Story of Diane Pie

by Middle Ground

Chapter 5 - Canterlot

Some time passed after leaving Apploosa and I have been growing more and more excited to see Manehatten with my own eyes. I have vivid memories of the sights and sounds the city has. But the trip from Apploosa to Manehatten was also enjoyable; seeing the woods, meeting a few travelling ponies and sharing a bit of a conversation, and it was a nice day to be outside. I was ready to take in the world around me and make it my own. The day was beginning to come to an end so we had to stop at the city of noble ponies, Canterlot. Canterlot is actually the place where the two Princesses live. Also, the Unicorn population is much larger than anywhere else. There are three kinds of ponies: Unicorns, Pegasus, and Earth Ponies.

I know this is pretty late to explain, but Unicorns are ponies with horns on their head. They can use magic and do spells like lift objects, create light in darkness, and other kinds of spells. Pegasus, or Pegasi for plural, are ponies with wings. They fly and they can actually control the weather. Earth Ponies don't have wings or horns, but they're really good with stuff like farming and building things. I'm an Earth Pony, in case you were wondering. Miss Jubilee and her three Cart-Carrier ponies had to order a room at one of the cheap hotels. Being a city full of noble ponies and aristocrats you can imagine that finding a cheap hotel to stay for in one night was hard to do without spending a small fortune. Thank Celestia and Luna that we were able to find a good place to stay for the night called the Prancing Unicorn Inn. It wasn't too expensive, at least thirty bits a night, and the rooms were very nice with soft beds and a bath room. I was pretty tired, so laying against my bed felt really good.

"Diane, I just finished showering so you can go shower now." Miss Jubilee left the bathroom all washed up and in the hotel bath robe after a long day's work. I then went into the bathroom to shower as well; the hot water felt good on my tired body. After I was done, feeling renewed, I went back into the bed and I've never felt so good.

Miss Jubilee chuckled, "You act like you've never slept in a bed before, Diane. When we get to Manehatten, we'll have a room set up for you back home." Though I was happy to hear that, I couldn't help but feel like I'm taking advantage of her.

"Miss Jubilee, are you sure it's ok for me to just become a member of the Cherry Family so easily? What would your parents think? What if I can't...?" I was worried about causing any trouble for not just Miss Jubilee, but also for her family.

"Diane, if you're going to be a part of the family, you're going to have to let go of the 'Miss'-this and 'Mister'-that. We may be strangers right now, but once me and the family get to know you, everything will work out fine." Though she said that, I was still uneasy....

Miss Jubilee then began to head for bed after doing her mane.

"Don't worry about it for now, Diane. Tomorrow, we're going to spend some time in Canterlot and look at the sights before we head to Manehatten. I'm sure that will be fun." She then got under the covers and so did I. Good night, Diane. See you in the morning." She then went to sleep.

"Good night, Miss Jubilee." Calling her 'Miss' all the time is not going to be an easy habit to remove.... As the night went by, I stayed awake while Miss Jubilee slept. I was so nervous about meeting her family that my eyes couldn't close. But then my eyes suddenly started feeling really heavy all of a sudden and then fell asleep. The next thing I knew, I was then surrounded by the bits of light from my last dream.

"You certainly love to worry, don't you?" I heard a voice echo from out of nowhere, yet I knew immediately who it was.

"Princess Luna?! Is that you?!" I searched for her excitedly to tell her what had happened to me today.

I then saw a light making it's way towards me.

"We are right here." Princess Luna's image then emerged from the light as her wings and horn appeared first. "We were worried about you, Diane. We thought you woul-OOF!" She was interrupted when I joyfully embraced her.

"I'm so happy to see you, Princess Luna...! I had so much fun today in Apploosa and Miss Jubilee was so nice to me and-" I stopped when I realized what I was doing and backed away quickly.

"Ah...I'm sorry! I just couldn't help myself! Please...don't be mad!" I really messed up, but Princess Luna remained composed.

"It is quite alright, Diane. We are no stranger to an embrace or two. A few fillies we know seem to like us quite a lot. But right now, our attention is focused on you, Diane. You seem to be doing much better right now." I began to prattle on and on about what happened to me since we last talked and it was so much fun.

After a few minutes of talking, "We're glad you're doing better right now, Diane. It seemed that there was no need to worry about you." Princess Luna then spreads her wings as a light began to envelope her.

I knew the dream was coming to an end.

"So...will we talk again?" I felt a little empty at her departure.

"Do not worry. We will talk to you again in the near future. We only ask that you take care of yourself and live life to the fullest." The light then consumed her and the dream began to fade.

"Yes, I will!" After my declaration, I then woke up in the hotel room and Miss Jubilee was eating a couple of breakfast bagels.

"Good morning, sleepy head. I'm sure you slept well. I brought you a couple of bagels right there. I hope you like blueberry." Miss Jubilee pointed at the desk to the left-side of my bed and I quickly dove at them to eat; they were both so good.

"Oh...I guess you do." Miss Jubilee was a little overwhelmed by my gluttonous habits.

"Anyway, we don't have long to reach Manehatten so we can just spend about an hour in Canterlot before we leave. Does that sound alright, Diane?" I nodded as I was finishing my two bagels. "Then let's not waste any time~!" I quickly finished my two bagels and we then left the hotel to explore Canterlot.

Canterlot was a very pretty and there were many shops almost all over the streets. There were many well-dressed Unicorns, possibly nobles, and some of them even knew Miss Jubilee. In fact, a couple of stallions actually walked up to her and tried to ask her out on a date. Honestly, I was blushing when that happened. Miss Jubilee turned them both down though. We found ourselves resting in the Canterlot Park before we would head back to the hotel and get ready to leave.

I then looked at her with concern, "Miss Jubilee, why did you turn down those two stallions earlier? They were both rather handsome and they seemed nice to me...." My cheeks were still blushing from that.

Miss Jubilee gave an arrogant laugh, "Because, Diane, I have some very high standards~! There isn't a stallion in the world who can match my standards~!" I...didn't know how to respond to that, so I left it at that. After we left the park and returned to the hotel, Miss Jubilee paid the hotel bill and we were ready to go. The Cart-Carrier ponies were ready to go as well.

"Alright boys, let's go~!" At Miss Jubilee's call, the Cart-Carrier ponies then pulled the cart and we resumed our journey to Manehatten. I had a lot of fun just spending time in Canterlot with Miss Jubilee and though I was nervous before, I was ready to meet my new family. I was sure that her family were as nice as she was. Manehatten was only a few miles from Canterlot, so it didn't take very long to get there. After a couple of hours of travelling, we finally make it to Manehatten. It was huge with buildings that were as tall as the Princess' castle. The streets were hard and black, and there were so many ponies walking everywhere! I felt both amazed and overwhelmed at what I was looking at and wanted to see so much more of it! The excitement was overflowing. Finally, we came to a four-story building with multiple floors, most likely where Miss Jubilee's family lived.

"Alright boys, you're free to go now. Thank you and here's your payment." Miss Jubilee paid the Cart-Carrier ponies for their services and the three then left with their payment and with a fond farewell.

She then turned to me, "So Diane, are you ready to meet your new family?" I was nervous as my throat felt like something was squeezing it, but I swallowed and nodded. I was not going to fail.