Quietly, as to not catch her mother's attention, Cinnamon stared into a jar of hard candies. She glanced backward, making sure her mother was still tending to the old mare buying a jawbreaker. Once the coast was clear, the brown coated filly jammed her hooves into the clear plastic container and brought out the sugary treat she set her sights on.
"Ah-hem," coughed Cinnamon's mother, Bon Bon, glaring over at her daughter with the eyes behind the back of her head.
The red-hooved filly only sighed and placed the candy back into the tub before innocently smiling back at her mother.
Two seconds after Bon Bon went back to the counter, Cinnamon swiped the candy from the jar and popped it into her mouth.
Satisfied, the filly sat on a chair and watched her mother work, observing the older mare as she poured bags of multicolored chocolate wrappers into self-serve jars. It had been like this almost every weekend. Cinnamon could honestly claim that the time spent in the shop took up the majority her lifespan.
Such a claim wasn't far-fetched given that she wasn't even old enough to have a cutie-mark.
Stock candy, ring up registers, rinse, wash behind the ears, repeat, inherit the shop, stock candy, ring up registers...
"Mom, I'm bored," the filly whined while stomping her hooves.
Bon Bon only chuckled at the high-pitched complaint.
"Well hello, Bored," the mother teased. "What have you done to my beautiful daughter Cinnamon?"
"Moooom," the filly groaned."You're embarrassing me."
"In front of who? The gummy bears?"
"Yes!"
Smiling, Bon Bon only looked over to her counter and dug around for a quill and paper. Her daughter, curious, hopped over to the counter where the mother was writing. Immediately, her mind began to flood with hopeful theories involving pirate maps, rocketship blue prints, and even drifitng towards a secret espionage mission. Excited, she stood on her hind legs, just tall enought to get a good look at the slip of paper.
It was a grocery list.
Needless to say, Cinnamon was dissapointed, her face scrunched like the moment she first tasted the candy flavored after her namesake.
"Mom," the young pony started, "what am I s'posed to do with this?"
"Trust me, Sweetie. Get everything on the list, and I'll make sure you're not bored."
Sighing, Cinnamon grabbed the slip of paper and looked over it as her mother passed a tiny pair of saddlebags. After reviewing the xontents, the cream colored filly shoved the paper into her bag, imgaining the words "Quest Initiated" floating over her head.
It was a fetch quest, but it was something to do other than stocking candy and ringing regesiters.