First Impressions
“AUNTIE GINGERBREAD!”
There was a certain standard with which most Canterlot ponies carried themselves and Gingerbread’s niece had yet to acquire it.
As soon as Gingerbread disembarked from the train, she was tackled in an exuberant hug by a blur of pale yellow and blue. The earth pony went flailing backwards, tripping over her suitcase, which a porter had just deposited on the platform. As the startled porter sidestepped the excited filly, Gingerbread landed in a snow bank, the filly on top of her making a valiant effort to squeeze the life out of her.
For a moment, Gingerbread floundered in the snow, attempting to both right herself and remove the foal clinging to her at the same time.
It didn’t go well.
Gusty watched, uncertain if she should intercede or not. Maybe this was a normal part of the little yellow pony greeting her aunt; she had no idea. She took a step forward, hesitating mid-stride, and swished her tail nervously.
She jumped at the sound of melodious laughter near her ear, turning to find herself face to face with somepony who could only be Gingerbread’s sister.
Cupcake looked an awful lot like her younger sibling, with the same pristinely white coat and similar facial features, including a wide, generous mouth and sooty lashes. Her mane was a brighter blue, however, and her eyes paler, but the resemblance was enough to leave Gusty certain they were indeed related.
The unicorn took a step back, steely gaze sweeping from Cupcake’s head to the tip of her tail. She was dressed in a pair of fur-lined boots and a plush sweater, her mane pulled back into a sleek, stylish ponytail. Even with her more refined appearance, it was remarkable how alike the sisters looked; it was almost like seeing two Gingerbreads at once, one the normal Gingerbread, the other what she would be if she ever decided to give the glamorous lifestyle a try.
The similarity ended at their waistlines, however; even the luxurious sweater Cupcake was wearing couldn’t disguise the distinctive bulge of her midsection. While Gingerbread was neither slim nor toned, but rather soft and curvy in all the right places, it was quite clear that Cupcake was quite pregnant. Gusty vaguely remembered Gingerbread mentioning something about her sister having a foal. It felt like something she was previously aware of, though she was already attempting to wipe all traces of this trip from her memory.
“You must be Gusty.” Cupcake’s voice was lyrical, without a trace of the Ponyville accent she should have brought with her to Canterlot, “I’ve heard many things about you from my darling sister. She speaks very highly of you.” Her voice was well-modulated, tone even. She spoke politely and with confidence, as if completely sure of the unicorn’s identity.
“Yeah.” Gusty glanced down at herself, at the uneven, hoof-knit scarf protecting her from the cold and the dirty snow beneath her hooves. Her mane, she knew, was frazzled from sleeping on the train, and her voice sounded a little thick to her own ears. She’d been in Canterlot no more than five minutes tops and already the familiar feeling of not belonging had crept over her. “I’m Gusty. You’re Cupcake, right?”
“The one and only!” The earth pony trilled, her laughter rising like a song above the train station, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Her smile was kind, but still dazzling, her periwinkle eyes dancing in the winter sunlight.
Then she paused, glancing back over at her sister and her daughter. “Lemon Meringue,” She called, “Stop tormenting your auntie and come over here.”
“Coming, Mother!” The filly’s voice was high in pitch and full of excitement. She galloped over to them, legs working almost too fast for the rest of her body, kicking up a spray of snow and slush in the process.
She stopped next to her mother, looking expectantly up at Gusty, who was just then getting her first good look at the foal.
She was small, caught awkwardly between the chubby stages of early foalhood and growing up, with big blue eyes. Her coat was a soft yellow, her hair a curly mass of mustard yellow and white. Her mane had been pulled back in a ponytail, fastened with a pale blue satin ribbon, and wispy curls framed her face. A jeweled barrette held most of her bangs from her eyes and a matching ribbon was tied in her tail. She had a silky blue scarf –the kind worn more for fashion’s sake than to keep a pony warm- arranged artfully around her shoulders. She looked to Gusty like a doll, the kind you could dress up but never play with.
She was also a unicorn.
All of this time, Gusty had had no clue that Gingerbread had unicorns in her family. She had always assumed that they were all earth ponies; she’d met Gingerbread’s parents and Corn Bread and Snickerdoodle were certainly not unicorns. She hadn’t been expecting any of the relatives to be anything other than earth ponies.
Though…with Cupcake living in Canterlot, it made sense she would have married a unicorn; they greatly outnumbered both earth ponies and pegasi there in the royal city.
“Hi!” The filly squeaked, breaking Gusty’s thoughts, “I’m Lemon Meringue! Are you Auntie Gingerbread’s special somepony?” She circled around the bewildered unicorn, eying her critically, “You’re not as pretty as I imagined…Short manes aren’t fashionable! And wherever did you get that scarf? It’s so icky!”
Gusty felt her face heat and she took a step back, trying to escape the barrage of thoughtless words coming from Lemon Meringue. In that moment, it really was like the years had rolled back; as a filly Gusty had never been able to fit in with her peers. She’d worn the wrong things, said the wrong things, acted the wrong way…Even after being gone so long, nothing had changed.
“I happen to like this scarf.” Gusty was not particularly fond of children, especially not the bratty, obnoxious kind, “My cousin made it for me and she’s just little,” She snapped, “but she’s a hay of a lot-“
“Gusty.” She was cut off as Gingerbread interceded, trotting over and flicking snow from her tail, “I see you’ve meet Cupcake and Lemon Meringue.” She smiled faintly in her sister’s direction, taking a moment to straighten the knot in Gusty’s scarf, “And yes, Lemon, Gusty is my very special somepony and I expect you to treat her the way you’d treat your mom or me.”
Her words were clipped, spoken in a tone that would brook no argument. Lemon Meringue ducked her head, eyes downcast. She knew from past experience that Aunt Gingerbread was a little more no-nonsense than Mother, who was often too busy to worry about Lemon’s manners and behavior, or Daddy, who only used his own impeccable manners for show while he looked down his nose at anypony he believed was beneath him.
“It’s going to be getting dark soon,” Cupcake piped up then. She’d been distracted, already paying a porter to transport her guests’ bags, oblivious to her daughter’s rudeness. “We should see about securing a cab and heading for home sooner rather than later.”
-
The ride to Cupcake’s house was an awkward one, to say the least.
Gusty was not particularly chatty, a fact which Cupcake seemed unable to grasp.
Fortunately –or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it- she seemed to greatly enjoy talking about herself. “…And after I discovered my special talent for creating sugar art and fancy cakes, I begged Mother and Father to allow me to come to Canterlot to attend the C.I.E. -- That’s the Culinary Institute of Equestria, you know, where ponies go to learn the finer points of the culinary arts. Of course, not all ponies with food-related talents wish to train under such amazing chefs and pastry artists as the C.I.E. employs, but to each their own, right? Gingerbread certainly does well enough for herself; so have our mother and father and dear cousin Bon Bon. I believe you know her?”
Gusty had zoned out sometime around the beginning of Cupcake’s spiel, choosing to look out the window rather than listen to the torrent of words and half-ideas pouring from the other pony’s mouth. It wasn’t that she cared about the Canterlot scenery; it was more that she cared even less about the blather coming from Cupcake.
She jerked to attention when Gingerbread pointedly elbowed her in the side, dragging herself away from the window to look at Cupcake. “Umm…Yes?” She blinked owlishly, hoping that was the right answer to the question.
“We get together with Bon Bon and her special somepony for dinner sometimes.” Gingerbread supplied helpfully, a pleasant smile stretching across her face, “Perhaps you’ve heard of Lyra Heartstrings? She’s a rather well-known harpist from Ponyville who sometimes plays at the castle.”
“Oh my, yes!” Cupcake gushed, her eyes lighting up at the thought that her sister had connections with somepony famous, “I’ve seen her perform twice; Graham loves going to the symphony and we frequent the concert hall…”
Gusty shot her partner a grateful look at the seamless change of topic; Gingerbread knew just how much she hated talking about herself – How much she just hated talking in general, especially around ponies she didn’t know well. The unicorn didn’t really handle small talk well and tried to avoid it when she could; there was no point in talking about things nopony cared about or really wanted to listen to.
And Cupcake chattered on, completely oblivious to the unicorn’s discomfort. Gusty rolled her eyes, slumping down in her seat.
It was going to be the longest week of her life.
-
“So, I understand that you’re originally from here in Canterlot.”
Gusty looked up from picking at her dinner, meeting the cool grey eyes of Cupcake’s husband. He was looking at her studiously, as if trying to catch some glimpse of the cultured unicorn she was supposed to be, though he was destined to fail in that task, since she knew there was nothing Canterlot about her.
“Yeah.” She mumbled, looking back down at her steaming plate of braised carrots and apples, “My mom and dad still live over in Neighbury Park.”
“That’s a decent neighborhood, is it not?” Graham Cracker was almost exactly what Gusty expected after meeting Cupcake and Lemon Meringue. He was a fussy unicorn who’d strode in to the room just as Cupcake finished laying the table for supper, nose high in the air. His caramel brown coat was sleek and shiny, complimented nicely by his perfectly coifed mane and tail. He had greeted his family warmly enough and had been polite to both Gingerbread and Gusty –when she was introduced- but Gusty could sense that he was appraising her, as if trying to deduce whether or not she was worthy of being part of their family.
It didn’t matter that she’d never met Graham before or that she really had no idea what he was truly like. She’d been on the receiving end of that kind of assessing stare many other times in her life.
“It’s okay.” Really, Gusty had hated living there; the place was full of snobs. But her mom and dad were happy and the area itself wasn’t bad, it was just full of annoying ponies. They hadn’t always lived there; but it was the home in Canterlot that she remembered best, the one they’d lived in longest.
Graham gave her another look, one that made her wonder if she was passing his ‘inspection’ or not. For a moment, he was quiet, taking a careful bite of his dinner and chewing thoroughly, then he looked back up at Gusty. “And what do you do in Ponyville?”
Ah, and there it was, the question she’d been dreading. She hated when strangers asked about her job, because she knew it wasn’t something the typical unicorn would ever do – It was more like what the earth pony her classmates teased her about being would do.
“I…” She hesitated for a moment, swallowing thickly, “Um, I work for the town-”
“Ah, you’re in politics!” A delighted Graham interrupted her, “How befitting for a unicorn of your status.”
Gusty stared at him blankly, not really comprehending at first how he could assume such a thing from the little she said. Then it dawned on her: Of course a unicorn like him would assume the best of her; it was how the elite in Canterlot were brought up to think. “No,” She frowned, brows knitting together, “Not like that.”
“Gusty works for the parks department.” Gingerbread leapt to the rescue again, knowing just what to say, “She’s responsible for the maintenance of Ponyville’s largest park. A lot of ponies spend their free time there, so it’s a very important job.”
Graham looked rather unimpressed. “I see.” He nodded brusquely, wrapping his magical aura around his fork and lifting it to spear a carrot on his plate. Gusty could practically read his thoughts and though it was unlikely he’d ever come out and say it -given he was married to an earth pony- she was almost one hundred percent certain he was wondering just why a Canterlot unicorn would be doing the menial work of an earth pony.
Gingerbread frowned a little herself at that, watching as Gusty seemed to shrink in on herself at Graham’s dismissiveness. Cupcake was oblivious, of course, so wrapped up in arguing with Lemon about eating her carrots that she took no notice of her husband’s sort of passive rudeness, but it did not escape the attention of the always-attentive Gingerbread.
She knew just how sensitive Gusty was about her magic and its roll in her job. She also knew that Gusty’s job was indeed a very important one, made a lot easier by her special talents. Yes, it was the kind of work an earth pony normally would have carried out, but without Gusty’s special magic to aid them, it was tedious, back-breaking work – That was why they had hired her to begin with. She kept the park safe and fully-functional, so that all citizens of Ponyville could freely enjoy it
But somehow, Gingerbread doubted Graham Cracker would see it that way.
Gusty abruptly pushed her chair back from the table, rising from her seat and leaving her mostly-full plate on the table. “Excuse me…” She mumbled, already halfway out of the room before anypony else fully registered her words.
At the mare’s sudden departure, Cupcake looked up questioningly, having no clue what had just happened. Graham continued eating calmly, either unaware or unconcerned that it was his thoughtlessness that sent Gusty fleeing from the room. Lemon was still ignoring the grownups, busily stacking carrots to make a tower on her plate.
“It’s been a long day,” Gingerbread said quietly, meeting her sister’s inquiring light blue gaze across the table, “And Gusty isn’t overly-social. She just needs some space.”
Cupcake nodded, though she still looked uncertain. She wasn’t used to ponies who were so quiet and withdrawn; all of her friends were just as vapid and talkative as she was. And Gingerbread herself was incredibly outgoing and kind. She’d never imagined her sister taking up with somepony who was so withdrawn.
Gingerbread forced a smile, turning back to her dinner. “I’ll check on her after we finish dinner.” It was incredibly hard to pretend everything was fine, but she really, really didn’t want to get into Gusty’s issues. Not only was it not the proper time and the place, it simply wasn’t something she was comfortable talking about and she knew Gusty would never forgive her if she brought it up. “This is really good, Cupcake. I see you haven’t lost your touch in the kitchen at all since the last time I visited.”
A bright smile stretched itself across the other mare’s face, her good humor restored just like that. “Thank you! I remembered this was one of your favorite meals and I wanted to make something I know you love for your first night here. Lemon helped slice the apples; she’s becoming a wonderful cook in her own right…”
Gingerbread returned the smile as best she could, trying to pay attention and listen as her sister yammered on, though all she really wanted to do was go chasing after Gusty to make sure she was okay.
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Sad gutsy makes me sad. Between her social problems and Gingerbread being forced to cover for her, the awkward levels in this chapter are off the chart.
I like it.
1742145
Gusty is painfully awkward. It's part of what I (and Gingerbread!) like about her. She's going to eventually wind up kind of snappish, but for now...She's just so stressed about being in Canterlot that she doesn't have it in her to be grouchy.
Poor Gusty. I'm starting to really dislike Graham Cracker, and we've just met him. Lemon doesn't seem too bad, insensitive rather than actually rude, though that may change. Cupcake seems nice as well, though she could really stand to pay more attention.
1742946
Graham is meant to kind of be the 'villain' in this story; he's the epitome of the kind of unicorn Gusty dislikes. He's not all bad, though, just ignorant. Lemon isn't really mature enough to know that she's being hurtful. I'm really hoping to build her up a bit and have some...devious plans for her in later parts of the story
And Cupcake is Cupcake -- Warm, loving, excited, and totally clueless!
1744083 Ah, that makes sense. It'll be interesting to see his more positive traits later on; yay for multidimensionality!
I love devious plans!
That's what I figured; my brother is the exact same way.
Ooh, sounds fun!
Eeyup.
Poor Gusty. She reminds me a lot of myself: anti-social, godawful at small talk, and not overly fond of annoying kids. So... yeah. I get, to some extent, what she's going through with all this. Good thing she at least has Gingerbread as a conversational bodyguard.
Cupcake seems okay, so far. I was kind of expecting more of a Canterlot snob, but she comes across as more clueless than anything. Graham, though... this guy looks like he's going to be a problem. And Lemon is hilarious. I don't know what I was expecting, but tearing apart Gusty's fashion sense as an introduction wasn't it. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of her.
Thumbs-upped and Tracked.
1745421
Some of the stuff I've got planned for Lemon almost makes wonder if I should have the humor tag, but I don't really know how humorous it will actually turn out to be
1745725
Gingerbread is Gusty's buffer for, well, pretty much everything. She doesn't really like much! Except, of course, for a few choice friends who we shall meet later
Cupcake isn't too snobby because she's originally from Ponyville -- And you can take the mare out of Ponyville, but you can't take Ponyville out of the mare! She's...kind of a wannabe snob. Graham is a jerk; he's meant to be the problem. He has some of the same odd ideas about a unicorn's place in the world that Gusty has and there may be some interesting words later.
And Lemon better hope Sweetie Bell never finds out she made fun of the scarf! I don't know if any one caught the implication, but Sweetie labored over that scarf for a long time! It was made with LOVE.
1746989 I guess we can wait and see, and if needed, add the humor tag later. :shrug: Either way, sounds like it will be interesting!
1747020
"Interesting" is definitely the right word
1747022
Why must you tease me so?
1747031
Because I'm awesome!
I'll be working on more soon; I'm debating over whether or not I want to do some writing or start baking Christmas cookies. I AM going to do tonight's G1 pony pic first, though...Would you rather see Lofty or Fizzy today?
1747063 Indeed!
Ah, cool.
And I guess it's not really my place to say... 
Uh, why not Fizzy, just 'cause?
1747174
Fizzy it is! I shall color her up and get her little post done.
1747200
this really is going to be a long week, isn't it? I feel pretty sorry for Gusty, I hate uptight characters (in real life to), they always make things worse for everypony.