Sparkiverse: Fireflies

The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.

An orangy-yellow mare strolled through the fields, her long, dark orange hair trailing in her wake. It was usually in a tight pony tail, but the mare had decided to let it free this evening. She paid no attention to the fireflies dancing around her, for her mind was on a separate matter. She turned around to glance at her flank, which bore a cutie mark of a kumquat half, showing the bitter, lemony flesh. She sighed, turned around, and kept walking.

Kumquat was an Earth Pony, and she lived with her family of three older brothers and her parents on an orange farm. There they picked, cleaned, sorted through, and sold oranges, like any other orange farm. They had a nice little buisness running, and though their oranges weren't world-renowned, they were still pretty tasty. It was just the type of thing that you would expect. Everyone in the family happily worked their long and tedious hours, watering and weeding away. It was simple, rustic, old-timey, quiet and, most of all, normal. All except for that little patch of kumquats growing in the South fields.

One evening like this, when she was a filly, Kumquat was liesurely strolling the orange orchard, when she stumbled into a new patch that  she had never seen before. There were, as she later described it, "baby trees, with baby oranges growing on them." Curiously, she reached up to grab one, and bit away the peel as she would with any other hanging fruit in her family's farm. It was so cute! Just a little baby orange, and it would probably be the sweetest of all...

She took a bite. Her joyful smile turned immedeatly to one of disgust. She spat the "baby orange" out of her mouth, it tasted like a lemon! The nasty surprise had really shaken her. And it had been such a lovely day, too... She shook her head. It WAS a pretty fun surprise, and she loved a good prank, even at her own expense. She wondered if her parents and brothers would like this prank, too! She picked a whole basket full (because when you're an orange farmer, you take baskets with you wherever you go) and brought it to her family, presenting them as baby oranges. Her father  was delighted, because the farm next door had found a way to make baby apples, and they had sold a fortune of them, so he was excited to see what profits these fruits would yield. He didn't even try one before whisking the entire basket off to the market cart.

He came home the next day, weary and beaten.  " 'Parntly those baby oranges taste like lemons," he said, sitting down. "Got a whole lot of smack talk 'n scoldin' from th' buyers today..." Kumquat smiled. It was a harmless prank, it was good entertainment, and surely her father would get over it, right? Her cutie mark appeared, a kumquat half, showing the bitter flesh inside. She would be a prankster, but a different kind of prankster. One whose pranks could only be laughed at by her.

Kumquat laid down in the grass. Her energy was spent, and another horrible prank had been brilliantly excecuted. She wondered, though, was this really her true talent? Making others feel horrible for her own enjoyment? She stood up suddenly, with a determined look. No, this would not be her future. She was an independent mare, and she was going to go about her life as she chose. She turned back to her house, trotting through the orange fields. She was going to make people like her, and see her as a good pony, because everypony knows that some things you have to grow to like.

And the fireflies followed after her.