Unusual Treat for an Otherwise Unremarquable Day

Baroque was awakened that morning but the sound of barging on the door of his and his father’s bedroom followed by the sound of stomping hooves. One second, he was sleeping, the next, his siblings and cousin were piling up on the bed next to his father. The foal coughed, the weight of the three older foals squishing his rib cage. Besides him, Noxaeterna’s laugh was muddled by the sound of excited voices. Something he said seemed to appease the foals, as they all promptly rushed out the door as quickly as they had come. 

“And take Baroque with you!” his father yelled after them. The loud sound resonated within the foal’s small skull. He blinked slowly, finally awake, and yawned. Noxaeterna ruffled his mane. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, father,” Baroque responded, slipping out of bed and stretching his legs. “What was that all about?”

“Resplendence has heard rumours of the candy shop receiving a shipment of a new treat. She and your siblings went to grab some. How would you like to get one too?”

“Before breakfast?” the foal asked, baffled at such an outlandish suggestion.

“Yes,” Nox laughed. “They went to ask Psychomyth for the money so you have plenty of time to catch up with them if you’d like.”

Baroque pranced to the doorway excitedly. “We can bring you and Grand-Mother one, too!”

“No need,” Nox laughed. “Now go before Resplendence eats all of the treats!” Baroque heeded his father’s advice and ran out of the room, into the hallway, and finally, into the courtyard. Just out of the main gate he saw sparkling blue and purple foals easily recognizable as his siblings and cousin running in the candy shop’s direction.

“Sonnet, wait for meeee!” the foal whinnied, running as fast as his thin legs allowed him too. The group of foals must have heard him (or Minuet must have pleaded his case), because they stopped along a wall and watched him as he caught up to them.

“Baroque, where were you?” Resplendence asked teasingly. “We thought you were already at the candy shop.” “You squished me in my bed, this morning,” the foal pouted. 

“That wasn’t me, that was Sonnet!”

“No way, I’m light as a feather!” Sonnet responded, pretending to be offended. “And, I’m not so foolish as to heartlessly squish a poor, defenceless foal in bed. You, on the other hand, did sit on my leg and it did hurt if I do say so myself.”

Resplendence pulled her tongue out. “You don’t need me to hurt your dandy whittle muscles, mister light-as-a-feather. Next you’ll be telling me you weren’t even in the room to begin with.”

“What if I wasn’t? What if I was only an illusion?” Sonnet waved his antlers in a hypnotic circular pattern around the filly’s face. She knocked them away with her own antlers. 

“Clearly you aren’t one, since I can touch you.”

Sonnet bucked, channelling magic into his antlers. “Ah, fair. Would an illusion be able to do this-” Minuet stepped in.

“Please, you two can save your antics after we’ve gotten our cake pops. I’ve heard they only come in limited supply.”

The two foals stared at each other. “Fine,” Sonnet said. “Winner of the joust will get a second pop, then.”

“Hmm, delicious idea,” Resplendence agreed.

“What’s a cake pop?” Baroque asked Minuet when they were on their way. Sonnet and Resplendence raced ahead, as usual. 

“Cake pops are a mix of cake and lollipops. Cakes on a stick, if you will,” his sister explained. The foal thought it over for a while. He imagined a rock solid piece of cake. A cake-flavoured lollipop. 

“How do they get the candy on the stick?” he wondered out loud. Minuet giggled.

“You see, the candy, or the cake batter in this case, starts off as a liquid which is poured into a mould. We then simply place the stick inside the mould. When the candy solidifies, the stick is stuck inside of it!”

Baroque’s eyes lit up. “Oooh, I understand now. Thank you, Minuet!”

The filly nodded happily. “Anytime!”

They found Sonnet and Resplendence standing on the porch of the candy shop, for once not bickering about who was the fastest.

“Still not opened?” Minuet asked.

“No,” Resplendence said, almost mournfully. “And they’re five minutes late.”

The door was opened in the tiniest bit and the shop owner poked his muzzle out. “I’m sorry, foals. The set up is taking a bit longer than usual today. Have you come for the cake pops?”

“We have!” Resplendence tried to poke her muzzle into the shop. Even from afar, Baroque could smell the delicious sugar and chocolate emanating from the shop. “Hmmm!”

“I’ll get them for you! Four?” 

“Five please! I’m about to win a bet.” Resplendence winked at the shopkeeper.

“I see, please stand by.” The door closed, then reopened minutes later, allowing the foals to see the promised pops. Sonnet handed the shopkeeper the money and received the pops. He gave Minuet the extra one. 

“Save this for after the joust. Baroque would eat it if I entrusted it to him.” 

“Hey!” the foal protested, while also trying to hide the fact that he had almost immediately consumed his cake. It had a creamy chocolate icing and crunchy rainbow sprinkles. All in all, it was simply cake, but on a stick, just as Minuet had described it to be. However, the foal enjoyed being about to eat it while standing in the street rather than being confined to a plate at a crowded long table.

Similarly to him, Resplendence wolfed down her cake. She then pestered Sonnet, who, along with Minuet, was taking his time sampling the dessert.

“Give me a break, I want to make sure I like it before I compete for a second one,” Sonnet taunted. 

Resplendence gave him a playful shove. “Come on, come on come on come-on c’mon-”

“Alright, there. Happy? Now please, try not to lose immediately.” 

Baroque smiled as his brother and cousin scuffled in the street, throwing magic around and barely missing passersby- and Baroque himself.