A Fizzling Hope

Chapter 8: Viva, Las Pegasus!

“Whoa…viva, Las Pegasus indeed…”

Fizzle could only gape in awe at what had to be the brightest city he had ever seen! From his current vantage point upon a nearby hill, Las Pegasus looked like a sprawling field of gemstones glittering in Celestia’s glorious sun. The neon signs, bright lights, and glimmering fountains all combined to give off an almost otherworldly glow, piercing the darkness of the night for miles around. It was more awesome then he ever could have imagined…

Fizzle stood for a few moments more, appreciating the otherworldly beauty as his shock and awe slowly ebbed away before steeling himself and starting down the well-traveled road. Mentally, he braced himself for what was yet to come. It had been a week since he had left Acres o’ Apples, and as such he was currently more acclimated to being out in the wilderness, alone. If Las Pegasus was anything like Baltimare, and it certainly looked like it would be, then he would have to be ready for the influx of ponies that would undoubtedly surround him soon.

As Fizzle approached the outskirts of the city, he breathed out a sigh of anticipation. The time alone had been refreshing, and it had certainly given him a lot of time to collect more materials and build more fireworks, as well as time to just think. In the end, he was glad he was moving on. Sure, he missed Farmer Greene and Lilly quite badly, especially after their shocking revelation that he was like a son to them, but honestly it was good to get out and explore the world. After all, there was a lot more to life than bucking apples, right?

Fizzle glanced up into the sky, and noticed with some perturbation that he could no longer see the bright stars and the funny shapes that they made. It was obviously too bright in the city to see them. This new discovery unsettled Fizzle slightly, but he brushed the feeling aside and eagerly pushed on, finally emerging onto what seemed to be a main street.

And boy, was it PACKED.

If Baltimare was busy, then Las Pegasus was overpopulated. There was literally a sea of ponies before him! Fizzle pushed his way into the crowd uncertainly, his heaping wagon rattling behind him. Unsure of where to go, Fizzle just followed the crowd for a while and took in the sights.

And what sights there were.

The buildings here were magnificent! They were tall and majestic, adorned with ornate pillars and fancy stonework, and painted all sorts of lovely shades and hues. There were brightly lit signs as far as he could see, often times changing or flashing colors so bright they were almost painful. Much to Fizzle’s confusion, almost every building on this street was called either a “hotel” or a “casino.” He wasn’t really sure what either of these things were, and even less so why one city would need so many of them. He didn’t remember seeing anything like these buildings in Baltimare, after all.

Finally, there was one more thing that stood out to Fizzle, and it took him a few moments of wandering the streets before he could put his hoof on it. The atmosphere here was so…happy. It was almost like the whole place was having one big party! All around him ponies were talking animatedly with one another, laughing, or jovially moving towards some destination, eager to partake of whatever it was they could do there. Baltimare had such a business like demeanor while he was there. This newfound happiness was a bit unsettling, truth be told. But nonetheless, fun!! Surely he would grow accustomed to it in time.

Fizzle also noted with some confusion that many ponies appeared to be stumbling slightly, or leaning on other ponies for support as they walked. How very odd. Fizzle made a mental note to determine the reasons for such strange behavior at a later date.

His spirits heightened by the persistent cheerfulness around him, Fizzle soon spotted an open stone plaza near a fountain. Aha! The perfect location to start drumming up some business! That was the first thing he should probably do, after all. Thinking back to his experiences in Baltimare, Fizzle decided that he was definitely NOT going to sell fireworks this time. He liked it here! So what to do then? Put on a show of course, and every good show needs good advertising!

Fizzle stopped at an open spot in the plaza, near the fountain, and unhitched himself from the wagon. After all the supplies he’d collected in the mountain range he’d spotted from the road, his wagon was practically overflowing with stuff. Doing some quick estimations, Fizzle guessed he had three hundred and some fireworks at his disposal. Perfect, he’d shoot off a few tonight and then put on a decent ten minute show tomorrow. It was the perfect plan!

He quickly donned his cape and set up three of the cylindrical tubes, loading them each with a shell. A few nearby ponies noticed his bizarre actions and paused to stare inquisitively. Fizzle flashed them a grin and waggled his eyebrows mischievously before lighting up a match. Oh boy, it was time for the best part!!

FWOOMPH!! FWOOMPH!! FWOOMPH!!

BOOM!! BAM!! POW!!

Oh Celestia! The looks on their faces! The multicolored explosions in the sky instantly grabbed the attention of everypony in the square, their shocked gazes turned upwards. Fizzle could practically hear the jaws clattering to the ground. Leaping on top of his wagon, Fizzle launched into his pitch:

“Fillies and gentlecolts! Feast your eyes on the amazing capabilities of Fizzle, the traveling pyrotechnic!! Be wowed and amazed at the spectacular fireworks that only I, Fizzle, know how to create and launch! Don’t miss out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a live fireworks show as tomorrow evening, in this VERY square, I, the amazing Fizzle…” Here he paused for dramatic effect, and also to light off the two additional fireworks he had loaded during the speech.

FWOOMPH!! FWOOMPH!!

“…LIGHT! UP! THE! SKYYY!!!”

The crowd finally burst into hearty applause as the resounding booms and bright colors once again flooded the night air. Fizzle looked around and noted approvingly that more and more ponies were pulling out of the main street and entering the plaza to see what was going on. Nodding knowingly, he continued to advertise.

“That’s right, folks! Tomorrow night, right here, watch as I shoot off three hundred fireworks in the most dazzling, sensational, and magical spectacle you’ve ever seen!! Tell your friends, tell your families! Come one and come all!! Admission is four bits. I’ll be here for a few more hours to answer any questions you may have, and to give further demonstrations as necessary.” Smiling mischievously, Fizzle grabbed another shell and loaded it. Lighting it up, he shouted “NECESSARY!!” and watched gleefully as yet another explosion flared above them.

The crowd simultaneously laughed at his joke and cheered at the spectacle, some of them heading off hurriedly to tell their friends and family while others pressed close to ask questions. Fizzle spent the next two hours happily discussing what fireworks were made of and how they worked. As for how he made them however, Fizzle would simply waggle his eyebrows and reply with “that’s the catch, isn’t it?” or some other similarly mysterious remark.

Eventually, most of the crowd had dispersed, many of them bidding him farewell with sentiments of excitement or comments about how they would be back tomorrow. Fizzle yawned tiredly and realized that it was quite late. Hmm, where to sleep, where to sleep…

“Excuse me.” Fizzle’s thoughts were interrupted by a burly unicorn stallion standing before him. He had a tan coat and a brown mane, and was dressed in a navy blue uniform with bright gold buttons. He was wearing a hat of the same navy blue with some sort of gold star on the front.

Fizzle took a moment to look him up and down before replying, “can I help you?”

“Yes. I was wondering what it is exactly that you are doing. I’ve never heard of fireworks before, and I’m trying to figure out if it’s legal or not.”

This confused Fizzle a bit. “Legal? Why would that concern you?”

The officer gave Fizzle a strange look before replying. “Well, I AM an officer of the law. Usually our job entails reprimanding those who commit illegal acts. So, what’s your setup? You have a permit or something?”

“Permit??” Fizzle’s head swam for a moment in confusion, before he suddenly recalled Farmer Greene telling him about laws and police officers. Oh, this stallion was one of those guys! “Ohhh, I know what you’re talking about. I don’t know about any permit, but I remember Mayor Stone told me there aren’t any laws about fireworks, so I’m not breaking any rules, if that’s what you’re asking.”

The officer looked skeptical. “Right…so what exactly do these fireworks do?”

Now it was Fizzle’s turn to give a strange look. “What, you didn’t see earlier? No? Y’know, the bright explosions in the sky?”

The officer showed a brief flicker of recognition at that last statement. “Is that what those loud noises were?” Fizzle nodded in affirmation. “Ok, could I have a demonstration of one?”

Fizzle looked about and shrugged apologetically. “Isn’t it a bit late for that? I don’t want to wake anypony up…”

“Er…” the officer’s professional demeanor dropped a bit at Fizzle’s sudden insight, but he quickly recovered. “Ok I suppose you have a point. What do you plan to do with these fireworks?”

“Put on a show of course!” Fizzle exclaimed happily.

An eyebrow raised. “A show?”

“That’s right!”

“What kind of show?”

“The kind where I shoot off hundreds of fireworks! It’s gonna be awesome!!” Fizzle said gleefully, putting particular emphasis on the word ‘awesome.’

The officer slowly nodded before speaking again. “Last question. How exactly do these fireworks work? What are they made out of?”

“Mostly gunpowder.” Fizzle answered, shrugging nonchalantly. “You see, I put them in these tubes, and then-”

Fizzle’s explanation was cut off by the officer’s sudden outburst. “Gunpowder? Don’t you know that’s a dangerous substance?? How do I know you’re not trying to blow up the square?” He took a ready stance as he said this, half expecting Fizzle to pull out a detonator and scream praises to Sleipnir any second now.

Fizzle just chuckled at the outburst. “Silly! Why would I want to blow them all up at once? That would be a pretty lame show, if you ask me. No, the proper way to put on a show is to light them off one at a time, or sometimes in sequences of two or three-”

Again Fizzle was cut off. “But gunpowder is still dangerous. How do I know you’ve been approved to handle it safely?”

Fizzle rolled his eyes and snorted in disdain. “Gunpowder is only dangerous if you’re stupid. Don’t worry officer, I’ve already learned my lesson. That’s why, come tomorrow evening, I’m going to be the only one handling the fireworks. I AM a professional pyrotechnic, after all.”

The officer fixed Fizzle with a wry stare. “Is that so, huh? I’ve never heard of a pyrotechnic before…”

Fizzle sighed sadly. “Yeah. I’d tell you more about where I learned my skills and stuff but unfortunately I can’t remember. Apparently I have amnesia or something like that…”

The officer’s glare finally softened a bit. “Oh, is that so? I’m sorry about that. I suppose it’s been a bit rude of me to question you like I did. I just wanted to make sure that everypony’s staying safe. It’s my job, after all.”

Fizzle happily waved him off. “Don’t worry about it! It makes me happy to know that I’m not breaking the law! This one time, I accidentally stole some apples from Farmer Greene and I felt just awful about it. I worked for a whole week to pay that debt off, but I did it!”

The officer smiled amusedly at the energetic green pony, but there was one more doubt lingering in the back of his mind. This pony seemed…innocent and happy. Perhaps a bit too happy. “One final question and then I’ll be off, I promise. Are you currently inebriated at all?”

Fizzle stared questioningly at him. “Inebriated? What’s that mean?”

Now it was the officer’s turn to look confused. “You know, intoxicated?” Blank stare. “Drunk?” Blank stare. “Under the influence?” Blank stare. The officer sighed in exasperation. “Son, what I mean to ask is, have you had anything to drink tonight? Anything at all?”

Fizzle rubbed his chin in thought. “Well not really, but I suppose I have had some-”

He was interrupted yet again as the officer noticed the large barrel in his wagon. “What’s in that barrel?”

“Apple cider!” Fizzle replied enthusiastically. “From Acres o’ Apples! It’s reaaaaally good.”

“Is it spiked?” the officer questioned. That confounded blank stare again.

“Spiked?”

“Argh.” The officer had to fight the urge to facehoof. “Does it have alcohol added?”

“Alcohol?”

The officer fixed him with a blank stare, trying to determine if this pony was joking with him or not. No, he definitely SEEMED sincere… “You really have no idea what alcohol is?” Fizzle shook his head. “Fine. If you could just open your mouth and exhale, I’ll be on my way.”

Fizzle looked confused, but he replied none the less. He took a deep breath and slowly emptied his lungs, his breath misting slightly in the cool night air. The officer’s horn glowed with a silvery aura, and he focused intently on the air in front of Fizzle’s muzzle. A few moments later, the glowing stopped and the officer turned to face him.

“Well you’re sober, so that’s good enough for me. Just make sure that everypony stays safe around the fireworks tomorrow night. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be coming after you. Got that?”

Fizzle saluted smartly before replying. “Yes sir, mister officer sir! You can count on me, I know what I’m doing!”

The officer chuckled as he started to leave. As an afterthought he turned back to Fizzle and called, “oh, and if I were you, I’d be careful about drinking anything that’s not water. Some of the drinks around here can make ponies act a little…loopy.”

Oh. That must be why some of the ponies Fizzle saw earlier were acting strangely. Well, certainly don’t want to end up like that! “Will do, thanks for the tip!” he called back with a friendly wave. The officer waved back and headed off towards the main street. ‘Well now that that’s over with, where was I…’ Fizzle thought. Oh yeah, sleep.

After spending a few days in the wilderness with food in tow, Fizzle quickly learned that the best way to keep his belongings safe while he slept was to throw his tarp over the wagon, tie ropes to the corners, and tie all the ropes together under the wagon. That certainly did the trick of keeping the rabbits, squirrels, and other critters out of his stuff. More out of habit than anything else, Fizzle threw the tarp over his wagon and tied it down.

At long last, he grabbed his blankets and settled down underneath the wagon. It was still a bit noisy, but Fizzle didn’t really mind at this point. He was quite exhausted, and tomorrow was going to be a good day. Reassured by his conversation with the police officer, Fizzle drifted off into a restful sleep.

*****

Fizzle awoke to the early morning rays of Celestia’s bright sun. Shrugging off his blankets, he crawled out from under the wagon and stretched. Yawning lazily, Fizzle looked around. Sure enough, he was still in the plaza from last night, but something seemed…off. Oh, it was quiet. Too quiet. Compared to last night, Las Pegasus looked like a ghost town right now. Huh, apparently the ponies of Las Pegasus aren’t early risers. Interesting. Fizzle rubbed his hooves together eagerly in anticipation for what was to come today. It wouldn’t be quiet for long, he mused.

Fizzle’s happy thoughts of explosions were interrupted by a sudden growling noise. His stomach. ‘Time for breakfast!’ Fizzle thought happily, trotting off towards the main street. Fizzle quickly located a decent-looking diner and entered the building. He merrily skipped up to the counter and took a seat.

“I’ll have the pancake breakfast, please.”

“That’ll be five bits.”

Fizzle placed the money on the counter without a second thought. Half an hour later he was back outside, his stomach content as he trotted jovially along that same street while admiring the clear blue sky. Those pancakes had been actually quite good, although they couldn’t hold a candle to Lilly’s cooking…

Fizzle forced the thoughts of his new parents out of his head. What was past was past, and right now he needed to focus on his show. Returning to his wagon, Fizzle untied the tarp that was draped over it and began to unpack it. In just a matter of minutes, all of his cardboard tubes and several baskets of shells lay scattered around him, along with plenty of fuse. Fizzle rubbed his forehooves together gleefully. It was time to get to work.

*****

Two hours later Fizzle had a rough plan. To any passing observer, however, it didn’t look like he’d accomplished much of anything. But Fizzle knew that he’d accomplished everything. Spread out before him was a large piece of paper covered in some sort of drawing. The drawing itself consisted of twenty or so circular shapes connected to each other by lines. There were notes and scribbles written all over the sheet, as well as times. Any ordinary pony wouldn’t be able to make heads nor tails of the confusing scrawl, but to Fizzle it was all he needed to set up his show.

The next few hours passed without incident. Fizzle carefully arranged his twenty tubes in a more or less rectangular shape and started laying several feet of fuses on the ground. To the passing bystanders, it looked almost like Fizzle was weaving a spider’s web. The fuses twisted, turned, merged with others, and finally terminated a short ways from the tubes. With the preparations complete, Fizzle used a couple hooffulls of the yellow powder to draw a yellow boundary around his setup.

Next came the shells. Fizzle loaded as many shells as he could in the tubes before sorting the rest of them into their appropriate locations. With roughly three hundred shells and only twenty tubes, things were going to be a bit hectic tonight. The idea was to launch off the first set of twenty in a specific order before quickly reloading and relighting. If all went according to plan, Fizzle would be able to keep a steady stream of fireworks going for about ten minutes or so.

By the time the preparations were complete, Celestia’s sun was low in the sky, rapidly approaching the horizon. Fizzle wiped the sweat from his brow and took a moment to appreciate the sunset before he was violently jerked back to reality by the rumbling in his stomach. Oops, time for dinner! Fizzle headed back to the same diner and ordered a sandwich and hay fries, which were surprisingly delicious. His stomach sated, Fizzle returned to the square to see a small crowd had already gathered. Along with a couple of police officers, Fizzle noted with some trepidation.

Fizzle paused at his setup, eyeing them warily. When they made no move to confront him, Fizzle allowed himself to relax a little bit. He even recognized one of them as the stallion he talked to last night. There were just here to make sure nothing went wrong, right? Fizzle gulped a bit nervously and looked back to the sky. It was mostly purple by now, and the sun had just dipped beneath the distant horizon. In about fifteen minutes, the show would begin.

Leaping onto his wagon, cape swirling suavely about him, Fizzle addressed the crowd. “Fillies and gentlecolts!! Thank you all so much for joining me tonight to witness the prowess of Equestria’s one and only traveling pyrotechnic!!” There was a hearty round of applause and stamping from the gathered crowd. “Before we begin, I’d like to pass a few of these baskets around. Admission is four bits, everypony! Here, you can have that one…and if you would take that please, thank you…”

Fizzle continued to make small talk as the baskets started to move through the crowd. “Oh! I almost forgot. For the duration of the show, please everypony stay outside of the yellow line I drew here, for your own safety’s sake. I will admit that fireworks are a bit dangerous, but fear not! I am a professional. How are the baskets doing? There and there? I suppose we’ll be working off the honor system tonight folks, I don’t feel like being forceful. Besides, if you don’t think my show is worth paying for I probably don’t want your money anyways.”

The crowd chuckled slightly as the baskets were passed around, ponies willingly tossing small hooffulls of bits into them as they went by. More ponies were streaming into the crowd from the main street and started adding their money to the baskets as well. By the time the three baskets got back to Fizzle, they were all three heaped with gold. Fizzle nodded approvingly and set them aside. “Is that everypony? Did I get you all? Excellent. Thank you so much for your cooperation, I really appreciate it.

“And now!! Without further ado, the moment I know you’ve all been waiting for! The part where I, the amazing Fizzle, light up the night sky!!” The crowd cheered enthusiastically as Fizzle took a couple of bows before motioning with his hooves for quiet. The excited whispers and murmurs died down and complete silence overtook the plaza, only the distant sounds of the main street disturbing them. Slowly, carefully, Fizzle pulled out his box of matches and lit the first one with a soft hiss.

Holding the match in his mouth, Fizzle trotted over to the first fuse, hundreds of pairs of eyes following his every move. Bending down, he held the match until the fuse caught, and then Fizzle quickly moved on to the next one. Moving around the outside of the rectangle, Fizzle lit up all of the fuses in quick succession, but carefully keeping track of the time between lights. Some he would light up one right after the other, but other times he paused for a second or two before continuing. As he reached the tenth or so firework, the first fwoomphs sounded, marking the beginning of the show.

Five fwoomphs in semi-rapid succession started things off, and the crowd of ponies ‘ooh’ed and ‘aaah’ed at the resulting set of explosions. No sooner than they finished appreciating the first volley, the next set was already airborne. As Fizzle completed his first lap, half of the fireworks were either launched or exploded. Quickly stomping out the match, Fizzle reloaded a few shells and lit up another match. As he proceeded around the perimeter yet again, he continued to load more shells with his forehooves while lighting fuses with the match held in his mouth.

The next ten minutes were a blur for Fizzle. The work was hot, fast-paced, precise, and strenuous. His back was killing him from all that bending over! However, the crowd’s response to the show was more than worth a bit of suffering. Implementing his plan perfectly down to the very last shell, the crowd was absolutely amazed by the continuous stream of fireworks. Fizzle had to admit that he was rather impressed as well, both at his ability to keep the action coming and at how well his plan was working. It really was an impressive show.

Now it was time for the best part, the grand finale! As Fizzle continued around the lap for the final time, he lighted up all the fuses in a rhythm, a set amount of time passing between each ignition. What the crowd didn’t know was that in the final set, all the fuses were different in length, and by the time Fizzle finished the last fuse…

FWOOOOOOOMPH!!!

All twenty tubes fired in rapid succession, their respective noises blurring together into one long, prolonged sound. Fizzle sighed contentedly and looked up at the pitch-black night sky. At least he could see the very end of his labor!

BOOOOM!!! BAM! BAM! POW!!

And what a grand finale it was. Fizzle had never seen so many explosions at once, and neither had the crowd. For a good ten seconds or so, there was constant light in the sky, and everypony present felt the solid thrum in their chests continue unabated for that whole time. When the last red and green streams and golden sparkles fizzled out, the crowd erupted into massive applause. Jumping onto his wagon once more, Fizzle took a bow.

“Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you so much! It’s been a genuine pleasure Las Pegasus, and I hope all of you enjoyed the show as much as I did!” More raucous applause. “Thank you so much for your time tonight! I’ll be sure to advertise for a couple of days once I get some more materials, so feel free to come back here to see how I’m doing.  If I had to guess, I’d say the next show will probably be in a week or so from now, so stay tuned! Thanks again for your participation tonight, and have a wonderful evening everypony!”

The crowd applauded enthusiastically once more and began to disperse. Much to Fizzle’s surprise, a few ponies came forward and threw a few bits into his baskets, apologizing for arriving late and thanking him for the show. Fizzle looked on happily as he took in the enthused faces of his audience as they left. It made him feel good inside. He even caught the eye of the police officers as they trotted away, the one from last night giving him a friendly salute.

Soon, all the ponies in the plaza were cleared out. That is, except for one. Standing before Fizzle was a lone pony wearing a cloak that drooped so low he couldn’t even see its face. Fizzle stood there, awkwardly, for a few moments before finally clearing his throat. “Can I help you?”

The pony said nothing, simply raising its left forehoof and waving it through the air, motioning for him to follow. “Excuse me?” The pony raised its hoof and beckoned again, more forcefully this time.

“You want me to follow you?” The pony nodded several times, and began taking measured steps away from him. After five paces or so, it turned back to him and beckoned again. Fizzle paused for a moment to consider the situation. Perhaps the pony would lead him to a place to stay? That would be nice, sleeping outside could get rather dreary after a few days.

“Ok,” Fizzle relented. “I’ll follow you. Just give me a minute to pack up my things.” The mysterious pony waited patiently as Fizzle put his tubes and baskets of gold into his now much emptier wagon. Hitching himself up, he trotted over to the pony, casting one final glance backwards to make sure he had everything.

“Ok, let’s go!” he said happily. The pony nodded and began to walk off, albeit rather slowly for some reason. Fizzle fell into step behind it. Sure it was walking a bit slowly, but Fizzle didn’t really mind. It gave him an opportunity to study the city some more.

Fizzle followed the strange pony for quite some time, weaving in and out of main streets and sometimes cutting through some rather spooky back alleys. At long last, the pony paused in front of some sort of store. It looked old and dusty, and didn’t have a sign above it marking its purpose. It was located on a rather deserted-looking road, squashed in between a rather run-down bar and some sort of antiquities shop. The pony pulled a large, metal key out of its cloak and unlocked the front door before stepping inside. Fizzle unhitched his wagon in the road and stepped inside.

It was dark. And dusty. And smelled…weird. Fizzle’s nose was immediately assaulted by several smells, almost all of them quite unfamiliar. “Um…hello?” Fizzle called out into the darkness, which had long since swallowed up the mysterious pony. “Are you in here? Why does it smell so funny?”

Suddenly, the room lit up as a match was struck, and the mysterious pony used it to light up a few candles scattered around the room. Fizzle finally got a good chance to look around. It was some sort of shop, with strange bottles of various colored liquids along one wall and jars of plant matter and…other stuff…along the other. Fizzle cocked his head in confusion as he addressed the pony again. “Um, excuse me, but what is this place? And why did you bring me here?”

The pony in question shuffled in front of him, and finally reached up and slowly removed its hood. Staring back at Fizzle was probably the oldest Earth Pony mare he’d ever seen. Her coat was a soft pink, probably a bit faded in her old age. Her mane was bright white, and tied back in a neat little bun. But the most distinguishing feature about her were the bright green eyes that stared back at him, sharp even in her old age.

After what seemed like an eternity she finally spoke. Her voice was cracked with old age, but strong and steady nonetheless. “Welcome to my shop, dearie. ‘Herbal Remedies and Potions.’ Not many ponies know about it. Well, not many that are from out of town.” At this, the old mare chuckled heartily, and Fizzle couldn’t help but join in.

“Er, if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is this place? And who are you?” he inquired, looking around once again at the multitude of strange objects lining the walls.

“This is an apothecary, dear, and you may call me Granny Orchid. I’ve spent most of my life in this very shop brewing potions and medicines. It’s an ancient art, dear, one that can be traced back centuries. Unfortunately, very few ponies remember its ways…” Fizzle was intrigued by this information. Potions and medicines? That certainly sounded useful. He opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

“That was a very impressive show, sonny boy. Were those fireworks you was launching off?”

Fizzle nodded happily. “They certainly were! Made them myself out in the wilderness. My name is Fizzle, by the way. Pleased to meet you.”

The elderly mare nodded sagely, understanding in her eyes. “And ya made them with gunpowder? Charcoal, sulfur, and whatnot?”

Fizzle nodded again. “Sure did! As well as some…hheeeyyy, how come you know about gunpowder? Can you make fireworks too?” Fizzle suddenly gasped as a realization popped into his head, and he started yapping a mile a minute. “Oh my gosh! Are you the pony who taught me how to make fireworks in the first place? You see, I have amnesia and I can’t remember where I learned it but if you remember me then that’s super great! So have you ever seen me before? Huh? Have ya?”

Granny Orchid chuckled heartily and raised a hoof for silence. “No, my boy, I ain’t never seen you before. But I do see something IN ya.”

Fizzle scratched his head in confusion. “What do you mean, something in me? I don’t see anything…” he said questioningly, looking down at himself as he did so.

The mare laughed heartily again. “No, no, my boy. I see what you’re capable of. You have the gift.”

Fizzle cocked his head again. “Is that why you brought me here?”

Granny Orchid nodded her head sagely. “Yes, it is. I see what you made with your own hooves, you’ve got the talent. I’m old, and it’s time I passed on my skills to another. In all my days, I ain’t never seen a pony as skilled as you are at mixing different materials to make something else that is truly amazing.”

Fizzle paused to let that sink in. He looked back at Granny Orchid to see a delighted smile creasing her old face.

“Fizzle my boy, I’m going to teach ya.”