Author's Note
Okay, so, you might be wondering what the heck is this.
Simply put, I really wanted to write something involving fireworks, and Vignette, and here we are, a small sequel to my "A Vignette of Apples" story.
To quickly summarized what happened there: Vignette went from a homeless vagrant to a tenant at the Apple Family Barn, made ammends with Applejack and Rarity, visited Equestria, and helped seal the Pony of Shadows for good.
Yes, really.
So, here's a little short story of what could be considered the "Vignetteverse" should I decide to continue the storyline. But if I do, don't worry, the shorts won't have that much effect in the grand scheme of things.
I hope.
But regardless, enough jibber jabber, let's get to the story!
TheyAreSoPretty!
=================
It was night at the city of Other-Questria, and Sunset Shimmer and most of her friends were getting ready to launch some fireworks into the sky.
The only one not present at the moment was Applejack, whose absence was soon noted by the Pony-turned-human.
"Hey, has anybody seen Applejack?" Sunset asked the rest of the group. "She's never missed the fireworks before."
"Maybe she's taking some extra time to get the best fireworks so she can be a show off," Rainbow Dash suggested as she set a box of fireworks down. "She always tries to one-up me when we prepare the fireworks."
"You always try to one-up each other," Fluttershy calmly pointed out.
"Yeah, but that's besides the point," Rainbow Dash grabbed and began setting some fireworks down. "The point is that Applejack is not going to show up here without the most amazing fireworks in the city."
"Now I kinda hope she doesn't," Rarity grimaced, looking at her fireworks. "'Cause if she does, then it means the woman at the market ripped me off."
"I still think the fireworks you got are pretty nice, Rarity," Twilight remarked.
"Thanks, Twilight, I appreciate it."
"Heya, 'errybody!"
The girls turned around and saw Applejack approaching them... with a familiar face by her side.
"Hi Applejack... and you brought-"
"Vignette Valencia?!" Twilight exclaimed, adjusting her glasses before they fell off. "What's she doing here?!"
Applejack eyed Sunset. "I thought I asked you t' tell the girls what happened."
"I did, but they thought I was making it up," Sunset answered. "Even when Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity said I was telling the truth, they didn't believe me."
"I was willing to give the idea a chance, but I wanted to see if it was true," Fluttershy said, raising her hand slightly. "Anyway, if Vignette's here, I'm guessing she's coming as a friend?"
Applejack nodded and wrapped her arm around Vignette's shoulder. "Yup! Vignette here's now a friend of mine, so I thought it would be nice if I invited her along. Hope you don't mind."
"Well, I still have my doubts," Twilight scratched her head. "But if she behaves herself, I think there's no problem if she's here. But she's gonna have to help us."
"Great, then it's settled!" Applejack snapped her fingers. "Vignette'll join us."
"I've never really been to a fireworks display before," Vignette clasped her fingers together with a giddy smile as she walked to a box of fireworks. "This should be fun!"
"Oh, you don't know what you've been missing, Vignette," Pinkie Pie said as she helped Vignette get some of the fireworks out. "We'll line up all the fireworks here-"
"Uh huh?"
"Then we're gonna light them up!"
"Oooh."
"And soon after, they'll fly high! Sky high!"
"Oooohoho!"
"And once they're high enough, they'll blow up! Unleashing a show of colors and sounds to mesmerize your eyes! A sight that cheers everyone up!"
"I'm smiling just thinking about it," Vignette turned to Applejack. "So, W.D.I.S.?"
"Soon, Vignette, soon," Applejack answered with a chuckle. "We first gotta finish lining up all of the fireworks."
"Wait, you understood what she said?" Rarity asked.
"Vignette's gonna be living with my family 'till she finds a new home, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to learn the little quirks of her speech," Applejack explained, focusing on the firework placement as she did. "Just now, she asked when does the display begin."
"Okay, but what are you going to do when Vignette inevitably simplifies a sentence with a different meaning, but the same acronyms?"
Applejack paused, thought about it, then smiled and scratched her head. "I'll just have to learn how to tell 'em apart, I guess?"
And as that discussion continued between the pair, Vignette paused and raised a confused eyebrow as she took out a... peculiar, firework.
This one was much bigger than the other, simpler ones, and had a picture of something that resembled the sun at the side.
"Uh, did any of you get their fireworks from a foreign source or something?"
"Nope, every single firework you see here came from this dimension!" Pinkie Pie chirped.
Vignette lowered her eyelids, unamused. "This dimension" covers a lot more ground than you think, Pinkie Pie."
"Oh hey, you remembered my name!" Pinkie Pie said joyfully. "Applejack helped you, didn't she?"
"Yeah, well, she and her family are all great teachers, but that's besides the point: "this dimension" covers Other-Questria and all the other locations on this planet. What I'm asking, is if any of you got your fireworks from any place other than Other-Questria."
"Oh, well, the answer's still no; why do you ask?"
Vignette raised the firework and took it out as the girls walked to her, except for Sunset, who went to get something elsewhere. It wasn't long before the object caught their attention.
"This firework definitely doesn't look like it came from Other-Questria," Fluttershy tilted her head. "For one, it's way too big."
Twilight adjusted her glasses and took a closer look. "I have to agree. In fact, I think I can safely say this firework is about as big as Apple Bloom."
"Oh come on, that's just ridiculous," Applejack folded her arms. "There's no way it's that big."
Rarity scanned the firework, then remembered Apple Bloom's height and compared the two. Once she finished, she put a hand on Applejack's shoulder and sighed:
"I hate to break it to you, darling, but it really is that big."
"Or, and hear me out on this one; or... Apple Bloom just happens to be small."
"The important thing we need to ask here is where this thing came from."
"I brought it."
The group turned around, and Vignette dropped the object as soon as she saw Sunset return... with Princess Twilight in tow, holding a small dog with a color scheme similar to Spike in her arms.
"I forgot to mention, I actually invited Princess Twilight so she could hang around with us like she used to," Sunset said with a sheepish smile. "I hope you don't mind."
"Nah, I don't really mind, it'd be rather hypocritical if I did," Applejack remarked, gently nudging Vignette's shoulder. "Right, Vignette?"
The woman eyed Applejack, then turned back to the princess, gritting her teeth as she forced a smile.
"Right..."
"It's so good to see you all again," Princess Twilight said as she looked over Sunset's group. "I know I haven't really kept in touch with you, but I've been rather busy. Ruling Equestria, establishing peace across the many different species-"
"Sending magical abominations to other dimensions so they become someone else's problem," Vignette muttered, earning a gentle jab from Applejack.
"Yes, that too," Princess Twilight said with a tired frown. "But peace is in Equestria right now, so I decided to take a break and have fun with the friends I made in this dimension. And that's why I brought that skyrocket there."
"Skyrocket?" Pinkie Pie repeated. "I thought it was a firework?"
"A skyrocket is a type of firework, Pinkie Pie," Twilight clarified.
"And speaking of the skyrocket," Vignette grabbed the object and showed it to the princess. "This thing isn't going to unleash an ancient beast once it explodes, right?"
"Vignette, behave yourself," Applejack chided.
"No, that thing doesn't hold any ancient monsters in there," the dog spoke. "We made sure we double checked everything about it before sending it here."
Vignette looked at the dog, and dropped the skyrocket as soon as she realized who it was.
"Spike?!"
Vignette snatched the dog and took a closer look at him.
"Is that you, Spike?!"
"Yes, I'm afraid it's me," the dog looked elsewhere in shame. "I didn't want to return to this form, but alas, I'm here."
"Different species get turned into different forms when they go from Equestria to this world," Sunset explained. "From what I can gather, Ponies of any kind get turned into Humans, Dragons get turned into Dogs, and vice versa."
"And I'm assuming that makes sense... how?" Vignette asked while petting Spike.
"I haven't really found a way to explain it, it just happens," Sunset shrugged, then clapped. "Anyway, we're wasting time. Let's finish setting this display up."
About fifteen minutes later, the skyrockets and other fireworks had been put in position, and Sunset walked to the row and cracked her fingers.
"Okay, time to light these up."
Sunset snapped her fingers, and a little fireball formed at her fingertip, with which she lit up the fireworks before running back to the group.
She sat down with the group, right next to Princess Twilight, and waited for the fireworks to go off as Vignette-sitting with Applejack, Spike, and normal Twilight-watched them with a neutral expression.
"Should I assume you don't get along with Princess Twilight?" Applejack asked.
"... She's partially responsible for the magical happenings in this world," Vignette argued. "At least, I have to assume she is, because most of those things come from Equestria, and she happens to be its current ruler. Doesn't that mean that she should make sure the magic stays in her side of the multiverse?"
"She's got other things to do, Vignette," Applejack said. "And besides, you can't assume she's to blame for everything. I'm sure the situation is a lot more complicated than that."
Vignette fell silent, then turned to Spike. "You've been with her for the longest, what has she been through?"
"What hasn't she been throught, really: a magic eating maniac, a filly who wanted to destroy all of magic, the Queen of a species who used to feed on love and impersonated her babysitter, the literal spirit of chaos and disharmony, the corrupted form of the younger sister of her mentor, Sunset herself, if I still had my fingers, I'd be raising all of them now and that would still not be everything."
Hearing that, Vignette flinched as the fireworks finally went off, and exploded in the sky, illuminating the star-filled night with the collection of colors Pinkie Pie mentioned.
Then, she turned to see Sunset's group, and Princess Twilight in particular: smiling at the display despite the clear tiredness of her eyes.
"I'll..." Vignette looked at the fireworks. "I'll cut her some slack."
Applejack smiled.
"It'll be a while before I can look past the fact a magical monster arrived here thanks to her, but I'll try to make an effort into getting along with her."
"I'll be sure to let her know that," Spike said with a little smile. "And who knows, with Equestria at peace and a new year upon us, maybe you can come pay us a visit sometime."
"But I'll be coming with you," Applejack pointed out. "It's not fair only you, Sunset, Rainbow, and our Twilight over here get to visit Equestria."
Vignette eyed the human Twilight with a raised eyebrow. "Really? You visited Equestria with Rainbow Dab?"
"Dash."
"Uh, yeah, it's," Twilight looked elsewhere. "It's a long story though. Don't know if you'd like to hear it."
"Oh I definitely want to hear it," Vignette smiled. "Maybe when the fireworks are over, you can tell me how your visit went."
Twilight turned back to Vignette. "You're not... angry or upset at me?"
"No, why would I be?"
"I'm... you know... the princess's counterpart."
Vignette took a deep breath, put a hand on Twilight's shoulder, and explained:
"Kid, you might be her counterpart, but you're not the princess herself. You're you. You're different. I can't really bring myself to hate you for something the princess did."
Twilight's eyelids lifted slightly.
"Also, I literally just met you. Or, I guess, re-met you. Were you at Equestrialand during its fiasco?"
Twilight formed a little smile, then grabbed Vignette's hand.
"I'll let you know after the fireworks end."
With that said, everybody turned back to the fireworks, just in time to witness Twilight's skyrocket explode, unleashing a symbol similar to the image of the sun on the rocket.
A symbol that, one could say, symbolized the dawn of a new era.
