“♪Let the rainbow remind you, that together we will alwa~ays shine♫!” Twilight’s voice rang through the castle as the photo was snapped of her and her friends.
“Cut! That’s a wrap. Good show, everybody,” somepony called from out of the scene, “I’ll send it to post and we’ll be done for another couple of months. For now, I hope you all have a good vacation.”
The present company all sighed with happiness. The cast in that scene waved to each other, all going their separate ways. In particular, Twilight, walked over to the one whom had called the end, whom seemed to be in an ever-present argument with a furious draconequus.
“So, you’re telling me that the little dragon gets a raise because he humiliated himself in front of millions, but I don’t get one despite having just fed the minds of thousands of fanfiction writers with the bouquet I handed Soliana!?” the aforementioned yelled at his producer.
“Sorry, Drac, things just don’t work like that,” the minty-green mare sighed, “‘Sides, Spike’s got to support himself somehow; he’s only a kid.”
“He’s nineteen, Film,” Drac deadpanned.
Film scoffed, “And I suppose you need it more for something else?”
“Hmm,” the chimera rubbed his chin, “Does caring for one’s ninety-thousand year-old mother count!?” Drac yelled at her. Film blinked.
“I’ll think about it,” she turned, seeing her star coming up, “Ah, Sparkler, it’s good to see you. How are the wings?” she laughed.
Sparkler rolled her eyes, taking the wings off with her magic, “Still itchy, Film Strip. I’m just here for my pay.”
Film coughed, her laugh being forced to stop, “Erm, yes,” she shuffled around in her suitcase for a moment, pulling out a check, “Here you go.”
“Thank you,” she smiled, seeing the string of zeroes. She passed by Drac, whom glared vigorously at her.
“Yeah, suck up to sparkle-butt, you cheat,” he muttered.
The mare, content that she need not enter the studio again any time soon, stepped out of the building, starting her trot home. She pulled out a small music-device, listening to the first song on the list. Truthfully, Sparkler did not like her pseudo-personality of Twilight Sparkle. The thought of someone such as that did not sit well with her, but she dealt with the part while she acted; a mere side-job while her family business of pyrotechnics would be in it’s down season. It’s not to say she hated the show she helped make, more that she could never understand why so many people took the show so seriously.
‘I guess it’s an escape,’ she thought, ‘I would want one with the way the country has been running lately.’ A thought passed over the fandom of the whole thing. Two whole worlds partook in it. The first was her own, adoring it as a wishful glance at how the world should be run. The other, a neighboring dimension, where the planet in question was run by a bipedal colony of primates. The two worlds mingled in interest about what the next episode would be like, trading fanfictions and headcanons, making music and art, and just chatting in common interest about it. However, her world never quite let the mirrored one know they were the true proprietors of the fantasy tale; instead letting them believe it was their precious ‘Lauren Faust’ that had made it.
Truthfully, it was the fandom that Sparkler found worthwhile. She adored the fans she had, especially all the little fillies. She delved into the fandom world later on, finding it had it’s shining highs; like the music flowing through her ears currently, and it’s disgusting lows; such as the thousands of porn-fics that involved her and other parties, usually her female co-workers. Still, she loved every last one to bits. She remembered seeing a human talk show that had a sixteen-year-old human boy go on air to give his thoughts and perspective on the phenomenon.
Something tapping on her leg snapped her from her thoughts. She stopped and looked back to see as small earth pony filly, probably no older than six, holding what seemed to be a greeting card and a pen. The hopeful look in the filly’s eyes just melted her heart. The filly mumbled something that was muffled by the card and pen. Sparkler levitated the objects out of the filly’s mouth. “What was that?”
The filly shuffled her hooves, shyly looking at her, “C-could I get an autograph for my big brother? He’s a huge fan and he’s in the hospital right now. Mommy said he’s fighting a bad disease and that we should make him feel happy since he might lose and have to go away.”
Sparkler’s smile faded. She looked down at the card, opening it up. It showed a crude drawing of a tannish-orange colt with a messy charcoal mane smiling next to a crudely drawn variant of the lilac-colored filly in front of her, also smiling. The words ‘GET WELL SOON’ were written hastily above the picture, and below was the signature of the filly, Aurora, and whom she assumed were the foal’s parents. She gave a sad smile, writing her stage name and true name underneath the parent’s. She handed the filly back the card and pen, watching her run along after muttering out a ‘thank you.’ Sparkler sighed, getting back on her path towards home.
‘I never wanted to be the main character,’ she thought, ‘I thought I was just going to get a nice side-part to make a few quick bits, maybe a minor role to Soliana’s lead role, but here comes the thought that a pyromaniac would make a good main character.’ She sighed again. ‘At least Firework made friends because of my show about it.’
“I’m home!” Sparkler yelled into her home. She immediately felt warmth rush over her as, besides for her brisk travel home, she had spent the last few hours in a hyper-air-conditioned building that frowned upon sweat on it’s star’s features. She waited a few moments, taking off her saddlebags and taking a quick glance into the living room, finding it empty. She raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s odd. Usually that colt would be yelling his flank off at his headset.’ She took another step outside, checking the nearby shed, not finding a trace of life. “Okay, now he’s got me curious.”
Walking back inside, she cantered upstairs to use the bathroom quickly before going down the hall. She stood in front of the door she traditionally referred to as ‘Fire Zone’ much to her family’s constant groaning. She opened the door, hoping to find whom she was looking for.
“Firework. are you in he-” She made a double take, noticing another pony in there with him. A pegasus filly about his age, currently perched on top of her son. The two females stared awkwardly at each other before the aforementioned colt spoke up, obviously anxious about his mother’s reaction to the situation.
“Yeah, mom?”
Sparkler stared incredulously for a few more moments, before muttering out, “Finish up and meet me downstairs. Both of you.”
She closed the door and walked back downstairs. She managed to catch a young stallion walking in just as she entered the kitchen. Said stallion walked over and nuzzled her quickly before pouring himself some coffee. “How was the last day, honey?” he asked, floating over the newspaper from the table.
“It was fine. I got to watch a pretty humourous fight between Drac and Film today. Ran into a filly on the way home that wanted my autograph for her dying brother,” she said casually.
“Oh,” he looked over the paper with a crestfallen expression, “Poor thing.”
“She seemed pretty oblivious. I’m sure she’ll understand once her parents tell the truth,” she told him calmly, putting a pot of water on the stove.
“Anything else?” he arched an eyebrow, “No crazy fanboys. No spontaneous crying from Dream Chaser?”
Sparkler smirked. “Well, it seems that Firework has a fangirl now.” Her husband scoffed, acknowledging the living room void of colts screaming profanities. “She’s currently upstairs trying to set off his fireworks.”
“That’s nice,” he said. A few seconds passed before he jolted upright. “Wait, what!?” He stood straight up and bolted for the stairs. He was almost there before a solid wall of magenta appeared in front of him, causing him to stop instantly. He slid down the ethereal surface, rubbing his nose when he hit the floor. Looking back at his wife, he seemed very confused and upset.
Dropping the barrier, Sparkler spoke up, “Now, Blaze, there’s no reason to get all hyped up. He is reaching that age already.” Blaze looked between the lavender mare and the beige stairs. He sighed.
“I suppose you’re right. Was he at least wearing a condom?” he asked with a hint of hope.
“From what I saw, I’m going to go with no,” Sparkler shook her head. Blaze’s shoulders slumped, and he sighed. Sparkler walked over and nuzzled him. “Would embarrassing him in front of his girlfriend make you feel better?”
“Totally,” he smiled.
Author's Note
I really don't know what spawned this. However, this does start the revival of my writing life. Keep tuned.
Monday Afternoon, Manehattan
“No no no, you simply can’t expect me to so much as touch something like that,” said an alabaster mare in a posh, demeaning voice. The clerk smiled awkwardly, looking down at what it was she had been talking about; a cute little beagle puppy.
“Oh, o-of course not ma’am.”
She harrumphed, continuing past the clerk as she sighed, hating her job more and more every second the mare halted her purchase. “Of all the places in the country, I would expect Manehattan to have at least one adorable puppy that meets my wants.” She glanced at a full grown retriever panting and wagging it’s tail from looking at her. “However, all you have are these...beasts.”
“M-ma’am, what breed are you looking for? If you just told me that, I could send you in the right direction,” the clerk told her, trying to sound sincere.
“Are you dumb?” the mare turned on her, “I have told you countless times what I wanted. I want a puppy that takes little effort to care for. Nothing more, nothing less.”
The clerk facehoofed, briskly sighing before donning the smile her job required. “Of course. Let me go talk to my manager.”
“Do hurry, I have an appointment at the spa in twenty minutes.” The clerk nodded, walking behind the counter and towards her boss’ office. She walked in, doing her best to sound annoyed rather than angry, and simply spoke to the mare behind the desk.
“Boss, we got another one.”
The mare raised her eyes from her paperwork to look at the mare. Clearing her throat, she got up and walked out the door, the employee following her. The two stepped out into the main area, the mare they had spoken to currently giving a menacing look to an obviously terrified bloodhound. The manager noticed exactly who the customer was.
“Emerald Gem, I understand that you are having trouble finding a dog that suits your wishes?”
“Yes, your employee simply--” she cut off when she looked at the mare she was speaking to, “Oh, thank the lord, Butterfly! Perhaps you will be able to help me where your employee has failed.” The yellow coated mare blew a tuft of her pink mane out from in front of in front of her eyes, frowning clearly at her colleague.
“I’ll do my best, Emerald” Butterfly smirked, exchanging a knowing glance to her employee, “So what was it you wanted?”
“I’d wish for a puppy, perhaps a small white one, that won’t grow much, won’t require too much attention, and certainly won’t ever lick me.”
Butterfly smiled. “Oh, I can show you straight to it,” she told her, starting the group towards the front of the store, “It’s the perfect little thing. It’s a special breed only found in the Gryphon Empire but was recently brought over to Equestria.”
“Oh really now?” Emerald asked, interested. “What breed?”
Butterfly smiled to her colleague, opening the front door as her employee shoved the mare out the door. Emerald quickly found herself on the ground. “Cement!” her employee had shouted, quick to slam the door with her magic. The two of them walked back behind the counter. Butterfly gave her employee a pat on the back.
“As quick as ever, Cash Back. I feel a little extra satisfied with this one.”
“Why’s that Butter?” Cash asked.
“You didn’t recognize her?” Butterfly look at the mare with wide eyes, as Emerald yelled at the two from outside the shop.
Cash’s ears twitched, “I suppose she did sound familiar.”
“She’s the actress for Rarity on that TV show I do.” Cash’s mouth formed an ‘o’, “Let me tell you, you can’t see eye to eye with her. It’s either she gets what she wants or she screams her infamous ‘You’ll hear this from my lawyers’ bit.”
“Well, if she’s an actress, wouldn’t that actually be bad?” she asked Butterfly with a raised eyebrow.
“There’s two reasons why I wouldn’t worry about that,” Butterfly told her while nodding her head to a large container of water under the counter. The two stepped out from behind the counter with the water in Cash’s magic. “For starters, she has what is probably the worst memory possible. By the time she gets to the spa in five minutes to clean her coat of the two specks of dirt she got from the pavement, she’ll have forgotten even being thrown out.” Cash laughed, filling up the water container for a cage of dogs.
“Sooo, stereotypical human blonde?” Cash asked.
Butterfly stifled a laugh, smiling all too wide. “Exactly. Anyway, as for the lawyers that she always mentions, she just has a really bad track record. Most ponies know about her as an actor due to her work in certain movies, and because of the controversy she has caused about being a ‘foal-friendly actor,’ most wouldn’t take her word to the fullest anyway, usually siding with the accused when she actually remembers to phone them up.”
“God, how do you manage to put up with her on set?”
Butterfly rolled her eyes, “She’s really superficial about her work. She goes into character the moment she steps into the building. I commend her for that, but it gets confusing the moment you step out of the studio, especially considering how much of a bitch she is off-set.”
Cash stifled a laugh, a snort escaping her as she put the water jug down. “What?” Butterfly responded to the outburst.
“Nothing, just,” she took a breath to compose herself, “We’re talking about Emerald’s difference between on and off set, and I have to say that you are quite the same. Two opposite ends on the same rod.”
Butterfly thought about that for a second and smiled, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. The timid pegasus that is afraid of everything.” she swept her hoof in front of her face, changing her expression. “She turns into a serious businessmare and caretaker outside of the studio.”
Cash laughed as she put up the ‘Out for Lunch’ sign on the front door of the shop. “Feed the idea to the higher-ups, I’m sure they’ll make something out of it.”
The two stepped out of the shop, Butterfly locking it. “Nah, the last time someone did that, Pinkamina was introduced.” She shivered and looked down the street. “So, where do you want to go for lunch?”
For Butterfly, time always seemed to go by slowly once lunch was past. For Cash Back, it was simply a time to do backlogged tasks such as inventory and cleaning. However, for the pegasus, it was generally rather dull. Paperwork was scarce on a Monday unless there were customers or new animals coming in.
Usually, she would simply go out and help out Cash with her tasks, but even Cash was stumped at this time.
“Alright, well, nopony is coming in anyway,” Butterfly said, coming out of the back of the shop. “We can play the early closure off as going out for the parade.”
Cash yawned and followed her boss to the front door, flipping the ‘Open’ sign over. “I never thought you’d say it.”
“It’s only a half-hour anyway,” Butterfly started down the street. “Are you cooking tonight, or am I?”
“I’m not too hungry, so I’ll just whip up some hayburgers.” Butterfly nodded at the gray unicorn.
The two had been roommates since before Butterfly got the role of Fluttershy. Cash Back was running a new job every couple of days to support the rent and bills whilst Butterfly finished off her business classes. It was once those were done that she was able to purchase the building she put her shop at. She always wanted to be able to provide ponies with that special opportunity to find their little friend. Cash, of course, offered to be her star employee upon the business’ launch. Butterfly had tried hiring shift workers and applying Cash to such a schedule, but it never seemed to work. Either the employee cared nothing of the animals or caused trouble between other employees, customers, or Butterfly herself.
Even after the famous director Film Strip offered Butterfly the spot on her show, the two remained together in the Manehattan home, simply because of the business and their friendship. They had considered moving to Ponyville, but decided that the studio and its’, as well as Butterfly’s, popularity was a bit too much to deal with for the two.
Coming up to their small home, Butterfly opened the door and the two went about their nightly routine.
Author's Note
I'll let this one ride as a short one for now, kind of a sorry for the absence. I'll do more world-building around Cash Back and Sparkler's family in future chapters.
However, next up is Miss Emerald Gem.
