, “and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I called you a drowned rat.”

“Nah,” Lyra said, clapping a hoof on Bon Bon’s back, “it was pretty accurate.” The hoof was withdrawn and placed back on the floor as Lyra continued. “I’m just kind of jealous, I think - you always feel like you’re enjoying yourself. I think you actually radiate ‘happy’ when you’re working in here. Once, I’d have put that down to Cutie Mark matchup, but knowing what I do now, well...” Here Lyra broke off, shaking her head. “Like I said, I’m jealous.”

“Don’t be.” Bon Bon shook her head, her laughter a short derisive bark. “I think the main reason I enjoy this is because it’s not the kind of job I held in the past. Yes, I love working with confectionary, but…” She shook her head again. “My first job was to lose games, Lyra. Have I ever told you that?”

“Lose-?” Lyra frowned. “You mentioned once that your aunt runs a game store in Baltimare; is that what you mean?”

“Precisely. And like any changeling-run business, it’s official purpose was just a front for gathering love. So to get people thinking more highly of the games, she had several tables out just ready for a match… and half a dozen of us disguised as customers who were just supposed to sit down, play a round against anyone who looked likely, and lose.” Bon Bon felt her teeth start grinding together as she went on. “Do you know what it’s like to know you’re even semi-good at something, only to have to constantly botch it? It grates on the nerves, Lyra.”

“I’ll bet.” Lyra frowned in thought. “Still, you did get out of that in the end.”

“Only for another job that was almost as bad.” Lyra looked at Bon Bon in concern as the tinge of acid laced her voice. “After training, I spent three years as a Happy Heart. Trust me, Lyra, the name is a complete misnomer.”

Confusion swept over Lyra’s face. “‘Happy Heart’?”

Bon Bon grimaced. “Social organization, sort of like the Colt Scouts. Recruits ‘troubled’ students: the bullies, misfits, and outcasts, and turns them into upstanding citizens. Guess how,” she said, a slight tinge of bitterness on her tongue.

“I… oh. OH.” Lyra winced. “Yeah, I can see how having to kidnap somepony would be troubling.”

“Mmm?” At Bon Bon’s hum, Lyra looked up, directly into her eyes, and then wished she hadn’t. They hadn’t changed in any way she could identify, but at the same time, there was something clearly alien behind them, and her spine shivered as she stared into that strangeness. “Oh, you’re mistaken,” Bon Bon said softly. “We didn’t just take our targets randomly, Lyra. They had to be enough trouble for somepony to request the group take them on in each case. I have no qualms about removing that sort from society for a while. It was having to act like them, those first months, that always sickened me.” For a brief second longer, those now-alien eyes stared into Lyra’s soul, and then Bon Bon blinked and everything went back to normal. “But yes, a job where I get to be myself, doing something I enjoy, is a major improvement over that.”

“Guh…” Lyra swallowed, then shook her head. “Every time I think I’ve got a handle on you,” she said at last, “you manage to surprise me again.”

“It shouldn’t be a surprise,” Bon Bon returned. “Changelings can’t survive in isolation forever, and harvesters and infiltrators usually aren’t fortunate enough to find someone like you. They have to garner love somehow.”

Lyra thought for a minute, then slowly, grudgingly, nodded. “Thanks for the compliment, I think.”

“You’re quite welcome, dear heart,” Bon Bon replied. She tilted her head over the dish she’d been stirring, then bent away, beckoning Lyra to come over. “Does this look like it’s gelling to you? These are for Applejack, so I was trying to use apple pectin instead of orange, but it’s less concentrated and I can’t tell if it’s doing the job right.”

Lyra goggled, marveling at how quickly the conversation had gone back to something passing for normal. “I’m clueless, Bonnie,” she said at last.

Bon Bon frowned. “I’ll check on it later,” she said, then stepped back. “Ergh,” she said, stretching her neck, “I guess that’s that. I’d better get that check written for you.”

“After the day I’ve had?” Lyra grimaced, then tried to put forth a wan smile. “You’d be doing me a favor.”

Bon Bon had already started for the doorway, banishing her horn as she did so. At Lyra’s words, though, she turned around. “A favor?” she asked, the tone of her voice freighting the words with meaning. “Heh, heh, heh…”

Time Limit

Lyra looked up, alarm racing through her at her roommate’s strange laughter. “Bonnie, what are you thinking?”

Bon Bon smiled, a smirking half grin. “You said a few minutes ago you were jealous of my job, Lyra.” That half-grin grew a bit tighter, and once again, Lyra saw the tinge of something alien behind Bon Bon’s eyes. “And you brought up favors. You want to help me out? I could use the help, and I promise you’ll enjoy it.”

“How can…” Lyra’s eyes grew wide as the answer slammed into her, and she took a step back. “Please, Bonnie, you wouldn’t-”

“Not without your permission,” Bon Bon said, the strangeness in her eyes now more mischievous than anything else. “But the deal remains open if you do want. First hour pays for supper, since I suspect you won’t want to cook after today, and each additional hour earns a single favor, to be called in whenever and however. Sound fair?”

“I…” Lyra swallowed, then swallowed again. “You won’t do anything else to me?”

Bon Bon tilted her head in thought. “Just orders,” she said at last, “and nothing more than an ordinary boss would give.”

Lyra took a deep breath, let it out, and stared straight into her friend’s gaze. “I trust you,” she said.

Bon Bon allowed a true smile to cross her face. “Thank you, Lyra,” she replied, and then smiled again. “Now just listen to me, do what I say, and I promise it’ll be the most fun you’ve had all day.”

5044621
TMPL73, The Mare Who Made Glass by KwirkyJ

The mare ducked into the shade of the palm tree to inspect her sand. She lifted a small cloud of grains before her eyes and she squinted at them. The lake and forest on the other side blurred. For fully a minute she stood fixed, squinting at her material. Most of the collection had to be dropped.

Finally satisfied, she tucked the precious few remaining into a smooth pouch on her back. She nodded without a thought and struck out again onto the beach. Soon she had another cloud floating alongside, and again she returned to the shade to sort.

The sun just began to descend from its zenith when she at last deigned to sit. From her bag she unrolled a thick, smooth fabric and set her sand grains upon it, glistening like stars. A small contraption with crystal lenses was unfolded and stood in the light. The mare fiddled with its arms before nodding in agreement.

On a small plate, she set a small number of grains, pushed them into a cone, and turned a lens.

A needle of light struck the sand, flashing white-hot and fusing to glass. Working quickly, she funneled more of her chosen grains into the growing puddle. The mass spread, the edges away from the impossibly-bright pinprick transitioning to yellow and red.

Her magic nudged the umber edges gently back inward, rolling the glass into a small sphere. In short order, the entire mass was nearly an even yellow. The air withered from the intense heat.

Then, without warning, she flipped the lens away and stood. Her magic ripped at the marble, pulling it into unruly shapes. Her eyes fixed on the figure, small nudges adjusting things here and there, finalizing the shape as it dulled to red to umber to clear.

Her coat damp with sweat, she sat again. The tiny glass figure was set with care on the dark fabric. The mare took a long draught from her canteen, scrutinized her creation, and nodded again.

She looked up, nodded to the sun, and gathered her things. The lensed armature was folded and replaced in her bags; the cloth was rolled and tied; the figurine, a lanky prancing unicorn, was nestled in a box and secured. Another nod was made as the flap was shut, and the mare trotted off.

Raindrops' steps caught. She stood transfixed by the shimmering figurine on the table. Snails, she thought.

Raindrops hadn't wanted to go to Mareami. Hadn't wanted to leave her brother behind. Hadn't wanted a lot of things, but choice hadn't been an option. So here she was. She hadn't many bits with her, but…

"Miss?" Raindrops said.

The unicorn mare turned her attention. "Yes?"

Raindrops chewed her lip. "How, um. How much?" She pointed. "That one."

The unicorn smiled, unreadable. Her magic gripped the prancing figurine and tucked it into a small box.

Raindrops' wings flared as her eyes narrowed. "Hey! I wanted—"

The box was held out towards her. "Shhh."

Raindrops stared at it for a moment, shaking. At length she restrained herself—the pounding in her ears lessened.

"Take it, if you please."

Raindrops gave a furtive glance around. "But… How much?"

The unicorn canted her head as if not understanding.

Raindrops' ears flattened again. "I said, how much for it?"

The unicorn nodded, the box shifting closer. "Take it. If you please."

Raindrops stared. "You can't be serious. It has to be worth everything in my bags and then some."

"I wouldn't know." The mare smiled enigmatically again. "It's all sand and light to me."

5054221
Mister Cake! Part of your job as husband and father is appreciating your wife!

Glad the idea factory started working again later!

5056542
You know, I'm never quite sure if the changelings in your stories are friends with the ponies or not. The mental coercion/control/influencing runs through them all in a creepy, malevolent way, even with ponies that the changelings would call friends or possibly lovers.

I'm not sure which of those Lyra and Bon are, here.

Anyway, I'm glad Bon Bon at least mostly enjoys her current work. The previous jobs she mentioned make sense for a world with your kind of changelings in, and I can imagine being paid to lose games would drive someone crazy. Creepy as the magic is, helping her friend feel happy for a few hours is at least a nice goal, and it was a fun read.

5058651
Glassworking with sunlight? Is that even possible?

Still, a neat story of a pony who loves her work more than the bits she can make with it. Art for art's sake. In a way she reminds me of Rarity, just working for the satisfaction and the happiness of her clients. It's a nice read and the half showing the process she used to craft was interesting and fun. I enjoyed this story quite a lot!

5061108

Glassworking with sunlight? Is that even possible?

Apologies for the late response; realized that it may not have been exactly rhetorical.

Some liberty has been taken with the particulars of solar glassmaking (see: magic to shape the stuff), but, per your question, oh can it indeed.