- 1295
- #1
Unless she was traveling for work, Neo didn't spend a lot of time in the other regions. She'd gone to visit bakeries in the spring and fall sectors before, ones that specialized in pumpkin pastries or cherry blossom flavored ice cream, but these had only been business ventures. She went there with the intent to write up a news column and it gave her an excuse to buy some of the sweets she suspected her mother would like. Her mother was a baker that specialized in strawberry goods. Her father, a writer and newspony for the local paper. They'd met by chance, her father had featured her mother's humble strawberry cart on the front page of the food section of the paper and her mother's business had boomed. Rosa had started to make little treats for her father, strawberry tarts or shortcakes and would go to hoof-deliver them to his workplace. She'd been told that their love story wrote itself after that and not long after came Neo and her siblings. Her siblings went their own ways, with Milk Tea looking to open his own storefront and Tipsy helping their mother at the bakery. Neo had taken after her father, wanting to be the head of that food section in the paper, which is why she went the extra mile and allowed travel as apart of her work. She'd been nervous initially, having never been away from her family that long before, but she took to it eventually. Soon enough, traveling for work came easily to her. She would keep a schedule, take her notes and return home to rite up the column she ran all within a matter of time.
On this particular work outing, she'd been sent into the town of Winterbloom to check out a newly opened bakery. It's delicacy was supposed to be a spin on the chocolate croissant, except it embodied all of the elements that came with hot chocolate. What sounded like a good concept failed to impress Neo when she'd bit into it. Sure, the puff pastry was topped with tiny marshmallow shaped like snowflakes and yes, when she bit into it she realized that it wasn't just full of chocolate, but the puff pastry was chocolate flavored as well. Yet it was the dusty aftertaste that left Neo's throat desperately wanting for a drink. She'd tried to order hot chocolate, but much to her surprise, the bakery didn't actually sell it! She opted for tea instead and was writing her assessments of the bakery in a notebook she carried with her everywhere. She was absorbed in her writing and so didn't notice the stallion that had come up to stand behind her, peering over her shoulder to look at her notes.
"Oh, you're on the dot about that! Their fancy croissants aren't much; I think they're trying too hard. But have you tried their confetti cake? I order it for every one of my parties and it's always a hit!"
Neo startled and the table rattled. Her notebook tilted off the edge, but a clawed hoof, no... paw? caught it and placed it back on the table.
"Woah there! Don't wanna drop this, right? Sorry for startling ya."
Neo turned her head to look at the stallion, he was smiling brightly at her and it took her a minute to reply. He was so... colorful! And spiky. She'd seen hedgehog ponies before, but they'd never been quite so... in her face before. She finally returned his smile.
"It was the confetti cake you had suggested? If it's really as good as you say then I suppose I ought to try some. Are you a local?" She inquired. The opinions of local ponies were often correct. After all, what else would keep the place in business, but the local revenue. The stallion nodded.
"Yes indeedy! Born and bred in Winterbloom. Never wanted to go anywhere else. I've been as far as the Winter Castle, but everyone's been there. Never been inside, of course, but it's sort of a rite of passage to go and approach it. To know where your roots are, ya know?" The stallion shrugged, before he put two bits on the table his grin ever present among his prominent front teeth. "Here, it's on me. The confetti cake, that is." He offered, but Neo shook her head.
"Oh no, I couldn't. I mean, thank you, but really, I've brought enough with me, so-" Would it be impolite to tell him that her work paid her to eat sweets from other bakeries? But the stallion looked thoughtful and then his eyes lit up as though he had a wonderful idea.
"If you won't take the bits, then you should come to a party with me instead! Because, you know, it's quite an offense to refuse someone's kind offer, and if you refuse this invitation, well, that wouldn't look very good on you, especially if you intend to come back sometime." Despite his words, the stallion didn't look offended at all. Still, to be remembered badly for passing up a generous offer from one of the locals. Neo certainly didn't want that, so... She nodded.
"Very well, I'll attend your party. When and where is it?" She asked.
"It's tonight! Just before sunset! It'll be at a white house with a pink roof, but if you ask anypony where to find Funfetti's place, they'll be sure to point you in the right direction!"
Neo looked puzzled, her mind racing with how this strange interaction had gone.
"Funfetti? Who's Funfetti?" She asked, sounding a little bewildered.
"Why, me of course!" Said the stallion and he grabbed her hoof to shake it three times before he let go as an "ORDER UP Fourteen confetti cakes, packaged and ready for pickup!" boomed from the counter. Scooting away and waving a farewell, the stallion-Funfetti-said, "I'll see you at the party! Remember, sunset at Funfetti's place!"
Neo watched in amazement as the hedgehog pony carried seven boxes of cake on his back and floated the other seven boxes with his magic. She blinked. Wait, magic? She peered at the party had on his head as he left and realized suddenly: it was a horn! He'd been a unicorn this whole time. Slack-jawed, she watched him leave, before gathering her notebook up. She suspected she'd eat the cake at the party, but if it was really as good as to buy fourteen boxes of it, then she may as well bring some home to her parents. She was due to return home tomorrow afternoon, after all. It was as she was getting up to leave that she noticed that the two bits still remained on the table. She looked down at them for a moment and then scooped them up in her hoof. That sly stallion, getting her to agree to that party like that, she thought, but she smiled and headed to the counter.
"One confetti cake to go, please." She said and placed the bits on the counter.
Her parents would often remark about how a chance meeting could change your life. Theirs certainly were changed that way. While a party and cake weren't exactly what she was expecting and she certainly doubted forming any big connection with this colorful unicorn... Maybe her parents were right. Maybe this whole encounter, plus whatever adventure she had at the party would change her life forever. She supposed only time would tell. At the very least, it would be a story to write home about. She went back to her table and pulled out her notebook, jotting down her meeting with Funfetti. Anecdotes to draw the readers in or chatter about the colorful locals, could always bring extra flavor to a food article, after all.